She felt nothing, a tranquility that seeped into her and out. Darkness seeped into her mind where she dreamt of dreams that were unrecognizable; an endless void in nothing that she wanted to decipher yet it was that nothing in it, that she did want to see far more of the unknown, for she was certain it contained key points. Her dreams formed to the smile of Kafka… and the girl with the bubblegum, Silver Wolf. She wanted to reach out for them but no matter how much she did, they were unreachable, her hands held out as a demand, a plea, of sorts for an explanation, they did not hear, and they left her to the void of her rest.
She was alone in the infinite void, forced to travel in her endless isolated mind of nothing within nothing.
"Does she look like a mannequin to you?" A female voice spoke, soft and high pitched, but it was not that of the allure of Kafka or the dryness of Silver Wolf, yet she was glad that her ears were not ringing anymore, able to hear them both.
"Weak pulse and heartbeat, and barely breathing…" The male voice spoke. "March. I believe you should do CPR."
"Eh?!" The owner of the female voice was quickly embarrassed, as if caught doing something she shouldn't have done. She must be this "March" the man was addressing. "Well… I… I've never done CPR before! It isn't as simple as trying out on a dummy like Welt Yang says it should! This is a live person! And why don't you do it instead, Dan Heng?! Why me?" She groaned, before her tone changed into one of teasing. "Don't tell me you're too embarrassed to touch her chest…"
"Not at all." The male owner's voice was dry, this "Dan Heng" she assumed, but she swore the tone of his contained a hint of embarrassment.
A giggle sounded out from March. "Seems like you're too embarrassed…" A sigh escaped her lips. "If you're too embarrassed to press your hand on her chest-"
"I'm not, March." He attempted to refute but was cut off as she continued as if she didn't hear him.
"And… well…" Hesitant to admit her own failure, she whined to nobody in particular, raising her hands and waving it around. "Why isn't Anakin here to do it with his Force Path powers instead since he can heal injuries and stuff? That skips us from having to perform CPR!"
March honestly did not have faith in herself. She admitted she had little knowledge regarding medicine or anything of the sort, and she was honestly afraid she would fracture a rib or damage her further instead of helping their unconscious companion before them.
Dan Heng sighed. This truly was getting them nowhere. Unlike what March said about him, he wasn't afraid to perform CPR on anyone. "From what Himeko told me, he's held up at the moment and said she'll contact us to let us know when he'll arrive at our location, as she already sent him the coordinates. But for now, we need to get whoever she is to safety, even if she is a stranger by all accounts."
The Vidyadhara shook his head. He may as well perform the deed then. But he didn't need to. The grey haired girl groaned, seeming to shift as she rapidly blinked a pool of golden irises. "Hey, don't get up too quickly." He reached up to gently guide her up, and nodded to March, reaching out to support her back and right shoulder.
From the darkness came the light and it was refreshing. She awakened as she heard a male voice, and wanting to get away from the void of darkness, attempted to quickly move up. "Hey, don't get up too quickly." The hands gripping her shoulders and back guided her up slowly, and she was certainly glad for the support.
Then she opened her eyes, a pool of radiant golden. A pink haired girl with a bow was at her right, giving her a earnest comforting smile yet flooded with concern, yet the dark haired man with a reserved countenance was wary, yet supportive.
"Don't get up and move right now." The man to her left instructed.
She didn't dare to even go against that order, as she was still attempting to make sense of what was going on.
The pink haired stranger to her right spoke. "Are you alright? You can hear me, right?" At a tentative nod, she proceeded with her questions. "How did you get here? Do you remember?"
"I… I don't remember how I got here." This was her voice. She managed to speak.
"Huh? You can't?" She casted a bewildered look for someone who surprisingly wasn't the one who just woke up now and had not a clue where even she was. "Ah! What about your name?! You must remember who you are as a person and your name!"
She hesitated for a moment, recalling through her memories, looking down at the floor. The man meanwhile turned to his pink haired compatriot to address her. "March… Perhaps we shouldn't push her right now to recall such memories. The Antimatter Legion is still running amok among Miss Herta's space station, and while I am for certain glad that miss Shmi is with Asta and the rest of the researchers, this needs to happen another time until we can allocate ourselves to safety. For one, Anakin is still not with us-" Even as he knew his friend could handle himself, he was still uncertain and concerned.
"Stelle."
Both turned to her.
"Stelle." She repeated. That was her name. She could at least recall that faintly from Kafka. But nothing else.
Kafka… where did she go? Where was she now? Why did she leave? The now named Stelle did not know.
The pink haired girl smiled vibrantly. "Ah, so you remember your name!"
"So it seems you remember your name. That's good at least." The man nodded. "I am Dan Heng and this is March 7th. This space station here was earlier hours moments ago, attacked by the Antimatter Legion. We came to help with the evacuation and rescue at the request of Lead Researcher Asta."
"Asta? Antimatter Legion?" She glanced back and forth at the two of them.
The man, Dan Heng, sighed, catching his mistake that Stelle here hadn't a clue of what was going on. All she knew was her name. He shouldn't expect the amnesiac girl to know such from the get go. "Apologies. We shouldn't expect you to know such information already." But before he could continue by starting over, March barged in with her own explanation. "Let me handle this, Dan Heng! We'll be here all day! Your explanations are just like that holo-flick Anakin showed us about that bee a couple days back! Just sum it up for her."
She proceeded with her explanation. "The Antimatter Legion are goons owned by Destruction. You were definitely lucky that the most dangerous of them all, Lord Ravager, wasn't among them, just nasty minions! Right now, we haven't taken care of all of them but eventually we will! Just follow us to safety!" She winked at the girl.
They definitely sounded dangerous. It seemed she owed these two people, March 7th and Dan Heng, her life. Even then, her instincts told her to follow them and trust them. Stelle looked at Dan Heng. "Who is Lead Researcher Asta? You mentioned her."
"Miss Herta appointed her to be the acting lead researcher in this space station." Welt Yang answered. "She is in charge of operations when Herta isn't here, and as such, called for an emergency evacuation during the time when the Legion attacked."
Stelle pondered for a moment until the name of another individual March had mentioned earlier. "And… Anakin?"
"A friend of ours. He was fighting off the Antimatter Legion alongside us but we all got separated at various intersections and points during the emergency evacuation. The chaos of the situation was what exactly the Legion intended. I was with March here, and we intended to rendezvous with him, but during our assignment, got cut off due to the sheer numbers. He's now probably searching for us as we speak."
She still had more questions, but she was starting to understand the gist of it. "Where do I go? Where do we go?" Her golden gaze fell on both of them.
Both turned to each other. "March, how about you take Stelle and go back while I go search for Arlan? Himeko informed me that Anakin might be searching for him anyway, but we can't be certain at this point. I will also search for Anakin in case he requires assistance, but on the chance that you both locate him, contact me." Dan Heng stood up and twirled his spear.
"You got it, Dan Heng! Just leave it to us! You go on ahead and we'll see you at the Master Control Zone!" Nodding, Dan Heng turned to another direction to leave and Stelle watched with a sense of concern forming in her. Was it really smart for them to split up, especially with what she heard of this Antimatter Legion?
As if reading her thoughts, March brightly reassured her. "Hey, don't worry! Dan Heng's tough! Super tough! We're all really strong so don't worry! He can handle himself! In the meantime, we have to get to Master Control!" She took a few steps towards then paused. "Ah, you don't have a weapon! You know how to fight right?!" She scanned the room, until she noticed a bat. "Grab that! It's not much, but we can make do!"
Stelle looked at the bat lying in the corner of the room. Has that been there before? She wondered. She picked it up.
It was as if a sudden connection to it had been formed. Stelle swung the bat, twirling it around experimentally for a few seconds. It was lightweight yet surprisingly, it felt strong and powerful.
March smiled. "You know, if the whole Antimatter Legion wasn't here, we would do sparring and all that, according to what Anakin says, but now's not the time! Off we go!"
Stelle followed March out. Both cautiously moved around, looking around for any of the Antimatter Legion. "Are you and Dan Heng also from the space station, March?" She decided to ask March after a moment of quiet, with no enemies seemingly in sight so far.
"Nope! We're part of the Astral Express crew! Myself, Anakin, Dan Heng, Welt Yang, and Himeko! We're all one big happy family! We saw the Antimatter Legion when we just happened to be here and decided to lend a hand!" March continued. "The Astral Express is how the Nameless travel the entire universe! We're the Nameless and so we follow the Trailblaze Path! It's really, really fun since we get to travel the universe without anyone telling us what to do!-" Stelle was about to ask who Welt Yang and Himeko were until she caught sight of two beings armed with twin blades. Unaware of their presences, they patrolled the vicinity.
March cut herself off at the sight of two Void Rangers. Looking around, she notched an arrow onto her bow. "There's no other way around past them. Seems we're going to have to fight. I shoot first and you get the other one."
Stelle looked at the Void Rangers, tightening her grip on her bat. The grey-silver haired amnesiac nodded her head.
March aimed her arrow at the Ranger and fired. The arrow pierced through the chest of the monster and froze it in place, ice immediately surrounding it. "Go!"
Stelle lunged at the other Void Ranger in its enhanced senses, aimed its blades to bisect Stelle from her waist, but instinctively, as if she knew, ducked under and delivered a sweeping swing that smashed its head apart. Another arrow hit the head of the other Void Ranger, joining its companion in the hell it spawned from.
March approached Stelle. "You fought like an experienced fighter! Are you certain you don't remember anything, cause I don't think someone who doesn't remember much of anything would know how to fight."
Stelle couldn't argue against that. It was surreal in a sense, and she felt Kafka and Silver Wolf had a large part in that. "I don't know… It's as if… if I know. Like I've done this before, like I know something bad will happen if I do this wrong. I feel like I've done this before, but I can't recall when and where and how." She admitted quietly.
March pondered thoughtfully for a second, then smiled. "Well… let's get that down cryptic talk all out the way! You can just be a trick up our sleeve! An ace card! You can be a secret weapon!"
Though Stelle felt downcast for being unable to remember much of anything, March's constant optimism was too infectious at times, and she couldn't help but give a small smile.
Their talk was cut short once more as they saw a group of the Void Rangers and Baryons rushing at them. March had barely time to notch another ice arrow as Stelle narrowed her gaze.
"Stand back a moment, Stelle." March leaped up high into the air, firing the arrow, before it split into the small forms and shapes of miniature bunnies, raining down on its foes. In a sense, it would have looked ridiculous. Most of the approaching Void Rangers and Baryons evaded the projectiles, some forced to leap to avoid the ice that rapidly spread to the unfortunate those who were quickly frozen.
Stelle dealt with the remaining ones with a few swings of her bat.
If the day wasn't already shit, it was much more so.
Anakin had sensed the danger behind him, blocking a blow from the Void Ranger as its blade clashed against the crimson blade. Reaching out with an outstretched hand, even without looking, he held the assailant of one of those that followed Destruction in a tight grip with the Force, crushing the life out of it as it was unable to escape from the ironclad invisible grip, dispersing in an ear piercing screech. He sent a blast of energy at another group while he deflected another series of swings from the Void Ranger in front of him, before he crouched low and high to evade it, and, leaping high up into the air, he crashed down as he channeled the Force into a wave that sent the assailants hurtling back, smashing into the walls of Herta Space Station with killing energy.
Anakin waited for a few more seconds, the only noise being the humming crimson and indigo blades before he sheathed them, turning to ensure that Arlan was alright. Approaching the still injured young man, he reached out to send a concentrated burst of Force Healing.
The Head of Herta Security winced at the wounds that were still on him, sighing in relief as energy flowed through him in relief. "Thank you, Anakin."
"Don't worry. We're almost there." Anakin truthfully wanted to check Dan Heng and March immediately when he was sent the coordinates by Himeko, but he had to trust that they would be all right. They, after all, fought together and survived far worse than this. Right now, his objective was to locate anyone and get them out to where the evacuation group was.
Helping him to his feet, Anakin reached out with his senses. When no danger through the Force he felt, he held back a sigh of relief, keeping one hand on the handle of his saber while the other he supported the young head of security, who nodded in return. "I'm fine, Anakin. I can walk now." The other hand gripped his sword.
Both could only wonder how many of them were left even remotely on Herta Space Station. It seemed to be never ending, even no matter how much they killed as they continued through the pathway of the station.
Anakin was grateful that while his mother was safe alongside Himeko and Welt, reaching out with his senses to detect March and Dan Heng's presences seemed to be an impossibility with the Legion of Nanook, very much the chaos and destruction they caused, muddling his senses. There was nowhere where it was untainted.
E chu ta. He swore quietly.
Arlan gazed at the other man. He knew what he was thinking. And if anything, Arlan had seen the other man fight and knew by then he was only slowing him down for the other members of the Express to assist them. "You can go to them, Anakin. I'll be fine."
Anakin knew that Arlan could not fight them off alone. "Absolutely not."
"You need to locate Dan Heng and March, and you don't even need to bother hiding it, I'm only slowing you down." The head of Security shook his head. "If the evacuation site is nearby, then I am perfectly capable of heading there alone to get the elevator working. Please… you can go."
Anakin wanted to refute once more. "Fine. I'm coming with you there. You're not going out there alone."
The head security of Herta didn't even argue with that, as both strode down the crimson splattered station of fallen researchers. Both only watched the carnage with no change in expression. There was nothing they could do for the dead. They were one of the few of the many survivors of this purge, and mourning would do nothing. Time for it would come far later.
A numerous few of Destruction patrolled, along with many more, and both hid behind cover for a brief moment. Anakin felt their presence and many more up ahead. So focused he was up ahead on the presences of those of Nanook, he did not notice behind him, then the Force immediately blared to him of the danger behind and he shoved Arlan out of the way while catching a blow, igniting the purple blade.
Shit!
The ignition of his blade attracted the many up ahead and Anakin cursed. While he could use the Force to destroy them all, the passageways being surrounded by a near army of them and the fact that immediately Arlan was being targeted, as they could seemingly detect the head of security's lingering weakness.
Arlan found himself being separated from Anakin as they attempted to swarm him, a fruitless attempt to only hold them off. With only being able to block the blows once more, being driven back by the bloodlust and only compulsion of those of Destruction in front of him pushing him back to his knees, his body trembled in adrenaline and wounds that had yet to be healed. A sudden strong blow to the side of his temple sent him flying as he lost his footing and fell, his eyes widening as he was hurled off the platform into the abyss below.
It was too late.
It would have been too late.
"No!" Anakin blasted them away before he reached out with the Force, holding the head of security in place. With one hand free, he could only blast them back before shots from the Baryons forced him to place up a Force Barrier to hold the onslaught back, unable to absorb the bolts of energy with the Force.
The thunderous tumultuous noises of roars sounded with more of them rushing at them with blades, arriving at their destination. Arlan knew both of them would die, and he could only ensure that one of them survived. "Anakin! Let me go!"
"What?! No!" He was not letting the head of security die. But Anakin felt his Force barrier weakening significantly, crackling as he could not hold up the wall of Force energy with every blow delivered to it, cracking it further and further. He felt his grip on Arlan slipping… and he was about to give a mental apology for Asta as he considered letting him go…
A flicker of something blurred and pierced through a group of them, and both recognized immediately who it was.
"Dan Heng!"
The sudden arrival of their ally and friend allowed Anakin, unable to utilize the Force in fear of Arlan being caught in the wake, to form a blast of lightning that sparkled from his hands and channel it across the vicinity as he was able to pull Arlan back up to their level before the arrival of Dan Heng had allowed Anakin the chance to finally destroy the group, channeling arcing bolts of lightning that spread across in a erratic crackling screech. A sound of horrific screeching, doubly so from either bolts and the combined death woes from them, finally put an end to them.
With them finally gone, Dan Heng spoke. "Glad to see you both. Are you all right, Arlan? Anakin?" A look of concern was donned on his otherwise indifferent gaze.
The head of security nodded to the inquiry of concern. "Anakin was able to treat me and we're heading down to the evacuation point now." He glanced towards Anakin and nodded to him in thanks for not just saving him from falling below to his death. The brief rush of death did not affect the head of security, especially since he had already seen it many times previously.
"I'm fine as well." Anakin could tell that Dan Heng was not injured through the Force and was relieved. Though he could not sense the other member of the crew. "Where's March? Is she with you"
Dan Heng looked at Anakin. "I've sent her up to the Master Control Room ahead, along with someone else we found on this station onboard."
"Someone else?" Anakin, through the Force, could sense another presence. Then, he immediately felt something was off.
There was another person here… hold on… why did he feel that Stellaron within them?
Dan Heng shook his head. "I'll explain later. She was onboard this ship and is with March."
Anakin nodded, then he frowned. "Wait…" He reached out to detect something yet again. It was a presence unknown to him. "Take Arlan with you. I sense something nearby. Don't worry, I'll be back immediately after."
Arlan wanted to object but he knew it would be the best. He already knew he would just slow his friends down. "Very well. Be safe, Anakin." He leaned onto Dan Heng for support.
Stelle swept her gaze across the vicinity for more enemies before she glanced at March. What was she doing? They've been here for minutes already…
There wasn't even a trash can either. Man, this space station already sucked.
"Just almost there, Stelle… We just gotta wait longer…" March hid her panic behind a mask of optimistic calm as she pressed every button on the panel with the same smile on her face.
She just said that the last time, and then a couple minutes before that. Stelle sighed. "It's broken, isn't it?"
"Um, no! I mean, I didn't break it! I can assure you!"
Yeah… like she was going to believe that…
"Man, if only Dan Heng or Anakin were here! They're like the walking encyclopedia of complicated stuff like elevator repairs and fixing tech!"
Stelle was about to say something until a voice behind them spoke. "I don't know that one. It usually goes to Anakin and he has been fixing things since he was a child according to him. Even Mr. Welt said he was a genius."
She turned to see Dan Heng once more, and with him as he held him, a young man with a dark countenance and grey hair, limping as he was supported by Dan Heng.
"Oh, you got Arlan! Wait…" March glanced across and around. "Where's Anakin?"
"Anakin said he sensed something off and he wanted to check what it was, and then after, he'll join right back up with us." Dan Heng informed them.
So this must be Arlan? Stelle greeted herself to the dark young man. "I'm Stelle."
Arlan nodded to her as he debriefed them what he had already informed Dan Heng. "As I was explaining to Dan Heng, I don't know why the Antimatter Legion attacked." He looked down. "They came at a suspicious time when the security system suddenly failed. Lady… Lead Researcher Asta began to organize the evacuation, and I was supposed to cover everyone while holding them off…" He looked suddenly ashamed and disappointed in failing in the endeavor that many lives of researchers were lost and needless deaths.
Dan Heng shook his head. "Do not be hard on yourself or hold yourself accountable, Arlan. You tried your best. It was inevitable that the Antimatter Legion caught the Station off guard when the security system failed, and your leg and dominant hand were injured. It was a wise decision to avoid a head on encounter with them any longer."
The words provided comfort to Arlan, even only slightly, though he largely owed it to Anakin saving him twice now from an untimely death, and felt like a burden.
"Yeah! Most of the staff has been evacuated, alongside Miss Shmi, safely so right now, our highest priority is to get to the Master control zone and plan a counterattack. So…" March looked nervous. Hey! She didn't want to be blamed for the elevator failing! It was absolutely one hundred percent not her fault! "Do you know how to get the elevator working, Arlan?"
Arlan's eyes flickered in recognition amidst his dark countenance. Now was not the time to dwell on mistakes and weaknesses. "Yes. The elevators were disabled and shut down after the evacuation was complete to keep the Legion away from the master control zone. Though Anakin found me before Lady Asta has sent you to look for us both, I believe she must've given you the encryption key to access the elevator system?"
March felt heat creep up on her cheeks. Right… she had been given the key card to the controls. "Um… yeah! She totally did! She totally gave me a card… Um… I do know where I put it, I didn't misplace it!" She attempted to reassure the three now staring at her, which it was clear by the looks on their faces they didn't believe her or a single reassurance. She patted herself in an attempt to try and locate it. "Not to worry! It's here somewhere!"
"March…" Dan Heng sighed. Next time, he was certainly holding onto the things Asta or anyone else gave them. It was typically he or Anakin who had to hold onto things.
Arlan couldn't believe it. Now what could they possibly do? "You… you lost it?"
Yep. They were fucked. And she didn't even get to find a trash can. Rest in peace, Stelle. You lived a short life.
"It's… it's not like we need it! We can always ask Mr. Welt Yang to arrive here and help us! Or Himeko! Anakin can also come over once he's done searching for whatever he's searching for and maybe he can just help us by using the Force and-" In the midst of her frantic rambling, something fell out of the pockets of her skirt and she picked it up. "Oh! Here it is! And you guys were so worried! Ha-ha!"
Stelle giggled, while Arlan and Dan Heng simultaneously face palmed.
After finding the key and using the console to unlock the elevator, March peered around, her bow notched with another ice tipped arrow while Dan Heng gripped his spear while supporting Arlan. "Is that it? We reached the elevator already? There weren't that many Antimatter goons around…" She paused with a sheepish expression forming on her face. "Oops, probably shouldn't have said that. Might've jinxed it for us or brought us even worse luck…"
As they continued forth, Dan Heng felt danger flooding through the vicinity. It just felt too… too empty and quiet. Even Stelle felt something was off.
Just as if on point, a shot rang out from the distance at them, the sharp tip of it threatening to impale Arlan; Dan Heng stepped just in time to deflect the shot with Cloud Piercer as Stelle barely managed herself to evade the redirected shot that grazed her cheek.
Thanks March!
Before them on all fours, a Trampler of the Antimatter Legion stood before them with a roar, along with scores of Reavers surrounding them..
Anakin was unable to locate the source of the Force presence he felt. Carving a swathe and a path through the remaining Antimatter Legion that surrounded him, he had felt a presence through the station that had indicated to him clearly that it was someone who was able to touch the Force.
He saw them as he finished off the Reavers in his way as he crushed them with the Force, looking to see the figure off from the distance.
It wasn't of the Stellaron Hunters. He knew that neither of them was the presence that was any single one of them.
"Wait!"
But the figure did not stop. Anakin reached out with the Force only to feel the attempt rebuffed by the presence of the figure's own. Every attempt to discern who this figure was seemingly failed.
"Who are you?"
Then a blare of the warning through the Force flooded through his senses as he could feel the presences of Dan Heng, March, Arlan, and the other individual with them flicker.
Anakin looked back up, his lightsabers still in hand, but there was no one there. The figure had vanished.
Arlan, now leaning on Stelle for support, turned to him as Dan Heng summoned his spear, with March notching ice tipped arrows on her bow. Stelle's bat was to her side once more as she took several steps backwards.
They had damaged the Trampler but it didn't even seem to be enough. Every blow connected by Stelle or Dan Heng or even froze in place by March to prevent any movement and restrict it in place, all it did was proceed to enrage the monstrosity from Nanook's creation.
The Trampler roared in fury, nearly deafening them. In its mind of only causing destruction and fury, it bellowed, letting out a cry that summoned into their surroundings at least multiple more
"N-not fair you jerks!" March stuttered. Fear was palpable in her eyes as she counted at least more than a fair amount surrounding them. "You can't just gang up on us!"
There were simply way too many for them to even fight. Stelle gripped her bat tightly in her grasp, uncertain of what to even remotely do. There were only three of them, and Arlan was injured.
Dan Heng's eyes narrowed, yet even then, despite his calm facade, was on the verge of panicking himself. There was only one option. Anakin was not even here yet either, and even if they had him, he was certain that even he wouldn't be enough with four of them.
It was foolish and reckless, but it was perhaps the only option possible, for he could see none other. To sacrifice himself to allow March, Stelle, and Arlan to get away.
He had been about to deliver that very suggestion, for it was the only chance as none of them would be surviving, when in the midst, the Trampler notched its own arrow and fired it at the group. March's eyes widened. "Dan Heng, look out!" She cried out.
In a blur of motion, a sound of grinding steel sliced apart through numerous amounts of the Legion. The arrow at speeds far too fast, for he was still parrying another Voidranger's strike, as Stelle herself was focused on attempting to protect Arlan while fending off the ones from her own side, was unable to react in time and could only watch as the arrow sped towards him, before it froze in place, as if held back by something that locked it and prevented it from moving, the tip of it scant inches away from piercing Dan Heng's chest.
Another blur landed in front of them as they saw the familiar blonde haired man with twin crimson and indigo blades. March and Dan Heng immediately recognized who it was.
"Anakin!"
The shot was redirected to another part of the ship as Anakin stopped holding the bolt within stasis, and turned back to face them. "You guys all right?" His gaze briefly lingered on each of them, including Stelle, but now was not the time.
Anakin turned back to face the scores of the Voidrangers with the Trampler, while the Voidrangers in their destruction-ridden mind, only still barely registered Anakin himself as another pest needed to be eliminated. While the area was large enough, he couldn't even risk harming his friends as well. Any attempt to utilize the Force would only harm his friends as well.
He felt the phone in his pocket vibrate, and realized who it was.
A saw blade, whirring out of the air to slice down the multiple Voidrangers was the indication that it was time. "Hurry up! Let's go!" Anakin shouted to them. Even March and Dan Heng's eyes flickered in recognition at the appearance of the saw blade while Anakin took Arlan from Stelle and together, the five managed to get out. A few Voidrangers still attempted to give chase only for the saw blade to continue slicing them while those that managed to slip past, March froze them with her arrows.
In the Master Control Zone where they finally managed to get to safety, a red headed woman greeted them. "Why does it always have to get so exciting?" Turning to them, a relieved expression formed on her face at seeing the three members. "Dan Heng, March, Anakin… you've been through a lot. At least you're back."
March nodded, the pink haired girl was somewhat shaken by the appearance of many Voidrangers within the vicinity that the Trampler with a roar of fury, summoned to their location. "That was nerve wracking, Himeko! What took you so long?! That last wave of the Legion came at us like a swarm of locusts!" She turned to Anakin. "Same goes for you, Anakin!"
Anakin shrugged with a small smile before it dropped. "I detected another presence and I wanted to check up on it. Thought it might have been another survivor."
He still had concerns about whoever they were. Who were they? How did they get here? What were their intentions?
He had felt the Force from them, but he had barely ample time to discern who they were before they had vanished.
Welt raised a brow. "Another researcher?"
Anakin shook his head. "It was nothing." He decided to brush it off. Even though the Force had told him to be on the lookout, whoever they were, they were already gone.
"I wouldn't have made a difference. My orbital cannon can deal with a bunch of enemies at once, but I couldn't just blow up the station. Miss Herta would not have liked that…" Himeko smiled, looking at Arlan. "Are you all right, Arlan? Asta has been worried sick about you."
"I'm fine." The young head of security reassured her. "Anakin healed most of my wounds, but I suppose I'll go to report the situation to Lead Researcher Asta now." He nodded his thanks once more to them, before turning to Stelle. "Thank you all. And nice meeting you, Stelle."
March remembered, grinning as she recalled. "Oh, right! Introductions! Now we finally have time for them! You and Himeko can both introduce yourselves to her!" She gestured to Stelle.
Anakin decided why not. He looked at the grey haired woman. "Anakin Skywalker." He smiled. Even without the Force, he could sense the thrumming energy of Cancer of all Worlds within her stomach.
So both Kafka and Silver Wolf had done it… Why? They planted the Stellaron within her?
Stelle nodded back, a small smile on her face. "Stelle."
Himeko introduced herself after Anakin. "Nice to meet you, Stelle. I am Himeko, the navigator of the Astral Express."
"In other words, she's in charge wherever the Express goes!" March explained. "Oh wait… there's Mr Welt Yang and Pom-Pom as well, but they're back at the Express…" She hummed thoughtfully.
Himeko giggled. "March hasn't been a trouble along the way for you, hasn't she, Stelle?"
March gave an affronted, offended look. "Hey!" She looked at Stelle, the grey haired woman's golden eyes flickering in amusement. "Think carefully about how you should answer that, Stelle."
Stelle looked to Anakin, who was hiding his own smirk. Turning back to the navigator, she answered in a dry tone that she barely could hide her own smile. "I've never met a more reckless girl in my life."
The pink haired girl gave an unhappy pout once more, before it brightened into a smile. "Well… that's just my charm! And I didn't cause any trouble!"
Yeah, right…
Dan Heng glanced blankly at them, and then back at her. "...I have the right to remain silent…" He decided he was only the sane one and wouldn't involve himself in matters such as this.
Anakin smirked, whispering conspiratorially to Stelle. "Her charm is to get all of us in trouble in the mess she makes. Want me to tell you the amount of times she caused us in the past before we arrived here?"
Stelle returned it. "Oh really? Tell me more, Anakin…"
March heard their words, and glared at the both of them in mock offense. "You both are bullies! And it's rich coming from you, Anakin! You practically enjoy it!"
Dan Heng decided now was the good time to show his resignation of the very childish bickering by facepalming from the side.
Himeko laughed at the four of them. "Ah! You guys are getting along and are so close! Come now, Asta has been worried about all of you. And Anakin, your mother is also fine."
Anakin nodded and the five made their way down to where Asta and the rest of the researchers, including Shmi, would be waiting.