[Mogtaki] TTGL: Continuous Spiral [EbonWings]

[EbonWings]

At a lost for words, Nera raised both eyebrows at Viral’s reaction. Judging by the way he had given her that glare, she half-expected the Captain to turn around and try to hit her. Not the most assuring, but neither was it the best way to try and get on the Captain’s good side -if he even had one. It was difficult to tell. He was doing a good job at restraining himself, though, and that was sure to earn points with anyone looking for a leader. She heard her father sigh heavily from somewhere behind her and as she looked over her shoulder at him, she was seized firmly by the wrist.
“That’s enough.” He murmured into her ear. He knew what to expect of her and there were some traits that would not be easily broken. If only he had paid more attention, then he would not have to waste his breath on her like this. Leaning away again, Aaron released her and laced his fingers behind his back, probably trying not to pull her away for a few serious words, Nera guessed with a light huff. All Viral had ever been was a storm cloud over a parade and she wondered if he was not like this in the past. There might have been a time, but it was hard to imagine. She was a little disappointed that Viral had taken it that seriously. The files could have been buried in the cloud of dirt that had been stirred up during his fall, but he still managed to find it. To think of it from his perspective, though, Nera could see how it could have easily been lost.
“Are you being serious?” She whispered back to Aaron. He gave her a look that answered her question and also gave hint to what he may say soon when they were alone.

“You can trust Enkidu will be taken back to base, Captain Viral...and regarding Nera, she will not be accompanying you on the way there.” Out of the corner of his eye, Aaron saw Nera tilt her head at his statement. It was best to leave the Beastman alone and at this time, he did not think Viral’s mood would improve if his daughter were to tag along. Also, if she were to go along with Viral at this moment, Aaron had a feeling that things would just grow worse and considering the Captain appeared to have plans of walking the rest of the way there, it would no doubt be a long trip if Nera were to complain or poke fun at him from time to time. If one did not fail along the way, Aaron hoped they would remain sane by the end of it. Luckily, Viral would not have to put up with her. With Aaron’s plans, he thought that it would be better to have them at the same place so they would get a better idea of what to do since they had less of a chance of being suspected of any action going to be taken in the future. “Do not be surprised if she is present, though. I would prefer it if the brigade had a few people to rely on for better preparation. We will take our leave from here.” With that confirmation clear, the General took the path he had come from whilst going through what actions could be taken once more. If he could, Aaron would have deployed a larger group, yet that would be taking much more of a gamble than what was being done now. Say he were to have a party consisting of other officers in the brigade, there was a chance that whatever mole that had burrowed its way into the brigade would know or would be amongst that group. Nera’s own plan of leaving with him to see a relative was playing much in Aaron’s favour by this point and because of this, she had more of an excuse to head back to the base than he did.

Reaching the area where their Gunman had been stationed took much less time than it did to navigate their way from it. None of the two fell now that they had more confidence in the ground around them and Nera had managed to get in a conversation with her father, though it was not what she wanted to listen to for the duration of their little trip. It mostly ranged from what he wanted her to do to improve her piloting skills to putting a bit more effort into trying to get along with a Beastman who had more experience. “Unlike the other officers, he is the only one that has standing authority over the brigade and could exercise any rights if he wishes it. You need to be more courteous of the position he is in, Nera. Perhaps I had left you with your mother too much.” Aaron said over the monitor of her Gunman as soon as she had settled herself. “I don’t believe your antics bode well with him.” At least she could take this time to see what she could do and what she couldn’t around the Captain.
“Figured that one out.” Nera sighed, shifting at the controls to get her Gunman to straighten without hitting one of the trees. A part of her regretted her actions, but she did not plan to make any promises heard by her father.

[Mogtaki]

Maybe if Nera wasn't so vile to him at the best of times, he might had just brushed it off, or maybe if he hadn't witnessed so much death and could still smell rotten corpses from the experience. Any soldier in that position would had gone through a post-traumatic stress disorder fairly quickly after seeing all that horror and the children clinging onto their dead relative as if she'd come back to life after all that, but Viral had to be hardened to live through the losses of those he tried to protect. He had lost so many in the past before, but this was completely different. While it was hard to say that the Generals were different or even Lordegenome, the biggest difference was the Beastmen that fought alongside him in the war against the humans were ones he rarely saw outside their Gunman or having to suffer like that. While Viral knew he couldn't stop every death that came his way, his own lack of such constantly burdened him with the thought that he would have to carry these memories to the end of time itself.

Of course Nera would never understand that, no human could understand the concept of immortality and forever left to live through struggles and watch death approach, whether it was peaceful or through suffering. He still couldn't understand why those hunting him would ever want to have to go through all that over and over again, it was too difficult to understand that there would never be an end or finally peace from the dreadful images of people around you dying. While some people adored the thought of being alone and dodging death at every turn, he could never understand that desire and wondered whether he was ever going to find the answer to happiness. Simon even found happiness after Nia passed on, all his team mates found their calling in life and found happiness that way, but his happiness was easily short lived when he was ejected out of his comfort zone and shown that such a thing would never last forever. He couldn't remain on the Super Galaxy forever, he wouldn't always be able to go and visit these new worlds and meet new people as an ambassador for peace; eventually, he was going to be thrown back into the realities of life and death with that time being now.

Oh well, Viral had another job to do and that was to take the sphere onwards to those that gave him it. Giving a very brief look back, he watched Aaron and Nera for just a second before he tapped the side of his head, "I still have a communicator, I trust that if you ever wanted to find my location, you could just pinpoint onto its signal", he said relatively calmly, yet somehow sounding rather down about all that was happening, "If I arrive there before you contact me, then simply send some way for me to get back..." He still hadn't decided whether he should bother filling in a report about all this, there probably was no need to if Aaron was here to see how he was. While he looked pretty okay physically, he was still feeling the agony from being crushed and the cold after falling in the swamp in dry clothes. He never did show his weaknesses willingly, so instead he marched on with the occasional grunt of pain when his body allowed it.

[EbonWings]

The more she thought on it, however, the more she began to wonder what it was like for the Captain. Viral had mentioned everyone he ever knew had been claimed either by war or by time. Nera believed she had lost at least two people she had known: her mother and that one person who had exchanged their life for hers. It was not as if she had forgotten the hardships of the people in the previous village, but from experience, sitting around and crying over witnessing their deaths and tragedy was not going to solve anything. The least she could do is help rebuild whenever and pay her respects to the dead when this was all over. It certainly had been quite a week and she wondered how she was going to cope if events kept being thrown about one after the other. Things never used to be this hectic. Not as much as she could remember, anyway. It was either she did not care all too much at the time or it was because she was becoming involved in situations she had the chance and keen sense to avoid.

Enkidu’s weight had been equally distributed between her and her father’s Gunman and with the patient instructions of Aaron from time to time, he and Nera were able to move at a pace they both agreed on. It was not as quickly as Aaron had hoped, but he was well aware that he could not rush the process. It was important that they did not cause the mechanics back at base any more reason to spend more time than they needed to on Enkidu. It was a good chance to work out the chinks in Enkidu’s armour and hopefully make a few improvements that would not effect the current weight of the model too much or, if possible, would not effect it at all.
~~
“You idiot! You drove right into the water! Didn’t you see that stable ground had ended a few minutes ago?!” Tori swiped angrily at Lucan who easily ducked out of the way.
“Well...I would have noticed if someone hadn’t been jabbering on for the rest of the journey.” Was the grumbled reply. Luckily he was not heard and was spared of another thwack to the head. He hadn’t invited her. Tori chose to come out of her own accord and much to his inconvenience, as well. Surely, she would have been of better use back at the base? He was able to carry out orders on his own and he just needed their superior to realise that and withdraw the idea of dispatching her fighters in pairs.
“This Gunman isn’t waterproof.” Already water was starting to get in through the joints. Since the last battle, they had swapped their reptile-like Gunman for one that allowed them to traverse rough terrain without much difficulty. Who would have thought that their target would head for a place so damp? Tori shrunk away from the water like it was acid, looking at it with a dark frown. “This is your fault, entirely.”
“Alright! Then we head out on foot. Moving around in this Gunman would draw too much attention to us, anyway.”
“And if we abandon it now, we’re just as likely to get caught before we take action.” Tori reasoned. It was tempting for Lucan to hit his head over the controls over and over again but, as a true man, refrained from doing so and looked away from the monitor that showed only trees that made natural barriers to face her.
“Fine, fine, my fire bird. Then I have another plan.” The sudden chuckle that escaped him confused her for a moment, but all became clear in almost an instant. She was not going to like this plan one bit.
-
It was definite that she didn’t like the plan that involved her scouting ahead to see what they were up against. Tori was uncaring of where she placed her feet as her boots were going to be covered in mud with other plant-like substances clinging onto it either way so she now moved with the intention of getting of getting to her destination. While Lucan was occupied with moving their Gunman to another position, she was charged with carrying out the hunt. It was going to be slightly difficult as they were no longer roaming their territory and the chances of running into one of Declan’s operatives was starting to become high. Did they know that Viral was trudging around this area? Even if they didn’t, that last incident involving a village not too far from here would no doubt be enough to draw them out. Tori sighed at her luck. It wasn’t as if she could wait another day -especially when Viral’s trail was still fresh. She guessed they would have to further delay the installment of their latest project that was also simply named ‘Zenith’ instead of D370 B-ko Ten Sin or whatever ridiculous name their engineers come up with. The last had been Nancy 45. Who in their right mind would be afraid of a giant machine named Nancy? They would be laughing even as they died, no doubt. Tori and Lucan’s second incentive would to be to find out where Declan had settled down for the time being as sometimes he was seen in this area and sometimes he would vanish for years on end. He would prove to be a most valuable ally if they could only just convince him to accept their offer. Maybe he would change his mind after seeing what hardships people living in the village have to face. What had happened today was one such prime example. Stopping where she was, Tori listened for a few minutes to make sure that she hadn’t been hearing voices not too far off from her current position. At first, there was nothing, but, as time passed, there was the distinct sound of voices speaking to each other. Six to seven, judging by the varying pitches. There was reason to be concerned. Usually, if it were just a scouting party, it would only consist of three to four members for a good level of efficiency and a low level of detection. However, this had at least double the number of people which could indicate that there must be an encampment somewhere near. Perhaps it wasn’t as much of a wise decision to investigate, but as Lucan had explained, they would have to come back another time when they were better equipped and with more numbers if they were proved to be at too much of a disadvantage. Even if they were to corner Viral here, they would have others who were willing to fight alongside the Captain to deal with. Kicking the moss that had become stuck to her boots off, Tori started to retrace the way she had come to avoid the patrol. Oh, how Lucan was enjoying this all cooped up and free of swamp goo in their Gunman. How she resented him.

[Mogtaki]

Viral couldn't had been very far down the road from this mysterious base often spoken about during their entire time in that swamp, the walk may be long but at least he would know how to pass the infinite amount of time he had to get there. It was so much better now that Nera was away back to the base, he didn't have any distractions going on to divert him away from his path and his senses. There was a lot of times where her actions made him pretty close to clawing her face off out of an act of impulse to get her to shut up, but he was better than her and wouldn't go and humiliate or harm her in the way she had managed to do to him. For a journey that was going to be long and probably dangerous for even an immortal Beastman, the best thing he had right now was the silence of not having Nera around to nag him about being a terrible Captain due to the rage she held for all Beastmen without prejudice; if he was able to last in the depths of space through the annoyances and irritation he had to experience when meeting other races and human civilisations, then he should had surely been able to handle somebody like Nera. Even if he still had a tracker on him, even if she could easily find him if she wanted to in a flying Gunman, he was pretty happy right now just to keep to himself on this journey that would surely save a lot of lives compared to the tragedy of that village.

He couldn't understand it: just how did the Earth manage to get into so much trouble, how did they manage to lose the Lagann which acted as a symbol of the people, just how did they manage to lose to a bunch of rebels when rebels back from his day and age were insignificant. He knew he was once a rebel, he had been doing it for a good cause, but now it was out of pure greed that these rebels had managed to spring up and cause trouble that sent the entire Earth into war. Maybe there was a corner of the planet that was peaceful and spared from this death and destruction, one of the continents that existed so far away from anything and everything that had to do with technology and destroyed wildernesses. The world that he knew of all the way back then was peaceful and recovering, the world he knew before he took off and left the Earth was so well settled that they didn't even need him, so what on earth happened to make it take such a backwards turn that made humans unbelievably greedy and dishonest; he thought humans had a sense of justice and dignity, but they looked well dishonoured and disgraceful to him now.

The land barely looked the same from what it was before, there should had been plants everywhere and trees that reached the sky, but war made sure that they continued to suffer and the wildlife continue to die out. Viral had no idea whether the animals were doing well or if the deserts would stop growing despite everyone's efforts in the past to rediscover water tablets and make the land a much brighter place, but he also had no idea how Kamina City had managed to survive all this and if it did in the first place. He hadn't been to the city in ages, he hadn't been to see how human civilisation had managed to build up at all since his arrival. There should had been more to human's homes than an underground system like the one that collapsed and the floating bases they trained their armies on, that was something he would rather see than all of this. There was nowhere on this Earth that felt safe and secure with peace everywhere, he didn't even know if anything significant had happened that had blanked out their links to the world like those televisions they invented from communicators and that telephone that they used for pleasant conversation and not war-talk. There was so much leisurely instruments and devices that had been invented in the short seven years between Teppelin's downfall and the Anti-Spiral invasion that humans had become lazy from, but now it appeared as if everything had slowed to a halt completely with the humans regressing rather than constantly evolving. Just what had happened to allow Spiral Power to not be used at all to stop their intelligence and curiosity from growing, he didn't even know if Spiral Power was still being talked about and educated upon or whether they had become completely afraid by the absence of Lagann and himself that they didn't want to go anywhere near it. There was so many answers he had to figure out himself that spun in this great wide world, many that were probably beyond his reach as a Captain and a Beastman.

[EbonWings]

Perhaps Tori had understood what the chuckle that had escaped him meant now. Lucan was more than content with imagining his partner’s progress, no longer regretting the fact that she had come with him. Good entertainment had been hard to come by since he had been promoted and had often wondered if he would be having much less of a rotten time if he was still an ordinary scout. Back then, he saw many things that gave his teammates something to discuss once the mission was over. Not so much now, though. Lucan now had a much higher chance of being killed now than he ever did as a scout because back then, he had backup.
He leaned back in his seat and put his hands behind his head, closing his eyes and ignoring the bright lights coming from various sections of the controls for a brief moment. It hadn’t taken Lucan very long to carefully navigate the Gunman down a safe path to avoid detection as he was now able to focus on one thing without distraction. He could understand his superior’s intentions for wanting to capture Viral in the first place, but what he couldn’t understand was why they would also have to try and win over Declan, too. After all, Lucan thought the superior would be more intent on finding a way to improve on their latest project while they awaited the capture, but apparently not and he had to wonder if time was just wasting away while they accomplished nothing. It won’t happen overnight, but the least that could be produced were results. He stood up and turned around to take in the damage the water had done to the Gunman. It was fortunate that the damage was minimum, but it was going to take quite some time before he got the cockpit dry again. “Better get started.” He mumbled.
~
Tori stared long into the distant camp after going well out of her way to avoid the patrol. So far, she hadn’t caught sight of either of the targets, but assumed at one point, one of the two would be seen. The woman was uncomfortably kneeling behind a thicket on a gentle slope that not only gave her enough cover not to be spotted when she moved, but a wonderful vantage point where she could still see Declan’s encampment situated in a wide clearing with two large trees in the centre of it. She had just wished that they would stop taking their time so she could go back and report her findings. Getting out of this ridiculously damp and humid place was at the very top of her list, but it appeared that it wouldn’t be happening so soon.
No matter where she moved, there were biting insects everywhere, making it all the more difficult for her to stay unmoving in one spot without swatting at the air every few minutes. It would take all of a woman of her position’s resolve to stay in such a place and she was afraid that she was quickly running out of it. When Lucan had given Tori his plans, she had no way of refusing because they both knew that such a job was befitting of her; his frame and weight would put him at an unnecessary disadvantage and his field of specialty did not lie at this point despite him having done the training. He had been a scout. Everyone started there, but often where others were found sneaking through obscured paths in a forest full of dead trees, he was found at the back of the group, patiently waiting for anyone not in league with them to be driven out of hiding. It was a strategy often used and was the most successful in their missions. How could they be sure that Declan was here and not elsewhere? Tori supposed she could wait a little longer.
~
Surprisingly, the journey back was uneventful despite it taking slightly longer than intended. Aaron had chosen a location halfway between the ruined village and the base where they could stop and call for two others to take Viral’s Gunman, Enkidu, back for them. It wouldn’t make much sense if he had announced departure only to return. That would only raise questions and he’d rather not have that until he had accomplished what he set out to do. If Nera returned before him, he only hoped her attitude towards Beastmen would improve. To get where they were now required a contribution from both sides; it wasn’t just the humans working to keep the Dai-Gurren spirit alive. He only hoped she could understand that and not be so stubborn to accept the truth.
It was natural for a parent to want the best for their child and Aaron was concerned that if she continued to act the way she did, her life would be a miserable one, one that she may end up regretting. While Aaron awaited the approach of the easily recognisable S.S.U Gunman models with Nera, he decided to make another attempt at getting her to share her thoughts as she once did as a child.

[Mogtaki]

Viral's gaze remained on the horizon throughout his entire journey, maybe stopping to look at the ground for a few seconds sometimes when there was a strange obstacle in his path such as uneven ground or a little lizard that looked pretty appetizing for someone of his calibre. He wasn't against eating small defenceless creatures, he was still an animal inside and partially on the outside, it was just watching the little thing scurry around in a wet yet deserted area reminded him of humans and who's past time was very similar to that of a little scurrying animal. It was such a strange thought knowing that humans had regressed back to their more primal state of mind and given up intelligence, probably making him one of the smartest creatures left on this damn planet. Maybe it was inevitable, maybe he was starting to miss somebody like Leeron because of their smarts nevermind the way Leeron always managed to creep him out so bad that he must had been one of the only humans ever to give him goosebumps. Maybe Leeron was still alive somehow, he didn't know how long humans lived for on account that the Spiral King himself lived well through his thousandth year not to mention Leeron had barely aged at all throughout the entire time he had been around him for all those years so very long ago. It was quite sad, really, when somebody like himself would miss another creature who was probably the least tolerable person in the whole of creation.

Oh well, hopefully he wasn't actually drifting into the realms of insanity by missing a cretin like Leeron, even if he was probably the only smart guy he ever knew. It was always going to be hard knowing people and seeing them disappear when you continue to live on, he had to witness that the hard way when the Generals all started dying off and he was the one who was left behind all the time. The deaths of the only two people he ever cared about had even managed to break him, bringing him to tears when Adiane had been so brutally destroyed in front of his eyes. He was left broken back then, the reality of outliving everyone you cared about being shoved in his face as he was mocked with mud thrown in his face as he lay there battered and broken. This was probably the worst aspect of travelling alone in a place that made it difficult to think about anything else other than death and suffering, especially when the weather was always constant and the horizon always looked the same.

Maybe he was getting closer already, maybe it wasn't as far away as they had thought and he had taken the right decision to travel on foot so long as he got away from Nera and Aaron. He was beginning to find pieces of metal stuck in the dirt, but on closer inspection he found the metal to be recent and, probably worst of all, from his own Enkidu. That was such a pain in the neck, even if they were fragments after the damage it sustained from the rockfall. He had trusted the humans to do a good job on his Gunman, only after the booster problem and the shards of metal lying around he was beginning to wonder whether he was short changed after all. He wasn't a mechanic, he didn't know how they put it together or what they used, he only knew how to repair minor problems and to keep his Gunman in good order. Oh well, maybe he'll be able to live his passion again and pilot one properly and if not, maybe he'll be allowed to go to the city at one point just to relax in the bars and maybe gamble away money he was never really fond of possessing in the first place.

[EbonWings]

Taking a step back, Nera craned her head to look at the woman that had approached her. It was not unexpected that the people in this camp would be wary and the fact that she was able to land her Gunman without being shot down first was very fortunate. Still only just having been introduced to piloting a Gunman, she wouldn’t know how to handle an emergency landing. She was beginning to feel a little vulnerable as soldiers congregated around her with weapons at the ready to ‘warmly welcome’ their guest. All Nera could do was wait patiently to allow the woman to survey her Gunman uninterrupted and quickly come to a decision of whether the new arrival was a threat or a potential ally. Nera was beginning to feel nervous and uncomfortable by this point, aware now that she was vulnerable and had no real means of defending herself against this many people and that was disregarding the fact the she had waltzed in on her own. It would be absurd to think that she had arrived at the wrong destination. After all, she wasn’t aware of any other bases or camps sitting within range of this one and if there had been, wouldn’t she have been able to pick it up with her Gunman’s sensors? Viral was able to be tracked down, but she wasn’t necessarily keen on meeting him on the road and there was no doubt that the feeling was mutual. They didn’t get off to a very good start, after all.

　

Nera’s thoughts drifted elsewhere even when instinct would urge focus on the immediate threat. She was rather surprised that she was standing here on her own, her expectations of being with her father giving her too much of a confidence booster for her own good. She had faltered as soon as Aaron announced his departure a few minutes before she caught sight of the camp.

"Any weapons you carry must be handed over." The woman spoke calmly and dutifully. It didn’t surprise Nera that she had to part with her weapons seeing as this was their territory. Even if she had been foolish enough to stir up a bit of trouble, they would still have themselves an easy capture. Doing as she was asked, she caught a few guards mumbling to themselves about the amount of weaponry she had on her. It wasn’t much in the first place when compared to what they carried daily, but her role and rank did not permit her to have much in her possession. It sometimes made her wonder if she had achieved this position due to the help she received for being the General’s daughter. Li and Leo were still ahead of her even if they did start off together when they were younger, the two young men having had more accomplishments than she had. Nera didn’t want things set out for her like some sort of board game and her fate decided by the roll of her father’s dice. How was she supposed to make her own decisions? It wasn’t long before the command was given to escort her through their base. The base was nothing like she had expected. For starters, before she had caught sight of it, she had thought it would be a building or even something similar to the Zennyo, but instead, she was slightly mislead.

Tents were widely spread out within the perimeter, some hiding additional Gunmen from view and some housing supplies in wooden crates. Each tent had a symbol printed on the side, the head of a bird peeking out from behind a lonely cloud cover. They must be some sort of official group. She’d never seen the logo before and was beginning to doubt if she’d ever heard of them. Nera followed one of the members down a straight path in between the number of tents on either side, continuing past a few more before turning right. While walking past one of the tents, the girl caught sight of something of interest. Unlike the other Gunman in the area, this particular was grey with a purple-ish tint in colour. If she hadn’t been mistaken, it might be the same one she saw on the day where three men had appeared and attacked her and Viral. Still, she couldn’t be too sure as it was at a distance that she saw it. Maybe she could have imagined seeing a Gunman. That was one of the reasons why she hadn’t brought it to the Generals’ attention or Viral’s, for that matter. She had messed up enough times around the Beastman and if her information proved to be faulty, it might have been a waste of everyone’s time when they could be focusing on other matters. Nera knew better than to jump to conclusions. To avoid arousing any suspicion, Nera quickly caught up to her escort.

　

There was nothing remarkable about the tent that Nera was led to apart from it being set in the centre along with another three rows behind it. The escort lifted the flap and gestured for her to step inside, leaving shortly after she had stepped inside. There was a simple wooden table and a few chairs set about, simple furniture that did its job. Aside from the paper lying rolled up with part of its contents exposed that caught Nera’s interest, there was nothing more. The camp was alive with chatter outside and around the tent, some serious and some verging on a slightly lighter tone. Though she was unfamiliar with the group, they seemed to be familiar with everything else.

[Mogtaki]

Roaming through the desert was never pleasant when you were still dirty from a fall into swamp water and couldn't be bothered brushing it away, it seemed as if there was barely any sense of personal hygiene with Viral. He would continue to roam for as long as it took, the land all looking the same to somebody without keen vision. It was lucky that he had such good vision, he could see for miles and everything inbetween which was something that many people underestimated about him. Humans really didn't know that much about Beastmen at all, there was always a lack of interest made to them but there was a reason why they were the best workers and soldiers. His mind did turn to the wonder whether somebody had managed to duplicate Lordgenome's research with Spiral Power and genetics, but then again was genetics a thing of the past or had they come up with new and interesting ways to create super-soldiers. It was always a case of whether he wanted to know or if he was simply curious over how the world might had developed without him. It was probably not going to get very interesting to him, he was probably going to be sent away from the Earth again or, if they had decided they didn't need him anymore, locked up for eternity either in a dungeon to be forgotten about or forever on that giant Gunman ship to train those soldiers to which he thought were pretty useless at doing their jobs.

After a while, he decided to speed up on his journey and begin his trek further into this wasteland. There should had been someone who knew that he was all out in the wilds by himself, especially considering he was being tracked for ages and ambushed constantly. He was extremely wary as he continued along, feeling the need to look everywhere and at everything to make sure there was no movement. The earth below his feet was very still too, usually if there was any ground movement he would be able to use his senses to feel it out and understand how far away it was, but there was nothing at all. If these guys were actually serious about wanting to find him and discuss something very important with him, then now would had been a good time to catch him and start this so-called meeting that they wanted from him; for a group that were considered a threat and lay traps all over the place, they sure didn't have a clue as to when to pick their times for attack and really clever plans.

Coming to a halt, he looked around his location before up to the sky, watching as the time went away without him. It was going to be soon when the Super Galaxy would be showing itself in the sky, being as large as it is yet still docked safely out of the earth's gravitational pull. It was still a wonder to him who sent him the signal to come back to the earth, considering they were light years away from it. The message would had needed the help from Spiral Power, but even then that's a lot of power needed just to lure him back to Earth and shoot him out of the sky. He could still feel the force of the crash that would had killed him if he was a normal creature, but of course they knew he was going to survive it. Eventually deciding to sit down, he waited for time to pass to see whether somebody would seek him out or he would need to send a message to tell them he could report nothing unusual in the surrounding area.

[EbonWings]

To the people here, Nera probably looked like someone who had gotten too close just out of curiosity. Though she was in casual clothing, they should be able to confirm her affiliation just by glancing at her Gunman; all the tell-tale signs were there so one didn’t have to look too closely. It was a unit that was more often than not recognised and though it made her a possible target, it was added proof to her cause. It then occurred to her that they could just as easily assume that she had stolen the Gunman for her own uses. Hopefully not. The girl paced around the small area for a bit, keeping an eye out for shadows that might indicate that someone was about to approach. For a long time she waited, already beginning to wonder if she had been taken captive without even knowing. Nera’s eyes narrowed at that thought and she warily took a seat, appearing as if she was afraid it might bite her. After a while, she had enough confidence to tap her fingers lightly across the surface of the wooden table, already trying to peer at the bit of paper resting on top. Had they simply forgotten?

Nera quickly grew impatient, rising from her seat and walking towards the exit of the tent only to bump into someone. She jumped back in surprise, quickly trying to figure out what she should do next. If this person had caught her trying to escape, wouldn’t they retaliate with force? Perhaps she should just apologise. She risked a quick glance as she straightened herself and had to do a double take to make sure that she wasn’t just seeing things. The man acknowledged her reaction with a smile that easily made her grow flustered. Without thinking, she pointed at him then back at the way she came, at a complete loss for words. The man just patiently waited for her regain her grasp on the English language and speak coherently in a hushed tone. “Were you captured, too?” She recognised him as the man from earlier; the same one who had gone underground to lead the children out and the one who had spoken to her as if he knew her. Did she know him? She doubted it.
“Hmm...it seems that way and if you would like to devise a plan...” He suggested, appearing eager to hear her idea.
“...Uh...well...” The girl mumbled, moving so that the table served as a barrier between her and the man.
_
“Sure it’s official?” One of the scouts asked the other.
“It hasn’t been confirmed.” Replied another with a shrug.
“It could all be just a big joke...but still...let’s just keep an eye out.” The third, a male with a slight limp chided. There were four of them, two males and two females, the fourth taking the lead a few steps ahead. They were just finishing their round for the hour before reporting back for a change in shift. It had been requested that they all be on high alert in the case that they would be approached by the same group their leader was trying to avoid. After all, it had been a while since Declan had been out on the field with them and the least they could do was keep his presence a hushed secret. The female in lead stopped and raised a hand, bringing the group’s attention to what lie ahead. It was a vague, yet simple gesture that signalled for them to tread carefully from this point onward. Moving ahead a couple more steps, they found the cause for her concern. It was a person sitting there on their own. Was this person really alone? Was it some sort of trap? It was hard to tell, but surely four would be able to overwhelm one.

Approaching slowly, the woman in the lead took a few seconds to assess the figure from a distance before she chose to get any closer. It was her job to keep those in her party safe, too, and not just herself. Perhaps this really was a joke? She found it hard to believe it, really. A Beastman who at first glance appeared to be human. He also looked familiar...like she had seen some sort of picture in a history book. Before she had time to put two and two together, one of the men exclaimed, “Captain Viral!” She was tempted to wheel on him and put a finger to her lips, urging him to be quiet, but there really was no point in that now. She didn’t signal for them to sneak around only for him to give them away at the last minute! The young woman could always say he was new -he really was. Declan said to be expecting a few visitors, but no one had any idea whether he meant that in a good way or a bad way. It was possible that the Beastman here was one of the people he was talking about. Why didn’t he just say what he meant?
“Sir?” The woman at the front asked, unsure whether or not to lower her firearm. He looked as if he was occupied with his thoughts for one reason or another and he looked to be a bit of a mess, suggesting that he might have travelled here on foot. “We apologise for interrupting, but I’m afraid that you must come with us. It’s be easier if you did not resist.”
-
“So that’s the plan.” Nera finished, still hiding behind the table.
“Excellent.” There was something in the way he said it and the look in his eyes that suggested that he was laughing at her. Did she say something wrong? She was being serious and he was simply dismissing everything like he really couldn’t care any less of the sort of environment they were in. It was something that aroused suspicion, but for now, Nera was content with not provoking the man.

[Mogtaki]

It had come to the time of day where Viral would take a seat on the vast rocky plains of nothingness and begin to mess around with his communicator, as if trying to see how technology had changed and whether there was anything else that was pretty special about it. The communicator didn't seem all that technical, although the stupid thing had been built for human fingers without the claws of a Beastman put in mind, especially when it came to Viral's hands. It was pretty bad to expect anybody and everyone being able to use this device, but it really wasn't a kind piece of equipment to try and learn straight off-hand. It was a lot more different to his old one and it was surprising that he hadn't broken it yet, but then again the signal didn't appear to be going anywhere either. Everything seemed choked up, the radar was flashing something strange and everytime he hit it all it would do was buzz for a second before returning to normal. It probably wasn't best to hit a machine as small as that with the strength he had, but the thing was annoying him and if it could withstand being crushed by a mountain side then it should be able to withstand the pounding fist of Viral. Stupid little device, but at least Nera wouldn't be able to find him until he went back into an area that had signal.

While quite forcefully in a world of his own thanks to this stupid little device, he hadn't taken notice of the environment around him as much as he would had liked to until the unexpected fumbling around of other humans came into notice. While he could hear them, he took very little regards to where they were or to try and look at them when it could had been the people he was looking for or simply travellers who had gotten themselves caught up in this desolate place. Letting out a lowly sigh, he simply stared out at the landscape in front of him, thinking about the day pretty calmly before one of them suddenly yelled out his name. Appearing a little confused at first, he soon grumbled lowly and stood up, making sure the ground was stable beneath his feet before turning to face the poor humans. It was kind of interesting to see them all here, he didn't expect there to be so many that were with the woman approaching him out-right with a weapon. His expression dropped at her requested polite capture before he let out a grumble, "That was pathetic, but if I must..."

At least he was willing to comply with their request, he wasn't wanting to get shot with shaky hands anyway. He wasn't completely sure whether these were the guys he was looking for or who they were at all, their clothes didn't look familiar and where ever they were taking him didn't appear to be somewhere that would house a rebellious organisation with evil intentions to either use him or do something else with him that he still had to figure out. The camp wasn't all that far away either, at least he had been heading in roughly the right direction of humans while he still couldn't quite figure out who they might be. Maybe they were travellers and were taking him in because they had some questions for him or were desperately requesting help to get out of the desert; either way, he seemed a little thrown off by their sudden appearance. Upon entering the campsite, he could only look around suspiciously before he was lead to a tent, possibly where their leader was being held.