--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 22 - The Summoning

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flute stood patiently on the bridge as the Icebreaker entered one of the many star systems, bearing towards the second planet from the sun, one of the most likely to contain life. On the surface, he appeared his usual stoic self, but for those who knew where to look, like the ever-present Viola, he was obviously worried; this was it, this was the day he would recover the seventh, and final, dragon ball, and his quest would be at an end. Where it went from there, no one knew.

If the other people on the bridge noticed his tension - which was highly unlikely, given his emotionless mask - they made no mention. Kat and Avery sat diligently at their consoles, the former still suffering the effect of the twins' latest prank, and the latter chuckling quietly to himself every now and then. The 'commander' of this crew of misfits stood calmly, but pointedly avoided turning his head in the direction of the young former redhead; he didn't think he'd be able to hold in his laughter otherwise, and being murdered by an irate Neko-Jin was not on his 'To Do' list.

Turning his head to face Flute - and not being able to fight the grin that came to his face as his gaze passed Kat - Frost commented, "We'll be there in another five minutes, so you'd better head to the docking bay and prep your ship for planet fall."

"What for?" A male voice called out from behind them. Turning around, they noticed Avarrdo, Kellre and Truniz looking up from their planning, the first of the three continuing his previous remark, "You could just use the teleporter."

Frost just raised an eyebrow in question, "There's a teleporter on this thing?"

Spinning around, Kat added, "Since when?"

The older man just laughed, "Since we had it installed during construction. You act like you don't know what this ship can do."

Frost just shot him a wry look, "That's because I forgot to pick up the manual when I stole this thing. I've been winging it thus far, with fair success, despite a few... incidents due to... accidentally activated buttons." Saying this, Frost pointedly looked away from Kat, which drew the attention of all three Saiyans onto her, grins on their faces. Kat just pouted silently.

Clearing his throat, Flute asked, "So where is this teleporter?"

Kellre just indicated offhandedly to the raised platform on the right side of the bridge, causing Kat to mutter to herself, "So it was under our noses the entire time..."

Frost just waved the issue away as he turned back around, remarking, "Well, it's not like it was essential at any point in the past..." Feeling the heated glares of three irate Saiyan males on his back - no doubt a testament to the fact they'd watched the security recording of the... incident that yielded Kaen his golden transformation - he coughed and amended, "...or overtly so." He quickly changed the subject, "So, who's headed down?"

Flute and Viola made their way over to the teleporter without a word. Avery just shrugged and turned away, his body language clearly saying 'It's not my fight'. Kat, while making no effort to move, did make a useful comment: "We should tell Kaen and Pi about this, or they're going to be wondering what's going on."

"Tell us about what?" A female voice asked from behind.

Spinning around, a hand held to her heart, Kat exclaimed, "Don't do that!"

Pi just smiled semi-apologetically, silently thinking to herself on how to help Kat work on her ki sense, while replying, "Sorry. What did you need to tell us?"

Putting the incident behind her, Kat just remarked, "Oh, nothing much. Just that we found out this thing has a ship to surface teleporter. You know, minor detail..."

Pi grinned, both at how much Kat was hamming it up, and at the fact they had a teleporter. "Is that so?" Turning to the elder Saiyans, and seeing mirroring grins on their faces, she added, "Well isn't that convenient." Using her bond, she relayed the information to Kaen, and received his reply in the form of a mental eye roll and a dry "Why does that not surprise me."

"So where's Kaen?" Kat asked curiously.

Pi just smiled, "He's running the kids through their drills, and giving them their work for the day. I've already told him what's going on, so he'll be along shortly."

"You'll have to teach me how you do that one of these days..." the girl muttered, thinking out loud mostly to herself.

The sound of three males coughing in shock rang out through the bridge, and Pi felt herself heat up a bit at the hidden implications of that statement, that Kat herself probably didn't realise. "Well, a bond isn't something that can be taught..." she began slowly, "But, I suppose we could see if you can learn telepathy and work on that..."

Turning towards the Nameks, and trying to put Kat's comment behind her, she commented, "Almost done now. Bet you'll be relieved after that, huh Flute?" The green-skinned man just inclined his head ten degrees, to signal agreement. Grinning again, she asked, "Don't 'spose you'll lighten up after this is over?" His lips twitched into the barest hint of a smile, which might as well have been a full-blown grin, as he shook his head five degrees to either side; a no.

Barely a minute had passed when Kaen showed up, in full 'Phoenix gear' - that is, black bodysuit, red armour, and black trench coat - just with the added change of the sword slung over his shoulder under the coat. Walking in, a grin on his face, he commented, "Isn't that typical? We find out a very useful feature, just before it's importance wanes slightly."

Frost just shrugged, "Eh, it happens. Not like it's anyone's fault. Don't 'spose anyone knows how to actually work it?"

Kaen looked over to his father for the answer, but it was Kellre who stood up and walked towards the control consoles, asking, "Just the four of you?" Stepping up onto the platform, and seeing Kat make no move to follow, Kaen just shrugged and nodded, so Kellre moved over to Avery's console, punching a few co-ordinates before activating the system. With an energised hum, the group of four vanished in a pale blue light, being beamed down to the planet.

As he walked back to the planning, Kellre remarked to Frost, "Oh, there was something I've been meaning to tell you." When the Aisu raised his head in acknowledgement, he continued, "When you stole this ship, you're lucky you made that announcement." Reaching under his armour, he produced a small remote control, adding, "We were ready to self-destruct the ship should it fall into the wrong hands."

"Well, we would have been if these two ladies had've been able to decide which method to use to do it," Truniz interjected.

"I still say explosion was the best method," Avarrdo added, without looking away from their work, "Take out as much of Frieza's empire as possible."

"You can so tell he's Kaen's father..." Avery commented quietly in Frost's ear, not aware that the three Saiyans could hear him; they made no reaction however.

"And I still say that implosion was better," Kellre countered, walking back to the group, "To make sure nothing remained behind." Truniz shrugged at Frost, seeming to say 'See what I mean?'

"This thing has a self-destruct function?" Frost asked incredulously. Before anyone could say anything, he amended, "Never mind, of course it does. How many are there in total?"

"Three methods," Avarrdo commented, still without looking up, "Explosion, implosion, and one we called the Hyperspace Allocatur/Locator Overload, or HALO, to be used in only extreme circumstances. The latter can't be remote detonated, it can only be activated by the onboard crew, and even then only if you know the twenty-six digit pass code."

"I know I'm going to regret asking, but why all the security on that mode, if the other two can be remotely accessed?" Avery asked.

The three men looked up together, dark grins on their faces as Kellre replied, "Because the HALO drive is capable of wiping out everything in a radius in excess of one hundred light years. Not even atoms remain..."

o-o-o

As the blue light faded, the team of four found themselves on the planet's surface; from the initial appearance of their surroundings, the planet was mostly plains, but with the occasional forest, as the one in the distance attested to. Nodding appreciatively, Kaen commented, "Wow, that was pretty cool."

His voice all business, Flute spoke up, "We need to make sure there's nothing hostile here. When we summon the Dragon, it will attract some attention?"

An eyebrow raised, Kaen thought to himself, the thought slipping through the bond "'Summon the Dragon'? I wonder if that's a metaphor for something... Some tells me he hasn't told the full story."

"We know more than he's told anyone else," Pi's voice rang out in his mind, the girl herself with a smile on her face, "That's got to count for something right?"

With a short nod, both to Pi and Flute, he stretched out his senses as they started walking towards the forest, trying to pick up any hostile targets, but instead just picked up that the planet itself seemed alive. "Damnit..." he cursed to himself, "I hate planets like this. I really need to find a way to fine-tune this 'ki sense' thing..." After a few minutes, he picked up a fairly amassed power signature to the east, his head snapping in that direction, the others following suit.

"It may be nothing," Flute commented, "But we'd best check it out to make sure."

"Agreed." With that, Kaen took to the sky, the excess ki from his launch charring the grass around where he'd stood.

Pi just giggled, "So much for keeping a low profile." Not wasting time, she took off after her mate.

Viola grunted sourly, "Reckless..." Flute paused a moment to share an agreeing glance before the pair took off after the Saiyan couple.

o-o-o

Hovering above the area the power source originated from, Kaen could see a collection of drop pods, the tell-tale signs of a Cold Empire scouting party, albeit an unusually large one. A grin came to his face as a few members of the party began to notice him; he flared his ki to draw their attention. Before long, Pi arrived at his side, Flute and Viola behind the both of them.

About a dozen of the soldiers took to the air, one of them wearing armour marked with the symbols of a squad commander, who barked, "You aren't the local species here; who are you and what is your business here?"

Still grinning, Kaen drew his sword, making sure to regulate his power level to appear weaker than them as he replied, "My business is my own; care to make something of it?"

The commander started laughing, his posse doing the same, and when Pi also drew her sword he stopped laughing for just long enough to call out, "look at that boys, these guys seem serious about fighting us."

Kaen just levelled his sword at the floating enemy, his grin taking on a darker tone as in intoned one word; "Fire." A wide gout of flame blasted along the length of the sword, spreading out as it leapt from the tip, but the shock of the attack managed to overrule the intensity of the flame, as all of them dived out of the way.

Righting himself in midair, the leader barked order, "All in attack!" No sooner had he said then when Pi sped past, a near green blur as she lashed out with her sword, cutting five of the airborne soldiers clean in half. Holding his sword behind him, Kaen focused as flame shot out of the handle of his sword, forming itself into a flat shape, before solidifying and becoming an identical copy of the blade on the other end. Butterfly sword prepared, Kaen burst forward, lashing out with his weapon, but his attacks were sluggish, and his body slow to react; he did, however, manage to take down two more, including the commander, but there were still twenty-seven left, including the remaining five airborne.

Raising an arm above her head, first two fingers extended, Viola called out "White Lightning!" Out of nowhere, her hand was struck by a bolt of lightning, which travelled down her arm and began to swirl around her torso. Flinging that same arm forward, the lightning travelled back down her arm, and fired from her fingers in a double helix, spearing through the remaining five in the air (who had stupidly been floating in single file from where she was), their charred corpses falling to the ground with a hole burnt clear through them.

Seeing how quickly the first group was dispatched, the remaining twenty-two took to the air at once, hoping to overwhelm their opponents, but Flute was having none of that. Drawing his hand back, he shouted "Cluster Bomb!" before throwing a large ball of ki forwards, wherein it 'exploded' into four smaller balls, each of which then exploded amongst the ranks, incinerating twelve of them.

The blades of Kaen's weapon began glowing orange as he sped towards the enemy, intent of cleaving through armour and flesh, but the scouts were too scattered, and Kaen's body too exhausted, for him to make contact with anything solid or fleshy. Flute scowled slightly, as did Pi, but made no comment on it; instead, the Namek shouted, "Let's finish this: Scatter Shot!"

Flinging ki balls at random, the scouts actually took a moment to observe them, as he hit nothing, and they just floated there. All too late they realised what had happened as Flute crossed his arms, then flung them out again and shouted out, "Hellzone Detonation!" The exploding ki balls vaporised eight of the remaining ten, and before those last two could recover, Viola finished them off using another of her new techniques: crossing her palms in front of her, and forming a ki ball on her palm, the fired a surge of static ki; her Bolt Cannon.

Lowering his weapon, the flame tail blade dying down, Kaen grinned over at Flute, his entire body showing signs of exhaustion as he commented, "Nice move there green man."

Flute inclined his head in acknowledgement, before commenting himself, "Those weapons of yours seem quite effective..." He paused, looking in Pi's direction, before finishing the thought with, "...in the right hands." A brief smirk flashed across his face, gone almost too quickly for the eye to spot it - almost - and Pi started giggling. Kaen opened his mouth to retort, but was swept up into a massive yawn before her could, so he decided to just let the little jib slide and sheathed his sword; as such, he didn't notice the concerned look Pi sent his way.

Stretching his joints, Kaen asked, "So, where to now?"

Flute thumbed back in the direction they'd come from, saying, "Over there." Kaen just nodded his head, silently telling him to lead on. Nodding in return, the four took off, Flute setting the pace; it wasn't exactly rushed, because he was too self-controlled to do that, but it wasn't a sedate pace either. The flight wound up being longer than expected, the teleporter putting them a little off course, but it did give the Saiyan couple a chance to speak as they brought up the rear.

"Have you decided what to wish for?"

Kaen sighed, closing his mouth before he yawned again before replying, "I have no idea... All I've got is bringing back Vegeta-Sei, but I'm not sure these things could even do that, or whether doing so would just prompt Frieza to destroy it again."

Putting a hand to her chin thoughtfully, Pi replied, "Well, bringing back Vegeta-Sei would, logically, bring back everyone on it, and we'd be able to fight Frieza a lot easier with that many extra Saiyans. Plus, imagine what would happen if a Saiyan was brought back from not just the brink of death, but death itself!"

She noticed a brief flash of... something, in his eyes when she said that, but he went on before she could comment, "I'd rather not imagine, thank you, but you do make a good point. Still, there's only so much we can do without knowing just what these dragon balls are capable of. I mean, we know they grant wishes, but what sort of wishes, and how powerful?"

Pi grinned playfully, "Well, there's only one way we're gonna find out isn't there? Go ask Flute; you may not be used to it, but sometimes asking for help really has its advantages." She shrugged her left shoulder, pointedly indicating the sword slung over it.

He sighed again, "Fine, I'll go ask him." He sped forward, slightly perturbed at how much energy it took him to do so, but putting it out of his mind as he matched the pace of his green-skinned employer and called out, "Yo. I got a question."

Without turning to face him, Flute began to descend into the forest below, but he did prompt Kaen to ask his question with a simple, "Yes?"

"Well, I was wondering what sort of 'wishes' these balls can grant, and what limitations they have."

Flute nodded, as if he'd already expected the question, before replying, "There are very few limitations. The most obvious is that you only get three wishes every year, the second that you can't use them to kill someone, and the third that you can only bring someone back to life with them once, and even then only if they have not died of natural causes. Other than that, they can do almost anything."

Kaen's eyes lit up, "So you're saying that, theoretically, they could bring back an entire planet, and the people that had resided on it, as long as they hadn't been 'wished back' already?"

"There is a catch," Flute added, ignoring Kaen's muttering of 'There's always a catch', "You can only bring someone back to life if they died, at most, a year ago, and they work on a Namekian year, which is considerably shorter than a standard year, and thus significantly shorter than a Saiyan year."

"Damn," he muttered, before asking, "So exactly how long is a Namekian year?"

"One hundred and thirty-three days, give or take. Roughly one third of a standard year."

"Wow, you guys age fast. How old does that make you then?"

Reaching into the undergrowth, Flute pulled out the final dragon ball, which, ironically, bore a single star, before saying, "Irrelevant. Passage of time on Namek-Sei is counted by movement of the three suns, and as such, it is never night."

Kaen quirked an eyebrow, "Then how do you guys... Ah, right, you don't sleep, thus, there's no need for night."

Flute nodded slightly, before saying, "Come. It is best we do this in an open area."

o-o-o

The group assembled in a clearing nearby, where Flute began laying down the dragon balls in a circle, almost ritually, placing one through six in a circle, and seven in the centre. The balls began to pulse with golden light in unison as Flute set them down, and took a few steps back. Kaen and Pi stood silently side-by-side, and Viola off to the side slightly, as Flute drew a breath, before calling out, 'I summon forth the eternal dragon, Shenlong, grant my three wishes!'

For the briefest of seconds, nothing happened, and Kaen was about to ask if they were broken when he noticed the sky getting dark; not clouding over, not sun setting, but the sky simply becoming black. Suddenly, from the clear, albeit black, sky, a bolt of lightning arced down, striking the centre ball. The lightning seemed to dance between the balls for a moment before a beam of golden light began arcing upwards from them. As it extended into the sky, it began twisting and turning, knotting itself into an impossible weave. Within moments, the beam of light began to solidify, and the light started fading to reveal green.

When the light was gone, in it's place stood - or rather hovered - a long serpent-like creature, with four clawed legs, and green scales. Its head was topped with what looked like a golden mane, and his blood-red eyes bore down on them. In a deep booming voice, it announced, "You who have collected the seven sacred dragon balls have awoken me. I will grant you any three wished you may ask, before returning to my slumber."

Kaen just stood there, a stunned look on his face, before he managed to stop gaping and say, "Wow... That's... different. So, when you said 'summon the dragon', you meant that quite literally..." Pi was quite awed - not scared, because as a warrior she didn't get scared - just awed; she did take hold of Kaen's arm though. Viola was just as awed; she'd read about it, but seeing the eternal dragon was a whole different thing. Strange, she remembered the dragon's name as Porunga...

Turning to look at them, Flute spoke, "I sought to collect the dragon balls to make a single wish only. Kaen, as payment for your assistance, one of the wishes is yours to make. However, as to the third, I am open to suggestions."

On the outside Kaen nodded, but inside he commented to himself, again slipping the thought to Pi, "Great, I have enough trouble coming up with one wish, and he wants suggestions for another."

Amusement trickling through the bond, Pi replied, "I don't think he means for you to make two wishes, but he might let you if you ask nice enough."

He just shrugged, "What could I possibly want? I have you don't I?" Kaen himself was a little surprised a how honest he felt that statement was, but seeing Pi beam up at him was worth it. Unbidden, his rebel tail wrapped around her waist, and, smiling, she willed hers to do the same; she found it highly amusing that, no matter how well he could hide his emotions, his tail always spoke the truth.

Any other thought trains were derailed as Shenlong's voice boomed, "Make your first wish!"

Turning to face the dragon, Flute nodded, taking a deep breath, before shouting up to it, 'I wish for the storms that are destroying Namek-Sei to cease!'

The dragon's head bowed a fraction, it's eyes glowing a bright red as it seemed almost to be humming to itself, before it returned to normal and announced, "Your wish has been granted!"

Kaen blinked, "That was surprisingly easy. Talk about a Deus Ex Machina..."

Pi blinked as well, turning to him and asking, "A what?" He just shook his head; he'd explain later.

Turning to his Saiyan comrade, Flute called out, "The eternal dragon is powerful in ways many cannot imagine. What will your wish be?"

Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, his tail tightening it's grip on his mate's waist, he replied, "I want to restore Vegeta-Sei, and all the people on it." Flute nodded, as if he'd expected this to be his wish, before Kaen asked, "So how's this work exactly? I noticed you weren't speaking Basic, so I assume that was your native tongue." It was odd, he thought, that the dragon spoke Basic, but listened in Namek, but he'd seen odder.

Nodding again to acknowledge his musings, Flute asked, "Is that your wish?" Kaen just nodded again, so Flute turned back to Shenlong and cried, 'I wish for the planet Vegeta-Sei and its people to be restored!'

The dragon's eyes glowed red again, but when the red light died, it's voice announced, "You wish can not be granted!"

"What?" Kaen shouted, "Why not?"

Flute translated the question for him, and the booming voice of Shenlong replied, "It is beyond my power. Too much time has passed since the planet's destruction for it to be restored."

His left hand clenching, Kaen muttered, "Damn... There must've been a delay in the information relay..." Pi bowed her head slightly in mourning, and her grip on Kaen's right arm increased, but she said nothing."

Turning to his sometimes-friend, Flute said remorsefully, "I am sorry..."

Kaen just shook his concern off, replying, "Don't be, it was a long shot anyway. There's nothing you could have done; no matter how quickly we assembled them, I don't think it would have made a difference." Smiling sadly, he added, "Besides, I know my family is safe, and that's all that's really important to me. The Saiyan race will recover, with time, just as it has done before." With a quick shake of his head, he said, "The only problem now is, what to do with them." He inclined his head towards the dragon balls.

Flute nodded, offering up a few suggestions, "You could wish for anyone who is hunting you to seek you no longer, as it will increase your safety. Perhaps something to correct any old injuries, either physical or mental, which conventional healing cannot help. I would suggest a power boost, but I know that goes against your Saiyan nature. These are, however, merely suggestions."

Kaen nodded in thanks, but shot them down by saying, "The only person who was chasing me was killed by hand a scant few weeks ago, all injuries I suffered either healed themselves away, or happened over a year ago, like the gaps in my memory, and, you're right, no Saiyan would accept power they didn't work for."

"The one year limitation applies to death only. As for mental problems, I'm sure someone could name a few." The insult was plain, but lacking in heat.

"Cute. Real cute," Kaen drawled, before turning to his mate, "What do you think? This affects you as much as it does me?"

The booming voice of Shenlong interjected, "I grow impatient!" but no one paid it any heed.

Pausing a moment in thought, Pi asked him, "Kaen, how much sleep do you get of a night time?"

He sighed; he'd never been good lying to her. "Three hours. If I'm lucky. But it's not-"

"Don't say it's not a big deal Kaen," she interrupted angrily, "It is a problem. I wasn't going to say anything, but I noticed today it's affecting your ability to fight, which makes it a problem. More importantly, as your mate, student, and training partner, it makes it my problem. Now, how long has it been since you've had a proper good night's rest?"

He sighed again. "Three weeks, give or take." He paused, before amending, "Three Saiyan weeks."

She shook her head, upset he'd kept this from her for that long, before her voice took on a teasing tone and suggested, "Why don't you ask the big monster to help the nightmares go away?"

He glared at her, but it was lacking the heat he wanted; he could never really be angry with her, especially when she was latched onto his arm. Turning to Flute, he stutteringly tried to phrase his wish, "Well, ever since that... incident, a while back, I've been having... problems... getting to sleep, and it's gotten worse since that other incident with Recoome, so..." The look he gave the Namek said more than his words ever could; the exhaustion was obvious.

Nodding but once, Flute turned back to Shenlong, announcing the second wish, 'I wish for the Saiyan Kapskaen to be free from the troubles locked within and plaguing his mind, so that he may rest at ease from now until the end of his days.'

The dragon's eyes glowed red for the second time, and this time, its voice boomed, "Your wish has been granted." A rush of thought and emotions raced through Kaen's mind, as, without meaning to, the wish both repaired his memory, and cleaned by his various mental issues, and many of these flashes were mirrored across the bond, worrying Pi for a moment. Eventually, however, a feeling of relief, and calmness, settled over him, as if a great weight had been removed from his shoulders. Gasping slightly from the feeling, Kaen commented dazedly, "Wow... That was... odd." Pi just smiled up at him.

Exhaling a little, Flute muttered, "And now, the final wish." Turning to Viola, he paused a moment, hesitating with something very akin to embarrassment, before asking, "Is there anything you would like?"

Visibly caught off guard, Viola stuttered out, "Um... Well, seeing as how I was trying to... And I've already... I don't think..." Shaking her head to clear away erroneous thoughts, it was obvious to him what she meant, even if the two Saiyans were still kept in the dark; they, however, were too involved with one another to notice. Calmer now, she added, "I don't think there is anything the dragon can do at this point, but it might be handy to have around in the future, just in case..."

He nodded, "I can see this requires more thought. I could use the last wish to prevent the dragon balls scattering across the galaxy again when the wishes are made. As... Entertaining, as this journey has been, I do not wish to be forced to make a repeat performance every time the dragon is needed."

Smiling a bit, Viola replied, "That's not a bad idea."

Shenlong's loud voice interjected again, "What is your final wish? Do not keep me waiting."

Pulled from their in-depth study of each other's eyes, Kaen muttered quietly, "Geez, don't get your scales in a twist..."

Pi started giggling, and even Flute grinned a bit as he commented, "Quite impatient, this creation of mine."

Kaen just grinned back, "I've noticed, yes."

Turning to Shenlong one more time, Flute cried out, 'I wish that the dragon balls no longer scatter when the wishes are done.'

For the final time, the dragon's eyes glowed red, and it announced, "You wish has been granted. Now I will return to my slumber." Saying that, the seven dragon balls lifted off the ground as, with a whine of energy, the dragon returned to a column of light, which soon vanished entirely in a blinding flash, shortly followed by seven thumps as the balls returned to terra firma, although now, instead of orange crystal-like balls, they were nothing but plain, lifeless grey stones.

Kaen turned to Flute, one eyebrow raised in question, which the man answered as he collected the seven balls. "After one year, the dragon balls will revert to as they were, but until that time, they will be nothing but lifeless stones as their energy returns." Kaen nodded as if he understood, and no sooner had Flute picked up the seventh ball when they were enveloped in blue light, and found themselves beamed back aboard the Icebreaker.

Frost was the first one to speak, "What happened down there? We had a sensor shut-down for ages, and they've only just come back online, so we brought you back just in case it happened again."

Kaen just shrugged, replying almost cheerily, "Nothing too drastic. However, I can inform you that my previous contract has just expired, so I'm now a free agent again." Turning to the older Saiyans, he noticed massive grins on their faces, and following their eyes, realised that Pi still had her tail around him, and his was around her. "Oh, right," he commented softly - this was such a common occurrence now he'd forgotten they'd never done it before - before he turned back to them and said, "Please, like you've never done this." Turning to Truniz, he added, "And you're just jealous I've got somebody."

Pi giggled a bit, giving him a kiss on the cheek, before grabbing Viola's hand, and Kat's and dragging them away, talking excitedly about something as she went to find her mother, and Kaen's. From the little they could understand, it seemed they were planning a shopping trip in celebration of a mission completed. Every male in earshot immediately went back to their work, making a huge show of being busy, bar two: Avery was whimpering quietly, and trying to hide under his console, and Kaen was slowly going ghost-pale, realising he had no excuse this time.

Flute made no attempt to hide the smirk on his face as he calmly walked off the bridge, but it almost slipped as he was nearly barrelled into by two pint-size tornadoes, both of them leaping out of the way at the last minute with a "Sorry mister" and continuing on. Flute regarded both of their retreating forms with a blank glare, but said nothing as he moved on.

Skidding to a halt in front of Kaen, the twins declared loudly, "Big brother big brother! We broke 50g's today!"

Smiling down to them, he roughed up their hair a bit before adding, "Oh did you now? That's good to hear. At the rate you're going, Pi and I are going to have to start taking our spars with you seriously soon." Despite the insulting undertones, the comment seemed to have the desired effect, as massive grins split their chibi faces. Turning to the adults, he asked, "So, how's the plan going?"

Of the three, it was Avarrdo who replied, "We sent out the coded messages today, and we're monitoring the Cold Empire frequencies to co-ordinate movements and retrieval points, to avoid anything too tough to handle right now."

With a nod, Kaen added, "Well, you can mark another black spot. We just took out another scouting party. They must be taking us seriously now, it was almost twice the normal size."

As they nodded in acknowledgement, Truniz's eyes fell on the clock nearby. "Hm," he mused, "Almost lunch time." As if on cue, the twins stomachs started rumbling, sounding quite loud as it echoed in the room.

Their father chuckled, "Right on time."

Joining the laughter as the kids rubbed the backs of their heads sheepishly, Kaen added, "They always were good alarms weren't they?"

"Best alarm clock I ever made." Was his father's smart-ass reply.

"Well," Kellre supplied, "We don't want to keep everyone waiting. They might start without us."

Grabbing the kids as they moved to race out of the room at this empty threat, Kaen flung them up onto his shoulders, walking out with the other three and commented, "We wouldn't want that now would we?"

End Chapter 22

To be continued...