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[i]"There!"[/i]

[i]"HNNYUGH!"[/i]

A splash skittered across the water before Seaclaw reeled back the rope, the sharpened spear at the other end showing nothing on its tip. On a clear morning Oddclaw guided the raft further out to sea, pushing the oar through the waves as his son scanned the waters for telltale signs of smaller fish. On the other side of the raft as a blue cresting fin that slipped up from the water.

[i]"Why not just swim and catch it?"[/i] Highwave asked raising her head.

[i]"It is exhausting,"[/i] said Oddclaw, [i]"we save our strength this way."[/i]

[i]"Seems like a lot of work to throw something."[/i]

[i]"NNNYAAH! YES, I GOT ONE!"[/i]

[i]"Bring it in son!"[/i]

Pulling the wrestling creature back from the waters, the boy grabbed the struggling fish soon as he could and smashed its head with a rock he kept beside him, stunning the long-toothed seven-incher before putting it into the boat's storage hole.

[i]"That iiiiis, SIX-and-two fish!"[/i]

[i]"Not bad!"[/i] Highwave swimmed up beside him. [i]"You're pretty good at sea hunting!"[/i]

[i]"Well he IS Seaclaw,"[/i] said the father patting his head, [i]"he knows the sea better than anyone in our family."[/i]

[i]"Heehee, it's the BEST!"[/i] the boy knelt down to hug his fishy friend. [i]"How's you Highwave?"[/i]

[i]"Ohhh pretty alright,"[/i] she clicked her beak against him, [i]"now I'm old enough to head out on my own I can just swim around here any day I want."[/i]

[i]"YAY, now we can play more!"[/i]

[i]"Yeah so you can just come down anytime and I'll probably be around!"[/i]

[i]"As long as I come with you,"[/i] said Oddclaw sitting down, [i]"but that is good to hear Highwave."[/i]

[i]"How many more fish you hunting today?"[/i]

[i]"Hmmmm, let us say three, and one more, then we return home."[/i]

[i]"I saw some over there,"[/i] she pointed with her long beak to the west, [i]"lemme help ya then."[/i]

[i]"Thank you!"[/i]

Turning the boat with its rudder as they headed out further to the sea, the raptors watched for signs of movements as Seaclaw kept watch on Highwave's position so as not to mistake her for prey whilst she corralled the school towards them. Taking aim with his harpoon Seaclaw hurled towards the outer rim of the cluster, stabbing through one fish and pulling it back quickly to store and prep for the next strike, stabbing two more with ease as Oddclaw grabbed one that swam too close to the raft and clubbed it to death, filling out their quota before heading back to shore. His friend the icthyosaur kept following from behind, gliding along in the wake of their ship as they soon returned with Seaclaw tying the fish to his harpoon so as to carry them more easily, the sands of the golden beach crisp under their feet, the sounds of the ocean washing across the shoreline with a peaceful rhythm.

[i]"Thank you for your help,"[/i] said Oddclaw.

[i]"No problem!"[/i] said Highwave chirping from the shallows. [i]"I'm always around here if you need me, this is my favourite place."[/i]

[i]"Mine too!"[/i] Seaclaw jumped with a grin swinging his harpoon. [i]"I wanna swim with you again sometime!"[/i]

[i]"Maybe tomorrow, it'll be a nice day."[/i]

[i]"How do you know?"[/i]

[i]"Fish like us, we know how the world moves from the water,"[/i] she swam in a circle swishing her tail, [i]"when there'll be rain, when there's skyfire, the sea knows."[/i]

[i]"Howsit do that?"[/i] Seaclaw scratched his head.

[i]"Well, rain hits the water, so does skyfire. When something hits the water, we all feel it, and all fish tell each other what hits the water."[/i]

[i]"OH, like uncle Barkclaw does with the wind, a-and the smallwings!"[/i]

[i]"Yes actually!"[/i] Oddclaw smiled before his face turned nervous. [i]"Hmm."[/i]

[i]"What's wrong?"[/i]

[i]"Nothing, just, your uncle has been away for quite long, I am a little worried."[/i]

[i]"He'll be okay father,"[/i] the boy patted his side, [i]"Stonevoice is with him, there must be lots of stonewings out there he's talking to."[/i]

[i]"Hah, you are right, Barkclaw speaks far more to the smallwings than with us."[/i]

[i]"Wait your uncle talks to them?"[/i] Highwave snorted shuffling closer to the beach.

[i]"Yah, they say lotsa things like when skyfire's coming, or something odd like stonebeasts!"[/i]

[i]"Huh, I guess the smallwings are like the fish in the sky."[/i]

[i]"Heehee, yah! Alrighty, thanks fer the fish, see ya Highwave!"[/i]

[i]"Bye, see ya tomorrow!"[/i]

With a chirping click she dove back into the water as the boy and his father carried their fish back to their nest, after stowing away the ship in its cove on the far end of the beach. With harpoon draped across his shoulders and his sword hanging from his thigh, Seaclaw stood proud as he stretched in the sun taking each step slowly, partly to savour the fresh morn and partly to hide how exhausted his arms felt. Oddclaw kissed his head, nuzzling him as they arrived back home with the rest of their family gasping in awe at their catch.

[i]"Hiiii!"[/i]

[i]"W-WOW, that's a lotta fish!"[/i] squeaked Skyfang.

[i]"Goodness!"[/i] Barren shook her head. [i]"I have...not seen that many fish ever in my life."[/i]

[i]"And that is two for each of you!"[/i] said Oddclaw rubbing his hands. [i]"Come on everyone eat!"[/i]

[i]"This is wonderful,"[/i] gasped Moonclaw licking her son, [i]"well done, I am so proud of you!"[/i]

[i]"Th-thank you mother,"[/i] said the little raptor blushing, [i]"father helped too, a-and Highwave, she was a BIG help!"[/i]

[i]"Why would a fithh help you hunt other fithh?"[/i] asked Oddtooth taking one for himself.

[i]"It's okay, they weren't her friends, she told me!"[/i]

[i]"And I thought you did not like fish,"[/i] the grandmother huffed with a teasing nip.

[i]"Only until Highwave said it was okay,"[/i] the boy nodded, [i]"father's got friends too that we don't hunt!"[/i]

[i]"Not that I have ever met them, except for one or two flyers but we would never eat them."[/i]

[i]"What about waterjawth?"[/i] Oddtooth bumped her side.

[i]"Oh goodness no, my teeth could not tear their tough skin and the smell is just awful."[/i]

[i]"I suppose they say the same about you?"[/i] Moonclaw snickered tearing the head of a fish.

[i]"OH, you horrible-Oddclaw did you hear what she said-"[/i]

[i]"Yes mother I am not deaf,"[/i] her son rolled his eyes, [i]"you have a voice, use it."[/i]

[i]"Hmph, no respect in this family, this is why you are not alpha."[/i]

[i]"Oh is your OTHER son not good enough?"[/i] the grey raptor teased with puffing snout.

[i]"Th-that is not what I meant, is your head full of ash or something?!"[/i]

[i]"More full than your head."[/i]

[i]"Pfft, my head is what made this family what it was, do you know how difficult it was to raise so many children?!"[/i]

[i]"Ugh, you set her off,"[/i] Oddclaw muttered to his wife.

[i]"Raising all of my fine children, by MYSELF,"[/i] she crowed proudly, [i]"took a far greater struggle than you could ever reach, you should be fortunate you only had three children!"[/i]

[i]"I am fortunate,"[/i] Moonclaw stripped a chunk of fish from the tail-end, [i]"it is not how many you have, but how great they become."[/i]

[i]"Very true,"[/i] said Barren rattling her wattled neck, [i]"and having two sons who became alpha, AND a voice of the tribe, is perhaps the greatest one can be. But do not worry dear."[/i]

She sniffed over her face with a teasing purr.

[i]"I am sure you will understand that greatness, someday."[/i]

[i]"I can hardly wait,"[/i] she cooed back, [i]"I hope you live long enough to see it."[/i]

They sat down together and feasted on the fresh fish, the taste of oiled skin and sweet meat slipping down their throats with a rich blissful energy that rejuvenated their senses. Moonclaw devoured hers first, turning ravenous as her scales relished the nutrients that helped her retain a glossier look with sharpened eyes until they were done eating. A pile of bones was left in the centre of the nest as they sighed with fuller bellies and took a brief nap in the sun, the morn passing by as the raptor colony stirred briefly in small spates of excitement and energy.

[i]"Hey, HEY!"[/i]

[i]"Come on let's go play in the trees!"[/i]

[i]"Get back here we have to go hunt!"[/i]

[i]"NAH I wanna go play!"[/i]

A brief blur of feathers rushed beside Oddclaw startling him briefly as he saw his two brother-in-laws race into the forest, Bloodbark and Deeptail shouting after their children whilst his sisters trotted behind rather lazily kicking the dirt.

[i]"Whatcha wanna do today?"[/i]

[i]"Mmmmm, after hunting ya mean?"[/i]

[i]"Well duh."[/i]

[i]"Could go see Eggy,"[/i] said Sandrunner flicking her tail with a devious sound, [i]"she came back the day before, I bet we could find out who her mate really is."[/i]

[i]"Ehhh, she might bite us again,"[/i] said Leaf shaking her head, [i]"it's getting kinda boring teasing her."[/i]

[i]"Hmm...I guess we should help our mates get the kids back."[/i]

[i]"Yeaaaah, hunting first, then we think what to do later."[/i]

Leafrunner bit her sister with a teasing yelp before racing off together into the forest to track down their family. Oddclaw barely registered their passing, sleeping off beside his mother whilst the rest of his family milled about playfighting casually, Moonclaw teaching a few tricks to Oddtooth whilst Skyfang and Seaclaw wrestled before they went climbing the trees.

[i]"How high can you climb?"[/i] the boy asked digging his claws in.

[i]"Mmm, a lot!"[/i] Skyfang grabbed a branch with her jaws and crunched her feet into the trunk. [i]"NNNGH, thuh trick ish tuu push yer legsh!"[/i]

She demonstrated with a hard burst of her muscular legs, vaulting herself up high to grab another higher branch as Seaclaw followed doing the same.

[i]"What if you can't get the branch?!"[/i]

[i]"You fall and hope you don't die!"[/i] she cried back leaping higher. [i]"Or just grab another branch below you when you fall."[/i]

[i]"Mmmm okay."[/i] He clambered onto a sturdy limb and sat himself down. [i]"Wooow."[/i]

The boy felt a shadow above as Skyfang crunched on a higher sturdier limb to balance on. They watched the Hunters' Nest from above as raptors bantered and tussled and bathed with each other. Their cousins raced through the forest as they giggled at the sight of their uncles trying to catch them, their aunts joining in as the gaggle of [i]"mature" raptors ran circles around their parents.

[i]"G-get him, GET HIM!"[/i]

[i]"I'm trying the little shit is-AAAGH!"[/i]

[i]"H-how did you fit in there, get OUT of there now!"[/i]

[i]"Bloodeyyyye, get out of there now or you get no food!"[/i]

[i]"NAH, I like it here, there's crawlers all fer me!"[/i]

[i]"DON'T EAT THE CRAWLERS YOU'LL GET SICK!"[/i]

[i]"Heeheehahaha!"[/i] the two from above cackled kicking their legs.

[i]"Why are our cousins so silly?"[/i] asked Seaclaw.

[i]"Cuz our aunts are silly too!"[/i] said his sister swishing her tail. [i]"Father told me they always went hunting for shiny stones instead of food, an' grandmother got angry at them and then she threw the stones into the water and they got SO upset they didn't talk to her for six days!"[/i]

[i]"Awww, did they get the stones back?"[/i]

[i]"Mmmmnope, they tried to make father do it but he couldn't swim before."[/i]

[i]"Hmmmm,"[/i] the boy kicked his legs staring towards the plains, [i]"what you wanna do when you're old?"[/i]

[i]"Uhh, live in the tallest tree in the whoooole land!"[/i] squeaked Skyfang looking up to the sky. [i]"I wanna live in a tree that's soooo tall, it touches the clouds!"[/i]

[i]"Why not go live with the flyers?"[/i]

[i]"OOOH, YEAH, I should live with them, maybe one of them'll be my mate, and it'll be great!"[/i]

[i]"How are you going to hunt?"[/i] Seaclaw asked sitting against the central bark.

[i]"Just get my mate to do it,"[/i] she twitched her claws, [i]"I'll look after the hatchlings, he goes to hunt!"[/i]

[i]"Would they have wings or claws?"[/i]

[i]"I dunno, we'll find out!"[/i] She leapt down beside him with a crunch as the branch shook underneath. [i]"What about you?"[/i]

[i]"W-WHA-A, u-uhm, I dunno!"[/i]

[i]"Come ooon you must want something."[/i]

[i]"Mmmm,"[/i] he steadied himself on the creaking limb, [i]"I want to live somewhere out on the sea, maybe a cave."[/i]

[i]"Anyone you want for a mate?"[/i]

[i]"Mmmm, dunno, not thought about it."[/i]

[i]"You'll find one someday,"[/i] she booped his snout, [i]"you're much more fun than Oddtooth."[/i]

[i]"O-oddtooth's fun!"[/i] he stuttered blushing.

[i]"Yeaaaah but he likes to think a lot."[/i]

[i]"I like to think too, about...stuff."[/i]

[i]"Whaaaat kinda stuff?"[/i] she leaned in almost making him wobble.

[i]"Stu-stuuuff like...like, what stars look like if you go up an' touch them."[/i]

[i]"Ah huuuuh?"[/i]

[i]"And uh...hey, longsnouts!"[/i]

[i]"What?!"[/i]

[i]"There!"[/i] He pointed out west. [i]"Longsnouts, lots of 'em!"[/i]

Scrambling down the tree with his sister following, Seaclaw leapt to the ground and headed straight for the nest to rouse his father awake who leapt up with a start at the news he gave frantically. Silence fell over the nest as Oddclaw went to grab his collar, the raptors shuffling back as the newcomers stepped to the brink of the nesting grounds' territory with Fishclaw approaching them. A black moblin in shining steel lead the group of other moblins, bokoblins and lizalfos who stood ragged and fearful, clutching their barest belongings to themselves as Oddclaw soon joined him.

[i]"Hello?"[/i] he asked their leader. [i]"What are you doing here?"[/i]

[i]"Forgive our interruption,//" said Mobenheim in Hylian, [i]"we have come to warn you of a great and terrible danger, and our village has-//"

[i]"B-brother."[/i]

A voice cut through them both as the group parted to reveal a sullen feral raptor, brown scales and a half-scarred face that shuddered with deep whimpering.

[i]"B-brother...b-brother S-s-stonevoice...S-s-stonevoice is-"[/i]

[i]"What happened?"[/i] Oddclaw rushed to his side soon as he saw him. [i]"What, where is Stonevoice?"[/i]

[i]"The...there was fire, s-so much fire, sounds burning th-the sky, the longsnouts were screaming, a-all of them, dying!"[/i]

[i]"There was an attack?"[/i] Fishclaw approached as Mobenheim stepped back. [i]"What attacked them?"[/i]

[i]"H-hairless...hairless with deep, not skin, things over their skin but deep!"[/i]

[i]"Hairless?"[/i]

[i]"S-stonevoice went to f-fight them, they were killing e-everyone and he c-came back...broken, s-so broken a-and he...he..."[/i]

Barkclaw sobbed with a screaming howl, pushing his head into Oddclaw's chest as his brother held him close. No one said anything for as long as he wept, screeching with a sound that trembled through Oddclaw's spirit and infected him with sorrow. His family soon joined him, distraught at the sight as Barren, Leafrunner and Sandrunner stepped beside him to nuzzle and comfort the grieving raptor.

"//I am sorry,//" said Mobenheim once the tears had stopped, "//Stonevoice...gave his life to protect us along with that of our leader. We have lost our home, and we hoped that in returning your brother safe...you might offer us a place of respite.//"

[i]"I see,"[/i] Fishclaw sighed after Oddie translated, [i]"we cannot offer much, however, I know of a place where you shall be safe nearby, but not so close you would disturb us."[/i]

"//That is all we ask,//" he bowed on his knee, "//thank you sire. Please allow us to travel unharmed to this place.//"

[i]"Take them to the Roaring Caves,"[/i] he said to his guards, [i]"make sure they arrive unharmed."[/i]

[i]"Yes alpha."[/i]

Oddclaw relayed the plan back to Mobenheim who nodded, motioning his travellers to follow as males, females and children shuffled with eyes of red and tearstained cheeks. 23 villagers passed them that day, with Barkclaw returning to his family's embrace as he sat back in their nest and fell asleep with exhaustion. But amongst the villagers were six carrying a body. A body of cold steel, cracked and twisted through its joints with a helm split in twain and a sword lying upon its front. Oddclaw shook his head, shocked and struggling to take in the scene. But Seaclaw did not know what to feel. His hands shook with a sudden rage, his eyes watered thick and his heart stiffened with fear. He struggled to know whether he should cry or scream as his chest began to hurt, clutching himself tight as he watched the body of Stonevoice be laid to rest in the forest, before the Mohberrin villagers went to the caves.

[i]"I have to tell Jane,"[/i] said Oddclaw, [i]"they must know about this-"[/i]

[i]"Do so,"[/i] said Fishclaw, [i]"do you know of these other hairless?"[/i]

[i]"Yes, they fought me and Eggfang a cycle-and-a-half before, they spoke a different tongue, their scent was different too."[/i]

[i]"I see. Go warn our friends, I will speak with my guards to keep watch."[/i]

[i]"Thank you."[/i]

Turning towards the stone menhirs where the former alpha once slept, Fishclaw walked into its shadow where his silver eyes glinted in the dark.

[b][i]DARKNESS COMES[/i][/b]

[i]"Indeed...I will need you around more Starleaf, for if they dare to attack the longsnouts-"[/i]

[b][i]OUR HOME OF PEACE BECOME GRAVES OF WAR[/i][/b]

[i]"I hope it does not come to that."[/i]

[i]"Come to what?"[/i]

The voice of his sister crept through as he stood proper before Eggfang.

[i]"The longsnouts were attacked, murdered by hairless who wore deep on their skin."[/i]

[i]"Deep on their...ah!"[/i] she gasped with her buckfang glinting in the shade. [i]"The ones Oddclaw and I fought-"[/i]

[i]"Yes he said the same thing."[/i]

[i]"Jane was terrified of them, when I showed her the stoneflyer we fought them at, she ordered her guards to ready for a fight."[/i]

[i]"That settles it,"[/i] her brother stiffened his tail, [i]"we must begin our plan."[/i]

[i]"I agree,"[/i] she straightened herself with a huff, [i]"if our friends fear them so, this is perhaps the very threat Jane spoke of during the meeting, and if not it certainly is close."[/i]

[i]"You have your orders."[/i] Fishclaw stepped close to nuzzle her cheek. [i]"I trust you with our lives, dear sister."[/i]

[i]"I will not fail."[/i] She bowed with a humble purr. [i]"I shall bring them together within the next six days."[/i]

[i]"Good. Be safe."[/i]

She headed off into the grassy plains as her brother watched her disappear, her scent and her body fading to nothingness where not a single reed was disturbed by her passing.

[b][i]SHE WILL SUCCEED[/i][/b]

[i]"Yes,"[/i] Fishclaw turned back to the nests, [i]"I know she will."[/i]

[b][i]FATHER IS AFRAID?[/i][/b]

[i]"One can never truly know what the night shall bring. I cannot let my guard down."[/i]

[b][i]FATHER IS STRONG NOT ALONE[/i][/b]

[i]"Yes..."[/i] he stepped out into the sun, [i]"but this tribe has suffered cruel hairless beings before, trapping us in caves of their design. I will not let that happen again."[/i]

His thoughts trailed off as he saw Oddclaw rushing up to him. Slipping out from the stones he ran up to him seeing his brother turn distraught.

[i]"Oddclaw what is it?"[/i]

[i]"The, the speakstone, the hairless I cannot speak with them!"[/i]

[i]"What?!"[/i]

[i]"The speakstone, it does not work, something has silenced it!"[/i]

[i]"Is it dead?"[/i]

[i]"No!"[/i] he shook his head. [i]"It is fine, mine can speak but, the hairless cannot hear me, no one is speaking back!"[/i]

[i]"Perhaps they are busy?"[/i] murmured Fishclaw tapping his foot.

[i]"No. No, I can always speak with them during the day, something is wrong, I feel it-"[/i]

[i]"Alright, alright. Let us hope the hairless come find us, until then we must keep our tribe safe."[/i]

[i]"Yes...I just hope they are safe."[/i]

In the forest beyond, Stonevoice laid in peace. His sword was clasped against his chest, his hand upon the hilt as his single eye stared towards the heavens in silence. The forest whispered around him, soft leaves began falling to caress his body. A shadow began to watch over him, tender and quiet before the sound of tears could be heard faintly. A shuddered breath became short, a gasping whimper turned harsh when the tears would stop, a hand brushing them off between bitter breaths.

[i]"I-i thought...th-thought you'd be safe."[/i]

He took the mantis' hand.

[i]"You were...y-you......no."[/i]

The boy grabbed the hilt of the blade.

[i]"I-i...I have to be strong. For father."[/i]

He raised the sword up high.

[i]"I know I have mine...but...I want you with me. You can help me...protect my family."[/i]

Grasping with both his hands, Seaclaw stared at his reflection in the blade. His eyes burned with a quiet crimson, a vision of tears now gone and replaced by a fearless wrath.

[i][u]Third Energy Research - Subject Twenty addendum[/u][/i]

[i]04-03-2051[/i]

[i]Recorded by Dr. Andrea Dixon[/i]

[i]Having lost contact with Meridian-5, we have tried to reach out to other contacts across the land. Whatever anomaly has arrived six days previous, it appears to be interfering with our communications as none of our allies have responded, and Major-General Brightman has decided to keep flights grounded until we make sense of what the latest presence is, out of fear that the interference might disturb their gyroscope controls. I tried to argue otherwise, that having eyes out in the world would be necessary, but since last year when we encountered the Braun Memorial Base, he has become much more subdued, almost introvert and shuts himself away either in his room, or down in the armoury..[/i]

"Doing your write-up?" asked Jane.

"Oh, yeah," Dixon rubbed her head leaning back, "just keeping all updated."

"Can I look?"

She nodded and let Addison come close to lean over her shoulder, the doctor sitting at her desk with Carl Sagan on one side and embroidered cloth on the other.

"That's something I never expected," Jane pulled back, "you talking about other people like that?"

"Well at this point yanno, fuck it," she shrugged, "who's gonna give a damn I'm just keeping dates by this point."

"You are right about Thomas though," said Addison sitting on the bed, "he's been rather cagey since that thing last year, spends an awful lot of time down in the armoury with Chanoch."

"You tried asking him about it?"

"After what Anna told me, god no. I did try to ask Chanoch but he said he was sworn to secrecy."

"That can't be good," said Dixon closing her book, "I'm gonna take a break, watch something to chill with."

"Mind if I sit with you?" she patted the bed. "Wouldn't mind a musical time with you."

"Hmmm, sure! Actually I did wanna show you one thing-"

"If it's Cats you can forget it."

"Hah, nah nah it's uh West Side Story, you said you never saw it."

"Oh, great idea yes just pop it right in!"

Slipping the DVD in Andrea sat back on the bed as they watched the story of interracial struggles in an American city told through the magic of dance. Trying her best to slip into the story, Andrea found herself constantly mulling over worries in her mind as Jane patted her side.

"Best you can do now is wait."

"I know, that's the worst part."

"It is, but that's why you can't obsess over it, it'll only exhaust you and when you're needed you can't perform all tired out."

"Yeah I guess...OH, shit this is my fave part."

Bouncing slightly on her bed, she started to sing and try to rouse her spirits with Jane joining in to the chorus quick. Beyond her room a few hallways back, Chanoch was enjoying lunch with Jacob, Schroeder and Linnaeus who was acting out a tale.

"So this guy starts running," he motioned with hands over the table, "he snatches the old woman's purse and instead of screaming out STOP THIEF she just grabs a tin of beans from the shelf and HURLS it right for his head!"

"WOAH!" Schroeder cackled. "Did it hit?!"

"Yep, beaned him so hard he went sliding on his chest like a penguin, SMACKED right into this display of bananas all stacked up high and they all start falling all over him!"

"PFFFT HAH!" Jacob clapped. "C-come on that didn't happen!"

"No swear on my life it did!" Linnaeus tapped his chest. "He gets up, stumbling, slipping because of the bananas and he's still got this purse, he's running for the exit, security guard tries to tackle him but he dodges and then out of nowhere this six-year old...just, TACKLED him with a shopping cart and the thief went crashing down, hitting his head on the tobacco desk and he was stopped."

"Hmhmhm," Chanoch shook his head chewing a sandwich, "the woman got her purse back?"

"Yes and here's the weirdest part! She just grabbed the man's ear and pulled him down shouting 'fuck around in my house you'll leave without your testicles'."

"WH-WHAT!?" Arnold gasped choking on his drink. "God what a fierce lady!"

"Yeah it turns out that was the thief's mother, and here's the best part." The rabbi stopped himself with a stuttering fit. "The whole thing was a scam, she had robbed one of the tills, six tins, four bottles and they just walked out together because she didn't want to press charges, it was a perfect set up!"

"H-hoh jeez!" the yoshi threw back his head in a laugh. "OHOHOHO WOW, that's...that's pretty bad but wow!"

"How did you find out about this?" Chanoch muttered.

"Ohhh that was a cousin of a friend of mine," said Linnaeus shrugging, "I shouldn't laugh but the whole thing was such a mess."

"Did they ever get caught?"

"Nope, and they never will at least last I heard before coming here. So who else has a fun story?"

"Uhhh OOH!" Jacob raised his hand. "My uncle once burnt a salad!"

"Wh-what?! Seriously?!"

"Yeah, he was trying to warm it up cuz it was wet."

"But...that's-"

"That's not how you do a salad," Arnold chuckled shaking his head.

"That's what my uncle Koopin told him but," Jacob shrugged, "next thing you know the sink was on fire!"

"The SINK?!"

"It was a lot of fire! So uncle James is banned from doing any cooking ever again."

"Good," Chanoch smiled with a soft rumble, "what kind of fool heats up a salad?"

"I know right, I dunno what he was thinking hhahahaha!"

"My father once tried to make a cake," said Schroeder finishing his plate, "tasted like a melted rock, he forgot to put sugar in."

"PFFFHAHahaha, ohhh noooo that sounds gross!"

"He worked so hard on it too, I didn't want to tell him but mother just went 'you tried, and you failed, but I still love you'."

"That's rather passive-aggressive," said the rabbi drinking his coffee, "I mean it's a big mistake but nobody's perfect."

"Nah he didn't mind, they were very honest about when the other screwed up, that's why they married. They were strange like that."

Once lunch was over they headed to their separate rooms, Schroeder taking some time out to go to the gym with Jacob and Chanoch joining whilst Linnaeus went back to the minigogue/chapel area. Outside of the base, on a nice clear day, Kevin sat with Amy on top of several crates, the sun basking down on their steel legs as they sighed taking in the breeze.

"Damn this day's really nice," he muttered leaning back, "you want to go to the forest over there?"

"Nah," she shook her head, "wanna wait for the relay."

"I'm sure they're just busy, or some kinda moon radiation is getting in the way."

"That's not how moons work Kevin."

"Well I'm not an astronomer jeez, but there's like interference in the stars right?"

"Yeah but," she crossed her arms looking up to the clouds, "I can't help but be worried."

"They'll be fine, I know they will."

He patted her back and gave a smooch to her cheek, her expression slightly warming itself but her fear still grew upon her cold metal face.

"What is it like, not being afraid Kevin? Is it a good thing?"

"Mmmm," he shrugged, "can't tell you, never felt it in my life, just never had the thing click on. First thing I remember is running in front of a car and being excited by the really big fast thing coming straight for me. Hoo my mother aged at least ten years having me.around."

"I mean, she would that's how time works."

"Hah haha, aah, no like, yeah okay but still, yeah it's always been kinda weird to me. Like, everyone around me tells me that fear is a thing, and I know it exists but I have no idea how it feels. Closest I felt is maybe I was really upset a few times, but that's about it."

"Must be hard to imagine," Amy patted his hand, "I dunno if your life is better or worse without it though."

"I mean, I managed to get this far," he tapped his chest, "people expect you to be frightened when you have a gun to your face, I just end up laughing and they get so thrown off I kick them in the dick."

"Hmhmhah! I guess that's one good thing, but isn't fear a good thing to have to not have you end up in danger?"

"Well, sometimes danger finds you, and you have to just take it as it is. I just take it better without that problem."

"Is that why you came here?" she laid her head against his side. "Because it was dangerous?"

"Oh I just had no one left," he cuddled her close, "that and Thomas hired me, we met on a mission, I saved his life, he brought me on, I had nothing else so sure."

"Do you regret it?"

"Nope." He pulled her into a kiss on the lips. "Even before I met you I didn't, now it's just even more fun."

"Hahaha...I don't regret being here either..."

Her eyes looked up. Her voice faded as the shadow loomed above them, a grand battleship where the sun disappeared behind its corpulent form as Kevin grabbed her hand and leapt down the crates. The first shot was fired as a screeching flame pierced through the radio tower, blasting the foundations upon the roof of the base as two shots of violent plasma devastated the comms completely, the sound of creaking groans rumbling through the building as the tower began to fall with screams of metal splints, fracturing its legs and toppling over towards the sea with a mighty crash that burst the waters apart in a colossal wave, splashing over the shore and drenching the fences that sparked with electrical current.

"ENEMY IN THE SKY!"

"[i]T-TOWER, THE RADIO TOWER'S DOWN![/i]"

"GET THE GUARDS INSIDE, STAY IN YOUR ROOMS!"

"Wh-what, what's going on?!"

"ALL SOLDIERS REPORT TO YOUR POSITIONS, RED ALERT!"

The base was rocked to its foundations by several explosions bursting above their heads, the ship opening fire on the building as the stone and steel walls began to melt with fracturing crumble and sodden superheated melt that punched holes through the roof. Soldiers barked orders, residents hid in their rooms clamouring in panic whilst robots quickly amassed themselves into one team for repairs and one team for attack. At the front of the base a legion of black uniforms came marching forth with lasers opening fire, not giving a chance for the T.E.A.R. guards to react as the first group were cut down in shreds when the plasma electrics tore through their armour and and cleaved through their faces.

"F-FUCK, FUCK PULL BACK, BOTTLENECK THEM IN THE HALL!"

"What's going on!?" Andrea shouted in the corridor.

"GET THE MAJOR-GENERAL, TELL HIM THE NAZIS CAME BACK!"

"[i]WHAT?![/i] THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE-"

"[i]GA-AAAARGH![/i]"

Ducking fast around the corner she saw two soldiers get torn through their backs, rippling streams of sharp red and burning purple as she saw the crimson-eyed fiends of the Third Reich approaching through the door. She ran fast as she could, labcoat trailing behind her to find Thomas' room as soldiers and reploids went rushing past her, shouting to every room she went past until her voice turned hoarse.

"LOCK YOUR DOORS, LOCK YOUR FUCKING DOORS!"

"Wh-what's happening?!"

"THE NAZIS GOT BACK, SOMEHOW, FUCK IF I KNOW BUT DO NOT OPEN YOUR FUCKING DOOR!"

"Oh shit, fuck are you for real-"

"KEEP YOUR GUN ON YOU, IF YOU SEE A BLACK UNIFORM, YOU FUCKING SHOOT IT!"

"ANDREA!"

Chanoch's voice came to her as she passed the gym, followed by Jacob and Schroeder who stepped out together.

"Please tell me you are joking," Arnold whispered.

"I wish," she panted, "I have to tell Thomas, get to the soldiers, keep our people safe."

"God...hoh, god n-no," he clutched his head, "no you said, y-you SAID they would be gone-"

"I DON'T [i]FUCKING KNOW HOW THEY GOT BACK JUST GO![/i]"

"ARNIE!" Jacob grabbed his hand and fiercely gripped his arm. "Come on, we have to help everyone else, you gotta focus!"

"B-but, but they came, they came back," he shuddered clutching himself, "I don't, I wanted to be free, I'm not going to-"

"ENOUGH!" Chanoch pulled him hard against the wall. "You are a soldier. Fight your fear, they are mortals."

"You...y-you don't know what I have seen-"

"I have watched them bleed. They will die here before we do."

"...right." He sighed gripping his head. "A-alright, let's go."

"We're here for you Arnie," said Jacob pulling up his shield, "come on, let's teach those punks a lesson."

They rushed off to battle whilst Andrea headed for Brightman's office. The sounds of battle lured them to the entrance where an amassing horde of darkness surged through the halls as T.E.A.R guards kept firing back with a hail of bullets and lasers, covering around corners and shooting off heads amongst the nazi platoon that charged forth against. The horde was far greater than they expected, and in the first minutes of that battle they would gain ground far more than expected. Those who were unlucky to hide themselves in the first rooms of the entrance region, had their doors burst open by electrical shortage and a few explosive rounds as human researchers and reploids in hiding were gunned down in their beds, regardless of whether they were armed or pleading. Their bodies were sometimes dragged out to the halls, blood and oil painting across the corridors as an example of their ferocity, those surviving the first shots executed in front of the T.E.A.R guards trying to fight back.

Their firepower was far greater in numbers, pummeling the guards with walls of plasma that ripped through their steel regardless of the specialised coating. Jacob leapt in front of a wounded guard with his shield, blocking a laser spark that zipped into the wall as Schroeder pulled the man back to safety and helped him stagger towards the medbay. Reploids and badniks also joined the fight too, but the lasers cut them deep and tore through their metal too swift to get anywhere close to attacking them without the use of their own energy-based weapons, blasting fire, ice and lightning across the walls to burn, freeze and electrocute the impending Nazi force.

"REPLOIDS FALL BACK!" shouted Chanoch. "TAKE CARE OF THE WOUNDED, KEEP THEM SAFE! BADNIKS, KEEP FIRING BUT DON'T STOP MOVIN-"

"[i]GA-[b]AAAAARRRGHH![/b][/i]"

"[i]N-NO, SISTER NOOO![/i]"

"FOCUS, KEEP FIGHTING!"

Chanoch braced himself with his sword, the steel blade somehow impervious to the constant hail of lasers firing upon the larger threatening lizardman they all tried to focus on, nazis lined up in threes to fill out the hall as he waited for the lasers to stop, before sweeping his grand sword through three stomach linings and thrust towards a fourth nazi that screeched in his impalement, swinging the spitted corpse down to clobber a fifth and finally roaring a fearsome voice of the heavens.

"[b][i]DIIIIIIIIIIIIE![/i][/b]"

The squadron fell back in a hard crash against the walls, tumbling out of the entrance as two dozen men crunched into each other and stumbled back from the shockwave of Chanoch's voice. Putting up his sword once more to defend himself and pull back to his line, the lasers resumed as a brief respite from the guards gave them strength to repel the Nazi threat, but only for a moment as another fresh wave with even fresher rifles came barging over the bodies of both friends and victims, shrieking orders to cut down the defending guard two after another.

"//WAVE FOUR, MOVE IN AND START FIRING! WAVE FIVE, WAIT FOR RELOAD ON MY ORDERS!//"

"//KILL THE BIG ONE, HE'S THE ONE GIVING ORDERS!//"

"F-FUCK THERE'S TOO MANY OF THEM!"

"HOW MANY BASTARDS WE KILLED!?"

"FIFTY," Chanoch shouted pulling up his rifle to fire from the ranks, "THERE ARE MORE STILL COMING!"

"THEY'LL ATTACK ANOTHER PART OF THE BASE!" Schroeder shouted. "THEY'RE DISTRACTING US, YOU NEED TO MOVE SOME OF US ELSEWHERE!"

"...yes." The captain nodded putting his scaled hand on his shoulder. "Where would they attack from?"

"I-if this is from the west, they would try from the north-"

"THE GYM!" Jacob cried covering himself with his shield. "That place is huge they could break in there easy!"

"Jacob, Schroeder, go to the gym," Chanoch barked pointing down the hall, "take any soldiers you find and guard it!"

"[i]Yes sir![/i]"

They hurried off to the northern section as Jarogniew kept with the front defenders, blasting shots from his rifle and occasionally guarding with his sword to strengthen his soldiers whilst the wounded were quickly carried back by reploids and badniks. The halls were filling fast with screams of fright, as already they heard the sounds of the entrance being overwhelmed with increasing roars from Chanoch turning thick.

"You think he'll be alright?!" gasped Jake.

"After we escaped them before?" Schroeder muttered. "I know he'll be fine."

"EY, LADS!"

Jeremy Holt stepped from the cafeteria waving to them from the doors, beckoning them to quickly step inside as they saw a sizeable group of armed guards waiting to fight.

"Wot's happenin' at thuh front?"

"It's bad," Jacob gulped, "th-there's a lot of them, we took down like fifty but they just keep coming!"

"They have more than us," said Schroeder clenching his fists, "we're just about to head to the gym."

"Wot, lads this is not thuh time fer rounders," Holt shook his head.

"They will attack the north side of the base, I know how they fight."

"Wait wot? Why not thuh east side?"

"That's too obvious, we would expect a pincer attack, the gym is large and open, they'll break through there."

"An' you're sure about that?"

There came another grand explosion rumbling through the base, crackling bursts from the north as Schroeder shook his head with a desperate apology on his face. Holt nodded and turned to his troops.

"ALRIGH' LADS AN' LASSIES LET'S MOVE OUT, HEAD TO THUH GYM, KEEP WEAPONS PRIMED IT'S TIME FER SUM NAZI HUNTING!"

"[i]YES SIR![/i]"

"Do me a favour," he turned to Schroeder and Jacob with a grin, "if Chanoch asks after this, tell 'im ah killed twenty more of them than he does."

"What, why?" Jacob asked.

"Not letting that bastard take all the glory that's why."

"Hah, he'll kill you if you said that," said Arnold.

"Ah won't tell 'im if you won't."

Patting Arnold's shoulder they headed up towards the gymnasium where the sounds of German orders came marching from the other side of the doors as they quickly kicked in through and opened fire on every uniform they saw. The room filled with bullets, much to Schroeder's relief who brought out his sword and clicked its lightning edge on as he marched forth with deflecting strikes, parrying the metal shots that magnetised to his blade and fell inert to the floor around him whilst shooting back with a laser rifle. The sword's basket-hilt gleamed in the fires from above, the face of a dying king faintly inscribed upon the hilt as he stared at the roof partially-collapsed, showing a slope that nazis came falling through and skidded down by their boots as the great shadow of their airship loomed across the base, casting its shadow deep into the room.

"//NO MERCY, LIGHTNING SWIFT, KILL EVERYONE YOU SEE!//

"//[i]YES SIR![/i]//"

"GIVE THEM FASCISTS HELL!" shouted Holt.

"JACOB STAY CLOSE!" Schroeder pulled him in. "Keep your shield up!"

"R-right, okay LOOK OUT!"

A small section of the invaders had snuck towards the showers from the east, lying in wait to ambush their group as Jacob blocked all of their peppering shots with his shield whilst Jeremy ducked behind the yoshi.

"MOVE FORWARDS!"

"WH-WHAT?!"

"LEMME GET IN CLOSE WE'LL TAKE 'EM OUT FAST, COVER YER EARS WHEN I SAY SO!"

Pushing him forwards he forced him to walk fast, turtling up as the nazis armed only with bullet-based weapons kept hammering down upon the resilient mushroom face of Jacob's guard before they were close enough for Holt to pop up and fire a cracking boom of his shotgun.

"NOW!"

The yoshi covered his ears from the deafening burst, trying his hardest not see the bloodied sputum smearing across the walls as Jeremy blasted a second nazi dead in the face, skull fragments and grey matter flying across the room by a few feet as he lunged into the wilted group and crunched one of their faces against the wall with a swing of his shotgun. One nazi grabbed him by the neck and tried to pull him back, but Jeremy stepped his foot behind the soldier's and elbowed him fast to knock him back, tripping him at the same time before he turned and stomped with his dragon-scaled foot upon the nazi's face in a brutal crunch that split him like an egg.

"O-OHHH JEEZ!" Jacob whimpered covering his eyes. "Th-that's...that's definitely not what happens to a goomba back home-A-AAAAGH!"

Clutching his shield tight he rolled from the trailing hail of bullets that came rattling across the ground towards him, blocking the first clip and hurling when the nazi reloaded to whap him on the skull and send him staggering back. He lashed his tongue out quickly across a quarter of the room, wrenching the rifle from the nazi's hands and swinging it towards another enemy's head to crack him with the force of a whip, knocking him down hard on his face before throwing the gun away and snatching his tongue to grab his shield still spinning in the air. Taking a charge towards a third soldier who pulled out a stick grenade, Jacob leapt into the air with a fluttering kick and grabbed the stielhandgranate before throwing it straight towards the back of the room where it exploded in an empty corner, before he landed on the nazi's head in a much-less-lethal stomp of his boots that kicked him hard into the dirt as Jacob backflipped off his head and quickly hurled his shield like a discus towards a fourth soldier about to take aim upon him, whalloping his face with a hard clang until Jacob landed to whip out his tongue and reclaim his shield once more.

"H-hhhhaaaaah...a-alright, ALRIGHT WHO'S NEXT?! C-COME ON, I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU JERKS, YOU'RE ALL BULLYING THUGS AND YOU'RE NOT TAKING MY FRIEND AGAIN!"

"JACOB, BEHIND YOU!"

"A-AAAARGH!"

A bullet ripped past his arm as he stumbled sharp, clutching himself with a stabbing pain as the whistling shot tore a piece of his skin but nothing permanent. Arnold came quickly to his aid as the yoshi dodge-rolled to the side, seeing another platoon of soldiers come leaping down from the sky now consumed with flames, roaring fires creeping over the roof to paint a darkening cloud that swarmed the battleship like a vengeful spirit. Jacob ran to Arnold's side as a much greater force than before came hammering down, still armed with bullets which gave the T.E.A.R guards a slight advantage, the rapid gunfire repelling off of their coated steel armours with Schroeder still blocking against. Holt came surging back with shotgun at the ready, the yoshi covering for him as they made another charge towards the invading group but this time much faster to surprise them unawares as Holt popped up and fired twice to cripple three and kill two.

Schroeder took advantage of the reversal as he gunned down two more whilst stabbing the third through the stomach, ripping a clean bloodied stream before blocking another barrage of bullets from the side until Jacob whammed the nazi shooter in the face with his hurtling shield before he quickly snatched it back. For a while things seemed to be turning in their favour, the guards that came with Holt keeping cover by the door and spreading out over the bleachers of the gym to take sniping positions to pin down the invaders. Then came a new threat much swifter and more violent than the humans as a blur of silver raced across the bleacher seats, and eviscerated two guards in one stroke.

"[i]ENEMY, ENEMY PULL BA-[b]GHRR-AAAAARRRHGHHHKH![/b][/i]"

"WOT THUH [i]F-FWC![/i]"

Holt staggered back almost falling when he was set upon by a shrieking metal raptor, a savage robotic replication with eyes of hollow gaze and a magnetic sound that pierced his ears. Grappling against its teeth he slammed his shotgun in its jaws and wrestled frantically against, hurling it to the side in a hard slam before kicking it with his dragon foot in a surprising crack to its jaw from the hard-scaled boot. The raptor tripped him with a swipe of its extending tail, but Schroeder quickly came from the side with a cleaving cut that tore through its eye and half its neck to leave wires briefly hanging out of a small scarring gape.

"Wh-what is THAT?!" cried Jacob.

"I DON'T KNOW, I'VE NEVER SEEN THESE!"

"Is this...th-this what that raptor at the Braun base was doing?!"

The yoshi trembled behind his shield until he heard a hissing screech from his left, the tail stabbing towards his leg as he blocked swift with his shield and spun backwards to recover momentum as the creature charged upon him. The ferocious replicant launched upon his head as he dodged fast to the right and whacked its head with a strike of the shield, the beast recovering quicker than expected to scar its tail down the side of Jacob's shield and hook underneath to wrench it free from his grip. Another raptor came from the side the moment he was disarmed, slamming its whole body into his to pin him hard to the floor and open its mouth with an electric taser exposing from its gullet. Jacob grabbed its neck and quickly forced it one way, shooting his tongue to grab a soldier's gun and shove it into the robot's mouth, wrapping its own electrical energies round its skull in a stuttering spasm that briefly weakened it enough for the yoshi to kick it off and run towards his shield. The other soldiers were less fortunate, the ones who had been hiding in the bleachers soon decimated as whilst they managed to kill off two of the twelve cyber-beasts, thirty of the guards were killed until only fourteen remained in Holt's service.

"HOW THUH [i]FUCK[/i] DID THEY GET FUCKIN' RAPTORS?!" cried Holt shooting one of them.

"THEY'RE TOO FAST!" screamed one of the soldiers. "I CAN'T GET A TRACK ON THEM!"

"S-SIR, SIR WE NEED TO RETREAT, WE'VE LOST TOO MANY!"

"RIGH', TACTICAL RETREAT LADS!" he backed up towards the door still firing. "SLOW 'EM DOWN, LET'S TRAP 'EM IN THUH HALLS GET BACK TO THE CAFF!"

"Wh-what do we do?!" gasped Jacob staggering back. "Th-these guys are too much, they don't care!"

"Stick beside me," said Schroeder keeping his sword on point, "whatever happens, we stick together."

"Right. Hokay."

He felt the yoshi's fear shiver through his body, a hand on his shoulder helping to calm him as he offered his elbow to which Jacob smiled best as he could.

"Sup."

"S-sup!" he tapped his elbow back. "Alright, let's do this!"

"Right!"

As the guards pulled back from the gymnasium pursued by raptors of steel and nazis in black, Andrea was hammering on the door of the major-general's office looking ragged more than ever, bent over gasping against the wall by the time he opened up.

"They're..." she gulped with a shudder, "th-they're back, the nazis they-...Thomas, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." He brought out his Beretta and pulled back the slide. "I'll take care of this."

"The guards, th-they're already at the entrance, pushing them back, doors are locked down I think but, I heard the gym got taken."

"So they're inside already. Fine."

He walked back into his office and reached for his drawer, pulling out a single photograph and pocketing it in his chest before walking out into the halls.

"Stay close."

"Wait, where are we going?" she asked following him.

"We need to get everyone to the hangar, the Petrie must be protected."

"Wh-what about my gate, if they damage it we'll never get back!"

"And if you die we'll NEVER get back." He turned to her. "You still have Meridian-5, hopefully they haven't found it, but you're the only one who truly understands this third energy shit."

"Right. I understand." She brought out her gun in turn. "Let's do this."

Taking their steps slow, the major-general kept his eyes sharp as he took a different path than Andrea first took, scanning for nazis that had broken off from their groups as he heard their voices growing from down the hall.

"//Check each room, whoever we find we take back to the ship.//"

"//What about the Jew that Ingelbaum wanted?//"

"//We'll get to him last, he'll be the hardest one, but the black lizard is also ours to find.//"

Sticking close to the wall, Thomas peeked out and watched a small platoon checking each room they could find with guns at the ready. Most of them had been empty, but one Andrea noted with a fright as she grabbed Thomas' arm with a frantic gesture before he smacked her away.

"//GET ON THE GROUND!//"

"OH [i]FUCK![/i]"

"//GET ON THE FUCKING GROUND!//"

"NO, NOOOO!"

"[i]JANE NO![/i]"

"//WHO'S THERE?!//"

Thomas stepped out when Andrea shouted, opening fire as he plugged one nazi in the head before some of them pulled back to the hall whilst three of them stayed in the room. Pulling around the corner he waited for the bullets to stop before firing back, popping two through the chest as one went down dead whilst the other staggered back in a gasping shudder, Andrea taking a few pot shots herself when Thomas pulled out in step. Two went down in the leg but not enough to be crippled, whilst in her room Jane started screaming.

"NO, NO FUCK OFF, FUCK OOOFF!"

"JANE HOLD ON WE'RE COMING!"

Pulling herself back to the wall as one soldier tried to grab her before she slammed her metal fist into his head and blasted a shot of fire through his skull.

"[i]FUCK OOOOFF![/i]"

"//A-AAAARGH [i]SH-SHIT YOU FUCKING WHORE![/i]//"

"[i]GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE YOU [b]FUCKING NAZI CUNT![/b][/i]"

She lunged for the staggering guard and punched him desperately with her steel hand, crushing his head against her desk to knock him out before the second guard slammed his rifle into her face, a vile pain spurting through her head as blood dripped down her face with a scream before she grabbed for the nearest thing on the wall as the nazi tried to grab her. The soldier was suddenly blinded when a scrap of old paper showing the map of an island wrapped round his face, giving Jane time to reach for her gun and shoot through the paper twice point-blank.

"Sorry James," she gasped, "i-it was a lovely map-a-AAAAGH!"

"//[i]GET OVER HERE BITCH![/i]//"

Pulled by a third guard she tried to shoot out a jet of fire from her hand, but this one was smarter than his brethren as he suddenly grabbed her wrist and twisted it hard behind her back, almost breaking her arm with a painful twist before pulling out a taser to violently shock her, the sudden jolt paralysing her unconscious as he hoisted her body over his shoulder and hurried out the room.

"SH-SHIT, THEY'RE KIDNAPPING HER!" Dixon shouted.

"Not on my watch."

Thomas stepped out into the hall and made a sudden violent rush, one of the soldiers stopping him from reaching the kidnapper as he tried to shoot the general but Thomas dodged with surprising reflex and grabbed the nazi's throat, slamming him downwards into his knee with such force he cracked the man's neck into a jagged V and tossed him aside to charge at the next one. But the hail of bullets forced him to duck inside Jane's office as she was carried away down the hall, with Brightman getting help from Dixon as they split the focus of the nazis between them and killed those distracted by the other. But not fast enough to stop the kidnapper as by the time they pushed through, he was gone.

"FUCK!" Andrea slammed her fist in the wall. "What the fuck they even want with her?!"

"To bargain," said Thomas, "if they can't make us surrender by force they'll make our hearts do it for us."

"What do we do now?"

"Keep going," he picked up one of the rifles, "I've sent a silent order to every room for civilians to head to the hangar, anyone not currently fighting should be heading there."

"//THERE, KILL THEM!//"

"Sh-SHIT!"

They ducked behind a corner as nazis came charging from the hall that they came from, pinning them with bullets as Dixon was shot in the hand and cried out clutching her wrist. But their woes were short-lived when a second shooter came from behind the nazis, killing one and wounding two as an old woman's voice called out.

"OI, YOU FASCIST BASTARDS!"

"A-Anna?!"

"COME ON YOU WORTHLESS COLONIALIST BASTARDS ARE YOU FRIGHTENED OF AN OLD BIDDY?!"

"//D-DAMMIT, HUNT THAT BITCH DOWN!//"

"ANNA NO!"

Around the corner unseen to them, Kerkorian stood out in the hall giving the nazis a stern middle finger before she went running, surprisingly swift for her age as they took pot shots at the old woman as Thomas grabbed Andrea's hand and quickly bandaged it up to stop the bleeding before pulling her away. As they hurried off to the hangar, Anna lured the soldiers to her library, making sure they saw her enter it as she shot them a few more times to antagonise them. Closing the door with a lock she knew would eventually break, she hurried behind her desk and pulled out a small drawer full of several pistols, all of them pre-loaded as she tossed her current one away and stood waiting.

"Ohh flower of Scooootlaaaand, when wiiiill we seeeee, your liiiike agaiiin?"

"//[i]Break that door down, that bitch ain't going anywhere![/i]//"

"That fouuught and diiiied foooor, your weeee bit hiiiiill and gleeeen and stooood agaiiinst hiiiim, Proud Eeeedward's aaaaarmyyyy!

The door burst open with flames, and the first soldier received a full clip to the chest before she grabbed a second gun.

"And seeent him hoooomewaaaard, tae thiiink agaiiiiiin."

Second soldier down.

"Tae thiiiink agaiiiiiin."

Third soldier.

"Oh flower of Scooootlaaaaand."

Fourth.

"When wiiiill we seeeee, your liiiike agaiiiin?"

Click.

"That fouuught and diiied foooor-"

They fired last. Seven bullets punched through her chest as she crumpled to the ground in her small personal room, surrounded by empty guns and bullet casings as her breath shivered out.

"[i]G-got the...bastards, for you Ken...K-kendra...haaaah...[/i]"

The library turned quiet as the nazis looked over her once and left, blood pooling around her frail body, her eyes closed with a soft smile creeping over her face.

"SQUAD B, RELOAD!" shouted Chanoch. "SQUAD C, FIRE!"

The thundering of bullets and lasers screeched through the passages, Chanoch slowly moving his troops back towards the hangar region as he relegated between those firing and those reloading to keep up a constant barrage best as he could. Sometimes he tore out front to protect his troops, parrying lasers with his mighty blade before thrusting deep through two nazis at once, ripping their guts with intestines drooling across his edge before he pulled back and carved through three heads in a frightening roar that forced the army of fiends back once again. But still they would come, and still they walked over the remains of their brethren to keep pushing the guards back.

"CHANOCH!"

Thomas' voice came out from behind as the major-general ducked into a doorway beside him along with Dr. Dixon.

"How's it looking?!"

"Not good," he said switching to his rifle, "should we evacuate?"

"That's the plan," said Brightman picking off two with his own, "get everyone out of here, split them up across the Duckies, all vital personnel to the Petrie, it's fastest to escape."

"Jane got kidnapped," said Andrea beside him, "I'm sorry, we tried, Anna was shooting at them too but we lost track of her."

"Did Kevin come by?" asked Thomas.

"No," said Jarogniew ducking beneath laser shots, "we must bring him, medics and scientists first."

"Alright Andrea you heard him."

"What, no I can't just leave you all to-"

"Trust me." He grabbed her shoulder tight. "You're needed alive, more than me. Don't waste our hope."

"He is right," said Chanoch returning fire, "your mind is needed, you are too vital to lose."

"...fuck." She clutched her face shaking through her chest. "F-fuck why you gotta do this to me?"

"Forgive me. I will take you there."

"I'll take over," Thomas shuffled into the ranks, "get back soon as you can, remember the plan."

"Yes sir."

Chanoch saluted and grabbed Andrea firmly to rush her off to the hangar. Or at least that's what she thought before he took her down one way and rushed to his room suddenly.

"W-wait, Chanoch what are you doing?!"

"I must get something, please."

In his personal drawer he pulled out a book that Dixon gasped with a sudden twitch through her being. A cracked greying old cover, the spine still holding as he clutched it tight.

"This...is all I have left of him."

"Chanoch, what...what the fuck-does this still work?!"

"No. I had hoped it would, but only James can use it. It does not react to my touch. But I...I do not want to lose it."

He handed it to her as her eyes turned wide.

"Take this with you, when you get on the ship."

"What, Ch-chanoch no!"

"I know what the nazis will do. Anna told me. Do not let them burn this...please."

"...I guess you're not the only one."

She put a hand to her pocket pulling out another slimmer book with Ivalician script.

"I understand. I'll keep it safe."

"Thank you." He hugged her as she put both books in her pockets. "I am sorry."

"I know. I'm sorry too, now let's go we can't stay here."

They hurried off back to the hangar, which thankfully had remained protected by the fiercest of guards resisting the Nazi advance. Those who were not fighting and were still alive also did their best to reach it, both human and machine checking over the ships for one last prep before they would take flight, counting off the names of those who managed to arrive as Andrea hurried onto the Petrie with James' linking book and Haytham's last remaining notes.

"Has Dr. Izquierda arrived?!" he asked one of the crew.

"No," said a panicked moletank, "n-none of the medics got here."

"Keep safe, I will return."

Heading back into the fray, Jarogniew rushed for the quickest path to the medbay, skirting past the halls near the gymnasium where a screeching horror emanated from that he thought sounded vaguely familiar through the worst means as he shook his head clear and focused on his task. In the medical bay, somewhere not too far from the cafeteria, Kevin was checking over the soldiers that had been brought in wounded with Ribose and Amy examining, forced to lay them out on the floor for sake of swiftness.

"I need a poultice here!"

"Lemme just fix this suture up!"

"AMES I need more morphine!"

"[i]A-AAAAAGH, J-JESUS MY EYES![/i]"

"I'm doing my best shut the fuck up alright?!"

The reploid nurse hurried over each and every patient, injecting them with recommended amounts she calculated by a second from the most severe to the least injured, Ribose applying salves of natural herbage whilst Kevin healed plasma burns with anti-plasma solutions.

"How the fuck do they have lasers seriously," he huffed, "the whole point of us having special armour, with SPECIAL armour properties was to deflect bullets, not fucking lasers!"

"Kevin chill," said the alchemist rushing past him, "I know things're bad-"

"They shouldn't BE this bad I fucking prepared people for this, I can't do shit against lasers!"

"ALRIGHT!" Amy grabbed his shoulders to steady his fury. "Getting mad is not gonna help anyone, your patients need you to be calm. I need you to be calm."

"...you're right." He sighed rubbing his head. "I'm just...I'm just upset, I thought I made this place safe."

"We all did, we just have to deal with the best we-"

"//GET ON THE GROUND!//"

"OH, SH-SHIT!"

Ribose put up his hands immediately as three soldiers in black marched into the room with guns at the ready. Amy stepped out in front whilst Kevin crossed his arms beside his desk as the nazi gestured to the floor of wounded.

"//DOWN, ON THE GROUND, [i]NOW![/i]//"

"Sh-should we do that?" muttered Ribose.

"Oh yeah sure," Kevin rolled his eyes, "make it easier for them to shoot us, fuck that."

"Let me try," Amy put up her hands, "I have a standardised message in sixty-three languages."

She steadied herself and inititated a strangely automatic voice that was different from her own with a German warning.

"//Hello, I am an Ambulatory Medical Enzymatic Supporter. I am required to assist those wounded, if you have any ailments or wounds I shall see you shortly.//"

"//A robot?//" one of the soldiers sorted strolling up to her. "//Alright, tell those two to get on the ground.//"

"//I am only authorised to assist the wounded, for further enquiries please speak to my-//"

[b][i]BANG![/i][/b]

"[i]N-NOOO![/i]"

"[i]HIJO DE PUTA![/i]"

The nazi pumped a bullet into one of their patients, the body twitching horribly as the others gasped in frantic cries with Amy keeping her face rigid from the horror within. The soldier put his gun upon her.

"//Tell them. On the ground, now.//"

"//Thank you,//" Amy bowed playing the next line, "//your complaint has been noted and will be processed shortly. Until then, please accept this ibuprofen capsule to help ease your pain until you are seen.//"

She offered a pair of two small pills, the nazi smirking inside his helmet and looking back to his cohort before Amy slipped out a needle from her finger the moment he turned. She grasped his hand and pierced his wrist, the fast-acting agent paralysing him swiftly as the other soldier was quickly wrapped in a tightening coil of steel when her other limb swung out, binding his arms and squeezing just enough to make him fear his bones about to break. The third nazi however was ready to shoot her, as Kevin leapt into the fray with a flying kick to crunch his metallic knee into the man's chest, slamming him against the wall and winding him badly, but not enough when he pulled out a knife and tried to stab him. The chemist struggled from the soldier's thrust, trying to grab his hand and force it back until Ribose came in to try and help wrestle the guard to the ground, before the nazi slammed his head into Kevin's and suddenly stabbed Ribose with six violent thrusts puncturing his stomach.

"NOOO, [i]NOOOOO![/i]"

Amy screamed trying to reach out, struggling already with the one soldier before Kevin slammed a rising kick into the bloody knife, snapping the man's wrist into a shattering crunch before driving his steel foot forwards with a side turning kick to crack the helmet against the wall, breaking his face inwards as the third nazi slumped with a twitching crumple beside his paralysed friend. Kevin rushed over to Ribose who laid bleeding out, clutching his stomach with shivering sobs as the pain thickened to a red viscous sea in his robes.

"Hey-ey, HEY! Look at me, look at me it's going to be fine!"

"[i]H-hrrrrkh...K-kev...b-b-boss-[/i]"

"NO NO, NO, don't you do this last-word bullshit you're getting out of here with us!"

"[i]I-i...I can't f-feel my legs.[/i]"

"Oh, n-no," Amy whimpered shaking her head, "no, Kevin I'm sorry, his wounds, I-i-"

"DON'T!" He snapped at her with tears building in his eyes. "Don't...I will handle him, just keep your arm on that cabron over there."

"Right." She turned with a shudder towards the second nazi still tight in her coils. "Do not...test me. I cannot hurt you, but I can make you VERY uncomfortable if I need to."

Despite not understanding her, he obeyed as Kevin tried to ease his friend's pain as the alchemist shuddered looking up to the wolf.

"[i]I thought...you...w-were a pacifist,[/i]" he pointed to the first nazi on the floor.

"I am," she nodded, "he's not dead, just paralysed, and this one I'm just squeezing, I'm not gonna break."

"KEVIN!"

The voice of Jarogniew came bursting through the door as Kevin grabbed a gun.

"Fuck man could you NOT have your voice at fucking eleven every time you walk in a room!?"

"Are you alright?!"

"Ribose got stabbed...there's too much blood, I don't think-"

"I am sorry." He knelt down beside the bleeding chemist. "Can I help?"

"Just, grab some anti-coagulants, they're on the shelf over-"

"[i]Kev...n-no.[/i]" Ribose took his hand in his sleeve. "[i]S-save those for the others...they'll need it...more.[/i]"

"Bullshit you're wounded you need help!"

"[i]I'm...I'm not an idiot...ghhrkh,[/i]" his cough sent blood drooling down his front, "[i]I know what death feels like...been close to it enough times back with the plague knight.[/i]"

"You keep up that attitude yeah you're gonna die, fuck man just TRY!"

"Kevin." Amy shook her head. "I scanned his wounds...there's too much. We don't have the time or skill to save him."

Where there was no fear, there was anger and sorrow. Kevin balled his fists and punched them into the ground shivering with rage as he heard Ribose breathing shallow, his brown and blue cloak slowly becoming scarlet as he looked up to Chanoch.

"[i]Sorry I can't...make it to the gig.[/i]"

"It is fine." He stroked the hood. "You were the best drummer I had."

"[i]H-hah...that's...not true at all.[/i]"

"I would never lie to a dying man."

"[i]...no. You wouldn't.[/i]"

"F-fucking dammit," Kevin shuddered, "f-fuck, FUCK, I'm not leaving you, not one of my own, I promised you a better life!"

"[i]You did,[/i]" wheezed Ribose, "[i]and I had the best life thanks to you...twenty years here? Me an' Ade...couldn't have asked for anything better.[/i]"

"What...what should I tell him?" he grabbed his friend's sleeve. "When I see him?"

"[i]T-tell him...no. You don't have to tell him.[/i]" He laid his head back and stared to the heavens. "[i]I'll tell him myself...when I see him soon.[/i]"

"Wh-what? What do you-...Bose? Bose?! C-come on man don't fuck with me! Bose! BOSE!"

He shook him frantic but his response never came as his sleeves drooped with head slumped to the side. Kevin was distraught, grasping his head with a sobbing fit as Chanoch pulled him up carefully, stroking his back to console him and usher him through the door.

"We have to go."

"F-fine, fine."

"Is this one still alive?" he pointed to the nazi wrapped in steel.

"Yes," Amy nodded, "I can't hurt him, it's not in my programming-"

"It's in fucking mine."

Kevin grabbed the stained knife but Chanoch stopped him, wrenching the blade swiftly from his hand before he grabbed the nazi's chest tore off what he knew was the communicator before speaking to him.

"//You will not be harmed, so long as you do not fight back. If you struggle, I will crush your head, with helmet still on, into your chest and the last thing you will see is my blade spearing through your heart. Understand?//"

"//Y-...yes.//"

"//Yes, [b]what?[/b]//"

"//Y-YES, sir!//"

"//Good.//"

The lizardman smiled his cruellest grin before turning back to Kevin.

"The hangar is still safe, we must leave."

"What about the wounded?!" Amy cried.

"I can carry two, everyone else has to walk."

"Are we losing the base?" Kevin shrugged. "I mean, fine, fuck it."

"The base can be rebuilt, you can not."

"Technically I can be," said the reploid wolf, "but alright let's move out!"

Moving the wounded as she gave painkillers to those who needed, Amy helped the others move whilst keeping the nazi wrapped in her long serpentine limb to march him out towards the hangar bay, whilst Kevin took point with a gun as they escorted the patients out, giving their shoulders to those more injured as they struggled to walk with gasping screams they tried to stifle. Ribose sat alone in the medbay, his eyes flickering beneath his hood as his body turned cold.

Chanoch carried two men at once, one patient, one nazi as he acted as guarding front, motioning the others behind him as they carefully navigated through the burning base. Fires had broken out with parts of the roof collapsing in on them fast, pushing through the debris as they headed close to the gymnasium, or rather what remained of it as they encountered a squadron of guards firing back at snarling shrieks from round the corner.

"FUCKIN' BASTARDS GET TO FUCK!"

"CHANOCH!"

Jacob's voice rang through the bullets as he approached.

"Th-the gym, it's gone, they took it over!"

"What?!"

"Th-there were raptors, made of steel, just full robots!"

"He's right," Schroeder sighed as the guards formed a wall in the passage, "we're leaving for the hangar, are you coming too?"

"Yes," he nodded back to the medical group, "can you cover us?"

"Yes sir," he saluted, "Holt, we have wounded, Kevin's joined us!"

"Nice!" the sergeant shouted back between shotgun blasts. "Get them out before us, we'll keep thuh line!"

"MOVE OUT!"

Hurrying his group, Kevin, Amy and Ribose went round and through, the guards with Schroeder and Holt keeping fire on the raptors that now lunged towards them in the narrow hall that while did not offer them much in the ways of height, meant little for how resilent their armour seemed to be as bullets pinged off and lasers took a dozen to pierce through their wicked steel. One raptor had fallen, then another but only after an endless assault that near-depleted their ammunition as they were forced to retreat, taking brief shots to try and repel the cyber-raptors that advanced, the nazi soldiers behind them still hammering with bullets that killed a few more of the T.E.A.R. guards and thinned out their ranks, along with two wounded patients unfortunate enough to get gunned down in their escape.

Once they managed to reach the hangar, they were filed in quick through separate Duckies with Kevin and Amy hopping onto the Petrie. Chanoch rushed back towards Thomas, whilst Jeremy's group stood their ground on the opposite side of the hall close to the hangar dock.

"KEEP 'EM BACK!"

"I'M TRYING!" screamed Jacob.

"YER DOIN' GREAT DAB, KEEP UP YER SHIELD!"

"Hohhh jeez my arms hurt."

"You can make it," said Schroeder keeping up his shots, "I believe in you Jake, we'll get through this."

On the other side of the hall, risking a pincer movement from the enemy, Chanoch found Thomas still gunning down soldiers with a depleted group of guards struggling to keep their resolve despite the corridor filling with dead nazis.

"Kevin is safe," said Jarogniew kneeling beside him, "we have to go now, we are losing men."

"Right," Thomas sighed, "you remember my plan right?"

"Yes, we cannot let them have this base."

"Glad you agree. ALRIGHT, EVERYONE!" He called out to his troops. "MOVE OUT, WE'RE HEADING TO THE HANGAR, GET EVERYONE YOU CAN ON BOARD, CARRY YOUR WOUNDED!"

"[i]SIR YES SIR![/i]"

Dragging themselves up the group carried those who couldn't stand on their own whilst shooting back at the nazis approaching still upon them, a mass of faceless fiends with red glimmering eyes that pumped torrid lengths of plasma across the walls as the fires crept through the halls of the T.E.A.R. base. The hangar was soon crowding with the remaining survivors as reploids, badniks and humans shuffled onto all of the ships they had left, readying to depart. Schroeder took Jacob quickly, whilst Chanoch and Jeremy stood ordering their guards to keep firing upon both raptors and nazis still trying to break through.

"COME ON YA BASTARDS [i]FUCKIN' HAVE IT![/i]" screamed Holt.

"G-GOD, FUCKING SHIT THEY JUST WON'T DIE!"

"WE GOT FOUR OF 'EM DOWN WE CAN MANAGE A FIFTH!"

"STAND FIRM!" ordered Chanoch. "WE FIGHT TO THE LAST BULLET, SO THEY WILL NEVER SEE THE SUN RISE AGAIN!"

But despite their best efforts, the nazis grew larger and their force became stronger as guards whittled down and those too weak to fight were soon set upon by the raptors. Their shocking tasers bolted from their throats to electrocute them unconscious, as Holt battled against one and wrestled it to the ground, but his shotgun was pulled away as five nazis grabbed him, kicked him until his face was purple and his eye swollen before a paralysing bolt was pressed to the back of his neck.

"GH-GHRRAAGH, F-FUCK OFF, [i]FUCK OOOOFF![/i]"

"//HOLD HIM DOWN!//"

"N-NRRAARGH, CHANOCH, DON'T GIVE IN TO THESE BASTARDS FER THE LOVE OF-[i]GHRRRKH![/i]"

A vicious spark shot through his mind as he collapsed unconscious, grabbed by the soldiers who started preparing to carry him out. Chanoch however was the most difficult, as he forced against with his sword and cleaved through at least twelve more nazis before the ships finally left. The docking doors opened as the Petrie flew with the grace of a spectre, zooming across the sea with a dark purple trail and a row of Duckies behind that the Nazi battleship turned upon to try and shoot, managing to wing two that fell into the sea and one exploded in the air leaving several burnt corpses floating across the waves. Chanoch smiled when he heard the Petrie fade as he slumped against the wall, smiling as he raised his sword and braced himself for the end. Then he felt a bolt, then two, then three raptors all at once assaulted him with a combined electrical burst that shut down his muscles and stulted his brain to a brief unconcious state.

"//Finally,//" a nazi general spat on his head, "//fucking degenerate.//"

"//This fucking animal better be worth it,//" snarled a soldier kicking his side.

"//If he's in good condition...and if they'll let us have fun with him well, who knows, I think after having to deal with this fucking savage for the past hour we're entitled to a little payback.//"

"//Hah, you and me both sir!//"

"//Doctor!//" the general tapped on his radio. "//Doctor, this is wave six, we captured the jew alive.//"

"[b]//EXCELLENT, KHHHAHAHAHAAAAA!//[/b]" his voice screamed with a cackle they all heard. "[b]//And here I almost worried he would die before you could grab him!//[/b]"

"//He was a struggle, but we finally subdued him. We've managed the quota of captives too, but the rest of them got away.//"

"[b]//Fear not, some of them fell into the water when we shot them we'll fish them out after, now, what of the African lizard?//[/b]"

"//We...uhh,//" he looked round the hall of bodies and captives, "//it seems he may have escaped.//"

"[b]//Ach, unfortunate,//[/b]" they felt his shrug through the comms, "[b]//but that's Frau's Grimm's problem not mine, now that I have a far more INTERESTING specimen who shall prove my work thusly, after the long thirty years I have struggled in finding evidence for it! Now, are the panzeraptors well?//[/b]"

"//They were a great help to us doctor, four of them were destroyed but they helped push back resistance. The base is ours, take the captives back to the Tosengeist for re-education.//"

"//Sir?!//" a sergeant saluted with full-arm front towards him. "//We haven't found the commander of the base yet, just so you know.//"

"//Well, find him then! He must be around here, he wasn't with the others?//"

"//Two of us spotted him heading southeast, might have fled in cowardice sir!//"

"//Hm! Perfect, try to bring him alive in that case, it'll do good morale for the men to see what cowardice leads to.//"

But Thomas was anything but a coward. During the last assault, as ships flew and his soldiers were killed or captured to be dragged onto the Nazi ship, he made a daring rush for the armoury now mostly-depleted of its resources. Despite managing to fool his own army, the nazi hunters who were clearing the place did spot him enough to start chasing on after him, the general firing back with a spreading burst of his rifle taking down a few with ripping bursts of bullets at the knees.

"//THE COMMANDER, TAKE HIM DOWN!//"

"//SHOOT HIS LEGS!//"

They hounded after him, screeching with fury as he tried not to run too far ahead that they would lose sight, but not slow enough that they could get a shot on him as he lead them a merry chase down to the depths of the base itself. There in the armoury, they found a darkened place full of empty racks in a sheltered cave with structural beams, the sounds of their footsteps echoing brief as the faint screams of war drifted from beyond.

"I had a wife," said Thomas from the dark, "her name was Samantha. Not that I ever planned on having one, I used to think I was too cool for that sort of life, wanting to join the military and knowing no one would want a husband with that sort of life. Too much hassle, too much longing and waiting. But she still wanted me. I met her in Germany, the most patient woman I ever met."

The soldiers spread out across the room searching for his voice, motioning gestures quietly to track him.

"We met at a stargazing meet...used to be big into astronomy, always fascinated with the stars and such, and she was too. We talked, I stayed at her place, we kept in touch through letters then email once that was a thing...then we had a daughter. Jennifer. My...my lucky star."

They weren't listening, nor understood what he said as they searched the racks with crimson gaze.

"Eventually I managed to get onto a program that let me stay in Germany proper. Things were good, I just had to go show up at the base and do my duties and then home again, watching my daughter grow, sleeping with my wife. I never took off the yarmulke they gave me when I frst converted, for her sake that is. She thought it was asking too much but that's the thing about being raised by two con artists in Arizona. You know god isn't real, so what's the harm in joining the flock when you know you're not missing out of anything?"

A light suddenly flicked onto the back. Thomas stood inside a box of hardened glass as the nazis rushed towards him with rifles clicked.

"//SIR, WE FOUND THE COMMANDER!//"

"Don't worry you guys can't shoot me."

He pointed his gun to the side and fired at one of the walls.

"Bulletproof, specially-made for containing valuable artifacts that maybe we needed to collect, like raptor eggs or the holy grail...hah...nah, I wish."

Putting his hand in his pocket, he raised the photograph towards the nazis showing himself a younger age. A woman of long curled hair and a small girl stood beside him.

"This was my family. I lived with Samantha for fifteen years, and my daughter for six. We were happy. Then one day, while I was out...I heard on the news that a neo-nazi group had broken into my house...and killed them."

He stared at the photo whilst the soldiers looked to each other shrugging.

"I know you don't understand me and frankly I don't care because I know you won't sympathise by this point. Turns out, nazis never really disappeared from my world, they just change their names, the symbols and how they communicate...apparently a group had made out a list of people in the town I lived with Sam and...well, they were arrested at least, tried, then sentenced to life imprisonment. More mercy than I'll give you, or they ever gave to me."

He pulled from his other pocket a small remote that he clicked. Something softly beeped as they looked above their heads. Every part of the ceiling, every square, every strut, had an explosive charge hidden within that turned the room to a scarlet gleam.

"I miss them more than anything. That's why I came here...to hope I never had to suffer those like you, who still live in my world, who still demand more and more even when you already have every fucking right you could ever have, only to rob it from those not of your kin. So this is what you deserve. If you can't learn to tolerate...then I don't have to tolerate you."

They started running for the door quick as they could, only to find it had been locked shut by another remote Thomas had on him. His words turned to Hebrew, ringing soft through the shrill beeping, the hammering thuds and the increased panic of German voices that rose to a screaming pitch.

"//Blessed are you, Lord our God, king of the universe...who has sanctified me with love, who has graced me with a family, a child to nurture, and a heart that will never leave me. Blessed are you, Lord, who has embraced me with warmth, into this new life that I shall swear to honour and protect. Samantha...Jennifer...I'm home.//"

He smiled with quiet tears as he waited for the world to end. The base exploded with a trembling detonation, the bombs fused into the electrical conduits that in turn carried the charge to overload each and every single part of the building that was connected. The captives had already been loaded onto the ship before the base suddenly fumed, the corridors belched with flames of rising fury that burst in shuddering blasts that rocked the sea, the raptors of steel sensing something was wrong and escaping before the rampant explosions howled with devouring force that ripped through the walls, melted doors and set every single electrical outlet into a miniature spark, that became a furious storm all at once.

But none were as grand as the TEG itself. The centrepiece of the base, the long-standing crown of the jewel of science it had dedicated itself to for three decades, set off a catastrophic detonation that caused the giant Nazi ship, the Tosengeist above to veer out of its path, the shockwaves detonating across the ocean as sand burst from under the nazi soldiers' feet and all who were still left inside burned to shadowed ash within the space of a few minutes. None were fast enough to escape the wrath of Thomas Brightman, his song of destruction resounding across the waves as the soldiers outside barely escaped the surging tornado of fire that bellowed from the smouldering base. Nothing would be left for them to salvage. The books had burnt to cinders, the bodies melted along with the technology central to the base where once T.E.A.R. had been.

"[b]//WH-WHAT, WHAT, WHAT HAPPENED?!//[/b]" shrieked Ingelbaum.

"//S-SIR, SIR I DON'T KNOW, SOME SORT OF REACTION!//"

"[b]//You BLITHERING FOOLS! BLUNDERING AROUND WITH YOUR GODFORSAKEN GUNS SHOOTING EVERYTHING UP, YOU MUST HAVE SET SOMETHING OFF!//[/b]"

"//That explosion was too all-at-once, someone must have set off a self-destruct sir.//"

"[b]//AAAARGH!//[/b]" The sound of something kicked came rattling through the comms. "[b]//Fine...f-fine, fine, we still have the other place, and we have new specimens, can't exactly cry over spilt milk. Report all your remaining men to the Tosengeist, we are leaving for Riptor's plan.//[/b]"

"//Yes...sir.//"

The soldiers returned as instructed, and soon the ship departed showing its cruel darkened shape as deep as the shadow it cast with sharp razor wings splayed across its back. The shining mountain was gone, and those that survived would either face eternity trapped in this time, or suffer death at the hands of the regime.