After that little incident with the artifact, Gamma Team wanted answers. Specifically, they wanted to know what I knew about the artifact. Admittedly, that was a rather difficult subject for me, but then again, there was nothing I could tell them that would create problems for me in the future.

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"So," began Gamma One, "you've encountered machines like that one before, but all they do is give you strange visions or messages and then just lock up?"

"Yes," was my response. "I don't even know what the visions mean. There's NOTHING I've experienced that even offers a hint about what they are referring to."

"I see. Well, hopefully, nothing comes of this."

"For both our sakes, I hope you're right."

By this point, we were out of the ruins. Idly, I watched as one of my patrol aircraft flew overhead, carefully maintaining its programmed course.

...wait, it was experiencing errors?

Instantly, I turned my mind toward all of the aircraft I had patrolling over the city. Three of them, including the scout I had just seen, were inside the area where the glitches had been occurring. None of them were reporting any issues, though.

Cautiously, I made an Ant Tank move toward the city. When it entered the error-zone, nothing happened.

My question answered, I turned my attention back to my avatar and was silently thankful that Gamma team had only just noticed that I was lagging behind while signaling an Envoy to pick me up.

"Something happen?" That was Gamma Two.

"Yes. You know the big field around this city that screws up electronic systems and kept vehicles from working?"

"That's common knowledge," deadpanned Gamma Four.

"Well, it's gone."

"...you're serious?" This time, it was Gamma Three that spoke.

I merely gestured forward. Unseen to the team, my Envoy had been making its final approach.

"If that doesn't convince you, I don't know what will."

The team stared at my ship for a moment, surprised, before quickly pulling out a radio and requesting their dropship come in for pickup. As for, I quickly boarded up onto my ship, making sure to secure the artifact before strapping in for the coming flight. As my ship began to take off, the Skyranger finally arrived to pick up the team. I waved them off and bid my farewell, and just before I faded from view, they seemed to return the gesture.

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The flight back was relatively uneventful: no equivalents hitting the Envoy, no surprise attacks, just a normal flight. Though, to its credit, it did give me an unmolested view of Chiron's surface. My arrival back at my home base was equally dull, but that was to be expected. Soon I was back on my hub world, ready to examine the artifacts I'd acquired from the Progenitor ruins and see what I could make from them.

However, when I began examining the camera feed from my tower, I couldn't help but balk at what I found: apparently, the kids had gotten sidetracked while exploring the tower and STILL hadn't met Wraith. The fact that it had taken them an entire hour to examine everything they were interested in was baffling. Though, it appeared that finally, they were approaching Wraith's quarters, something I was glad I'd be able to watch. Hopefully, they wouldn't end up getting too scared.

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Konrad stared at the door. This one wasn't like the others. First off, it appeared to be made out of a wood, whereas all of the other ones leading up to it were made out of metal. Additionally, this one had an inhuman skull on it (albeit one that was clearly a fake), likely meant to intimidate any unwanted guests. Konrad's power told him that someone was on the other side of this door. The appearance of the door, the skull on it, and several other bone decorations lining the nearby walls warned him that whoever lived behind the door probably didn't want visitors.

Konrad told his friends as much. They agreed with him, but at the same time, they wanted to see who lived here. In this unspoken argument, he was the minority.

Reluctantly, Konrad turned the knob on the door, then pushed it open. Slowly, light began to enter the room, revealing a surprising interior. Most of the Inside was crafted from purple-black metal, but a few items stood out: a wooden table, a comfortable looking sofa... and a weapons rack. Adorning it were a huge collection of axes, of types that transcended categorization. Nearby, a rather motley set of armor had been placed around a rather inhuman-looking mannequin.

With the coast appearing clear for the moment, the group began to fan out, trying to observe what they could and perhaps learn more about the room's inhabitant.

"Any idea's who might live in here?" was the biggest question on Konrad's mind.

"No," was Bianca's response. "Though I doubt it's human."

"No kidding," replied Elisha. "Any ideas on where they might be?"

Konrad' response was to feel around with his powers, searching for minds. All of the children had empathic powers, allowing them to sense when others were nearby, at least up to a certain range. While empathy wasn't Konrad's specialty, he could use it well enough.

Oddly, though, right now he couldn't sense any minds near him besides his companions. That alone set off alarm bells in his mind, as he had just sensed a mind earlier. The fact that it had disappeared was...worrisome.

"I'm not picking up anything," he spoke, "maybe it left?"

"Or maybe he is above you, wondering why a bunch of children are sneaking into his room," answered a deep, intimidating voice from above them.

Looking up, the children gasped at the sight of the voice's owner. He would've been a giant among men, though his purple skin and odd-looking head quickly dismissed any guess that he was human. Despite his size, he was easily balancing between a pair of support beams, watching the group like a bird of prey.

"...w...w...who are you," croaked out Percival, shaking in awe and Terror.

"I am Wraith, The Spectre of Vegeance. I presume you are the Commander's newest charges?"

"...yes," was Bianka's sheepish response.

"Well, it is nice to finally meet all of you. It has been a long time since I have seen children."

"Why's that?" Questioned Konrad.

"I have spent many years fight monsters, facing beasts from the worst of nightmares. I haven't had the time to seek out civilization."

"So you've fought in great battles?" asked May, had terrified, half curious.

"Yes."

"Could you tell us about them?"

"Perhaps, but I would like to leave those for another day. What I tell you may not leave you for a long time, and I do not want you to lose sleep over what you hear."

"...I see," replied May, sounding crestfallen at the response.

"I glad that is the case. Though, I would like to give you a piece of advice."

"And that is?" asked Bianca.

"There are others like me, and you would do well to acquaint yourself with them. One of them is named Andromeda."

"Like the Queen form the Greek Legends?"

"...yes."

"Where can we meet her?"

"She's waiting in the hallway."

"...oh. Well, it was nice to meet you, Wraith."

"As it was to meet you."

Reluctantly, the group left. They had sensed some annoyance coming from him once he had revealed himself, and they dared not increase it any further. Another time, pwrhaps, they would ask him more questions, but for now, they would let himself him be.

As soon as the left, though, they found themselves staring at a new being. It resembled a woman in appearance, especially if her attire and m her...rather generous chest size were anything to go by. Konrad could tell from his powers that everyone, especially the girls, were weirded out to see such a human body type on such an alien being. Said powers also told him that said being was happy to see them.

"Hello," she began, "I am Andromeda, and it is a pleasure to meet you."

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AN: Read and Review.

This is Flameal15k, signing off!