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Thirty minutes later - the Drakkaren had stopped twice, once to pee... cursing himself for not using the bathroom earlier and feeling rather childish - and another time to pick some wild berries he'd found, which Drake identified as tasty but also often caused indigestion because they carried a weak poison in them. The Drakkaren decided to wager his iron stomach against the delicious berries, muttering in response it couldn't be any worse than getting takeout from a greasy burger joint, and was at least more nutritious.

He walked quietly up beside Marina, who was leaning on the trunk of a massive tree and peering around it, and was thankful as always for her strange powers as he noted the way she shifted and raised a hand behind the tree to wave to him, without needing to look behind herself. Cherry was also kneeling nearby, and she glanced back with a grin, murmuring to him as he kneeled down by the row of bushes they were at: "Your hair makes you so obvious."

"The fins on your head makes you look like a mutant banana." Zerrex shot back, but quietly, and Cherry looked offended as she touched the row of crescent-shaped fins, before brightening when Zerrex held out his handful of berries. "Want some? They're like scantonberries though."

"Fuck yeah! Bring on the hallucinations." Cherry grabbed a handful, stuffing them in her muzzle, and Zerrex rolled his eyes.

"Those were from the Irish Fellsfroth, and because you ate like, a hundred of them before going to bed. Scantonberries were the ones we found during that one mission that almost made you crap your pants because you ate a few dozen of them." Zerrex reminded her, and Cherry made a face before shrugging and continuing to snag handfuls of berries, then he paused and glanced up at Marina, who was half-glaring at them both. "What?"

She merely rolled her eyes at this, however, then muttered: "You two are so unprofessional. If I couldn't see it for myself, I wouldn't believe you were actually elite- no, I don't want any berries, Daddy." she added pettishly, when Zerrex held a handful up to her. Then she paused and jerked her head towards the field, where five visible soldiers and a sixth mostly-invisible one had been digging around feverishly, obviously looking for a landing beacon. "Look, they're stopping."

Zerrex looked up as well, eating the last of the berries and then wiping his hands idly on his uniform pants, as he flicked his head and caused his hair to flutter around himself, Drake's energy quickly twisting it into a long, braided ponytail and then knotting the bottom for him: a more useful ability than he could say. He frowned a bit to himself as he looked ahead, watching Little Sin once more become visible, and hearing them starting to yell at each other, likely out of frustration.

This field was actually almost two klicks away... but there weren't any other natural clearings in this writhing jungle in the direction Zerrex had pointed between here and the other site. He wondered idly if they had actually misjudged out of excitement, or if they had just kept plodding onwards because they'd assumed it would be a landing beacon of some sort and thus there'd need to be an open space for someone to see it from the air.

Marina answered both of these questions as she did an imitation of a deep male voice: "'Don't you pick on Little Sin, you stupid asshole pelt! It's not her fault it's not here!'" A pause, her voice returning to normal. "Brute's pretty protective, huh, especially of her... but he seems to have a thing for Light Voice, too.

"So, in total, Rayne, Light Voice, and Benjamin stopped for a few minutes to do a quick search at the kilometer point... I think Brute wanted to, too, but then he chased after Little Sin again and Damien, who had both raced onwards... Damien because he assumed the beacon would be in an open area, Little Sin because she hates Damien's guts." Marina explained, then paused and glanced back towards the group, before wincing as the dog-in-question went down from a punch from Brute. "He needs to learn to shut his mouth."

Zerrex sighed, looking morbidly out into the group and watching the other four people tackle the enormous Brute in an attempt to hold him back, and Damien struggling to get up through the tall grasses, his face looking pretty broken. He'd hoped it wouldn't come to something like this... and he glanced between Cherry and Marina, saying mildly: "Think we should call a stop to this experiment, or will they work it out on their own without killing him?"

"Fucker's not like Vampire in terms of durability..." Cherry said thoughtfully, frowning a bit and taking the question seriously as she glanced to the side at Zerrex, then she shook her head a bit. "No, look. Looks like Brute's calmin' down a bit... he's not freaking out anymore, at least."

Marina nodded a bit, and the three silently watched from their hiding place as Brute relaxed and shook off the others, stepping away and wiping at himself, moving around moodily. Meanwhile, Damien had managed his feet... but only Light Voice went over to help him, and was immediately shrugged off as the canine walked away to sulk somewhere.

The three Drakkaren made their various assessments as they watched the others working busily, Marina muttering every now and then what she was picking up from their thoughts and what they were saying to each other, since the distance was too great for either Cherry or Zerrex to hear at all what words were exchanged between the various six. They had apparently decided that there either wasn't a beacon around or that they weren't going to find it that day, as the sun began to fall from the sky and shadows to lengthen, and they were also apparently well-aware that they were being watched, Little Sin flickering invisible every now and then to patrol the perimeter... but Zerrex easily slinging a rope of dark energy upwards and using that to haul himself into the tall canopy of a tree, as Marina concealed herself and easily detected any movements or thoughts of the female and evaded detection that way... and Cherry managed to slide herself into a nook between the roots of a tree, taking on the colors of a shadow and a set of other growths and mosses from the tree... except she also had her kwaibar beneath her, one hand on it and the other poised and twisted, the color of a root but ready to haul herself forwards if she had to.

They were all superbly hidden, in short... far too much for the Child to find them, who was still too-ingrained with the ideas of her former position in the GA. Little Sin's weakness was the same as the rest of the Children, after all; even though none of them were any longer just killing machines with the ability to rationalize, they were in many cases, still unable to deal with things they didn't expect, and tended to forget the abilities of the individual they were dealing with, only scanning the dense jungle as if it was a facility hallway just as they'd undoubtedly been taught... a mistake if there ever was one. As Zerrex stood silently in the tree, back pressed against the trunk and a natural shield of leaves hiding him from view, he smiled slightly, before slipping forwards a bit to look out through this wall of greenery and to watch Little Sin returning to what was obviously now a camp.

Five of the six were all working together, including Little Sin, who took regular breaks to take patrols... Damien, on the other hand, was still scurrying around, digging here and there and looking for a beacon of some sort in the tall grasses, scowling and tossing looks every now and then at what the others were doing.

Brute had used his enormous strength to snap the larger branches from several trees, and some of the others had gathered up some vines as they placed the larger ones in the ground, obviously intending to build some sort of defensive wall inside the field, or maybe some sort of wooden box cabin thing. Personally, Zerrex thought it was an attack waiting to happen... sure, cutting down the jungle around a city or fortress was a good idea, but setting your camp up in a field was never a good idea, even if it did make things easier. It made everyone a moving target... and in wars like this, Zerrex was hoping that their thermal signals wouldn't set off some alert system and cause Narrius to bomb the crap out of all of them.

The Drakkaren figured it was probably part of their training... but with a group like this, building a lean-to in the forest or better yet, setting up in the trees would be a much-better idea. It would provide safety from all the various predators that stalked the floor of the jungle and would gladly drag off a good-sized Dragokkaren for a meal... and also enemy soldiers, who would find it more difficult to find the unit, even if they found tracks or leavings. Plus it gave an automatic advantage to armed soldiers... even with just a kwaibar, it was easier to jump down on top of someone than it was for them to shoot you high up in a tree.

By the time nightfall slid around, they had completed a box and were busily working on a gate... and then Mahihko ran out of the side of the forest, yelling and screaming like an idiot and waving his kwaibar frantically. Zerrex watched this with amusement, as all six of the soldiers - working together now, at least to a point - halted to watch this display stupidly, and then Mahihko charged in towards them, yelling randomly, before Little Sin vanished and a few of the others stepped forwards.

The others had expected something like this to happen... so Marina immediately honed in on the strange, rippling air that was the female and her thoughts, before freezing her in place with a mental bind as she rose a hand and clenched it shut, purple energy glowing around her fist as Little Sin flickered back into existence with a squawk of shock. The other soldiers panicked a bit, Brute running over and picking up the immobile female, trying to pull her arms apart... and although Marina's own arm trembled a bit, she was able to hold Little Sin's arms against her sides without a problem. Mahihko, meanwhile, was still running at them and screaming like an idiot... and then he squealed when Benjamin tossed his knife at him, ducking and turning to scamper away.

None of the soldiers noticed Cindy at their back, or heard the female silently using her kwaibar to cut the vines on the walls at key points of the structure until it was too late, and the walls of the wannabe-cabin collapsed, piling here and there as they turned with surprise, only to catch a fleeting glimpse of the female as she fled back into the forest. Then Little Sin slumped and panted as Marina released her mental grip, Zerrex nodding a bit and giving her a thumbs up from where he stood in his watchtower tree.

The six all but rioted, taking a surprisingly-long time to settle down and huddle up in a group, all of them muttering to each other... and despite the fact they left themselves obviously extremely vulnerable, they were all getting along, even if forced into doing so through circumstance. It made the Drakkaren feel strangely happy, almost proud of them for pushing past their differences and instead working on their teamwork and covering each other's asses.

Of course, it didn't last for very long, but they did at least try, and he thought that was the point of the matter. Eventually, Little Sin did another little scouting job... but again, she was easily evaded even by Mahihko, who hid in a tree and clung to a branch, but likely more avoiding detection out of luck than anything else.

Zerrex had Cherry run another attack against them later that night, and she actually succeeded in snagging Rayne and dragging him off into the woods with her, making him squeal in terror as she dragged him off somewhere else by the feet, all the while yelling questions at him that didn't make sense, insinuating that he was a Nazi, and performing various other stress-inducing techniques on the poor bastard. After about ten minutes of dragging him in circles, she'd finally threatened to kill him with the kwaibar, made him piss his pants, stripped him of his clothing, and bound his hands and legs before setting him up on a stump and taking his kwaibar like she was going to decapitate him with it. Instead, however, she snuck away into the jungle, leaving Rayne to struggle around and whine in paranoia as Cindy watched over him in secret from a safe position in the top of a tree, looking at him with sympathy for a little while.

Zerrex used Drake's energy like careful tentacles to slide through the long grasses while the others were attempting to find Rayne, acting more like a civilian search party and shouting his name instead of silently attempting to track and pursue Cherry, who'd obviously run off with him - how many other cackling, fin-headed, giant-boobed and -muscled females in... all of existence were there, after all? And while they were stumbling around, they often treaded on the sticky tendrils he'd put out... and an unlucky Brute and Benjamin managed to snag their feet in nooses and were dragged away through the grass, the former squeaking in a way that didn't exactly suit his size, both of them clawing at the dirt and the white tiger trying to snare his bone spikes into the ground and used his kwaibar to hack uselessly at the long tentacles of dark essence.

That left Little Sin, Light Voice, and Damien stuck alone, almost holding onto each other as the darkness continued to follow and both Benjamin and Brute were silenced when Zerrex ensnared them completely with long ropes of dark energy, holding onto the backs of their necks as the darkness effectively cocooned and gagged them. He dragged them off with him a good distance to another hiding spot near where Cherry had brought Rayne to, then left two long, thin strings of dark energy connected from the cocoon to one hand. If these were severed - and it wouldn't take much, admittedly... even the cocoons would be rather vulnerable with him a good distance away... - then the dark energy would vanish and Drake would bitch about losing such a large chunk of his essence.

It would be worth it, however... although Zerrex would undo the bind after so long. He'd thought about knocking them out and tying them up with vines instead, but had figured on that being a bit pointless... vines were supple, but they were far easier to slip off than ropes... and to put them on, he'd have to knock both of the soldiers out.

The Drakkaren nodded a bit at this... then snorted when he saw an enormous Mahihko in stretched, ripped jeans leap out and tackle Light Voice, before running off with the screaming Dragokkaren into the woods, as Damien stared dumbly and Little Sin attempted to charge after him: she was stalled, however, by a stick thrown by Cindy, which tangled between her legs and sent her crashing to the ground, the female grunting in pain as she hit the soft earth and slid a few feet through the tall grasses.

That left Little Sin and Damien stuck alone in the field together... and Zerrex leaned curiously at the wall of bushes, the others now gathered at the same hiding spot as he was in, all of them watching the next set of events play out curiously. At first, they yelled a lot at each other... but then Marina muttered: "Little Sin just shouted that they should work together... and to keep yelling at her angrily. Damien's still pissed off, but at least his shouting is playing a good role now... I think she's trying to locate us..." A pause, her eyes closed, and then the sapphire irises flicked open and she smiled slightly. "Yep. She's going to pretend to stomp off... there we go."

More shouting... and then Little Sin spun on her heel, walked a few steps away, and vanished from sight. As they watched, however, there was no sign of movement... and the Drakkaren smiled slightly before nodding slowly as he caught the faintest flicker of her outline still visible. She was much easier to see when moving... and when standing still, she did become almost entirely invisible. He was impressed... now they were trying to lure them out.

A pause, and a rustle behind them, and Zerrex muttered sharply: "Don't react," as Cherry began to turn. She halted, however, instead turning it to a look at Mahihko and murmuring nonsense words to him... and Mahihko looked at her dumbly, then shook his head quickly and said something in return that was just a jumble of words. It was amazing that the wolf actually caught on... and Zerrex smiled slightly at this before looking forwards again to see Damien purposefully turning his back and fumbling at the logs as he grumbled things and talked to himself. But right now, the attention of the five was behind them, on the figure trying to move silently away from them.

After a minute or so, Marina finally murmured to her father: "It's Rayne. He cleaned himself up a bit and put his pants back on, and now he's going over to-"

"Nope, now he found them." Zerrex replied mildly, and he let the dark energy dissolve and slide away from the cocoons as he felt them being attacked. A pause, and he turned his attention to Mahihko, asking mildly: "What did you do with Light Voice?"

"Put her up in a tree and tangled her up in some vines." Mahihko replied proudly... then winced when the female Dragokkaren-in-question staggered out of the jungle and into the clearing, causing Little Sin to reappear and run immediately over to her. "Oops. Well... um... at least it happened after the others got free."

The night passed in this way: Zerrex and his four trusted soldiers taking turns napping and doing spook attacks on their enemies as the six regrouped and shared their horror stories... until eventually dawn began to rise, and the Drakkaren eyed the sleepless group of six as they sat in a makeshift pile of logs that reminded him almost of a beaver lodge or something ridiculous like that. He smiled a bit to himself, then nodded and murmured: "Let's go."

With Marina and Mahihko on one side, Cherry and Cindy on the other, the Boss walked out into the clearing and towards the shanty, as the six stared at him with something like abject horror. He rose his hands however, smiling slightly and beckoning to them, saying clearly: "Assemble, soldiers."

They did so... and the Drakkaren looked over them, putting his hands behind his back as they stood in the light of early dawn, the sun just breaching the horizon and lighting the dark jungle with crimson rays. He looked over them slowly, then smiled slightly and said softly: "Well, you haven't done as well as I would have liked to have seen... but congratulations. It looks like you all passed."

"The hell are you talking about?" Damien asked, but sleeplessness robbed him of any venom his tone would have otherwise carried, looking only grouchy instead of defiant. He swayed a bit on the spot, and for once some of the others seemed to mirror his opinion, Brute in particular looking at Zerrex with a frown - likely because he had been dragged through the dirt by the large reptile.

Zerrex looked around at them all, then he said softly: "Exactly what I said. You've all passed this survival test... come on, the clues are all there." A slight smile. "Although I understand if we kept you too busy to think. But in short, if you add up the fact that I said I'd give you a week... even though I also remember saying we were only going to do one test a day, over three days... that there was no beacon at the one-kilometer site that's... almost a kilometer away... and that we've continually been harassing you... this survival test could also be called a test to see how well you worked together as a team.

"It also tested how well you dealt with misinformation; even though you did screw up in a few ways - building a camp in an open area, for once, and ignoring orders to only look for the beacon one klick away, for instance - you have otherwise done fairly well. You've avoided conflict for the most part, and I think that you've all become much more comfortable with each other... but being stuck in close quarters and forced to put up with each other will certainly force that for a little while."

He paused, and crossed his arms. "Basically, I lied to you all, yes." he said plainly, and then smiled slightly at the looks of indignation on many of their faces. "But at least part of that lie was that I'd only be choosing one of you... and like it or not, you did follow through with my test and band together. So I congratulate you on that, and I hope you can pass this next test I have even with you all lookin' so damn bedraggled."

"How the fuck do you and them look so okay? And what the hell is going on?" Brute whined, grasping his skull and glowering at them, then he winced when Cherry stepped forwards. "Sorry, Queen Mother. I'm just frustrated."

"At ease, soldier. 'Sall good." Cherry said almost gently, but her eyes sparkled with mischief nonetheless. "In any case, you bitches just aren't used to the same level of warfare we are." A pause and a jerk of her head at Cindy and Mahihko, who both blushed a bit. "'Cept these two numbasses had to snore the whole night through and Marina got up extra bitchy this morning."

"I hate you sometimes." Marina said dourly, rolling her eyes, and Zerrex could feel the group relaxing, the soldiers smiling hesitantly and starting to look around a bit awkwardly, apparently still unsure whether this was a joke or not. Zerrex was glad to see them still on guard, still paranoid, even if they all looked tired as hell at the same time... then he nodded a bit to them all and decided it was better now than never to lead them back to base.

It took about two hours total to make it back to Headquarters... and Zerrex said he'd give them three hours of rest each... but snagged Damien and pulled him aside to lecture him privately for a little while, while the dog glowered but looked ashamed of himself at the proper moments here and there. Then he sent the dog on to get some rest or do whatever he wanted for the next little while, and instead turned his attention to other matters himself, returning the kwaibars to the armory - he was rather glad Albatross had finally instituted a sign-in, sign-out system and put it under guard instead of just letting everyone walk in and out - and then wrote up a short report on the details he'd been going over in his mind about the behavior of his platoon and how he thought they were currently coming along to the base Commanders.

Later that day, Zerrex took them out on their second training mission, dragging them to the dead sector of Uroboros called Necropolis, where they had been piling bodies in rotting piles; where the world was dead and even the military outposts had been abandoned, the buildings left to decay on their own and fall to rotting pieces of stone. As he stood in the open gates, looking out at corpses piled almost as high as the guard walls and never to be buried, he looked out at the others and told them that this was the kind of war they were fighting. A war where they didn't have the time to bury or even burn their own dead, and enemy and friend alike were thrown into the same great reeking pit of corpses.

Then he made them search the area for useable weaponry and ammunition, directing them mainly towards the military facility and instructing them to watch out for wild creatures, genetic monsters, and Angels that may still be active and controlled by hostile programming or computers or some kind. They'd looked horrified, all of them, and Rayne had murmured something about stealing from the dead... and Cherry had looked at him with a smile that was strangely gentle and said softly: "That's just a myth, I'm afraid. Few of these soldiers would want to be buried with their weapons... because I'm sure few of them want to go on fighting for all eternity. They no longer have any use for their weaponry."

Zerrex then reminded them that they'd have to also clean out their weaponry before using it, since most of it would be dirty or damaged from misuse, weathering, and being trapped with or underneath corpses. Then he'd sent them all off, glancing at Mahihko and surprised when he asked meekly if he could help them, despite the tears in his eyes and how horribly pale he had turned... and Cindy said gently she'd go with him, even though she looked just as deeply pained by the sight.

The Drakkaren nodded, leaving Cindy, Cherry and the Boss standing alone at the gates, watching carefully over the others. They both already had their own weaponry taken from the military base, anyway, since they'd both functioned as part of Albatross's special sniper unit. That, and Cherry also had her chain whip, while Marina had a plain kwaibar sheathed on her back. Cindy, too, had access to a rifle... but Zerrex admired the gentleness she portrayed as she helped Mahihko search bodies for weaponry of his own, and the way she seemed to wish every long-decaying corpse a peaceful rest.

He kept them searching for hours on end, and had them pile up the objects they found in front of them; he forced them to scavenge, gaze at death's ugly face, and gather up their weaponry until the sun began to set: this place, at least, was rife with all manner of junk... unfortunately, much of it was precisely that: just rusted junk. Huck, however, had already said he'd be more than happy to repair any weapons they brought back, and that if they gathered up a lot of armament, he'd send out a transport to pick them up afterwards and gather up whatever variety of armament they found. After all, they needed all the weaponry they could get, and no one else had the balls to approach the tomb of Iago.

Brute found the body of this former RED Commander, broken and rusted, with bits of black gunk clogging his body and his feet missing, long since melted and dissolved, with just deep craters left where the severed feet had once been. Zerrex frowned slightly as he called the others over to look at it, then shrugged and approached himself, sticking his hands in his pockets as the eleven of them gathered around the broken body. "Fuck, this has to be the puppet master... I heard you killed him, Lord Zerrex, but I never thought you'd messed him up so bad..."

"It's either Zerrex, Boss, or Captain Ravenlight." Zerrex said mildly; Drake pointed out his bad grammar absently, and the Drakkai told him to shut up with an equally-distant tone. They were used to each other's banter by now, and it was more of their odd form of friendship than any actual attempts to irritate each other. "And yeah, I guess I did."

He looked down at the rusting hulk for a few moments, then waved a hand and added clearly: "Come on, get outta here, you guys still have lots of work to do, and in about..."A glance at the sky to judge the time... then a glance at Cherry to confirm, who held up three fingers. "Thirty minutes before a transport comes. That means you gotta pick out whatever weapons you want to use as your personal armament as well."

The others nodded, and then quietly walked away, Cherry and Marina also going back to their posts by the gate as Mahihko looked up at the lizard with a fawning expression, and then was led off by Cindy as she gently told him the story Zerrex had told her about his fight through Necropolis - for whatever reason, it hadn't felt exactly right to tell Mahihko too much of that time, just in case it brought up his hidden memories of Alone and Lone. The lizard, however, continued to stand over the body of his fallen enemy... then Drake suddenly snarled, Watch it!

Zerrex's sharp eyes caught the flash of movement almost too late, as he propelled himself backwards and created a short pole of dark energy in one hand, almost shaped like a baseball bat, and the metal claw just sailed past his foot. A few moments later, the metallic hunk of junk in front of him stirred... then Iago slowly rose up on feet made of bristling wire and metal string, one arm hanging disjointed and twitching, sparks and arcs of electricity jolting over his body as his head rose up, and he said in a clear, taunting voice that was fizzed with static: "Well, well... if it isn't... Lord Zerrex."

"Iago. Wasn't dying once enough for you?" The Drakkaren asked mildly, pointing the solid black pole at him, and Iago's eyes flickered pure red as flakes of rust fell off his body. The lizard paused, then rose a hand as the others began to approach and said sharply: "He's my opponent! No one interfere!"

"I knew you'd want to deal with me on your own." Iago seemed to almost sneer at him with his cracked voice, before he rose a hand and pointed at him with one finger, wires snaking out of his cracked armor-body as he looked at Zerrex coldly. "After they kicked me out of Hell, I spent all my time gathering my energy here... building up my electrical power and forcing my auto-repair systems to start working and rebuilding my body.

"I can kill you, Lord Zerrex... because you can't kill me." Iago said with cold, fanatical belief, and he staggered forwards, his machinery rattling violently as electricity raced over his form again, blue sparks flying from his body... and the Drakkaren wondered how long ago that Iago had gone mad... before the once-puppetmaster lunged at him with a static-torn roar.

The Drakkaren immediately snapped Iago across the face with the dark pole, causing him to stumble to the side on his wire-metal feet, before the lizard stepped forwards and slammed a firm palm into Iago's chest, sending him up into the air. A moment later, he stepped forwards and swung viciously outwards as the pole turned into a flat, rectangular sword, cleaving through the middle of the metal monster and sending him flying in two pieces... and as Iago fell with a mechanical scream, Zerrex brought his leg up in a plain thrust kick and slammed his foot into the robot's breast as it began to fall past him, sending it flying off and skidding across the pavement uselessly, one glass eye shattering and chunks of metal hurtling through the air in all directions.

Then Iago fell still, spasming a few times before his body clanked, groaned... and he collapsed into rusting, damaged fragments with a low, soft sigh. Zerrex snorted quietly, then held out the straight sword he'd created and let it melt and flow back into his body, lowering his head and saying softly: "Rest, Iago. And for what it's worth... I apologize for not making sure that I'd killed you back all that long time ago."

A pause, and he glanced around at the others, saying calmly - but hating, hating the way that some of them were staring at him with that terrible awe: "Don't you all have jobs to do? Get back to work, people, we don't have much time left! Don't make me repeat myself or I'll send you corpse diving!"

He stood for a few long minutes, however, then looked down at his hands and remembered how much of a challenge Iago had been that first time around. Granted, it had been after taking on his army of Angels... but even discounting that, he could even remember the trouble he'd had with those other similar metal freaks in the biogenetics facility. A pause, and he looked down with a quiet laugh, closing his eyes and clenching his hands into fists, murmuring softly: "Is this true strength? Is this my strength, or yours, Drake?"

Both... and we can still get stronger. The potential of our symbiosis is nearly limitless. Drake responded gently, then the dark nephilim nudged the reptile lightly, slowly making him turn his head and look over his shoulder at the gathering others, as they dumped the last bit of their weapons and then looked towards their leader curiously. I think they want to talk to you about something.

"Great." Zerrex muttered, then turned and approached the group, glancing down at the sizeable pile of weapons, ammunition and other assorted junk. A pause, and then he looked back up at the six... or rather, eight, including Cindy and Mahihko, who were also standing with the soldiers. "Are you ready to choose your weapons? Looks like you've collected a good amount."

They all affirmed this in one way or the other, and Zerrex smiled a bit before crossing his arms. "Well... alright. Even though it's important to be able to use a variety of weapons with at least moderate ability... it's also extremely important to have at least one weapon you're an expert with, in both fields of melee and ranged combat. We are not... I repeat, not... your usual combat unit." He looked over them all firmly. "We're specialists. And we're probably comparable to some of those stupid super-units you see in the crappy action B-movies... but even though the idea is the same, our execution and tactics will be extremely different. It doesn't mean, however, that all of the concepts will be different.

"Whatever weapon you choose, do not just choose it for looks. Pick something you can wield efficiently, that suits your own style of combat: this goes for both ranged and melee weapons." A slight smile as he glanced at Rayne. "If you're good with a rifle, pick a rifle, not a machinegun. If you're going to be taking shots from range..." A look at Light Voice. "Choose a long-range weapon, not a shotgun. But if you're going to be up-close and personal, where accuracy isn't so much of an issue and you got the strength for it..." A look over at Brute. "Pick a heavy machine gun or another weapon that packs a heavy punch but isn't the greatest in terms of accuracy. Last, but not least... carry only what you're going to actually be able to use, and don't overpack. Even if you can carry a hundred weapons without a problem, there's no point to it and it's just a waste of resources and your own body power to lug it all around. The rule is usually two and one: a medium-to-long rifle, a short range backup weapon, usually a handgun, and a melee weapon for close-quarters or silent executions; but I'll let you all choose whatever you want as your armament."

The soldiers all nodded before digging into the pile of weapons... and Zerrex thought most of them outfitted themselves pretty well, most of them following the basic formula the Drakkaren had presented. And again, their outfitting expressed their different capabilities, tastes, and where they would likely specialize.

After checking them over, the reptile had them put these weapons in their own separate pile. Only a few minutes after this, while Zerrex and company were discussing military tactics - Cherry butting in with vulgar comments every now and then, while Zerrex tried to remain serious - a military transport had shown up, along with a small jeep lugging a cart, driven by Huck.

They'd piled the weapons up... and that had been the end of that training session. Zerrex had again been proud of his unit as they headed back to the base, and he thought even Cherry was a bit impressed by their improvement and the way they had started to trust each other and group together: they were already a closer unit than the Goth Legion had ever been, which had run more on fear, domination and competition than anything else... and had likely been the reason the unit had collapsed and why Zerrex had ended up dealing with the remnants of the Goth Legion so many years ago in Baskin's Grove, when Vampire, Cherry and Tinman had first come and attacked him under Lone's request, the wolf too power-hungry back then to realize what a terrible plague he'd brought to the town.

Once back at base, he'd dismissed them and said they had free time until three tomorrow afternoon, and then he'd hold the final test... which would also be the most serious one. The night, however, had passed quickly, as Zerrex went over notes, did research, and manned the Tower with Albatross, looking over the different graphs that marked what was occurring in Paradise. Huck had noted another sudden, strange jump between working hard on the aerial claymore he'd been building... and Zerrex marked down the changes in the various graphs and charts, muttering under his breath and just wanting to get some sleep in a nice bed.

That night, he'd done exactly that... and the next morning, he'd woken up the others and requisitioned the ammunition he needed from Uroboros, along with the special weapons he required for this final test. It arrived around noon in a special shipment, and he and Cherry spent another hour unloading crates and piling them in one corner of the room, while Marina patrolled Uroboros, and Cindy and Mahihko worked in the kitchens cooking food - relaxing work for both of them.

The Drakkaren, admittedly, was looking forwards to this final test as he created a crowbar of dark energy and used that to pry open one of the crates of junk he'd ordered, and Cherry took the boxes of ammunition and weaponry that he passed out to her, watching her stack them up in six different areas, and the reptile set out five other piles at the other side of the long top hall in the barracks where they'd performed the first test.

At three, the five stood ready at their side of the hall, and when the six filed in, Zerrex smiled and gestured at the piles of special weaponry, calling: "It's pretty self explanatory, isn't it? This is the non-lethal version of a test we performed to get into the Goth Legion... and I think you can all understand what we're going to do. Your goal is to survive for a full hour without being knocked out or surrendering... and none of us will be holding back. If you have to reload... you'll have to do it on the fly, just like in a real battle... even though you only have one spare clip, which you'll have to load one-by-one."

The six soldiers stared... then looked down at the weaponry. The four crates around the room formed three half-assed barricades - only a stack of two crates actually looked like it would provide moderate protection - and at different points of the room where huge plastic tubs of BBs, six on one side, five on the other, filled with yellow BBs. All the weapon sets were also different... some had a rifle and a handgun, some had automatic weapons, and they all even had melee weapons as well: nightsticks made of flexible yellow plastic, and yellow, padded poles of various length and size as well.

"Everything's already been set up." Zerrex said mildly, as he stepped back beside his own pile of armament, and the other four spread out to take point by their own weaponry, Cherry grinning callously as she picked up a sniper rifle and worked the bolt to load a plastic ball bearing into the chamber. "By the way, you also have goggles if you want to wear them... they'll decrease your range of vision, but at least they'll stop you from going blind if a certain bitch shoots you in the eye."

"Well, don't fuckin' give it away!" Cherry whined, then she snorted and grinned, standing up with her large weapon and glaring over the other six: Mahihko, meanwhile, had a plain handgun, and he looked nervous as Damien focused his attention on him almost hungrily, obviously making the mistake of thinking the wolf was an easy target. Zerrex smiled slightly at this, but his attention was drawn away as the female asked easily: "So, bitches. We gonna start?"

"Let the games begin." Zerrex agreed, then he kicked his own large pistol up to his hand and shouted: "Soldiers! Show me what you got!"

"Sir!" came the loud call back, and the mock-battle began between the more seasoned, better-trained soldiers on Zerrex's side - for the most part - and the new trainees for the Black RED. It lacked the dramatic pounding of gunfire... but was riddled with yells, curses, obscenities, and in some cases, angry shouts or squeals of pain and whimpering whines. Although it seemed almost like a game at first... the other six were quickly beginning to realize it was anything-but, as Zerrex managed to slip close and swing in with a pole to trip, flip, or smash soldiers into the ground ruthlessly before moving on to the next, and Cherry took potshots at different vulnerable areas of people's bodies, at one point even hitting Damien so precisely at a pressure-point he lost control of his arm for almost five minutes.

At the end of it all, the trainees were bruised, beaten, and on the point of unconsciousness in many cases... even Little Sin was snarling in pain, on her knees and bleeding a bit from her nose and mouth from a few successive shots she'd taken to the face, despite being invisible. Damien was flat on his back... and Brute looked like a miserable, abused fruit, covered in bruises that dotted his body as well as all manner of swellings and bumps.

Zerrex had a few nasty bruises here and there himself, as did Cindy: Marina had been able to knock away most of the BBs with her telekinetic powers, but had eventually been forced to dodge and weave like everyone else after she'd exhausted her ability and begun to get a headache. Cherry, of course, had only suffered one or two glancing blows at the most and thus was just grinning like an idiot as she leaned on her rifle... but surprisingly, Mahihko also only had a few marks here and there, and he blushed, looking proud of himself as he stood on one foot, short skirt swirling around his hips and Damien flat on his back across from him, the dog stunned by the fact he'd been rapidly outgunned by a stupid wolf.

Mahihko couldn't explain it... but Zerrex thought that the wolf's latent ability had come to the surface, the strange time-slowing he'd experienced when he'd had Lone's soul in his body for that short space of time. The difference was that with Mahihko it had seemed to behave differently, the wolf controlling the ability far better and for far-longer spaces of time than Zerrex had been able to... and he had to admit, it seemed an admirable power. Maybe not as useful as Cherry's precog... and he looked tired and sore as well as happy, but it also didn't seem to exhaust him in the same way that Marina's telekinetic abilities did a number on her after a while.

All six had survived, however: all six of them had passed the test, and done so impressively. Even outweighed, they'd fought onwards, done so courageously, and not even Damien had run to try and hide from the onslaught... of course, it helped that both Cherry and Zerrex also attempted to close for melee whenever necessary, so that had likely been a major deterrent. Getting shot by a small plastic BB still hurt a lot less than getting pummeled by a padded-pole-wielding lizard.

"Congratulations." Zerrex said clearly, and the six soldiers looked up at him, bleary and wounded. "It looks like you've all-"

"Alert! Alert!" blared an automated voice, cutting off the reptile's words, and Zerrex looked up with a snarl as he heard the familiar, terrible drone of jets flying overhead. "Incoming aerial attack! All soldiers are to report to their stations immediately!" The message began to repeat... but before Zerrex could give orders to his soldiers, the alert signal suddenly changed, and instead Huck's voice shouted: "Everyone! Everyone, calm down, cancel the damn alert, it's not a bombing run, it's-"

But whatever it was, was cut off by a blare, a burst of static, and the sound of VTOLs hovering over the base before there was another loud crunch, and Zerrex looked up in surprise through the clear metal ceiling to see four jets with heat-proofed chains strapped to them and attached into a strange, box-like structure that Zerrex was somehow sure wasn't a bomb... before the structure flickered... and Narrius's voice spoke from it, echoed through the base, as every monitor in the entire facility suddenly showed only the Patriarch standing a podium in front of the Double Standard, as every speaker echoed his voice from the hostile wavelength his machines were forcing into the base: "Hello, rebel soldiers... and my son.

"I have a message specifically directed towards you, so you'll excuse me for taking the moment to interrupt your vulgar little games and whatever pathetic plans you've been concocting to try and overthrow my Paradise and my plans for the world." Narrius said in a voice that was almost pleasant, but for its terrible coldness. "On a positive note, however, at least I don't have to bullshit with you or deal with pointless politics, so I'll be brief and concise.

"I am going to kill you all." He stated it as cold, simple fact: not as if it was something he firmly believed, not even as if it was like a prophecy that he knew would be true, but as if it was simply a plainly-written, boring point in a history textbook about some long-ago war. "I am going to wipe you from this planet, erase your existence, and after that... I will eradicate the rest of this worthless planet.

"Assuming from the notes you stole from Dr. Mengele Tstegi, I have reason to believe you know what the Godsmite project is, yes?" A pause as if he expected him to answer, then he snorted, ruby eyes glaring, seeming to bore into the souls of everyone in the base: children began to cry at the sound of his voice, and at that terrible, cold glare, and Marina fell to her knees as Cherry and Cindy kneeled by her, the former snarling angrily up at the box floating in the sky just above the shield... almost as angrily as Zerrex's own dark, furious expression. "It's going to be completed within the next month, but I've grown tired of our little dance and permitting you maggots to survive for my entertainment.

"But since I enjoy watching you scramble around like the little, insignificant bugs you are, I'll inform you that in three days' time, I'll be sending in a special military force to destroy your facility. To give me one last show of entertainment..." he smiled coldly on every monitor, on every television set, and Zerrex heard that same expression in his voice. "Don't disappoint me, Raves... like the rest of your behavior has always been. Give me something else I can write about in the history books for the new world, would you? Or perhaps do something for your father worthy of note, that'll make Daddy proud like you never... ever... have."

A pause, and his cruel smile stretched a bit wider, as Narrius tilted his head upwards, and for a moment, everyone saw the real monstrosity behind the suit, realized that Narrius was nothing as mundane as some dark dictator with a different mindset... he was hatred given form, he was the incarnate of evil and chaos that was too far on one side of the spectrum to ever be balanced by anything or anyone anywhere else. And they all realized that this was not just a war for some special meaning, for some ideal: it was a war for not only their lives, but that of everyone else in the entire world... and that likely included Narrius's own army and disciples that he dominated through power and fear. "I will not let you destroy my Paradise. My world. My vision...

"But I said I would be clear and short with you, so I'll lastly say this: the only mercy I will show you... is that of a quick death. If you continue to resist, however... I will not merely exterminate you..." A pause, and a soft laugh that was filled with murderous intent: a simple sound, but one that sent a shiver through even the strongest of warriors present. "I will bring you to a place where even the Grim Reaper cannot save you.

"I'll see you all in three days' time, pathetic, hopeless little maggots. And I hope you give me at least a little fun, Raves." Narrius finished in a casual, easy voice, before static filled the air again and the VTOL jets rose higher into the air, then flew off, keeping tight formation as they carried their heavy cargo away.

And Zerrex's hands were clenched so tightly that blood was running from his fists, an emerald eye twitching as he stared into the sky, and he promised silently once more... I will not let this happen... I will stop you. Even if I have to die too, I'll kill you... Father...

Huck, Albatross, Zerrex, Marina, Cherry, Cindy, and a monitor that displayed Churchill's face sat together in a conference room that the first Drakkai in line had outfitted with screens on every wall, all of them displaying different graphs and coordinates, and one a large map with various digital readings and markers on it.

They sat together quietly, discussing their tactics and the readings that they'd found, and Huck murmured quietly that the readings had indeed increased a ridiculous amount since Narrius had paid them his little visit with what he called a 'spring-wave box,' the thing he'd used to hack into their transmissions and televisions with. Something about 'hostile' radio waves and satellite transmissions and all other manner of technical mumbo-jumbo Zerrex didn't understand in the slightest.

Now, however, they had moved on to military tactics... and Huck noted that it would take a large army at least a full day to move into position against them, with the distance they were at, even if the full army mobilized and approached using transports and other armored vehicles. Then there was the difficulty of the shield... but Albatross had shaken his head at this, saying that Narrius would probably just use heavy cannons or one of his goddamn Titan freaks to reach through the shield and attack a generator, and that would be game over for them.

After an hour of discussion, Zerrex finally said quietly: "We only have one choice. If he's going to attack us, we need to bring all our soldiers up, outfit them as best we can, and evacuate all the civilians to Uroboros and other rebel encampments. I suggest using tunnel systems and transporting them by night through open areas if we have no other choice but to go over land."

Huck nodded a bit at this, frowning at the table as he laced his fingers together and rested forwards against it quietly. "We have information that Narrius isn't making any movements with his other soldiers, and I'm continually confirming with satellite imaging and scouting reports that there's no evidence of him building up an attack force from any other angle. It looks like he's just going to try and overpower us with a single strike from the front... and he doesn't even seem to be interested in anything else-"

"He's not." Zerrex said flatly, brushing a hand through his hair and looking at the table, emerald eyes dark. "More than a threat, we're a symbol to him... a symbol of resistance, of unity, and a group of people that have all strung together to fight against his ideal, and his Paradise." A pause, and a short, barking laugh. "But most of all, I think it's the fact that we're actually standing up to him that's the biggest pissoff. He doesn't see the other bases... hell, probably doesn't even see us as a real threat... but we're standing in his way, nonetheless. And he does not like that in the slightest."

The others nodded a bit at this, then the Drakkaren sighed and shook his head slowly; he hated being the person everyone stared at... but he was also the one who did have the most experience dealing with the Patriarch, and who had known him on a personal level. "He's going to order his troops to rush us, most likely. To continually shove forwards against our forces until they break into the base. He'll move on day two, and day three... and from the speeches he's been giving on the civilian channels, he'll attack that night or the morning of the fourth day, and won't stop until he's killed us all." He stopped and looked at Huck squarely. "So I need your claymore ready by the end of tomorrow at the latest, Huck... and then the day after that, I need to take a special strike force with my own Black RED unit, and we'll curl around Narrius's army to strike back at his base of operations and then at Paradise.

"As for here, I need the defenses prepared, trenches dug, sandbags piled and wire strung. Put together some mine gardens, and set up some pillboxes or nests if you got the materials." Zerrex said clearly, looking around at the others firmly. "We need a line two-klicks long... and maybe five hundred meters away from here, so we can still use our snipers and heavy cannons. And since they'll bypass Uroboros in all likelihood... Churchill, you should arm and equip your GA, pull out the elites, and I want all the vehicles and mobile artillery ready to move to attack the backside of the approaching army."

"Shit. Sounds easy." Huck said drolly, then he shook his head a bit. "I'll get some moles to work on the trenches, then, have them work on it all night, switch off in the morning. We'll get your damned line dug, even though it's gonna be messy and I'll probably have to bring in some digging equipment to speed things up." A pause as he looked over at the monitor displaying Churchill's pale face. "You okay there, mayor General?"

"Sure... yeah." Churchill murmured, then he shook his head quickly and looked down, before glancing back up and saying quietly: "Whatever you order, Lord Zerrex, is my command. You've got no doubts from me."

"Nor me." Albatross added firmly, then he looked over at Zerrex and met his eyes. "Let me move in with your special team. I'm the best sniper you have at your disposal, and I've dealt with tactics on sea and jungle alike... that, and I can lead my own ghost team while you deal with ordering around the other platoons."

Zerrex paused... then glanced at Huck. "You gonna be okay with running Headquarters here and managing things by yourself? I need at least one of you staying back to command the troops and organize their movements."

"Fuck no." Huck winced and covered his head, then he sighed and lowered his head, tapping his fingers against the table and looking gloomily up at Zerrex. "But shit, what the hell, right? And Albossatross will do way more good in the field then sticking back here... better soldier than I ever was, he is." A smile and a nod to him, and Albatross laughed a bit and shook his head in response. "But shit, I got it covered then, dudes. You fuckers just make sure you mess up the Patriarch's bases good and hard, got it?"

"Got it." Zerrex said softly, and then he glanced over at Cindy and nodded to her. "You can give your report now."

Cindy nodded back, then cleared her throat a bit and looked around the table grimly. "Our informants tell us that Narrius's behavior suggests Godsmite, or some other weapon, is either completed or at the point where it can be test-launched and likely have over a ninety-percent mortality rate. Worse yet, our own scientists have isolated the way Godsmite differentiates between friend and foe, who it should kill and who it should leave alone: it reacts with one particular gene we're calling Red-92. It's an unknown chromosome, but I can't say it was never seen before... but the only similar genes are long-dead ones with only a few scraps of genetic code left in them, and they were from first-generation Dragokkaren, after their bodies have started to evolve but before their minds did so. And as most of you know, that means this predates written history.

"Analyzing other data seized from labs, we've discovered this single gene is in every replicated soldier, has been synthetically added to every important member of Narrius's council and military, and apparently was taken from Narrius himself, who possessed it originally..." A pause, and a glance around the table, speaking quietly: "And myself, my sisters, Mahihko... and my father also have it."

The others looked up in surprise at this, and Cindy sighed a bit, shaking her head slowly. "Unfortunately, because of the riots and the damage many laboratories suffered... not to mention how few scientists we have... there's no way we can synthetically alter everyone's genetic code to contain this same gene." A pause, then she said slowly: "But working with blood samples, we've determined that when Red-92 and the Godsmite virus encounter each other and interact, it creates a strange chemical reaction and generates a natural vaccine. Unfortunately, since we don't have the completed data on Godsmite, we're unable to determine if this is by accident or not, even though it obviously seems to have been designed into the process and what Godsmite actually revolves around.

"If we could somehow figure out a way to even digitally-simulate the interaction of these chemicals, then we could create a vaccine for Godsmite and give it to everyone... hell, we could even create an antivirus that could be administered just like a gas bomb with today's technology." she shook her head slowly. "But it's too late for theories, and I'm afraid that if nothing changes over the next day or so, we're going to be completely out of luck."

It wasn't good news, to say the least... but Zerrex was, in a way, almost glad. If they had somehow rendered Godsmite useless, it would do two things: one, it would relieve some of the stress of battle, and some soldiers might think about getting the vaccine and abandoning their posts, or just abandoning base altogether, knowing that it wasn't a medication-immune superbug after all. Two: Narrius would be infuriated... and he might just keep hitting them with nuclear explosives until the world itself cracked in half.

Then he looked over to Cherry and Marina, but they both shook their heads: nothing to report. He looked around the table, and sighed, realizing he'd been pushed once more into position of leader without even recognizing it, and finally saying: "I'll open the floor to questions in a moment... but first, I just wanna say that... we're going to have to do better than our best on this one. We have to push ourselves to the limit, because... like it or not, and ready for it or not... we have reached the end of the war. This is the final battle, the final siege... and either we get our crap together and finally crush the Patriarch out of existence, once and for all... or we all die, and he'll kill everyone in the world seeking out his perfect vision." Zerrex looked around at them all, then he gave a cold smile. "Personally, I've done too much now to die."

"Same here. Fuck this shit." Huck muttered, then he snorted and hammered the desk, grinning a bit and glancing up and awkwardly around the room. "Guys, it's been real great, working with you all... and especially an honor to get to serve with Lord Zerrex and his crew of daughters and the little pelt girl-wannabe." He snorted at this as Albatross rolled his eyes, then he laughed a bit and shook his head. "But shit. I'll save the speeches until after we've won the war, huh?"

"Agreed," the rest of the room murmured... and then for another hour or so they went again over the signals, discussing their soldiers, armament, everything. It was duly noted that conservation was no longer a good idea... so they would equip every soldier with whatever they could manage to dig out. The next day, the Black RED would also have their mission explained, and Albatross would build up a strike team of forty handpicked soldiers and inform his own sniping team of ten of exactly what they would be doing. On day two, they would move in, using a private link with the base and Huck's monitoring systems in the tower to steer wide and clear of enemy forces... and then abandon their vehicles and finally move in, set up their positions around the enemy camp, and prepare for the attack.

Zerrex wished he had more time, among other things: he knew that it would be hell, after all, breaking into Paradise, even if he had some idea of how to do it. He also knew that most of the Black RED unit could very well die tomorrow... and could only hope that it wouldn't include any of his family. Even Mahihko he was starting to think of almost as family, with a strange, gentle fondness... and as he walked quietly with them down the hall, he stared at the floor, hating himself for actually looking forwards to the coming war and the excitement that he felt.

Soldiers had been fighting now for seven years and eighty, ninety days... and in the next three, it would be over. Either Narrius would fall... or he would rise and conquer the entire world with his deadly weapon, and in doing so, crush the planet between his hands and grind it to dust. Already, his clutching fingers had torn such horrible scars in the face of their once-beautiful world... and Zerrex didn't want to see any more innocents die, anyone else suffer and be hurt; it wasn't in his wishes anymore, and yeah, alright: he still liked it. He couldn't change the darkness in himself... but he was so damned firmly propelled by his sense of right and wrong, honor and justice, that he had no choice but to move forwards and conquer the evils that he perhaps, in some cold, lonely part of himself, admired...

That night, they sat together on the bed, and not even Cherry begged for sex... but she was just as calm and serious, as Zerrex went over their plans quietly. In the best case scenario, Narrius would move all of his forces out from the encampment he'd set up... and at worst, they'd have to deal with perhaps half of his forces. The first attack would be a stealth operation, and they'd each take one of the five temples - Cindy and Mahihko pairing up as a team - that were producing the strong thermal signals... and blow them up with remote explosive that Huck's mechanics were preparing for them as he spoke. It meant infiltrating to the generator cores of each facility, which were marked by white dots on the plain maps Huck had printed off for them all to look at... but he was confident they could do it.

After that... they would use the cover of smoke to bring in the claymore and launch the explosive into Paradise's body, then detonate it. Huck also promised to send out jets for support, to tangle with Narrius's own planes - if he used them - and distract the massive floating fortress. He did note, however, that he needed the helicopters he'd managed to repair for his own bombing runs against the enemy military force, and Zerrex had smiled ironically and said he didn't expect even him to be able to design a military transport chopper that could tangle with a VTOL jet of the likes Narrius had at his disposal.

The next day, Zerrex spent mostly pacing nervously, as the others did their duties... and then going over his plans again with the Black RED, who had finally become what he had hoped for beyond hope: an actual team. They all functioned together, all looked at him with respect... and Huck's mechanics had done an excellent job repairing and cleaning all their equipment, he thought. Their job would be to use their abilities to their advantage, and support the strike team he'd be sending in with the destruction of enemy troops... but he'd warned them of the danger of their missions as well. All of them, even Damien, nodded firmly, however... and none looked frightened of the idea of dying. They still weren't elite... but now, they were more than rookies or your standard soldier, as well.

Albatross met him in the top hall of the barracks after talking with his own soldiers, and Zerrex glanced over the strike team he picked and noted they were almost entirely GA, with only a few of the rougher-looking Children here and there. The two of them had then spent an hour going over their mission parameters for the next day - Already the next goddamn day... Zerrex shook his head slowly at this thought; it seemed amazing, with how fast things were suddenly moving towards the end of the long, hard road he'd travelled - and what they would do... and all of the soldiers were then outfitted with the heaviest weapons and armor they had available, as well as enhanced comlinks and whatever other bits and pieces of technology could be spared here and there. They would conceal themselves from the enemy army, overnight a short distance away from their camp... and then lay in wait until the moment was right, using spies to monitor the situation around where the Patriarch had been gathering troops. The hope was that they could slip by Narrius's scanners while he was preoccupied with dealing with the movements of his soldiers... and Huck promised to send a jamming truck with them as well, which would screw up the Patriarch's radar and other imaging systems

Of course, if he figured out what was causing it, he'd likely send soldiers out hunting through the surrounding area... but first he'd likely have his scientists run a diagnostic check on Paradise's systems, since it was a hell of a trick to mess up a thermal scanner. The Drakkaren had nodded and thanked the Dragokkaren, and Huck had smiled, clasped his hand, then given him a quick hug and muttered it was no problem at all.

And so came the next night, the entire base still alive with activity, civilians being evacuated by volunteer soldiers here and there, and many leaving small offerings at Zerrex's door, which made him feel nothing but self-loathing... but did admittedly inspire him, when he woke up the next morning and found it outside his quarters; and he promised, as he looked quietly down at the pile of stuff on the floor, to give it truly his all.

He bent and thumbed through the things on the ground: a blanket, some candles, some rations, some jewelry, a few children's drawings - the last cut him to the core. He closed his eyes, bowing his head and wiping at his face convulsively with the back of his hand, swallowing thickly... and then he stood and turned as he heard quiet footsteps, looking down at Marina as she approached him silently.

They looked at each other for a few moments... and in her, saw his greatest reason of all to fight. Her, whose innocence had been stolen... who had become this beautiful and terrible slave of love to him... who saw no evil in her father, when instead she should only see darkness lit here and there by a few flickering candles giving the faintest motes of light. They gazed at each other quietly... and then he embraced her and squeezed her close, lowering his head, white hair falling around them like a curtain as he whispered: "I won't let him win. No matter what..."

"I know you won't, Daddy..." Marina said quietly... then she smiled faintly up at him, glancing into his eyes and touching his bare chest silently. "I guess we should get going though, huh? Get dressed... and then get our asses in gear."

"Time is short." Zerrex agreed... and then he headed to his room, clad in his plain uniform pants... but he changed out of these as well as Marina headed instead to the back room, to wake up the others if they weren't already awake and pull on her own clothing.

Zerrex laid his outfit for the next few days out, before he stripped naked; he looked down over his scarred form, glanced at the swastika tattoo on his shoulder... and then glanced up to the ceiling up as Drake spoke in his mind gently: Take small steps, Zerrex. Don't rush it. Just one thing at a time... no point in getting too eager yet. This is just the setup day... it's the third or fourth day when we start the party.

"Yeah..." Zerrex murmured quietly, and he nodded a bit before rolling his shoulders, then he smiled faintly to himself, feeling apprehension twist in his gut. "Yeah. Alright."

Boxers first, made of stretchy material like his other clothing, and then he paused for a moment and closed his eyes, concentrating and shifting his body size down a bit to his old eight-two, from the ten feet he'd been used to assuming while walking around the base. He sighed and relaxed a bit, before rolling his shoulders slowly and pulling on his pants next: black material, stretchable, durable fabric that was body-snug and never tore unless he maxed out his form... and even then, it would shrink down with him as far as it could manage. No clue how it worked... and he didn't want to know.

A black t-shirt with an open collar that had a single button on an arm of material, to hold it closed around his neck if he wanted to cover that up. Then he created a blade of dark energy in one hand and chopped his hair to shoulder length, tossing it aside as he shook his head back and forth, messy ivory length bouncing around his head and making the reptile grin a bit as he dropped his cut white hair into a trash-can nearby and brushed his hands slowly off. Then he rolled his shoulders a bit and approached his combat boots, slipping these gently on, and tying these up tight.

He sighed softly, then glanced around the room before snagging a belt that already had a heavy magnum handgun in a holster on it, an S&B .60 Heavy Assault Class weapon. The HAC was the closest thing he'd be able to find to one of his old custom .52s... and even though it was overall probably a better weapon, the .52's modifications let it have a larger clip than this one - it only held 12 rounds instead of 15 - and let it fire a lot faster. Zerrex paused as he slipped his belt on, gun resting on his hip... and finally, he picked up the last thing he needed from where it rested in the crappy holders he'd hammered into the wall himself: Blackheart.

The giant sword went on his back, Drake's energy holding it against him... and he lowered his head as he felt the sword seeming to tremble against him, saying softly: "Yeah. We're going to war, Blackheart. Maybe even the last real war... or at least, I can hope. I know we wouldn't mind an occasional skirmish here and there after this... but let this be the end of this dark chapter, huh?" He looked up and laughed quietly, looking faintly amused as he squeezed the hilt of the sword gently. "Time to go, old friend."

The Drakkaren headed for the door and opened it, and was unsurprised to see that the others were already standing in the narrow hallway, waiting for him. Everyone stood ready... Marina in her combat outfit with a kwaibar on her back and a heavy semi-automatic rifle, a handgun at her side; Cindy in a matching uniform and a tight-fitting jeans jacket overtop, the same weapon set: the two could almost be twins. Cherry stood with an enormous bolt-action rifle strapped to her back and her chain whip at her side, wearing her usual half-slutty outfit... and Mahihko with a revolver on one hip and a 15mm handgun on the other, dressed in tight jeans and a plain black t-shirt, a black ribbon tied near the tip of his tail. The people who he'd come to think of as his little family, all standing there, all looking up at him with love, with affection, with pride... and he couldn't help but gaze back with the same expression, smiling a bit as he looked over them all.

He nodded to them, then turned and took up his position as their leader automatically, heading out with the four following him in pairs. They only stopped for a short, brief breakfast in the mess hall... and then they headed outside, where Huck, Albatross, and the rest of the soldiers were gathered and organizing the transports and vehicles. It was only six in the morning, but Zerrex had mentioned wanting to get an early start, so they could move in and avoid passing Narrius's troops on open plains; and then, worse, they'd have to find and pick their way through the jungle, which would mean removing trees here and there to make roads and a lot of travel over uneven ground. At worst, they'd have to abandon the transports... but Zerrex didn't want to do that unless absolutely necessary: they figured in as an important piece to his attack plans.

It took two hours for them to prepare fully, and for the three base commanders to finish their preparations, synchronize the handheld computers Huck passed out, and to give one last little pep-talk to the soldiers and inform them of their mission and how important it was. Zerrex also took a moment to familiarize himself with the gear his solders all had: one fragmentation grenade and one concussion grenade each, the huge S&B assault rifles that Zerrex thought were also carried by Narrius's Enforcers, and the standard DMF Slowdown handgun as their sidearm. They also had one extra drum of bullets for the assault rifle and two clips for the handgun rigged on a quick-grab harness on their backs, and all wore a side-pack with a small medical kit and a bottle of ration pills.

They also all wore the best armor available to the rebel forces: a compound called duraflex, which was an enhanced version of Kevlar that was almost entirely bulletproof and knifeproof, with an added layering of flexible mesh links and padding beneath the outer layer of black, nearly-impenetrable material. The armor came in two types: Mk I and Mk II, and the only difference was that Mk II had added flexible black metal plating over the front, shoulders, and shins. Every soldier was also given a helmet made of black metal, which was also probably the heaviest thing they had to wear: the beautiful thing about the duraflex 'Anti-Dragokkaren Suit' was that it was fairly light and comfortable to wear, and was designed to be used in close-range melee skirmishes as well as long-range combat.

Zerrex also noted that the soldiers had been equipped with kwaibars as well on their backs, and he had to wonder about what lengths Huck and Albatross had gone to in making sure these soldiers were properly equipped for the coming battle. After all, it wasn't like this stuff was exactly commonplace... and he smiled a bit as he glanced over the soldiers, watching them file into two of the transports as Albatross directed his own group of ten into another. Zerrex motioned for his own Black RED unit to go with Albatross's group, and he approached the large military jeep with the enormous, folded cannon sitting on it, hopping into the back on one side of the huge weapon and leaving Albatross the space at the front beside the driver. The Drakkaren again couldn't help but admire Huck's handiwork, and how the clever bastard had pretty much slung a cannon onto the jeep, added in some sort of acceleration unit into the enormous barrel, and modified the piston spring that would actually launch the explosive charge-laden drill-headed missile. Huck had certainly come through in a clutch, although he had admitted to stealing a design for a mobile anti-air cannon and building off that; Zerrex couldn't exactly blame him for rushing the design instead of using his own plans, though. He'd kinda been a bit demanding... even he recognized that.

But the 'Anti-Paradise Claymore' was now completed, and ready to go with them in this weird little convoy that would be lead not by a military vehicle, but what looked almost like the kind of van used by roaming newshawks to give their live broadcasts. The sides were scratched and some old Hez'Ranna runes had been painted over, and the top was a forest of satellite dishes and antennae. Inside, two of Huck's mechanics worked with all manner of gadgetry to create a 'dead zone' effect around the convoy: fortunately, the vehicles themselves had all been proofed against this effect, so their own detectors and radar systems wouldn't be affected. It was like they created a perfect dome around themselves that knocked away all peeping eyes... but let them see out and do their own careful bits of spying.

A few moments later, Albatross hopped into the jeep... and then they were off, the mobile artillery following behind the four transports, which moved in pairs that followed the head of the convoy, the jamming van - I thought it was actually going to be a covered truck. Huh. I guess this one probably works better, though... or at least I hope. - out towards the desert. As they approached the magnetic shield, Huck flicked it off... and the vehicles accelerated, the drivers following virtual maps on the monitors that hung down in place of a rearview mirror. On this, it displayed their current position, estimated travel time at their current speed, and the meters left to the first checkpoint, which was the beginning of where they'd start a long, curving arch that would take them down a variety of side roads, through a few fields, and eventually into the jungle itself on the modified, spiked tires.

The design of the transport incorporated a front that was almost a plow blade, razor-sharp at the tip and triangular-shaped, with a long rectangle of clear-metal that curved up and caught anything headed for the windshield, offering substantial protection against any type of armament or anything they might run into. They would have no problem simply chopping down large trees, then grinding over them with their oversized, spike-wheels: the ride was a bit jouncy, but the modified shocks meant that only the most volatile of explosives couldn't be transported overland in this fashion.

Zerrex, however, wanted to move in as silently as possible: the ramming function of the vehicles would only come in later. He sighed a bit as he relaxed back, wind whipping through his hair, head bowed quietly as he watched his little handheld computer, the numbers ticking steadily along, before he glanced up as Albatross patted him on the knee. The blue-scaled Dragokkaren made the shape of a phone by his head, and Zerrex nodded a bit, holding out a hand and accepting a headset from the one-eyed sniper.

He fit this over his head, winced at the static and how damn loud it was - necessary with the way they were moving, though - and then said clearly into it: "Yeah? What is it?"

"It's uh... I forget my codename!" Huck said loudly, and Zerrex rolled his eyes. "Look uh... shit... lemme look it up on the clipboard..."

"Huck, we're like, less than a klick away from the base." The Drakkaren said drolly, turning around and glancing at the huge facility that was still easily visible in the distance, over the tundra of sand and rock. "No one's monitoring us, just go ahead and say what you need to say. Over."

"Over?" Huck said stupidly, then he grumbled something before sighing a bit. "Alright, alright, good point. Anyway... I've noted another surge in activity, and I've made a small change in your travel route, just to make sure you get around some distinctly-odd thermal signals... we're going to use Route 14-86 instead of Route 15-82, alright? It'll add another hour to your travel time, but..."

"Just get us there before dark. Safer the better. Over and out." Albatross said clearly into his own headset, and Zerrex nodded a bit at this as Huck grumbled something about 'stupid radio codes,' and then signed off. Zerrex sighed a bit as he slid his from around his shoulders, then glanced up when Albatross smiled a bit at him and called easily over the roar of the motor and wind: "He's just nervous, that's all!"

"I figured... but he'll do a good 'nough job, yeah?" Zerrex called back, and he smiled a bit at this; even though Huck was a loudmouth and a bit of an ass at times... the Boss was confident in his ability, in his strength. The Dragokkaren was just nervous because two of the people he'd obviously developed some sort of bond with were heading into battle... and that everyone and everything was going to be placed on the line in the next few days.

Unlike many soldiers Zerrex had met, Huck was truly compassionate: it wasn't the stupid-ass pride or 'band of brothers' crap that so many soldiers locked into, pretended to believe in, and later in life promptly forgot about... Huck developed real friendships, whereas a lot of soldiers only became loyal to other soldiers just because they recognized them as other soldiers... never as people. In war, making friends with your platoon wasn't always the best idea, after all... sure, there was always the pride, always the loyalties that developed, but they rarely turned into someone who you'd invite to come watch a game with you on television, or who you'd just want to sit around and relax with. For all the talk of brotherhood, they were people you never shared secrets with; so many of the clichés of war were just so goddamn untrue.

But Huck was proud of his soldiers... and he didn't just respect and recognize others for their abilities, integrity... and sure, the amazing amount of stupidity so many people had in getting into war and not realizing that yeah, you could die, and yeah, it wasn't pleasant, it wasn't fun. It was terrible, and it scarred almost everyone... and those who weren't cut to the bone by it were either lucky or psychopaths like the Drakkaren recognized he was. In war, only the bad people truly prospered... and that's probably why Zerrex had so rarely lost any of their battles: he was beginning to wonder if there was anyone out there worse than he was.

And that idea made him nervous, too, to be honest: because now he knew, he was dealing not with someone who was bad, but the baddest of them all... here he was, riding in the back of a jeep as part of a military convoy, heading towards a final conflict that, in order to win, they'd require a hell of a lot of skill, and probably even more luck. The worst thing, though, was that the Drakkaren knew luck alone wouldn't be able to do it: even if Narrius screwed up... they couldn't win by a fluke, or a stroke of fortune. Even if his whole goddamn army fell down dead... even if Paradise crashed down on top of the enemy encampment... Narrius would still be alive.

He knew his father couldn't be killed by some stupid bit of luck, that this behemoth, this incarnation of chaos wouldn't fall to any kind of divine intervention, because divinity was terrified of him. As Zerrex looked down quietly, thinking of this, he also knew that the only person who could possibly kill him... was him; and the only reason he could settle on was that stupid, romantic notion that Requiem would have wanted it that way... and the faint stirring of an old story Drake had once told him came to mind, as he looked down, and murmured under his breath: "Darkness banished by light... by the rule of honor, bravery, and justice. But I'm certainly not the light..."

I find it odd... Drake said gently in his head, and Zerrex tilted his head up, his eyes glassy as he looked towards the sky curiously. I find it so strange how... you think so often of your father, Lord Zerrex. Part of you...

Let's not talk about that. Zerrex responded curtly in his mind, but Drake only chuckled quietly and shook his head, and the Drakkaren frowned a bit. What? You think facing that part of me that still... respects him, still thinks of him as-

That's not it. Drake said mildly, and the lizard tilted his head as the dark nephilim continued on in a voice that was firm, but also strangely gentle: Don't start that bullshit with me... I've been in and around you long enough to know when you're trying to hide something or sidestep a subject. No part of you loves him. No part of you values or respects him. With all your being, you hate him, and hate that you were born of him, because you know that without him as your father, you could have lived a normal life, been a normal person, even. Maybe had a wife and two-point-five kids like everyone else, worked as a teacher, maybe even been an actor, done a few commercials, maybe a crappy movie or two, worked in a sitcom on the local television station as the intimidating boss figure or grinning idiot stud... and that would have been the closest you ever would have come to becoming the Boss.

That's what bothers you. That you know his existence has a point, chaotic as it is. Without him in your life, you would have no challenge... no war... and no family. Drake continued mildly, and Zerrex winced a bit, glaring at his lap as one hand clutched into the metal armor of the jeep. You have to face that... and you hate feeling that you have to thank him. A pause, and then Zerrex looked up a bit in surprise as Drake said coldly: You don't have anything to thank him for, though, Lord Zerrex.

"What are you-" What am I talking about? Now Drake sounded both frustrated and amused. Goddammit, think about it! Everything he's given you... he's taken away... everything he's pushed on you hasn't been to make you stronger, it's been to try and break you. He doesn't think of you as his son... and he... wait, do you remember what Marina said once? She asked you jokingly if she was really Cherry's kid, because of the way she acted.

It's the same way with you, but in a much more extreme format. Are you the son of Narrius? Or is Requiem the person who you look up to as your father? You said so yourself... don't you remember? It's like a divine joke, and you're the butt of it. Drake finished, and Zerrex looked down silently. You have to give this your all, Zerrex... and when you do fight the Patriarch, you have to be prepared for anything to happen. And you cannot let yourself get twisted up by the rest of the world's view on your actions or father-son relationships, because you are not the rest of the world... and you have never been blessed with luck or a good life. But the only way you can do that is to face how you really feel about your father... and what he's done to you... without shame.

"Thank you." Zerrex murmured a bit, nodding and looking down awkwardly. It was true... he never liked thinking about Narrius. The topic made him uncomfortable... angry... and usually depressed, even though he hid the last with frustration. Just like how damn uncomfortable he'd been with Eclipse, in his own head, those... goddamn, years ago it felt like, and literally was, even though in his head it had only been a month and some days.

He knew, however, that he had to face this... he had to turn away from those people who said things like, "Well, he's your father, so you must still love him, no matter what he does." Because it simply wasn't true: sure, maybe... Narrius was half of him. But as Zerrex looked down, he thought instead of his mother, and murmured quietly under his breath: "But I'm also half DePriese... half Celestial... half my mother." He bowed his head quietly, closing his eyes and saying to himself, reminding himself: "I don't have to be like him. I can control myself... and I... don't need to rule the world..."

That, probably, was the other concern of the Drakkaren: he knew he had a problem with power, and he knew that if he did kill Narrius... what would he do? He would be the strongest person in the world, then... and he knew that with the Patriarch dead, all of Narrius's forces would disarm, would be lost, would be leaderless... and Zerrex could exploit that. Could take them... could rule the world...

He closed his eyes, disgusted by his own lust for that level of power, of importance... and then he shook his head slowly as the vehicles rumbled on, deciding to put the question out of his mind for now and only muttering: "I guess I just didn't get enough hugs as a kid..."