The Commander had made a call out to someone, a doctor, and now Tina found herself wondering just when that doctor would make it out to them. Sure, not a lot of people lived or even worked up near the Alaskan Command Center, but just being stuck wondering when it was that whoever was coming up to help with Slade and Saber was actually going to get to the Command Center wasn't something that Tina enjoyed at all.
Still, this was probably just what it had been like for Slade and Saber, when they were waiting for the next of Darkon's Teknomen to attack them; or even for another Spider-crab attack.
That was why she was so happy to have found herself called back to the main communications room, in order to direct the transport carrying the doctor to a safe landing inside the Command Center, even though it had been kind of early.
"Attention, incoming: please identify," she prompted, hoping that this would be the doctor the Commander had requested, and that they would all be able to stop worrying so much about what was happening to Slade and Saber.
Though really, she knew that they'd only really be able to stop worrying once those two were awake and all right again; even the Commander hadn't really known just what kind of long-term effects that new transformation that Slade and Saber had ended up having to undergo, just so the stresses of their previous transformation wouldn't end up killing them. Still, it would help ease at least some of their worries.
That would have to be enough.
"Space Knights, this is Transport Ten," the pilot reported, sounding as relieved as Tina herself was starting to feel; she knew who was coming in on that transport. Or, at least who was supposed to be, anyway. "I've got the doctor, Hippocrates Cohen, onboard. You're lucky he still makes house calls."
Swallowing back the chuckle that seemed to almost want to force its way out of her throat – the joke hadn't even been that funny, but even just the attempt to lighten the almost oppressively heavy mood that had been hanging over them was something that she could be grateful for – Tina sighed in relief.
"Proceed to helipad, Transport Ten," she said, smiling softly; at least someone who knew what they were doing was going to be there soon. "And, welcome."
Letting herself breathe for the first time in what felt like a month, Tina hurried to make her way to the infirmary. She already knew that that was where the doctor would be headed, and she was just as eager as anyone to hear what he had to say. Even if it wasn't really good news, just knowing it would make her feel a lot better than she had.
Not knowing anything was horrible; maybe not the most horrible thing in the world, since most of those had already happened to Slade and Saber, but it was still horrible all the same.
"Hello, Commander," Star said, and Tina turned to look back over her shoulder as Commander Jamison and Dr. Cohen both made their way into the infirmary.
"Tina, has there been any change in their respective conditions?" the Commander asked, making his way over to her.
"No," she said, holding herself as steady as she could so that she wouldn't shudder. "They're both stable, and sometimes we can see them trying to contact each other, but they're both still comatose."
"They're all yours now, doctor," the Commander said, his right hand settling briefly on her right shoulder, as though he was trying to lend her some of his strength, no matter how much he must have needed it, himself.
She was grateful to him, but she still didn't know just what any of them were going to be able to do about all of this; still, just knowing what was going on would be something, though she didn't quite know if it would be good or bad. Listening as he talked to the Space Knight doctors who had originally been assigned to taking care of Slade and Saber while they were both recovering as well as they could from whatever had happened to them after their battle with Lance, Tina turned as Star spoke up.
"Dr. Cohen; we're counting on you."
As she watched him at work, however, Tina couldn't help wondering just when Slade and Saber were actually going to wake up; she knew it wasn't going to be easy, just leaving everything to the doctor while she couldn't do anything but watch him work, but Tina had already made a promise to herself that she'd hold it together. Besides, Star and Maggie both had it harder than she did. She wasn't the one in love with Slade or Saber.
"Fascinating," she heard the doctor say, and looked over to see if she could tell which of the monitors he was looking at. "You can actually see a visible change in their brainwaves when they attempt to use those telepathic abilities you informed me about."
Oh, so that's what he was talking about, she mused, taking a breath to settle herself. There wasn't anything else happening to them, just something that he'd been told about – probably by the Commander – that he was seeing for himself. Listening as the doctor went over everything that the monitors were telling him, none of it really all that new to her, Tina tried to keep herself from saying anything to disturb him while he was working.
There had to be a reason for Dr. Cohen to want all of the new readings he was requesting from their doctors, and while she was really curious about everything that was going on with Slade and Saber, Tina knew that she shouldn't interrupt something so important just because she was confused. Slade and Saber were a lot more important than her peace of mind, after all. So she stood back, watching, and tried to absorb everything she could about what Dr. Cohen was trying to do for Slade and Saber.
It was the only thing she really could do, under the circumstances.
As Dr. Cohen listed off the observations that he'd made about Slade and Saber, and more than that when it seemed like everything was coming out normal – well, as normal as it could, considering that Slade and Saber were both Teknomen – Tina found herself chewing the inside of her lower lip as she wondered just what in the world was happening to them. Even Dr. Cohen himself was forced to admit that all they could do was wait for Slade and Saber to wake up, and then see what went on from there.
Still, it was at least a bit of a relief to have an idea of when that was going to happen, even if it was just "soon".
"Poor guys," Maggie said, looking down at Slade and Saber where they continued to sleep on the medical beds that had been brought in for them awhile ago when they had both been transferred to this part of the infirmary. "After all they've been through, now this. They both might have more lives than a cat, but they also seem to have the worst luck in the world."
"Guess Slade was right, when he was talking about fate back then," Ringo said, sighing softly.
Tina almost wanted to ask him what he meant, but now probably wasn't the time for getting into things like that.
"True. Even so, it's impossible for me to believe that the pair of them won't be suffering at least some kind of side-effects from this entire ordeal," the Commander said, making his own way over to where all of them were standing. "After all, a person doesn't just undergo a complete physical metamorphosis every day. To say nothing of this prolonged comatose state the pair of them entered almost immediately after it."
"Sure, but who ever said that Slade and Saber were normal people?" Mac said, clearly trying everything he could to make the rest of them feel better. "I mean, there's still an awful lot about 'em that we don't understand. Maybe all this is part of the package."
"At least we can hope for the best," she said, trying to get into the spirit of things for everyone else's sake, even if she still wondered how everything was ever going to turn out all right in the end.
"I suppose I could be wrong about this," the Commander said, looking like he was thinking really hard about everything that was going on. "Truly, it wouldn't be the first time."
"You're doing your best with all this, sir," Mac said, and she turned to smile up at the Commander, too; he did so much for all of them, and he'd never even asked for a single thing in return. "We know just how much all of this means to you, Commander."
"We know you worry so much because you care about them," Maggie said, smiling in that way she always did when she was trying to reassure more people than just the ones that she was talking to.
Herself among them; considering the way that everyone knew she felt about Saber, though, Tina knew that none of them would have blamed her.
"I know you always have to keep the worst-case scenarios in mind, Commander, but I hope you're wrong, in this case," she said, knowing that Commander Jamison wouldn't take that kind of thing the wrong way.
They'd all worked together too long for those kinds of things to trip them up anymore.
010100100110
When he'd left the infirmary, with both the promise – conditional as it very well might have been – that the Wonder Twins would soon be back on their feet again and Balzac following closely in his wake, Ringo found himself almost inevitably drawn to the workshop where his and Balzac's Tekno-suits were maintained.
"Well, looks like you and I are going right back to the benches," Balzac said, sounding about as reflective as he'd ever heard the man.
It was still kind of weird hearing that kind of thing from the guy, particularly given the kind of spectacular ass he'd been when the Space Knights had first encountered him – or really, when the late, unlamented General Gault had foisted him off on them – but he had heard, more than a few times from more than a few people, that that close a brush with death could change a person. He was just glad that Balzac had changed for the better.
"Hey, as long as it means those kids of ours are going to have the chance to get back on their feet, I don't mind the change of scenery."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Balzac said, making his way over to the railing that Ringo himself was leaning against, as the pair of them looked down into the repair bay where both of their Tekno-suits were standing, waiting for the next time the pair of them would be called into battle.
Ringo had the feeling that that time wouldn't be long in coming.
101001001001
The sense of one of his last remaining warriors – Spear, he realized, after a moment's contemplation – washed over Darkon as he was just beginning to ponder the young human's uncharacteristic delay in reporting in as he'd been ordered. He seemed troubled, which indeed served to explain such reticence.
(What troubles you, Spear?) he asked, knowing that the young human was for the most part a logical sort, though he could at times become distracted by sentiment.
(My Lord,) Spear said, bowing with the expected deference as he did so. (I was simply uncertain if Sam was truly the best choice to bring along on this latest mission.)
(You would prefer that I recall Sword from her own assignment?) he asked, sensing the sudden increase of tension in his warrior's frame – the almost audible snap of his attention to a matter that he'd clearly been attempting to avoid thinking about, or simply hadn't considered in the first place – nearly as strongly as he could sense the unease in Spear's mind. (Or was that something you neglected to consider?)
(I suppose it was,) the young one – younger still, for the fact that he'd not even lived to the prime of his natural lifespan when the pair of them had been brought into contact, though such was the way of the Empire – said, and Darkon could clearly sense the struggle in his mind as he fought to retain his composure.
(I shall consider it a momentary lapse, then,) he allowed, pressing ever more sternly upon the young one's mind as the pair of them stood together in the main chamber of his Deep Scout. (However, I still expect that you will carry out your duties, Spear.)
(Of course, my Lord,) the young one – nearly the last of those who had been given over to him, and all the more determined for it – said, with a deep bow as he turned to leave.
This is swiftly becoming troublesome, he mused, ears laid back against his skull with the force of his annoyance. True, he'd hardly expected that such a task would prove to be simple, even in light of the increased power that he had been granted when he'd undergone the secondary transformation that all of those who served the Empire were required to go through if they wished to journey beyond the limits of the Empire's uncontested territory.
However, the loss of three of those who should have been his own, combined with the stubborn intractability of the humans who lived upon this contested world had made this operation more difficult by the day. It was completely senseless; any rational creature would have long since come to understand that the improvements the Empire offered – not only those that were merely physical, but also the sense of belonging and pride of purpose that every one of those who had given themselves over to the transformation in full felt as a matter of course – and given up the mad struggle that those humans and half-humans – the traitor twins still considered themselves members of the dominant species of the contested planet, such a thing had become more than clear after the many reports that Spear had made about their proclivities – seemed so determined to engage in.
Yes, there were ways that Darkon knew of, to give himself and those that remained to stand with him an advantage in this protracted struggle of theirs, but even at this stage Darkon found himself hesitant; for all that it had been diminished as of late, he did still relish his freedom.
001010010101
(Cain?)
(Hey, Nessie,) his younger twin responded, and Ness found himself smiling softly.
Sure, he and Cain might have gone through hell and come back – though most of the details of… whatever it had been were still more than a little fuzzy, and Ness had the weirdest feeling that that kind of thing was for the best – but at least the pair of them were still alive. Not like it's going to help with what we're dealing with, he mused, narrowing his eyes up at the ceiling even as he felt Cain reaching out to squeeze his right hand.
There was still the problem of dealing with the others; Conrad in particular, since he was Darkon's longest-lasting vanguard, and nearly the last actual Teknoman the pair of them were going to have to deal with. And, while he couldn't quite bring himself to think about what the ultimate outcome of their battle was going to end up being, Ness still found himself wanting to get to that end.
(I've been thinking-)
(I'll alert the media,) Cain cut in, with more than a few hints of sly amusement in his mental tone.
(Funny, wiseass,) he deadpanned, rolling his eyes as he got up, stretching slightly before turning to look over at Cain for the first time since the pair of them had ended up in the infirmary again. (Still, do you remember what happened?)
(We fought Lance, and I think there was something else. But…) Cain trailed off, and Ness opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling for a moment, before turning his attention to his younger twin.
(You can't remember it any better than I can, do you?) he asked, though he had the distinct feeling that that was something of a rhetorical question.
(Yeah, and I somehow get the feeling that I should be grateful for that,) Cain said, blue eyes opening as a sardonic smirk twisted his mouth.
(Yeah,) he said, sitting up in bed, himself. (Still, there's something kind of bugging me, you know?)
(Someone… O'Roarke? Did something happen to him?)
Ness found himself shuddering, though he wasn't quite sure why. There was something about whatever had just happened, whatever had to have happened, since it wasn't something that he currently remembered… It was annoying, not being able to remember whatever it was that had been going on. Whatever it was that had landed him and Cain in the infirmary again, Ness suspected he wasn't going to like it.
Not that he'd really liked anything that'd happened to him and Cain, ever since the day the tattered remnants of their family had escaped from the Radam.
Still, it wasn't like he could actually avoid anything that was going on; if nothing else, whatever was coming probably had something to do with the Radam, and the Radam would come for them whether he and Cain were ready or not. Even with everything he couldn't remember at the moment, that fact still stood out. Through pure repetition, if nothing else.
101001001001
He'd almost managed to forget, after spending so much time recovering, and then the time that he'd been able to spend with Kathy, the odd resemblance to a human heart that Lord Darkon's main chamber held. Still, even though he did sometimes find himself wishing that he could have spent at least some time exploring the environs of a ship that he somehow felt that he'd spent both too much time and too little in at once, Spear knew that he could ill-afford distractions at this crucial moment.
Time was, as it ever had been, closing in on them.
(It's good to know that you've recovered so completely, Spear.)
(Thank you, my Lord,) he said, bowing deeply, even as he found himself once again reflecting back on the troubles that he had been having.
Ness and Cain… the both of them had proven themselves not only to be far more stubborn than he had been hoping for, but to be outright murderous in their opposition. The loss of Goddard wasn't something even he had been expecting, considering how fond of him all of them had been. Of course, that had been before.
Before Ness and Cain had been stolen away from him by their traitor father, before they had made their misguided stand against the only family they truly had left, before they had begun murderingtheir way through the people they should have cared about above all others. Certainly above those humans they were making their doomed stand beside.
Having been given his orders once more; and having Sam assigned to him, though he tried not to think too deeply about the fact that he was dragging his little brother – his last brother, considering how Ness and Cain had turned their backs on the cause they should have been serving – into battle against a pair of murderous traitors. And, as much as he hated thinking of the twins so coldly, it was clearly what they were.
Their own actions had deemed them as such, so that was how Spear was going to have to treat them.
0100100011
When the both of them had finally managed to wake up properly, the first thing that Ness had wanted to do was to say a proper farewell to O'Roarke, since the two of them had finally managed to remember what had happened to the man. Well, they remembered at least enough to know he was gone; everything else that'd happened during their final battle with Lance was still fuzzy. He still couldn't help the feeling that that was a good thing.
It almost felt like some kind of instinct, that feeling that he shouldn't be trying to remember what had happened at the end of his and Ness' battle with Lance.
As the pair of them made their way into the greenhouse where O'Roarke had been buried, Cain heard the rustling sounds of someone else walking around. Turning slightly, Cain caught sight of the woman who seemed to be following in their footsteps. She seemed happy to see them, so Cain figured she was one of Ness' friends; there was something vaguely familiar about her, at least.
She was probably a friend he'd met at school, or something.
(Cain, you see something?)
(Looks like one of your friends is coming to visit, Nessie,) he said, glancing back over his shoulder as the woman came up to stand beside them at O'Roarke's gravestone.
(Oh, Star,) Ness said.
Blinking as he found himself remembering Star, at least in a vague sort of way, Cain turned slightly so that he could get a better look at her without risking a crick in the neck.
"Are you boys really sure you should be up and moving around?" she asked, though most of her attention seemed to be focused on Ness.
Cain laughed. "What, did you think we were going to spend all day in bed?"
"Well, considering how sick the both of you were," Star said, though she didn't seem to know what else to say; not on that particular subject, anyway. "Isn't it kind of strange, all of these plants, growing so well when it's below freezing outside?"
"That's greenhouses for you," he said, grinning back at her.
It was always funny when someone started bringing up awkward small talk in an effort to distract themselves from an awkward situation; an attempt that always seemed to fail.
"So, Slade, are you and Saber feeling all right?"
"Slade?" he echoed, feeling more than a little incredulous. "That's a weird nickname," he continued, looking back at Star as the three of them began making their way out of the greenhouse and back into the Command Center at large. (There something you're not telling me, Nessie?)
(Cain, you know I tell you everything,) Ness responded, the amusement he was feeling coming through clearly over the connection they shared. "Where'd you even come up with that, Star?"
"Yeah, we already introduced ourselves to you," he said, smiling as the three of them continued on their way.
0001010001001
Returning to the Space Ring, this time with Sam beside him, was a far more uncomfortable prospect than Spear had been hoping it would be; under the circumstances, it was no less than he'd been expecting, however.
"It's so good to see you again, my love," Kathy said, as he and Sam made their way over to where she was standing, watching over the Earth while she commanded their Spider-crabs for Lord Darkon.
"It's good to see you again, too, Kathy," he said, smiling even through the unease he still felt.
Kathy would be safe, here on the Space Ring among the Spider-crabs that would come to guard her if she only called for them, but Sam…
Feeling Kathy's hand on his right cheek, Spear sighed softly.
(I know you worry about the rest of our family, my love, but Rapier needs you to be strong,) Kathy said, stepping closer so that the pair of them could share a last embrace, before he was forced to depart on this latest mission of his. (He needs his brother to guide and protect him.)
(Yes,) he said, resting his chin on Kathy's right shoulder for a long moment. (Particularly in light of everything that continues to happen.)
Unspoken between them, of course, was the fact of what Ness and Cain had done to Lance – to Shinji – and what he was going to have to do to them, in response.
The sense of Sam, prodding curiously at his mind after he and Kathy had spent what felt like entirely too short a time in each other's arms, drew Spear's attention back to the present. Back to his duty to the Empire, and the measures he was going to need to take to fulfill it. Spear supposed he should have been thankful to Sam for the reminder, but for the moment all he felt was empty.
The pair of them departed swiftly, after that.
10101001001000
Glancing over at Cain, as the pair of them found chairs for themselves for the meeting that Commander Jamison had called, Ness snickered slightly as he saw his younger twin's fingers twitch in that way that signaled to anyone who knew him that he'd have been making the "talky hand" gesture if it wouldn't have been incredibly rude. Still, the Commander was kind of going on a lot, sounding like he was trying to get all of his thoughts in order more than trying to actually inform them about anything they didn't know.
Or, at least that was what it felt like, considering the fact that he and Cain already knew all of this, considering what the Radam had done to them; it was possible that he was speaking for the benefit of the other Space Knights, but then that did kind of beg the question of just why the pair of them had been invited to this meeting in particular.
"It all begins with the question of 'why'," the Commander said, standing at the front of the small conference room all of their main forces had been gathered together in. "Why did the Radam capture the Argos, and why did they transform Slade, Saber, and their family into Teknomen?"
"Bad luck and opportunity?" Cain suggested, before Ness could say that same kind of thing, himself.
Sure, the questions that the Commander was asking could easily be considered beside the point – considering the fact that all of this had already happened and all – but anyone who knew anything knew that you had to understand where you'd been to know where you were going.
"That could easily be true, Saber," the Commander allowed, and Ness found himself wondering once again just what the point of this meeting actually was; he and Cain would be a lot more useful on the front-lines, particularly considering the fact that Conrad, that Spear, was still after them. "However, there is also the matter of why any of you were transformed to begin with. It's possible that the Radam lack the ability to act for themselves, and hence require the use of intermediaries, such as humans, or those other extraterrestrial races that Saber implied to be under their control, as well."
"Yeah," Cain muttered, the look on his face telling Ness that his younger twin was thinking aloud for the benefit of their fellow Space Knights. "Darkon would be one of them; a Nandorian, I think. Or, at least that was the impression I got, back when we were on his ship."
Given the tone of his younger twin's voice, and the slight, almost unnoticeable hitch in his voice when he'd been speaking, Ness knew that he was thinking of the time that both of them had spent in the Tekno-system itself. Neither of them were particularly eager to think about that, of course, so it was only natural that his younger twin would try to talk around that kind of thing.
"Right, those kangaroo-looking guys you were drawing, back when Gunnar totaled your crystal," Ringo said, turning to him with a soft of commiserating look; Ness smiled back, since while it wasn't like anyone who wasn't another Teknoman could truly understand what he was going through, it was still nice for their friend to try.
"That still doesn't make much sense to me," Balzac said, biting his lower lip as he leaned against the wall farthest from where he and Cain were sitting. "I mean, you'd think that they'd have a group of humans," he and Cain both gave him a look, and Balzac winced slightly. "Former humans, at least, commanded by someone else who used to be human, too."
"That's just how the Radam's hierarchy works," he said, folding his arms as he settled back in his chair. "Darkon would have been a General, back before he encountered the Argos," chewing lightly on the inside of his lower lip for a moment, Ness made up his mind to continue; if the Commander really did want to know about the Radam, Ness was going to indulge him. "He'd have undergone a similar kind of transformation to the rest of us, once the last of the Argos' crew had been captured."
"What do you mean by that, Slade?" the Commander asked, turning to him with as Ness sat up straighter in his chair.
"In the Radam Empire, Generals don't command troops, they scout for new planets and navigate ships," he said, glancing briefly around at his friends and fellow Space Knights, before returning his attention to the Commander again. "Warlords are the ones that command Teknomen, so that's the kind of transformation that Darkon would have undergone, at the same time as the Argos' crew was being transformed into Teknomen."
"Wait, if Warlords command Teknomen, where do Primary Bodies come in? Or, are they just the first step before Teknomen?" Ringo asked.
"Primary Bodies are that, but they're also the lowest-ranking of the Radam's actual soldiers," Cain piped up, drawing the Commander's attention.
"Yes, I had begun to suspect that the Spider-crabs were not truly a part of the Radam's hierarchy," the Commander said, a hand to his chin as he nodded. "I am rather curious about the nature of those secondary and tertiary transformations you both alluded to. What are the requirements for an ordinary Teknoman to become a General?"
"I think it has something to do with leaving the Radam's territory," Ness said, thinking back on the few scraps of information that he could actually recall from the conditioning that he and Cain had been put through, before Dad had managed to pull the both of them out of their respective teknopods, and he and Cain had been able to make their way back to Earth without being brainwashed. "I think that, whenever a Teknoman is either selected to leave the Radam's territory or they request to do that kind of thing, they need to undergo the secondary transformation."
He couldn't quite remember anything beyond that, but given the contemplative look on the Commander's face, Ness got the feeling that he'd given the man at least something to think about.
"So, given what you are able to remember, in the absence of the Radam's uncontested presence in an area, any Teknomen in that area will undergo this secondary transformation?"
"If they're alone, yeah," he said, thinking back on what he could recall of the Radam, and in particular the knowledge that had been implanted in his mind while he'd been trapped in that teknopod.
"Are there any further mental changes made when a Teknoman undergoes this secondary transformation, or are the changes purely physical?" the Commander asked, and for a moment Ness thought that the man seemed more than a bit apprehensive.
"I think they're tied more deeply to the Radam and their way of seeing things," Ness said, reaching back for what little he could recall of the time he'd spent in the teknopod.
"Yeah, they couldn't have any of their Generals being disloyal or going rogue, after all," Cain said, and Ness looked over at his younger twin as he spoke up.
It was kind of a strange thing to think about, but the Commander seemed to be thinking all the more deeply, given what Ness and Cain had been telling him; it looked like there was a lot on his mind, but that seemed to be par for the course, considering what all of them were currently dealing with. Not to mention the way that the Radam seemed to be closing in around them like some kind of armored, alien noose.
To say nothing of the fact that Conrad – Teknoman Spear – was still out there, hunting for the both of them under Darkon's command.
When the Commander drew their attention to one of the Radam's blooming teknoplants, this one containing a human who was slowly being transformed into a Primary Body, Ness found himself realizing just what he'd been sensing since he and Cain had made their way into this room to begin with.
"Those are the planet-bound versions," Cain said, clearly in response to a question that the Commander had asked while Ness had been distracted. "The ones onboard the ships are the ones that move on their own."
Biting back his own, personal opinion of those damned alien flytraps, Ness sighed as he settled back into his chair. It seemed that this was more of a briefing than a meeting to decide what they were all going to do next. At least, that was how it seemed to him at the moment. That could still change, of course, but that was what it seemed like to him for the time being.
"Is there any way for us to get rid of those spoor trees?" Tina asked, bringing Ness' attention back to the meeting and everything that was going on. "Couldn't we, I don't know, chop them down or burn them up or something?"
"There's way too many of them," Mac said, as if that was the only reason why someone wouldn't want to try attacking the Radam's spoor trees.
"You'd also be dealing with the defenses of the spoor trees themselves," Cain said, and Ness found himself shuddering.
If there was one thing he didn't want to remember, it was the defenses that the Radam had given to those terraforming / bioforming weapons of theirs; not just the gasses they put out, but also the tendrils that all of them were equipped with. The gasses, though, thinking about what they could do… As hard as he tried to avoid the thought, Ness found that his mind wouldn't quite let him stop thinking about it.
Maybe it was just the current direction of their conversation.
"You mean the gas and those tendrils of theirs, don't you," Star added, not quite sounding like she was asking, so much as trying to confirm something that none of them really wanted to have confirmed.
"Yeah, that's right," Cain said, glancing over at her as they all tried to hash out just what it was that they were going to be able to do about the spoor trees.
To say nothing of the teknopods that they were going to be growing, when the time came.
As their discussion continued, however, Cain found himself more and more distracted by the sense of one – or maybe two, the signals overlapped enough that Cain couldn't quite tell if there was more than one of them, but the knowledge of just how few of their former family was actually left gave him at least some inkling of who might be coming – of the Radam's own enforcers brushed against his mind.
(Nessie, we're about to have company.)
00010100010100
Narrowing his eyes as he considered the compound he and Sam had found themselves faced with, Spear reached down to ruffle his little brother's soft hair. If there was one thing he truly hated about this mission, it was the fact that none of the choices he had been left to make were good in any sense. The final two members of his family, the only two that he truly had left, were also those that were required to stand at his side at this late hour.
As much as Spear might have despised the idea, Sam and Kathy were the only two soldiers that Lord Darkon could make use of, anymore.
11101001001111
(So, where do you think he's going to be coming from?) Ness asked, after the pair of them had gone back to his room, after not having found much more than a thin mental thread that didn't seem to connect to anyone in particular.
It was plain that Conrad was shielding himself from them, since neither of them had been able to track their older brother even though they both knew he was coming; neither of them really wanted to think about it, but there was a fairly big chance that they were going to have to deal with Sam, too.
The sight of Star's face on the comm. that connected all of their rooms, something that Cain was still getting used to, since the lack of privacy in particular was kind of irksome.
"Are you two all right?" she asked. "You left the room so suddenly, and I guess I was worried about you."
"That was nice of you," he said, since Ness didn't quite seem up to talking.
"Did you sense one of the others coming?" she asked, looking more than a bit worried at the prospect; Cain could understand why, though it was still kind of weird that she seemed to know about that kind of thing. "Is that why you left so quickly?"
"It kind of felt like Spear was getting closer, but now it seems like he's shielding his presence from us," he said, perching lightly on the end of the bed where behind the chair that Ness had plopped down in nearly as soon as the pair of them had made it back to his room.
Cain didn't quite remember where his room was, but he and his twin had never really been shy about sharing with each other, so things worked out; at least as well as they could, considering who they knew was coming.
"Why are you so concerned?" Ness demanded, sounding more than a bit snappish. "We don't know each other that well."
Sure, Cain could understand, considering the way they'd been tracking Conrad's presence, the fact that he'd clearly managed to sense them doing that and then shield himself from detection, and the fact that they knew he was still coming. But still…
"Don't mind him," Cain said, smiling. "He's still antsy about sensing our big brother coming."
"So, he is still coming?" Star asked, sounding like she didn't quite want to believe it.
Really, neither did Cain, but it wasn't like denying reality would help anyone, here. "Yeah; it's pretty clear he's only shielding himself from us, but we know he's coming. So, forewarned is forearmed, I guess."
"I guess you're right," Star said, clearly trying to smile for the both of them, in spite of everything they all knew was happening.
What they all knew was going to be coming.
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Knowing that she needed to warn the Commander, since everyone was in danger if Spear showed up and no one knew to prepare for him, even in spite of the fact that there was really nothing anyone but Slade and Saber could do to fight him. There was also the unsettling thought that neither of them seemed to quite remember what Slade meant to her, and it suggested… Well, she didn't know quite what it suggested, but she wanted at least some reassurance. Still, given everything that was going to be happening, she didn't know just what that reassurance was actually going to be worth.
Finding herself standing before the door of the Commander's office, Star took a deep breath and made her way inside.
After she'd made sure that the Commander understood the danger they were all about to be in, Star gathered her composure and pressed on.
"There's also something else, Commander," she said, knowing that the Commander would want to know that there was something else bothering her, even if there wasn't much he could ultimately do. "When I talked to Slade and Saber about what was happening, neither of them seemed to… Well, it almost seemed like neither of them remembered the relationship the three of us had."
"That's odd," the Commander said. "I'll contact Dr. Cohen. Perhaps this is another side-effect of the secondary transformation the pair of them were forced to undergo."
"Maybe," she said, still feeling more than a little unsettled by everything that was happening.
Not just the fact that Slade and Saber didn't seem to remember her as much more than an acquaintance, not just the fact that the stalking presence of Slade and Saber's brainwashed older brother was closing in on them, but a combination of everything that had been steadily coming down on them ever since the Radam's invasion had begun. It was the uncertainty that was really the worst, Star reflected, as she followed the Commander back to the medical bay. When Dr. Cohen pulled up the scans he had taken of the twins' brains, Star found herself studying them intently, as well.
Star just wished she knew what they were looking for.
According to Dr. Cohen, there was no physical indication of what might have been happening to them, but it was starting to seem like – in a strange, unsettling parallel of the way the both of them had pretended to have amnesia when they had first met the Space Knights – Slade and Saber were actually beginning to suffer from amnesia. It was a sad, troubling thought, that Slade and Saber might be steadily losing the last part of themselves that could truly be called their own.
According to the doctor, Slade and Saber might start acting differently, and combined with what she could remember of the conversation that all of the Space Knights had had previously, it really seemed like the world itself was conspiring against the pair of them.
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Narrowing his eyes, as the sense of his traitorous younger brothers washed over him, Spear finally allowed the pair of them to sense him properly. The feel of Sam's slender hand squeezing his own, though it was clearly intended to comfort him, only served to unsettle him all the more. The pair of them would be facing Ness and Cain, sooner than Spear would have ever wanted, and it was more than clear that neither of them held any mercy for even the members of their family.
Even though Goddard-sense and Shinji could truly only be called extended family, Ness and Cain had murdered them all the same.
And now, here he was, Sam at his side as he pressed deeper into the base where his traitorous younger brothers and the humans they had allied themselves with had moved to after their previous base of operations had been destroyed. There was little chance that he could trust to the sentiment that bound the rest of their family together, but Lord Darkon had given him his orders. And, unlike Cain and Ness, Spear wasn't the kind to abandon his duty.
Narrowing his eyes as he allowed his mental shields to lapse at last, Spear lightly gripped his younger brother's right shoulder, steadying the both of them for what they were going to have to face; sooner than later, if what he was sensing was truly accurate.
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"Hey, easy," Cain said, catching that Star woman who'd just tried to either tackle him or hug him – Ness couldn't quite decide which action he found more unsettling, since it wasn't like the both of them knew each other or anything – and setting her back on her feet. "You might not want to get any closer; Spear's coming, and I really don't think he's in the mood for a family meeting."
Feeling a slight smile pulling at his lips – trust Cain to deflect with humor, even when he didn't really understand why someone was trying to follow them into a battle where she could barely hope to end up as collateral damage – Ness huffed out an exasperated breath and turned back to face the woman who seemed bound and determined to stalk him.
"Look, I'm sure you have what you think are really good reasons for trying to follow us," Ness said, in spite of the clear and undeniable fact that he had no such certainty at all, still hurrying all the while to keep up with Cain's unbroken stride; they'd need to intercept Conrad as close to the entrance as they could, if they were to have any hope of keeping him from tearing this base apart looking for them. "But, stay here, all right? You won't survive a fight between the three of us."
Leaving out the possibility that Sam might have been present – that he and Cain might end up having to fight their littlest brother – at Conrad's side, Ness turned back to head for the motor pool. As fast as any Teknoman was, they were going to need to be faster if they expected to stop Conrad before he breached any farther into this new base of theirs.
He was at least glad that he'd managed to convince Star to stay back, since that was one less thing for him to worry about, and as he opened himself up to the sense of just where his and Cain's older brother was, Ness closed his eyes for a long moment. It looked like they were going to have to face Sam, this time.
(You sensed it too, didn't you?) Cain asked, as the pair of them climbed into the nearest Jeep and set off for the place where they had been sensing Conrad's presence.
(Yeah,) he said, feeling a distinct sort of chill as he and Cain drew closer to the place where their older brother – nearly the last of Darkon's Teknomen, and currently the most dangerous for all that – was all but broadcasting his location from. (I guess he did decide to bring him, this time.)
The fact that Sam was there, the sense of their little brother's added presence growing more separate – more defined – as the pair of them closed with oldest and youngest brothers; or, at least the people who'd once been their oldest and youngest brothers. Shuddering slightly, Ness sighed as as Cain draped his left arm over Ness' shoulders. He tried to relax for as long as he could, since it wasn't as if they were going to have the chance to do anything but fight once the pair of them had met up with Conrad and Sam.
Or Spear and Rapier, since that was really who they were going to be fighting.
Once their Jeep had pulled up to the location they had been sensing the pair of Radam Teknomen, Ness took a deep breath. Leaning into Cain for a long moment, before the pair of them climbed out of the Jeep to confront nearly the last of their remaining family, Ness steeled himself for what was about to happen.
What he and Cain were going to have to do.
Narrowing his eyes as he and Cain piled out of the Jeep, catching Conrad's eye as their older brother turned to glare at them, Ness clenched his fists as he caught sight of Sam. He was trying not to dwell on it, but Sam really did seem to be worried about everything that was going on. He was the only one, though the way that Conrad all but shoved Sam behind him suggested that there was at least something that their former older brother cared about.
"So, are we doing this, or not?" Cain drawled, an unimpressed expression on his face as the four of them faced each other.
"Truly, I had been hoping to avoid this," Conrad all but snarled at them.
"Doesn't sound like it," Cain snarked in response.
Sam, standing just behind Conrad, tried to step out from behind their older brother's legs, but Conrad blocked him before he could take more than a single step. It was a painful reminder of what all of them had once been to each other, and over the telepathic link that he and Cain had been keeping open, he could sense the pain it was causing his younger twin. Of course, if anything could be said about the pair of them, it was that they each responded to pain in their own way.
Barely controlling his urge to leap at the thing that'd once been Conrad – and still had all of their eldest brother's inflections and mannerisms, though all of those were clearly strained to their absolute breaking point, under the circumstances; Ness honestly couldn't have cared less, under the circumstances – Ness was fully prepared when Conrad leaped at him. As much as he didn't like the thought, Sam's presence alongside Conrad seemed to be making their eldest brother twitchy. He'd always been the protective sort, even back when all of them had been little kids.
Back when they'd all still been human.
As the four of them engaged each other at last, grimly silent as Conrad and Sam tried to push their way forward, and he and Cain tried as hard as they could to push them back outside again, Ness ground his teeth. There was an unspoken stalemate between the four of them, the knowledge that the first one to disengage in an effort to transform would quickly be set upon by the other two.
Really, Sam was the only one who could manage such a thing unmolested, since he was the only one who could rely on Conrad's protection to keep him and Cain away for the few seconds that the transformation would take. Conrad seemed to know that, too, but his protective instincts were clearly working against him at the moment. He clearly still saw Sam as their baby brother.
Ness tried as hard as he could not to think of just how much it reminded him of how he still thought of Cain, sometimes.
(Looks like we're in a holding pattern,) he commented, not quite sure how to break out of said pattern, and knowing that his younger twin would have at least some kind of idea they could hash out together.
(Looks like big brother thinks he's covered all his bases, yeah,) Cain said, though Ness had the feeling that his younger twin would have been smirking if that wouldn't have given the whole game away.
Not that this was any kind of game, but Cain was the kind to pretend he thought it was, if only because he knew how much that kind of thing would have grated on Conrad's nerves.
(You've got an idea?)
(If we can make him blink, yeah,) Cain said, and Ness bit back a grin as Cain projected an image of just what was in his clever brain.
While it was true that they'd have one hell of a time disengaging from this stalemate of a fight they were all in by jumping back or to one side or another, there was still a whole third dimension to any battle between Teknomen.
The pair of them aimed a pair of high-kicks at Conrad's head, causing their brainwashed older brother to flinch just long enough for Ness to get his arms under Cain's feet so that he could launch his younger twin into the air.
"Tekno-power!"
The flare of energy that transformed his younger twin into Teknoman Saber again brought a small, tight smile to Ness' face. The sheer fury on Conrad's face caused it to widen into a fierce grin.
(All right, Nessie; I've got your back, now you go get Pegas!)
Not bothering with a confirmation – the pair of them knew each other more than well enough by now to know just what their roles in this fight were – Ness called for Pegas. Not knowing just when the mech that allowed him to transform with his broken teknocrystal would appear did leave him leaning a bit more on Teknoman Saber than Ness would have honestly liked, sure, but he was also fully aware that Cain would have just told him to get over himself if his younger twin could have heard the thoughts in his head. Or really, if Ness had been careless enough to broadcast them.
"Hey Sammy, catch!" Cain taunted, hurling his teknolance at the youngest of their two attackers.
Conrad intercepted the lance, of course, but it did serve to focus their eldest brother's full attention on Teknoman Saber, so Ness knew that Cain would consider it more than worth the price. Biting his lower lip as Conrad leaped onto Teknoman Saber and Saber proceeded to head butt him in the face, Ness looked back over his right shoulder as he heard the sounds of Pegas forcing open the armored doors leading to the garden that he and Cain had managed to drive Conrad and Sam into. Trusting Cain to keep their brainwashed brothers off his back, Ness made a run for the mech.
"Pegas, power on! Open inter-lock chamber!"
The familiar rush of energy that transformed him into Teknoman Slade washed over him, and Ness found himself once again in the familiar situation of a two-on-two fight. Somewhere along the way, Spear and Rapier had both managed to transform as well, so there went that advantage. There was a part of him that was just a little bit pleased, that he and Cain would be able to strut their stuff in a real fight, but Ness shoved that thought out of his mind as soon as he'd taken note of it.
That was Radam-thought if he'd ever had one.
