Zone Of The Enders Fan Fiction ❯ Zone of the Enders: Resurrection ❯ The Legend of Aumaan ( Chapter 13 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

"Reader be warned, most of these discoveries and interpretations are far beyond human comprehension. Metatron is not a simple formula or a chemical compound that can be broken down, it is a true enigma that, in order to understand, one must be willing to face the unknown without fear or premature judgment. This is necessary, as by understanding Metatron, man will further advance itself in the ways of the universe. Therefore, I implore, turn the page..."
- Wings of Metatron by Rikoah Hardimaan, fore note to Chapter 1

Chapter 13: The Legend of Aumaan

Lieutenant Natalia Bajori was extremely nervous in this situation, having seen most of her comrades taken down by the Zakat team, despite the power befitted them by the orbital frame AlterNeith. She had been lucky so far, having survived a full raid on Margaritifer, certain death at the hands of a lunatic at Gustav Base, but now, she had to face the full fury of a storm. Already she had been treated for potential post-traumatic stress syndrome from the latter event, and at the request of Colonel Velsago, she be given leave. However, General Taggart seemed to have faith in her, claiming that she was one of the better frame runners in Aegis, and he needed all the competent men and woman that he could get.

Natalia never understood what her superior officer was thinking, seeing that a good percentage of Taskforce Aegis had mere teenagers in them rather than older, more experienced officers and servicemen. She often thought it was because she was only 22 years old, just five years older than her friend Yuriko Ishikawa, that she was kept around. For an orbital frame runner or piloting skills in general, she liked to think her abilities were above average at best, but she wasn't anywhere near the level of Colonel Nander or the Xander Roanoke.

But onto the current situation. She had brought her AlterNeith a fair distance out of the battlefield in front of her, where Raptors were flying around the UNSF's LEVs like bees fighting ants over the other's nest or hive. Some comm. chatter had managed to get into her AlterNeith's communications system, random LEVs calling out SOS or just random babble about how heavy the battle was becoming. She hadn't received any orders from the Cerberus, most of the commands had been given to her by Yuriko herself, and she was in the middle of that mass somewhere. The only thing she could do now was find some random target and attack like all hell was loose. Still, one thing got to her.

Raven and the rest of Nemesis Squadron already took down the command cruisers, for the frontal assault anyway, and there aren't any ships space-side. That means there's a command Raptor, but where... her thought was interrupted when one of the Raptors had targeted her. "Shit!" she called out, immediately putting her AlterNeith into a dive. The Raptor followed the dive and intercept the AlterNeith, only to be cut down two seconds later when Natalia spun around its form and moved behind it, slashing it diagonally. A few more Raptors saw this and flew at the apparent "newcomer", beam swords armed. Some of them were picked off by friendly Phantomas and Behemoth fire, but a good number were tailing after Natalia's AlterNeith. Immediately, she flipped her AlterNeith's armblades down and started fighting them off, using counters and maneuvers that Colonel Velasgo had taught her.

Most of the Raptors were rather easy to pick off, for her anyway. Natalia had faster reaction time than the Raptor's AI system, so it was all fairly easy for her to get past their defenses. Trouble was, there were a lot of them ganging up on her. Kind of like being on a higher power level in a video game. She fired a homing laser burst, taking out some of the Raptors, while the rest managed to put their shields up before. Those couple fell victim to Natalia's comet shots, which were enough to blow each targeted orbital frame to pieces. A Clod came at her with its beam whips ignited, but Natalia managed to roll her frame away before it could slash, then launching a burst shot that blew off the Clod's armor and revealing a Raptor underneath. The Raptor lunged at her orbital frame, but before it could strike, a curious thing happened. Natalia's entire screen went white for one second, but she did manage to catch sight of a transparent figure of some sort. It had a humanoid shape to it, with gigantic wings surrounding its body, barely visible to the naked eye. The figure only appeared to hold out its arm and obliterate the oncoming Raptor in less than a human second, only to disappear again.

"What the hell?" Natalia said. More of the Raptor swarm was destroyed faster than the young Aegis runner had thought possible, until a good portion of the entire force was gone. Nobody seemed to notice this, as the fighting still continued, despite the disturbing presence. The image returned before her, this time displaying a pair of bright red eyes and what sounded like a human breath if her sound monitors were functioning correctly. Before she could move, it lurched its arm out beside her, striking a Cyclops that was trying to attack her backside. Those mere seconds felt like an entire moment to Natalia, as she could feel the sheer amount of power from this image overcome her. She herself found it hard to move or even breathe in those few seconds, as her eyes were glued to the white ghostly image. Then, after a moment later, the image disappeared and everything returned to normal. Her monitor displayed the battlefield, and there was no damage to her AlterNeith aside from what was already present.

Still, she wanted to confirm what she saw. "This is Guardian Three to all friendly units; I just had a run in with an unknown metatron signature, possible Type B orbital frame. Does anyone detect an abnormity?"

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"Abnormal activity confirmed around Delta-3 sector Guardian Two. Proceed with caution." came the Cerberus's communications officer's reply. Taggart overheard the communication, despite the chatter. It was a little talent of his. Whereas the bridge had been quiet a couple of hours ago, it was now bristling with activity as the battle continued onward between the UNSF Phantomas and the VANGUARD orbital frames. As well as the abnormal activity. This had been the third report of an 'unknown metatron signature' that had appeared and then disappeared just as fast, leaving several destroyed Raptors in its wake. Not that it bothered Major General Alan Taggart, stranger things had happened than some mechanized ninja of an OF or LEV flying around, killing whatever was in its path. His only concern was it may turn on the UNSF next, but he'd worry about that if it happened, not assuming it would.

The Cerberus's first officer was directing the battle for the moment, giving him a short break, while De Franz continued to watch for whatever reason. Taggart had thought the General Ulysses S. Grant incarnation would have entered in by now to take hold of the battle, but apparently, he seemed satisfied with the progress judging by the rather large grin on his face. Explosions flickered and reflected off of his red visors, and his facial expression meant he was enjoying the battle, but at the same time thinking in his mind. Taggart knew to well De Franz was a cunning bastard, at least as far as sadist megalomaniacs went. Granted, his only purpose for living was to kill random people in large quantities, mostly with inhumane measures, but Taggart had to admit, the guy was very intelligent on the subject. Both sides are already slaughtering each other. That's probably why he hasn't said anything in the last couple of minutes. Taggart's eyes narrowed.

"General Taggart, I think you better take a look at this." Sage said, gaining the General's attention. Taggart didn't take a second look at the battle or De Franz again; rather, he got up and hurried over to the sensor console. Sage's expression looked grim, "Sir, we're looking at a dramatic rise in radiation levels around Artemis. I can't pinpoint the origin, but it's like the atom bomb went out in Hiroshima."

"Is this the abnormal energy that Guardian Three and the others have reported?" Taggart asked.

"I'd bet my video game collection on it. Our pilots and frame runners are fine, the radiation level is low enough that it won't harm human life, and the current cockpit designs on our units are made to shield against gamma radiation. Problem is, the energy is spreading like water, and if I don't find the source soon, the radiation intensity will rise into the red levels." Sage said.

Taggart solemnly nodded at this. "If you do find the source, would there be any way to contain it?"

"I'm only a sensor man, General, but from what I know on nuclear radiation, it all depends on how big the source is. And even if it is contained, the current radiation will remain for a good while until the cleanup crew arrives." Sage explained.

Something just wasn't right here, to this radiation, in Taggart's eyes. While he was contemplating abandoning Artemis, despite what reaction he'd receive from High Command, he still wanted to find out what this radiation was and where it was coming from. It couldn't have been a VANGUARD weapon, since the energy was slaughtering their own troops, and it was definitely not something the UNSF had. In fact, Taggart could see that this energy had a will of its own, some consciousness to it that kept it controlled.

"Keep me informed on the radiation level. I want to know when it will become too hazardous to continue out here." Taggart said, then turning away and heading back to his command chair. "Lieutenant Simone, how many Behemoths are armed and ready?"

The blue haired communications girl made a quick roll call, "Behemoths 2 and 5 were destroyed by the enemy, while 1 and 4 are currently engaged with the enemy, they haven't had time to reload yet. Behemoth 3 is also engaged, but its railgun is loaded and armed... Wait..." Simone took a second to verify. Before she could report, the sensor operator almost jumped, "Sir, Behemoth 4 is breaking up."

"Damn." Taggart growled, already knowing they had lost 4. A grand explosion lit up in the distance, at 4's position, followed by a cloud of smoke. "Have Behemoth 3 move into firing position, target is Artemis." he didn't give his officers the chance to turn eyes on him, "If we have to pull out of here, the least we can do is give them a grand finale. And contact all squadrons insider Artemis; tell them their time is almost up."

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Yet another Phantoma II dared stand between him and his target. Leo groaned a little, tired of fighting little flies. He simply fired a gauntlet shot into the Phantoma II, sending it flying into a nearby building and exploding upon the impact, pilot and all. Leo had already destroyed Aegis' headquarters building, in fact, he was currently floating above the flaming base. The flames were so high, they were burning around Jehuty, making the frame appear as a dark silhouette, an archangel of death floating above the burning corpses of the damned. Some distance away, the New Norfolk Missile Facility was also burning into the air from Garrett' attack, and all four LEV garrisons had been taken out. All that was left was the UN embassy building, and the last of the Earth's loathsome presence would be removed from Artemis City, Margarifiter. Leo immediately targeted the building, and went into a dash toward it, charging energy into Jehuty's wings.

He then halted in midair. "Tempest Wing!" Leo called out, willing Jehuty to attack. Jehuty's wings flew forward, appearing as though they were flapping. The energy that had formed into Jehuty's wings shot outward, spiraling, appearing as tornado made of pure blue energy. The energy wave arched down and struck against the embassy building like a massive fist, then arched up again into the air, the debris of the building flying around its wake. It eventually hit the ceiling of the dome, smashing the remains of the building into it, but the energy had scattered by that point so that it wouldn't actually break through. After all, knowing Wilhelm and Browning's judgment, they'd want to use this place as a base, a rally point for other resistance or at least give it back to citizens as the first sphere to break free from Terran control. Besides, Leo wasn't the type to blow up buildings for the hell of it, unlike Miryhn Troxel, the runner of the orbital frame Masamune from two years ago. "Faulkner One to all forces, mission accomplished. We will return to the Atlantis shortly."

"Excessive force was not necessary to obliterate the target." ADA said, "May I ask why you used that attack on a stationary target, even knowing it was designed for more powerful units?"

"I only wanted to test Jehuty's new abilities until a more challenging opponent appears. Don't worry ADA, I know better than to waste my energy on the smaller targets." Leo said, giving off a sinister grin, and an almost obsessive look in his eyes. ADA didn't say anything, but she noticed something particular. His brainwave patterns were almost like that from two years ago, when he flew through Antilia to rescue Celvice. That same reading, when he slaughtered a platoon of LEV troops without remorse...

The moment was interrupted by a proximity warning from Jehuty's sensors. Two enemy contacts were speeding toward them, with two more on the way, and it didn't take a computer ID to tell Leo who they were. "Looks like our friends from Taskforce Aegis decided to join the party inside." Leo said, looking at the four speeding contacts as they broke formation. After waiting a moment for the two frames to draw closer, he targeted Raijin and ignited his thrusters, at the same time as Garrett did to another frame that entered the sphere...

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Nadia reacted fast enough to block a blow from Ifrit's rusty cutter, throwing off the opposing blade, and then attack with her own by bring both claws for a combo of three slashes followed by a burst slash attack. Garrett blocked the first swipe, dodged the last two and then flew back from the attack. During this, the Ifrit runner remained expressionless as usual, not displaying any type of excitement or frustration during the battle. Deep down though, he could feel a heavy anger leaking out from what humans would consider the heart, a deep, dark hatred that he had kept hidden and locked inside him for a long time. But unlike Leo, he didn't let it get the better of him, he couldn't let it get the better of him. In response to Athena's close range he attacks, he back flipped and dashed backward, then unleashed a Soul Disaster attack, to which Athena effectively dodged by banking to the right. Garrett gritted his teeth together when he felt the impact of Athena's right claw against Ifrit's rusty cutter, feeling the intense power from Nadia Velasgo.

Athena kept firing off shots with its beam bow, in similar fashion to a machine gun, turning the fight from a melee battle into a cowboy gunfight. The enemy runner continued to fly Ifrit back, seemingly dancing his Ifrit around each shot in a similar manner to what Nadia saw of Nephtis from years ago. The shots that managed to actually come close to hitting the Ifrit were promptly deflected by the frame's energy shield, which was activated for less than a split second before Garrett resumed maneuvering. An effective strategy at best, Nadia had to admit, she didn't think highly of her opponent up to now. The fact he could keep up with her told her that the guy was a seasoned warrior, probably an ex-BAHRAM runner that was involved in the Hellesponte campaign in '73 judging by his maneuvering style. Maybe even more, possibly one of Ridley Hardimaan's personal guard or some other elite title. To say the least, this stimulated Nadia at best since she loved a worthy opponent, and now that she had the time for one without worry of commanding Aegis' forces, she was going to enjoy it. But back to the present. After the 'machine gun barrage', Nadia charged and launched a burst attack that knocked Ifrit away, breaking through the energy shield and sending it flying into a building. She immediately dashed and flew straight into the Ifrit while it was within the building, causing both frames to fly out the other end and into a small apartment complex.

During the flight, both frames had clashed melee weapons, rusty cutter against heavy blade in a cross attack. When they finally landed into the complex, the enemy runner took the opportunity to throw Athena off, and then attack with a Halbard shot. Nadia would've been heavily damaged had not for one key detail. Before Ifrit launched the shot, she noticed a cylinder-like device at the base of the cutter, similar to that of a revolver cylinder or some fantasy weapon called a 'Gunblade' that she heard from a Final Fantasy game. This clued her in quick, instinctively banking Grafficane to the left while the Halbard shot beside her. At first, Nadia thought the enemy would use the Halbard to try and knock her out of the sky, but instead, it deactivated the weapon and took to the sky again, and then began to charge a new attack. From the 'gun barrel' at its base, for energy blasts seemed to flow out and then converge on the cutter's tip, forming a powerful burst of energy, before projecting it at the orange frame. Nadia attempted to dodge again, but the underestimated the overall power of the burst attack, as even though the bolt past, she could see the air around it ripple from the intense energy, and she fell victim to the preceding shockwave. Athena was knocked back, Nadia feeling as though she had just been punched in the gut, and just behind her, the energy burst exploded, sending shockwave at her direction. Fortunately, Nadia's reaction was fast enough that she put Athena into a dash, and using its speed, moved far enough away that she avoided the blunt of the shockwave.

"Your lousy shot didn't even touch me!" Nadia taunted, charging at the Ifrit again. This time, the enemy runner ascended, as if mirroring her original attack, fired several homing laser shots from the hand manipulator on Ifrit's left arm. Nadia dodged each laser shot and shielded the ones that came close to her, before she clashed with Ifrit's blade once again, struggling to overcome the crimson frame's power.

Then something happened that she never perceived, at least not from her adversary. For a brief second, Nadia thought she could see an energy field form from Ifrit, at least some kind of expression that projected itself in her mind. It looked like a human face, even had blinking eyes, but Nadia could feel a strong hatred and malice from this face, as well as pain. Yes, sheer pain. The kind that has been held back for so long that its intensity had grown ten fold, until finally being released. Then for another moment, she thought she could see various images. Different points of life, like flashbacks in a movie. One of which was the image of a girl with light turquoise hair and a caring face, before fading into pure white...

”Colonel!” Both frames broke away from the clash, both runners breathing heavily as if they had been fighting for hours. Grafficane dashed into attack Ifrit, making a combo slash at an open area on the frame, before it got swatted next to Athena with the frame's arm blade. Nadia had Athena trace the comlink frequency on the enemy frame and then connect. "What... What was that? Those images, that strange aura..." Nadia began.

"That is the power of will, Colonel Nadia Velasgo of Special Taskforce Aegis. Or should I say, Nadia Candido." Garrett explained, while holding back a growl and any sign of his benevolence, "A power that exists in all human beings. What you saw was merely your perception of it."

"You're…" Nadia shot back, recalling that voice. It was somewhat older and a little darker, but she knew that voice from anywhere.

”What are you talking about?” Yuriko asked, confused.

"When our frames clashed, both of our skill, our physical strengths and weaknesses all vanished, and it became a battle of will alone. By Metatron, we were able to see each other's wills, Lieutenant Ishikawa." Garrett said, smirking a little. Ifrit, Athena and Grafficane soon began to circle around each other like a pair of caged animals trying to find an opening against the other. "I have to admit, you're more than the Nadia Candido I once knew. I could feel the intensity of your power and the strength of your will upon our clashing. Course, you would have to be strong in order to have killed those you have killed."

"Let me guess, the Colonel killed off your comrades, friends or family in the past and now you want revenge for it?" Yuriko grinned.

Garrett grin disappeared back into a serious, more vengeful expression, "You have no idea what she had you kill in the past, back at Hellesponte in 2176. You were the one, weren't you, Ishikawa? The UN frame runner that single-handedly wiped out the last well organized rebellion against the Earth..."

"So what if I am?" Yuriko replied.

"I'm not here to talk too puppets." Garrett seethed, turning back to Athena, "You took away the last of my family, Nadia. No, not just my family, but yours too!" Ifrit charged forward, blade armed. When it became apparent Athena wouldn't dodge, Yuriko intercepted the blow and deflected the attempted slash. The fighting started over again, as slash after slash, cut after cut was made at each frame, and either deflected or dodged. Then the two frames clashed again.

"Why the hell should she care?" Yuriko growled out, "You know how many people we've all killed in our life times, all the families we destroyed because that one member wanted to make another war?"

"Then let me understand." Garrett called back out, "I've fought many battles against Terrans. Lieutenant Bolozof, Colonel Nander and hundreds of other scum that would love nothing more than to kill everything on this planet, she was different. The malice, the hatred I felt from her…"

Yuriko calmed herself a little, as confusion entered her mind, "Why should you care about that? The Colonel is Martian, trying to do what is best for the planet!"

"Exactly!" Garrett responded, "So why did she do it? Or better yet, why did you do it? Why did you kill the people that are like you? The one's that wanted to protect Mars and its people from your wars?"

"What?" Yuriko called out, before breaking the clash. She flew back and fired two more Flame Gale shots, which Ifrit danced around before coming at her again. Instead of clashing blades again, she descended under, flipped Grafficane onto its back so that it was facing up at Ifrit and let off a small barrage of Phalanx shots that sprayed into the red frame. Garrett took several of the shots on, but had moved just in time to avoid any heavy damage. "Just who the hell are you?" Yuriko demanded, as she charged back at him with both blades open, prepared for a Gilius attack. Garrett brought the rusty cutter up just in time to repel the cross-blade attack, bringing it up in between the crossing claws.

”Hold it Yuriko!” Nadia ordered, as Athena regained its composure. Grafficane, upon that order, broke the clash and dashed back a little, next to Athena, while Nadia's frame floated forward to look over Ifrit. It took her sometime to sum up the courage to speak up. “Cage? Is that really you, Cage Midwell?”

Cage smirked, “It's been a very long time since anyone called me that name.”

”What are you doing here?” Nadia stated, “You're not the kind of person that would seek revenge, even for the BIS. And much less, work for VANGUARD!”

”I don't work for VANGUARD really, just the Atlantis.” Ifrit's eyes seemed to narrow into a glare, as if it matched its runner's composure, “I have something in common with Leo and Elena.” He snarled, “We were all turned on by the UNSF, tracked down like wild animals across the solar system. Leo and Elena managed to escape with the things they held of value, but I didn't…” he growled.

”What are you talking about?” Yuriko demanded, confused.

”You want to know, Ishikawa?” Ifrit turned to Grafficane and leered, “Fine, you know how you wiped out BIS in 2176, when its leader Robin O'Connell tried to organize the anti-Earth groups into a concentrated resistance, but what you didn't know was De Franz in his normal fashion went further than that…”

”He put a manhunt on you, didn't he?” Nadia realized, her gut clenching, feeling the same disgust she felt years ago when Acemos betrayed her and left her for dead crawl up her spine, only this time it had an edge of sympathy for Cage. “How far did they go?”

”All the way to Ganymede, where my wife and I took residence.” Cage simply had Ifrit nod, “I managed to make it out alive, but…” He couldn't say anymore, as emotion threaten to overwhelm him. The gaze Nadia saw though was familiar to her. She had seen it before, when someone had lost something so dear to them, that they had no reason to survive. The list wasn't long in regards to Cage, since he didn't have much family or friends outside of BIS. There was only one thing, she knew, that could cause Cage to act like this.

”No…” Nadia let out, feeling tears well up in her eyes, “God no… Not Myona…”

”Myona?” Yuriko looked confused, “You mean Myona Alderan?”

”Why should it matter to you?” Cage roared at Nadia, tears coming up at that memory, “You of all people should know the Earth doesn't give a shit about who they kill, as long as nothing opposes them. High Command thought we were too big of a threat, because I ran Testament for the BIS, and Myona was one of the test subjects for Dezeele Zephyrs' experiments! So they chased us to the edge of the galaxy and sent a hit squad out to kill us!” his fists tightened against Ifrit's control spheres, “I'll deal with De Franz and High Command soon, but first…” power began to surge more over Ifrit, “You, Nadia Candido, will be the first to die, as a sacrifice to Warren, Mebius, Twede and Robin!”

Ifrit went into a dash at Athena, rusty cutter aimed at its cockpit. “Cage!” Nadia called, screaming, as if trying to stop him. Despite what she felt, her instincts overtook her, and she felt her ferocity return, as she brought up Athena's own blade to deflect Ifrit. At the same time, Grafficane went into a dash to intercept…

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Just like his comrade, Leo was at a square off with the opposing Aegis frame. He kept firing at Raijin, trying to gain a decent hit, but Esteraund Legato was quite skilled, enough so that he could dodge most of his shots then retaliate with his defensors. However, unlike Garrett, Leo was a bit more skilled at taking down remote weapons thanks to the sparring sessions he had with his comrade Ken Marinaris. He predicted the movements of the defensors, squeezing off shots that claimed the defensors and getting him closer and close to Raijin. Esteraund laughed as Jehuty destroyed three defensors, while dodging oncoming fire from the other two that had been deployed. "Just like Raw Le Creuset against Mwu La Flaga... Or is it Camille Vidan against Haman Karn? Either way, remote weapons are quite the bitch, aren't they?" he retorted, deploying two more defensors from Raijin's vector trap.

Leo smirked back, he was definitely having fun. "Without your little discs, I wonder how good you really are..." he slashed another defensor in half, then shot out two more with regular shots. He backed off and fired homing lasers that took out the rest, leaving Raijin open for attack, to which he zero shifted and attempted to slash. Esteraund barely had time to respond, quickly activating both of Raijin's energy swords and knocking away the oncoming blades. "If you want to see that badly, then I will show you Raijin's true power..." Esteraund grinned, "CPU, release control art restriction to Level 1. All systems are to remain active until the target is silenced. Activation code Lambda-3." At the utterance of his words, Raijin was encased in a blue aura as the power lines around its body moved faster and faster. As if adding to the effect, the general airspace around Raijin began to quake with energy, as a dark blue colored mist seemed to form, lightning striking about in almost all directions. Leo wasn't very patient, however, as he shot Jehuty at Raijin to re-engage their duel.

A sword battle immediately broke out between them, both frames fighting frantically to break the opponent's guard. When it became apparent that both frames were fighting a dead end battle, they broke off and flew at each other in running slashes, appearing like two blue energy lines flying back and forth, changing direction each time they clashed. At one point, Esteraund deployed five more of his remaining defensor to orbit around Raijin a pentagon formation. "Meirai!" he called out. A barrage of shots launched from the Defensors, appearing as blue orbs that went in all directions. Leo arched an eyebrow before he realized what those orbs would do in the next second. Pillars of blue energy shot out toward him once the orbs came close, similar to Tempest's Dimensional Wave attack except they were coming from seemingly everywhere this time. He maneuvered Jehuty appropriately. He dodged the first pillar of light by side rolling to the right, then dashing forward to avoid the second. For the rest barrel rolled past them, then zero shifting again, appearing behind Raijin. To Leo's surprise though, Esteraund spun around just as he reformed, making a burst slash which Leo barely countered. The force of the slash through him back, but Leo recovered and fired his own burst shot at the oncoming Raijin.

"Come on, you can do better than that. The turncoat protagonist is always a bad ass." Esteraund chimed brightly, knocking the burst shot away with a steady beam sword swipe. Leo noticed that Raijin's swipe was rather fluidic, even for an orbital frame. While the arm still moved like a human arm with joints and structuring, there was just something out of the ordinary about how it reacted. Something that he only thought Jehuty or the first Anubis were capable of doing. "What's wrong, Commander, afraid to play for skin?" Esteraund said in a challenging tone.

"I was going to ask you that." Leo smirked at the challenge. "BLUE LIGHNTING!" Jehuty stopped in midair and flapped its wings once again, this time launching energy rays that nailed Raijin faster than Esteraund could dodge. At the last second, Esteraund threw up an energy shield, but the powered up homing lasers were far too powerful. It knocked Raijin back, and before Esteraund could recover, Jehuty zero shifted up to it and started to hack with its blades. At least at that point, Esteraund managed to retaliate, now with Raijin's back pointed toward the ground, the two frames attacked each other in a frenzy of swordplay.

"I have to admit, you're pretty good, no wonder Raven got his ass kicked so bad." Esteraund complemented, before forcing Raijin back and twisting into a dive. Jehuty attempted to pursue, but Raijin twisted around again fired homing lightning shots back at it. Leo kicked Jehuty's shield to absorb the hits, then countered with his own barrage of energy shots. At this point, the duel had become a shoot out, with Jehuty raining down shots from above while Raijin countered from below while zigzagging around the buildings. Its back was still towards the ground, Esteraund flew down the streets of an apartment district, holding Raijin's arms up as if they were holding two guns up in the air toward Jehuty, exchanging beam shots.

Interesting tactic. Leo thought, as he continued to fire back. He decided to give Esteraund some ground, remaining in the sky while his opponent zipped around the city. He was curious to see what his opponent would do, and although his gut instinct told him to zero shift or fly closer toward Raijin, he decided to put off winning the fight for right now. The mission had been accomplished, and he had plenty of time to kill. Besides, Raijin was fighting at a greater ferocity than any 'normal' orbital frame, and his mind warned him of the possibility that Esteraund was holding back himself. But back to the present. As Jehuty continued to fire, Raijin flew straight into a tunnel, flipped upright, shot a hole through the roof and then ascended at Jehuty. Leo saw that Esteraund wanted to back at close-range, so he decided to oblige him. However, Raijin was now surging with that blue aura, and that same voice in his head, the one that saved Leo's ass on more than one occasion, was now screaming at him to not counter. Leo easily complied, ducking Jehuty under the swipe, then bringing its right sword over for an impale shot.

To Leo's surprise, the shot didn't break through the aura. There was just too much energy around Raijin. Again, his fast reflexes kicked in, and he flipped the blade back before Raijin could slice it off, but he left Jehuty's arm stretched out, and its palm toward the samurai frame's torso. In an instant, he shot a gauntlet point blank into Raijin's 'gut', sending it flying from the impact, then zero shifting above it and shooting another gauntlet. As a result, Raijin's flight path changed, at it once again shot into the ground. This time, Leo didn't wait for Raijin to get back up. He wasn't going to risk a prolonged battle while Raijin was in this condition. Jehuty 'flapped' its wings and shot into a dive, like a predatory bird swooping down to grab its prey. Only, when only a few feet from the ground, Leo brought both arm swords to bare, ready to impale Raijin at a high velocity. His swords were met by Raijin's crossed energy blades, and slowly, the opposing frame began to force Leo back with a strength that surprised even him.

Esteraund slowly brought Raijin to stand up, while forcing Jehuty's swords away, an amused grin ever present. He then uncrossed the blades and caused Jehuty to stumble back. Apparently not taking well to defeat, Leo Stenbuck made a vertical slash at Raijin, but the sword never made it past Raijin's shoulder armor, the energy deflecting it once again. Esteraund sighed and looked up, as if expecting more from Jehuty's runner. Leo tried again, this time making a splitting slash at Raijin's head, but the energy deflected the sword once again.

Leo was about ready to make a burst slash, but before he could, he saw something peculiar. A spark flash from Raijin's shoulder, where he made the slash. Then he heard the faintest chuckle from his comlink. And before long, that chuckle exploded into full laughter, and the face of the amused Esteraund Legato appeared in his cockpit. "Damn, you actually damaged Raijin at 75 power, looks like I underestimated you, Commander. I got to admit, worthy opponents are so rare now a days..." Esteraund sighed.

"How?" Leo asked, "Where did this energy come from?"

Esteraund laughed, "You want to know, Commander? Let me tell you where it begins. Two years ago, in an attempt to bring down NUT Ltd., Ryan Corporation started salvaging orbital frames left over from the Earth-Mars War, any design they could get its hands on. However, instead of merely upgraded the salvaged designs, they transformed them back into basic Metatron and fused them into one body. A single orbital frame with the power of many, many frames. Care to guess what I'm talking about?"

"You mean Ehecatl." Leo said bitterly, remembering Dingo's debriefing on Norris Contraus' devil project.

"Ding ding ding, a winner is you!" Esteraund replied in the manner of a game show host, "Anyway, you know the new president of Ryan, Lamar Rivers, handed Ehecatl over to VANGUARD in order to score brownie points with the UN. But, to say the least, your friends were inspired by the idea of fusing frames together into one suped up design. So, after some testing with Ehecatl, they developed their own B-Type orbital frames from several designs, and as a result..." Similar to an actor of a play, Esteraund made Raijin take a bow, while waving its right arm toward Jehuty, "Frames like Raijin were born. A command type orbital frame designed to take on multiple targets at one time, or just really powerful ones like Jehuty and the frames that the Talons use! There's more, but I can't say it now, I'd spoil the plot twist for you."

Leo growled, "What the hell are you talking about? If Raijin is a VANGUARD frame, then how did you get a hold of it?"

Esteraund had Raijin come back up again, its right arm still outstretched. He clenched the hand into a fist and then extended the index finger, waving it. "Sore wa himitsu desu. But I will tell you this. I'm more than just some Average Joe mercenary, or Raijin's domineus for that matter. You can think of me as a guardian angel, sent from Heaven to make sure he survives to the end."

At that moment, Leo's monitor began to resonate again, but something peculiar about it this time. Instead of merely fizzing, Jehuty's sensors detected raising radiation levels around the city. No, something beyond that. "ADA, what's going on?"

"I don't know." ADA replied, "I'm reading a large amount of energy fluctuation in the dimensional space around Artemis. I am unable to pinpoint the signal. However..."

"However...?"

"Based on memory data, the energy signature matches that of Aumaan."

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It took only a moment. A brief moment, no faster than the drawing of breath or the blinking of an eye. While his fight with Yuriko Ishikawa and Nadia Velasgo continued, Garrett Shatner felt a sudden presence behind him, something he didn't feel was there a second ago. Instinctively, he twisted Ifrit around and brought the rusty cutter to bare, but the new presence moved even faster than he did. The frame reached out with its left arm and grabbed Ifrit by the head, bringing it up to face level. What Garrett saw through the eyes of Ifrit, caused his blood to run cold, as if he were staring death itself in the face. Ifrit's monitors were resonating around him, the sheer amount of energy emanating from his captor causing Ifrit to seemingly tremble in fear. No sound was made, but for a moment, Garrett felt as if the thing were breathing, as he felt a cold wave flow around his right cheek each passing second.

Leo also saw it, breaking off from Raijin and zero shifting behind it with his swords raised. The captor reached out and in a split second, a familiar staff weapon formed, with its hilt end holding against Jehuty's crossed blades. After seeing what he saw, Leo's face turned to match that of Garrett. His warrior's ferocity and his desire for vengeance seemed to fade out, replaced by a sudden fear and anxiety, for what was before him couldn't be natural. Jehuty's monitors had to have been malfunctioning, for there was no way God had caused such power to exist in the plane of man. Leo struggled to get his blades beyond the pull and at the main body, but it felt as though Jehuty's blades were locked into place. Then the head turned toward Jehuty, toward Leo's eyes, staring him face to face. At that moment, Leo's vision seemed to go into black-and-white, but in defiance to the fear he was feeling, he clenched his teeth together and let out a battle cry, focusing every ounce of his will into Jehuty.

His opponent never gave him the chance though. He threw Ifrit a good distance away into an abandoned factory complex, and then brought its pole away from the blades, smacking Jehuty faster than Leo's could track. Jehuty flew the opposite direction, landing with its back turned into a housing district...

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Music was one of the most interesting designs in this dimension. Since the dawn of time, it had always existed, among all life forms in existence, being the inspiration behind language as the basis of communication. It was used to signify emotions and desire, in ways that no word or ritual could ever do. Because of this, music had been used to set the mood in ancient worship, battlefields and other rituals, as a method to express the deepest of human will, the deepest of human desires. So, what psalm could be used here, on the edge of the battlefield? What could possibly express the quiet and still setting that was just outside death's reach? A setting so tranquil, it caused great fear in the human mind, for one step further meant oblivion. Wilhelm didn't know what song could match the occasion, but that didn't matter, for it wasn't his choice to make.

In the brightly lit cockpit of his orbital frame, Tempest, a mysterious chorus sung out with soft, and yet strong voices. There was no musical instrument behind this enigma, no outside interference, and yet, the power behind this psalm was greater than any humans could produce through music or art. To Wilhelm, this chorus symbolized many things. The sirens calling the great ship to ruin, the soft prayers of the great heavenly beings for the souls that have entered heaven, but most of all, the great power instilled by his will. It just had to be, for his will was so strong, that even the air around Wilhelm seemed to grow warmer and more vibrant from his presence alone. He could feel Tempest's own power pulse faster under his touch, and the great chorus, the psalms which represented God's power and his divine mercy all in one, echoed louder and louder in his cockpit.

The wreckage around him from orbital frame, LEV and human flesh and blood added onto the setting of pure chaos and power. So much so that Wilhelm dare not make a move, for it would affect the great works before him. Instead, the great blue and silver dragon-like frame hovered in the air, its arms crossed, its tail wrapped around its waist and its optical sensors dimmed, as if its own power were dormant. Wilhelm preferred it this way, no movement or motion, just the sound of the great chorus filling his soul with their psalms. The psalms themselves, despite their calm, seemed to portray the ferocity of a great storm. Yes, that was it. Wilhelm felt like he was standing within the threshold of a hurricane, a great force that threatened to destroy him and cast his soul into the abyss, and yet it lamented and spared him. For its quarrel was for something, or someone else. Despite this, Wilhelm had no fear in his heart, in fact, he felt exhilarated, and the same way a conductor would feel before a great symphony.

Suddenly, his sensors detected a friendly IFF signal incoming from behind, and yet even this motion failed to break through the psalms. Nonetheless, Tempest's tentacles unwrapped and whipped around a little, and its great golden eyes seemed to flare from behind the spherical coverings at the new arrival. Its arms remained cross, and Tempest made no effort to turn around to greet its comrade. For its runner knew who it was. Behind him, a green and gold orbital frame shot down from the sky, its wings folded back like a bird of prey before it opened them up as it came to a hover. The entire frame seemed to be designed around the philosophy of a garuda, as it had a human like body, but with a bird like head and wings. As opposed to the benevolent Tempest, this frame was designed for more grace in mind than power.

”What is it Phoenix?” Wilhelm asked, still staring straight ahead.

”My lord… White Harrier has fallen to Anubis and Raven Vostrikov. I recovered the remains of the Zakat.” Phoenix reported in his cybernetic voice, but with the same humbleness and humility of a knight.

”Yes, I know.” Wilhelm let out, “He is a powerful light elemental, but somewhat unstable. I'm not surprised.”

“I will not stand against your decision, but is it wise to let the plan go this far?” Phoenix said.

”That I do not know, Phoenix, but it has, and there's nothing we can do about it. Neither of us can stand up to the true incarnation of Metatron, at least in our current state.” Wilhelm replied, trying to sound reassuring despite his words, “Not that it matters, because it serves in our favor. I wanted to see its true power in action for a very, very long time, my friend. And at the same time, we get to see how our allies from the Atlantis will fair in this challenge.”

”But, if you wanted that, then why did you intervene at Gustav?” Phoenix asked.

Wilhelm sighed, “Because it was inopportune. Granted, the twin brothers of Aumaan met and one grew closer to its true form, but we can't have them disrupt our plans. Here though, the mission has been accomplished, this is more like a finale. Quite an entertaining show if I say so myself.” He chuckled at that last part.

Phoenix made no reply to this.

”Can you hear its psalm, my friend?” Wilhelm closed his eyes, letting his ears absorb the hymn further and further, “The heavenly chorus that expresses the trembling of Heaven and Hell at its might presence, like the movement of a great giant. I've listened to many things in my life time, but never have I heard such softness in the form of death.”

”I have listened to it.” Phoenix said, disdain appearing through his cybernetics, “I have no interest in the cries of Heaven, or power beyond compare.”

Wilhelm laughed a little, “I remember a time when such things would have been interesting to you, Phoenix. But can you at least hear it from your orbital frame?”

”Oh, I can hear it my Lord.” Phoenix replied, “In fact, I always have heard it in the back of my mind, it's just grown louder now that he has emerged. But still, the Domineus isn't ready to handle that kind of power, surely you can see the risk of continuing this.”

”Yes, it is a big one, isn't it? Still, you want to be the one to stop him?” Tempest turned at the bird-like frame and then waved its hand over to the sphere while strafing to the side a little, the way most humans did to allow one to pass before them. “You're welcome to try my friend, although I personally advise against it. Something about the radiation flying around and all that just doesn't appeal to me.”

Naturally, Phoenix didn't reply to this, as the point had been made. “As I thought, but that's good. I'd hate to waste your services at this point.” Wilhelm grinned, turning Tempest back to watch the battle, “Still, this should entertain even you. Just think of it as Metatron's great symphony.”

A snarl escaped from Phoenix at that mention. He knew his `master' loved to bring up his previous life, but still, he wished he could forget what he was in the past…

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Yuriko could only gape at what she saw before her. In the blink of an eye, it seemed that an atomic bomb had gone off in the center of Artemis, creating a massive crater a good couple kilometer wide and another couple kilometers deep. Only thing was, there was no such launch, no warning from Grafficane's sensors of incoming fire, although it did show that radiation levels on the outside had drastically risen. Not that she needed sensors to tell her that, there was an awful lot of strange energy on the outside, so much so that Grafficane's optic filters seemed to fluctuate in an effort to keep the energy from overloading the cockpit monitors. No, it couldn't have been a nuclear launch, since nuclear bombs didn't generate swirling black and purple nebulas like this, and Yuriko knew she wouldn't have survived. At first, she tried contacting the Cerberus to see what was going on, but the radiation made communication impossible, aside from short-range. She was about to re-contact Colonel Velasgo or Esteraund, but something caught her eye. In spite of the bright field of energy, it seemed distinguishable. In fact, if Yuriko didn't know any better, she would've guessed that what was before her was the origin of the radiation and intense white light.

There before her was Anubis, but not in the way she remembered it. That is, the Anubis that Raven was running for Aegis. No, this one seemed more ghostly, more dark angelic looking. It was now ghost white in color, and now possessed a streamlined, humanoid look to it. Its armor and pauldrons were now gone, leaving behind an almost organic texture to the frame that made it much like the original form. It had a white, purple and gold texture, with a smoother texture, making it more humanoid appearance than before. Its original red energy lines were now purple, running up and down the body at the same pace as Yuriko's heart, it seemed. The wings, much to the inner terror within Yuriko Ishikawa, had separated from the main body as well, now free floating in midair, connected only by the purple, transparent Metatron lines. The wings were spread out farther as well, appearing like a cloak or cape that seemed to signify the intense power coming from this frame. As for the head, since its face was turned the opposite direction, the young Aegis runner couldn't see its face or headpiece, but she did notice something peculiar around its ears: a halo. A bright, violet halo that seemed to be as tangible as a cloud, and yet shining as brightly as a nova. She hesitated at first, but slowly, she moved Grafficane forward, toward Anubis. Her cockpit fluctuated the closer and closer she came, and in the faintest sounds, she thought she could hear a chorus singing. A mysterious chorus that sang from the center of this power.

She shook her head and concentrated, remembering that this frame was an ally, no matter what its current condition was. Yuriko tapped into Raven Vostrikov's channel, trying to get a video feed. A vidscreen appeared on the front right hand side of her cockpit, but all she got was gray static fuzz. Most likely due to the radiation presence, but Yuriko tried anyway. “Nemesis Three to Nemesis One, do you read?” Yuriko broadcasted. There was no answer at first, but Yuriko thought she heard the faintest sound of laughter. “Lieutenant Vostrikov, are you there?”

Anubis extended its right hand out, as if signaling a command. At its action, the bright light that filled Artemis disappeared, showing the burning, all but destroyed city once again. Still, from Yuriko's point of view, the background still seemed to fluctuate on her optics due to the radiation. ”Oh, Yuriko, you have no idea how good this feels.” Raven said in an out of character, almost frightening tone of voice. “I was afraid at first, but now that the transference is over, it feels good to be like this.” This was followed by another short amount of laughter.

The Grafficane runner could feel ice form up her spinal column at the sound of this laughter. There seemed to be no human presence to it whatsoever, as if it were the haunting cackle of a ghost or demon. If Raven weren't an ally, that laugh alone would've been enough for her instincts to make her strike out. And even then, she placed a weapons lock on Anubis, ready to send the dark frame to kingdom come at a given moment. Upon her locking on, Anubis turned its head slightly to peek behind it, causing Yuriko to almost jump back in her cockpit. Just what the hell could scare her so much?

Raven took notice of Yuriko's sudden jolt, making his cruel, sinister smile grow larger. “My, my, Yuriko, you jump rather easily. And here I took you for a veteran, somebody who's seen it all. But this is…disappointing.”

”What are you talking about?” Yuriko almost demanded, “Just… What happened to you and Anubis?” As she drew closer to Anubis, she noticed something that threw her even more. Unless her brain had been effected by the radiation, she thought she could see Anubis' form real up and down each time its energy pulsed through its body, like a human breathing. “I…can't hear them anymore, Yuriko.” Raven said, in between breaths, his voice sounding exhilarated, “I can't hear their laughter or their screams. It's like they never existed to begin with. Do you know how it feels, Yuriko?”

”What…?” Yuriko stuttered.

As if responding, Anubis turned its head to face her. The inner terror that was growing inside Yuriko all that was happening around her had finally broken through her and all her attempts to hold it back. Anubis' apparent mouthpiece had been lifted off, revealing an almost human-like face, angled and jagged, and displaying a long scar on its right side going down from its apparent `eye'. The eyes weren't mere optic sensors, rather, they were human-like, purple with golden irises and black pupils. Below that was an apparent mouth, which appeared to be nothing more than a jagged indention, but Yuriko could see it draw into a smirk. The expression given was that of pure insanity, at least as far as Yuriko saw. It seemed to reflect on Raven's condition, from how he was talking and Grafficane drew back further, as Anubis turned to face it.

”So much darkness. I've never felt such darkness before, and yet, it feels all too natural.” Raven said. His voice seemed to alter as he said that, as if a second voice had melded with his own and was saying the same words he was. The echo was deafening.

Before he could advance further to Grafficane, Anubis held out its right hand to the side. In the next moment, Jehuty reformed from zero shift and made a cross slash with both swords in an attempt to strike Anubis from the side. The attempt failed, as the white orbital frame caught the swords with its outstretched hand, then threw them back, making Jehuty fly some distance away. This gave Raven enough time to spin Anubis to face Jehuty, and at the same time, forming its vaunted staff, ready to slice Jehuty apart. Before Leo could react at the sudden, Anubis zero shifted in front of Jehuty and slashed with its staff, but Leo managed to block the blow. Still, Jehuty was obviously no match its brother's tremendous power boost, thus its counter slashes were immediately knocked away. Seeing that he was no match for Anubis at close-range, Leo flew back, and started to power Jehuty up, taking only a moment to recharge its sub energy with spare reserves. “Blue Lightning!” Leo called out, flapping Jehuty's wings and launching a more energy bolts toward Anubis' direction.

In Anubis' cockpit, Raven grinned and rose to the challenge. “Soul Eclipse!” Anubis shot forward, breaking through the energy bolts, but Jehuty dodged to the left just before it could strike. Raven attempted to slash at Jehuty with a double combo, moving at such speeds that the staff seem to blur in Leo's monitors, but Leo was still the more experienced of the two. The runner of Jehuty knocked away both slashes, but Raven followed up with a third. The blow was so much that Jehuty was shot back to the other side of the sphere. “Too easy.” Raven said, zero shifting toward the area Jehuty landed in. However, Leo wasted no time, recovering from the impromptu landing and strafing to the right just as Anubis appeared. He then shot the white frame point blank with a gauntlet, knocking it into the edge of the crater. Leo then dashed, mimicking the attack Nohman made on him five years ago, hacking at Anubis while it was down. “You…were…saying…!” Leo let out in between each slash.

His efforts, however valiant, were futile, as none of his attacks did any damage to Anubis. The red human eyes flashed, and Anubis zero shifted up and over Jehuty, reappearing behind it. “You won't forget this death God's power…” Raven replied with a sinister tone. In the blink of an eye, Anubis' slashed Jehuty apart with coordinated staff attacks that moved so fast, that those who did see it only saw what looked like thirty or so white blurs for a split second. The final strike made Jehuty stumble backwards on the ground, heavily damaged. Its right wing and entire right arm had been cut off, while its left arm had been cut at the elbow. Its legs remained intact, but with in numerical gashes through the armor. Even after all this, Raven didn't give Leo a second to use against him. The next attack would've hit Jehuty's anti-proton reactor and finished it off, but Leo's pilot instinct kicked in, making him duck. Still, the attack hit, claiming Jehuty's head and sending it flying a couple meters away.

Disappointed, Raven spun Anubis and tail whipped Jehuty, sending it into the same spot Leo had punched Anubis into with that gauntlet shot. After which, he zero shifted over to where Jehuty's head had landed, and then picking up the head with its left hand.

It was a rather horrifying moment; the sight of the `villain' holding up the hero's decapitated head like a trophy. The kind of irony that only God himself would allow to happen, much to the delight of Raven Vostrikov. This kind of power he had meant two things to him: not only did God give his blessings to him, but he was also doing his will at the same time. “Impressive, Jehuty.” Raven said, zero shifting Anubis over in front of Jehuty's ravaged body, which Leo had managed to get standing back up.

Leo was now panting with exhaustion, feeling blood leak down his right cheek from the large cut on his forehead, which was caused by a cockpit shard flying at his face. “ADA, damage report.” He commanded.

”Jehuty has suffered damage to all sections. Propulsion has dropped below 25. Energy shield offline. Vector Trap offline. Main camera destroyed, secondary camera's operating efficiency has dropped to 45. Structural integrity is at 18.12...” ADA listed out, sounding lighter than usual. Whether be it because of Jehuty's resonating or for the fact it was damaged, Leo didn't know.

”Can we Zero Shift?” Leo asked.

”Yes, but be strongly advised, in Jehuty's current condition, prolonged flight in Zero Shift will rip the frame apart.”

Leo sighed, glaring at Anubis from the secondary monitor. “You are indeed worthy of the power that father bestowed upon us, but unfortunately for you, there can only be one Aumaan! I won't let that power be abused by the likes of humans again!”

”Aumaan…” Leo muttered. How was it…?

”Leo!” came a new voice on the com-link. Anubis had already reeled back to impale Jehuty with its remaining sword, but before it could, Ifrit jetted in front of it and clashed its arm blade against Anubis' staff. It held it there for a good few seconds, before Anubis knocked the blade away. That's all the time Garrett needed to back flip over Jehuty, grab it, and then fly into the sky. Anubis tried to follow, but Ifrit formed energy around its arm blade before it could pull a Zero Shift or Soul Eclipse. “Soul Disaster!” Garrett willed, firing a large beam of energy into the ascending Anubis, forcing it back to the ground. “Now Leo!”

Leo knew what Garrett meant, and immediately activated the Zero Shift, disappearing to a location unknown.

”No!” Raven roared in anger. The outburst was so much, that Jehuty's severed head vaporized in the initial charge of energy, and the staff disintegrated. “I was so close! Jehuty!” Anubis fired several red shots of energy into the air, as if they would reach Jehuty and Ifrit. In a fit of rage, Anubis' mouth opened, revealing sharp rows of teeth and a white/silver tongue. And then, like Grendel in the epic poem Beowulf, it let out a great shriek of rage. Along with screech, a shockwave of multi-colored energy exploded from its center, then expanded along the sphere into a nuclear like dome of energy, which encompassed everything…

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”Radiation levels in the red zone! Artemis' structural integrity is failing! It… I never seen anything like it. It's like the dimension is tearing itself apart.” the sensor officer announced hysterically, fear present in his voice. Taggart didn't respond right off, even when Nadia turned to him for orders. I should have called them back, damn it. Bad move, Alan. He thought. Though the VANGUARD presence in Artemis had been apparent, he only sent the Jackals, Nadia Velasgo and Esteraund Legato ahead, rather than risk any Phantomas. The battle was still raging on, but it had all but ended now, as a good percentage of the enemy orbital frames had withdrawn from battle. After all, their main objectives had been accomplished with that surgical strike, so why waste anymore forces that could be useful in a following battle? Still though, that didn't solve Taggart's problem. Instead of a legion of orbital frames, he had to deal with the cause of that radiation surge, VANGUARD weapon or not.

”Is Behemoth 3 still in position?” Taggart's concentration was broken by the gruff voice of General De Franz. He looked over to him, narrowing his gaze as if warning him not to do anything stupid. He knew what he was thinking.

”Behemoth 3 reports heavy fire coming from all directions. It requests additional support.” The comm. officer replied.

”Order Behemoth 3 to fire its Vector Bomb into Artemis now! I don't care if it's being swarmed, I want that sphere gone!” De Franz ordered.

”Belay that order, Lieutenant.” Taggart countered, then looked over at De Franz, “Isn't it obvious, General De Franz, that whatever is happening in there is beyond your control? Simply firing a Vector Bomb into the sphere will more likely make our problem worse.”

”Shut up, Taggart!” De Franz barked, “I let you have your fun running the show, but now I'm going to pull the final curtain. Stay where you are, otherwise I'll kill you on the spot!”

One of his subordinates attempted to draw her side arm, but Taggart shook his head, telling the Lieutenant to stand down. The Lieutenant gave him a look of shock and question as a response, at which Taggart narrowed his eyes, telling the young officer to trust his judgment on this one. Reluctantly, the Lieutenant complied and retracted his hand.

”Fire the Vector Bomb, now!” De Franz ordered.

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A good distance away from the battle, as escorting Platoon fought valiantly against the overwhelming orbital frame forces, the Behemoth marched into firing position. Its back lasers were firing in all directions now, taking out as many Raptors as they could, thus giving the giant LEV time to reach its target range. Then it found its mark: a cliff that faced directly in front of the sphere. Planting both feet on the ground now, the Behemoth's rail gun charged with electrical energy down its edges. Then, at the last second, it fired its payload out from the two-pronged gun and toward Artemis.

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Raven roared, his voice now echoing with a phenomenal presence, along with the chant-like resonating around the frame. Anubis twisted around with ferocity and fired off his own shots into the Vector Bomb, causing it to explode into its Vector Trap mode earlier than intended. The intense black wave had once frightened Raven to no end, but now, it seemed nothing more than a wave of salt water on a beach to him. No, not even that much. Compared to the power Anubis had, what did this attempt matter? He charged energy into Anubis' right arm, then had the white frame reel back to the left. “Amun…” Raven began, willing Anubis to form more and more energy. “…RA!” he called out. Anubis brought its arm out into a sweeping motion, launching off the purple, black and white energy from its arm, forming a spherical shockwave of its own. Its runner could only give off another beast like roar that many had considered being the sign of insanity, as the wave impacted against the expanding Vector Trap. For a moment, the two energy waves clashed with energy, sending quakes and peels of lightning down the sphere, but after that moment ended, Anubis' shockwave overlapped the Vector Bomb and absorbed it. But upon absorbing such a blast, the shockwave exploded in a bright white light that shined out even past the sphere's glass barrier.

The Cerberus and the remaining UNSF and VANGUARD forces were all engulfed in the light, the men of each end completely blinded. As well, Leo and Garrett both covered their eyes from the bright light, even though they were some distance away. For there was such power here, that it seemed to spread throughout Mars for the briefest of moments, before dissimilating from existence. But, that was only the beginning. From the sphere of energy, Anubis silhouette shown like a dark star in a brightly lit sky. Comm. chatter tripled upon the site between the LEV pilots and orbital frame runners, when an order came, overlapping the chatter. The remaining VANGUARD Raptors launched themselves at Anubis with their beam swords armed and ready. One attempted to strike, Anubis, but the aura around Anubis was so powerful, that it didn't even touch Anubis, rather bouncing off the energy field. More Raptors dove at Anubis until it covered over the entire frame and created a large sphere of swarming Raptors. The chanting around Anubis grew louder and louder, as purple energy surged from the Raptors and into the center, the jackal frame draining the Metatron around it like a parasite. The Raptors' mono eyes flickered from the loss of energy, before shutting down completely, along with their white colors phasing out into a stone gray, signifying the metatron losing its energy.

On the bridge of the Cerberus, Taggart felt the cigar in his mouth slowly dip until it dropped onto the metal floor. Is this what Aumaan was supposed to be…? Could this frame… could it have been the original Anubis reborn all along…?

In the cockpit of Anubis, Raven's body pulsated violent as metatron energy ran from Anubis' control orbs into his body. He panted and snarled, as if trying to fight for control of himself from some unseen force. There were numerous tears around his body, arms, head and legs, his nose was bleeding heavily. One would've thought it were impossible for him to be able to move with the loss of so much blood, let alone remain conscious. As more and more energy was absorbed through Anubis, he felt his strength begin to waver, and something deep inside him grow over him like a black fog. “I…” he said, his voice echoing with some unseen power. “I was created…” he continued, “To destroy…” His eyes flickered. “DESTROY!” Finally with a loud roar, the Raptors exploded off of Anubis along with a magenta flash that engulfed the surrounding. With the purple aura and the surrounding shockwave, Anubis gave the impression of a phoenix reborn to the nearby forces.

”All units, open fire! Shoot down Anubis!” roared a brigade commander. The Phantomas positioned and began firing their machineguns and missile launchers at the single black orbital frame.

Anubis' human eyes flared like supernovas, and its mouth opened, giving off a roar. It dashed into the Phantoma IIs with the ferocity of the jackal it held the image of, staff in hand, slicing at apart three Phantoma IIs on its first run, and then splitting in half another one down the middle, before pouncing off of it and into another group like a wild animal. One Phantoma II flew at it with its laser blade armed, ready for an overhead cut, but Anubis blocked the blow with its left arm and impaled the LEV on the eight energy blades. With a heave, it tossed the Phantoma II into another LEV team just as its Arkjet battery plant detonated, destroying all the LEVs. Raven roared in fury, Anubis also roaring at the same time, as the frame hunched over and leaped into the air, pouncing on top of another Phantoma II. This time, it cut the upper torso open with its arm blades and bit down with its mouth onto the Arkjet battery, as if it were the heart of a gazelle. Anubis ripped the Arkjet free from the Phantoma II, and crushed down, then chewing it with its teeth and absorbing the energy. The Phantoma II died at that point, so Anubis leapt off of it again and tackled another LEV, giving a beast like roar as it attacked.

”Nemesis One! Nemesis One! Lieutenant Vostrikov, respond!” The people on the Cerberus could only watch in horror as the orbital frame they had feared four years ago seemed to return to life, full ferocity.

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Now donning a red flight suit that matched her orbital frame, Lieutenant Mirielle Faroh made her way into the Cerberus's launch deck, heading straight for Scarmiglione. Even before Taggart's announcement, she had been preparing for the now inescapable battle ahead of her. I should have killed him… she thought. Mirielle didn't know how he did it, but she at least knew that it was Isaac Mattheris, that awakened Aumaan, and had manipulated Raven by taking advantage of his Elemental abilities. There was no other explanation, because only a few number of people outside of Special Taskforce Aegis knew Raven was a Dark Elemental, and fewer knew the nature of his power. The only other besides herself, Raven and Isaac that knew of this was Esteraund, but he would never do something that would force open Pandora's Box.

So, with her objective clear, Mirielle dodged the various mechanics and finally made it to Scarmigilione's cockpit. She opened it and jumped in, then immediately began activating her cockpit systems. Mirielle was thankful that Scarmiglione didn't take much time to activate, since it responded to her touch more like a war horse than a mechanized weapon. She keyed into control. “This is Nemesis Four, I'm ready to launch at anytime.”

“Nemesis Four, you are not cleared for…” The operator began to say, but got moved aside. General Taggart, who was still standing at the comm. station, heard Mirielle's announcement, “Nemesis Four, this is Taggart. You realize what you will be up against right?”

”That's correct General, but there's no other way.” Mirielle said solemnly, “We won't be able to contain such energy without Jehuty, and neither are we capable of neutralizing it. If I can reach Raven, then I maybe able to stop Anubis' rampage.”

Taggart took a moment to contemplate, and he replied, “Don't let your personal feelings get in the way of your mission, Red Phantom.”

Mirielle blinked, wondering why Taggart used that specific codename. “As ordered, Taggart. I'm lifting off.” Scarmiglione's hip thrusters flared on and it slowly hovered to the linear catapult. Moments later, it was airborne…

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Aumaan Anubis still continued to attack the LEVs, but at this point, its power seemed to increase. Just waving its right arm, Anubis created a great shockwave that vaporized a legion of Phantomas. In fact, as more Phantomas began to pile up on it, Anubis roared and let out a great shockwave that consumed the attacking LEVs as they approached on their suicidal runs. When the shockwave subsided, there was only a large crater around where Anubis was standing, with no more than a few glints of metal to show that the Phantomas were once there.

Anubis turned to look for more targets, and he found one of the Behemoths moving about to target it with its weapons. But before Anubis could approach, a chain of energy bolts shot down from Raijin's defensor weapons and Athena's beam bow, forcing Anubis to jump back. This was followed up by attacks from Yuriko Ishikawa's Grafficane and Xander Roanoke's Idolo, who made a double slash across Anubis' back. Anubis screeched at the attacks and zero shifted away from its attackers, staff in hand again. It looked across where Idolo was standing, and then zero shifted to attack it. Only a quick draw of Idolo's arm beam sword deflected the oncoming attack. Like a cornered animal, it tried attacking any of the five frames at once with its staff, and even creating more shockwaves, but unlike the Phantomas, Orbital Frames were could deal with the attacks. Even after they got knocked back by the shockwaves, the five frames kept attacking.

”We have no choice. Make hit and run attacks, don't get sucked into a straight fight.” Yuriko said as she had Grafficane halt with its air brakes. Sure enough, Anubis overshot and flew past, and Yuriko took the opportunity to charge energy for a burst attack at the same time. A golden fiery bolt shot out of the right Gilius clamp, which blew cleanly into the black frame's back. A second shot nailed one of the wing binders. However, much to Yuriko's chagrin, no serious damage had been made, and instead it only had Anubis turn to face her, arming its staff. “Powered up or not, I can still fight you on equal terms Vostrikov.” Yuriko seethed, raising both Gilius clamps like martial arts weapons.

Anubis flapped its wings and dashed forwards towards the orange frame, and Grafficane dashed at Anubis as it spun its staff and made for an overhead strike. Yuriko raised the right clamp in time to block the strike from Anubis, and threw it off. It then climbed in altitude, launching itself into the air with its hip binders, moving to stab downward into Raven's orbital frame. Anubis dodged backward from the clamp and raised its own to staff, but Yuriko was quicker: hitting Anubis first with the tip of the right Gilius, then slashing diagonally across it. Anubis moved to dodge, and instead of the chest, Grafficane hit Anubis' shoulder armor. Anubis tried to stab the orange frame, but it countered the staff and drove forwards. However, this time Anubis blocked the attack with its arm blades, then made a hard slash that cut Grafficane at the chest. Yuriko barely managed to fly back in time, and even as she did, she got smacked aside by the shockwave.

“Not now, Grafficane! Don't fail me now!” Warning alarms went off in Yuriko's cockpit, as her frame had taken 60 damage just from that one strike, and she could only struggle to regain control. “Nemesis Three, dodge!” was the command from Esteraund Legato. Yuriko regained control of Grafficane and flew back as a hail of lightning shots tore into jackal frame, coming from all directions. Anubis quickly disengaged from Grafficane and formed an energy shield around itself. It roared at Raijin, moving to attack it.

Raijin quit on its own attack and withdrew its defensors back into its tri-binders, while Esteraund formed the frame's arms into energy blades. Esteraund knew in a straight forward match, he wouldn't last against Aumaan Anubis, but with the way the frame was fighting, he could take advantage of the beast-like combat style. Anubis attempted to impale Raijin's head with its staff multiple times, but Esteraund merely shifted his frame's head from side to side, dodging each and every attack that Anubis threw at him. He then had Raijin dash into a spin, which took him behind Anubis, and make a triple slash at its exposed back.

Anubis roared in pain and whipped around; attempting to knock Raijin away with another shockwave attack, but Esteraund flipped under Anubis and shot up when the shockwave passed over, headbutting the human faceplate's “chin” in the process. Raijin then backed off as Athena dashed in and impaled Anubis through the side with its arm blade, which in turn flew away before Anubis could fight back. It made two slash attacks with its staff, but Nadia blocked both. “Not this time…” Nadia growled, as she executed a combo slash attack that knocked pieces of Anubis' armor away. The dark framed screamed and caused a shockwave to form, throwing Athena back away from it with the force of a hurricane. The blow was such that it Nadia was out like a light. “Colonel!” Yuriko called out, firing a bounder off at Anubis.

Anubis deflected the attack and charged energy and fired a homing burst attack. This time though, instead of just a regular missile, the attack flew in a straight-line, and was shaped like the head of a predator with its mouth open toward Grafficane. Yuriko attempted to dodge, but the attack slammed into her, sending Grafficane dropping like a fly.

In the midst of this, Xander Roanoke also came out and slashed at Anubis, but unfortunately, his blade was caught by the staff and held there. He struggled as he held Anubis in place, giving Colonel Velasgo and Sage Arthur time to move away. He put more energy into Idolo's blade, and the eyes behind Idolo's visor flared green. Anubis roared at Idolo, but the shockwave blew over like a breeze rather than an attack. Xander Roanoke wasn't going to break, not when his objective was in front of him.

Was this what Deimos was like…? he thought. “What?” An image flashed in his mind upon that mention, and he almost jumped back at the image. It showed Idolo emerging out of Deimos Station and attacking the UNSF Phantomas in what felt like a rage. However, for some reason, Xander couldn't feel any human presence controlling Idolo, at least from his observing the way it moved and reacted to the attacks, which was much faster than Radium Lavans' speed. “Idolo…?” he asked, flashing back to reality. Anubis reeled back and was about to smack Idolo away with the back end of its staff, but Xander reacted faster and kicked Anubis across the face, then flew back before a follow up strike could be made. Why did you show me that, Idolo? Is this what I was…?

Anubis flew at Idolo as it jetted back, and once again the two frames' clashed blades. Xander threw Anubis' attack off, and dodged the follow-up attacks, jetting away further. ”Nemesis Two, ascend now!” came an order from an unknown source.

As Idolo ascended, a new comer entered the battle, faster than any of the frames present except Grafficane, which it matched speed with. I'm sorry Raven. Scarmiglione intercepted Anubis and clashed its Beatrice claws against its staff with a surprisingly deadly force. But I can't let you become consumed, either by your own powers or Aumaan's. Anubis' eyes widened when Scarmiglione broke the clash and made slash combos across its surface. It roared and attempted to retaliate, but Mirielle was faster, grabbing it by the head and throwing it to the surface. She launched downward and tackled it into the ground, slashing and hacking at Anubis' armor with Scarmiglione's claws. However, Anubis reached out and grabbed Scarmiglione in the torso, and fired a gauntlet shot at point blank, sending it into a cliff face.

It moved to attack Scarmiglione, but before it could, a curious event occurred. Idolo dashed in, covered over by a green aura and tackled Aumaan Anubis away. In the cockpit, Xander Roanoke's eyes flared green, matching the energy of his orbital frame. “So this is my purpose…” he spoke, looking at Aumaan Anubis on his targeting screen. He expertly parried its staff thrusts and slashed back with Idolo's arm blade, cutting another large gash across the chest armor, followed by three energy shots he launched into the wound. Anubis screeched, and Xander dashed again, making more cuts across its torso and knocking it down.

For a few brief moments, Xander managed to establish a vid window into Anubis' cockpit to try and talk Raven down. However, what he saw through the static told him that such an attempt was futile. Raven was still in there alright, but he had changed drastically. His eyes were now pure purple instead of dark, and his skin was pale as a ghost's, just like the rest of the frame. In fact, he was emitting his violet aura again, and was even sporting a pair of black energy wings off his back, which was actually excess energy his body couldn't form into the aura. His face showed pure rage, but Xander saw his lips curl back once or twice into an `amused' sneer, meaning that he wasn't just fighting out of anger, but he was enjoying it.

The worst thing Xander saw of this beast was that it was bleeding. Looking over Raven's upper torso, he saw large gashes seeming burned into his arms and chest, bleeding off blood much like waterfalls on Earth would run water off. It was obvious that this was caused by the immense radiation, but Raven didn't seemed to be deterred from fighting. It was as if something else had taken over his body and making him fight even though he was slowly dying. Xander knew such a being would continue to fight, perhaps even through death itself.

”For a long time, I've wondered exactly why I was created…” Xander spoke, panting out of energy, “What I must do to atone for the sins made by my original. At first, I thought I had to kill those that abused Metatron's power. However…”

He dodged a homing laser attack from Anubis, zig-zagging around the crimson bursts. “Now that I look at how you are now, Raven, and remember the lives this frame took at Deimos, I realize my true purpose.” He fired a burst attack into Anubis torso, sending it flying back a little, but it still wasn't down yet. “Do you know what my purpose is?” Xander spoke.

Anubis just roared, and then cut into a dash to impale Idolo on its staff. As well, Xander focused all of his energy into Idolo and went into a lightning fast dash himself. Both frames past each other, and for a moment, it seemed as though neither side was the victor.

“To keep things like Deimos or Aumaan from ever happening again…”

Anubis let out one last snarl, before it finally fell back, giving into its wounds. Before it fell, its body turned back into its original form, with the wings returning to their struts, the armor changing back into a humanoid shape and the `mouthpiece' reforming over the human faceplate. As it landed on the ground with a large boom, its crimson eyes dimmed slowly, as if TKO.

Xander had Idolo turn around to look over its opponent. “Nemesis Two, are you alright?” came a voice over Xander's comm.

It was Mirielle, who had hovered over to Anubis' position. Mirielle's breath caught in her throat when she saw Anubis on the ground like that. “Is he…?”

”Just unconscious. Probably from the radiation poisoning.” Xander explained.

Mirielle choked, trying not to cry. “Thank you…”

Raijin and Grafficane hovered down to ground level where Anubis laid. Scarmiglione got up from the ground and hovered looked up at the two frames.

“You…” Yuriko snarled at Mirielle, “What the hell did you do?”

”I gave it some flesh wounds.” Mirielle said solemnly. “My attack put enough damage on it to allow Xander to make a final blow.”

”It? Don't you mean `he'?” Yuriko asked.

Mirielle shook her head, “Raven wasn't in control of Anubis.”

”What?” Both Yuriko let out.

”She's right.” Esteraund stepped in.

”How do you know?” Yuriko demanded.

Esteraund sighed, “Just look at it.” Esteraund had Raijin gesture. He gestured the animalistic shape that Anubis had fallen into. “Does that look like a human was controlling it?” he continued, “The piece of Aumaan that exists in Anubis was brought to the surface for whatever reason. However, it was too powerful for Raven to control…”

”So why is he acting like that? Him or Anubis…?” Yuriko asked.

”As I said, it was too powerful for the kid, and that includes his psyche. The energy brought up parts of Raven that he's been trying to hold down, and continued to try and hold down up til now.” Esteraund explained. “To tell the truth, Raven has always been somewhat unstable. Good kid, but still mentally unstable. He can't control his emotions as well as other human beings can, and along with his emotions, he can't control his Elemental powers either…” he sighed, “He holds his thoughts and emotions back not because he's a trained soldier, but because it's the only way he can control his power. Unfortunately, he can only take so much before his emotions break out and he loses it, and that's what Aumaan did to him.”

”But that doesn't explain why he's attacking friendly units…” Yuriko said.

”That's because Anubis' AI system has taken over.” This time, it was Xander who stepped in, “All orbital frames are pre-programmed to take control of themselves when their runners are indisposed. It seems the radiation from Aumaan has altered Anubis' AI system as well, so it cannot identify from friend or foe…”

”No.” Mirielle said, “That's not it.”

”Oh?” Xander looked at her for an explanation.

”Yes, the AI took over, but that wasn't what attacked. He was trying to waste the excess energy from Anubis.” Esteraund said.

”He? Raven?” Yuriko looked confused.

”Yeah.”

”You said he's not in control of himself.”

”It's the basic instinct of all living things. If something's causing pain, you try to get rid of the pain. It's because he can't focus the energy into a single point that's made Raven turn into this.” Esteraund said, as he watched Anubis continue to struggle, “When Jehuty was around, Raven responded to Anubis' hate for that frame and tried to dump all the energy into destroying Jehuty. And when VANGUARD and the Space Force attacked him, he responded to his instinct by defending himself, and at the same time trying to get rid of Aumaan. Thanks to the damage we gave it, the energy has been contained and Raven is resting.”

”Yeah, I just called in the Cerberus.” Mirielle said, “They confirm that radiation levels are dropping.”

“In that case, there's nothing more we can do.” Xander said, “Jackals Three, pick Anubis up and take it back to the Cerberus with us. Nemesis Four, fly behind them and make sure there aren't any more VANGUARD frames in the area.”

”And me?” Esteraund asked.

”Just keep hold of Athena, Guardian Two.” Xander ordered, making Idolo lift from the ground, the other frames followed in formation, as they flew off toward their home base. As Xander raised communications to the Cerberus, so he can get a medical team out into the hangar upon arrival, he couldn't help but look at Anubis one last time. The power of Magic… he thought, as he remembered Deimos and compared it to what Anubis did today.

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Now coming up on the Atlantis, the orbital frames Ifrit and Jehuty approached at a relatively slow speed, partly because of Jehuty's current state. The runner of Ifrit kept his frame going as low as he could, making sure that his comrade made it back to safety. No words were exchanged between either runner, but there was a common trust there, enough so that there was no need for conversation. Not that it would help, cause Leo Stenbuck was now unconscious, knocked out by the loss of blood. ADA had resumed control of Jehuty now, keeping it trailing along side Ifrit at a speed that was slow, but enough so that the frame's structural integrity wouldn't fail.

The runner if Ifrit, known as Garrett Shatner to everyone but a select few members of VANGUARD and the Atlantis, was now in a confused state. Not specifically over his encounter with Nadia Velasgo, but because of a different matter. During Anubis' attack on Jehuty, a curious thing happened to him. He thought he could hear music, but not the hymnal music that first came into his frame. Oh no, this one was much more familiar to him. He traced the origin of the music to a small compartment at the side of his cockpit, a small storage space meant for one specific item.

As if clarifying what that item was to himself, he unfurled his left hand and revealed a small, copper colored button, an antique in this day and age. It was the kind of button that played a sound track, whether be it speech recording, a certain kind of noise or as this one did, music. The tune this one played, as `Garrett' heard during Leo's battle with Anubis, was a piano track, a basic piano tune that was digitally integrated into the button. The song itself wasn't that unique except to `Garrett', but it usually sounded soft and hopeful.

The song played as Anubis began to battle with Jehuty, and with it came an imaginary force that kept Ifrit from joining the battle, then ending just before Anubis began to tear the blue frame apart. The runner couldn't understand it. Why did it play at such a crucial time? What… what was she trying to tell him? Or was it he? Or both brother and sister alike trying to get something to him?

He didn't know what was going on, but, for the first time in years, the man once known as Cage Midwell felt tears run down his cheeks at the memory of Ares Enduwa and Myona Alderan…

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”So this is where it ends, gentlemen…”

”Nonsense! This is where it begins! There is no doubt the UNSF will deploy its full force now…”

”But really, was this really necessary? They could put Vostrikov's son under imprisonment for displaying such power, and Anubis back into mothballs…”

”We had no choice; we needed to know if Vostrikov was compatible with Aumaan, his performance with Anubis alone wasn't enough to confirm that fact. Neither was Isaac's little show in Margaritifer.”

”I hate to say it, but I agree with the geezer, Bal. Cage Midwell did similar deeds with Testament, but he never ascended past the level of a mere runner, and he is no Elemental either. That means anyone can turn an orbital frame into a killing machine like Anubis on the regular level.”

”Au contraire…” came a new voice from the darkness. “Cage Midwell may not have been an Elemental, but he still had a deep bond with `Testament', because that frame molded its avatar after that of his lover, Pharsti Shatner.” The figure stepped into the open, revealing himself to be Isaac Mattheris.

”You… How dare you show your face here you pompous…”

”Silence! I have allowed Isaac Mattheris to join this conversation, out of the reason that he knows more about Aumaan than any one else, including Esteraund Legato…”

Isaac smirked. “Still, it is quite a shame that your expectations were not met. I believe Raven was supposed to wipe out all of the VANGUARD force deployed, but instead he began to turn on the UNSF force as well. We can still counter that if things become too unstable.”

”What are you suggesting?”

Isaac's grin widened, “The Third is ready to awaken.”

There was a brief silence from the three monoliths. “The Third? Set?”

”It has remained dormant until now, as it feels the resonance from its two brethren. It would be the advantage VANGUARD would need…”

”It doesn't matter, we didn't wish for VANGUARD to win its crusade. Their role is merely the first act of this show, and nothing more.”

”King Eagle understands this, as well as the rest of the Talons Unit.”

”What of Leo Stenbuck and the Atlantis?” Isaac asked.

”They will find out in time what the real path is, and they will follow it. As Domineus of Jehuty, Stenbuck has no choice but to do it.”

”Interesting, very interesting.” Isaac laughed, at a level that would cause blood to freeze. “But, how long until he reveals himself?”

”He will reveal himself shortly after VANGUARD has been disposed of, no more, no less.”

”And what do I do in the mean time, my lords? The Third has been awakened, and it's very boring standing on the sidelines, with Dr. Vostrikov having left to join Wilhelm and his army.” Isaac quipped.

”It's simple… It is time for us to confront Raven Vostrikov.”

”Isn't a little early for that?”

”Not at all. Young Vostrikov's mind has transcended space and time, already having crossed into Asgard. We must `prepare' him for the task he must take.”

Isaac laughed maniacally, “I have been waiting for this moment for seven years! That display of anger! I haven't felt such a spear of hatred for ages!” In the background, a pair of golden eyes flared active. Metatron lines began to pulsate, outlining the silhouette of an orbital frame, one of immense power.

”Very good. Take the Third and make yourself known to Aegis. It is about time things began to get interesting…”

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END OF ARC 1: DOMINANCE