Hey there. Sorry I didn't run the AN last time...glad Ninten and Mewtwo took care of that despite their...differences. Anyway, yes, I hope to get a Mewtwo SSB oneshot out sometime, might not be soon, but I'm determined to make it happen once I get motivated enough. It's a shame that Winter Break's almost over for me and most schoolbkids. It always seems to go by so freaking fast. Oh well, and on another note, there's an Advance Wars reference hidden in here somewhere, and if you find it...you'll get a cookie. Hint: The reference is simply a quote.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!

Review Responses

Ender2142: Thanks. I tried my best to make this as much of a realistic depiction of war as I could (which includes prejudice), though nothing can compare to first hand experience. Yep, the plot thickens, and it'll thicken again at the end of this chapter. Hopefully the fourth wall would need not be broken again for a while...but it probably will. *Shrugs*

Connor the speling pro: I would respond to your review more fully, but for some reason, it's not showing and I deleted the email that notified me of the review, so I can't outside of what I recall. Thanks for the tip. I'll try to avoid that in the future, though it will definitely be a little more...military than other fics, at least battles in where the armies clash and take some time to get used to the in-between. Yeah, I did take inspiration from discrimination against minority groups since PSI (and psychic powers in general) is a power only accessible by a minority, making the users one of the minorities, and definitely a target for prejudice. And I can confirm that Holland will appear in the future, though won't have a major role. She'll be more of a minor recurring character.

Disclaimer: The author does not own Earthbound/the references/the characters outside OCs/locations outside original locations. I only own the plot and the things I use to write and plan this out.

Ninten broke out into a small grin, happy to see his friend again. But it faded as he remembered where he was and simply settled for, "Poo, good to see you again, but let's talk later."

"Agreed," Poo replied, understanding that duty came before pleasure in this war.

"Anyway, let's get on with the briefing then," Livingston said as he turned to Colonel Lee.

Lee cleared his throat as he stepped forward. "I thank you all for coming on such short notice today," he began. "Now, the situation in Ellay was at a critical point when the reinforcements arrived, but we still have a lot of fighting ahead of us. As you can see, our forces, signified by the blue, have only secured one quarter of the city," he said, gesturing to the blue counters. "The Pigmasks have over sixty percent of the city with the rest under dispute," Lee continued, this time pointing at the red counters. "However, our spies have reported that the Pigmask strength has recently weakened significantly, which begs the question of why they haven't pulled back to preserve their strength instead of continuing to suffer heavy losses here.

"Well, they have a very good reason that could affect the situation of the war itself. It alone won't change the course of the war, but it poses a great threat to our lives." Lee pointed to a stack of black counters in the center of the map. "This is one of the few orbital guns that remain in all of Eagleland," Lee explained. "It can fire blasts of high-powered lasers into space, but cannot adjust to fire at ground targets. I would imagine that you all are wondering 'why is this so significant that we are under threat?' due to that reason.

"We have reports that claim that numerous workers that are sympathetic volunteers or forced labor are working on not only getting it back into operational condition, but modifying it so that it can fire at any target in Eagleland. I'm sure everyone realizes the scale of what destruction it can bring if the modifications are completed." Various nods around the room (including Ninten) confirmed his assertion.

"Why did Colonel Lee say it won't change the course of the war when it has that kind of range?" Ana asked curiously, having shifted next to Ninten during the meeting.

"It cannot fire many shots at one time. It requires an extended period of recharge...but its range will enable the Pigmasks to shell densely populated areas, supply dumps, and attack leaders anywhere. Granted, it probably won't enough to be more than pinpricks in the overall situation due to the questionable accuracy and low rate of fire, but it would cause problems that should be avoided," the veteran analyzed, trying to pay attention to the briefing at the same time.

"Our battle plan is this: We're dispatching a small unit of Special Forces troops along with one or two PSI users to sneak behind enemy lines and sabotage the weapon," Lee instructed. "It would be better if it was blown sky high or completely annihilated, but if you can only render it inoperable, then do so. It will buy us time to retake it and destroy it ourselves. I don't want that thing to be a concern of ours ever again."

Despite the necessity for paying attention, Ninten couldn't stop his mind from wandering. It was alarming news that the Pigmasks were actually trying to get a weapon operational that couldn't be maintained, much less modified after the wars? 'Where are they getting their resources and science from? Certainly not from here,' he wondered to himself. How are they able to maintain such an advanced plethora of weapons even after the massive devastation?

"Permission to speak?" someone asked, standing up. Ninten frowned at the obviously civilian attire (read; fancy sunglasses with a red shirt that showed off the ban's bulging muscles), and he wondered to himself if this guy was a gangster.

"Permission granted," Lee replied.

"With all due respect, why not hit that thing with everything we've got? Some cannon fire ought to blow it away."

"But we'd have to get in close," Lee replied. "They'd realize what we're up to not long after we attack, and their heavy defenses will buy them enough time to rally, and attacking the weak spots in the area will simply take too long for us to swing around and attack the weapon. No; speed and stealth will be essential for this mission."

"I volunteer," one of the lieutenants said as he stood up (attire more in line with standard Eagleland military code to Ninten's approval). "My platoon is experienced in battles; it will be able to follow through with the mission."

"Very well then," Lee nodded. "Your unit will be used in the mission. But we need PSI users to accompany you..."

"I volunteer," Poo said. "I have enough power to blow it up, if I can get inside."

"In that case, I volunteer as well," Ninten added. "My abilities are best suited to speed and stealth. I promise I won't let anyone down."

"I'll come too!" Lucas exclaimed.

"No," Ninten countered, shaking his head. "Me and Poo will be more than enough for this mission. We can't risk too many PSI users in one mission."

"But-"

"We'll discuss this later," Ninten said, knowing that any further discussion would simply serve to delay the attack.

"Lieutenant Walker, go and assemble your platoon and prepare them for action," Lee ordered. The lieutenant saluted as he walked out of the tent. "You two, get ready," he told Ninten and Poo. "Everyone else, pay attention. We need to determine where all the other units will..." Ninten couldn't hear the rest because he and Poo had walked out of the command tent at that point.

Lucas weaved his way through the camp, searching for his friend in the midst of all of these armored soldiers. Eventually, he found him watching a formation of soldiers march past.

For several seconds, they stood in silence, with naught but a quick glance passing between them. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" Lucas asked.

"In war, hardly anything is certain, but you shouldn't worry," Ninten said.

"If it isn't certain, why should I not be concerned?"

"I didn't say to not be concerned, but not to worry. You'll lose focus if you let your mind drift like that," Ninten told him. "But I've done similar operations before along with Poo. This is hardly anything new to me."

"Blowing up orbital guns?"

"Going behind enemy lines. Believe me, given our past history, me and Poo are the best people for the job," Ninten explained.

"So how do you know him anyway?" Lucas asked.

"Me and Poo enlisted in the Royal Guard's training program the same year, along with two others whom we formed our group," Ninten explained. "Do you remember when I mentioned I lost a friend at Summers? Well, one of them was killed then...and the other drifted away. Poo was later assigned to the Royal Guard detachment assigned to keep order here, officially killing off the group, though me and Poo still see each other a few times a year."

"What about Paula?" Lucas inquired.

"It wasn't until...two, three years ago was it? Yes, it was three years ago when I became her bodyguard. At first, we didn't speak much more than necessary, but we eventually found common ground over a certain book and that eventually transformed into our friendship...as well as our jabs at each other."

"I'm surprised you were kept around that long if you're so snarky," Lucas chuckled.

"I was so good at my job that I couldn't be replaced," Ninten joked. "No, in all seriousness, it was Paula's happiness that her parents gave me more chances, and eventually they started to warm up to me."

Ninten then glanced down at Lucas's hip. "I see you've taken on a new weapon," he observed, gesturing to the sheath on Lucas's hip.

"This?" Lucas questioned, drawing the dagger. "I got this from the armory since they had spares. I still have my bat though, and Paula found a rapier better suited for her size."

"That's good, though you'll need training in how to use it."

Footsteps echoed from behind Lucas, and the teen turned to see Poo and the raiding platoon walk up to them. "Ready to move?" Poo asked.

Ninten nodded. "You sure you'll be okay?" Lucas asked one final time despite already knowing the answer.

"I will," he reassured him. "Take care of yourself Lucas," were his parting words, Lucas watching as he disappeared with the troops for their mission.

Lucas sighed as he marched surrounded by masses of soldiers on every side. One of the issues with being close to the center of the force arrayed against the Pigmasks.

His PSI sensed Paula and Ana both further up the line, and he felt that they could handle what they needed to over there. On the other hand, the man whom he saw Ninten show some disdain to right was right next to him, and was ginning when Lucas glanced at him.

"What?" Lucas asked, trying not to lash out at the sight of the grin.

"How're you feeling?" the man asked, evidently not deterred by the tone Lucas used.

"The usual before a battle," the boy replied. "Wondering if I'll make it out, if I'll see home again, what I have to do...that sort of thing.

"You've been in battles before?" Lucas nodded, causing the man's grin to widen.

"Good. Then you know what to do," he said. "Gonna be a pleasure fighting by your side." Lucas grimly nodded, unsure of whether or not he liked this guy's attitude towards the fight. And with his attire just screaming 'show-off' at him, it was no wonder Ninten didn't get a very good first impression of him. Lucas wasn't sure if he could take a battle next to him.

"I'm Teddy. What's your name?" the man asked, evidently having rambled a little while Lucas was in his thoughts.

"Oh, I'm Lucas," the blonde replied, snapping back into the real world.

"Nice ta met ya Lucas!" Teddy ruffled his hair. Lucas growled as he ran his hand through it after Teddy stopped. He hated it when people did that. "These Pigmasks...they're asking for a lot of trouble." Lucas turned back to Teddy, his grin gone and replaced by a hard glare. "They've wrecked my home," he growled, clenching his fists as he gazed off into the distance. "Well, I'll show them what it means to cross me. They're asking for a beat down," he finished as he cracked his knuckles.

Lucas sighed as he turned his head back forward. Now this man was on the path of revenge...He probably shouldn't be anywhere near him when battle broke out.

Getting through the main part of the enemy line was easy; they just had to use the alleyways as cover and take down any Pigmask that spotted them. Now the tricky part was remaining undetected.

The entire platoon was huddled in one such alleyway, hidden in the shadows. Thankfully, they hadn't cleaned their armor beforehand so they weren't gleaming. It meant a better chance of not being spotted.

Ninten inched to the corner and poked his head out. He frowned at the sight, not happy with what he saw.

"What is it?" Poo asked.

"At least twenty Pigmasks blocking the road," Ninten growled. "There's no way we can get past them without being detected, and even if we surprise them, at least one's gonna get away, even if you nuke them with that."

"What about your 4th-D Slip?" Poo asked.

"I can't take the entire platoon with me," Ninten answered. "The best I can manage is seven or eight at most."

"Then take me and five others with you to surprise them while the others charge in once we attack," Poo proposed.

"Not a bad idea," Ninten nodded, instantly agreeing to the strategy. "Alright, who wants to go?"

Five soldiers immediately stepped forward and saluted. "I'll direct them to charge when it's time," Lieutenant Walker said.

Ninten nodded his approval before turning back to the volunteers. "Ready?" he asked them. They nodded.

Ninten's eyes faintly glowed as he charged up the energy required for his most useful technique. On his own was easy; transporting multiple people was far more straining given how much energy he had felt he used. However, with a grunt, Ninten knew it had worked due to a small flash of light.

As soon as they moved out of the alleyway in the pocket dimension, Poo tapped Ninten's shoulder and pointed forward. "Looks like they didn't even wait for us," Ninten smirked as he saw all the Pigmasks run towards them to investigate the flash, not that they could see them. This made things a lot easier.

"Poo; take three on one side and I'll take two over here," Ninten ordered as he planted himself a little to the left of the Pigmasks' path.

Poo nodded as he and three others took position a little to the right.

Right as they passed through, the trap was sprung as Ninten deactivated his 4th-D Slip.

He simultaneously drew his Giant Knife and slashed at a passing Pigmask, causing him to cry out as he fell. He pivoted around to cut down another that didn't quite register what was happening and knocked out a third easily. He spun in a circle with his weapon, at least three more Pigmasks around him falling.

The veteran glanced around to see the rest of the Pigmask force fall to the platoon and Poo. Ninten walked up to his fellow PSI user and said, "We don't have much time. When they realize that one of their forces has gone mysteriously missing, they'll sound the alarm."

"Agreed," Poo nodded. "Lieutenant?"

Lieutenant Walker nodded. "All troops; continue moving to the objective!" he ordered as the platoon reassembled.

Lucas put up his shield over as many soldiers as he could as the musketmen, archers, and crossbowmen moved forward to return fire. The blonde saw a soldier hit the ground, setting some sort of package down. Another soldier jumped in trying to unravel it, and set up some sort of stand with three legs. The first soldier jammed some sort of thing with three barrels on the stand, and the second soldier put a canister in the side.

"What is that?" Lucas asked as he deployed a shield over the duo.

"Captured this from the Pigmasks," the second soldier explained. "We tinkered with it and figured out how to operate it." He turned back to the first and barked, "Fire now!"

With that, the weapon roared out laser blasts, managing to take down several Pigmasks in a single volley, not to mention the bullets and arrows that made contact as well. It also didn't help that the Pigmask forces on this street were dreadfully outnumbered.

Battle horns echoed, and Lucas glanced over to see Teddy lead the charge, several swordsmen and pikemen trying to keep up with him. Soon, the ranged attackers ceased their fire in fear of hitting their own, and they too joined the charge. Lucas let out his own battle cry as he rushed into the fray himself.

As he bashed his way through hordes of Pigmasks, he risk a quick glance at Teddy, to see that the man was practically whirling around like a tornado, cutting down Pigmasks with his twin knives in every which way, or just punching their lights out. Normally, the reckless show-off probably would've been killed...but with those shields over him, many of the Pigmasks' attacks merely bounced off of it, and if he suffered any injuries he didn't show any signs of them.

Nevertheless, the shields did not render people completely invincible, given the corpses that lay behind them.

"Take cover!" Lucas heard after blowing a group of Pigmasks away with his PK Love. He didn't even have time to react before not only he registered a whistling sound but also a very fast moving projectile heading right over him. As soon as it hit the ground, it exploded right in the middle of a small infantry formation of Eagleland troops. The soldiers were thrown away from the explosion; the more fortunate of this group got back up on their feet despite minor bleeding while the less fortunate were either groaning on the ground or not even moving.

Lucas felt a little guilty, knowing that his shields had failed to protect them from...whatever that thing was.

"Either take cover or move in close!" Lucas heard one of the lieutenants call. He ducked into one of the buildings as his ears picked up the same whistling sound. He just dove into a building when the explosion happened. The blonde got up just in time to see a building fall, hit by the attack.

He felt a hand on his back yank him further into the building. "Let go of me," he growled, smacking the hand away and letting him see the familiar face of a certain soldier.

"Fancy meeting you here again," James said.

"Not in the mood," Lucas growled through clenched teeth as he tried to look through the window to observe the battle.

"Well, if you would set aside your grudge against me for one moment, I would think it would make sense for us to team up for now," James argued. "These Pigmasks are using things that we don't have the tech to combat, as well as hordes of foot soldiers. Believe me, I will watch your back, I promise."

"Fine, just don't get in my way," Lucas conceded, having taken in the situation by now.

Whatever that attack was, it had scattered a number of the Eagleland forces, most of them either under cover or right up there in the thick of things against the main Pigmask line. However, hulking white objects were approaching the battle from the Pigmask side of the line, and it certainly didn't look friendly.

The lead vehicle took aim with its cannon, firing a blast that hit Eagleland and Pigmask soldiers alike. Soldiers of both factions scrambled out of the way of the mounds of metal, but Lucas saw a green beam flash by, blasting the turret completely off of one of the tanks followed by a blast of thunder on the same tank, no doubt incapacitating or killing everyone that was left in there. Lucas blew another tank onto its side with a well-placed PK Love barrage.

"They're after you!" James cried. Lucas saw that he was telling the truth, as a few pointed their turrets right at him.

Lucas roared as he aggressively charged up another PK Love, determined to fight to the death if he had to.

Poking his head around the wall, Ninten smirked as he spotted the building he was looking for.

"It's right over there," he said. "There are guards on the outside, but if we do this properly, they shouldn't be an issue."

"You have the honors then," Walker said, overhearing Ninten's analysis.

Ninten nodded as he activated his 4th-D Slip, vanishing from sight.

Several seconds later, he was back, materializing behind the two guards assigned to the entrance. He stabbed one with his Giant Knife, and then threw the other Pigmask into the wall where he slugged the Pigmask in the face, instantly knocking him out.

With a few hand gestures, Poo and the platoon emerged from their cover and headed towards him. Ninten turned back to the door, looking over it. He realized that there was a lock on it, which he easily undid with his telekinesis before Poo caught up to him.

Ninten peeked inside the building, ducking back to avoid detection by the guards inside.

"How many?" Poo asked, evidently realizing the situation.

"Five guards," Ninten replied. "This should be easy."

Ninten threw open the door as Poo leaped in, electricity shooting out from his hands. Three of the bolts connected with one guard each, causing them to cry out in pain as they were electrocuted. The raiders quickly dispatched of the two others before Ninten even had a chance to swing his weapon at anybody.

'Good; no causalities,' Ninten noted satisfyingly to himself as he headed to the next door as the Eagleland soldiers were making sure the guards were dead. After all, dead men tell no tales.

He didn't like having to do that, but having Pigmasks shooting at their rear could pose a significant threat depending on the timing.

The doors opened with three Pigmasks rushing in to investigate the commotion, only to stop dead at the realization that they were outnumbered. However, Ninten had leapt in between them and their exit, effectively cutting off their only mode of escape. He swung his knife, forcing the Pigmasks back as they hastily leveled their guns on him, not that it would do much good since he just used Shield Alpha over himself.

One of the Pigmasks suddenly had a katana producing from his chest, and the other two were also taken down by two soldiers as well. Ninten nodded at the ones who helped him out and peeked into the next room.

"It's the core," Ninten observed. "This is where all the power goes to execute a single shot. If we can blow this up, this'll take down the entire building, but there are workers in there, and I don't know whether or not they're allied with the Pigmasks or not."

"Who cares? We've got to set them free!" one of the soldiers exclaimed, sprinting past Ninten, much to the veteran's horror.

"No! Don't!" another soldier cried, rushing after him.

Four of the workers inside whipped around, guns glistening in the light and pointed directly at the two Eagleland soldiers who rushed ahead. With several volleys, both lay dead on the floor.

Two musketmen that were in the platoon moved forward along with Poo, the PSI user killing two of the Pigmask sympathizers outright with precise blasts of thunder as the two musketmen proved to the better shots, gunning the other two down before they could hit them.

"Does anyone else want to oppose us?" Lieutenant Walker dared. No one moved. "Then get your asses out of here!" he ordered. "You five, make sure they get out and don't try anything, got it?" They nodded as they peeled off to follow their orders.

Ninten turned to Poo just a moment afterward. "Do your thing," he ordered.

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that." The raiders immediately whipped around to face deeper into the room where from a now-open door three more Pigmasks emerged; a single one in white flanked by two green ones.

"Do you honestly think that just because of your ranks you stand a chance against us?" one of the raiders sneered.

They didn't bother answering as they immediately trained their guns onto Poo, no doubt identifying him as the main 'punch' of the attack.

However, two shots rang out, one of which connected with one of the majors. The other Pigmasks were distracted briefly, looking over at their fallen comrade.

That's when Poo cried, "PK Starstorm!" regaining all the attention of everyone in the room. Ninten quickly deployed a shield over him, to protect against the laser blasts from the surviving Pigmasks as he moved in, taking them both out before their shots had any noticeable effect on his friend. Several blue glowing orbs formed all around him as he focused, pouring as much PSI energy as he could into the attack.

"Fall back!" the lieutenant shouted as he ushered the rest of the platoon out of the room as Poo was nearly ready to attack.

Poo released the orbs of energy all over the room; one fell on the main reactor, one or two more destroyed the controls...Ninten didn't catch the rest because he seized Poo's arm and was dragging him out of the area as the orbital gun was being blown to pieces all around them.

Lucas put his hands on his knees as he panted, out of PSI energy after what seemed to be hours of battle. He glanced behind him, reflecting on how much ground they gained...but at what cost? There was far more blood spilled today than was during the Battle of Tazmily...if that could even count as one and not a mere skirmish. From Eagleland and Pigmask corpses to the wreckages of tanks and cannons, it was obvious that both sides paid a terrible price for this ground.

He looked ahead, seeing the battle still raging. He noticed that compared to early in the battle, the line was quite thin with the reserves committed to keep the line intact, and even then only barely. He couldn't tell how the Pigmasks were faring, but given the ground they had been forced to yield, he supposed that they were in even worse shape.

Lucas jumped at the sound of a massive explosion, and looked around wildly. He saw a massive plume of black smoke rising into the air towards the heart of the city.

Ninten and his crew had did it. The mission was accomplished.

He heard a battle horn, interrupting his feeling of relief and satisfaction that the mission was a success. Instantly, the Eagleland line began to fall back, in a fighting retreat. It appeared that the Pigmasks were just as eager to continue the battle since from what Lucas could see, most of the Eagleland troops were not involved in any fight. Granted, a few fell from laser blasts, but the sources of those final shots were soon silenced.

As soon as the Eagleland line reformed just outside of the Pigmasks' range, Teddy whooped. "Well, mission accomplished!" he laughed.

"Contact Colonel Lee; tell him the mission is completed, but we need reinforcements to secure our gains," Lucas overheard one of the nearby captains tell another soldier.

But...where was James?

It wasn't that long after they began to work together that they were separated in the chaos due to the Pigmask counterattack. Not that Lucas didn't grow fond of him or anything, but he was still concerned. Lucas glanced around the crowd of soldiers, unable to find who it was he was looking for. Then, his eyes drifted to ground level and they widened. He dashed over to the soldier on the ground, medic hunched over him. The medic turned to face Lucas as he approached and said, "If you have any healing PSI, it'll help."

"I'm sorry...I'm all out," Lucas admitted.

The medic solemnly nodded as she tried to bandage James's arm, the injured soldier struggling to breathe.

"James?"

"...Heh," the soldier let out a small laugh. "So...it took for me to be...dying for you to pay attention to me?"

Lucas glanced at the medic. "Is he really gonna die?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "I have to treat him as well as I can here before bringing him back to get more thorough care."

"Thank you," Lucas said as he turned his gaze back to the soldier.

"Hard...past?" James grunted out.

"You have no idea," Lucas muttered to himself, glancing off to the side.

"I...I guess I can understand why you...treated me like you did then," James said. "I've seen it happen before...a friend of mine went through personal loss. It...made him near unapproachable for months. We...never actually did make up."

"I did the same thing," Lucas admitted. "I pushed people away because I didn't feel like they understood what I was going through; they always treated me like a little kid even as I grew up into my teen years. I couldn't take it and I simply closed myself off when I should've tried to prove that I was mature. I guess I should've been nicer to them," the boy sighed wistfully, full of regret.

"At least you...recognize that," James got out before a coughing fit.

"Easy soldier," the medic said. "I've done all I can right now. Can you get up?"

The soldier grunted as he sat up, and then groaned as he clutched his head. Another soldier stepped next to him, and helped hoist him on his feet. "Come on," he said, as he and the medic helped James back into the rear, Lucas watching as they left.

Even though the soldier hadn't made the best first impression, he had to admit that when he thought back, James seemed sincere when he claimed he didn't want to treat him or any PSI user as a mere tool. 'I wish I could've helped him,' he thought to himself.

Still, he was not a stranger to death. If he died, then he would have to pay his respects...he would not push others away again. He couldn't afford to make the same mistake twice. He felt a kernel of rage within him as he wondered how many lives this extremist group had ruined by causing this unnecessary fighting for...whatever bullshit excuse they provided to gain their following.

His fist clenched as he glared into the distance, vowing that when he was through with the Pigmasks, they'd be nothing more than pages in a history book.

Ninten entered the command tent alongside Poo, whom he just finished filling in on what happened to him. He glanced around and quickly found his three companions in one of the corners.

"Hey," he said as he and Poo walked up to them.

"Hey," Paula greeted. "So I take it mission success?"

"I think the resulting explosion was enough to tell," Ninten grinned. "How are you three holding up?"

"I'm okay," Ana murmured quietly. Ninten knew that she wasn't, but he didn't press. She merely needed to adjust to this.

"Could be better, and a soldier Lucas knew was badly injured," Paula added. "He's not holding up well."

"I wouldn't say any one of us look that good," Ninten said, taking in the dirt and blood that covered them and noted that he himself probably didn't look much better.

At this point, they noticed that conversation was beginning to die down and they turned toward the podium, seeing the two colonels on it.

Colonel Lee stepped forward as he cleared his throat. "I thank you all for giving it your all to destroy the orbital gun, and I am pleased to say the mission was a complete success," Lee began. "In addition, one of the forces gained some ground, though the other force encountered determined resistance and could not make any gains. Nevertheless, causalities were lower than expected, but they were still heavy." He glanced off to the side, Ninten noting some grief on his features before turning back. "But we cannot mourn for them for very long. We shall not forget their sacrifices, but we must not be consumed by them."

Lee stepped back with the crowd applauding his address as Livingston moved forward to the microphone to speak. "Despite our recent victories, this war is far from over. The Pigmasks are reluctant to give up ground on all fronts, but especially here due to one of their critical bases being located not far from here. However, with a string of defeats, the Pigmasks are discovering that the tide is turning against them, and if this continues, we shall soon possess their base and discover their secrets...if they hadn't destroyed everything by then. We also have news from the rear. Shortly after we left Fiveopilis, General Xavier sent a messenger to inform us that he himself will be arriving in a few days time." Excited murmurs arose from the crowd, but were quickly silenced. "With his help, we will coordinate with other areas to begin an offensive, but until then, keep your troops together and focus on holding what we have gained, and our messengers will ask the High Command for permission to destroy all remaining orbital guns so we do not experience this threat ever again. And I expect that everyone Lieutenant or higher on the chain of command that participated in the battle will write a post-action report. Dismissed."

"What's a post-action report?" Lucas asked.

"It's a written paper on the overall battle and what you could've done differently and anything you noticed of your troops or the enemy's. I'm gonna have to start on that soon...Seriously, be glad you don't have to do it. It's a pain to construct one sometimes."

"Commander!" Kumatora sighed in annoyance as she turned to face the Pigmask that had barged into the room in what seemed to be a panic. This seemed to happen more frequently as of late.

"Yeah, spit it out," she growled, trying to ignore her migraine.

"The orbital gun has been destroyed, and we've taken heavy causalities!" the Pigmask cried. "W-What are we gonna do!?"

Kumatora closed her eyes as she thought over this new information, tuning out his incessant chatter. She met this with...mixed emotion. On one hand, this meant that all the Pigmask efforts and lives lost were all for naught. Ellay was now only beneficial for Eagleland, for if they establish a major base there, that could mean an offensive that could strike at the exposed flanks of the current fronts, leading to more ground being lost.

On the other hand, they probably weren't gonna win the battle anyway with the reinforcements getting through. And now they could cut losses and fall back to a more dependable position, hoping that the Eagleland commanders wouldn't recognize the opportunity they had.

On another hand...

Kumatora shook her head as she refocused on the Pigmask in front of her. "Order all troops in the Ellay area to pull back and regroup behind the mountain. We need the time to organize sufficient resistance if we have any hope of holding out."

"But our base will be left vulnerable!" the Pigmask protested. "If the Eagleland Army decides to attack right now, they'll capture all of our research facilities here, not to mention all of our classified documents!"

"I believe that is my concern," Kumatora stated, glaring at the Pigmask. "Now, if you have nothing else to tell me, get out of my sight."

The Pigmask squeaked as he ducked out of the room, his commander much relieved at no longer having to put up with his attitude. She sighed as she opened up one of the drawers and rifled through it, yanking out a particular paper that she was looking for. 'If their army attacks, then we don't have much time,' she concluded. She would have to set her plan in motion immediately, and she was more than happy to begin that.

Just then, a beeping noise drew her attention to the monitor on the wall. It activated, portraying the sneering face of the one person she absolutely didn't want to see.

"Well, well, commander," Fassad grinned. "You certainly messed up all of our plans, big time."

"When I requested reinforcements to counter the Eagleland's own reinforcements, you assured me that he would've taken care of them," Kumatora retorted. "Instead, your soldiers are still twiddling their thumbs in random locations across Eagleland." She glared at the monitor. "Before, I was questioning your sanity...but now I know why you're doing that."

"How do you know of them?" Fassad demanded, his smugness disappearing instantly.

Kumatora smirked, knowing the tables have turned. "I am more resourceful than you think," she replied, carefully measuring each word as to not give anything away. "But I do not plan on telling my subordinates this, so you have no cause for alarm. However, I will warn you in pursuing the power that you hope to wield." Her smirk disappeared as she glared back. "You know the stories as well as I do. You know what happened to that warlord when he tried to wield that power. Do you honestly think that you can control a power with that bloody of a history behind it?"

"I do not seek that power for myself, but for our king."

"Right. You always say that what you do, it's for the benefit of Porky," Kumatora rolled her eyes.

"You should be grateful," Fassad said calmly, shaking his head. "We took you in when you had nowhere to go, after you were cast aside like a tool...that's all the Confederation and their mindless followers see our kind as. But we Pigmasks are different, we treat people as...equals. We shall make that a reality, over rivers of blood if we must."

"You do that," Kumatora shrugged. "To you, I'm just a warrior, trained to kill Eagleland soldiers; what do I know of politics? But I do know one thing about it from...observation. It corrupts people, just thought you should know."

"You will learn how powerful the Pigmask High Command is," Fassad declared. "But for now, your next mission will keep you...preoccupied for a while, and it comes directly from King P. Crush the Confederation's army in Ellay."

"Easier said than done boss. You didn't leave me anything to work with," Kumatora scoffed. "In between the failure of your trap as well as the loss of the orbital gun, also counting the causalities and how thin our supplies are stretched, I wouldn't be surprised if you were just trying to bump me off."

"Don't get sassy with me," the Pigmask second-in-command growled. "It would be a bad thing if one of our top commanders was killed because of their mouth." Kumatora resisted the urge to snap at him. "But I have given you an order; you will fulfill it at once."

"Yes commander."

The monitor shut off, leaving Kumatora to ponder over the conversation as she stared at the blank screen.

She closed her eyes, taking close examination of a feeling that had been growing inside of her ever since she overheard that conversation weeks ago. Her mouth pressed into a thin line as she frowned, glaring at her desk.

But at least that order (in some ways) made her plan all the easier to pull off. She just needed to figure out how to go about it.

Well, for some reason I really enjoy writing Kumatora's scenes. I kinda wish she had more screentime, but that would be unnecessary. Anyway, just two more chapters until Arc 1 closes out. If you haven't looked on my profile, there are going to be three arcs plus an epilogue, so this still has quite a ways to go. Plus, games have been taking some time away from when I work on Fanfiction, and school break is just about over...I will have to get the next chapter out in two weeks. Anyway, feel free to review, and have a great day!

PSI Encyclopedia

Orbital Gun: A highly advanced technological development conceived before the PSI Wars to counter any ICBMs launched into space, but was modified to target enemy capital ships in space with high-powered laser blasts. It draws on nuclear fusion to power its blasts, even when the alien fuel, zexonyte became available. While they cannot fire more than a dozen blasts at a time before it requires recharging, but orbital guns accounted for numerous alien ships during the Wars.

Eagleland Ranks: Every rank has their special insignia to label them as a certain rank. However, officers are more...flashy about it. Lieutenants typically have yellow lines on their armor, captains white, majors blue, and colonels black. Medics and generals are unique; medics are red despite not being officers while generals are so infrequently out on the front lines in the thick of battle that their only distinguishing feature is the number of stars on their helmet.