Teknoman Fan Fiction ❯ Shara's Last Gift ❯ Trial and Judgment ( Chapter 2 )

[Looking somewhat refreshed, thanks to the wondrous power of sleep, Warhammer comes forth from the light.]

WH: I know that this is the chapter you've been waiting for. So, to satisfy your, and my own, lust for blood, I've written this story, all for the fun of it.

Teknos Warhammer

Presents

Shara's Last Gift:

Chapter 2:

Trial and Judgment

*****

Different characters have been changed throughout their lives because of the choices they had made. One such example is Tina Corman. Operative of the Space Knights. By making the choice to be an 'experimental' Teknoman, the course of history took a rather significant turn. If only Ms Corman knew what she was getting into.
-Julian Sayers, from the article 'Tina Corman: The Stargazer'.

Used with permission from the Eudora Daily Star. Copyright 3004.

*****

The liquid was hot. It was just as viscous as oil, yet Tina found herself able to breathe within the fluid. The sensation of the fluid supplying her lungs with oxygen was one that she could not put any kind of label upon. The closest thing she could describe it was breathing inside a sauna, but without the burning sensation one felt with the extremely high temperature.

It was typical of people, that when one was within temperatures significantly higher than normal, the impulse to sleep came about a bit quicker than fatigue. So, within minutes, Tina's eyes closed and her body fell into an unconscious state. Due to human reflex, her arms and legs retracted to her body until she was, in effect, in a fetal position.

Her eyes squinted slightly at the unpleasant feeling of the fluid beginning to fuse itself with her body. Despite its protests, the process continued, and it would not stop for anything.

Tina had no idea what to expect from this. What surprised her was when the uncomfortable heat of the Teknopods was replaced by something completely different. She blinked her eyes to see that she was no longer inside the makeshift chamber, but standing in the middle of a field of wildflowers.

She looked up to see the sun and her eyes registered it as the same. What was going on? Everything around her was so... pleasant. The breeze, which caressed her hair, had a familiar scent of lilac to it. The air was slightly moist, as if a spring shower had ended recently. To anyone else, it appears as if she had landed in a storybook land. To her, it was peace.

She slowly closed her eyes, praying that this moment would last for eternity. Being her made her realize that she didn't want to return to the real world, where the pain, suffering, and death were.

Yet, true to form, the heaven had left her. The moisture had suddenly left and the spring valley was suddenly replaced with a dry, barren, desert. The change of atmosphere had affected her immediately. She gasped and fell to her knees and searched desperately for moisture. Whatever she was going through could not have been real, because the lack of moisture was affecting her many times faster than normal.

Aside from the dehydration, the heat had increased exponentially. Within minutes, her body had been encompassed in a scorching heat. The pain was so great that she felt as if her body was beginning to break apart from the intense burning. First skin, then muscle tissue, bone marrow, and nerves were burnt to nothing in Tina's test of physical endurance.

When Tina felt she could take no more, the heat had left her. She looked over herself to see that everything had either been restored to its proper frame, or nothing had happened to it in the first place. However, her peace was not to last. Within seconds, the cold had done nearly the same amount of damage that the heat had done.

The void that she had been in was now replaced, with near frozen tundra in the middle of a blizzard. The snow hit her face was about as solid as golf balls and they continued to pelt her relentlessly. She couldn't flee anywhere for safety, and even if she could, she would not have been able to see due to the heavy snow.

Slade was right when he said that this process tested people to the limits of their endurance.

*****

At that same time, Ax, Lance, and Rapier had entered the chamber from which Saber had emerged.

Saber couldn't stand the thought of being defeated. Especially by Slade. He would not let this disgrace go unaltered. He would destroy Slade and Dagger would be next! Such were his thoughts as he burst forth from the pod, recovered from his wounds. Stomping into the loading bay, he saw his new allies waiting for him, and without a moments hesitation, made his way to the exit.

"Saber!" cried a voice from the shadows. He turned to see the ethereal form of the one who he deemed his master. "You shall proceed as you would any other time, but with this exception. I want Dagger left alone."

Such an order had shocked Saber. "What?! Master, you can't be serious! Dagger's a traitor."

Shrugging his objection, Darkon continued, "That matters little. I want Dagger alive. You are not to kill her, is that understood?"

Resentfully, Saber bowed his head and acknowledged his master's will. Within minutes, all four of Darkon's minions had left the Space Ring and sped towards the Space Knight Command Center. To Darkon, whether they succeeded or failed in this part of his plan, it mattered not. In the end, the winning move would be his and his alone.

"Whether you obey my orders or not, Saber. Dagger will live to rue the day she betrayed me." He said with a growing smirk.

*****

Time seemed to stand still as the process began. Two hours was all he needed. If Shara was right and Darkon's new teknomen were on their way to their location, the sooner he got out of this, the better.

Within the small confines of the battledroid, Pegas, Slade felt the same heat and fusing of the Lahdam based materials fusing to his body. Unlike Tina, however, he could feel the remains of the teknopods rebuilding the parts of his warrior form that had once been incomplete.

Every time that he went into battle, he could feel it. That cold, foreboding feeling that seemed to loom just out of sight, and when it was visible, it was too late to do anything. The best way to describe that feeling was cold. It was like a sickness. A sickness that would have eaten him alive; bit by bit.

Yet, when the Lahdam's power flowed its regenerative power through him, he felt the cold within him vanish. He resentfully recalled how the pods' original purpose was to break down and destroy. Now, it was being used to do the opposite, which was to build up and restore.

Along with his body, Ness felt the memories, long since forced into dormancy, return to his conscious as if it were yesterday. They ranged from the earliest events in his life that he could recall from childhood, all the way to the beginning of the Argos Exploration Project.

Even amid all the joy he felt from remembering, a painful memory came back. From the window, he could see her standing alone. Watching them all with tearful eyes, his mother could do nothing as she saw her four children and husband leave her to explore the universe for the betterment of man.

Even at this time, he began to wonder how she was... if she was still alive after all this.

*****

In the command bridge of the base, Ensign Miaka Yuuki, working as proxy for Tina, noticed a blur on the radar screen. She reset the screen, hoping to see the blurs vanish, but they would not. So, instead of trying to make them vanish, she switched the frequency of the radar signals to try and find out what it was that was closing in on the base.

Bit by bit, the blur slowly turned into four distinct objects, somewhat larger than human size. Then the herd of larger objects that the computer had recognized showed up as well.

"Sir!" she cried from her control panel. "We got four alien based units and a lot of spider-crabs heading our way at Mach 5!"

Turning to "What's their ETA?" Commander Jamison asked.

"Checking...estimated time of arrival is six minutes and forty-five seconds."

"Go to code Red and inform all hands to prepare for a large scale assault."

"Yes sir!" Ensign Yuuki said, pushing some of her bangs aside to link her station with the intercom system. "Attention! Enemy craft is approaching the base. All hands prepare for large-scale assault. I repeat! All hands prepare for large-scale assault."

*****

In the loading bay, Ringo had turned to hear the siren and dashed to his teknosuit. Climbing in, he looked to the two other newly inducted teknosuit pilots, McPhearson and Ryder. Both relatively new, they had been transferred to the command center a few months before. Fresh out of basic training, they had shown quite a bit of promise in terms of piloting and were recruited to the Space Knights before the United Earth government could get them.

"You two ready?" Ringo said to the other pilots, who nodded their response. "OK then, let's do some bug swatting!" He turned to his back and yelled, "Hey Star! Maggie! You two ready?"

The same Z-tron Tank that had thought to have been destroyed by Saber hovered nearby the three suit pilots and from the navigator's seat, Star's voice replied, "Whenever you are. Just show us the way!"

Ringo was about to reply when across the room, the top of Pegas' body opened up and Slade, not only restored, but his armor had become more angular and alien in appearance. Giving Slade the thumbs up, he commented, "You got some good timing there, buddy." He turned to their small, yet formidable force and said, "Now that we're all here, shall we go?"

They didn't bother to answer him, the reason being that the other two pilots and the Z-Tron Tank had left already, with Slade bringing up the rear. "Huh? Hey! Wait for me!"

*****

Within minutes, the spider crabs had already leveled the force fields set
up around the base. They, along with Darkon's teknomen assisting with the destruction, it would seem that the base would soon fall. Yet, their parade would soon be rained upon.

While Ax and Lance were busy tearing open a section of the armor plating, a voice screamed, "Hey, you guys!" They both turned to see Ringo land a few meters away from them. "Yeah! You two! The tall, dark, and ugly guys!"

Ax blinked at such brave words uttered by a single man, trying to threaten two teknoman, clearly twice his weight and firepower.

"I'm giving you two just three seconds to get lost, before I do something you two might regret!" Ringo said, trying to sound as threatening as possible.
Ax and Lance took a second to look at each other, then back to Ringo, and charged.

"Uh oh!" He said while pulling back as much as his suit could. The effect failed miserably.

*****

Elsewhere, Saber continued to tear apart the station unopposed. "Where are you Slade? Too scared to come out and play?" With that, the crystals on his breastplate lit up and a teknobolt flew forth, blowing open a walkway to the shelters.

When he was about to continue his work of destruction elsewhere, his attention returned to see that Shara had been by the opening. Seeing her brought back the resentful memories of Darkon's orders. A new thought came into mind. Yes, he would leave her alive. Raising his lance, he took careful aim and thought, "However, I can't make any guarantees that she'll be unhurt." With that, he threw his lance in her general direction.

When Shara had come to, she saw Saber's lance come screaming in her direction. She closed her eyes and waited for the end to come, yet the end never came. She looked up to see that the lance had pierced the wall behind her, and that turn was something she realized too late. Saber's large hand had her pinned to the ground and lifted her up and over the edge.

She didn't dare look down, nevertheless, she tried to free herself from her former brother's grip. "Tell me traitor..." Saber said, "How would you like to go?"

Shara frowned in response. The one who was threatening her was never her brother. Cain was dead. She was going to be dead. Just like the rest of the Argos crew. Without any fear of death, she screamed back, "Taking you with me!" Within a flash of pale red light, Shara emerged in her armored form and attacked with as much strength as her weakened form could muster.

Sadly, it was not enough. With a block, Saber moved her blow to the side and stabbed her though the side of her torso. Not piercing nothing vital, but hurting nonetheless. Almost casually, Saber dropped her from his weapon and onto the ground she had been on before.

"What was that about taking me with you?" Saber snapped back. He would have continued to attack, but from nowhere, Slade's enraged form crashed into his foe and away from Shara. She looked outside to see her brothers fighting each other.

"Just when I thought you couldn't sink any lower, Saber!" Slade said, pushing Saber into the cliff face nearby.

"That's just a preview of what I'm going to do to you!" Saber growled and pushed Slade back to the side of the command center's steel wall. Before Saber could press his advantage, Slade's foot pressed up against his stomach and forced him away. Despite the armor that Saber had to defend himself, it was not enough to prevent the throbbing pains in his head. He looked up to see Slade in the middle of a power struggle with Rapier.

After forcing away his latest opponent, Slade flew up to a nearby ridge and snapped, "Three more? You should be ashamed of yourself, Saber!"

"I should be... but I'm not." Slade's former brother quipped, referring to Slade's upgrade. "Besides, how do you explain that, traitor!"

Jumping down from his higher position, Slade yelled, raising his weapon high, "Can't have you guys have all the good stuff all the time, can we?"

Their blades collided, and they sent sparks everywhere. It was clearly evident that no quarter would be given and none would be received.

*****

"Come on! Just fifteen seconds!" Ringo grumbled, looking at his heads-up display. In order to use one of the newer weapons that he had installed, it needed some charge time. Much to his chagrin, it took longer than a standard z-tron shot.

His concentration broke when everything got turned upside down. That occurred from Lance grabbing his foot and lifting him up over the edge of a very deep canyon.

"Aw crap!"

Lance's deep and not too melodious voice rumbled from behind his helmet, "You made me unhappy human; and you're going to die for it!"

"Yeah, whatever!" Ringo snapped back, before pulling out another secondary weapon that he had installed. Though not as big as the Z-tron cannon, the Chain rail gun would, as he hoped, distract Lance enough to get free. In less than a second, fifty zetronic antimatter slugs collided with Lance's face, causing the latter to release the former.

Taking the opportunity, he hovered away a few meters and took a look at the charge meter on the Zetronic Antimatter Accelerator. It was full! "All right! It's about time!"
He turned around quickly, took aim at both enemies, and fired. A pair of green steams of light, both littered with small white spheres, tore through Lance's pauldron and Ax's arm plates. Both of them stared in utmost disbelief at what had happened.

"Ha HA! Guess you're not as invincible as you thought you were, huh?" Ringo chided, adding insult to injury. However, his joy was short lived as both began to growl murderously, which quickly put him to silence.

Just when they were about to charge again, regardless of the consequences, another presence made itself known.

"My warriors! Cease at once!" All four of the Lahdam teknomen turned upward. Including Slade and Shara, who were not exempt from hearing Darkon's mental call.

Saber was quickly to object, "But Master, we have the advantage..."

Darkon's voice quickly turned menacing, promising death to insolence, "You dare question me, Saber?" Saber was put to silence and he began to return to the space ring, with his three comrades in tow.

"This isn't over, Slade."

Slade said nothing as his former brother and the others left the area.
Back on the moon, Darkon had watched the battle with great interest. These humans had proved to be more persistent than he gave them credit. However, with the acquisition of some new information, he called his warriors back. Staring from his vantagepoint of his ship, he mused, "Though I know what it can do... I wonder... why is it called the 'Thunderhawk?'"

*****

Within minutes, the small defensive force had returned to the loading bay. With both the tank and extra teknosuits assisting in the defense, the spider-crab numbers had been reduced dramatically. In addition, with Darkon's recall, the spider-crabs had lost their purpose and had retreated. Yet, the question that still remained was, why?

Ringo, walking into the control bridge, met the gaze of Commander Jamison, Slade, Shara, Maggie,, Mac, and Star, "Hey! Does anyone have any idea why they retreated?"

"You got us. Star and I were just blasting the crabs left and right, and all of a sudden, they turned tail and ran." Maggie answered.

"All I was able to get was Darkon telling Saber and the others to retreat. He didn't say why." Slade said, responding to Ringo.

"Either way, whatever the reason may be, it can't be good." Star added.

Her fears were confirmed when the main screen flared to life and on the other side of the screen, a man's face appeared "This is Lt. Macmillan of the United Earth Government Army calling you on a restricted frequency. I am breaking all regulation and placing myself in danger by transmitting this plea to the Space Knights." His face turned more desperate as he continued, "You must stop Galt! He's going to launch the Thunderhawk! He doesn't even care of the damage he will cause!"

"He didn't listen to me, Macmillan, what makes you think he'll listen to anyone." Jamison said, recalling the occasion while running through attack simulations. Galt had interrupted him and announced his plans to launch a super-megaton missile into the Space Ring for the sole purpose of terminating the aliens.

What Galt didn't realize was that the Space Ring was just an outpost. In addition, the chain reaction the bomb would cause would tear apart the space ring at the seams. Resulting in the countless fragments of the space ring falling to earth like giant bombs, killing many. Shara was unfortunately a witness to Galt's insanity. Both of them tried to reason with what little human decency that was left in the General, but to no avail.

"I just got word that he intends to launch the Thunderhawk in less than half an hour! It doesn't matter how, it is vital that you..." Macmillan's transmission was interrupted and an unfriendly face took it's place.

"Really Lieutenant. Insubordination is not going to be good for your record." General Galt said with a bit of a smirk on his face.

"General! You don't understand. The aliens are not where you think they are!" Jamison said, regardless of his past failure to persuade Galt.

"Come now, Commander. With the Thunderhawk taking the Space Ring out, our victory is assured. We just need to keep on doing our own part and it will be no trouble at all." He said giving them all a salute.

"But the aliens aren't even on the..." Jamison said before Galt cut off the signal.

"He's serious..." Ringo said in shock.

Turning to the rest of the Space Knights, he began, "Very well then. We
have less than half an hour to try and stop the Thunderhawk." He turned to the ensign and questioned, "Can the Blue Earth make to the launch site in time?"

She shook her head. "The Blue Earth can only launch into space at the speeds we need to get there in time, sir."

"Is there anyway that Slade or the Blue Earth can make it there in the time we got left?"

With an idea, Mac spoke up, "We can equip Pegas with a booster rocket and Slade might be able to make to the blast site with time to spare!"

"Make it so!" Jamison ordered and without another second's delay, Mac, Maggie, and Slade ran to the loading bay where Pegas was waiting.

At that same time...

"But master. Why? We had the upperhand! How could you order us to retreat at the height of our victory!" Saber asked again, patience thinning.

Darkon, on the other hand, replied rather smugly as his image walked to the edge of the cliff that his warriors had assembled themselves on, "Because I decided it was not expedient that you should lay waste to this planet when its own leaders will do it for us."

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to Saber. Just watch." It was all too perfect for him. Earth would end up destroying itself, and all he had to do was let it happen.
Darkon's smile faded when he sensed Slade leaving the Space Knight Command Center and to the launch pad of the missile. "So... you want to try and stop it don't you?" He quickly turned to Saber and Rapier. "Saber! Rapier! Stop Slade! Do as you see fit, but let the bomb run its course!"

Both of his warriors flew without hesitation towards Slade's location. If Saber and Rapier had succeeded in letting the bomb run its course, he would win. If not, Slade would be at the mercy of Saber and Rapier, not to mention the general.

"Master, what are Az and I to do?" Lance inquired.
The question was asked as he began to chuckle, "What else? Watch." When the laughter ended, the smirk remained. Not only because opportunity had smiled upon him, but because of another factor. His powerful mind could sense them. They were there, hiding amongst this wretched planet's population.

He could also tell they were scared of him. He couldn't consider them a threat because of their fear had become a powerful deterrent against them. Only if he had personally come to Earth and complete the genocide would they launch their first and last offensive against him.

Darkon almost wished they came out earlier. It would have made this little war of his much more interesting.

*****

"NO!" Slade cried, hoping to stop Galt from pushing the switch that would launch the ultra-bomb, but to no avail. He was too late, the bomb was beginning to lift off, and Galt was laughing at his premature victory.

Without another second's thought, Slade jumped onto the back of Pegas and after the bomb. "Pegas! Prepare the anti-matter warheads! Set to maximum power and range."

"AFFIRMATIVE."

Within seconds, the wings of Pegas moved backward and the position of the android's arms moved to position the collectors beside the pauldrons of Slade's armor. Gripping a pair of handles that had emerged from Pegas' gauntlets, his pauldrons opened, and began to gather energy that was in connection with Slade's own power source.

Despite the bomb being as large as it was, it was beginning to gain speed and pull away from Slade. In addition, at the current rate of speed it was going, he would only get one chance at it. The strong winds that were pulling at both him and Pegas offered no help either.

"Steady... try and hold it right here!" Slade said, keeping the bomb within the mental cross hairs he made. The bomb was in sight and the collectors were almost ready to fire. The energy about his blaster crystals had then reached threshold and the bomb was still in sight.

"Ok! Pegas, FI..." his command had been interrupted by a pair of unwelcome guests that had rammed themselves against the bottom part of Pegas. The attack had sent them both spiraling away from their hoped target.

Struggling to regain his balance, Slade watched helplessly as the bomb continued to fly up and out of sight. "No..." he cried helplessly. Now, millions were going to die because one man couldn't tell the difference between an outpost and a base. Turning to both his attackers, he found that he had no other choice but to take care of them and try again... if he could try it again.

Taking a second to look at the fleeting bomb, Saber scoffed, "Too bad, Slade. Looks like Earth loses this time."

"I'll show you who's the lose..." Slade said before a rather titanic wave of blue light screamed past them and followed the bomb's course.

All three watched as the wave caught up with the bomb, regardless of the great distance of the source of the blast. They then looked to the direction where it came from, only to see nothing, despite their enhanced sight.

Then, an explosion forced them to turn their attention yet again to see that after the bomb had exploded. The blast had not only light up the sky, but had created a small hurricane, sending all four of them this way and that. With what little control Slade could muster, he flew to and mounted Pegas, and despite the strong winds, were able to escape.

"What was that?" Slade said to no one in particular, nevertheless, Pegas answered him.

"HIGH LEVEL ZETRONIC ANTI-MATTER SURGE."

"Can teknosuits do that?"

"WITH CURRENT KNOWLEDGE OF TEKNOSUITS, NEGATIVE."
Turning back to the storm that had developed from the bomb's blast, Slade couldn't help but wonder who or what was the reason the Thunderhawk was stopped.
The upgrade he had received enhanced his physical capabilities to the point where he was twice as powerful as when he started fighting the aliens. Not only that, his mind had also been somewhat improved as well. Whether it was ESP or telepathy, he didn't know; but he had this feeling that there was someone down there who had fired that shot that was somewhat similar to himself.

Whatever it was, it would have to wait, because the others at the Command Center would be wondering what had happened and they needed to know. Plus, Saber and Rapier were nowhere to be found. So now was the best time to go.

A short distance away from Slade's position, a man sat within a alcove at the foot of a cliff. Taking shade from the ruthless Egyptian sky, he watched the retreating form of Slade vanish behind the mountains. He smiled and then reset the white robes about his person, but not before placing a palm-sized blue crystal within his pocket.

"Someday, Slade... someday..." he said with a rough Arabic accent, slightly marred from learning english. He then walked out from the shade and hopped onto the back of his camel and began his long trip out of the canyon.

*****
"Impossible!" Galt screamed at the top of his lungs. Seeing the Thunderhawk destroyed had sent him into a rage that he hardly went into. Turing to the council behind him, he growled, "Now you see, by doing this, he's ruined our only chances of victory over the aliens!"

He turned to the military police, "I want Lt. Macmillan and that freak arrested as soon as possible!"

His orders were cut short by a voice the entire room recognized, "Galt!" All eyes turned to see the President of the United Earth Government, Johan Trier, step in with his bodyguards behind. "I have had it up to here with you! First you send up our only weapon against the aliens and now this! From now on, I am relieving you of command!" He turned to his bodyguards, "Men! Take him away!"

Needless to say, Galt was not happy about being put into the brig, but he could do nothing about it.

*****

Later on, Saber and Rapier knelt before his master's image on the Space Ring. By the time the storm had dissipated, Slade was nowhere to be found, and whatever the blast came from, they searched in vain for its source.

"Forgive us master. I had no idea where that shot came..."

"Save your excuses, Saber.." Darkon reprimanded calmly. "Nothing was lost, yet nothing was gained. Regardless, it is of no consequence."

"So, what are we to do now?"

"For the time being... nothing."

"NOTHING?! Master! You can't be serious! The traitors will use this to their advantage!"

Almost expecting Saber's complaint, Darkon turned to Earth and smiled, "Yes. In fact, I hope they're at their strongest when I meet them."
Sensing Saber's anxiety, he continued, "The reason for us laying off is more tactical than you think, Saber. Also, recent events and memories have made me more... merciful to this backwater. Things you need not worry about."

"What are we to do until you order us to strike?" Rapier asked.

"What else?" Darkon replied, then his eyes began to glow bright and his servants began to writhe in pain as red lightening encircled their bodies. "You are to recover with the others for failing me today! I do not accept failure well. And for your sake, I hope that next time you will your efforts will being forth good results." With that, the lightening stopped.

Breathing heavily, Saber nodded and began his flight to the moon, with Rapier following closely behind. Today's events had left Saber rather miffed. Not only had two perfect attacks against the enemy had been ruined, his master was now letting his foes gain ground after all they had gone through. Something was definitely going on.

As much as he wanted to know, he could do nothing. All he could do was
continue doing his master's will until victory was theirs.

*****

At the control room of the Space Knight command center...

"...so, after the Thunderhawk blew up, I couldn't find Saber or Rapier anywhere." Slade said, concluding his report of Galt's attempted move.

After some thought, Jamison spoke up, "So far, the only thing that disturbs me the most was that Darkon was able to learn about the Thunderhawk. What I want to know is how?" Taking that same thought further, if the enemy commander was capable of learning about things going on among the population, he could easily use it to his advantage.

"You think someone down here may be working for him?" Ringo offered. If it were true, then Earth's chances for survival could be even worse.

In response, Shara shook her head despite the pain she was feeling from her wound at the moment, "No. It doesn't seem like him to have spies among his
foes. He enjoys making his foes suffer with his superior power and numbers. On top of that, I wouldn't be surprised if he was able to hear it over the radio."

Star turned to Slade's sister, "He's that powerful?" the latter nodded. "Then I figure we'd better start using more heavily coded frequencies in our transmissions to be safe."

"I am not sure if that would really help or not, but better that than..." Shara said before hearing what sounded like a scream of anguish from the loading bay, a scream that only she and Slade could hear.

"What's wrong?" Star inquired.

"Tina's beginning to go through one of the more difficult parts of her trial. All we can do is wait." Taking an extra second to linger on Tina, she though, "Please Tina. I know you can do it, don't give up."

*****

Back in the black void where Tina was being tested. Once more, the pain left. Unlike the first two trials, this one overloaded her senses with emotions, each one taking a long and indefinite period of time.

Happiness seemed abundant, endless joy made her seemed like flying to heaven leaving only misery and despair, all darkness seemed non existent. She wanted to touch everyone with the light that seemed to fill her entire being.

Then, despair set in. She felt so alone. Being alone in a world driven mad by war, power, lust, and corruption. Being small, feeling like a bug when compared to everyone else. Her youth and small stature was making her feel like a child in a world filled with giant adults.

Several more feelings were intensified and were felt; contentment, pleasure, confidence, hopelessness, helplessness, aggressive, recessive, and many more were intensified to the point where it was unbearable.

Then rage set in. Her hate seemed burn her into a rage of unquenchable fire. She hated Darkon for ruining the lives of the human race. She hated General Xerxes Galt for his power hungry attitude. She hated Balzac for his arrogant demeanor and prejudice towards Slade. On top of that, she hated every one of the spidercrabs for laying waste to Earth.

Even her friends weren't protected from the all-consuming fire.

She hated Slade for his stubbornness at being introverted, for almost killing her, and for bringing Darkon to Earth in the first place. She hated Jamison for placing her in a position where she could do nothing. She hated everyone, and wanted all of them dead. The fire threatened her to almost break from the chamber and try to kill them all, but something held her back.

She didn't have the time to think, as she felt her body being stretched to positions she never though possible. She felt her limbs almost break from the strain being put on her muscles and bones, yet her body was still curled up. The
same way it was for the past several days.

Finally, agony came. Lightning streaked over her body, sending uncountable jolts of pain throughout every cell. She screamed, with an intensity that would have made several rock singers jealous.

Amid all this, she was able to hear what Shara had said, she gritted her teeth and did everything she could to prevent, or at least slow down the body wide shut down that her body was going through.

Despite her effort, it led to no avail. She lost control of her arms, her legs, hands, and feet progressively. The end seemed near, and she couldn't stop it. She was going to die. What was worse, she was getting so close to succeeding.

No. She thought, she wouldn't let Darkon win. She wouldn't let doubt stop her. She would win, she would overcome the pain. She forced her body to start up again, not allowing it to shut down, despite the agonizing pain that she was experiencing.

With her effort, the force that attempted to stop her discovered her it and redoubled its own to stop her. It wouldn't be defeated so easily. It forced more of its will-draining power into its assault and more of Tina's body began to shut down.

The battle of wills continued for who knew how long. No quarter was given, nor was any received. Then, the opposing force decided to pull out all the stops. The one thing that could definitely stop Tina.

The past.

"Hey Dad. Where ya going?" A ten-year-old Tina asked her father, as he was about to walk out the door. He turned, smiled, and patted his daughter's head.

"Dad has some grumpy old men he's got to visit and close a deal with."

A young Tina frowned, "Buncha dorks. Gotta make you leave mom, Ryan, and me for some dumb meeting."

Evan Corman smiled and hugged his daughter, "Don't you worry any Tina, Dad's going to be back soon."

She smiled, "Good. Make sure and come back soon."

In mock fear, he said, "Whoa. The last thing I'd want to do is make you mad, so I'll make it extra quick."

As he went out the door, Tina had no idea that this would be the last time she ever saw her father.

"Say mom. You heard from dad lately?" She would ask.

"Hey Ryan... you know when dad's coming back?"

"Is he coming back tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? Next week?"

Many days after school was spent waiting outside her house, waiting for the car that her dad would come back in. Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and months turned to years of waiting. It wasn't until five years to that day he had left did she finally give up on waiting for him.

For a while, she had thought that she had recovered from losing her father, but another memory was added to the pile of pain that made Tina's trial even harder.

"A bet?!" She screamed in disbelief.

"Yeah... Tina, listen. I'm really sorry, but..."

*SMACK* "You JERK!" Tina yelled and ran crying out of the classroom where she and her 'boyfriend' had talked about the real reason why Nate Taylor had shown some kind of interest in her. It was because of a lost bet and nothing more.

To say that Tina was hurt beyond words was an understatement.
Not caring that the rain was pouring down and soaking her to the bone, Tina ran home. Rain masked her tears as she tripped, fell, and simply lay in the cool spring rain. Laying in a puddle, she couldn't stop her crying and the pain from falling didn't help at all.

Now she knew why the others were whispering about her. They knew it was all a lie, everyone except she knew it. She could almost hear them laughing at her the next day about it all. About how poor little Tina's was being played around like a doll.

She caught pneumonia that day and had to miss facing the truth for a while. Even after she had recovered, she didn't want to face the others. Nor would she. The reason why was the fact that the Corman family had to move out of state and to another place.

The only consolation she had was that she could start over... but without her dad and with some hideous emotional scars, that made adjustment difficult.
When it seemed like the worst was over, her mother had vanished on the night of her high school graduation. No matter what she did, Tina could not find any trace of her mother. In addition, her older brother, Ryan, had been transferred to the Space Ring, leaving her completely alone.

Had it not been through constant communication from her brother, she had no idea what she would have done. Also, being in the armed services had somewhat inspired Tina to join the Space Knight Research and Development Group, owned by a large medical company by the name of the Solar Moon.

Another chance to start over. That was something the opposing force failed to take into consideration. On top of that, the chance she had taken this time was better than last time and fulfilling her duties as a member of the Space Knights had not only healed some of the scars of the past, but she had been able to rediscover the joy of being herself. That was the winning blow for her.

The opposing force had slowly become nothing from Tina's determination to continue. Within seconds, Tina had emerged from the battle of wills victorious.

Soon though, she found that she could move again, although slightly. She couldn't believe it! She had won and soon felt the power being planted within. Like a lightening bolt was being implanted into her and she would be able to use it at her own discretion.

Exhausted, she whispered with relief, "So... it's over..."

"Well... yes and no." Another voice said from nowhere. Tina turned to see what appeared to be a man... or was it a woman, wearing a simple white, green, and blue robe. "In fact, it would be better to say, it's only begun."

"Who are you?"

"A friend. Also, the one who helped Shara get away from Darkon and his Lahdam monstrosities."

"But... that doesn't explain who you are."

He sighed in resignation. "If you must know, my name is Konatsu. I also came to induct you into what you will become."
"And what's that?"

Another voice spoke from the void, "Teknos." Tina turned to see a rather tall man with dark blue hair with sapphure colored eyes to match, completely covered in black, silver, and copper colored armor. The style itself was not too different from Slade's own design, but just as ornate and alien. Hanging from his pauldrons, a cloak of white silk stretched to where his feet reached.
In his hand, a staff with a sphere imbedded into the top of a circle on the end of it. It seemed to glitter as if it where made of diamond or something more translucent.

"Who are you?"

The tall stranger replied quietly, "Rolf Wren. I was once known as Teknos
Neigas, leader of the Nei-Tek."

"The what?"

"In more simple terms, the first generation Teknos. Many millennia ago, the Mother took the outcast and rejected of many societies and created a race of defenders. I was the first of such beings."

Hearing that nearly brought some light into a few questions she and several others had, "So, that's where the Teknomen came from." She said to herself.

"Not exactly. What you refer to as Teknomen are really called Tek-Namin. Corrupted Guardians in my language."

Hearing that brought another question to Tina's mind, "Does that mean that Darkon was good at one time?"

Rolf nodded sadly, "He was a great warrior and a true friend." The subject almost seemed painful for him as he continued, "We were like brothers, the two of us. However, tragedies from an earlier part of his life continued to haunt him until it drove him insane."

He turned away and continued, "I tried my best to help him. The last thing I wanted was for him to become that what we struggled so hard against. He also had many battles against Tek-Namin, doing his best to recover those who would be redeemed and keeping at bay those who would not."

When I first discovered the signs, I had hoped that placing him in isolation would have helped him. It was a difficult thing for me to do."
As he finished speaking, Tina could almost see the very memory he was speaking of. She saw Rolf sitting in the middle of a rocky field. A look of apprehension was locked on his face. Within seconds, another figure walked into the field to his location.

"You called for me?" The stranger asked. The best way to describe the newcomer was that he seemed beast-like, but human at the same time. His skin was a deep and dark blue; his somewhat unkempt, shoulder-length, off white hair; partially gold eyes, barely visible fangs, and long beast like ears made him look like something from a story-book.

"Yes, Darkon." Rolf said, suppressing the fear he had before, "I received some disturbing information and it's in regard to you."
The latter only stood his ground, knowing that the following would not be easy to hear. "Go on."

"The Mother has informed me that you are showing signs of letting your instincts take over more and more when you know for yourself that it should not be." He began to slump his head in sorrow as he continued, "She has also ordered me to place you in isolation until you can learn to control this nature of yours to a much better degree."

A slow minute had passed and Darkon's head nodded. "If it be the Mother's will, I shall abide by it."

Rolf quickly jumped from the rock he was sitting on in front of his compatriot. "Galin, know that I'm not doing this because..."

His friend interrupted him, "Do you realize that it's been a long time since you called me by that name?"

"It's your name, isn't it?"

"It was my name." Darkon mumbled, turning away. "The reason why I took this oath to serve and protect was because I have no intention of letting what happened on my home world ever happen again. When I made that oath, I left Galin behind and became Teknos Darkon, the staff of war."

Rolf began to frown. "Don't you ever believe that. Teknos or not, you're still Galin." Rolf's face softened, he reached over and put his hand on the shoulder of the aforementioned. "It was Galin who saved my life and became my friend all those years ago. I would rather have him and you fighting by my side."
Darkon began to smile and said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "You always know what to say; don't you, old friend."

"Well, you learn what you can. Even with this rusted bucket of bolts for a body I have." He stepped away and said, "After you go into isolation, may you return as quickly as you can."

"We shall see. Nevertheless, may 'Ioroush' give me the strength I need to
overcome. Farewell." With that, Darkon had left into the distance and the memory vanished with him.

Seeing this had completely shocked Tina. It suddenly dispelled all the things she had thought about Darkon and began to understand. Yet, there was still something that didn't seem to fit.

"If he was so strong for what he believed in, why or how did he go bad?"
This time, Konatsu spoke, "The isolation which he went through is a very hard thing to comprehend. It involves control over one's body and soul so powerful that the untrained could never achieved such concentration. However, during his search, he gave into the dark passions his blood had and very soon began to lie in wait for Neigas and the others."

"At that time, the several hundred races that the Teknos had once protected were now hunting their protectors. They had entered into an age of such prosperity that their technology exceeded that of our own. Within years, our numbers dwindled and dwindled. Many innocents were lost and killed."

"And at the lowest point, Darkon reappeared. Many thought his return would bring them hope... instead in brought what few of our warriors was death. Not only that, he had enlisted the aid of the Lahdam and made his getaway, after nearly killing what few of us were left."

"So... there's none left?"

At this time, Neigas continued for his companion, "After Darkon had escaped, I had ordered what few were left to pursue and discover what he intended to do had he not try to attack us. Soon, they found that he was using the Lahdam to enslave worlds to his bidding. They ended up sacrificing themselves to ensure that Darkon's plans would never come into fruition. There are so few left now."
He turned away from Tina and lowered his head in shame, "Now with this... after all this blood-shed, all this war, hardly anything will be left of what was. I wish there was another way..."

Konatsu interrupted, "... but there isn't." He turned to Tina, "I apologize, but it was decided that you should know all that you can before emerging."
"I see... wait. Does that mean you knew it was going to be me who was going to do this?"

Konatsu nodded. "The powers that be gave us the information that was required for this. Usually, one who is a servent of the Creator, Himself, gives the Mother the instruction she requires."

That seemed to make sense to Tina, until another question arose, "Wait! Didn't you say that it was the Mother who gave each warrior their power?" He nodded. "If that's so, where is she?"

Neigas stepped forward and said a bit defensively, "At the moment she is gone. When she learned of Darkon's treachery, she took every possible means to stop him. You need not worry." Tina was a bit taken back by the way he had answered, but decided not to press the matter.

With a small smile, Konatsu said to Neigas, "Now Neigas, you need not stay any longer. She has learned all that she needs to learn from you for the time being." With that, the older soldier left them alone in the void.

He then turned to Tina, "Returning to the subject; until she returns, she has given the authority to act in her name to ordain warriors to defend. In addition, were she here, you would be one of the second generation, but I'm afraid that you must be classified as one of the Megid. Meaning that you were found in a time of confusion and turmoil, but were instrumental in brining order out of chaos."

After a pause, Tina replied, "I have no problem with that."

His smile grew warmer as he said, "Very well then, Tina Corman." From his forehead, a line of pure light stretched from his eyebrow to the tip of his hair. He closed his eyes and whispered, "By the authority given to me by the Mother, I give you, Tina Abigale Corman, the power of that which has been passed down for as long as the Fathers and Mothers of Teknos have lived."

He then reached over and placed his hands upon the top of her head. Not exactly knowing what was to happen next, Tina allowed him to do so and closed her eyes to concentrate on what he was saying. "With this power I give to you, time shall mean little. Things once thought impossible shall be done with effort. All that you shall receive shall be for the good of all.
Yet, be warned. Though you shall receive to use this power for good, you are given the freedom to choose for yourself to grow into more than what you are. Should you fall into darkness, you shall lose all that you have gained. Notwithstanding this, you shall not be refused should you wish with all your heart to return to the light."

With that, a shining blue thread came from the light in his forehead, floated through the void, and entered into the same spot on Tina's head. The upload of information was almost too much for Tina to take as her body went under its first transformation and everything was lost in a blinding light.

*****

Far too much time had passed by Saber's standards. By now, the wounds that he had been able to inflict on the Space Knight must have been healed by now. Knowing his foe, they would increase their defense against them, making the conquest even more unlikely. Now was the time for action.

"Come on!" Saber growled to Ax, Lance, and Rapier who were practicing within their respective rooms in the Space Ring.

"What?" Rapier asked putting his weapon away.

"We're going to strike the Space Knight Command Center." He said simply, heading for the nearest spider crab hive. After which, he would summon even more of the spider crabs and use them as cannon fodder while he was going to kill Slade and Dagger. Having to retreat once was bad enough, but twice was more than his pride could stand.

"But the master said..." Lance said before Saber interrupted him.

"I'm aware of what the master said. We are simply making it easier for our master by taking out the traitors! In addition; I'm tired of waiting!"

Tossing a glance towards his other two compatriots, Rapier started to follow Saber, his mind full of doubt, "I hope you're right."

Following suit, Ax and Lance went through the passageway that lead to the airlock.

"Do you suppose the master will be angry with what we're doing?" Ax asked his taller companion.

Shaking his head, Lance replied, "I don't know. He's been acting unusual lately."

"You don't suppose that it has something to do with his past?"

"Like before, I don't know. It may be. For all I know, he may be still wresting for control against the Lahdam itself. He's no more his own master than we are."

"True." Ax said, jumping off the platform in pursuit of the other two teknomen. "You know. If all the Lahdam have supplied for this system is a probe, I wonder if they've begun to make preparations for a full scale assault."

"They could be." He replied, following close behind his ally.

They continued, not at all knowing that their master was watching them leave in spite of his orders. It didn't surprise him in the least of what they were doing. He almost expected Saber to do something like this, being so controlled by his pride and what not.

"Do as you wish, Saber. It will make you an even more useful tool for my master plan." He stopped as he heard a disturbance in the birthing chamber. Turning his mind to it, he noticed that she was ready to be hatched. Focusing his power on the one within, he ordered

"Now my servant. Come forth and serve me!"

From the pod, another figure landed on the solid floor. The new warrior, who was at one time known as Katherine Alexandria, now Teknoman Sword, turned to her master and bowed in reverence to the one whom she referred as her master.

*****

Within half an hour, four hundred spider crabs, led by the four teknomen, sped through the atmosphere and straight to the Command Center. During the middle of a thunder storm had provided the perfect cover for them as they began to lay seige to the command center, which appeared to still be undergoing repairs.

The alarm cried alert as Ensign Yuuki's voice was heard over the PA. "Attention. Attention. All personnel. Move to underground shelters. I repeat, we are under attack, by both Teknomen and Spidercrabs. Move to underground shelters as soon as possible. All Teknosuit pilots, gear up and repel spidercrab assault."

After suiting up, Ringo looked at his specially made Teknosuit. He even gave it the name "Valkyrie", after the Norse warrior who guided the spirits of brave warriors to Valhala. He always wanted to name something that, but he never got the chance. Until now. Also, since his last battle he was able to add an extra weapon or two to his personal teknosuit's arsenal, thanks to that same person who gave him the previous weapons. Somehow, he knew that they were going to be needed.

The message was repeated until all unneeded personnel was moved into the shelters, where they would hope to be safe from the attack. Within a matter of minutes, nine Teknosuit pilots had suited, plus Ringo, charged up their guns, and flew out to meet the enemy. With Slade leading the way, in his restored and enhanced form.

It wasn't long, however, that Slade had encountered all four of the newer teknomen and they had led him away from the Command Center. Their plan being to lead him away from the teknosuits with their enhanced Z-Tron weaponry, which had damaged Ax and Lance in the previous battle.

*****

With the enhanced force shield defending the perimeter, the compound seemed safe for only as twice as long as it did the last time and that was not long. As the bay doors opened, the defense force of the Space Knights had moved out and engaged the enemy immediately. Within seconds, Z-Tron energy spheres had leveled fifty percent of the enemy forces and still going down rapidly. The day seemed won already, except for Slade.

At that same time, in the darkened loading bay, the holding-chamber, which had been silent for a little more than a week, had rumbled and something within began to stir. The substance began to shine immensely bright and when it seemed it could go no brighter, a metal clad fist, punched its way out of the transparent aluminum casing.

A figure, no taller than seven feet, stepped out and took a breath of fresh air. It had been too long. A rumble disturbed the figure from her rest and she looked to the exit where the signs of the battle were continuing.
Aside from that, she could feel a familiar presence in danger. He was alone against four others like him. Though he was more powerful, the odds were still against him. The figure then ran to the exit and in a feat of super-human speed and agility, leaped up to the ceiling's edge and swung herself up to the roof.

*****

Even with his new found powers, going up against Saber was hard enough, but with another three Teknomen attacking him simultaneously, he almost had no chance. Backing him into a corner, the four enemy Teknomen closed in like ravenous wolves for the kill.

"What's the matter Slade? Even with this unusual new power you have, you still can't take me in a fair fight?" Saber mocked as his subordinates walked behind him. All four of them preparing to fire their own teknobolt at the traitor of Darkon.

"Oh really? You should talk about fighting fair Saber." Slade said while bringing up his right gauntlet, the plate sliding down to reveal the second set of blaster crystals, almost waiting for the incoming onslaught.

Feeling their battle won, all four teknomen fired their own tekno bolts at Slade with enough power to take out an entire metropolis. As they saw the resulting explosion, they saw a second light coming from inside the blast site. Before any four of them could move, the blast reformed and shot back at them, adding more power and speed to the energy discharge.

For Saber and his lackeys, dodging the oncoming energy blast was almost a miracle. All four of them unscathed physically, but their countenances had suffered greatly. Walking from the oval shaped crater, Slade snapped at the enemy. "You looked surprised Saber. Never thought I could do that, did I?"

Looking back at the devastation then at his foe. "Ok Saber. No more tricks. Just you and me! Now!" With out another word, he flew towards his brother at a pace that startled everyone, but Saber. Blades clashed like bells as the two brothers fought to their limits to see the other dead.

"Quickly, we must help master Saber." Axe proclaimed as he began to move, with Lance behind him, and Rapier not moving "Lance, come on! Saber needs our help!" Axe insisted to his ally, but before the defiant Teknoman could even reply, a shout was heard an a explosion of energy followed.

"Tekno Bolt!"

Then, a rather large wave of blue energy screamed past the three as they saw the source.

It was another Teknoman, and this one didn't come from Darkon either. The orange colored knight, walked casually to the edge of the cliff underneath them and cried to get their attention, as if they'd had it enough already.

"Hey boys! Wanna play ball?" the orange, white, black armored and definitely feminine looking armored warrior said.

"Who... or what are you?!"

With an unhappy tone, she answered, "If I gave you guys my name," from her right hand, a four foot long scythe appeared at the end of a six-foot pole, "you'd get it dirty."

End of Chapter 2

[In another part of the world, thousands of feet away, Warhammer watches the battle on a lounge chair, drinking a soda.]

WH: Ah yes. Blood and violence is what make my world go round. (Note: J/K)
Well, time to get some ground rules straightened out about all the new stuff coming in. Teknos is an idea I came up with myself. It's a simple derivation of the word Teknoman. It has nothing to do with the teknoman/tekkaman blade universe.

Next, the little quote at the beginning of the chapter and of chapter 1 was an idea I got after reading an old dragon ball fanfic. I liked it a lot and thought I'd give it a whack. It must be known that all the articles and things related are purely fictional, unless they are quotes from true sources that really grip me and I feel almost obligated to put them in to get a point across, if there is one. ^_^

Tina's little trial in a nutshell was inspired from several sources. One of them being of the trial of the young Artreides from the Dune movie, another from Slade's description near the end of the US tv series, and just a few little diddies that I thought would be appropirate for something like this.

Next, yes, the little ordeal with Galt was taken from the tv series. With the deletion of the Saber and Co trashing the SKCC and adding my own ideas into what would have happened afterwards if the bomb hadn't exploded on Galt. And sorry, I still need old baldie for a while, so you'll have to put with him for a while longer than you'd have hoped.

Ringo's weapons were inspired from the ancient Nintendo 64 game: Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. A fun game because of it's awesome weapons. I may also decide to add a few more weapons to the teknosuits arsenal, just for fun and to add to the collateral damage.

Now for Tina's little meeting with the other two in... wherever she was, the Konatsu you saw is THAT Konatsu. You'll find out how he got there later on, in a future fic and the same thing applies to the new Ensign.

Fans of Sega's Phantasy Star series will recognize Neigas as the main character from Phantasy Star II. As soon as I find the game itself and pass the rest of it, I'll be able to fill in the gaps about his past in the next story, I promise. Which also proves that this is going to lead into something much larger than it is now.

Another thing to be made known; this is a combination of the Tekkaman Blade and Teknoman universe. Meaning that you get the dub names, and you get the japanese version of the aliens. To me, it sounds like the aliens are called 'Lahdam' and not Radam as most people interpret it. The former sounds more scary to me, so I decided to use that. Another is that you will NEVER hear the following in my stories;

'quantum energy': Quantum energy sounds like it's a lot, but in reality, it's not. I'm a physics major (that's right, yours truly isn't a dummy!) and I almost want to wretch when I hear the word used in such a context to imply that it's actually more than it is. It's like, so stupid, guy!

'venomoids': Sounds like something you'd hear in some short-lived, 1950's sci-fi series. And it's incredibly corny at that.

'tekno battle mode': Same as the vemonoids explanation. I intend to replace it with the 'Crystal Hawk' or something like unto it for the sake of creative license and because it would sound better.

'tekno power blasters': Same explanation as tekno battle mode.

'tekno power': Being replaced with 'Tek Sector', that version sounds far too close to Sailor Moon's own transformation cry... hmm (scratches his head), a
tekkaman blade/SM crossover... 'Tek Sector Make-Up'? Hmm, nah. Not yet anyway.
If there's any other questions, email me a.s.a.p. And of course, the C&C always helps. 'Till next time folks.

[Warhammer sits back to enjoy the fight.]