(This unit does not own PSO)
CHAPTER 15
Unity
Sean and several others, including his parents and Sarah and David, volenteered to investigate the island that Pioneer 2 was drifting toward.
Most systems aboard Pioneer 2 had failed, including all telportation stations and life suport systems.
Sean, as he rode the boat that would take them to the island, thought about the events of the past day.
The colonists had gotten their wish, they were finally on Ragol....soon to be solid ground if the island was deemed to be safe.
He was busy reflecting when a Ranger spotted two male Hunters on shore, waving them to them. Crates of supplies could be seen gathered by the two Hunters and ready for use, along with tents and even a medical station, already within a quickly erected sterility field.
As they got closer, others could be seen milling about....including the members of the mysterious group called Arkz, that had resisted a corrupt Principal that had later been overthrown, an occurance that resulted in Tyrel being reinstated as Principal of Pioneer 2, a post now moot. Tyrel had come with the recon team, saying that it was his responsibility to lead, even if he had failed the people of Pioneer 2 once, he had vowed to never do so again. He was currently in no shape for a battle however, with various medical devices connected to him, such as a resporator, that made him sound like a character from a movie Sean had seen once. The Ranger who had spotted he people on the shore before announced that she had identified the two, as Squall and Adus. Several cheers rose from the assembled crowd of Hunters.
Soon, the boat reached the shore, and several Arkz members came and pulled the boat onto the sandy beach.
"Welcome to Gal-Da-Val Island." Squall greeted them all as they disembarked from their landing craft.
The first thing they did was administer medical aid to Tyrel, who had not seen a working, fully equiped med-facility in 28 hours. Several messangers were sent bact to Pioneer 2 with Arkz medical personale, to help take care of the wounded aboard the ship.
A red haired Arkz agent, and ex-Hunter, apporached them.
"Ahh....The Demolition Squad. Nice to see you two again!" The man greeted Sean's parents. "Nice to see that you are doing well, Endu. How have you been?" Sean's mother asked him. "Pretty good, Breaks been getting along as usual, and Lura is currently getting an upgrade for her targeting systems, so she coulnd't make it today." Endu told her.
Sean's aunt came up to him, after getting a snack from the buffet table that had been set up for them. She handed Sean and her sister some food. "Thanks." Sean said.
"Any word on activity in the Ruins?" Sean's aunt asked Endu. "Nope....no word as of yet....I do have a little tidbit of info for you guys....Ever since the Seabed facility had been cleared out, there has been....unusual...activity down there...especially in the lower levels." Endu told them. He saw Sean. "Ah....the one who was found on this planet! He still has-" Endu began before being interupted by Squall who was in turn interupted by Sean. "Yes...it is me, Endu, is it? Squall, I already found out, no need for secrecy any more." He said to them both. Endu nodded sagely, confirming that it was his name. Squall just looked confused for a second, then realized what must have happened aboard the ship earlier.
Sean and Endu spoke for a few minutes, Sarah and Squall discussed combat strategies, and David hung out with a spooky looking Force with brown hair and a headband who was polishing a Katana, getting a lesson on the history of the Arkz organisation.
ZERO had remain aboard Pioneer 2 to hel with the rescue operations still going on in the residential areas.
General Aerodyne had proved to be not so much of a bad guy in the end and sent the last of their Metroid Series to assist ZERO in the rescues.
Dr. Montague and Elenor were helping to repair the medical facilities, and when Arkz docors arrived, the task was completed in half the estimated time.
Soon, the ship had been hauled to shore and brought onto the island, carried by several hundred Virtuaroids, all Raidens, the only type aoard the ship with enough physical strength to carry out such a task.
Months passed, and then a year.
The people of Pioneer 2 found a home at last on Ragol.
However.....
One day, an incident occured, when a reaserch team was sent into the old Seabed facility of Gal-Da-Val.
The team encountered shadowy forms that had attacked them, killing haf of the team and pursuing the survivors until they had fled the facility entirely.
Soon after, instances of shaodwy forms moving about at night were reported to security, by the colonists.
Eventually, there were disappearances, and an investigation was launched. It was soon discovered that the organisms known as SHADOW, creatures that had first made an appearance during the Madness War, had resurfaced. These SHADOW had been capturing colonists, Hunters and soldiers alike, taking them somewhere.
The investigation continued, and turned up nothing.
The Hunters, Tiring of losing members at an insane rate and williung to go out on their own to investigate, since the government was having no luck, they arranged an investigation council, and most of the top Hunters still remaining joined. Sean soon gathered the nerve to sign up, and Sarah and David did the same. As they had now finished with their apprenticeship, they no longer had to train to be Hunters, they WERE Hunters now.
They were given the option of joining an exisiting team of investigators, or to crate their own team, they decided to make their own.
They still needed a name, and after much discussion, they decided finally on "Timberwolf" as the name.
They just needed an assignment, which would come sooner than they thought.
