Xenogears:  New Gospel

Chapter VI, Section 5

Two fireballs descended from the heavens that morning.  The Einhander fell
away from its postion alongside the massive Hellion battlecruiser, its fiery
trail leading into the seas in the south of the planet, while the Hellion
ship descended more or less strait down, into the northern polar cap.  A
vast cloud of steam erupted from the southern seas, while a fireball
blossomed in the icy lands of the north, melting ice that had exsisted for
thousands of years.  No one witnessed these two landings, but there were
others...

...

The Hellion foot soldiers glanced around the flattened crater that, three
years ago, had been Laham village.  The crater had long since grown over,
with small shrubbery and grass covering the area.  But even these could not
hide the ruined buildings, the charred stone, and the melted hulks of
several gears.

"<Commander.>"  one of the Hellion's pathed.  "<This type of damage is...
unprecidented.  The size of the crater suggests the usage of a small,
tatical nuclear weapon...  but such a weapon would have left radiation
signitures that would make this area uninhabitable.  And we certainly would
have detected the radiation, and steered clear of this area.>"

The Hellion commander, distinguished by the blue-white chevrons painted on
his chest plate, waved a hand in dismissal.  "<Remember that this is the
planet of the unit.  The Unit's power is vast...  it could have easily
purged this area.  Look well men, because this is not an attack on an
area...  this is a work of art.>"

The Hellions turned, the commander gesturing for them to move out.  "<Our
mission is to purge the only surviving humans on this planet who are aware
of our powers and weaknesses.  The surviving crew of the Einhander is
currently beneath a large barrier, making any type of penetration of their
fortress by the air impossible.>"

All of the creatures nodded.  If an air purge was unadvisable, then the best
course of action was to infiltrate, and kill everything that they
discovered.  A bloody course of action, but no one objected.  After all,
they had been crammed into a small ship for several of their years, which
were signifigantly longer than the years the Terrans used, and were anxious
to test their skills in battle.  The Hellion commander smiled at that.

Their Lord would certainly not approve.

...

The Etone supply station, located less than a mile from the Cathedral of
Nisan, was perhaps the only supply dump that hadn't been cleaned out.
Others in the area had been tapped for both the festival announcing the
landing of the Einhanders crew, or for the later battle against the Wels.

The lock to the supply station door trembled for a moment, before clicking
open.  The heavey padlock dropped to the ground with a dull clack, which
caused several rats in the area to scurry for cover.  A moment later, the
door opened a crack, and an emerald haired young lady stepped into the room,
glancing about cautiously.

"There's no one here."  she whispered to her two companions.  She gently
pushed the door open, listening carefully for any squeaks or rattles.  When
she managed to open it enough to accomidate the massive gear on the other
side, she sighed and dusted her hands off.

"Thank you, Emeralda."  Elyham van Houten replied, walking through the door
moment later.  She gave Emeralda a smiled and a nod.  "Your quite useful to
have around."

"Thank you, Lady Elyham."  the emerald haired girl replied with a bit of a
sarcastic smile on her face, watching Elly out of the corner of her eye.
Elly trembled slightly at that remark, and turned to walk towards the Gear.

"You don't have to call me that."  she replied, snapping slightly at her
companion.

"Then what would you prefer I call you?"  Emeralda responded, grinning
slightly.  "Mother?"  Another glanced revealed Elly's utter flabbergasted
expression.

"Elly is fine..."  she said, shaking her head and walking back into the
darkness of the hanger.  Emeralda gestured for the other person with their
group to enter the hanger.

Garr walked in, glancing around the massive, dark hanger.  "It's pretty dark
in here...  don't we have any lights?"  he whispered, fliching as even that
tiny sound echoed back towards him.

"There are some lights in here...  I'm not sure if they work though."
Emeralda said, walking around to a small piller that stood a few feet away
from the door.  "Elly hasn't used her Gear in a long time, so I'm not quite
sure if anyone has replaced anything here."

In the background, Garr heard the sound of a hatch opening and closing in a
rather short period of time.  Emeralda pulled down on a small switch, and
there was a brief flash...  a rather brilliant one, as all of the lights in
the hanger burned out in rapid succession.  Gar shielded his eyes, and
Emeralda smiled apologeticlly.  "I guess not." she sighed, and started to
walk towards the far end of the hanger.

"Wait, where are you going?"  Garr shouted, and then clamped his hand over
his mouth as the sound echoed in the vast Gear hanger.  "Emeralda!"

"Garr, it's alright."  Elly's voice sounded from behind him, and Garr
sighed, turning to look back at her.  Except she wasn't there.

Garr's first experience with a Gear was not a pleasent one.  No one hears a
persons voice behind them, only to turn to see a massive...  thing leaning
down over them.  With its hand descending down upon them.

Emeralda spun around as a strangled scream rang out through the hanger.  She
skid to a stop a the scene a moment later, losing her footing at the last
moment.  She dropped on he knee next to Garr, who was as white as a sheet
and pointing upwards.  "Garr, whats wrong?" she asked, shaking him.

"Mon...  Mon...  Monster..." he babbled, still pointing upwards.  Emeralda
glanced up, and in a manner completely unbecoming of a lady ofher age,
snickered.

"Elly, I think you should hit yur lights and let the poor man get a good
look at you."  she called, still laughing slightly under her breath.  A
moment later, the area was flooded with light.

"Garr, this is Vierge...  My Gear."  Elly replied, opening the cockpit to
her gear.  "We're going to have to hury...  someone might have heard the
noise."

Emeralda helped Garr to his feet, and gave him a gentle shove towards Elly's
gear.  "You're riding with her...  Elly!"  she shouted.  "Get going, I'll
catch up in <Cresens>."

Elly gave hr a thumbs up, and lowered Vierge's hand to floor level.  "Get on
Garr.  If we're going to get to the Thames, we're going to have to hurry."

...

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEIR GONE???"  Batholomew Fatima shouted.  Shouted was
perhaps not the best word to describe what he was doing.  Bellowing, or
perhaps roaring, was.

"Um, yes...  you see, Mistress Elyham has...  um, left for the Thames with
Etone Emeralda and Liutenent Garr from the Einhander."  Remus was trembling
slightly, clutching the battered note that he held in his left hand.  "I
found this note among the papers that she asked me to distribute to the
section heads."

"Damnit!"  Bart shouted, pacing around his office.  Both Sigurd, Margie, and
Shitan stood to one side of the room, allowing the head of the town council
to vent his anger in his own way.  Sigurd shook his head sadly, and Margie
covered her ears as Bart continued shouting.

Shitan glanced over at Sigurd, who had descretly tapped him on the arm.
"Although this is a huge risk for Elly to be taking, I believe that the
young master is upset because she did not choose to inform him of the trip."
Sigurd smiled, and shook his silver haired head.  "Hyuga, I took the liberty
of having Brigander's engine pulled for matinence today..."

Shitan smiled and finished the sentence.  "... to keep your young one from
charging off after her?"

"Exactly."  Sigurd replied, wincing slightly as Bart activated the comm to
the Gear hanger.  Shitan, Margie, Remus, and Shitan slipped out of the room,
shutting the door moments before the comm set flew across the room to slam
into the door.

Sigurd peeked back into the room, and gestured for Shitan to enter.  Margie
latched onto Remus's sleave, winking at Sigurd.  "I'll make sure this one
dosen't run off after them either."  she said quietly in Shitan's ear.
Shitan smiled as the two walked off, Margie commenting on how she had never
gotten a chance to tour the Ethos headquarters.

Bart was signifigantly more composed when Shitan reentered the room, sitting
behind his desk with both of his hands held together in front of him.
Sigurd took a seat as Bart began speaking.  "As far as we can tell, Elly's
been gone since early morning.  We can't find Emeralda, or Maria, and
they'll be long gone before we can send any normal gears after them.  And
since Brigander's engine has been pulled for matinence..." Bart cast a
whithering glance at Sigurd, who shrugged, as he said this, "we don't really
have an way of catching up to them.  The Yggdrasil III can't be pulled off
of patrol...  so we'll just have to wait for her to get back."

"Young one, as strange as this comment may seem, perhaps this is for the
best.  Elly has had very little time to herself during the last year, and is
probably due for a vacation.  The fact that she is heading towards the
Thames is of no consiquence."  Shitan pushed his glasses up so they were
correctly seated on his nose, and smiled.  "Elly has been taking care of
herself for a long time...  do not forget that she was one of Solaris's
Elements.  And I can personally attest to the effectiveness of that
perticular fighting unit."

...

The last fireball of the day blossomed in the sky.  This one was of
considerably smaller size than the ones that had appeared previously, and
fell towards the planet in a much more controlled descent.

The being looked down on the planet, a strange sense of longing nagging at
it.  It didn't know why it was returning...  there was danger in its return.
The hunters were here.

But this is our home.  They have come because of us.  Now we have to clean
up our mess.

...

The forest was the only thing that noted his passage...  as it should be.
This path had been planned, in case he was ever needed.  The Hellion's moved
with suprising speed, and fought with cunning brutality.  He would not reach
Nisan before they did.

But if they laid one of their disgusting, armored hands upon her...  he
smiled at that thought.  Their fate would be all the worse for avoiding the
trap he had spent all of the previous day setting up.  And their fate was
already one that would make strong men weak, and weak men run screaming in
terror.

The cloaked man landed, his foot barely touching the tree limb before he
launched himself into the air.  Even though this path was far from any
settlement, there may have been Wels dwelling around here...  no point in
wasting his strength, when opponents of unknown strength and capabilities
awaited.

He flew onwards.

...

Someone screamed.

Shitan gripped the leather wrapped hilt of his katana, breathing heavily.
His opponent watched him with a cautious eye, sliding slightly to the left.
Both of their eyes met, and for an instant, and understanding passed between
them.

Shitan exploded into action, bringing his blade around in a backhand
slash... a feint, but one that was hard to detect.  His opponent lashed out
with his quarterstaff, and there was a audiable crack as wood met on wood.
But Shitan had already shifted his weight to his front foot, and with his
back he snapped a kick into his opponent torso.

Sigurd grunted, backing off slightly.  "Your point, Hyuga." he said in a
light tone, rubbing his side.  "Damn, I didn't see that one coming.  Are you
sure you hadn't fought before you joined up with Fei and his group?"

Shitan paused, tapping his wooden practice sword on his shoulder.  "Perhaps
it is that you have just gotten rusty Sigurd.  Sitting behind the tiller of
a sand ship is not the best way to hone one's fighting technique."

Sigurd looked at him with a mixture of annoyance and surpise on his face.
Shitan wondered if he had offended his friend, when sigurd threw back his
head and laughed.  "As if sitting on top of a mountain and working with
machines is any better!  Come on, Hyuga...  Let us see who has gotten
rusty."

Remus sat in a corner, reading a small, leather bound journal that he had
picked up from the library.  The tome was in an archaic language, which was
compounded by the fact that the entire journal was written by hand.  Remus
had a stylus and a sheet of paper beside him, as he made notes in the
translation.

Sitting by his side was Margie, who was busy leafing through a small stack
of documents.  "Sigurd, we have had some complaints about Elly missing
several of her appointments."  The fact that Elly had vanished from the
cathedral without a trace was still not common knowledge throughout the
city, although many people were beginning to reach that conclusion.  "What
should we tell them?"

Sigurd glanced over at her...  a mistake, as Shitan's sword came within an
inch of his shoulder as he danced aside.  "Perhaps we should go public on
this..."  he started, bringing in staff down on Shitan's sword.  "If we do,
the people will know that Elly is out doing all that she can to help them."

Shitan dodged Sigurd's counter attack, responding with a quick jab towards
his companion.  "Would that be best?  The fact that Elly has vanished may
cause a panic in the city."

Remus looked up from his book, chewing on the end of his stylus. "Perhaps...
The people trust Mistress Elyham.  However, I believe that the best way to
balance these rumors, Doctor Uzuki, is to leak some of the information.
That will let people who believe that nothing is being done know that
something IS being done, while the fact that the information exsists as a
rumor will give the people who would see Elly's disappearance as an ill omen
reason not to belive it."

Margie glanced over at him in surpise.  "Remus, that is an excellent idea.
Where did you come up with it?"

Remus shrugged the question off.  "It was a common tatic used in my village
by the elders."  he replied, scribbling a few notes on his paper.  "It
allowed them to spread informaton that would cause a general panic in the
town if it were publicly acknowledged.  It gave them something they
called... 'plausalbe deniability', I belive."

Shitan motioned for Sigurd to stop their match.  Wiping some of the sweat
off of his brow, he set the tip of his katana on the ground and leaned on
the hilt.  "Young Remus has an excellent point.  This information would
probably be best circulated as a rumor.  Perhaps we should meet this
afternoon to determine the best method to carry out this little plan."

Margie hopped to her feet, dropping her papers in Remus's lap.  "I'll go
tell Bart then.  Is there anything else that you want me to do, Shitan?"

"No...  but please make haste.  There is the feeling of something...
sinister in the air."

...

The campfire cracked with a merry light, reflecting off of the feet of
Vierge and <Cresens>.  Elly, Emeralda, and Garr were seated around the
campfire, with a few of their travel rations cooking over the fire.

Elly leaned back against the tree she was seated by, and looked up into the
stars.  "Its been a while since I was out in the open like this...  I
haven't slept on the ground in over a year."

Emeralda smiled, reaching over the fire to grab several of the cooking meat
sticks.  "We didn't do that much camping outside when we were fighting
against Solaris.  And I can't imagine a Gebler soldier doing much camping
outside."  She handed the meat sticks to Garr and Elly.  Garr grabbed his a
bit too eagrly, and held his dinner by the stick, blowing on the fingers to
his singed hand.  Elly held hers much more carefully, and considered
Emeralda's statement.

"Well, during my days at Jugend, one of our major tests was to see how well
we could blend in with the 'Lambs'.  We had quite a bit of camping out...
essentially they tossed us down onto Ingas with a pocket knife, and were
expected to get back to 'civilization' on our own."  Elly smiled a bitter
smile, thinking back to those days at Jugend with Dominia and the other
Elements.  "I was...  commended for having to kill the least number of Lambs
in my trek back to civilization."

"You killed people?"  Garr asked, muching on his meat stick.

"Yes..."  Elly said with a sigh of regret.  "I wasn't quite the same person
that I am now.  Solaris uses an extensive brainwashing program in order to
control their people, and I had been raised as a first class citizen of
Solaris...  one of the Abel."

Garr scratched his chin, and wracked his brain for where he had heard those
expressions before.  "I believe that whoever used those terms was a
connoseur of an ancient Earth religion, called Christianity.  So the
Solarians looked down on another country?"

Elly nodded, and took a bite out of her dinner.  "We Solarians believed that
due to our technological superiorty, we had the right of life and death over
the Lambs...  people who lived on the surface."  Elly gently bit her lip,
and stared out into the night.  "'If you Gebler are wise...  I'd rather be a
fool.'"

"I'm sorry?"  Garr said, glancing at her with an interested expression.

"Words I spoke to Dominia, one of my friends from Jugend...  She was
attacking Bart and his ship, and Fei and I dropped down to help Bart fight
her off.  She...  Dominia was always loyal to Ramses, the Gebler commander,
no matter what he asked her to do."  Elly smiled, and lapsed into silence.
Garr looked into the crackling fire, wondering about what had happened on
this planet in the last few years.  It sounded like an epic adventure...
one that would have been typecast as a warholo back in the Federation.

"Lady Elyham, who is Fei?  You mentioned him a few times, and he sounds
rather important to your story."

...

The hellion commander motioned with his arm.  The prey seemed to be relaxed,
and at ease.  It was time to strike.

...

The sands of this beach hadn't changed...  it seemed fitting that he should
set foot on Ignas from the point that he had exited it from.  The young man
raked his hair out of his eyes, turning to his companion.

"The Hellions are here.  We don't have much time, partner."

His companion nodded his head, the single long bang on hair waving in the
breeze.  "Lets go."

...

There was no warning.

The Hellions had exploded through the front gates of Nisan like a herd of
elephants, those guards who were either unfortunate enough or stupid enough
to impede their progress being ripped apart in seconds.  Several guns fired
fron the walls, but the Hellions seemed to shrug these off as little more
than annoyances.

The Hellion commander thrw its head back, belowing a roaring laugh of
triumph.  The creature made an impressive sight, its tendriled hair hanging
back behind it, threaded though with silver rings.  It shook the guard it
had just slain off of its forearm energy blade, and dropped off of the cart
it was using as a perch.  "<These are not warriors!  Let none live, for scum
such as these do not deserve the fates of warriors!>"

His subordinates bellowed their agreement, and swarmed further into the
city. Now, nothing was spared their lethal touch.  Any human, be they man,
woman, or child, that could be caught was killed.

Their rampage was unchecked, the few guards that had managed to gather in
front of them died within seconds.  The Hellions had moved unchecked almost
half a mile into the city before they ran into their first line of
resistence.

The Hellion commander fliched at the explosion, and then turned to see one
of his subordinates grasping a wound that had been inflicted on its upper
arm.  It hissed in pain as it attempted to staunch the flow of stick black
ichor that pumped from the wound, and cast about for whatever had wounded
it.

"So, these thigns can be hurt.  Thats reassuring."  a voice echoed from up
ahead.  The Hellion commander glanced around, before its gaze settled on a
single young human, standing alone in the center of the road.  He wore some
form of robes, and calming regarded them with icy blue eyes from beneath a
head of silver hair.  "Now lets see if you can die, shall we?"

The wounded Hellion let out a bellow of rage, and charged down the street.
It snapped its wrist to the side, exposing a meter long blade that crackled
with a haze of blue energy.  "<DIE, YOU BASTARD!>"  it shouted, bearing down
on the human.

Billy gazed calmly at the creature, watching its rampaging charge.  The
distance between them was closing rapidly, and the thing didn't look like it
was about to stop before it pounded him into the ground.  The Etone shook
both of his sleves, and a pair of guns resembling old matchlock pistols
dropped into his hands, which were still concealed beneath his cloak.  Teh
creature was now close enough that he could see its face, a hidious mixture
of insect and humaniod, beneath its faceplate.

The Hellion leapt into the air, bringing its blade far about its head as it
prepare to destroy this foolish human.  How stupid, it thought.  It does not
even move to dodge my attack.

Billy rocked back on his heels as the thing jumped, and began falling
backwards.  For a brief moment, he felt apprehension.  Had he started his
fall soon enough?  Or was that thing going to kill him before he had a
change to fire.

Billy fall continued as the Hellion slashed, nicking a few hairs from his
forehead and raising a thin line of blood.  But other than that, there was
no contact between the two.  Billy's hands came up, his Ether guns primed
and ready.  He pulled the two triggers in a smooth continuous motion, and
felt them kick.

The Hellions had shrugged off the previous attacks by the guards by the
virture of a shield, designed to tke signifigant physical punishment before
disolving.  But in all of their history, they had remained unable to adapt
their shield to deal with energies of the Ether...  not a large concern,
considering that the only source of Ether energy was the few humans that
possed the Legacy...  the Etherones.  But Billy Ether guns fire nothing but
a pure ether shell, one of the shells adapted to the element of fire, the
other adapted to the element of air.  Both of these shells passed through
the Hellion's shield as if it were nothing.

The Hellion flew through the air, smoldering as the fire ether chewed into
it, setting parts of its armor aflame.  Its short flight ended as it crashed
into a store front only a short distance in front of its commander.  It
moaned for a moment, and then lay still.  Not suprising, its commander
noted, considering that the cadets stomach had been blasted apart.  He
hissed his displeasure.  This journey, the simple survey of an unexplored
system, had soured, with one spate of bad luck after another.  First the
ship was shot down, and now there was a second civilization with Ether
abilities???

A low growl issued through the troops around the commander, and many of his
suordinates were preparing to charge.  He henld up a hand, as began to walk
fowards himself.

Billy rolled over, standing and drawing his gun in one swift movement.
"Well, I've managed to slow them down.  I hope this plan of Shitn's works."
With that, he carefully placed his Ether gun across his forearm, sighting
down the barrel.  With careful precision, he placed the crosshairs over the
creatures' leader.

The Hellion commander staggered as Billy sent three shots from his Ether gun
into it, all of them striking it in the center of its armored body.  The
thing fell to the ground, and twitched slightly.  Billy smiled, and lowed
his gun.  Shitan felt that the leader would be the most powerful, and with
him dead, the others would be easier to deal with.

The Hellion Commander twitched again, and then to Billy horror, stood up,
laughing.  The creature smiled beneath its mask, and extended its forearm
blade.

"So...  human...  you think that a simple Ether weapon would kill a
Commander of the Third Tier?"  It snarled in broken Basic.  "Perhaps you
should have paid more attention to what your Federation allies have told
you."

Billy swore, and watched as the Hellion started walking closer.  "Shitan,
I'm going to have to have a long talk with you when this is over."  he
muttered, and set his weight on his back feet, preparing for the charge.
The Hellion let out a bone chilling battle cry, and thundered across the
street.

...

There was no warning.

The hair on the back of Elly's neck rose, and almost without knowing why,
she grabbed Garr, and dove fowards off the log they had been sitting on.
Elly spun around, praying that she was simply over reacting.

She wasn't.  A creature, as alien as any of the Wels she had been, stood
there, trying to free a massive forearm blade that had become imbedded in
the log she and Garr had been sitting on.  The woods around them rustled, as
things moved around.

"Elly!  You've got to run, before they surround us!"  Emerada shouted,
already turning back to face the Hellion troops that were entering the
clearing.  "Go!  I'll try to hold them off!"

Elly nodded, reaching into her pocket for her baton.  Even as she did this,
she grabbed Garr's hand and started running to the opposite side of the
camp, the scientist in tow.  Emeralda crouched in the center of the
clearing, watching as they made their break for the cover of the woods.

The green haired girl cursed, realizing that the creatures, the word
Hellion's flashed across her memory, were approaching from the direction of
the Gears.  They would have no help from either Vierge or Cresens in this
fight.

The leader of the Hellion troops stopped less than ten feet in front of
Emeralda, gazing at her a penetrating expression.  His troops fanned out
around him, forming a rough semicircle around their leader and Emeralda.

The creature removed its mask, revealing a highbrowed, mottled face.  The
only human seeming part about the creature were its eyes, which seemed to
contain an interested expression.  One of them was closed, the result of a
large, jagged scar that began six inches above its eye and terminated near
the base of the creatures neck.  The creature had no mouth, but seemed to
have a small, metallic box around its neck.  Several lights on the box
flashed, and it began to speak.

"You must be either very brave or very foolish to attempt to fight us all,
girl.  Which of those are you?"

Emeralda contained her surpise at this creatures mastery of her language,
and managed to force a smile.  "Neither, or perhaps both.  Which remains to
be seen...  you haven't managed to kill me yet."

The cerature threw its head back, and roared with laughter.  "I think that
you are brave, despite what others may say of those who fight against
impossible odds."  The creauter gestured, and several of the Hellions on the
outside of the semicircle broke away and ran after Elly and Garr into the
woods.  Emeralda swore, and the creature turned back to her, a hint of
amusement in its eyes.  "Of course, valiant stands are rather pointless if
those whom the defender is trying to protect still die."

"Emeralda will not let you harm Elly...  I made a promise to Kim that I
would keep Elly safe."  Emeralda replied, slipping back into her old pattern
of speech for a moment.  She stretched her hands in front of her, and
settled into a fighting stance.  The Hellions all roared in approval, and
the commander pulled a small device off of its armor.

"Now that we've set the stange for a proper fight, take this."  it replied,
tossing a small box to her.  It held up a small metal pin, before tucking it
inside of its armor.  "Defeat me, and I will give you the key that will
teleport my men and I back to our ship.  Kill me, and you may take it from
my dead body."

Emeralda nodded.  "Then a fight it will be."

...

Shitan, Remus, and Bart stood at the base of the bridge to the cathedral.
>From what they could tell, the Hellions were only moment away from arriving.
Billy looed at Shitan, an expression of concern on his face.

"Shitan, what happened to Billy?"  he asked, slowly clenching and
unclenching his hand around the guard swore he wore at his waist.  Shitan
shook his head, and looked at the approaching cloud of smoke.

"Hopefully he managed to escape, or is at least retreating from them.  If
not..."  Shitan left the question hanging.  "Let us just hope that he
managed to escape."

Bart watched, tapping his foot gently.  "Here they come."

The Hellions shot around the corner.  Several guards leveled their weapons,
firing at them as they backed quickly away from the invaders.  Two of the
didn't make it, and blood splattered across the road as one of the Hellion's
shook their bodies off of its blade.

Shitan heard Remus hiss through his teeth, and a moment later the hiss of
steel beig removed from its sheath echoed across the clearing before the
bridge.  Shitan grasped the hilt of his katana, and slid an inch of blade
out of the sheath.

The Hellions stopped, all of them standing expectantly less than fifty feet
away from the bridge.  It was then that Shitan saw what had caused Remus to
react.  The Hellion leader, identified by his silver hair rings, was holding
Billy by the collar of his robes, dragging him along the road behind him.
Shitan swore softly, and drew his ornate katana.

The Hellion leader walked across the clearing, stopping less than ten feet
away from Shitan.  It seemed to regard then with a curious expression, and
then snapped its arm foward, tossing Billy across the intervening area.  The
Etone landed with a muffled grunt, and lay still.  Remus rushed foward,
dragging his friend back to the saftey of Shitan, Bart, and the guards.

Billy's face was streaked with blood, and now that Shitan could see him more
clearly, he was that the young Etone's robes were also tacky with the red
liquid.  Both of his legs and one of his arms were bent at unnatural angles,
or bent in places that they shouldn't have been.  Shitan felt a surge of
pity...  being dragged across the ground like that must have been torture.

Shitan ignored Bart, who was walking towards the Hellion leader, and knelt
down next to Billy, gently shaking his head.  The Etone moaned, and his eyes
flickered open, open but not seeing.  "Uh..."  he moaned.  "Shitan, are you
there?"

Shitan nodded, holding onto Billy's shoulder.  "I'm here Billy...  we're
going to get you to the infirmary.  Hang on."

Billy shook his head, and with his good arm grabbed onto Shitan's hand.
"Listen...  That bastard has a shield against Ether attacks.  He also has
some type of ability to create light...  He blasted me with it, and got me
while I was blinded...  I can't tell if its worn off or not yet..."

Shitan nodded, and motioned for the arriving medical team to load Billy onto
the stretcher.  "Hold on Billy...  you'll be alright."

Billy nodded, and grunted as he was loaded onto the stretcher.  "Be careful
Shitan."

Shitan watched as Billyw a being led away, and turned back to the Hellion
leader.  And realized that he had not been keeping track of Bart and Remus.

Both Bart and Remus were now nearing the Hellion group, as they both fought
the Hellion leader.  Shitan swore, and watched as the creatured laughed at
their attacks.

Bart swore, lashing out at the creatures face mask with his whip.  It
stepped backwards, allowing the tip to crack in the air near its head.  The
thing spun with an unnatural quickness, snapping a kick towards Bart as it
used its armblade to block a thrust of Remus's sword.

"Tell me humans, is this the best you have to offer?  Are these the people
that were supposedly the greatest threat to our race in millenia?"  It
yowled, static crackling through its voice.  "HA!  There is nothing to fear
from those such as you."

"We'll see about that."  Bart shouted back, and lashed out with his whip
again.  Remus nodded, and leapt forward, trying to stab the creature in the
back.  The Hellion danced out of the way, laughing in scorn.

It screamed a battle cry, and spun around, smashing Remus in the chest with
one of its hands.  Remus staggered backwards, dropping his sword on the
ground.  Bart swore, and tried to tangle the Hellion'slegswith his whip,but
the creature danced out of the way, and shot a powerful kick into Remus.
There was a sickening crack, and Remus sailed across the square, rolling to
a stop near the edge of the lake.

The creature completed its spin, and grabbed Bart's whip as it did so.  Bart
tugged at his weapon without any luck, and barely managed to let go of it as
the Hellion jerked its hand.  Bart's whip sailed across the square, and the
former pirate was left without a weapon in the center of the square, facing
a very annoyed monster that was intent on killing him.

Bart clenched fist as the creature charged, and watched its approach with an
intense expression.  The creature was approaching from the left, so unless
it was a feint, he would have to dodge to the right in a few seconds...

"STOP!"  Shitan shouted.  The Hellion came to an abrupt halt, and turned to
face the doctor.  Shitan slid his katana completely out of his sheath, and
threw the sheath aside.  "Commander of the Hellion forces, under your code
of Jan'Shata, I challenge you to single combat."

The Hellion commander laughed, and turned to face Shitan.  The creature
towered over the doctor, and gazed at him with cold, evaluating eyes.  "So
tell me, human...  What do you know of the warrior code?  What do you know
of the sacred art of Jan'Shata?"

Shitan slowly pushed his glasses higher onto his nose, and replied with a
slow, thoughtful voice.  "I know that Jan'Shata is your sacred warrior code,
that all of your race strives to follow and acheive perfection.  And I know
that under its ethics, you can not turn down a formal challenge without
losing the respect of your fellow warriors."

"Thus it is true human.  Very well, then let this fight be K'th'a...  to the
death!"  The Hellion raised its arm into the air, and extended its arm
blade.

Shitan set his katana into a fighting stance.  "Then it is agreed.  Let to
loser leave this arena feet first."

Form the moment that the fight began, Bart lost track of what exactly Shitan
and the Hellion were doing.  Both of them seemed to be blurs, and the
ringing of their blades seemed to form a tempo, a constant melody to their
fighting.  But neither was gaining the advantage...  neither one had landed
a serious hit on the other, and both Shitan and the Hellion commander were
bleeding from several minor wounds.

The other Hellions were whispering amongst themselves, pointing to Shitan as
the fight began to move out of the square.  One of the Hellions shouted
something, and the rest cheered, and sat down upon the ground, still
watching the battle.

The fighting seemed to reach a point of balance, and both Shitan and the
Hellion commander paused, breaking apart.  Shitan leaned on the hilt of his
sword, and looked warely at the Hellion commander.  The creature had fallen
to one knee, and was breathing heavily.  "So, I seem to have underestimated
you human.  You are a much more skilled fighter than you had previous
appeared."

Shitan smiled, and leaned back slightly.  "I must confess, from your
performance fighting Bart and Remus, I did not expect to last this long.
Perhaps I have not gotten as rusty as Sigurd thought.  In any case, I accept
your complement."

"Ah, and opponent that actually has manners."  The Hellion smiled beneath
its mask.  "Now I shall grant you a glorious death, as properly befits a
warrior."  Both of the warriors stood, and readied themselves for combat.

The Hellion reached around, and depressed a small stud on its armor.  A
flash passed through Shitan's mind, as he remembered Billy's words as he was
being carried off.  Almost of instinct, Shitan threw his hand in front of
his eyes.  This action was the only thing that saved him from the massive
magnisium flare that was projected from the Hellion commander's armor.  No
one elsehad seen it coming.

Shitan blinked rapidly, trying to clear the spots out of his eyes from the
light that had managed to leak through.  If he had blocked the majority of
the light, he shuddered to think of what the people who hadn't had the
chance to block the light were now seeing.

The Hellion laughed.  "Forgive my tatics warrior, but it is time for you to
die now.  Farewell." Shitan swore, realizing that he couldn't see well
enough to know exactly what the Hellion was doing...  something that could
be fatal in this intense of a battle.

He could hear the Hellion approaching, he heard its heavy footsteps, and its
laughter.  Shitan gathered himself, and prepared to jump.

A battle cry split the air.

Shitan could barely make out the form of the person that smashed into the
Hellion from behind...  all he got an impression of was of long hair, and a
tight fitting body suit.

"Damn you!"  The Hellion leader screamed, lashing out at his attacker.
There was the ring of steel on steel, and the myserious man laughed softly.

"Is this the best you have to offer?"  he chuckled, and disengaged his swore
from the Hellion's armblade with a savage movement.  The Hellion staggered
back, rubbing its bruised arm.

"What the hell are you?"  it shouted, glancing around the area.  Most of its
underlings had been blinded by the flare, and would be of no help.  The man
who had attacked him laughed, and touched the blade of his sword to the
ground.

"You're worst nightmare.  I am the center of your mind, the deepest terror
that dwells in dark shadows..."  Shitan's vision had managed to recover
enough so that he could see who was speaking to.  A long mane of of deep,
red hair fell down to the warriors waist.  He wore a black and red body
suit, with the occasional small spike place across it's surface.  Shitan's
eye's widened, and he gasped.

"No..."

The man turned, and smiled.  Shitan's blood ran cold, as his 'rescurer'
turned back to face the Hellion.  "My name does not matter much to one with
such a short lifespan as yourself, but I suppose you would be interested..."
the man smiled, and raised his sword above his head.  A beam of light caught
it, and it flared with cold fire.   "Call me Id."

...

Elly smashed the branch out of her way, still amazed that she had managed to
keep her grip on Garr through her plunge through the woods.  Behind them,
she could hear the sound of branches snapping under foot as the four
creatures continued their hunt.  Elly gave Garr's hand a tug, but a moment
later she stopped, dragged to a stop by the dead weight of his body.

She turned to see that he had passed out...  the headlong flight had proved
too much for him, and the exhaustion ofthe last few days had only made the
run worse.  Elly swore, and started casting about for an area to stash him.
The Hellions, she had no doubt that these were what were chasing her, were
probably after Garr.  That meant that if they gain the opportunity, they
wouldn't not hestiate to kill him, no matter how angry at her she got them.
Thus, it was best that they never even found him.

Elly dragged a shallow covering of leaves over Garr, and checked to make
sure that nothing of him was visible from the surface.  Satisfied, she
turned back to the forest proper, and the rapidly approaching Hellions.

The first Hellion bounded into the clearing a moment later, and skidded to
an abrupt stop as it was the young woman she had been chasing, but not the
Federation officer that they had been sent to kill.  The leader of the pack,
a Hellion with a few more decorations on his armor than the rest of his
warriors, turned and made several bellowing sounds to his cohort.  At this
point, all eight of the Hellions had arrived in the clearing and were
standing in fighting stances.  Four of the creatures nodded, and leapt into
the trees.  Elly watched as they circled around the clearing, skirting the
area and continuing into the foliage on the far side.  She smiled at that.
Evidently, they thought that she had stayed behind the delay the enemy,
while Garr had run on ahead, intending to escape during the confusion of the
fight.

Time to reenforce that assumption.  "Garr!  Keep running!  Their right
behind you!"  she shouted, and set her baton in a guard stance in front of
her.  "If you monsters think I'm going to let you have him..."  she snarled,
"...you've got another thing comming!"

One of the Hellions laughed, and a cracked form of Basic filled the air.
"Little girl, do you think that you can stand against the Hellion elite
force?"  the creature that had spoken threw its head back and laughed.  "I
shall delight in nailing your entrails to the nearest tree, and presenting
your head to our Lord Commander."

Elly smiled.  "My head is yours... if you can live to take it."  For some
reason, everything had vanished...  Fei, Nisan, Garr, everything.  Her world
was confined to this small clearing, and the creatures she now faced.  Elly
could hear the creatures breathing, could see the sweat on its skin that had
been raised by its long run.

The first creature started moving...  everything was moving in slow motion.
Its hand snapped around, and a small, glittering object flew from its palm.
A slight whine filled the air, and Elly watched as the small sparkle crossed
the clearing, heading towards her throat.  She knew that if it hit, she
would probably die.

Time was hers.

One of the Hellions started whooping, anticipating its easy victory.  Elly's
hand started moving.

Time was hers.

The whine ceased, and the Hellions began to move foward, expecting her to
drop on her face, with her throat slit.  Then they stopped, and stared with
utter, dumbfounded shock at her.

Elly's hand was a foot away from her body, and clasped between her thumb and
forefinger was a small, razor sharp disk.  The Hellion's backed off
slightly, muttering amongst themselves.  Elly looked over the weapon with a
detached look of interest, as if she had picked it up off the ground during
a long days walk, rather than having snatched it out of the air during a
battle.

"What...  what the hell are you?"  One of them shouted, snapping outs its
arm blade.  "Damn you woman, I don't care how good you are...  you'll bleed
like the rest!"

"That remains to be seen."  Elly replied, and with a quick, almost casual
motion, she tossed the disk back at the Hellion that had spoken.  It
screamed, glabbing at its arm where the flying blade had cut into its arm,
deflecting off of the bone.  "I don't die very often."

The Hellion's charged, cirling around her.  Elly whirled, smashing aside one
of the blades that had threatened to strike her, and gave that weapons
wielder a swirft blow to the face...  no real damage, but it caused the
creature to reel back, giving her an opportunity to escape.  Elly rolled
away from the group, and came to an abrupt halt, her baton out and ready to
attack.

The Hellions continued to circle, all of them watching her with eyes that
were no longer quite as arrogant.  "<Who the hell is this woman?>"  one of
them demanded.  "<This type of power is to be expected from the Nemesis, not
from some backwater human who's never seen either the Prime Reactor or the
Soruce.>"

The commander glanced at his subordinate.  "<What?  You don't think she has
those damnable Ether powers...?>"

The subordinate that had spoken nodded.  "<May scanner is detecting a small
leakage of Ether energy...  she probably doesn't have very much...  unless
she knows how to shield her power.>"

"<You are quite correct.  I do know how to shield my power.>"  Elly replied
in the Hellion language.  "<And I also know much more about you than you
would suspect.>"  She watched with satisfaction as the creatures paled, and
started to slowly back away.  She could 'feel' the link, the one that
provided her with information about the ancient technologies, feeding her
information on the Hellions.  Her eyes narrowed at that.  Why would the
ancients computers have so much data on an enemy that, according to Garr and
Antonof, had appeared after the ship had crashed on Ingas?
...

The battle in the center of the clearing, close to the Gears, was beginning
to reach a conclusion.  Emeralda was beginning to grow weary...  she had
never been caughting in such a prolonged battle.  She also has the feeling
that her early suprise attacks had caught the enemy commander off guard...
he sported many light injures, but one or two nasty ones.

The commander gazed back at her, an expression of deep respect on his face.
His left hand was usless...  possbily damaged even beyond the ability of
regeneration technology to repair.  When he and picked the girl, Emeralda,
up by one of her arms early in the battle, he had not expected her to
suddenly grow spikes in the area where he had held her.  "I must admit girl,
you are a most admirable opponent...  if it had not beend decided that all
humans were to die, I would take you back with me to be my fourth
concubine."  The hellion smiled.  "Unfortunately, rules are rules.  I shall
have to settle for singing your praises, and carving your name high upon my
pillar of honors, as one of the greateset opponents that will sing my
praises when I rise to the next world."

Emeralda smiled, limping slightly as she and the Hellion commander circled
each other.  "I'm not quite dead yet...  it may be I who is carving your
name upon my pillar."  Whatever that is, she added silently.

The Hellion roared in appreciative laughter.  "Such a spirited girl!  Now, I
am afraid that this game might have to end."

"Perhaps you two can settle your dispute another day."  a new voice
answered.  Emeralda's head shot strait up, and she turned to see the source
of the voice.  "I'm going to need my daughter's help, and havning her killed
once I manage to find her is going to be...  inconvinent."

Emeralda looked, her eyes widening.  "Kim!"  she shouted.

The Hellion turned to his new opponent, and cursed.  This new opponent
seemed to be much stronger than Emeralda, and the Hellion commander was
injured and exhausted from his battle.  He turned, and bowed to Emeralda.
"Lady, it seems that you have pressing business elsewhere.  It appears that
we will not have a chance to finish our duel... another day perhaps."

Emeralda nodded, and the Hellion commander pressed a small button on its
armor.  The Hellion and its contingent began to fade, but then a question
emerged from the air.  "Young warrior, I would know your name...  perhaps we
shall meet again, on better terms?"

"Emeralda."

"Emeralda.  I shall remember that.  And you seem to have given me an
advatage...  a brave act.  All me to return the favor."  the Hellions
shimmered and vanished, but as they did so, Emeralda caught one word on the
wind.

"My name...  is Nataku."

...

"Emeralda, whats going on here?"  Fei demanded, jumping off of his perch on
a nearby log.  Emeralda sagged, and he caught her before she fell to the
ground.

"Kim got here just in time...  That...  Nataku was much stronger than I
expected.  And he sent men after...  oh no."  Fei looked at her with concern
as she tried to stand.  "Elly.  They went after Garr and Elly."

To her utter amazement, Fei simply smiled.  "I think that Elly is safe...
she's under the protection of someone I trust as much as her."

...

The Hellion's staggered back, most of them clutching wounds or burns.  In
the center of the clearing, Elly stood surrounded by an aura of fey energy.
Her left hand held a ball of pure ether energy, which seemed to occasionall
spit out small lightning bolts.  Her other hand was clenched around her
boaton, which was stick to the hilt with blood.  Two of the origional six
Hellions were dead...  one killed when Elly had thrown it into one of its
comrads blades, the other one impaled on Elly's baton and electrocuted.

"<Damn, what is this woman?  She fights like a monster.>"  the ranking
Hellion, not the squads origional leader, who's still smoking remains were
still on the ground a few feet away, demanded.  "<We're in trouble.>"

Another of the Hellions, staggered back, falling onto the ground with a
heavy thump.  There was a groaning sound, and Elly went stock still.  During
the fighting, she had allowed the Hellions to reverse her position...  and
now they were right next to Garr.  The Hellion brushed some of the leaves
away, and a wicked smile crossed its face.  "<It seems that we won't have to
kill the witch...  we can simply fufill our mission and be gone.>"

"Not while I'm still here!"  Elly screamed, and in that same moment charged.

If her opponents had thought she was fighting with all of her strength
before, they had very little idea of what they were in for.  Elly smashed
one of them in the face, the creature having not even realized that she had
crossed the intervening distance.  It staggered back, and Elly used it as a
platform to launch into a kick.  Another Hellion, standing directly behind
her first victim, had little mor time to realize that she was attack before
its head snapped back, propelled by the force of her attack.  There was a
cracking sound, and it fell backwards onto the ground, like a puppet with
its strings cut.

The battle raged on, but the Hellions were slowly gaining an upper hand.  In
order to protect Garr, Elly could not follow up on her attack, or she left
the unconcious officer at the mercy of one of the other Hellions.  She too
now bore several injuries, as she had dangerously overextended herself to
stop an attack against herself or Garr...  more often against Garr.

<ELLY!!!  HOLD ON!!!>

<WHAT?  FEI???>

All three of them were comming in at once, and Elly had the sickening
feeling in the pit of her stomach that she wasn't going to stop them all.
She raised her baton, a grin expression crossing her face.  She had to stop
them from getting to Garr...  he could help the others against the Hellions.
"Fei...  Live."  she whispered, and prepared to charge.

"GRAND THUNDERBOLT!!!"

The air seemed to crackle with static electricity, as an enormus bolt of
lightning fell from the sky, landing right in front of the Hellions.  They
screamed, and scattered.

There was a sound of someone lightly landing on the leaves beside her, and
Elly shot a glance over, uncertain if it was an enemy or a friend.  Whoever
it was, they were human.  Standing beside her was a young man, in white
robes, with a long string of beads hung around his neck.  His short black
hair whipped abour wildly in the air as the shockwave from the thunderstrike
passed over them.

<Lady Elyham, these creatures depend of fear and pain to assist them in
their fighting.  They emit a sense of helplessness that overwhelms their
opponent, and gives them the advantage in combat.  Show no fear, and we
shall scatter them as one would scatter dry leaves!>

<What are you?  Your talking...  in my head?>

<Lady, there is no time to explain.  They are preparing for their next
charge.>

Elly turned, and found that the creatures were only now moving out of their
rolls, moving into attack positions.  She set her baton, and smiled.  "I've
got the one on the left...  you take the one on the right, and well use an
Ether attack to destroy the one in the middle."

<Agreed.>

The Hellions charged, and as the did so, Elly and her companion rushed to
meet them.

She ducked under a wild slash of one of the Hellion's blades, and snapped
her foot outwards, catching a hold on part of the Hellion's complex suit of
battle armor.  A quick focus of will and Ether, and she flew upwards,
smashing the creatures head with her other foot.  The hellion staggered
backwards, and fell against a tree, stunned by the force of the deathblow.

Her companion cupped his hands in front of him, leaving a small space
between them.  A ball of brilliant blue light flashed into exsistence, and
its brilliance increased to a dazzling intensity.  Just before the Hellion
reached him, the ball vanished.  The young man threw his hands in front of
him, and his opponent was lifted off her feet by the force of the energy
discharge.  There was a ringing sound, and a bright flash of blue light...
and when it cleared, the Hellion had ceased to be.

Elly was still in the air, the stranger was beginning to turn.  The last
Hellion saw his chance, and sprinted towards Garr.  It could feel the energy
crackling behind it, but if it could just reach the Federation officer, it
would be able to...

Elly flung her hands out in front of her, her eyes flashing.  "THERMO
LARGO!"

The stranger completed his incantation, and snapped open his clenched fist
as he completed his turn towards the Hellion.  "GRAND NOVA!"

The last Hellion vanished inside of a pillar of pure flame, its skin, armor,
and bones vaporized in an instant.  The pillar of flames shot upwards int
the heavens, connecting with the clounds.

...

To the man running along the highway towards the area, it was a signal.
They were all there.  He smiled, laughing quietly.  This was going to be a
wonderful reunion.

...

Elly dropped ot her knees, breathing heavily.  "That...  was close.  I don't
think I've fought that hard in a long time."  She tried to stand, but found
that her weary legs would no longer support her.

The stranger walked next to her, and gently helped her to her feet.  <Lady,
that was bravely done.  I have seen few men who would be willing to take on
a Hellion attack group by themselves.  I have met fewer still who would have
won.>

Elly shook her head.  She might have been imagining it before, a
misconception during the heat of battle, but now there was no denying it.
The young mans lips were not moving, but his voice echoed clearly in her
head.  "Thank you." she replied, her voice shakey.  "But if you hadn't
arrived, I might have died."

<Lady, you could have scattere them as easily as I did...  you simply must
not allow them control your actions through fear.>  He smiled, and placed a
hand on her shoulder.  <I am called Zen, and I am a priest from places far
away, yet closer than you would believe.  You are Elyham van Houten, beloved
of my close friend Fei.>

Elly jerked at that.  "You know Fei?"

Zen nodded, his smile still firmly affixed.  <Indeed I do.  Fei Fon Wong is
my partner, for we have fought together on more mission that I care to
account.  And he speaks often, and with longing, of you.  I am sure he will
be overjoyed to see you again.>  Again, Zen's smiled deepened.  <I am also
sure he will be overjoyed not to have to walk all the way to Nisan.>

...

They walking to the clearing, at the same time.  Zen held the still
unconcious Garr in his arms, having refused all of Elly's offers for
assistance.  Fei was carrying Emeralda on his back, and was trying to keep
his eyes on the path ahead.

They both looked up at the same time, and the rest of the world melted away.

Fei didn't notice as Emeralda still quickly off of his back, and sat down
next to a nearby tree.  Elly didn't notice as Zen walked carefully around
her, moving to set Garr next to Emeralda, and then standing perfectly still,
this gold eyes intensly watching.

Elly took a few shakey, uncertain steps foward, her hand raised, as if she
couldn't quite believe what she was seeing was real.  Fei stood there,
looking at her with a look of wonder.  Elly took another step foward, and
whispered one word.  "Fei?"

She was in his arms before she managed to take another step.  "Elly...
Elly."  All he could seem to say was her name.  She held him tightly, all
the while wondering how she could have lived this long without him.

<Together again, as it was meant to be.>  Zen's voice whispered across the
clearing, as the first light of a new day fell through the canopy above,
lighting the pair in a halo of glorious light.


Stand tall and shake the Heavens...
- Xenogears

Jonathan Lloyd,
Rune, Master of Confusion and Being Lost in Time
Revenge Wars
http://www.users.fl.net.au/~bcadwgan/rev_end.htm
Korin, Extreemly Confused Seiryuu Seishi
Fushigi Sodan
http://members.xoom.com/MaxiRose/FS.htm
Aishou, Element of Rage
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/8556/xenogears/aishou.html
Kyouran, Seeker of Power
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/8556/xenogears/kyouran.htm
Dues ex Machina
http://members.tripod.com/~project_xat/index2.html