Chapter 36: Father Like Son (or is it Daughter?)

Date: April 24, 3658

Location: Precursor Fortress

Damas walked around the control room of the Precursor Fortress. Annalina was standing at the controls with the A.I. Ze'dura spouting off instructions to the precursor warrior. The elders of Spargus City, along with non-combatants which included the sick, children and pregnant woman, were all beginning the cryogenic sleep. The warriors, such as himself, Kliever and several others were staying in Spargus to fight in the incoming invasion. Suddenly the sensors on the screens above their heads began to go off.

"What's happening?" Damas demanded, his hand touching the sword on his hip as he approached Annalina from behind.

"They're starting their invasion," she told him. "Haven City will be hit by the first wave. We'll get the second wave. The island city, Krass City, will be hit last." She ran her hands over the holographic displays, zooming out of the dessert to show the sand king the world map.

"What is this place?" he asked as he spotted a structure on the other side of the world in the oceans.

Annalina frowned as she looked at the structures. "Impossible," she mumbled softly before flicking her fingers to zoom into it. "It's the main laboratory studies structure. It was sunk many eons ago." She began zooming in closer and saw small airships going in and out around the building. A large wooden looking ship suddenly showed up on screen before a precursor made drop ship began rushing towards the laboratory building. Annalina's eyes widened. "Jak's there."

Damas looked at her sharply. "Why is she way out there?" he asked her, his eyes narrowing towards the female.

Annalina turned around to look at the older male. "She went out there to get help from the hidden channelers out there." she tried explaining.

"And if the enemy sees her out there?" he asked, trying to reign in his growing temper, Damas tried to remain calm.

"They'll attack out there as soon as they learn that there are people out that way." She turned away from the angered king. It would seem Mar's powers weren't the only thing his defendants got. Mar's temper was legendary. "I'll alert Mar to-"

"No," Damas told her as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "She'll be fine," he said, having regained a level head very quickly, though his eyes held worry within them.

She looked at him over her shoulder. "Are you certain?" she asked wanting to know if she should contact her leader.

"Positive," Damas told her. "I have to trust my daughter and her abilities." He then ran a hand over the silvery dreadlocks. "She's survived this long without help from the outside, she knows what she's doing." He then grinned. "Besides, Daxter is with her, right?" He gained a nod from the woman. "Then there isn't anything to fear." Walking over to some controls he watched as the last of his people were put into a deep sleep.

The shield around the Precursor Fortress began to expand around Spargus as the core of the Precursor Fortress began to defend and drill deeply into the ground below. The more than two thousand sleeping souls that were within the crygenic core were unaware of what was happening around them as the earth was moved back in place over the core to protect them and keep them hidden from any prying eyes.

"It's done," Ze'dura told them. "The shield now surrounds Spargus City. This will gain the attention of the invaders and they should come here with their full forces, leaving Haven City somewhat intact." She gave a nod as data began to come through to her. "The water in the harbor has displaced and risen near the homes on the beaches, but it seems to not have caused any damage. Reactors have cooled down and are on standby." She looked towards Annalina. "The area is secure and ready for you to take control of."

Damas raised an eye at the Precursor warrior. "Bring your warriors aboard. They'll begin their crash course in Precursor fighting tactics."

"Crash course?" Damas inquired, not quite liking the sound of that.

"They'll be strapped to chairs and have information downloaded into their minds before being sent out into the three thousand levels of training courses." She smiled at him. "Your warriors are strong, stronger than most, and I have the utmost confidence they will come out of this alive and even stronger than ever before."

"Before my warriors go forward, I'll begin the training in order to ensure it is safe," Damas told the woman.

Annalina blinked in surprise. "If you wish," she said slowly as if she wasn't sure if this was a good idea.

The large fat wastelander that had been standing at the entrance of the room spoke up. "Why not make it interestin'?" he asked causing both to look at him.

"Kliever?" His king questioned him.

"Hey, it's been awhile since we've a seen us fightin' and if it's just a trainin' grounds the warriors would love ta see what their King can do," he told them, a grin plastered on his fat face.

Damas nodded in agreement. "Can you air the training?" he asked.

Ze'dura smiled at the elves. "Not a problem," she said. "We'll air it in your colosseum."

Damas sat strapped to a metal chair, a very large needle was pointed at the center of his brain with and even larger computer behind that. A drilling sound filled the room before a flash of light exploded from the needle's end and went correctly into his brain. Images filled his mind of fighting techniques that he'd never used in his life. His arms twitched next to him as his muscles reacted to the memories that were being forced into his mind. The information tapered off after a minute and a half. He felt extremely tired, both mentally and physically. It felt as if he'd been running and fighting for days on end.

Shaking his head, Damas felt the straps come off from across his chest before he was allowed to stand. Once he was standing, Damas heard the door to his left open up as the first level of training began. The first level was running away from falling boulders and climbing walls. It was child's play. The second level was much the same, only the floors could suddenly come out from under him. Level ten was a bit harder as robots were added into the mix for him to fight. Level one hundred: large metal heads were released for him to fight hand to hand combat with. Level five hundred was when it really got hard. Metal heads, robots, dark eco infused monsters, holograms and the floor cracking like glass all were added.

By one thousand, Damas was so exhausted. It was this level that he was given a weapon, a precursor gun that shot plasma out of the barrel. It was intense and could only be shot in short bursts. In this level he had flying-type desert metal heads swooping down upon him, along with random killer robots that were very humanoid. A giant robot stood in his way and easily kicked him to the side, a machine gun in its hands as it opened fire upon him. Damas who shot his head to clear it found that his hand was tingling. Looking down he saw that his hand had gone through the wall and now there was blue eco on the floor. Grinning like an idiot, an idea popped into his head.

As the first bullet exited the chamber of the machine gun, Damas touched the blue eco and vanished from sight as he raced up the leg of the giant robot. Taking his sword out, he cut the exposed wires of the precursor robot's neck, causing hydrologic fluid to spray everywhere like blood. Jumping from the robot, Damas landed on one of the floating platforms that had been floating high above everything. The robot fell dead and the exit to the next level opened.

It took thirty-six hours for King Damas to clear every single level of the three thousand level training course. By the time he had, not only was exhausted, but now his warriors couldn't wait to get their turn at the course to see if they could beat their leader's time for each level.

Damas walked out of the training room victorious and primed for another fight. Annalina approached him. "It would seem you and your daughter share many things, including your luck to finish things with only minutes to spare." She smiled as she crossed her hands over her chest. "You're about to get your chance to test your newfound abilities, but first Mar wishes to test your powers against his own." She turned her head towards the dark warrior that had come to the fortress only a few hours before. She'd streamed the training live to him on a private channel to show him Damas' abilities. "You have potential. Let's not waste it."

Mar approached his descendant with pride on his features, though with his helmet on, Damas couldn't see it. "I have seen how you have fought Damas, however, I think with some special training we can turn your rough channeling abilities into something that'll turn you into a true channeling warrior."

"Enough talk," Damas told the ancient warrior. "Let's get down to business. We don't have time to waste." His eyes meeting that of his ancestors within his helmet.

Mar suddenly had the feeling that the stubbornness of his line would either be his death of the savior of this planet. It'll be interesting to see which it'll be.

M-Angel: Sorry, sorry, sorry! I've been super busy with my other stories. *sigh* I feel like I'll never finish this story. I've been writing this for a couple of years now. LoL. So now I'm getting into the Bleach fandom. I hope that one doesn't take as long as this one has. It's funny, I've gotten done with two 100 chapter stories before I got done with this one. Okay, now I'm babbling...

xoxoangii: You know, sometimes your muse likes to take you on a detour. Mine has done that many times...