I dont own Spyro. And K.T. Green Stripe owns Cartreuse (spelling right?) If you dont want him in this I will remove him.

Flair's Point of View

Torchlit chamber. No way out. I lashed out at my opponent with my claws but he easily dodged right and lunged at me, knocking me into the wall but I quickly got back up into a fighting stance. He attemped a grab but I took his arm, placed my leg on his chest and pushed back hard while releasing him, whinding him and sending him skidding into the opposite wall with a loud THUD. We got up, my father slightly shaken "Well, I thought i'd be dreading the day my son could beat me at most things!" Spyro replied before laughing and giving the thumbs up to the operator in the control room and the walls around us desintegrated as the programme was shut off leaving us in the footbal pitch-sized training room.

Me and my father decided to have a lighthearted sparring match to take my mind off things but now we were moving on to weapons testing. I tap the etching again and I am engulfed in light. I feel nano assemblers rearanging my molecular structure once again as I am reformed into the Prototype X69 Crisis Suit, a hybrid of Biometal and Ancient Pilot Tech enfused military hardware capable of almost anything. "Hell yeah!" I say raising my fists in the air. My dad then indicated to my wrist gauntlets. "Wrist blasters based off the Predator energy flechette. Also, multiple ordenance launchers and a compressed antimatter sniper feature." I fist my hands and the blasters deploy, ready to fire. I take aim at a practice drone and tighten my fists as dual blasts of superheated plasma streaked through the air and impacted the target, liquiflying around it in a coat of deadly energy before reducing it to a pile of molten slag. I stare at my gauntlets in awe and narrow my eyes. This was going to be fun.

I rush into the training arena and drones start to power up left and right but I waste no time and take aim at the line of oncoming robots, wrist blasters primed. I suddenly yell out and let loose full on the advancing drones, watching them being scrapped one after another after another. I started feeling dizzy and weak. My view went out of focus and I nearly blacked out as my knees buckled and the firing ceased as I tumbled to the floor.

The tech operating the controll console noticed this too and recalled the drones as my father came over and placed a caring hand on my back as I tried to get up, energy returning to my body. "Uuhngg, what was that all about?" I say, rubbing my forehead. "You havent exercised you're cybernetic implants yet and you were depleting you're bioenergy much to fast for you're system to cope. Bioenergy keeps you alive and powers you're suits systems. Weapons, targeting, muscle articulation, everything. It recharges over time but if you let it reach critical levels you will be left very vulnerable on the battlefield." he says with concern in his voice and on his face. I got up again, shook myself down and said, "Okay lets move on," Spyro nodded and two more drones appeared out of a wall to my right.

I aim my gauntlet and fire a ECM dart at one of them, upon impact scrambeling its circuits and frying the central processor. With a crack and a fizzle of electricity, it falls limply to the floor. I shoot a rocket dart at the second and a small explosion resounds blowing the drone off its feet and into a nearby wall, shattering it's internal system and I watch, amused as it slowly slides down the wall and crumples into a heap of smoking metal and loose circuits. Another target pops up a considerable distance away and I raise the gauntlet to eye level and my vision automatically switches to a targeting scope and rangefinder. A blue laser pointer activates and I take careful aim at my target as it seems to be bathed in a glowing red light, highliting weaknesses and strongpoints. I steady my hand and twitch my index finger as a beam of energy blasts out of the gauntlet and puts a clean hole straight through the robots torso as it just seems to stand there for a few more seconds then falls flat on its face.

"SWEET!" I jeer, punching the air in exitement. I turn to Spyro and he seems pleased that I enjoy my new body. He walks over and instructs me to tense my shoulder muscles and I do so, resulting in two massive rail cannons swing up and position over each shoulder from a concealed compartment on my back. "The rail driver. A single, magnetically accellerated, plasma coated, high-penetration projectile is sure to force its way through anything." He says with pride in his voice. "Give it a try." I was happy to oblige. A 18 inch thick adamentium armor plate was raised into the arena. I swing myself to face the plating and somehow tensed muscles that triggered the gun. I heard the high pitch sound of the cannons charging and flet immense muscle stress as the guns barrels started glowing blue. Energy particles started to gather around the muzzle and the rail driver started glowing brighter than ever, enegry now racing up and down the exterior. I instinctively gripped the floor with my clawed feet, bending the metal as I tried to get a firm grip. The cannons suddenly spewed forth two concentrated blasts of white hot, plasma-encoated death as the recoil sent a shockwave through my body and into the surrounding room. It was as quick as the blink of an eye. I fell on my knees, panting at the total energy exertion into firing the railguns as they swung back and retracted into my armor. Atleast I'm getting the hang of this. I thought as I got up and inspected the thick plating. It now had two, three inch wide holes, clean through the center. It seemed like it was manufactured like that if you discound the sizzling of the exess plasma eating away at the adamentium. "Indestructable my ass." I mutter as I shake off a wave of fatigue that washed over me.

"Any other toys?" I ask Spyro as I stretch my overworked muscles. "Just the homing rockets, then we're done for today Flair." I lower my arms to my sides and tense my torso as told and two small flaps fold back to reveal a pair of holes out of the back of my shoudlers harboring missiles and my vision switches to thermal tracking mode. I instantly notice the attack buggy at the other end of the area and a reticule locks on and starts flashing. I draw back my shoulders and a pair of missles boost out and rocket over my head as they scream towards their target. I see a large blot of white, red and yellow around the rockets impact zone and I zoom in after the smoke has cleared to confirm a direct hit. All that was left was a smoking frame.

I walk wearily back to the prep room and reverted to my original form, I knew that was only the minimum extent of my abilities. I had way more. I put my head in my hands and heaved a deep sigh out of fatigue and frustration. Then a sense of calm and relaxation came over me and that is just when I realized that Aurora was behind me, tenderly massaging my broad shoulders. "Hey," I say quietly. "You were great out there, but are you feeling okay?" "Yeah, i'm okay. Just tired." I say getting up slowly. She stared at my new body with her jade eyes and ran her fingers up and down my back spikes affectionately. I grin at her from the side of my mouth and say, "Where are the others?" "Waiting for you outside." She replies, unshed tears forming on her face. I make a move to wipe them off but Aurora turns away and flatly says, "I'm fine." She was always good at masking emotions. "Now, lets go."

Aurora's Point of View

Turns out I was not fine. Even the thought of loosing him was to hard to bear. I had come so close and we had already come too far for that. I knew there was something about him, I just couldn't place my finger on it. It was a soldiers job to hide all emotion and focus on the task at hand because more often than not, distractions were fatal. The reality of it was that I did have many surpressed feelings, after I was rescued by the Coalition from the mean streets of my homeworld Ckhalava-Yaal and inducted here as a medic I felt left out, useless. Until I met him. Flair didnt treat me like another expendable piece in a game, a worthless sideliner. And he proved this by risking his life for me and others countless times through out the course of this war. He made me feel genuinely appreciated. More than I had ever felt in my life. Like but only once before. I never knew my parents and survived on luck and ingenuity, learnt to wield a firearm at the age of nine and had grown up with the scum of the poverty stricken streets of Neonopolis, the thriving capital of the corrupt, syndicate controlled planetwide city. The center of civilized space. Where the known universe began. But below all the glamour and bright lights of the top dwellers lived a darker, more dangerous world where criminals prey on the weak and defenseless. A place without justice or honor of any kind, which is run by rival criminal gangs who vie for superiority of the lower leves, where you could be killed and no one would blink an eye. I know this because I grew up there, in the dirty slums where crime, large and small runs rampant. To put it in contrast, If you go as deep as Sublevel 04 you'll need to hire a posse of armed guards just to cross the street.

Built on the ruins of cities before it, Neonopolis was all skyscrapers and walkways. Brightly lit boulevards where one could find anything ones heart would desire. But the actual ground that the city was built on is so far down that not even the bravest warriors venture down there. There are roumors of what as inhabited the lowest of the floors but none of those can be properly affirmed. The patrols that were sent down there never and I repeat NEVER came back. Not a single man or woman or even heavily armed drone reported back to review findings. Me? I had to steal for a living. At 12 I had become a freelance mercinary but I stayed away from conrtact killings and only ever took a life in self-defense. No one ever really cared for me other than a would-be plaything. Go figure. Even at that age I was well aware of the horrors that reside in that urban hell.

Murder was commited daily, savage beatings for peasure and many other stuff that i'd rather not mention. But I survived through all this. Thanks to an old friend. A cyborg nicknamed Truce. He and his gang were different from the rest. Only took what they needed and mostly from other gangs. He and his band of dragons would roam the underlevels in search of food and shelter, protecting the weak and upholding atleast some honor. They were even named the Vanguard of the Underworld. They value life above all else and never let a single member die. They were a small group but had strong willpower and a dream of freeing the underlevels from the tyrany and injustice they were put under every waking day of their pitiful lives.

Truce was like a brother to me. Watched over me, protected me and instructed me in the harsh living environments that I was born in. I dont even know how I was born but I do know that if Truce hadent found me when he did, I would be either dead, rotting in some prison cell or the personal property of some drug lord. They gave me a home, and a purpose other than that for plain survival. But there was one perticular creep that kept on trying to get under my skin. Daemion. He was with Truce and I hated that guy. He was useless for all I cared. His only skill seemed to be a bullet magnet but even that was irritating because as the group's medic whenever he got shot I had to help him which gave him an excuse to have me hovering over him all the time. Never made the move though.

Anyway, there was Truce, or Cartreuse, the team leader... he was named after his color which was a lighter tone of green, had his spikes shaped forward in a mohawk and was addicted to mint. Sections replaced are right arm, left leg and left eye. There was Sapphire, slim phisique, eyeshadow and claw polish. Name says it all for the color. Our woman on the inside. She mainly stays away from home base snooping around and who knows what else. Perfect for the job too and has a soft, seductive accent. Akula, resident weapons specialist with a dark red color, grey belly, horns facing forward and a gold dragon medallion that he has, on every account, refused to pawn. Has a large build, likes to boast and has a strong American accent. Very loyal. Camino, a sky-blue dragon with no horns and a black belly serving as the team's techie and local wisacre. Hey, every squad's gotta have one to maintain overall sanity. Thats what I figure anyways. Shadow, the covert op guy. He looked as if you took a beautiful, star filled night sky and wrapped it around him, head to foot. Horns are the color of soot. Secretive, cold and calculating, dosent talk much, quite tall, likes rock music especially Evenesance. Face creased in a eternal scowl. Must have some deep secrets or some kind of massive loss. Dark and dry sounding voice. Twitch, sniper, tan scales and khaki belly, is often covered by camo and warpaint. Has a fiew piercings. May have more, never looked. Is normally very calm despite his name. It meant he had quick reflexes. Exessevly cleanes his rifle. Is high on self-esteem. Daemion. Recon and smoothetalker. Supposedly joined just to be able to have a go at me. Is dark green, muscular and carries a variety of grenades ranging from ECM dets to Spidermines. Horns are black and often wears an earpiece and antena. I just call him Demon. Finally, theres me, Aurora. Medic, Turquoise sclaes and matching belly. Darker green stripes on muzzle. No horns.

Thats the end of the history lesson. Me and Flair made our way through corridors and past Scarecrow units. Vanu bio-machines with organic organs encased in armor. Humanoid form with retractable wings and jet boosters. I noticed Flair was shooting glances at me but I didnt mind too much. "The others are in the cafeteria doing god knows what to pass the time." I say, slighlty bemused. We round a few more corners and arrive at the caffeteria. "Im surprised," Flair says, "I would have thought that most of the soldiers here relied on batteries." "The Coalition arent THAT inhumane." I reply in a cynical tone. We find the others at a table and Flair starts to approach but I hold him back. "Lets watch."

Cypher: (tosses a peanut into the air and catches it in his mouth)

App: Hey, bet a five you'll choke on the next one.

Cypher: You're on! I cant loose!

App: I already told you, ya cant preform the Hiemlech maneuver on yourself!

Cypher: Just watch me. (tosses another peanut straight down throat and falls back choking)

App: (raises brow skeptically)

Cypher: (starts dashing around the room repeatedly bashing into stuff with his torso)

Mako&Bower: BWAHAHAAHAHAH! (pounding fists on table)

App: Sweetest five bucks I ever made!

Cypher: (runs over to App and rapidly points to mouth while ghasping for breath)

App: (rubs fingers together indincating cash)

Cypher: (pulls out a twenty and App takes it)

App: (grabs Cypher and forcefully shoves both fists against stomach)

Cypher: When... (cough)... did you become... (ghasp) a medic? (cough, hack)

App: I didnt, thats Auroras job... Speaking of which, there she is!

"Gambling, how obvious." I say as we walk over to the table. Bower comes over and says, "Hey, great aim with those blasters, almost puts me to shame!" Similar coments are said about my preformance in the training arena but Cypher just mumbled. I looked at him and said, "You didnt even pay attention did you?" "Ahh... No... not really..." "You, above all people, miss a prototpe weapons test? What was going through you're sick mind Tanden?" I lightly mused. "I wouldnt use the term sick sir... uuuhhhhhhh... erm... aahhhh what the hell. Anyway, I know you're exhausted after the training match, so I took the liberty of organizing a pep speech." he says with his trademark 'innocent' face on. Cypher then turns to the rest of the crowded caffeteria and yells "ATTEN HUT!" The buisy troops in the cafeteria immediately stop what their doing and stand up in military salute. Then Cypher says, "ARE YOU READY TO GIVE YOU'RE LIVES IN DEFENCE OF PEACE?" "SIR YESSIR!" The hall choruses. "DO YOU GIVE A----" He was cut off by the troopers saying in unison, "SIR NOSIR!" Cypher then yelled, "DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW THAT YOU ARE GAY!" "SIR NO--- (confused murmurs echo around the area). Cypher was now grinnin ear from ear. "Ya see, its a trick question, so either way you answer it implies that you're--" he was cut off again by a sobbing from the back. "She does! (snif) She does!" we hear from somewhere in the sea of soldiers. "Ooooookkkkayyyyyyy..." Cypher said, just as miffed as us. "Well," he turns to me, "It's a new perk for our new ranks! We're now Black Ops commandos! Sweet!" I spoke for both me and Flair that this squad never ceased to amaze, and in this case amuse us.