A/N: Hey guys, I know its been awhile, I hope I still have readers out there!! Ok so I've been a little busy with soccer and school lately, so I've been bogged. So I know its been awhile and here it is.


Chapter 11: Divine Wrath

Maria felt someone slapping her face, hard. "Ouch!" she yelled as she opened her eyes. She stared into the hateful eyes of Jyril.

"Wake up whore!! The boss needs you awake!" he yelled into her face. She seemed to be strapped to a wall. Her arms and legs were bound and she couldn't move. She looked around and saw Sophia being smacked awake by Cyril. She squinted a bit, a bright light was being shone on her. She heard the opening of a door and saw Indalecio walking through it.

He smirked at the two of them, he walked with a slight limp, because of the sword Maria stuck in him.

"Ah, good you two are awake; I want to show you a monumental ground-breaking achievement. It will change the universe, as we know it," he said smugly. He walked over to a computer console that was hooked up to the wall Maria and Sophia were strapped to.

Maria scoffed, "I hope that leg is hurting you really bad," she said grimly.

"Hurts like a bitch…oops sorry, just hurt by a bitch," he sneered at her. He continued to jab away at the console and a sound behind them, light thunder, was heard. Maria looked up. The wall they were hanging on had two large metal poles protruding upwards. A pulse of blue lightning was coursing between them. They were hooked up to some sort of machine…

Maria glanced around again. Next to the wall there was a small door leading to a small dark chamber. She couldn't make out what was inside. "W-What is this you monster!!" she yelled at him.

"Monster am I? Gentlemen she just called me a monster!! A monster!!" Indalecio yelled. Cyril and Jyril laughed, they were just brooding in the corner, looking on as if some show was about to start. "You'll see soon enough little girl," he said and began to laugh maniacally. He pressed a few final buttons and it beeped in response.

The electric pulse between the metal rods began pulsating quicker and quicker. It began to crackle until it started to cause Maria pain. At first she winced at the pain, it kept mounting and mounting until it was too much. She let out a loud whimper of pain, and began screaming in agony. Sophia began to whimper and yell too. Maria began to cry and tears formed on her eyes, the pain was unbearable. "Ah-Ah-Arghhhhhhhhh!!"

Indalecio laughed at their pain, his laugh got louder and louder. He increased the power of the machine from 5 to 10. Instantly, Maria and Sophia began moaning even louder. Indalecio's laugh could be heard clearly over their screams. Cyril and Jyril couldn't contain themselves any further, they burst out laughing.


"Damn!! Maelstrom Whirlwind did you see that?" Mirage yelled into her comm.

"Roger, we're losing too many ships!!" the captain of the ship yelled.

"Run to course 234 to draw fire away from your Heavy Assault Cruisers," she instructed.

"Roger, navigating to course." She watched as the huge flagship cruised towards the assault cruisers. Things weren't going well for them. The Expellians had lost a good number of their ships. The bridge door opened as Ryoko Leingod walked in.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked. Before she could be answered, another shot rocked the ship violently.

"Damage report!" Mirage yelled. Fayt brought up the info on his console.

"Engines are down, and an enemy ship is maneuvering to board us. Shields are at 40, Weapons Systems are on line. We could give that enemy ship hell, when they get closer."

"I dunno, it probably won't work, their shields are pretty strong," Cliff said. He was analyzing the technical layout of the approaching ship. The ship was one of the bigger cruisers, the flagship was moving to them too.

"Oh, hey mom, errr we're being torn to bits right now by the Nedians," Fayt said calmly.

"Oh that is good to know, wait what about the Combat Explorers that came with me?"

"They are both still alive and kicking Mrs. Leingod," Cliff said. Fayt unbuckled himself from his chair and looked at Cliff. "Where ya' goin Fayt?" he asked. He rose his eyebrow, where could he go at a time like this?

"The Expellians are launching fighters, I plan to join them. Mom do you mind if we take the Dragoon?"

"Sure sweetie, I'll come with you, I'll go wake up the Esteeds, meet you in the hangar room," she said and walked off the bridge.

"Alright Fayt! I was waiting for you to suggest that, I'm getting restless doing nothing here. Mirage, you'll watch the ship right?" Cliff asked her in a sweet tone.

"Y-You have to be kidding!! The chances of surviving out there are slim!!" Mirage yelled.

"Yeah, but we're not doing anything productive here, so we're gonna go," he said. Without another word Cliff exited the bridge. Fayt followed after him after giving her a peace sign and hopped down the hall. They made their way down to the Dragoon, which was being boarded by a number of people. Peppita was seen outside dancing around.

"Pretty cheerful for going to your possible death," Cliff said.

"Oh, its just the adrenaline rush, I feel like I could take the universe on!!" she yelled.

"Woah calm down, focus on the battle at hand," Fayt said. After Peppita had calmed down and everyone clambered onto the ship, they were off. The Diplo was rocked again and Kian carefully piloted the Dragoon out of the ship. The Dragoon's engines blasted it out of the Diplo's hangar.

It jetted into the fray. Light to Heavy Assault Craft were all engaged in battle with each other. Expellian fighters swarmed the Nedian's huge cruisers. The Dragoon sped towards the oncoming Nedian ship.

"We seriously gonna try to take that thing on?" Kian asked incredulously.

"Err, sure why not?" Cliff asked. He began punching buttons and jetted toward it. "Let's gooo!!" he yelled.

"Ermm this is Yellow Group, over," a voice said over the comm. line.

"Uh Yellow Group? You guys Expellian?" Cliff asked.

"Affirmative, we're here to assist you sir, Command said that you were allies. We're maneuvering to your flanks to give you some cover," he replied. Cliff peered out the cockpit and saw three ships flanking the Dragoon. 5 fighters flew ahead, and 5 bombers flew in the back. It produced what looked like a spear-head formation.

"Alright, this is uh Yellow Leader? Increase to attack speed to make an attack run on the enemies' starboard cannons. Bombers come in tight behind us so we can defend your run," Cliff ordered.

"Roger sir, we'll try to draw the fire away from you guys," the man replied.

"Fayt, you guys you all ready in those gunpods?" Cliff asked.

"Roger," Fayt said. Nel, Albel, Adray, Peppita, Ryoko, and the others also replied in agreement.

"Alright, here we go!!" Cliff said. He dropped the ship towards the enemy cruiser. He agily piloted the ship, dodging the phase cannon blasts. He couldn't dodge them all, the Dragoon took a couple potshots, and was rocked violently. "Damn! Hey Yellow Group could you deal with those phase cannons? We can't even approach the main cannons!"

"Maneuvering," he said. The fire was considerably reduced and Cliff piloted the craft towards the cannons. Cliff fired the main torpedoes and missiles. The weapons wreaked havoc on the starboard cannons. The gunpods pummeled the cannons to oblivion. "Alright good job guys!!"

"Cliff!! Good job, that gave us some breathing space, go for the bridge, we're going to pummel it's shields," Mirage said.

"Roger, alright Yellow Group, regroup, prepare to make a second run on the bridge!!" Cliff yelled.

"Roger, wait what the? Yellow Leader! I'm picking up fighter squadrons on my computer."

"Hang on, I see em too, grrr, damn it! As if we didn't have anything else to deal with. Alright, Bombers stay with us, fighters, do your best to keep those fighters off us!!"

"We'll try sir." The fighters broke off a little and they kept a fair distance to pick off any ships that try to lock on to the Dragoon. The Diplo's Creation Cannons slammed the enemy ship's shields.

"Alright the shields are down target the bridge!!" Cliff yelled.

"Fighters dropping from above!! Sir watch out, they are coming in hot!!" the pilot yelled. Sure enough 30 or so fighters flew in with guns blaring like hornets. Two of the Expellian fighters blew up.

"Damn!! Arghhh!! We're not going to survive long trying to hold out like this!!" Cliff yelled angrily. The people manning the pods hand their hands full, trying to deal with the swarms of enemy craft. They were miraculously still alive, nearing the bridge. The Dragoon was taking heavy potshots from phase cannons and about three ships behind them in pursuit.

"I have a shot!!" Fayt yelled. He squeezed the triggers and he slightly felt the recoil from the huge cannons mounted on the gunpod. The green lasers ripped through the bridge's bridge viewports. "I got it!!"

"God damn it Fayt, that was a damn good shot!!" Cliff yelled through his comm. line.

"That was for Maria man!! I'm gonna take as many as those bastards as possible!!" Fayt yelled.

"Well alright!!" Cliff replied.

"Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!" an earsplitting voice yelled.

"What the?" Cliff started.

"Sir, we just lost the Tomahawk…" the fighter pilot said slowly. They were still celebrating the destruction of the Assault Cruiser. They saw the Maelstrom Whirlwind slowly moving toward the Diplo. Its cannons shot a few more rounds at the crumbling Tomahawk. The Nedian flagship advanced with swarms of fighters and smaller cruisers towards them. The Diplo was the only Heavy Cruiser left. The Nedian flagship was a class above battleship, which far outstripped the Diplo. At that moment the Dragoon, immediately rocked by heavy cannon fire.

"Cliff, the Maelstrom Whirlwind is heading towards the Diplo, its powering up its weapons. Smaller battleships are locking onto the Diplo as well, what do you want to do?" Fayt asked nervously.

"Alright we're going to have to give all the support we can to the Diplo, all fighters draw fire away from the cruisers. Flights blue and red converge on me, we're taking on the Nedian flagship head-on," Cliff said confidently. He began punching some buttons and accelerated to a faster speed. The people in the gunpods powered up the laser batteries, preparing for battle.

Fighters converged on the Dragoon, flying in a loose formation towards the Nedian ship. The ships looked like dangerous hawks flying towards their prey. But in this case, it wasn't sure who would come out on top. The Dragoon spearheaded the attack, it came in with each of its 16 cannons blaring, but just grazing the ship's heavy armor. The fighters that dropped in from behind had even less luck. One blew up in a ball of flame as they maneuvered away from the ship.

"This isn't working," Cliff muttered as he deftly piloted the ship, dodging a cannon blast.

"Cliff go for the bridge!!" Mirage yelled through her comm. She seemed forgotten amidst all the chaos they were experiencing.

"But their shields are still up!! And I don't think the Diplo is in any shape to try and hit it hard," Cliff replied, very insure.

"Just do it!! We got a lucky hit on their shield generator a while ago, that thing is ready to fall, just pummel it!!"

"Easier said then done," he muttered. "Alright, we'll try." Cliff turned the ship around and fixed it toward the Nedian ship's bridge. He accelerated to top speed and flew in. The fighters followed suit. As soon as they came in, Cliff almost immediately pulled up. They were met with heavy pulse cannon fire. The Dragoon made it out alive but the fighters received the grunt of the attack. Only 1 was able to escape.

"Grrr, Gold Leader, that wasn't successful!! We have to pull back to a tactical line, the Expellian battleships have formed a defensive line around the Diplo, we have to help them out!!" the last pilot yelled.

"We..we have no choice, all fighter squadrons pull back to these coordinates, we have to regroup." Cliff pulled the Dragoon in full reverse and the ship jetted toward the mass of ships gathering around the Diplo.

Fayt watched from the gunpod as the Nedian flagship tore apart fleeing Expellian ships. He silently swore and punched his console. "Why, why damn it!! Why do so many people have to die!!" he yelled. His eyes immediately turned clear blue. Everyone felt ripples of energy emanating from him, on the ship.

Cliff swore an oath that made Peppita jump up, as he tore off his headset. He ran up to the gun pods, specifically Fayt's. "Fayt stop!! You might tear part the whole ship!!" Cliff bellowed. He attempted to enter his gun pod, but was thrown back by an invisible force. As if a huge and invisible hand pushed him down.

From the deck of the Diplo, Mirage only watched in awe at the Dragoon. A bright blue ring formed around the ship. It was at least 40 miles in diameter. At every interval of 30 degrees there was a different symbological rune, each glowing hot white. The power Fayt was preparing to release, was greater than ever before. The Nedian ship immediately began firing at this anomaly. Every blast was absorbed by the blue ring, and then the image of an angel appeared over the ship. It's eyes were closed, but she opened them, for a minute. She looked upon the Nedians, as if in pity or fear; not of them…but for them.

"Gods be praised," Mirage whispered. She quickly realized that there were no gods, since their world was created by other sentient beings. But, still, she was just at a loss of words

She closed her eyes as she uttered one last word. It wasn't standard terran or any other language. The word was like a string of lyrics in a song. Although brief, it still had the depth and beauty of an entire masterpiece line of song. As she spoke this word, Fayt spoke one single word: "Die!" he said. It was in a voice so unlike his, it was demonic and harsh, the complete foil of the beauty the word the angel-image had uttered. A huge rush of blue energy rushed toward the Nedian fleet. The thick column of energy ripped through the entire Nedian fleet as it touched the edge of the gigantic flagship, it seemed time slowed down. The ship was slowly ripped apart. It was almost as if you could hear the mens' screams, but suddenly become engulfed as they entered the void of space. Then after a minute Fayt released the energy it disappeared. It seemed to erase every single Nedian ship, as if they never existed.

Fayt crumpled in his seat and his neck went limp. Cliff immediately rushed to his side. And checked his pulse, with a sigh of relief he felt a constant 'lub-dub' which confirmed he was alive and kicking. He carried Fayt to the small sleeping quarters of the ship and set him on a bed. He returned to the cockpit where Peppita and Ryoko and the others looked dumbfounded. Ryoko was crying.

"I…I've never witnessed the monstrosity we created…it…it is so…terrifying and cruel. Think of the lives that it instantly took…the lives Fayt took…oh god!!" she said. She couldn't bear the fact of her son as a murderer. Cliff had no sympathy for her, instead he was angry.

"How dare you blame Fayt? You were the ones that imbued him with such a curse!! And if you didn't realize it he just saved many innocent lives and our asses too!!" he yelled at her.

She merely whimpered in response to his sudden outburst. Peppita coaxed her then spun around to confront Cliff. "How could you?? She knew that she was at fault, he wasn't blaming Fayt!!" Cliff already knew that, its was just that it seemed he needed to vent his stress from the past weeks.

"Look, I'm sorry but-," his apology was cut short as the comm. Started beeping.

"Gold Leader what the heck was that??" one of the fighter pilots bellowed through the speaker.

Cliff considered his answer first and looked at the emotional mess that was, Fayt's mom. "A miracle," he said simply. He turned around and walked out of the cockpit. He walked down the aft hallway to check out the small view port. He wiped some sweat from his forehead that had perspired during the ordeal. He gazed at the stars and the battered remnants of the Expellian fleet. He spotted the Diplo, it looked like one of the main cannons were ready to fall off. With a short sigh, he let out a loud yell to express all his frustration from the turn of events.


Fayt lay asleep in a four poster bed. The curtains were deep red and concealed him from anyone's line of vision. The room was richly decorated with lavish plush chairs and a huge gold-framed mirror at the end of the room. The entrance to the room was a thick brown, oak door. There was also a dresser with its doors open, a set of fresh clothes was hanging there. It was actually quite cold in the room. Fayt lay balled up under the sheets furiously hugging a pillow. He pulled up his comforter farther up to stay warmer. He awoke minutes later and his eyes opened wide. He bolted straight up, with a major headache and his body was extremely sore all over. He let himself fall on his bed one more time. He lay there for what felt like hours, which was actually only about 10 minutes. He closed his eyes, attempting to recall what had transpired.

Wait…we were in space, weren't we? We were fighting the Nedians. Oh no what happened, did we lose? Was I captured? Impossible. The Nedians wouldn't treat a prisoner this well. Unless they are trying to catch me off guard here. No…I don't think so there a safe air about this place. I just can't put my hand on it.

He shut his eyes until he heard his door open, he lay still, waiting for the intruder to reveal him or herself. He took a quick peep and saw Cliff and Mirage, they were quietly making their way in.

"It's ok guys, I'm awake, you don't have to try and be stealthy," he said, tiredly. He didn't bother getting up. They walked over to his four-poster bed and drew one of the curtains.

"How you feeling kid?" Cliff asked. His expression was stoic and impassive. He didn't show signs of emotion. Mirage looked depressed too, despite her usual unemotional demeanor.

"I've been better, but I'm ok. So what happened? I remember being on the Dragoon, and we were fighting the Nedians. Then what? Have we been captured? Is everyone else safe?"

Cliff's expression softened up a little, and looked at him bemusedly. Mirage smiled too. "Yeah kid, everyone's fine. You actually saved us all. Your powers manifested and you wiped out the entire Nedian fleet. You should be proud of yourself, you saved a lot of lives." Cliff looked worried afterwards, unsure of whether Fayt would like the news or not.

Fayt turned his expression out the deck door. The sun was beginning to get high, it must have been getting close to midday. He turned back towards them and smiled. "So we won eh? I…I'm glad I helped…" he finished. Unsure of what he wanted to say next he remained silent.

"Well if you're ready get dressed kid, there are clothes in the dresser. We've got a busy day ahead of us," Mirage said. Fayt looked at her incredulously, since when did she call him 'kid'?

"What do you mean Mirage? What's happening today?" he asked cluelessly.

"We're meeting with the Expellian king tomorrow. He wanted push our meeting forward after seeing our amazing triumph over the Nedians. I am confident that he will support us now. Besides, I wanna talk to the main crew before we do anything. If you recall Cliff, I told you that there was some news we received, it isn't good news either."

"Oh yeah that…" Cliff said, his voice trailing off. Fayt looked at them wondering what they could possibly secretly conversing about. Fayt remained silent and walked with them out the door. He observed that the building they were in was richly decorated, much like a palace.

"Hey guys, where are we?" Fayt asked.

"We are in the palace of King Elmond the 14th, the Just. He is the king of Expel, he offered to take us in after seeing us help save his planet. I think we have a good chance of getting his help now," Mirage said. They reached the end of the hall, which marked the end of the living quarters area. They exited into an open air dining room, with numerous round tables with plates and cutlery made of gold. The goblets seemed to glimmer in the morning sun, Fayt found out they were crystal goblets, after examining them later.

"Wow, King Elmond's subjects are treated quite generously," Cliff said. They spotted Albel, Nel and Adray sitting at a table out on the balcony. When they stepped out a gentle breeze touched their faces. The balcony looked out on to a clear, and beautiful, blue sea.

Adray looked up from the plate of food he was gorging. "Mornin' guys," he said casually. Nel and Albel both grunted to show they saw them.

"Hey guys, lemme guess Albel and Nel are fighting again right?" Fayt asked, shaking his head. They both grunted a response. The three took seats around the table. He looked back at the rest of the dining hall. "Where are the others? My mother and Peppita?" he asked.

"Don't worry I told them to watch the Diplo. The ship was heavily damaged so King Elmond offered to repair it in his shipyards," Mirage said. She flagged down one of the servers, who poured her a glass of orange juice

"This King Elmond character, seems quite the gentlemen and generous," he said. He stopped the server before he turned away. The server poured Fayt some juice too. He said he would return with the food cart.

"So Mirage, what did you have to tell Fayt and I before our ordeal?" Cliff asked.

Mirage gulped her orange juice before answering him. "Oh, Maria was captured…but I suppose you guys know that. The real thing is that…she has been captured by Indalecio, the head general of the Nedian Army. He is the Nedian King's right hand man."

"W-What!!" Fayt yelled. He dropped his glass on the floor. It didn't shatter, but then again it was made of crystal. "Y-You're joking right!!"

"No, I'm not…it is a grave misfortune indeed. We were monitoring the news, after Cliff left. That is why I have arranged to align with the Expellians. The Aldians and Vendeeni have also agreed to help us overthrow the Nedians."

"Mirage…what were you thinking!! The Expellians maybe…but the Aldians and Vendeeni?? I won't agree, I'd rather take on the Nedians by myself!!"

"Fayt…why are you being such an idiot?" Cliff asked.

"Cliff, the Vendeeni murdered my father!! And the Aldians killed Maria's father!!" he yelled in utter rage. Fayt bolted upright and ran from the dining room and out into the castle's courtyard. He had his eyes closed and was running blindly out the Main Gate, when he collided into something, hard. "Arghhh!! Watch where you're going!!"

The person he yelled at scoffed. "Just who do you think you are? You can't yell at me like that!!" A female voice yelled.

Fayt scratched his head and then opened his eyes. "Yeah well…woahh," Fayt's voice trailed off. He was looking at a very attractive looking girl with long red hair. Her eyes were blue, and she had an impressive figure. She wore a hugging-combat uniform that was a light green. Her uniform was very decorative. Gold thread lined the sleeves and a complex embroidering was stitched all over the uniform. A blaster rifle hung loosely at her side.

"Well, are you going to say anything?" she asked furiously.

He realized that he had been crying earlier and quickly wiped his tears. "Uhhhhhh I'm sorry…" he said, looking embarrassed.

Her expression softened up and she looked at him with pity. "Oh…have you been crying? Umm I'm sorry if I hit you hard…I wasn't really paying attention either," she said, in a very motherly tone.

"No!! I haven't been crying!" he yelled aggressively.

Her expression hardened again, "WELL!! I'm sorry," she yelled.

"Look, I'm sorry, it's just…well I do feel a little down at the moment…"

"It's ok, I guess. My name's Ophelia by the way. Ophelia Fuller of Tetragenesis, what's your name?'

"Fayt, Fayt Leingod."

"Leingod…? Your father wouldn't happen to be Robert Leingod would it?"

"He is…well was, he died. Why do you ask?"

"Well…he was a college friend of my father…I'm sorry to hear that." It was silent between then for a while until a voice called across the courtyard.

"Fayt!! There you are!!" Mirage yelled. "That was an unnecessary outburst you know!!" It took her a second to see Ophelia. "Ophelia!! You're here, just in time too!! Our audience with the king is tomorrow!"

"Hold on, you know her Mirage?" Fayt asked.

"Yeah, Let's go back into the dining hall, I'll explain. No more tantrums ok Fayt?" Mirage scolded.

Fayt grunted. "Don't worry I'll keep him in check, No more tantrums, okay…you baby!" she teased.

"Hey!!" he yelled, as she chased her inside. Mirage shook her head.

"That kid is so unpredictable sometimes," she said, and she followed after them.


To Be Continued...

R&R.