Authors note: Hey all. I know it's been awhile... sorry about that. But
I do have an actually good excuse this time. I got a job! Oh, and I just
got out of school! Yay!
Glad you all liked the last chapter, I know it was long... sorry about that. And i'll have to apologize... this ones a whopper too.
CHAPTER SIX
"...But it was only a nightmare..."
"...All nightmares must eventually end..."
....................................................
It was starting to become unbearable to Kyuusai.
The nightmares... the migraines.. the sickness... it was getting worse...
He feared he was starting to loose his mind. At times, he would just kind of zone out and think he was back on Earth. He sometimes became confused... and didn't know what to do. He always thought about Bryce and Waki....
It seemed his only sanity anymore was his three new friends... His team, the Battlehawks. And he knew, that if all the confusion would just go away.... he'd be happy... happy living with these people, in this world that he had come to. Grief for the Earth and his old friends would pass, and he would remember them in his heart...
But for some damn reason... the confusion just wouldn't pass. He could never truly be happy if his thoughts were constantly bombarding his mind about Earth... And it drove him to become very angry at times.. blaming humans and their foolishness.. He started keeping a journal... to take his mind off the past. But it didn't seem to work. He usually ended up writing about something on Earth... or about Earth.
"Why...?" He asked himself one morning, as he walked down the hall. He was startled to hear April yelling...
"I'll kill him!" April yelled, and the sound of struggling followed. There was a yelp from what sounded like Jeremy, and a huge thud, with a crash that sounded like a vase or something had crashed to the floor, "Let go of me this instant!"
"Calm down April!" Ryan yelled back.
"Screw you! Let me go you asshole!"
"Not until you calm down!" Ryan seemed to be the calmer of the two... There was another fit of struggling... a sound of someone being pushed into the couch, and crying...
Kyuusai rushed down the hallway and looked into the room. Jeremy was obviously in pain, and it appeared that he had received a blow to his... nether regions... Ryan was forcefully holding a very angry, struggling April down on the couch. To the left of the couch a bowl that had held candies had crashed to the floor, sending the small, chocolate treats everywhere.
"Let go!" April continued to scream, as Kyuusai approached. He looked at her and was surprised to see tears rolling down her cheeks.
"NO!" Ryan yelled back, "April, you have to calm down, now!"
"What happened?" Kyuusai asked Jeremy, who had started getting to his feet.
"She kicked me!" Jeremy cringed...
"No, I meant what happened that's making her so upset?" Kyuusai answered.
Jeremy was silent, Kyuusai had guessed that it was something he was upset about too. Getting no answer from him, Kyuusai was rather surprised to hear it coming from April.
"That damn asshole... I'll kill him..." She sobbed, she had been struggling until now, and it seemed that she had realized there was no way she was going to get loose from Ryan, who was bigger and stronger than she was by far, "Kyuusai... Drias... Drias... he attacked Lam..."
"What?" Kyuusai was shocked.
Ryan frowned, "Calm down April. Lamium is still alive. Calm down..."
"I'll kill him... I'll show him. He... He" She had completely stopped struggling, and Ryan slowly, and gently let go of her arms. She had a couple bruises, which showed just how roughly Ryan had to hold her so she wouldn't get away...
"April..." Jeremy looked over at her, he too was rather upset.
"Shhh..." Ryan knelt down in front of here and tried to get her to stop crying, "Lam's gonna be ok. He's alive.. We'll go see him in the hospital once you calm down, ok?"
April pounded her fist into the couch, and continued to sob, "He... He..."
"It's all right..." Jeremy said, he tried to perk up, "How about some breakfast, You've been up for a while now, I know you must be hungry."
Ryan nodded at Jeremy like it was a good idea, and then sighed, standing up, and scratching the back of his head, "April, you can't do anything stupid, you know that."
"Shut up." April had stopped crying, and was now sitting with her head against her knee's, buried in her arms.
Ryan sighed again and shrugged to Kyuusai, then went to help Jeremy with the breakfast. Kyuusai, unsure of what to do, sat down on the couch and turned on the television.
It was silent the entire time Jeremy and Ryan cooked, and halfway through breakfast. April hadn't really eaten much, when she decided she'd rather go sit in the main room and watch television.
"Why does he keep getting away with doing things like that?" Jeremy sighed.
"He works for a big organization right?" Kyuusai asked, Ryan nodded, "He's only one member then. If they plan on starting a war, the ZBC would be more focused on the organization itself rather than the individual people. If one member of this organization keeps causing "annoyances" they will probably just hold out, and try and stop the main organization. With no organization, there are no members, and there is no threat. Then they would take care of those who continued to cause trouble."
"What?" Jeremy seemed confused.
"Well, think of it this way. When you go after a bee's colony, you don't go after each individual bee. Yes, they sting, but they are tolerable until you can disband them. You go after the queen. In this case, Gabrielle. If you get rid of the queen, the bee's have no one to take orders from." He paused, "The organization would scatter... They would stop, because they no longer have the protection of Gabrielle. Then the ZBC would bother with the small fries." He stopped to think, "Unless they were easy to catch and dumb enough to get caught.."
"That's bullshit." Ryan said.
"Well, if Gabrielle wants a war, that's how war is played. Smaller armies don't matter. Lets say there are three major countries against a more powerful "good" force. Lets say one of these countries leads the others, and is busy taking things over. It is the strongest, "Kyuusai explained, "Sure, the good guy's would hold back the smaller armies, but they would not attack them directly. They would hold them off just enough to stop them from gaining power that is enough to cause a threat. Then, they would proceed with the main mission, which would be to take out the strongest enemy first. With no leader, the other countries would either scatter, surrender or try to fight, but would loose very very quickly. Usually in war surrender is the best option." Kyuusai was basing this analysis somewhat on one of the ancient wars on Earth, World War II, where a man named Hitler was the threat. He didn't state this though, because the others would know nothing of World War II.
"It's like a big game of chess. You go after the king, sacrifice your pieces when you need to, and only take out those in your way. If you see some pieces gathering up or getting dangerously close to your king, you worry about them, but only until they are no longer a threat... then you just go after the opponents king again."
"How do you know so much about war?" Ryan asked.
Kyuusai grinned slightly, almost dumbly.
Trying to hide the fact that he was a war tactician and scientist was not an easy job, and he didn't want to blow his cover by seeming like he knew to much, "Uhh... It was a major point of interest for me growing up... I liked learning and reading about wars and tactics and such...."
"But that's not exactly right is it?" Jeremy asked.
"What do you mean?" Kyuusai replied, curious. His analysis had seemed fairly accurate to himself.
"Well, you said that people only worry about the big threat. Well... It's like if you think about the war with Van Fly-height. He was one individual person, on the loosing side of the war... yet twice he was able to defeat the strongest power in the world. The deathsaurer. Yes, he had friends and people that had helped him, but compared to the power of the deathsaurer they were nothing. Uhh... I guess kinda like a pawn winning over a king."
Kyuusai was a bit intrigued by this. He had read about the war with the monstrous zoid, the Deathstinger, and the hero, Van Fly-height... yet he did not read into the details. He would have to at one point.
"Well, whatever. It doesn't really matter." Ryan said, "Drias is able to get away with the things he does for whatever reason." He noticed everyone else done, then nodded, "Lets go to the hospital to see Lamium.." He picked up the plates and Jeremy and Kyuusai both went to their respective rooms to get ready. April did the same, and soon, they were off to Saurian city.
...............................................
They had decided to take the gustav, and had gotten to the hospital within a few hours. April had remained quiet the entire time, while Jeremy, Ryan, and even Kyuusai had tried to cheer her up.
Once at the hospital April rushed up to Lamiums room, the others following at her heals. She entered the room and shivered as the burst of air conditioning hit her. Lamium was lying in the bed, watching television. As soon as he had heard the doors swoosh open he had turned to see April standing there with tears in her eyes.
"Hey sweetheart..." Lamium said, sitting up. He cringed a bit, "Im glad your ok."
"Shut up you stupid old man." April said rushing over to the side of the bed and giving him a gentle hug, "Im so glad your ok..."
"Of course I am." Lamium smiled, stroking April's hair, "Nothin but a few bruises, burns and 2 broken ribs. Oh, and a minor concussion."
"I can't believe he actually went after you." Jeremy stated as he entered the room. Ryan gave a slight wave, and Kyuusai followed them silently.
"Oh, you all came?" Lamium asked, then smiled, "Well then, hello everyone. Take a seat."
Everyone sat down and talked for a while, about various things. Apparently Drias had set fire to Lamiums home, then jumped him when he had tried to make his escape.
"That's horrible..." April was almost to the point of tears again, "Lam... Im sorry... it's me he's after..."
"Stop that." Lamium's voice cut her off sharply, "It is not your fault, nor has it ever been. Drias is a cruel man, he has no reason for his actions, you, above everyone else should know that."
"Lam... He went after you to get at me..."
"April!" It was Lamiums turn to become angry, "Do not say another word. I will not argue with you... It was not your fault. Don't turn your head away from me young lady... Look at me. There. Now you listen to me. If I hear of you doing anything to try and get back at Drias for this..."
"I won't do anything Lam... But now you listen to me, sir." April sneered, and looked him strait in the eye, "I swear if he ever does anything to you again he will be sorry. I will not let him get away with it. He has taken everything from me. He will not take you as well." With that she left, slamming the door behind her.
"We better get going Lamium..." Ryan said, "Im glad your all right."
"Of course." Lamium sighed, "And you and Jeremy better not do anything either... you hear me?"
"We won't Lam." Jeremy assured him, "You take it easy all right."
Ryan and Jeremy turned to leave, and Kyuusai was about to follow them.
"Kyuusai... can I talk to you alone for a minute..." Lamium said, his voice sounding oddly hollow... It alone almost startled the young (or old, depending on how you were to look at it) tactician. Jeremy and Ryan paused, turning back to see what was going on.
"Uhh... sure..." Kyuusai said quietly, facing Lamium.
"Jeremy, Ryan, you two go ahead. I need to speak with him about something private. And I don't want you listening. If you do, I'll have a nurse escort you outside."
"Ok... Uh... we'll be waiting at the gustav Kyuusai..." Jeremy shrugged, and followed Ryan out the door..
Lamium shoved himself out of bed, cringing irritably. Kyuusai wasn't sure what to do, and tried to help the man up. Lamium refused, stumbled a bit, then slowly made his way over to the door. He looked down the hallway, pleased to see Ryan and Jeremy had followed his wishes.
"They're good kids..." Lamium sighed, his older age showing in his face, "They've always been good kids. Couldn't have asked for better even if they were my own kids..." He turned to face Kyuusai, an almost desperate look on his face, "Kyuusai... I... I want you to forgive me..."
"What?" Kyuusai wasn't catching on...
"April, Jeremy and Ryan... They are such good young people... always caring about others... and they are the best of friends... so close... I want you to leave the Battlehawks Kyuusai."
"Sir?" Confusion swept over Kyuusai. What was Lamium talking about? "What are you saying... why do you want me to forgive you?...for what? Why do you want me to leave them?"
"April was always a loner you know... When she first came to me, she was so quiet. And, believe it or not, a little brat. But I couldn't blame her.... No family left. Drias had taken it from her..." Lamium walked over to the window, and glanced out... he could see the gustav from his room, "She hated me... though not in the sense that you normally hate someone... She hated me because... because I wasn't her father."
Kyuusai remained silent. Lamium was an intelligent man... and Kyuusai was sure there was a point to this story. But his statement about leaving the battlehawks baffled him. Why? Why did he want him to leave the team?
"She used to be so mean to Jeremy and Ryan.. you know, girls grow up first... she, at one time was much bigger than them, height wise anyway, and she used to think that made her dominant over them. She was so mean... I remember one time... well... never mind.. I don't think they'd appreciate me talking about that... but anyway... She eventually grew more mature... and eventually, she realized... Well, I guess she released that Jeremy and Ryan were the closest thing to family she could claim having... and after that, well, you see how close they are."
"Almost inseparable..." Kyuusai's thoughts had drifted once again back to earth... and without thinking, the young tactician whispered, "Like Bryce, Waki and I..." He immediately slapped himself mentally, releasing he had said it out loud.
Lamium nodded, suddenly growing more serious, "Yes. Miss Waki Funahashi, and Mr. Bryce Garcia."
Kyuusai's eyes widened. No one on Zi knew those names. They were gone. They had not been spoken aloud since the Lyra satellite. A shot of confusion, fear and unease ran strongly through his spine.
"I know who you are Mr. Itsuro. You... You are an Earthling... one of the original humans to land on Zi."
"H..." Kyuusai stopped. He was too shocked to even finish asking how.
"You were one of the first three humans from the planet of Earth, the humans original planet, to be cryogenically frozen and sent into space. Kyuusai Itsuro, the top ranking tactician on Earth. You came up with the theory that could save the entire planet. A young, Japanese tactician for the N.A...."
Kyuusai took a step back, his ever lightening orange eyes almost fearful... he tried to regain his composure, "No... No... I have no clue what your talking about Lamium... I think you hit your head to hard..."
"Stop your act. I know who you are. Do you know how surprised I was to see your face the first time.. I almost didn't believe it. I thought, no, it has to be a coincidence.." He kept his eyes on Kyuusai, "Then to hear your name... I kept telling myself it was just some odd coincidence... that it couldn't be."
Kyuusai stared at the rambling man in front of him, a man who he barely knew, yet the man knew almost everything about him.
"I mean, dear Lord! I kept telling myself it had to be. I thought I was crazy. It couldn't be the same man. This Kyuusai fellow... How could it. It just couldn't! By God he would have to be over 9000 years old!" Lamium continued, all the while calmly, like he had said this a million times before, "Nine thousand!"
Kyuusai was stunned... that number was far larger than he had estimated... Nine thousand, compared to his five thousand...
"Then... I don't know why... But I knew it was you. Perhaps it was because of the fact that you were so naive..." He paused, "Your showing all of the symptoms you know..."
"Symptoms... what?"
"Your eyes... don't think I haven't noticed. They were much much darker before... and you tend to zone out... I know what that means... April told me you get sick every morning... wake up mumbling things... Its side effects you know." Lamium was talking very seriously, "These same side effects were found in 64% of those that were cryogenically frozen. They called it Partial-Cryo-intelecdeterioration-sickness. It was a sickness only found in those directly frozen, and like I said, only 64% of them. None of their offspring had it."
Kyuusai was starting to get frightened... no Zi native should know anything about the cryogenic freezing.
"It slowly damaged the color pigmentation's in the eyes... sometimes damaging sight receptors, causing the infected one to go blind... Some lost muscle mass, some lost hair... But almost all of them were found to have slow deterioration to specific cells of the brain... mostly those concerned with memory, time perception, and conscious thought. It caused many to have horrific nightmares night after night... But the worst was not any of that... the worst was that eventually, the deterioration grew so bad that those infected went insane... not the same kind of mental illness as, lets say, a serial killer... But one that bombarded the infected with old memories, forcing them to relive them like as dreams or nightmares... forgetting the new. One that drove them to be violent and angry.. sometimes having two personalities... or obsessive compulsive. It was described as if the infected ones mind was locked in a pitch black room, to be tormented with old ills and memories that they would rather forget... with no other thing to focus on to take the hurt away... no other thought but to drive them to relive their pasts... it was horrible..." He took a breath, "Often it drove them to harm others.. without releasing what they were doing..."
"What?.." Kyuusai held his breath... suddenly catching on, "I wouldn't... I wouldn't hurt them... Im not insane... I have bad dreams.. so what..."
"Kyuusai, you show almost all of the symptoms... and you can't tell me you haven't zoned out, reliving some memory. You grow angry often thinking about how the Earth was destroyed don't you?" Lamium sighed, "Kyuusai, please forgive me for having to tell you like this... But you are obviously in that 64%..."
Kyuusai suddenly found himself thinking about it.. He did sometimes grow extremely angry and irritable.. but... but he wasn't going crazy.. was he? He cursed as he found himself starting to get angry at this, " Who... Who the hell are you?"
"I..." Lamium seemed hesitant, "I am Lamium Damien Traskar."
Kyuusai's heart skipped a beat. He recognized the name the moment it escaped from the older mans lips. It was a man named Damien Traskar that had been the one to send them off into space. The one in charge of the Lyra satellite... the one who had explained why they couldn't use his theory...
"My ancestor is the same Damien Traskar you knew... I am the only man alive, besides a few ZBC officials, that even know that Earth existed at one time." He paused, "Kyuusai... I have known this information since I was very young... we kept it in our family... in old journals... they are gone now... but.. I do know what I am talking about..." He stopped, "do not hide from me anymore... You are Lead Commander Tactician Kyuusai Itsuro of Earths National Alliance military forces. You were the first to be sent of to space to find a new planet for the humans to live. You grew up in Japan, with Waki Funahashi, and Bryce Garcia, second and third Commander Tacticians. You were told to report to Tokyo main base on the date of October 30th. You practically witnessed the destruction of the Earth, the highly technological human civilization. You are approximately nine thousand, three hundred and one years old. You are within the 64% of those infected by the cryo-disease."
Kyuusai backed up into a chair... collapsing into it, unsure of what to say. He was shocked, angry, and confused... yet impressed.... Impressed that this man knew so much about him... But there was one thing he was wrong about...
"Your wrong..." Kyuusai whispered, "Your wrong... Even if I am going slowly insane... I will never ever hurt those three... the "kids" you keep your eye on so strongly."
"Mr. Itsuro. You are a brilliant tactician, your intelligence higher than no doubtedly almost all of Zi... and that could make you a very dangerous person."
"I am not the same man I was on Earth." Kyuusai stated, anger clearly stinging his voice, "Itsuro is gone... he was just as foolish as all the others... just like you! He gave up you know... He gave up the minute your ancestor said "no, it can't be done" Humans are foolish creatures... And yes, I too am foolish, but not in the same way I was on Earth. I will never let that happen again. I will not loose them like I lost Bryce and Waki. I will not loose them as April lost her family. I won't let it happen! I am not crazy... and even if I was, so what!?"
"Kyuusai, I do know how much it must hurt."
"How could you Lamium? You aren't me. Im not even the same as I used to be, I don't even know how it feels exactly anymore! But I do know this. Those three are my friends, and though I am not as close to them as I was Bryce and Waki, they are the only thing I have... Like How Jeremy and Ryan are the only thing April has."
"Kyuusai, Im asking you to leave the battlehawks team... not to give up your feelings for them. Its for their good, as well as yours. I do not want you to harm them"
"I haven't yet, have I? I have never even come close. Don't you bullshit me like that. You don't even know. You yourself said it was what, 9000 years ago? That's a long time... you didn't even exist back then to see exactly what happened. So shut your foolish old mouth, and listen." His eyes flared with pure anger, yet no hatred for the man in front of him, "I am a foolish man... all humans are. That is why we have wars, hatred and dominance over all we come across. But that foolishness will not drive me to harm a hair on either of those three's heads... ever. If it did, I assure you I would be gone in a flash. I lost too much to give up again... that would be even more foolish than ever!"
With that Kyuusai grabbed his coat, and quickly made his way to the door. He stopped before walking out... and without bothering to face Lamium said, "I like you lamium.. always have. Your a good man... and I know that your worried about those three... But way back when I first joined up with them, you asked me to protect April... well... look at me now as you did back then. I will not let anything happen to them.. .from my own cause or others. Good-bye sir." He quickly stepped out the door and down the hall. He could feel the anger in his body, swarming like an angry pack of wasps. Perhaps Lamium was right about him going insane... but he was wrong about him.
................................................
The ride back to the base was uneventful, save the eerie silence between the battlehawks. When Jeremy and Ryan questioned about what Lamium wanted to speak about, Kyuusai told them he'd tell them later... with no obvious intention to follow through on that statement. April, all the while, was extremely quiet.
The few following days after that were also quite uneventful... except for the fact that Kyuusai seemed to keep himself in his room, to himself more... and April seemed abnormally quiet.
Kyuusai had noticed that he had gotten worse when it came to how he zoned out, and grew angry... or insane... His nightmares had gotten worse.. and he found himself thinking more of Earth, and less of Zi. He found himself, just as Lamium had said, reliving Earth... and it scared him.
It was about a month later that the young tactician decided to leave. It had gotten out of hand. He found himself muttering about Earth without meaning to... He also found himself angering much more quickly... much more violently ... luckily no one noticed. He decided that he would leave during the night, when no one was up...
Only, someone was up. As he carried his bags out through the main room, he was surprised to see April sitting quietly watching him from the couch.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"Uh... I got a call.. something came up... I'll be back in a couple of days..." Kyuusai lied... A few days, or never... like how it was a few days till he had to go to the satellite.... Wait.. no... no.. that was a long time ago.. That wasn't right...
Kyuusai stumbled a bit, shaking off his thoughts... he was once again reliving an old memory... he had to leave...
"So why are you going now?" April asked quietly, watching him intently, "Is there something wrong?"
"I just have to go, ok?" Kyuusai said, "I have to do something..." He had to save the Earth... NO! no no no that happened before... that wasn't what was happening now...
He said good-bye, and not to worry, and to tell Jeremy and Ryan he'd be back soon, then quickly took his leave. He had to go... He didn't want to cause any trouble for them... Did he cause trouble for them? He hoped not, he never wanted to be a bother...
He threw his things into the shield ligars cockpit, then climbed in himself, pushing everything to the back. He brought the zoid to life, closing the cockpit with a sigh... was he doing the right thing... leaving like that, without telling them? He... he never did tell them who he really was. They did deserve to know... They were so kind go him.
He pushed the zoid outside, and began to run... He didn't know where. Maybe he could go to Saurian city. He could get a room there, and decide what to do after that. He could plan his next move... maybe send a letter to the Battlehawks explaining about everything... He could tell them about Earth... and Waki and Bryce... and who he was really...
His thoughts drifted back to Earth... His friends were waiting for him, outside his apartment complex... They always walked together to work... Unless Bryce drove.. Today he was driving... Waki was in the back... she always sat in back. Said she liked more space.
She would reach her arms around his and Bryce's shoulders, putting her head in between theirs. Bryce muttered something about having to drive... then laughed...
Waki would smile and tug on Bryce a bit, then say "fine.. I'll just hang with Kyuusai then. Then she would hang on Kyuusai's shoulders. It was not anything to do with them loving each other or anything like that. They were just close friends... or well, he had a thing for Waki once.. but it was only a phase when they were younger... It had passed a long time before that.
Bryce would say "Aww... no fair... Kyuusai always gets the cute girls..." and they would all laugh...
And Kyuusai would daydream. He would see the Earth covered in bright green grass, tree's and flowers... he imagined the animals... Gentle rains... a brilliant sunrise... soft, billowing clouds...
And Waki would be there with Bryce... standing there, holding out her hand.. waiting for him to join them... Their feet were planted on soft grass... and then... there was a strait line of where that grass met metal and concrete. The real Earth... Kyuusai was standing with his feet just in front of that line.
Standing there... Waki smiled, Bryce grinned... Her hand was extended towards him... And he reached up to take it.
Bryce laughed, "What are you waiting for man? Come on... take a look... This is all your hard work! It's amazing... Beautiful... I've never imagined the Earth so alive..."
And then... he would reach out... and his hand would swipe nothing. Waki was gone. Bryce was gone. The grass, the beautiful flowers... the tree's were gone. There was no sky. No brilliant sunrise. No clouds... No rain... no gentle breeze...
Just an endless plain of concrete and metal.
And he heard her scream, "Kyuusai...!"
Kyuusai suddenly snapped out of his sudden fit and looked ahead. He was still inside the shield ligar, which was still running along the desert sands. He was confused... He could have sworn he was just with Waki and Bryce...
No... Waki and Bryce were dead.
"Kyuusai!"
"God dammit, Kyuusai open communications!"
The tactician snapped out of his confusion and pushed a small button, and a screen showing Ryan popped up in front of him.
"What happened?!" Kyuusai demanded, after he had seen his friends face. Ryan had received a blow to the head... Exactly where he couldn't tell, his dark hair was matted down and in the way. Blood streaked down the side and part of the front of his face, and a large bruise was starting to blacken just below his lip... which had a small cut on it as well.
"Drias... Drias found the base... Kyuusai we need your help..."
"What? How?"
"I don't know... He... We're trying to stop him, but he brought too many of his friends... We don't know what to do Kyuusai. April... April's fighting with him now... She.. She's not winning..." Ryan cringed painfully, and the screen shook. Obviously he had been hit, "He got us before we could even get into the zoids..."
"Im on my way... Just try to hold them off. I promise I'll be there soon." Kyuusai cursed, and turned the ligar around quickly. He pushed it's speed to the max, his mind racing, his own daydreams and insane hallucinations on hold. His friends were in trouble... he would not let his problems get in the way. Waki, Bryce, and the Earth would not get in his way. God help any human who decided to try and get in his way.
..................................
He got there just in time to see Ryan's pteras come crashing brutally to the ground. It had been shot down by a Salamander... The aerial zoid Kyuusai had at one time admired...
He could see Jeremy's saber fang collapsed a little bit off to his left... it's legs severed completely off. A few dark green rev raptors were still tearing into it's armor, slicing of each piece individually.
April's Konig wolf was nowhere in sight.
Immediately he tried to open up communications with his three friends... and cursed when he was only able to bring up 2 screens, Ryan and Jeremy's... Both of whom were unconscious... Both of whom already looked dead...
Rage quickly built up inside Kyuusai, worse than it ever had before. An uncontrollable, all out, hate filled rage. He grasped the controls tightly in his grip, angry tears streaming down his face. He had told Lamium he would protect them. He bit down, his black bangs hanging in front of his flashing eyes... He cringed his teeth together. He would not loose them too.
He told Lamium that he would not hurt them... He would protect them. Mixed memories flashed in front of his eyes... He couldn't stop them... He saw his new friends... and his old. The Earth and Zi... He saw the same scene played out by Waki, Bryce and himself, then by April Ryan and Jeremy...
He pushed forward on one of his controls, bringing a custom mounted machine gun located on his ligars back to fire head on towards the Salamander. Apparently the pilot had not noticed his arrival, and had no time to react. The large, magnificent flying zoid spiraled uncontrollably to the ground, crashing in a large explosion as a fire engulfed all it's ammunition. Brilliant hot flames sprung up from the wreckage... just as it started to rain.
He turned his crazed anger towards the rev raptors... Who had by know noticed his sudden attack. Quickly they left their previous prey to stalk this new annoyance.
Kyuusai yelled angrily, shoving his zoid towards them. He brought back the ligars claws, and in one clean sweep, be-headed one of the enemy's before him... instantly he turned to tackle another, not caring that one of it's blades had impaled his ligars leg. The next one fell victim to his machine guns, the cockpit completely shot out.
All the while he saw flashes of memories... he saw Waki and Bryce just before the hibernation chambers closed... He felt the same emotions... He saw flashes of what would be memories... if he had been conscious... Stars all around him... pitch black space... Stars.. and an explosion... The Earth.
All this brought him back to one thought... Humans were foolish, undeserving creatures. They deserved to be destroyed... The Earth had been their home... and they had destroyed it... The same thing was happening on Zi.. slowly, but surely. He would have thought that humans would have learned their lesson.. Thought that they wouldn't have anymore fighting... anymore murdering, conspiracies... war...
But it was just a thought. He knew that it would never be like that. Humans. Foolish, foolish humans... It was in their "dominant intelligent" nature.
He snapped back... his thoughts screaming at him, 'These people deserve to die.... They will die. I won't let them hurt my friends... Not again!'
And before he knew it... in one hazy flash... the rev raptors were gone... and his ligar was the only zoid left standing.
"Jeremy... Ryan!" He yelled at the two screens in front of him. Slowly Jeremy came to, his eyes blinking weakly. He tried to move... but stopped, obviously in pain.
"Don't move... Im coming..." Kyuusai instructed. It was then that Ryan shivered... coughed up a bit of blood and opened his eyes...
"Kyuusai..." Ryan wheezed..., "Tha... That was amazing..." Ryan whispered.
"What?"
"I watched you take out those zoids..." Ryan continued to whisper, a thin, weak smile coming to his lips, "Amazing... I didn't know... you... you were so good..." He groaned, "But I knew you'd come to help us..."
"Don't try to talk if you can't..." Kyuusai demanded. Being a military man, he had seen a lot of wounded people... It had never phased him... But this time it was his friends. He was in a fit of panic. He couldn't stop the old memories from surfacing, yet he couldn't stop thinking about their well being... He had to get control of himself.
"I... There's a piece of metal stabbed between my ribs..." Ryan muttered, his eyes showing almost no emotions... only a bit of glee... and pain...
"Im coming...!" Kyuusai cursed, pushing his zoid towards the fallen Pteras.
"No..." Ryan cursed, "Im... Im all right... Find April...."
April! Kyuusai suddenly remembered, and quickly looked around. Just as he came to a stop a large roar was heard... followed by a strange, unfamiliar voice.
"Oh... look what we have here..."
"Drias..." Jeremy and Ryan hissed at the same time.
"A hero's come to save the day...."
Out of the dark, rainy shadows ahead of him, Kyuusai witnessed a huge zoid slowly move towards him. It was dark green in color, stood on two legs, and was similar to the raptor type... like a gunsniper, or genosaurer. Only this zoid was much much larger... and had a large spine of "spines" on it's back... A name suddenly sprung into Kyuusai's mind. Dark spiner. He had read about it once.
But Kyuusai only quickly thought about the incredibly rare zoid in front of him... His thoughts were focused on what the zoid was dragging in it's mouth.
"April!" Jeremy yelled, pain and fear streaking across his face.
The Dark spiner was dragging the top half of the konig wolf by it's head, within it's large jaws. If Drias were to apply any more pressure, the Konig wolf's head would be crushed.
"Im not sure if she can hear you buddy." Drias grinned, his face appearing on their screens.
It was the first time Kyuusai had seen the man. And his appearance was nothing like he had imagined. He was average height, with an average build. He had a slight "little boyish" look to his face, with dark, violet eyes. His hair was wavy and blond, reaching just below his ears. He had two visible scars on his face. Both running down along his cheeks, starting from the corners of his eyes. He had obviously done it himself for show.
"Drias let her go!" Ryan spat, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.
"Oh... but I like playing with her. Its so much fun." Drias smiled, a cruel, ugly smile that sent a chill down Kyuusai's spine.
"I'll tell you what.... Let the hero kid here come and take her from me... then I'll let her go..." Drias said.
"Im not a kid." Kyuusai muttered, his eyes focused on the zoid in front of him, "Let her go."
"You're a lot younger then me... so I'll call you a kid if I want to. I call anyone younger than me kid. Im 38 years old... your obviously no older than 21 or so." Drias seemed interested in bringing a common conversation into the mix, "I know I don't look it. April's a bit young for me you know... But she's cute. Too bad she don't like me... All I did was kill her dad. You know, it was interesting, he almost escaped. Heh... I splattered his brains against a wall.... poor guy. Hey, you can't say I wasn't merciful... at least it was quick. You know the last thing he said..."
"You'd be surprised just how old I am." Kyuusai cut him off. He didn't want to hear it. He could feel his rage building up again, his blood red hatred for this man singing out against all his other emotions. He could only think that if he was insane... what was this man? He must have truly been sick...
"... really?" Drias looked a bit baffled, "Hmm... well anyway.. he said 'no.. no don't... I have to get back to April... She needs me. I love her...' or something like that. I don't remember exactly. It was so fun killing him I guess I just forgot."
"Shut up." Kyuusai demanded, pushing the ligar forward.
Drias grinned, dropping the konig wolf to the ground, and turning to completely face his new opponent, "What's this? The hero finally wants to play?"
"Go to hell!" Kyuusai pushed the ligar forward, at full speed to rush at the much larger zoid ahead of him.
"Boys!" Drias called, and out of the darkness came two more zoids... their dangerous frames coming to full view. Genosaueres.
The two Genosaueres had somehow gotten in front of both Jeremy and Ryans zoids. Both aimed their charged particle guns strait at the cockpits.
"You coward." Kyuusai whispered, "Coward..."
Drias smiled, "Look at that... The Hero's lost his nerve."
Kyuusai cursed, his anger almost blinding him. He reached down to grasp the controls once more, and slowly pushed forward on them.
"Kyu... Kyuusai..." April's voice came over his intercom, and he stopped. He tried to open a com screen, but to no success. April's zoid was totaled, and the com screen wouldn't work.
"Kyuusai.. Lamium... He told us..." April whispered, "After you left... Lamium told us who you were... We went out to find you, because we were worried... that's how Drias found us...."
Kyuusai was in shock... They knew... they knew who he was... what he was.
"Kyuusai.. it doesn't matter to us who you were that long ago, who cares if you were a tactician... or what might happen..." April continued... suddenly to be cut off by Drias.
"This is getting dry. Lets spice things up a bit." He aimed his Charged particle cannon at the cockpit of the konig wolf and began charging. Kyuusai was in shock, barely noticing the genosaurars acting similarly.
"Kyuusai.."
"I won't." Kyuusai swore...
Drias grinned, as the white light grew a bit brighter.
"I won't loose you three too." Kyuusai's rage built up more. They knew... lamium had told them.
Lamium had told them... even though he didn't want them to know.
Kyuusai pushed forward, as fast as the zoid would go. He had to save them... he had to save them... and Waki and Bryce.
"I'll save them..." Kyuusai whispered. His eyes blazing. He was back in his own little world. Was it Earth or Zi? His new friends? Or Waki and Bryce?
"Kyuusai..." Jeremy coughed, "Thanks... you... you came back when we were in trouble... you did protect us..."
"Yeah..." Ryan added, "You did... you were awesome... We just weren't good enough to hold off long enough..."
"Kyuusai.. just... don't forget us ok...?" April said quietly... or was it Waki? He couldn't tell. Their voices melded together.
The explosion of white light was tremendous.
.........................................
Kyuusai could barely remember what happened after that. Just flashes. Drias had taunted him a bit, and before he knew it he was on top of the dark spiner, tearing at its head with the ligars claws.
He had taken a few hits... he thought... and had torn the cockpit clean out of the spiners head, tossing it to the ground.
Then next thing he saw was the genosaueres collapsing to the ground, one had its legs torn off... the other it's head.
Then... he remembered somehow getting Drias's gun.
"What are you gonna do kid? Shoot me?" Drias taunted.
"Im not a kid." Kyuusai answered.
"Then how old are you... 24 maybe?" Drias laughed, "A tactician huh... a tactician is a wimp... they aren't the ones that fight."
"Try nine thousand." Drias's eyes widened and Kyuusai pulled the trigger, unfazed by the fact that Drias's brains were now scattered across the sands, "I'll show you. I'll show you all just how dangerous one simple tactician can be."
............................
But none of that mattered now. It was in the past.
..............End of chapter six.....................
Authors note: Whew... just a bit more. The epilogue. go check it out, posting it at the same time as this chapter. Don't forget to tell me whatcha think.
Glad you all liked the last chapter, I know it was long... sorry about that. And i'll have to apologize... this ones a whopper too.
CHAPTER SIX
"...But it was only a nightmare..."
"...All nightmares must eventually end..."
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It was starting to become unbearable to Kyuusai.
The nightmares... the migraines.. the sickness... it was getting worse...
He feared he was starting to loose his mind. At times, he would just kind of zone out and think he was back on Earth. He sometimes became confused... and didn't know what to do. He always thought about Bryce and Waki....
It seemed his only sanity anymore was his three new friends... His team, the Battlehawks. And he knew, that if all the confusion would just go away.... he'd be happy... happy living with these people, in this world that he had come to. Grief for the Earth and his old friends would pass, and he would remember them in his heart...
But for some damn reason... the confusion just wouldn't pass. He could never truly be happy if his thoughts were constantly bombarding his mind about Earth... And it drove him to become very angry at times.. blaming humans and their foolishness.. He started keeping a journal... to take his mind off the past. But it didn't seem to work. He usually ended up writing about something on Earth... or about Earth.
"Why...?" He asked himself one morning, as he walked down the hall. He was startled to hear April yelling...
"I'll kill him!" April yelled, and the sound of struggling followed. There was a yelp from what sounded like Jeremy, and a huge thud, with a crash that sounded like a vase or something had crashed to the floor, "Let go of me this instant!"
"Calm down April!" Ryan yelled back.
"Screw you! Let me go you asshole!"
"Not until you calm down!" Ryan seemed to be the calmer of the two... There was another fit of struggling... a sound of someone being pushed into the couch, and crying...
Kyuusai rushed down the hallway and looked into the room. Jeremy was obviously in pain, and it appeared that he had received a blow to his... nether regions... Ryan was forcefully holding a very angry, struggling April down on the couch. To the left of the couch a bowl that had held candies had crashed to the floor, sending the small, chocolate treats everywhere.
"Let go!" April continued to scream, as Kyuusai approached. He looked at her and was surprised to see tears rolling down her cheeks.
"NO!" Ryan yelled back, "April, you have to calm down, now!"
"What happened?" Kyuusai asked Jeremy, who had started getting to his feet.
"She kicked me!" Jeremy cringed...
"No, I meant what happened that's making her so upset?" Kyuusai answered.
Jeremy was silent, Kyuusai had guessed that it was something he was upset about too. Getting no answer from him, Kyuusai was rather surprised to hear it coming from April.
"That damn asshole... I'll kill him..." She sobbed, she had been struggling until now, and it seemed that she had realized there was no way she was going to get loose from Ryan, who was bigger and stronger than she was by far, "Kyuusai... Drias... Drias... he attacked Lam..."
"What?" Kyuusai was shocked.
Ryan frowned, "Calm down April. Lamium is still alive. Calm down..."
"I'll kill him... I'll show him. He... He" She had completely stopped struggling, and Ryan slowly, and gently let go of her arms. She had a couple bruises, which showed just how roughly Ryan had to hold her so she wouldn't get away...
"April..." Jeremy looked over at her, he too was rather upset.
"Shhh..." Ryan knelt down in front of here and tried to get her to stop crying, "Lam's gonna be ok. He's alive.. We'll go see him in the hospital once you calm down, ok?"
April pounded her fist into the couch, and continued to sob, "He... He..."
"It's all right..." Jeremy said, he tried to perk up, "How about some breakfast, You've been up for a while now, I know you must be hungry."
Ryan nodded at Jeremy like it was a good idea, and then sighed, standing up, and scratching the back of his head, "April, you can't do anything stupid, you know that."
"Shut up." April had stopped crying, and was now sitting with her head against her knee's, buried in her arms.
Ryan sighed again and shrugged to Kyuusai, then went to help Jeremy with the breakfast. Kyuusai, unsure of what to do, sat down on the couch and turned on the television.
It was silent the entire time Jeremy and Ryan cooked, and halfway through breakfast. April hadn't really eaten much, when she decided she'd rather go sit in the main room and watch television.
"Why does he keep getting away with doing things like that?" Jeremy sighed.
"He works for a big organization right?" Kyuusai asked, Ryan nodded, "He's only one member then. If they plan on starting a war, the ZBC would be more focused on the organization itself rather than the individual people. If one member of this organization keeps causing "annoyances" they will probably just hold out, and try and stop the main organization. With no organization, there are no members, and there is no threat. Then they would take care of those who continued to cause trouble."
"What?" Jeremy seemed confused.
"Well, think of it this way. When you go after a bee's colony, you don't go after each individual bee. Yes, they sting, but they are tolerable until you can disband them. You go after the queen. In this case, Gabrielle. If you get rid of the queen, the bee's have no one to take orders from." He paused, "The organization would scatter... They would stop, because they no longer have the protection of Gabrielle. Then the ZBC would bother with the small fries." He stopped to think, "Unless they were easy to catch and dumb enough to get caught.."
"That's bullshit." Ryan said.
"Well, if Gabrielle wants a war, that's how war is played. Smaller armies don't matter. Lets say there are three major countries against a more powerful "good" force. Lets say one of these countries leads the others, and is busy taking things over. It is the strongest, "Kyuusai explained, "Sure, the good guy's would hold back the smaller armies, but they would not attack them directly. They would hold them off just enough to stop them from gaining power that is enough to cause a threat. Then, they would proceed with the main mission, which would be to take out the strongest enemy first. With no leader, the other countries would either scatter, surrender or try to fight, but would loose very very quickly. Usually in war surrender is the best option." Kyuusai was basing this analysis somewhat on one of the ancient wars on Earth, World War II, where a man named Hitler was the threat. He didn't state this though, because the others would know nothing of World War II.
"It's like a big game of chess. You go after the king, sacrifice your pieces when you need to, and only take out those in your way. If you see some pieces gathering up or getting dangerously close to your king, you worry about them, but only until they are no longer a threat... then you just go after the opponents king again."
"How do you know so much about war?" Ryan asked.
Kyuusai grinned slightly, almost dumbly.
Trying to hide the fact that he was a war tactician and scientist was not an easy job, and he didn't want to blow his cover by seeming like he knew to much, "Uhh... It was a major point of interest for me growing up... I liked learning and reading about wars and tactics and such...."
"But that's not exactly right is it?" Jeremy asked.
"What do you mean?" Kyuusai replied, curious. His analysis had seemed fairly accurate to himself.
"Well, you said that people only worry about the big threat. Well... It's like if you think about the war with Van Fly-height. He was one individual person, on the loosing side of the war... yet twice he was able to defeat the strongest power in the world. The deathsaurer. Yes, he had friends and people that had helped him, but compared to the power of the deathsaurer they were nothing. Uhh... I guess kinda like a pawn winning over a king."
Kyuusai was a bit intrigued by this. He had read about the war with the monstrous zoid, the Deathstinger, and the hero, Van Fly-height... yet he did not read into the details. He would have to at one point.
"Well, whatever. It doesn't really matter." Ryan said, "Drias is able to get away with the things he does for whatever reason." He noticed everyone else done, then nodded, "Lets go to the hospital to see Lamium.." He picked up the plates and Jeremy and Kyuusai both went to their respective rooms to get ready. April did the same, and soon, they were off to Saurian city.
...............................................
They had decided to take the gustav, and had gotten to the hospital within a few hours. April had remained quiet the entire time, while Jeremy, Ryan, and even Kyuusai had tried to cheer her up.
Once at the hospital April rushed up to Lamiums room, the others following at her heals. She entered the room and shivered as the burst of air conditioning hit her. Lamium was lying in the bed, watching television. As soon as he had heard the doors swoosh open he had turned to see April standing there with tears in her eyes.
"Hey sweetheart..." Lamium said, sitting up. He cringed a bit, "Im glad your ok."
"Shut up you stupid old man." April said rushing over to the side of the bed and giving him a gentle hug, "Im so glad your ok..."
"Of course I am." Lamium smiled, stroking April's hair, "Nothin but a few bruises, burns and 2 broken ribs. Oh, and a minor concussion."
"I can't believe he actually went after you." Jeremy stated as he entered the room. Ryan gave a slight wave, and Kyuusai followed them silently.
"Oh, you all came?" Lamium asked, then smiled, "Well then, hello everyone. Take a seat."
Everyone sat down and talked for a while, about various things. Apparently Drias had set fire to Lamiums home, then jumped him when he had tried to make his escape.
"That's horrible..." April was almost to the point of tears again, "Lam... Im sorry... it's me he's after..."
"Stop that." Lamium's voice cut her off sharply, "It is not your fault, nor has it ever been. Drias is a cruel man, he has no reason for his actions, you, above everyone else should know that."
"Lam... He went after you to get at me..."
"April!" It was Lamiums turn to become angry, "Do not say another word. I will not argue with you... It was not your fault. Don't turn your head away from me young lady... Look at me. There. Now you listen to me. If I hear of you doing anything to try and get back at Drias for this..."
"I won't do anything Lam... But now you listen to me, sir." April sneered, and looked him strait in the eye, "I swear if he ever does anything to you again he will be sorry. I will not let him get away with it. He has taken everything from me. He will not take you as well." With that she left, slamming the door behind her.
"We better get going Lamium..." Ryan said, "Im glad your all right."
"Of course." Lamium sighed, "And you and Jeremy better not do anything either... you hear me?"
"We won't Lam." Jeremy assured him, "You take it easy all right."
Ryan and Jeremy turned to leave, and Kyuusai was about to follow them.
"Kyuusai... can I talk to you alone for a minute..." Lamium said, his voice sounding oddly hollow... It alone almost startled the young (or old, depending on how you were to look at it) tactician. Jeremy and Ryan paused, turning back to see what was going on.
"Uhh... sure..." Kyuusai said quietly, facing Lamium.
"Jeremy, Ryan, you two go ahead. I need to speak with him about something private. And I don't want you listening. If you do, I'll have a nurse escort you outside."
"Ok... Uh... we'll be waiting at the gustav Kyuusai..." Jeremy shrugged, and followed Ryan out the door..
Lamium shoved himself out of bed, cringing irritably. Kyuusai wasn't sure what to do, and tried to help the man up. Lamium refused, stumbled a bit, then slowly made his way over to the door. He looked down the hallway, pleased to see Ryan and Jeremy had followed his wishes.
"They're good kids..." Lamium sighed, his older age showing in his face, "They've always been good kids. Couldn't have asked for better even if they were my own kids..." He turned to face Kyuusai, an almost desperate look on his face, "Kyuusai... I... I want you to forgive me..."
"What?" Kyuusai wasn't catching on...
"April, Jeremy and Ryan... They are such good young people... always caring about others... and they are the best of friends... so close... I want you to leave the Battlehawks Kyuusai."
"Sir?" Confusion swept over Kyuusai. What was Lamium talking about? "What are you saying... why do you want me to forgive you?...for what? Why do you want me to leave them?"
"April was always a loner you know... When she first came to me, she was so quiet. And, believe it or not, a little brat. But I couldn't blame her.... No family left. Drias had taken it from her..." Lamium walked over to the window, and glanced out... he could see the gustav from his room, "She hated me... though not in the sense that you normally hate someone... She hated me because... because I wasn't her father."
Kyuusai remained silent. Lamium was an intelligent man... and Kyuusai was sure there was a point to this story. But his statement about leaving the battlehawks baffled him. Why? Why did he want him to leave the team?
"She used to be so mean to Jeremy and Ryan.. you know, girls grow up first... she, at one time was much bigger than them, height wise anyway, and she used to think that made her dominant over them. She was so mean... I remember one time... well... never mind.. I don't think they'd appreciate me talking about that... but anyway... She eventually grew more mature... and eventually, she realized... Well, I guess she released that Jeremy and Ryan were the closest thing to family she could claim having... and after that, well, you see how close they are."
"Almost inseparable..." Kyuusai's thoughts had drifted once again back to earth... and without thinking, the young tactician whispered, "Like Bryce, Waki and I..." He immediately slapped himself mentally, releasing he had said it out loud.
Lamium nodded, suddenly growing more serious, "Yes. Miss Waki Funahashi, and Mr. Bryce Garcia."
Kyuusai's eyes widened. No one on Zi knew those names. They were gone. They had not been spoken aloud since the Lyra satellite. A shot of confusion, fear and unease ran strongly through his spine.
"I know who you are Mr. Itsuro. You... You are an Earthling... one of the original humans to land on Zi."
"H..." Kyuusai stopped. He was too shocked to even finish asking how.
"You were one of the first three humans from the planet of Earth, the humans original planet, to be cryogenically frozen and sent into space. Kyuusai Itsuro, the top ranking tactician on Earth. You came up with the theory that could save the entire planet. A young, Japanese tactician for the N.A...."
Kyuusai took a step back, his ever lightening orange eyes almost fearful... he tried to regain his composure, "No... No... I have no clue what your talking about Lamium... I think you hit your head to hard..."
"Stop your act. I know who you are. Do you know how surprised I was to see your face the first time.. I almost didn't believe it. I thought, no, it has to be a coincidence.." He kept his eyes on Kyuusai, "Then to hear your name... I kept telling myself it was just some odd coincidence... that it couldn't be."
Kyuusai stared at the rambling man in front of him, a man who he barely knew, yet the man knew almost everything about him.
"I mean, dear Lord! I kept telling myself it had to be. I thought I was crazy. It couldn't be the same man. This Kyuusai fellow... How could it. It just couldn't! By God he would have to be over 9000 years old!" Lamium continued, all the while calmly, like he had said this a million times before, "Nine thousand!"
Kyuusai was stunned... that number was far larger than he had estimated... Nine thousand, compared to his five thousand...
"Then... I don't know why... But I knew it was you. Perhaps it was because of the fact that you were so naive..." He paused, "Your showing all of the symptoms you know..."
"Symptoms... what?"
"Your eyes... don't think I haven't noticed. They were much much darker before... and you tend to zone out... I know what that means... April told me you get sick every morning... wake up mumbling things... Its side effects you know." Lamium was talking very seriously, "These same side effects were found in 64% of those that were cryogenically frozen. They called it Partial-Cryo-intelecdeterioration-sickness. It was a sickness only found in those directly frozen, and like I said, only 64% of them. None of their offspring had it."
Kyuusai was starting to get frightened... no Zi native should know anything about the cryogenic freezing.
"It slowly damaged the color pigmentation's in the eyes... sometimes damaging sight receptors, causing the infected one to go blind... Some lost muscle mass, some lost hair... But almost all of them were found to have slow deterioration to specific cells of the brain... mostly those concerned with memory, time perception, and conscious thought. It caused many to have horrific nightmares night after night... But the worst was not any of that... the worst was that eventually, the deterioration grew so bad that those infected went insane... not the same kind of mental illness as, lets say, a serial killer... But one that bombarded the infected with old memories, forcing them to relive them like as dreams or nightmares... forgetting the new. One that drove them to be violent and angry.. sometimes having two personalities... or obsessive compulsive. It was described as if the infected ones mind was locked in a pitch black room, to be tormented with old ills and memories that they would rather forget... with no other thing to focus on to take the hurt away... no other thought but to drive them to relive their pasts... it was horrible..." He took a breath, "Often it drove them to harm others.. without releasing what they were doing..."
"What?.." Kyuusai held his breath... suddenly catching on, "I wouldn't... I wouldn't hurt them... Im not insane... I have bad dreams.. so what..."
"Kyuusai, you show almost all of the symptoms... and you can't tell me you haven't zoned out, reliving some memory. You grow angry often thinking about how the Earth was destroyed don't you?" Lamium sighed, "Kyuusai, please forgive me for having to tell you like this... But you are obviously in that 64%..."
Kyuusai suddenly found himself thinking about it.. He did sometimes grow extremely angry and irritable.. but... but he wasn't going crazy.. was he? He cursed as he found himself starting to get angry at this, " Who... Who the hell are you?"
"I..." Lamium seemed hesitant, "I am Lamium Damien Traskar."
Kyuusai's heart skipped a beat. He recognized the name the moment it escaped from the older mans lips. It was a man named Damien Traskar that had been the one to send them off into space. The one in charge of the Lyra satellite... the one who had explained why they couldn't use his theory...
"My ancestor is the same Damien Traskar you knew... I am the only man alive, besides a few ZBC officials, that even know that Earth existed at one time." He paused, "Kyuusai... I have known this information since I was very young... we kept it in our family... in old journals... they are gone now... but.. I do know what I am talking about..." He stopped, "do not hide from me anymore... You are Lead Commander Tactician Kyuusai Itsuro of Earths National Alliance military forces. You were the first to be sent of to space to find a new planet for the humans to live. You grew up in Japan, with Waki Funahashi, and Bryce Garcia, second and third Commander Tacticians. You were told to report to Tokyo main base on the date of October 30th. You practically witnessed the destruction of the Earth, the highly technological human civilization. You are approximately nine thousand, three hundred and one years old. You are within the 64% of those infected by the cryo-disease."
Kyuusai backed up into a chair... collapsing into it, unsure of what to say. He was shocked, angry, and confused... yet impressed.... Impressed that this man knew so much about him... But there was one thing he was wrong about...
"Your wrong..." Kyuusai whispered, "Your wrong... Even if I am going slowly insane... I will never ever hurt those three... the "kids" you keep your eye on so strongly."
"Mr. Itsuro. You are a brilliant tactician, your intelligence higher than no doubtedly almost all of Zi... and that could make you a very dangerous person."
"I am not the same man I was on Earth." Kyuusai stated, anger clearly stinging his voice, "Itsuro is gone... he was just as foolish as all the others... just like you! He gave up you know... He gave up the minute your ancestor said "no, it can't be done" Humans are foolish creatures... And yes, I too am foolish, but not in the same way I was on Earth. I will never let that happen again. I will not loose them like I lost Bryce and Waki. I will not loose them as April lost her family. I won't let it happen! I am not crazy... and even if I was, so what!?"
"Kyuusai, I do know how much it must hurt."
"How could you Lamium? You aren't me. Im not even the same as I used to be, I don't even know how it feels exactly anymore! But I do know this. Those three are my friends, and though I am not as close to them as I was Bryce and Waki, they are the only thing I have... Like How Jeremy and Ryan are the only thing April has."
"Kyuusai, Im asking you to leave the battlehawks team... not to give up your feelings for them. Its for their good, as well as yours. I do not want you to harm them"
"I haven't yet, have I? I have never even come close. Don't you bullshit me like that. You don't even know. You yourself said it was what, 9000 years ago? That's a long time... you didn't even exist back then to see exactly what happened. So shut your foolish old mouth, and listen." His eyes flared with pure anger, yet no hatred for the man in front of him, "I am a foolish man... all humans are. That is why we have wars, hatred and dominance over all we come across. But that foolishness will not drive me to harm a hair on either of those three's heads... ever. If it did, I assure you I would be gone in a flash. I lost too much to give up again... that would be even more foolish than ever!"
With that Kyuusai grabbed his coat, and quickly made his way to the door. He stopped before walking out... and without bothering to face Lamium said, "I like you lamium.. always have. Your a good man... and I know that your worried about those three... But way back when I first joined up with them, you asked me to protect April... well... look at me now as you did back then. I will not let anything happen to them.. .from my own cause or others. Good-bye sir." He quickly stepped out the door and down the hall. He could feel the anger in his body, swarming like an angry pack of wasps. Perhaps Lamium was right about him going insane... but he was wrong about him.
................................................
The ride back to the base was uneventful, save the eerie silence between the battlehawks. When Jeremy and Ryan questioned about what Lamium wanted to speak about, Kyuusai told them he'd tell them later... with no obvious intention to follow through on that statement. April, all the while, was extremely quiet.
The few following days after that were also quite uneventful... except for the fact that Kyuusai seemed to keep himself in his room, to himself more... and April seemed abnormally quiet.
Kyuusai had noticed that he had gotten worse when it came to how he zoned out, and grew angry... or insane... His nightmares had gotten worse.. and he found himself thinking more of Earth, and less of Zi. He found himself, just as Lamium had said, reliving Earth... and it scared him.
It was about a month later that the young tactician decided to leave. It had gotten out of hand. He found himself muttering about Earth without meaning to... He also found himself angering much more quickly... much more violently ... luckily no one noticed. He decided that he would leave during the night, when no one was up...
Only, someone was up. As he carried his bags out through the main room, he was surprised to see April sitting quietly watching him from the couch.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"Uh... I got a call.. something came up... I'll be back in a couple of days..." Kyuusai lied... A few days, or never... like how it was a few days till he had to go to the satellite.... Wait.. no... no.. that was a long time ago.. That wasn't right...
Kyuusai stumbled a bit, shaking off his thoughts... he was once again reliving an old memory... he had to leave...
"So why are you going now?" April asked quietly, watching him intently, "Is there something wrong?"
"I just have to go, ok?" Kyuusai said, "I have to do something..." He had to save the Earth... NO! no no no that happened before... that wasn't what was happening now...
He said good-bye, and not to worry, and to tell Jeremy and Ryan he'd be back soon, then quickly took his leave. He had to go... He didn't want to cause any trouble for them... Did he cause trouble for them? He hoped not, he never wanted to be a bother...
He threw his things into the shield ligars cockpit, then climbed in himself, pushing everything to the back. He brought the zoid to life, closing the cockpit with a sigh... was he doing the right thing... leaving like that, without telling them? He... he never did tell them who he really was. They did deserve to know... They were so kind go him.
He pushed the zoid outside, and began to run... He didn't know where. Maybe he could go to Saurian city. He could get a room there, and decide what to do after that. He could plan his next move... maybe send a letter to the Battlehawks explaining about everything... He could tell them about Earth... and Waki and Bryce... and who he was really...
His thoughts drifted back to Earth... His friends were waiting for him, outside his apartment complex... They always walked together to work... Unless Bryce drove.. Today he was driving... Waki was in the back... she always sat in back. Said she liked more space.
She would reach her arms around his and Bryce's shoulders, putting her head in between theirs. Bryce muttered something about having to drive... then laughed...
Waki would smile and tug on Bryce a bit, then say "fine.. I'll just hang with Kyuusai then. Then she would hang on Kyuusai's shoulders. It was not anything to do with them loving each other or anything like that. They were just close friends... or well, he had a thing for Waki once.. but it was only a phase when they were younger... It had passed a long time before that.
Bryce would say "Aww... no fair... Kyuusai always gets the cute girls..." and they would all laugh...
And Kyuusai would daydream. He would see the Earth covered in bright green grass, tree's and flowers... he imagined the animals... Gentle rains... a brilliant sunrise... soft, billowing clouds...
And Waki would be there with Bryce... standing there, holding out her hand.. waiting for him to join them... Their feet were planted on soft grass... and then... there was a strait line of where that grass met metal and concrete. The real Earth... Kyuusai was standing with his feet just in front of that line.
Standing there... Waki smiled, Bryce grinned... Her hand was extended towards him... And he reached up to take it.
Bryce laughed, "What are you waiting for man? Come on... take a look... This is all your hard work! It's amazing... Beautiful... I've never imagined the Earth so alive..."
And then... he would reach out... and his hand would swipe nothing. Waki was gone. Bryce was gone. The grass, the beautiful flowers... the tree's were gone. There was no sky. No brilliant sunrise. No clouds... No rain... no gentle breeze...
Just an endless plain of concrete and metal.
And he heard her scream, "Kyuusai...!"
Kyuusai suddenly snapped out of his sudden fit and looked ahead. He was still inside the shield ligar, which was still running along the desert sands. He was confused... He could have sworn he was just with Waki and Bryce...
No... Waki and Bryce were dead.
"Kyuusai!"
"God dammit, Kyuusai open communications!"
The tactician snapped out of his confusion and pushed a small button, and a screen showing Ryan popped up in front of him.
"What happened?!" Kyuusai demanded, after he had seen his friends face. Ryan had received a blow to the head... Exactly where he couldn't tell, his dark hair was matted down and in the way. Blood streaked down the side and part of the front of his face, and a large bruise was starting to blacken just below his lip... which had a small cut on it as well.
"Drias... Drias found the base... Kyuusai we need your help..."
"What? How?"
"I don't know... He... We're trying to stop him, but he brought too many of his friends... We don't know what to do Kyuusai. April... April's fighting with him now... She.. She's not winning..." Ryan cringed painfully, and the screen shook. Obviously he had been hit, "He got us before we could even get into the zoids..."
"Im on my way... Just try to hold them off. I promise I'll be there soon." Kyuusai cursed, and turned the ligar around quickly. He pushed it's speed to the max, his mind racing, his own daydreams and insane hallucinations on hold. His friends were in trouble... he would not let his problems get in the way. Waki, Bryce, and the Earth would not get in his way. God help any human who decided to try and get in his way.
..................................
He got there just in time to see Ryan's pteras come crashing brutally to the ground. It had been shot down by a Salamander... The aerial zoid Kyuusai had at one time admired...
He could see Jeremy's saber fang collapsed a little bit off to his left... it's legs severed completely off. A few dark green rev raptors were still tearing into it's armor, slicing of each piece individually.
April's Konig wolf was nowhere in sight.
Immediately he tried to open up communications with his three friends... and cursed when he was only able to bring up 2 screens, Ryan and Jeremy's... Both of whom were unconscious... Both of whom already looked dead...
Rage quickly built up inside Kyuusai, worse than it ever had before. An uncontrollable, all out, hate filled rage. He grasped the controls tightly in his grip, angry tears streaming down his face. He had told Lamium he would protect them. He bit down, his black bangs hanging in front of his flashing eyes... He cringed his teeth together. He would not loose them too.
He told Lamium that he would not hurt them... He would protect them. Mixed memories flashed in front of his eyes... He couldn't stop them... He saw his new friends... and his old. The Earth and Zi... He saw the same scene played out by Waki, Bryce and himself, then by April Ryan and Jeremy...
He pushed forward on one of his controls, bringing a custom mounted machine gun located on his ligars back to fire head on towards the Salamander. Apparently the pilot had not noticed his arrival, and had no time to react. The large, magnificent flying zoid spiraled uncontrollably to the ground, crashing in a large explosion as a fire engulfed all it's ammunition. Brilliant hot flames sprung up from the wreckage... just as it started to rain.
He turned his crazed anger towards the rev raptors... Who had by know noticed his sudden attack. Quickly they left their previous prey to stalk this new annoyance.
Kyuusai yelled angrily, shoving his zoid towards them. He brought back the ligars claws, and in one clean sweep, be-headed one of the enemy's before him... instantly he turned to tackle another, not caring that one of it's blades had impaled his ligars leg. The next one fell victim to his machine guns, the cockpit completely shot out.
All the while he saw flashes of memories... he saw Waki and Bryce just before the hibernation chambers closed... He felt the same emotions... He saw flashes of what would be memories... if he had been conscious... Stars all around him... pitch black space... Stars.. and an explosion... The Earth.
All this brought him back to one thought... Humans were foolish, undeserving creatures. They deserved to be destroyed... The Earth had been their home... and they had destroyed it... The same thing was happening on Zi.. slowly, but surely. He would have thought that humans would have learned their lesson.. Thought that they wouldn't have anymore fighting... anymore murdering, conspiracies... war...
But it was just a thought. He knew that it would never be like that. Humans. Foolish, foolish humans... It was in their "dominant intelligent" nature.
He snapped back... his thoughts screaming at him, 'These people deserve to die.... They will die. I won't let them hurt my friends... Not again!'
And before he knew it... in one hazy flash... the rev raptors were gone... and his ligar was the only zoid left standing.
"Jeremy... Ryan!" He yelled at the two screens in front of him. Slowly Jeremy came to, his eyes blinking weakly. He tried to move... but stopped, obviously in pain.
"Don't move... Im coming..." Kyuusai instructed. It was then that Ryan shivered... coughed up a bit of blood and opened his eyes...
"Kyuusai..." Ryan wheezed..., "Tha... That was amazing..." Ryan whispered.
"What?"
"I watched you take out those zoids..." Ryan continued to whisper, a thin, weak smile coming to his lips, "Amazing... I didn't know... you... you were so good..." He groaned, "But I knew you'd come to help us..."
"Don't try to talk if you can't..." Kyuusai demanded. Being a military man, he had seen a lot of wounded people... It had never phased him... But this time it was his friends. He was in a fit of panic. He couldn't stop the old memories from surfacing, yet he couldn't stop thinking about their well being... He had to get control of himself.
"I... There's a piece of metal stabbed between my ribs..." Ryan muttered, his eyes showing almost no emotions... only a bit of glee... and pain...
"Im coming...!" Kyuusai cursed, pushing his zoid towards the fallen Pteras.
"No..." Ryan cursed, "Im... Im all right... Find April...."
April! Kyuusai suddenly remembered, and quickly looked around. Just as he came to a stop a large roar was heard... followed by a strange, unfamiliar voice.
"Oh... look what we have here..."
"Drias..." Jeremy and Ryan hissed at the same time.
"A hero's come to save the day...."
Out of the dark, rainy shadows ahead of him, Kyuusai witnessed a huge zoid slowly move towards him. It was dark green in color, stood on two legs, and was similar to the raptor type... like a gunsniper, or genosaurer. Only this zoid was much much larger... and had a large spine of "spines" on it's back... A name suddenly sprung into Kyuusai's mind. Dark spiner. He had read about it once.
But Kyuusai only quickly thought about the incredibly rare zoid in front of him... His thoughts were focused on what the zoid was dragging in it's mouth.
"April!" Jeremy yelled, pain and fear streaking across his face.
The Dark spiner was dragging the top half of the konig wolf by it's head, within it's large jaws. If Drias were to apply any more pressure, the Konig wolf's head would be crushed.
"Im not sure if she can hear you buddy." Drias grinned, his face appearing on their screens.
It was the first time Kyuusai had seen the man. And his appearance was nothing like he had imagined. He was average height, with an average build. He had a slight "little boyish" look to his face, with dark, violet eyes. His hair was wavy and blond, reaching just below his ears. He had two visible scars on his face. Both running down along his cheeks, starting from the corners of his eyes. He had obviously done it himself for show.
"Drias let her go!" Ryan spat, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.
"Oh... but I like playing with her. Its so much fun." Drias smiled, a cruel, ugly smile that sent a chill down Kyuusai's spine.
"I'll tell you what.... Let the hero kid here come and take her from me... then I'll let her go..." Drias said.
"Im not a kid." Kyuusai muttered, his eyes focused on the zoid in front of him, "Let her go."
"You're a lot younger then me... so I'll call you a kid if I want to. I call anyone younger than me kid. Im 38 years old... your obviously no older than 21 or so." Drias seemed interested in bringing a common conversation into the mix, "I know I don't look it. April's a bit young for me you know... But she's cute. Too bad she don't like me... All I did was kill her dad. You know, it was interesting, he almost escaped. Heh... I splattered his brains against a wall.... poor guy. Hey, you can't say I wasn't merciful... at least it was quick. You know the last thing he said..."
"You'd be surprised just how old I am." Kyuusai cut him off. He didn't want to hear it. He could feel his rage building up again, his blood red hatred for this man singing out against all his other emotions. He could only think that if he was insane... what was this man? He must have truly been sick...
"... really?" Drias looked a bit baffled, "Hmm... well anyway.. he said 'no.. no don't... I have to get back to April... She needs me. I love her...' or something like that. I don't remember exactly. It was so fun killing him I guess I just forgot."
"Shut up." Kyuusai demanded, pushing the ligar forward.
Drias grinned, dropping the konig wolf to the ground, and turning to completely face his new opponent, "What's this? The hero finally wants to play?"
"Go to hell!" Kyuusai pushed the ligar forward, at full speed to rush at the much larger zoid ahead of him.
"Boys!" Drias called, and out of the darkness came two more zoids... their dangerous frames coming to full view. Genosaueres.
The two Genosaueres had somehow gotten in front of both Jeremy and Ryans zoids. Both aimed their charged particle guns strait at the cockpits.
"You coward." Kyuusai whispered, "Coward..."
Drias smiled, "Look at that... The Hero's lost his nerve."
Kyuusai cursed, his anger almost blinding him. He reached down to grasp the controls once more, and slowly pushed forward on them.
"Kyu... Kyuusai..." April's voice came over his intercom, and he stopped. He tried to open a com screen, but to no success. April's zoid was totaled, and the com screen wouldn't work.
"Kyuusai.. Lamium... He told us..." April whispered, "After you left... Lamium told us who you were... We went out to find you, because we were worried... that's how Drias found us...."
Kyuusai was in shock... They knew... they knew who he was... what he was.
"Kyuusai.. it doesn't matter to us who you were that long ago, who cares if you were a tactician... or what might happen..." April continued... suddenly to be cut off by Drias.
"This is getting dry. Lets spice things up a bit." He aimed his Charged particle cannon at the cockpit of the konig wolf and began charging. Kyuusai was in shock, barely noticing the genosaurars acting similarly.
"Kyuusai.."
"I won't." Kyuusai swore...
Drias grinned, as the white light grew a bit brighter.
"I won't loose you three too." Kyuusai's rage built up more. They knew... lamium had told them.
Lamium had told them... even though he didn't want them to know.
Kyuusai pushed forward, as fast as the zoid would go. He had to save them... he had to save them... and Waki and Bryce.
"I'll save them..." Kyuusai whispered. His eyes blazing. He was back in his own little world. Was it Earth or Zi? His new friends? Or Waki and Bryce?
"Kyuusai..." Jeremy coughed, "Thanks... you... you came back when we were in trouble... you did protect us..."
"Yeah..." Ryan added, "You did... you were awesome... We just weren't good enough to hold off long enough..."
"Kyuusai.. just... don't forget us ok...?" April said quietly... or was it Waki? He couldn't tell. Their voices melded together.
The explosion of white light was tremendous.
.........................................
Kyuusai could barely remember what happened after that. Just flashes. Drias had taunted him a bit, and before he knew it he was on top of the dark spiner, tearing at its head with the ligars claws.
He had taken a few hits... he thought... and had torn the cockpit clean out of the spiners head, tossing it to the ground.
Then next thing he saw was the genosaueres collapsing to the ground, one had its legs torn off... the other it's head.
Then... he remembered somehow getting Drias's gun.
"What are you gonna do kid? Shoot me?" Drias taunted.
"Im not a kid." Kyuusai answered.
"Then how old are you... 24 maybe?" Drias laughed, "A tactician huh... a tactician is a wimp... they aren't the ones that fight."
"Try nine thousand." Drias's eyes widened and Kyuusai pulled the trigger, unfazed by the fact that Drias's brains were now scattered across the sands, "I'll show you. I'll show you all just how dangerous one simple tactician can be."
............................
But none of that mattered now. It was in the past.
..............End of chapter six.....................
Authors note: Whew... just a bit more. The epilogue. go check it out, posting it at the same time as this chapter. Don't forget to tell me whatcha think.