Water Eight

            “You should feel better in this world.” Gleen told Bycon.  “This one is technologically based.  From what I’m getting from the Fate Core people pilot large mechanical animals in tournaments, for official tournaments the prize is a considerably large amount of money.”

            “I’m picking up something on my sensors to the south of us.” Bycon said going to investigate.

            They found one of the battles in progress, seeing the power and skill the pilots displayed these mechanoids.  It became obvious they needed to obtain a pair of the mechanoids for themselves.  Following Bycon’s sensors they eventually came across what used to be two mechanoids that had been abandoned after they were destroyed.  Stabbing the dark blade into each he let the Fate Core repair and enhance the two fallen mechanoids.

            Both turned from white to black with red highlights, as one became a tiger and the other became a raptor.  Even the IA units within the mechanoids were also modified by the Fate Core each bowing before their new master.  Gleen named the tiger Zero climbing into the head cockpit, Bycon did the same as he named his Conbe.  Together they became the Deep End team and entered the tournaments since neither could figure out why they were here.  The Fate enhanced weapons soon proved to be superior to most of the weapons on his world, no one could beat them using pure force and those who had the skill to do so didn’t have good enough mechanoids to achieve it.

            This was until they came across a team with a pilot who was just starting out but showed surprising skill, it was as if human and mechanoid, which was a lion, were working as one.  Gleen got a run for his money and it ended with a draw, only Gleen and the boy remaining able to fight.  There was something odd about his mechanoid, even though it looked like an ordinary mechanoid of its type, he could sense there was something different about it.  What was even more surprising was that fact they almost won without following any strategy whatsoever, just coming in head strong.

            The pilots were just as unique as the mechanoids they piloted as each of them soon found out.  The white lion belonged to the young man named Cloud and the black wolf was piloted by a man a bit older then Cloud named Zeek who had severed in the last war.  They were supported by a trigger happy young girl named Lina who piloted a blue raptor and the blue flyer who was piloted by the youngest member of the team name Mike, who was also their strategist.  The final member was their coach and the one who arranged all their fights, a man they all called Doc, a rather optimistically cheerful guy.  Together they made up the formable Exceleus team who had yet to lose a match since Cloud joined them.

            Since neither team had any fights for a couple of days Cloud invited the two of them to stay on their transport.  Doc was very impressed with the mechanoids and was just short trying to pawn the two off them.  Mike and Zeek were both interested in their fighting skills as well as the tactics they used.  All Lina wasted to know about were Zero’s hyper cannon and missile systems that were used against her.  Cloud himself just wanted to be friends and have the chance to fight again if it was alright with them.

            “Don’t even think about it.” Gleen said catching Lina sneaking into the holding bay.

            “I was checking to see if the mechanoids were secure.” Lina said when Gleen stepped from the shadows.

            “And help yourself to some missiles or a hyper cannon.” Gleen added walking over to Zero.  “Besides Zero wouldn’t let you take his weapons.  He was high defensive and security devises.”

            “Supper is gonna be ready soon.” Cloud said entering the holding bay.  “Hey Lina, the Doc wants to see you before supper, he’s with Bycon in the command room.”

            “Okay.” Lina said skipping out of the room.

            “Hey, the bath is open if you want to wash up before we eat.” Cloud said showing him the way.

            As irony had it Gleen was just standing up in the water just as Lina dropped her robe and opened the door to get in.  They both froze there as after a moment a blush came across Lina’s face when she looked downward.  Gleen was the first to move stepping forward and placed the robe back on Lina’s shoulders.  Taking his clothes he left the bath to Lina since he was now done there.  Lina later nearly killed Cloud for forgetting it was her turn to use the bath, which appeared to happen on a common basis.

            “I’m sorry about earlier.” Gleen said entering Lina’s room that evening.

            “Don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault.  Come in, have a seat.” She said sitting up from her bed allowing him to sit next to her since it was the only this to sit on in the room.

            “Is there something wrong with your shoulder?  I noticed at supper you were moving it as little as possible.”

            “I banged it up in the last fight.”

            “Lay back down a moment.”

            Once she was on her stomach he placed his hands on her shoulder and began to gently rub it to take away the pain.  A soft sigh came as did relief from the pain followed by a sensation that caused her to squirm slightly.  Getting up she laid back against him before he could get up and buried her face into his neck.  Gleen was even more surprised as she pulled down the neckpiece and went after his neck directly while slowly pulling his down when the lights faded to nothing.

            The next morning as they sat for breakfast Lina was extremely cherry which put all the others on edge.  Zeek was the only one who gave a questioning look, but eventually decided against it for fear she would go trigger happy on him.  She was even surprisingly nice to Cloud which made him nervous as he thought she was up to something.  Gleen just sat back and wandered what she was usually like around the others before last night.

            “Hey guys guess what, we’ve been scheduled for a surprise match in a four way team rally.” Doc said as he entered.

            “Alright!” Lina yelled snapping back to her usual self.

            “Who’s going to be the other team on our side?” Zeek asked him.

            “I thought Gleen would be interested.” Doc said turning to the two of them.  “How about it?”

            “Why not, where is it?” Gleen asked curious.

            “A few hours north from here.”

            “That’s one of the desert battlefields.” Cloud pointed out.  “This is great, between me and Gleen we’ll be done within ten minutes.”

            “That’s one of the rules, the ones with the most points at the end of ten minutes are the winners.”

            “What are the rest?” Bycon asked him.

            “There can only be ground mechs.” Doc informed them.  “Other than that, just the usual.”

            “You mean I can’t participate?” Mike asked disappointed.

            “Nope.  We’ll have to hurry if we are going to get there in time.” Doc said leaving.

            “Okay.” Mike said a little depressed following Doc out.

            “Hey Cloud, come with me.” Gleen said as he led the way to the holding bay.  “If we’re going to be fighting together I’m going to give you some components from Zero to increase your mechanoid’s speed.”

            “Sounds good to me.”

            “I need you to open all the leg compartments on yours while I get the components.”

            With Cloud not looking he duplicated the needed parts from Zero with the Fate Core and got to work on Cloud’s new upgrade.  Gleen also took the liberty to install new targeting components in Lina’s mechonoid, but couldn’t do much more then that before they got there.  Jumping into the mechnoids they walked out onto the battlefield only to find that it was deserted.  Doc was beginning to think he had the wrong place when a barrier dome formed over them and nine black rhino mechonoids came from hiding.  The fight was a trap by the Black Mechs, a group Gleen had heard of a while back, they were a large scale operation that ignored the rules of battle, doing anything to win and then stealing anything they wanted from the loser’s remains.

            “We have you now.” The group’s leader told them.  “You best surrender.”

            “You really think so, well I’ll just have to prove you wrong.” Gleen told them then turned to Bycon.  “Reverse your shield generator and create a dampening field.”

            “Active.” Bycon said when ready.

            “Now to take out that barrier.” Gleen said firing the hyper cannon that rose off the back of his mechanoid and shattered the barrier.  “Lina it’s your turn, target them all at once.”

            “I can’t do that.” Lina protested.

            “You can now.”

            “Alright!” She yelled once she found the system was upgraded.

            “Okay Cloud, let’s get them.” Gleen said extending the heat blades from the sides of the mechanoid channeling the power to them.

            They had them beat in less than ten minutes and the bounty they got off them was quite nice.  To celebrate Doc took them out to dinner once they got back to the transport at one of the nicer dinners.  He said it was on him, but they all knew where the money he used to pay for it really came from.  Well, at least the food was good, a lot better than anything they had in a while.

            “Why do you think we are here?” Bycon asked him later when they were alone.

            “I don’t know and the Fate Core is telling me nothing.  We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.  Do you wish to remain here with them or go back on our own?”

            “It would make Lina upset if you left, she is acting similar to the way Kisha did.”

            “We’ll stay a bit longer then, I don’t want to leave her like the way I left Kisha.”

            “Why do we have to leave?”

            “If we stay in one place too long people will realize we are different.  You’ve never had to watch someone age and die while you remain young, it’s something I hope you never have to go through.”

            “What are you not telling me?”

            “My triangle is reacting to something.” Gleen said hesitantly.  “I have the feeling a large battle is coming.”

            “The Shadow?”

            “Yes.” He said looking deep in thought.  “It feels as if it’s coming after us and I don’t want anyone to get in its way.”

            “How close is it?”

            “Very close.  You and I are the only ones going to fight it this time.”

            “I can see why you are worried.”

            “We should go before someone over hears us.”

            They went to their rooms to turn in for the night, when he arrived he found Lina already asleep in the bed.  She had been waiting for him and he had kept her waiting too long it looked like.  Climbing into the bed as not to wake her, he laid next to her and slowly fell to sleep, joining her in dreams.  During the night she must have awoke because in the morning he found her snuggled up next to him, holding onto a handful of his hair which came out of his neckpiece.

            “What’s Shadow?” Lina asked him once she woke up.

            “Where did you hear that?”

            “You said you had to get Shadow in your sleep last night.”

            “He’s a killer, Bycon and I have been dealing with him for some time now, but he manages to escape every time.” Gleen said telling her a half lie.  “We may have got a lock on him again.”

            “Then why are you worried?”

            “It’s like he’s not hiding this time, but calling us out.”

            “Then you’re going to go after him.”

            “I have to.”

            “Great!  Then I’ll come with you.”

            “No.  The more people the greater chance one of us will get killed.  I don’t want anything to happen to you.  I will deal with this, then return.”

            After saying goodbye to each other they climbed into the mechanoids and launched off towards where the shadow waited.  Gleen tracked the shadow to be within what he thought was the Black Mechs’ headquarters.  Since the Fate Core had seen the shadow before it was able to confirm the location was correct.  Upon arrival they struck the Black Mechs hard and many never knew what hit them.  Most of the mechanoids were trashed even before the pilots could even climb into them.

            They were beginning to have doubts if the shadow was actually here when it attacked, aiming straight at Bycon first rendering his mechanoid useless.  Gleen managed to dodge it, but it then began to go after any moving mechanoid and the Black Mechs were running scared.  With the shadow coming from all directions it was only a matter of time before it got Zero and he was ejected before he was consumed.  Soon Bycon and Gleen were the only ones left standing and barely able to defend themselves.

            Bycon was the first to be caught and in a desperate attack, against Gleen’s pleads, he self-destructed.  With the loss of his longtime partner Gleen was sent over the edge and emitted an unnatural glow, even for him.  His eyes began to glow as if on fire and energy flew in all directions.  The Triangle of Fate and the Triangle of Destiny were there as well, resonating alongside him as if they too wanted the shadow to be no more.  With their combined power they throw the shadow back not defeated, but extremely weaken by the force.

            The power was now too much for even his body and the three triangles used the last of their power and his own to transport him away before the power exploded on itself.  The blast could be seen from miles away, many looked on in wonder of what it could be.  All except one small group who stood in silence, they knew what it was as they watched on.  They hoped for the best, but deep down they knew their friend was gone and not coming back to them.

            Elsewhere a strange mechanical gateway activated without reason and a naked form fell to the floor in front of it.  Gleen with a black haired human body held tight to his chain, the only thing he managed to hold onto before passing out.  On his chest appeared the three triangles that made up the Triangle of Light, but they had no power.  When he came too he was in an infirmary wearing a patient’s robe, there was a few doctors around him as well as a few that looked military.  Right away he could tell his was a high technological world, but that was only by observation as he found he couldn’t sense anything around him at the moment.

            “Where am I?” Gleen asked sitting up.

            “You should still lay down.” One the doctors told him.  “Your body is still recovering from some sort of trama.”

            “We’ll take him now.” One the soldiers interrupted.  “The commander wanted to see him when he woke up.”

            Once they gave him a jumpsuit they escorted him from the medic wing to a well-furnished office that was obviously military.  The soldiers left once he as seated in front of the desk, Gleen looked around at the many awards and medals that lined the walls.  It was even more obvious whoever this office belong to was high up in the military seating.  His wait wasn’t long as a uniformed man in his late forties walked in a few minutes later and took a seat behind the desk.

            “I’m going to get right to the point.” The man told him.  “I want to know how you activated our gate to get here.”

            “I’m unsure on that, I had a talisman that allowed me free travel through the dimensions, but it was destroyed and opened a dimensional hole not of my choosing.  It somehow connected with your gate.” Gleen explained.  “As far as I know its only chance that I landed here.”

            “It was fate.” A gentle voice said that seemed to come from all directions.  “Bring him to me.”

            “Follow me.” The Commander told him.

            He was lead deeper into the complex and past many security level until they reached a single door at the end of it all.  Inside was a round room that was covered in various crests and in the center of it all knelt a young girl.  She had a tiny figure dressed in an extremely long kimono with white hair equal in length to her kimono.  Her face was almost child-like with large pale red eyes and a gold headpiece on her forehead.

            “I am pleased to meet you, Gleen Winga.” She told him revealing it was her voice earlier.

            “What?” Gleen asked shocked.

            “Yes, I know who you truly are and of your bloodline.  Your father was none other than Van the Legendary Blue Eyed Winged Warrior, whose real name was Kayu, the younger brother of the Dark Knight Pesmerga.”

            “Did you know my father?”

            “I met him once, he saved my life using the Triangle of Light, which you now bare the mark of, this was before I came here to Geo 4.”

            “He must have given it up when I was born, I possessed the Triangle of Power since birth, but I lost it.”

            “Gleen would you consider to join us, we fight for a common good.”

            “Without my talisman I can no longer travel between the dimensions, but I no longer work with partners.” Gleen said then turned to the Commander.  “I want my chain back, it was the only thing I was able to save.”

            “You mean this?” He asked pulling the rod from his pocket and tossed it to him.  “You should at least meet the people you’re saying no to.”

            “Very well.” Gleen said following him to another room where six young women and a young man were waiting.

            Jessica Felicia was the red headed leader of the group with an attitude to match her hair and a love to party.  Rachael Rance was the spy of the group a black haired martial arts expert with a cold look to her eyes when she wanted a fight.  Sarah Sasuke was a blonde haired trigger happy weapon smith of the group who always dressed in a white suit.  Kayleen Saree was a black haired master of sabotage, but had a big problem dealing with stress.  Samantha Wesley or Sam was the brunette explosives expert and the driver of all assault vehicles.  Johns Hanley was the only male in the group and hand only come to the team a few months ago.

            As they stood there in an uncomfortable silence a small black sphere flew from Johns’ pocket at Gleen.  It turned out they had spheres that contained energies within them, Johns came to the group because he had the unique ability to use these spheres.  This black one, that Johns had all his life but couldn’t activate, was now reacting to Gleen as if it were some sign to him.  After a bit Gleen agreed he would help them and he was taken to the armory to select any weapon he liked as well as more spheres.

            “What is behind that door?” Gleen asked looking at the large steel door in the armory.

            “A weapon that no one has been able to control.” The Commander told him.  “We put it in a secure area so no one would get hurt.”

            “I can feel its power.  Come.” Gleen commanded holding up his hand as a black katana shot through the door into his hand.

            “It can’t be.” The Commander said in disbelieve.  “That’s impossible.”

            The katana was completely black with eight slots in the handle, the black sphere seemed to fit nicely into the top slot.  Then throwing it out it hovered over the table that held the spheres as several shot up inserting into the sword.  Once this task was completed it returned to his outstretched hand as he examined the spheres fate had chosen for him.  By this time the Commander had come out of the shock and was amazed by what he had seen.

            “Hey, Commander you done yet?” Johns asked entering armory.

            “Yes, why?”

            “I was going to take him to get some real clothes.”

            “That will be fine.” The Commander said leaving.  “Report to the holoroom when you’re done.”

            “You can have the sphere back if you want it.” Gleen said as they walked along.

            “You hold onto it, as a sign of our new friendship.”

            Once they were at the clothes shop of Johns’ choice, Johns began pulling things off having already seen Gleen’s sizes.  He came out wearing a suit, looking very similar to Johns, with the coat being replaced by a trench coat to conceal the scabbard of the sword.  It was a very different feel from the bodysuit he had become used to for so long.  Johns seemed impressed with the look, as did the others when they met up with them at the holoroom.  There Gleen went up against dangerous holograms to try out his new powers, and practice using the spheres.  With the spheres he could control ice as well as lightning, heal, counter energies, increase his speed, manipulate gravity, and the flow of time for a short period.

            “Let me give it a try.” Johns said entering the holoroom.

            As they began he pulled out twin thermal energy handguns, each with two spheres in the butt end.  He found that Johns’ spheres allowed him to increase his power, lock onto multiple targets, as well as control the elements of fire and earth.  It soon turned into quite a show for all of them as the fight seemed it wouldn’t end any time soon.  Having seen Johns fight before the others were shock to see how well Gleen was actually doing for the first time against a real opponent with these new powers.  Yet for the aspect of the fight it quickly ended as Gleen stood triumph after tying Johns up with the chain.

            “Welcome to Geo 4.” The Commander said giving him the formal welcome.