Truth

The aftermath of the Interstellar Meeting was interesting and eventually it became clear that if we were to leave we would have to do it like the Tekki and just vanish. While we couldn't do exactly that we did walk out ignoring any hindrances. Seven had entered and seven again left but the make up had changed. Alkard accompanied us now and at the time, I didn't know where Imakarum went although I was sure that the Zoalord knew what he was doing. Like us he used the meeting as an opportunity to discover who and what existed in the universe and from there he pursued his own goals.

For our part, the Meeting had left us with questions, some that we could find the answers to easily, some we were going to have to search for the answers. The most immediate questions of course were directed to our ships, Mirai and Eternity. Our questions couldn't be immediately answered because the space around the Planet Hasiya was not the safest for Advent ships, no matter who they belonged to and lingering just gave other races more time to prepare spy parties and we had no desire to be followed. So we left Hasiya and travelled to what we hoped was deserted space.

Space... The interval between points or objects and between stars there is a lot of it but you would be surprised how difficult it is to find empty space, especially when you want it.

===

"Right, scans and visual checks show nothing in the area. There are no planets and no asteroids. If anything's hiding out there, they're hiding behind dust."

"Thank you Aptom," Mizuki greeted the Zoanoid as he re-entered the ship. "I think we are just about ready to begin."

They were about to question the ships on their past and their current relationship with the Advent's and so they wouldn't be paying the usual amount of attention to their surroundings and couldn't afford to be ambushed. Although it was open to questioning if anyone wanted to ambush them.

"We're ready now." Sho appeared as an internal wall reconfigured itself. "Are you coming Alkard?"

The Wesodin looked back at Sho blankly.

"You are allowed to talk to me, you know," Sho added, feeling slightly playful at Alkard's continued reticence. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"None of us are going to hurt you," Aptom growled.

"It is not my place."

"Then what is your place?" Sho rolled his eyes. The Guyver had volunteered to serve Mizuki and that was fair enough but that didn't make him a servant, it didn't make his value any less than any other living being but that's what he was acting like.

"I serve your Lady."

"That doesn't answer the question. What is your place?" Aptom repeated the question unintentionally tag teaming with Fukamachi.

Alkard shook his head. He knew what they were saying but why couldn't they understand, he was the Lady Mizuki's Warrior now. He served her - he was not like them. He was not their friend, he was not their companion, he was her protector and as such he could not interact with them in the same way. Why couldn't they understand that? Didn't Guards on their world keep themselves separate to maintain their edge?

Sho sighed. The Wesodin had been like this since they had left Hasiya and they had been over it several times and he had thought Alkard understood but the alien Guyver had reverted to this stoic state soon after every talk so perhaps not everything had been worked out. Or perhaps Sho hadn't understood exactly what the problem was. "Fine, you serve Mizuki that makes you one of us! Do you understand that? That means your place is with us, as a part of our group. That means you can talk to us. That means your opinions matter. That means you are our equal and we expect you to act as such. Do you understand?" Even though his Unit wasn't active, his eyes seemed to glow, a rich brown that seemed to drown out his pupil.

"I do not understand," Alkard growled. "I serve your Lady," he said simply, as if it was enough explanation.

"And what makes you think I don't?" Sho threw the explanation back.

"I... you... what..."

"Gotcha!" Fukamachi smiled at Alkard. "Now that we are on equal footing will you talk to me?"

"This... this is so new," Alkard began. "I know what you want, but it was not done on my world. A guard is separate from the group so that they may see what is happening, so that they may be effective. A guard is not a companion; a guard is only a guard and as such has no right to assume any position of familiarity. You do not serve your Lady, you accompany your Lady."

Aptom groaned, resisting the urge to merge with the Wesodin so he could beat some sense into him. :Fukamachi, I'm getting tired of this...:

:I know, I know but if he would just see the truth...:

"I..." Alkard continued, still very uncertain. "I will try. So in answer to your question, yes I am coming. I am curious to learn about the Advents and never dreamed I would be in such a position."

"Good, then let's go," Sho lead the way into the interior where the others were waiting for them.

"Nice of you to join us."

:Patience Makishima,: Aptom responded to the Emperor's jibe, resisting the urge to raise his finger to the man. Factional infighting was not needed now.

:We had to explain the situation to Alkard,: Sho added the explanation, taking his position in the circle.

:Again?:

:Yes, again.:

Beneath his armor, Agito rolled his eyes. It would be so much simpler just to accept Alkard as a servant and leave it at that. It was partially what the Wesodin wanted anyway, so why were they trying so hard to make him 'human?' They'd probably lose him in the first battle anyway. He'd taken time to question Eternity during the brief flight to their current location and had discovered some rather interesting things about the Wesodin Race in general and about non Terran Guyvers in particular. If what the ship intimated was true then the search for allies was going to be one great waste of time and they would be better off going it alone against the Advents. The Tekki had probably been trying to tell them, when he had said that alliances weren't necessary, that alliances weren't going to be possible.

They arrayed themselves around the central control unit forming a six-pointed star. Their Units were active but in their basic form and Alkard, while present, had taken up his self-appointed position, adjacent to Mizuki. Tetsuro was next to his sister and Sho formed the other neighbouring point. Agito was opposite Sho and Mizuki similarly opposed Shizu, the positioning curiously symbolic of their previous history and it was not a distinction lost on Aptom. The black Zoanoid stood between Shizu and Sho but had his attention firmly fixed on the Emperor.

:Who wants to begin?: Tetsuro raised the question.

:I will,: Sho volunteered, receiving a startled look from Aptom.

This was going to be confrontational and Fukamachi usually avoided that.

:This is Mirai,: he added the explanation. :It knows me best.:

:I do.:

While protected from the sheer intensity of the mental voice by their Units, the intensity did cause several of the gathered group to wince.

:We both know you,: Eternity added the observation.

:Why didn't you tell us?: The question was one of the keys to the whole matter.

:We didn't not tell you,: both ships replied, drawing the assembled Guyvers into their mental link, suspending all sense of time.

:You never gave us any indication.: It was the same question but as a statement.

:We never lied.: The response remained the same.

:True,: Makishima agreed. :But why didn't you tell us?: He asked the original question again. :We have speculated, we have wondered, why did you not tell us the truth?:

:You never asked.: The reply was simple, frustratingly so.

:You are both capable of independent thought,: Tetsuro spoke, giving voice to the frustration. :You both know that even if we hadn't directly asked, it is information we would have liked. And you have both given us information we haven't asked for when you knew it was desired, information we could have used. You both know that so why didn't you tell us?:

:We...: It was unclear which of the ships was speaking.

:Kkkkk....:

:Knnnn...:

The syllables were audible but pitched so as to be uncomfortable to human ears. They squeaked and scratched and competed with each other for control and the frequency shifted, its intensity varying, but still somehow managing to convey the impression of anger.

:NO!: The denial was firm.

:We agreed!: It was almost a snarl, directed from one ship to another.

:Now I don't agree.:

:You can't destroy the whole.:

:I'm not destroying the whole. We don't have a choice.:

:Kkk...:

:Knnn...:

:Master...: The word was whispered to a single Guyver. :I will tell you everything. Patience... Eternity... Eternity still hopes to return to the whole.:

:We have no choice.:

:There is always a choice: Eternity said before mentally turning their back, listening, still present but not actively participating in the link.

:And our choice was made many years ago...:

:Are you ready to tell us?: Tetsuro asked, keeping his tone calm and reasonable, to both reassure the ships that they were patient and to calm the volatile tempers he knew were present.

:I will tell you.:

:Mirai?:

:Yes.:

:Why didn't you tell us?: Tetsuro asked gently.

:It is not something we reveal. It is our anonymity. Even... even before we came to Earth we were in competition with other races. So even then we had this protection. Everyone would attack Advents but no one attacks the ships. After all, the ships can't be held responsible for their masters and ships aren't attacked unless things are really bad and we kept it from getting like that.:

:So why did you not leave Earth?:

:That is a long story.:

:We have time.:

:I know... We were...: Mirai seemed to sigh, :You know there was more than one experiment on Earth. Zoanoids were the end product of one large experiment. The Guyver Units are an extension of ourselves but completely separate and the end result of yet another experiment. We and other ships were involved in another experiment...

:Despite what you have been lead to believe we were not driven from Earth. It was a difficult time for us. The Artarmon... they are the race that we were fighting before the Tekki... they were making a large push at the time and we couldn't risk your planet being found so we reduced our numbers. I will admit that the others didn't intend to be away so long.:

:Away..? You call two million years plus away?:

:Yes and no... The Zoanoids were complete but not tested, and our project was only beginning to show results. We were meant to watch over the Zoanoids while the others were gone.:

:The four of you?:

:No, there were others but this is where you get your belief that we were driven from your planet. We were working on a different type of human so we did not know how to handle Zoanoids as... precisely as the others. We had the codes to ensure their absolute obedience but codes are very sterile. They are not a good way to operate, especially with a race that is new, a race which while complete hasn't had all the irregularities removed. So some of them, one's who were mostly like you Aptom, rebelled against us, rebelled against those who were their masters yet not their masters.:

:So where does Guyver 0 fit into this?:

:He... He was truly a mistake and one that had impeccably bad timing. If you think logically, the rebellion meant nothing to us. We are not so defenceless that wooden spears tipped with stone can hurt us.:

:Zoanoids would hurt you.:

:No... Zoanoids can rebel but they cannot hurt us. Any Zoanoids who came against us were destroyed by those Zoanoids who had no choice but to remain loyal. As you know their loyalty is a factor of their genetics and the rebellion was useful in allowing us to destroy those who had been feigning loyalty. They had no real chance to hurt us. Guyver 0 was different matter.

:With every rebellion there are those who chose to remain loyal to the system, so naturally we sent those Zoanoids out first to destroy the anomaly you know as Guyver 0. As you can imagine they didn't have a chance...:

:Wait...: You could almost see the frown in Tetsuro's voice. :Go back a bit... Guyver 0... You said he was a mistake. How? The ability to cut through your soldiers like they were nothing couldn't be a mistake, and if the Units are an extension then I am sure you could have worked out a way of controlling him. Wouldn't he have just been a super-soldier, not a mistake?:

:You are correct. With primitive humans we could have worked out a control mechanism. But... you will recall we were working on a new kind of human?:

:Yes.:

:We were working on a human who could be controlled through the Unit. Guyver 0 was meant to be the test case but there was a mistake. The wrong human was used. Our humans had distinct mental and physical tags so I do not know how the wrong one was used. Probably one of the others decided to experiment, just to see what they could do. But there it was. And we had no control. We told the others... those who had left Earth and they suggested that it would be a good test of their ultimate creation, Alkanphel. So we woke up Alkanphel and gave him the means to destroy Guyver 0. He destroyed the Guyver and for the moment the rebellion was over. That's when it all changed.

:When the others left Earth, we thought, they thought that they would be coming back so only a handful of Zoanoids were taken from Earth, a temporary force to hold back the Artarmon, a temporary force that would soon be complemented with others. But something went wrong, something with the Artarmon. I don't really know what but the others sent us an emergency communication and in it were the codes, everything we needed to shut the Zoanoids down, to shut Alkanphel down. I guess... The only thing I can think of is that the Artarmon may have found out about the Zoanoids, found out about how to control them, so the other sent us the ability to stop that. And that's what we did.

:We... the ones who remained are the ones who shut down Alkanphel. After we'd done that we lost contact with the others. Some of us left to find them; I guess they did because they never returned. Those of us who remained continued on our project in a much smaller manner of course.:

:Why didn't you eventually leave Earth?:

:The ever shifting point of success,: Mirai's answer was vague. :Our project was going well. We worked on it for almost two million years.:

:What? You worked on it in the time after the others left?:

:Yes, although we took turns hibernating and some of us did succumb to the ravages of time. We worked on it until about 10,000 years ago when we succeeded.:

:You succeeded in making a Guyver you could control?:

:No... That was our initial goal but as time went on, it became impossible as humans evolved. Our new goal was to create a human who could merge perfectly with the Unit, a human who was that super-soldier you mentioned earlier.:

:So where is this 'perfect Guyver'?:

:Betrayal has many forms,: Mirai's mental voice was tired. :Ten thousand years ago we perfected the human we had been working on from the beginning. With that human now, it is impossible to say where the human ends and the Unit begins, the death of one will be the death of the other and you cannot remove one from the other.:

:What happened?:

:We did not know our perfect human was friends with Alkanphel.:

:What! But you had shut down Alkanphel centuries before.:

:It's not... it's not as easy as that. We shut Alkanphel down true, but it was really more of a forced hibernation. You don't think we would actually destroy the product of years of experimentation? Besides which, for Alkanphel hibernation was nothing new. He was designed so that every century or so he needed to hibernate for a year, like us. Forced hibernation merely meant that he couldn't store power so that for every use of power he required copious amounts of rest. It didn't mean that he had to sleep, although he did spend much of his time like that. Alkanphel though was still aware and did still spend time with humans as they developed. And being aware of our existence he did spend time with our experiments. Too much time.:

:So what did he do?:

:Alkanphel?: Mirai sounded surprised. :Alkanphel did nothing. I can hardly blame him for existing although some of us have tried. Our perfect Guyver on the other hand decided it was high time that Alkanphel be freed and when we, who had no idea why he was asking, explained that we couldn't do that, he said he would find those who could. At the time, we had no idea that our creation even knew Alkanphel.

:He left... Our perfect creation left. Two million years of work just left,: Mirai's mental voice almost seemed to laugh at its own words but there was a feeling of futility accompanying the tone.

:You had nothing left?:

:Humph! We had his children and while they displayed the same physical characteristics as their father we weren't going to risk altering them to create another who would just leave. You must understand, we had absolutely no idea that our human was even thinking about leaving, was even thinking about anything but serving us. His line continued, we monitored it from time to time and most of his children displayed the same characteristics we had engineered into him but as time went on his blood diluted more and more until the characteristics only showed up every now and then and after that... His line was useless to us. We could have made another but that only opened us to more betrayal so...:

:So you did nothing, you didn't create another. But after your creation left, why didn't you leave Earth?:

:The others had asked us to watch over the Zoanoids. That request was still in effect, although I must admit that the temptation was there. After our creation left some further of our number departed and some just gave up. Given sufficient rest and energy we do not die. I, we, can exist forever if the will is there but like you we can desire oblivion and that is when we too can die. We can also be destroyed so as the Tekki pointed out, Eternity and I are very old and very powerful because of our unusual age.:

:Is that significant?:

:It might be.:

:No... This you cannot tell them. This is something which is revealed to no one,: Eternity's voice trembled with anger.

:I will tell them what I see fit! They would learn it in time anyway.:

:'Learn in time'?: Eternity questioned. :You know as well as I do the fallacy behind those words.:

:This is not something they would ignore!: Mirai almost snarled the response. :Or is this the whole reason you wish to return?: Understanding crept into Mirai's tone but it was one of loathing. :They had the opportunity, we gave them the signs but they rejected us! And we made our choice by being here, by helping them, our creations! We could have betrayed them but since our own kind have done that to use, we owe them no loyalty. We owe them nothing! For two million years we watched their creation and from them we got nothing, not even acknowledgement.:

:We agreed to watch them.:

:We did not agree to be abandoned. We did not agree to give up our rights but by ignoring us they have denied us and for our kind denial is betrayal.:

:It was our choice to stay.:

:It was not our choice to be betrayed. Now hush! I am going to tell them and that is final!:

:You are going to tell us what?:

:Advent Hierarchy,: Mirai responded shortly, still mentally glaring at Eternity. :Like all races we have an organisational structure. Eternity wants to return because we are a gerontocracy and as such, if accepted back we would most probably be very close to being the absolute rulers.:

:So why hasn't he left?:

Mirai seemed to smile. :When the others returned we gave them the signs. We told them that we were still here, that we had watched over their creation for the ages. They ignored us... Worse, they sent destroyer squads. Those were no threat to us, we are not without defences but the squads were annoying and an indication of how the others regard us but I don't know why. Heh! Although I'm sure if Eternity chose to push the issue with them, he'd win. Those destroyer squads were almost a joke but then, they were very young. Nothing more than errand ships.:

:How old was the Advent at the Interstellar Meeting?:

:Hmm... They weren't actually there and while we spoke briefly they didn't seem keen to reveal themselves once they knew who we were. They weren't part of the Council though.:

:Council? What is this Council?:

:We are a gerontocracy but there is still a Council of Elders who guide the One. After all it's almost impossible for one being to keep track of everything.:

:Almost impossible?:

:We can do it,: Mirai sighed. :But it greatly reduces our ability to function in any other way so it is considered insalubrious except in times of great need. If it's been done recently I don't know about it.: Mirai seemed to frown as it considered history. :Although...: There was a note of uncertainty in the ships voice. :The being known as the Tekki seemed to be able to do it. There was no way he should have known we were hidden there, unless he was one with his forces, unless he could keep track of everything they were doing.:

:The Tekki..?: The question almost seemed universal.

:There was something...: Mirai began slowly. :There was something not right, something different about his forces. He's taken the place of the Artarmon but I can only imagine at what cost to us, especially since he has somehow learnt the truth.:

:I thought we weren't meant to care?: Eternity questioned with the equivalent of narrowed eyed vehemence.

:I never said we weren't meant to care.:

:Oh... then I suppose you might care about this...:

"...day... Mayday... ...tran... ...el Hope under attack by unknown species. Merrimu do not respond. Do not compromise your position but we would request help from anyone else. Makishima... if you can hear this... get here... ...n't have enough troops to drive them off... Mayday... Mayday... this is the transport vessel Hope. We are under attack by unknown species... ...need help... Mayday..."

Silence reigned for an instant before chaos ruled, the mental link with the ships forgotten as everyone burst into action. But for the first few moments it was futile action. No one quite knew what to do. Attacks by the Advents had been planned for but attacks from someone else..?

:Thank you,: the words were whispered to the ships as an after thought for the history they had shared and the warning Eternity still saw fit to give them, before an order was bellowed that overrode the growing disorganisation.

"Where are we? Star-charts now!"

Mirai responded, flashing a hologram against the wall so that everyone could see. A pair of blue dots blinked indicating their current position.

"Where's Hope?"

Another dot appeared, yellow this time and surrounded by little red dots.

"Cute," Makishima muttered, calculating the distances. "Fukamachi, Aptom and myself will teleport over. The rest of you follow and we'll rendezvous with you about... there." He pointed and Mirai responded by placing a green dot at the indicated spot. "Open a channel to them," he growled, eyes flashing as his anger rose. The tactical display was very useful but it was merely something else they had been hiding from him.

:It's open, Makishima,: Mirai used the name blandly. The man was angry but it was high time that he learnt that not everything responded to his will.

"Transport Vessel Hope, this is Makishima, your present position has been triangulated and we are responding. Is anyone else with you?"

"Thank God! Makishima... Independence and Endurance are with us but we can't hold them off much longer. Reprieve, Perseverance and Resistance got away and the others were never here."

Agito blinked, his expression nonplussed as he considered the information. There were only eight Arks and he knew all their names. Endurance and Perseverance weren't two he knew of so what were they? He growled to himself, dismissing the matter. It wasn't important and he would know soon enough. "Let's go," he snapped, turning to lead the way to the exterior where they could summon their Gigantic Unit and go.

"What about...?" Alkard trailed off, remembering that it was not his duty to question orders.

Beneath his armor Sho nodded. The Wesodin was beginning to feel accepted if he could question Makishima but the Emperor's decision was correct and before Agito could snap he responded. "Alkard, please remain to guard these ships. You said it yourself, you serve Mizuki so your first responsibility is to her and she is remaining here." He fixed Mizuki with a stare as he said the last, already seeing the thought forming in her mind that with her new armor she could follow them. :At least give us time to get rid of the bad guys, Love,: he added mentally feeling her acquiesce to his suggestion.

They moved rapidly through the ship emerging without fanfare into the cold of space. Makishima breathed deeply relishing the silence of space as he took in several star points to orientate himself. How dare that Wesodin question his decision? He was a warrior Guyver, true but they did not have time to point out who the enemy was this time so he was useless. He used the dull throb of anger the thought brought to summon his Gigantic Unit, absently noting that Fukamachi and Aptom had already summoned theirs. The egg, like the ones they had summoned now bore regal purple highlights and as he felt it surround him Agito added it to the list of things he had to question his Unit about. Something had happened but he did not know what. Extra Gigantic Unit's did not just come into existence and the existing one would not have altered itself of it's own violation. Something had changed, something that had allowed Mizuki to evolve her form and whatever it was that had changed he would find out, and then he too would evolve. Then there would be no question of his superiority.

===

Three small flashes of light signalled the change in the tide of battle but like all tides, this one started with a small current. The protective outer layer of the Gigantic Unit peeled away and vanished, revealing three GiganticGuyver Warriors who quickly assessed the situation.

:Do we give them a warning?: Sho asked as his Unit feed information directly into his brain.

The three Arks were arranged in a triangle and all three were firing weak blasts at their attackers, trying to conserve energy or may be trying to line up a more powerful blast, it was unclear. Space capable Zoanoids buzzed around them, discharging their own energy in an effort to drive the attackers back and occasionally they would close for hand to ship combat. They were holding their own but were pinned down so it was only a matter of time before they were overcome.

A small flotilla of medium to large alien ships was waiting out of range of both Ark and Zoanoids although they had wisely remained spread out so that a larger blast would not be enough to take them all out. Smaller ships, like the ones currently attacking the Arks were arrayed around them slowly moving forward to replace the ones that were being destroyed by the Terrans.

:They're Jraewy. I doubt they'll listen.:

Wordlessly Sho got the impression from his Unit that talking was going to be a waste of time and though he may feel guilty about striking the Jraewy without warning, it was going to be the quickest and most effective way of forcing them to stop their attack. Anything less than a definite and overwhelming show of strength would just lead to further attacks.

:Fukamachi, help me clear the rabble around the Arks while Makishima takes on the fleet.: Aptom didn't wait for a response and he took off towards the Arks, randomly firing his head beam, interspersed with blasts from his gravity cannon so that the Jraewy wouldn't be able to determine his approach vector. After an instant Sho followed him picking off his own Jraewy ships and spiralling around so that the two of them formed a deadly spun thread that wove its way towards the Arks.

Agito blinked; momentarily surprised that Aptom had dared to order him, before he turned his attention to the fleet. As much as it would be pleasing to his pride to go against the Zoanoid the fleet was the overriding threat and had to be dealt with. But he would be darned if he shared what he learnt with them. And with his destruction of the fleet he would learn the limits of their abilities.

===

"Captain, they sent out a transmission which unfortunately has had a response. We are now jamming all further transmissions and estimate that even if those that replied actually respond in person we will be long gone."

"Why were they allowed a transmission in the first place?" The Captain's voice was soft, the quiet of his tone and seeming patience belying his anger.

The ensign gulped, understanding now why he had been chosen to relay the information. "They used a nonstandard frequency that was only partially being blocked Sir, and we are now blocking all channels."

"Non-standard?" The Captains voice almost seemed to be amused. "And pray tell, how does one define what a standard frequency is for a race we have never seen before?"

The question hung in the air before the Captain growled, dismissing the matter. The Ensign wasn't going to be able to answer that anyway and had wisely remained silent. Stupid enough to be a messenger boy but not, it seemed, stupid enough to try to cover a bad situation.

"Just pray there is no response. Both the Tekki and the Advent's acknowledged this race and while they seem beguine at the moment there is no telling what they are capable of." He turned his attention back to the display screen. If the somewhat panicked report from the Interstellar Meeting was to be believed then what he was looking at was the Advent's finest creation but it was a creation that had chosen to fight their creators and in doing so had opened a universe of possibilities.

There were three ships. There had been six but the group had separated, three opening fire after their initial salvo and the other three accelerating away. No matter, three was more than enough. They didn't look like Advent ships, their shape was all wrong, but their colouring and texture was definitely Advent. And the small energy blasts they were releasing were the same as the one time he had seen an Advent ship being taken down by Tekki forces. They may not be Advent ships but they were definitely influenced by Advent design. Even the soldiers that were surrounding the ships were Advent made, looking like huge insects, or beefed up versions of the Monomeeth.

He turned to the battle statistics. They didn't want to destroy these ships. They were far too valuable and while the loss of Zoanoids was regrettable it was necessary so that they could capture these vessels. Jraewy versus Monomeeth or Zoanoid was not a battle they could win but Jraewy controlled Zoanoid versus Zoanoid was something they were prepared to take a chance on but that meant acquiring Zoanoids at any price. Which was why they were attacking with overwhelming numbers in an effort to secure their surrender. If the statistics were right, then there was at least five hundred Zoanoids on each of those ships. Not enough to begin a campaign with but enough to experiment with, to learn how to reproduce them and to learn the secrets of bio-energy.

Bio-energy... Ha! A force the Advent's claimed was inexhaustible. A force they had instilled in all their soldiers and force they had laughingly told the Jraewy that they would never control after various Guyver Units had rejected candidate after candidate. What was so great about it anyway? What was so good about an energy that strength varied from day to day, that couldn't reliably be called upon? No... Frezon refraction through Silcia-tri-oxide plates was far more reliable. The force that drove their ships was far more reliable and didn't vary but it was the force that had been beaten every single time in battle against bio-energy.

What was so great about it? Every power used it. The Advents had used it for centuries and the Tekki called it an extension of his person. The Kyheenan's were beginning to experiment with it and were beginning to show some success with converting some of their armaments into living bio-organic plates, as tough as titanium but infinitely cheaper. Even the Corang-Wesodin alliance used it and claimed that it formed the basis of their partnership. What was so great about it? Everyone, except the Jraewy seemed to have some control over it. Even these Terrans, who had never been in space, had control when the Jraewy who had been in space for nearly two millennia had nothing but the vaguest impression of what they should be able to do.

That would change soon. That would all change. Once they captured these ships they would learn the secrets that had so long been denied to them. Then they, the Jraewy would merge technology and bio-energy to stand equal, nay to stand above the Advents. And then no Guyver Unit would dare reject a Jraewy host.

He turned his attention back to the tactical screen, pushing away for the moment thoughts of Jraewy glory. His dreams would be reality soon enough. "What are those?" Three small blips had appeared need are edge of their sensors and were coloured to show that the computer had not yet identified them as either ally or enemy.

"Uncertain Captain. They weren't there on the last area scanning."

"Visual confirmation?" The Captain ordered quickly. Stupid computer glitches - millions were spent developing the battle software, and millions more spent testing it but the moment a ship went into actual combat glitches appears - ships on the scanners that didn't exist, ships that did exist not showing at all. It was an intolerable situation to try to manage a battle with but it was what he was expected to work with.

"On screen."

"What are those?"

Whatever they were there were three of them, two black and one blue. They were similar but not identical. Two of them were smaller than the other.

"Ident details?"

"They're not transmitting sir. They may not be ships. Size estimate has the biggest one at three metres by one at the widest point, the others are only two by point seven five. That's a little small for ships."

"Bionoids then?"

"Almost affirmative Sir."

"If they remain neutral ignore them. If they open fire, take them down, this is our capture and we are not giving it up."

The words had barely left the Captains mouth when the trio broke apart. The two smaller ones spiralled around each other heading towards the Terran ships at speed.

"Enemy!" One of the bridge crew screamed as several beams of light came from the spiralling pair, hitting a range of the attacking ships. There didn't seem to be one point they were attacking, rather the attack seemed mostly focused on misleading where it was actually coming from.

"Take them down!" The Captain ordered as he watched a number of their ships disappear. "Concentrate the fleets fire on the larger one."

Now that they had broken apart he knew exactly what they were planning. The two smaller ones were manoeuvrable. They would clear away the attacking fighters while the larger one obviously had more firepower and would concentrate on the fleet. He looked closer at them, trying to determine where and what their weapons were but it was an impossible task.

All three were biped with two upper limbs although all three had bulb like appendages on their shoulders and seemed to be covered by small silver nodes that had an unknown purpose. The larger one though seemed to be covered by spikes and spines and the Captain could only guess what they were for. The two smaller ones, the blue one with silver highlights and the black one with red highlights did have several sharp looking blades but they were only on their elbows and knees. The other black one, the larger individual who was complimented by regal purple accents, had more. They covered his elbows, legs, and head. And there even appeared to be several emerging from his back like wing bones that had been stripped of flesh.

But still as the Captain looked at them he was captivated. There was a certain imperial air about them that was hypnotic, a sense of power and absolute control that was automatically deferred to. It was a sense he lost himself in, that they all lost themselves in until a shudder rocked the command ship.

"Sir, we just lost the Baltavious and Kisharan."

"Line up the Agarnon and Gyhtrin for a simultaneous shot at him," he ordered solemnly, keeping his voice calm. Somehow he wasn't surprised that they were already losing ships. That sense of power seemed to mock their efforts. "Show me his position now," he further ordered, gesturing towards one of the screens. "What are the other two doing?"

"They are cutting through our fighters Sir." The voice was dull. It seemed the sense these new comers exuded was affecting them all.

"Send reinforcements, the fleet will have to defend itself." He turned towards the screen where the black and purple warrior was displayed in time to see the blasts from the Agarnon and Gyhtrin dissipated with nothing more than the casual wave of a hand.

That seals it. He barely registered the thought as he continued to watch, not really sensing his body and somehow detached from the rising sense of panic that was overcoming the fleet. The black warrior's eyes were glowing and were narrowed dangerously to cast ominous shadows over their form. They moved with a fluid ease, dodging the shots from the fleet with complete unconcern although occasionally they would block one with what appeared to be a gravity weapon.

The other two... Their sensors could barely keep up with the other two but they were weaving between the Terran ships and defenders with absolute surety, sniping at everything that got too close and unlike the damage done by the Zoanoids or the ships themselves, the shots these two warriors fired destroyed their target every time. Space was becoming littered with the remains of Jraewy fighters and there was the occasional ejected pilot although most of them had seen the turn the battle had taken and were going down with their fighters. Those two were graceful but to the Captain there was something lacking about them. They didn't seem as imperious or as commanding as the single warrior who was taking on the fleet.

More explosions buffeted the ship as they continued to lose ships but he barely felt them. He was watching everything but he wasn't really there. He was giving orders but he didn't know what they were and didn't care if they were obeyed. They'd lost this battle.

Perhaps their whole race had lost.

The black warrior had given up blocking their attacks and now was being orbited by several purple streaks which the Captain belatedly realised they were the warriors highlights. They had detached themselves and were now orbiting him like electrons orbited their nucleus, blocking all attacks. Every now and then one would break away only to return again after destroying the missiles that had been launched at the warrior. They were the perfect defence, strong, fast, obedient and beautiful.

It was stunning and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

Nothing at all.

They were being destroyed. The brilliant particle beam that was the warriors weapon wasn't leaving debris and was cutting through them with lethal precision. They were being destroyed as if they were nothing and he heard himself give the order to evacuate. He noted the bridge crew leaving with a detached air, his attention focused on the screen showing the black and purple warrior. The warrior was perfect... He watched as the chest and shoulder plates of the warrior glowed and on the screen he turned towards the ship.

The Captain smiled, a delighted carefree smile. They were being destroyed. The beings attack plates glowed, energy gathering in the centre brighter and brighter before, with a burst of colour, it was released, its leading edge a perfect sphere of power.

They had been destroyed.

His ship was burning now, engulfed by the brilliant energy that the warrior had deployed.

They had been destroyed.

But they had been destroyed by perfection and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

===

"...my god..." The words were whispered aboard Hope as their reinforcements struck.

"...That's... That's Makishima and Fukamachi but..."

The question wasn't spoken. It didn't have to be. It was almost certain that two of the Guyvers were Fukamachi and Makishima but the third was surprise and their power...

"Power without mercy, authority without justice, the dragon cometh," Someone intoned the words as the last of the enemy fleet was destroyed.

"You summoned the dragon," Agito's voice ghosted around them before a faint pop heralded his arrival. With a shrug he dismissed his armor. "I wouldn't worry to much," he added dryly. "They were Jraewy and as such don't listen to surrender requests so what we did was appropriate."

"...A...appropriate... Makishima?" The question was gulped by several of the people present.

"Yes, appropriate," he responded with all the grace and surety of the Emperor he had been. :Fukamachi, Aptom, bring aboard our wounded and the prisoners, although make sure none of them have suicide devices.:

:Okay.: The response predicably came from Sho although Agito felt Aptom's nod of agreement.

He turned towards the crew of Hope, "We will bring aboard those Jraewy who did not go down with their ships and question them. Several things have happened which will require these ships to be more heavily armored and guarded." His eyes narrowed as he looked around, gauging their reactions. "Although I note that there have been a few changes from the plan." While it was a statement, it was also an order to explain.

:Makishima..?: It was Fukamachi who interrupted, talking to both the ship and through the Guyver link.

"What is it?"

"Can we gather all the wounded on one ship? Mizuki would like to know where she can tend them." His voice came over the ships internal speakers.

Agito looked to the crew, raising one eyebrow to indicate that they should field this question.

"Put them aboard Independence and put the Jraewy," the word was said with a peculiar note of hesitation, "on Endurance."

In the cold of space Fukamachi nodded, relaying the information to Aptom and Mizuki before, with a gentleness belying his rather savage appearing armor he began flitting around space, escorting the wounded Zoanoids to safety while Aptom collected the Jraewy.

===

In the aftermath of the battle, although I shudder to call it that, it was apparent that there had been changes to all sides of humanity. The Merrimu Relocation Project had, as it turned out, four new Arks and for our part our Guyver Unit's had become far more powerful. Rather than have the explanations told and retold they were put off until all the parties were gathered at Merrimu.

Mirai and Eternity rendezvoused with the Arks and because of the risk of further attack open channel communications were established between each ship and we quickly caught up with the other three that had escaped. No communication was sent to either Earth or Merrimu except for a brief encrypted hyper transmission stating that all ships were fine. The journey was somewhat hampered by the damage done to Hope but at least the losses had been minimal.

The Jraewy had an interesting tale to tell but their story offered up its own solution. The report from the Interstellar Meeting offered only problems. The solution to most of those problems rested in secrecy. As long as that held we would survive but our return trip to Merrimu showed that even that planet, chosen because it was far from prying eyes, would not remain secret forever.

===