Hmm, I'm starting to wonder if I can pull this off…Blayze Iskillion Firestorm, Irvine won't die. While he plays a small role in Reaper, I assure you, he may take centre stage in the sequel I'm planning, Cantus (look it up, kids, and link it to the name I've dropped several times…Rhyss said it…come on…think hard…) with Prozen and Hiltz up to their old tricks.

Anyway, Hiltz has finally lost it…or has he?

Chapter 18: I don't pay for sanity

Rhyss watched as the sleeper rested, his battle at last over.

Hiltz' physical appearance had not changed all that much. His skin was paler, seeing as his circulation was pulled inwards to feed his Mern. On his forehead was a perfect circle of red, the symbol of the Red Sun. In his former existence, he had never earned any marks to get him a place in society, no, Hiltz was too smart for that. He had always been the kind of person who would slip in and out of somewhere unnoticed…after all, throughout the years of being in the Guylos government, hadn't Minister Prozen been visited by him?

She felt bad about that. That showed a real bond between the two. Hiltz was…different…from other men. He never pressured someone he cared about into something. The only time he had was because Dark Kaiser was whispering sweet poison into his ears. The both of them were as evil as hell, but that didn't mean their love was as depraved. Quite the opposite in fact. If anything, they were a pair of chaste church children. No sex before marriage sort of thing.

Disgusting!

He stirred and stretched like a cat, yawning tiredly as he awoke and his shaggy red curls framing his face in such an adorable way, Rhyss couldn't help smiling. Hiltz…when not angry with something and not being inventively naughty was a very nice person. But seeing as mischief was his proverbial middle name, this was a rarity.

"Good afternoon. Or is it evening?"

"…? Evening? How long have I slept?"

"You were out like a light yesterday. Payne carried you down to the Cells himself…he made sure you went through doorways without hitting your feet or your head this time. I suppose he thinks you're worth it now."

"I was wondering why my head felt so bad the other day. Is it always this noisy?"

"You're picking up the voices of the humans outside. It's background noise, you'll get used to it."

"Fine. I feel like shit. Anything to eat? I could murder something right now if it meant I could get a feed."

"Dinner's already been served, so you've missed out. I could probably find you something, though. Hiltz…?"

"What? Does Payne need me?"

Rhyss was shocked. He really had crossed over. He stared, smiling at her, his dark eyes cold. There was nothing inside his mind of any concern to Prozen at all, just a cold willingness to serve, and serve well. All hope of redemption flew out of her mind and she sagged slightly. "Well, not exactly. He's briefing people about the retrieval of Lynette, and…"

"We'll stop by the kitchens, grab some grub, and go and see the boss."

"Grab some…grub?"

"Human term. Get something to eat. Derived from the fact that grubs were once a food source. 'Grab some grub'. Guylos slang, actually. Shall we go?" He stood up, unsteadily, and she realised he'd been stripped naked of his former clothes. She blushed and looked away.

"Hiltz!"

"What? Oh. Shit." She heard the rustle of the blanket he'd been curled up under and when she turned around he had it around his waist. "Sorry about that. I remember now, I was overheating, I needed to get cool…so I…uh…"

"Yes. Fine." She tried to vanish the image of him from her mind. It wasn't easy. You're a lucky man, Gunther. I like girls, and he's turning me on! "I actually bought you some clothing down from the stores. I think this was yours…"

"Yes, that's definitely mine." Hiltz grinned as he touched the fabric. "I remember last time I was here, visiting our prey."

"Prey?"

"The Hertz."

"Oh." Rhyss said softly, and sadly.

She turned her back as he dressed and bit her lip.

She'd enjoyed hanging out with humans. They were okay in an odd sense. It would be sad to see them destroyed. But worse of all was the fact that she was starting to think differently. She had never liked Payne. When he was a soldier, he was nasty, now he was nasty in all sorts of different ways. She hated being used for sex, even if it was good, and in truth, if he did it again, she was going to hurt him. Badly. She wished now, she had never helped in catching Gunther in the first place.

But, countered a little voice in her mind, Specula's, you knew what you were getting in to. You knew what was going to happen.

Dark Kaiser was fine in every sense…apart from the fact it had no idea how to construct a Zoid. She hoped that Payne knew that. Because she was pretty sure that a broken Hertz couldn't do it either. They'd be signing their own death certificates if they broke Prozen without perfecting the program first. Then they could use Lynette to produce another body for it. It would be alive this time, not using the body of its test host.

She wanted the Zoidians to be in power.

But now she wanted to see how the other half lived.

Would the humans be so welcoming if they knew? If they knew how many people she had killed? Nicolai did not know…if he had, he would not have been so eager to protect her. Prozen probably did, that was why he'd been so desperate to catch her all those years ago.

She gripped the wall and hung her head. Oh yes, she knew why. It had been her first Hunt when he had been captured, cowering in the corner of the lift. The female who had died protecting him had basically self-destructed on the gangway into the main core of the city, the vast spire that hung downwards from the roof where all of the Rare Hertz were held. Knocking out the bridge had been a stroke of genius on the female's part, but it had been Specula who got her over to the other side, along with a couple of other rookies who had hung back with their tutors. Killing the attendants had been wonderful, such a fascinatingly delightful task, as they were not defenceless, no, fourteen year old Rhyss had killed the heathens from seven years of age. Watching them splutter and scream with pain, sheer poetry in motion…

He probably remembered, somewhere in the recesses of his mind the time he had been dragged from the tiny room and held down for classification. Then tied up and taken back to stasis…

He remembered.

And a few months later when she had found him again, and found Hiltz…the child who was drawn to him…

How could a Mern destroy that much emotion in a man's heart? It had taken so long to crush Hiltz' spirit, make him think humanity was nothing.  Turning and twisting him more and more…now she regretted it immensely…his beauty was tarnished by this…evil.

A sudden sharp pain stabbed at her heart, and she felt Specula's simple thoughts again. You think he is evil? Then what does that make you?

"Shut up." She said, bitterly.

"What?"

"Nothing." She muttered. "Specula was being stupid."

"Oh?" Hiltz reappeared, dressed in a pair of black pants, and a sleeveless tunic of a rich blood red that was zipped up almost to the chin. Resting like a pendant around his neck was the silver ring used to move the zipper up and down, and encircling his hips were a pair of wide, well made belts. All of it fit him snugly, showing the curves of his muscles, and making him seem that much more of a handsome rogue. Except his eyes.

The man had lost his soul.

What you're feeling is guilt, Rhyss. Specula intoned.

Ignoring her organoid, she smiled at Hiltz. "Looks good."

"I know. That's why I'm wearing it." He knelt down and began to fix up the laces of his calf-length boots, then straightened again and caught the two-tone grey overcoat she threw at him. It was cut past his knees, but the sides were cut to come midway up his thighs. He did look good. In fact, he was oozing sexuality that could be felt by people in the next room.

A couple of girls and a guy poked their heads around the door, and when Hiltz gave them a grin, two of them swooned.

"Shall we go then?"

"I suppose so."

Hiltz fell into step slightly behind her, showing his status and sighed. "So fill me in. What's the deal with Lynette?"

"Payne's had enough of square-dancing with President Hermann and playing the good little soldier. An attack has been planned on the Dynoc Base, seeing as that is where she is…of course, we will have problems with the pilots there, seeing as it is the headquarters of the Guardian Force, but we've infiltrated it already…why are you grinning?"

"I've done it before. Bloody easy. Go on."

"All right…The DiBison has disappeared, though one of spies located it on the safety of a town in Imperial territory…parked right beside a certain GenoBreaker…"

"Oh, poor Rhyss."

"I never loved him."

"Sure you didn't." Hiltz stopped and put his hands on his hips, his smirk crueller than usual. "You didn't want to fuck him so hard his brains would fall out."

"You're starting to sound like Payne."

"Am I?" He stepped forward, disturbingly close to her, his breath warm on her face as she looked up on him, the unmistakeable tang of testosterone coupled with the scent of Hiltz-ness making her sweat. "Am I really?"

"Don't."

He leant a little closer, and she saw something flicker in his eyes. Something she could not sense, something to fast to catch. "Sure. Fine. Whatever."

"That's better. I didn't want to hurt you, Hiltz. Look…we're short of Zoids. Since Payne knows you're a pretty big player in all of this, he's saving the best 'till last…"

"Meaning? I have to ride with him?"

"No, of course not. Do you think he would risk his life to get Lynette when he's the only one who can unlock her dirty little secret? I may have prodded the lock, but Payne's the one who knows what he's doing. What I mean is, that we have something you may like…"

They began to walk again, down corridors that were not familiar to Rhyss at all in terms of history, but she sensed Hiltz looking around. She wondered if he was glossing over the memories of his past, trying to stop them from coming back. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't, but as they went through the entrance hall, and passed the great windows facing the sun, he stopped and murmured something about roses. Then he padded after her, shaking his head, and Rhyss' heart sank lower.

They reached the door a few rooms and entryways later, and then it was a short walk down a few steps down to where Payne was waiting.

Gone was the beautiful architecture, here was steel, metal walkways, consoles and lights. It reminded her somewhat of Hertz and human technology, all mashed together. In fact, that's what it was – why Prozen had installed a Zoid manufacturing plant under his home she had no idea.

"Finally." Payne grunted. "What took you so fucking long?"

"We took the scenic route." Said Rhyss.

"In other words, we got lost." Hiltz countered.

Payne grinned and looked the red head up and down. "Well my boy, aren't we a handsome lady-killer?"

"I prefer Hertz, boss." Hiltz replied, his teeth white in his smile. Predatory.

"We don't want him dead, half-breed."

"Aww, but that's half the fun."

Payne laughed and patted him on the back, hard. "You'll go far, half-breed." He clicked his fingers and some of the assembled Reapers moved aside, revealing an old woman held by a pair of strong Reapers. Her face was lined with age, her almost bone white skin wrinkled, and grey. And her eyes, pale pink, lack of energy an easy thing to identify. Beneath her left eye was a single arrowhead, the mark of a Rare Hertz. She glanced up, flinching under Payne's glare, but when her own gaze fell on Hiltz, there was an element of hope in her face.

"…Sierra?" She whispered.

"Do I know you, love?" He asked. Rhyss heard something else in that sentence, something that was…different.

"Hiltz Sierra!" She gasped, and stared at Payne. "What have you done, Zoidian?"

"Shut up, bitch." Payne snapped. "Hiltz, this is Yora. She was born to a pair of Hertz in the barracks…looks like they can get busy even in danger! Anyway, we raised her good and proper, problem is, she's old and stupid now. They don't live forever. She's been able to conjure up some pretty nice Zoids in the past, but unfortunately, she can't make our army. Your man can."

"…No! No! I won't! I won't help you, horrible man! Winter…Winter will stop you! Sierra, tell him!"

Rhyss stared at the woman.

"Who are you, Rare Hertz?" Hiltz asked.

The female managed to pull away from her captors, and bowed. "…Rare Hertz Yora. Born to the Irundai clan…You are…Hiltz Sierra…are you not?"

"Yes, I am he."

"…Please…help me…This man…" She pointed at Payne's leering form. "…he is…evil. Zoidians kept some of us alive…but he takes everything…"

"I know. And I'm afraid I do as well."

She cowered. "But you…!!"

Hiltz leaned closer and spoke to the female, Rhyss couldn't hear what he said, but when he moved back he pushed her to the ground and held her there under his boot. "Into the machine."

The female nodded and was released, and then moved forward, hobbling a little from old injuries. She wore rags, but Rhyss could see how destroyed her body was beneath it, how weak she was. Yora stood on the little raised platform and a moment later was encased in glass as it slid up to greet a similar installation in the ceiling. A strange fluid tinged a faint blue filled the cylinder, but she didn't struggle, instead, as her body was buoyed upwards, she curled into the foetal position.

"Initiate the second sequence." Payne barked. One of the technicians pressed a button or two, and from the top and bottom of the cylinder a number of mechanical arms came down and positioned themselves around the Yora's hunched form. "Okay, begin the construction sequence."

The tips of the arms glowed, and the glow crawled over Yora until she could no longer be seen. To their left, the other half of the machine swung into action, the vast pod hanging over a pool of coolant large enough to hold a DeathStinger and a half powering up. Lightning crackled up and down it's length and finally it centred itself, becoming a tiny orb. That orb grew, becoming a Zoid core, which then flared and allowed the newborn Zoid to grow around it…

Rhyss stared, fascinated. So this was how it was done! She could sense Yora's growing weakness, but at the same time the rising strength of the Zoid. It continued to grow and expand, coloured completely white and there was a flicker from Yora as she returned back to her original form, only now she just…floated. The casing around the Zoid opened, dropping it into the coolant, and the surface began to boil

The newborn was afraid, unsure…

Ignored by the Reapers, the Rare Hertz died quietly, with a final whisper of redemption for the red-head's soul, as the coolant heaved and spluttered as the newborn was released.

Standing as new, glowing faintly at its joints was a perfect DarkSpiner.

Hiltz grinned, stepped forward and patting it's closest talon he turned to Payne.

"So boss, does it come in red?"

~ to be continued

By the way, the whole willingness to serve? I never said who now, did I?!

In case you didn't pick up, yes, Hiltz has Brad's coat from NC0. Is it the same one? I don't know, maybe Brad nicked it. I don't care what anyone says and how many years have passed from CC/GF to NC0, Brad does not look a thing like Moonbay and Irvine. Jack Sisco maybe, that's why I gave Irvine that last name, but not Brad. Just because Irvine and Van knew each other doesn't mean that their proverbial kids or grandkids would work on the same team. And who says Bit is Van's descendant? I wish people would stop saying that, it is so very annoying. We're not told. We don't know.

Besides, if you ask me, Brad looks like Hiltz. *Runs away giggling*