The deep, steady rumbling of the Green Earth's engine was the first thing Maggie noticed when she woke up, especially since it's been one of the things that Saber was the most vocal complaining about whenever it got to him too much. She didn't really know – she couldn't, under the circumstances – just what it was like, living with the enhanced senses that Slade and Saber had been altered to have by the Radam. She wasn't particularly sure she wanted to know, either; both because it was obvious that the two of them still had problems dealing with sensory-overload, and because the only way to gain those kind of enhanced senses was to be transformed by the Radam.

She didn't want anything more to do with the Radam than was absolutely necessary under the circumstances.

The sound of running footsteps on the deck-plating drew her attention, just in time to see Slade, Saber, and Ringo go rushing into the aft section of the Green Earth. That probably meant that there were more Spider-crabs around, and that meant that she should probably go and start fixing breakfast so their fellow Space Knights would have something to eat when they got back. They always seemed to be facing Spider-crabs lately, and while Maggie couldn't find it in herself to honestly wish they were facing Axe or Rapier, she couldn't stop wondering just what the two of them were planning, either.

It couldn't be anything good, she knew.

As she got out the bag of potatoes so she could begin peeling them and preparing breakfast, Maggie smirked as she remembered Tina's oft-repeated complaints about the state of their figurative pantry. Sure, none of them were particularly happy to be having potato dishes day-in and day-out, but Tina was far and away the most vocal of them about her dislike. Sometimes it could be annoying, but Maggie honestly enjoyed teasing the younger girl about it; it was a nice reminder that the war against the Radam wasn't all they had in their lives.

She was making home fries this morning, something Saber had told her about, and both twins had seemed to appreciate on occasion. It'd been kind of fun, having Saber help her out in the Green Earth's small kitchen, showing her how to make dishes that his older brother had made for their family. Yeah, it wasn't so fun when Saber would pause – those times when he got lost in memories of when he actually had a real family – but at least Maggie had been close enough to distract him with talking about the meals they were trying to prepare together.

She knew it wasn't good for anyone to keep dwelling on everything they'd lost; no matter how much of a right to their grief anyone had.

Pushing those unhelpful thoughts aside as the remainder of her fellow Space Knights began filling the room, including the three who'd been fighting Spider-crabs not so very long ago, Maggie smiled for them as she started dishing out the food she'd prepared. Sure, none of them were particularly happy to have potatoes again, but it was still nice to have all of them there.

1001001001001

A few hours after they'd finished breakfast, they naturally found themselves being attacked by Spider-crabs again; the Wonder Twins were quick to dive into the fray, and Ringo grinned slightly as he climbed into the Tekno-suit and joined the two of them in the air with the Spider-crabs closing in on all of them. Things went pretty much the way they always did, right up until he saw the struggling form of a woman with her ankle trapped under a boulder.

Landing next to the woman, Ringo lifted the boulder free from her leg, all the while the Wonder Twins were flying over the two of them in an effort to guard them. Helping the woman back to her feet, Ringo led her off the battlefield while the Wonder Twins guarded their backs. With the two of them there to keep the Spider-crabs away from him and the woman he'd just rescued, Ringo was able to get the woman over to the twins when the two of them had landed after dealing with the remainder of this batch of Spider-crabs.

Still, he knew just as well as any of them that more were going to be coming; it was only a matter of time.

"You all right?" he asked, setting the woman back on her feet just as Saber transformed out of his Teknoman form.

"Yeah, I think so," she said, though given the way she was blatantly favoring her left leg as she tried to stand on her own didn't give Ringo much confidence in what she was saying. Looked like it wasn't having much of an impact on Saber, either, considering the way he rushed right over to support her. "How can I thank you? I owe you my life."

"It's all right," Saber said, taking more of her weight as he shifted. "We were in the area, and you looked like you needed the help."

"I'd still like to repay you for your kindness," the woman said earnestly, as Saber helped her make her way over to the Green Earth.

"Well, if you insist," Saber said, his tone still sounding a bit conflicted; he probably didn't want to offend her by refusing.

As the two of them made their way to the Green Earth, Ringo scanned the skies one last time for any more approaching Spider-crabs, before turning to rejoin his fellow Space Knights. It sounded like Slade waited a bit, before making his own way back to the tank. Ringo wondered, just for a moment, when they'd be coming to that town that he'd heard was down this way. The Green Earth was starting to run low on power again, so the sooner they and their fellow Space Knights made it there, the better.

Once the three of them had made it the rest of the way to the Green Earth, Ringo sighed in relief as he stepped out of his Tekno-suit and made his way into the main area of the Green Earth again. The first thing on his mind, and he'd bet a fair bit that he wasn't the only one, was getting some grub. Even if the only thing they'd had to eat lately was potatoes.

001010010011

She hadn't known just what to expect when three of the Space Knights themselves had come racing out of the sky to rescue her from those alien monsters; yes, she'd known who the three of them were as soon as she'd gotten a good look at their armored forms as they'd descended to attack the Spider-crabs that had been falling down towards her where she'd been trapped. She was particularly grateful to both Ringo and Saber for helping her to the large… she couldn't quite decide what to call the vehicle they all seemed to be traveling in, but since Saber and Ringo had both referred to it as the Green Earth, Rachel decided that she would simply do the same.

Following Saber up the boarding-ramp and into the Green Earth itself, Rachel tried not to lean so much on Saber while she walked, but with her leg in the condition it was, she couldn't manage that for more than a few steps before she had to stop again. Saber did smile at her, so Rachel knew that he was aware of what she was trying to do for him, and at least grateful for it as well even if she couldn't manage to keep it up for very long.

The two of them made their way into what seemed to be a sort of living area, and Rachel quickly found herself facing the main group of Space Knights. The ones that had been working so hard for so long to save the world from the Radam; she didn't remember all of their names, but Rachel made herself a promise that she would learn them. That was really the least she could do for these people, these people who had sacrificed everything for the world and the people around them.

The Space Knights were just the kind of people who deserved to be remembered in this world: the kind who found the strength to defend not only the people they knew, but people that they would probably never even meet during their lifetimes. That was the kind of bravery that Rachel often found herself wishing to see from more people in this day and age. Because, in spite of everything that had happened in the world, all the suffering that she'd been unfortunate enough to witness firsthand, or even just to hear about from the people who had come to her farm looking for sanctuary or even just a place to rest.

People like Balzac.

She wondered for a moment if Balzac had had anything to do with these people, if there was some way she could have asked him about it without bringing up those memories that had clearly been painful for him to recall. Settling down on the seat near the back of the cruiser's cockpit, she smiled slightly as she heard another woman – someone Saber called "Mags", which she thought sounded like a nickname – calling to Saber. He smiled at her, turning to leave the room with the woman so that he could help her prepare the lunch that she'd been talking about.

"Here, let me help you," another woman, this one with long, black hair in contrast to the other woman's short red hair.

"Thank you," she said, as the other woman wrapped and bandaged her sore ankle. "What's your name, by the way?"

"My name is Star," she said, smiling gently; Rachel thought the expression was perfectly at home on her face. "What's yours? If you don't mind my asking."

"Not at all," she said, returning Star's smile. "My name is Rachel."

"There, all done," Star said, tying off the last knot of the bandage she'd wrapped. "Rachel, we understand there's a town nearby."

"Well, there was a town around here, but it was destroyed by the aliens," she said, not wanting to be the bearer of bad news, but knowing that she had to tell them, all the same.

"How awful," Star said, and Rachel could see the sympathy she had for those poor, displaced people reflected in the other woman's eyes.

"That's just great," Ringo said, the blond man sounding like he'd come to the end of his patience. "We're almost on empty. How're we supposed to fill the tank now?"

Before anyone else could say anything, the huge cruiser rumbled up and over what felt like a small cliff, jostling everyone inside, and also bringing that red-haired woman who'd left with Saber earlier back into the cruiser's cockpit with them.

"Do you mind? You nearly knocked all of the potatoes off the table," she said, sounding annoyed, but in a good-natured sort of way. "If Saber hadn't been there to catch them, I'd have ended up having to clean them all over again. It's hard enough trying to cook dinner, without having you running over each and every single bump in the road."

"Potatoes again?" exclaimed the young girl that she'd seen sitting in the seat opposite her and Star when she'd sat down.

"I am so sorry, mademoiselle," the red haired woman said, in a tone of good-natured though slightly annoyed teasing.

Rachel couldn't quite understand the word that the red-haired woman said to the girl next, but it set the two of them off into an argument about their situation. Apparently, the Space Knights were starting to run low on food, after having traveled so long between towns. They might have been planning to replenish them at the next town they stopped in, but… that wasn't really possible anymore.

"Hey," she called, drawing their attention before they could start fighting about something so easy to solve. "Listen, why don't all of you come to my house for dinner?" she offered, knowing that it was the least she could do to thank them for their kindness; not only in saving her from those alien monsters, but in continuing to protect the Earth from the Radam. "I bet you haven't had a home-cooked meal in quite a while," she said, over the happy exclamations of the two other women she'd met.

"That's sweet," Star said, smiling up at her as Rachel herself stood up. "Are you sure it's all right?"

"My pleasure," she reassured them all, smiling more widely. "We don't get much company out here nowadays."

The girl seemed particularly happy about that, though she also seemed eager to tease the woman seated in the seat next to Ringo – the woman whose name turned out to be Maggie – and Rachel laughed as the two of them began arguing again. Laughing softly as Maggie left to go get Saber, Rachel wondered just how Balzac would react to meeting these Space Knights she was bringing back to them. He'd never really been interested in talking about his past, but she'd learned at least some of it from what Rick and Balzac would talk about.

She knew he'd been a member of the AEM, and that he'd been some kind of intelligence agent, but beyond that she hadn't known a thing about the past of the man she'd opened her home to when he was clearly at his lowest. Maggie soon came back with Saber in tow, and he thanked her for the offer of dinner, seeming particularly relieved that he wouldn't end up having to have another meal consisting entirely of potatoes.

She smiled, glad to have been able to offer at least some hospitality.

"I have a small solar power generator at my house," she said, to assuage Ringo's probable worries about just where they would be able to gain the power they needed to continue on the next leg of the journey they were all clearly making. "It's not much, but I can let you hook up for the night, at least."

"Thank you, Rachel," Star said, smiling gently at her. "That's very kind of you."

Returning Star's smile, Rachel settled herself back into her seat. She was glad to be able to offer at least some form of hospitality in return for what all of them had done for her.

1001001001001

When Rick had had raced out to meet the approaching Space Knights, Balzac hadn't known what to do with himself at first. This day had started out just as simple as any of the others he'd spent down on this farm with Rick and his sister, the woman who'd taken him in when he'd crashed back to Earth after his first and last battle with that Radam Teknoman Spear; the woman who'd saved his soul, who'd shown him that there was a life beyond scrabbling for whatever power and prestige he could grab for himself before someone else snapped it up. Sure, he'd swiped a couple tomatoes for himself and Rick, but Rachel was more likely to gently chide him for that rather than get outright angry about it. But now, finding the Space Knights – Slade and Saber in particular, since those two had been the focus of his efforts and ire both when he'd been working under Gault – all but standing on the doorstep of the farm where he'd managed to find some peace and peace of mind for the first time in a long while, Balzac found himself almost perversely eager to go over and meet them.

He didn't remember much of what he'd actually said to them, with their group of six all gathered around the boarding ramp of that huge mobile base of theirs, since it mostly felt to him that he was babbling for the sake of just saying something, but since none of them tried to punch him – he knew better than most that if Saber had objected to his being there, he'd have known it right off – Balzac allowed himself to relax a bit in their presence.

As Rachel took the lead, guiding all of them back to the farmhouse where she, he, and Rick all lived alone here in the countryside, Balzac tried to ignore the wary looks all of the Space Knights seemed to be shooting him. If anyone had a right to their suspicions, it was the people he'd caused so much trouble for back when they'd first met. He could hardly argue that he'd made the best of first impressions, but he'd made up his mind to do the best he could with this second chance he'd gotten.

Not everyone got the chance to correct a bad first impression.

The sun was starting to set in earnest by the time the nine of them made it to the farmhouse and started to settle in around the table. He was still getting wary looks from the gathered Space Knights, but after all he'd done to them in even the short time they'd found themselves together, Balzac couldn't find it in himself to blame them. The smell of fresh meatloaf wafting through the air drew the attention of all the waiting Space Knights, and the six of them seemed to mutually decide to put aside the unease they clearly felt for him while they all ate.

And sure, he knew that it wasn't going to last the night, but he was grateful for it all the same.

"Here, Saber," Tina said, grinning as she offered Saber a large, juicy piece of meatloaf. "You can have this one."

"Thanks, Tina," the Teknoman said, smiling amusedly as Maggie made an exaggerated pouting face at the two of them.

"You rat, you knew I wanted that piece," Maggie said, frowning at Tina as the girl stuck out her tongue out.

"Easy, girls; not at the table," Saber said, smirking at the pair of them as he cut the piece on his plate neatly in half. "Here," he said, offering the half nearest to her to Maggie.

"No, no," Maggie said, smiling gently at him. "I know you need that a lot more than I do. Doesn't stop Tina from being a sneaky little rat," Maggie continued, sticking out her own tongue at the girl sitting across from her.

"All right, that's enough out of you two," Ringo said, smirking at the two of them. "No fighting at the dinner table."

He smiled softly as Rachel laughed. "Really, Ringo, I enjoy it when people feel comfortable enough to just be themselves around here," Rachel said, smiling as she looked over at the section of the table where Maggie, Tina, and Saber had all made themselves comfortable while they ate.

He was glad that they were all getting along, not only because it was at least one way for him to atone for what he'd done to them in the past, but considering what all of them were dealing with, they deserved to take the time to rest up a bit. Though he could still feel the wary eyes of a couple particular Space Knights tracking him through the room as he went on his way. Still, it wasn't like he wouldn't have been doing just the same, if he'd been in the same situation those kids had been in when he'd met up with them.

If he'd been in their shoes, he wouldn't have been very fond of himself, either.

"Slade, are you not feeling well?" Rachel asked, since he'd been the one being the most obvious about keeping a wary eye on him; not that he could really blame the kid, but most people wouldn't be equipped to know that kind of thing.

"Hey, Slade, don't be rude," Ringo said, trying to laugh off what the kid was doing; and sure, it was kind of awkward to have Slade constantly staring him down over the meal that Rachel had prepared for them, but he couldn't say anything about it without coming off as a complete hypocrite. "She fixed this nice meal just for us; tell her it's delicious!"

"That's all right, Ringo," Rachel said, laughing gently. "Let him relax; they've all had a long day," she paused, smiling gently. "I still find it astounding that you all know my friend Balzac."

"How did you meet? Were you all in the army together? Were you spies, like he was?" Rick asked, words nearly spilling over into one another in his sheer enthusiasm.

"Yes, how do you all know each other?" Rachel asked, a kind smile on her face.

"It's a long story," Slade said, glancing at Rachel and then turning to Saber as the two of them got up from the table and moved over to sit closer together.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Rick asked, looking at the particular knot of Space Knights who'd been staring holes in him all through the meal; and through most of the evening, come to think of it. "Aren't you guys friends? I thought you all worked together!"

001010010011

He could sense his younger twin's stifled amusement, but all Slade could really concentrate on was Balzac's smug silence. It was like the two of them were always moving in opposite directions, and though he knew it wasn't particularly charitable of him to think that way, Slade still found himself resenting the good fortune that the ex-spy had managed to stumble his way into.

(I'm starting to wish we hadn't come here,) he admitted, knowing that Saber would completely understand how he felt about… everything.

(Yeah; it's nice to have good food and all, but I definitely hear you about the company.)

The two of them continued eating in silence, Slade keeping a watchful eye on Balzac as Saber made small-talk with Rick and Rachel. He didn't quite know what the other man's angle was, but he knew the kind of man the ex-spy was. He didn't know just how his encounter with Spear had ultimately affected him, but he knew that there were really only two ways that that kind of near-death experience could have affected someone in his position.

All that remained, now, was to find out just how Balzac's near-death battle with Spear had affected him.

When the man in question had left the room, pleading exhaustion and the fact that he had chores to do come the next morning, Slade couldn't help but be painfully reminded of his time as Ness Carter. That was something he would have been worried about, too: chores, and homework assignments, and whether or not he was going to get to school on time. Slade… he and Saber hadn't had those kinds of concerns in so long that he hardly remembered what they were like.

Turning away before he could say something he wouldn't be able to take back, Slade bumped Saber's right shoulder, and the two of them made their way out of the house.

(Managing okay, big brother?)

(I will be,) he said, as the two of them made their way away from the lighted interior of the small farmhouse and out into the starry night.

(I guess we both just need some time to get used to this,) Saber returned, as the two of them continued on out the door, their changed eyes adjusting in the space between one blink and the next.

Slade tried not to think about it, since it was ultimately just one more reminder of just how inhuman he and Saber were now.

Ringo came out to meet them a few minutes after they'd left the building; apparently, he'd managed to negotiate them some room and board for the night. It was a nice thing, knowing that there were still people in the world who'd be willing to support them even without knowing quite who they were, he just hoped it wouldn't end up bringing this little family more trouble in the end. It would be a poor way to repay her kindness, bringing the Radam down on her head.

He just hoped their cursed luck wouldn't end up putting another innocent person in danger.

Following the others to bed, yawning slightly as the activity of the past day finally caught up with him, Slade hoped that he and his fellow Space Knights would be able to get at least some rest, in spite of everything that kept happening all around them. He knew it was probably a vain hope, with the Radam here in force and two Teknomen in particular that seemed more than a bit interested in them, but Slade found that he couldn't quite stop himself from hoping. No matter how futile it ended up being, in the end.

1010010110101

He felt a large, gentle hand settling itself down on his head, even as he continued searching for the pair of mental signatures that were so familiar to him after all the time he'd spent looking for them.

(I know it's not an easy thing, following the mental signal of people who keep moving around, but you're doing very well, Sam.)

(They're not moving anymore, Goddard-sensei,) he said, looking out into the distance, facing the direction of Cain and Ness' mental signals; they were clear to any Teknoman who might have tried to look for them, which might have meant that they had let their guard down for some reason… but, it also might have meant that they wanted to be found. (They've stopped.)

Rapier knew what he wanted to believe, but he also wondered just what would ultimately end up being true.

(Really? Let me see, Sam.)

Rapier could sense his mentor's interest over the mental link that they both shared, and as Goddard-sensei placed his large, warm hands on Rapier's temples to better focus their respective telepathic links, Rapier felt his own mind opening up still farther. This would make it all the more easy to find out just where it was that Ness and Cain had decided to settle for the night. And then, maybe Rapier would be able to find the answer to his question.

010010010000

When he'd heard Slade shifting back and forth in the bunk just above him, and more than that when he hadn't heard his older twin's breathing evening out as he fell asleep, Saber knew that he wasn't the only one who couldn't quite manage to figure Balzac's angle in all this.

(Couldn't sleep either?) he asked, knowing that it was a rhetorical question but still feeling the need to ask, all the same.

(No. You want to get some air?) Slade asked, and Saber knew that his older twin would appreciate his company, but would also understand if he wasn't particularly interested in leaving his warm, cozy bed.

(I guess I could use some, too,) he allowed, smiling slightly. (Thanks for thinking of me, brother.)

(Of course, little brother.)

The two of them pulled on the rest of their Space Knight uniforms, and tried to be as quiet as they could while making their way out of the farmhouse where they and their fellow Space Knights had been able to take shelter for the night. Saber didn't know if they were going to be able to stay for any more than just the night they had, and more than that he didn't know if he'd be open to it if Rachel had tried to offer. It wasn't safe, for one thing: Axe and Rapier were still out there, and there was no telling when the two of them were going to show up again.

There was no question in Saber's mind that they would, of course; their orders from Darkon notwithstanding, the two of them had been thoroughly determined people even before the Radam had dug their hooks in.

When they finally did manage to find Balzac, the ex-spy was doing something that Saber would have been the first to deny being possible if he hadn't been there to see it himself: Balzac seemed to be paying his respects, in some strange way. Sure, Saber wasn't exactly what your average person would call normal, but… Still, of all the things he'd expected Balzac to be doing, talking to a dead man in front of what was clearly his old, broken-down Tekno-suit hadn't been one of them by a long-shot.

He and Slade stood back, not wanting to interrupt the man during what was clearly a private moment, right up until he mentioned Spear. That was when they both knew that, no matter the kind of peaceful life he'd be leaving behind, Balzac was going to follow them whether they invited him or not.

(Well, I guess we'd better go see if he's got his head on straight now,) Slade said, sounding about as resigned to their new situation as Saber himself felt.

(Well, they say that being close to death changes a person,) he said, as the two of them made their way over to where Balzac was standing. (We'll just have to hope he changed into a better person.) And, while we're hoping for miracles, I'd really like the Radam to leave without forcing us to kill the rest of our family and friends.

He wasn't about to say it, of course, but given the kind of man Balzac had been, Saber wasn't going to go in hoping for too much.

"What're you two doing up so late?" Balzac asked, as they came out from behind the cover of the small rock formation and over to where he was standing, next to the ravaged Tekno-suit. "I thought you boys had gone to bed."

"Trouble sleeping," he said breezily, taking the lead in conversation, the way Slade always seemed content to let him do when the two of them were together.

"Huh," Balzac scoffed lightly, sticking his hands as deep as they would go into the pockets of his pale, faded jeans. "As a matter of face, I had a hard time getting to sleep, myself. Well," he said, turning and beginning to make his way back to the farmhouse the three of them had left; Saber figured now was the best chance they'd be getting. "See you boys in the morning. Good night."

"We've located the Radam's main base," he said, tucking his own hands into his pockets as Balzac stopped dead in his tracks. "If you can count on finding Spear anywhere, it'll be there. The base itself is on the Moon."

"He might as well be in another galaxy, for all the good we'll be able to do now," Slade groused, clearly wanting to make his own voice heard during the course of their conversation.

"Yeah; we'll still need to get our hands on a pair of teknocrystals if we're going to have any real chance of getting up there, the way things stand right now."

Balzac cleared the distance between the two of them in a leap that, while being respectably fast by human standards, still looked slow as far as Saber was concerned. And yeah, Saber knew he could have thrown the other man to the ground when he'd grabbed for the collar of Saber's Space Knight vest, but it was more than clear that the ex-spy wasn't thinking much about what he was doing.

"Are you sure?! You aren't lying to me, are you Saber?! If I help you find those crystals, we'll really be able to get to where Spear's been hiding himself?!" He didn't even have to say a word, before Balzac seemed to force himself to regain his composure, letting go of his collar so that the both of them could straighten up again. "Saber, I'm sorry. It's just, whenever I think about Spear, I lose control. But hey," he said, trying to sound as light and breezy as Saber himself did, those few times he'd wanted to do something that he'd known he probably shouldn't. "Those days are behind me, right? That has nothing to do with me now."

"Of course not," he said, matching Balzac's uneasy smile with one of his own; more sad than uneasy, it had to be said.

Balzac sighed. "You don't believe a word I'm saying, do you?"

He smiled a bit more widely, though he honestly doubted the expression reached his eyes. "You really want an honest answer?"

Balzac closed his eyes, shaking his head in that way people did when they didn't want to think about a subject they'd been discussing, so Saber let the subject drop. He wasn't heartless enough to keep pressing on what was clearly an old wound that hadn't quite healed yet. It was something he tried to keep in mind, even when he hadn't liked someone; still, Balzac seemed to have become a better person through what had clearly been a near-death experience.

It couldn't have been anything else, considering who he'd been facing.

"We should really get to bed now, you know," Balzac said, turning away and starting to make his way back to the cabin in earnest.

1011011001001

Reaching down to ruffle Sam's hair, as his youngest student locked onto Ness and Cain's minds to ensure they hadn't moved from their position yesterday, Axe reached out to the group of Spider-crabs that he had gathered to himself in order to deal with whatever allies – most likely those humans that he and Sam had met previously – and gathered them up in order to sent them out.

001010101000

Making her way out of the door of the house where she, Lance, and her beloved Conrad had all been staying together while he recovered from the damage that his traitorous youngest brother had inflicted on him, Sword looked up into the sky as she saw a Spider-crab descending upon them. Carrying the unconscious form of her dear beloved up to the creature that stood before them, she watched in some apprehension as the creature almost gingerly gathered him up and began wrapping him up in a cocoon in order to carry him back to the Space Ring, so that he could be healed and take his place at the forefront of Lord Darkon's forces. Once the Spider-crab had finished, only the vague outline of her beloved's form was visible, but Sword stayed there until the Spider-crab had gathered him up and leaped back into the air.

She continued watching, until the Spider-crab had vanished from even her enhanced sight.

(Be well, my love,) Sword said, though she was fully aware that he wouldn't be able to hear her as he was now.

0100010101001

They were all getting ready to leave now, the Space Knights that had stopped here for the day so that they could recover from their long journeys – however many they had made between the time their Command Center had been destroyed and however long it had taken them to get here to the farm – and Rachel had been speaking to Balzac about what he was planning to do. She already knew that he was going to go out with them, she'd seen the resolve in his eyes when he'd woke up in the morning, and more than that she had heard him talking with Slade and Saber last night.

Because of what she knew, Rachel wasn't afraid even when the Spider-crabs and Teknomen started attacking; she knew that Balzac would be fighting alongside them, and with the four of them all working together she knew that she wasn't in nearly as much danger as she had been when she'd first encountered the Radam.

Still, seeing the battle going on almost over her head wasn't good for her nerves, but Rachel knew that if she started panicking then there would have been no chance of her keeping Rick calm. And, if she didn't manage to keep him calm, there was an all too real chance that he would go running out into the battlefield and end up getting himself killed. That was the last thing she wanted, and so Rachel forced herself to remain composed while the battle continued.

It wasn't long before the pair of attacking Teknomen were driven off by Saber and Slade, so Rachel was able to relax at least a little after being so tense for so long.

1010111010101

It wasn't something he'd expected, really; being welcomed into the ranks of the Space Knights by those two crazy kids of theirs after everything he'd done to them, but Balzac wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Hey," he said, just as the rest of the Space Knights were all getting ready to begin heading down to what passed for their rooms in this huge base on wheels of theirs. "Do you boys mind if we talk?"

"Sure, Balzac," Slade said, seeming like he knew just what it was that they were going to be discussing. "What's on your mind?"

Sure, he'd never really been one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but if he didn't find out what was going on it was going to make him crazy… and, in this kind of fight, it might even get him killed.