Striding across the sand, trying to drown his anger in the crashing of the waves at his back, Slade was still acutely aware of Saber's presence at his side. Once he and Saber had made it back inside the Blue Earth, reluctantly let go of Saber's arm and slumped down in his seat. Saber wasn't about to let him go that easily, of course, something he'd been expecting, and it did made him feel better to have Saber's hand still holding his.

At least I know why Dad disliked the AEM so much, he mused, resting his forehead on Saber's right shoulder as the full impact of what he'd seen and done today finally registered with him. He'd been pushing it aside, focusing on what was in front of him and what he still had to do, and then on the danger that Saber had been in, but now there was nothing else. Nothing else to keep his mind off of the fact that Dr. Silas Random, who had been their last known link to their father and a good man besides, had basically died while they watched.

And no one but them had even seemed to care.

When he heard the sounds of more people boarding the Blue Earth, Slade looked up to see the only two other people that he was particularly pleased to see under the circumstances. Once Ringo and Star had both settled into their seats, though Ringo shot them a look of mild approval before he was fully settled into his seat. Slade gave him a smile, tight smile in return, not really feeling up to anything more demonstrative than that.

"Well, that was a more excitement than I like to have at the end of the day," Ringo said, though he still sounded pretty amused. "It's not like I disapprove or anything, but you kids might want to pick your battles better in the future. Those Army guys have long memories, and they don't forgive easily," Ringo sighed. "Or at all, I don't think," Slade heard him mutter.

(Not the most comforting thought in the world, brother,) Saber said.

(Yeah; well, we'll burn that bridge if we come to it, brother,) he said, turning back to the control panel in front of him, as Ringo and Star made preparations to lift off again. (Right now, though, we should just concentrate on what's in front of us.)

(Yeah, I guess you're right,) Saber said, then he subsided into watchful silence with a short yawn.

With the Blue Earth in the air at last, Slade let himself relax a bit. There was nothing else to hold him here, and while he would mourn for Dr. Random later with Saber, he was glad to be getting back home. He'd be glad to fall into bed and sleep, after all of this.

01001001

Settled within his base, monitoring the humans who were undergoing the Teknoprocess, Darkon sensed that another of his humans was nearing completion. More precisely, it was the youngest of the humans that was at such a stage.

(I see you have managed to will your way through, young one,) he said, focusing on the young once-human's mind and feeling it open to him. (Now then, tell me your name.)

(I am Rapier.)

(Good, young one. Now, what is your purpose?)

(I am to be your hidden eyes; your shadow assassin. The one who is never seen, until it is too late.)

(Excellent,) he said, feeling his unused lips pull back to reveal his pristine teeth, all the sharper for their months upon months of disuse. (I am pleased to know that you have absorbed your lessons so well, my dear Rapier.)

(Thank you, my Lord.)

(Sleep now,) he commanded, willing the youngest of his Teknomen back into peaceful slumber. (Your time will come soon enough.)

0010100000

It was the first time he had felt honestly rested since his fight against the Radam had begun; Slade could only speculate that it had been thanks to his three transformations on the same day, two of them without the benefit of food or sleep beforehand. Though, if that was the kind of price he was going to have to pay to have a night free of terror, it wasn't quite worth it.

Sitting up in bed, Slade yawned deeply and blinked up at the ceiling. (Saber? Did you sleep well tonight, brother?)

(Yeah,) Saber said, sounding well-rested himself. (So, we meet for breakfast as usual, and then get in some free sparring?)

(I think I could handle that,) he said, smiling as he slid out of bed and stood up.

Yawing as he made his way to his personal bathroom, Slade peeled off his old clothes and tossed them into the hamper by the door. Quickly going through his morning routine, knowing that Saber was likely doing the same in his own bathroom, Slade finished with another jaw-cracking yawn. Padding out of the bathroom on slippered feet, Slade toed off his slippers and removed the last of his clothes to throw in the hamper.

Heading over to his closet, Slade pulled out one more in the long line of Space Knight uniforms that he had in his closet and put the thing on. It was nice to have at least one routine in his life that didn't involve fighting mutant space crabs or dealing with the AEM in any way, shape, or form, he reflected. When the door slid open, revealing his younger twin smiling at him, Slade smiled back.

"Good to see you again, brother," he said, smiling softly himself.

"Yeah, you too," Saber said, stepping forward to take his hand and gently tug him out of his room. "Now, let's go get some food."

The door slid closed as they walked away, heading for the cafeteria for some food. The only really good point that he could see about the increased metabolism that he had as a Teknoman, that he and Saber both had, was the fact that he didn't have to wait nearly as long as a normal person after eating to exercise. Of course, the obvious downside to that was that they needed to eat a lot more than a normal person did to feel full.

And, even then, the feeling itself didn't last for very long.

When they made it to the cafeteria again, Saber having let go of his hand along the way so that both of them would be able to carry their trays when they got them, they got right into line for food. After they had gotten all of the food they were going to have this morning, or at least right now, he and Saber went to sit down at their usual table. They didn't talk while they ate, preferring instead to focus on getting as many useable calories out of their meal as they could, but he would always take comfort in the fact that his younger brother was right there with him.

It was one of the few things he could really count on, with the Radam here in force and the rest of their family enslaved by them.

When they had finished the last of their food, he and Saber traded grins as they stood up to leave. He took their trays to the counter, the way he had always done, and met Saber at the door the way he had yesterday. It was strange to think, he reflected as they walked, that all of those world-shaking events had taken course over the span of just one day; it felt like a whole lot longer, yes, but whenever he checked one of the calendars he saw again that just a single day had passed.

It was such a strange thing to think about.

As he and Saber made their way down to the gym, Slade wondered for a moment just what was going to happen today. Something involving the Radam, no doubt, and maybe even something with the Allied Earth Military if they were especially unlucky. Which they had usually seemed to be, ever since they had been forced to abandon the Argos and everyone onboard her to their fates.

Sometimes he wondered if this capricious luck he and Saber seemed alternately cursed and blessed with was fate's way of punishing him for that abandonment; still, if it was what he had to do to save the Earth, he would learn to live without depending on luck.

When they actually made it to the gym without being called away by either the emergency or the general alerts, Slade smiled slightly while Saber outright grinned.

"Well, I think we just might get some free-sparring in after all, big brother," Saber said, his grin now more of a smirk.

"I think you might just be right about that, little brother," he said, smirking back with that same mischievous air that Saber had shown him.

Shedding their Space Knight vests and shirts, leaving themselves in just a pair of white tank tops, he and Saber stepped into the ring and began to circle each other, both of them looking for an opening to make their first attack. He'd learned well enough over all the time that he had sparred with Saber never to attack first; he'd end up getting thrown all over the place, all the while getting more irritated by the way Saber would smirk at him, which would only lead to him getting thrown around more. Finally, he spotted what looked like a slight opening.

He knew it was a ruse even before he committed to his charge, but he feinted before Saber could grab him, and aimed a punch for his younger brother's left flank. Saber was just a bit too fast for him to tag, though, and his younger twin managed to knock his legs out from under him with a sweep-kick that he was just a few seconds too late to dodge. Continuing the motion with a forward-roll, Slade got back to his feet just in time to dodge Saber's own punch.

Grinning at his brother as they both reoriented themselves, Slade saw the answering grin on Saber's face.

"Nice reflexes, brother," he said, as they began to circle each other again.

"Yours aren't so bad, either, brother," Saber said, winking.

Slade laughed, as the two of them dove back in on the attack again. After that, things kind of blurred into just move and countermove; strike and block and be struck at and blocked in return. It was the way every real fight, even a relatively tame free-spar like this one, became in the end: a flurry of moves, shoving your conscious mind aside and immersing you in the muscle-memories that had been ingrained into you through years of rigorous training. It was definitely freeing, not having to think; not to think about all the things that had gone wrong, or else about all the things that still could.

When he began to tire slightly, he felt Saber grip his hands; their fingers interlaced almost on reflex, and he set his stance and began to push. Saber didn't quite have his strength, which was why his younger brother tended to rely on throws, joint-locks, slams, and submission holds in his fights, but he'd learned really well not to underestimate his twin's sheer, bloody-minded stubbornness in these kinds of situations. As if to prove this point, Saber sank into a deep forward-stance and drove into him.

Tried to, anyway, since he was shoving just as hard against Saber as Saber was against him.

"No finger-crushing, big brother," Saber said, with a slightly whimsical smile.

"And no throwing, little brother," he retorted, smiling back.

Even the sound of someone coming into the gym with them didn't distract him from his little test of strength against Saber. He did notice them, in the vague sort of way he registered the edges of the mat that they were standing on so he wouldn't end up getting shoved off and losing, but they weren't moving or talking so he didn't devote any extra attention to them. If they wanted to talk, they were going to have to wait.

Digging his heels into the mat as Saber continued to push against him, all the while grinning back at his brother as they continued to test each other's resolve; not to mention the other's footing, he smiled widely. He thought for a moment that he could hear someone talking, but it didn't really sound like they were talking to them, so Slade felt safe ignoring whoever it was. When he heard someone shout, though, someone who was obviously in the same room as them, Slade was distracted for one quick second.

Unfortunately, he let up on Saber at that crucial second, allowing his younger brother to tackle him to the ground and almost ending up with the two of them face-planting into each other.

"Thanks, Ringo," Saber said as he looked up, and Slade couldn't quite tell if he was being serious or sarcastic; knowing him, though, it was probably both.

"What is it, Ringo?" he asked, as he and Saber disentangled themselves and helped each other back upright.

"Tina just called us in for a meeting in Comm. One," the other man said, grinning slightly. "There's something going down, but you kids might want to wash up before you report in; I can't imagine that either of you smell good right now. Sinks are in the other room, and you can toss those shirts of yours in the hamper."

"Right," he said, as he and Saber headed to the far end of the gym.

There was a door on the far wall of the room, which he'd sort of figured lead to some sort of washroom or other, and he proceeded Saber through it and held the door open for his brother. Peeling off his tank top and tossing it in the hamper the way Ringo had instructed him to, Slade headed over to the sink and began to wash up for the second time that day. Saber was using the sink next to him, of course.

When they had both finished, with him waiting a bit until Saber was fully done, he grabbed a pair of towels, tossed one to Saber, and then dried himself off quickly. Tossing his used towel into the hamper on top of his brother's, Slade headed for the door and then held it open for Saber. His brother gave him a sidelong smile for that, obviously amused but Slade wasn't quite sure about what.

Maybe he'd ask about it later, but for now they had a briefing to attend; and probably a plan by the Radam to deal with.

Ringo was watching for them when they came out, and as they got closer he picked their shirts up, rolled them into bundles, and tossed them both over. He caught his, and looked over his shoulder to make sure that Saber had caught his, and continued walking forward as he pulled his own shirt down and tucked it back into his white pants. He and Saber both grabbed their respective vests and put them back on, zipping them up as they fell into step beside Ringo on their way out of the gym.

"So, did Tina mention what this particular briefing was about, or are we going to find out when we get there, as usual?" he heard Saber ask, and he realized that he was curious about that himself.

"No," Ringo said, rolling his eyes. "Tina never tells us what's going on unless it's some kind of an emergency."

Sharing an aside glance with Saber, he saw his younger twin roll his eyes as well. It was kind of annoying, Slade had to admit, the way Tina couldn't just add a few more words to inform them all about just what it was that they were all about to get into. Ringo took the lead as they all headed down the corridors to Comm. One, and he and Saber both fell in more directly behind him as they continued on their way.

Once they had all made it to Comm. One, he nodded back to the Commander's usual non-verbal greeting.

"So, what's the situation this time, Commander?" Ringo asked, as the doors slid closed behind them and they headed into the middle of the room.

"A squadron of the Allied Earth Military's elite commandos have been dispatched to the Space Ring on a special mission; they are even now fighting their way past the enemy. This mission is a top-priority: they must clear a path through the Spider-crabs to the hangar-section. That's where the enhanced high-speed attack fighters are docked."

"What happens when they get to them?" Saber asked. "They just fly them back to Earth?"

"Provided they have an open path to the planet, yes," the Commander said.

"Let me guess," Ringo groused. "The Military brass have asked for the twins to tag along on this mission of theirs."

The Commander nodded. "I won't order you boys to go up there; it will have to be your decision, and each of you must decide for himself."

"What has the Military ever done for us, sir?" Slade demanded; he could remember plenty of things that the AEM had done to them, and not just them either. "They treat the Space Knights like scum until they need something from us."

"Yeah; and it's not like they're even nice to us when they actually want a favor, either," Saber said, with an annoyed roll of his eyes. "It's just 'Space Knights, do this' or 'we have another job that only you can do for us, Space Knights'. And, when we all do manage to pull it off without a hitch, they never even acknowledge us."

"We'll still be going," he said, in response to the expression on the Commander's face. "We don't abandon people who need us."

"But we're only going out there because there are people who need the help," Saber said, folding his arms. "The Allied Earth Military can suck eggs."

Turning, clapping a hand on Saber's shoulder as they both left the room, Slade could hear Star and Ringo talking about them. About what had happened between him, Saber, and Dr. Random. He still remembered that bastard Captain's callous dismissal of Dr. Random's life, and everything he had done to get the convoy that he had been leading safely down to Earth. And, even after the way Gault had treated them, he still had the nerve to demand that they go out and help with this new mission of theirs.

Sure, neither of them were the type to just leave people who needed their help in a bind like anyone who was being swamped by Spider-crabs would be, but it still felt like they were being taken advantage of during times like this.

(Shameless bunch of bastards, aren't they?)

(Yeah,) Slade barked a laugh; he knew just who Saber was talking about. (Even their own commandos can't count on them to help. That's just sad.)

(Well, no one could really accuse the AEM of being reliable,) his younger brother said, giving him a sidelong look; Slade laughed.

Star and Ringo caught up to them on their way to Hangar Three, and the four of them fell into step with each other. It was obvious that they wanted to talk about something, or at least that Star had something to say, but he wasn't really in the mood to listen to anything about how he shouldn't take what had happened to Dr. Random personally. He'd been one of their father's friends, though Slade wasn't about to say anything about that, and there were few things more personal than that.

About the only thing more personal than an old family friend was family itself, and neither he nor Saber had much of that anymore.

111010010

Grant Goddard; I am Grant Goddard. He'd been repeating that, his name, whenever he had started to feel his body settling down into the dark oblivion that had already claimed so many of his friends. His students were already gone for the most part; Conrad had been dragged down into that abyss some time ago, his mind twisted and his will forcibly subverted to serve the Radam Empire. Fritz had been taken early; he was a good kid, but between his low tolerance for pain, and his mild claustrophobia, the sensory deprivation that all of them were subject to for long periods of time had worn away at him until he simply hadn't had the will to resist anymore.

Grant hated himself for the fact that he'd lost consciousness with Fritz's screaming, his pleas, and his begging for help echoing in his ears; by the time he'd managed to regain enough awareness of his surroundings to realize again where he was, Fritz had been shattered. So desperate for reprieve that had ended up trusting his fate to the very being that had dragged them all into this sad, sorry situation in the first place, Darkon, of course, had been swift to take advantage of Fritz's misplaced trust in him; implanting him with the mind-parasite that had warped Fritz Wallace into the vicious, homicidal Teknoman Gunnar.

Although, considering the fact that Gunnar didn't seem to be anywhere in evidence anymore, and the way Darkon had been concentrating so much of his attention on Conrad, Grant thought that he could at least hope that what remained of Fritz Wallace had been finally laid to rest.

He knew that the twins had escaped; knew that they had been set loose by Ulysses as a last, desperate act, just before he had self-destructed the Argos and crippled Darkon's ship. The only reason that the probe hadn't landed on Earth, bringing its complement of enslaved super-soldiers with it, had been because of the last act of Ulysses Carter. That man had saved the Earth, in more ways than one, and Grant didn't know if anyone but his remaining human sons would ever know about it.

All he himself could do, deprived of an escape rout and incapable of moving even one of his limbs, was fight a holding action against the Radam influence that inhabited this ship. It wasn't Darkon, though it was obviously connected to the Warlord in some way or another, but something that seemed to inhabit the ship itself. This probe had been created by the Radam, and something of their evil, depraved ambition lived on in the very walls and corridors of the ship.

It was the only way that he could think of to explain the presence that seemed to watch him, even when Darkon's attention was so clearly absorbed with other matters. The Warlord's attention hadn't fallen on him yet, the depraved alien's focus clearly absorbed in breaking Conrad and Sam to his twisted will, and Grant didn't know quite how he felt about that. On the one hand, the fact that Darkon's attention was distracted meant that Grant could focus more of his own attention on holding his mind together; on the other hand, what Darkon's focus was distracted by was breaking and warping his students, his friends, into obedient, brainwashed servants of the Radam and their Empire.

He could only hope that the twins would be strong enough to do what they had to when the time came.

It was good that they were still together; Ness and Cain completed each other, each adding his own contribution to the team that they had formed when they were just boys. Grant didn't want to think of what would have happened to those boys if they had been forced to fight on opposite sides of this war; what either of them would have been going through if both of them hadn't been freed together. Ulysses had had to have known that; Grant was just glad that his late friend had been given the chance to act on what he knew.

It was better this way; both for the twins, and for the planet they were still fighting for.

1101001000

They'd headed out to the Blue Earth, and as Star watched Saber stow away the ration containers that he and Slade had just finished cleaning out, she couldn't help but feel sorry for them. They had been through so much, yesterday seeming to be the worst of it, and now they were going right back into battle again while they were still clearly hurting from what had just happened. It wasn't fair to them, but Star didn't quite know what she could do to help them.

"It's time, kids," Ringo said, as the engines thrummed and rumbled. "Let's do it."

The Blue Earth's pre-launch vehicle soared up the launch-ramp, giving their small ship the extra power it needed to clear the planet's atmosphere. Something they did quickly, leaving them out in the void of interplanetary space. And also giving them a clearer view of the Space Ring, where all of those brave men and women were fighting for their lives against Darkon's army of horrible Spider-crabs.

She just hoped that they and the twins would get there in time to help.

"All systems are at optimum," she reported, as the last wisps of the exosphere passed them by.

They were following beside one of the huge support-pillars of the Space Ring, the ones that had originally been used to access the huge space-elevators that connected to the Ring from the ground. After the Radam had come, of course, there had been a mad scramble to shut the elevators down, in the hopes that that would at least delay the advance of the Radam onto Earth. No one had known that they could fly, back then, and the elevators were still shut down.

It didn't make much of a difference logistically, but it seemed to make people feel better about the situation.

Star was pulled from her contemplation about the past by multiple contacts on her radar screen, and when she glanced up she saw that the forward windows were filling up with Spider-crabs. Saber was muttering something under his breath, and knowing him it was probably either vulgar or sarcastic.

"They're trying to surround us!" Ringo reported, having obviously been keeping an eye on his targeting screen. "We can't let them close the circle!"

Her hands flew over the controls in a pre-determined sequence that was almost as familiar to Star as her own name, guiding the Blue Earth out of danger even as Ringo immersed his attention in the interplay of target and trigger, shooting down the Spider-crabs that were close enough to threaten their ship and driving off the ones that weren't quite close enough to hit. But even with every Spider-crab that the laser cannons were able to kill or drive away, three more seemed to come out of the woodwork.

They were being swarmed, and there seemed to be nothing they could do about it.

As more and more of the Spider-crabs began to make it past the barrage of laser cannon-fire that Ringo was laying down, moving in close enough to slam into the Blue Earth and potentially tear a fatal hole in her hull, Ringo yelled for them all to hold on. Bracing herself against the crazy bucking and jolting of ship as Ringo spun them around and fired, diving the Spider-crabs off and giving them a temporary reprieve, she sighed in relief.

The relief she felt was short-lived, though, since what she saw on her ship-board status monitor was extremely bad; not nearly on the level of a hull-breach, but bad: "We just lost the main vertical stabilizer!"

"I can hold her steady with the secondaries," Ringo said, sounding like he wasn't particularly eager to try.

Come to think of it, neither was she. "Won't the vibration shake us apart?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Star," he said.

"It's too dangerous!" Slade shouted, he and Saber bracing themselves against the back of their chairs as they rose to their feet. "Both of you, go back to the Command Center! Saber and I will finish this mission on our own!"

"Excuse me? Since when do you give the orders around here, Slade?" Ringo asked, though he seemed to find something kind of funny. "On the other hand, if we went back, I could have dinner with that little cutie from Section D who said-"

"Yes, because your love-life is such an important consideration here," Saber said, just as another Spider-crab or two slammed into the ship.

"Glad you get the picture, Saber," Ringo chuckled, then he became serious. "Slade's right, though: the ship is almost completely incapable of navigation as things stand now," he admitted. Then, he smirked again. "And, let's not forget that our boys here are superheroes, who only need to rely on each other to get the job done."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Ringo," Saber said, as he and Slade came out from behind their respective chairs.

Another jolt rocked the Blue Earth, and the twins both crouched to ride through it.

"As soon as we're clear of the ship, break off and return to the Command Center," Slade said, grabbing Saber's hand so he could help his brother back to his feet.

"Understood," she said to the twins' retreating backs, as they left for the main air lock. "Best of luck, you two. And, be careful out there."

"Thanks," Slade muttered, as Saber winked and blew a kiss to her over his left shoulder.

001001000

The air lock doors slid shut behind them, sealing him, Slade, and their little pocket of atmosphere into the last threshold between them and the cold, airless, unforgiving vacuum beyond. Slade didn't even break stride as the doors closed behind him, and as Saber recalled his teknocrystal, he heard his brother activating the Teknobot.

"Tekno-power!"

The energies of his transformation filled him, and as his armor formed around him, Saber activated his thrusters and paced his brother's Teknobot as it launched. Seconds later, Slade himself was ejected from the interlock-chamber. His red-on-white armor contrasted sharply not only with the darkness of outer space, but with Saber's own red-on-black.

Before he could get too philosophical, he and Slade were out into space proper, and smack in the middle of the swarm of Spider-crabs that had nearly crippled the Blue Earth. Both he and Slade summoned their respective teknolances, and he quickly landed on the Teknobot behind Slade.

(Good to have you here, brother,) Slade said, twirling his lance to deflect a spray of venom.

(Right back at you, brother,) he said, splitting his own teknolance into its dual-mode, then hurling it at the five Spider-crabs in front of them.

(We're going to be heading in through that observation window, just up ahead,) Slade said, and Saber looked at where his brother was pointing even as he reached out to catch his spinning teknolance as it rebounded back to him, collapsing it back into its standard form. (Brace yourself.)

(Will do, brother mine,) he said, wrapping his right arm around his brother's waist as the Teknobot plowed through the large, round observation window in front of them.

He thought that Slade might have squeezed his hand, since that was what he would have been doing if their positions had been reversed, but he could barely feel those kinds of physical sensations through his armor. He did close his fist a bit more tightly, though; just in case. The armored shutter sealed shut behind them when its system detected the sudden drop in atmospheric pressure, just the way Slade had so clearly planned to happen, and he sighed with relief; it wasn't a long-term solution, since if those monster space crabs didn't break through they would just circle around until they found another way in, but it was a reprieve and Saber was grateful for it.

"That should keep them out of our way for awhile," Slade said, sounding grimly satisfied. "C'mon, let's go find these commandos we're going to be helping."

"Right behind you, brother," he said, smirking slightly under his helmet as he peered over his older twin's left shoulder.

Slade looked back over at him, and Saber could just tell that his brother was rolling his eyes. "Wiseass."

As they glided through the abandoned halls and corridors of the Space Ring, Saber briefly wondered when they were going to meet these commandos that Commander Jamison had briefed them about. He wondered for a lot shorter a time than he had been expecting to; he and Slade found themselves the targets of a bunch of standard-issue pulse rifles within a few minutes of starting their search.

"Hold your fire, lads," a strong, commanding, and interestingly enough Irish-accented, voice said, just as Saber was starting to wonder just who they'd run into now. "They're on our side." The man who had just spoken, a middle-aged guy with short, brown hair who was emphatically not his and Slade's old Karate teacher Grant Goddard, jumped down from atop a pile of debris and strode up to meet them. "You're those Teknomen we've been hearing so much about, aren't you?" he asked, then went on before either of them had a chance to answer. "Must be our lucky day, boys! They've sent us some real-life superheroes!" None of the other commandos reacted much to that, though Saber did see one or two of them smirking. "My name's Miles O'Roarke, Captain, Special Forces. This mission's under my command."

"Nice to meet you," he said, wanting to put him and his men at ease so they wouldn't start shooting; they would need all the ammo they could get for dealing with the Spider-crabs, so it was best that he kept them from getting too trigger-happy.

"Ah, a polite superhero," O'Roarke said, laughing, then turning his attention to Slade. "What's with the ten-ton metal man? Is he a friend of yours?"

"I am Teknobot," the Teknobot said; O'Roarke looked like he'd just been slapped with a fish. "I am under Slade's command."

It was true, though it wasn't the whole story; the Teknobot could take orders from any one of the Space Knights, but it would always prioritize Slade's commands over any of them. And, when they were in combat, all other vocal-patterns would be locked out except his. It was one of Maggie's security measures, and Saber was glad to have it.

"A robot with a sense of loyalty," O'Roarke said, staring up in surprise at the Teknobot. "Now I've seen everything." He looked back at them, then. "Except for you, superheroes; all I've seen so far are your tin suits."

After a look of confirmation passed from him to Slade, his brother ordered the Teknobot to open its interlock-chamber while Saber himself concentrated on reversing his own transformation. Feeling the rush of energy departing as he let his transformed state fade, Saber was peripherally aware of O'Roarke and the rest of his commandos all staring at him and Slade like they were the strangest and most interesting things that they had ever seen. Which, given the fact that they had all been fighting Spider-crabs for who knew how long, was kind of funny.

Once he was free of his confining, protective armor, Saber took a deep breath of the relatively fresh air in this section of the Space Ring as Slade climbed back out of the Teknobot. Nodding to his older twin as they fell into step beside each other, he and Slade made their way up to where O'Roarke was standing, surrounded by his soldiers.

"I'm Slade," his brother said, nodding to O'Roarke as they both stopped in front of him. "And this is my younger brother, Saber."

"Only by thirty minutes," he said, giving Slade a sidelong smirk.

"The principle still stands," Slade said, resting his left hand on Saber's right shoulder.

Saber rolled his eyes. "You see what I have to put up with here?" he asked the room at large, holding out his own left hand in airily mocking supplication.

He knew why Slade did it, though; his brother needed someone to protect, needed to feel that he was still keeping at least one of the promises he had made to Dad all those years ago. Slade still needed to see that he was the same person that he'd always been, and he'd pretty much always been the protective type; that was the whole reason that Saber had nicknamed him their Blessed Protector back then. And, if that meant that he would have to put up with a bit of over-protection every now and then, he'd deal with it gracefully.

Though no one said he couldn't cheerfully rib his older twin for all he was worth.

"We're with the Space Knights, and we've been assigned to help you carry out your mission, Captain O'Roarke," Slade said, becoming serious again as he faced O'Roarke squarely.

"Ah, yes, the Space Knights. Been hearing a lot about you lads the past few weeks," O'Roarke said, staring hard at them as he settled himself down behind what Saber could have sworn was a salvaged coffee table. "And your leader, Commander Jamison; from what I've heard, he dislikes General Gault almost as much as I do."

He liked this O'Roarke guy already. "Gault's a bastard, and he can go suck eggs," Saber said, smirking at both the beginning-to-be-amused expression on O'Roarke's face and the flash of disbelieving amusement he got from Slade. "But we're not here for him, we're here to help you and your people complete your mission."

O'Roarke laughed heartily. "With an attitude like that, you'd fit right in here, boyo," then, taking a moment to regain his composure, the soldier continued. "Now, where are the other two members of your unit? I thought the Space Knights always worked as a team."

"We're completing the mission without them," Slade said, taking up the main thread of the conversation again. "The Blue Earth was badly damaged by a swarm of Spider-crabs, so they flew her back to the Command Center."

"This is actually the first time we've run a mission without Ringo and Star to back us up," Saber said. "It's kind of strange."

"Is it, now?" O'Roarke said, his eyes flickering from him to Slade as if sizing them up. "Well, we'll be completing this mission without the help of you two, superheroes."

"You're wrong," Slade said firmly; Saber valiantly resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

While it was true that O'Roarke was being kind of stupid, refusing the help that they could offer against the swarms of Spider-crabs that Darkon was going to be swamping them with, he was starting to see some definite similarities between this O'Roarke guy and Slade. Both of them were incredibly stubborn, for one thing.

"Listen, my young friend, this is the most highly-trained bunch of commandos in the Army," O'Roarke said. "We've never needed anyone's help before, and we don't now. Am I right, lads?!"

Wonderful; the battle of the oversized egos, Saber groused, putting up firm mental walls between his mind and Slade's. His older twin was obviously going to be part of the problem this time; Slade was enough like O'Roarke in certain aspects that dealing with them both at the same time was going to be interesting. He hated when things were interesting, they had a marked tendency to end badly lately.

"Listen, O'Roarke- mlphh!"

Wrapping his right arm around his brother's shoulders and covering Slade's mouth before he could say something that would get them both in trouble with this O'Roarke character, Saber grinned.

"Sorry; my older brother's suffering from a pronounced case of foot-in-mouth disease. Research for a cure is still ongoing."

(Saber, what're you thinking?!)

(Brother, there is a time and a place for your brand of aggressive negotiation, and then there's a time for creative diplomacy. This is clearly the latter; I can already see we're going to have enough trouble dealing with this mission without you and O'Roarke here butting heads over authority.)

(How can you tell that?) Slade asked, still sounding kind of annoyed by the ninja-hand-of-shut-the-hell-up that had just been inflicted on him.

(My heretofore-unknown powers of clairvoyance,) he said, removing his hand from his brother's mouth as he stopped struggling. "Anyway, since we're pretty much stuck here for the time being, maybe we could at least help out a bit when you need us. Sure, the Spider-crabs are pretty much mindless, mutant space insects, but when they swarm you the way they usually do it's kind of like trying to fight off an entire anthill all at once." Reaching up as if to scratch his head, Saber rubbed his right temple; he was starting to feel a bit lightheaded. "Or, maybe we could be your mascots, or something."

He could practically feel Slade's Look burning into the side of his head, but he ignored it in favor of seeing what O'Roarke himself thought. The commando leader had thrown back his head, giving out the kind of hearty belly laugh that let Saber know that he'd managed to successfully defuse the situation. At least this way they'd have a better chance of doing some good, as opposed to just being shut out the way O'Roarke seemed to prefer.

"D'ya hear that, lads?" O'Roarke said, after he had managed to reign in his obvious amusement; every one of the soldiers was laughing at the suggestion, but some of them seemed to be honestly considering the idea. "Listen... Saber, right?"

"That's what all my friends call me," he answered, with one of the most disarming smiles he could muster.

O'Roarke smiled back. "As much as I appreciate you lads coming all the way out here on the request of a man you both obviously have no love for," the soldier's expression told him that the sentiment was one he shared wholeheartedly, and Saber let himself smile a bit wider. "I think you two might just want to take a nap before we all go into battle together." Taking a deep breath, and resisting the urge to shake his head since he doubted that O'Roarke would understand the gesture for what it really was, he bumped shoulders with Slade and the two of them clasped hands; oddly enough, Slade seemed to need the comfort just as much as he did. "Because, as charming as your offer was there, boyo, we won't be needing any mascots. So congratulations; you lads have just joined the crew."

Clutching at his at his head with his free hand as the pain in his head spiked sharply, Saber thought he could hear Slade demanding to know just what the hell was going on, something he would have liked to know himself, and then O'Roarke actually apologizing for something. He didn't have any time to think about just what any of that might have meant, before the pain spiked one last time and everything went profoundly dark.

110101001

He had to at least give those superhero twins credit for one thing: the both of them were incredibly tough. The last time Miles had been forced to use a graviton field on someone, they had dropped almost on the spot, while these two had actually managed to hold on long enough to have a conversation. He wondered, with a bit of morbid amusement, just what that Saber lad had kept his brother from saying when he had covered his older brother's mouth.

Judging from the look on the lad's face just before his younger brother had silenced him, it wouldn't have been particularly polite.

As he moved closer, looking down at the two unconscious boys and the way they had fallen, Miles caught sight of something. Something that summed up the feelings these two lads obviously had for each other without a single word. The two of them had grabbed instinctively for the other's hand, thus showing Miles everything he needed to know about their relationship. He'd seen brothers die before, even twins, as rare as it was for him to meet up with people like that, and the ones who were truly as close to each other as a good family was always reached for each other when there was something terrible facing them.

These lads clearly had that kind of a bond, and it almost made him wish that he could have gotten to know them a bit better; but if there was one thing he wasn't going to tolerate, it was having help forced on him and his Raiders when they didn't really need it.

Still, looking down at the way these two lads had fallen, their hands grasping the other's as if it was some kind of a lifeline for them, he couldn't help a flash of admiration. These two might very well have been able to fit in with his Raiders. Particularly that Saber lad, if his attitude toward General Gault was any indication.

"All right, lads, let's move out!" he directed.

However, before he could give any sort of orders about what was to be done with Saber and his brother, their ten-ton metal man with no proper name came marching up to them. Without even a word, even as the rest of his Raiders started talking amongst themselves, wondering just what the metal-man was doing, the machine lifted them both up off the floor and cradled each of the twins in one of its huge hands. Slade was in the left, and Saber was held in the right; it was kind of touching, and all the stranger to see a machine being so gentle.

"So, what's all this, then?" he asked, looking from the clasped hands of the twins to the towering, ten-ton tin-man that had just scooped them up.

"I will protect them," the robot said firmly, as it started to trail after them as they formed up and started to move out.

"Will you?" he asked, feeling a flare of both admiration and curiosity for this metal-man of theirs.

Instead of answering him in any normal sense, the twins' ten-ton tin-man played some type of recording. The first voice he heard was Saber's: "Take care of him for me, will you?" a chuckle. "Slade, I mean." Then he heard from Slade himself: "Teknobot, please protect my brother."

"Ah, I see," he said, walking up to this 'Teknobot' of theirs. "So both of those lads asked you to protect the other, and so you decided to protect them both."

"Affirmative," the Teknobot said; it was going to need a name, faithful companion that it so obviously was to the both of them.

But not now, he had troops to muster and Spider-crabs to hunt; it was time that they got on with this mission. And, with any luck and a lot of skill, he and all his people would be able to go home alive. However there was no real way of telling; he'd lost good people before, much as he still didn't like to think about it.

As he and his commandos suited up, Miles spared a thought for the superhero twins that had been effectively foisted off on them. They weren't exactly secure, held loosely in the giant hands of their robotic companion, but then it wasn't as if the metal-man could have held them any tighter anyway. Not without the risk of hurting them, which it- he obviously wasn't willing to take in any case.

"Teknobot!" he called; he really needed to think of a name for the thing, any robot that had that much control and self-will was more than just a machine. "We're going to be moving out soon."

"I will follow."

"Yes," he said, with a soft chuckle. "I expect you will. But we're going to be needing to move quickly, and I doubt that you're going to be able to hold onto those boys of yours for long at the speed we're going to be moving. So, I'd suggest you let us strap them on; both so you'll at least have your hands free to defend them if it comes down to that, and so you won't run the risk of crushing them if we get into a tight spot."

"I accept your reasoning," their Teknobot said.

So, as some of his men found some good, strong ropes for those lads to be slung in while they were all moving through the corridors of the Space Ring on their way to the fighters they were meant to be retrieving for the Military's next "glorious" operation, and as he and his demolition expert Daine Wilson strapped those lads onto their giant metal-man, and as the others worked to pack their gear into a makeshift sling on the metal-man's back, Miles smiled slightly. Reaching out, he gently gripped the twins' clasped hands, tightening their grasp on each other since it had come a little loose while the two of them were being moved. With that done, he settled his helmet more firmly on his head, positioning the mic squarely in front of his mouth but leaving it inactive for the moment.

"All right Raiders, let's party!"

A short, rousing cheer went up from his commandos; they might have been in the midst of a fight for their lives, but even the best of soldiers would be crushed under the weight of their duty if they constantly reminded of it every step of the way, so it was the job of any good commanding officer to keep their morale up by not reminding them too constantly about just what they might be facing next. Any good soldier, and his were some of the best, knew that in any case.

As they moved down the wide corridor, eventually coming to an empty elevator shaft – the car having long since been destroyed by the Spider-crabs, but it would have been too much of a liability to use in any case – he directed his people to enter the shaft so they could all move onto the next part of their mission. The ascent packs on their suits ballooned out, making them resemble nothing so much as a team of parachutists who had decided to practice their hobby in what had become one of the most dangerous environments in near-Earth space.

When the Teknobot joined them in their ascent, Miles was reminded of his earlier resolve to name the thing. Looking the twins' hulking, man-shaped protector over, he was at first tempted to christen the thing Goliath, or to name it after one of the Titans of Greek myth. Or maybe to name the metal-man Cerberus, since those two lads had it pretty well leashed and Saber in particular looked almost demonic when he transformed; but no, neither of those lads was a demon, no matter what they might look like inside that armor of theirs, and he didn't want to give their guardian a name with the wrong kind of connotations.

Besides, seeing the two of them dangling from their harness, long black hair hiding their faces from view, it was all but impossible to think of those lads as anything but human.

He hadn't really known just what he'd been expecting, when he'd seen those two oversized armored apparitions astride that giant metal-man that acted as both their guardian and a form of transport for the both of them, but it hadn't been the pair of young boys that he had seen coming out of that armor. In particular, he hadn't expected the almost demonic-looking red-on-black armored superhero to reveal himself to be a paler-skinned, good-humored, laid-back counterpart to his red-on-white armored elder twin brother. When he'd found out that they were brothers, he'd been expecting Slade's protectiveness, but Saber's easy acceptance of the same had come as a welcome surprise.

Some younger brothers, he knew all too well, wouldn't have been nearly as sanguine about their older sibling's desire to protect them; he'd known some of those in his time, too, and it had never seemed to end well for either of them.

As he watched the Teknobot ascend along with them, the metal-man's rockets raising him up as slowly as if he and his precious cargo weighed no more than a sack of feathers, Miles came to a decision as to what name he would give to that guardian of theirs. Something from Greek myth, though not the first things that had come to his mind, but something that properly expressed not only just who this metal-man was, but who and what those superhero twins were, too.

"'Teknobot'," he scoffed. "It's too impersonal. A robot that can think and talk is more than just a machine. What you need is a name. And, since you fly." Well, that was one of the reasons he'd thought of it, but if the machine wanted him to explain all of them, he would have to wait until this battle of theirs was over; and he would have to ask, just like anyone else. "From now on, your name is Pegas."

"This name, "Pegas", what does it signify?"

"It's short for Pegasus, a horse who had wings." The companion to various monster-slayers from Greek tales, or so he'd read.

"I approve this name: I am Pegas."

"So you are," he said softly, with a small smile as they rose up toward the top of the shaft. Then, deciding that he might as well find out something more about this metal-man he'd just given a proper sort of name, he made up his mind to continue the conversation. "So, you talk. Can you sing?"

"What is this "sing"?"

So, he wanted a demonstration, did he? Well, Miles never had been one to refuse an honest request when it was made of him, and this was just the kind of moment for the song he always seemed to have in mind, lately: "Bold soldier boy, you leave your home and hearth today..."

There was more to the song, of course, but he was surprised enough by the fact that those superhero twins had just woken up, to say nothing of the fact that Slade was currently demanding answers from him, that he trailed off before he could even get through the first verse. His gaze drifted over to Saber, who was being uncommonly silent for the kind of man he had seemed to be when the three of them had met for the first time, and he saw a bit more ice in those blue eyes of his than he was particularly comfortable with. Slade was the one most people would tend to watch out for, he thought, since the elder brother seemed to always put himself front and center when the two of them went anywhere, but Saber would have to have had some skill of his own since the two of them were spoken of as being clear equals in combat.

And, given the way the lad was looking at him, he wasn't particularly pleased.

"Why did you knock us out, O'Roarke?" Slade demanded, after he had exchanged a speaking glance and a tight squeeze of the hand with Saber. "We came here to help you!"

"I'll say one thing for you lads: you've both got a hell of a constitution. To my knowledge, there's never been anyone exposed to a graviton field who's managed to regain consciousness in less than three hours."

And, given the fact that it had only been only five minutes over one hour since those lads had been exposed to the field, that was definitely something to write home about.

"You didn't answer my question," the lad almost snarled, his scarring making his glare look all the fiercer; the way all facial-scars seemed to do, in fact.

"It was because O'Roarke's Raiders don't depend on anyone but each other, son," he said, casting his gaze over the twins again; Saber seemed to have settled back down, or maybe the lad was just being patient. He didn't know either of them quite well enough to make those kinds of deductions just yet. "But, since you, your brother, and Pegas have already come here, I suppose I'll just have to work with you three."

"Pegas?" the two of them echoed; the first thing that Saber had actually said since he'd put the lad down for his little nap.

"Saber and I came here on our own," Slade continued, as his younger brother lapsed back into silence. Clearly, the lad was waiting for something. "And I definitely don't know anyone named Pegas."

"I should think you'd know him better than anyone," he said, giving the elder of the two lads a wide grin. "Isn't that right, Pegas?"

"Affirmative!"

Lifting his mini-computer, programmed with the location of the high-speed fighters they were all here for, he saw the bright blips on the screen that meant that all of them would soon be staring down the throat of another legion or two of those damned Spider-crabs. "You lads had better suit-up. We're going to have company soon."

"Right," he heard Slade say. "On it." Was Saber's response.

"Teknobot!"

"I am Pegas!"

Miles found himself smiling; and Saber actually laughed aloud. "I think you just got told, big brother," the lad said.

"Oh sure, mock my short-term memory," Slade retorted. "Sorry about the mix-up," the lad continued, and Miles could tell that he was directing that to Pegas. "Let's try that again. Pegas, power on!"

"Affirmative!"

"Tekno-power!" Saber shouted; Miles, curious about why one of the lads would use Pegas and one of them wouldn't, turned his attention back to the superhero twins.

Saber was glowing like the heart of a star, arcs of red lightning snapping through the crystal-cage that had surrounded him once before when he had shed that armored suit of his. Miles was fairly sure that, if he could have seen inside that chamber that Slade had just jumped head-long into, he would have seen just the same kind of thing as he was seeing with Saber; maybe it would have been in green, to match the lad's eyes, but he doubted it would have been different in any respect that had actually mattered. When the both of their transformations had finished, the crystal-cage around Saber bursting apart at the same time as Slade rose out of the top of Pegas' interior, Miles was decidedly impressed by what he had just seen.

Their chances, at least, had gotten a great deal better than they had been earlier; and, given the attitude of these two lads, Miles thought that he could even tolerate this forced partnership of theirs.

The both of them drew weapons out of some strange, glowing ports in their shoulders, and Slade connected the two halves of his into the same kind of long, double-ended staff-type weapon that his younger brother was wielding. "All right, lads: it's party time! And our guests aren't going to be very friendly! Let's move out!" Slamming down the handle that would open the shielded doors in front of them, he let his men and the twins move into the next section of the Space Ring.

A group of them formed up around Slade and Pegas, who had transformed back into that flying-platform shape of his, while he and the rest took up positions in the rear with Saber. The lad was obviously aiming to watch his older brother's back, just as any good soldier would have done in the field, and he could hardly let the lad stand alone after that kind of a gesture. "Heads-up, lads! They're on the move, and heading straight for us!"

They came into visual-range shortly after that, and he tucked away his mini-computer and quickly grabbed the pulse-rifle strapped to his back. Sure, it couldn't kill those oversized, hideous beasties directly, but it could stagger and disorient them badly enough that they would rush headlong into each other. Those nasty, pointed feet of theirs, driven by their mad flailing, would more often than not finish the job.

Now, however, with those superhero twins along for the ride, more of those damned beasties were dying than not; and soon the whole lot of them had been cleared. There would be more of them on the way, of course, since whatever supplies these Radam were drawing on never seemed to run out, the way that everything on Earth seemed to be running out at the moment, but it was still a damned satisfying sight to see.

"You lads aren't so bad at this," he said, not knowing if either of them would be able to hear him, but feeling the need to say something all the same. When he heard Saber's amused chuckle sounding over his radio, he grinned.

"Well, we've had a lot of practice," the lad said, turning away from the corpse of a Spider-crab that he'd just decapitated.

"And they do say that practice makes perfect," he said, still grinning slightly. It wasn't really a time for tomfoolery, though, and with all the Spider-crabs in the area dead, this was likely the best chance he would have position-check. "All right, onto the next section, Raiders!" he said, directing them hard right from their current location.

There were more of those damned Spider-crabs in their way of course, but Slade and Saber were on top of them before he could even give the order to his people to move forward. The two lads moved together almost like they could see out of each other's eyes; he'd often heard that twins were one soul that had been divided to inhabit two bodies, and with these lads that seemed to actually be true. They even seemed to react to each other's pain; when they were facing in different directions, no less.

When Slade was knocked from Pegas' back, with Saber a few feet away dealing with a pair of Spider-crabs that had tried to pin him down under their sheer bulk, the lad didn't even look back over his shoulder. He just hurled that lance-like, bladed staff of his as if it was some kind of giant, killer Frisbee, caught it as if it were the world's largest boomerang, and then rushed the Spider-crabs gathering around his brother like some out of control locomotive. Miles had to admit, it was a sight to inspire awe.

No wonder the Space Knights had rallied around these lads.

His bladed staff, like that of his brother, was almost a blur in Saber's hands as he and Slade cut through the ranks of Spider-crabs in front of them. Soon enough, this new lot were just as dead as the old ones.

"We'll cover your flank," Slade said, as he stepped past a watchful Saber and a looming Pegas, with a comradely touch on his brother's shoulder. "Your people should get going now."

"Right," he said, feeling a swell of respect for these two; it took a lot of heart to put yourself on the line for soldiers you didn't even know, to say nothing of the fact that he was putting his younger brother in the line of fire in spite of his clear protectiveness of the lad. "A Team, to the hangars! B Team stays with me!"

"No need to split up your squad, O'Roarke; Slade and I can handle things here! You just make sure all those ships are all right, and we'll meet you at the hangars."

"You heard the man!" he said, flashing the lads and their large protector a thumbs-up. "Let's go!"

0010010100

As Miles O'Roarke and his soldiers moved off into the Space Ring on their way to the hangars and the high-speed space craft they were going to liberate from them, Slade turned his attention back to the placid-looking corridor in front of them. Just as it started filling up with Spider-crabs again.

"Pegas, prepare for mêlée-combat!" he ordered.

"Roger," his Teknobot responded, as it started firing its gattling-cannons at the Spider-crabs that had begun to show up.

Once Saber had finished off the last of the Spider-crabs that had been blocking his path, he jumped onto the Teknobot, or Pegas; and he should really start getting used to calling it that, now, since the A.I. seemed to really like that name, for some reason or other, and if he was going to continue working so closely with it the way he'd done for these past couple months, he would have to respect its wishes.

Still, that didn't mean he couldn't take at least one page from Saber's book: "I'm glad you're named after a flying horse."

"Why is that?" Pegas; there, he was getting the hang of it already, asked.

"You talk about as well as you fly," he said, chuckling. "O'Roarke could've named you Mr. Ed."

(And you tease me about my interest in classic television, big brother.)

(That's different,) he said, with a smirk for his younger twin.

(You know, at least the old shows I liked were in color.) There was a moment of mental silence, during which Slade scanned the corridor in front of them for more Spider-crabs; you never really knew when more of those things were going to show up. (Oh, and if you start singing the opening song, I swear I'm going to smack you.)

Now really, who could resist a lead-in like that? (A horse is a horse, of course-) He didn't feel it when Saber's hand impacted his armor, likely on the back of his head since that was the traditional place for an annoyed swat, but he definitely heard the clang as Saber's armored hand impacted with his armored body somewhere.

(You asked for that, Slade.)

(Yeah, sure; pick on your older brother,) he retorted, looking over his left shoulder and flashing one of his green eyes in a wink. (I don't even know why I even let you ride on Pegas with me in the first place.)

(Idle threats, big brother,) Saber retorted; they both laughed.

Happily enough, they made it to the hangar without another encounter with any of the roaming groups of Spider-crabs that he had been expecting to be patrolling the Space Ring. Maybe they'd gotten lucky, and all of them had died in the previous engagements. It wasn't likely, not with their luck being what it was, but it was a nice thought to have in any case. O'Roarke was even singing again; Slade picked up on it when he got close enough to be able to pick up transmissions from the commandos' comm. units.

It wasn't like hearing Saber sing, since his brother's voice was higher-pitched and a bit lighter than O'Roarke's, but it was nice all the same.

Looking around at all of the commandos, as they prepared the high-speed fighters for the launch back to Earth, Slade breathed a soft sigh of relief. At least this one mission had gone off without too much of a hitch; he was so tired of failing lately. A long time ago, his younger brother – under a different name, but no less his brother – had named him Blessed Protector.

And, even though the name had been a reference to an old TV show, he'd appreciated the sentiment; Saber had always trusted him, and he in turn strove to be worthy of that.

Spotting O'Roarke at last, he guided Pegas over to the man, passing over and by the piles of rubble that the Radam's attack had left scattered around the hangar. Slowing until he was moving at just above walking speed, or more of a stroll, really, Slade looked around. He tried not to see the bodies; there always seemed to be bodies drifting around in the Space Ring, no matter where you went.

More of the Radam's work; just another reason to hate them.

"Oh, it's you lads," O'Roarke said, as he turned around. He was standing in front of another one of the bodies that Slade was trying so hard not to notice, so Slade focused his attention on the man himself.

"I want you to know that I consider it an honor to have been able to have fought alongside you, sir," he said.

"That goes for me, too," Saber said, with a sincerity that most people were surprised to find that he was actually capable of; Saber did have hidden depths, of course, everyone did, but Saber just tended to keep them hidden. "Your people are some of the most capable, determined soldiers I've had the chance to deal with since this whole mess started. You definitely deserve your reputations."

"I can really see why you and your people have successfully completed so many missions," Slade continued softly.

O'Roarke's bitter chuckle, coming right on the heels of what he thought the man would have considered a compliment, made him blink twice in sheer surprise. "Successful? Would you still be calling it that, I wonder, if your young brother had died defending you?"

That... wasn't a question he'd been expecting at all, and it felt for a moment as if all the breath in his lungs had left; even in spite of the fact that he didn't actually use his lungs when he was in anything but the most desperate, pitched battles. Or when he was in incredible pain, but he didn't like to think too much about that. For obvious reasons.

He must have reached back for Saber's hand, both because he felt slight pressure through the gauntlet of his armor, and because O'Roarke looked at where his left hand had been resting with a small, bittersweet smile. "I didn't think so." O'Roarke looked back up at him, and Slade had the odd, almost unsettling feeling that the man was actually looking right through his armor, right into Slade's own, human eyes. "I lost three men today; three fine young men, whose families won't ever get to see them again. Of course, we decimated the enemy and achieved our objective, so the Military would definitely call this mission of ours a success. But do you think those three families would feel that way? War isn't numbers, it's people. Don't either of you lads ever forget that."

He'd spoken too soon; it was another failure on his part. It sometimes felt like he was cursed, but the curse always seemed to miss; never hitting him like it was supposed to, but always buzzing right past him on its way to hurt everyone around him. Everyone who had nestled themselves into his heart, or even people who he just felt that he could respect. Of course, maybe that was his curse: to always watch the people he loved be hurt, and to never quite be in time to help them.

"You did your best, sir," he said, a little thickly because of the lump in his throat that he'd just swallowed; even with all of his power, he could barely manage to keep Saber safe. "And, despite everything that happened today, I think you are a success. As a soldier, and as a man."

"Thanks," O'Roarke said, with a short, self-depreciating chuckle. "And thanks for listening to the ramblings of an old soldier who's feeling a little sorry for himself."

"Believe me, I can understand the feeling," Saber said, and Slade looked back over his shoulder at his brother as Saber leaned forward with his arm on his left shoulder. "You wanted to keep all of your people safe, and it hurts you to see that you couldn't. You're like my brother that way."

"Am I, now?" O'Roarke asked, even as Slade himself laughed in rueful recognition.

"You know, he's right," Slade said, lacing his fingers together with Saber's and squeezing enough so that they could both feel it. "I mean, I try to keep the people who depend on me safe; but I don't-"

"You do your best, oh Blessed Protector," Saber said, cutting him off as he squeezed Slade's own fingers just that much tighter. "It's enough."

Smiling slightly, all the while marveling at the way Saber seemed to instinctively know what to say to make him feel better about himself, Slade began to hear the rumblings that he now knew proceeded a Spider-crab attack from underground. Two of the monstrous, mutant space insects burst through the floor just in front of them, and Slade instantly let go of Saber's hand so he could bring his own teknolance back to bear. He felt the slight surge of energy from Saber that meant that his brother had drawn his own teknolance again.

"Heads up, Captain," he said, his left hand tightening into a fist. "Looks like they just sent in reinforcements. You and your people should get going now. This mission's not over yet; we've still got to get those fighters back to Earth."

"I'm on my way," O'Roarke said, kicking the ground and pushing himself toward the lead ship. "Good luck out there, lads."

"Thanks," Slade said, nodding to him.

(I'll meet back up with you when the ships launch,) Saber said, and Slade looked back at his younger brother as he leaped off of Pegas and rushed to engage another force of Spider-crabs that had just knocked down one of the far walls. (Don't get into too much trouble without me, all right?)

(All right, little brother,) he said, smiling wryly. (You try to stay out of trouble, too.)

Saber laughed. (Don't I always?)

Shaking his head in brief, fond exasperation, Slade raised his teknolance and directed Pegas at the group of Spider-crabs nearest to his own position. Slashing them apart with his teknolance, Slade made sure to keep Saber in sight; both since he worried about his younger brother, and because they were going to meet back up when the fighters finally launched. Something that they were all clearly preparing to do.

(Saber!) he called, even as his younger brother turned to deal with the Spider-crabs that had started to bash their way through the observation windows that made up the ceiling of the launch bays. (They're heading out; we've got to go!)

(I'll be right with you, big brother,) Saber said, powering his thrusters and jetting back to land just behind him on Pegas.

(Good to have you back with me, little brother,) he said, reaching back to squeeze Saber's hand.

Saber chuckled, low and warm. (Yeah; right back at you, big brother.)

As more Spider-crabs appeared, directly in front of the fighters they were trying to protect, Slade gave Pegas the order to fire. The lasers burned out the monster's lowest set of eyes, blinding it and making it miss the strike it had been setting up. Breathing a bit more easily, though he knew this battle wouldn't be over until he and Saber had managed to guide all of these fighters back down to the Earth, Slade moved determinedly toward O'Roarke's fighter.

They'd probably have to deal with the AEM again, and he might even end up punching one of them again, since they were a bunch of insensitive morons.

Still, it would be good to get back home; to find out how Star and Ringo had faired during their own trip back to Earth, and to get some rest and food. All of that would have to wait for later, though. There was still a few more things that he and Saber had to do before they were done; they had promises to keep, and miles to go before they could sleep.

"Bandits, dead ahead." He reported, tapping O'Roarke's comm. unit. "You fly under them, Captain, and Saber and I will take them out."

"Are you sure you lads can handle it?"

He chuckled. "Oh ye of little faith," he said, grinning slightly as he leapt from Pegas to land atop the fighter, he and Saber spreading out so that they wouldn't be standing in each other's field of fire. "Just keep flying."

(Ready, Saber?) he asked, already having begun the charging process to fire his Tekno-bolt, his pauldrons raised in preparation.

(Ready, brother.)

He could feel the contained power crackling between the two of them, and when one of O'Roarke's people warned them that there was only fifteen seconds left before they impacted the two Spider-crabs in front of them, he assured the man that what they were preparing wouldn't take nearly that long. When the energies within his body couldn't be contained anymore, Slade fired at the same moment as his brother.

Saber's Tekno-bolt was different than his, being made up of six individual streams of energy that could either scatter out to hit different targets or be focused all on the same spot to do more damage, where his was just two beams that tended to wrap around each other. They could be directed outward, they just wouldn't be able to hit nearly as many targets as Saber's. Now, though, with the bright blue energies of Saber's Tekno-bolt wrapping around the emerald green energy beam of his own, Slade felt a definite sense of satisfaction as he watched the Spider-crabs in front of them be wiped out of existence.

"Well done, superheroes," O'Roarke said, with what sounded like a slight chuckle. "Ships two and three: report. Is everyone all right?"

Slade took only a vague sort of notice as the other commandos made their reports, instead looking ahead to make sure that nothing else tried to jump out at them, but he was relieved to hear that there hadn't been any further loss of life. Even the fighters they had been sent out to protect had come through all right. It wasn't so bad a day after all, even in spite of how it had begun.

Even in spite of their losses.

When O'Roarke started singing again, after teasing his people a bit about making it back down to Earth in their "flashy flying machines", he was almost surprised to hear Saber joining in. Sure, Cain had liked to sing, but he'd never really had a taste for ballads like the one O'Roarke was singing; Cain's taste tended to veer towards pop music, at least so far as singing was concerned, sometimes he had even danced to it.

His brother had enjoyed classical music for just sitting back and listening to, or for when he just wanted something on in the background while he exercised or did something else.

Then again, it almost seemed like Saber wasn't quite aware that he was doing it; singing just for the sake of it, and completely oblivious to everything else around him. Smiling, Slade decided that he would keep watch for both of them; he wanted Saber to have moments like this, moments where his younger brother didn't have to keep watch for all of the Radam's vicious creatures, whether they were Spider-crabs or Teknomen, and could just be himself. The duet continued, and Slade let the song wash over him as he kept an eye out for any Spider-crabs that might have escaped his and Saber's combined Tekno-bolts.

He was glad that there seemed to be none, and when O'Roarke and Saber wound down, finishing their duet and falling silent, he reached back to clasp his brother's hand as they continued on their way back down to Earth.

"You know, Saber my lad," O'Roarke said, with an amused chuckle. "You have a very pretty voice; you ever thought about joining up with a boys' choir?"

"In my copious amounts of spare time," Saber said, after a short hesitation that Slade was sure no one else had noticed.

O'Roarke laughed. "Fair point. Though it is kind of a shame; a man with your skills would find himself in pretty high demand, I should think."

Saber laughed, then. "Well, my nascent singing career aside, how are things shaping up?"

"Well enough," O'Roarke said, sounding pleased enough that Slade's tension began to ease slightly. "None of those nasty Radam beasties are showing up anywhere on my scopes, and we're just about to make our descent into the lower atmosphere."

"Hey, boys!"

Slade, hearing Ringo's voice for the first time since they had been forced to separate by the swarm of Spider-crabs that had ambushed them on their way to the Space Ring, smiled and chuckled softly. "I never thought I'd be this happy to hear from you, Ringo."

"Real cute, Slade," the man shot back, sounding amused, though he was obviously trying to sound annoyed. "You know, we could just turn this ship around and leave you and Saber to hitch a ride back home with the commandos here."

"We'd be happy for the company," O'Roarke said, sounding pleased but clearly also mocking Ringo at the same time. "These superheroes of yours have done you credit today; you should be proud of them. And as for you, lads: you have the thanks of O'Roarke's Raiders, and that's not something given out lightly."

"We'll keep that in mind, Captain," Slade said solemnly, even as he signaled Pegas over so he and Saber could climb back on top of it. "Again, it was an honor to work with you and your people. I hope you all make it through this war all right."

"Thanks, lad," O'Roarke said, enough genuine warmth in his voice that Slade found himself almost grinning. "And the same holds true from us: you lads take care of each other, and make sure that the both of you make it through this mess alive."

"Yeah, we'll do that," Saber said, as Slade himself guided Pegas into the Blue Earth's main air lock. "Good bye, Miles O'Roarke; Godspeed."

"To us all, Saber my lad."

Looking back one last time, before the air lock doors closed and sealed him and Saber into the Blue Earth, Slade raised his right arm and waved to O'Roarke. He knew the man could see him, since the Blue Earth was pacing his ship as they both descended through the upper-atmosphere, and with his enhanced vision in this form Slade could see O'Roarke raising his own right hand in greeting. He waved, and felt Saber doing the same from just behind him, until the air lock doors had sealed up completely, Slade breathed a sigh of relief. It was nice to have done something mostly right for a change, something that he didn't have to look back on in horror, or numb shock at what he'd seen.

He would have liked to have more days like this, but he honestly doubted that was going to happen; he and Saber just weren't that lucky.

As Pegas rose back into the main hold, taking him and Saber up with it, Slade let himself relax a bit. He could never really let down his guard, since no one ever knew just when the next Radam attack was going to happen, but he could kind of stand down to a general alert, as he'd heard people say in the Space Knights. Feeling a weight pressing against his back, Slade turned to get a look back over his shoulder.

Saber was the only one standing close enough to him to be able to lean against him that way, and when Slade looked back, he found that it was indeed his younger brother leaning up against him; something seemed a bit off, though.

"Saber?"

"Tired," his younger brother said, after a short, confused noise; the kind someone would make when they were awakened suddenly from a nap that hadn't been quite long enough.

Saber's armor started glowing then, the familiar crystal-field enveloping his younger brother as the turquoise light of his transformation erased all his features from view. When Saber's transformation faded entirely, Slade turned and caught his younger brother in his arms before he could fall down onto Pegas' back.

"Slade, five minute warning," Ringo's voice came over the comm., drawing Slade's attention away from what might be happening to Saber. "If you're not transformed out of that suit of yours already, you'd better be doing it now."

"I hear you, Ringo," he said, stepping off the platform that held Pegas so he could set Saber safely down on the deck. "Pegas, prepare to reverse tekno-transformation," he said, already starting to feel the dull, heavy weight of the fatigue that Saber had succumbed to earlier pressing down on him. "Open interlock-chamber."

"Affirmative," Pegas said, his voice slightly softer than Slade was used to.

"Thanks," he said wearily, climbing into the interlock-chamber and feeling the usual rush of departing energy as he transformed back into his human form.

He managed to make it a few steps out of Pegas' back, over to where he had set Saber down, before the weariness caught up with him and he stumbled to a halt. Slade almost thought that he could feel something holding him up, and then warm flesh gently pressed against his own, but by then he was honestly too far-gone to really care.

101010001

When they were all finally back on terra firma, and he had finished guiding the Blue Earth to a full and complete stop, the first thing that Ringo did once he'd deactivated all of the ship's various systems was to head for the main air lock to check up on those Wonder Twins of theirs. Slade had sounded a bit worried, though anyone else would have just noticed that the kid was tired, and Ringo suspected that he knew why.

There was really only one thing that could get Slade worked up like that, and where you found one of them, you would always find the other.

With that thought in mind, Ringo headed back into the main air lock to check on their boys. What he found in there was strange; oh, it wasn't the fact that the Wonder Twins were resting in the arms of the Teknobot, the boys curled up together like a pair of oversized kittens, since that was what they always did when they got back from one of their many fights against the Radam. But the Teknobot singing while they rested in its large, metal hands?

That was something new.

Now, Ringo was perfectly aware that standing just inside the air lock, gawking like some slack-jawed yokel wasn't going to get anything done, either with respect to the Wonder Twins or even to his other duties. He couldn't really help it, though: the Teknobot was singing, for Christ's sake, if that wasn't a good reason for a little slack-jawed gawking, nothing was.

"Hey, Ringo," Star started to say, her footsteps on the deck mostly covered by the sound of the singing Teknobot. "I was- what in the world?"

"That's pretty much what I was thinking," he said, chuckling at the dumbfounded expression on Star's face. "Hey, Teknobot? Would you mind stopping that?" he asked. "There are people trying to sleep here."

"Pegas will stop," the Teknobot said.

He was almost tempted to repeat the name, just so he could see if the Teknobot had actually just named itself or if that was just some kind of fluke, but there were other things that he had to take care of at the moment. Two other things, to be exact.

"Thanks," he said, walking up to the Teknobot as it moved its large right hand off of the Wonder Twins.

Gently separating Slade from his brother, he let Star take Saber's weight as the kid began to slip out of the Teknobot's grasp. Gathering Slade up into his arms, Ringo nodded and thanked the Teknobot for taking care of their boys; these kids had the weight of the world on their shoulders, it was important that they had people to take care of them when they weren't quite in fighting form. And, in these hours after they came out of the fights that required them to transform; which was pretty much all of them, now that Ringo thought about it, they needed their support staff more than ever.

As he carried Slade out of the Blue Earth, Ringo heard the Teknobot start singing again. Well, no one can ever say that life with the Space Knights is dull, that's for certain, he mused, with a soft enough chuckle that he wasn't worried about waking Slade. That kid slept like the dead after a fight, just like Star had reported his brother doing. When they made it to Slade's quarters, the kid still dozing in his arms, Ringo maneuvered himself over to the keypad and awkwardly entered the code to open Slade's door, then turned and carried the kid inside to set him down on his bed.

Removing Slade's boots, which he would have done for any of the other Space Knights who he'd carried to their rooms after they'd conked out somewhere, he tossed one of the kid's blankets over him and left a bit more quietly than he'd come.

111010100

When he woke up, not feeling quite as rested as he usually did, Slade wondered for a moment if he would have the chance to just roll over and fall back to sleep this time. He didn't think even his luck could be bad enough to force him to face a Spider-crab attack after having just barely recovered from his and Saber's last battle. Still, he'd had to transform three times yesterday, so there was always that chance.

However, when he heard his door-chime, rather than either the general- or emergency-alerts, Slade allowed himself to relax just a bit. Yawning, still wanting a bit more sleep and therefore just a little unsteady on his feet, Slade made his way to the door and opened it. Maggie and Saber were both there, and when he shot an inquiring look over her shoulder at Saber, his brother shrugged and rolled his eyes.

(Don't look at me, brother. Maggie dragged me out of bed, too; didn't even give me a reason for it.)

Huffing slightly, not really annoyed enough for an actual sigh but still kind of irritated, Slade followed Maggie and Saber off to wherever they were going.

"What's going on, Maggie?" he asked at last, when it had become obvious that the three of them were heading for the machine shop. "Is there something wrong with Pegas?"

"Who's Pegas?" she asked, turning to look back over her shoulder at them.

"That's the name that Captain O'Roarke gave the Teknobot," Saber said, before Slade had even opened his mouth to say something. "It's pretty insistent on the name, so Slade and I have been trying to get used to using it. Well," his younger brother continued, with an amused grin aimed his way. "More Slade than me, of course."

"You know, that name does kind of have a nice ring to it," Maggie said, a hand cupping her chin in what he figured was a habitual 'thinking' pose for her. "Still, that's not really what I wanted to talk to you guys about. But, it's really hard to explain, so it would probably be better if I just showed you."

"If you say so, Maggie," Saber said, as Slade himself tucked his hands into the pockets of his Space Knight vest.

As they made their way slowly closer to the machine shop, Slade began to hear a strange sound; it sounded almost like Pegas' voice, but not in a way he'd ever heard it before. And, from the expression on Saber's face when his younger brother had turned to look at him, he hadn't either. So, something new, then; nothing that tripped his finely-tuned danger sense, but something they hadn't dealt with yet all the same.

When they finally did reach the machine shop, or actually quite a bit before then in his and Saber's case, Slade heard just what was causing Maggie, and Mac he soon noticed, such confusion: Pegas was singing. Looking over at Saber, since his brother was laughing his head off over their link, he found that his little brother was actually managing to look perfectly composed in the face of this new development.

"Well, this is- unexpected," Saber said, only a slight quaver in his voice betraying how deeply, deeply amused he was by this whole thing.

"The Teknobot's speaking voice is bad enough," Mac said, with an expression of clear distaste. "But his singing is worse than an off-key bagpiper accompanied by a chainsaw."

As Saber finally laughed aloud, he saw Maggie turning an admonishing look on Mac out of the corner of his right eye. "Don't call him Teknobot anymore: he prefers Pegas. You know, I could delete the song from his memory, but to tell you the truth, I kinda like it."

"As far as I'm concerned, he can sing it as much as he wants," he said, as Saber smiled warmly, though still with a few hints of his earlier wry amusement. "He learned that song from a great man."

"Yeah," Saber said. "O'Roarke was one of the best." Gently squeezing his younger brother's hand, Slade smiled.

"Captain O'Roarke is a great soldier," Maggie said, and Slade saw her turning to look over at him. "It's a shame we don't have more like him."

"It's more than that, Mags," Saber said, and he could hear the warm smile in his younger brother's voice. "Miles O'Roarke cared about his people, and he was willing to do whatever he had to to protect them. He's kind of like the Commander, that way."

(I thought you said he was like me, brother,) he said, bumping Saber's shoulder gently so his brother would know he was kidding.

(You, he, and the Commander all have that in common, brother,) Saber said, bumping his shoulder back.

"You know, this is the first time you lads have actually respected anyone in the Military," Mac said. "It's kind of strange to hear. Particularly coming from you, Saber."

Saber laughed. "Well, it definitely helps that Miles isn't the same kind of callous, uncaring bastard that everyone in the AEM seems to be intent on proving themselves to be."

"Welcome home, boys," Star said, and Slade looked up to see her and Ringo standing up on the railing overlooking the machine shop. "And congratulations; you two did a terrific job up there today."

"Jamison wants to see you both, on the double," Ringo said, still smiling but looking like he was trying to be at least a little bit more professional. "The AEM might need you two to give them a hand on another mission."

"We're ready," he said, as he and Saber moved to head back up the stairs.

Whatever else came, he and Saber would face it together; together, they were stronger than anything the Radam could throw at them.