When Cain and Ness, both of them still wearing the armor that Lord Darkon had granted them when they had been taken into the forces of the Radam Empire, attacked without even a single word of warning, Spear ground his teeth as he leaped aside. True, it was no less than he'd been expecting from those two, and yet Spear still found it as purely infuriating as the first time he'd been confronted by the twins' stubborn refusal to accept the world and their place in it. It may not have been the most psychologically healthy of mental states, but neither was refusing to admit – to himself if no one else – that he would have honestly preferred to have all of his family at his back rather than not.
(I'm sorry, my love,) Katherine said, coming to stand beside him as Axe and Rapier transformed and acted to deflect Ness and Cain's strike from its original course. (I suppose even you can't reason with everyone.)
(No, I suppose I can't,) he conceded, allowing Katherine to help him to his feet, and then finding himself wrapped in her arms as she kissed him lightly. (Thank you, for being here for me, Kathy.)
(Of course,) she said, as the two of them broke apart once more. (I could hardly do anything less, for you.)
Smiling for a few moments, before he forced himself to face the reality of their current situation, Spear sighed. His teknocrystal was in his right hand almost before he consciously registered calling it to him, and Spear raised it quickly, calling upon the power he'd been granted to transform himself even as he felt Kathy doing the same. Now, all that remained was to deal with Ness and Cain.
As well as any others who would presume to interfere.
101001001
Firing his thrusters, dodging out of the way even as Sam – or, the Radam Teknoman that had been Sam – came slamming into the ground like a bolt of armored lightning, Saber just managed to fling himself out of the way of the small sword – only in relative terms, since the blade itself was about as long as Sam's arm – that their youngest brother had been swinging at him. Of course, things weren't that easy; they never were, when you were facing off against Teknomen. There was always one more nasty surprise or other waiting in the wings when you tried to fight them.
This was borne out by the blast that erupted suddenly from the hilt of the thin sword that Sam had tried to slam into his head.
Looking up, when he'd managed to snag a free moment to catch his breath, Saber saw Spear standing atop a small rise. The evil Teknoman's arms were folded, and Saber would have been willing to bet that, under that armor of his, Spear had one of those calculating looks on his face. Conrad had always been one to try to work out the angles when he was in a fight; at least when he had the time to remove himself from whatever engagement he was participating in.
In open combat, he was as ruthless as any of them.
"Hey, Spear!" Best not to let him get any planning in; if he was forced to improvise more, at least all of them would be on an even footing. "You really sure that just five of you are going to be enough? Maybe you should have brought reinforcements!"
"Very amusing, Cain," Spear said, in that flat, deadpan tone Conrad had always used when someone was really starting to tick him off; still, it wasn't like just that was going to get his and Slade's brainwashed older brother back into the fray.
It was time for drastic measures; Saber could really come to hate drastic measures.
0010010001
The sound of the heart-rate monitor, combined with the soft signs of Shara's labored breathing, made Star clench her fists in the sheet that covered Slade and Saber's sister from the neck down.
"Her vital-signs aren't looking very good," she said, if only because someone had to say it.
Everyone could tell that Shara wasn't doing well.
"If only there was something we could do."
"Like what?" she asked bleakly. "It's out of our hands, Maggie."
She didn't know just how Slade and Saber were doing out there, facing the remainder of their family and friends that had been ripped away from them by the Radam, but she couldn't help worrying for both of them. She had known, before, that Spear was the twins' older brother, but even then she hadn't fully understood what they were going through. Now… now she knew just how hard it was for the two of them to keep going out, time after time, to face the evil Teknomen that the Radam kept setting against them.
And she also fully understood how brave they were, for continuing to do so for so long.
00101001001
As his laser-designator lit up yet another Spider-crab, which he then promptly shot, Ringo turned his attention back to the Wonder Twins and their fight with what he now knew were the last remaining members of their family and a guy who'd probably been close enough to count even without the whole blood-relation thing. It must've been hell for the both of them, and Ringo could finally, honestly, say that he understood why neither of them had been open about their past before this.
Still, even as he continued to shoot down the Spider-crabs that would have otherwise caused trouble for the kids he was trying to protect, he was also keeping an eye on their respective time-limits. He didn't like what he was seeing.
"Boys, not that I want to be a nag or anything – beat it, creep!" he cut himself off, turning to shoot the Spider-crab who'd poked his buggy little head into their private discussion. "I'm not kidding, here! Slade's close to running out the clock, and you've got to know what that means for you, Saber!"
"Yeah, I know that," the kid said.
"We'll shake them, Ringo," Slade said, sounding as serious as Saber had.
Watching from the lip of a nearby rise, from on high as another person might have said, he saw both the Wonder Twins jumping backwards; he knew what was coming. Well, that should shake them up a bit. When the bright blue-and-green lights of the Wonder Twins' respective Tekno-bolts hammered the outcropping they were standing in front of, he breathed more easily.
Sure, there was no way in hell that something that small was going to stop Spear; he was related to the twins, after all. He might have been as crazy as any of the other Radam Teknomen that Ringo had had the misfortune to encounter, but considering the fact that the guy was willing to come back after taking a full pair of Tekno-bolts to the face, he wasn't about to make the mistake of counting the guy out now.
That would've been all kinds of stupid.
1101001010
"Troublesome," he muttered, watching the broken rock and debris obscure the battlefield. He could also sense the fact that his younger brothers had retreated; for the moment, anyway.
"You know what they say."
"Yes, I do," he said, before sensei Goddard could complete the platitude he had so clearly been thinking of. Narrowing his eyes, he mused aloud for all of their benefits. "Still, that all depends on them having a place to run to." Bringing out his lancer, both for the fact that he would have need of it soon, and for the extra gravitas it seemed to lend him when he spoke, he pointed it at the besieged Space Knight Command Center. "We're going farther; either Ness and Cain come back out here with Shara, or we rip that place down and drag them out. I'm beginning not to care which."
There was a unanimous agreement on that point; something he was grateful for, even as he'd come to expect it.
110100101
Saber was pretty listless as he helped him back into the infirmary room where Shara was resting, but then they both had fired a Tekno-bolt each in order to make sure that Spear and his lackeys stayed off their backs. So, Slade supposed that was pretty much what he could expect; not that he liked it any more for all that.
"Hey," Maggie called softly, and he turned to see her slinging Saber's unencumbered left arm over her shoulders. "I'm glad you two managed to make it back in one piece."
"Yeah," Saber said, wearily lifting his head to smile at the two of them as they helped him over to one of the chairs that had been set up next to Shara's bed.
The flash of psychic pain through their link, back when they had first exited the Blue Earth in full armor to deal with Spear and his cohorts, had let him and Saber both know just what was happening to Shara, and while they'd both wanted nothing more than to be at her side, there'd been no way of telling just how much damage those five would do to the Command Center if he and Saber hadn't at least come out to meet them.
Even if they hadn't been able to stop them yet.
"I take it Spear hasn't called off his attack," Star said.
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Saber returned, his usual smirk looking a bit worn around the edges.
He reached for Shara's hand, even as he let Saber lean on him for whatever small bit of support that his younger twin needed from him; whatever he could still give, under the circumstances.
"She's been like this for hours; we don't know what's causing these high levels of stress-related brain activity."
"I could hazard a guess," Saber said, and Slade was glad to see that his younger twin was starting to revive.
"What do you mean, Saber?" Star asked.
"You already know that we can sense each other when we're in close proximity," he muttered, lacing his fingers together with Shara's to try and give her what comfort he could. "And, if we're sleeping the way Shara's trying to, it makes it impossible to shield our minds from any of the others."
True, he hadn't heard Spear actually trying to talk to them since their attack on the Command Center had begun in earnest, but he could still sense him and all of the other Radam Teknomen that had been sent out alongside Spear. The room shook, clearly from the impact of something large; or something fast enough that its size didn't actually matter.
"Spear and his cronies; those gorillas'll pound this place to the ground," Ringo groused.
Slade chuckled bitterly, deep in his throat where he knew only Saber would be able to hear it. Sounded like he and Saber were going to be having interesting times again soon.
"Our power-feed is getting erratic," Star said, sounding worried. "I'm not sure we can keep Shara stable through too many more hits like that one."
Slade sighed; it always seemed to be something, lately.
110100101
(Sam, have you found anything that might be of use to us?) he asked.
Sam, being the youngest and most lightly-armored of them – his body not yet suited to supporting a full set of Tekno-armor – was truly best-suited to act as a scout. That, or directing the Spider-crabs to their intended targets, but as he, Katharine, Shinji, and sensei Goddard were all here as well, they would each be able to take that task on when it was required of them.
(Nothing yet,) Sam reported. (Is there anything in particular you want me to look for?)
(Give me a moment, Sam,) he requested, turning to face a still rather intact portion of the Space Knights' Command Center. If nothing else, taking out portions of this place would serve to deprive their enemies – pitiful as they were – of one of the shelters they seemed so fond of crawling into when they were faced with any opposition.
Charging his lancer, Spear let fly with the electricity that he had been gathering at the tip. His breath came out in an almost explosive burst, as he whipped through the air, sending arcs of electricity into the structures in front of him that struck like bursts of controlled lightning. (Do you think that you could manage to find some way inside this facility without attracting attention from the humans?)
(Without transforming back? I doubt it,) Sam responded, sounding thoughtful.
(Yes, that would present problems in this situation,) he conceded, sending a last bolt of electricity into the savaged remains of the buildings below him. (Concentrate on directing the Spider-crabs, then. The others can do a great deal more damage far easier than you can, little brother.)
(Yes, big brother.)
Turning his attention back to what remained of the section of the Space Knights' Command Center that he had found himself positioned over, Spear saw the damage he had done and decided to move on. There would be other places that required his attention. Best he saw to them.
01010010111
"Take a good, long look at the Command Center, Mac," he said, as the destruction continued to play out on the main screen before them. "I don't think it'll be around much longer."
However, their contemplation of the situation was interrupted in the most unexpected way: "Commander Jamison, this is Lieutenant MacMillan of AEM Command, can you read me, sir?"
"Perfectly, son," he said, uncomfortably aware of just what this contact could mean.
"Thank heavens! General Gault has activated the Thunderhawk's enabling systems. The final countdown has begun!"
"As of what time?" All of this would indeed depend on how much time they had to move.
"Moments ago," MacMillan said, the urgency in his tone as obvious as it was carefully controlled. "I called you as soon as I found out, Commander. I'm breaking every regulation in the book, but someone has to stop him while there's still time!"
A gunshot sounded, and blood began to show on MacMillan's uniform shirt as he fell forward and out of frame. "Encouraging insubordination, Commander? I'm shocked at you!"
"Gault." It took a fair amount of his self-control not to shout at the man; particularly when he saw the smoking gun clenched in his fist. "Stop the countdown."
"Don't be a fool, Jamison," Gault said; Jamison was reasonably certain that he hadn't missed the sneer in the General's tone. "I don't take orders from you. Besides, once the countdown's begun there's no stopping it. In twenty-five minutes, the bomb will be launched. All you have to do is keep distracting the enemy until then."
"It's madness; it'll never work."
"You mustn't be such a pessimist," Gault said, the fanatic smile on his face letting Jamison know that nothing he said was likely to make any kind of impact, anymore. Still, he'd never been the type of man to give up after a single impasse. "I'm sure, if we all play our parts, it will come off perfectly. Keep up the good work!"
With a final salute, and a smile that couldn't be mistaken for anything but mocking, Gault terminated the connection.
"He's cracked," Mac said, speaking for the first time since the two of them had met up inside Comm. One. "The man's gone nuttier than a space monkey!"
There was really nothing to be said to that; but now wasn't the time for words, at any rate. Now was the time to act; to seek to prevent the damage that Gault's desperation – both for his own prestige, and in his own way the safety of humanity – would end up doing to the world and all of the remaining people that lived on it. And, Jamison knew just how that would best be accomplished.
All he would need now, was their cooperation.
1101001001
As his loyal crew went about making the final preparations to launch the Thunderhawk, Gault dismissed the conversation that he and Jamison had had from his mind. Hamilton Jamison had never truly possessed the vision, the drive, or the iron will necessary to do what was needed. All great victories had been achieved at the cost of human lives, a few thousand more – even a few million – added to the equation wasn't nearly enough to prevent them from saving humanity as a whole.
Jamison had never truly understood that, which was ultimately why he had chosen to pursue a career within the civilian sector.
However, even people as soft as Jamison and his Space Knights could serve a purpose; with that Spear creature and the others like him distracted, Gault would have all the time he needed to launch the Thunderhawk into the Space Ring. Then, once those creatures had been deprived of any safe ground to return to, it would be a simple matter to deal with them once and for all.
"All functions are green and ready for firing, General," his head technician reported, after a long string of reports that he had only been half-listening to.
"Excellent."
It still held true, now of all times: all of the great triumphs in history had been achieved at the cost of human lives. This war had ground on long enough; he wouldn't allow this stalemate to continue. Not when he had the means to end it, right here and now. A few million dead was nothing compared to victory.
It was nothing, compared to those who had already died in the invasion.
00010100101
Surveying the ravaged structure beneath him, Spear sighed softly. It was swiftly becoming clear that only a particularly drastic action on their part would be capable of driving Ness and Cain out of hiding. The problem, of course, was Shara. He could sense that she was severely weakened; enough that he wasn't certain if she would be able to transform in time when he and the others began destroying this Command Center in earnest.
The sound of gentle tapping drew Spear's attention then, and he turned to look at the woman standing beside him. Katherine's easy stance suggested that she was smiling under her helmet. Spear felt a smile emerging on his own face, as well.
Truly, it didn't matter just how long this campaign of theirs lasted; Ness and Cain, and even Shara, would not be able to hide behind these crumbling walls indefinitely.
When Kathy wrapped her arms around him, leaning her armored head against his own, Spear allowed himself to relax into her embrace for a few short, precious moments. However, he fully understood that this was not a time for sentiment. Now, of all times, he had to resolve himself to his present course of action.
Harsh as it was, the results would be worth it; their family would be whole at last.
11010100101
"Head's up!" he heard Mac calling from the doorway. "That madman Gault's brought the Thunderhawk missile online! He's about to try to blow the Space Ring out of the sky!"
He heard Slade make a soft noise of derision, but over it all was Maggie's exclamation: "He's out of his mind!"
"That's the understatement of the century," Mac said, his tone carrying the same derision that Saber had sensed from Slade; still could sense, to be honest.
"Yeah, that sounds like something he'd do," he muttered, trying for light and easy, but fairly sure he was missing by several country miles.
"Well, we've got twenty minutes to see that he doesn't, Saber," Mac said, but when he turned to look at the large-framed mechanic, Saber saw that he did seem at least grateful for the attempt at lightening the tension, doomed to fail as it so clearly had been from the start.
"I believe that either of you two would be able to stop him," the Commander said, as he came into the infirmary just behind Mac.
"Yeah, I'd guess you're right," he said, even as the Command Center shuddered around them. "There are just four or five small issues with that," he continued, giving a lopsided sort of smirk – the best he could manage at the moment – in response.
"Whichever one of you chose to go, he would have to move quickly and quietly," the Commander said, fixing both him and Slade with those cool, pale pink eyes of his.
"That'll be me," Slade said decisively. "How do we do this, Commander? Spear and the others are going to be watching all of the exits, and they're not going to be shy about using their telepathy if something changes."
"You honestly think they can keep an eye on every one of the ventilation shafts?" Commander Jamison asked, and on anyone else – even him – that question would have probably been a mocking what-are-you-some-kind-of-moron type of thing. But, coming from the Commander, it was just a reminder of another option.
One that neither of them had considered before. "I didn't even think of those," Slade admitted.
(So we're going to Die Hard this one, are we?) he asked, amused by the idea, though not particularly about what was going to come of it.
(Seems like,) Slade responded, though he seemed more focused on what the Commander was saying.
Saber couldn't hold it against him, though; in situations like this, there were more important things than a good joke.
"There's one two kilometers to the east. You should be able to escape their notice through the use of that shaft. In particular, I would advise you to strive to remain unseen by your elder brother and any of his compatriots."
"We'll need a diversion if we actually want that to happen," Ringo said, his eyes closed for a long moment. "If I can distract those clowns with the Blue Earth, that might do it."
"You do know that's completely crazy, right?" he deadpanned, smirking faintly.
"Hey, I'd be happy as a clam if there was some other way to do this, but sometimes crazy is just what the doctor ordered," Ringo said, smirking right back.
"Maggie, would it be possible to augment the Teknobot's speed with an auxiliary booster?" the Commander asked; it was then that Saber knew that they were really going to be doing this.
Maggie nodded. "I don't see why not."
"Sure thing!" Mac piped up. "We can give the Teknobot enough horsepower to reach the Thunderhawk's launch pad with time to spare."
"Well then, the rest is up to you, Slade," the Commander said.
He heard his older twin sigh, softly enough that Saber honestly doubted that any of the humans around them had heard it at all. "Yeah, I know." Standing up from his seat next to Shara, he felt Slade gripping him in a tight, one-armed hug. (Stay in contact, all right? I might not be able to actually do anything, being out so far, but I just-)
(I know,) he said, wrapping both of his arms around his elder twin and holding him tight for a long moment. (I'll keep in touch. Just come back as soon as you can, all right?)
(I'll be back before you know it,) Slade said, in spite of the fact that they both knew it was a lie.
(Thank you,) Shara's weakening voice drew his and Slade's attention back to her. Her pale violet eyes were almost completely lucid, and she was looking at the both of them with a gentle sort of approval in her eyes. (I was hoping that you would be willing to help save those people.)
0001010010010
The roar of aerospace engines drew Spear's attention; there was a ship lifting off from a ramp quite close-by to them. It had to be them. Clearly, Ness and Cain were attempting to escape from this beleaguered facility aboard that ship.
And, just as clearly, that escape rout would need to be dealt with.
Calling to the others that he had brought with him, Spear lead them in ramming through the launch-ramp that the ship – the ship that Spear had seen Ness and Cain traveling to and from their various attacks on the forces that Lord Darkon had sent out to deal with the remaining forces that these humans could muster against his forces – had nearly cleared by this time. The ramp collapsed, causing the ship, the ship that had caused him and his no end of trouble, to spin out and eventually crash into the rocky ground. Narrowing his eyes, Spear opened his mind.
As he was beginning to suspect, Ness and Cain had not in fact been aboard that ship.
(Sam, I would be particularly interested to know just what the pilot of that ship thinks he is doing,) his teeth would have been clenched in sheer, frustrated fury, were it not for the changes to his facial structure underneath his armor. (Would you be so kind as to retrieve him for me?)
(Of course, big brother,) Sam responded, quickly darting off in pursuit of that ship and its pilot. (I'll be right back.)
(Thank you, Sam.) Furious as he still was with all of these humans and their little tricks – he was even beginning to become irritated with the twins' continued intractability – it cost one nothing to be polite. (I do truly appreciate your help.)
The others landed, arranging themselves in a loose semi-circle around him; all except for Kathy, who came up on his right side and gently wrapped her arms around him. Allowing himself to lean into the comfort that she so clearly wished to provide to him for a few, long moments – their respective helmets making a soft clicking sound as they touched – Spear felt the tension that had been building up within not only his mind but in his body as well, slowly ebbing away. Truly, he would have to do something kind for Kathy, in return for the moral and material support that she continued to provide him with.
There was still an unfulfilled promise that he had made to her, after all; but such things could be attended to later.
1010100111
When the Blue Earth had slammed into that cliff side, one that would have reminded him of the beachside cliffs where those crazy kids of theirs had played together with their little sister if he'd had the time to think like that at all, the first thing Ringo was aware of – painfully aware of, you might say – was the fact that he'd cracked his left wrist pretty badly in the crash. The next thing to register, even above the pain that he was even then beginning to shove aside in the face of the clear fact that he needed to get moving away from such a vulnerable position, was the shrieking of metal as it was torn apart by what just had to be either Spear or one of his cronies.
Forcing himself out of the pilot's seat, Ringo managed to be just in time to get himself slammed into his control console by his neck. Gagging on the air that he couldn't quite manage to breathe past the armored hand now digging into his throat, Ringo just managed to open his eyes enough to catch a glimpse of the Teknoman that was currently manhandling him. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't actually Spear.
That did beg the question of just who in the hell this new Teknoman actually was, but before he could even begin to articulate the question, Ringo felt the Teknoman's armored hand closing around his throat as he was yanked up and off the ground.
His first thought, once he'd managed to catch his breath again – not being strangled by an evil Teknoman helped a lot with that – was that the Teknoman who'd pulled him out of the Blue Earth was tiny. Not just short, but small and thin; this had to be the Wonder Twins' youngest brother. The armor the kid was wearing was light-colored, but it also seemed like it was lighter than any of the other Teknomen he'd seen before.
Ringo just barely had time to wonder about that, before Spear himself had landed and things pretty much went to hell then and there.
"Good work, little brother," the largest – well, tallest at least, since the Teknoman in the green-shaded armor with the fuck-off huge halberd was broader across the shoulders, even if he was shorter – of the evil Teknomen that had arrayed themselves around him said, sounding like he was probably smiling under that sharp-angled helmet of his. When the evil Teknoman's full attention turned to him, Ringo had to fight to keep himself from tensing; sure, he'd faced off with Slade and Saber's psychotic older brother before, but he'd always had something to fall back on those other times. Either the Blue Earth's firepower, or the armor on his Tekno-suit. "You're the pilot."
"Yeah, that's me." And damn, it was creepy hearing how toneless Spear sounded when he said that. Of course, the way said evil Teknoman then grabbed his chin, forcing him to meet that creepy, visored face of his was terrifying enough on its own, thank you very much.
"You're also someone else, aren't you?" Spear asked, his voice still as eerily toneless as it'd been before. "I recognize your voice; how interesting that you, of all humans, could be such a troublesome one."
"What do you mean?" the second-shortest of Spear's group of evil Teknomen – the stocky, broad-shouldered one – asked, looking from him to Spear and back again.
"This human was the second one to wear those suits of armor I reported on," Spear said, his voice still toneless, but Ringo thought he could hear a slight thread of annoyance; or maybe he was just imagining that, since it was starting to freak him out how damned controlled Spear was. "The only one I hadn't managed to deal with." The red lights of Spear's eyes narrowed, and Ringo fought down an almost reflexive smirk; this was no time to let his old habits get him in trouble. "I expect you know what I want, human."
"I think I could hazard a guess, yeah," he said, once Spear had opened his hand and let him drop back to the ground.
"Good. Tell me where my younger brothers are, and I will allow you to leave unharmed," Spear said, just as eerily toneless as he'd ever been.
Well, this next bit's sure to get at least some reaction out of him, Ringo mused, morbidly curious about just how screwed he was going to be after essentially telling Spear to shove it. "I'm afraid I can't do that, pal."
Spear actually scoffed; it was a reaction, at least. "Your loyalty to my younger brothers is admirable. For a human, I would even allow that you, out of all your kind, are a rather more worthy opponent than I had ever expected to meet." His red eye lights narrowed slightly. "However, your intransigence will do you no credit."
He'd been just about to ask what in the hell that meant, when the smallest of Spear's cronies yanked him back to his feet, before forcing him back to his knees. The pain from having his right arm being snapped almost caused him to scream, but Ringo wasn't really in the mood to give Slade and Saber's psychotic older brother – or the guy who pretty much had to be their psychotic younger brother – the satisfaction of hearing something like that out of him.
"You have commendable resolve, human," Spear said, though it didn't really sound like any kind of compliment that he'd ever heard before.
In fact, it sounded like he was actually starting to get a rise out of the Ice King himself; that probably wasn't going to end up being a particularly good thing, but it was an accomplishment all the same.
His left leg's being snapped like the proverbial dry twig let Ringo know that Spear wasn't about to let him get away with that. Breathing harshly to try to cope with the pain, Ringo briefly caught sight of the smallest Teknoman's armored feet as his head drooped. It wasn't going to be easy, keeping his head straight with all that was going on around him, all that Slade and Saber's psychotic brothers were probably going to do to him, but it was what he'd have to do.
In the end, it was all that anyone in this position could really ask of themselves.
01010010100
She could feel Cain's hands – warmer than she could ever remember them being; but then all Teknomen had high metabolisms – wrapped tightly around her right, with his thumb gently stroking the back of her right hand. Shara was grateful for it; grateful for the strength that her second-oldest brother's presence was giving her, and grateful that she had at least two of her elder siblings to support her with what she was facing even now.
"Ness must almost be there by now," she said, feeling her strength failing even as she spoke.
"I could check, if you really want me to, Shara."
"That's kind of you to offer, Cain," she said, smiling as his right thumb gently stroked the back of her left hand. "But, I wouldn't want to interrupt Ness if he's in the middle of something important."
"All right," Cain said, and Shara felt warm when she saw the gentle smile on her youngest older brother's face. "If that's what you really want, Shara."
"You shouldn't worry so much about Slade," Star said; she was glad to know that Ness and Cain both had the loyalty of such a kind woman like her. "He's really good at this type of thing. I'm sure he'll be back just as soon as he can."
Cain chuckled softly, a wistful expression on his face; she knew that he probably wished that he were out there too, but she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't say anything like that. Not unless someone asked him; Cain wasn't the kind of person who liked having other people fuss over him. If anything he preferred to take care of them, in his own way.
"I know," she sighed, turning so that she could look both Star and Cain in the eyes if she so chose. "That's not what's worrying me; not something like that."
"What is it, then, Shara?" Cain asked, and she had to fight not to close her eyes when she spoke to him.
She didn't want to hurt him, but in the end, not saying what she was trying to say would be a thousand times worse than just getting it out. "Cain, I hope you and Maggie stay together; I think she's just the kind of person who could keep up with you, and the two of you really do seem to make each other happy." Cain smiled softly; the kind of smile that had always seemed like it was meant just for her when she saw it. "And Star?"
"Yes, Shara?"
"I hope you and Ness end up happy together, too. He does need more than one person to look after him, sometimes."
Cain chuckled, deep in his throat. "Yes, much as I might love the guy, even I have to admit how much of a lunkhead he can be."
Star laughed softly. "Yes, I've noticed that, myself."
Shara sighed; she didn't want to keep being the one to have to keep bringing things like this up, but before she could even start to say something else, the Space Knights' Command Center shuddered, and the evacuation alarms began to sound. She could hear their Commander Jamison's voice, directing them to evacuate all of the non-essential personnel, and she sighed. It looked like, whatever was left of Conrad, Sam, and the others, they were all still just as determined as they had ever been.
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The landscape around him had blurred into non-importance, as he'd pushed Pegas for everything the newly-enhanced mech could give him. Slade knew he needed to get to Gault's launch-station, before the General who'd obviously gone completely bugfuck during the course of the invasion could launch that Thunderhawk missile of his, or else a good proportion of the world's remaining population were going to die. Still, once he'd made it close enough that he could actually see the launch-base, Slade could feel the boosters detaching from Pegas.
Since he didn't really need them anymore, Slade didn't let himself think anymore about them after he felt them falling completely away.
No, what he was most focused on was that stupid look that he'd seen on Gault's face; he was almost tempted to contact Saber, since he knew that his younger twin would find it just as funny as he did. Still, Saber had told him that he and Star were keeping Shara company, and he didn't want to keep disturbing her with trivial things just because he kind of thought that Saber would get a kick out of them.
Right now, though, what Slade's focus was most taken up by was the transformation that he was currently undergoing. The energy that flooded his awareness until it seemed like that was all that existed in the world. It was just the same as all of the other times that he'd activated his transformation – with or without his teknocrystal – and at the same time it had always felt like the first time he'd done it.
Leaving Pegas behind as he dove through the glass dome that was the only thing separating him from the stupidly-gaping figure of most-likely-soon-to-be-ex General Gault, Slade landed as lightly as he could in front of the man. Gault regained his composure quickly, though; he'd pretty much been expecting just that, but it would have been pretty funny to see that kind of look for a bit longer than he had.
"What's the meaning of this?!" Gault demanded; ah, there was that look again. Funny, he'd almost missed it. "Why have you come here?!"
"General Gault, call off the launch!" he said, forcing himself to sound all-business; not hard to do, even in spite of the look on Gault's face.
"Call it off?" Gault repeated, even as one of the many technicians manning the control consoles arrayed all around and behind him asked for his orders. "You must be out of your mind!"
"I could say the same about you," he snapped, not even bothering to keep the venom out of his tone; this bastard was risking the lives of more innocent people than he would have ever been able to meet in his life, and all for a stupid gamble that wasn't even going to work anyway. "This plan of yours is insane."
And really, even calling this exercise in sheer stupidity a plan was a grave insult to all plans everywhere.
"Insane, you say?" Gault repeated derisively; Slade didn't like the sheer fanaticism he could see beginning to shine in the General's eyes. "It's insane, to want to protect this world, and to completely crush the enemy?!"
And yeah, he could fully agree with that particular sentiment, but- "General, if you destroy the Space Ring, the pieces that fall to Earth will cause more destruction than all of the Radam attacks to date. It's more than possible, given the scale we're looking at, that the final result would be an Impact Winter long enough to severely reduce the remaining population."
If not outright decimate them, but he wasn't going to say that.
"That's a very pretty speech," Gault sneered; Slade gritted his teeth, and mentally reminded himself that feeding Gault his own teeth wasn't going to get him what he needed right now. "Now stop wasting my time; countdown will continue! Carry on!" he shouted back over his right shoulder.
One more try. "Your plan won't even solve the problem you want it to in the first place. The leader of the Radam forces has his base on the dark side of the moon!"
He'd been about to say Darkon's name, but Gault wouldn't know it, and saying something like that would probably make Gault – idiot that he'd proven himself to be on many separate occasions – think that he was in league with the Radam. When he thought too much about that, he'd feel an urge to punch the stupid out of him. Nevermind how impossible that would have proved to be.
"You would say something like that; they're your friends, aren't they?"
Biting the tip of his tongue – that had been a lower blow than that bastard would have ever be capable of understanding. "The Space Ring is just an outpost that the Radam have been using to stage their attacks," he bit out, the sheer fury he was feeling making Slade feel like he was swallowing acid with every word. "Destroying it won't do you a bit of good."
"You think I'd trust anything you say? Betrayer."
Being called that, even after everything that he'd been forced to sacrifice to save the Earth and the people that still lived on her, infuriated Slade to the point where he actually managed to find the "still point" that Cain and Conrad had tried to tell him about. Everything just seemed so clear: Gault wasn't going to listen to him, and none of his people were going to listen to anyone but Gault.
Still, there wasn't much anyone could do to launch a bomb if the launch-controls had been destroyed.
"Don't touch that control-panel!" Oh, he was going to do a lot more than touch it. Still, the bastard General actually sounded serious; it might even be something important. "In the final sixty seconds, the countdown cannot be terminated," Gault said, triumphantly brandishing a handheld timer. "Any attempt to do so will merely result in the self-destruction of this missile-base." The bastard actually laughed at that. "Sit back and watch the fireworks with the rest of us!"
Oh, fuck you very much, Gault!
"Quite a mouth you've got on you, Teknoman," Gault said, and Slade realized that he'd just spoken that last part out loud.
He didn't particularly care, but he realized it all the same.
Walking calmly over to Gault, looking at that arrogant little smile he was wearing – like he was perfectly in control of everything going on; like there wasn't even one thing he wasn't completely prepared for – Slade backhanded him right in his smirking mouth. Then, roughly shoving all thoughts of Gault and his supreme idiocy right out of his mind, Slade flew back out into the air and met up with Pegas.
If he wasn't going to be able to stop the Thunderhawk before it launched, then he was going to have to settle for destroying the thing before it could do any damage.
For a moment, Slade wondered what he should do about Gault and his cronies; but that problem would be easily solved. He just had to hit the Thunderhawk a bit earlier. He might have felt sympathy for someone in the position he was about to be putting those people in, but all of them had chosen to side with Gault. Gault, the worthless little shit who was planning to murder countless millions of innocent people just for the sake of his own over-bloated ego.
As far as Slade could make himself care, if those people supported him so much, they could burn with Gault.
Cutting deeply into the Thunderhawk's casing, Slade flew away as the damaged missile detonated behind him. That took care of what he needed to do here; just one last thing to see to.
(Saber, job's done and I'm on my way home.)
(Slade, is something wrong?)
He realized that he'd probably let slip a bit more of his personal feelings than he'd been planning; but hell with it, it wasn't like Saber wouldn't agree with him on this one. (Gault's dead; and I sincerely hope he rots in hell.)
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There really wasn't much he could say to something like that, and it wasn't as though he was particularly eager to talk about their current situation. (Good to know you're going to be back soon, brother. I'll make sure to fluff your pillow for you.)
There was a general sort of amusement from Slade, and so Saber turned his attention back to the current situation that he hadn't been in any mood to report to Slade. There was another sharp jolt; a bit less powerful than the one that had lead the Commander to call for the evacuation of the Command Center, but not by much. Shara caught his eye, and Saber knew that she was thinking along just the same lines as he was.
They both knew that the Command Center couldn't stand up to this kind of a pounding for much longer; they would have to go to the source of this trouble, but therein lay the problems: Shara wasn't at her best, and they were going to be facing Spear and the rest of the survivors of the Argos.
"Well, I've got good news and bad news," he said, his tone deliberately light to help defuse the tension in the room; it fell pretty flat, but no one could say he wasn't trying. "The good news is that Slade says he's finished with his job, and he's going to be heading back soon."
"I think we can all guess what the bad news is," Star said.
The Command Center shuddered again. "Yeah, you're probably right."
He knew what Shara was going to do the second she caught his eye again, and so he reached out to support her as she pulled herself up and out of bed. Naturally, Star tried to stop them, since she knew just as well as any of them did just how much Shara was going to be risking if she went out there to confront Spear and the others. Still, the fact that Star was more focused on what Shara was doing meant that he could get behind her.
After that, a short, sharp blow to the back of Star's neck knocked her out like a light, and he and Shara hoisted her up onto the bed that Shara had been using up to that point.
Letting his and Slade's younger sister lean on him as heavily as she needed, Saber subtly guided her through the damaged, swiftly collapsing corridors of the soon-to-be-former Command Center. Soon enough – sooner than he'd have liked, really – the two of them found a serviceable window – one of the many floor-to-ceiling types that had been spaced so regularly around this place – with most of its glass blown out.
"Cain." Shara's voice brought his attention back to the present, after he'd seen an armored figure zipping past; far away but still too close for comfort. "I- I'm really glad that you're still here with me."
Holding her in return as Shara hugged him, Saber rested his right cheek against the crown of her skull. "You're family; you know I wouldn't leave you for anything."
"I know, and I'm glad," Shara said, and he could smell the sharp tang of tears; just like the ones he could feel leaking from his own eyes. "I just- I wish…"
"Yeah; I know." Closing his eyes for just a few moments, Saber swallowed a bitter chuckle; he knew all about the wishes that someone might make in this kind of a situation.
He and Shara separated without a word, only their hands still joined – his right to her left – and Saber spared a moment's concentration to call his teknocrystal back to his free hand, even as he felt the brief surge of energy that meant Shara was calling her own. He didn't allow himself to feel anything about what he and Shara were both doing, but Saber knew that if he had he would have hated it. Transforming even as Shara did, Saber felt the familiar double-surge that he'd always felt when Slade transformed next to him
He didn't let himself muse on that for long, because they were firmly outside of the Command Center now, and he'd just sensed Spear's presence growing stronger.
(Heads up,) he said, knowing that the both of them would need to be prepared for what was coming.
(I know,) Shara said. (Thank you, Cain.)
The- whatever name that manta-ray looking platform thing that Spear had taken to riding around on, appeared in the air in front of them then. And, naturally, Spear was right there standing on top of it. Saber tensed as Spear stepped down from the thing's back, and began to make his way toward where he stood beside Shara.
"I'm glad to see that the both of you came to your senses so quickly, Cain, Shara." Saber ground his teeth at Spear's tone; gentle as it ever was, Saber knew damn well that that kind of thing would bring them nothing but trouble. "Still, I think it would be best if you removed your armor, Shara. You're putting an unnecessary strain on your body."
"You know, I keep trying and trying, but I never seem to find a word with less syllables to express myself," he leveled his lancer at Spear's armored head; it wasn't likely he'd hit anything, but he'd get the message across. "No."
His electrified lancer-ribbon – or whatever the thing was actually called – slashed through the space that Spear's head had been, and when Saber heard the low, almost animalistic growl that emerged from Spear's throat, not to mention seeing the way his glowing red eyes narrowed dangerously, he knew what was going to be coming.
"How dare you!"
Rolling out of the way, even as Shara leapt in the opposite direction, Saber looked back to see just the person – well, if one of Radam's own Teknoman could even be called that anymore – he'd expected when he'd heard that voice. Even the tone was familiar; he'd been scolded by Kathy before.
"Your brother has been nothing but kind to you, and this is how you continue to repay him?!" Kathy – what was left of her, anyway – demanded.
"It comes of not being insane, Kathy," he said, flippant even though facing the woman who would have been his sister-in-law if life had been kind hurt nearly as much as facing the members of his, Shara's, and Slade's family did. "You should really try it, sometime."
"Faithless traitor!"
Forced to dodge the evil Teknoman's lancer – hers more like the blade of a sword than his or Slade's lances, or Spear's harpoon – as she tried to impale him between the eyes with the thing, Saber glanced back over his left shoulder, at least as well as he could when he was wearing his armor, to see how Shara was doing. The news was about as bad on her end as it was on his: two more of Spear's cronies had landed just behind her, and while she had turned to confront them, the both of them were a lot bigger and tougher – not to mention healthier – than she was.
Throwing himself forward, Saber caught a fleeting glimpse of another armored figure falling swiftly through the air. Pushing that thought out of his mind, not having the attention to spare for whatever else might be coming – dangerous as it was inevitably going to be – Saber whipped his lancer in a wide arc to deflect the descending normal and halberd-style lancers that were heading down toward Shara, even as he leapt to her defense.
(Thank you, Cain,) she said, the weariness that she was clearly still feeling dragging more heavily at her.
(Yeah,) he said, trying to project reassurance, but not quite sure that he was managing. (Stay close, Shara. I'll-)
(Cain, look out!)
Raising his left hand, Saber only just managed to avoid the stab that would have gone clean through his head if he hadn't caught it, Saber had only a few moments to truly appreciate how much it hurt to be stabbed through the palm – right between all four of your fingers – before he was forced to bring up his lancer to deflect another swing from the large halberd-style lancer that the second-shortest, not to mention the stockiest, of the evil Teknomen that he and Shara were both facing.
He hoped that Slade was going to get back to them soon; Saber didn't know if he was going to be able to hold up under this kind of pressure, so he knew that it had to be several times worse for Shara.
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He knew that he had to get back to Shara and Saber as fast as he could; they were alone against five of Darkon's evil Teknomen, and in Shara's condition things would be all the more difficult for her. Still, the fact that he'd been forced to discard the booster-rocket that Maggie and Mac had been able to provide him with meant that he could only rely on Pegas' top speed for this trip. And, as fast as he was moving, Slade couldn't help but wonder if that would be fast enough.
He could only hope it would be enough; hope, and push Pegas for all the speed the mech could give him.
001010010100
Forcing himself not to scream, as he felt what had to be Sam's thin, sword-like lancer driven through his right wrist – his own wrist having been pinned on top of Shara's left; presumably so that the five of them could use three lancers rather than four and fuck them all for the effort – Saber panted in exertion as the pain of being impaled yet again hit him in earnest.
"Cain, why do you both insist on forcing me to resort to such drastic measures?" Saber ground his teeth; seriously, fuck Spear and his sanctimonious bullshit. "Do you think I enjoy it?"
"Well, I can't think of any other reasons you'd keep doing it," he said flippantly; he wasn't going to draw their attention to Shara if he didn't have to.
"Stop speaking to your brother with that tone, you insolent brat!" Kathy snapped.
"So sorry to offend, Kathy," he snarked. "I'm just a little bit too busy being tortured to think about propriety. You'll have to forgive me."
"Cain, what do you have to say for yourself?" Spear asked, sounding oh-so disappointed, and oh-so sorry for what he was about to do; oh, right, what he had to do.
"Nothing," he said, and smirked even in spite of the fact that no one here would be able to see him doing it. "I don't have a single thing to say to any of you. I do have a gesture," he paused for a moment, painfully wiggling his fingers for effect. "But my hands don't seem to be working that well at the moment."
Without another word Spear unsheathed his foot-long blade, one of the only armaments that he and Saber had in common, and jammed it nearly up to the point where his wrist would have been into Saber's own left shoulder. Forcing himself not to scream, Saber found his attention drawn away from what was going on around him by Shara's mental voice.
(Cain, I want you to fly; just as soon as they turn their attention away from you.)
(Shara, what-)
(I'm dead anyway, Cain,) Shara said wearily, cutting him off before he could actually say anything in particular. (But you and Ness, you have to live. You're the only ones who can stop the Radam now.)
There was nothing he could really say to that, at least not without insulting Shara's sacrifice and starting an argument that neither of them could afford right now. Sighing deeply, Saber turned his attention back to the five evil Teknomen – only four of them who were a real threat, since the small, light blue and while form that had to be Sam was hanging back almost behind Spear – arranged around the two of them.
He knew that Shara would have only included him in their conversation, since the whole point of using their telepathy in the first place was to keep anyone you didn't want hearing your conversation from doing just that simply by being close enough to where you were, and Saber turned his thoughts to what he was going to have to do, he roughly pushed aside how sick it made him feel to be planning any such thing. Shara was right: there wasn't anything he could do for her in her condition, and the chance that she was planning to give him wasn't something that he could pass up.
Not if he wanted to survive.
When he felt a surge of energy, almost like a Teknoman's transformation but of a whole different magnitude, Saber threw himself forward, activating his thrusters in a burst of power as the lancers that had pinned him to the cliff face were torn away by his momentum.
(I'm sorry,) said, knowing even as he did that those were stupid last words to leave someone with.
(I know, Cain. Take care of Ness; and make sure that you take care of yourself, too.)
There wasn't any more time for words then, and not really much he could have said in any case, so Saber just poured all of the speed he could manage into his thrusters, hoping to outrun the wave of destruction that he could sense building behind him. Hitting Spear head-on, he didn't even look back as his momentum flattened the evil Teknoman and he literally ran over him, planting an armored foot on some part of Spear's anatomy that he didn't have time to look back an appreciate.
All that he could do now was fly…
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As the energies of Shara's self-destruct consumed the remains of the Space Knight Command Center, along with anyone unfortunate enough to have still been trapped in there while the evacuation alarms were presumably going off non-stop, Slade could barely spare a thought for anything else but the awful, awesome destruction that he was forced to bear helpless witness to. He knew that Shara was dead, since he'd felt the mental link that they had both shared cutting off with a horrible kind of finality.
He also knew that Saber was still alive, since while their mental link had gone dormant, it hadn't cut off the way his and Shara's had done.
Slade clung to that knowledge like a lifeline, as he guided Pegas to hover over the place where he could sense Saber had fallen. Leaping from the mech's back, sparing only a brief thought to tell his combat partner to come when he called, Slade crouched to lessen the impact of his fall. He still ended up in an ankle-deep depression for his trouble, but he couldn't honestly care about any of that.
Because he'd just found Saber; his younger twin had been knocked into the side of what remained of one of the mesas that had surrounded the Command Center while it had still existed, and even as he watched Saber lost his hold on his transformation. There was what looked like fresh, pink scarring on both of his younger twin's wrists as well as at the point where Saber's left shoulder met his body, but Slade found that he couldn't care about any of that.
Because Saber was alive, here and now, and that was all that mattered.
"Thank God," Slade muttered, gathering his younger twin's unconscious form into his arms and holding him as tightly as he dared while he was still in his own armor. "Thank God."
