Rise Of Zionus: An Introduction

by EternalSage

This is a story of Ragol. Zio was defeated, but his malignant spirit lingers, leading to an entirely new cycle of chaos. A new generation of hunters must take up the challenge of defeating him.

13. Oncoming Maelstrom

Within Zionus' citadel, the newly successful Seraph creation process spurs many of his enslaved followers to action. On his orders, they begin readying prisoners for the transformation process, and the army grows rapidly.

Eriror walks into the throne room, bowing deeply before beginning to speak. He is accompanied by Kimiko and the recently repaired Shard.

"Master, your deadline for the sacrifice nears. You wished for us to report to you before carrying out your orders?"

"Yes. Sigma has been dispatched to finish off those fools on Rykros. When the pathetic Resistance comes to try and rescue their companion, we shall crush them. The Seraphs shall soon be ready to sweep over Pioneer 2 and destroy all who deny my glory." Zionus says, standing.

"Gather the captives that shall be sacrificed, and ready the broadcast equipment. I expect those fools to make their move within the hour."

The three bow and leave, to gather the few prisoners deemed unsuitable for Seraph transformation, Lucca among them.

In Resistance headquarters, Lab's plan finally begins to come together as the carefully-selected strike team appears.

The Racast stands to address the gathering of soldiers.

"You are all volunteers here. Both for this group and this mission. I would not ask any of you to do this if I did not deem it necessary. However...we must not allow Zionus to intimidate and subvert the people of Pioneer 2 any longer."

"We may not be able to destroy Zionus on this mission, but we can at least rescue some of the prisoners he has taken. Many are ex-hunters, and those who vehemently resist his rule. They can prove to be valuable allies." Labyrinth says, looking towards the door as X and Leah slowly walk in to stand with JiEin, Elly, Keiko and Neifirst. Nyreal stands in a corner, leaning lightly against the wall.

The Dreamchasers walk in as Labyrinth begins to go over the plan, followed soon by Cranberry, Striker and Black Raiden.

"Strike units, consisting of Nyreal's unit and the units assigned to accompany the Dreamchasers will breach the citadel's defenses, and endeavor to make a path for the main force. They will hold our escape path open. It is their job to infiltrate and disable the defenses, then hold the line."

Nyreal flashes a grin, as the Dreamchasers nod. "After that, the main force will come through. It consists of two shield units that will assemble the shields that should stave off Zionus for a brief time. Each shield unit is accompanied by two regular assault units. The main force will be led by the units under my command, and the group assigned to X and his companions. We will drive forward and rescue the prisoners, then the group under Cranberry will escort them to safety as we hold off Zionus's forces. As soon as the prisoners are clear, we will make our escape. It is uncertain how long the shield units will hold up, but we should have at least fifteen minutes. Is anyone uncertain as to what their assignment is?"

A soldier in the front ranks speaks up. "I know exactly what my assignment is, sir. It's to kill that bastard Zionus and rescue Commander Lucca!" The soldier's sentiments are echoed up and down the line, as soldiers begin to cheer.

As the cheering crowd of soldiers disperses to prepare, the group leaders gather to go over last minute plans with Labyrinth.

"I hope they realize that they may die on this run..." Nei begins, as they meet up.

"Optimistic, aren't we?" Axios quips.

Neifirst glares at him before replying. "Our chances of survival are only moderately better than theirs. Do we even know if those shields can hold?"

"Relax babe. We'll do fine, and you'll live to go out on a date with me afterwards." Nyreal says, flashing a smile.

"If it wasn't for the fact that you're probably going to die a horrible death soon anyway, I'd gut you right here and now." Neifirst snarls, drawing her Meteor Cudgel.

"Nei, cut it out. You'll get to do enough fighting to satisfy even you on this run, don't worry." Leah says, as Labyrinth approaches.

"Lab, are you certain that Nyreal's and our groups will be enough to hold the escape route open? The odds seem like they'd be nearly overwhelming." Nova asks.

"The area of the citadel we are planning to breach is lightly defended, according to preliminary scans. You and the Dreamchasers were chosen for this for your excellence in infiltration missions. But it is a volunteer mission." Labyrinth replies.

"Heh, I'm not backing out or anything. I'm only suggesting that you might want to have a larger section of the rear-guard force follow behind us as soon as we've breached the walls, instead of waiting for us to secure it. They can mop up while we go about setting up a defensive perimeter. We can disable the defenses and take down the guards with relative ease, but holding it will be a bit harder." Nova says.

Cranberry speaks up. "If Nova's group can hold the line, Striker, Raiden and I can probably get all the prisoners out with only half the troops you assigned us. Assigning the other half of our group to reinforce Nova's unit would make things easier on all of us. If they have a larger force, they can keep it clear before we have to fight our way through."

"I suppose that does make sense." Labyrinth says. Typing a few keys on his PDA, he relays the information to the troop leaders. "Any other suggestions?"

"We're going to be accompanying you on the main attack, right?" JiEin asks. "If so...perhaps we should go directly after Zionus once the shields break. We may not be able to do much significant damage, but we can likely keep him busy."

"That's incredibly dangerous, JiEin..." Labyrinth begins, but X cuts him off.

"We know, but we've all discussed it, and we can handle it. We're the best suited to do it." Leah says.

"Very well. However, I can't ask you to do that until we have no other choice." Labyrinth answers, after debating it for a few moments.

"Relax Labby. I can blast the hell out of him, and it'll be fine. We can't kill him without the rings, but I can definitely make sure he's kept busy." X says. "Speaking of which, is Sage going to be able to get the rings?"

"...There has been no communications since Zionus' attack. I am beginning to get worried." Labyrinth says.

"Well, we'll have to get along without them. Zionus doesn't seem willing to use his full power for some reason. We can bank on that arrogance and use it to at least distract him." X replies, looking around at the group.

"Sage won't let us down, I know it." Raiden says. "If he says he's going to get the rings, he'll get them."

"We'll just have to wait and see. I've gotten intermittent telepathic communications from him before, and I'm guessing if something bad happened, I'd feel it." Nova says, as the rest of the group seems lost in thought.

"Very well. We should get going. We will be beginning to teleport to the staging area in ten minutes. Make your last-minute preparations. And...thank you all. We could not do this without you." Labyrinth says.

The group disperses, heading to their individual quarters.

Keiko catches up to X and Leah as they walk back to their room. "How's Ayame doing? I haven't seen her in a while." Keiko asks.

"She's fine, but she's completely drained from the training earlier. It was the first time she'd really controlled her conduit, and the experience takes a hell of a lot out of you the first time." X says.

"Alright. Well, I was just wondering. I'll meet up with you in a few minutes, guys." Keiko runs off, as X and Leah enter their room.

"X, you're not planning on bringing her with us, are you?" Leah asks as the door shuts.

"Hell no. It's way too dangerous for her, and she still has an imperfect control of her powers. If we had the Rings, it'd be fine...but in this state, she could get mind controlled like I did." X replies as he begins to gather his combat equipment. He grabs a blue and white Humar suit from the closet after studying the selection for a few moments, then puts it on. He is strapping his katanas on as Leah checks her equipment for signs of wear. After a few minutes, they are ready to go, and leave for the rendezvous point to meet up with the others.

The first of the units warps to the staging area, located on the other side of the planet from Zionus' citadel. Once there, they begin to set up the equipment for the warp near the target.

On Rykros, Alis revives the others with a mass casting of Reverser, and blocks Sigma's incoming attack with a super-powered Saint Guard.

"Servant of that vile being...you shall pay for your crimes. Prepare for the end!" Alis yells, sending a vicious blast of energy at Sigma, who effortlessly dodges it.

"You and what army, fool? You are a washed-up relic that needs to be thrown on the scrap heap. Die!" Sigma fires off another Angelic Scream, following it with a flurry of alternating blasts from each hand, the searing lights striking the purple shield of energy Alis erects, nearly destroying it.

Behind Alis' shield, Sage and the others get to their feet. Lorna's eyes blaze with hatred as she stares at Sigma.

"You! You and your master have disgraced the Lady Alis, and for that you will die!" In an unusually serious manner, she raises both hands to chest level, the orb of blue light that appears spreading to cover her body. When the glow fades, she is dressed in a full-body suit of armor, the crystalline blue of enchanted ice held together by silvery Laconium. Her staff appears in her hand, a deadly-sharp blade of enchanted ice appearing on the tip. She points the spear at Sigma as she lowers her visor, stepping past the boundaries of Alis' barrier.

Sigma smiles as Lorna leaves the protection of Alis' barrier. "Very well, girl. You shall be the first to die." He raises his hand and fires a halo of white light that streaks toward Lorna. She takes a step back, an icy shield appearing on her left forearm as she blocks the attack. Sigma stares, stunned as his attack presses against the shield for a few moments. The halo turns blue as Lorna strains, and it is reflected back to Sigma, hitting him before he can move. The blast envelops him in a cloud of blue mist, freezing him solid.

Lorna turns to the awe-struck group and raises her visor, smiling. "I'll help Alis to hold him here. You four, get to Ragol!"

"Lorna..." Sage begins, reluctantly.

"Just go! I can't keep him immobile for long. I'll catch up, I promise." Lorna says, straining to hold Sigma imprisoned.

"But how...?" Liss asks.

"I have my ways, now GO!" Lorna yells, turning back to face Sigma.

"Alright...please be careful." Sage says to both Lorna and Alis, as Alis warps him and the others away. Cracks begin to appear around Sigma's icy prison as he struggles to free himself.

Sage, Liss, Yokote and Brom appear outside the Landale, and rush inside. Within minutes, they lift off of Rykros, the Rings safely in hand. They are well away by the time Sigma breaks free, Alis joining Lorna in keeping him trapped.

Sigma gazes around, disoriented from his few moments of imprisonment.

"I will kill you for that, slowly." he snarls, as he sees that Sage is gone.

"Right. I've heard that before." Lorna says, as Alis draws Elysedeon. "Lady Alis...let's show him that the leader of the Guardians is not to be trifled with!"

Alis smiles, raising her sword. "I thank you for your assistance. Now, let us go." The two charge at Sigma, attacking him viciously. He fights back furiously, but for every wound he inflicts on one of them, the other has it healed. Their battle rages as the Landale streaks towards Ragol.

"Sage...have you heard anything from Ragol or Pioneer 2 in a while?" Liss asks, as Yokote and Brom pilot the Landale away from Rykros' gravitational field.

"No, not in a while. I'm a little bit worried. I'll try to make contact now, I guess. There's not much else we do until we get there." Sage replies.

Rykros fades behind them rapidly as they clear the embrace of its gravity. Yokote keys in the warp coordinates, then motions to Brom to activate the drive. The stars outside shimmer, then fade to reveal a green energy field around the ship as it begins the warp to Ragol.

Sage unstraps his safety restraints and stands. "I'm going to go try and contact Nova on Pioneer 2. If we don't know what we're going into, we'll be at a major disadvantage."

"Alright. Want some help?" Liss asks. "I can help you boost the mental signal again, if you like."

"Sure." Sage walks to the galley area of the Landale, stopping in front of a counter-top. Liss follows, looking puzzled.

"Um, why here?" She asks, pulling up a chair.

"I'm starving. I used up a ton of energy trying to beat Alis." Sage answers, pulling out a package of instant noodles from the cabinet above him. He grabs a pot and places the noodles in them, filling it with water before heating it with a quick Foie. A few minutes later, he is seated on a counter-top, eating his noodles. Liss makes a cup of tea, then sits in her chair.

"Well, that's a new way to make them. Are you feeling better now?" She asks, as he finishes his meal.

"Yes, much better. You ready?" Sage says, calming his mind.

She answers him mentally, linking her mind with his. "As ready as I'll ever be. Who are we trying to contact?"

"Nova. He's always really calm, and he has a bit of telepathy. Should be pretty easy."

After a few moments, Sage and Liss finally make contact with Nova.

"Nova! It's Sage."

Inside a cavernous building complex built by Pioneer 1, Nova stands with the Dreamchasers, watching as the troops under their command bustle to make last-minute preparations. Nova jumps slightly, then smiles as the familiar voice enters his head.

Sage! We thought you were dead. What's going on?

"No, I'm not dead. We have the Rings, and we're on our way back to Ragol. What's happening there? Is Zionus still kinda hanging back and gathering followers?"

No, not really. He's captured a large amount of people, and is planning on 'sacrificing' a lot of them. Lucca is among them. We're preparing to go rescue them now.

"What! That's far too dangerous without the Rings. Zionus could annihilate all of you if he saw fit..."

We've discussed the risks, and decided the risk is worth it. Zionus gains power from followers. If the people of Pioneer 2 see that he is able to do this unopposed, he'll get much stronger. I suggest you hurry back. We're leaving in a short time to begin the assault.

"Dammit. Don't die, or anything. Please be careful. We'll get there as soon as we can."

Relax Sage, we'll be fine. We're grabbing the prisoners and getting out, not directly attacking Zionus himself. Now, I've got to go. Try to get in touch again later if you can.

"...Fine. Be careful, and don't directly attack Zionus."

See ya.

Sage lets out a defeated sigh and breaks the link, leaning forward to put his head in his hands.

"They're actually attacking his citadel. It's suicide." Sage mumbles. He sits there for a few more moments, looking utterly dejected. He's doing it again...blaming himself for something that's plainly out of his control.

Liss surprises him by getting up, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around him.

"You can't blame yourself for this. It's not your job to protect every single person. Like your friend said, they know what they are doing, and have discussed the risks. If they didn't think they could get in and get out safely, they wouldn't be doing it."

Sage sighs once again, then sits up, pulling away after a few more moments. "I suppose you're right. They are fully capable of understanding what he can do, and how dangerous this is. We'll just have to hurry."

"That's the spirit. You can worry all you want when you get there and are actually capable of having some effect on things...but until then, don't." Liss says, sitting back down.

"Yeah. We should probably try to find out what's happening with Lorna."

Lorna flies back, rebounding off the wall before she hits the floor painfully. Before she is able to stand, Alis has already cast a healing spell, restoring her strength as she gets to her feet. Alis catches a massive energy blast that she barely is able to block with Elsydeon, Sigma pouring a stream of devastating power at her. Alis' guard is broken, the torrent of searing light consuming her. As she slumps, Lorna begins chanting a powerful Resta, the green light shimmering around the guardian as new life floods into her. She uses Elsydeon as a prop to get to her feet as Sigma hovers, laughing haughtily.

"Fools. Why do you continue to get up? You are no match for me. Give in to your own oblivion!" Sigma yells, firing off an Angelic Scream at the two, who quickly dodge in opposite directions. The glare of the released energy blinds Sigma for a second as he searches for his targets. An ice-coated Laconium shield hits him in the face, followed seconds later by the blinding pain of a stab wound to the shoulder. Lorna's spear pierces his arm as he turns to block her attack, and as he grabs the spear to remove it he is pummeled by a series of powerful strikes from Alis.

The Guardian slashes away as Sigma grapples with Lorna, ending the series of vicious blows with a powerful rising uppercut that leaves a shimmering light trail behind it. Alis falls, slashing at him again as she hits the ground. Lorna knees him in the stomach before pulling her spear free, but is caught off guard by an eruption of energy released by Sigma, knocking both her and Alis away.

Panting, Alis and Lorna get to their feet, aided by leaning on their weapons. Sigma crosses his arms over his chest, curling up in the fetal position for a brief moment before being surrounded by an orb of white light. A loud whine of energy is heard before he releases the energy, his body glowing with a bright light as he manifests his true power. The shining wings on his back double in size, as a crackling aura of electricity appears around him. The shockwave bowls Alis and Lorna over, devastating the newly-repaired Guardian's Tower. Through the drifting wisps of smoke brought on by the destruction of the top floor of the tower, the dull purple of a Rykrosian dusk can be seen.

Sigma, glowing like a beacon in the rapidly dimming sky, beholds his opponents. "That was a lucky shot. However...it will not happen again. Enjoy that one, as it shall be your last. You can't keep healing each other forev-argh!" Sigma's diatribe is interrupted by a simultaneous attack from Alis and Lorna, Lorna conjuring an enormous chunk of solid ice that Alis propels towards Sigma on a beam of light, the makeshift ram knocking him backwards a good two hundred yards before he finally destroys it.

"You talk a good fight, but it is plainly obvious that you can't back it up to save your pathetic life. Stop playing around, and show us what you're really made of!" Lorna taunts, calling her shield to her side. Alis crosses her blades and stands ready as Sigma floats back towards them, the emanating waves of power that come off him stirring the dust of Rykros.

Sage makes brief contact with Lorna after a few moments. He interrupts the formulation of a battle plan.

"Lady Alis, we have to wear him down. We can't defeat him at this point, but if we can endure his attacks for long enough, he should be greatly weakened."

"Yes. I shall blind him with a flash of light, then you move in. If you could freeze him again, he would waste a lot of power trying to break free."

"Ok, let's get ready-"

"Lorna, are you alright! It's Sage."

"I'm fine. Please just go on to Ragol. We have this under control...gah!" Lorna's telepathic communication is interrupted by Sigma sending a flurry of small energy blasts at her, the translucent white orbs impacting rapidly, creating a chain reaction that envelopes her in an explosion of white light. She slumps, her agony easily apparent to Sage. He feels her cast a healing technique, and is awed by the sheer strength of it.

"Lorna..."

"Sage, I will be fine. Hurry to Ragol, and quit distracting me. We will meet up with you when we can. Goodbye!" Lorna cuts the link, forcing Sage out of her mind.

"Now, Lady Alis. Let us continue with the original plan."

"Are you sure you will be able to endure? My spiritual form is a bit more resistant to damage than your own..."

"This armor is far tougher than it looks, and so am I. Now, let us go." Alis casts a super-powered Grants that explodes around Sigma's head, temporarily blinding him. Lorna teleports towards him, charging her spear with technique energy. Appearing above him, she descends rapidly, an icy blade forming around her weapon as it nearly doubles in size. She strikes, encasing Sigma in a solid block of ice as the blade shatters around him. Leaping away, she gives Alis the thumbs up, then sits back to recover energy as Sigma struggles to break free.

Seconds later, the ice is shattered with a resounding crack as Sigma looses his icy bonds with a blast of pure energy.

Dusk falls on the forest, a gentle breeze blowing strands of Kiara's blonde hair into her eyes. She brushes them away absent-mindedly, waiting for the signal. Kiara clings to the side of the wall easily, her heart pounding with nervousness and excitement. Her ears twitch slightly as she sees the rising dome of flame ignite a guard-house near the entrance. At Axios' signal, the magnetic climbing gloves are swiftly removed as she bounds over the lip of the wall in a single leap. One sentry unlucky enough to see her is felled with a single kick to the temple, his mind-controlled expression not changing as he falls unconscious. Two more sentries walk up, their alert faces revealing a willing submission to Zionus' rule.

Kiara draws her Kamuis, casting a quick Foie at the lead guard's face. The twin blades are buried in his torso for a brief moment as she rushes him, and before his companion can do more than raise his Visk, she is upon him. She slashes through the rifle with vertically opposite cuts from each blade as she moves towards him, turning to bury one blade in his gut. She spins around and with a quick slash eliminates all possibility of calling for help. Before his still body hits the ground, she has made it to the main control for the outer gate. She triggers it, then destroys the control mechanism with a rapid Gizonde.

As the gate opens, Nova takes his cue. He and the snipers under his command open fire from the trees, cutting down the first wave of guards as they run to the gate to investigate. Meanwhile, Nyreal's group surmounts the wall from the opposite side, easily cutting off the guards as they run to the administrative building nearby. They overtake the communications officer inside with a ruthless efficiency, then disable the equipment.Odd...they aren't equipped with radios. I suppose Zionus thinks he can monitor them all himself. Nyreal thinks, as his troops meet up with Axios' advancing unit. Combined, the two forces move towards the inner gate, more heavily fortified than the outer.

The inner wall is a large white dome, studded with the barrels of embedded photon cannons. It bears a resemblance to the old Central Dome, yet the cannons give it a look of malice the old structure never had.

The invasion force advances, striding confidently past the supposedly deactivated guns. Lab's viral magic had apparently worked yet again. When the soldiers are nearly at the minimum range, a commander inside the fort receives the confirmation that the viral infection of the gun controls had been purged. He hits the master switch, the fort defenses springing into deadly life.

The large automated turret guns open up, spewing orbs of glowing photon death at the advancing Resistance troops. One soldier is caught by an orb as the ground explodes underneath him, the shot striking directly in front of him. Damn! The disabling of the turrets didn't work. We have a problem... Nyreal thinks, dodging out of the way of a photon shot that kills two of his men. I guess they found the virus in the targetting program after all...

At the site of their comrades falling to the heavy turrets, Nova initiates the backup plan. Withdrawing a Tempest Rifle from a capsule at his belt, he inches forward, placing himself just out of range of the turret's fire. Lining up the turret in his sights, he fires, the electrified shot wreaking havoc on the automated gun. Several more shots leave the photon cannon spewing sparks, overloaded by the high voltage.

The Forces in the groups dodge to the sides, spamming Gizonde at the turrets as fast as they can. Though a few more troops fall, the barrage of lightning temporarily disables the turrets. Nyreal's strike group rushes forward, planting their demolition charges, then rushing away.

As the turrets spring back to life, Nyreal's group detonates their charges, the carefully-placed explosives blowing a massive hole in the inner wall. One turret on a far corner is the only one left firing, but a careful shot from one the Resistance's few NUGs quickly reduces it to scrap. The advance force pours inside the gaping hole in the wall, the main force beginning to flood inside the outer wall, led by Labyrinth. As the advance force makes their way past the mangled debris, they enter a large, cavernous room only to find a mass assembly of former Pioneer 2 army troops, all mind-controlled by Zionus. At their head stands Eriror, flanked by Shard and Kimiko.

"You who oppose the master...prepare to die!"

Nyreal shouts a challenge as he draws his sword, a smile on his face. Kiara nods, taking a battle stance. Nova and his snipers quickly approach, switching to closer-ranged shots and Spread Needles as they bring up the rear. The leaders of the two armies glare at each other for a moment before giving the order to attack. A swirling melee of clashing bodies begins, punctuated only by the sound of weapon impacts and the screams of the injured Resistance troops. The mind-controlled soldiers under Zionus make no sound as they are cut down.

The blank-faced man staggers forward, raising his Dragon Slayer. His white uniform turns red as he is stabbed through the chest by the yellow blade of a Durandal, yet the normally mortal wound doesn't stop his relentless advance. The Resistance soldier that stabbed him stumbles backwards, losing her grip on her blade. She falls as the mind-controlled trooper looms above her, a blank look on his face as he readies a killing blow. A Varista shot hits the man in the shoulder, not even making him flinch, as one of her comrades attempts to help her.

The Varista wielder is cut down seconds later by a slash to the throat from a Gae Bolg. He falls, the gun leaving his limp hand. The trooper that killed him shambles over to assist in finishing off the hapless Resistance trooper. As the two weapons descend, she rolls out of the way, stabbing a Bloody Art into the spear-wielder's side. The stab wound does little more than annoy him as he bats her away with the staff part of his weapon. A look of fear comes over her face as she realizes she's out of options.

Nyreal dodges a vicious stab from a Last Survivor, spinning out of the way as his blade makes a ruin of the attacker's legs. The fallen Zionus trooper is finished off with a quick downward stab through the chest. Looking over, Nyreal sees one of the soldiers in his unit about to be killed by two of Zionus' troops. He channels technique energy as he extends one hand, releasing a volley of four Foies that turn one of the attackers to cinders in an instant. The man with the Dragon Slayer looks towards him as he charges, but is unable to bring his ponderous weapon up in time to stop the slash that decapitates him.

"Are you alright?" Nyreal asks, bending down to retrieve the Durandal the soldier dropped.

"Yes, thank you commander." The soldier says, taking her weapon from Nyreal's hand. "These soldiers...they fight like they are possessed."

Blocking a slash from an approaching enemy, Nyreal guts the man with a single stroke. "It's Zionus' influence. Luckily...their reflexes are a little slow. They can take a lot of punishment, but their skills aren't that great."

The soldier nods, running off to help a group of her comrades as they battle three of Zionus' troopers. Nyreal turns, hearing screams of pain. Eriror is engaged with a crowd of Resistance soldiers, currently ripping them apart. Nyreal sighs, then unleashes a volley of Barta waves that Eriror easily avoids. Eriror springs towards him, rasing his Zanba in a mighty slash. Nyreal dodges out of the way as both men cast their respective Jellens. Eriror's is cancelled out by Nyreal's subsequent casting of Shifta, the techniques doing a small bit to equalize the massive difference in strength between them.

"Why are you following that madman? You seem like a somewhat intelligent guy, despite your overcompensating with a gigantic sword." Nyreal quips, dodging a lightning-fast blow from Eriror's Zanba. He is slammed back by a circling ring of Gifoie that Eriror casts, the ring of fireballs singing his robes.

"You besmirch the name of the master. You shall pay with your life!" Eriror yells, redoubling his efforts. He batters Nyreal's guard away with a powerful slash, then shoulder-tackles him into the ground. He readies his Cross Reaper attack, placing the flat of the massive blade over his left shoulder. A volley of Yasminkov fire rings out, throwing off his stance as Nova targets him.

The Ramar strides forward, blasting away at Eriror, who amazingly manages to block most of the bullets. One catches him in the shoulder, but does not penetrate his armor. Nyreal scrambles to his feet, the blue and red glow of Shifta and Deband emanating to Nova as he casts the support techniques. Nova reloads swiftly as Nyreal and Eriror glare at each other.

"Eriror...why are you doing this?" Nova asks. Eriror says nothing, simply using his life energy to charge the Zanba with incredible force. He casts a Rabarta technique that floors Nyreal, then rushes at Nova. Nova's rapid-fire stream of bullets manages to push him back, but the Aura Field Eriror wears is proof against most of the hits. Nova aims carefully for a small opening, but when he pulls the trigger, nothing happens.

Dammit, a jam! Not now... Nova thinks. He backs away, but has to narrowly duck out of the way of a slash from one of Eriror's troops. Backpedaling as he tries to clear the jam in his gun, he is caught by surprise as Eriror charges him. A dark blue streak passes in front of him as he sees the Zanba raised to strike. A bright flash of light emanates off the two crossed blades as Nyreal intercepts Eriror, straining to hold him back.

Axios gives the troops under his command their signal, and massive waves of Gifoie emanate from their bodies to slam into the charging line of Zionus' troopers. Axios himself releases a few more waves of Gifoie, beginning to spin his Rokujou Twin as he gathers the flame to it. Leaping into the air, he unleashes a massive beam of heat energy from his weapon that devastates the line of soldiers. Turning to give the next order, he is nearly beheaded by the purple flash of Shard's weapon.

"The master requires your death. My apologies." Shard says, as she begins an relentless attack. The two double-bladed sabers begin an intricate dance of parry and riposte as the two square off, Axios' support techniques allowing him to momentarily hold his own against the faster, stronger android. His troops are encircled by a wing of Zionus' army, but he is unable to help as Shard presses her attack. He hears the dying screams of his soldiers begin as the Dragon-Slayer wielding troops begin to scythe through them like grain.

Kiara backflips out of the way of a vicious slash, then repays the soldier by stabbing him through the chest. As she moves to her next target, an Ano Rifle bolt catches her in the shoulder, the impact of the energy blast sending her tumbling to the side. She turns the fall into an awkward shoulder roll, slowly getting to her feet. About a hundred yards away, Kimiko readies another shot. Kiara smiles grimly, repairing the damage to her shoulder with a Resta as she watches the android sniper for her next move.

One of the communication officers assigned to the advance force makes contact with Labyrinth. "Sir...they are putting up a more fierce struggle than we anticipated. But it appears that the majority of the force is contained in this area, as per your predictions."

Labyrinth gazes at the gaping hole in the Citadel's walls, then responds through his internal communicator. "Very well. We will initiate our secondary plan. Tell the commanders to begin falling back once we have infiltrated the second ring of defenses." At Labyrinth's orders, his troops ready the demolition charges. Bypassing the inner room where the main battle rages, they blow a hole directly in the wall of the Citadel. The main force streams through this opening, heading for the room where the prisoners are located.

The Resistance soldiers cheer as the wall at the back of the large room they are in implodes in a cloud of dust and rubble, blocking the significant amount of Zionus' troops located in the room from backtracking deeper into the fortress. Good, we've managed to delay them. Now we just have to get out of here alive... Axios thinks, as he blocks another flurry of blows from Shard.

Labyrinth's group charges into the fortress, cutting down the minimal resistance they face easily. "We must be cautious. The advance force states that they have most of the troops they encountered tied up in the anteroom behind us, but they troop strength there is less than what we anticipated. It seems Zionus has held back more of his troopers to defend the inner sanctum."

Neifirst stabs an approaching trooper through the chest with one end of her Meteor Cudgel, then turns to Labyrinth. "Good, so there are more of them. I thought this would be boring..."

The main force dashes through the halls of the fortress, at last coming to a large throne room. A crowd of about 500 ragged, battered civilians are pinned inside a photon barrier at the center of the room. An elaborate altar is set up between the ornate throne at one end and the photon cage in the center. Lucca is strapped to it, unmoving. As the Resistance's main force enters the room, an enormous amount of Zionus' troops appears from a hidden passage behind them, with more streaming out from doorways in the sides.

X draws his katanas, looking around to approximate the odds. "Nei...why do you always have to tempt fate?" The Resistance soldiers fan out, readying their weapons.

"Be careful, everyone. This amount of hostiles is far more than we anticipated. Liberating the prisoners is all we are here for. Do not get carried away." Labyrinth says, obliterating a small group of Zionus' soldiers with a blast from his NUG. Zionus' soldiers charge forward, meeting a line of Resistance weapons.

Sigma rises from one knee, trails of steam coming off of him as the ice shards that once constituted his prison melt and fade away. He sets his face in a grim line, then bows his head and brings both hands up near his face. His hands grasp at what seems to be thin air for a second, clutching spasmodically before clenching into tight fists. He begins to shudder slightly as a pool of radiant white light appears below his body. His arms cross as he crouches down, a high pitched whining sound beginning to grow in intensity as waves of energy flicker up from the pool below him, washing over him in a tide of pure light. He concentrates, an orb of solid power appearing around his body, flaring like a newly-born star.

The ground begins to shake, nearly knocking Lorna and Alis over as the high-pitched whine of energy grows louder and louder, the increases in intensity growing at the same rate as the brightness radiating off of Sigma's body. They cup their hands over their ears and shut their eyes, the sensory overload proving to be agonizing even for Alis. At last, the shaking stops as the sound drops sharply in pitch, followed seconds later by a deep booming roar that is more felt that heard. Alis forces her eyes open, unable to even look at the spot where Sigma stands. She cringes as the loud roar of an explosion echoes over the plains of Ragol. A circular blast wave rushes outward from Sigma's body as his full power is unleashed, bowling his two opponents over and battering them near-senseless.

When the cacophony of sensory turmoil ends, he is hovering above the plains, his entire body emitting a fearsome glow. His wings have increased in size, the tips of the feathered pinions burning faint holes in the ground even as he floats a body-length above the surface of Rykros. The light fades slightly, dimming down to a sustained aura that pulses around him. He smiles, then reaches out his left hand as an orb of white light appears in his palm. The orb grows in size, then transforms instantly into a beam of white light as he flicks his wrist downward.

He holds the beam of light out from his body for a second, grasping it at its midpoint with it perpendicular to his body. His right hand moves upwards, grasping the beam of light about a quarter of the way down its length. He pulls slightly, the beam of light seeming to elongate for a second as the slight curve of a sword can be seen emerging from the beam of light. His hands move further apart as the beam of light seems to be drawn into a sword. With a flash of released energy, he snaps his wrists to either side, separating the blade and its sheath with a further flash of light. He releases his clenched left fist, the few remnants of the orb vanishing into sparks of light, escaping like living things to fade away in the Rykrosian dusk.

Sigma grasps the blade with both hands, posing in an overly dramatic manner for a few moments before letting the blade drop to his left side in a low stance. He leans forward, the aura intensifying as he speaks.

"Face my Tenretsujin, mortals...and fear Heaven's Falling Blade!" Sigma yells, focusing power into the blade. He swoops forward, rising into a powerful uppercut as light swirls around the blade, the light growing into a torrent that accompanies him, an orb of energy growing at the end of the sword as he rises into the air. He spins around slowly, almost gracefully building up power as he rotates around fully, then slams the sword into the ground with a powerful overhead slash.

A scream of tortured air is heard as a massive shockwave streaks towards where Lorna and Alis are standing. Before they can move away, it impacts the shields they hastily throw up, embroiling them in a pillar of white light that juggles them around unmercifully for a few seconds before dropping them to the ground, bruised and battered. Sigma grins evilly as their healing spells restore their ability to move, and rushes at Alis, batting her into the air with the tip of Tenretsujin before assailing her with a long series of powerful slashes. The impact of the blade sends off waves of released force as it crashes into her again and again, pummeling her unmercifully. He finishes with a furious two-handed overhand smash that sends her flying to the ground, the impact of her now still body making a massive crater.

Lorna rushes over, chanting a healing spell, but is blown backwards by an orb of light that erupts at her feet. As she struggles to get up, Sigma launches her into the air with a flaming slash that leaves her enveloped in a pillar of flame. She writhes in pain, but before she can recover she is hit by a powerful lightning-charged stab while still in mid-air. As she begins to fall, Sigma speeds her descent by creating a vortex of cold air, then stabbing his sword through the center of it as ice shards cling to the blade. She hits the ground with a thud, moaning softly in pain as Sigma hovers beside her.

Ow...that's the most powerful hit he's ever used. I'm lucky this armor is strengthened by cold. Lorna thinks as she rolls onto her stomach and slowly staggers her way upright with the aid of her spear. A quick glance over her shoulder reveals Alis still in the center of the crater, unmoving. Sigma smirks, then brings his blade back to a ready position.

"Just give up and die already. You are no match for me, woman..."

Lorna smiles sweetly, slowly standing under her own power as her healing spell takes effect.

"Sorry...can't really do that. You see, you have these impressive attacks that are obviously supposed to awe and wow everyone...but they're all just window-dressing. Overcompensation. You can't back up what you say. You lack the stamina to finish what you start. I now see why you need to carry around that enormous sword. You aren't enough of a man to do anything without it." With this taunt, Lorna grasps her spear with both hands and spins it around her head a few times before ending with the tip pointing at Sigma.

Staring at his livid face, she laughs. "Well, let's get this over with so I can be horribly underwhelmed. It's a shame really. You look like you had a lot of potential. Too bad your ego cancels it out. That, and the horrid dye job." Sigma releases a growl of unsurpressed rage and charges her as a small smile plays on her face.

I have to keep him distracted for a bit longer...

X descends from his leap, the icy lance of a Hyouretsuzan tearing through two of his opponents. As he lands, he leg sweeps one of the three troopers coming up behind him, then unleashes a rapid-fire series of alternating slashes from his katanas that drive the other two back. The soldiers backpedal to avoid the shining circles of steel, but are cut down by a ring of fireballs launched from Keiko's sword. The catgirl grins, then dashes away to attack another group of soldiers.

The Resistance and X's group slowly clear a path towards the photon cage of prisoners. Neifirst smashes a control panel with her Meteor Cudgel, and the photon ring dissipates. Leah fights her way over to Neifirst, and the two newmen push back a nearby crowd of Zionus' soldiers. JiEin raises his new weapon and charges at one soldier that is taking aim at a prisoner, the photon-enhanced metal blade easily cleaving the man in half. He continues onward to cut down five more troopers, easily decimating the line of soldiers near the prisoners. Ringed by JiEin on one side, Leah and Neifirst on another and X and Keiko on a third, the prisoners begin to make their way to safety.

At Labyrinth's signal, Cranberry, Striker and Black Raiden appear from the hole that had been previously blasted in the wall, fighting their way through the crowd to reach the prisoners. Cranberry unleashes Jellen and Zalure as they head towards the center of the room, greatly weakening the soldiers that stand in their way. The attacks of Black Raiden and Striker finish off the weakened troops. Cran casts Shifta and Deband on both X's group and the prisoners, then her group and the Resistance troops that accompany them begin to make their way to safety, the prisoners cocooned between walls of armored bodies.

One overeager soldier attempts to impale Cran with a Flowen's Sword replica as she guides the prisoners out. The newman sidesteps, melts his weapon with a massive Foie, then bashes him in the face with the spinning blades of her Windmill. The man falls, unmoving. As Cran's group leads the dazed, weakened prisoners out, Labyrinth and a strike force under his command make their way towards the altar in a corner of the room. Two Resistance medics dash forward to free Lucca as Labyrinth and his squad members cover them. The free her bonds, but even after a Moon Atomizer and a Trimate she still lies unmoving, breathing but apparently catatonic.

Cran radios Labyrinth as her massive group makes it outside. "Lab, we've managed to get out with the prisoners safely. Transporting them to the base now. You're following us, right?"

"Yes, as soon as..." static fills the radio, as a large dome of transparent energy surrounds the entire citadel. A few more attempts at communication fail as well, and even a shot from Striker's Baranz Launcher falls short of breaking through the new barrier.

"They're trapped inside..." Raiden says, gazing at the Citadel.

A scruffy, bedraggled man in a government uniform speaks up. "We were bait...you should have just left us to die."

"No. We couldn't just leave you there in that madman's clutches. We're going to take you to safety, then we're coming back for them." Cranberry says, a look of stony resolve on her face. At her impassive gaze, the man's protest dies on his lips. The group makes their way to the transportation site and warps to the Resistance's hidden base on Ragol.

Alis hears whispers in her mind as she lies still, the sounds of battle seemingly far off. The clang of metal and the cries of Lorna and Sigma as they fight seem to fade away as the spirit Guardians assigned to serve her make contact.

"My lady...we shall aid you in defeating this imposter."

Before Alis can reply, the ghostly visages of twelve spectral beings appear around her, shielded from Sigma's view by the blast crater she made as she was pounded into the ground.

"Lorna, how are you holding up?" Alis asks, as the spirits of the Guardians lend their power to Elsydeon, the blade beginning to shimmer with a faint glow as each Guardian's strength is added.

Lorna blocks a two-handed swing from Sigma, getting briefly knocked off her feet by the force of the blow. She conjures a wall of solid ice that holds Sigma back for a few seconds, using that time to Resta herself and reply to Alis.

"I'm fine for now. How is that plan of yours coming along? He seems to be tiring slightly, but he's getting more and more angry. Your idea about draining him also draining Zionus seems to make sense, but I'm going to have to end this fairly soon. I'm not quite sure how much longer I want to keep playing around..." Lorna replies, cutting the mind link as Sigma smashes through the ice shield. A few rapid blows are exchanged, ending with Lorna and Sigma's weapons pressed together, each straining to get an advantage over the other. Sigma flares with power and shoves Lorna away, knocking her off balance before kicking her hard in the stomach. As she doubles over, he fires an Angelic Scream at near point-blank range, the impact of the white halo knocking her a good ten feet away.

His follow-up attack is suddenly intercepted by a powerful blast of sinuous purple energy that stops his forward movement. He whirls around, just in time to catch the shining blade of Elsydeon in his side. Recoiling in real pain for the first time, he is battered by a furious series of blows from Alis, fury shining in her eyes as she presses her attack. One final blow from the glowing form of Elysdeon knocks Sigma away, and the two glare at each other, caught in a stalemate as Lorna gets to her feet. The newman stretches, then brandishes her spear.

"Die, you insolent fools!" Sigma yells, rushing at the two. They dodge to opposite sides, narrowly avoiding his preliminary Angelic Scream. The white halo of energy explodes harmlessly between them as they scatter. Lorna stabs her spear into the ground hilt first, pivoting on it to deliver a two-footed kick to Sigma's face as he slashes at Alis. Her momentum carries her around the weapon in a complete 360, enabling her to narrowly block Sigma's counterstrike. Alis's leaping slash is enchanted by a magic spell from Lorna, the blade of Elysdeon becoming encased in a coating of ice that nearly doubles its size. Sigma, his attention still focused on Lorna, is hit across the back with the enhanced Elysdeon, the icy shell shattering into a million razor-sharp shards as he is knocked to the ground.

He floats back up immediately, clearing the needling pieces of ice from his body with a wave of light. Blood drips from a few minor wounds as he glares at the two, hatred in his eyes. "Your continuing annoyance ends here. I shall wipe you from existence!" With this boast, he rises into the air, his sword dissipating into a few sparkles of light. He brings his hands together, a large globe of energy forming between them.

Lorna hurls an icy projectile at him, but the shard of ice simply hits an invisible barrier a few inches in front of his face, dissipating harmlessly. Alis' attacks fare no better. Sigma continues charging energy, the orb of light growing larger and larger, a demonic leer coming over his face.

Alis stares at the attack as it begins to form into a large ring. "Oh dear...he's using one of the demon's moves, I think. The blast radius on this will be enormous. We need to stop him, now!" She says, starting towards Sigma. She is stopped by Lorna placing a hand on her arm.

"No...wait. I have an idea." Lorna says, as Sigma continues to gather energy.

X slashes through two guards, fighting to get to Keiko as she's knocked down. He is beaten to the punch by JiEin, who swats the catgirl's attackers out of the way with a few powerful swings. As he flattens the last of them, Kiara springs to her feet and stabs one coming up behind JiEin.

"Are you alright?" Ji asks, clearing the area around him with several powerful attacks.

"Yeah, this is fun. Too bad more people are joining the party..." Kiara remarks, pointing to the flood of soldiers that is now pouring through the doors.

Nei impales a soldier on her Meteor Cudgel, then throws him into a pile of his comrades. Brandishing the staff, she spins around, taking out several more soldiers. "We have to try and break free. Not that I mind beating up these damnable humans, but...it's getting annoying."

Leah annihilates three guards with a combination of a Gibarta tech and several slashes, fighting to get closer to X. The two stand with their backs to each other as still more of Zionus' troops pour into the room. More Resistance soldiers fall as the weight of the odds simply begins to overwhelm them. Even X's group doesn't remain unscathed, each beginning to show signs of wear and tear as the soldiers flood through. Leah takes a Visk shot to the leg, and falls down, her injured leg unable to support her weight. Though the physical damage is easily repaired with Resta, the numbing effect of the paralysis lasts even through several castings of Anti. The others form a loose ring around her as she tries to stand.

X, seeing how desperate the odds have become, glances over at the portion of the white dome that separates them from freedom. Labyrinth, the small strike force under his command and Lucca are cordoned inside a smaller energy dome, unable to escape but not being attacked either. Labyrinth blasts the dome several times with shots from his NUG, with no effect. JiEin crouches down slightly, receiving a radio transmission from Labyrinth.

"Labyrinth says that if we can find a way to break free, we should take it, and not to worry about him." He says, standing and getting back into a battle position. A group of Zionus' soldiers begin to slowly close in, forming a loose ring around the group.

"Well...that's wonderful. But we don't really have a way to break free, JiJi." Neifirst says, bashing a soldier in the face as he tries to slash her with a Vjaya.

"Ah, don't worry, Nei. You can get back to making special friends in no time. I've got this covered." X says, sheathing his katanas. Black lightning begins to crackle around him as he releases the power of his conduit, a small shockwave pushing back the encroaching ring of soldiers. A single black wing shoots from his back as he rises above the ring of his friends.

He charges energy in one hand, a Demon Roar blowing apart the first line of soldiers he sees. He cuts down several more groups of soldiers as he flies towards the barrier that surrounds Labyrinth. A black halo of energy appears in front of him as he charges a two-handed Demon Roar. The technique is fired a split-second later, the powerful blast harmlessly splashing off the barrier. His three further attempts have the same effect. Giving up, he whirls about, the spiraling black beam of a Shinkuu-Majinken tearing through several soldiers. Swooping downward, he sees Nei surrounded by a black aura.

"Nei?"

"Yeah, I learned this trick a little while ago." Releasing the power of her conduit, she is surrounded by a wavery shield of dark flame. Her Meteor Cudgel lights ablaze as she leaps into the crowd of soldiers, cutting down all in her way. X hovers, firing off Demon Roars. With the two of them running interference, the crowd of soldiers begins to slowly thin. Keiko guards Leah as the injured newman tries to stand.

JiEin smites an over-eager soldier that leaps at him with a Kaladbolg, then plants his sword into the metal flooring and braces himself, aiming his Heat Blazer at a large group of soldiers standing near the barrier. He fires, the blast vaporizing many of them, but having no effect on the barrier. He falls to one knee, steam coming off of his joints. X and Nei slump to the ground as well, the combined force of their powerful attacks having greatly thinned the opposition. Suddenly, a loud crack of energy is heard as a glowing white being appears, warping into the room. The dome-shaped barrier around Labyrinth and the others disappears in a flash, to be replaced by an opaque white wall that separates the two halves of the room, X's group on one side, Labyrinth's on the other.

"Now that you're all here...the path to my dominance is secured. View the might of my Seraphs, and face your oblivion!" Zionus says, gesturing as five misshapen creatures, vaguely resembling shining white Delsabers, are warped into X's half of the room. The creatures shriek with rage, and immediately launch an assault, cutting down hordes of Resistance troopers. X, JiEin and Neifirst struggle to their feet, as Leah is finally able to get enough feeling back in her leg to be able to move.

Smiling at his plan, Zionus turns to Labyrinth, who is leveling his NUG at him. With a wave of his hand, Zionus obliterates the units that were hastily setting up their shield generators, then turns his killing beams of light on the strike force that accompanied Labyrinth. They are destroyed in an instant, most not even having time to cry out. After a few horrible moments, only Labyrinth, the unconscious Lucca and Zionus are left on their side of the barrier.

Nyreal barely manages to push Eriror back by sending a Zonde charge through his blade, the shock forcing the mind-controlled hunter away. Eriror casts a quick Resta to repair the damage, then rushes at Nyreal like a steamroller. Loud crashes can be heard as Nyreal parries Eriror's vicious Zanba attacks, fighting a mostly defensive battle. Every strike Nyreal tries to make is deflected by Eriror with surprising agility, his Zanba moving with incredible speed. The two rush at each other for one final attack, Nyreal swinging in a low arc at Eriror's side. Eriror deflects the blow, increasing the power of his attack by sacrificing his own life force, before bringing the Zanba down in a staggering vertical counterattack that shatters Nyreal's sword before plowing into him, knocking him to the ground senseless. Even with the impact decreased by Jellen and Deband, the powerful strike opens a large wound on Nyreal's torso. Nyreal lays on his back, nearly knocked uncsoncious as Eriror towers above him.

Kiara narrowly evades an Ano Rifle shot aimed at her head, the bolt of energy singing her hair as it flies by. She struggles to get within technique range of Kimiko, but every move she makes is countered with an unerringly accurate shot. The wounds have been minor so far, but each shot is slowly weakening her. She feints to her right, then dashes to the left, but is hit in the knee by an Ano Rifle shot before she makes it more than a few paces.

Eriror reverses his grip on the Zanba, preparing to stab Nyreal. His aim is thrown off by a Flight Cutter blade that hits him in the head, opening a slight gash along his scalp that sends a trickle of blood down his face. He roars in rage, turning to Nova with a look of pure hatred in his eyes.

Kiara sprawls to the ground in an untidy heap, crying out as she is unable to sustain her weight. She hits with a loud thud as she casts Resta, the healing spell stopping the bleeding, but doing little to heal the tissue damage underneath. She reaches for her belt to withdraw an item capsule, but stops as the targetting beam of the Ano Rifle hovers over her heart. Kimiko laughs as she watches Kiara slowly raise her hands.

"You will pay with your life!" Eriror says, charging at the shuriken-wielding Ramar. He pours his own life force into his weapon, his hands taking on an eerie maroon glow as he raises his blade high in the air for a killing strike. Nova stands, the Flight Cutter gripped loosely in his right hand.

Axios blocks a furious attack from Shard, catching the android in the shoulder with a bolt of Zonde. As she staggers back, he charges his Rokujou with technique energy and goes on the offensive. The golden blade meets Shard's purple one with a spray of sparks, his tech-enhanced attacks beginning to slowly push her back. He brings his weapon around in a flat horizontal arc, slashing at her head. Shard leaps back with suprising agility, launching three traps into the air. The flash of light from the traps temporarily blinds Axios as she backpedals, and he doesn't notice the small trap that floats near his ankles.

"It's been fun, but I'd like to kill you so I can get on with killing more deserving targets." Kimiko says, walking closer to Kiara as she keeps her aim steady.

At the last possible instant, Nova steps slightly to the side, delivering a swift kick to Eriror's lead leg. As the hunter goes off-balance, Nova catches the Zanba with both hands, grabbing the blunt end with his free hand as he pins the sharp edge with the blades of his Flight Cutter. Using Eriror's momentum, he hurls the hunter forwards in a martial-arts throw. As Eriror slams into the ground with enough force to dent the metal floor, Nova whips several Flight Cutter blades at him, the life-draining energy they give off severely weakening him. Eriror slowly starts to get up, but stops as the harsh barrel of a Yasminkov 7000V pokes him in the spine.

Axios blocks an attack from Shard, the two twin-sabers locked together as each strains for supremacy. Shard's natural strength soon wins, out, and Axios is forced back, his left foot triggering the freeze trap Shard had set. Instantly, his body is trapped in an icy prison, and his Rokujou Twin is taken from his limp hands as he glares at Shard. The Hucaseal places her blade at his throat, readying for a final attack.

"Do you have any last requests before I terminate you, sir?" Shard asks, as Axios simply glares.

"Don't move, Eriror. I really don't want to have to kill you." Nova says.

"Grr...how did you?" Eriror says, straining to get off the floor.

"You're too predictable. The Cross Reaper is a devastating attack, but I've seen it too many times before."

Nyreal sits up uneasily, healing the gaping wound in his torso with a Resta. He looks around, seeing Kiara pinned by Kimiko, Axios imprisoned by Shard's freeze trap, and Nova standing over Eriror.

Sigma finishes charging his attack, the massive orb of light becoming roughly ten times his size. It slowly forms into a ring,wisps of power drawn to it as it becomes larger and larger. He grins evilly, then braces himself to fire.

"Cry of the Seraphim!" he yells as he launches the massive ring of white light at his two opponents, the rapid flickering of the attack creating a strobe-like effect in the dusky skies of Rykros.

Alis and Lorna stand for a second, then spring into action as the halo draws closer. Alis brings up Elsydeon, and using the power the spirit guardians at her command had lent her, she erects a purple barrier around herself and Lorna, the Saint Guard enveloping them in a dome of energy. Lorna retracts her staff, then places both hands onto the Saint Guard as the attack makes contact. A loud whine of energy is heard as Alis strains to maintain the shield. She cries out, bracing herself as Lorna begins to absorb the raw divine energy of Sigma's attack, filtering its destructive power through the Saint Guard. The halo of energy seems to buckle as Alis holds the barrier, sparks of light shooting off of it.

Sigma strains, having poured a large portion of his energy into that attack. He presses with all his might, struggling to break through the barrier. Lorna's body begins to glow with white light as she absorbs more and more of the destructive energy of the attack, the halo shrinking rapidly. As Alis' strength wanes, she falls to her knees, still clutching Elsydeon. The glow around Lorna's body grows brighter and brighter, its increase tied to the rapid depletion of Sigma's attack. With one last cry, Alis falls to the ground, completely spent. The Saint Guard fades, and Lorna confronts the full force of Sigma's attack. Bracing herself, she absorbs the last of its energy, the halo vanishing in a bright flash of light. She stands with her head down for a few moments, then looks up, glowing with energy.

She casts Resta on Alis and herself, then weaves her hands in a complicated motion, causing green sparkles of light to appear above herself and Alis. "Ataraxia" she chants, as the sparkles settle onto the two, restoring their technique energy.

Alis looks at Sigma, who is floating with a shocked look on his face. Lorna smiles sweetly, then nods at Alis.

"You aren't as tough as you think, you know...now, it's our turn." Lorna says, a deadly calm in her voice. Sigma simply glares, then steadies himself and draws his Tenretsujin. As he flies rapidly towards Lorna and Alis, he is stopped by an arcane yellow barrier that appears around him, impeding his movement. The yellow circle underneath the barrier is inscribed with faintly shining runes. He hits the energy wall around him, unable to break it.

A similar, yet much larger circle has appeared around Lorna and Alis, as each have begun chanting. The chanting rises in volume and intensity, as the minutes pass, the arcane seals around both growing brighter and brighter. Sigma's struggles to break the barrier grow more and more frantic. What is this foul sorcery?" he thinks, struggling to break free. At last, the glare is nearly too much for Sigma to see through, and the chanting is punctuated by one harshly screamed word that flows from both Alis and Lorna in a voice as ancient as the planet Rykros itself.

The last thing Sigma hears before he is consumed in a maelstrom of pure energy is three sharp syllables.

"Megido!"

Labyrinth stand motionless as Zionus begins to gloat. "Fool. You thought to foil my divine plan...the price for your insolence shall be death. But first...you must be punished." With a wave of his hand, Zionus seems to beckon to Lucca, whose body is consumed with a white light. She rises slowly, her movements stiff and erratic, as if being controlled by a puppeteer. She reaches for a gun holstered at her waist, withdrawing a Ruby Bullet and leveling it at Labyrinth's head.

"Lucca, what are you doing?" Labyrinth asks, lowering his NUG. "Fight against him, you must!"

Lucca's only answer is a pull of the trigger.

A Resistance soldiers drops his weapon and runs screaming as the Seraph lopes towards him. He'd seen his comrades cut down in seconds, photonic weapons seeming to bounce harmlessly off the glowing creature's armored skin. As he flees, the Seraph withdraws its blade from his former commander, screeching as a green glow is drawn into the blade from the fallen man's body. It turns its head towards the rapidly retreating soldier, and in one leap is upon him, raising its blade to strike. The photon saber extending from the creature's right hand is intercepted by a flying wall of steel as JiEin leaps between the Seraph and its target, bashing it across the torso with his sword.

The photon edged metal blade hits with a tremendous amount of force, yet cannot knock the creature back more than a few inches. JiEin's follow-up attacks do little to phase the Seraph, and his combo is answered with a hard bash to the head from the green photonic shield on the Seraph's left arm, knocking him reeling. As he stumbles, the creature pounces, stabbing the photon blade through his shoulder effortlessly, narrowly missing his chest. The weight of the creature shoves the struggling android to the floor, forcing him to release his grip on his sword as he fights to get the thing off of him.

X crushes a Trifluid capsule, the restorative easing the dull ache at the back of his head. He sneaks a quick glance at Labyrinth and Lucca, only to see Lucca shoot Labyrinth in the head with a Ruby Bullet. He is unable to spare a second look, as the sound of ripping metal snaps him back to attention. He charges a Demon Roar, the wisps of energy coming a bit slower to his out-stretched arm.

Taking careful aim, he fires at the Seraph that is mangling JiEin, the concentrated burst of dark power having a far greater effect than he expected. The creature lets out a loud cry, dodging away from the Demon Roar with amazing agility. It takes flight as the attack goes underneath it, impacting against the far wall with a loud explosion. The Seraph dives swiftly towards JiEin, but the secksy android rolls out of the way, a Trimate reducing the shower of sparks that spray from the gaping wound in his torso.

The Seraph's blade leaves a burning hole in the metal flooring as it stands from its crouch, an ear-splitting cry summoning the other four Seraphs from their pursuit of the frightened Resistance soldiers. Keiko, Leah and Neifirst walk over to join X and JiEin as they confront the hovering Seraphs. The hovering menaces shriek with rage, then each extends its sword arm, the blades retracting as an orb of green energy forms on each arm's tip. Sensing what they are about to do, Leah thrusts her sword outward, the purple barrier of a Saint Guard springing up around the group as the green beams of killing light lance towards them.

As the Seraphs close in for the kill, blades extended and cries of glee erupting from their hideous heads, the group scatters, assuming fighting positions. X starts the assault with a Demon Roar that causes two of the Seraphs to swoop apart. Leah and Neifirst run towards the nearest Seraph, their weapons cascading off it harmlessly as it hurtles by. It meets their next attacks with it's shield, then pushes them both back with a shockwave of energy.

Keiko lightly dances out of the way of one Seraph's attack, then backflips to avoid another three strikes. The last one comes close, leaving a shallow cut on her leg. She heals it with a quick Resta, then hisses with rage and stabs her katana at the Seraph, who intercepts the metal blade with its shield, photonic sparks flying. It batters her down, but is struck from behind by JiEin, the attack not even leaving a scratch on the creature's hide.

X is embroiled in an aerial battle with two Seraphs, fighting defensively as the two creatures try their best to impale him. He sends a roiling ball of flame at the nearest one with his Ryuenjin: Gou technique, but the intense heat of the attack does nothing but anger it. He is repaid for his attempt at offense by a carefully coordinated double shield smash from the two creatures that knocks him to the ground.

Damn...I should've been able to dodge that. This weakness is really getting old... Taking back to the air, he sees Neifirst, Leah, JiEin and Keiko all struggling. He watches the movements of the Seraphs for a moment, then gets an idea as he watches his friends pummel away with no real effect.

"Keiko! Freeze one of them, and have Ji use his Heat Blazer. Then, Nei and Leah hit it with everything you've got. I'll keep the others busy." X says, taking to the air. He hurls a Demon Roar at one of the Seraphs Nefirst and Leah were battling, causing the creature to whirl about and fly towards him. He takes off, circling the room as three Seraphs give chase.

Keiko grips her Muramasa with both hands, channeling technique energy into the blade. Frost forms on the weapon as she leaps into the air, then unleashes a wave of icicles. "Hyouretsuzan: Souga!" she cries, as the Seraph is encased in a solid prison of ice. Keiko lands and dashes away as JiEin's chestplate opens up, a red dot growing larger and larger as energy is drawn in to fuel his Heat Blazer. The android braces himself, aiming the massive cannon at the frozen creature. He fires the scarlet beam, the wave of heat causing the Seraph to glow red as it is bathed in fiery destruction.

JiEin holds the beam on the creature until steam begins to pour from his body, only stopping when his frame is unable to take the heat. The Heat Blazer shuts down and his chest plate closes. His swiftly-released Freeze Trap absorbs some of the heat overload, but his movements are still stiff. Leah and Neifirst leap into action as the Seraph begins to get to its feet, pummeling it with a series of powerful attacks. Leah's sword opens a gap in the newly brittle white armor, and Neifirst opens it wider with a series of powerful strikes from her Meteor Cudgel.

The Seraph staggers back as Neifirst uses the last of her conduit power to charge the Meteor Cudgel with a dark flame, the mystically enhanced weapon boring a path straight through the creature. It cries out in agony, its body beginning to dissolve. With the last of its strength, it stabs the weakened Neifirst as she tries to free her weapon, the green photon blade of its sword arm emerging out of her back as it dies. The blade is withdrawn as the creature turns to dust, the blade shattering into a million tiny fragments that melt as they hit the ground. Neifirst utters a single word as she falls back, a gaping wound in her torso.

"Damn..."

JiEin is beset by three Seraphs, the creatures breaking off their pursuit of X as they sense what happened. They pounce upon the android, attacking viciously with their photon blades. Leah dashes towards Neifirst as Keiko turns her attention to helping JiEin, while X fires a point-blank Shinkuu Majinken at the Seraph following him, the tightly-coiled line of demonic energy severing the creature's blade-arm off. X swoops downward to intercept a Seraph that leaps towards Leah's back, as Keiko tries in vain to help JiEin with the two attacking him.

X catches the flying creature's blade with his crossed katanas, being pushed back by the Seraph's inhuman strength. Straining, he turns to Leah.

"How bad is it?"

Leah finishes casting Resta, and replies, the waver in her voice revealing the seriousness of Nei's wound. "She's unconscious. Resta and Trimates are only slowing the bleeding. It's bad..." Leah cuts a strip off of Neifirst's sleeve, and uses that as a makeshift bandage. X continues his battle with the Seraph as Leah fights to save her best friend's life.

JiEin staggers as two photon blades stab into his chest. Still weakened by overuse of his Heat Blazer, he is unable to defend himself as the Seraphs pound on him. Keiko hisses with rage and leaps at the nearest Seraph, channeling a flame around her sword as she spirals into the air, then unleashing three flaming wheels. "Ryuenjin:Souga!" she says softly, as the scorching attack ricochets harmlessly off of the nearest Seraph's back. She lands in a crouch, then springs to the side as the Seraph's blade sunders the metal floor where she was just standing.

Keiko casts Shifta and Resta as she dashes towards JiEin, the healing spell helping to bring his systems back from the verge of total overload. His frame battered, scorched and dented, he rises to his feet and turns, nailing the Seraph with a two-handed, Shifta-enhanced slash. The impact of the blow knocks the creature back, but does little actual damage. The Seraph recovers in mid-air with an impressive flip, then dives towards the android, its photon blade severing through Ji-Ein's left arm easily.

JiEin nearly falls over, unable to completely support his blade with one working arm. A clumsily aimed swing at the nearest Seraph hits only air, and the dodging creature's foot comes down on JiEin's severed arm. A loud sizzling crunch is heard as vital components are smashed. JiEin abruptly realizes the extent of the damage as revised accuracy readouts scroll across his field of view.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO! My S-Parts! DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!" JiEin shrieks in an oddly warbling tone, leaping forward to drive his sword through the Seraph's chest. Overloading his circuits, he dumps every last ounce of power his body is capable of generating into the blow, the massive sword flaring with energy as it cleaves the Seraph in half. The mangled creature's two halves fall to the ground, disappearing in whisps of smoke. Overloaded, spent and severely damaged, JiEin's frame shuts down. The Seraph Keiko was fighting breaks off its pursuit of her and swoops towards JiEin.

X continues his struggle with the Seraph trying to attack Leah, finally channeling a Demon Roar into his blades as he stabs the creature. The katanas, charged with dark energy, leave gaping wounds as the Seraph staggers back. X's finishing blow is intercepted by the armless Seraph he wounded earlier. The injured Seraph is consumed in a dark pillar of fire before fading away into a cloud of smoke.

The two remaining Seraphs fly to the top of the room, screeching oddly. Leah picks up Neifirst and carries her over to where Keiko is trying to reboot JiEin's CPU, X covering the four of them with a charged Demon Roar.

X surveys the Seraphs warily, as they descend towards a group of Resistance soldiers they had dispatched. Most of the advance team had left while accompanying Cranberry's group, though those that stayed behind had been nearly obliterated. X gazes at them for a few moments longer, a fierce rage burning within him. He shakes hair out of his eyes and turns to his friend as he drinks the bland contents of a Trifluid.

Keiko has managed to retrieve JiEin's mangled forearm, the metal plating dented and crushed. She is still unable to reboot his systems, and though Resta and a Moon Atomizer have repaired some of the outward damage, the damage to his internal systems seems much worse. Leah crouches over Neifirst, the worried look on her face slightly abating. Neifirst's face is sheened with sweat, though her body is no longer contorting in agony every few moments, and the bleeding from her wounds has slowed to a mere trickle. Leah casts one more Resta, then rises from her crouch.

"X...what are they doing? And what's going on with Labyrinth?" Leah asks, stretching out her legs as she stares at the Seraphs.

"I'm not sure. They aren't attacking, for some reason. When I make a move towards them, they react, but they haven't attacked yet. And the barrier has gotten too dense to see through." X replies, jerking a thumb back over his shoulder at the now entirely opaque white barrier that separates Labyrinth, Lucca and Zionus from them. His view shifting back to the Seraphs, he lets out a muffled curse as the vague 'bad' feeling he's been getting through his conduit suddenly intensifies tenfold.

Several bright flashes of light appear from the direction of the advance forces' remains, and five Seraphs suddenly spring into being. The two Seraphs, joined by their comrades, begin moving around to the corpses, extending their blade arms and passing an eerie green glow over the corpses. As X watches, horrified, the dead bodies become Seraphs.

"Leah..." X says in an oddly disconcerted voice. "Put up your strongest Saint Guard, and make sure to get the others within it. Draw on Elnoa if you have to." The hunter says, his body going tense.

"Ok, I should be able to. I've got quite a bit of photon energy built up. But why?" Leah asks, her question answered as she looks over at the rapidly growing crowd of Seraphs.

"X, come closer, I can't get you inside the-" she begins, her voice rising in barely-surpressed panic.

"Do it, now!" X cries, his body crackling with energy as he rises into the air.

The purple barrier snaps up a mere split-second before a hail of green energy blasts cascade into it. The crowd of around fifty Seraphs rise into the air, deciding to go after X instead. He backs away rapidly, firing off as many Demon Roars as fast as he can, realizing that only dark energy is capable of breaking through their defenses. With the massive swarm of Seraphs, finding a target is not difficult, but the effort is akin to trying to melt an entire snowstorm with a torch.

Inside Zionus' barrier, Labyrinth's frame is blackened and dented by the impacts of repeated Ruby Bullet shots. Zionus hovers, gloating maniacally as he forces his captive to attack again and again.

Labyrinth blocks another incessant shot with a raised forearm, the elongated photon blast leaving a dark scorch along his arm. The android replaces his NUG in its capsule, the bazooka disappearing with a shimmer of light. He withdraws a Frozen Shooter and takes careful aim, the shot easily encasing Lucca's gun arm in a sheet of solid ice. Before the Ramarl can free herself, Lab dashes forward, crushing the frozen barrel of the Ruby Bullet with one massive hand. Lucca frees herself from the ice and drops the mangled weapon, staring at Labyrinth with a blank look in her eyes. Zionus laughs maniacally, and slightly loosens his hold.

"Let's see what the infidel has to say, shall we?"

Lucca's eyes return to their normal deep blue, and she looks at Labyrinth with an expression of anguish he has never seen before.

Forcing her words through clenched teeth, she begins pleading.

"Please...Lab...kill me. He's...in my mind. Twisting, usurping, burning." Tears streak down her pale countenance as she continues. "It hurts so badly... AUGH!" Lucca seems to go limp for a few seconds, slumping forward as Zionus reasserts his hold. She resumes her blank, slack-jawed stare as Zionus laughs again.

"Well, will you kill her? End her misery? She would not be in pain if she would just submit to my will, and bow at my feet like the worthless human she is." Zionus says, a smug look on his face. "What's left of your pathetic Resistance is currently being ripped to shreds by either my faithful followers or my Seraph army. Even your precious hero X is about to die. It's over. If you bow to me now, I will grant them a quick death. But you, and all the others, must beg for it. You must kneel at my feet in submission, and I will end your worthless existence for you."

"You really don't get it, do you? Dying an honorable death in combat is a thousand times better than submitting in the slightest to a pathetic excuse of a being like you. There are operating systems worthy of more 'praise' than you." Labyrinth replies, replacing his Frozen Shooter in its capsule. "I am programmed to have no pride, and yet I still would allow myself to be sold as a refrigerator before I would give in to your irrational ranting."

Zionus commands Lucca to attack him again, snarling with fury. Labyrinth sidesteps the stab she makes at him with a DB's Saber replica, and applies a swift blow to the back of her head that knocks her unconscious. She falls to the ground, unmoving.

"Very well then. You end here." Zionus says, raising a hand that glows with power. Labyrinth locks his knees and undoes the final safeties on his Omega Cannon, readying it to pour every bit of power in his reactor into the blast. The yellow beam of the cannon and the white beam of Zionus' wrath meet, each vying for purchase. The glare given off by the two nearly blinds Lucca as she slowly comes to her senses. The battered Ramarl rises to her feet, grasping the discarded DB's Saber as she watches the two struggle.

"Release my companions, and Eriror doesn't get killed. We can all leave here alive." Nova says coolly, his gaze going to both Shard and Kimiko in turn.

"Hahahahaha, that's funny. Even at point blank range, that peashooter couldn't penetrate Eriror's armor. Besides...I can kill all three of you in the space of a few seconds. I'm just drawing this out to be dramatic." Kimiko says, her voice sickeningly sweet.

"Right. And that's why I nearly had you back when we rescued X, huh?" Nova says, grinning. Kimiko's only answer is a growl of rage, sounding odd coming from her innocent-sounding voice synthesizer.

"The master will not submit to your demands, Ranger. We have been ordered to wipe out all Resistance heretics." Shard says, her blade twitching towards Axios' neck.

Eriror moves slightly, stopping when Nova presses the barrel of his Yas more firmly into the pinned Hunter's back.

"Nova, if I do not kill you for this, the master surely will. Let us cease stalling and end this." Eriror says.

"Get ready." Nova thinks, hoping that at least one of his teammates can hear him. Sage's lessons weren't exactly 'thorough'. he thinks to himself, allowing another tight smile.

Kiara readies herself to cast a Zonde technique, straining to not reveal her intentions. The concentration is made difficult by the pain of her wounds.

Axios glares at Shard as the humming purple blade of her weapon twitches ominously towards his neck. He begins to charge a Gifoie, waiting for Nova to make his move.

Nyreal stares at the scene unfolding in front of him, barely able to move. His crushed ribs and broken arm pain him greatly, and hinder him in sitting up. He silently hopes that Nova knows what he's doing.

The muffled sound of an explosion in the next room starts a chain-reaction, the three groups moving as one. Nova cartwheels to his right, springing away from Eriror as he begins firing. Kiara's Zonde hits Kimiko's rifle as she fires, throwing off her aim slightly. The Ano Rifle shot hits one of the Kamui's that the Hunewearl threw into the air, the shot ricocheting off with a resounding clang, the blade being the only thing separating the killing beam from her heart. Kiara draws her Suppressed Gun and fires as Kimiko tracks for another shot, Nova's first Yasminkov shell hitting the android ranger in the eye as Kiara's shot hits the control mechanism on her weapon. Sparks fly from both damaged areas as Kimiko screams in rage, the back half of her head plating now lying on the floor, blown off by the shell's exit.

Nova's second shot hits the handle of Shard's weapon, shattering it as Axios' Gifoie technique breaks the ice around him. The spiraling spheres of flame nail Shard as the Fomar breaks free, and he stabs her with the front half of his Rokujou Twin, the shining golden blade tearing a massive hole in her chest. His follow-up attacks are dodged easily, but a pulse of Gizonde into the gaping wound causes Shard's body to seize up as vital internal components are swiftly overloaded. The android is unable to move as Axios' follow through attack swiftly severs her head from her body.

Nova's third shot as he hits the ground is aimed at Eriror, the impact of the shell narrowly throwing off the killing blow the enraged hunter aims at him. However, the force of the shell is not enough to entirely stop the attack, and Eriror charges forward, cleaving Nova's gun in half. Eriror continues his relentless assault, easily blocking the ranged attacks Kiara and Axios begin hurling at him. Nova backs away, scrambling for a weapon. Mechs jammed, Yas destroyed, Flight Cutter accidentally dropped...this isn't good. I can't stop a Zanba with my bare hands...

Nyreal struggles to his feet, barely able to move. His attempts at a Resta are foiled by his drained technique reserves, and as he looks down at his item capsules, he realizes the wetness on the front of his robes is not entirely from his blood. Eriror's attack had smashed the last of his Fluids, leaving him out of resources. A quick search reveals that giving the members of his unit his extra Trimates was ill-advised as well. Hmm...this sucks.

On Ragol, Sigma groans softly in pain as he slowly emerges from the crater Megido had made. His body is horribly burned, and movement is agony. He draws on the power of the Great Light that Zionus granted him, and focuses the energy into a wave of healing light. He feels his connection to Zionus weaken, and gets a flash of rage from Zionus as he realizes how much energy he just used. When he attempts to power back up, he is met with only sparks of intermittent light as a terrible weakness floods over him. He is able to draw his sword, but the once shining blade is now a dull grey, barely able to maintain its corporeal form.

Damn. I over did things. Hopefully the master will realize that I need more power. It's not as if he needs all the power at his disposal to crush those weaklings...

Lorna smiles at Alis, and gives her the thumbs up. "The plan worked, my lady. He is greatly weakened, and he had to use an enormous amount of energy to hold his body together."

Alis laughs weakly, feeling more drained than she has ever been before. Casting Megido had taken more than she realized, even with her and Lorna combining their efforts.

"I must rest for a bit, Lorna. I am sorry." Alis croaks, supporting herself on one arm.

"No worries. I'm going to teach this imposter what the meaning of pain really is..." Lorna says, steel in her voice. She summons her lance, and strides toward Sigma, who had been blown far back into the distance. A smile emerges on her face, but it is underlined by a look of rage in her eyes.

Seeing Sigma begin to stir, she picks up her pace, moving from a casual stroll to a swift walk, to a gentle jog, then a loping run, and finally a full-on sprinting charge. She reaches the disoriented clone as he draws his sword, and launches herself into a vicious series of verbal and physical attacks.

"Foul usurper! Betrayer! Filthy wretch! You are not worthy of the power that was stolen to create you, abomination!" Lorna yells as she stabs her lance past Sigma's weak guard, inflicting a grievous wound. He cries out in agony for the first time in his life, backing slowly away from Lorna with his sword wavering. His knees wobble as he beholds one of the many people he tried to kill on an even footing with him for once, and fear strikes his heart. A look of terror comes over his face as he stares at the enraged woman.

X grunts in pain as the mindless army surges over him, slashing, ripping, clawing and tearing with an inhuman ferocity. He releases a burst of pure dark energy, the shockwave incinerating two of the creatures with purple flame and giving him a bit of breathing room. He hovers, blood streaming from countless wounds. His clothing is in tatters, yet the pants still remain miraculously untouched. The shirt, on the other hand, has barely more than a strip of cloth left to it. He feels a strange sense of elation despite the pain of his wounds, and a curious wellspring of strength begins to grow within him.

Nova dodges another swing from Eriror, as Kiara and Axios rush over to help. Kiara tosses Nova a weapon capsule as she runs over to him, then continues her mad dash to strike Eriror in the back with both of her Kamuis. She backflips away as Eriror turns to strike, laughing as Axios lands a solid hit on the Hunter with his Rokujou. Axios blocks a counter-attack, bestowing the blessings of Shifta and Deband on his friends.

Nova withdraws a Spirit Gungnir from the capsule, the yellow blade flaring into life as he swings at Eriror. He pours technique energy into the blow, moving the weapon around Eriror's cumbersome Zanba with his incredible reflexes. The combined efforts of the Dreamchasers quickly wear down the veteran hunter, though he gets in a few good shots. Kiara nurses sore ribs as she gets up, after being smacked away by a Zanba hit that would normally have cleaved her in half. Axios is blasted by an orange orb of light that leaves his robes smoldering and a weak feeling over his entire body. Nova takes a knee to the stomach, but manages to bash Eriror with the pole of the Gungnir before the Hunter can strike.

Sigma calls upon more power, feeling his master's aura weaken temporarily. As the light heals the damage Lorna had just inflicted, he hears a scream of rage in his head.

Zionus raises his hands in triumph, a silvery white beam lancing from them to intercept the android's Omega Cannon. Hmph, this won't take long... he thinks, as the two beams begin to struggle for superiority. Suddenly, a great weakness washes over him, as Sigma draws more power than Zionus had allotted him. Zionus's beam weakens, and he has great difficulty holding back Labyrinth's beam. He opens a mental channel to Sigma as the yellow beam overcomes his guard and engulfs him in a searing wave of yellowish light.

"No, you incompetent fool! Not now...ARGH!" Sigma hears his master scream, and a wave of pain rushes over him from the first time as his creator is seriously harmed.

Sigma staggers, but is quickly brought to his feet by an uppercut from the blunt end of Lorna's lance that leaves his face bleeding.

He grunts in pain, then snarls at her, not noticing the change in his voice until he has spoken. "Insolent wench. I shall kill you for...huh?" He looks down at himself in shock, seeing the familiar glow that has accompanied him all his life fade completely for the first time.

Lorna looks him up and down, then begins laughing. "Well...looks like someone just got cut off. Now, you'll feel all the pain you've caused." With this, Lorna leaps at Sigma, battering him to the ground with her lance. She follows up with a flurry of blows that leaves him reeling, cowering on the ground with terror.

"You...it's not fair. I'm the strongest! I'm the best! I'm better than him, I'm better than you, I'm better than anyone!" Sigma screams in a voice that bears a strong resemblence to a petulant child whining for candy.

Lorna laughs again, a bit mockingly. "Aw...did the poor baby lose his big stick? What's the matter, afraid you might not be able to hide behind your 'master' anymore? Let's see what you're really made of, oh 'great one'." Lorna dispels her spear with a spoken command, following that up with another command that causes her armor to vanish into a misty vapor.

She stands there motionless for a few moments, the wind blowing her long blonde hair about as mist slowly fades from her body. She smiles ferally, the smile reaching her eyes in a predatory manner. Without another word she begins to slowly walk forward, smiling all the while.

"What...what do you want from me...?" Sigma asks, suddenly terrified. He backs away, stumbling slightly as Lorna's casual pace devours the distance between them.

Eriror backs off warily, waving his Zanba around as a sudden feeling of confusion washes over him. This is followed split-seconds later by the worst headache he has ever experienced. He drops his Zanba and shudders in agony, clutching both hands to his temples as he grits his teeth to keep from screaming.

X withdraws his Orotiagito from the Seraph he just impaled, surprised at how the creatures had all seemed to suddenly weaken. He hears a high-pitched whine of energy from behind the opaque barrier, which is suddenly punctuated by the sound of a man screaming in agony. He smiles, and rushes at the crowd of suddenly confused Seraphs, cutting a vicious swath through them with graceful sweeps of his sword. Each attack he makes seems to bring strength back to him, and by the time around ten of the curiously weakened creatures have been dispatched, the fatigue from the previous battle is gone entirely.

Hmm...that's odd. That funny weakness I've had ever since Zionus imprisoned me is starting to fade. Oh well. I can worry about that after these things are gone.

Sigma continues to back away as Lorna walks closer, hesitant to attack without his powers to back him up. Lorna senses this, and smiles.

Hmm...he seems a bit rotten on the outside, but I'll be willing to bet there's a tasty soul underneath there. I can feel it, occasionally. This may be fun. But a little taste-test first. Lorna thinks as she draws nearer to Sigma.

What is this witch trying to do? Stupid insects...all of them. I am a god. I do not deserve to be treated with such disrespect by this base animals. I will prove my superiority. Sigma thinks, as he backs up into a small stone outcropping, his back hitting the rock wall and stopping his movement.

Lorna smiles,then places her hands on either side of his head, sliding them down the wall to grasp him by the shoulders. She leans lightly in, gazing down at him.

"Well, it seems I've finally caught up with you. I have a simple test for you, though. Please relax, this won't take long."

Sigma snarls at her, struggling to break free from her surprsingly strong grip. His protests are cut off as his mind suddenly fills with an image of Alis, only to be followed seconds later by an agony unlike anything he's ever felt before. He screams, twisting away frantically, begging for the pain to end. Abruptly, it is gone as quickly as it appeared. He falls slightly, but is caught and easily pinned against the rock wall. He looks at Lorna uneasily as his vision clears, seeing a rather hungry grin spreading across her face.

"Well, two things. First, I might as well explain what that was. It was a small fraction of the pain you caused the Lady Alis, dampened slightly to keep your admittedly weaker will from breaking underneath it. That was the test. Now, for your result. You failed, miserably. You hide behind your 'master', and the power stolen from a true hero, yet underneath that you are nothing."

"Stupid wench! I'll kill you." Sigma sputters, as Lorna easily restrains him.

"Actually, I'm wrong. Saying you're 'nothing' is a bit much. One should not refer to their dinner in such a disparaging tone."

Sigma screams soundlessly as Lorna embraces him, feeling his very essence begin to be absorbed.

Zionus staggers to his feet, drawing power from the Great Light to heal the grievous injuries he had just sustained. He howls with rage, seeing the overloaded form of Labyrinth in front of him.

"You pathetic wretch! You sought to hurt me. Now pay with your feeble life." Zionus says, as he feels power begin to seep away from Sigma. He focuses his inner sense for a moment, then snarls inwardly as he feels his Seraph army being decimated. With all this, the sudden breaking of his control over Eriror's mind during his brief moment of weakness is too much to bear. He struggles for a bit, trying to balance the many tasks he is suddenly having to maintain, and does not notice Lucca creeping up behind him.

Eriror slowly gets to his feet, shaking his head. He looks around, and sees the Dreamchasers in front of him, battered and bruised. All around him are bodies, some wearing the white uniform of his unit. As he stares, at a loss for words, an enormous contingent of his troops rush into the cavernous room he occupies. At the sight of them,a torrent of memories flood back to him in an instant, and he slams his Zanba into the metal flooring with a cry of utter rage as he remembers the atrocities he was forced to commit. His face sets in a hard line a moment later, and he walks over to the Dreamchasers.

"I...remember you. I also remember the horrors that have transpired. We must put aside our petty differences for the moment, and end this madman's reign of terror." he says, addressing Nova.

"Eriror?" Nova asks, looking confused. As he stares closer, he sees that Eriror's eyes have returned to their usual hazel, instead of the bright blue they had been while he was under Zionus' control.

"He's freed." Axios says, immediately. "Zionus lost control or something..."

"Yes, he did. I have no doubts that he will try to regain control when he can, but until then...I shall fight him. Men, follow me!" Eriror says to his closest group of troops, who follow him easily towards a nearby door, their minds free again for the first time in a long time.

Kiara stares at Eriror's back in shock for a moment, then turns to Nova. "Nova, did you just see...?"

"Yeah. You're not dreaming. Zionus finally lost control of the Pioneer army." Nova replies, as Nyreal walks over.

"What now?" Nyreal asks, dumbfounded.

"Nova! We go to deal with the enemy. Take your troops and retreat. The entrance you used is blocked, but there is another that leads to an exit on the other side." Eriror says, tossing Nova a keycard. The Ramar catches it easily. "That card will get you past security. I suggest you hurry, as I am not sure how long this moment of clarity shall last. Good luck." Eriror says, striding through the open door with the look of a man ready to meet his demise proudly.

"What...the...hell...?" Axios asks, as Eriror's troopers follow him.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Eriror isn't one for subtlety. I'm actually reasonably sure this isn't a trap." Nova helps gather up the remnants of their attack force, and they begin the retreat. As the last of the remaining Resistance soldiers make their way through the exit, the bodies they left behind glow with a faint green light...

As she drives the DB's Saber into his spine, Zionus loses all control for a brief moment. He batters Lucca away with a vicious backhand, and withdraws the saber, healing the physical wound. However, the curious draining feeling persists, as he feels more than half of his stored power leaking away like water from a broken bottle. A thousand minds are loosed from their imprisonment, and begin buzzing like an angry swarm of bees.

In his attempt to regain control of Pioneer 2's army, he does not feed enough power to the Seraphs, and X begins truly decimating them. As he tries to reinforce the Seraphs, the draining of Sigma's soul speeds up without Zionus' presence to ground him. The disasters spiral into total chaos, as the entirety of his army deserts him, rallying behind their newly freed leader Eriror.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Zionus yells, furious as his plans fall apart around him.

X dodges a blow from one of the last remaining Seraphs, then neatly severs the creature in two. Leah had dropped her Saint Guard, unable to maintain it any longer. Her and Keiko stand watch as X obliterates the last Seraph with a massive Demon Roar.

X hovers over and lands, his wing retreating into his back as he grins at Leah.

"Told you I'd handle it. I'm feeling a lot stronger for some rea-...aaaarrrrggghhh!" X screams, clutching his torso with both hands as he falls to his knees. Leah runs over, terrified.

On Rykros, Lorna continues to drain Sigma, shining wisps of power floating off of his body. As she drains more and more, the fleeting presence locked within Sigma frees itself, the shimmering figure of a long-haired hunter leaping from Sigma's body.

Lady, I have no idea who the hell you are...but thank you. The spirit says, as it disappears in a flash of light.

"Wait...you were the one I wanted to...dammit!" Lorna cries, disappointed. Sighing, she turns her attention back to Sigma, but the first second of draining his true soul has her recoiling with a look of utter disgust on her face.

"Ugh, you are rotten. You aren't even worth the trouble to finish eatin-" Lorna's reply is cut off as the form of Sigma also disappears, the faint aura of a teleportation spell whisking him away.

"Not agaaaaaaiiinnn! What do I have to do to get a decent meal around here?" Lorna pouts, pressing her head against the stone wall for a brief moment. Her rant is interrupted by a soft cough behind her. She turns to see the figure of the Guardian spirit she 'persuaded' back in the trials, and she smiles broadly as she reaches for him, the smile that of a cat who just figured out how to open the birdcage. The spirit sighs softly, but manages to impart his message before he becomes a buffet course.

X doubles over in pain, his body arching as a shining stream of wispy light rushes into his body. The hollows in his cheeks, the faint washed-out look about him and the mysterious weakness that plagued him all disappear in an instant as his soul is fully restored. The pain is gone a second later, and as he rises he feels better than he has in a long time. He flexes his arms, then stretches, before turning to Leah with a smile.

"I'm back." He says simply, as Leah rushes at him and hugs him. The two hunters embrace for a moment, then X walks over to Keiko, Neifirst and JiEin.

He reaches out one hand, lightly toucing Neifirst's face as a dark aura flares around him. A wisp of power flows from him to her as a power signature exactly like that of Reverser, only purple, shimmers around them both. When he withdraws his hand, Nei's eyes open, and she slowly sits up.

"X? What the hell did you do to me, brat?"

"I awakened your conduit, and used that to heal you. There are a lot more uses for it than 'Rawr, I smash puny humans', you know..." X says, as Neifirst proves she is fully healed by lunging at him with a punch. He dodges aside easily, as Neifirst smiles.

"Well...you seem back to your old self. That, or you finally figured out the meaning of 'evasion'."

"Yeah, something like that." X says. "Now, I'm going to go face Zionus. I want you to take Ji and as many of the soldiers that came with us as you can find, and get out of here. Without the Rings I might not be able to kill Zionus, but I can have a great time trying. He's got a lot to answer for..."

"What do you mean, you can't kill him?" Keiko asks.

"Without the Rings to cut his power, he's unkillable." X replies, not blinking an eye.

"How do you know this? Have you tried it or anything?" Keiko asks, as she helps Neifirst drag JiEin to his feet.

"Remember back when I was unconscious for that long stretch of time?"

"What, you mean after you and Leah...?" Neifirst begins, smirking.

"Hush. No, after Zionus attacked the Resistance Headquarters. Darkness appeared to me in the form of Zero and took the time to explain a few things. She also mentioned something about 'attaining ultimate power' or something, but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary." X says.

"...right." Nei says.

"Anyway, you need to get out of here before..." X begins, but he is interrupted by the appearance of Eriror and a large portion of his personal guard.

"What, you again?" X asks, bracing himself for a fight.

"We are not here to fight you. The madman's control over us has been broken. He will be made to pay for his crimes. Help us or stay out of our way." Eriror replies.

"Hmph, looks like he slipped up. I can handle him, but I guess you can watch if you want. Give me a minute, and I'll crack that barrier around him." X says, turning to his friends.

"We'll go, X. Just please...be careful." Leah says, sharing a long embrace with X before she helps Keiko and Nei drag JiEin over to a corner. X manifests his conduit, the dark wing springing from his back as Eriror watches impatiently. He fires off a massive Demon Roar with no apparent effort, blasting a hole in Zionus' barrier that allows his friends through. Seeing them walk past the gaping hole in the wall, he smiles. They disappear in a Telepipe, and he turns to Eriror.

"Look chuckles. I don't like you, I don't trust you, and I really don't think you'll be of much help. Please try to not get yourself killed." X says darkly.

"Right. You mentioned something about the barrier?" Eriror says.

"Yeah, but first..." X braces himself, drawing energy into his body as furious bolts of dark lightning begin to crackle around him. His entire body is consumed in a pulsating aura of dark energy for a moment, and when it fades he is fully transformed, each hand turned into a familiar-looking dark claw as two majestic sable wings sprout from his back. His hair stands up slightly as he rises aloft.

"Now...let's go pay this madman a visit..." X says, bringing both hands together as he charges a massive Demon Roar. The shining black halo, bigger than X's body and trailing dark lightning, streaks towards the barrier. As it hits, the energy shield buckles inward before dissolving. Zionus hovers slightly, as Lucca and Labyrinth hold weapons on him.

The self-proclaimed god seems to shrink into the wall as he sees X at full power. He pales even more as Eriror rushes at him, Zanba held high. The Hunter makes it about ten feet away before Zionus lifts him into the air, ripping his mind apart with an exertion of power. Eriror hits the ground with a thud, twitching as his last vestiges of independent thought are ripped away from him.

"Now, obey me." Zionus says, turning to the soldiers.

He is answered by every soldier in the group, and more that stream into the room, raising their weapons and opening fire at him. Zionus snarls with rage and hurls a bolt of power at them that X easily intercepts. As he launches another attack, X blocks it again. This is repeated five more times, with Zionus growing more and more frantic in his assault.

"Why won't you fools die!" Zionus asks, as he senses the return of the battered Sigma. He mentally orders the few remaining Seraphs to gather up Sigma, Shard, and Kimiko and take them to his chambers. He teleports Eriror away from the scene of battle, then casts the spell to turn every corpse in the building into a Seraph.

I was unable to do that with all the other strains on my attention, but...it doesn't matter now. The Seraphs will wipe out the Resistance and the last of the dissenters. I shall deal with X mysel-ugh. his train of thought broken by the Demon Roar X hurls at him. He lets out a wave of power as he yells with rage, the nearest soldiers shaking in fear and falling over. X simply smiles, and rushes at him.

X charges at Zionus, nailing him with a Demon Roar as he approaches. As X reaches Zionus, he uppercuts him with one clawed fist, the force of the blow knocking Zionus into the celing. Before Zionus can recover, X has warped up to him and kicked him into the far wall. Zionus' impact leaves a crater in the wall, and the barrage of Demon Roars X unleashes upon him only makes the crater wider and deeper. When Zionus finally breaks free, his body smoking and scorched, X flies at him, tackling him back into the wall and delivering a rapid-fire series of blows with such force that the entire citadel shakes.

The claws on X's fists leave gaping wounds that still manage to heal before the next blow is struck. In frustration, X punches both fists at Zionus, pinning him against the wall as he charges up a Hyper Demon Roar. Zionus struggles to break free, but is unable to do so as the enormous blast erupts at point blank range, blowing a hole in his torso. He cries out in agony, yet the power of the Great Light has the wound repaired before the echoes of his scream die down.

X backs off, slightly winded from the amount of power he just used. Zionus smirks evilly, then floats away from the wall. "Impressive. But even with your full power, you are incapable of killing me. And Sigma at least managed to make sure that you will not be getting the Rings... hahahahahahaha!" Zionus gloats, firing shots off at the crowd of soldiers behind X. He must be bluffing. There's no way that cheap dye-job imitation could have stopped them. I hope...X warps towards them, intercepting the killing beams of light with crossed arms.

"You fool. You could save yourself, if it were not for that pathetic desire to play the hero." Zionus says conversationally. No matter, really. I've unleashed a new wave of Seraphs on the remnants of your advance force. And the people you are protecting now were until very recently under my command. Or have you forgotten that?"

"It's more like I don't really care. They don't like you, so they're fine with me. Although...you could leave, y'know. It'd be a lot easier." X says, turning to the recently liberated soldiers.

"No! That madman killed the commander. We can't let him get away with that." One of the soldiers says, speaking up. His comrades nod in assent.

"Yeah, but you see...you can't really do anything useful at the moment. I can barely scratch him, and I've got all the cool lights. You have...Varistas. Please, leave." X says, beginning to get frustrated. Who am I kidding? I can bash on him all day, but it won't have much of an effect without the rings. And if I drop my guard, he could easily kill me. Or any of these people..."

Nova's group quickens their pace, hearing the bizarre screeching of a group of Seraphs behind them. Nyreal and the Dreamchasers are bringing up the rear as their troops follow the corridor to safety. As they turn the corner, they see the last of their troops entering into the same courtyard they originally entered the citadel through. The soldiers cheer, and rush for the safety of the forest. Nova's group makes it out into the corridor as the last of their soldiers leave the Citadel. A green barrier springs up, singing Kiara's hair as she tries to step over the threshold. The familiar screeching becomes louder and louder as the four turn, seeing a swarm of Seraphs flying towards them. They draw their weapons and brace themselves as the creatures rapidly approach.

"This barrier, I think it's controlled by the console over there." Nyreal says, pointing with his good arm. "It's a standard photon barrier, not one of Zionus' strange ones."

"Well, that means it's easier to get past, huh?" Axios asks.

"We only have to get through them..." Nova replies, pointing to the massive group of Seraphs that stand between them and the barrier controls.

Yokote and Brom bring the Landale out of its rapid-transit warp, near the planet Ragol. Sage's heart leaps into his throat as he sees the familiar metallic sheen of Pioneer 2 again. He smiles, then goes back to monitoring the situation on Ragol again.

Lissandra gently contacts him with a passing mental touch. "Sage, we're nearly there. What now? Where do we go?"

Sage mutters to himself for a moment, then answers her aloud. "We're going directly to Ragol. That's where all hell's been breaking loose for the past few hours."

"Sounds fun." Yokote says, steering the Landale towards Ragol.

"Yay, fleshbags to kill. Again!" Brom states, with a prominent undertone of glee.

The Landale moves closer and closer, its hull beginning to heat up as the descent to Ragol's surface begins. Sage exerts a telekinetic shield over the ship with a thought, bracing it as it enters the atmosphere. They slice through the clouds easily, then level off as the verdant surface of Ragol appears below them.

"Where to, Sage?" Yokote asks, checking the scanners.

"There's a large building located in the northern part of this hemisphere..."

"Which is giving off energy readings like crazy. I assume that would be it?" Yokote finishes.

"Yes. From what I can tell, the Resistance mounted an attack and suffered heavy casualties. But Zionus' forces seem strangely diminished as well." Sage says. After reaching out a hesitant telepathic probe, his face grows pale.

Sage, those emanations you are feeling are from a creature known as a Seraph.They are highly durable, agile, and deadly. Lutz says into Sage's mind.

"I figured that much out. How do you know so much about them?"

I've seen rumors of them in the archives of the Mansion. They were originally given life to protect the temples of the Great Light...

"Great, so once again the Great Light left something lying around that could wipe out a planet. Lovely..."

They should prove to be very weak against both dark-based attacks and the power of the Rings.

"Alright then. Nova's group is surrounded by a bunch of them. We have to help them."

Sage, the demon is doing battle with Zionus as we speak, but his strength is beginning to falter.

"Yeah, I feel it. We'll have to split up."

"Well, we have two things to take care of. The Resistance launched an attack, and though it failed most of them were able to escape. A small group is left, fending off a new weapon of Zionus' called a 'Seraph'. Liss, you and Brom need to go help them. Yokote and I are going to go help X." Sage says, handing Brom and Lissandra each one of the Rings.

"I thought Alis said we weren't 'worthy' to use these." Liss asks wryly.

"She's wrong. They should work fine." Sage replies, as Lutz confirms his statement.

Lissandra, Yokote, Brom and Sage each take out a Ring and place it on their wrist, as Yokote brings the Landale in close to Zionus' citadel. The ship hovers over the courtyard where Nova's group is fighting a desperate battle, and Brom and Lissandra leap out, Lissandra's telekinesis slowing their descent to a manageable level. Brom gives out a shout of glee and rushes at the Seraphs, as Liss lands near Nova and the others.

"Who the hell are you?" Axios asks as the white-robed Esper lands next to him.

"I'm Lissandra, and the android is named Brom." Liss says.

"You're with Sage, huh?" Nova asks, noticing the ornate ring on her wrist.

"Yes. He said to try and break the group of you out of here. But Brom seems rather set on killing those things." Lissandra says, as she goes about healing Nyreal and the Dreamchasers. A few Restas have them back to fighting trim, as Brom hacks and slashes his way through the crowd of Seraphs, the interference field given off by the Ring he wears greatly weakening the creatures.

Lissandra recasts Shifta and Deband, then strengthens it with a telekinetic barrier. "Well, Brom has managed to deal significant damage to their forces. We should be making our retreat now." As Lissandra says this, she activates the controls for the barrier telekinetically, dropping the green shield. Brom runs out of opponents a few moments later, and grudgingly retreats alongside Lissandra, Nyreal and the Dreamchasers.

Meanwhile, X and Zionus are locked in a furious battle. X's attacks do incredible damage to Zionus, but X is unable to inflict any lasting harm. The double strain of protecting the defectors from Zionus' army and fighting Zionus is beginning to take its toll on the hero. He flinches slightly, and is battered to the ground by a blast of white energy from Zionus. He gets hit five more times before a NUG Bazooka shell hits Zionus in the back, staggering him. The irate 'god' whirls about, to see Labyrinth and Lucca blasting away at him.

"I thought I killed you already!" he snarls, as he unleashes a deadly beam of light that X is barely able to block in time.

"You know...it would be so much easier if everyone who isn't protected by the infinite power of Darkness would get the hell out!" X snaps, glaring at Lucca and Labyrinth.

"We wanted to stay and help you..." Lucca begins.

"No, don't worry about it. Just go!" X says, rushing at Zionus to buy them time to escape. The wondrous feeling of euphoria he had felt when the weakness disappeared had faded rapidly, to be replaced with a bone-deep fatigue that was mental as much as physical. He grimaces in pain as another attack from Zionus gets past his guard, leaving a long burn down his side. In his brief moment of distraction, Zionus sees his opportunity. He exerts all of his will, grabbing X in a wall of force and slamming him into the ceiling. X struggles to escape as Zionus pummels him, and has the wind knocked out of him when Zionus slams him to the floor.

With X (briefly) incapacitated, Zionus takes his chance for revenge, and charges a massive ball of energy in one palm as he blocks the defectors' escape with a wall of force. A faint runic circle appears around his hand as he aims the attack, a smile coming across his face.

He hears a loud explosion, and turns, wondering how his attack could have caused an explosion before he cast it. He gets his answer seconds later as a green bolt of force suddenly creates a sunroof in the main room of his Citadel. Snarling at this interruption, he focuses his power and opens fire, an enormous silver beam of energy lancing toward the crowd of people.

Yokote hits the door release as he fires another burst from the Landale's cannons, yet his query to Sage on "What do we now?" remained unanswered. Turning his head, he sees the tail of Sage's robe trailing out the door.

I can't believe he just jumped out... Yokote thinks, as a bright glare shines up from the Citadel.

Sage leaps from the Landale, slowing his descent with his powers. He sees the beam streaking towards the crowd of people, and instinctively holds out his right hand, bearing one of the Rings of Stars. He taps into Lutz' power as he falls, creating the tightest telekinetic shield he has ever made. His body flares with energy as the Ring responds in kind, forcing back the blast of divine energy effortlessly. Sage hits the ground as Zionus' attack is deflected harmlessly, a cry of shock coming from the people behind him. An instant later, Zionus screams with rage as he feels the presence of one of the Rings of Stars.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he yells, his voice alone causing the walls of the Citadel to shake.

Sage shuts him up by drawing his dual Yasminkovs and firing two shots,the telekinetically-guided bullets blowing massive holes in Zionus' torso. For the first time, the self-proclaimed 'god' bleeds, as he falls to the ground in agony. The Great Light heals the damage, but the repair is much slower in coming.

"Come on, we need to go." Sage says to the defectors, as Yokote brings the Landale down inside the Citadel. They are swiftly ushered aboard the ship through the loading bay, Lucca and Lab going up last. Zionus stirs, as Sage beckons for them to go.

"What about you, Sage?" Lucca asks, as the Landale begins to rise.

"I'll be along in a bit. I have something to take care of first." Sage says, as the packed ship takes off for the Resistance base. Sage walks over to where Zionus lies regenerating, draws his guns, and unleashes a fully-charged barrage at the fallen tyrant.

"I know that won't kill you, not yet. But I hope it hurts."

The Fomar walks over to where X lies, unconscious, and revives the downed hero with a quick casting of Reverser. X blinks slowly to awareness, turning to see the brown-robed Fomar at his side. Sage helps X to his feet, then smiles.

"I told them I'd be back eventually." Sage says, holding up his Ring-clad arm.

"About damned time. What took you?" X says.

"Eh, stuff. Listen, we should probably get out of here before he starts moving again. You aren't in any shape to fight him, and I can't take him by myself. We need to regroup." Sage begins, as they see Zionus start to stir.

X nods his assent, and Sage forces a path through the barrier with several well-placed Yasminkov shots. The two are away as Zionus gets to his feet, any damage healed.

They have the Rings, but they are unable to defeat me without all five around at once. I must prepare for their pathetic attempt at an assault... Zionus thinks, as he sets up a much stronger barrier. The Citadel is encased in a solid white dome that pulses and glows with power, as Zionus begins to rebuild his shattered empire.

X and Sage appear inside the Resistance's Ragol base, emerging from the shimmering ring of a telepipe, and are immediately surrounded by a crowd of people.

As they begin to make sense of the situation, Lorna and Alis appear from a shimmering warp gate, adding to the confusion.

"Well, now what?" Sage asks, as their companions crowd around.

After a well-earned rest of a few hours, some organization of the force under the part of Labyrinth and escorting the prisoners back to their homes, X and Sage are sitting on a balcony outside the Resistance's Ragol base. Zionus' citadel is surrounded by a so-far impenetrable barrier, and the Resistance is rebuilding their forces.

"So, X...what should I do?" Sage asks, lounging against the railing.

"Why are you asking me?" X replies, shrugging his shoulders. "And why are we hiding from everyone?"

"Because everyone's looking to me to find out what to do, and at the moment I'm not entirely sure. That, and you've had experience with this whole 'saving the world' thing before. I figured if anyone could give good advice, it'd be you." Sage says, sighing.

"Heh, thanks. Anyway, you don't need to worry. I think I know what happened. You've been bumped up to 'main character' status. Congratulations."

"Huh?" The Fomar asks, puzzled.

"Well, basically...now every important decision to be made gets routed to you, and nothing significant will happen until you set a certain chain of events in motion." X says, taking out a much-worn paddle ball. He begins playing with it as he looks off into the distance.

"That...makes no sense." Sage says.

"Eh, blame 20 years of convention and plot devices. Anyway...there's something I need to show you, and there are some choices you need to make." X says, creating a small purple portal below him. "This is called a 'pocket space'. It'll take us to the 'Character Select Screen'. Step inside, please." X says, motioning to the portal. Sage steps over hesitantly, then is sucked inside.

He feels a rush of air for a brief moment, then appears on what seems to be a flat, totally dark plane. Three person-sized crystals shine about ten feet away, and as he walks toward them a wave of light washes over the plane, revealing an intricate stone temple. He walks over the flagstones to the three crystals, as X drops lightly behind him.

"Ah, there they are. Go over to the crystals, please." X says, pointing. Sage does as X instructs and walks up. As he reaches his hand out to touch one of the crystals, a large blue screen appears on the far wall. As it takes shape, portraits of all the people from the different groups appear on one side, as the blue screen separates into two smaller windows. On the right sit portraits of 16 of Sage's friends and companions. On the left sit portraits of Sage, X and Ayame.

"Why are we up there?" Sage asks.

"Because, all three of us are 'required' at the final battle." X answers.

"What do you mean, 'required'?"

"I don't know who is 'requiring' it, but I'll tell you this. I will get back at Zionus for everything. You aren't going without me."

"I wasn't planning to. But...two things. For one, why am I 'required'? And why's Ayame up there?"

"Well, you're probably up there because you've received 'main character' status. Ayame's up there because she got really mad when she found out we didn't take her with us. I don't have the money to buy out the entire world's supply of ice cream, so I have to let her go with us. Then again...she can handle herself pretty well now."

"How do I get rid of 'main character status'?" Sage asks.

"I have no clue. But you might want to try taking off the Ring, if for some reason you don't want to go to the Zionus fight. The five non-conduits that are going will need the Rings."

"Ok." Sage's attempt to remove the Ring from his arm is met with blinding pain in his head. He hears a message from Lutz as the ringing in his ears stops.

"I will confront Zionus. Either I kill you and find a new host, or you go. Those are your only options. Besides, I thought you'd want to go." Lutz says into Sage's mind.

"I do...I was just curious."

"Curiosity killed the catgirl. I would suggest you not trifle with whatever it is that's orchestrating this."

"Yeah yeah, I get it..."

"Well, looks like you won't be taking that off. So yes, you are 'required'." X says, smiling.

"I want to go fight regardless, but I was just wondering why I'm being forced to when I'd like nothing more to go anyway."Sage glares at the Ring on his arm for a moment, then goes back to looking at the pictures.

"Hey, that's your droid friend JiEin. He was repaired?" Sage asks, as he scans the portraits.

"Yeah, Elly's working on it. He's pretty distraught about his S-Parts, though. The crystals must think he's in fighting shape, or will be by the time you're ready."

"Hmm...your girlfriend Leah, that scary newman lady with the purple hair, the girl that turns into the cat...Nova, Kiara, Axios, that Nyreal kid, Brom, Yokote, Liss, Lorna, Labyrinth...oh, there's Cran, Striker and BR. When'd they show up?" Sage asks, recognizing them.

"Oh, when the Dreamchasers helped bust me out of Zionus' clutches. We ran into them in the Mines as we were making our exit."

"Ok then. So I need to pick people to go in the four slots on the screen below you, Ayame and myself?" Sage asks.

"Yeah. The crystal to your right offers a description of each slot, and the crystal to your left offers a rundown of each potential 'party member's ' abilities."

Sage touches the crystal on the right, as a differently-coded frame appears over each empty slot.

Words scroll across the screen as Sage 'highlights' the first slot by thinking about it. The portraits of JiEin, Leah, Labyrinth and Striker light up with a bright yellow glow, the glow over the first slot matching it.

Words begin to come from the crystal in a beautifully cultured, soothing voice.

"The first party member goes in the 'tank' slot. Also known as 'meat shields'. This term is generally applied even if the party member in question is made of steel instead of meat. Possible choices for this slot are JiEin, Leah, Labyrinth and Striker. Please select the party member you wish to have more information about, and hit the "Y" button on your controller. Select a party member with "A", and cancel your selection with "B"."

"What controller?" Sage asks, as an elaborate video game controller embedded with shiny crystals appears from the main crystal. "Oh...that one. Hmm...should't be that hard."

After some careful thought, Sage selects the portrait of JiEin and places it in the first slot.

"So, you picked JiEin. Any reason?" X asks, stretching.

"I'm hungry, and he makes good noodles. I've been to his restaurant a few times."

"Fair enough. What's next?"

"Hmm..."

The second slot on the screen lights up with a bright red glow. Four portraits on the right light up as well, the glow illuminating the faces of Yokote, Black Raiden, Brom and Neifirst.

"I guess it's 'Primary Attackers'."

Pondering for a few moments, Sage lets out a deep sigh.

"What's wrong now? You're taking forever to do this, you know..." X says, lounging against a stone pillar.

"This one's tough. Brom probably has the most raw destructive power, but he's kinda...scary. Same with the crazy Newman lady. Black Raiden would be really good at it, but I'd rather keep her and Striker here in case anything goes wrong. I know they could handle it. Yokote's an excellent fighter, but he's already been maimed once while helping me. I'm not sure if I want that to happen again."

After a few more minutes' deliberation, Sage reluctantly places the cursor on Brom, and selects him. A red glow covers his portrait for a second, as he moves to the second party slot.

"Well, with JiEin there, maybe the sane Hucast can balance out the crazy one. Or they may just turn on us and kill us all..."

"Nah. Ji's pretty good at dealing with psychotic fellow droids. You never met his brother, did you?" X asks.

"No."

"Well...yeah. I think he'll handle it just fine. And if not, I'll ask him to bring his wok. Anyway, what's next?" X says, walking over to the crystal to look at the abilities readout.

"Secondary Attackers." Sage replies, as a green glow appears over the portraits of Nova, Keiko, Nyreal and Kiara.

"Heh, secondary attackers. Keiko's going to be mad..."

As Sage is mulling over his next choice, a submenu appears, asking LEARN ABOUT COMBINATION ATTACKS? Yes No

"What's this?" he asks X.

"Can't you guess?" X asks. "But let's look at it anyway; it might be helpful.

Sage grunts "Sure, why not ..." and clicks Yes, and suddenly Lorna appears, in her full blue bikinied glory. "Tadaa! Let's learn about combination attacks!" she says, grinning.

" ..." Sage replies, as X simply stares.

Lorna smiles as X gawks, his jaw nearly hitting the floor. As a stream of nearly incoherent babble begins to come from his mouth, Sage sighs softly and sends a telepathic jolt to X's brain. I'd forgotten to introduce them. This should be...interesting. he thinks.

"X, this is Lorna. Lorna, meet X." Sage says, motioning to each in turn.

Sage's mental slap to the back of the head cuts through X's haze, briefly reactivating his higher nerve functions. He jumps slightly, finally managing to tear his gaze away from Lorna's chest.

"Hi there. Sage, you never told me you knew such a beauty." X says, stepping closer to Lorna.

"Yeah, we met on Rykros. Anyway Lorna, what's up?"

"You mentioned something about 'combination attacks'?" X asks, flashing a dazzling smile. "You know, I'm a master swordsman. Perhaps we should go discuss some unique combination attacks..."

"Well, that's what I'm here for." Lorna says, smiling broadly.

"Uh, X...I know she's tall, but she could probably understand you better if you were looking at her face instead of her chest..." Sage says telepathically.

Details, details. Is she single?

"X, she eats souls..."

Ooh, kinky.

"Eh, don't feel bad. She had the same effect on me when I first met her."

Tall, gorgeous...she's still talking though. Did I miss anything?

"Sage does have a point, dear. It's bad form to stare without asking." Lorna says, glancing at X as the sound of her voice interrupts the mental conversation.

"...right. Anyway, about those combination attacks..." X replies, still smiling.

Lorna coughs slightly, then continues.

"As many people know, combination attacks have been a staple of many anime and anime-inspired works," Lorna says undaunted, smiling prettily. "In fact, the noble heroes who first fought the Profound Darkness back on Motavia used combination attacks - including the justly-famous Grand Cross and Paradin Blow ..."

"Paladin Blow," Sage corrects, adjusting his glasses.

"Paradin Blow," Lorna says, throwing magic dust on Sage and shrinking him to the size of a Star Wars action figure. "Now don't interrupt dear; I still have a lot to say."

Sage gulps as Lorna, with a winsome smile, pins him under her foot, draining him silly, and continues talking to X like nothing is out of the ordinary. "So, it should come as no surprise that the heroes who gather here today are likewise capable of combination attacks, some quite powerful indeed." She looks at X and harrumphs. "X hun unless you want to be under my other foot stop gawking at Sage and start paying attention."

" ... Just how much more of that dust do you have?" X asks. "That stuff looks like fun..."

"Only enough to last me for cutscenes - now then, the point of this diversion is to inform you two to take into consideration the various combination attacks your choices for the final party will enable, both against Zionus and against everyone Zionus throws at the rest of us. For example; should you choose to include me in the Zionus party you will unlock a powerful combination attack which shall reveal some interesting backstory."

"Oh?" X sounded mildly unenthused, still staring at Lorna.

"Um ..." Sage was too busy being smushed to do anything but wriggle helplessly and be drained.

"However, should you not vote me in the final party, you'll unlock a different combination attack involving more backstory and copious fan service," Lorna says, grinning.

"Fan Service?" X and Sage ask in unison, their eyes lighting up like kids in a candy store.

"Just how much fan service?" X asks.

"Oh ... you'll see," Lorna says impishly. "If you choose to, of course. There are other combination attacks, ones that don't even involve me. Sadly ... I can't tell you what they are. But do stop to think about how your upcoming choices could enable certain combination attacks; who knows what special abilities you might unlock?"

With that, Lorna walks back, letting Sage go. "Oh, the dust will wear off in a bit - tata dears, see you when the main plot kicks back in!" With that, she blew X and Sage each a kiss and was gone.

Sage pops back to normal a moment later, looking woozy. "Oh boy ..."

"So, you never answered me. Is she single?" X asks, as Sage slowly gets to his feet.

"Better question...are you?" Sage replies, brushing himself off.

"Ah, dammit. Anyway...how come you get away with being happy at fan service, yet I get hit in the face?" X asks.

"Being telepathic has many fringe benefits. I usually know when I can and can't get away with saying certain things..."

"Must come in handy." X says, as Sage suddenly gets a pained look on his face.

"Uh-oh...Leah's standing outside the pocket space. I think she just met Lorna..."

Sage shakes his head, still feeling slightly woozy after Lorna's "hands-on" tutorial. He slowly walks over to the crystal, and after making a few mental calculations, selects Nova's portrait and places it in the third slot, the green glow briefly lighting up the room. As he does this, the final four portraits glow with a bright blue light.

"So...almost done?" X asks, taking out his paddle ball and acting rather bored.

"Yeah...this is the last one."

"You realize this is taking absolutely forever, right?"

"I mean, come on...they probably think we've died in here." X says, playing with the paddle ball once again.

"Well, how do you go about selecting party members?" Sage asks.

"Eh, there always seems to be exactly enough people available when I need them. Never too many, never too few."

"Anyway...what's this category?" X asks.

"Main Healer, apparently. The four choices left are Cranberry, Lissandra, Lorna and Axios."

Lorna can 'main heal' me anytime... X mutters, as Sage begins to scroll through the ability descriptions.

Sage smiles as X finally notices Lorna's picture is among the choices. This decision, unlike the others, is made rather quickly. He briefly glances over the four portraits, then makes his choice, selecting Lissandra's picture and placing it into the last slot. X stares for a moment, then lets out a cry of anguish.

"What the...? Why isn't Lorna going?" X asks frantically.

"Lorna mentally contacted me. She says she has a 'bad feeling' about Zionus' plans, and thinks that a signficant force should stay behind to protect the base. She volunteered to lead it, so...I figured I'd let her. Besides, I think Liss would hurt me if she didn't get to go." Sage gets a pained look on his face at this, which X quickly recognizes.

"Oh god...that's the 'my girlfriend just took out the whip' face. So that's why you're letting Liss go, huh?" X asks.

"Uh...she's not..." Sage replies, blushing slightly.

"Yeah, yeah...whatever. You have that whipped look in your eyes." X says, laughing. As Sage turns to leave, X stops him.

"Wait a minute... " X says, thinking for a moment. "NO! This means we've got two male androids, three human males, my niece and a non-single girl. You can't expect me to work at full capacity while not surrounded by catgirls. That's just cruel, Sage."

Sage laughs for a moment. "It'll be fine, don't worry. I'm sure you'll have a chance to spend time with Leah before you go. Besides, don't you want people you trust staying back to protect the civilians in case Zionus pulls something...?"

X grumbles, but after a few moments gives in. "Well, it is your choice. It's interesting seeing someone else get slapped with the 'main character' stick for once. I guess this'll just motivate me to kill Zionus faster, so I can leave the sausage party that much sooner."

X and Sage leave the pocket space, to find Leah, Lorna and Neifirst standing outside. Unfortunately for X, he sees Lorna first, and says hi, rushing over to see Leah standing behind her with the look of an angry wolf about her. X pales, then stammers a greeting at his girlfriend.

"Hello X. I was wondering if you'd forgotten my name for a second. I was talking to Lorna here. Obviously...you two have met." Leah says,glaring. Lorna smiles mischeviously at Sage, then winks as Sage begins to slowly edge out of the ring of people.

"Oh yeah, Leah, Nei...meet Sage. He's the guy that retrieved the Rings." X says, frantically grabbing Sage's arm.

"I've already met Leah, when we got back to base." Sage replies meekly. "But I don't think I've ever been introduced to Neifirst." Sage bows slightly. "Nice to meet you, Neifirst."

Nei grunts in assent, clearly more interested in the tongue lashing X is about to receive. She is surprised when Leah turns to her. "Neifirst, Sage doesn't really know his way around yet, other than his sleeping area and here. Could you help him?"

"Ah, I should be fine. I'm going to go look for the people I've chosen to go wit-..." Sage is interrupted by a glare from Leah. Nei's cries of protest are also quickly stilled.

Grumbling, Nei grudgingly agrees. "Fine, fine. Tata brat." Nei roughly grabs Sage by the arm and practically drags him away from the balcony. When they are down the hallway and out of earshot, Nei releases his arm. Sage winces, rubbing it slightly.

Nei glances back down the hallway, seeing that the door to the balcony is shut. She frowns, then turns to see Sage casting Resta on his arm.

"Oh, don't be a wuss. I didn't hurt you that badly..." Nei begins, then takes in Sage's garments. "Ah, nevermind. You're a force. The lack of the man-dress threw me off. All you humans are weak, but you Forces are the weakest of all..."

"Well, sorry for not having the good sense to be born a newman." Sage replies a bit testily.

Nei laughs. "Well, at least you're smarter than the brat."

"The door's locked, and Lorna's established a sound-proof bubble around it with her telepathy. You won't be able to overhear..." Sage says, echoing Nei's thoughts.

"How did you...?"

"Despite the fact that anyone could see how eager you were to see X get ripped apart, I'm a telepath. When I went to cast the Resta, Lorna contacted me. As I opened the link, the crushing pain in my arm distracted me, and I caught a glimpse of your thoughts. My apologies...though it was still pretty obvious." Sage replies, grinning at Neifirst's stunned expression.

"Wow. You're pretty damned brave to talk to me that way. I was wondering how a wuss like you was able to retrieve the Rings, but now...it makes a bit more sense. I think I've finally met a human I don't instantly want to kill. Maiming however...is a different story." Neifirst says. She is pushed back by a wave of telekinetic force, as Sage smiles politely at her.

"I really don't feel like getting beat up today. I've still got to deal with Cran's Sato. Lorna said to tell you that if you'd like to listen in, she can open a mind link."

"Uh...right. I'm sure Leah'll tell me what happened. I don't want to deal with anyone poking around in my head. Especially not some half-dressed homewrecker."

Sage smiles again. "Well then, shall we go? For a first stop, I need to find JiEin. Do you know where he'd be?"

"Probably in Elly's lab, getting repaired."

The two head down the hallway, Neifirst leading the way.