A/N: As promised, this one is brief – my shortest chapter ever? Think so. A heartfelt thank you to winchester-grl44 and xrystofer. Without your support, I'd be losing heart right about now. Your feedback keeps me going!

Chapter 4

"The sensor readings are undeniable. Whether it is the ship from Hydeera or another of its kind, we cannot determine, but the scan signature matches."

Ztar was stunned. Archangel was gone; taken from his mountain retreat despite the security shield surrounding Earth and its star system. He'd been on Sat'rey for the Etagllot trial a mere seven standard days ago. His beloved Court member had been happy and safe. Now he was missing.

"How is this possible?" he boomed, fear and anger mixing in a desperate swirl. "Earth is as well protected as Sat'rey. How could someone have slipped through?" He quickly shook his head and held up a hand at the PI-generated holograph of General Gtar-Cro. "I already know the answer – same way the ship slipped past us at Hydeera. What kind of technology are we up against?"

During the Hydeera raid, it was only as the vessel entered the planet's atmosphere that their forces detected it and then only barely; otherwise, they were blind to its presence. The outcome was the ship stopped Etagllot gunmen from killing Ztar and Archangel. This time, it had apparently taken Archangel.

Gtar-Cro's face was etched deep with concern. "Technology that eludes our best surveillance sensors. It's as if the ship is not there until in atmosphere. And this incident adds weight to the theory that the ship saved Archangel on Hydeera and you only by default," Gtar-Cro suggested over the comlink from his command vessel far from the royal residence where Ztar was wakened in the middle of the night to take the call.

"To abduct him now, a year later? Why the long wait? Who is this?" Ztar questioned rhetorically as he paced his office. "If Etagllot, then everything we've accomplished the past year is also put into question. Have we not made the inroads we believe? Have they allowed us to think we were making gains against them?"

Gtar-Cro gestured uncertainty. "My Emperor, nothing in our intelligence gathering has even hinted the Etagllot possess vessels this advanced."

"If they do not, then we've an enemy we haven't met. That is perhaps more disturbing than the Etagllot owning that technology." Ztar stopped and crossed his arms over his bare, muscular chest, staring hard at Gtar-Cro's likeness. He'd bothered only to don pants in the rush from bed to take the emergency comm. "I don't like not knowing who my enemies are."

"Should that indeed be the case, Emperor, we need to reassess several our previous conclusions. Who is our mystery opponent and where are they from? Are they connected to the Etagllot? What is their agenda? What do they want of Archangel?"

"The nannites! What else could it be?" Ztar seethed in helpless frustration. "If I could get my hands on the man responsible for putting those in Archangel, he would pay dearly for that atrocity!" Ztar's pacing began again as he fumed. What was happening to his beloved former companion. Was he being hurt? Tortured? Experimented on once again? Anger and helplessness needed an outlet. "Find him, Gtar-Cro. I don't care what it takes, what you have to do…you will find Archangel!"

Fear-fueled frustration was growing by the moment as his mind raced with terrifying scenarios of what could be happening to the man he loved to the depths of his soul. Energy leached off Ztar as his mutant ability responded to the intense emotional state. Gtar-Cro's holo image flickered.

"Yes, my Emperor."

Ztar took a deep breath to steady himself. Archangel needed him to be clear-thinking. "And you will learn who our undeclared opponent is. I want all the records from Hydeera reviewed again. I want to know who that ship rescued from the Etagllot facility. Have your people dig deeper. Re-interrogate those we captured and the ones we rescued." An action plan made him feel more in control – helpless he would not accept.

"Immediately, my Emperor." Gtar-Cro would not question any of Ztar's orders despite the fact they had exhausted all Hydeera leads long ago. Quiet obedience was the best approach at the moment. Gtar-Cro didn't need to be in the Emperor's presence to know the man was holding to control by a thread. The pragmatic, emotionally restrained, hardened warrior that had overthrown a government, declared himself monarch, doubled the size of Turzent Empire mostly through brilliant strategy and military might, and successfully fought a war against the powerful Systems Commonwealth was left nearly shaking and distraught at the thought of one, singular being in possible mortal danger. Archangel. Anything that threatened the winged Human often resulted in Ztar reacting uncharacteristically irrational and unreasonable.

"Were there any other ships? Anything else detected when Archangel was taken?"

"A skimmer craft was detected at his location, and apparently retrieved by the ship. The sensor data is of limited detail. We cannot confirm the movements of any individuals during the incident, only of the crafts due to an interference field."

"More advanced technology to blind us?"

"Or a byproduct of their cloaking technology."

Ztar nodded as he continued to stride back and forth. "I don't have to say to monitor all comm traffic and distress channels. Archangel may be able to send a signal."

"Already being done."

"His PI – we've traced that?"

The general gestured the affirmative. "On Earth at his metropolitan residence."

Ztar pulled to the stop, his face twisting in erupting fury. "By the gods, Gtar-Cro, I thought we had protected him! Yet they simply passed through our defenses as if they did not exist. No one is safe. Everyone's at risk!" He growled as the full implication was beginning to become clear.

"Security is already being tightened around all Court members. This may have nothing to do with the nannite technology or the Earth mutants and something else entirely. We must not lose sight of that possibility." Gtar-Cro cautioned. "Do you wish me to contact Charles Xavier?"

The Emperor considered. "Not at the moment, though I want to know if he is already looking for Archangel. Monitor the X-men and report back. I will decide then how to approach Xavier."

Ztar returned to his chair and they spent the next many minutes detailing actions and scenarios. As he ended the comm, the Emperor buried his face in his hands. 'Not again. Archangel kidnapped for a third time? Insanity!' Yet that was what had happened. All his promises to the man that he'd be safe on Earth…overconfident delusions. What manner of power was he facing? Advanced cloaking technology, mystery ships, weapons they hadn't seen before Hydeera...

"My gods, why are you making my life so difficult? Why impossible challenges? Why are you putting Archangel and my people in such danger?" he prayed his questions. "Who is this new enemy? Tell me!"

He listened with his ears and opened his mind to telepathic communication, hoping for some reply. The room was heavy with silence and only random thoughts of the night staff and dream-speak of the palace's sleeping occupants whispered. With no divine answers forthcoming, Ztar pushed out with his powerful telepathic and empathic abilities in what he knew was a futile attempt to connect with Archangel across the vastness. A deep sigh escaped at the nothingness he found.

Then an unsettling possibility nudged. 'Are we playing a game other than we believe? Are we all being moved like play pieces in someone else's game of sonji-mir?' That would be the ultimate irony – if he and his court were merely pawns in a highly complex plot executed by unknown masters. He shook his head. 'Don't get paranoid, mighty Emperor,' he cautioned himself, 'or you'll find conspiracy and enemies behind even the most innocent of coincidences and events.'

Ztar rose to return to his chambers and the share dire news with the woman he also loved more than life itself.

###

A/N: Next Chapter – the aftermath of Volu's healing.