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Wow. It's been a while since I last did...anything. I hope to keep this going, but things have been rather hectic for me in the last few months. Not to mention how I keep getting distracted... But no matter what happens on my end, I hope to make this series better, it has to be one of the things I feel I'm genuinely into in a long time. Don't forget to drop a line if you feel compelled to, and, well, enjoy!

Love, Tri-Katsu ;)

Chapter Two

As soon as Frost and the other two stepped into the room, they knew something was up. Another feeling had crept up their spines, besides the usual automatic straightening of the back that occurred when in the presence of a superior. Glancing at Cly and Rage, Frost noticed that each of them looked both as alert and excited as he was. Rage's ears had perked, and twitched impatiently against his long, red hair.

Opposite them, the director of the outpost sat behind a large black desk beckoned to them with a friendly, but very businesslike look on his thin face.

"Well, come on in, don't just stand there all night!" he said, resting his hands on the desk and eyeing the three of them with the smallest trace of amusement. There was a scramble to get to the chairs. Frost took his seat to the far left -as far away from Rage as possible - and shifted uncomfortably in it repeatedly; there was no place for his tail to go. "There are subjects of utmost importance that need to be discussed!"

The CEO - Director Elijah Tacey, as the letterhead on his enormous desk said - pulled out a large file folder that looked as if it was going to burst, from a hidden compartment in his massive desk. Rage groaned, and sank lower into his chair.

"Our first matter of business," Tacey began, heaving the folder on to the desk, "Should be this." Cly and Frost leaned in closer to see "Rage 'Bloodlace'" on the tab of the folder in an untidy scrawl. Cly stifled a snicker while Frost looked amazedly at it, silently wondering how anyone could fit so much paper in a single folder.

"From just this past week alone," Tacey continued, giving Rage a very disapproving look to which the offended pretended not to notice, "I have been given an incredible number of reports about our 'local monster' by both fellow soldiers and our local civilian law enforcers."Rage snorted, and Tacey looked at him politely.

"Okay, okay. I get it. I was a bad boy and made a few mistakes," he growled, rolling his crimson eyes, "But that's not the only reason you called us here, right? You wouldn't have told them to come -" He jerked his head at the other two, "Just to insult me." To the right of him, Frost saw Cly smirk with satisfaction at Rage's obvious discomfort.

"No, your apparently busy week is not the main focus of the night," the director sighed, "But oddly enough, it does lead to the reason for this meeting." At this, Frost attempted to sit a little straighter, but the odd shape of the chair made his tail feel cramped. Instead, he curled it around his waist and laid it in his lap. "Now, you all remember Monitor, right?"

Cly eyes widened suddenly in excitement, and even Rage looked up from his sulk. Frost just looked at them quizzically. Noticing this, Cly opened his mouth to explain, but Tacey stopped him.

"Allow me," he said to him, then to Frost: "Professor Monitor is your fellow operative's mentor," he explained, while Cly fidgeted restlessly in his seat. "He is an esteemed geneticist, one of the best in the Legion. It was he who created the two fearsome warriors beside you!"

"It's true!" Cly piped up, "He's been meeting with Rage and I once a month for almost a year now, but we haven't seen him in a while." Tacey nodded with a slight smile.

"Right," He agreed, "He has been very busy as of late, but that's only because he's been working out the kinks in his latest project, which-" He paused, holding up a hand before Cly could ask, "He will explain in greater detail when he meets with you individually."

"When'll that happen?"

"In a few minutes, if you be quiet and let me talk," He replied patiently. Cly sat back in his chair again somewhat reluctantly. Tacey clapped his hands, and the overhead lights dimmed. A large screen slowly descended from the ceiling.

"Now, who can tell me what happened on the twenty first of August, in the year of 2017?"

"The Legion was declared the sole government of the world," Rage said quietly, ignoring Cly's raised hand.

"Correct," Tacey said. He stood up and faced the screen. "And can anyone tell me why this happened?"

"Because we stepped in and kicked their asses?" Rage answered again with a smirk. Cly looked reproachfully at him as the director laughed.

"While that's definitely not a wrong answer, but it's not exactly the one I had in mind." He turned back to them. "I think the better question to ask is: Why were we fighting in the first place?"

"Many people weren't supportive of the Biotech research," Cly spoke quickly; as if afraid he would be cut off at any time. "There were so many that were against the Legion's ideas that many races and religions banded together to take it down. The Legion used that to their advantage. Once they had won the war, they had no problems keeping all those different ethnicities under the same roof, as they had all worked together before," He paused to take a breath, "It was an extremely risky move, but it played out brilliantly in the end."

"Excellent!" Tacey smiled at him, "I couldn't have explained it better myself." Cly beamed, and stuck his tongue out at Rage, who shrugged.

"Kiss-ass..." he muttered.

"As you said," Tacey nodded at Cly, "While bringing an entire planet of people together to take us down was a move that could be considered suicidal, the Legion did accomplish the three most important goals: First, we brought together warring countries. Second, we used the war to bring the economy up, leading to more funds and resources. And third-" He paused dramatically. "We won."A giant model of the Earth appeared on the screen.

"Yes sir, boys..." he sighed, "Not only did we create a perfect planet with no war or strife, but we were the rulers of it. The emperors. The kings. The gods." As the director stood staring at the monitor, Frost and Cly exchanged confused glances; this was not their officer's regular behavior.

"Uh, sir?" Cly asked cautiously, "You still haven't told us what the important news is."

"What? Oh!" Tacey seemed to snap out of a trance. "Right! That's right, the mission..." He pushed lightly on the screen and a new image appeared.

It looked like a picture of a large medieval fortress made of black steel. The letters "ROCC" were attached in large silver plates above a silver framed front door. Turrets towered atop the roof, with a large central spire decorated with stain glass windows running down the center of the building. It was in the forest, surrounded by large evergreen trees, and many smaller buildings.

"Wow," Frost heard Cly whisper softly. Rage rested his chin in his paw, and then raised it up again.

"So you want us to blow it up?" He asked. Cly groaned.

As blunt as a doorknob, Frost thought quietly to himself. Tacey laughed again.

"No..." He said, still chuckling, "It's the people inside we need to worry about." He tapped the screen again. It was a zoomed-in image of the large, chrome, ROCC. "The 'Residents Of Crescent Castle'," He continued, "Used to be a group of Biotech supporters. Now, they seem to have taken it upon themselves to rid the planet of the Legion's creations. Namely, you three." He pointed at the three of them.

"But why?" Cly asked, confused, "If they knew we would be fighting for them then, why would they want us dead now?" Both Frost and Rage nodded, but the director shook his head.

"We don't know for sure, but we've made a few assumptions off of the messages we've gotten from them," he replied, "First of all, if you remember the other recruits that volunteered for the Biotech experiments..."

Frost and Cly bowed their heads solemnly, and Rage gritted his teeth, sinking deep into his chair. Of course they remembered many of the other soldiers who went through the program with them, and how they died either in the transformation, battle, or self-destruction.

"What they care about doesn't seem to be the humans going into the lab," Tacey continued, "It's whatever that come out that counts. Either they want to make sure that none of our secret weapons turn against us and take everyone out-"

"That makes sense," Rage interrupted, "At this rate, we probably could." Cly shushed him.

"Or," He went on, raising an eyebrow, "They want to separate them from the rest of the world and keep them in isolation."

"A prison," Frost murmured.

"At best." The four of them were silent for a moment.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Cly said finally, "If these people really want us gone, shouldn't we just stay here and let the marines handle it?"

"Unfortunately, that cannot be done," came a voice from behind them. Cly spun around so fast he fell out of his chair. Frost could only see a blur of movement as he jumped back up, and ran in the direction of the voice.

"Mono!" He heard him yell joyously. "It's been too long!" Tacey clapped his hands together, and the room was alit with a soft glow. Frost turned his chair all the way around to get a better look.

At first, Frost was confused, as the professor looked like a robot. Then he realized that it was a human in a wheel chair. Monitor wore a white lab coat and an electronic scanner over his left eye. His hair was a chestnut brown, and he wore a look of both exhaustion and triumph on his pale face. A large, white blanket covered his lap and what Frost supposed must be what used to be working legs before. Cly was gently rolling him to the front of the room.

"Well, well, Professor!" Tacey called to him, "I thought you'd be here a little later! It's only-" He paused to check his watch -"A quarter to two hundred hours!"

"Great. Another Friday night, ruined," Frost heard Rage mutter savagely to himself. "I'll bet anything that gorgeous first year has already heard the horror stories about me..."

"I thought that it would be wise if I was here to help explain the mission," the professor replied, "And apparently, I was right."

"What, you mean you weren't thinking of your prized pupils at all?" Cly cried in an offended tone, as he pushed the wheelchair up to the large desk. Monitor raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms in his lap.

"Dear boy," He said, "Of course I was! Your safety is crucial to the mission, and I thought I could help provide an adequate defense!" Cly scowled, obviously not satisfied with the answer.

"To the mission? But what about-" But Rage cut him off.

"Good enough for me," He said loudly, pulling Cly roughly into his chair, "So why can't we let the small fry take out the ROCC? It's because the experiments are too strong, isn't it?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Monitor sighed, and adjusted his eyepiece. "We - the other biochemists and I - did our job a little too well in the battle readiness department, with the result of even the weakest of our creations being able to tear human soldiers apart."

"So you want us to shut down the ROCC's operations, even though they want us wiped off the face of the earth, and they have control of the strongest ex-agents from the Legion?" Cly looked at the two superiors disbelievingly. "Talk about fighting fire with sparks..." Mono's eyes glittered under the eyepiece.

"True, while you three are currently our senior candidates to the Biotech project, and have proved yourselves time and again with healthy bodies and minds, going against the captured of the ROCC under normal circumstances would leave all of you...well, crushed," he admitted, nodding, "Yes, even you, Bloodlace," he added firmly to Rage's disbelieving snort. To Cly's rather disheartened frown, he smiled mischievously. "But these will no longer be normal odds."

With that, he abruptly stood up, allowing the cloth covering his lower body to fall, revealing two muscular legs, covered in yellow fur with black lines, and a neatly combed tail. He grinned at Cly's gasp and Rage's barely suppressed look of amazement before looking to Frost.

"Boys, it's time we finished your training."