Author's note: Hello, readers, and sorry it took so long to update. Rest assured, although it may take some time, I will finish this fanfic, and probably write many more in the future. Thank you for being so patient. One more little thing; I have a deviantart account with some artwork pertaining to the fic. The link is in my bio for anyone interested. Thanks for your time!

-Ri

Chapter 17

"Leviathan, don't ever startle me like that again!" At least, that is what I intended to come out. What actually did was a stream of bubbles and a rather warbled, indiscernible noise. I think she got the point, anyway.

"Take me up with you," she instructed, although I could tell that there was glee behind her eyes at surprising me the way she had. Regardless, I nodded, having a fair idea of what she was going to do. Kicking toward the surface while grasping Leviathan's wrist, I leapt from the rapids, activating my boosters, and tossed my comrade at the black bulk of the larger demi-dragon. She sliced it cleanly in half with an impressive sweep, turning on her ark downward to dive gracefully back into the water. The smaller demon took two wing-sweeps toward me and tried to gash me with its claws. I not only parried, but also sliced off its right hand in the process. While it flailed its severed limb, spraying me with blood, I relieved it of its head- which sent out a much larger gout of blood, splattering my face. I turned to fly back to the battlefield, but first spied Leviathan treading water below me.

"Harpuia, the river's been cleared. If you're going to help Fefnir, let me come, too."

I nodded and hauled her out by her wrist. "Contact him and find his position. I didn't have a chance to before, and I couldn't find him."

She was already working on that when I dropped her on dry land and landed beside her. "Any luck?"

"Hold on," she answered, shushing me with a quick gesture of her hand.

Fefnir's voice crackled over the com. "What?" he barked sharply. "I'm a little busy over here..."

"Fefnir, where are you?" Leviathan responded, ignoring his petulant tone. A burst of static cut off his answer.

"What? I didn't read. Repeat coordinates." Leviathan appeared mildly concerned, but successfully held a professional tone of voice.

"I said just look for an explosion, and that will probably be my doing. Over and out."

"Fefnir, wait! Fefnir!" Leviathan angrily slapped off the com. "That prick; can't he just give us the coordinates and wait a minute? Why's he- hey!"

I grabbed her wrist again and soared about twenty feet upward. "He said 'look for an explosion.' So be quiet and keep your eyes open." I was in no mood for Leviathan's griping at the moment, and figured that there was some reason that he had not sent coordinates, anyway. He probably didn't have time to check them. It sounded like he was in the thick of things.

A small series of explosions lit up the far side of the battlefield. Yep, that would probably be him.

A quick flight in that direction confirmed my suspicion, as I spotted Fefnir, Arcan, and several other Jin'en soldiers I did not know or recognize fending off fierce attacks. This was the first time I had had a chance to really look at the attacking ground mavericks, other than ATVs and massive, lizard-like tanks. They were incredibly varied, made up of mutos and humanoids in what seemed to be equal number. Some appeared not to have been created for battle, and some to have not been created for anything else. I also noticed that there were plenty of female soldiers interspersed with the male. Not too many women in the Neo Arcadian forces. Not sure why that is, exactly, but apparently, they're ready and willing to fight here.

I back-flipped over a charging lizard-like reploid with blades on his hands and elbows. His metallic hide was yellow, edged with a deep sunset orange- the same color as his slit-pupiled eyes. A series of violet spikes protruded from his back.

"What do you mavericks want?" I growled.

"Peace for reploids... and death for humans." He spun into a lazy slash at me, but a small fireball from Fefnir knocked him aside.

"Come t' help take out the trash?" the scarlet Guardian questioned sardonically as I stabbed into the downed lizard's chest, exposing severed circuitry.

"Thought you could use some help cleaning up," I shrugged.

Leviathan, holding her bloodied spear, came up beside me. "Besides, if you were to make a fool of yourself... well, I'd wanna be here to see it."

Fefnir gave me a look that screamed, "Please, can I shoot her?" but otherwise ignored the blue-clad woman. "Well, I've got things under control here," he shrugged out loud, "but the help's always appreciated."

I nodded in response as Kuwagust Anchus hurried up. Kuwagust, the younger of the Anchus brothers, was one of my few soldiers in the Rekku forces who was not completely adept at aerial fighting. Ground-based attacks were not quite his specialty either, but instead, he used an odd combination of the two, soaring close to the ground on his low-powered boosters and attacking mainly with his large "mandibles." He was a cerulean, beetle-like mutos reploid who was a competent fighter and a good soldier, but at times a bit too willing to start what he could no finish. His brother, Herculeous, was still in reconstruction thanks to Zero.

"Sir," he addressed me, the voice coming from his vocal receptors oddly different and much clearer than one would expect from an individual of his appearance.

"What is it, Kuwagust?" I answered curtly and more than a little distracted. A black and violet female catlike reploid with an energy whip of sorts lashed out at me, catching one of my sabers with her weapon. She tried to jerk it out of my hand, but instead I let the pull yank me closer, where I stabbed her stomach with a blade and then proceeded to divide her at the torso.

"We have discovered the entrance to the cave network from which they are coming. It seems that some yet remain inside. Your orders, sir?"

I thought a moment- while dismembering a red-armored humanoid who had been trying to stab me with a pole arm. "Take about a dozen or so of your best men and move into the caves. Perhaps you will discover a weapon stash before they have a chance to use it." A black and yellow snake struck at me barbarically with his teeth. I took off his head in clean slice. "But exercise caution; they may resort to unforeseen tactics, or even be willing to collapse part of the tunnels on you. I don't think that sacrificing their own men-" A female humanoid in black armor leapt at me agilely, but I smashed my shoulder into her stomach and flipped her over to land behind me. "Or women," I concluded.

"Yes, sir!" The insectoid reploid managed an odd sort of salute and sped off, flying low and fast over the ground.

The black-clad woman I had thrown rose behind me and pulled a katana from the sheath at her side. "Care to die?" she hissed in a deadly voice.

"Naw, but thanks for the offer!" Fefnir suddenly appeared out of the fray, and with a fully charged buster shot, completely took off her head.

People and their stupid comments, I thought wryly to myself, although in regards to Fefnir or the now-deceased reploid, I really was not sure. "Nice shot," I commented to Fefnir who was now close by, searching for a good new target for his weapon.

"Aw, she got in the way. I was aiming for the one behind her."

"Right." A green, deer-like maverick with twin blades on each arm sprinted past, moving so quickly that she managed to score a deep gash on Fefnir's lower chest.

"Whoa, fast li'l bugger," he grunted, stepping back a moment too late. The clean slash did not even spurt blood until a second after she had passed, but if anything, the wound only incensed Fefnir to fight harder. The maverick ran past again, but this time we both avoided her and I inflicted a gash of my own on her lithe form.

Fefnir blasted several shots at her, all barely missing. I thought I heard him curse, but the raging battle was loud enough that I was not sure. The gazelle made a final charge- but was concentrating so hard on the two of us that she never saw Leviathan hold out her spear to skewer the light-green maverick. Having utterly impaled herself, she slid to the ground as Leviathan shook the body off her spear.

"That was supposed to be my kill," Fefnir griped.

Leviathan shrugged. "Well, I don't think it matters to her; she's dead just the same."

Fefnir fired a quick burst from his gun, aimed over her shoulder, nailing a green maverick- which was in a form that I had trouble identifying with an animal- in the head. Leviathan ducked away and moved to stand behind Fefnir. "I really don't trust you with that thing."

"What, you think my aim's that bad?" He fired off several more scattered shots, which were not particularly directed at anything but all hit targets just the same.

"No..." Leviathan swiped at a nearby maverick but he danced backward away from her blade. "Your aim is fine; I'm not contesting that." She grinned knowingly. "It's who you're aiming at that worries me."

"Oh, yeah, Fairy; I'd really shoot you. 'Cause, y'know, I hate you so much..." He rolled his eyes but grinned.

"Yeah, I hate you too..." She smiled sweetly as she severed a light blue reploid's arm.

What... odd... companions I have, I thought distractedly. How do they keep up such idle banter in the middle of battle... without getting themselves killed? One of the few remaining harpies dove at me and I tried and failed to slash one of her taloned feet from her body. She circled, screamed, and beat her wings hard through the air to engulf Fefnir and Leviathan with violet bolts of electricity.

"Ah, friggin'- that stings, you little whore!" Fefnir turned around, seemingly unaffected by the attack besides a look of discomfort on his face, and swatted the avian female from the air, using his cannon as a melee weapon. When the beastly woman hit the ground, Leviathan and I were already on it, she impaling its chest and I stabbing its neck to ensure that there would be no excruciating death scream.

Fefnir brushed at his shoulder pad as though to brush away the stray charges of electricity. "Works havoc on th' systems, y'know?"

"No... I don't know," I answered ironically, nimbly moving to the side as a large, heavily muscled humanoid burst from the crowd and attempted to punch me with a tightly clenched fist.

"Hm. You wouldn't," Fefnir muttered in defeat, turning on the new attacker. "Heh... this could be fun." With a flash, his arm cannon vanished and he charged the silver reploid, drawing back his right fist to throw a punch.

"Quit goofing around," I reprimanded sourly, avoiding gunfire by quickly moving from one place to the next.

"I can take 'em; watch!" Fefnir grinned gleefully.

"We know you can take him," Leviathan grumbled, "but now really isn't the time."

Fefnir's only acknowledgement to her chiding was a tight, rebellious grin as he threw his considerable strength behind the punch that was aimed for the reploid's head. Unfortunately for him (and even more so for the silver-armored reploid) there was no head remaining for the blow to connect with. I stood behind the fallen maverick with one dagger still positioned where it had been when it had severed the neck.

"Whad'ja go an' do that for!" Fefnir cried indignantly. I graced him with a rare smile, and then ducked as I felt a presence fast approaching behind me. The unidentified reploid ran into my back and I used his own momentum to hurl him over my head toward Fefnir.

"Catch," I said simply, figuring now was his chance to land a solid blow. He swung and connected with the reploid's- a humanoid female if I had to venture a guess- head, sending her flying back to land at my feet. She struggled to get up slowly, but I dispatched her with a clean, decisive stab before she could accomplish the task.

Leviathan, breathing hard and blood-smattered, appeared next to me. "Well, what now? This is a little wearing, but if it's all they've got to throw at us, then they'll have to run out of resources pretty quickly."

I nodded quickly. "I agree; it was mentioned by one of the commanders that I battled that this was merely a 'scouting force.' I'm not sure how much I believe that, but it's certainly not an army equipped to take us down."

"That's what worries me," Fefnir pointed out, firing rapidly into the fighting, barely aiming. "What were they doing out here? Waiting for more? And where would 'more' come from? Heck, where did they even come from?"

"I only wish I knew," I muttered, and then leapt over the head of a charging reploid, coming down behind it with my back to it and slashing with an over-the-shoulder swing. I snapped my gaze up to the enemy line, which was moving forward in a new wave, intent to crush the three of us by shear numbers.

"They're hittin' us hard," Fefnir growled while shooting, backing up until he was next to me. "We're gonna have to do something drastic to hold them off."

"What do you have in mind?" I managed, and then dodged aside as a gunman sporting a souped-up plasma cannon pelted us with high-powered shots. I managed to avoid being struck by the yellow-white energy, but it did blast a crater at my feet and send me flying backwards into Leviathan. I used the backward momentum to continue my roll off her, kicking my heels over my head and hopping to my feet. The azure Guardian got her feet beneath her and leapt away from the spot as another red-violet reploid- humanoid, but covered in full armor and possessing a long, sinuous lizard-like tail- crashed down, burying an energy-charged fist- that had been intended for Leviathan's head- into the ground.

Fefnir turned and fired on the attacker, causing it to fall back. He then picked it up with his free arm and tossed it into the air, striking it with his buster like a child playing with a baseball and bat.

"We need to think of something, or they're going to overwhelm us," Leviathan hissed. She looked to Fefnir, who often seemed to display the most tactical genius of the group. Battle- particularly ground assault- was his specialty, and if he could not come up with a decent strategy, chances were no one could.

Fefnir cast about quickly for something to aid him in making a plan as I struck at the lizard-tailed reploid and managed to score a deep gash on his arm. "There's not much more to work with here," he muttered darkly, and I grunted in agreement. The battle was raging full-force, and every resource was in use. Even if we did have a strategy, it would have been next to impossible to pull our men together and execute it.

"I'm at a loss myself." The human-lizard reploid ran at me, fists glowing with energy. I leaned my upper body backwards to avoid the attack, my hands making contact with the ground. I finished it with a backward handspring to get back to my feet, and snapped a kick into the face of the red-violet reploid as it made another pass. The masked head flew back, and it stumbled, recovering its balance, and then jumped over my head to such a height that I knew that the thick, powerful legs were not going to waste.

"That guy... or girl... or whatever doesn't give up easy, does it?" Fefnir exclaimed, shooting a couple of uncharged cannon blasts at my nemesis before whirling to shoot at several more enemy soldiers who were converging on him.

Leviathan stabbed her harpoon through the odd reploid's head, scowling before yanking it out again. "Let's see it come back from that." She glanced at Fefnir, concern flickering in her eyes for an instant. "Anyway, if you're going to think of something, about now would be ideal."

"I'm workin' on it!" Fefnir charged a blast and fired into the horde of enemies, sending several flying into the air. His wandering gaze turned upward and fell upon the namesake of the canyon- the precariously balanced Pinnacle Rock. "I got it," he cried confidently, and I turned to look at whatever he had seen.

"You can't be thinking of..." I began in disbelief.

"Taking it down," the crimson warlord finished for me, managing a slight smile.

"You're crazy," Leviathan muttered.

"Yeah... But that's why you love me," he winked, shoving aside enemy soldiers and making his way nearer his goal.

"Fefnir," I called into my com, since he was now a little too far away to yell to, and I was busy with my own battles. "What do you need me to do?"

"Call your men outta there," he answered sharply, and I quickly switched frequency to broadcast to the entirety of the Neo Arcadian forces.

"All troops in the western end of the canyon, under Pinnacle Rock, evacuate the area immediately. I repeat, all-" I was cut off by a shrill burst of static. Blast. They tracked our signal and jammed it. I hope the message got through. I put away the now-useless com unit and moved to the side as a harpy and a demi-dragon both swooped at me with their talons extended. The harpy started to send charges of violet electricity from her wings, but Leviathan smacked it from the sky with her javelin and hacked quickly through its neck. I could see that the dry air was sapping some of the cold strength from her blade.

"What just happened, Harpuia?" she queried, cautiously watching around herself to make certain that there was no oncoming attack. "Not that you looked particularly happy before, but now you just look like you've been kicked in the nuts."

I grimaced. "If that had happened, I assure you that my expression would probably be a lot worse..." I dove forward as the dark dragon behind me charged, but one clawed hand struck my head, pitching me sideways, and for a second, I wondered if I had broken off one of the fins on my helmet. I landed next to Leviathan and quickly struggled to my feet. "Anyway, they just started jamming our frequency. Someone must have locked on to it while I was issuing orders."

She hissed between her teeth. "That's bad..." She looked up at the demi-dragon, who was charging a blast of energy to fire at us. "And so's that." She dove out of the way, while I risked a bit more of my low supply of fuel to fly over it and slice at it with a dagger. The strike took off one of its horns and gashed the side of its face down to its shoulder, although I did not manage to kill it. My boosters coughed once and I quickly set myself down before I ran them dry.

Leviathan sprinted in and slashed her pole-arm at the monster, which recoiled its head and then lashed out at her with its sharp teeth. She stabbed into its mouth, shoving the blade through the back of the skull, and yanking upwards to split it, rather than simply pull the spear back out.

I took a short moment to gaze up at Pinnacle Rock; a towering mass of stone precariously balanced atop the canyon wall by forces of nature that were long since absent here. Is he really going to bring it down? With what? I forced my attention away, back to the fight, and my body moved with a sort of mechanical, unfeeling reflex as I cut one warrior in half, parried a blade-wielder, ducked away from a gunman and then disarmed him... Meanwhile, my mind was elsewhere, still tracing Fefnir's crazy plan. So crazy, it just might work. It would take out a large chunk of enemy soldiers in one sweep, but it would likewise massacre my men if they had not received my last order.

My mind finally settled on a decision, fool-hearty as it may have seemed, and, sweeping the path before me clean with a few crescents of energy, I started off at a dead run- right for the shadow of Pinnacle Rock. It fell over the canyon floor as though to mark its targets. All it would take was a disturbance to make her fall...

I caught the first of my soldiers unawares, scuffing the side of my foot into the ground to come to a quick halt. He was firing at two enemies who were charging him mercilessly, and started when he saw me suddenly next to him. "M-Master Harpuia! Sir!"

"Hasufel," I acknowledged, recognizing the blond reploid. He's in my air forces. If his jetpack still has fuel, perhaps he can better aid me in evacuating the area. "Why are you on the ground? Can you still fly?"

"I was-" He paused, using an energy shield to stop the punch of a heavy-armed reploid. I roundhouse-kicked the foe in the face and sent him sprawling. Hasufel finished the job with his plasma rifle. "-Conserving fuel, sir," he finished, trying to manage an awkward salute.

"Forget formalities, I said quickly. "Have you enough fuel to help deliver an order to the men on the west side? The com-links are down."

He nodded. "I'll do my best. What's the order?"

"Get them out of here. Fefnir's trying to bring down Pinnacle Rock."

His eyes widened slightly. "Sir," he nodded, and was away just as quickly as his boosters could carry him. I sprinted in the other direction, slashing any enemy in my range with my sabers as I went, calling the command to move out to any Neo Arcadian soldiers that I saw, although, since I did not want to alert our enemies of our plans, I did not tell them why they were to move out. To my relief, there actually were not as many of my men in the area as I had thought; they had gotten the message, and many were retreating from their positions as I approached. That they had immediately followed my orders without question nearly made me sigh with relief. It's about time something went right.

I squinted up at the towering stone one last time, only to see an explosion rock the base of it. It tipped slowly, and for a moment, it seemed that it would fall in the wrong direction. Then it tipped slowly back, and I assumed that Fefnir was probably shooting his cannon at it in rapid fire to give it the proper leverage. The shadow slowly shifted, and I took that as my cue to run. I sprinted past confused enemy soldiers, and seeing none of my own, kept the warning of impending doom completely to myself. None of them saw it coming until it was entirely too late.

With a tremendous groan, Pinnacle Rock tilted forward and fell almost lazily into the canyon blow. I barely made it away in time, as did a few lucky enemies. Several were not as lucky as I dispatched them while they stared in stunned disbelief at the scene that had unfolded. The monstrous bolder landed with a resounding crash like a clap of thunder, shaking the ground and knocking those nearby- including myself- to the ground. Dust and dirt kicked up around it and showered us with grime. I spat grit from my mouth distastefully and quickly struggled to my feet. Shooting one more glance up at Pinnacle Rock's former resting place, I caught sight of Fefnir waving jauntily to all who were watching. A few laser blasts pinged around him, but he turned and strode away out of sight, back down the long climb to the valley below. Nice going, Fefnir. And for once, there was no sarcasm to that thought.

It did not take me long to find Leviathan again. She was battling with a white maverick who reminded me of a cicada. I ran up behind him and sliced off both his arms at the shoulders. She finished off the reploid and moved to my side, taking a swing at a passing harpy. "I can't believe Fefnir's plan worked- but I mean that in a good way, of course."

"Of course," I acceded, and continued to fight in silence. Our foes seemed disheartened thanks to Fefnir's victory, and they were definitely starting to thin out. It was not long before the red-clad Guardian appeared nearby, fighting his way over to us.

"That'll give 'em somethin' to think about for awhile," he said in greeting, a hint of satisfaction in his voice. His expression twisted slightly in concern, and after fending off another attack, he questioned, "You did manage to get all our guys out of there, didn't you?"

"To my best knowledge, yes, despite the fact that we're now being jammed." A parry. A thrust. Another maverick dead.

Fefnir winced slightly. "That's definitely going in my book of 'not good.'"

This earned him a withering glare from Leviathan. "Do you sound like an idiot on purpose, or is it a natural talent?"

"Completely natural," he grinned as he shot a reploid before it could shoot Leviathan. "But seriously; these guys look pretty rag-tag. They didn't come off an assembly line, that's for sure. I've never seen an army that looks so disorganized- but they mean business." He planted a solid kick into a shorter reploid's kneecap, bringing him down. "Any thoughts on your end?"

Leviathan intercepted a smallish mutos reploid that slightly resembled a wingless, golden-orange dragon. She swung her spear at it, and it tried to bite the shaft. Before it could clamp down, she planted a solid kick into its stomach. It recovered quickly and leapt with surprising height, landing on her and knocking her back- and promptly dying, since it had gone through the business end of her harpoon to get there. "I haven't noticed any common insignia or anything," she answered Fefnir as if nothing had happened. "In fact I-" She was cut off as a sharp blade penetrated into her back and lifted her into the air, throwing her at Fefnir and me.

"Leviathan!" Fefnir caught his wounded comrade and steadied her to help her stand.

"...Ow..." The blue-clad reploid scowled, gripped her harpoon tighter, and turned toward the enemy that had attacked her, which I was already going after. Its design was that of several creatures cobbled together, the most prominent features being a lion-like head and a wicked scorpion tail tipped with a stinger-like blade- which was slick and red with Leviathan's blood. A manticore. When will the fun ever end? The creature reared and tried to come down on me with metal-bladed claws, but I ducked and slid under it, grabbing its segmented tail once I was on the ground behind it and using it to swing up onto its back. Once there, I attempted to stab the back of its neck with a saber, but it swung its curved tail at me, and I was forced to retreat to avoid being gored the way Leviathan had. I leapt away, tempted to use my boosters, but since my fuel was precariously low I refrained. I landed near Fefnir, who was pointing his gun at the monster but not firing.

"Th' things seem to be heat proof," he informed me, growling slightly under his breath. "My arm cannons aren't much good."

"Things? There's more?" I twitched my left eyebrow up to accentuate my inquiry.

"Plenty more. Been fightin' 'em off a good share of the battle."

"Great." I flung a crescent of energy at the lion-headed beast, testing out what sort of damage it would do. It left a smoking scar on its flank, but the beast did not seem handicapped by it.

"Heat resistant..." Leviathan panted beside me, holding a hand at her bleeding back. "Why don't we just see how impact-proof they are?" She threw her lance like a javelin, impaling it through the ribs. It turned and started after us, but stumbled, its back legs malfunctioning from the severed circuitry.

"Payback," Leviathan muttered softly. I glanced at her to see her struggling to stay up. I put a steadying hand on her shoulder, but Fefnir caught her around the waist so that she did not fall to her knees.

"Whoa, what's wrong, Fairy? The wound wasn't that bad, was it?" He looked as though he was trying to hide some concern but failing just a bit.

"I'm... fine..." she answered, trying to infuse her voice with a strength that she did not feel. "But I think... that stinger injected me with something... like a sedative or something. I could tell that she was fighting the affects and lasting longer than most reploids would have, but it was only a matter of time.

"Harpuia, finish that thing for me," Fefnir grunted, giving the unintelligent robot a deadly glare. I complied with some satisfaction, pulling Leviathan's harpoon from its side and using the unfamiliar weapon to bring down a crushing blow on its back, severing the metallic spine. It went down in a heap, and I stabbed downward into the back of its skull, splattering myself with blue-gray blood. My task complete, I jogged back and returned the weapon to Leviathan. She leaned on it like a walking stick and now shooed away Fefnir's supporting arm.

"You gonna be okay?" I inquired, drawing my own blades again.

She closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and then looked back at me. "I should be fine; if I resist it for long enough, the effects may lessen."

"You're hard to keep up with, Harpy-boy," Li panted, fluttering to my shoulder.

"Li... where have you been? I thought I must have lost you." I struggled mentally to keep form saying "hoped" instead of "thought."

"I just said! I was having trouble following." She hopped off my shoulder and began fluttering around again. "Anyway, I think that specter-dude from before is around here somewhere. Either that, or someone else with a short-range transerver unit installed in them."

"Phase?" I was on instant alert, despite the fact that the battle around me was beginning to die.

"You mean the guy who hurt my sparring buddy? Bring 'em on!" Fefnir summoned both arm cannons, and although he was battle-weary, appeared ready and eager to fight again.

Leviathan made a slight face. "Down, boy. From what Sage said, this isn't a guy to be taken lightly."

"I'm not taking him lightly!" He gestured with both arms. "See? Both guns!" He grinned like a maniac, but I decided quickly to turn my attention from my friend to more pressing matters.

"Can you tell where he is?" I questioned, giving Li a sideways glance.

She shook her head. "He's moving all the time. But I think..." She peered into the crowd. "I think he's coming to us, so I guess you won't have to worry about finding him."

"How long has he been out here? Was he on the field the entire time?" I made sure that my sabers were ready.

"I don't think so; I haven't detected anything of the like until now." She made a face. "Coward; he's just been hiding the whole battle."

Coward indeed. Even the way he fights lacks any and all aspects of honor. Unfortunately, that means he's ruthless and lacking morals, which makes him a dangerous foe. I thought I glimpsed a pale, narrow face in the masses of reploids around me, but was not sure if I had really seen him or if my imagination was giving me images simply because I was thinking about it. Suddenly, I felt a presence behind me. Please be Fefnir... I knew better.

The impact of a large claw sent me sprawling before I could entirely turn around. I picked myself up off the ground, scrambling to avoid the next blow, but my companions had seen Phase's appearance and moved to intercept him before he could follow up. The white-caped reploid vanished, as per tradition, and teleported to stand behind Fefnir. Unfortunately for him, Leviathan, although barely conscious, was still at an angle where she could see and attack, and she did so with a vengeance. The spear punctured partway into his armor, although not very deeply, and he turned around and struck her instead.

"They're coverin' their retreat," Fefnir called to me. He stepped away from Phase and fired at him, but the white reploid vanished again. We awaited his reappearance anxiously, but after a moment, Fefnir glanced around, confused. "Where'd he go?"

"He's a coward," I ground. "He would rather hide than face his enemies."

Leviathan groaned and tried to pick herself up off the ground, but was too weak to do so. I hoisted her up, grabbing her just under the arms, and supported her on my shoulder. "Whether the battle's dying or not, we need to get her out of here."

Fefnir took her from me and easily lifted her up. "Will do. I can try to trans back to base, but coming back may be a trick."

I glanced around again. "I think that'll be okay. I-" A low rumble cut me off and shook the ground, causing me to stumble forward. Fefnir, a bit more sure-footed, planted his feet wide and looked toward the caves.

"Ah," Leviathan mumbled from his arms. "What's going on?"

"The tunnels... I muttered. And then with a bit of alarm, "Kuwagust Anchus took a team of his best men in there!"

Fefnir swore under his breath. "I'd check it out, but I've got to get her back to base." He nodded at Leviathan.

"Go. I'll go see what happened." I spied a nearby ATV and jumped, timing it perfectly to kick the driver off and gash his throat open with a saber. With my stolen vehicle, I veered back and forth through the scattered enemy forces in the general direction of the disturbance.

A cloud of dust was curling out from the tunnel entrance, spreading lazy, buff-colored tendrils into the battle-cry filled air. There were a few reploids milling uncertainly about the collapsed entrance- too few, if I were to venture an opinion. Kuwagust was among them and made his way over to me very quickly. I imagined that he would have looked nervous, had his abstract features been capable of showing emotions.

"What happened?" I barked, not caring to bother with any amount of etiquette. I cast a steely gaze over the destroyed cave, the small group of ravaged forces, and then back at the insectoid reploid before me. "Did I not warn you of the possibility of a cave in?"

He looked at the ground. "Yes, Master, you did. And you were right; they destroyed many of their own allies in the process."

I blew out a frustrated breath and scraped my teeth over my lower lip before I realized what I was doing and closed my mouth. "How great a number of your forces did you lose to this... incident?"

"Thirty-two good men, sir," he replied, just a bit sullenly.

I shook my head and sighed darkly. "Well-trained soldiers such as they will be sorely missed." I snapped my gaze back to the sapphire reploid. "But we will discuss this later, away from the battlefield." I stayed alert, watching as the battle that had raged around me for the better part of the day finally began to gasp its dying breaths. Where did Phase go? For that matter, where did the rest of the enemy forces disappear to? I know that my army hasn't slain enough to account for such a loss. I know that they were on the move, but to where? And how? A group of reploids that size cannot hide so easily. I approached the collapsed cave entrance as the rocks and dust settled and peered in to see how extensive the cave in was. The mouth was open, but about forty feet into the tunnel, a wall of debris blocked my view, and I could assume by the size of some of the chunks of ceiling that the blockage may have gone on for several hundred feet or more. If there are survivors in there, trying to dig through the rubble would only cause them greater risk by further collapse. It would also cost us resources that we do not have. As cruel as it sounds, they must save themselves, assuming anyone's alive at all. Abruptly, I turned away and strode past Kuwagust to the ATV I had parked.

"Take your remaining men and clean up," I instructed without even honoring him with a glance. "This battle is nearly won; to be careless now would be a foolish mistake." I started the engine and paused to look at Li, who had been following me silently for some time.

"Li, you can normally detect energy trails left by transerver activity, correct?"

"Of course!" She perched on the right handlebar of the ATV.

"Have you detected large numbers of reploid teleportation at all, especially within the last hour?"

She shrugged. "Not... really. I mean, there's been some, but nothing huge."

"Hnn..." I revved the engine, a small warning to the cyber-elf that her present residence would probably be best vacated at this point. She hovered up to my shoulder and I gunned the gas, flying past the last few straggling fights and watching intently as I went. "I need to think," I muttered irritably. "I'm tired of nothing adding up."

"Are you talking to yourself?" Lei called into my ear over the motor's roar.

"No," I lied curtly. I think the stress is getting to me. As I drove, I realized that most of the soldiers I saw were the Jin'en forces, and the occasional Meikai fighter. The Rekku army was perched above on the cliffs, watching and waiting for any surprises. As far as enemy forces went, I only spotted one large mechaniloid tank still functioning, and several lying in smoldering heaps of broken metal. The buzz of other ATVs was still audible, but it was distant, and the vehicles were few. I used the modified chain gun mounted on my own buggy to fire at the last lizard-like behemoth, and it threw its head back and roared. The few remaining ATVs turned on me and began pelting me mercilessly with lead, and I was forced to abort my attack. I weaved between two that were heading toward me as though to ram me. They, in turn, were forced to turn sharply to avoid colliding with each other, and I spun a tight one-eighty and gave them a barrage from my gun. One suffered a ruptured fuel tank and erupted in a ball of flames, while the other managed to juke around several groups of my men, depriving me of clear shot. Looking over my shoulder at the mechaniloid tank, I saw that it had begun to move on, and I took off after it, ignoring the trailing ATVs for the time being. Their shots kicked up dust on the ground beside and behind me, but as I wove around wreckage and still living-reploids, I avoided taking a hit.

Once I had a clean shot, I began firing on the lizard tank again, scattering bullets across its flank. The ATVs behind me, lacking a clear target, began shooting at me anyway, mowing down many of my soldiers and several of their own in the process. This is going nowhere. The chain gun doesn't seem to do much to the mechaniloid other than irritate it, but I have no other weapon I can combat it with. I know that several somehow got away, but the fewer the better. I debated crashing the ATV into it the same way I had destroyed the demi-dragon with the land chaser. If my men attack immediately when it falls, it should work, but I need to tell them what they're supposed to do first.

I activated my com, hoping that, by some chance, we were no longer being blocked. I received an earful of static. I should have figured...

"They must be covering their retreat!" Li deduced, although I did not need her to tell me that.

"Then I'll just have to hope my men figure this out on their own," I answered through gritted teeth, forcing the ATV into a sharp turn to set it on a collision course with the walking tank's left hind leg. I leapt off and landed in a crouch, purposely not using my boosters since the fuel tanks were so dangerously low that they would probably have given out anyway. The vehicle, which I had previously pushed to its top speed, crashed into the beast, and its knee buckled, causing it to stumble and fall, but it quickly recovered itself and began moving again. I bit back a curse at the ineffectual flop of a plan. Turning, I spied one of the few remaining enemy soldiers retreating across the canyon, and angrily threw one saber at him. The spinning blade severed one leg, and he fell with a cry. Before he could figure out what was going on, I jumped, plunging one blade through is back, causing him to jerk and cough blood before remaining still.

"Stress-relief?" I turned around to see Fefnir ambling toward me, his gun drawn but not ready, not that there seemed to be much of a need at the present. The battle was over; I simply was not sure when that had happened.

"You could say that," I replied darkly. "Fefnir, what in X's name is going on?"

He shrugged. "We won... I guess."

I shook my head. "I'm not so sure. I know that we couldn't have destroyed them all; just look at the number of bodies versus the number of enemy forces there were. It doesn't add up. And, if you haven't noticed, we're still being jammed."

"I can't answer any of that, so I'm not even gonna bother tryin.' All we can do is send scouts to see if there's any sign of them in the desert or wasteland."

I sighed. "Once my jets are refueled, I'll head out" I turned as though to walk away, but he stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.

"Oh, no you don't. You get your sleep and food-deprived self back to base and rest up." He glared at me with his unnerving red eyes. "You're a regular workaholic, Harpuia. Slow down before you start coming apart at the seams."

I glared back. "I am your superior; you cannot tell me what to do."

"I'm your friend, so I can too. He paused. "Anyway, I have the med-center taking care of Leviathan." He smirked. "I suspect she'll give 'em heck when she wakes up."

"How is she?"

He tried and failed to hide his concern behind a nonchalant grin. "I'm sure she'll be fine." Something told me that the reassurance was more for himself than for me.

"Well," I sighed, "when she eventually comes around, remind me to make sure that Mayu's not still there."

He chuckled. "Right. But seriously; go back to base now; I'll finish up here."

"You're tired, too. I'm staying until this is over." I folded my arms over my chest, giving him the look that said "no argument."

The bleak look in his eyes betrayed the truth, but he denied it anyway. "I'm perfectly fine. Besides, there's hardly anything to clean up here. We could just send the scouts and have them radio us at the base if they find something."

"We're being jammed, remember?" I reminded him sardonically.

"Well... yeah, but my men are working on finding a frequency that isn't affected by the jamming signal."

"All right," I conceded. "If they are successful in finding a usable channel, then you and I can both go back to the base. Until then, I, at least, am staying."

He smiled wanly in his defeat. "But I do think we need some fresh soldiers out here for the work; these guys're beat. I know there was still plenty on base, just in case anything came up there. We'll just trade these guys for some of them."

"That I'll agree to. But we still need to wait for an available communication frequency."

Fefnir glanced around. "Uh... what happened to that tank you were trying to take out?"

I followed his gaze. It was gone. "Blast." I said the word with little feeling, barely even having the energy to be annoyed with myself for being so easily distracted.

"Master Fefnir! We fixed the frequency. Communications should be up now!" Arcan jogged up, waving a com link.

"First, stop with the "Master" thing. Harpuia may like the title, but it makes me feel like an old guy." I shot him a warning look. "Second, if the com's up, what'd ya run all the way over here for?"

"Uh..." Arcan puzzled over this for a few moments. "Just in case it didn't work?"

I felt like slapping my forehead. Fefnir did, and answered, "If it didn't work, then there would be nothing to tell me." He looked at me helplessly, mouthing, "why me?"

I stepped forward, narrowing my eyes dangerously, although I could see a bit of humor in the situation. "Do you not think?" I snapped. "That sort of poor deduction could get you killed on the battlefield."

Arcan shrank back and stuttered. "Well, I mean, I- I-"

"If you have something to say, spit it out." I crossed my arms.

"Well, the coms won't work unless they're set to the right frequency, so I had to tell you first..."

"Well, why didn't you say so!" Fefnir grumbled. "Yer a great kid, but..." He pointed to his head. "Are you sure everything's connected up here?"

"Go inform anyone you see of the new frequency. When we have full communications again, then you may return to base and go off-duty for the rest of the day."

After giving us the frequency, Arcan jogged off, probably happy to be away from me.

"You're harsh, Harp," Fefnir grunted.

"Don't call me that. Come on, we need to inform anyone we see of the new channel so they will be in full communications for cleanup and scouting."

Half an hour later, I was finally back at the base, sitting irritably in the medical center as my wounds were tended to. My shoulder was by far the worst, and it was all I could do not to ask to be shut down while the medical staff worked on it.

"That looks painful." Mayu, clothed in civilian garb, walked casually into the med-center. "How can you stand it?"

I winced as a particularly sensitive spot was prodded. "It's not easy," I admitted. "I take it you're feeling better?"

She shrugged and then made a face as the gesture apparently caused her pain. "I don't think they would've released me yet, but there were a lot of injured coming in. I wasn't exactly on death's door; just really, really sore."

I grunted in pain as the medic attempted to re-wire my shoulder. "In that case, maybe you shouldn't be down here; I'm assuming they at least gave you quarters?"

She nodded once. "Yeah. But I'm not good at sitting around, especially when I think a friend may be hurt." She looked around the med-center. "I don't see Fefnir or Leviathan anywhere; they okay?"

I shook my head, causing the medical staff to grumble. "Leviathan's not. She's beyond the partition on the other side. I think Fefnir is hovering around nearby."

She hissed between her teeth. "Isn't that area for the 'serious' patients?"

I nodded once, doing so gingerly so as not to annoy the reploid who was working on my arm. "I'm not sure how bad she actually is. She was stabbed by a 'stinger' of sorts, and it apparently injected something into her that shut down her systems." I sighed. "I just hope it isn't potent- or permanent."

Mayu stared off toward the other part of the room. "...She'll be fine," she said lamely.

Ironic she'd say that. She really wouldn't have a clue. I watched the fast-paced bustle about the room for a moment before snapping my attention back to the dark-haired girl. Again, I'm so used to seeing her in armor. "Not used to seeing you in civies," I mumbled aloud. "Guess it'll take some getting used to."

"Yeah, but it's kinda nice not to have to pretend anymore."

I was silent again for a moment and finally nodded toward the door. "Well, your concern is greatly appreciated, but now may not be an... appropriate time to be visiting the medical ward. There's really too much going on now."

"You're right," she signed, turning to walk away. "I guess I just... didn't want to have to wait to see if everyone's okay."

"Understandable."

After she left, I realized that I wished she had not had to. Talking had gotten my mind somewhat off the pain that the repairs were causing, and now the only things to occupy my mind were thoughts and worries about my comrades and future battles. I managed to work myself into a semi-daze with my mental meanderings, although I quickly snapped out of it when the medic informed me that she had finished and that I should go to my quarters and rest. I nodded as though I agreed fully and left the packed medical ward- and headed straight for the transerver to go back to the battlefield.

"How did I guess," said a familiar voice wryly from just inside the door. "I really don't think the med staff would approve."

"Hypocrite," I muttered over my shoulder to Mayu. "You're supposed to be resting, too. You're human; I know you didn't heal that fast."

"At least I'm not trying to run off. You seriously need to slow down, Sage." She glanced around to be certain that no one was listening to her address me so casually. "I know your men need you, but right now, for this situation, I'm pretty sure they can handle it. Show a little faith in your soldiers." She grinned slightly "Well, now I've said my piece; I think I should probably rest, or I'll never get back to the Resistance."

I nodded and glanced uncertainly at the transerver pad, now undecided. My inclination was always to jump into the thick of things, where I felt I was needed, but I knew I could not be everywhere at once, and my men had to be fine on their own at times, too...

"Master Harpuia?" an operator questioned, snapping me out of my reverie. "Will you be going to Pinnacle Canyon?"

"Hmmm..." I was about to say yes when Fefnir came stomping into the room.

"You going back there to get your brain, which you apparently left behind?" I expected him to crack a smile at his immature joking, but his expression remained quite serious, and I looked at him curiously.

"Please elaborate, if you feel so inclined," I answered mundanely.

"You keep runnin' yourself into the ground, and Neo Arcadia ain't gonna have a leader," he snorted. "I sure as heck don't want to attempt it, and if Leviathan takes charge, I'm leaving the country, so yer stuck, Harpuia, and I won't let you get out of it so easily."

I sighed. "What are you babbling about, Fefnir?"

"You know bloody well what I'm 'babbling' about. You. Here. Leaving. And you shouldn't be. True, they need their leader, but not necessarily breathing down their necks all the time."

"You have an... interesting way of putting things," I muttered ironically. "You're either trying to make me mad- and doing a poor job of it- or trying to make me not go- and doing an equally poor job of it."

"I'm tryin' to make you think. I thought you were supposed to be good at that."

"Yeah, well..." I frowned. "Maybe I do too much."

"Now there's a thought." He replaced his dark expression with a grin. "So anyway... step away from the transerver and nobody gets hurt."

"Now Fefnir, it's not like you to worry about your personal safety."

He frowned again. "Look, I know I'm cracking jokes, but I'm really not goofing around. I know when the med staff tells you to 'rest up,' you typically ignore them, but this time, I think you're taking it too far. If there's a real problem, you'll get your butt kicked in the state you're in, and if there's not, then there's no sense in you runnin' all the way back out there in the first place."

I shook my head. "You make sense, I suppose, and yet I can't make heads or tails of your reasoning. If something does go majorly wrong, then who's going to be there to do something about it?"

He smiled easily, although I could see some of the fatigue behind his eyes. "Me. I'll be draggin' Arcan and Cerussite along, too, just in case, but I doubt we'll even be needed except for grunt work.

"Are you kidding? You're as exhausted as the rest of us. I'm sure Arcan is, too. And Cerussite... well..."

"Who knows," Fefnir finished for me in regards to the enigmatic warrior. "Anyway, yeah, we'll oversee things. And I'm better off than you, at the moment. Sure, the med center patched you up, but your body won't heal completely until you give it a chance to."

I finally relented, slumping against the wall. "Fine. Go and do what you've gotta do." I shot him a meaningful glare. "But if anything comes up, whether it's an unusual discovery or a surprise attack, or whatever, contact me immediately."

Fefnir gave me a sarcastic, informal salute. "Yes sir, Mr. Master. Whatever you say!"

I glowered. "Watch it. Battle-weary or not, I could still take you."

His jaunty smile remained securely in place as he sauntered up to the teleportation pad and signaled the operator to wait until his two charges had arrived.

A moment later, Cerussite strode smoothly onto the raised platform, with an incessantly jabbering Arcan at his heels, whom he very thoroughly ignored.

"Yeah, hurry up," Fefnir chided. "We wanna get this over before we lose all the daylight." The three teleported in rapid succession, and I no longer had a reason to stay in the transerver station. I felt a presence settle on my shoulder as I was leaving.

"I thought maybe I'd finally lost you," I muttered to the red-haired pixie. "Do you truly have nothing better to do?"

She let out a hefty sigh and crossed her arms, not quite as bright and cheerful- and obnoxious- as usual. "I don't get it; why do we keep fighting?"

"Because it's a war," I answered without feeling. "That's what happens in a war. You fight."

"But... why? I don't get it." She hovered up onto my head and leaned against a fin.

"To protect," I said simply, entering the elevator and slapping the button for the third floor.

She was quiet until the doors opened again. "Well, will it ever stop?"

I caught a dim reflection of myself in the dull metal wall; haggard, worn, hollow... "I hope so, Li. I really do."

I entered the familiar confines of my office and attacked the cluttered mess of papers on my desk. Battles were fought and won or lost, comrades and enemies came and went... but these days, it seemed that everything begun and ended with paperwork.