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James stood before the three creatures with sword raised and tempering its flame towards them. Sa-shi-ha recoiled with a shivering of her leaves as HOX stood defiant with a snort of his proboscis next to the partially-damaged crab-beast that creaked on its bended legs, whilst Chanoch slowly moved between laboratory shacks around the outer rim of the huge sculpted cavern.

"Wh-what, what are you doing?!" gasped the supox.

"Keeping my distance from conspirators," said James with a hardened glint, "the past few hours have led me to question any of your intents."

"I-i-i thought you had perished when you fell, I am so sorry, I-i, I..."

She welled up with tears in her thick insect eyes, bleary without lids as she wiped them clean with her fronds.

"F-forgive me...I...I brought you to this awful place and I almost ended your lives on this entire pursuit, I swear to you I had no intention of anything towards you!"

"I understand, but here you are debating with that THING over there that almost killed us!"

"How Did You Survive?!" cried the crab-beast. "You Do Not Possess Any Exoskeletal Frame To Withstand That Deep A Descent!"

"I have magic and wit on my side, and YOU are going to explain to us what in the saviour's name is this forsaken place, what those MONSTROUS arachnids are and why you are setting up laboratories down here!"

"I Have No Reason To Indulge In Your Ridiculous Demand Of Ignorance!"

"Indeed we do not," said HOX with a glowering eye and crossed tentacles. "You will not assuage us of our duties and your ignorance of the work we achieve here is palpable at least."

"Professor I am not in the mood for your postulate, nor is my friend sir Jarogniew who at this moment has a rifle aimed at your skull."

"Wait, wh-where is your friend?!" gasped the plant.

"He is nearby, do not fear. But unless professor HOX can explain himself then he shall feel the wind whistle through his brain."

"NO!" She hovered straight towards the VUX and hugged him tight. "N-NO, DO NOT HURT HIM, PLEASE!"

"WH-WHAT are you DOING?!" blustered HOX grabbing at her waist.

"HE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS, P-PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT HURT HIM!"

"I can take care of MYSELF for VUX sake!"

"I LOVE HIM!"

"...what?"

"...I love you." Sa-shi looked up at his large eye with blistering tears from her twin orbs. "I-i followed you since we met at the university."

"Are you serious? ...you...I thought that I merely convinced you that Reichell was a good place for a job of your servitudes."

"I did not care where I went, I only wanted you. I...I always admired your intelligence, your confidence, y-your ambition I envied because I never h-had any myself...I was always drifting like a spore on the breeze and then I heard you t-talking about viruses and wanting to save people against 'the greatest most difficult enemy of the galaxy' I thought...I knew you could give me that."

"Give you...what?" gasped HOX.

"Ambition. Confidence. I thought you could teach me how to be...s-something I wanted to be."

"...S-sa-shi. I never realised." He placed his tendrils up along her shoulders slim. "I mean, naturally many would look up to me, worship and admire me that is just accepted for my exceptional skill but...to love me the way you do I have...I-i-i have never known such a thing."

"I want to be with you HOX. Wherever you go...I want to never leave you. Just please...do not shut me out of this. Tell me what this place is."

"I-i, no, I cannot, my orders from the Director are-"

"FUCK THE DIRECTOR!" she screamed slapping her leaves on him. "F-fuck...them, f-fuck their roots to Vlik the Director does not CARE about us, all they care about is making a profit!"

"Now now be reasonable-"

"YOU SAID THE SAME THING, you told me that yourself!"

"I was being flippant!"

"Were you?" She stared at him with tightened mandibled jaw. "You said I did not know the director like you do, so tell me then. You know I would trust you to the ends of the galaxy and I have never wronged you."

"That is true, you have always been at my beck and call for every need that I require...and you have always supported my research first before any other had the chance to-"

"Then please tell me. Tell me what Sector Zero is, I need to find those humans, THEY need to find their humans!" she pointed back to James still holding his sword. "I never suspected you, I tried to tell them but your movements were so suspicious so what is this secret the Director forced you to?! Please."

HOX took a deep breath, rubbing his eyelid as he pushed himself from her and walked slowly away from the group. His long tentacles wrapped behind his back as he nodded calmly.

"I am the finest immunologist in the galaxy. Through my work alone, and a piffling number of assistants, I am responsible for eradicating many diseases that so threaten our existence as sentient beings. My father fought on the battlefields, but I am a greater soldier than he ever could be for my opponents are not simple beings of flesh and cartilage, but in fact something much more sinister and intrinsic. Things you cannot shoot with a gun or cleave in twain with a vibroblade, no, beasts that require pure intelligence to defeat. Any fool can wield a metal stick, but it takes TRUE power of the brain to be able to conquer the irascible disease."

"Get to the point," barked James, "we are not your students in the lecture hall and I still remind you you have a metal stick aimed at your head."

"This is precisely why you are a basic student and I am a prodigious professor." He raised a tentacle high to the heavens beneath the dozen rigging lights. "But regardless I understand the situation we are in means that I cannot mask my objectives from you any longer."

"What?!" the crab-beast cried with a claw towards him. "Healer HOX I Must Protest, We Know Nothing Of These Outsiders And I Must Protect The Hive!"

"Your people shall be safe, I can assure you that."

"I Cannot Comply With This, The Director Said-"

"Be QUIET you blithering invertebrate!" HOX turned towards him with arms swinging out as if gauging for a fight. "And could you PLEASE come out of that wretched automaton or do I have to drag you out of it?!"

"My AUD System Is For The Protection Of The Hive!" ranted the crustacean. "If We Are Discovered The Director Themselves Said That We Would Be Exiled And That Our Entire Operation Would Be For Naught!"

"I AM WELL AWARE OF THE CONSEQUENCES TIXSILGA! His voice almost screeched ringing off the cavern walls. "I AM IN CHARGE HERE, and I am the one responsible for your needs NOT the Director, the Director can suck my TAINT for all they have bothered to do!"

"H-Healer HOX, Do Not Speak Of Such Blasphemy!"

"The only reason your kind are still living well is because of MY research requiring you, as such I command you to cease your obstinance, and be damn glad you are not a convicted murderer with the survival of these two nincompoops blundering around for their pet humans!"

"THOSE HUMANS ARE OUR FRIENDS!" ranted James. "They are NOT our pets how dare you!"

"WHATEVER, SEMANTICS, TELL THEM NOW TIXSILGA! Tell them of my glorious ambition and do not spare any detail of what masterpiece I have wrought from your people's efforts!"

The crab looked down towards the earth, gently pondering something to itself for the next minute of silence between them all with the sounds of hissing grinds from inside its shell. After a short deliberation it looked back up and seemed to nod at them.

"Very Well. If Healer HOX So Chooses To Entrust You With Our Eyes Then We Cannot Refuse." The crustacean clanked forwards dragging its crippled legs in tow. "I Am Tixsilga, The Voice Of Sector Zero. I Beg For Your Forgiveness In My Previous Assault Upon You."

"I am not certain about forgiveness," said James stepping forwards with sword still raised, "but I will choose not to hold it against you for the time being."

"That Is Acceptable. Forgive Me For Not Vacating My Defence System, For I Cannot Trust The Outsiders. Now, What Knowledge Do You Desire Concerning Those Of Sector Zero?"

"Well, for a start you can tell us what exactly is Sector Zero."

"It Is Here You Stand, Our Home Since We Were Abandoned By Our Former Hive."

"Former hive? So, you are one of those arachnids in the darkness back there?"

"Yes, I Am One Of The Ilwrath."

"Wh-what?!" gasped Sa-shi-ha reeling back in her pod. "Th-the Ilwrath?!"

"Who are the ill-rath?" asked James.

"A fearsome species of zealous arachnids, their entire civilisation is devoted to worshipping gods that lust for violence and bloodshed. All I ever hear from them is about evisceration, cannibalism, torture, celebrating the orgies of destruction as praise to their gods."

"But My Hive Is Different," continued the arachnid within the machine, "We Were Left To Die Upon This Rock, Imprisoned By Our Birth."

"Wh-why? Why would the others just leave you?"

"We Are Cursed By Tainted Blood. Blood That Was Rejected By Our Elders For Its Foul Taste And Without The Pleasures Of The Birth Rite To Incense Them, They Abandoned Us To Die Here In Our Egg Sacs. But, We Were Found By A Healer That We Came To Call The Director."

"The director found you?" asked the supox floating upwards. "How?"

"Allow me," said HOX patting a tentacle on the machine, "the Director in their youth as a medical student was cultivating a new plant species in the newly-discovered Reichell system. At some point they stopped upon this asteroid which frankly is more of a moon by how it orbited the planet but semantics you understand, a satellite rather. Anyways, the Director dug into this place and found Tixsilga's hive. Now, normally the Ilwrath are exceptionally aggressive to all outsiders, but because they never partook in the Birth Rite which indoctrinates Ilwrath spawn to become the vicious sentinels of their peers, the hive here are rather docile in comparison."

"They are not harmful?" asked James trying not to look at where Chanoch stood with rifle aimed. "They were clamouring for us and called us friends, but I thought it was a euphemism for prey."

"They are harmless yes," said the professor nodding towards the steel crustacean. "Tixsilga is an exception for he is the leader and as such had to be taught aggression by the Director in order to protect his kin."

"The Director TAUGHT him to fight?!" gasped Sa-shi reeling slightly. "Also, what did he mean by tainted blood-"

"A misnomer on the Ilwrath's part do not worry about such," HOX waved dismissively, "and more specifically they built this machine, their partner Morha actually was a Thraddash engineer from Culture Sixteen."

"A thraddash?! Really, they had a...p-partner?"

"Indeed." The VUX brushed his coat with a little scoff to himself. "We may have arrived at similar times, but having become part of their greatest project, naturally I would be privy to such intrinsic details."

"I do not understand," said James shaking his head, "what is it about these Ilwrath that make them so special for your research."

"Blood," said Tixsilga standing proudly to full height in the crab, "The Blood Our Elders Considered Tainted. Healers Came To Us With Gifts, Strange Devices That Gave Us Joy To Watch And Play With As We Became Friends To Many Creatures. Thraddash, Supox, VUX And Pkunk, They Did Not Fear Us And It Was Good. In Return For Their Gifts, They Asked Us For Our Blood, They Told Us That It Was Special."

"Ilwrath plasma is an exceptional thing," said HOX continuing, "they are a universal donor despite appearances, and their plasma works perfectly in so far every single organic species that we have encountered, meaning that it becomes a vital component to galactic medicine as a whole, do you have any idea how INCREDIBLE that one species has plasma that can cater to every single flesh-bound being throughout the stars?!"

"That...that does sound amazing," James started to lower his sword as the threads connected.

"Of course it is almost impossible to find and contain Ilwrath to be able to extract, and even more impossible to actually find one actually willing."

"Th-these...are our blood donors?" Sa-shi-ha floated forwards to the professor. "All this time we were...extracting the blood of Ilwrath?"

"No no, PLASMA my dear, that is a different thing from blood. We must separate the blood from the plasma but we do essentially have to extract it still."

"And they do not mind this?! They do not mind being essentially captive as experiments?!"

"We Are Not Experiments!" barked Tixsilga pointing a claw at her. "This Is Our Home, We Are Well-Treated And Given Gifts, Our Lives Have Become Greater With The Director And Their Healers To Keep Us Safe. Our Blood As Payment Is But A Pittance To Us And If We Can Aid Others Across The Galaxy Then All The Better."

"I cannot believe this...I have never known a kind Ilwrath."

"I Understand That My Hive Are An Anomaly, And That My Aggression Forms Distrust But Please Consider That We Have Never Known The Outside Beyond Our Home."

"I see. My apologies then." Sa-shi bowed gently with fronds clasped. "This is all so new to me and in the midst of an investigation my mind is already reeling from such discovery."

"Have I Answered All Your Questions Then?"

"I...guess you have," murmured James sensing his aggression wane as he sheathed his blade, "I cannot forgive you still for your attempted murder of us, but I can at least understand your need to defend your home and its importance to the base."

"Well then," the professor clapped his tentacles gladly, "now you know everything and can continue your search, without abating our research for improper needs-

" KZHHHAAA-A-A-A-A-AARRRRGH!"

The crab-beast suddenly screamed as a white ball of lightning tore across its back, ripping through the shell and twisting its carapace into fractured peels of metal. They all stepped back in fright as the crustacean staggered with claws swinging in anguish, legs crunching underneath from its awkward weight as another burst of solid light electrocuted through. Trapped and shivering into one place, it became a perfect target for the peerless blade that cleaved down from above and drove fully into its skull with a brutal crunch. The sounds of something choking in bloodied gasps could be heard inside as the sword pulled back to wrench open a hatch on the front of the robotic creature. Slumped against a control panel was one of the very arachnids that James and Chanoch had fled from, now bleeding a thick emerald goo from its abdomen where the sword had gouged him clean.

"No no no," said Fleek-Gleek wrenching the sword from the curling corpse, "you dinnae jus' end thuh conversation afore thuh good stuf comes oot ya one-eyed prick."

"Wh-wha...WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" cried Sa-shi.

"Teachin' you a lesson not tae FUCK WI' ME!"

Behind him HOX pulled out his tranquiliser gun before he was shot by a third plasma shot that sizzled his flesh, and knocked him down with little more than a numbing frenzy through his nervous system. Chanoch took aim towards the shooter but another blinding orb came hurtling towards his position.

"I warned you about your shots," said Shuffa crawling from behind another rock, "seems you never digested that aurally hmm?"

"Wh-wh-what...what...what in the NAME OF VUX IS GOING ON?!"

"Allow us to introduce ourselves."

The spathi slid her way over towards HOX to grab his arms behind his back with rifle strapped to her own.

"We are the Angels of Aurum, and you shall do exactly as we say or else things are going to get MUCH worse."

"WHAT?!" shrieked the supox. "Y-YOU!?"

"BOTH of us thank you, even I could not pull off an entire operation on my own AND CHANOCH!" She pulled out from her belt a small black-and-beige pistol to aim at HOX's head. "This is a PX20 Pistol, it is NOT harmless so unless you come out and be a good little encrustling I will finish the job for you."

"N-NO, NOOO!"

"A-AH NO YA DON'T!" Fleek-Gleek jumped down with a hard crunch of his steel legs in front of her. "Get back an' stop screamin' ya fuckin' mandrake AN' YOU, wee lad with yer sword, keep that thing in its sheath or ahm gonnae prune yer friend's face fer good!"

"Wh-what is going on?!" cried James stepping back. "Why are you-wh-what is...how are you the Angels of Aurum?!"

"Cuz we are, ken? Yer either no' or you are!"

"B-but...but, no, that...that makes no sense, y-you are our friends!"

"I am terribly sorry James," said Shuffa keeping her gun against HOX's ear, "we did not want you to see our machinations nor did we want to involve you directly. Now mister Chanoch, I know you are here so please come forwards and put down your weapon or else our dear friend HOX will have to be terminated."

"Y-you cannot do this!" barked the VUX. "I am the greatest immunologist of the galaxy, whatever you plan on doing will be fruitless without my help-"

"OCH GIES IT A FUCKIN' REST YA WALL-EYED CUNTFACE!" The dactyl raised his katana to almost pierce HOX's cheek. "You think yer sae FUCKIN' IMPORTANT, that there's nae dozens o' others talented oot there that could easily replace ya?!"

"I am a PINNACLE of ingenuity!"

"Yer just a sad bastard who got lucky is whut, there's a reason ya work in a FIELD o' science cuz there's others plowin' it wi' ye, not that you'd ever notice when you didnae ken miss pretty-pots here wantin' tae be plowed with ya!"

"H-HOW, DARE YOU!"

"ENOUGH!" Shuffa barked tightening her grip on his arms. "Chanoch, come here now!"

The soldier stepped forwards with rifle aimed towards them. He slowly let it fall against his chest with hands raised as Shuffa relaxed nodding her stalk at him.

"Gooood. Now, we can all just calm down and explain things fully because I think professor HOX omitted a few things from his testimony."

"T-testimony?!" he sputtered.

"When you get taken before the tribunal, that is what we will call it in the periodicals."

"What tribunal, I have never committed a crime unlike YOU murdering bastards-A-AAAH!"

"Thuh fuck did ah telt you aboot insultin' mah wife?!" The yehat scratched his face with the tip of his vibroblade. "Next time ahll aim higher fer yer eye fucklechuck."

"J-just stop this NOW!" cried the supox behind him. "What is this, wh-why are you doing this, why are you-w-were you responsible for everything?!"

"Did you kidnap our friends?!" barked James beside her. "Answer me!"

"SHUT UP, JUST SHUT UP FER FUCK'S SAKE!"

Fleek-Gleek panted with the fullest restraint as his fingers shook across the blade handle.

"Let...me FUCKIN' SPEAK afore ya start jumpin' doon mah beak ya PRICK!"

"Fleek...calm down."

Shuffa nodded to him as she took deep calm breaths that he copied in turn, shaking from beak to feet as his trembling became less. James backed off with his hands up as he motioned Sa-shi to do the same, watching the yehat bend his knees with creaking pneumatic joints.

"Better?" she asked him.

"Aye...th-thank ye. Alrigh', firstly ahm sorry we killed that Ilwrath guy."

"Your apology is hollow like your wings," snorted HOX.

"But you all need tae understand summat aboot this place. This station's not just a medical research base, it's also committed a crime against mah hame an' Shuffa's."

"I know that we have come in rather strong," said Shuffa calmly raising her stalk, "what with that sudden assassination and I understand that you are immediately confused and distrustful of our intents."

"You just c-came out of nowhere and murdered him," whimpered the plant with shaking leaves, "without provocation!"

"I know and I apologise but in the greater scheme of things you will come to realise-"

"NO! I do not want to hear this, I am exhausted! I am struggling to keep things afloat in my stem, I have two missing humans and I find there is an entire cavern of blood donors we have been harvesting since their birth!"

"Why should we listen to anything you say now?" asked James spreading his arms.

"Because of this."

Fleek pulled out a small black rectangle and placed it on the ground, turning it on to reveal a holoscreen large enough for the room to see as James flinched in shock.

"M-MASTER! ANDREA!"

Bound to a set of metallic slabs next to each other, Haytham and Andrea were unconscious and blindfolded in a vertical position with restraints and an additional black band on their limbs.

"See them wee dark thingies oan there? Those are welding tools, ah used 'em aften when ah wuz workin' oot oan thuh nebula rigs, you jus' slip them rings doon a pipe an' when it stops at thuh righ' length you jus' turn oan this." He brought out a small remote. "An' it sends a laser that cuts through the entiiiire thing to shear it clean so imagine whut it'll dae to flesh an' bone."

"Y-YOU-...YOU BASTARD!"

"A-AH!" Fleek stepped back when James tried to lunge. "You dinnae wan' mah fingers tae slip an' one of yer friends has tae end up in a hoverchair now wouldya?"

"You-...what is the point of all this, why even drag us into this incident!?"

"We had no intention of kidnapping your friends," said the spathi readjusting her grip on HOX's limbs, "I promise you that we never wanted to involve you, in fact I can even assure you we will not even kill your friends."

"We WILL harm them," said Fleek, "if you's dinnae behave, we're no' stupid, we ken that the uh...uh, the, fuck whut's her name-"

"Andrea."

"Aye, she's someone we need tae get this wormhole business sorted oot, or else oor plan willnae succeed aye?"

"Exactly. So please...do not force our hand to commit more bloodshed."

"That does not make it any better!" Sa-shi ranted throwing her fronds above. "You, did, y-you-if you are the Angels of Aurum then YOU were the ones that murdered Blon, Grue and Breen!"

"So as to prevent communications from reaching out, for a short while until our plan was complete."

"BUT yer friends somehow overheard whut we were sayin' durin' thuh dance," said Fleek snorting incredulous, "we turned aff oor translators an' everythin', yet thuh one in aw thuh robes wuz like 'ooh ah suspects me a plot let's stick mah big fat honker innit' an' then they found thuh comms room before we planned anybody tae an' that's why we tranq'd 'em."

"T-translators?" James' eyes widened with a hand to his mouth. "The omnilex."

"What about Twikky?!" cried the supox "He was just a lab assistant!"

"YOU BASTARDS MURDERED TWIKKY!?" shouted HOX. "He was my best assistant, he was the only one that remembered my coffee!"

"No raising your voice!" insisted Shuffa with a grind of her pistol on his cheek. "We are all fully-grown creatures we can debate this rationally."

"You COMMITTED acts of terrorism!"

"And now you are so innocent?!" She leaned her stalk in front of him to meet eye-to-eye. "At least WE acknowledge what we did you filthy VUX."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"I will get to that, please no spoilers! But yes, Twikky was an unfortunate casualty since he would have eventually discovered where we hid your friends."

"We were plannin' to return yer friends afterwards we swear!" said Fleek waving his wing. "Once oor plan wuz complete, we'd drop aff thuh humans at thuh visitors' dome an' naebody would be thuh wiser but here we are noo."

"I will not listen to terrorists." The supox huffed trying to put on the bravest face. "Whatever your demands are I will not hear them."

"Oh do not fear," said Shuffa tapping her eye with the gun, "it is not YOU we want to have listening. Professor, do you perhaps have a direct contact to the Director?"

"What?!" HOX snorted trying to crane his neck. "What do you want with them?!"

"You shall soon see, now tell me where your commlink is, or I can just shoot you and retrieve it myself from your warm flaccid corpse."

"Hmph...the pouch on my belt, to my right."

"Fleek could you do it for me?"

"Nae worries dear."

The yehat walked up to their hostage and roughly shoved his fingers into his belt, digging around to pull out another black rectangle that he clicked. A soft ringing sound vibrated from it as they waited for almost a minute for the call to send during which no one said a thing to savour the silence.

"HOX, what is it, I am in the middle of-" the Director revealed themselves on another holoscreen looking shocked at his state. "What, wh-what is this?!"

"Halloooo," Fleek waved with a false cheer into the shot, "remember us, Shuffa an' Fleek, security guards, turns oot we're ACTUALLY the Angels of Aurum."

"WHAT?! Is this some sick joke?!"

"Hah! Sick, oohoo yer good, thassa good pun, ah would be laughin' if ah wuznae slowly dyin' but we'll get tae that part."

"D-Director!" cried Sa-shi. "They killed our communications staff, th-they, these two kidnapped the humans and are holding us hostage!"

"Okay just so we're clear, we didnae WANT tae kill them, ah didnae enjoy daein' any of it, also we're only hauldin' ONE hostage here an' these other three are just audience!"

"We plan to compensate our victims' families if any," said Shuffa rubbing the barrel of her pistol on HOX's face, "through the compensation that WE are owed to by the Reichell station."

"What about those drones a-and that robot attacking the ballroom!?" demanded the plant-secretary.

"Did any of the UNARMED people die during that? No, it was only the guards that suffered casualties."

"What compensation?" asked the Director with visible sneer. "Is this some union tactic?"

"Let us refresh your memory. Professor, do you know what Zero-D is?"

The look that came across HOX's face said everything, a tightening of his eyelid and the smallest wiggle of his proboscis.

"I...I-i know nothing of the sort."

"Are you sure about that?" warned Shuffa. "Director, would you like to answer?"

"He told you already," they replied, "they know nothing of Zero-D whatever that is."

"I see. Alright well-"

BZHHW!

"A-AAAARRRRGH!"

"HOOOOX!"

Sa-shi screamed as the professor fell suddenly onto one knee with a blackened burn on one side of his leg, a laser wound that singed from its entry as the VUX shuddered with squinting eye.

"I will not ask again." She screwed the warm pistol's nub against his head. "Answer the question...or you will lose your prized immunologist and all that work of yours shall be wasted forever."

"You would not dare," scowled the Director, "you need him to even understand it."

"Who says we wanted to understand it? I only want to hear you say it. Answer. The fucking question."

"......yes." An audible gasp came from both HOX and Sa-shi. "I am aware of what Zero-D is."

"For the sake of our foreign audience, could you explain what it is?"

"Zero-D is a virus that destroys the immune system, gradually over time."

"Immune system?" asked Chanoch tensing his hands carefully.

"Your body has a protection system against diseases. Whenever a disease infects you, your immune system creates an army of cells specialised to attack and destroy any infection. Then once it has defeated it, the cells study its pattern and when that same disease returns in future, they adapt far quicker to eradicate it faster."

"A body can do that?"

"Yes. But there are a few viruses that bypass it to infiltrate your system. The virus replicates inside of your blood cells, encodes and then reverses the genetic material of your cells in order to create more of itself. It then creates enzymes that tear apart the immune system, and shut it down almost entirely."

"And Zero-D is one of them," noted Shuffa with a tender bow, "am I not correct professor?"

"Y-yes," stuttered the VUX trying to balance on one foot, "it does exactly that."

"To which there are many symptoms. Oh don't worry, we are not going to ask you to list them since well, me and my husband have-"

"We ken whut they are cuz we're fuckin' DYING," snarled Fleek burning his eyes into the Director's screen, "all because of YOU an' yer fuckin' greed."

"What?!" The supox CEO shook their head confused. "But...no, we never gave you-wh-where would you have obtained such an infection?!"

"You recall that Ilwrath," said Shuffa gesturing with her pincer, "before my husband silenced him, on how he noted that his kin have 'tainted blood' that the other Ilwrath found rather distasteful? HOX tried to move you past it as a 'misnomer' but we were quick to keep on."

"Why kill the Ilwrath then?" asked Chanoch shrugging with open arms. "You could have let him explain."

"Because he is the leader of this hive and an actual threat with his aggressive combat system, plus he would never dare disobey the Director or their 'healer' so he had to be dealt with. Regrettable but at least he died a warrior's death, so HOX noted that Ilwrath plasma is a very valuable resource because it is a universal donor for literally any species of organic structure bizarrely. But you did not realise until too late that it had been infected, and that the very reason these Ilwrath were kept underground so isolated from everyone, was to prevent it from spreading."

Silence for a moment as the two let their guests and hostage process this. Sa-shi-ha murmured something as James shook his head.

"I thought...well, I thought you...I actually did not know what to think, I did worry about you being so fatigued on the tram, but I did not realise it was because you were sick."

"Lemme tells you a story," Fleek-Gleek walked in front of the monitor with a slow march. "Far away on thuh Yehat homeworld is a wee town oot in thuh southeast swamps. Ten year ago a Mycon Deep Child crashed doon upon it, ruined thousands o' lives, buildings crushed an' a huge problem fer thuh Yehat royalty who haftae come provide support. So they dae whut they dae, start sendin' oot forces tae stop thuh Mycon from burrowing intae thuh planet or else it'll start pulling oot magma an' meltin' oor beaks aff thuh place. But you still have a good hunnerd-thousand wounded so they ask fer help. They contacted you."

"W-wait, wait what town was this?" asked HOX.

"You didnae make thuh fuckin' connection?" The winged beast turned to him. "Thuh town's called Aurum. It's oan yer reports, with all thuh places you fuckin' sent yer diseased blood tae that needed help. YOU didnae fuckin' check, afore ye start sendin' oot this shite that when mah wife an' I were surrounded by oor friends an' neighbours, WE WERE BLEEDING TO DEATH, AN' YOU INFECTED US!"

Shuffa's pincer gently rubbed the trigger of her pistol. Tempted. So tempted but the last vestige of her restraint flickered in her eye with a twitch in her lid that came down to a squint.

"Do you know, what it is like to never be able to sleep at night again? To wake up shivering in the summer, or sweating in the winter? To struggle not to die of dehydration every time I have to relieve myself?"

"I-i-i did not need to know tha-"

"DO YOU KNOW WHY MY HUSBAND IS SO UPSET?! Because his liver is ruined, his wings shake, his bruises never heal, and I have to cut up his food for him like a little encrustling because his gag reflex is so weak that too large a chunk could KILL HIM!"

"Now, I know you are upset but please consider-"

"ENOUGH!" She fired her gun near his leg to make him flinch in his limp. "Do you know what my husband did last week? He sat on our bed sobbing, bereft lugubrious because he could not remember when his birthday was. Every month, every week that passes, something is gone from his memory and both of us fear that one day that he will forget who I am."

"That is preposterous!" barked HOX heaving to resist the burn in his leg. "H-how can one forget such things?!"

"YOU THINK WE'RE FUCKIN' LIARS?!" screeched Fleek. "YOU THINK WE WOULD GO TAE THIS EFFORT, AN' PRETEND THAT AH CANNAE REMEMBER ANY OF THEIR FUCKIN' NAMES?!"

He swept his wing out towards everyone else with the exception of the Director's monitor, before raising his katana's tip towards HOX's large quivering pupil.

"Our life is ruined because of you an' yer boss, an' the FUCKIN' YEHAT ROYALTY no' only made a deal with ye to felch this blood disease ontae us, but then they deny everything!"

"Deny everything?" asked James trying to move closer to Chanoch. "How could they deny that, could your township not speak out?"

"They never apologised for it," said Shuffa stroking Fleek's head with the side of her gun. "When the townsfolk had realised what had happened, we tried to unite in a petition demanding some reparation from the government, but they rejected us. They rejected, they denied it, they did not even feign sympathy for us, rather too embarrassed by their own mistake and instead of compensating us with some sort of windfall, they abandoned us to our fate. Sixty-seven thousand, eight-hundred and ninety-three of us that are alive still and suffering from Zero-D."

"B-but, this is too extreme!" cried Sa-shi-ha moving closer carefully. "What happened to you is horrible yes but, what about medical aid from charities, o-organisations, someone?!"

"Do you really think that THIS was our first resort you petal-brained dunderlion? Of course we tried everything, crowd-funding, appeals, legal battles but nothing worked! When we tried to reach out to others, we were flooded with abuse, being called backwater swamp village full of whores that debased themselves and infected each other with our own hubris despite every attempt we made to correct them.

"Our friends suffered too," said Fleek keeping the blade quivering before HOX's eye. "Our friends an' their children, some of whom have already died in thuh four years it took fer us tae infiltrate this place, without EVER bein' given thuh right tae be proven innocent of becoming victims of arrogance. YOUR arrogance, Director."

He swung his katana swiftly back towards the monitor as HOX flinched, shivering from the wind that brushed across his sclera.

"Our demands are as follows," began Shuffa. "Twenty-seven-hundred million credits allocated to the town of Aurum, with immunoboosters supplied every seven rotational periods at no extra charge. If you do not comply, or try to sell us short, we publish everything to every major medical institute, as well as the New Alliance of Free Stars, compiled in a narrative explaining how YOU infected us, through YOUR ignorance of this tainted blood and how YOU REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR CRIME!"

"And what will you do after this?" said the Director leaning forwards at the screen. "You have no means of escape, and as important as HOX is to me, one hostage makes very little a bargaining chip."

"WHAT N-N-NO!" sputtered HOX fidgeting. "I am a PLATINUM chip, nay, an UNOBTANIUM chip, how dare you dismiss me so-"

"QUIET YOU IMBECILE! Now...as I said how do you plan to escape, we will not let you leave."

"Oh but you will," said the spathi, "not because you want to, but because WE can."

"Wh-what's happening?!"

The monitor plunged into darkness as an emergency system tried to back up, leaving a red warning glow across the supox's face. Sa-shi felt an alarm ping on her bracelet of something unbelieveable that made her face reel in a look of horror.

"MORHA, MORHA REPORT!"

" A virus has been detected in our systems, causing a lunar-wide shutdown of all security protocols."

"WH-...WHAT!? HOW?!"

"I admit this one is rather obtuse," said Shuffa, "but we did manage to slip a virus into your security."

"How did you-...wh-what-" Sa-shi frantically tapped her bracelet to bring up the coding screen, "a-areas, all domes are unlocked, n-nothing is working, every door is open and every security station is shut down, n-none of the surveillance is-...wait...w-wait this code I...I recognise this."

"What are you talking about?!" ranted her boss. "These two do not possess the technical aptitude to infiltrate our systems we are a class S-4 Station!"

"B-but this was the code I saw when the containment labs were breached!"

"Indeed it was!" crowed Shuffa waving her pistol like a conductor's baton. "One of my sisters is a professional biohacker and gave us a rather fascinating idea. After the subsonic blast went off, we planted an unknown DNA strand at the scene for your forensic team to find. All my sister had to do was inject a digital virus INTO that DNA sample, so when your friends in forensics analyse it...system failure."

"Th-that is not possible!" ranted HOX now fighting harder with a gasping groan. "You cannot put a digital virus into DNA that is literally impossible!"

"Maybe if you were better at yer job you'd ken it wuznae," muttered Fleek.

"DON'T INSULT ME YOU BEAK-SHOVELLING BRIGAND!"

VOX tried to push towards him before a searing shot grazed his foot from Shuffa's pistol. She locked onto his head with a scowling lid of her eye that mirrored his when she slipped her eyestalk directly round his head.

"My patience wears thin, professor now be quiet. And yes, as my husband said, it is possible, I do not know the exact science myself but the point is it worked."

"Then who is hacking us then?! Is someone on the base helping you?!"

"Her family." Chanoch crossed his arms with a slow nod. "They greeted us at the entrance desk."

"Hhhhohohohohhhh GOODNESS!" Shuffa nodded gladly as Fleek clapped in his direction. "What a clever big boy you are, how did you figure that?"

"You said only your family called you 'Shoosie'. They called you that."

"OH! What an unfortunate slip of my oral muscle, if only you had figured that out sooner."

"I knew they were your family. Just not planning this."

"Then yes, some of my siblings have joined me as part of the infiltration to take revenge, and we are all leaving together along with your entire Ilwrath colony AND the data concerning Zero-D."

"Firstly you are most certainly not," said HOX defiant with his head aloof, "and secondly, why did you implicate ME of all creatures in accusation?!"

"Cuz yer a perfect fit," said Fleek dipping his beak close to him, "arrogant, secretive, access tae a lot o' things, we needed you fer stuff anywa' so why no' use you fer a patsy?"

"I will NEVER be a patsy you malodorous ZBORNAK!"

"Too late!" He patted the VUX's head before neatly slicing his bracelet off with a twist of the blade. "This one's mine by thuh way."

"NO G-GIVE THAT BACK! YOU BASTARD DON'T YOU DARE PLAGIARISE MY WORK!"

"An' DON'T any o' ye think aboot gettin' in mah way. Specially you." He raised his sword towards Chanoch especially. "Ah like you big guy, yer honest an' hardworking an' ah dinnae wan' tae kill you."

"This is not right," said the lizardman scowling, "you know it is not right."

"Wuz it right when they hauled aff tainted blood to mah people who were bleedin' oot on thuh streets?"

"No."

"Then in this case, two wrangs make a righ' somehow."

"That is false. Stop this now."

"Why would ah dae that?" snorted Fleek slowly walking past him at blade's length.

"Because I can help you."

"...really?"

"Yes. You are sick, if what you say is true then you have been abused."

"Ch-chanoch what are you-"

James tried to move but Chanoch put out a finger to silence him.

"You are a victim of injustice. This will not make it right."

"You actually agree with us?" Shuffa blinked somewhat startled. "I mean, I admit I did not expect any of you to-"

"No, I do not agree. I understand, but I do not agree."

"Then what do you suggest? Sit down and hold claws for a little safe space to talk about our emotional umbrage?"

"Killing those who cannot fight is wrong. No matter what."

"Even if they're as bad as thuh criminals that shiv an' rob people oot oan thuh streets?" argued Fleek heading to the laboratory door behind him.

"Criminals are punished by law. That is why you have laws."

"OUR laws didnae work." He opened the door with the bracelet and stepped in. "You's stay there by thuh way, any o' yous move an' ah take yer friends' legs aff fer mahself."

Several minutes passed in silence as Fleek rummaged around in the small cabin. Eventually he returned with a small red rectangle the size of a lighter.

"Nice of ya tae keep all yer data in one place professor."

"I swear to VUX," the professor gasped sweating from his slippery brow, "if you steal my work from me you will never live in peace again!"

"You already did that you fuckin' nonce, ahm jus' earning mah compensation."

"Even if you shut down our security systems," warned the Director from her screen, "you will never be able to transport a hive of Ilwrath through the facility unnoticed."

"Ahhhh but that is where you are so dearly incorrect!" said Shuffa pulling HOX away to the exit. "One thing we discovered in your security system was a specially-sealed tram service you installed down here, in case of evacuation for your underground denizary subjects!"

"What, NO! Th-there is no such thing-"

"Oh stop pretending you stamen-headed dropsy, we know everything already, we just EXPLAINED it rather long-windicated and by now all of your little arachnid friends have shuttled off into the safety tram like good little bugs, just as you taught them!"

"Stop this." Chanoch tried once more stepping towards them with hands open. "I can help you Fleek, I do not want to see you turn this path."

"Ahm already oan it," said Fleek grabbing HOX's arm, "but nice of ye tae care."

"You can stop this now. The Director does not want an incident, we will find a way to cure you."

"IT'S NOT ABOOT CURIN' ME, IT'S CURIN' MAH FRIENDS AN' NEIGHBOURS THAT ARE DYIN'!"

"Then we will help them. But if you walk out of here now, you will lose that chance."

"We already did," said Shuffa pulling HOX away into the darkness, "we have a tram to catch, we are locking you in only for a short time and once our virus has done its duty the system will reboot safely. We shall send you the coordinates of your human companions so as to return them unharmed. Please understand, we never meant to bring you into this conflict."

"We didnae wan' tae involve yous," said her husband, "jus' thuh Yehat royalty needs tae learn whut it's like tae be on a death timer with a wee infection o' their ain, an' THEN they'll understand...then they'll have tae answer for their sins an' YOU are gonnae help us Director, unless you want tae be responsible fer mah government's chaos. Goodbye...ahm sorry fer thuh people we killed."

The door sealed itself behind them, locking as Shuffa said whilst they quickly looked around for any means of another exit. The Director's screen along with the captive Andrea and Haytham had been left behind as a means of both trust and mockery. Eventually the screen with the hostages lit up a map of the station showing a large blinking red dot where they were currently held as the welding bands snapped open and fell from their limbs.

"They actually kept their word," gasped James, "that means we...we can recover them."

"They know we cannot follow them," said Chanoch rubbing his fist, "they trust us to leave with our friends and not pursue them."

"Why..."

Sa-shi turned tearstruck to the Director and shook her leaves curled against her body.

"Why did this happen? They t-took him, they took HOX and now this station is falling apart because of them!"

"Get a hold of yourself," the boss huffed leaning back in their bubble, "you are a security analyst yes? So start analysing security and break through this."

"I-i have no idea what to do, I do not have access to ANY of this sector, this is new to me!"

"If I had the systems running I could upgrade your access...what else do you have down there?"

"There is nothing but laboratories, this place is far too deep underground to start digging through a-and I cannot see any ventilation I can reach-"

"WAIT!" James suddenly hopped and ran back towards the construction site. "I have an idea, come with me!"

"What, what is it?!"

"Just hurry, and bring those screens with you!"

Sa-shi picked up both devices and floated on behind James with Chanoch leading up before the lemming stopped before the giant machine that stood against the rock wall.

"Can you activate this?" he asked Sa-shi.

"I-i do not know, I do not have clearance!"

"It is just a machine surely you can open it up and make it work!"

"I only know cybersecurity I am not a hardware specialist!"

"But I am." The Director looked towards them from their screen. "I know how these machines work, if you follow my instructions I can break you out of there."

"Really?! ...well, a-alright then."

"First you must find the emergency reboot panel, situated on its left thigh."

The supox analyst hovered up towards its leg and started feeling around for some sort of panel. Eventually she felt something click and popped open to reveal a complex-looking control panel.

"A-alright, what now Director?"

"Normally we only reboot during a magnetic failure, but it still jumpstarts the system either way. Press and hold down the red button, whilst pulling the lever on the right. Do that three times, that will force the reboot."

Sa-shi carefully did so, pushing her leaf firmly on the button before the lever thunked downwards. She felt it spring back up and pushed it down once more, but on the third time a deeper sound howled from within the machine that rumbled through into Sa-shi's leaves.

"I-it, it, IT'S WORKING!"

"No no not yet," the Director warned, "now press the buttons in this exact order. Blue, yellow, green, yellow, red."

Doing so made the machine's chest open up with a grinding whirring noise, the casing that opened becoming a lift that slowly descended towards the ground.

"Get inside, all of you."

They hopped on as the lift took them back up, surprisingly managing their weight combined as they reached the cockpit in the form of a surprisingly large pit centred within the goliath's heart. There lied a strange apparatus between two consoles that resembled a set of vines twisting into a vague humanoid shape before the large screen showing the outside cavern.

"You, the reptilian, get inside that."

"What?!" gasped James.

"The magna-loader requires strength to pilot," explained the Director, "miss Sa-shi will help configure your settings for the easiest experience."

"Pie-let?" muttered Chanoch looking over the odd vine-restraints. "What is that?"

"Just get in that and I will show you. Sa-shi when he is ready type in what I say."

The soldier carefully slipped himself into the restraints, finding himself to be slightly hovering above the floor as the analyst typed in what her boss relayed through a series of instructions. With each set of commands the apparatus jolted and lifted Chanoch with tighter restraints as James stood back against the wall watching nervously.

"Wh-what are you doing to him, this is not going to hurt him is it?!"

"Not at all," said the Director, "he is going to become the magna-loader itself."

"What?!"

Suddenly Chanoch was enveloped within a pale blue aura, hard-light wrapping around his arms and legs to become thickening muscles that wrapped round his chest like a dozen threads of sinew. It felt strangely tight, snug yet airy as he carefully moved his arm forwards, seeing the robot's arm lift with his own.

"What...is this?" gasped Jarogniew turning his "giant" hand.

"Now you are in full control," said the Director, "every movement you make shall be replicated by the magna-loader itself."

"It is like a suit...a giant suit, of armour."

He tried to walk forwards, feeling his leg swing underneath him as the colossus shuddered forwards with a creaking groan of its knee, planting its foot thickly into the hard dirt as dust shivered from its body like a silken cloak. James sat down in the corner trying not to fall as Sa-shi kept on the console tweaking commands to fit the pilot's specs, whilst Chanoch himself took another three steps to feel the weight of the machine surge forwards around them with gargantuan steps.

"It's working," gasped the supox, "i-it is working!"

"I cannot believe this," murmured James hugging the back of the cockpit, "this thing feels so much more grandiose than it looked from the exterior!"

"I know that I am asking much of you," said the Director, "considering neither of you are members of this station. But I implore you, for the sake of our research and the Reichell Lunar Base, to stop the Angels of Aurum from leaving this place."

"Of course we plan to stop them, we have to save our friends!"

"Then I ask only that you recover as much of the Ilwrath as possible along with professor HOX. If you cannot bring in the terrorists alive, then I authorise you to kill them. Try not to damage the base, please."

"We shall do our best Director. Now let's move out!"

"The wall behind you shall lead you out of your confinement."

"Good."

Chanoch flexed his arms as the giant mech did so in turn, grinding its shoulders to shed the last pieces of dirt from its joints as he walked and turned towards the cave wall behind him. The soldier reared back his fist and drove it hard forwards with a colossal slam, crunching into the thick stony strata as it started to crumble before punching his other fist even harder. With each slam he grew more confident in his new "body", the knight taking a few steps back as the entire cave shuddered with the magna-loader's weight. He took a short running charge and piled his body through the bedrock with a colossal shoulder, crunching through into a tall and wide tunnel of underground rail tracks with reinforced structures all along its ceiling.

"They went westwards," said the Director anticipating his question, "go, before it is too late!"

"We cannot catch them in this!" cried James.

"The emergency tram runs slowers than the standard one for safety reasons. You have a chance yet, they are heading towards the underground hangar we prepared for emergency evacuations."

"I will stop them," said Chanoch turning his foot as the giant turned with him, "they cannot leave this place."

He spotted something however that gave him an idea. A large steel pipe that had been left behind for fortifying the cave walls with. He bent down at first, but his machine hand opened to suddenly glow a fierce blue gleam that shot out a magnetising force to pull the pipe towards him. Jarogniew was surprised, but now he felt comfortable grasping this 20-foot long weapon as he marched down the tracks, his stomps echoing through the grand passage as he made a careful walking rhythm as his legs swung underneath him, creating a pendulum motion with his limbs to try and pick up speed from a brisk walk to a lumbering jog. The cave shook with every step of the mechanical beast, its arm carefully gripping the long pipe against itself to not damage the walls as it ran faster and faster. Soon it had picked up a monstrous speed equatable to a T-rex on the chase, pounding its colossal feet into the rail tracks as the darkness continued on.

"What about our friends?" asked James towards the Director. "Should we not recover them first?!"

"I have already sent a security team to retrieve them," said the base's CEO, "they will be fine, you must stop those two from escaping first and foremost."

"I have an idea," said Sa-shi-ha keeping algorithms moving on the screen, "the magna-loader has a ranged EMP drive in its hands, if I can get close enough I can shut down the tram!"

"That will not work, it was specially-shielded with anti-pulse coating to prevent such things, you will have to bring them out of the tram to disable their remote."

"Or we get inside it," said Chanoch, "one of you can stop them."

"There are no means to breach the tram from outside, you will have to chase them to their stop. The tunnel will pass through two hangars in reserve before it reaches the stellar dock. You will have your chance there."

"I SEE IT!" James staggered forwards to the front. "There, that glimmering sheen!"

In the depths of the dark was a small silver light that picked up as they rushed closer towards it. The sounds of rumbling pneumatics greeted them to the emergency tram ambling through at a cautious pace, but still at a speed just above that of the mech pursuing it. James kept watch on the screen of Haytham and Andrea seeing they were still intact and asleep before more silver lights came hurtling towards them.

"What is that?!"

"Drones!" Sa-shi gasped. "They have more of these?!"

"If they planned out their route we should expect enemies at their stop."

"Chanoch, take them down before they disable us!"

Running at a constant rhythm the soldier lifted up his unarmed hand and used his magnetic palm to suck one of the flying drones in before crunching it hard within its steel fist. The hoverbots started firing their own EMP shots as Chanoch raised his pipe to block their shots, diffusing the short-range bursts before swinging hard at one and pulling another drone in with his magna-fist. Once it was close enough he punched it straight through the tunnel, sending it crashing along the top of the tram as he crushed two more of them against the wall with his length.

The tunnel soon ended into a hangar with grand walls and various ships in maintenance with missing wings and gutted hydraulics. Engineers fled in panic like orange ants as the bullet train hurtled through with the magna-golem chasing after in steps that left rubbled prints in the cold floor behind it. Soon they encountered a new obstacle in the form of two other magna-loaders, piloted by Shuffa's spathi siblings that clicked through on their comms.

"Whoever you are, cease your pursuit of the tram and surrender quietly!"

"Do NOT stand in my way!" barked Chanoch.

"STAND, DOWN OR ELSE WE FIGHT!"

"THEN FIGHT ME HERE!"

The knight swung his huge pipe with a cracking blow against one of the mechs' shoulders, throwing it off balance to send it crumbling against the wall. The other mech stomped towards him in a charging gallop with a driving fist, but Jarogniew pulled his body back in reflex to swerve his goliath surprisingly sharp like a boxing dodge before crunching his fist hard into the other robot's waist. The sight of the lizardman fighting in the suspended apparatus whilst the entire machine shook and rumbled around them was startling to James, stumbling against the panel beside him as he watched the fight from without.

"L-LOOK OUT!"

The first mecha had lined up a large steel crate to kick like a football hard towards Jarogniew, the soldier stopping it mid-air with a hard crunch of his support-beam weapon as it clunged onto the hangar floor with a deafening shock that terrified the workers below them. In the midst of their impromptu evacuation, they watched frantically crying out at the damage as four more crates were tossed towards Jarogniew, blocking with his pipe or slamming down to the floor as one of the loaders grabbed a discarded support strut.

"YOU CANNOT STOP US!" cried its pilot. "THIS IS JUSTICE FOR OUR SISTER!"

"AND ALL WHO SUFFERED BECAUSE OF THIS STATION!" shouted the other pilot ripping off the top of a crate to form a giant saw. "If you leave us now we won't tear you limb from limb!"

"I will not," said Chanoch to the comms, "if you cared about your family, you would not join them to commit such grievous crimes against the unarmed."

"I'LL SHOW YOU A GRIEVOUS CRIME!"

The mech with the jagged saw came slashing towards Jarogniew as he dodged in a clunky strafe, the feet of his suit much heavier than he expected them to be as the other loader came swinging with its strut like a baseball bat. Chanoch blocked it easy with a clashing song that echoed throughout the hangar, scraping his weapon down to the mecha-enemy's hand to come in close with a hard punch to its chest that sent it staggering hard into a half-fall against the hangar wall. Its partner in crime made a vicious swing of its corrugated blade that Jarogniew blocked with his free hand, shredding through the hard steel wrist and sending a numbing shock through his body.

"NNNNGH!"

"Are you alright?!" gasped James.

"Is fine, I have had worse."

"Be careful!" said the Director pushing their face against the screen. "Any damage you take whilst attached to the mech will send a neurofeedback to your brain!"

"What?"

"If you lose that limb then your own limb will be briefly paralysed in turn!"

"PARALYSED?!" James scrabbled his fingers through his hair.

"Not ACTUALLY lose it, just it will become numb until he leaves the apparatus, we make sure our pilots remain safe in these!"

"Hmph." Chanoch shook his head turning his body to face his opponent. "My sister used to call me her 'brother golem'...wish she could see me now."

A smile strangely came over him as he gripped his "sword", waiting for the enemy to strike as it swung its saw-crate upon his head. He dodged to the right and with the mightiest swing crunched upon the giant's arm as a scream of shock came from within, before he followed up with a hard elbow slamming into the cockpit of the chest. Stumbling backwards to push against its feet, the loader tried to fool him with a feinting strike and followed with a hard kick, but with such immense weight it failed to deliver as Chanoch turned with one foot back, and stomp-kicked its leg to shatter the knee almost completely through. He saw the other robot recover and come rushing towards him with a giant cleave of its support strut, but then he noticed one of the ships close to him as he tore off its wing to form a makeshift shield.

"GAAAAAARGH!"

The pipe slammed upon the wing-shield that now magnetised to Chanoch's fist, crumpling it slightly but bearing enough weight to protect Jarogniew as he swung his pipe-sword against the enemy's leg. Shrieking from the numb-driven pain that rattled up inside its reactive feed, the pilot stumbled back giving Chanoch time to shouldercharge into his foe with enough drive he sent it falling on its back, following with a massive crushing blow upon its leg that the joints split in half, leaving both machines crippled and the pilots numb. He hurried through to the next hangar and soon reached the emergency dock where the tram now sat in peace. A ship was ready to leave with pale medical emblems, the wide almost-empty space in full view of the stars and Earth itself beyond a window the length of the room. The flickering blue of a force field could be seen trapping the air inside safely as Chanoch carefully stepped forwards. He saw someone on a viewing platform, above a long spiralling walkway where a green blob was fiddling with the controls.

"_FUCK, OFF! _"

A massive swing came from his left with brutal clang as Chanoch clutched against the wall to stop himself falling from the hard blow that rung through the entire suit. A third magna-loader stood to the left of the entrance, guarding the observation room.

"Hhhheheheheheheheh," the sound of Fleek-Gleek's voice rattled from the other mech's comms, "ken whut, ahm glad this place leaves mechs aroond thuh place, otherwise ah wouldnae have a chance against you."

"I warned you Fleek." The soldier raised his shield and staff. "Either you stop this now, or I end this with your death."

"Are you FUCKIN' SERIOUS?!" screeched Fleek-Gleek inside his mech. "Ah let yer friends go, whut is yer FUCKIN' PROBLEM, yer nae part o' this!"

"You have killed civilians."

"AH DIDNAE WANT TAE KILL 'EM YA BASTARD, NEITHER OF US DID! But mah hame is mair important than that, sometimes ya haftae dae sum awful things just tae see justice delivered!"

"No, you do not." Chanoch lowered his weapon for a moment. "This is not a war, they are not soldiers or a gang of thugs. They are civilians, even if they commit crimes."

"YOU DON' UNDERSTAND WHUT THEY DID TAE US!"

"I do. I was once part of an army who promised to protect me."

"Whut?!"

"I was forced to do terrible things, things even the army itself did not approve of by my commander. I was tortured, and my friends who defied them were killed before me as examples. I know how it feels."

During this Sa-shi gently beckoned James towards the escape hatch as the yehat spoke back.

"Then you...y-you of all people should fuckin' understand why ah dae this!"

"I understand," said Chanoch carefully walking closer to the control room. "But you have killed innocent people, those who were unable to fight. I cannot allow you to walk without paying for your sins."

"Even if it means riskin yer friends' lives?"

"Yes."

"...ah telt you afore ah didnae wanna kill you." The winged beast raised his own "sword" in both colossal hands. "Ah know Shuffa said that we were never yer friends but...ah liked you. Ah actually liked you...even if ah cannae remember yer name."

"If you defeat me, you can complete your mission." He lifted his "sword" up in return. "But I will not let you leave whilst there is life in my body. Forgive me."

"...all ah ever wanted wuz...s-someone to say they were sorry."

His eyes blistered with tears down his beak inside the mech, oblivious to the supox and lemming that dashed off towards the viewing platform on a gust of wind and a hoverpod.

"A-all ah wanted, w-wuz just an apology, s-sumthin' to say that sumbody took responsibility fer whut they done to mah wife. Whut they done to me. Is that s-sae hard to ask? IS IT?!"

"No, it is not."

"BUT THEY NEVER DID! THEY NEVER SAID A WORD TAE ME OR MAH FRIENDS, MAH WHOLE TOWN IS DYING, YOU UNDERSTAND?! Ah don' wanna die, I'm FUCKIN' TERRIFIED but ah can't stop! Ah can't stop this an' ah FUCKIN' HATE THIS! YOU THINK AH WANTED TAE KILL TWIKKY, TIXSILGA AN' THEM LOT WI' THUH COMMS, AHM A FUCKIN' ENGINEER!"

"You made your choice. Now I make mine."

"AH HAD NAE CHOICE! Nothin' worked, nothin' FUCKIN' WORKED an' all ah ever wanted wuz an apology! All ah ever wanted wuz someone to say 'ahm sorry, ahm sorry ah ruined yer life', but NOBODY CARED! AHLL MAKE THEM CARE, AHLL MAKE THEM FUCKIN' REGRET, EVER HURTIN' US AGAIIIIIN!"

The yehat lunged with a cleaving strike upon Chanoch's mech as the soldier dodged with a hard punch of his shield to the side of Fleek's head. The hangar trembled with the sound of their feet stomping as the yehat rebalanced himself with a carving sweep to his side and clanged against Jarogniew's waist, driving him back against the wall with a piercing scream as he rose his fist towards the cockpit. Chanoch blocked fast with his shield deflecting the arm across his view and headbutting against Fleek's cockpit with a surprise stagger. Swinging his blade across Fleek-Gleek took two steps forth and made a feinting strike, bending his legs to switch his pole into an upwards slash that tore through Chanoch's defending staff. Trying to throw up his shield in defence, the knight felt the yehat's strike from his side that almost forced him into a stumble as he stomped his foot down hard for balance. The soldier used the recoil of his stagger to push back in a sudden rush to punch his shield hard against his opponent's chest, but Fleek grabbed his thrusting arm and swung him round with a hard side-kick that threw Jarogniew into the central hangar. But he only fell so far when he felt a second forcefield shudder against his mech to keep them separated from the tram and escape ship.

"OHHH NO, YER NAE GOIN' ANYWHERE!" roared Fleek grabbing Chanoch's arm to pull him up. "YER STUCK HERE WITH ME UNTIL ONE OF US IS DEAD!"

High above the scene of combat was Shuffa manning the controls, tapping away through the security system's checks as the sound of clashing steel echoed throughout the place.

"I will personally see you disintegrated," snarled HOX behind her with cuffs on his limbs, "rest assured I will make EVERY motion possible to have you incarcerated and executed!"

"Not before I melt your entire retina into soup," she warned turning her eye towards him, "all you have to do is sit down and be quiet."

"Do you actually THINK that you shall escape your punishment for this?!"

"Thank you for asking the very question that I would ask you-wh-WHAT!?"

She turned and fired with her mag-cannon swinging out behind her back as soon as she saw movement from the entrance. Sa-shi and James barged their way through with the lemming instantly putting up his shield-brolly to deflect the pale-bursting shot.

"HALT!" barked James. "Step away from the panel now!"

"WHY do you continue to-AH AH!" Shuffa shot towards the supox that rushed towards the VUX. "Get, BACK both of you!"

"I do not want to hurt you Shuffa, please stop!"

"And if I do then what?! HE gets away free, the Director is never accosted for incrimination, and my towndom still suffers!"

"We can help you!" cried Sa-shi-ha. "Just please stop this, I just want ALL OF THIS to stop!"

"It will only STOP when we are owed our reparation-AAAH!"

"HOX NOOO!"

The VUX scientist rushed her with furious strength, slamming her against the console as she whalloped him with the butt of her rifle-cannon and pulled out her lethal pistol. James struck out a blast of fire from his sword unveiled to make Shuffa duck and turn, firing back at him as the supox hovered low towards the hostage and grabbed his cuffs to try and break him free. Shuffa fired a neutralising blast as she screamed falling back to crumple against the wall, before the lemming blasted her side with a scorching shot causing the spathi to recoil with shuddering pain.

"NNNGH! LOOK at you!" she barked towards James. "Hiding behind your shield, pretending to care when all you have done is be an impetuous pediment!"

"I do not WANT to hurt you ShufFA: " said James. "Please do not force me to!"

"I never forced you to harry me!"

"YOU KIDNAPPED MY FRIENDS!"

"AND I RELEASED THEM UNHARMED, WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

"I WANT YOU TO STOP FIGHTING!"

"WELL I WANTED TO HAVE CHILDREN SO NEITHER OF US GET WHAT WE WANT!"

She fired the cannon at the doorway to hit near James as the plasma ball burst with ripples through his back, causing him to stutter gasping as he fell to the floor shivering with cold pain with Shuffa turning to her captive. Sa-shi had recovered and was struggling with HOX's restraints, but the spathi came lurching forwards to grab the supox and throw her to one side.

"Why do you even care about this butcher after all he has done?!"

"B-because I believe in him!"

"And not ME, the one that is still suffering and had him AND your director confess to their crime?!"

"I will not let you hurt him! I am sorry for what happened to you but I will NOT LET YOU HURT HIM!"

Outside in the hangar Fleek made a charging run towards Chanoch as the two mecha clashed with their pole-beams in an X-cross, the clang of their "blades" echoing throughout the hangar with a scream as Chanoch swiped upwards hard to meet his opponent's downward carve and push him back. Fleek pretended to stagger, using the weight of the mobile suit to lean back and wait for the next attack as Chanoch took the bait. The yehat suddenly lunged forth to grab Jarogniew's shield arm and came down hard with a brutal crunch upon the giant limb, crippling it with such force it twisted out of joint as the soldier gasped from the numbing force penetrating his body.

"THIS'LL ONLY BE WORSE IF YOU KEEP FIGHTIN'!" roared the yehat readying a full swing. "AH DON' WANNA DAE THIS BIG GUY, JUST LEAVE AN' AH SWEAR AHLL DO YE RIGHT!"

"I will NOT, NNNNGH!" The knight shoved his crippled arm forwards to take the hit of the crushing strike. "You will stop this NOW, I want to help you!"

"IF YOU WANTED TAE HELP US YOU'D FUCK OFF ALREADY!"

Jarogniew stepped back as Fleek took another swing, striking with an even harder clash of his own weapon than before and shoving the yehat back with a tremendous shove that threw him against the wall. The ground shook throughout the entire hangar with an earth-shattering sound as Fleek felt his magna-loader trip, crushing his back against the wall to slump in the corner as Chanoch came down with a mighty crushing hammerblow upon his leg.

"GAAAAAAARRRGH!"

The yehat grabbed a cargo ship next to him and tossed it furiously to crunch on Chanoch's cockpit, following up with his one remaining leg to kick straight into the mecha's chest to send him tumbling just below the observation platform. The walkway leading up to it crumbled underneath his weight as Fleek made his revenge with his enormous pipe thundering down upon Chanoch's leg to cripple him in turn. Both robots were now disabled, their legs mangled together almost forming a bridge.

"FLEEEEEK!"

Shuffa felt the sudden lurch of the observation deck as the two colossi fell against each other, sending everyone to the floor as HOX leapt immediately upon the spathi before furiously strangling her stalk with his cuffs.

"WRETCHED WHORE!"

"GLL-GLLLLRHK!"

"I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR EVER INTERFERING WITH MY LEGACY-AAARGH!"

She frantically pulled out her pistol and shot behind herself, grazing his side as he pulled back fearfully clutching Shuffa's mag-cannon and lifting it from her body to stagger and toss it by accident out tthe room. Shuffa heaved with a coughing gasp, taking aim to fire with her pistol before James threw his umbrella open across to deflect the shot, angering her even further as she turned to him with two shots he dodgerolled fast with a blast of wind propelling him out of harm's way.

"STOP IT!" she cried. "ALL OF YOU, I AM TRYING TO SAVE MY HOME, WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO ABATE ME?!"

"YOU TOOK MY FRIENDS!" barked James standing up with sword raised. "You killed innocents, you manipulated people to your own whim, if you care about justice you would not consider yourself exempt!"

"THEN WHY DO THEY GET TO BE?!" she flung her hand towards HOX. "I WILL PAY FOR MY SIN BUT NOT BEFORE THEY DO!"

Shuffa fired towards James' leg as he panicked, shooting a fireball from his sword that barely missed her eye as it swerved bending at the stalk before she shot for him again, this time for his hand as he yelped and dropped his sword. The lemming frantically pulled up a barrier of ice before she had the chance to shoot again, shielding him partially as the lethal laser refracted through the ice crystal at a warped angle to sear past James' shoulder. Clutching himself hard with cry of pain he stumbled back as Shuffa saw she had one last shot in her clip before it would need recharging.

"So eager to silence me," she snarled with twitching retina towards HOX, "you never cared about healing others, all you cared about was the GLORY so I shall give you it!"

"N-nnngh, s-stop, WAIT!"

"I CAN NO LONGER WAIT, WHEN EVERY SECOND THAT PASSES THIS DISEASE OF YOURS KILLS ME FASTER!" She raised her gun for his head. "I am so fucking sick of you, and you should be thankful that even after you tried to strangle me I shall give you a quick and merciful death, UNLIKE THE ONE YOU GAVE, TO THE TOWN OF AURUM!"

BZZZHW!

"NOOOO!"

James cried out from behind his ice shield as it started to melt, but he was not prepared for what he saw next. Standing between Shuffa and HOX was Sa-shi-ha, her fronds open wide as her body shook feverishly. The smell of burning grass, a hole blackened through her stem as she looked down at herself.

"H-h-hhhhhh...h-h-HOX...h-HOX, help me."

She turned towards his stricken face, pale with shock as she tried to smile weakly at him.

"H-h-hurts...i-it hurts...a-aaah."

Her body fell as her pod clanged against the floor, sensing the loss of her neural functions as Shuffa stepped back. Then her eye darkened.

"Have you...NOTHING to say for her?!"

"Wh-what?!"

"That...that s-stupid BITCH threw her life for you, FOR YOU OF ALL BEASTS! HAVE YOU NOT ONE SINGLE OUNCE OF REGRET?!"

Lunging in a sorrowful rage she grabbed Hox by the throat and viciously choked him with her steel pincers, his eye stuttering and twitching with a choking tongue from his proboscis. The spathi screamed ever louder, shaking him harder with throttling fury as tears dripped from her single eye.

"ALL SHE EVER WANTED WAS YOU TO ACKNOWLEDGE HER, AND YOU _NEVER CARED ABOUT HER, YOU FUCKING MONSTER! _"

The only thing that stopped her was a harrowing fist punching her in the side that threw her off. James grabbed onto her tight as the two rolled across the floor, kicking and punching with Shuffa screeching evermore as she punched him viciously across the face with both steel limbs. James tried to cover himself, but her strength was much more than he bargained for when she wrenched one of his arms back and slammed her metal fist directly between his eyes whilst his other arm frantically reached out for something, anything to stop her. The sound of cold steel crept across the floor without them knowing.

"YOU STUPID CHILD, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT HE DID TO MEEEEE!"

"G-GUH, AAARGH, G-GAARGH!"

"IF YOU WANT TO DIE WITH HIM THEN SO BE IT! You should never have come to this STATIO-_GHUHRH-A- AAAAAAAAAAARGH! _"

James could not stop himself. He felt something in his hand and without a second thought had thrust his sword straight through her stomach, piercing through her back with a hot spurt of thick violet blood. When he felt it drip onto his hand his eyes became wide in horror as she choked with amethyst tears thickening from the bottom of her lid.

"Y-you...you...wh-why did you...a-aaaagh..."

She rolled herself to the side as James pulled his sword back in reflex and frantically tossed it aside in disgusted fright. His hands shivered with a twisting knot in his gut as he watched Shuffa struggle to push herself to the control room panel and slump against its smooth steel.

"You...you have done it. You doomed me and my people."

"N-no...n-n-no I am s-sorry, I am sorry I-i-i just you were-"

"N-no...you have n-nothing to...be sorry for."

"I did not...I-i-i...I did not mean to, I did not want to do this!"

"You were only protecting...y-yourself. You...you stopped me from another murder and a small p-part of me...is...h-h-hohhhh this h-hurts."

"I-i-i...I...I-i'm sor-"

"Sh-shut up." Her eye twitched frantically towards him. "Don't you DARE let me die to a coward, you...o-own your actions, boy. You committed to this, just as I committed to my deed."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP?!" screamed James. "I DID NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN SHUFFA I DIDN'T WANT THIS!"

"None of us did...but here we are. H-hhhhrrkh...I wonder if this...is what childbirth feels like."

"Wh-what?"

"Not that I would...ever know...did not even have the chance to...see them born...was the birth-doctor that...told us first of our tainted blood and that...my only comfort was that my children were too young to feel pain inside me."

James fell to his knees and started sobbing, clutching his hair against his eyes and whimpering as her breaths struggled harder with each second that passed.

"I-i wanted to help you," gasped James turning quieter, "I-i-i wanted...I wanted to stop m-more people from being killed."

"I know...you were a fool...but so was I. You know what the worst...part of this is?"

"Wh-what?"

"Deep down...I never truly believed I would live to see truth and justice. The question now is......will anyone?"

Her eye slumped against her body, green over purple that drooled thickly from her wound as she gave her last breath. James bowed his head to the floor and sobbed harder in disbelief.

The yehat struggled to open his cockpit, damaged as it was from the battle before finally forcing the hinges free to come staggering out of the apparatus. Chanoch in turn forced himself out from his own mech seeing his opponent raise his sword with a staggering limp in his bionic legs.

"Y-you...you FUCKING PRICK!"

He hobbled towards him with katana scraping behind him, his body covered in blackened bruises that looked far more grievous than they were. Chanoch walked towards him pulling his sword out in turn with some stiffening pain in his arm and leg.

"Put down your weapon," he warned calmly, "I do not want to kill you."

"YOU THINK AH WANTED TAE BE LIKE THIS?! DO YA?! _" He dragged his foot faster behind him with blade ready to strike. "_YOU MADE THIS CHOICE, JUST AS AH HAVE, NOW ACCEPT IT!"

They clashed upon the crumpled ruins of their mech-loaders, Chanoch feeling a weakened twitch in his opponent as he forced him back to stagger falling. Fleek pushed himself up as he felt the fatigue of his wings starting to flap, cursing under his breath as he pushed himself back up and ran screaming towards Jarogniew. He struck against the broadsword with the strength of a child, muscles aching as they shook even harder trying to press his weight harder upon Chanoch's sword. The soldier pushed him back once again, a shove that threw him onto his back feet before he lunged with momentum desperate to try and thrust his blade into his opponent's gut.

"GAAAAAAAARGH!"

Jarogniew blocked, vertical blade sweeping the katana to one side as the yehat threw his sword back towards him in an arcing diagonal strike. Blocked once again, scraping past the longsword as he went for another diagonal cut. Then another, and another, always screaming, always with tears in his eyes as no matter what he tried he always met the impenetrable sword shielding his foe as his blade became weaker, his arms become heavier despite Chanoch's insistence.

"Stop it. STOP it!"

"AAAAARGH!"

"ENOUGH!"

"FIGHT, BACK YOU FUCKIN' BASTARD!"

"NO!" Insulted Chanoch booted him back as Fleek crumpled upon his back. "I will not kill you, even if you insult me."

"F-FUCK! FUCKIN' SHIT JUST FUCKIN' DAE SUMTHIN'!"

The winged beast pushed himself back up gritting his beak, forcing himself forwards with sword hung low as he carved towards Chanoch's face only to be met by his guarding blade once again. Strike upon strike, exhaustion overcome until his wings fluttered terribly. Within moments Chanoch watched his opponent become decrepit, feeble in his grip as he managed only three glancing swings of his katana before his fingers finally failed him, dropping his weapon to fall towards the hangar floor with a sharp clang.

"Y-y-you...y-you...f-fuck..."

"I am sorry Fleek." Chanoch sheathed his blade. "You fought well. But this is how it ends."

"N-n-no...no, p-please...why didn't ya jus'...g-guh..."

"You must atone for your crimes, as I did."

"F-fuck...atonement, th-thuh Director an' mah government...never fuckin' atoned."

"Then we make them. I said I would help you."

"H-how, KH-KHHHH!"

Fleek started coughing as he squeezed his chest, feeling the soldier kneel beside him with an arm round his back.

"You fuckin' killed me like they did."

"Tell me what I can do." He leaned forwards to meet Fleek-Gleek's gaze. "I will help you make amends, in your memory."

"I-if you, fuckin' cared, you woulda just let me leave."

"And what will happen? You will not be remembered as a friend or a husband, but a terrorist."

"It's just a fuckin' label by this point-egh-KHHH-KHHHRRH! F-fuckin'...hhhah...hhhhahahahahaha."

He lifted his wing to try and pull himself up against Chanoch's shoulder.

"You wanna make this up tae me? Take me to Shuffa. P-please. Ah don' want tae die alone."

"Alright."

Slipping his arms carefully beneath the winged body, Chanoch carried him towards the control room and up the remnants of the walkway where a grisly sight awaited them. James hunched against the wall shivering with his knees tight to his chest in a muffled sob, the body of Sa-shi-ha crumpled to the side and being cradled by HOX's tentacles and lastly Shuffa sitting in a puddle of purple blood. Fleek turned silent, as the closer he came to his wife the greater his sorrow became.

"Sh-shuf-...h-hoh s-spirit h-help me...Sh-shoosie..."

Falling from Chanoch's arms he clutched his wife tightly, screeching a howl of regret as her stalk limped against his chest, her glassy singular eye staring up towards him. James became quieter, almost ashamed to have his own tears be heard above the bereaved husband who rocked his wife carefully. With each cry of anguish he made it became weaker, his voice struggling with sputtered gasps as his chest became warm with Shuffa's essence.

"You said you wanted...tae help me, aye?" Fleek looked up towards Chanoch with a whisper. "Then promise me. Promise you won't let those bastards get away with it."

"Yes." Chanoch knelt down beside him. "I promise."

"Then take...t-take this." He pulled out from his belt the small red rectangle and carefully placed it in Chanoch's claws. "That's every single thing aboot thuh Zero-D...names...places it sent tae...infection rate."

"What do I do?"

"Just...promise please you'll nae let us die fer nothing. Do sumthin', anything, p-please-"

"I promise." The knight put a hand on Fleek's shoulder. "I swear by Elohim I shall do right by you."

"Th-thank you, Chanoch......h-hah...see that? Ah remembered yer name."

He started laughing. It was a horrible laugh, wracked between despair and disbelief as he pulled Shuffa close and started to pull both of them towards the control room's entrance. Nobody stopped them, either too wrapped in their own selves or watching with quiet understanding as the yehat dragged the spathi to leave a long line of deep indigo across the floor. With the last of his strength, Fleek-Gleek pulled himself up against the door's frame and the moment he stopped laughing he fell with his wife down a hundred feet, holding her tight. Forever together.

Chanoch gave a small prayer under his breath, pocketing the flash drive before he stepped over to James.

"Are you alright?"

He did not respond at first, struggling to look at his sword now glinting cruelly in the corner with violet trail leading from its tip.

"Sh-she...sh-sh-she was...I did not want to-"

"I know. I am sorry." He put a hand on his shoulder. "Is this...the first time you have killed?"

"Th-the...the first...living being that could speak to me." He looked up towards Jarogniew with burning bruises on his cheeks. "F-first that, was not an animal or some beast or winged insect n-no, someone who had hopes and dreams a-and thoughts and sorrows they carried with them."

"Tell me what you feel. It will help."

"I-...I know she...sh-she had done terrible things and that we had to stop her sh-she was beating me sh-sh-she would not stop, she would not stop b-but I feel horrible a-as if I, I-I-I murdered her!"

"I know" the lizardman nodded. "To take someone's life is terrible, even if they are cruel. It is never good and you should not enjoy death. The fact you regret this is good."

"Is that true?" he asked clutching his chesy. "That...f-feeling inside me that hurts, makes my heart squirm is good?!"

"To regret the killing, yes."

"Hhhhh...I...O-oddclaw told me the same thing...his...his tribe, despite being feral beasts they too say that you should never enjoy the killing."

"They are wise beasts."

"But what about me?" James stared at his sword. "What if I wanted to kill, and now I regret it?"

"What do you mean?" asked Chanoch.

"Before I killed her...I wanted to." He looked upon his hands with clenching fingers. "I felt something in me, this hatred suddenly infest me and all I could think of was k-killing her above everything else a-a-and now that I have I can't even think and I regret everything I have done h-hoh saviour what have I DONE?!"

"Shhhh." He hugged the student close to him as James started to weep once again. "It is fine. You are alright James. You are good."

"N-NOOOO! NOOOOOO!"

He sobbed fully into Chanoch's waist, clutching tightly to the soldier as his body shook with the lemming's building tears that dripped effortless across his mail. To himself HOX was silent, watching over the body of Sa-shi-ha that stared upon him blankly. He had no words for the first time in his life.