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For an hour or so, he lay there, the heat growing around him as the sun rose higher, but the cool breeze over the barren weapon-made desert keeping him comfortable and cool. His headache slowly vanished, along with the rest of the pains in his body, and instead he found himself once more thinking of the weird line Cherubim Sin had told him... finally murmuring aloud: "What the hell does that mean, think of gold?"

How the hell should I know? asked Ravenlight peevishly in his head, the voice of his darker side rising up for a moment before pausing and mumbling: Where's Drake when you need him?

"Sealed away somewhere, probably. Or going through my mental porn collection..." Zerrex murmured, and it took him a few moments to realize he'd actually said that out loud. Then he finally sat up with a sigh - moving carefully, however, as his head gave a grumble of protest - and then rose the binoculars to his eyes and gazed off into the distance, still musing about the color gold...

He thought of how she had literally turned gold... and then, stupidly, something in his head mumbled that his energy wasn't gold, it was blue. So he should think of the color blue. Zerrex dropped the binoculars at this thought, stared back and forth, then pulled his shirt up to look at the dark navy scales of his stomach, mumbling: "Where the hell did that come from?"

But even though the idea had come at complete random and was completely ridiculous... it seemed... right somehow. So instead of arguing, the reptile just shrugged, sighing a bit as brought the military binoculars back up to his face to peer at the moving shapes in the distance... who were still... surveying? He frowned a bit... adjusted the lenses...

Then he mumbled under his breath as he realized what they were doing. "Leveling out the land... so they are going to be using artillery. And not lightweight cannons from how hard they seem to be working, either... this really is getting freaking ridiculous." The Drakkaren sighed a bit, then he shook his head slowly, deciding to check again in another hour or so... after all, even if the transports suddenly showed up with the guns ready to go, it would take them probably ninety minutes to get it off the trucks, set it up, calibrate it, and then make sure the goddamn cannons wouldn't tip over or rock back and forth every time they fired.

Zerrex made a slight face of distaste... then he put the binoculars aside and lay back, hands behind his head as he relaxed quietly on the roof. Below him, he could hear the bustle of activity... and he hated the waiting game, but... the clouds above were nice, the breeze was wonderful, the skies were beautiful, and Zerrex felt needed, wanted, but not... suffocated by people. Instead, they were following his directions, but not running and whining to him every five minutes about who did this and what did that, or about any possible changes in... whatever. The Drakkaren had confidence that they'd let him know if anything major changed... just as he had confidence that Albatross, Huck, and maybe even Churchill were capable of dealing with any conflicts that arose.

"And Mercury will sure as hell get my points across without me even being there." He murmured, then smiled a bit and laughed softly to himself, thinking idly of the strange - but to him, wonderful - creature. Mercury's the blue planet, right? Or at least I think that's the color they associate with it. Maybe that's where the blue thing came from.

Except Zerrex knew it wasn't; in the past, he'd had strange, odd experiences where he'd seemed to give off a faint blue iridescence, or visualized a blue glow while blocking or dealing with some opponent who possessed a special talent or special power he'd been forced to block. Like that damn vixen who'd adored him so much... that made him smile faintly, as he remembered fighting her, and her incredibly strong telekinesis... and he'd remembered... concentrating, and somehow blocking her psychic energy with what felt like his own physical force. And even then, he remembered... blue.

"Weird." Zerrex murmured, then he closed his eyes and shrugged a bit... before sitting up and smiling slightly. "Well, what the hell, right? Why not give it a try..." he laughed faintly before concentrating... then pausing and looking down at himself, realizing that if he did manage to change his size... he'd rip apart his clothes. And worse, some of the words of Mercury came back to him: that he'd use up his energy to shift his body size, and that he could understand. It meant he'd probably spend the rest of the day tired, sore, and needing to either sleep or just relax... and that would mean he'd be useless for when Narrius finally laid siege to the rebel base.

He laughed dryly at this, shaking his head slowly. "Not that I'll likely be of any use anyway... but I guess I could... do that other exercise she was talking about then. Just see if I can get used to it... used to the feeling, bringing it up and concentrating like that." The Drakkaren paused, then nodded a bit as he lay back down, and closed his eyes.

At first, he visualized... the penis metaphor he'd tried earlier. It didn't work as well; next, he tried making it blue, or imagining an aura around it... which... just made him snort laughter. Finally, he settled on thinking of blue and concentrating on what he wanted to happen... and that failed as well, leaving him feeling a bit frustrated as he clasped his hands over his chiseled abs, shifting uncomfortably. He wasn't feeling anything but extremely stupid... and thoughts like I can't do this... This is impossible... and I'm such a loser... this is just make-believe... kept swarming in, despite his knowledge of strange powers that existed in the world, his belief in the supernatural... and even his experiences earlier today with changing his hand down by himself in size.

After a while, however, those thoughts finally began to play out through patient waiting... and then the reptile caught a strange glimpse of gold mixing in with his blue. It was like... two colors swirling together, combining and yet not mixing... but instead turning into some new pattern and design. He felt his toeclaws twitch... his hair seemed to curl in a wind that he couldn't feel... and then a strange, prickling sensation spread over his entire form, which surprised the reptile so much that he lost his concentration, and it faded so quickly the reptile wondered if it had ever really been there at all.

He coughed and muttered to himself... then tried again, and he found it far easier to bring back that odd feeling this time around, the strange gold and blue mix rising almost immediately in his mind. The sensation spread through his entire body, from his extremities inwards to his body's core... and it was the strangest sensation he'd ever felt. At first almost painful, making him shift back and forth uncomfortably as he struggled to hold on to his concentration... and then it slowly turned into more of a tingling warmth than anything else.

Hesitantly, the Drakkaren thought about increasing his size upwards, not sure whether he had to really work and will himself bigger or if it would just happen automatically... but then another thought struck him, and he paused for a moment... before shrugging and concentrating, eyes clenching shut a bit as a strange, shock-like sensation rolled through his body. He grit his teeth as he felt his muscles tensing and seem to thicken, and almost a fire roll through his form as his clothes suddenly grew looser and his feet too small for his combat boots... and after a few minutes of extreme discomfort, it grew a bit easier for him to take. The burning went down from a blaze to a few candles scattered throughout his body, and the strain went from as if he was trying to roll a massive boulder up a hill to dragging a heavy shelf behind him on a cart.

Finally, after almost ten minutes, he was done, leaving him panting and shocked at how slow and arduous it had been, and how hard it was to hold on to his concentration... and wondering just how the hell Mercury was able to shift her size and form up and down so fast, and even split into two, liquid body or not. He couldn't imagine the training she'd done, as he grunted and sat up, before staring stupidly down at himself and seeing that everything was not only loose... it was almost two times to big. A pause as he raised his hands, then he glanced over at his cleaver... and he realized dumbly that he had to be... "I'm shorter than the cleaver."

Is this your minimum height? Drake asked mildly, making Zerrex start in surprise as he spoke up from his head... and then the dark nephilim smiled amusedly. Interesting. I'd say you're seven and a half feet tall, give or take a few inches... and from what I'm picking up, when you shrink down, everything compresses... so this body would be excellent for defense and conserving energy. You did expend quite a bit to shift into this form, but I guess that's just because you're a rookie at this...

"Go away. You're going to make my head hurt again." The Drakkaren muttered, but he was secretly glad of the presence and information the dark nephilim had provided: moreover, it was... strangely nice that Drake, the creature pent up inside his body, was finally taking a more active interest in something he was doing, other than... in just killing things. The entity rolled its mental eyes at Zerrex, however, but it did quickly vanish after giving a mild warning. Change back to your normal height as fast as you can... you'll need to rest for at least a few minutes to recharge after you do. Get something to eat, too.

Zerrex paused at the last comment, as he concentrated on shifting upwards, and realized stupidly... he hadn't eaten at all in... a long, long time. Yet... at the same time, he wasn't hungry. He wondered if it was a side-effect of the immortality genes or whatever... but as then he shrugged and instead concentrated on returning to his new 'normal' size.

It was a bit easier this time going back, now that he knew what to expect... and then the Drakkaren was once more fitting his clothes - they were a bit tighter, actually, and he figured he'd added an inch or two... or three... to his height by mistake - before he walked over to the edge of the roof and glanced down. Albatross and company were below, setting up what looked like tarps... and the Drakkaren cupped his hands by his muzzle and shouted: "Hey, Albatross! Go get Huck and some food, and come up here for a strategy meeting over lunch! I think the cannons are being moved into place!"

The last was sorta a lie... but Zerrex wanted to justify things somehow, and it did get Albatross moving a bit faster with a surprised start. Then the Drakkaren sat back... and a wave of dizziness and nausea threatened to overthrow him for a moment as he blinked slowly a few times. His body... ached... and he suddenly felt... so... goddamn tired...

He yawned a bit, slumping forwards and stretching slowly, then shook his head quickly before looking up and rubbing at his head with a slow wince. Then he began to slowly topple forwards... but a hand gently caught his shoulder, and he looked up blearily to see the Shine half of Mercury looking down at him with soft compassion. "You've been working on shapeshifting, haven't you?"

Zerrex nodded dumbly, and she smiled a bit, before leaning down and gently kissing him: Zerrex kissed her back, glad of the contact... before blinking in surprise as he felt that same odd, strange feeling from yesterday, of taking energy into his body. Then she pulled back and laughed quietly, leaving the Drakkaren feeling a bit more energized. "You're a lecher in all kinds of ways, Lord Zerrex... and maybe a bit of an energy vampire, too."

"Energy vampire?" Zerrex blinked, rubbing at the back of his head slowly, and Mercury looked at him with mild amusement for a few moments before rolling her eyes.

"The Empty Ones are an extreme example." she said finally, then paused. "I suppose in some ways, I am too. We don't need food to exist... but we instead eat actual energy to restore our bodies and keep ourselves functioning. But food is a great, faster way to get nutrition, whereas stolen energy is usually used up pretty fast... it takes a whole person or two to replace a good meal." Mercury-Shine softened, then stroked Zerrex's face gently. "And you seem to be having a bit of trouble getting back into the basics, if you don't mind me saying so."

Zerrex paused... then he blushed a bit and nodded slowly as he realized what she said... was true. He'd forgotten to use the bathroom this morning, for one thing - usually something he always did, but at least, since he hadn't eaten, he hadn't peed himself either - and it had taken forever - and a romp with Mercury - to get comfortable enough to actually go to sleep last night, and even then he'd slept fitfully until finally, Mercury had held him against her, and comforted him to sleep that way. Now he wasn't even remembering to eat... simply because, he thought, he hadn't needed to for those seven days in the dream world... those seven long years in coma. Plus he'd gotten so damn preoccupied so damn fast with the rebels...

He shook his head slowly, then glanced up her and gently touched her face as she sat beside him, saying softly: "What would I do without you?" A pause, then a quiet laugh. "And where's the rest of you, huh?"

"My other half's busy with the snipers... but don't worry, Mist won't be jealous once I recombine with her later." Shine winked, then curled against Zerrex's side, letting out a soft sigh as the two rested quietly together, and Zerrex glanced off in the distance. He frowned a bit, then snagged the binoculars from nearby and glanced through them, as Shine looked at him, then out into the distance and said softly: "So it begins, huh?"

"It looks that way." Zerrex murmured softly, staring through the tactical goggles and at a group of transport trucks in the far distance, as well as what looked like three covered troop transports... except Zerrex could half-see into one, and there definitely weren't solders in there, but what looked almost like the cannon of a tank. More worrisome at this moment, however, were the enormous tan and silver artillery cannons - they were taking their time setting them up, but Zerrex thought that was a bad sign, with how carefully they were laying things out and getting themselves readied. He also didn't like that there were only a scattering of soldiers at the artillery site, and the rest looked like slaves and engineers... that meant Narrius was confident about not needing guards, just minimal security to keep the mechanics in check... which was a very bad sign indeed.

Mercury-Shine glanced over at him for a few moments, then she finally asked quietly: "Lord Zerrex... I... even if we beat this attack somehow... won't Narrius just... launch another and another bombing raid, until he crushes us down completely?"

Zerrex looked over at Shine... and then he quietly squeezed her around the waist against his side, laughing faintly and shaking his head slowly, looking out into the distance and saying softly: "No... because Narrius doesn't like to reuse battle tactics. If this attack fails against us... even if it only fails by say... one missile, or only a handful of our soldiers are left standing in these ruins... he won't launch another bombing raid. Not because it might be a waste of resources... but because it wouldn't look good, and it wouldn't be efficient hunting, to use his terms.

"Narrius hates... being beaten. And so in order to remain the winner, he'll try to pass off a failed attack as just a weakening attempt, and then use a different strategy. Which is the sole weakness we have to play on to buy ourselves some time." Zerrex nodded slowly, as Shine frowned quietly. "If we beat all his strategies, of course, he won't just lay down and die, but he'll get frustrated and go overboard in attacking us... which could give us an advantage, actually, but only if he tries to send in a million soldiers or something, who we can pretty much just fire randomly at and kill off dozens of per burst, even though the numeric advantage seems like it should be enough to let him win without a fight. But I'm thinking he'd likely just bomb the crap out of us..."

Mercury continued to look at him quietly... then she sighed a bit and nodded slowly, curling against him silently. "Which is why he hasn't created any more units like me... he doesn't... like to be reminded of his failures, huh?" she paused, then blinked as Zerrex gently guided her muzzle up to meet her eyes.

"I'm a failure of his, too." he said softly, and kissed her gently: their mouths met, their tongues danced together slowly, and Mercury wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, pulling herself close as their jaws continued to slowly, tenderly work together, before it broke and she curled herself against his chest, listening to his heart thud in his chest as the Drakkaren closed his eyes and held her close, continuing in a quiet but firm voice: "And I promise you... he won't win. That we... the people he sees as losers and failures... will rise up against him, overpower him, and bring the bastard down."

"I believe you." Mercury murmured softly, then she smiled quietly as she curled tighter to him, and they sat together like that for a little while, until finally Albatross and Huck made their way up to the roof: one flying idly with a plain basket, the other wearing a backpack and looking irritable as he flapped a hand every now and then as Albatross flew too close to him.

"Shoo! You're like a buzzing fly or something! Go away!" Huck said irritably, taking off the backpack and slinging it at Albatross, but the other Dragokkaren simply snorted and caught it as he landed, as Huck turned a miserable look on Zerrex and Mercury-Shine. "And look. There's the Boss with one of the twins. God, I hate you for getting the twins."

"You're gay." Zerrex responded mildly, more as point-of-fact than insult, but Huck merely rolled his eyes and flapped his arms.

Finally, he snorted, then whined loudly: "That's besides the point! They're twins! Do you know the chances of twins, twins in the world? Just... damn, I hate you." he muttered, then plopped down as Albatross began to unpack some canned food, dried jerky, and several bottles of water and cans of cola. "And gee. What a buffet."

Albatross rolled his eyes. "You're the fruit here. Go bake a cake." He then had to promptly duck a thrown can of tuna, which hit the ground behind him, then bounced a few times before rolling over the edge, earning Huck a death glare from the one lavender iris of the Dragokkaren. "We only have limited supplies, Huckleberry... we can't waste them!"

"Then don't duck it next time." Huck responded in a sour but reasonable voice, snagging a bottle of water and splashing it over his face, to the discontent of Albatross. Zerrex merely snorted, grabbing some crackers and a few strips of beef jerky, and relishing the salty taste of the latter as the now-wet mechanic looked back and forth, then became more serious after a sigh. "So what do we got going on?"

"They're slowly setting up some pretty heavy-duty artillery... taking their time, though, laying down tarps, ground sheets, and metal platforms after leveling out the ground." Zerrex said mildly, as he stuffed more of the beef jerky into his mouth.

Huck blinked at him, then said blankly: "Seriously?" before leaping up to his feet, snagging the binoculars when Zerrex offered them, and walking to the edge of the roof as he rose the long-distance military goggles and gazed through them, murmuring quietly under his breath. "Shit... but it doesn't make sense. Those are XMR-44 cannons... they've got helluva distance on them bitches, but they do shit-all in terms of damage." A pause and a grin as he turned to Zerrex. "You could probably take a direct hit from one and just end up pissed off, Boss, with that rock-hard body of yours."

"Hit on him later. Serious time now." Albatross said drolly, earning a glare from Huck before he turned his attention back to the horizon. Once the Dragokkaren had his back turned, however, Albatross picked up an empty bottle to toss at the mechanic... but Mercury-Shine easily snagged it out of the air, earning a glower and a mutter of 'fun-killer' from the one-eyed reptile.

The other Dragokkaren, of course, was completely oblivious to all this... and Zerrex was busy listening to him instead of the others for once, as he continued to talk in a more serious tone that now attracted the attention of the other two rebels. "They don't have much firepower at all... see, they screwed up in the design of the bore and ammunition... it launches what we call 'bomb balls' instead of actual mortars. Those're pretty shitty designed themselves, too... they have an explosive core and they fragment on impact, but the metal they used almost never breaks up properly. Get whacked by a chunk and it's more like being hit by a small, slow-moving car than anything else... hurts like a bitch, makes for a great story, but really not all that cool.

"They make up for it though, by being able to fire damn fast and being easy to reload and launch... they're usually used solely for taking out low-defense enemy camps, though. The fact that they're here makes me wonder if the Patriarch has either some other plan up his sleeve... or if he's just going to try and lay down a suppression fire while he prepares his real weapons, so we can't defend and just take the attack." He made a face as he lowered the binoculars, then he sighed and walked back over to the group, sitting down and snagging a can of fish and some crackers. "And those transports bug me, too. It's like he's trying to hide something in them, and like, I don't got the X-ray vision needed to see through a green tent cover."

"So what's your guess?" Albatross asked mildly, sipping at a bottle of water, and Huck looked at him for a few moments, before glancing down thoughtfully.

"Low-damaging barrage fire to suppress us, and maybe a random heavy rock or something too fired from one of those things... just a big chunk of lead, because it'll do more damage from sheer weight alone than the crappy bombs those things fire." Huck said slowly. "And then he'll use a missile barrage... fire it at the same time or directly after another wave of bombs. Plus he's got... my best guess is long range RPGs or something stored in the transports for those few milling soldiers to play with, maybe one of them loaded with a mini-nuke that could tear down the front wall of his base at worse. But those kinds of small-area, long-range warheads require a special type of launcher to fire, so I'll identify which missile you gotta knock out of the air first, okay, Albossatross?"

"Roger." Albatross said mildly, then he glanced at Zerrex thoughtfully. "What are you going to do, Boss?"

Zerrex frowned and looked down for a few moments... then he shook his head and shrugged a bit. "I'm going to stay up here, see what I can see, keep watch... I just have a feeling there's going to be something else coming. Narrius never plays with all his cards on the table... he always has an extra wildcard hidden up his sleeve that we'll need to prepare for."

"Fuck, but I hope you're wrong on this account." Huck murmured, and he earned a faint smile from the Drakkaren at this.

"I hope I'm wrong too." he said softly, as Mercury-Shine cuddled closer against his side, and Albatross looked off into the distance with a thoughtful, nervous frown. For the next few minutes, they ate in silence... until Zerrex finally added quietly: "I got faith in you two, though, that you can deal with whatever Narrius throws at us." A pause, and then he fumbled finally: "And... I'm sorry for bringing this down on you all and causing Narrius to focus his attention on this base."

"Oh, don't be a douche, it was only a matter of time before it happened anyway." Huck said airily, waving a hand, then clapping Zerrex on the shoulder as he smiled and held up a cracker slathered with canned fish in the other hand. "Besides, it's great to have you here, Lord Zerrex, and we'll gladly fight with you and for you to the death. You've raised the morale of our soldiers way beyond anything we've dreamed possible."

Mercury-Shine nodded, then nudged him quietly and said softly: "So stop bein' selfish, asshole. Besides... it's... wonderful to get to see you again." She paused and smiled up at him, meeting his eyes quietly, and Zerrex felt like she truly was speaking from the heart and not just some fable to keep up appearances, making him wonder quietly... how much of Shine and Mist really still lived on it Mercury's body, mind and soul. "Lord Zerrex, my sister and I live to serve you... and without you, we were fighting only for revenge. With you, we have reason to live and fight for justice as well... and reason to finally smile again after seven years of pain."

Albatross nodded firmly as well, then he laughed faintly as he glanced over at Zerrex mildly. "And better sooner than later... maybe now we'll finally get some support from the other nations, once they realize there's a base here... then this whole battle would be a blessing instead of a curse." He stopped and looked down at the food laid out before them, adding quietly: "And better sooner than later, too... it's time we stopped fucking around and actually stood up and fought. We're soldiers... no more war games where we attack cannon facilities in the hopes that someone else will bomb the city to do our work for us; it's time we stood up and did our work ourselves."

Zerrex looked around at the three... then he smiled faintly and nodded quietly, eating another strip of dried meat and feeling deeply grateful towards them... and convinced now more than ever that he had to make sure the rebels won. Call it a messiah complex... or maybe it was just that he hated losing in any way, and didn't want to sit and watch the rest of his friends become butchered meat. Selfish or altruistic, it didn't matter; either way, the end was that he would die in the defense of this base if it was required to save it.

They ate in silence for a few more minutes, before discussing the other possibilities: an air strike, etcetera. All of which Zerrex would be useless during... he suggested taking a team and moving forwards over the battlefield, or just going himself... but the others had shook their heads and Huck had explained that Narrius used thermal and electrical scanners to help pinpoint specific weak points with his artillery cannons. Zerrex would be easily detected moving closer on these, and he couldn't attempt to circle back through the tunnels for the same reason - worse, Hez'Ranna was likely still on full alert right now, and even if they didn't know about the tunnels, every area of the city would be patrolled by soldiers and the turrets would all be armed and ready to cut apart any unfortunates that ventured out during quarantine without a badge or some other identifier that showed they had explicit permission from the higher-ups to walk around on the streets even during crisis times.

Fifty minutes later, just past one, they gathered up their equipment and left Zerrex sitting on the rooftop with a radio for ease of communication, with two preset bandwidths to contact Albatross and Huck. They also explained Churchill was running several test drills for evacuation, checking to make sure that everyone knew what they were supposed to do before assembling his soldiers... and Albatross was busily setting up his team of snipers the way Zerrex had suggested, half on the balconies, and running through quick-change drills with Huck in case they had to change out for the cannons in the advent of an air raid.

Mercury, in the form of Mist and Shine, had taken her own snipers to a position a good distance from the base, carefully judging the positions of the cannons that were being set up - they formed a semicircle, in three well-defined lines of five. Mercury-Mist had to resist the urge to blow the head off a mechanic, not wanting to provoke an attack... and Mercury-Shine radioed to Albatross that they were setting up a barrage line, but she and her platoon were in position out of their estimated line of fire, awaiting orders.

Albatross glanced at this himself... then he sighed a bit and radioed up to Zerrex the information the Drakkaren possibly already knew, except Huck chimed in that it didn't make much sense, the Dragokkaren frowning. The artillery line was too basic... it looked like they were doing a test run, not an actual battle with an enemy.

"That's not the worst of our problems." Zerrex muttered, looking through the binoculars at the three tall machines that had finally been unloaded from the military transports, and recognizing what could only be battle-ready Combat Armors, just like the ones he'd fought so many years ago now after a certain overzealous wolf had headed a group of idiot millionaires from the old Apple Villa half of town, who wanted to overthrow Zerrex and put their super-rich lifestyles back in fashion and once more oppress and overrule the lower classes.

These ones were shaped a bit differently, however... they had much larger foot bases, which probably meant more support... the armor was weird, silvery... and the bodies were shaped like massive octagonal prisms, without any clear cockpit or visual area, although Zerrex guessed it didn't help he was at such a long distance. They all seemed to be equipped with the same armament, at least, but the large, square shoulders of the machines worried him... they were either medium-to-long range missile launchers or search lights, and he had severe doubts it was the latter.

"Huck, do me a favor." Zerrex said slowly, switching frequency for a moment to talk directly to him, then he smiled coldly: "I want you to bring out that big rail cannon of yours... load it up, charge it up, whatever it takes to ready it... and take aim..." A pause, a glance through the binoculars as he held the plain shortwave radio up with the other hand and wished idly for a headset... "Straight ahead. You'll see what I'm talking about."

"Got it, Boss, just gimme a minute to run up there... hey, Albossatross, take over!" A pause, and some shuffling, clanking sounds... grumbling... and then the Dragokkaren was yelling orders, which was followed by more shuffling and whirring. Then he snorted and said mildly: "That's pretty fuckin' lame. The arrangement is a focus curtain, three groups of five cannons, each guarded by a... shit, those are Centurion model armors." A pause, and Zerrex sensed a grin. "Hey, you didn't go all technofreak on me... don't tell me you've seen these hunks of shit before?"

"Cherry and I fought five or six of them, yeah. I thought I told you that." Zerrex said mildly, shaking his head a bit and idly adjusting the base of his long braid, looking off into the distance thoughtfully as he pulled out his revolver and began to spin it on one finger - a bad habit, almost as bad as playing with the cylinder when he was bored. "Will your rail cannon-"

"Don't even insult me like that, you dipshit." huffed Huck, then he gave some other order or command and added with a bit of pride: "This'll knock a hole in the battle armor, the cannon behind it, and maybe even the main wall of Hez'Ranna unless my angle's a bit off and I chunk the ground instead. But shit, maybe we'll get lucky and slam a weapon stockpile."

Zerrex snorted, then he said added another soft order: "Wait until all the soldiers are assembled and preparing to fire at us... that's the best chance we'll have of doing the most damage possible with a single shot. After that, you should probably withdraw the cannon and close the shutters."

Huck gave a noncommittal grunt, and Zerrex laughed a bit. "Alright, alright, I'll let you decide what to do with your precious baby, just don't run crying to me if you get it broken... but hey, just watch your ass, okay? I'm going to radio Albatross and tell him that once you take the shot, we'll begin the attack. I think he's got a few snipers set up without those bomb things or whatever he called them... either way, I'm sure he's got a rifle that shoots that far."

"Even if he don't, Albossatross can make the shot himself." Huck said proudly, and then he signed off as Zerrex wondered idly again on the way Huck seemed to fawn over the one-eyed Dragokkaren before shrugging to himself and contacting the reptile in question. A few minutes later, and Albatross agreed with the attack order, noting that Narrius had minimal soldiers placed at the ready... and the spotter for their side seemed pretty obvious, standing with his flag raised high at the front line. The blue-scaled Dragokkaren said he'd take care of that shot himself, see what happened... and Zerrex nodded to himself, murmuring that they'd probably slow down and take one shot at a time.

The Drakkaren spent the next hour looking over the enemy layout and frowning quietly... something truly wasn't making sense to him. But finally, at two-fifty nine, the spotter took up his position and raised his flag, obviously preparing to fire... and Huck preempted him with perfect timing, a massive, echoing bang that wasn't like any gunshot Zerrex had ever heard floating through the base before a huge hole appeared in the center combat armor; a moment later the cannon behind him exploded, knocking over another pair of artillery like dominos on the left, and turning the one to the right to a blackened husk as a massive explosion rose up.

"Shit!" Huck yelled into the comlink, over the whirring of machinery. "I got information that missiles are heading this way, a whole fucking fleet, and from that explosion, those can't be low-impact mortars!"

"I got it!" Albatross shouted, joining the conversation on the same frequency, and Zerrex snarled as he watched through the binoculars, watching the spotter go down. At the same time, the battle armors began to move forwards, and inwards to take on a different battle position, as several artillery fired but the rest remained still, soldiers flocking back and forth in obvious confusion. The Drakkaren could also see at least ten rapidly-approaching missiles, however, and three sparkling mortars flying through the air...

One of these suddenly exploded, the huge blast and shockwave that emanated setting off the other two, then there was another loud blast as the rail cannon fired again, knocking over another combat armor and plowing into a badly-positioned artillery cannon behind it. Zerrex could see a strange, jagged chunk of metal sticking out of the cannon for a few moments, before one of the engineers tried to fire his weapon despite the soldiers flocking towards him... and it went up in a massive explosion that knocked the rest of the artillery on the left side falling like dead trees, the few soldiers that had escaped the blast scattering as the ammo reserves behind them went up in flames, leaving only one row of mortar cannons and one slowly-approaching combat armor that had just fired a barrage of long-range missiles from the shoulder-mounted scatter launcher.

And the missiles above were still coming closer... Zerrex could see strange silver rods flying through the air, but a few fell short even as Albatross shouted angrily to hold fire, before one of them did blow up, taking another two with it and sending one more spiraling crazily downwards to knock a new crater into the desert... before the Drakkaren cursed and shouted as he gazed through his binoculars: "There's another volley after this one, too! A follow up!"

"Fuck!" Huck shouted. "The goddamn rail cannon is jammed, what the fuck! I need a few minutes of cover fire to fix this thing!"

"You got it." Albatross said grimly, as several more missiles detonated in the air... and then Zerrex's eyes widened as the last remaining few put on a spurt of speed before slamming into the front wall of the base, screams sounding up as Zerrex was knocked backwards by the force of the explosions. Cursing and fury filled the lines, before Albatross said raggedly: "My unit took a direct hit! Mist, Shine-" his voice suddenly cut out as he switched frequencies, and Zerrex climbed to his feet as he snarled, looking up at the next approaching volley of missiles, and now mortars as well... then he looked down, saw he was still holding his revolver, and laughed shakily.

"Yeah, right. I'm not Cherry." He muttered, then holstered the gun before blinking, as another set of mortars fired off... then he brought up his radio and shouted into it: "Albatross, look for a second spotter!"

There was no response... but with the rapidly approaching missiles and arcing mortars, there wasn't exactly time. And still, Zerrex saw no return fire from their side, as he ran to the back of the roof and anchored himself on all fours, snarling and watching them draw closer... closer...

A single volley of metal sticks fired into the air at the last possible moment, colliding with most of the explosives and sending up a massive blast that almost knocked Zerrex from the roof... along with the shaking of the building as a few missiles pounded into the empty tower region and the armored front of the base. The smoke that filled the air, however, formed a thick screen for the second volley of mortars... and Zerrex stared in horror as they came through, realizing they weren't aimed at the front, and instead he ran forwards, sprinting to the damaged front of the roof as the mortars sailed past and slammed into the barracks connected to the base.

The explosion was massive, enough to send Zerrex skidding off the roof with a grunt of agony as a massive firestorm rose up behind him and the whole building shook, parts of the tower crumbling inwards as the reptile barely managed to snag the edge of the roof, hanging from one hand with a wince, his muscles aching and his hair swaying in the breeze, panting raggedly as he began to heft himself back up. He'd lost both his binoculars and his radio... but as the smoke cleared... he saw no more volleys taking place. The combat armor was still approaching, still firing volleys of missiles that thankfully only collided with the already-emptied first floor of the base, shattering window, brick, and metal plate uselessly... before it stopped. As Zerrex grunted and pulled himself onto the rooftop, the machine fell backwards and exploded, and Huck gave a broken, crazed cackle loud enough to be heard even from here, as the Drakkaren managed to get up to the roof once more.

He panted quietly, sitting on the edge of the rooftop with a wince, his scales slightly charred from the explosion and unsurprised to see unnatural, chemical fires burning here and there over the rooftop, slowly beginning to patter out. In the distance, he could barely make out the monolithic and mostly-dead artillery cannons standing silent... and every now and then, there was a dry crack from below as someone took a potshot, before finally all was quiet.

For a few moments, at least... then a third missile volley fired off, forcing Zerrex to trudge to the back of the base as he heard everyone simply shutting their doors this time: when the missiles collided, the explosions rumbled the building, knocked a few holes in the less-armored tower... but otherwise the facility stood up to the barrage without trouble. Whatever else, Narrius had put most of his strength into the artillery cannons... but underestimated his enemies and cost himself the battle. The Drakkaren snorted quietly, somehow unsurprised as he wiped sweat from his body, hating how he felt like he'd just gotten in the way... then, a few minutes later, he glanced to the side to see Albatross climbing up the ladder and pulling himself onto the rooftop with a grunt, looking a bit rattled himself and with a few shrapnel wounds, but grinning tiredly nonetheless. "Thank God. Looks like you survived."

"I thought you flew everywhere." Zerrex said tiredly, earning himself an eye roll as the Dragokkaren joined him at the crumbled edge of the rooftop, then he smiled in thanks as the fellow reptile handed him a bottle of water. He sloshed it over his features, then took a drink and sighed deeply. "Twenty minutes of violence is all it came down to, huh?"

"We were severely underestimated, though. The next attack will have better defenses." Albatross said softly, then he glanced to the side and smiled faintly. "And how'd you know the soldiers wouldn't fire without a spotter?"

Zerrex shook his head a bit, looking down and saying softly: "They're cloned soldiers, right? They follow protocol and set rules, they're taught from birth to only obey. And I've heard they don't think so good on their own feet... I figured if they didn't have a spotter, they'd either switch to a one-at-a-time blast-and-check method, or keep sending someone else out to spot. First using soldiers, then the other mechanics."

"There weren't any mechanics or engineers... it just looked that way a distance." Albatross said softly, and Zerrex looked up in surprise. "They were all General Army soldiers, which is why they were trying to level the already-flat ground and set up supports... and also why I think they screwed up with the artillery layout. The Patriarch probably just ordered a simple attack formation like that, even with dangerous high-power explosives, because they wouldn't have been able to follow advanced orders. I also think he expected us to just cower... but thank Gods that's over with minimum casualties, huh?"

"How'd we fare for round one?" Zerrex asked softly, and Albatross looked at him oddly for a few moments.

Finally, he answered in a slow voice: "Five dead, seventeen injured, including myself, you and Huck. Huck almost blew himself up, crazy motherfucker, but he got lucky and the missile hit the wall instead of the rail cannon. Missed the opening in the wall by inches... other than that, the damage to the base seems pretty minimal... the roof of the barracks is cracked, from what I hear, but the front armor over the main facility is just dented. What do you mean by 'round one,' though?"

"It was too small." Zerrex said simply, shaking his head slowly, then murmuring softly: "Withdraw your team of snipers, close the shutters that can still be closed, and tend to the injured... but tell Mist and Shine to keep their teams positioned. If anyone on the platoon is injured or just too shellshocked to keep fighting, trade them out... we're going to wait out until nightfall at the ready. Tell Huck to ready the rail cannon again, too, then make him at least get some bandages on or whatever."

He paused, then smiled a bit as Albatross looked at him with a slight frown. "I just... I have this feeling, you know? And my instincts aren't usually wrong on this... so lock down the facility and prepare the defenses for another possible attack. I'm gonna stay up here, keep watch just in case..."

"What do you think the next attack is going to consist of, then?" Albatross asked slowly, as he shifted uncomfortably and made a bit of a face. "You sure it isn't just the fact you almost got hit by a wide-range concussive firebomb that's making you... a bit rattled?"

Zerrex paused, glanced up... then he looked back at Albatross with a bit of a grin. "Dude, that's been a normal part of my everyday life for... who knows how long. It takes a lot more than that to rattle me anymore..." He paused, then laughed a bit as he glanced down, shaking his head slowly. "I don't know... I guess - if I had to guess - then I'd say either a heavy-duty missile barrage, or a blitzkrieg from some heavy-duty bomber planes, maybe something like a flying fortress or two." He stopped, then shook his head again. "I just want to keep an eye on things up here."

"Mind if I stay awhile with you, then?" Albatross asked, and Zerrex tilted his head curiously as the one-eyed male smiled a bit, pulling his rifle off his back and cradling it in his lap. "You look like you could use a bit of company. And I see you lost your gear in the explosion... plus I might be able to at least rattle off a few good shots up here.

"You know... I heard a story once, about a famous sniper. His name was... Samuel Mariner, but everyone in his unit called him Hawkeye." Albatross smiled a bit, nodding as he gazed down at the desert floor below thoughtfully. "He worked in the naval military's 40th regiment... bit of a cold, cynical bastard, but he usually led the team right. Served as master sniper on the freighter he was part of, took care of the shots no one else could.

"They say once, he took out an enemy bomber... by getting this... beautiful, perfect shot right through the doors of a bomb carrier that had been flying overhead for a few hours, apparently deciding whether to blow them up or not. Thing is, it turned out this bird was a friendly who was trying to warn them they were dangerously close to a reef. When the bomber went down in a big ball of flame, it hit that reef and cracked it apart before sinking... knocked half of it just a bit deeper into the water, so it couldn't be seen beneath the surface."

Albatross paused for a moment, glancing off into the distance thoughtfully, lavender eye burning with old memories as he idly touched his chest, fingering his dog tags through his shirt. "So they ended up crashing on the reef and getting lodged on the submerged half... and they hammered the shape of a bird into his nameplates. They were stuck out at sea... you know that phrase, water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink?" Albatross laughed a bit and shook his head slowly. "Damn, but was that ever true then."

He stopped for another few moments, then smiled a bit at Zerrex. "They were 'rescued' by another ship just before their food supplies went out. 'Cept these people from the civilized world didn't want Hez'Ranna soldiers on board, and were pissed off because our army was sailing out on 'international, world-owned waters.' So they ended up killing everyone on board except for Hawkeye, offering instead to let him come on, but only if he taught their soldiers all his secrets of sniping."

"But there is no secret." Zerrex said softly, and Albatross looked at him curiously as Zerrex turned his emerald gaze on him, meeting his lavender eye with a bit of a smile. "You could teach me the basics, but not to shoot just as well as you... you can't put that feeling you get when you find the shot and take it, and get that perfect hit... just as I can't explain what it's like to wade into battle armed with just a sword or my fists, shocking the enemy army into melee instead of the old ranged combat crap. How it gives me such a damn thrill." He paused, looking down thoughtfully, then glancing back up mildly and asking: "How'd you escape?"

Albatross shrugged, apparently unsurprised that Zerrex had seen through his cover story, and giving a bit of a smile to the Drakkaren. "I did what some of the old soldiers call a 'repentance' shot." He quietly touched his eyepatch. "Hard to kill yourself with a sniper rifle... but if you load it with low caliber bullets, you can ricochet them off certain surfaces. I did a double ricochet that ended up scratching a long scar down my muzzle, then it nicked and shattered into fragments. One of them took my eye... the others just lodged in my face. They had to take me to the hospital wing and knock me out to remove the fragments and treat the damage... and they didn't bind me down. Didn't even put a guard on the bed, because they figured I'd be in too much pain... so I did the only thing I could when I woke up, and dived out the window and into the sea.

"I crawled ashore one of the islands to the north of here, a small trading country... had sea-scum in my face though, nasty stuff that was burrowing into my scales. Parasites that infect and eat away at the flesh... and in the impoverished country, away from medical care and any method of treating the worms... and I didn't want to wait until the next trade ship that ran through, because I knew once they reached my bloodstream, I'd be dead." He shrugged and smiled a bit. "I ended up staggering outside with an oil lamp... poured some of the fuel on my face... then smashed the lap against my muzzle." He silently rubbed at the burn marks over his features, not the result of any explosion after all. "Burnt all the parasites away... but I just let people think it's the leftover from a kiss of a grenade. Everyone thinks Hawkeye Mariner's dead, and I like to keep it that way."

Zerrex nodded, closing his eyes for a moment... then he shook his head and glanced over at Albatross, nudging him gently. "So you think you can pull off the same shot against the enemy this time?"

"I think I can try." Albatross turned his eye to Zerrex, smiling faintly and nodding. Then he sighed and stood up, stretching out a bit and walking in a short circle as he cradled the enormous rifle easily in his arms, looking down thoughtfully. Then he paused and glanced over at Zerrex, who was watching him curiously. "Thanks for listenin'. I'm gonna call down to Huck, get his ass in gear and send out the rest of your orders to the other squads."

"Thanks." Zerrex nodded again, then he turned his gaze back out into the distance, rubbing idly at his head and making a bit of a face as he wondered idly what time it was, and what exactly had him so unnerved, as Albatross brought Huck up on radio.

It was almost four at that point... and the next hour was spent just sitting, talking, and going over battle plans while arguing on and off with Huck about what his job was, what he should be doing, and why exactly he couldn't do this or that. Finally, as the clock ticked around to five, and darkness began to set in as the sun lowered out of the reddish, darkening sky, Albatross's radio beeped twice, interrupting a conversation the two were having as a harried voice babbled: "Incoming from Hez'Ranna, high-velocity aircraft detected, a full squadron consisting of no less than five military jets!"

Albatross frowned and grabbed the radio, but before he could say anything, Huck's voice came clearly through the radio, muttering: "What the fuck are you talking about, jets... jets can't... what the hell, you're right, those are jets." A pause, a shuffle of equipment and then his voice was coming through clearly instead of from a distorted distance as he spoke to them nervously: "Hey, Albossatross, Lord Zerrex, you might wanna get off the roof. These things are moving... goddamn fast. I'm looking at a sound image of them on the radar system we got rigged up, and they look nothing like bombers, though... they're single pilot attack craft, no idea why Narrius would send these things out... but they are closing with us fast, they must be in visual range by now..."

Albatross snorted, running back a few steps to get away from the edge of the roof, then he brought up his rifle and looked through the scope of his rifle at a group of five rapidly-moving dots... and Zerrex snarled as the jets seemed to accelerate out of the horizon, becoming larger and more distinct with surprising rapidity... and then some other booster kicked in on them, and they slowed in midair as they fanned out into a line on their approach towards the base and lowered themselves until they were level with the roof, now only fifteen or so feet away and hovering by the use of a booster system built into the bottom of the planes. VTOL aircraft... and they've got some nasty artillery...

They looked no different than any jets Zerrex had seen, except for the fact that they had slightly longer wings... but everything else, from cockpit to tail, looked normal on the top. The Hez'Ranna Double Standard was painted onto both wings of the otherwise steel-grey aircraft over the former GA logo, but on the underside were the real modifications that made the reptile question how these could exist.

Huge booster systems on either side of the main body, giant metal rectangles with heavy flaps that could shift back and forth to adjust the direction of the flow when they were active... as they were now, allowing the plane to hover. The wings also possessed strange, sleeker-designed turbines that looked almost like miniature rocket engines... and beside these, on the inside of the wings, was a pair of Vulcan cannons, with barrels that stretched almost further than the nose of the plane, connecting into massive ammo boxes that slid smoothly into the place underside the wing and fit between gun and body, leaving only a small space between each. But it was beneath the plan that really worried the Drakkaren: on either side of what looked like folded-up skis - landing gear that had been slid up to fit against the plane's belly - was a single large red missile, upon which a long, curving black Dragokkaren had been painted. The rocket looked dangerous, in a word... and Zerrex narrowed his eyes when he realized they didn't have warheads: no, the heads of these were screw-shaped, like they were meant to drill through armor... and that meant they were either time- or remote-detonated. And likely carry enough of a charge to blow the base apart...

"Zerrex Narrius!" thundered a voice suddenly, and the middle plane slid forwards slightly, Zerrex starting a bit and then looking through the tinted plate glass to see the pilot sitting inside, clad in some different uniform, with heavy gloves on as he held a joystick with one hand and the other was pressing down what was most likely an intercom button, his eyes masked by the black facemask he wore as part of his uniform helmet. "We have been given orders to terminate you and destroy this base if you resist, in this order if possible. Patriarch Narrius has also authorized the use of lethal force against any who attempt to offer you assistance in any way, shape or form, from sanctuary to combat. Will you agree to surrender?"

Zerrex looked down... then he glanced at Albatross, who had his rifle raised and a snarl over his features... before the Drakkaren turned his emerald gaze back to the pilot and grinned coldly. "Sure." A pause as he sensed Albatross start, before the lizard suddenly ran forwards, hand going up to grab his cleaver as he shouted: "Let me just get on that plane so I can come back to base with you!"

Before the shocked pilot could react, Zerrex was already flying through the air, throwing himself off the edge of the building even as the plane began to fly backwards... and then he landed with a crash on the smooth nose, skidding forwards and almost tripping over the dome-shaped, glass cockpit as the plane beeped and shook back and forth, the other planes quickly flying back, then launching forwards and going into synchronized, parallel turns, leaving trails of smoke behind them as the pilot of the center plane grunted and struggled for control, still floating and rocking back and forth in front of the tower of the rebel facility. Then Zerrex smashed in the glass dome protecting him, and the pilot barely had time to scream as the Drakkaren drew his revolver and placed one point-blank shot into the junction of shoulder and neck, the other slamming his cleaver down through the plane's armor and into the body of the vehicle as it gave a scream and suddenly jerked upwards.

Albatross hit the roof, covering his head and wincing as the plane shot over the top of the tower and then curved upwards, spiraling lazily once as the pilot fell back dead in his seat, jerking back on the controls and Zerrex holding onto the handle of his sword for his life, the blade slowly beginning to peel through the armor before Zerrex more sensed than heard another plane giving chase behind him, and he kicked off the top of the one he was on, flipping backwards and drawing his sword free at the same time as he holstered his gun in the same smooth, practiced motion, snarling as he went into free fall... and a barrage of bullets slammed into the roof of the plane where he had been standing moments before, causing the sensitive machinery inside to burst into flames as the jet spiraled out of control and flew off into the distance.

The Drakkaren, meanwhile, fell from the air, then swung his sword downwards at the last moment as he looked down and saw the plane that had just fired at him passing beneath him, catching the edge of the wing with his sword: instead of jerking down, however, he forced his body to flip upwards, hauling himself forwards as the plane accelerated quickly away. He missed landing on the plane... but thankfully also missed being cooked by the boosters and gained a bit more time flying up into the air, spinning once with the huge cleaver held out in his hand, then his eyes flashed to the side as another plane dived at him like a massive bird of prey, and he forced his body to flip forwards, swinging the massive sword out as it fired uselessly at him with both Vulcan cannons, bullets hissing through the air around him before the plane shook with the impact of the cleaver... and Zerrex half-rolled, half-fell onto the back of the plane with a grunt of pain, bouncing over the glass dome of the jet as planes screamed through the air around him, hair whipping around in the wind as the Drakkaren grunted, then cursed when one plane stopped to hover and begin cycling its Vulcan cannons, and the one he was currently riding gracefully spun, dropping him into the sights of the other jet.

Before it could blast him out of the air, however, there was a loud, sonic scream... and then the plane simply exploded, hovering for a few more moments before simply plummeting from the air, a massive girder of steel impaled through its body. Zerrex grinned... then his eyes flicked down as another plane shot by beneath him, quickly followed in formation by the other two, and he swung his weight downwards as hard as he could grasping the handle of the cleaver with one hand on the neck and the other the pommel, pointing the blade straight down.

The second plane passed beneath him, followed closely by the third... but then it screamed in protest as Zerrex's cleaver shot through the body, narrowly missing the missile attached to the underbelly as it tilted back and forth awkwardly, the pilot covering his face and yelling as sparks flew inside the small cockpit and the dome of glass cracked: a moment later, it popped off when he hit the 'eject' button, but Zerrex reached up, grabbing the pilot's leg as the Dragokkaren flew up into the air, still strapped to his seat.

He looked down at the Drakkaren with horror as Zerrex easily dragged him down instead of up, the reptile yanking his massive sword free of the plane and kicking off as it began to drop out of the air... then he swung, using the Dragokkaren like an axis and making him shriek in fear as the other two planes moved back in for the kill, both of them firing their guns in concert: instead of annihilating Zerrex, however, they plowed apart their fellow pilot before his parachute even opened, the Drakkaren safely flipping in midair behind the chair as it flew backwards, then wincing as the back of it collided with his own spine... and then letting out a yelp as the pressurized chute on the back burst free, knocking him higher into the air with a wince as he spread his arms and forced his body to flip backwards, feeling his cleaver knocked from his hand and falling to the earth below... and then blinking stupidly as he landed on one of the planes before wincing as it did a barrel roll, clinging to the roof and almost sliding off, but the momentum of the movement enough to keep him against the roof. Before the pilot could do any more tricks, however, the Drakkaren quickly smashed one hand through the pressurized glass and smashed the pilot's face down into the computer of the plane, making him grunt as his helmet cracked and the computer sparked and fizzled, a fire lighting on the keyboard

Before he could do anything else, however, he heard a massive explosion a moment before he was flung out into thin air and found himself falling to the hard desert floor in front of the facility, his hair on fire, his body in horrible agony and feeling bits of metal shrapnel lodged into him as he looked over his shoulder to see the other plane spiraling down to the ground below in who knew how many pieces... and then he blearily turned his stupefied gaze to the desert floor below, watching it rapidly approach as he thought quietly: I never thought I'd die from a fall like this... but hey, I went out with a hell of a bang...

Two figures were already moving, however, sprinting with all their energy to where Zerrex would hit the hard, packed sand... and then Mist and Shine looked at each other as Albatross cursed himself for the shot he'd taken on the other plane's exposed belly and missile, throwing his rifle angrily off the roof of the facility and watching Zerrex plummet, as Huck stared in horror, shaking his head back and forth in denial. Even Churchill watched with a regret and pain he didn't want to feel as Zerrex fell from the air like a flaming meteor, not calling out his usual commands, but only silent as Mist and Shine ran, ran, ran, as if they could catch him. Everyone knew that as they were, however, they'd just be crushed under the weight of the Drakkaren... that the best outcome would be a pile of three broken lizards...

Then the two females turned to black, strange liquid darkness as instead of halting, they jumped towards each other in midair, colliding... and it spun, twisted like a dark tempest, turned into some massive black shape before Mercury in her full, armored glory exploded out of the black gunk to the shock of all present, flying up into the air as if launched from a cannon, dark ooze falling around her as she reached both hands up and caught the Drakkaren with them, curling him down against her double bosom as he smashed into her body... before she fell heavily and slammed back-first into the desert floor, sending up a blinding cloud of sand.

A few moments later it settled... and Zerrex stirred before smiling faintly as straightened quietly on her body, looking down into her eyes as she coughed a bit of blood, then wiped at her mouth and smiled quietly back, and he said quietly: "You... you saved my life." He stopped, then added in a nearly-silent voice: "Thank you."

"You'd do the same for me... and did." Mercury replied quietly... then she winced and laughed faintly as she patted at the reptile's hair, putting out the last few embers burning in his hair and sending up a puff of smoke as she murmured softly: "But I guess I'll have to do some pretty serious explaining now to these guys, huh?"

"Looks like it." Zerrex murmured in agreement, as he straightened and slid off her... then he smiled a bit and nudged her quietly as the snipers present and the few soldiers that had snuck out to watch the confrontation stared, and she stood up, rubbing at one arm and blushing embarrassedly. "Hell of a way to make an entrance, though."

He paused, then opened his muzzle to introduce her... and then Mercury's eyes went wide, and she pointed into the distance, shouting: "Incoming!"

The snipers scattered, the soldiers ran for the base as Zerrex snarled and began to turn, but he already knew he and Mercury were too far away: the being had charged out so far, so fast, to save him... and now he could see a missile zigzagging back and forth, lighting up the world around it like a deadly star, seeming to be nothing more than a glowing ball of light... before Zerrex realized, as he moved, that the missile twisted to move with him. Somehow, it was locked on to his signature... and so instead of heading towards the base, he ran forwards into the desert, snarling, and as he expected, the missile suddenly went into a deep, steeper dive as Mercury gave chase after him. He looked over his shoulder, then snarled: "No, it'll kill us both!"

"I won't let you die, Lord Zerrex!" Mercury shouted in return, then she dived forwards and the reptile's eyes widened as her body became almost liquid before contacting with him, and he was thrown down to the ground before the darkness engulfed him. A few moments later, it felt like he was... literally inside of her... and then he let out a cry of shock as the whole world shook and a vast, horrible sound filled his ears, the whole world seeming to tighten around his body painfully... before he felt warmth trickling down his face, and the smell of burning replaced everything else. His head throbbed with sound... and then he slowly felt himself sliding free and out of Mercury's body, emerging in a puddle of blood and black ooze, and then he shakily stood up before staring down in horror at Mercury.

The female was panting quietly, her upper body half-formed and... horribly broken. Her legs and tail had been entirely disintegrated... along with half of one arm and all of the other... and every broken limb, every torn part of her body leaked black ooze. Her form was swollen and engorged otherwise, her bone armor cracked... and her eyes leaked black blood and tears as she lay back in her own bodily wreckage. And at the end of every shattered stump, her body went from solid and tangible to that horrible, dark gunk... before she rolled her eyes slowly up to look at Zerrex, forcing a faint smile as she whispered: "I am sorry... but... I am yours. And I can't let you die... when you're the one who'll save us all."

"Mercury... I'm no savior..." Zerrex said quietly, falling on his knees by her and reaching down a hand to touch her face... then quickly withdrawing it with a quiet curse when his hand sank into her scales, causing them to lose their solidity and turn into that horrible dark gunk. She whimpered though and looked at him pleadingly... and trembling, Zerrex slowly lowered his hand back to touch her face, leaning in close and ignoring the wreckage, the fires that burned around them in favor of this beautiful, failed creation that had just saved his life.

Again, his fingers sank into her... but she smiled faintly, murmuring softly but firmly: "You're the only one who can do this..." She paused, then trembled as her outer skull cracked and fell off her face, her voice becoming a bit more ragged now. "I'm sorry... I'm losing myself now... the explosion damaged both my cores. I can't heal myself... but let me at least do you one last service. I consumed Mist and Shine, and with that, gained knowledge of you, and for so many selfish reasons I sought you out... but now I'll enact their last wish, that I can feel burning inside of me..."

With that, the hermaphroditic creature slumped... then dissolved into strange, dark goo: but this time, it slid forwards along Zerrex's arm, up his legs, and covering his body as the reptile arched his back, feeling a burning, tingling pain, but the whisper of a thousand trapped souls as well... and then it engulfed him entirely, clinging to his body like a tight-fitting, living suit that slid into his nostrils and mouth. For a few moments, the pain intensified and Zerrex had the horrible feeling of being invaded... and then it was over, and there was almost a flash of light as he slowly staggered up to his feet, wincing a bit to himself and looking down at his hands. His body seemed to pulse with raw power, and then Drake murmured into his mind: She gave all her energy to you... thousands of souls, it feels like. A feast for not just me, but you... and I realize how cruel I may sound, but her demise has definitely offered you an amazing boost.

"I'd rather have her back than a selfish increase in my own strength any day." Zerrex murmured quietly, as he stood and looked off into the distance angrily... but the hatred and anger wasn't for Drake. Drake was unable to control the way he thought, and Zerrex loathed himself for the knowledge that the dark nephilim did have a point... but almost all of his real hatred was directed to the Patriarch sitting in his walled city, behind his army of soldiers and cannons and technology. The bastard who kept taking away the people he cared about and cared for... before closing his eyes and lowering his muzzle for a few moments.

Finally, after a few moments, Drake nudged him mentally, and said in an oddly gentle voice: You should probably get moving... Narrius might fire off another volley of whatever, or send out some bombers this time around. The time's come to get off the battlefield and rest in the fortress.

"Yeah..." murmured Zerrex, then he shook his head a bit as he glanced up and around the desert, finally settling on his cleaver - it had been flung a good distance away, and although not destroyed, the blade had been charred and blackened, twisted and made useless from the explosion. He sighed a bit at this sight, then turned and instead quietly trudged towards the base, where a few wounded soldiers were sitting outside the main shutter and staring at him in fear and wonder: true awe.

He hated it... both the fear, and the wonder, as he looked up at them quietly. He just wanted to be treated normally for a change... and even Churchill was looking at him with different eyes now. Before anyone could say anything, though, he shouldered his way through the small group... and then past the soldiers inside to the freight elevator, which was at least standing open for a change. He sighed a bit as he stepped inside and hit the button a few times uselessly, before someone murmured quietly: "The electrical systems are offline... it rattled our power grid..."

The Drakkaren heard a few other words from other people, like 'electromagnetic pulse,' 'shock blast,' and 'nuclear explosion,' but they didn't really matter, as he shrugged and looked down through the hole, wondering idly to himself if he could survive the drop to the lowest basement... and realizing with irony that even if he did, he'd have no idea what halls and stairs would lead where. So instead he simply sat inside the elevator, head lowered and arms resting on his knees as he half-drew them up to his chest, and at least even Churchill had the sense not to piss with him today, after everything that had happened...

And finally, five minutes later, the elevator rumbled and the doors slid closed, blocking the Drakkaren from the view of the others as he gave a bit of a sigh, then hit the button to take him down to the basement levels. He just wanted to go to his quarters now and lay the hell down... and try to deal with this ache in his body and the different levels of fury rollicking through his head. He figured he was also a bit shellshocked, too... it had been a long time, after all, since anyone had thrown themselves in front of any kind of hostile object for him in any way. Usually he was the idiot who played hero... but this time, it had been Mercury, and maybe the will of the twins inside of her, if he wanted to believe in that sort of thing for a little while, like spirits, the afterlife, and the survival of will even after death.

"But hell, I know it does." he murmured, stepping out of the elevator and then switching the conversation to his head as he saw a few other milling soldiers stop to stare at him, letting his feet automatically guide him down the hallways. After all, I dealt with it all the time. You could almost have called us the supernatural warfare unit... but it's just not so cute as the religious people put it, and it definitely ain't as 'cool' as the paranormal experts put it. It just... sorta... is. Death is a part of life, just as much as life... is a part of death. Don't like the paradox and the parallel, then too bad, go screw yourself.

You're always so morbid, murmured Drake in his head, and then he paused and added mildly: And you're acting like a rookie, Captain Ravenlight. Your first order of business...

"I know." and Zerrex sighed as his feet forced him to shift direction, instead bringing him back out towards the foyer in front of the elevator instead of towards his room, and then over to a surprised officer as he held out a hand and asked mildly: "Let me see your radio."

She handed it over, staring at him like he was... well... a god, which would have usually turned him on, but right now just made him feel exasperated. On the bright side, however, she didn't talk, and Zerrex clicked the radio on as he flicked to Albatross's frequency and said mildly: "You better still be alive. You and Huck both."

"What the fuck happened?" Huck asked in a strangled voice, blotting out the response of Albatross. On the bright side, it let Zerrex let them know they were both still alive... on the other hand, however, Huck sounded nearly hysterical. "Just what the fuck happened to Mist and Shine?"

"I'll explain in a few minutes... just come and meet me down in front of the elevator at the level four subbasement." Zerrex said quietly, then he flicked the radio off, cancelling out a yell from Huck and calmer response from Albatross, and tossed it back to the female officer with a grunt of thanks before he made his way over to the elevator doors, leaning against the wall beside them and crossing his arms as he looked around the room impatiently.

When the elevator doors slid open and the two familiar Dragokkaren stood out, Zerrex nodded to them, and then headed quietly over towards the nearest set of doors: Albatross and Huck quickly followed, the former reminding the latter with a glare about a certain promise he'd made not to harass the haggard-looking Drakkaren too much, and Huck glared back before throwing an arm around Zerrex's shoulders as they passed through the doorway.

The reptile stiffened and almost shrugged it off, but Huck just firmed his grip around his shoulder instead, before gently steering him to the side and through the door into the den they had used earlier, sighing and letting his limb slide from the lizard's body. Then he sat down in the chair opposite, and Albatross leaned up against the wall, closing his eyes and murmuring: "We're sorry for what happened, Zerrex. But none of us figured he'd try using a pulse missile... but we are... truly glad you're alright and sorry for the loss of..." He paused and laughed a bit. "Well, I'm guessing that wasn't actually the twins."

"No... her name was Mercury." Zerrex said softly, looking down and lacing his fingers together quietly. "I found out last night, while with the twins, who and what she was. Another..." A pause and a bit of a frown as he thought of how to phrase it, then he shook his head a bit and said simply: "Another of Narrius's test subjects. She me the twins before they died... which was how she knew to take on their form when she came here. She was... afraid that everyone would think she was a monster, and they'd throw her out of the base... so for all these years, she was hiding in those two bodies... and then she went and had to sacrifice herself to save my pathetic life."

Huck looked at him quietly, and then Albatross sighed and murmured gently: "Zerrex, you're the only one who can save us..." He stopped when a flash of pain filled the lizard's features for a moment, emerald eyes looking away silently. Then the one-eyed Dragokkaren sighed a bit and rubbed at his head slowly, murmuring: "Sorry... but it's what a lot of people here believe is true..."

Before Zerrex could give his standard smartass response, he frowned... then hissed and grabbed at his head as a ringing filled his skull, body twitching forwards as he closed his eyes tight... and then he was back in his mind, standing in that room with Drake looking at him coldly. The reptile blinked, then Drake stepped forwards and jerked his head back, muttering: I don't have much time, so I'll be brief. You need to deal with these emotions, Boss, because they're building up, and affecting your performance. If you need a hug, get a hug. If you need to be coddled, get coddled. If you need to kill, you know I'm never one to say no to that. But stop being whiny and emotional, because now is not the time.

And then the Drakkaren was back in reality, clutching at his aching, skull, teeth grit, and both Dragokkaren on either side of him, looking concerned and asking what was wrong, what had happened... before the reptile shook his head and weakly tried to struggle out of the hands on his shoulders, pushing at them both to no avail and murmuring: "Drake... just... Drake wanted to say something to me... the dark nephilim in my head..."

The two Dragokkaren stared at him, and Zerrex realized he'd never mentioned the creature to either of them before: sure, he'd said something to Mercury the night before, after she'd revealed she'd been able to sense the nephilim inside of Zerrex without trouble - it had taken him a ridiculously long time to realize she'd talked about something she shouldn't've had any knowledge of, however - and maybe he'd said Drake's name offhand here and there... but how would they know the name of the dark nephilim caged up inside Zerrex? And yeah, he'd mentioned him a few times before... but he didn't think he'd ever stopped to say that the nephilim was still active.

Huck and Albatross were looking at him quietly, and it was making Zerrex unnerved, as he lowered his hands and glanced back and forth from one to the other. Their hands had settled on his shoulders, and they had slid a bit close to him on either side, and Zerrex got the distinct feeling of being pinned and cornered. Then Huck asked gently: "Think you could tell us a bit about Drake, there, Zerrex?"

"Think you could back off a bit? You're freaking me out slightly." Zerrex replied mildly, looking at the two, and they seemed to start before sliding back a bit, sharing a nervous laugh... but the reptile noted they didn't exactly retreat that far. He frowned slightly, eyes flicking from one to the other, then he added in the same even voice: "I mean, why don't you two step far back?"

Huck shook his head a bit, crossing his arms and meeting the reptile's emerald eyes. "No can do, Boss. Nephilim, from what we've experienced, are pretty nasty things, and pretty tricky, too. For all we know, this Drake thing could be transmitting information to Narrius... we understand that your intentions are good, but we really think the best course of action in a situation like this is you tell us everything you know about it, and we figure out how to rip it out of your head."

Uh. Zerrex? That'll kill us both. Drake said calmly, but the nervous twitch he seemed to give in the Drakkaren's head made Zerrex quite sure the bastard wasn't lying for once. Until I rejoin with my physical half, I ain't goin' anywhere. Once I can assume physical form, it's a whole different story... but I think you should likely do something... instructive... here, because I'm getting the feeling they think I ordered the attack or you're going to betray them.

I'm not an idiot... Zerrex murmured in his own mind, looking at Albatross now, who was slightly slouched forwards with his hands on his hips... ready to draw his sidearm, in other words, just pretending to be relaxed. The Drakkaren didn't like where this was going... and he was no good at talking his way out of situations, but he decided it was best to comply for now.

He sighed, then looked at the two Dragokkaren and said mildly: "Drake is split into two portions, physical and mental. The mental half resides inside my brain, and it's what kept me in coma for seven years. I don't know where the physical half is... my guess is either one of the RED Commanders or another experiment, but I need to find that... once he rejoins with his physical half, then he can safely extract himself from my mind, and I can deal with him then, either kill him or just send him on his way with a thank you card for helping me against Narrius. He's not usually awake, and he usually only mutters something when he feels I'm in danger. He's well-aware that if I die, he dies... and that Narrius doesn't really want either of us alive any longer."

Nice lie. Drake said admiringly, seeming to grin in his head. I think you must have picked up something while staying in that illusionary world.

But despite the coolness of the reptile's answer, neither Huck nor Albatross backed off, instead exchanging a look before Albatross said plainly: "Zerrex. We need to know all the exact specifics of Drake... we know that you slipped Schindler a research file on yourself, for one thing, and he won't share the contents of this with anyone. We just want to know what's going on."

"I told you already." Zerrex said mildly, then he stood up himself, looking from one to the other coldly. "So what, I've got a nephilim inside me, and that automatically makes me a monster?"

"We didn't say that." Huck said jovially, laughing a bit as he shook his head from side to side and stepped forwards, raising a hand to push Zerrex back down into the chair. "Now why don't you sit your ass-"

Zerrex snagged his wrist at the last moment and yanked him around... and as expected, Huck's reflexes were fearsomely fast, the Dragokkaren quickly drawing his gun with his other hand and shoving it up and backwards to try and lock it under Zerrex's muzzle... but the Drakkaren easily stepped backwards, switched his grip to Huck's shoulders, and threw him straight down with a hard grunt, slamming him through the table and into the floor and stunning him, handgun sliding away as he grunted stupidly.

Albatross looked at the Drakkaren with shock, then he went for his handgun, but Zerrex snagged his own revolver faster, drawing it and taking aim at him as he snapped back the hammer with the palm of his other hand, then kept that floating overtop the gun. They stared at each other, Albatross with his gun half-drawn but frozen, and then the Dragokkaren said softly, his lavender iris meeting Zerrex's emerald: "Don't do this, Lord Zerrex. We don't mean any harm."

"I'm sick of being treated like a savior or a monster." Zerrex responded coldly, stepping slowly forwards and holding his gun out as he dropped his other hand by his side, until the barrel was almost pressed against Albatross's chest, his arm straight out. This was another old trick he'd learned, as he met Albatross's eyes. "Because I'm not the former, and I've tried so damn hard not to be the latter... shouldn't that count for-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Albatross grabbed his arm, just like he knew the Dragokkaren would: he was smart enough to try and get in a quick disarm if he could. What he didn't anticipate, however, was that Zerrex wasn't stupid enough to walk into grabbing range, and his own fierce strength. When the blue-scaled Dragokkaren grabbed him, Zerrex simply slid his arm forwards a bit, then jerked him around in a circle so that the smaller reptile was pressed against his back, his wings sandwiched uselessly between them and one of the reptile's arms around his neck, the other grabbing his head as the cold steel of the revolver rested against his cheek. "Nice try."

Albatross tried to reply, but he was already unable to breathe, struggling lightly before slumping... and Zerrex smiled a bit to himself as he leaned down and whispered quietly, continuing to squeeze the air from the Dragokkaren in the tight sleeper hold: "You're two seconds off."

The one-eyed reptile gave the tiniest of fidgets... and then he started to struggle again, this time for real as he gagged and tried to breathe, the reptile's arm crushing his windpipe as he flailed weakly... then finally slumped, this time for real, as Zerrex loosed his grip just long enough to check his pulse and found it lowered. As he'd expected, Albatross had gone through interrogation and torture resistance training... learned to cut down on his need for oxygen, control the physical drives of his body. An admirable, amazing trait... but no one could last for too long without getting any air to the brain, so he hoped sincerely he hadn't hurt the bastard at all.

He heard a groan from behind him as he began to leave, then he sighed and turned around to see Huck looking up at him stupidly, apparently recognizing the fact that he had no chance of winning in physical combat... and even with his gun, he'd likely just get it taken away from him in such a small space. The Drakkaren looked down at him coldly, and Huck looked back up dumbly before he slowly began to sit up, opening his muzzle to say something-

Zerrex kicked him once under the chin, swift and hard, and Huck fell onto his back with a grunt of pain, his eyes rolling up in his head, knocked unconscious. Then the reptile cursed quietly under his breath before turning and heading quickly out of the room with a disgusted snarl, trying to remember how the path that led to the tunnels as he headed quickly for the freight elevator. Just one day, and already I've worn out my welcome...

He sighed quietly to himself, closing his eyes before forcing a smile as he existed to the main hall, glancing back and forth before feeling both relieved and horrified as he caught sight of Hans, the Drakkaren immediately running over to him with a bright smile. "Lord Zerrex! How are you, sir? I've been looking for you and the other council members to give my report!"

"Really?" Zerrex paused, then lied glibly: "Well, Huck and Albatross are both a bit busy right now, so why don't you give the report to me while you take me down to the tunnels?" When Hans looked confused for a few moments, the Drakkaren added mildly: "We managed to triangulate the location of some of the missile batteries Narrius was using, and since I'm the best person available for close-quarters combat, I volunteered to go in and see what I could do about getting rid of them."

"Sure, sir! Should we stop off at the armory?" Hans asked curiously, as he pranced over to the elevator and jumped inside, holding the door for the Drakkaren. Zerrex smiled a bit to himself, then he shook his head and idly touched his revolver.

"No need for that, I'm going to do on-site preparations." Zerrex said softly, and this at least wasn't a lie. He figured he knew where he'd go first, too... and then he stepped into the elevator with Hans and a few others, and the younger soldier smiled brightly and hit the button for the fourth floor. "Why don't you give me your report now?"

"Very good, sir." He nodded, then blushed a bit and nodded rapidly again. "And sure, of course!" He paused, hesitated, then rubbed the back of his head. "Well, after scouting ahead through the tunnels with several others, we assessed minimal damages and began loading the civilians back into the barracks... there were no reported casualties, and no reported injuries. We're now preparing to fortify our defenses further, and all soldiers are being withdrawn and assembled by General Churchill into the top section of the barracks base. The main hall has also sustained minimum damage from the mortar explosives, but we've yet to identify either what they were or the specific damage done to the roof.

"Um... otherwise, things are... pretty good." He finished lamely, and flushed a bit. "Sorry, sir. I mean, General Churchill has yet to address the soldiers, and otherwise, he's waiting on Huck and Albatross and... yourself." He paused and tilted his head curiously, as the elevator stopped at the third subbasement to let several soldiers off. "I thought you and the others would be addressing the situation before anything else happened. Isn't that standard procedure? And won't Narrius pick up your thermal reading or something if you attempt to get inside through the tunnels?"

Zerrex shook his head quickly, argued briefly with himself whether to say something too complicated for Hans to understand or just tell him that it was top secret, before deciding to go with the former. "We're thinking his intelligence might suffer the standard logistics QRS fault after the launch of the final pulse missile, or that he's placed his sensitives on standby to reduce damage from the EMP shock, which likely carried back into Hez'Ranna. That's why it's so important for us to move fast and hard with maximum power and minimum units into Hez'Ranna, and that if he has suffered the former instead of the latter, we're hoping that his compromised systems will underevaluate my presence and won't register my signature."

Hans looked dumbfounded as the elevator clicked open to the fourth floor, and Zerrex nudged him gently out with a smile, slapping his back lightly and laughing softly. "In short, don't worry about it, kid. Just a change of plans... and if you think about it, the only reason we won is because we didn't follow the standard procedure, but Narrius did."

The smaller Drakkaren brightened at this, then he nodded firmly in assent. "That's very true Lord Zerrex, definitely." Then he paused, before smiling and motioning for the reptile to follow. "This way, sir..."

He kept up a good chatter as they walked, which Zerrex found not irritating but endearing at this point... before they finally stepped carefully through a long line of people walking slowly into the building, and Hans said loudly: "Sorry, sir, but we're still emptying the passage... but I guess I'll go make my report then, huh?"

"Go ahead, soldier." Zerrex nodded, then he smiled a bit, tacking on one last lie to buy himself some more time: "Try the meeting room on the third subbasement first, I think they're moving there."

"Thanks, Lord Zerrex! Good luck on your mission!" Hans said cheerfully, waving to him as he turned and was drawn away with the flow of the crowd... and Zerrex watched, people stepping around him and looking up at him with mixed expressions, before turning and walking through the flow of people, his expression darkening as he stepped off the guarded platform, shouldered his way alongside the train and the damaged coal cars... then finally began to walk down the long tunnel, his size, expression, and the rumors that had already flown around about him through the base earning him a wide berth but many a stare.