Extinction

The Second Betrayal was the deciding factor in the fight to keep the Advents from the Earth.

And in the aftermath of it, even though the Advents would never formally know of the decision, it was made that we had lost. Or if we hadn't of lost just then, we were going to, we were on that path and there was nothing we could do to get off it.

Heh! I bet you thought I'd say we'd decided to fight to the death. That decision, at least for me, wasn't even one that I needed to think about. I will die a thousand, a million times over before I ever, ever become a Zoanoid. That part of my human heritage is something I reject utterly.

Reality sucks sometimes and this time was one of them. Guyver Units, Zoanoids, Zoalords, Chronos, Alkanphel, X-day, Agito, God's Ascension and years of Rebellion followed by desperate months of Resistance, they'd all driven reality down my throat. When you look at my life like that, it seems as if I haven't had a moment of peace. It's been one long war but there have been moments of peace, or tenderness interspersed with it. I'm not telling this history to be maudlin but there are times when it seems that the past will over take me.

But the Second Betrayal and the events after it are still one of the darkest times in my life, in the life of Earth. You wouldn't think that anything could top the slaughter that had heralded the Advent's arrival but while this didn't involve killing the admission of defeat, the utter sense of hopelessness we felt was worst than dying. It was the right decision to make but it was the hardest thing we had ever done as either Rebellion or Resistance. Decisions are made quickly sometimes and this is one of those. It was made during the meeting that was called in the aftermath of the Second Betrayal.

I'm sure historians will look back on this decision and wonder how it ever came to be. Even with the Resistance's pragmatic view on reality it was something that was a step beyond logic, beyond what we had even known. Keep in mind that the generation that was fighting now had seen genetic engineering develop overnight from infancy - the exchanging of one viral gene with another - to complete human reconstruction, had seen the rulers of Earth change forcibly four times if you include the Advents, and had seen space develop from something we yearned for into a place that harboured the most bitter enemies and had changed life into the most basic struggle of survival of the fittest. These are not little changes for the human psyche to come to terms with, they are events, developments that had formerly occurred over generations, with each successive generation accepting as normal what their parents only considered fantasy. But all that change, this time, had been forced on to one generation.

The plan that came forth now was that fantasy, was that step into science fiction that before I knew about Chronos, before I knew about anything, when I was just a normal high school student is something I would never even have considered. It was something my brother wouldn't even have conceived of but it was the plan that came forward now, at the time when we desperate. Looking at it one way, the plan is a tribute to humanities ability to adjust, evolve, change and accept. Natsuki, Hayami and Samual are the one's who suggested it and even now I am in awe of their ability to even conceive it. There were of course a few practical additions made but on the whole, it is their plan, their foresight that saved us.

And it all came from that one meeting.

===

The room was packed. Although it still couldn't be called a room. The light was still provided by simple bulbs hung from the rock above, and the cables still looped around stelegnites and the electricity still provided by well insulated generators. While it couldn't be called a room, and while it was roughly finished it was safe and that was the most important thing for the moment.

Mizuki leaned back in her chair. She was one of the few who ranked a chair but then with all the survivors gathered there were a lot of people around to hear the news. The other Rebel Leaders were similarly seated as were the former Emperor and Empress and the Zoalord Mirabilis. The only person who was missing was Kiara but she and her troops were on a long distance sortie and there had been no way to get them back in time. It was hot but no one was complaining. Being hot was the least of their problems.

For the moment everyone was talking quietly amongst themselves as they waited for the last few people to arrive. Finally Aptom and Sho walked in together, nodding at Tetsuro to indicate that their perimeter checks were complete. As Tetsuro rose, clearing his throat to bring quiet so that the meeting could begin, Aptom took the final chair while Sho wove his way through the gathered people to stand behind Mizuki, placing one hand lightly on her shoulder. The gestured earnt a couple of soft smiles from people throughout the room but no comment was made.

Tetsuro looked around before he began. He didn't meet the eyes of many people in the room but everyone knew how important this meeting was. By general acclamation Tetsuro would run the meeting. While he was a 'Rebel' both Chronos and Agito agreed that he was fair. Besides which, the only other person not closely associated with any group was Fukamachi but he really didn't know everyone well enough Chair the Resistance's meetings. "I'm sure you have all heard the news about Chronos' Zoalords but I will recap. There is nothing worse than rumour and innuendo clouding the issues.

"To put it briefly, two days ago, while on their way to aid Merrimu Settlement both Guyver's were ambushed by five Zoalords. The Leader of this force was Zektoll, who we believe has been further enhanced by the Advents. The other four were formerly the Chronos Zoalords Caerleon, Bun Hiyern, Amniculus and De Galenos," Tetsuro paused allowing the information to sink in. It had been decided in an earlier, more senior meeting that the Remover wouldn't be mentioned now. While it was something that concerned them all Sho and Agito had had the over riding vote.

With a slight smile Tetsuro continued. "As you can see, both Guyver's escaped unscathed and the Zoalord De Galenos was killed."

A small cheer echoed through the room but everyone quickly sobered. While the death of any enemy was something to be celebrated, the fact that they were here meant that there was something else going on. "It is a miscalculation that I am sure the Advents are even now regretting but it still leaves five Chronos Zoalords who are now under their sway and I am sure that everyone here knows how dangerous a situation that is."

There were nods all round and a couple of people looked with a new sense of trepidation at Mirabilis. Tetsuro didn't fail to notice the nervous glances and with a slightly apologetic tone he indicated towards Imakarum. "We do not believe that they went willingly but to explain further, I would invite Zoalord Mirabilis to take the stand."

Imakarum nodded at Tetsuro as he stood and looked around. There was a slight smile gracing his handsome features but when he began to speak his voice was suitably grave. For this meeting he had removed his sunglasses and the black wrap frames sat on the table before him. "As Segawa has indicated my former colleagues did not go willingly to the Advents however they had no choice." He looked around again. The tension in the room had not lessened and it was with a slightly mocking smile that he continued. "I will explain and in that explanation is the reason I am still here."

"Lord Alkanphel was the first Zoalord created by the Advents. He was created to lead the whole of humanity, the entire Zoanoid army in their interstellar battles but such a task is simply too large for a single being to undertake." Mirabilis spoke softly as he outlined what amounted to the early history of humanity and even though it was the past, many people perked up at his words. Alkanphel had been defeated but there was still a great deal of interest in him and with the Advents on Earth there was interest in their earlier activities on the planet.

"In order to aide Lord Alkanphel in his task of directing the Zoanoid troops the Advents gave him the ability to create eleven other Zoalords. In this way they could spread successfully throughout the galaxy. However, before the creation of any lesser Zoalords an event occurred and that event was known as Human Guyver Activation. For those of you who have studied the history of guyvers, this one was Guyver 0. He was the first human to ever use a Guyver unit and needless to say the Advents were not happy when one of their experiments broke free of their mind control.

"After proving that it was an extremely strong battle creature, the Advents did, through Lord Alkanphel succeed in destroying that first human Guyver." Mirabilis skipped over most of the details. The incident was important but the details were just that, extraneous information that had little or no bearing on the present. Besides, those who needed to know, already did. "It should have ended there but it didn't. When presented with the 'rebellion' of one of their creatures the Advents saw the rebellion of all their creations.

"And so it was that they abandoned this planet, leaving Lord Alkanphel, Zoanoids and unchanged humans to fend for themselves. Human society evolved and Chronos existed within it with Lord Alkanphel watching over what remained of the Advent technology. The Advents spent millions of years on this planet. They took the primitive life that was evolving here and hastened its evolution. If left alone, it's possible humanity would have evolved but not for several billion years. I say this only to illustrate this point. The Advents left one and a half to two million years ago. Considering they spent at least one hundred million years developing their experiments, the time they have been absent is not significant. It is as if a scientist has gone to fetch a cup of coffee while in the middle of an experiment."

There was a murmur throughout the room. Imakarum was causally rattling off numbers of years that for humans were difficult to contemplate. Oh, you could see history, could understand that in geological time, and in the time of the Universe, a million years was less than the blink of an eye but as for accepting, as for seeing that something could endure for that long... It was exceedingly difficult. If a human could live to one hundred, then a million years was ten thousand life times, was approximately thirty thousand generations. No one, immortal or not could conceive that. Finally most people in the room gave up struggling with the concept, settling instead for the idea that the Advents had been on Earth a long time ago and now they had returned. Vague, wishy-washy, with no numbers attached, and far, far easier to consider.

A half smile flickered across Mirabilis' face when he realised the position most had taken. He understood the time because he had shared Lord Alkanphel's memories. He knew what it was like to exist for thousands of years, waiting, watching, eternally patient and occasionally interfering. He looked towards Fukamachi and Makishima. Assuming nothing happened, it was a reality they would soon have to accept.

"However before they left they crippled Lord Alkanphel and in leaving him here they betrayed him. Whatever loyalty Lord Alkanphel once felt for them was lost and since the day they left he planned for their return. Chronos, as you are aware, was an organisation of soldiers and this was for a distinct purpose. Despite whatever you have been told, it is possible to produce Zoanoids who's abilities lie in other area. Lord Alkanphel needed a fighting force and he needed, as the Advent's had planned, a total of twelve Zoalords, including himself, so he was not interested in creating those other types of Zoanoids.

"The Zoalords Lord Alkanphel created were different from the one's the Advents would have had him create. Twelve Zoalords spaced throughout the word, twelve crystals implanted within their bodies, twelve resonances mingling with each other to create a barrier. You have to understand that the number twelve was vitally important. Twelve crystals, twelve resonances. That is what was meant to be. Lord Alkanphel was going to fight. The very fact that there were twelve would create a barrier against the genetic and mental capabilities of the Advents and keep Chronos Zoanoids free within their own minds."

There was a murmur throughout the room. Chronos had been planning for this? Alkanphel had been going to fight? The news was nothing that had been expected although Sho, Agito, Shizu, Tetsuro and Mizuki remained quiet. Having battled Chronos from the beginning it was something that had been illuded to but never openly stated. X-day had always been only their first goal, their first step to prepare the world for the fight against Humanities creators.

Before accusations and questions could be directed to Makishima - about whether he knew of their intentions, if he had known of the Advents return and how he had planned to fight, even though the answers were obvious by his presence in the room - Mirabilis continued. "Unfortunately, in the battle against Chronos four Zoalords and Lord Alkanphel lost their lives and the remaining seven, including myself are incapable of producing an effective barrier."

"Then how are you ..."

"Incapable..."

"Quiet please!" Tetsuro stood, calling for calm and silence in the room so that Imakarum could continue. He could feel that there was still a little more he had to say.

Slowly the room fell silent and all eyes turned expectantly to Mirabilis. He smiled again and this time the mocking in his eyes was directed outward. "Thank you," he said softly. "While incapable of producing a full barrier we were capable of producing a partial barrier which I believe lasted until a week or so ago. As a result six Zoalords are now bound to Chronos and one has since been destroyed." He smirked this time as he looked around the room. He could feel the emotions that were filtering through the room and the growing belief that a traitor was sitting before them, just waiting for the opportunity to slaughter them all. "I am still here," he began again, and if anything the gaze of the room focused even more intensely on him at his words. "Because I am not the twelfth Zoalord. I am the Thirteenth."

While the room had been hanging on his every word an instant ago, now it was positively breathless and not a single sound could be heard as everyone waited for the Zoalord to continue. In fact, the only people who weren't shell shocked were those who had started the battle against Chronos. It seemed Murakami/Mirabilis had never made his past public, so only those who had lived through it knew, until now. "Some of you know about Reichemann Gyro. He was the Twelfth Zoalord but he was destroyed before X-day."

Most people shifted their gazed to the two Guyvers but both Sho and Makishima looked back blandly as if saying 'Come on... The destruction of a Zoalord creates a lot of damage... We would have made sure it was public before X-day.'

Mirabilis sensed the question. Humans were so easy to read. "Lord Alkanphel destroyed him for insubordination." The smarter people nodded at his words. Alkanphel destroyed Gyro and then created Mirabilis to take his place but a few people were still watching the Guyvers and could see in Sho a sadness when he looked at Mirabilis and they could tell that there was more here than the Zoalord had told.

"It happened at Mount Minakami and for those of you who know what happened, you probably know why but you do not know how close it was." He paused meeting the eyes of Mizuki, Sho, Makishima, Tetsuro and risking a glance at Aptom before he continued, staring at the now blank briefing board. "You know what happened but if Gyro had had less pride and had bowed down to Lord Alkanphel, surrendering the artefact, he would have been forgiven and accepted back into the fold. Lord Alkanphel absolutely had to have twelve Zoalords to created that barrier."

Sho shook his head. "It wouldn't have happened," he said softly. "Never. Gyro would never swallow his pride. The instant Alkanphel appeared spelled more that just Gyro's doom, Murakami."

Beside him Makishima slowly nodded his agreement. "Gyro wouldn't have known how to back down, Mirabilis," he added in his deep voice, partially to give his agreement to Guyver I's assessment but also to cover Sho's unfortunate use of names.

The Zoalord looked curiously as Fukamachi but said nothing. He knew that that had been his name when he had been a far different person and he knew that that name was what Fukamachi had known him as but it had been a very long time since someone had called him that. Even the Segawa's called him Imakarum Mirabilis although their tone's were sad when they spoke to him.

Sho turned to Makishima, ignoring the attention he was drawing to himself. "No, Agito. I'm not going to call him that. His name is Murakami Masaki and that is how I will always know him."

Before Agito could respond, Mirabilis replied. "You know of course, Fukamachi, that Murakami is dead?"

Sho rubbed his abdomen, feeling the scars he had not yet allowed his unit to heal. For those who knew of his wounds the gesture was not an empty one. "Not to me, you're not. Not to me," he said with quiet force.

"Hmm..." The Zoalord examined Fukamachi for an instant, as if trying to stare into his soul. After a moment he shrugged. "It's your choice but I am now and have been since Gyro's destruction, Imakarum Mirabilis."

Sho didn't respond but simply looked at him quietly. Mizuki raised one hand tentatively, placing it over Sho's on her shoulder.

Mirabilis was silent for a few moments before he began again. "As I have said, I am the thirteenth Zoalord and unlike all the others, I was permanently linked to Lord Alkanphel. I felt his pain when Makishima killed the other Zoalords and I felt his pain when he was destroyed. I felt everything and it is because of that that I am still myself. I am still Imakarum Mirabilis, not some mindless slave now awaiting the Advent's orders. I have a piece of Lord Alkanphel within me. The others do too, their Zoalord Crystals came from Lord Alkanphel but he completely detached them from his body. My one, even though he no longer exists is still a part of him and so it is possible for me to create a small barrier, that is centred upon me and that enables me to keep myself free from the Advents."

Around the room there were nods of understanding and the tension dropped noticeably. It didn't vanish. There were few in the room who could completely trust the word of a Zoalord but the explanation was plausible, especially to those who had known Alkanphel.

"Heh!" Aptom's eyes were strangely bright. "So what does it feel like to have death inside you?" He asked with a grin that showed his pointed teeth.

"I could ask you the same," Mirabilis responded without the slightest trace of annoyance or anger.

"Hehehaha! You could!" Aptom seemed delighted about something but after a moment he sobered. "Perhaps that's why I can't hear the Advents," he mused. "There's too many other voices in there."

"Perhaps," Tetsuro spoke looking significantly between the two of them. The Resistance didn't have time for the two of them to sit there subtlety insulting each other. "But you, like the rest of the Chronos Zoanoids will be reprocessed to replace all genetic loyalty coding with an identification signature."

"Humph! I don't have Chronos coding within me."

"We know." It was Sho who spoke for all the 'old gang.' "You're a Lost Number so the coding doesn't affect you but it's still there, Aptom. Besides, with the number of 'reprocessings' you've been through, one more is hardly going to make much of a difference."

"Humph!" Aptom rolled his eyes but remained silent.

"Thank you." Tetsuro nodded towards the Zoanoid before looking around, assessing the mood. It had lightened considerably since Mirabilis had begun talking but it was still serious. Their situation was dire and while the Zoalord was not a threat that still left six Zoalords serving the Advents. "The problem isn't really those Zoalord's who were formally Chronos', but rather Zektoll and the Advents."

From around the room there was a general questioning rumble but from the leaders there was slow understanding nods.

"What do you mean?"

Makishima rolled his eyes, a small sneer on his lips but he responded in a voice that seemed to hold infinite patience. Shizu and Mizuki shared a quick glance both women aware of how close Agito was to loosing his temper. He had never suffered idiots well. "Chronos Zoalords are that by virtue of the Zoalord Crystal implanted in their bodies. Zektoll is a Zoalord but he does not have a crystal. The Advents made him into one without giving him that distinction and if they can make a Zoanoid into a Zoalord what's to stop them giving every Zoanoid they make the powers of a Zoalord?"

A fearful hush pervaded the room at his words.

"The point is," Sho began with a look at Makishima, clearly telling him to calm down. "They haven't done it yet but it's probably only a matter of time and even if we reprocess every Zoanoid here into their ultimate form we couldn't fight them all."

"Why don't you say it clearly Sho?" Natsuki questioned. "We're losing. Even if it's not at this moment, we are losing. We keep losing those places that we consider safe so it's only a matter of time..."

"That Natsuki, is the core of the problem," Tetsuro spoke again in a sombre tone and his words were meet with a ghostly silence.

"So..." It was Hayami. " We need to gain more places that are safe - places that are beyond the Advents."

"Beyond..? I'm not sure I'm willing to take that step just yet."

Hayami grinned at Samual's jibe. The man knew the plan but his words served to ease the tension in the room. "Beyond," the Ice Zoanoid confirmed, "as well you know Samual, does not have to be that world. As long as it's outside the Advent's range then it will be safe."

"Stop playing, you two," Natsuki snapped. "This is serious." She paused looking around the room before continuing. "The point is," she began again, looking mainly at the old crowd. "We've got a plan but while we have the plan we don't have the materials to make it work."

"What's its use then?" The scorn was evident in the voice but the speaker did not come forth.

Natsuki, Hayami and Samual all nodded but it was Samual who responded to the comment. "That's a fair question. We don't have the materials but they are not impossible to get."

The speculation that met his words was silenced by Tetsuro "QUIET!" His eyes flashed dangerously.

"Thank you," he said into the sudden respectful air. "Why don't you lay out your plan completely and then we can see what to do clearly. After all, this is meant to be an information and planning meeting. Please - Samual, Natsuki, Hayami - continue."

Natsuki looked with slight amazement at Tetsuro but after a moment she flashed him a brilliant smile and began to outline the plan. "As has been stated the main problem we are having is that we keep losing those places that are safe. But if we can secure a place beyond the Advents then we will have solved our major problem."

"However, as the losses of the past month have shown us, there is no safe place on Earth," Hayami took up the narrative. "So our proposal is to find a safe place that isn't on Earth."

"Merrimu Planet, actually," Samual broke in. "It's an Earth like Planet that lies between Taurus' horns. We believe it would be suitable for settlement and no alien activity has been noted in the quadrant."

Tetsuro looked at Samual from over the steeple his fingers had made. "That is interesting Samual. Very interesting indeed."

Samual looked for moment dumbfounded before he grinned in understanding. "Opps."

Agito held his head in his hands. "You were chosen because you were open Samual but I didn't think you were that open," he growled.

"Heh!" Tetsuro couldn't contain the small laugh but before things could deteriorate he continued. "Ma, ma, it would have come out eventually, Agito, Samual."

"It was only meant to come out with a final strike."

"Anyway," Natsuki broke in forcefully, "Planet Merrimu has an Earth like atmosphere and it's about the same age as Earth. We aren't sure whether it has life on it but it is capable of supporting life as we know it and as Samual has said, it is away from any previously noted alien activity, so therefore we hope that it is away from the Advents. We do have a couple of fall back planet's in the event that Merrimu is populated but we don't believe they would be as favourable."

"As we said before, we don't have the materials. We don't have the ships with which to begin a migration with and I doubt we will ever have enough to mass transport all the surviving humans."

"So you propose we draw lots..?" The question held a note of outrage.

"No! What we propose is that we hold a shuttle service. Remember also, if we go ahead with this every ship must slip between the Advent blockade. It's not going to be easy but if we shuttle those people and settlements we believe are at the most risk, and protect others until we are ready to move them, then reduce the amount of ground we have to protect and we reduce the numbers that could possibly be lost if the worse happens."

"I see," Tetsuro nodded. "It's got possibilities."

"The biggest problem is the lack of initial ships to start with. Agito," Hayami turned towards the Emperor. "All the Ark's got destroyed, didn't they?"

Agito nodded. "The wrecks are scattered around the planet, and there is even a couple on the moon." His voice was disgusted. "But we could use some of the wrecks as the base for new ships. If they got reinforced they should be structurally sound."

"We have ships."

"The point is though, we know how to build them. Wha...?"

"We have ships."

"Fukamachi! What the hell do you mean?"

Everyone in the room looked at Sho strangely and Mizuki's eyes held more than a cursory worry.

"We have ships," he repeated for the third time. "We can build more Arks, and we are going to have to but initially we are going to need a few ships to scout out Merrimu and prepare it for settlement. The last thing you want, is to arrive at Merrimu with settlers to find that it is not suitable and then have to move on."

Makishima closed his eyes with an expression of long suffering patience. It was something that didn't particularly suit him. "Fukamachi, you mentioned ships. Before we go anywhere we need to know about those ships you mentioned earlier."

Sho turned towards Agito with a puzzled expression. "You mean you can't sense them? The Advent ships."

"I can sense them, they are in space above us. They are grounded taking on Zoanoids."

"Not those one's. There was one in Arizona, and one in Mount Minakami. They are the ships that got left behind. There are two others. There is one in Australia - I think it's under that big rock they used to advertise."

"Ayres Rock, Sho, Uluru," Mizuki informed him with a soft smile.

"That's the one. And there is one... hmm... I think it's in Siberia. I'm not to good with geography in that region. I can find it when I get closer."

"How do you know about them?"

"What do you mean?"

"Fukamachi, those ships have been there for centuries. Chronos didn't find them even with all the searching they did, the Advents haven't contacted them and I know you haven't had time to search for them, so how do you know about them?" The question came from Mirabilis who like Agito was looking at Sho strangely, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.

"How do I know?" Sho returned the question. "They told me," he said matter-of-factly. "When I woke up, they woke, although they woke partially because of me and partially because of the approaching Advents. But they exist, they are awake and they don't want to go back to their Masters. All they need is a pilot and they will help us."

"Well that makes things simple then," Natsuki spoke before either Makishima or Mirabilis could further confuse the issue. "The first wave is space capable troops who will do the initial settlement of the land, followed by the settlers when the first new Ark ships are built."

"Why space capable troops?"

"Just in case the ships are attacked by the Advents. Although we will be using Advent ships there is a possibility that they will discover them and we already know that in ship to ship combat we lose but with ship to ship combat, aided by Zoanoids we may have a chance."

"That still doesn't solve all our problems," Agito seemed to have recovered from his fit of pique. "It's still only a short term approach, that is of course, unless you want to abandon the Earth forever..?"

A rather flabbergasted silence meet his words. This was obviously an implication that hadn't dawned on many yet.

"I for one don't. I have too much invested in this planet to just give it up. So, not only do we need to resettle somewhere but we will need allies who will help us fight against the Advents." He paused for a moment reflecting. "It shouldn't be that hard to find allies. There are lots of aliens out there and they can't all be Advents. Besides which, the Advents have at least one enemy, which is why they have returned. We could always offer our services to them. After all, they have just been hit with Zoanoids and we know how to fight them."

Hayami nodded. "And it would give us an opportunity to show them that Humans aren't just the Advent's slaves."

"I think we are getting a bit far a field here." Tetsuro once again took control of the meeting. "First we have to decide if we are going to follow the plan or not. So does any one else have an alternative or an idea that they would like to put forward?"

The few low whispers filled the room but no one spoke up.

"Do we need to vote, or do we accept this as the way we are to move forward."

The was a general murmur of ascent throughout the cave but even though everything seemed fine, Tetsuro was a stickler for formality and after he had looked around, he leant forward, resting his chin in his hands. "Are there any objections?" It was an important question. In an organisation that ran mostly on trust, with leaders chosen because their people trusted them, any objection, no matter how small had to be voiced and dealt with before it festered into betrayal.

There was a low murmur but no objections were raised. When it became clear that no one was going to speak, Agito began. "We will build more ships then but for the beginning I would suggest that the Advent ships that Fukamachi has mentioned leave first, to begin initial colonisation of Planet Merrimu, or in the event that Merrimu is unsuitable, move to one of the back up planet's and pass the message back to earth. When the initial colonisation is complete those ships will leave Merrimu to search for allies. Only warriors should be on that mission to fight in the event that allies can't be found and the Advents attack. Also, once that mission is under way, those employed should not return to Merrimu until they have found allies or in an extreme emergency to avoid bringing notice to the Planet.

"Once Allies have been secured, and if the new citizens of Planet Merrimu indicate they are willing, the retaking of Earth could be accomplished, or further attacks on the Advent's launched."

"It's a good plan but some of us need to stay here to organise those who are left, and to keep the shuttle schedule," Natsuki said in a considering voice.

"No," Maxwell objected. "Only one of us should stay. That way if the worst happens on Earth, the Advents won't have captured many who know the truth."

There were slow understanding nods from around the room and after a few moments people began looking at each other as they realised their path had been decided upon.

===

In the end, the meeting didn't conclude for quite some time. There were endless details to be worked out but eventually everything was decided. Because Kiara wasn't there, not everything could be decided but as much as possible was determined. Maxwell would be the only leader to stay behind but he said quite clearly and emphatically that if he was ever captured then they should show him no mercy, indeed, the mercy would be from the act of killing him.

Natsuki, Samual and Hayami would travel to Planet Merrimu and once there they would begin the settlement process. Myself, Sho, Agito and his wife Shizu, my brother, Aptom and Mirabilis, as those most experienced in fighting, and as those who represented the widest selection of what was left of humanity would seek out allies to help in the fight against the Advents.

Kiara would have her choice of options, though it was hoped that she too would remain on Earth. While it was agreed that it was the safest course of action was to have most of the leaders leave Earth, it did leave Maxwell with a terrible responsibility to be borne alone. It was something that he could handle but it was still a lot to be handled alone.

We did not know it then but Kiara's choice had already been made and her choice was the Third Betrayal. It wasn't revealed until the ships were ready to leave Earth and that delay is what saved everyone.