Ghost continued to run at inhuman speeds. Any obstacle in his way was rendered useless as he simply phased right through it, as if he were truly what his name implied. Above him, Fang soared in her bat form, keeping an eye out for anything that could slow them down.

"A mile left," Ghost said into his comm. He reached into his coat pocket and took out the detonator, which blinked with an "OUT_OF_RANGE" alert. He looked forward and noticed that the blast range began past a long array of skyscrapers. With a bit of strain and spirit, he rushed forward and kicked off the ground, leaping a great height into the air before phasing through the wall of the skyscraper. 'If I get to the top of this skyscraper, I'll probably be able to get the signal in range.' he thought as he ran up the interior walls of the skyscraper, phasing through ceilings and floors.

The skyscraper's roof was flat and spacious. It was surrounded by other, lower roof tops. Ghost tapped his detonator and refreshed the signal, waiting for it to load.

Detonator said

.::||LOCATING_SIGNAL||::.
.
..
...

.
..
...

.
..
...

.::||SIGNAL_FOUND||::.

Ghost walked to the edge of the skyscraper and looked down at the streets below. He followed the web of roads until he saw the location of the Golden Mercenaries' base. "No one asked you to put all those people in one place..." he said to himself, his voice low and solemn, "You were wrong to think we would falter when our prey hid among the innocent..."

Ghost reached over the edge of the building and reached to press the detonation button.

Right before the explosions could sound however, the detonator was kicked out of his hand as a man ran up the side of the building and flipped backwards, launching the detonator into the air. As his flipped finished, he kicked once more at Ghost's chest, sending him flying backwards. "FUCK!" Ghost yelled as he hit the ground and rolled a bit.

Ishigo stood at the edge of the building. He stared directly at Ghost and spoke firmly, "You chose the wrong side."

Ghost stood up and cracked his neck and knuckles. He stared Ishigo down for a second and scoffed. "Do you really want to do this?" he asked condescendingly. Ishigo took off his scarf and tossed it off the building, letting the winds take it to wherever they went. "We don't have a choice."

---

]

Ishigo took in a deep breath and focused his mind and spirit. 'He's got... he's got complete control of his kage, Ishigo....' Jin's voice stirred within Ishigo's mind. He rolled his shoulders and prepared his combat stance. 'Yeah, but I got you.'

Ishigo then stretched his arms to his side, causing two black shadow tendrils to shoot out of his own shadow. They raced towards Ghost at amazing speed, threatening to pierce through him. Ghost simply ran forward as the tendrils passed right through him as if he didn't exist. Ishigo raised a brow and retracted the tendrils right as Ghost leapt at him, withdrawing two daggers. He spun quickly, trying to slice Ishigo horizontally, but Ishigo simply leaned back until he was near the ground and reached up to grab Ghost. However, Ghost phased his torso, causing Ishigo to grab at nothing as Ghost kicked his back. Ishigo flew forward and rolled until he was up again. By the time he turned around, Ghost was already on him, slashing at Ishigo quicker than he expected. Ishigo dodged in every direction, having to step back as each and every time he came mere inches away from a fatal cut. Ghost continued his relentless assault, slicing up, down, left, right, spinning, stabbing, ducking, and lunging. The two were locked in the combat dance, with Ishigo trying to survive and Ghost trying to land an attack. Eventually, Ghost attempted to plunge his left dagger into Ishigo's arm, but the momentum of the attack was greater than Ghost wanted. The minimal delay in his recovery of the missed lunge gave Ishigo enough time to grab at his arm and attempt to throw him to the side, but Ghost phased his arm causing Ishigo to stagger forward. Ghost then threw his elbow down on Ishigo's back, and Ishigo found himself face down on the ground, moments away from feeling two daggers slam into his back. Without taking too long to think, he pulled at the shadows of Ghost's leg, causing him to trip backwards and fall onto his back, as Ishigo jumped forward and slammed his fist down onto Ghost's face. However, Ishigo was just a bit late, and he winced as his fist hit the ground, seeming to phase through Ghost's
head. Instead, Ghost kicked upward with great strength, causing Ishigo to be flung upward. Ghost then rapidly unsheathed his daggers and launched two small throwing knives at the man suspended in air. Ishigo was amazed at how quickly he managed to switch weaponry, but was caught off guard by his sudden need to dodge to fatal projectiles. He twisted in air, but felt one of the knives knick his side, cutting into his skin. He winced and fell to the ground hard.

Meanwhile, Raeven sat on the ledge of the skyscraper, lounging as she waited for when she would be needed. Before she even reached the top of the building, she had warped the light around her to conceal her from the opposing host, wanting to get an upper hand even before the inevitable fight would begin. She watched the fight with interest, looking for signs of weakness in the Danny Phantom host. For the moment, she thought she wasn't needed in the fight. Ishigo had enough control of the tussle to continue alone. Suddenly, Raeven felt a sharp pain in her back as Fang's claws dug into her. "Ahhh... gotcha'," Fang chuckled before kicking Raeven in the back and attempting to knock her off the building. Raeven hissed as she tumbled from the ledge and rolled to a crouch on the roof, ceasing to warp the light around her as the move was deemed useless now. She stood and pulled her dagger from her boot, moving to a defensive position with the dagger in front of her. "Come get me, sparkles," she hissed. Fang chuckled and jumped at Raeven, slashing with her right hand's claws and kicking at Raven's legs with her own left leg. Raeven jumped up and flipped over Fang, not wanting to waste too much energy on a petty fight like this. As soon as she landed, she ducked low and spun, slashing her dagger towards the back of the host's thighs. Fang turned around carelessly, feeling the daggers cut the front of her legs instead. She didn't even wince, instead, she simply shook her head stepped back. Suddenly, a trail of blood seemed to float our of her wounds and into the air. She balled her hand into a fist and launched an imaginary spear; as she did this, the blood that had pooled in mid air formed a spear and flew through the air at Raeven.

On the other side of the roof, Ishigo was struggling to keep up with Ghost's attacks. They were faster than anyone Ishigo had ever faced, and they were still packed with immense force. Ghost jumped and spun, before flipping upwards and kicking Ishigo's jaw, having juked his defenses and making a clean conneciton. Ishigo fell back and spit out blood, feeling a bit shaken by the strike. But Ghost didn't give him time to recover, as he threw two knives at Ishigo, who rolled backwards and out of their way. As he got back on his feet, noticing Ghost running at him once more, he punched the ground and caused a pillar of shadows to erupt from below Ghost, smashing into his torso and launching him upwards. Ishigo then shot two tendrils as fast as he could towards Ghost, but only managed to wrap them around Ghost's arms. Before Ghost could phase out of the tendrils' grasp, Ishigo dropped his hands downwards, causing Ghost to be launched towards the ground with great force. However, Ghost simply phased through the ground and disappeared from sight.

Raeven's eyes widened slightly in surprise and also in disgust at the ability. She gripped her blade tightly and slashed diagonally through the air, slicing the blood spear in half before ducking to miss the spattering blood. She scrunched her nose and stood up straight. "Are you trying to give me AID's, batgirl?" Fang chuckled, "Something like that...." she said before pointing her palm at Raeven. Suddenly, five trails of blood shot out of the five puncture wounds on Raeven's back. The blood rapidly pooled out and Fang simply chuckled as she watched her victim turn pale due to blood loss. Raeven gasped slightly at the odd feeling, her head beginning to feel light. "Damnit," she hissed. "You're one special vampire," she bantered, trying to think of a solution. She returned her dagger to her boot, knowing that any more cuts could give the host an advantage over her. Instead, she reached for the Flintlock on her thigh and pulled it out. She'd need a clear shot to the head to kill this host. "I hope you know I've used bats as practice targets, before."

Ishigo stepped around, unaware of where Ghost would strike from. Within moment's notice, Ghost's hand wrapped around Ishigo's ankle, and he jumped out of the ground, tripping Ishigo before slamming him into the ground with a kick. Ishigo hit the ground hard, and Ghost withdrew two new blades. Ishigo kicked himself up, only to have to jump back as Ghost began spinning and turning in order to deliver frightening strikes with great reach. Ishigo was forced to retreat a bit to avoid the storm of bladed combat. Ghost ran forward and lunged at Ishigo, who turned and grabbed his arm and swung him around. Ghost phased while he was being swung, and appeared to merge with Ishigo's body. Ghost fell to a knee and slashed the side of Ishigo's right leg, causing him to fall to a knee. He then spun, cutting Ishigo's arm, and finished with a jab at Ishigo's heart. Ishigo only barely managed to throw his hand up to catch the blade, inches from his chest. He pushed back, attempting to knock the blade away, but his eyes widened when he realized he was holding Ghost's forearm. Ghost chuckled, and Ishigo knew it was too late. His forearm became intangible, and Ishigo staggered forward a bit, but only to find that Ghost regained his tangibility when the blade was phase through Ishigo's chest. Blood shot out from both sides and Ishigo gagged, the blade having pierced right through his heart. His eyes froze and his hands continued to grip Ghost tightly as his body locked up. Ghost shook his head, and sighed as he lowered himself to attempt to pry the corpse off his blade.

Raeven paused as she gripped the flintlock, hearing gags from the other side of the roof. She looked over, her eyes widening instantly and her body freezing for a moment as she saw the scene. She felt a wave of panic rush over her senses. "Ishigo!?" She shouted, hoping that her comrade hadn't fallen. In that moment, Fang closed the distance between her and Raeven, and she thrust both hands at her, her claws threatening to stab Raeven's chest. Raeven ripped her eyes from the sight of Ishigo's speared body and turned to shove Fang's arms upwards with her forearm, feeling the claws slice through her cheeks. She stumbled backwards, still shocked from Ishigo's death, before raising her gun and firing off a round towards Fang's chest. Her instincts of flight or fight were beginning to kick in as her emotions whirled out of control. She only knew that she couldn't let Ishigo die in vain. She would kill these two, even if it killed her as well. Her face hardened as she began to lose herself to her old assassin ways. Fang spun out of the way of the bullet and pulled a trail of blood from Raeven's face, creating a cord of sorts. The blood trail stopped and Fang tried to wrap the cord around Raeven's neck.

Raeven fired off another shot before reaching up and slipping her hand between the cord and her neck. She gripped the cord as it tightened around her neck and pushed on it. After a few seconds, she managed to pull it from her neck before tossing it to the ground and crushing it with her foot. Fang dodged the flintlock round by jumping up high. She then dashed in mid-air towards Raeven, baring her claws and hissing. She assaulted Raeven full on, attempting to grasp her and toss her off the building, or at least a flurry of claw strikes to create another pool of blood. Raeven ducked and pushed upwards from below, grasping the host's wrists and using Fang's momentum to flip herself, twisting mid-air to kick Fang's chest into the ground.
Fang hit the ground hard and shuttered in pain. "Shit... Gh-Ghost...." she called out weakly. Raeven growled. "Time to end this," she hissed before aiming the flintlock at Fang's head. With glaring eyes, she pulled the trigger. Fang cried out in fear as she stared down the barrel before her life ended in an instant. Her head exploded into a four foot radius of blood, brain, and bits of skull. Raeven moved aside, stepping over the bloody mess to face Ghost. She stared him down, little droplets of Fang's blood dotting her clothes. Ghost stood motionless, eying Raeven with malice. He took off his trench coat to reveal an intricate armor.

"You're gonna regret that," he said before leaping forward and switching to a katana. He delivered a flurry of multiple strikes, all near impossible to dodge. Raeven glared intensely and swiftly dodged each. When she found her opening, she spun around in a roundhouse kick, connecting with Ghost's solarplexus with force. "Eye for an eye, friend for a friend!" She snarled. Ghost simply phased his torso, causing the kick to run right through his body. He then caught the kick and pulled her body towards him before slamming his sword's hilt to her hip. Raeven fell to the ground, and Ghost stood over her, silent. He raised his sword and prepared to bring it down, but froze.

"That's interesting," came the voice of Ishigo, seemingly from nowhere. Ghost's eyes widened, and he was caught in some sort of paralysis. He looked over to the corpse that lay on the other side of the roof, which began disintegrating into a black puddle. "When you channel spirit to a specific part of your body... anything and everything passes through it..." he said, still out of sight.

"That includes sunlight..." Suddenly, Ghost's shadow reached up, out of the ground, and grabbed the sword from his hand, tossing it aside. Once the shadow was completely out of the ground, it kicked at Ghost's stomach, but he forced his stomach to turn intangible. Just as he did this, a huge hole appeared in the shadow's stomach. The shadow jumped backwards and crouched.

Ghost's eyes widened once more. "You... YOU STOLE MY POWERS?!" The completely black shadow figure began to morph into the shape of Ishigo, and he shook his head. Ghost then remembered the moment when Ishigo had tripped him by pulling his shadow. Ishigo noticed Ghost's pondering face and chuckled, "Shadow swapping. When you phase - I phase. I am your shadow," he said. Ghost was at a loss for words, realizing the man he had thought he killed was simply his shadow, and the real enemy had been watching his every move, copying it just a few inches from his feet where the sun was denied access to the ground. Ishigo threw his hands back and then launched them forward with great force. As he did this, hundreds of shadow tendrils erupted from his arms and bombarded Ghost, who phased himself. Ghost gasped, as the web of tendrils was much larger than he expected, and he would have to run a great distance before he could even think of escaping the web. Ishigo squinted and focused as he held the tendrils locked in place, attaching them to a different building all together. "You can't phase for longer than a few seconds, can you? Clock's ticking."

Ghost didn't even think - he broke into a sprint towards the end of the web of shadow tendrils, having phased his whole body as he ran. The spirit was draining rapidly, and he felt his pace slow down. "NO! NO! NOOOOOOOO!" he yelled as he dove for the edge of the web, nearly free. Ishigo closed his eyes as he heard the sound of blood splattering, bone crunching, and muscle tearing. Ghost's body was suspended in air, pierced by multiple tendrils that held him like a puppet.

Ishigo then withdrew the tendrils, causing Ghost's body to fall to the ground. Suddenly, Raeven's shadow stretched until it broke into two, the second half darting on the ground until it returned to its rightful position behind Ishigo. He sighed, feeling exhausted. Looking to Raeven, he gave her a nod, "You good?" Raeven stood, wincing and gripping her hip. She slowly walked towards him, watching him closely. She paused for a moment before slapping him. A few moments later, she pulled him into a tight hug, relief flooding over her. Ishigo was caught off guard by the slap, but he smiled as he hugged her back. "We should head over to Hector... he's going to need our help." Raeven nodded, hugging him for a few seconds more before pulling away and taking a deep breath. She winced and moved her hand to her hip. "Damn," she hissed. Ishigo frowned as he noticed her wound. "Damnit, Rae..." he then looked around, "Alright, we'll take you back to Sector Zero." Raeven shook her head. "No. Hector needs both of us. I won't back down because of a hip injury. I may be older than I was when you last saw me, but I'm not that old."

Ishigo put a hand on her cheek and looked at her, "Listen, Rae. Listen closely. Me and Hector are not going to lose this fight. We've come this far - not even Aeritus can stop us now. But I need you to do something for me. I know I promised never to leave you, and I won't... but this is extremely important, and I can't trust anyone else but you." Raeven looked up into his eyes, her stubbornness and need to help battling with the pain and tiredness she felt. "Okay," she said with a small sigh before smiling softly. "For you."

Vortex – Sector A Outskirts

“Don’t you guys ever stop?” Vortex sighed as she watched the squad of four sprint off round another corner. It was clearly a host squad, as evidenced by their small numbers and the inclusion of the giant angry looking man. Sliding her rifle back onto her back, Vortex proceeded to run along the rooftops after the group. She had no intention of intervening just yet but she was curious to see how much of a punch the Golden Mercenary hosts could throw. As she ran along she took a quick look at her wrist pad to see the rough direction of Hector; before leaving she managed to plant a bug on one of his men. As she reached the end of a series of rooftops she made a huge leap across a wide alley, diving through a broken window opposite with a well-executed combat roll.

“Shit! Did you hear something?” came a voice from below. Vortex quickly snuck into a room for cover in case any came to investigate. She put her back to the wall beside a doorway and waited with her sabre claws firmly in her grasp.

“It’s nothing, you’re just panicking! Just hurry up and fix the comms, we’ve got to warn the checkpoint that they’ve got company on the way” came another, more authoritative voice. Vortex realised instantly that they were referring to the same squad that she was following, and decided it would be better if they were to keep their element of surprise. She dashed along the corridor with almost unbelievable silence and made her way down the stairs into a large open room with six soldiers. Two were fuddling around with the long-range comms device whilst the rest were either mulling about or staring at the window for signs of movement.

Vortex quickly ran behind the man closest to her, stabbing him through the ear and killing him instantly. She didn’t pause or even try to pull out the blade, instead she ran to the next woman and slit her throat before the body of the first hit the ground. The thud of the body caused most in the room to turn around but none of them were able to process the sight quick enough to react effectively. Vortex sprinted towards one of the two only remaining soldiers with guns and before he was able to raise the pistol and fire Vortex vaulted off a desk and wrapped her legs around his head, using the momentum to spin to the floor and break his neck. Without releasing her thigh grip as she hit the ground she quickly grabbed his pistol and dispatched the remaining soldiers with a quick succession of head shots.

Fourth Checkpoint, Sector A, three miles from the wall

The fourth checkpoint was the largest. It looked like a sports arena without walls or seats for an audience. What was once a camp of about sixty soldiers turned into a debris-ridden graveyard. The walls of the checkpoint caught fire in patches along their surface, rubble littered and piled over the broken tents and huts, and soldiers' corpses lay scattered across the destroyed camp.

Hector was breathing heavily, trying to regain his breath as he sat against his cover of two fallen pillars. To his left were six mercenaries, including Kisheto. "They've got a lock on us," Kisheto said as he held a reflective piece of glass near the top edge of their cover to see if the remaining soldiers were coming towards them. Hector nodded, still out of breath. "ROE!" he called out. As he did this, he could hear the sound of a few men charging the soldiers from their left flank. Hector counted to two and then called out, "FIRE!"

The nine soldiers that moved in to surround Hector and his men were distracted by the five mercenaries who charged at them with their swords held high. As they did this, the six mercenaries behind cover popped up and shot off a few bursts of their GS-9 rifles. In a matter of seconds, the assaulting group of soldiers fell to the ground, dead as the rest of their comrades, while the mercenaries boasted the same number as when they had arrived. Hector remained scoped in on his rifle as he scanned the area, making sure they had cleaned up well.

"Alright, clear. I'm making the call. Check your ammo, we're marching on the wall, soon," he said.

---

Sovereign Outskirts

"That's a lot of soldiers..." said Ridley. He was crouched in a field of tall grass, surveying the military camp that was stationed on the outside of the gargantuan wall. Victor, who was crouched next to him, scoffed: "Numbers are only meant to scare. Did you get the call?" Victor asked, somewhat impatiently. Ridley shook his head, causing Victor to sigh and shake his head. Behind him, crouched under the military's field of vision, were about a hundred men, all trying their best to stay quiet. The group had had to abandon their shuttles and carriages about two miles prior to reaching the wall, as they had detected a sudden influx of military forces towards the inside of Sovereign.

"Here, let me see..." Victor said, taking the binoculars and looking on the camp himself. "Ah.... Esto es perfecto..." he said with a touch of sarcasm. "How in the world did they manage to get so many long rifles? They could probably spot us from where we are now if they tried..." The camp held about three hundred soldiers in total, scurrying about and preparing for whatever was to come. Ten marksmen were stationed on ten unique guard towers, and each one held a lengthy rifle which was capable of firing great distances. "Alright, there..." he said, having taken a good minute to figure out his gameplan.

"They have a M.A.T. patrol on the East and West wings. They send two M.A.T.'s on each side. They're still going out, I'm assuming they head half a mile in each direction before doubling up and returning to the base to restart the patrol. We'll sabotage the M.A.T. Plant the roca' in one and send it back." Ridley nodded as Hector explained the objective. "Should I assemble the quiet ones then?" Victor nodded, "Yeah, we'll need stealth."

Putting down the binoculars, he smiled and looked behind him, "Get ready, amigos. Hector should be callin' soon - we're gonna have ourselves a little fiesta."

Mathias sat alone at his desk, the only sound in the room was that of the grandfather clock; its repetition soothing his mind, helping him to concentrate. His plan had become unhinged at times but amazingly the end goal was still in sight, in no time at all the Winters clan will be free of this godforsaken city and out into the world once more. The bait was soon to be set, no blood would be spilt on his snow blanketed estate, as long as Earlson succeeded then everyone was safe, he hoped. As his mind raced with thoughts of doubt and failure the clock let out a bellowing chime, he gasped and stared into oblivion. It was time, the following hours would decide who lived...and who died.

The hand paced toward the twelve, when it reached its destination there was a knock at the door. Earlson answered and was met by the blue beret he had grown so accustomed to over the years. The beret had a body and the body a name, Tennessee they called her, a bright, blonde and brilliantly beautiful young lady who had worked for the winters for the past 4 years. "Mister Grey." She said with a soft yet direct tone "I've been sent with the device sir." Welcoming her in, Earlson maneuvered the clutter of paperwork and rubbish from the window-facing table and chairs. "Excuse the mess, these two left it in quite a state." He tutted directing a disapproving gaze toward the two unconscious golden mercs pilled in the corner. He took the suitcase from Tennessee and placed it on the table, together they peered inside, both grunting in disappointment at the size of the much anticipated gadget. "Oh well, size isn't everything my dear." He announced with a coy smile.

Earlson grimaced as he opened the door to the roof, the wind rushed past him and instantly he regretted his task "Are you sure i cant tempt you my dear? I'm sure its quite exhilarating once your up there." He motioned toward the not-so-sturdy looking communications mast, creaking as the wind bashed into its frame. Being met with a stoic look of disapproval from Tennessee, he resigned himself to his fate "No? Well it was worth a try!"

Precariously purched on the telegraph mast, Earlson attached the device to the top-most branch of the metal structure. With Tennessee keeping the rope taught, he slowly grappled down to roof-level. "Will it work?" The twenty-something softly asked. "It better, for all our sakes!" The device lit-up, the duo took it as their que to exit and they did so without delay. Both knew what they had just started and both understood the effects were best watched from a safe and very far distance.

Matyo stayed crouched, hiding behind a broken piece of wall in Sector B, watching carefully as a group of soldiers matched around, searching for any of the Golden Mercenaries, or citizens that were in the area. He glanced at the two civilians that were crouched with him. A boy and a girl, twins, who had been about to try and ambush the group of soldiers. He'd stopped them before they'd blown their cover, knowing full well that they would have been killed before they took out even one of the soldiers. Matyo glanced over at the two of them. They were both filthy, covered with dirt and blood, their blonde hair turned browned with soot.

Mayto raised his finger to his lips, reminding them to stay quiet. Remaining crouched, he began moving towards another area of cover, a broken carriage. He pulled out his revolver, making sure that it was fully loaded. With his other hand he pulled out a small dagger. It didn’t have a core, unlike his two handed broad sword, but it helped to have another weapon when he was using his revolver.

About to jump into another patch of danger, eh? Ashion murmured in his head, a hint of disapproval clearly audible. Mayto ignored his Kage, focusing his spirit on calling in some wind. He hadn’t tried what he was about to do, but he had to make sure he got in close after he ran out of bullets. Taking a quick glance at the soldiers, Mayto noticed one of the twins had got out of cover and was making his way towards one of the guards.

Shit, Mayto thought, as he heard a small snicker come from Ashion. That guy is almost as reckless as you are, the Kage said. Mayto once again ignored his Kage, and jumped out of cover towards the guards. He activated his spirit power, creating smaller wings on his back, and pushed himself forward with wind. He flew towards the soldiers, just as one of them noticed the boy was sneaking around. Before he could attack the boy, Mayto raised his revolver and shot the soldier square in the chest. The injured soldier fell to the ground from the impact, as Mayto flew right by. He left off three more shots at one of the other soldiers, one of them hitting the man in the leg, and another hitting him on the lower back. The third shot missed, as Mayto continued flying forward, having no control over his speed at this point. His dagger sliced through an arm of a third enemy as he flew past, ripping it out of his hand. His gliding came to a sudden stop as arm hit the ground, spinning him out of control. Mayto skidded across the ground, his gun flying out of his hand, and into nearby wall.

Smooth sailing buddy, Ashion said, a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice. Now really isn’t the time for sarcasim, Mayto groaned, picked himself off the ground slowly, looked up at where the soldiers were. The first one was bleeding on the ground, not moving, the second was crawling slowly, though it was pretty obvious that he was close to death. His third enemy had recovered, his gun pointed towards Mayto, while a fourth and fifth solider were running straight at him with fire core swords. The sixth one had gotten ahold of the boy, and was continuously punching him.

Mayto quickly pulled out his sword, activated the electricity core, and parried the fourth soldier’s sword. He summoned a quick gust of wind to push him forward, using the force to overpower the soldier’s blow, and knocked the man to the ground. As the fifth soldier came in with a stab, Mayto used the wind to help him sidestep quicker to avoid it, allowing him to counter with a head swipe. The soldier was nimble, however, quickly ducking beneath the swing, and throwing a quick punch towards Mayto’s torso. The soldier’s fist landed hard, knocking the air out Mayto for a split second. A quick gust pushed Mayto’s body back, as Ashion joined to help save Mayto’s life. A sword swiped through where Mayto’s body had been a moment before, as the soldier stumbled forward.

Mayto aimed his hand at where his gun had landed on the other side of his opponent, against a wall. He called forth the wind, and sent it flying back into his hand. Before the soldier could recover, Mayto shot the man right in the head, killing him instantly. Mayto turned quickly, sending another shot into the fourth soldier who had just got up. A bullet passed right into his shoulder, sending stumbling back. Mayto looked at the third soldier, the man standing there about to send another bullet flying at him, and pulled his own trigger, using the wind help speed the bullet up. It entered through the man’s throat, who then fell to the ground. Mayto aimed at the man who was beating up the boy. He pulled the trigger again. Nothing. He was empty. The soldier gave the wounded Wind Whisper a smile, before breaking the boy’s neck.

Anger surged through Mayto, through Ashion. Using all of his strength, he hurled his sword at him, using the air to guide it as quickly as possible. The man didn’t have time to react; the sword pierced right though his chest. After a moment gapping in surprise, the soldier fell down, dead.
Mayto ran over to where the boy had been killed, his shoulder still pulsing from the bullet wound. The girl was already there, kneeling beside the body, the boy’s head in her lap. She wasn’t crying, but Mayto could tell that she was broken. There was a lifeless look in her eyes, as she stared at nothing.

“I’m…I’m sorry I couldn’t save him,” Mayto said, kneeling down beside the girl. She looked to be about sixteen, but grief had suddenly made her seem ageless. After a few moments of silence, she looked at him. There were no tears in her eyes, but he could see the lifelessness had been replaced by pure hatred.

“I want to kill them all. They’ve taken everything from me,” She grabbed Mayto by his good arm, her touch cold, “You have to help me kill them,” Mayto was taken by surprise, the girl’s sudden change of attitude taken him by surprise.

“I plan on taking down as many as I can, but I can’t have you risk your life,” Mayto tried to calm her down, but her grip only tightened.
It was at this point that more civilians were coming out of their hiding places. It was becoming a big crowd, with a good number of people coming out to check on the girl and her deceased brother, while others were going around and savaging for anything that the soldiers had left. An older man had come out, and helped the girl up. She wouldn’t, however, let go of Mayto’s arm.

“I’m not letting go until you agree to help me kill every one of those pigs,” The girl said. Mayto looked at the older man, who was trying to get the girl to let go. After a moment he glanced at Mayto, and stopped trying to unclasp the girl’s arm.

“Are you going up against those guys? You don’t look like you’re one of the Golden Mercenaries,” The man said, curiosity in his voice. Mayto shook his head, feeling very trapped. The crowd was beginning to surround him now, as more people waited to help with the boy’s body.

“I am going to fight them, but I’m not a Golden Merc,” Mayto said, trying to end the questioning quickly. A spark glistened in the man’s eyes, and he grabbed Mayto by both of his shoulders, causing the wind whisperer to let out a gasp of pain. The man saw this, and immediately pulled his hands away, looking at Mayto’s blood now on his hands.

“I’m sorry friend, but I recognize you! You’re the young man that’s been taking out the patrols. The one who uses the wind. If you helped us, maybe we could take back this sector, make it our home again,” Mayto didn’t like where this was going, but he let the older man drag him and the girl back into one of the broken down buildings.

---

A few hours later, the older man, named Hsiao, had explained his plan. He had been gathering supplies and men for months, preparing to attack the military in an all-out attack. Now that the Golden Mercenaries were attacking, and he had a host with him to help lead the group of fighters, he thought this would be the best time to attack. Mayto listened to all of this, while Isabelle, the girl he had saved, sat beside him. He thought over what the older man had said, debating whether or not this could be a good idea.

You can’t be serious, Ashion screamed in his head, Are you seriously thinking about leading a bunch of untrained men and women to their death? It’ll be a massacre! Mayto shook his head, his bandaged shoulder’s throbbing pain only adding to the growing headache.

I have to do something. This people are liable to die anyway, if the military has its way. At least this way we could make some progress into freeing these people. Mayto heard Ashion scoff angrily, and there was a moment of heated silence before Ashion spoke again.

Just know that their blood will be on your hands, Ashion warned. Mayto nodded, fully aware of what may happen. He turned to Hsiao, and offered his hand.

“Let’s start a revolution."

The shuttle zipped over the streets, homing in on Hector's location. Zachary spotted the gathered Golden Mercenaries just two blocks before the main military camp, and he landed the shuttle behind them in the side street. Zachary opened the pilot door, poked his head out and said, "We decided that you would need some extra assistance for this final charge."

Hector's distant gaze snapped as he looked to Zachary and Yugeto from outside the shuttle with a soft sigh. "Aye, hermano. We need all the help we can get for this charge, we're lacking on hosts for this, our most important fight."

Zachary and Yugeto exited the shuttle to join the band of mercenaries. Hector turned his head to the crippling wall that had trapped the residents of Sovereign in their own little apocalyptia. "Betrayed by our government, thrown into world-threatening criss and sealed off, and still we have persevered. Through no other devices aside from the human need to push on, we have seen our souls glow gold." Hector looked to the mercenaries among him, all promising faces, with Kisheto, Vates, Zachary, and Yugeto among them. "And it is in this most auspicious day, made so by our efforts alone, that the rest of the world will see our glow." Yugeto clenched his fist and pumped it inward as a show of determination, and Kisheto nodded in a measured confidence. "My brothers and sisters, we have all converged at this apex for the sheer purpose of living on, and through this journey we have learned there is more to life than we could have imagined. I know that a few of us will fall behind on this day, and to be martyred is a gift most painful, but I stand among my family, and not even the greatest forces Aeritus has to offer will stop us from shining bright!" Hector continued on, the mercenaries rallying under the aurous charisma of their fellow comrade and teammate. "And I'll be damned if any wall can hold us down! We are the knights of salvation in the darkness of our kin's plight!"

Hector motioned for the rest of the troops to be called in, and Kisheto bravely stepped up to the front lines. "Are you prepared for what is to come, mi amigo?" Hector asked Kisheto, who replied with an air of courage, "I'm prepared to make a difference; I'm prepared to change it all."

Yugeto stood nearby the two along the front lines as well, looking to the Wall curiously. "I wonder what's out there...what awaits beyond this dark prison?" Yugeto wondered out loud. Hector tightened his fists, and thundered with a booming first step towards his brethren's salvation. "MARCH!" Hector proclaimed, and the unstoppable force that was the Golden Mercenary Battalion began its path of freedom. Behind them Zachary reentered the shuttle and lifted off, cannons armed and ready to help clear that path.

---

Outside The Wall

"Hold!" Victor whisper-shouted to his men as they ducked behind the cover of a few boulders.

"Hoooold..." he continued, raising his fist in the air. About ten yards in front of the group of six men, a small group of soldiers patrolled the perimeter of the base. Victor turned to his right, facing away from the camp and towards a M.A.T that was headed in the same direction.

"Alright, MOVE, MOVE!" he called, pointing two fingers at the M.A.T.

The men instantly began dashing towards the next piece of cover, and continued to dash from cover to cover to prevent from being seen. They kept their minds two steps ahead, scouting out cover before even making a move, and flipping and jumping to reach the next available boulder or tree to hide behind. They stopped only a few yards away from the M.A.T, at which point Victor nodded to one of his men, Xavier. He dashed forward towards the M.A.T and crouched by its side, keeping low to prevent detection. Still crouched, Xavier rushed to the front of the M.A.T and jammed his Golden Mercenary blade into the rotating mobility belt. The Mobile Assault Tank lacked proper slotting technology, an instead, moved by using a rotating belt that dug into the ground. Having jammed the rotating gears on the side of the M.A.T., Xavier ran backwards and rolled behind cover.

The M.A.T hissed and whined as the engine shut off and two men emerged from its door hatch located on the top of the vehicle. They jumped off the side of the tank and began assessing the anomaly that caused them to stop. Upon noticing the sword, the first man gasped, only realizing what had occured a bit too late. Victor's dagger dug through the back of his neck as a crossbow bolt pierced through the second man's skull. The noise caused the third man in the M.A.T to pop his head out in curiosity, only to have it pierced by another loose arrow.

Victor quickly gave a low whistle and the rest of his six man group rushed to the side of the M.A.T, dragging the bodies out of sight. When they were done, Victor pressed a button on his comms:

"We have the tank, get the package ready."

The Wall

~It broke through the ground at Sovereign's most outer edges, rising at a pace that was sure to destroy anything near it. It continued to rise and rise, the titanic cage that uttered its name as it grinded against the walls of the crust of Aeros. As it stopped it's descent, moments before the last few emergency shuttles either escaped or crashed to their doom, the land vibrated. The sky flashed a bright blue, signaling the activation of the aerial barrier that sealed all life in, and kept all life out. It was a last ditch effort to quarantine the city. But Sovereign would survive, because Sovereign was strong.~

The calm and ominous silence was replaced by the whistling winds as they picked up speed, as if a last ditch effort to warn the mercenaries of what they were up against. The dark clouds seemed darker, the ghostly fogs seemed ever so haunting. It was as if every force of nature was telling the mercenaries to turn back.

Sixty two mercenaries. Sixty two mercenaries stood, their armor worn, their faces ashen, their hands blistered, and their bones aching. They stood and stared for a time that felt like eternity. The wall taunted them, teased them and beckoned them to try their luck. And they stood their ground, not taking a moment to ponder the choices. There was no choice anymore, only consequence.

---

"That's about fifty or so, what do you say?" Lide asked, a hint of anxiety in his voice. He offered Nekros the binoculars, but Nekros simply stood there, staring back at the men. Lide raised a brow before returning to his binoculars, "You scared?" he asked, somewhat irritated by Nekros' silence.

"I can taste your fear, Lide," he said with a cold and harsh undertone. "These sixty two men stare death in his face, yet you, standing behind the strongest defense known to mankind, dare to tremble in the wake of failure?"

Lide felt a lump in his throat, and he swallowed forcefully. It wasn't often that someone told him he wasn't allowed to be scared. "If this wall falls, you're done, Nekros. DONE."

---

'Why can't I stop shivering?! STOP, DAMNIT! STOP SHAKING!' Kisheto grit his teeth and kept his eyes forward, a look of sheer focus and determination on his face. Despite his attempts to mask his nerve, his body gave it away. Vates noticed this and gave his comrade a nod, "Don't worry, it's just adrenaline. You'll be glad you have it once we get moving." Kisheto looked at Vates and nodded, "Right. Just adrenaline," he said to himself reassuringly.

Hector took a deep breath and focused, gripping his rifle tightly. "What are we waiting for? Let's do this, Hector!" said one of the mercenaries next to Hector's side. Hector shook his head, "Wait for it..."

---

"What are we waiting for, sir?" asked one of the men operating a large core-powered ballista. The device was drilled into the guard tower recently as a makeshift turret. It had a gunner's seat, which was where the bolts were both loaded and charged up using a pump-like system to destabilize the lightning core within. Within any moment, the soldier could charge the lightning core and fire off a piercing bolt of lightning; he simply needed the order.

Lide cleared his throat and shook his head, "Just, just wait, private."

---

Nekros turned his head slowly, his interest being caught by what he witnessed before him. Two sides, locked in a contract of war, taking turns sizing the other up in the hopes that one would strike so the other could claim to be retaliating. He scoffed in pity.

These men, both soldier, mercenary, and citizen alike: they feared war. They feared killing. They feared death.

"Pathetic humans..." he spat. Tightening his grip on his scythe, he thrust his arm to his side, his robe swaying in the wind. He then raised his free hand slowly, and seemingly out of nowhere, a flock of crows swarmed his body, charging forward until he reappeared at the base of the military camp.

The gathered mercenaries held their ground in wake of the haunting sight of what appeared to be the grim reaper. Nekros began chanting words inaubdible to the men. As he did so, he weaved unrecognized symbols in the air with his free hand. The men itched to fire at him, the sight of his demonic ritual more unnerving than the wall and what possibilities lay beyond it.

Suddenly, a large, crimson trigram appeared in front of Nekros with a bright red flash. As it erupted from seemingly nowhere, hundreds of crows burst from its center, all screeching and taunting men from both parties. The air around the camp turned crimson as the clouds began shifting to a jet black color. The winds picked up speed, and instead of sunlight, a mysterious crimson glow filled the atmosphere.

"Paar sapos mur NEKROS!"

With a long swing of his scythe, Nekros cut the crimson trigram in half, and just as he did so, the ground beneath the entire area shook. The mercenaries began backing up a step and the soldiers behind the camp flinched at the tremors. Suddenly, the ground split as a fault line tore through towards the Mercenaries. The men in the path of the large fault line had to jump out of the way or risk falling through to Aeritus knew where.

"HOLD YOUR GROUND, HERMANOS!" Hector yelled as he aimed his rifle at Nekros' head. As he pondered shooting, a second chorus of shrieks filled the air, and multiple red orbs of light, about fifty in number, shot out from the fault line. Nekros was raising his hand slowly, as if beckoning the demons from the gates to oblivion. As the orbs crashed into the ground, they morphed into humanoid figures, and finally, revealed themselves to be reanimated spirits of warriors from the pst.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" "ZOMBIES?" "HOLY SHIT"

All the men knew now was fear. Their minds were locked by the horrors of necromancy. Nekros simply raised both hands to his sides and let out a terrifying roar, causing the reanimated corpses to charge forward.

---

Hector held his ground and felt his men shaking as the corpses of ancient soldiers charged their way, "REMEMBER MEN, UNITED WE STAND! DIVIDED WE FALL!"

The corpses broke into a full sprint, nearing the mercenaries at a terrifying speed.

"TODAY IS THE DAY WE CREATE HISTORY! TODAY, THE GLORY IS OURS!" he yelled, instantly feeling his men strengthen their poise.

Kisheto took a deep breath and nodded, "FUCK THE POLICE!" he yelled.

The corpses were mere feet away, in a moment in which time seemed to freeze. The horrific undead nightmares leapt in the air, slowing time as they did. The mercenaries felt their lives flash before their eyes, their visions to be replaced by the image of ghostly corpses descending upon them. Then, Hector fire the first shot.

---

"RAWRARGH!" screamed Vates as the monsters closed in. Pushing off his back foot he charged forward to meet them with a sword in his right hand and his kinetic gauntlet preped on his left. As he reached the closest zombie he quickly slid to the left of it, catching its leg with his sword and throwing it off balance before blasting it into two other zombies with his gauntlet. He squinted as they exploded in flash of red, his comrades having quickly stepped in and finishing the felled foes. A quick vision alerted him to a swipe from behind and with a quick spin Vates parried an incoming blow, forcing the blade to veer off to his right and leaving the opponent wide open to a sword swing to the throat. Quickly stepping back from the exploding beheaded corpse, Vates frantically looked around him in an attempt to judge the situation.

Hector slammed his forearm into the closest zombie, slamming him to the side as he kicked his other foot forward to shatter the ribs of another oncoming corpse. Hector felt the heat radiating from the small red flare that resulted when he destroyed the reanimated corpse. The man to his side quickly stabbed the back of the corpse that had fallen towards him when Hector hit it with his forearm. As he removed his blade, he spun, cutting of the head of a zombie in front of him. Hector began pacing forward as he parried a spear thrust by swinging his sword to the side. He grabbed the spear and pulled the soldier towards him before jamming his blade upward, through the zombie's skull.

Kisheto had fired off two bursts of his GS-9 when the zombies came within reach. The first burst simply cut through one of the zombie's legs, which didn't do much to stop it. However the second cut through the zombie's head, and through another one's heart behind it. When a zombie managed to reach his close quarters range, he slammed the butt of his rifle into the its head, causing it to stagger backward while Kisheto empited out the last of his clip into the zombie's skull. Kisheto was keeping up with the men's pace rather well, as the line of sixty two men gradually paced forward in their assault.

The mercenaries were relentless in their attacks, their fear quickly melting into an anger. Suddenly, their frustration and their hatred poured out into their hands and through their swords. A year had passed, a year of their life in toil and misery, suffering to break free from a prison. Today was the day that they brought and end to that year. The zombies were combat ready, their spears sharp and their strikes true. But the mercenaries were more than a cluster of powerful men wielding powerful weapons. They were one unit, brushing off the prickling attacks of the reanimated soldiers.

"They keep coming Edward. You need to push forward towards the source" Janus advised as Vates yanked his blade from a zombie's skull. He turned and started to fight his way towards Hector, whom unlike Roebuck and Kisheto, he could actually spot in the choas. Suddenly he felt a cold hand grasp his shoulder and was viciously swung round to find a blade aimed at his face. The zombie was about to thrust when a plasma bullet blasted away its upper body. "Fuck me!" he exclaimed, unable to tell where the shot had come from.

Hector picked up his pace, sidestepping and weaving past a couple zombies as he slashed his sword left and right. His strikes caused the zombies to falter, and the change in the zombies momentum opened up a window of opportunity for the mercenaries behind him to finish off the wounded zombie.

"AGH! FUU-" Kisheto's eyes widened at the sound of tearing metal and flesh. He glanced to his right to witness two zombies double team a mercenary, piercing right through his body with the enormous spear. The second zombie blocked the strikes of the other mercenaries with a large shield, as the first zombie quickly withdrew his spear, only to replant it within the mercenaries head. Kisheto gasped, and suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on the side of his face as a spear nearly pierced through his head. Instead, he was spared with only a cut to the cheek. The mercenary to his left grabbed the spear before the zombie could pull it back and shoved it downward, allowing Kisheto to kick off the spear and jump into the air. He came down hard, thrusting his mercenary blade into the top of the zombie's skull. As he was pulling it out however, a second spear flew towards him. He didn't have time to react, but the man to his right did, stepping in the path of the spear and firing off a few shots of his GS-9 as he fell to the ground. Kisheto gasped and cursed as he ran to the man, but another mercenary pulled him up, reminding him of his priorities. Kisheto swallowed his shock and continued charging forward, his anger nearly doubled at the loss of a comrade.

---

"FIRE!" Lide commanded. Three separate ballistae both whirred to life, giving off a high pitch ring before jerking back and launching three bolts of lightning energy at the mercenaries. The first two bolts hit the targets spot on, impaling two mercenaries before exploding and killing two other mercenaries with electricity alone. The third was aimed for Hector, but he fell to the ground, barely dodging the piercing bolt. However, the explosion caused him to quiver as he was hit by a weakened electrocution that spread out from the inital blast radius. He barely had time to hold up his sword, blocking an enemy blade that would have cut his head in half.

"SEND OUT THE VANGUARD!" Lide yelled. In response, the men echoed his orders along a line of soldiers until the Vanguard was finally notified. Twenty Vanguard soldiers suited up and marched towards the main gate of the camp, which opened slowly, exposing the nightmare that took place before them.

"CHARGE!" yelled the first Vanguard, causing the entirety of the squad of bulky soldiers to sprint forward.

---

"VINCE, LEFT FLANK!" Roebuck called out, causing Vince to almost involuntarily spin to the left and kick away a zombie that threatened to pierce his side. Roebuck had picked up the sword of a fallen comrade and began spinning and lunging in a sort of blade dance. He had managed to cut down the largest number of zombies, as he focused on the offense whereas the rest of the mercenaries were carefully balancing their damage and protection at all times. As he tore through three more zombies, he felt a spear pierce through his left arm and impale him to the ground. He cried out in pain, and he struggle to remove the spear with his right arm. Without any weapons, he was defenseless against two zombies that pounced on him the second the spear hit. He cried out in pain as they repeatedly stabbed, withdrew, and stabbed his body in a flurry of attacks that seemed more ruthless than necessary. Kisheto tackled the first zombie and then got up and pushed the second one to the side. He diverted his attention back to the zombie he had tackled, and he simply kicked at its head while it attempted to get back on its feet. With a final stomp, he crushed the zombies head and then whipped around to counter a spear jab from the other zombie. He pulled the spear out of the zombies hands and lunged it into the zombie's mouth.

"ROE!" he cried as he noticed Roebuck laying on the ground in a bloody mess. Roebuck shook his head and coughed while pointing forward, "F-fight.... fool...."

As Hector struggled to regain his stance a zombie quickly circled round to his flank and attempted to thrust a spear into his back, but was stopped by Vates who jumped on its back and snapped its neck. Going back to back with Hector, the duo were able to exchange a few quick words in the heat of battle. "We need to push towards the host! I don't think this is going to stop until we take him down!" Shouted Vates, hoping that that his leader could hear him over the chaos. Hector grunted as he kicked off a Zombie and sliced the throat of another, "GOT IT! GIVE ME YOUR SWORD AND GRAB A SPEAR!" he yelled back at Vates. Vates quickly planted his sword in the ground beside Hector before rolling towards the corpse of a fallen mercenary and grabbing an electric spear. Before charging back into the frey he took another look, horrified to see how many of them had fallen. He thought he was about to witness another die when he saw yet another plasma shot come out of nowhere, this time taking out two zombies at once. He was unaware they had any sniper support. Hector had taken the sword from the ground and doubled his attacking speed. He performed a blade dance similar to what Roe had attempted, except twice as efficient. Hector tore through the zombies, and gave the mercenaries a much bigger breathing space to work with.

---

"They're getting fucking slaughtered" Vortex swore under breathe before taking another shot at one of the zombies. Rather than just fire randomly she tried to pick off zombies that she saw posed an immediate threat to the mercs. She let her sights snap to a zombie that was about to thrust his blade into one of the mercs' face and blew its upper body off; she was about to aim away when she noticed who the merc was. "Vates?" she gasped, suprised to see him still alive. She kept her aim roughly on him as he fought along and began to wonder at how much he might haved changed. She fired a few more shots before hooking her rifle onto her back and with a big run-up she leaped off the tall building into the warzone that was spread out before her.

---

Kisheto was now on a complete defensive, having been surrounded by zombies and disarmed. He was dodging spears left and right, grabbing them one by one and tossing them aside before quickly jabbing at the zombies. His hand to hand combat wasn't much against the zombies' thick skin and armor, however, and it wasn't until three mercenaries sliced the horde up before Kisheto could take a breath to recover. Kisheto looked around for any weapons he could use, desperate from some sort of advantage. His eyes instead met with a blue arc of lightning flying towards his face. He ducked, feeling the bolt graze the air above his head as it exploded behind him, killing two mercenaries and launching him into the air, shaking violently at the painful electricity coursing through his system. He hit the ground hard, his body steaming and his face covered in cracks that emit a golden light. He groaned, surprised to have survived the explosion, but he wasn't in the clear yet. A menacing growl caught his attention and motivated him to roll out of the way of a spear that instead lodged itself into the ground where he once lay. His ears were ringing and his head was spinning. Kisheto couldn't feel his body, but he still lunged forward and slammed his fist into the zombie's head in sheer irritation. What should have been a simple jab turned into an small explosion of golden light that glowed from his fist as it connected to the zombie's head, which was blown right off. Kisheto gasped and staggered backwards, bumping into another zombie. He didn't have enough time to turn around this time as he felt the spear pierce through his back and emerge from the front of his torso, right under his ribs. "AGHHHHHHH! NNNNN- UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!" he felt all sorts of pain and he wanted to continue yelling, but adrenaline overcame his body as he threw his body backwards and onto the zombie. The zombie fell back, giving Kisheto enough time to remove the spear and jam it into the zombie's skull.

Vates and Hector continued to swathe through the mass of undead, their allies falling behind them with every few metres gained. Hope was slowly fading away. Hector swung at a figure to his right but it caught his arm and he suddenly found himself held off balance. "I'm here to help!" came a female voice, "I'm going to give you a window to end this battle... you better fucking use it!" As Hector's arm was released he was able to see the mysterious armoured figure before him. "Aye, do your thing!" he responded to the mysterious woman, unsure of where she came from. Regardless, help was help, and unless she tried to harm him or his brothers, he had no reason to fight her. "Give them hell, chica!"

Vortex ran behind a few of the other remaining mercs and told them to cover her. She sheathed her weapons and raised her hands out in front of her towards the biggest mass of zombies. She looked as if she was holding an invisible beach ball, and slowly she began to bring her hands together. At first it looked like nothing was happening but as her hands got closer together the gravity in the centre of the zombie army began to shift towards a single point, dragging the zombies slowly in. With one last heave she clasped her hands together and suddenly a vortex violently tore open, sucking everything, including sound, into itself. Masses of zombies found themselves dragged into the singularity, seemingly disappearing into the abyss. It lasted only a few seconds before she dragged her hands back outwards and caused the vortex to dissipate. "Find and kill that son of a bitch!" she coughed, falling to her knees. Though no one could see it, beneath her helmet her nose was bleeding and she found herself completely sapped of energy.

"Holy shit..." muttered Vates, shocked by what he had witnessed. They had no time to loose though, as if they didn't find Nekros quickly he might just summon more.

Hector panted as he looked around, still amazed at the damage that the mysterious women had managed to deal. "YUGETO!" he called out pointing one sword towards where Nekros commanded his undead army, "ON ME!" He then broke into a dash towards Nekros, relentless in his assault. He swung both swords around as if they were acting on their own, finding their targets with utmost precision. Hector did not falter, though his lungs yearned for air, and his muscles strained, threatening to tear.

"THIS IS IT!!!! CHARGE THE BASE!"

--

Lide slammed his fist into a wall, "KILL THEM ALLL!"

As the gate's opened one more time, a huge wave of infantry rushed out to join the military Vanguards that intended to defend Nekros.

Lide grit his teeth, "We can NOT fail..."

From the air Zachary witnessed Nekros' dark ritual, the rending of the earth, the pouring forth of the undead and the relentless melee down below. Zachary was quite glad that he was not down there, for he was in no way equipped or trained for such a fight. What he did have was the biggest guns the Mercenaries had, and he knew he had to use them. Into the rift he fired a stream of plasma pulses, and while that seemed to strike some of the undead as they were forming it did nothing to dent their numbers.

"That's not working," he muttered to himself. But then, as lightning-infused rods arced into the fray of Mercenaries, he knew what would. Arming the smokescreen, Zachary launched a veil of smoke between the Mercenaries and the base, inhibiting the ability of the ballistae to target the Mercenaries. As soldiers poured out, it would also serve as cover for the Mercenaries when they go for the charge.

With the zombies now intertwined with the Mercenaries, Zachary turned his attention and his fire to the base. At around the same time, with the Mercenaries blocked from their view, the ballistae also turned their attention to Zachary. He deftly piloted the shuttle to strafe a couple of lightning bolts as he charged the splinter cannons. Once charged, he unleashed both at a single ballista, and the projectiles tore through it and turned it into a mangled heap of metal. Zachary shouted a victorious cry as he saw his target destroyed.

Zachary continued strafing but one bolt hit its mark as Zachary heard rending metal and an explosion behind him and the lights of the shuttle flickered. He was able to identify that the bolt had torn a hole in the bottom of the hold, and while the shuttle acted as a Faraday cage protecting him from the electric shock the circuitry of the shuttle was still susceptible to damage from electromagnetic induction as the current flowed through the hull for those milliseconds. He had lost his speedometer and the left gravity core current regulator in that blow. The shuttle shuddered and lurched and threatened the fall until Zachary quickly bypassed the regulator, so the gravity core received power directly. To compensate he pushed the right gravity core to full. The situation was less than ideal, with greatly reduced freedom in vertical motion, but at least he could still strafe.

He fired another pair of splinter shots at another ballista, mangling it too beyond recognition, when the Vanguard and soldiers lined up outside the base with Nekros. Easy pickings, Kaa'is said. Still high on his kill of the second ballista, Zachary did not question it and released a relentless barrage of plasma, interspersed with a few splinter shots. Soldiers were burned and vaporised by the plasma and mutilated by the fragmenting splinter shots. Those who hadn't been hit ran for cover as the barrage continued. While the armour protected the Vanguard from the indirect damage of the splinter shots, it did nothing to save them from the plasma. Although their armour held firm, it simply conducted the heat and melted their skin onto the inside of their armour, condemning them to a slow and torturous death. But Zachary did not care, for he was laughing maniacally as he rained death from the heavens. He even overlooked the disappearance of Nekros into a flock of crows, sparing him from the barrage. But before he could kill all the soldiers he was torn prematurely from his ecstatic frenzy by a lightning rod tearing into the left of the shuttle.

The bolt had critically damaged the left kinetic focus, which directs the power of the kinetic core into useful thrust. Without that, the shuttle listed dangerously. Zachary scrambled to fix it, and he put the remainder of the excess spirit he had received from Yugeto earlier into bending the sheared metal back into place. This restored minimum thrust to that side of the shuttle, but any more would just tear the focus apart again.

"I don't think I can keep it in the air much longer," Zachary said over the comms.

Hector, who had begun his charge towards Nekros, barely had time to look back, noticing the shuttle's state. "GET BACK TO BASE," he yelled, still yelling to overcome the sounds of battle. "HELP EVACUATE ANYONE LEFT THERE! GO NOW!" Hector had been too busy to notice the damage that Zachary was dealing up ahead, but it was without a doubt crucial to the plan, as were it not for the shuttle fire, his men would have been picked off easily.

Zachary made no hesitation in fulfilling that order to retreat. Before he parted ways he fired the smokescreen again, refreshing the Mercenaries' cover from the ballistae and also covering the area between them and the soldiers, so that when the Mercs emerged at the soldiers they would have the element of surprise, critical for their close-quarters combat. He also fired a parting shot from the two splinter cannons at a third ballista, although this time his aim was too high and the splinter shots sailed over the ballista and burst on the ground somewhere behind it with minimal effect. Then, arming the smokescreen one last time, he covered the shuttle in smoke, causing another lightning rod to miss, and by the time the smoke had cleared he had managed to get the shuttle turned around and flying back towards Sector Zero.

Sector Zero

The shuttle slowly hovered its way to Sector Zero and limped its way to the ground, where it landed and Zachary turned off the engines. He pushed the communications button, and said, "This is Zachary here, in the shuttle, here to help with evacuation."

He then released the button and sighed out loudly. He was trembling, and he felt sick in his stomach now that the euphoria had drained away. Did he really just mercilessly bombard an entire group of people, and enjoy it? But as people emerged from Sector Zero he realised that he had more pressing things do deal with than his own personal problems. He needed to get this shuttle in working order before it was time to move out again. The focus could easily be patched, although the regulator would be a trickier task. He got out his tools and the scrap from his trap cores and got to work.

Raeven looked up at the sky as she limped out of the crippled bank, pausing to rub her sore hip before looking around for an evac shuttle. She noticed one of Hector's techs patching up a shuttle and moved towards him. "Is there any word from Hector?" She asked, hoping that the news would be good.

Zachary looked up as he was addressed, and answered, "Things are pretty hectic out there. A hoarde of zombies attacked them, and things looked messy down there, although as I left they were still fighting strong." He then buried his attention back into the task at hand, welding metal sheets onto the damaged kinetic focus and hammering it into shape. Raeven watched him, her calm facade hiding the worry and frustration she felt. "Was Ishigo there?" "Not sure," Zachary replied, "Which squad was he again?" Raeven looked away, watching as civilians piled into other evac shuttles. "Squad one. It was just him and me. I wish I could have went to Hector with him, but he gave me another task."

Zachary recalled from the back of his memory that Squad One was the squad which he had called out as they were pursuing the shuttle with Hunters with the detonator. Considering that there was still a Sector Zero, he assumed that they must have succeeded, although he didn't know much about the squads. "I don't think I saw him. He may have not been there yet." Raeven simply nodded, letting him continue his work as she moved to lean against the shuttle out of his way. "May I ask you for a favor?" She asked, eyeing the splinter core cannons and the plasma cannon. She knew these weapons would aid her in the hazardous mission Ishigo gave her, and thought that Zachary was skilled in risk-taking.

"What is it?" Zachary asked. Raeven looked over at him. "I need you to take me to the front lines of the battle so I can pick up a package when the wall comes down."

Zachary eyed Raeven quizically. "Through the zombies and Vangaurds and artillery and whatever else they've got in that base?"

Raeven blinked at the mention of zombies, but ignored it at the moment. She nodded and smirked, teasing him. "Are you up for the challenge?"

Zachary pondered this for a moment. Then he gave his answer. "I'll get this shuttle patched up and see if I can get you close. Is there anyone else here who needs a lift to the front?"

---

Blake looked to the vulnerable and meek body that lay pale before him as it began to stir. For a moment Blake's anger was overshadowed by a genuine concern for a comrade. Shaking off thoughts of kinship, Blake prepared his next act. 'She'll be too disoriented to read our thoughts right now. Only time to plan is now; what do you want to do, Blake?'

The muffled sounds of feet and voices reached Arianna's conscience, slowly pulling her forwards into reality. She coughed as the soreness of her body returned to her and turned her head to squint at the silhouette standing next to her. As her eyes focused, she blinked and groaned softly. "I guess I didn't die, then," she said hoarsely, swallowing in an attempt to wet her dry mouth.

Blake reached over the table next to Arianna and picked up a glass of water, handing it over to her with a warm smile. "Good guess. Unfortunately, you're going to have to get up very soon." Feigning concern, Blake sighed and stood up. "You and I are two vital assets for the Golden Mercenaries, and our comrades are up on the front lines, dying to bring down the Wall we've been striving to demolish. Once you're rested up, I'll head out to the Wall, and if I rush I'll make it just in time to see the victor and deal with the remains, whether I mourn or maul them. I hope by then you've decided if you'll take up the onus of this most somber duty alongside me; it's a long ways from here, so I hope you have some stories in mind." With that, Blake sat down across Arianna's bed. Arianna gratefully took the water and drank it as she listened to Blake. She looked up at the ceiling of the infirmary and thought for a few moments. The spirit she had gained after killing Zerox was enough to have kept her from falling into stasis, but she was unsure if it was sufficient enough to get her through another fight. She turned to look at Blake, making her decision. "I'll see how I'm faring when we near the battle."

Blake nodded. "So you're making the journey, then?" Due to his late entry, Blake was relatively unscathed after the altercation with the hunters. Arianna nodded. "Do you think one of the shuttles could drop us off near the battle? I'm not sure I can make it there on foot at the moment."

Blake sighed, shrugging. "I'll check, but I'm not too sure." Arianna finished off the glass of water and set it down, taking a deep breath. With a wince, she placed both hands on the bed beneath her and pushed, groaning a little as she sat up. Her head swam for a few moments before she regained control and moved to let her legs hang off of the bed. "We need to find a shuttle before they all leave."

Nekros

Hector spun around in the middle of his sprint, slicing two more zombies in half. As the red flashes dissipated, he saw the clear path that Vortex had created towards Nekros. He then noticed a wave of soldiers run forward, past Nekros and towards him. Hector cursed under his breath, having realized that the odds of ever getting to Nekros with the oncoming soldiers were rapidly decreasing. Fighting the reanimated soldiers was a struggle enough; he doubted his men's chances against a fresh wave of enemies.

Right before he could call for his men to fall back, however, a stray arrow pierced through a soldier's chest, causing him to fall to the ground, writhing in pain before dying before Hector's eyes. Both Hector and the charging soldiers were caught off guard by the unexpected flank, and when Hector saw the source of the arrow, his eyes widened in disbelief. About a hundred feet away from the battle, positioned on top and below the buildings, was a large group of civillians. Men and women alike, wearing no armor, bearing no rifles. No, these innocent people held makeshit swords and spears, pots and pans, bows and arrows. Hector didn't expect any of them to even think of fighting the military, and for a good second, he thought he was seeing things.

As the soldier's turned to face the civillians, they, too, were struck with confusion. However, it wasn't long before a good number of soldiers were forced to change their course: the civillians began charging at the base. It was suicidal, but it was also much needed. The soldier's, thinned by their redirection, now faced an equal match to the mercenarie's quickly regrouping forces. Hector let out a war cry and charged forward, dodging bursts of bullets as he slashed his sword away at living, breathing soldiers.

---

In the midst of the horrors around him, Yugeto felt a gripping nausea as he fought through the waves of undead forces, a feeling he had never experienced before. Looking to Nekros and his army, Yugeto nearly vomited. 'This spirit...it's revolting...it's impure.' Normally, Yugeto would be gleeful at the opportunity to absorb such a large mass of spirit from the necrotic soldiers he was mowing through, but each added reserve of spirit made Yugeto feel that much more incapacitated. "How is this possible...? This essence of spirit reeks of death and rotting life." Nevertheless, Yugeto blasted and pierced his way through monster and militia alike, pushing nearer and nearer the ocean of spirit that lay before him. Nekros' spirit was not composed of darkness, like Ishigo's; no, Yugeto would be ecstatic otherwise. This unholy aura emanated despair from all directions.

Kisheto coughed and pushed off the body of the soldier that he had just stabbed with his dagger. He felt a strange sensation in his body, something completely foreign to him. It wasn't pain, though he felt enough of that to wish death upon himself as if it weren't already calling. It wasn't fear or anger anymore either; it was a mixture of numbness and euphoria. He felt as if his body was rebuilding itself at the atomic level, slowly breaking apart and regenerating its structure with every step and every breath that he took. He didn't feel alive; everything was surreal. He questioned the reality of everything that occurred around him. Would he wake up in a guard tower soon? In his bed in Valira?

"AGH!" the sound of a soldier yelling as he thrust his sword at Kisheto broke him from his trance. Kisheto quickly spun around and grabed the blade that threatened to pierce his right flank. He then kicked the soldier, causing him to loose grip of the sword, with which Kisheto broke the man's nose. As the soldier keeled over and clutched his face, Kisheto brought the sword down and into the man's back, killing him instantly as the metal made short work of his spine. Kisheto gasped and stepped back when the body hit the floor. The absence of a red flash reminded him that he had just killed a living human being. As he struggled to come to terms with this realization, a nearby soldier ran towards him, sword held high. Only moments from bringing the sword down onto Kisheto's head, the soldier let out a long, spiteful warcry.

Yugeto noticed the scream next to him and grabbed the soldier attacking Kisheto by the wrist, absorbing the measly spirit from his body as it went lifeless. Yugeto looked to Kisheto as the boy struck another soldier with a slight hesitancy. "I can make you strong, you know." Yugeto said temptingly to Kisheto. "Don't you want to know what it feels like to have an ability, a power?" Yugeto smirked in the sea of slaughter that occurred between the two. 'He's already got a hefty amount of spirit...does he know and is he playing dumb for some reason, or is he really clueless? It's time to find that out. Just one more host is enough to change the tides of this battle, and set these people free.' Kisheto shook his head and snapped back to reality. "SHIT! You? You're alive?!" he asked, eying the battlefield around them. He ignored Yugeto's strange question, partly out of confusion and partly out of plain ignorance. As he noticed a second group of soldiers approach them, he readied his combat stance and nodded to Yugeto, "Help me out here, I got no weapons!" he said.

Yugeto chuckled, preparing himself for the incoming fight, and cracked his neck. "That's my point, Kisheto." Yugeto continued as the soldiers neared engaging distance. "I have no weapons either; didn't you wish you had more of yourself to rely on?" He mused. Kisheto simply furrowed his brow, thinking about what Yugeto said.

The soldiers charged the two with swords and flintlocks. Kisheto strafed and spun out of the way of the metal rounds that burst from the pistols, mostly out of luck. When he came in range of the first few soldiers, he slammed his fist into the first's head and then spun around to elbow a second. Yugeto grabbed the second soldier Kisheto had spun around and blasted him with spirit, leaving a hole in his torso. He took on his ethereal form and darted towards the gathering of the soldiers that were charging the two, materializing with a shockwave of spirit, sending soldiers in all directions including Kisheto's. Kisheto felt a body crash into him, and he rolled to minimize the damage from crashing into the ground. When he got up,he felt a hand attempt to grasp his right arm, but Kisheto outpowered the attacker by pulling his right arm forward, causing the man to fly forward and crash into another soldier. After countering two sword swings from two more soldiers, Kisheto rapidly exchanged jabs with the enemies, coming out on top and managing to down the soldiers with strong hooks to the head.

Three soldiers remained, making their dash towards the duo in a straight row of swords slashing at Kisheto and Yugeto's heads. Yugeto quickly realized these were no ordinary soldiers; they were three Vanguards, the cream of the crop. As he dodged the slashes, Yugeto noticed plasma waves being echoed out of the slashes as projectiles. "Shit." Yugeto kicked at one of the behemoths, and used his spirit to throw the other two aside. Yugeto dashed at the pair and began releasing various different spirit projectiles through his combat to incapacitate them. After a minute or so, a realization began to sink deep into Yugeto's mind; there was another significant spirit mass in the immediate vicinity aside from Kisheto; the Vanguard he had left behind. That kid's dead...I've gotta clean this up quick and help him out!

'Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK' Kisheto's mind was racing as he put every ounce of his effort into dodging the Vanguard captain's strikes. The soldier stood a whole foot above Kisheto, and although Kisheto had managed to land multiple kicks and punches, they had only caused his knuckles and knees to bruise up. Despite the sheer size of the captain, he moved with an agility like no other, almost managing to keep up with Kisheto's speed. Kisheto sidestepped a vertical strike, feeling the heat emit from the plasma wave that burnt through the ground below. He then attempted to get around and climb onto the back of the captain, hoping to expose some sort of weakspot. Instead, Kisheto found himself being swung around as the captain flailed, trying to shake off Kisheto, who was latched around his neck.

Yugeto had dispatched the two Vanguards with relative ease, having amassed a great deal of spirit. He turned to look to Kisheto and noticed his ally in grave danger against the Vanguard captain. "Shit...Kisheto!" Yugeto dematerialized and speeded to Kisheto, hoping to make it in time.

"YUGETO! GET THIS FUCK- UGH!" Kisheto gagged as a bullet pierced through his armor and into his back. The pain crippled him, causing him to loosen his grip. This allowed the captain to swing to the side and catch Kisheto by his arm. Slamming him into the ground, the captain thrust his sword towards Kisheto, but Kisheto caught it between two hands. He strained and struggled to keep the sword from plummeting into his chest, and the captain grunted in effort as well, surprised that the boy put up a fight at all.

"YUGETO!" Kisheto called out through clenched teeth. 'Hold on... hold the fuck on....don'tdiedon'tdiedon'tdiedon'tdie' "AGH!" the sword cut through Kisheto's hands and rooted itself in between Kisheto's rib cage. Kisheto felt the breath escape from his lungs as blood spurt out from his chest. His eyes widened as he felt time slow to a stop, and as his body fell limp, the captain withdrew his sword.

Yugeto looked to Kisheto's bare body in shock after materializing. "Kisheto...you never knew. This whole time you never knew about that spirit, and you charged in with as much courage and zeal as the best of us; it's a great injustice done to see you gone before you discovered your true potential." Yugeto looked to the Vanguard Captain and prepared his stance.

Suddenly, a faint scream, seeming to come from thin air, caught the attention of the Vanguard Captain. Kisheto's body began to emit a golden glow from multiple spots in which his skin had been penetrated. As the scream started to crescendo, the glowing golden light matched it with an equally intense brightness. Eventually, the Vanguard Captain had to back up a step as Kisheto's body jerked upward, floating a foot off the ground while small bubbles of golden light danced around it. The orbiting orbs of light quickly picked up speed until the entirety of Kisheto was one big glowing aura. The scream came to an abrupt halt, followed by a golden explosion that sent the captain flying backward. His body became a deadly projectile, tearing through multiple soldiers before exploding in a golden mess that brought down the camp's wall.

What lay in the wake of the chaotic occurance was Kisheto, coughing on one knee. He clutched his throat, as if he were being choked by some invisible force. A trail of golden light suddenly shot out of his palms and spiraled around his arms, then his torso, then his legs. It then coiled itself tightly, causing Kisheto to groan in pain. His muscles tightened and eventually, the golden light disappeared, leaving a mysterious armor where it once was. Kisheto got up and took a deep breath, running a hand across his chest, where the absence of any blood or wounds confused him. However, it wasn't until he noticed the battlefield around him that he felt more puzzled than before. Everything seemed to move slower, and wherever he looked, he could notice finer details that would have otherwise been overlooked in his normal state.

---

'I can't keep doing this.' A calm yet stern voice echoed from the recesses of Kisheto's mind. He flinched as he heard the voice, as he could not see anyone near him speaking, especially not anyone who matched the powerful, masculine voice that came from within.

'What.... what is this? Wh-what's happening to me?'

'Focus.

--

"RAAAGHH!" a charging soldier yelled as he swung his sword with all his might in an attempt to decapitate Kisheto. Instead, the sword made impact with Kisheto's wrist, as he swiftly and involuntarily flung his forearm upward to block the blade. Kisheto didn't even realize he was moving, and he was shocked to realize he felt no pain as his forearm, which was now covered in a black armor, absorbed the entire attack. Without giving the soldier a moment to recover from his failed attempt, Kisheto shot his left leg forward, kicking the man in the stomach and sending him flying backward.

"Holy.... shit...." Kisheto muttered, gazing upon his hands with golden eyes. "What am I?"

Yugeto was impressed and proud of his comrade. "You're a host. You were deadly before you found that little fact out; how about we find out just how strong you are now, Kisheto?"

Kisheto looked at Yugeto, speechless. He simply smiled and looked over to where Hector was, fighting his way to Nekros, although the sheer numbers of the military seemed to be pushing him and his men the other direction. Kisheto took another deep breath and nodded, "Let's go," he said, holding out his fist to Yugeto.

Yugeto bumped fists with Kisheto, and a gold-and-silver aura swirled around the two briefly, connecting them via a Spirit Link. The two swirled into a silvery spirit aura, and boomed forward to Nekros' direction, leaving a golden trail behind them.

---

Nekros had felt the change in spirit before he saw the large mass bolting his way. It flew above the battle, skipping past the mercenaries and soldiers alike, until it was only a few yards away from him.

Nekros placed both hands on his scythe and raised it above him. He channeled his spirit into the scythe, causing its tip to glow crimson, and then brought it down with tremendous force, enough to send a huge shockwave of crimson spirit towards Kisheto and Yugeto. At that moment, the two separated, letting the shockwave slip by between them. Kisheto ran up from the left at great speed and then leapt at Nekros, jumping and kicking at him sideways. Nekros lifted the bottom of his scythe upward, blocking the kick with the handle of the weapon, but barely so, as the might of Kisheto's kick was enough to cause him to stagger.

Yugeto attacked Nekros from the right, sending waves of silver spirit towards Nekros, barely scathing the demon. "You're going down!" Yugeto formed a long trail of dense spirit into a halo shape, lugging it towards Nekros as it wrapped around him. Nekros pushed out a large mass of bloodstained spirit and dissipated the makeshift lasso. As he did this, Kisheto punched and kicked at him, but he simply stood there, taking the hits. Instead of flinching or faltering due to the impacts of Kisheto's attacks, the punches and kicks phased through his body, causing small flocks of crows to fly out of the impact location. It was as if Kisheto was directly attacking Nekros' spirit rather than harming his physical body. Nekros, tired of the pain at his side, spun his scythe around, hooking Kisheto at the edge of the blade. He then raised the scythe and slammed it down, pinning Kisheto the ground. However, Kisheto simply thrust his hands upward, shooting a golden blast of spirit upward and into the air. Nekros' scythe was flung backward, and he had to retreat a step to prevent it from flying out of his grip. Kisheto then rolled backward into a standing position, right as Nekros thrust his left hand forward, sending a flock of crows to swarm Kisheto.
Yugeto propelled forward and upward by pushing spirit out of the bottom of his feet, kicking upward with one foot while using the other to continue the backflip motion, sending a crescent wave of spirit speeding towards Nekros as it pierced through the crows.

The spirit hit Nekros spot on, nearly amputating his entire left arm. Instead, he simply tripped backwards, letting Kisheto escape from the menacing crows. As Kisheto recovered from the swarm, he dashed forward. He heard the sounds of gunfire and could sense bullets flying at him fromt he left and right, but he didn't have to look in order to dodge them. Instead, he just weaved through the paths that the bullets took, and when he was close enough to Nekros, he pulled back his right arm only to shoot it forward, blasting Nekros with a golden pillar of spirit.

Nekros was thrown backwards, and the crows screeched as he felt his spirit and body burn. He hit a wall and fell to a knee, coughing at the damage he took.

"Fools... only FOOLS would challenge death..." he said. As Kisheto watched him rise to a stand, he pulled out a strange tome from within his robe. The tome blew open with the winds and Nekros began chanting unknown hymns. Kisheto began running forward, but a crow shot out from the swarm that circled Nekros. It charged at Kisheto and pierced right through his torso, phasing through his body as if it were intangible. Kisheto coughed as he felt his spirit torn from him, and he fell to a knee while the crow doubled back and flew towards Nekros. A second crow shot towards Yugeto and did exactly the same; both crows returned to the tome and fused with the papers that made up its pages. The crows turned into blotches of ink, that slowly began turning into what appeared as letters of a language unknown. As this happened, Kisheto and Yugeto felt an intense pain throughout their bodies. Black and crimson chains emerged from the points at which the crows had passed through their bodies, and they slowly began growing, threatening to fetter their entire bodies. Kisheto tried to pull and tug at the chains, but his hands only passed through it.

"FUCK! WHAT IS THIS?!" he yelled, feeling the pain in his body heighten as his spirit rapidly drained.

Yugeto gasped in pain and agony as the chains ripped out of his body slowly. "Kisheto...hold on..." Yugeto closed his eyes and concentrated, sucking in air and focusing his spirit towards his solar plexus, and slowly the chains turned a silvery white and illuminated, receding back into Yugeto. He faced Kisheto and closed his eyes once again, and a literal link of dense, pure spirit energy formed between the two, a brilliant silver and gold color; Kisheto's chains were replaced with this link, and Yugeto gripped it with his two hands. "You ready, Kisheto. Hold on tight; here we go!" Yugeto swung the link around with relative ease, sending Kisheto at Nekros at high velocity. Kisheto let the link pull his entire body, and he gripped it tightly as he was swung like a projectile. Nekros didn't have time to react, as he was already shocked at Yugeto's ability to defy his death scripture. Kisheto's hand began glowing a golden aura, as the image of a much larger, golden fist surrounded his own. The fist was moments away from making contact when-

---

It was louder than anyone could have imagined, almost as loud as when the void gate had opened a year go. The land shook, as if the earthquakes from the void gate's opening were repeating once more. Men and women were tossed about, and the churning sound of metal caused many to fall to their knees.

The size of the explosion was frightening. It dwarfed the entire base on both sides, and it completely engulfed the section of the wall it targeted, from top to bottom. For a good moment, everything felt as if it were getting sucked into whatever was the cause of the explosion, and when it finally sputtered to a close, all that remained was...

Nothing.

A huge influx of light blinded every living being in the vicinity of the gaping hole for a minute; a minute that felt like a lifetime. The wall, now missing an entire section spanning four hundred yards in length, trembled as the outside world was revealed for the first time in a year. The edges of where the tremendous trap core had swallowed the wall continued to glow red, as more and more chunks of the wall gradually disappeared until the reaciton completely stopped, leaving one, big, hole in the wall.

One, big, escape.

On the ground, soldiers, mercenaries, civillians, and hosts rose to their feet to witness the amazing sight. Their awe was interrupted by hundreds of shouting voices. Then, the gunfire began once again, and the sound of humming shuttles filled the air.

Yugeto watched the wall crack, ripple, and crumble in pride. The boy with the golden soul and himself saved the day; as the sky looked down on the opening out of Sovereign, Yugeto knew that the people who had pushed for this cause finally felt hope shimmering down as well.

---

Soldiers and mercenaries poured into the city, swords and spears held high as they clashed on the border where the wall once stood. Golden Mercenary shuttles flew through the gaping hole and into the city, while military shuttles chased them as well. From the settling dust, Hector recognized his family's greatest heirloom. The magnificient set of armor jumped off a speeding carriage and instantly began fighting the military when it hit the ground.

Victor was here.

"VAMINOS HERMANOS! JUNTOS PREVALECEMOS!!!" he yelled as he kicked a soldier and turned to behead another. The battlefield had erupted into a whole new stage of chaos, and it heated Hector up. He ran forward, swinging his swords with a newfound grace, as each strike found its mark clean and precise.

"THIS IS IT, HERMANOS! THIS IS FREEDOM'S CALLING!" Hector yelled as he fought, inching closer and closer to his brother's side.

Sector Zero

---

As the sky darkened while time passed, Raeven began to feel anxious. She stood and eyed Zachary's work on the shuttle. "I don't mean to rush, but how much longer do you think you'll be?"

"Not much longer," Zachary replied as he fiddled with some wires. The broken regulator had not been easy to fix, because it comprised of circuitry and processors which had been damaged by the electric shock and could only be fully repaired by replacement. Zachary had no replacement parts, so instead he had to bypass it. Raeven gave a small nod before turning to look at the city towards the gate, where Hector's side of the battle continued. With a final weld and solder Zachary had the system operational again. "OK, let's get moving."

Blake held Arianna's left arm up as he helped her walk, groaning internally at the predicament he had caught himself in. 'So close, yet so very very far...' 'Lets not be too impatient; we've waited a long time for this; a little while longer won't hurt.' As he helped the weakened host walk, Blake noticed two others next to a vehicle. "Hey, you two!" Blake called out, "We're here to get back to the battle scene, we just dealt with some Hunters nearby a checkpoint." He explained to the two as they neared enough for conversation. Raeven turned to see Blake and Arianna, noticing Arianna's physical state. "Are you well enough to fight again, Arianna?" She asked. Arianna smiled lightly at Raeven's concern. "I just need to rest for a bit and see how I am when we reach the battle." Raeven gave a small nod and turned to Zachary. "It's on the way for us, if you don't mind taking them as well."

"Sure, no problem," Zachary said, beckoning them into the shuttle. "If I'm making the trip I had better take more than just one person." Zachary entered the pilot's cabin and began starting up the shuttle as Raeven, Blake and Arianna entered. When they were settled in and the door closed behind then Zachary lifted off and flew back in the direction of the gate.

"So, where did you want to be dropped off?" Zachary asked his three passengers. Raeven stood, ignoring the spike of pain from her hip as she moved to look out the front window of the shuttle. "Close as you can lget us to the battle. From there I'll get the package before returning." Blake nodded in agreement. "We're all headed to the battle's epicenter."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do," Zachary replied and returned his attention to piloting. It was not long before the battleground was in sight, and it was indeed a dangerous and chaotic mess. A large rift was in the ground, stretching along the road. Undead warriors, military soldiers, civilian revolutionaries and Golden Mercenaries were all locked in a ferocious melee. Towards the front, near where Zachary knew Nekros was, there was a streak of golden and silver light. He was looking for a place to land when the world was consumed by light and deafening noise.

When Zachary regained their senses, a few moments later, he could scarcely believe his eyes. The Wall was gone.

With the implosion of air and the Wall dissolving outwards in red light, he figured out what had done it. "A Trap Core," he said in awe, "They used a giant Trap Core. Genius." Zachary did not have much time to appreciate the way in which the Wall had been taken down, or the unadulterated sunlight and air which now poured in, or indeed the freedom which had been achieved, for now shuttles were flying in through the gap in the opposite direction to which he was flying. While some of them bore Golden Mercenary markings, others which were in pursuit were military.

Zachary quickly dived the shuttle down below the flight paths of the other shuttles. He found a patch of footpath which was empty of bodies and not in the immediate attention of any combatants and landed there. The rear of the battle was just a stone's throw away. "OK, everyone, here's your stop. Watch out for zombies, plasma fire, Vanguards, and artillery."

Raeven was jolted out of her trance as soon as the shuttle dived, gripping the pilot and passenger seats for balance. She grinned triumphantly, inwardly reminding herself to tell Victor how brilliant he was as soon as she saw him. She nodded to Zachary and smiled. "Thank you. I'll return soon." With that said, she turned to face Arianna and Blake, finding a renewed determination to get the hell out of the desolate city. "Are you still coming, Arianna? I don't mean to offend you, but you look like death." Arianna looked up at Raeven, her eyes glazed over as she continued to think about the scene of the hole in the wall. She took a deep breath and looked at Blake. "I think I should sit this one out." Blake nodded in agreement. 'Guess I'm the tortoise in this chase...oh well.' "You're better off on the shuttle. I'll see you once this fight is done with." He looked to the fight before him, before looking back at Arianna once more. "It was nice talking with you; hopefully we'll talk in better circumstances next time." Turning back to the battlefield, Blake headed off, Kataskai activated.

Raeven gave Arianna a reassuring smile before following Blake. She pulled her daggers from the sheaths in her sleeves and gripped them tightly, ready to slice and dice if she needed to. As soon as she reached the end of the battle, she jumped right in, forcing her way towards the front of the battle despite her aching hip.

---

Meanwhile, Zachary was sitting in the shuttle watching the fighting take place not far from him. Normally, he would have been tentative about sitting so close to the danger, but now he was feeling restless. Despite the death he had dealt out from the shuttle earlier, the distance made it so impersonal and he itched for proper satisfaction. Yet he was torn between joining the battle and waiting responsibly in the shuttle.

Suddenly there was a bang on the side of the shuttle and a skeletal face was staring through the window into the passenger bay at Arianna, banging its sword on the metal hull. Arianna turned to gasp at the sight and reached for the dagger in her boot, but before she could act Zachary got up and strode over to that window. With the distance closed between him and the skeleton, he focused his attention and the skeleton's sword was wrenched from its hand and decapitated it, causing the undead warrior to vanish in a flash of red light.

As Zachary paced back towards the pilot seat, his face was a mask of indecision. Half way there, he hesitated, then made an about face and headed back to the door. "I'm sorry, I can't just sit here," Zachary said apologetically, not turning to face Arianna as he opened the door. "The doors are locked, but there's a plasma rifle and wind cannon in my pack if you need it." His pack was propped up next to the pilot seat. Before there was time for a reply, Zachary had opened the door enough for him to exit, slipped out and closed it behind him, locking it at a touch. Arianna watched him leave, feeling disappointed that she couldn't help. She pushed herself to her feet, gingerly making her way to Zachary's pack by the pilot seat. She fell to her knees in front of it and sat with her back to the pilot seat, removing the plasma rifle and holding it as she hoped that she wouldn't need it.

Outside Zachary reached behind him and the dropped sword rose to his hand while he surveyed the battle scene. He was not trained in armed combat, and while his kinetic shield could protect against errant swings a dedicated attack could still get through, so he would have to pick his target carefully. Then, on the fringes, he saw a Vanguard engaged with a Golden Mercenary, and Zachary ran towards them. The greatest strength of the Vanguard is their armour, which rendered them almost impervious to normal attacks, but to Zachary this was also their greatest weakness, for every part of their body was encased in metal and thus under his control.

The Vanguard was distracted by his battle with the mercenary, and had gained the upper hand, so he did not notice Zachary until it was much too late. At will, the Vanguard's helmet was forced backwards, snapping his head backwards and throwing him back onto the ground, presumably unconscious. The mercenary simply gave him a nod of thanks before rushing deeper into the fray to engage with another soldier.

But Zachary was not done with the Vanguard yet. Sword poised in his right hand ready to stab, he laid his left hand on the leg of the armour. In his mind he was able to visualise the suit of armour, including all the straps holding it together, and thus he telemagnetically removed the Vanguard's helmet and chestplate. The Vanguard was unconscious, his face bloodied by the broken nose from smashing against the front of his helmet. But underneath that armour the Vanguard was quite clearly human, and Zachary hesitated. Did he really want to do this? Was this really what he had become?

But Kaa'is intervened, and the sword thrust downwards stabbing into the Vanguard's chest. The sinking of the sword into the flesh and the outpouring of blood was accompanied by neurotransmitters flooding his brain, bringing him to a state of euphoria. He pulled the sword out and stabbed again, this time without further prompting from Kaa'is, and again, and again, each blow bringing Zachary a burst of pleasure. This reached its peak when the Vanguard's spirit finally yielded, and filled Zachary, bringing warmth to every vessel in his body, and he released a satisfied sigh.

He looked up and saw another soldier who had seen him and had aimed a pistol at him. Quickly, Zachary applied a force to the barrel of the pistol and threw his aim off so the bullet whizzed over his head. Then he lifted the Vanguard's great tower shield up and positioned it between him and the soldier in time to block the second shot.

Plotting his next move, Zachary looked down at the suit of armour before him and thought how excellently useful it could be, and Kaa'is agreed wholeheartedly. He laid his hand on the leg again and by the time the soldier had run up close enough to go around the shield and get a clear shot Zachary was now completely encased in Warshiran steel. He stood up, his legs straining slightly with the extra weight, but when the soldier fired the bullet ricocheted off the armour harmlessly.

Then Zachary unleashed a war cry and charged at the soldier with surprising speed. He was using his powers on the armour to amplify his every movement, in effect giving him great strength. The soldier drew his own sword but found it deflected by an invisible force moments before impact. The collision threw the soldier to the ground, and before he could get up Zachary threw strength-augmented punches at him. And as the bone-shattering blows continued, Zachary returned to a state of murderous ecstasy.

---

Back at the front, the scene before Raeven made her pause, eyeing the large hooded figure in the front. She followed it's line of sight and saw Hector, Kisheto, and Yugeto continuing their fight and immediately began pushing her way towards them. As she fought, she looked around for Ishigo, hoping he had made it alright so far.

Blake looked to the monstrous demon and the destruction that lay in its wake. "Such density...to have such a large pool of spirit to study...amazing." Blake watched in awe as Yugeto and Kisheto fought against Nekros. "Seems like they've both got powers now. Interesting."

---

Kisheto panted and stood ready for whatever else Nekros could throw his way. He looked to Yugeto, who maintained the spirit link in between them. "How do we KILL this fool?" he called out.

Hector raised his GS-9 and aimed it at where Nekros stood. "Just give him everything you have," he answered, firing off a few bursts at Nekros. The bullets simply phased through him, causing a flock of crows to erupt from the nonexistent wounds where blood would have shot out from. Nekros held his tome up once more and began chanting; around him, the crows started swarming once more, creating a tornado of screaming crows that whispered death in all who looked upon it.

Nekros looked upwards and a flash of red light burst out from where his eye sockets would be were his face visible. The air around the battlefield turned to an even darker red.

"FOOLS! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE YOUR FATE!"

Nekros raised his scythe up and slammed it down, causing his entire body to explode into an enormous storm of crows. The storm slowly contorted until a humanoid figure could be made out from the large swarm; it appeared as if Nekros had simply increased in size tenfold.

---

"NOW, YOU ALL PERISH!"

Nekros' voice boomed through the entire battlefield, his body having enlargened until it towered over the many men scattered across the area. His scythe reached the size of a small guard tower, and his tome was about the size of a carriage. His deathly aura seeped through the air, threatening to curse all living beings with its touch of death. Nekros raised his scythe and swung it forward with enough force to level the ground and instantly reap a majority of the people fighting about.

Right before it could make impact, however, mulitple cords made of black shadow flung themselves around the scythe from behind Nekros, pulling it backwards.

Ishigo stood behind the giant reaper, straining as he held the scythe in place with sheer strength.

"KISHETO! YUGETO! GET EVERYONE TO THE SHUTTLE AND LEAVE!" he yelled.

Nekros jerked his scythe upward, flinging Ishigo towards the sky. Ishigo flipped in mid-air and pulled on a newly-formed shadow cord that caused him to land gracefully infront of Nekros. Raeven grinned as she watched Ishigo before slitting the throat of the guard she had been fighting. She turned to face Kisheto and Yugeto. "Over here, boys! I'll take you to it." She looked around, finding Hector in the crowd. "Hector!" Hector nodded at the call and ran towards the boys, drawing his rifle to help cover them as they ran towards the shuttle.

Kisheto and Yugeto both felt their hearts skip a beat when Nekros had nearly eradicated the ground on which they stood. However, Ishigo's maneuver succeeded in stopping the terrifying assault. Hector began shooting off suppresive bursts from his GS-9 while he pointed Kisheto and Yugeto towards Raeven. Yugeto looked at Kisheto and Kisheto nodded, "We're not going ANYWHERE, we've got your back, Hector!"

---

Zachary had been in the middle of revelling over his latest kill when the shadow of Nekros loomed over him. All the cortisol and adrenalin coursing through his viens suddenly shifted from fight to flight, and he picked himself up, gathered the shield and sowrd of the slain Vanguard, and ran back towards the shuttle, which fortunately for him was not too far away. With augmented strength he bolted towards the door, but forgot about his greater inertia until too late and was unable to stop entirely before crashing into the door.

Picking himself back up, he unlocked the pilot door at a touch and hefted himself inside. Instantly he was looking down the barrel of a plasma rifle. Arianna had her finger on the trigger, ready to blast the armored man. Zachary reeled back, having forgotten when he entered the shuttle that in this armour he was unrecognisable, and quickly cried out, "Damn it, don't shoot! It's me, Zachary!" Arianna furrowed her brows, loosening her grip on the rifle a little. "Take off the mask." The helmet lifted from his head seemingly of his own accord, revealing Zachary's rather surprised face. "Sorry for giving you a fright," he said weakly. Arianna let out a soft sigh and lowered the rifle. "What were you doing out there? I nearly had a heart attack when the shuttle was hit." Zachary pointed out the window and replied, "I was running from that." Arianna followed his finger and looked out of the window, her eyes widening in surprise. "Woah," she whispered. "That's.. that's a lot of power." "And that's why I need to get this shuttle ready to go ASAP."

Arianna nodded in agreement. "The others should be back soon. I'll keep guard in case anyone else decides to crash into the shuttle."

---

Nekros suddenly reared his scythe back and shoved it forward, sending a swarm of crows rushing at the group. Ishigo jumped back and spun out of the way of multiple crows that attempted to pierce through him, and Yugeto simply dematerialized with Kisheto, flying out of the path. Hector, however, simply froze and stared as multiple crows tore through his body, causing him to fall to the ground in immense pain despite not having any real physical wounds. "MIERDE!" he yelled as he clutched his chest in agony. The crows flew out of his back and doubled back until they merged with the paper of Nekros' tome. The same ink blotch from before formed as the crows turned into ink which slowly began morphing into unknown letters. Chains erupted from Hector's torso and quickly wrapped around his entire abdomen and chest. He dropped his rifle and staggered back, failing to pry the chains off of his body. "Ughhh, VICTOR! AYUDAME!"

Raeven watched the chains with wide eyes. Just how much power does this host have? She rushed over to Hector, gripping the chains with one hand and sliding her dagger expertly between his skin and the chains before pulling back, using it as a makeshift crowbar. "It must be using your spirit against you!" Hector grit his teeth as the pain greatly increased. He had never experienced such a pain before- it felt like his body was being torn up on a plane that he couldn't normally perceive, as if limbs that didn't exist were being crushed and reformed, only to be crushed once again.

"AGHHHH!" he yelled as the chains picked up speed, spreading to wrap his shoulders and thighs. Victor heard his screams and turned after decapitating a vanguard soldier. He gasped and instantly broke into a sprint towards his younger brother. "HECTOR!" he yelled as he brung his sword down on the chain. It was to no avail, as the sword simply bounced off, and Hector simply screamed in pain. Victor was horrified by the sound of his younger brother's cries. Hector's hands quivered as he felt himself give in to the pain. Every muscle in his body tensed up and he began hyperventilating as the chains tightened around his body.

Yugeto rematerialized and ran forward towards Hector. He placed a hand on his shoulder and attempted to channel his spirit into the suffering mercenary's, but the chains simply whipped at his hands whenever he touched Hector. Hector shook his head and pushed Yugeto off, "NO! This... it's futile... I can feel it.... it's over...."

Raeven slowly pulled away from the chains, her arms falling to her sides in defeat. "What about the three amigos?" She asked Hector, wishing she could help him somehow. "We need you."

Victor grabbed the chains and pulled with all his might, but Hector simply swat his hand away and leaned on his brother.

"Encontrado mi luz, hermano... Este es adios," he said, smiling weakly. Victor shook his head and reached to attempt to pull the chains once more, but Hector held up a hand and groaned in pain. His voice weakened to a hoarse whisper.

"A cabo... de cien anos.... los reyos son villanos.." he began, coughing as he leaned his head on Victor's shoulder. Victor clenched his fist and put a hand on the back of Hector's head, "For when we are among wolves, we must howl."

Nekros looked down at the tome as the letters on the page stopped morphing and reached a final shape. He reached forward with a single finger and tapped the name written in his tome in red ink. Just as he did this, the ink turned black, and Hector let out one final cry. He stepped back, and the chains exploded in a red and black flash of light. When the lights dissipated, Hector fell to his knees, and then toppled over, lifeless.

---

Victor screamed and stood up to rush to his brother's corpse. He held Hector's head in his hands and cursed to the skies. "MI HERMANO! MI HERMANO!!!!!" he cried. As he did this, the crows began screaming once more. Ishigo, who had frozen in spite of what had occured before his eyes, snapped to his senses and jumped to Victor's side.

"Raeven, get them out of here, NOW. Take the shuttle and GO," he commanded, pulling Victor by the shoulder. Victor hesitated at first, but anger quickly filled his veins and he stood up. "PUTO! I'LL MURDER YOU!" he yelled.

Raeven was staring at Hector's body in horror, frozen in place. She was snapped from her trance when she heard Ishigo's voice, looking up at him with a hurt gaze. She nodded slowly before turning to look at the others, wincing at her injured hip. "Kisheto, Yugeto!" She called. "Let's go!" She turned to look at Ishigo, trying to gather her thoughts together. "Take this bitch down," she said, her voice cracking at the end.

Kisheto had been stuck in place staring at Hector's body. It wasn't until Yugeto pat him on the shoulder, forcing him to turn around towards the shutte, that he regained his senses. "H-Hec-Hect-..."

"GO, KISHETO!" Yugeto yelled, pushing Kisheto forward.

The two ran towards the shuttle with Raeven following closely behind. When they neared it, the doors opened, and Yugeto jumped aboard first, followed by Kisheto, Blake, and Raeven. Arianna lifted the plasma rifle in defense, but sighed lightly and dropped it as she watched them enter. She noticed their demeanor and frowned. "What's wrong?"

Raeven shut the doors behind her, clenching her jaw. "Hector has fallen," she murmured before finding a seat in the corner, staring at the floor. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to remain strong. She knew tears wouldn't help.

Blake measured his surroundings carefully; the Golden Mercenaries would fall and crumble if Ishigo and Victor died in this conflict; it would be in the hysteria of the following days that he would strike. "He was a good man, Hector...it's a shame, really, that he faced this tragic death." He spoke, aiming to avoid Arianna trying to read his mind; it would be odd if he didn't comment on the situation.

Arianna's face fell, wondering what would be next for the Golden Mercenaries without one of their courageous leaders. She looked up at everyone in the group, then watched Raeven. She knew that Raeven had been close to Hector. Her empathy seemed to take over as she involuntarily heard the thoughts of the group. When her mind crossed over onto Blake's, however, an eerie and chilling pang of...ancient emotion pushed its way into her head, sending Castiel reeling within Arianna's own mind. Arianna winced and gripped her head. I apologize. I.. I don't know what overcame me. Castiel said in a confused tone. Arianna sighed and closed her eyes, resting her head back.

"OPEN UP! OPEN UP!" a voice outside of the shuttle rang as someone banged on the door. The doors hissed open to reveal a young man waiting outside, anxious and exhausted by the battle. "Are you flying out? You mind taking an extra passenger?" Matyo said. He had decided to stick around while the rest of the civillians ran towards where the larger shuttles were being loaded to ferry civillians out of the city. Raeven stood when the doors open, dagger in hand in case she needed to fight. She eyed the man before nodding and walking over to the door, sheathing her dagger once more. She took his hand and helped him in. "Are there any others?" As Mayto shook his head, she nodded and punched the button that shut the doors. "Take us out, Zachary." She said before returning to her seat. Zachary nodded and pulled the thrust lever, lifting the shuttle off the ground.

---

Ishigo stood by Victor and looked at the giant reaper that prepared its next attack. "We're going to END this, Ishigo. NOW," Victor said in anger.

Ishigo took a deep breath, trying to temporarily forget Hector's death. "On you, Victor."

Behind them, the shuttle hummed to life and ascended into the air. The military was too preoccupied by mercenaries and their shuttles to bother about the lone bomber that made its way towards the wall.

Nekros eyed the shuttle, but Ishigo stepped forward, "YOUR FIGHT IS WITH US," he stated boldly.

Nekros roared once more, his deathly aura contaminating all life around it. A storm of crows wreaked havoc on the camp and everything that once surrounded it. Ishigo and Victor constantly found themselves moving out of the way of the crows that screamed past them. They had witnessed the consequences of falling victim to the crows' assault - it was a surefire way to sign oneself off to death. Victor, whose blood boiled in his avenger's rage, charged forward at the massive reaper, his blade held high. Nekros thrust his left hand upward, and a huge flock of crows burst out from a trigram that appeared near the ground on which Victor stood. Spinning out of the way of the pillar of crows, Victor charged forward once more. Nekros responded by launching two more pillars of crows, this time aiming them horizontally in front of Victor. However, Victor didn't stop, he simply swung his sword vertically with great force, cutting a clean line through the crows.

Ishigo took this time to dash through the shadows on the right side of Nekros. He came within reach of Nekros rather quickly, having warped from shadow to shadow at great speeds. As he shot out of the nearest shadow, Nekros swung his scythe at Ishigo, causing Ishigo to have to flip backwards and dodge the scythe. Instead of following through with his attack, Ishigo was forced to land in front of Nekros and roll out of the way of his scythe once more. At this point, Victor reached Nekros, and he jumped onto the swinging scythe that nearly hit Ishigo. Swinging with the scythe, he only let go when Nekros brought it up, and in doing so, he successfully created a downward path towards Nekros' head. But gravity didn't bring Victor down quick enough, as Nekros simply looked up and roared, shooting a pillar of crows out from his unseen mouth. Victor crossed his arms in front of him, blocking the crows from piercing through, but the force of the pillar was enough to knock him upward. He fell down on the ground beside Nekros, hitting the concrete hard. "Ugh... fuck...." he groaned, his armor still vibrating from the shock of hitting the ground. On the other side of Nekros, Ishigo had managed to spin around and shoot up a thick shadow cord from the ground. He weaved it around Nekros, moving his hands like a puppeteer, and it wasn't long before the cord successfully spiraled around Nekros. Ishigo then performed a pulling motion, tightening the cord, and causing Nekros to jerk and nearly drop his scythe.

Victor then rolled backwards and pulled out his Spak pistol. He fired a single shot and watched as the bullet tore through Nekros' spirit, causing crows to burst out the exit wound. Nekros roared and reared back before spitting a pillar of crows at Victor, but Victor simply sidestepped, rolled, and then shot another round, this time hitting Nekros right in the head. While the attack had successfully landed, it only caused Nekros to roar in anger. Several trigrams appeared on the ground around him, and crows violently flew up from them. Ishigo was forced to let go of his restraining cord, and Victor found himself ducking and weaving through relentless crow swarms.

When Ishigo found himself in a safe spot, he crouched and placed both hands on the ground. Focusing, he closed his eyes and let his senses merge with the shadows. Soon, the various shadows that formed around the battlefield began swirling into a dark circle in front of Nekros. The various shadows seemed to pool together until the circle was large enough; Ishigo then thrust his hands downward, seeming to penetrate into the ground. As a result, a large, humanoid shadow burst from the circle of shadows. The upper half of the shadow figure matched Nekros in size, and the many shadow cords connected to its back from the ground seemed to give Ishigo control of its movements. The shadow golem reared its large fist back and thrust it forward, slamming it into Nekros' chest. Nekros was forced backward, and a massive swarm of crows was flung from his shoulder, though it regenerated almost instantly. Nekros swung his scythe at the Shadow Golem, but it caught it with its left hand, and then slammed its right fist into Nekros' head with a straight jab. This caused Nekros to nearly lose his scythe once more, but he pulled it back in anger. The force caused the Shadow Golem to tip forward, and as Nekros regained his senses, he let out a large roar. Instantly, the entirety of Nekros burst into a black mass of swarming crows that flew forward, towards the Shadow Golem. The Golem raised its hands to stop the crows, and did so successfully, but Ishigo strained as he felt each crow sting at his spirit while the golem absorbed its impact. Eventually, the crows overpowered the golem, and pierced through it, flying into its front and outs it back. Ishigo coughed as he felt his own spirit torn by thousands of little crows. The crows reformed into Nekros behind the golem, and he brought his scythe up and slammed its blade downward through the golem, effectively splitting in two halves. The massive Shadow Golem was reduced to a mess of shadow cords that then coiled around the scythe. But Nekros simply pulled his scythe up, causing Ishigo to be flung through the shadow from which he controlled the golem. He then burst out of the corpse of the Golem and was brought down to the ground hard as Nekros slammed his scythe down once more.

Ishigo coughed, feeling immense pain through his body and soul. He didn't have to open his eyes and look, he could hear and feel the chains coiling around his body. To top it off, Nekros raised his hands and brought them down, bringing forth a massive pillar of crows upon Ishigo's body. The crows blasted right through Ishigo, tearing him up at the spiritual level, as well as cutting and bruising his body. Victor saw this and ran forward, past the crows that tore through his own body. He ignored the pain and the chains that began creeping out of his chest, and he fired off two Spak shots at Nekros. Both of them caused Nekros to turn around and swing his scythe. The scythe's blade hit Victor spot on, and he found himself lifted off the air as the tip of the blade nearly pierced through his armor. He had to hold onto the blade as it swung him to prevent from being stabbed. Nekros swung his scythe and slammed it through a nearby building's wall, causing Victor to be blasted through the wall as well, still holding onto the blade. Nekros then dragged the blade of his scythe through the building's side, forcing Victor through the wall until he finally brought the scythe to the ground near Ishigo. Victor coughed, feeling the massive scythe slightly stab him, but not all the way through. He felt cracked ribs and every part of his body ached.



Ishigo's breathes were weak, and his vision was blurry. He felt useless, his body refusing to move. His eyelids began stuttering, and he had to fight simply to stay conscious. The humming of a shuttle engine gave him the strength to turn his head and notice the bomber shuttle take off, flying towards the wall. He held his breath and gulped, watching it leave the battlefield. When it reached the clear, he took a breath of relief. They were going to make it. They would be safe. He didn't fail them.

"He killed Hector..."

Ishigo heard Victor's voice through the crows' screams. It was clear, but weak and hoarse. Time seemed to start slowing.

"This bastard.... he KILLED Hector..."

"AGHHHHH!"

Victor rose to his feet and roared as he charged at Nekros. Nekros swung his scythe at the enraged man, but Victor clenched his fist, causing his forearm armor to light up. He then simply swat away the scythe with immense force. "I'LL END YOU!" he yelled, as Nekros was swung sideways. Victor kept charging, past the pillar of crows that tore through him, past the continuous scythe swings, and past the roars of the reaper. He reached about ten feet away from where Nekros stood, and charged up his strength, causing his leg armor to glow. He then jumped into the air with great force, holding his broadsword high. When he neared Nekros' chest, he brought the sword down onto the reaper's throat, piercing through it and lodging his blade in place. Nekros tried to roar, but crows simply flooded out of his mouth and swarmed around his own body. Victor roared with him and pulled himself upward via his planted broadsword. He grabbed the cloth of Nekros' robe and climbed up until he grabbed the sides of Nekros' hood.

Crows swarmed Victor, but also Nekros' head. The crows pierced both entities left and right, and the Tome's pages began flipping wildly as the two names that were forming were replaced by random blotches of ink.

"YOU ARE NO GOD OF MINE!" Victor yelled as he reared his head back and brought it forward, headbutting the darkness that was Nekros' head. In a huge flash of crimson light that burst from the abyss in his hood, Nekros exploded into a mass of crows that consumed Victor and Nekros's robe and scythe. The crows stormed the area, screeching louder than ever, and the red atmosphere turned a haunting black. However, as the crows flew off, the world around Nekros' battlefield returned to normal, save for the warring mercenaries and soldiers.

Ishigo's breathing slowed to a near-fatal rate, and his vision began to tunnel. Moments before passing out, he saw and then felt a trail of black smoke enveloping his body.

One hour b.w.b (before wall breach)...

Mathias sat comfortably on the balcony, surveying the city through binocular eyes. He saw the squads of mercs race toward the walls, as planned; he watched the small explosions omit from military bases, as planned; he watched the unit slowly march toward the estate... as planned. "They approach my friend. Captain Drax leads the battalion." Earlson noted, sipping tea on the adjacent chair.
Mathias remained stoic in expression, deep in thought "Is the transmitter set?" Earlson replied with a nod and Mathias finally allowed a small smile to manifest "Very well, pass me the mic Earlson, i think its time we had a chat with the Captain." As he readied the ampliphone, Mathias eyed his prey.
The unit was marching down an old high street when they halted, over 700 men were held to attention at the voice projected from within the snowstorm ahead.

"Captain Drax, this is Mister Winter's speaking. I suggest you turn around." Laughter could be heard from the legions of men, but the were soon cut short by the authoritative tone of the ethereal voice.
"Laugh all you want, it wont save you!!! I am perfectly prepared to end your lives with a push of a button, you'll have to take my word for the i'm afraid, the only demonstration i could provide would be your death. Now please, listen. I have known of your superiors game-plan for a long time; 1. hold the wall, rather obvious, 2. take as many defendable landmarks as possible, hold the most land and you hold the most power and of course 3. move in large groups to avoid ambush. Well i'm so very sorry gentlemen but those plans just don't work for me, you see the people on this estate are my family now and they want to leave this city. Therefore we will pass the wall and you wont overthrow this estate, if you are allowed to take this land, you will be in control of the entire north-east and will have too much of a foothold, that's not going to happen. Now, be good dogs of the military and turn around! That's right, turn and go, you have this one chance to retreat so we can leave the city, you have two minutes to decide."

He waited impatiently, his forefinger rapping on the table. Both he and Earlson felt an immense sensation of dread, they could not hold back a battalion so large, if they didnt turn around Mathias had only one card to play and if that didn't present a decent hand...game over.

Suddenly a sound.

The trudging of boots, but the battalion was moving forward, they had ignored his warning of retreat. He panicked, what if his plan wasn't perfected, what if he could save his family, what if he lost it all.

"Find strength boy!" Boreas returned to his mind, after a long absence. "Your people need you to be strong, this isn't some gang war now, there is so much more at stake than money. You must be cold, these are soldier not civilians. You must rage like the north and strike the down!!"

He rose to his feet, a pillar of strength staring the enemy in the eye. " Objective number 3. Move in large groups to avoid ambush! HA! Your superiors didn't account for me then did they! I warned you Captain Drax! Let this be your last lesson, never mess with the Winters family! We can be bloody cold sometimes."

A single, poignant button push, that's all it took. A buzzing, electronic scream filled the air and then a short silence. Again the battalion stopped, but before they could march again, the ground shook with noticeable force. A rumbling built up, dust clouds were visible from the east and gnarls, groans and roars highlighted impending danger.

The gentlemen watched on at their balcony as the mutated husks stampeded down the narrow, inescapable high street. The transmitter built by Zachary was attuned to the creatures that plagued the factory dwellers, Mathias had time to notice their dislike for high pitched sounds when hunting them and had sent Earlson off to investigate further. Sure enough the investigation presented that a precise frequency attracted the monsters, luring them in as a frenzied mass of aggression. It took 5 minutes for the 700 to fall, torn apart by the barbaric giants, or clawed at by the small packs of sickly, twisted hunters. Some soldier finally took note of Mathias' words and tried to escape, but they were unsuccessful, dragged back by creatures those limbs retracted like tentacles to snare their prey.

The show was truly horrific, but what Mathias felt was sadness more than disgust. He had no pity for the soliders, but the creatures before him who were once human, mutated and over-taken by low-level kages or driven mad by the events in the city that their humanity had long been disposed of.
That was the hardest part of all, having to end their misery. They had succeeded in saving the estate, but given the chance they too would march forward, devouring every human is sight. With a second button-push a second transmission echoed down the high-street, making the creatures halt and shiver. They screamed and bellowed, their bodies vibrating at excessive speeds until in unison they exploded. What was once a bustling high street was now a sea of blood, both military and, in a way, civilian.

Sitting back in his chair, the often immovable man was shook. He had committed so many horrific acts in a short space of time, a part of him would never forget this day and never forgive. After a moments silence, with snow gently falling down around the massacre below, Earlson and Mathias rose from their chairs and walked slowly to the lobby. There they were met by the guards, the factory dwellers and Mathias' bloodline. "My friends...My family, the path is clear, we must leave this place and find our true home. The people of this city have fought hard for us today, we in turn have paid our dues and made a significant contribution to the war efforts. Let it not be in vein, let our escape be clean and without casualty. Come, its time we started a new chapter, for freedom! for family!"

/|/|/|/[[ CHAPTER TWO ]\|\|\|\
=~=~=~World's Deception~=~=~=

---

"He'll be alright, brothah'. Jus lettem' rest right up and he'll be back in no time, yeh?" Julian stood above Ishigo, who was laid flat near the back of the shuttle's holding bay. Zachary stood next to him, eying the man whose vitals left no room for comfort. However, Julian had heard of this kind of thing before. Stasis - a comatose state caused by overexherting one's spirit.

"The rations in that box, yeh?" Julian asked, nodding to a large container built into the shuttle's interior wall. Zachary nodded and Julian responded with a pat on his back, "I'll leave you to your work, then. They must be starving."

Julian walked over to the container; it resembled an ammunitions drop, but instead, it was filled with about thirty boxes of rations and water. Julian counted and picked up the right amount before promptly closing the container and dropping out of the landed shuttle. It was parked near the edge of a circular forest clearing. In the center, a campfire kept a group of survivors warm. Julian walked over to the group and smiled as he neared them. "Hungry, yet?" he said before tossing one of the boxes to Kisheto who was sitting back on his arms, staring at the sky. Kisheto was surprised by the sudden movement, but he caught the box and smiled when he realized what was packed within it. "Oh man... just what I needed," he said quietly. Julian nodded to him with a smile and then tossed another box towards Yugeto, who was watching Kisheto intently before he was startled by the box, catching it in surprise. "Thanks, Jules. But I don't eat much." Yugeto popped open the box, and slurped down the water quickly, quenching his thirst. "Kisheto..." Yugeto looked to the boy before him once more. Kisheto was busy eating when he heard his name. He looked to Yugeto and raised both brows as his eyes fell on the untouched food in his share. "Don't mind if I do!" he said with a chuckle, grabbing the box and feasting on the extra rations. Yugeto smiled at his friend, wondering if this was how he dealt with the shock. 'Only fools...'

Turning towards the rest of the group, Julian noticed Arianna sitting next to Raeven, who was still struggling with a wound on her hip. Julian walked over to the two and took a knee. "Here, Raeven, eat somethin'. I'll try to find a medkit in the shuttle, but hang on, yeh?" He then smiled at Arianna and handed her a box as well. Standind back up, Julian walked over towards Blake, who had chosen to sit by himself near the fire. He passed a box to him and tilted his head, "You don't speak much, do yah, brothah?" Blake cocked his head up, and he nodded slowly. "What happens to the Golden Mercs now? I've got too many questions that none of us here have answers for; better to stay shut."

Julian noticed the newcomer sitting on the opposite side of Kisheto and Yugeto. He walked over to him and handed him a box as well. "Your name was Matyo, hm? I'm Julian Drake," he said kindly. His voice was gentle and welcoming, "Let me know if you need anything, brothah."

Julian then grabbed the last box and sat down on one of the open spaces around the campfire. "Zach oughta' have the shuttle up in the air real soon. In honesty, the kiss of the wildair is doing more to soothe me..." Julian began with a smile as he let his head tilt back. A gentle breeze caressed the campfire and all those around it, and Julian's dreadlocks brushed past his neck at its touch. "But still, what's the plan now? Are we just flying for survival?"

Arianna sat silently by the crackling fire, watching the sparks fly up into the air. Her mind was processing all that had happened that day. She was amazed by what had been accomplished. The forest around her felt surreal. At any moment she felt like she would wake up in the empty city. Yet as her eyes moved around the scene, she saw each of the survivors and watched how they were reacting to the situation. It seemed that they, too, could barely believe that today had happened.

Arianna looked up, a bit startled when Julian spoke. She watched him hand out food, a small smile showing as Kisheto took Yugeto's food. She watched Julian walk towards her and Raeven and sat up a little straighter, taking a deep breath. Her stomach ached for food.

---

Raeven watched the fire dance, thinking over the battle. She thought about her fight with Ishigo, remembering the pain she had felt when she'd thought that Ishigo was dead. Her mind flickered to Hector's dead body and she instantly felt a rough wave of guilt knock her psyche aside. She could have been there to help, if only she hadn't gotten herself injured. Ishigo's words slipped through her thoughts and she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She had saved them from being left in the city by getting Zachary's help. There was no blame on her shoulders. Nekros was to blame, and the bastard had fallen. He needed no more concern. Her eyes slowly moved to rest on Julian's calm expression as he knelt down in front of her. She simply nodded, feeling that she had no words to say, and took the food. She stared at it, knowing she needed her strength. Still, the thought of eating while one of her best friends had died, and the other was in a coma, was hard to shake off. She stood with a wince and held her hip as she half-heartedly limped to the shuttle. She climbed inside, gritting her teeth as she moved to sit next to Ishigo's stasis body. "How is he looking?" She asked Zachary quietly.

---

Arianna let out a soft sigh as she watched Raeven painfully make her way to the shuttle. She could tell that Raeven was having a hard time, even without reading Raeven's thoughts. She turned her attention back to the rations and began to eat, satisfying her grumbling stomach. "I'm sure the military will be after everyone that has escaped from Sovereign. There will be people who fear us, hate us, find us fascinating, or want to help us. There's no way to tell, to be honest. I think we should try to lay low and heal."

Zachary, like the others, was quite in awe that they were outside, in the free world and fresh air, rather than air which had been recirculating for a year. However, unlike many of the others, Zachary was unsure if they could stay safe forever. Even though they had escaped the city, they were not in the clear, as the military would not forget about them so readily and the world was now an uncertain place.

As Julian exited the shuttle, Zachary checked over Ishigo one last time, although he did not expect to find anything different. He laid a hand on the comatose host's shoulder and let his mind's eye expand to Ishigo's body. Zachary might not have any medical experience, but he had a sufficient understanding of how the human body worked to check Ishigo's vital signs. Heart rate and breathing were present, although understandably slow. Brain activity was minimal, although he did not have the expertise to distinguish between unconsciousness or brain-death. Body temperature was lower than it should be, but as yet there was no sign of cell death. He had been told this was stasis, a state of unconsciousness brought about by draining of spirit, and that rest and time would bring about recovery. However, Zachary was concerned that if Ishigo stayed in stasis too long his body would start consuming itself due to starvation, but that would only become a problem in the days to come. Until then, there were more pressing problems.

Zachary was about to exit the shuttle when Raeven walked in. In response to her question, he carefully answered, "He's alive, that's for sure. Save for being in stasis I see no cause for alarm." Noticing her limp, Zachary added, "Remind me to take a look at that hip some time soon."

Zachary took his own share of the food, exited the shuttle and joined the circle, basking in the firelight. He joined the conversation. "Regardless of where we're heading, if we take the shuttle we'll need to recharge. The kinetic cores are almost empty, and while I've done my best to optimise the shuttle for efficiency we aren't going to get far if we don't get replacements. Laying low might be a bit difficult in that regard."

Yugeto raised an eyebrow. "Looks like we aren't flying for anything except kinetic cores, Jules." Staring back distantly at the direction the group had emerged from, Yugeto's mind drifted to the memories of the men who had helped him and how they had been torn to shreds or comatose. Their sacrifices wouldn't be in vain...to fail to continue Hector's legacy would be a disgrace to the things he had done for Yugeto. "We should head back to Sovereign. The entire wall is composed almost entirely of kinetic cores, isn't that right, Zachary? We can salvage some from there after putting an end to this military threat."

Blake chuckled dryly at Yugeto's naive comment. "Clearly, you and Kisheto have more than enough power to deal with a large force; with Arianna's new boost and the rest of us helping, we may have a chance. Unfortunately, another massive scale battle is bound to be broadcasted, and we'll be labeled as criminals across Aeros; I don't care who you are, the entire military force of the world is going to pose a serious threat. Lets analyze this situation carefully and see where else we can retrieve kinetic cores in the area; worst case scenario, Yugeto pumps spirit into me as I redirect the energy into the shuttle. This is only a short-term solution to get us to the next area with cores, as I'm guessing Yugeto isn't willing to give up so much spirit."
'Good thinking. With an augmented Spirit, we won't be tameable. We're inches away from our goal, Blake. Keep working at this pace and you'll see your goals realized.' Blake felt a cryptic desire stirring within him. Who or what was Dama before the Void Gate opened? His mannerisms and profound connection to Blake's spirit pointed to an era long forgotten even in the Kagesm timeframe. This ancient kage older than his own core both perplexed and assuaged Blake, and yet he could not imagine life without his brilliant guide.

Blake said

"Clearly, you and Kisheto have more than enough power to deal with a large force"

Kisheto's head perked up from his food as he heard the mention of his name. While he had been lost in his rations, the group that had gathered began speaking of their plan of action. However, everything was moving too fast. Kisheto was still getting ready for the assault on the wall in his mind. It was as if the adrenaline of the battle still pumped a warrior's blindness through his mind. At the sound of his name, however, memories turned into hard-hitting facts. The sight of the battlefield that he had just narrowly escaped suddenly faded into his mind, and he saw himself, staring back at the helpless soldiers that trembled under the wake of his new found power. How could he have forgotten what he had just accomplished? Kisheto was confused, if anything. He felt a sort of guilt and disgust at discovering what he truly was, although he honestly knew that it was a benefit to him and his new friends. 'Um... hello there?' KIsheto's eyes wandered about as he focused on speaking within his own mind. He didn't know who or what he was calling to, and he wasn't sure if he was wise in expecting in a response, but there was no doubt that something was there. It sent a chill down Kisheto's spine, as he felt he just discovered a parasite leeching away his life force. But it was beyond that, and he forced himself to swallow his doubts and convince himself that his new powers were his assets, not hindrances.

"If you don't relax, I'm going back to meditation." Kisheto nearly dropped his food at the sound of the voice that came from within him. However, he felt a surge of excitement rush over him as he realized this was his chance. ''I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was just wonder-' His thoughts were cut off by the same powerful voice: "No, fool, relax your spirit. You can't keep bottling up your emotions, that's not how you humans work." Kisheto sat silent for a moment before shaking his head and tuning back into the conversation. Suddenly the death of Hector and the freedom he was surrounded in became much more relevant.

"Hector... I can't believe he's dead... I'm with Yugeto on this, I really want to give the military a piece of their own. Plus, the wall is made of a buncha kinetic cores, right? It's two birds with one stone!" Kisheto felt like he had missed a good chunk of the conversation, and he wasn't sure if what he had to contribute was even related to the current topic. But he spoke his mind, and that's what mattered.

Zachary shook his head. "The Wall is no good to us. Even with a large section missing, the rest will function perfectly well, for the design is very modular and redundant, so the kinetic shield will prevent us from damaging it. Even if we could, we'd need a massive chisel to carve any cores out. Plus, the place would still be swarming with military, as he said," Zachary said, gesturing to Blake. "We're not completely empty yet. There are plenty of shuttle stops across Gaia. We could always go to the nearest one and buy more cores, assuming they haven't all been shut down or taken over by the military. If it turns out that we don't have the range required, your plan could work too, although I'm not sure even Yugeto could impart enough spirit for you to lift a shuttle for more than a very short distance, but with some economical flying I should be able to make it, depending how far we are from a shuttle stop."

The real clincher was, Zachary realised, that the world had almost certainly changed since they had last seen it. While the Golden Mercenaries and Victor's speech had suggested that there was substantial public support for the prisoners of Sovereign, he had no way of knowing how deep or widespread that support was, and neither did he know how active the military would be in hunting them down. Blending in would not be an option in this shuttle, because unlike civilian shuttles this one was armed to the teeth. To visit a shuttle stop, he realised, was a substantial risk, but also a necessary one because they would have a hard time getting to places by foot.