Ronin

[Voyager]

Her sigh was so soft that it was overwhelmed by the whisper of rustling rose synthsilk as her kimono brushed the edge of the desk of the president of the Society of Salvation. The chair behind the desk was empty, as it had been for a few weeks now. It stood mute testiment to many things that had gnawed unadressed but not ignored in the mind of the little bureaucrat. Like a loose tooth, it ached and distracted and carried the inevitability of loss.

She straightened, looking down at the desk and the objects she had placed there. The neatly folded and sealed paper, meticulously adressed in her precise script, seemed out of place in its modern setting. She did not care. It was a neccessary ritual, a last breath of affections and loyalty that had been asphyxiated by bitter disillusionment.

The winds of change were blowing on Rubika and nothing remained untouched by their entropy and violence. Not Omnitek, not the divisions that served it and not Yin Koresawa herself.

Her fingers brushed the hilt of the katana at her side in a brief caress. It was a lover's touch, meant more for the man who had gifted her with the blade than for the blade itself. There was so much symbolism there, a world of meaning, conviction, promise and intent held within the graceful arc of bright, sharpened steel. She had thought to leave it too with her resignation, but had returned to reclaim it, unwilling to surrender the gift that had been given not by the General but by the man, and unable to renounce that one claim he had on her, even after death.

It was, in its way, a message that she still cared and that while she could no longer serve the Society of Salvation and no longer even had the option to remain at his side, that she was still Davis Ramagano's unsheathed blade. Even if the message in the action went unnoticed or was not understood by the survivors, it gave her a strange comfort for having delivered it. While it left a loose thread and marred the perfection of the severing of these ties that had bound her from fulfilling the obligations of her conscience, there was a rightness to it.

She turned away from the desk and stopped for a second, her eyes falling on the portrait of Philip Ross that still hung on the wall by the door. There was an expression of determination and integrity in the steely greyness of his eyes. She felt somehow vindicated under the sightless gaze of that portrait. She felt, for a brief instant, that he would understand what it was that moved her and that perhaps he too was in a similar place, though he awaited his fate in the offices of Omni Prime while she still walked the face of the planet he had governed with such care and dedication.

She bowed, respect written in the formality and humility of the gesture, to the portrait of her hero, before walking away. They could take him off planet and they could relieve him of his position as CEO of the Rubikaan operations, but they could not take her loyalty to the man and what he stood for.

As she stepped into the streets of Omni 1, she wondered what she would do next. She still worked for Omni despite her resignation from the Society of Salvation. Her refusal to acknowledge the veracity of the claims of the Unicorn Company and the brown-suited, faceless 'officials' they had imported to rain anarchy onto the stability that the company had made on this planet had not forced her to abandon her service of the megacorp--yet. It had only made her ronin. She looked up, eyes searching the strip of sky framed between tall buildings, thoughts moving towards the imminence of alien invasion and what this latest threat to her homeworld might bring.

"Where do we go from here?"

[Voyager]

"...And remember, OmniTek is your friend."

The cheerful parting quip rang hollow in her own ears as she waved goodbye to the neutral citizen who she'd assisted in his quest for biomesh. Master Divenchy stood behind her, oblivious. He was far too absorbed in his own work to even notice the exchange. It was tiny differences like these that troubled her in the wake of Davis Ramagano's passing.

She wondered, as she stepped away, waiting for her yalm to encapsulate her, if she too was guilty of this same work-induced sensory impairment. She had come to the company to restore honor to her family's name, but it seemed, the more she thought about it, that this obligation was not and perhaps COULD not be fulfilled by her efforts to be a good employee and a hard worker. More and more, since the capture and removal of Phillip Ross, she found herself questioning what and who it was she served.

Omni, as she now knew it, did not bring order. It brought chaos. It did not protect. It destroyed. It was not a family. It was... It killed... She slammed her mind closed on the thought before the word could surface in her consciousness. The line of thought was not productive. One small woman, no matter how unique, could not exact payment from the faceless powers on Prime. Not alone. She could not afford the cold, sick anger. It had to be locked away.

But still, as she guided her slick red yalm through the skies over Newland Desert, the question that haunted her the most came back to her. Three letters strung together in an inescapable demand for logic and order that had caused empires to fall and gods to be birthed and murdered in the hearts and minds of men.

Why?

[Voyager]

She looked like a child playing dressup in her mother's armor and gear. Her ravenwing black hair gleamed in the light of her floating torch, soaring behind her head like some huge obsidian butterfly. It was an antiquated, very traditional style that suited her very traditional and antiquated upbringing. Yin Koresawa was the very image of some ancient Japanese doll from before the Collapse. Indeed, at that moment, only her eyes betrayed the fact that she was indeed alive.

He had asked her to stay here and not move, and having seen already what the unredeemed he stalked were capable of... she had decided to take his request very literally. There was a time to question and a time to obey, and it did not always take a wise person to differentiate between the two. And while the tiny zaibatsujin did not think of herself as particularly wise, she did have some store of intelligence. Which she used. As frequently as she could.

As he rose from his hiding place and fired, she was momentarily overcome with a conflicting sense of mixed admiration and apprehension. It was difficult to sort out her responses to this person who had until very recently had been in her mind the embodiment of everything she had come to fear. The deadly and merciless clan hunter.

The Unredeemed Prophet fell to the ground where he stood. She didn't completely understand why it was that seeing this happen seemed to take away some of the heaviness that had wieghed her down over the last few months. It was not a logical thing and could not really be measured in ways that her mind could easily quantify. But her lack of understanding did not interfere with the sensation that she was one step closer to being free for the first time in her young life.

The prospect was like the agent. Both magnetic and frightening. But it was difficult to remain aloof or properly cautious when in the grip of such a seductive sensation -- or when seeing him look over his shoulder at her and wink with such open camaraderie.

That in itself was a thing of great wonderment to Yin. It had been less than two cycles since this person had been hunting her. This man had been her enemy. But even though she had not yet renounced her contract and ties to OmniTek, he offered her mercy, compassion and extended his strength to help her. Her anachronistic values were all that helped her adapt to and accept this kind of honorable act on the part of an enemy agent. Though it did sadden her to realize that he offered her more honorable and humane treatment than did her own employers.

It was this, a terrible and rather ironic secret, the removal of CEO Ross and the death of Davis Ramagano that had finally made her understand that she could no longer in good conscience or in honor work for Omni. And it was this that made her think that it was only right that she join her efforts with those of the rebelling clans. Honor was very important to Yin Koresawa. And perhaps, so too was revenge.

She stirred a little, moving to watch him move to another position and blend into his surroundings, intent on his next target. The hideous, sinister creature moved along unaware of its impending danger, absorbed in its mirky dreams of power and aquisition. She had always hated and feared the Unredeemed. It was not their gristly, alien appearance that sparked her instinctual revulsion... but some aura of malevolence that they carried with them. It had always shamed her to have to deal with them in her duties. She always came away from it feeling just a little more violated and degraded.

Seeing them die at the hands of her unexpected benefactor was a guilty pleasure. She wondered idly what Boris would do if he were to witness her relish in their extermination. Thinking of the senior bureaucrat sent an unpleasant shiver down her spine. When he discovered what she meant to do, he would not hesitate to deal with her the way he dealt with all dissidents and rebels. She would have to ensure that she remained many steps ahead of his people to avoid ending up following her parents' footsteps into disassembly and death in the rooms under Rome that no one ever spoke about aloud or directly.

Another Unredeemed monster fell dead to the ground. Her morbid thoughts retreated back to their places in her backup memory, chased away by the hope carried in the hands of the advancing opifex who grinned so proudly from the shadows of the goat-horned helmet that obscured much of his face. The first rays of impending sunrise sped over the high, rocky hills, casting long shadows and striping the shadowlands with light. It was impossible to remain afraid and uncertain in such a moment.

Yin smiled and flushed, overcome with hope for the first time in long years. And for the first time since she had come to understand the words Koresawa Biotech Five Human Cyborg Enhancement Series One, she no longer felt alone.

[Voyager]

Every effort somehow managed to fall short and end in failure. She was, it seemed, inadequate to the task that had slowly, but unavoidably unfolded to present itself to her. The youth, enthusiasm and idealism that were supposedly her most useful human assets stood in her way, time and time again, hindering her ability to sway minds -- or silence them. They made it imposible for her to work within the system to start the mechanism of change in such a way that it would work for the mass of humanity that peopled her home planet rather than in spite of or against them.

To work within the system of the megacorp was to sell one's immortal soul and one's honor without even the vague assurance that such sacrifices would so much as stabilize the RK operation's profit margins. It had been a bitter realization for Yin, to begin to understand that everything she had done, good or bad, every sacrifice she had made and everything that the company had taken from her had made no difference and no change. That within her that was still human protested the realization with a vehemence that had delayed her decision and her action far longer than it reasonably should have been put off. The rest of her, the machine, had long ago understood the reality and the futility, and had only waited, silent and patient, for the right time.

It was only logical that if she could not accomplish her goals and purposes from within the megacorp that she would have to work from outside it to force a change towards positive treatment and peace which would result in prosperity and security for all. (A place where one was not forced to watch one's loved ones be devoured by the company they served...) In other words, to force humanity to serve and protect itself rather than to continue to endanger itself by its own blind greed and ambition. Though it vaguely confused both parts of her consciousness how she would use her abilities to end life to preserve it and enhance it. She hoped her new teacher (or was he her guardian? It was so difficult to decide what he meant to be to her...) could show her how.

She turned away from the fixer Gridjacker with mixed feelings, wondering how many kinds of suffering it took to make a person so bitter and angry. She was jumpy and nervous, her senses stretching themselves thin to pinpoint who -- or what had been watching her. She still hadn't figured out if the conscious presence she felt nearby was human, animal or machine. It hid itself too well to positively identify.

She was so absorbed in trying to find and identify her stalker that she lost track of her position and wandered farther from the whompas to Reets. The sound of a footstep behind her froze her in her tracks. Turning her head slowly, she scanned for biosigns or markers. There were none. But this did not change her perception that he was there, somewhere behind her, waiting. What you could not see often did exist and usually could hurt you.

A familiar chuckle stroked the neural sensors that adorned her spine, carrying external input to be processed and acted upon by her hybrid brain. Synthetic skin tightened over her body in response to the vague sense of threat and menace she associated with that voice. It belonged to the clanner manhunter and assassin, Stefano Kyren, once Stefano Kenley. Her current hunter.

She could feel her internal processes speed to ready themselves for flight and stopped them. She was not going to run this time. She was done with running. If he meant to destroy her, then he would destroy her and end the possibility of her being used by the wrong people again. If he meant to take her and hand her over to those who would use her as a weapon against humanity, then she would simply find some way to force him to destroy her to prevent it.

Either option seemed better than the purposelessness and doubt she now had to live with. What use was a sheathless sword with no strong, justified hand to wield it in the defense of order, honor and law? Yin turned her body slightly, rotating to face behind her, wanting to face what awaited her rather than to allow it to take her from behind like some bandit in the lawless frontiers. Having resigned herself to the very real odds that this might very well be her last night on RubiKa, the little android bureaucrat lost her fear and let the calm resignation fall over her.

"Are you lost, Miss Koresawa?"

She stared as he appeared seemingly from the thin air in front of her and slightly to her left. Her nod was barely perceptible, but he saw it. And she was. Lost. The only questions of any real consequence to her stalker now was what was it that he had found. And what was it that he would decide to do with it.

She sighed very softly and continued to clean the disassemled pistol she had spread out on the floor in front of her as her silver metal shadow combed out the long, perfectly straight plaits of her hair. It was a daily ritual that neither really thought about, but both seemed to need to maintain the strange sense of normalcy they shared when there were no prying eyes to misunderstand.

Because while the world changed around them and events moved them to places and acts that neither of them could accurately predict or interperet, each was the only constant in the other's facsimile of life. And even the discovery of another who was, like them, trapped between the world of the flesh and the world of the mechanical; could not change their sense of stable unity in the face of the entropy that was life in the society of and service to flesh-units who could never fully understand or accept that some the mechanical children of their own design were just as alive as they themselves were.

The laws of robotics could not truely apply in a world like Rubika and to those like Yin Koresawa and CT-037. But still, they refused to forget them, even if they were not much more now than a loose set of guidelines and ideals. They were dissidents, this strange pair, Ronin and faithful family servant. They would do what they had to.

[Voyager]

She stared into the night sky with unblinking eyes that gave off a faint roseate light of their own. The sky was boundless, endless and seemed the very definition of infinite as it stretched above her, showering her with tiny particles of light that were millenia old. In itself, this was as refreshing as the rain had been earlier. But her thoughts weren't with the stars or the rain. It was wrapped like a hungry python around events both past and present and what they would inevitably lead her to do. She had long since ceased to move, barely breathing, not blinking, so much of her processing power had moved to the problems she was wrestling.

Which is why she didn't hear him approach. Or see him wave. Until he was standing directly in front of her, looking amused and giving her that very private nudge. Her smile was unreasonably bright when she registered his presence.

"Konbanwa, Stef-kun."

He restrained himself from chuckling at her, then found himself wondering what it was that would occupy her so completely. He'd already learned that such complete lapses in external attention were rare, and brought on by deep conflicts in resolution. Which in Yin was cause for some concern. No matter how sunny and affectionate the greeting might sound.

"And how are you?"

Her shoulders hiked a little, girlishly, disarmingly. She was being cute.

"I'm okay... Just enjoying the night air...It is good for thinking."

He nodded. It was going to be THAT kind of conversation. Again, not the most positive of signs. He brought out the mental shovel and began digging.

"Yeah, I can't argue with that. But..."

She stretched and unfolded herself from the park bench, bringing herself to slightly above his eye level. It was so easy to forget how small she was at times. Opifex small...or agent small...or child small, though she was none of these things.

"But?"

Even if she could sometimes sound VERY much the child. Like now. He moved on in his excavation of the tightly wound, deeply buried trail of thought. It was sometimes like being in archeology, getting something out of the little bureaucrat when she wasn't eager to share it. He seasoned his question with the neccessary look of curiousity. She was a sucker for that.

"What're you thinking about?"

The sweet little smile that curved her lips warned him that he was about to be rewarded, and that he might not entirely like it.

"I'm thinking about revenge."

Her tone was as calm and innocent as though she were discussing the possibility of planning an afternoon tea for the clan. Possibly calmer. Definitely sweeter. When he was sure that more wasn't forthcoming without coaxing, he patiently continued his line of questioning. He knew that it had to have SOMEthing to do with Omni. He knew her history now and no one who had lived it could help but want retribution in some form from some part of the megacorp.

"They took Ross-san...murdered my Davis...baka no Omni-no-Primu...tetsudatte kudasai...I have nowhere else to go. I don't know what to do... but I can no longer serve them and still have one shred of honor left to me... and that is all I have left...tetsudatte kudasai, Kyren-san."

He looked down at the little childlike crat and felt something move inside him. It wasn't really pity or sympathy. It was more... a sense of protectiveness mixed with an illogical feeling of respect. He'd heard her speak with her robotic companion while stalking her and he knew some of what she'd been through... but there she was, standing so composed and speaking with such a calm, untrmbling voice, asking him for... he wasn't sure what she wanted him to do, really. He knew what he would want in her shoes.

"Revenge."

He tilted his head slightly to bring them eye to eye and continured on.

"Against who? The corporation as a whole? One person?"

He was getting somewhere. He could see it coming out, unravelling in her heart and mind like the loose end of a snagged sweater. An agent's patience was a valuable tool. Her voice did not lose a bit of its calm sweetness.

"Yes. Both. Someone. The megacorp. The someones responsible for what happened to me... and my parents... and... "

It paused in a husky tremble, the flow of words stemmed for a few seconds, part of it unable to be uttered aloud. He waited. He was very good at waiting.

"And in time, those within the company that made such things neccesary and acceptible."

He nodded again. He knew what she omitted. He didn't feel like examining it either for what it meant to her or how it made him feel. It was enough that it did.

"And who is that?"

She knew what he was asking, just as he knew that she would. They already shared that. Circuit.

"Boris Breznev. People call him Chirnovnik."

He thought for a moment, trying to call the name to memory unsuccessfully.

"Never heard of him."

Her frown cautioned him to stalk this one lightly.

"Most people haven't. A lot of those who know him don't have much of a life expectancy...well those who know what he does for OmniTek, that is."

It was just so... amusing. Her frown and widened eyes and semi-dramatic gesturing, paired with that cute softness of voice, like some girl unfolding a boogeyman tale to frighten her friends late at night. He tried to stifle the small chuckle rising in his chest.

"Oh?"

Her voice dropped a little, showing the anxiety that thinking about this man triggered in her. It was a curious thing, how much he seemed to... well... scare her. She was showing every response Stefano had come to associate with her fear response.

"He's in charge of Rome's... waste management...He is OT-RK's Rome garbage man. And people like me... are the waste he manages. I am thinking I may start with him, as he is most likely a threat to me now. He knows who I am. And more importantly, he knows what I am...and... I do not think that any lingering affection for his old student will prevent him from doing his job with me."

He folded his arms and smiled down at her, his eyes gleaming under the shadow of the goatskull helmet. It was meant to be a comforting gesture, though he knew most wouldn't find it that way. But she was different.

"But does he know who I am?"

She studied him for a few moments, visibly relaxing.

"No..."

There was an almost unnerving volume of trust in her eyes as she looked back at him.

"Well, if he is so inclined to "take out the trash" then he can deal with me if the
need arises. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Her expression smoothed and went blank, as did her tone.

"Are you saying you forbid me to do this?"

He barely stopped the laugh in time.

"No. I didn't say that."

[Stefano-Kyren]

Stefano lied down on his bed in his regular Jobe Apartment, he seemed to toss and turn alot obviously in deep thought. Stefano continued to turn about until he stopped and stared out his skylight for a moment..

"Yin..."

Stefano seemed to utter this name a few time in his head until he spoke out,

"I wonder... I wonder why she wants to be around me? No woman has ever wanted to be around the likes of me."

Stefano laid back down on his bed staring into the ceiling.

"I hate being bored.. I always think when I am bored."

Stefano turned his head to his many rifles hung on the wall. He recalled previous times where he would use these weapons for his line of duty. It seemed those days were over.. maybe. Despite how much he would try to change the subject to himself, Yin would always come into his mind.

"I think I have fallen for her.. what was that word? Aishi.. Ai****eru? Yeah I think that is it. Has she fallen for me? I wonder.."

Stefano got up and began to walk up the ramp to his main room, it was empty- just how he likes it. Stefano leaned on the closest wall and looked at the floor.

"Heh Heh, I wonder if I am getting soft. How would Malachii act if he saw me like this? Or even the other Wraiths? It's a funny thought. Yin has the killer instinct so Malachii would probably like her."

Stefano begins to pace about again around his apartment.

"Hmm.. and this Boris guy.. she wants to terminate him. Can she do it? What am I saying? Of course she can. I may act oblivious but I can see her strength. If worse comes to worse.. I can always step in."

Stefano grins and begins to laugh, seeming to be a bit cocky in his tone. He was getting like that nowadays.. cocky. Alot of the old threats to him were gone, mostly disappeared. Now Omni-Tek is filled with people who couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag. Stefano shook his head, "I will protect her though, I made a promise to. Afterall.. I am a Body Guard." Stefano grinned.

Stefano halted his pace and walked for the door grabbing his black cloak, "Yeah.. I can tell I am falling for her. But that is not a bad thing at all. It's new to me though." Stefano then walked out the door into the Jobe night, he seemed to look back and smile at one point, turning a head of a local bystander appearing to be in shock at the smile of an assassin.

[Voyager]

The floor of the apartment looked like an illegal arms bazaar. It was at odds with the homey scent of chocolate cake that drifted from the kitchen area and pervaded everything. The little oriental crat was a languid sprawl of limbs in the midst of it all, poking curiously at a hammer nearly as big as she was. The metal gleamed so brightly in the late afternoon Jobe sun that she couldn't resist. The weapon was of alien make. Sleek. Polished. Foriegn. And even better, it was a gift from him. A tangible sign of his affection for her that had a practical use. And this made it perfect.

She nudged it again, as if expecting it to move on its own or do something unexpected. After all, one could never say what these alien toys would do. It was actually almost disappointing when they didn't do anything all that unusual. Maybe she'd use it on Boris when she found him. He had a fondness for blunt trauma and might appreciate the irony of it being visited upon him by a clanner instead of the usual vice versa.

It was a pity he was being so reluctant to be found suddenly, since their little run-in at the Rhompa Bar. Though she had decided that the utmost caution should be excersized in stalking him since he'd so foolishly revealed himself to be so deeply in the grasp of the Unredeemed as to be able to take their loathsome shape...

Rompas was nearly deserted. Her lips twitched upwards slightly in an expression too feral and unpleasant to be called a smile as she stepped closer to the table, her eyes resting on the Omni employee sitting there alone. Vulnerable. She had no actual intentions of hurting him unneccesarily. But he didn't know that. Shouldn't know that, lest his actions force her to harm him. There was still some vague, residual feeling of reluctance to do any needless harm to a member of the Society of Salvation. After all, they, for the most part were peaceful. For the most part.

But she required bait for bigger game. And this person would lure out her actual prey, if it was indeed still worth pursuing. She HAD heard rumors of the internal collapse of Omni Pol. Very reliable rumors. But if they were so hamstrung by the weakness that their internal corruption and their long inaction had brought on, perhaps some other, more worthy target would arise to take their place, lured by clan presence, hunting in the heart of their territory.

And she needed this to hone and prepare herself for the REAL hunt. Boris Breznev.

She felt more than heard Stefano move behind her, alert and highstrung, his body tighter than a stretched bowstring awaiting release. The way the man hunted his prey was downright sensuous. And that intensity and enjoyment was contagious. She repressed the shocking urge to purr and lick her lips with the pleasure of his shared enjoyment of this. This was not a feeling she was used to. It was a little frightening. And very distracting.

Distraction wasn't something either of them could really afford right here and right now. In the corner of her vision she saw motion. Newcomers approaching. Stefano's almost bored reaction to them let her know that they were no threat, unable to interfere.

"More SoSlings. Nothing to worry about. "

His tone was derisory, dismissing them and urging her to get on with it.

"Well what an unexpected pleasure...! Hello Yin."

The skin on her back crawled. Her eyes burned a sullen red as she turned, slipping her Ash's Specs up the bridge of her nose in a habitual act of defensiveness. Hiding. But he already knew very well. The jovial smile burned her nerves, causing her to wince slightly. And then he changed, the pudgy, cheerful balding solitus writhing and shifting into the horrific, alien and utterly disgusting shape of one of the Unredeemed.

She shuddered. Her revulsion to the Unredeemed had only increased since she had destroyed her contract records with OmniTek. Not that she had ever been comfortable dealing with those more shadowy revenants of the Shadowlands even as an Omni employee. It had been an immense relief and a guilty pleasure to begin slaughtering them in her new life as a clanner. She bore them more disgust and ill will than she did the alien invaders. At least the aliens' pets made worthwhile and sturdy servants. Their talents at killing were effective, even when turned against their erstwhile masters.

The train of thought slowed and paused for a moment, analyzing that particular set of mental concepts. It did not escape her that there was irony in this too. After all, had she not in the end willingly allowed herself to be turned against HER former masters? Of course, in this she had free will. Unlike the zixes. Or the many slaves she had wrested from their masters to be turned against them as her weapons. Serendipity. Such balances and coincidences followed her as faithfully as her mechanical shadow, Chew-Toy. It sometimes made her wonder if there was any actual coincidence in any of it. But then, Yin was no believer in predetermination or fate. One forged one's own destiny. Any su****ious coincidence was manifestation of one's subconscious predispositions.

She smiled, hefting the alien sledgehammer in her tiny hands easily, testing its weight and balance, fingers caressing the slick metallic surface, admiring its simplicity and elegance with an unabashed tactile pleasure. It felt unexpectedly good to swing it ---

*CRAK!*

She blinked at the broken remains of one of her standing multilamps, blushing furiously as Chew-Toy appeared at the head of the ramp and stared down at her with his lambent blue, unblinking sensors. He was the very picture of stern disapproval, despite his featureless visor of a face. Even moreso devoid of features since she had rebuilt and upgraded his shell and skin to the slick, onyx-black of the bodyguard... and still his disapproval was clear without need for words. She could house his intelligence in a toaster and he would still be Chew-Toy, her companion, her guardian, her caretaker and her friend.

"Be glad that Kyren-san is not here to see you being so clumsy. You should be more careful, Neku-chan."

Her cheeks flamed as she glared back up at the android, knowing very well that he was right to scold her, yet stubbornly unwilling to admit the error she knew she had committed. And as was usual, he knew it all. His all-too-human nod made no bones about that.

"He does bring out what is human in you... "

He didn't need to complete the thought. Because both of them felt the relief and the rightness in that. Even if she did struggle with the lack of logic that allowing her more human feelings and thoughts to rule her actions at times brought. It was something she hadn't even known she'd missed or had lacked.

She set the hammer down.

"Goumenazai, Chew-Toy."

Both her tone and the subtle and respectful bow in the android's direction were sincere and repentant. If an android assistant's shell permitted a smile, this one would be beaming with a father's pride.

"Doitashimasite, Neku-chan."

[Stefano-Kyren]

Stefano clenched his stomache trying to stop the blood from spilling all about him, he was on his knee looking up a woman dressed in a full Omni-Pol Uniform, he knew who it was even with the helmet covering her face.. it was Jadeshimmer. Stefano knew alot about her and she knew about him.

Jade continued to aim at Stefano, she dispersed her troops and it was just them. Stefano continued to talk to Yin and tried to convince her to find the Neo-Luddite man, the one who wanted to aboloish all robotics. Stefano noitced out of the corner of his eye Yin, sneaking slowly behind Jadeshimmer. Jade never noticed and continued to speak,

"Stefano.. you should be rotting in a dungeon right now but you always seem to escape. I think I might start to seek out all First Light and rid you scum off this-- I didn't see her.."

Yin grinned and raised her rather large in the air and looked at Stefano for a sign. Stefano rose to his legs slowly and walked towards Jade but as soon as he walked Jade snapped the hammer back and struck Yin in the face. She jumped back and aimed her pistols at Yin and Stefano. A huge uncontrollable rage grew in Stefano, everyone though he was unarmed but he took out 2 daggers and charged for Jade. As soon as Stefano thrust for Jade she Nanomorphed into a Reet and flew out of reach, Stefano blinded by fury Assumed the Profession of a Meta-Physicist and used Quantom Wings to attempt and catch her. Jade flew to quick out of reach and you could hear the faint chirp,

"We will meet again Stefano!"

Stefano fell back to the ground near Yin, totally forgetting about his massive wound in his chest. Yin ran over and helped him up.

"I'm fine, I need to find her and get her back for this.."

Yin shook her head and started fussing over Stefano's wounds. After some quick mending and a stim.

"Come Stef-kun, let's go back to the city, it's much more quiet."

After a few minutes they came to the Grid in Borealis and made way into there City Grid Exit. They materialized in the Forest area, Yin began mending Stefano's wounds with a Portable Surgery Clinic. Yin rose up and kissed Stefano,

"I know I can't stop you from going back out but if you do, come back alive please. But if they hurt you, don't blame me for what will happen to them."

Stefano grinned, "Don't worry Yin.. I need to take revenge for what she did, she hurt you and shot me. I will never forgive that, besides there's bad blood between me and her. I love you, Yin."

Stefano kissed Yin, she smiled and walked off to finish her buisness. Stefano paced around the park for a bit, Jade's life signs disappeared off his Internal-Comm Device. She must've left offworld or went into the Shadowlands. Stefano cursed, he wanted to find Jade and settle this..

[Saito]

Michelle threw her helmet at the opposite wall of her office with a yell of frustration, where it went into splinters. Breathing like a mini-bull during mating season, she stood in the middle of the room. Thoughts raced through her head.

Another, more high-pitched scream, accompanied by a stomp of her boot, died down at its beginning and turned into fading whimpering. Her gaze had fallen upon her violin on its rack. Brushing a curl of sweaty hair out of her face, she stomped over and grabbed it rather incautious.

“Tough bast… shh! He should have died!” exited her lips as she set the instrument to her neck and shoulder. She closed her eyes. Focus.

“Room-control: Jam.”

This command effectively blocked out all incoming calls.

She lifted the bow and struck the first note of the Canzonetta of Tchaikovsky’s Concerto in D as a drop of sweat fell from the tip of her nose to the ground. The few officers that hadn’t left for their homes, yet, knew it was a wise decision to let her be when she played.

The melody, perfected in play through decades of rehearsal, floated through the empty corridors of the cold building. Only a sordino more than necessary every once in a while gave away that the player was distracted.

Eventually, Michelle gave up and a note turned into a hideous screech as she let the bow slump down to her side.

She could have killed the woman at least. How come her left hand had formed a fist in the last moment instead of letting the half open palm hit her nose in an upward angle…?

She opened her secure grid-link and downloaded everything the database contained about Yin “Kittenfu” Koresawa.
The clanswoman’s biography did not show much parallels to her own. More to Stefano’s.
Her character profile in turn did. Still the Omni-Pol officer found no valid reason for her actions. The child-like woman…

Without a doubt, her deed would have consequences. Her friend and Captain Jimi “Virta” Hendrix stared at her in disbelief when she pulled the trigger, aiming at Stefano.

She would face a trial. She would face the wrath of First Light. Nothing would wrest the control of her own life out of her hand.

[Stefano-Kyren]

The cloudy sky created a dim light inside the Jobe Apartment, there were faint sounds of thunder off in the distance. Stefano blinked his eyes seeming just to awaken suddenly. He looked to his side to find his beautiful fiance Yin sleeping soundly with a smile on her face. Stefano smiled aswell as he rose from the bed quietly and into the bathroom.

He quickly changed into what he called his "Uniform," Stefano looked into the mirror and stared at his yellow eyes which had red pupils in the center, he grinned.

"Today should be an interesting day indeed."

Stefano slid on his Black Shades and walked off into the dreary morning air, picking up his Joy of Hunt Rifle on his way out. He looked over his shoulder at the apartment door, "Have a good sleep, love. I'll be back soon.."

Stefano walked casually through Jobe, looking down on the Rubi-Kan landscape, "Rubi-Ka... you have given me death.. let's see you try again.." He grinned and continued walking through the narrow walkways towards the Platform.

The Jobian Platform was bustling with the usual people, explorers heading out for a adventure, people chatting with friends, peddlers, the usual.. Stefano blended in the best he could. Stefano walked holding his rifle by the base of it's barrel not giving anyone the honor of his glance, he just walked straight into the Borealis Wompah Gate, materializing in an instant. One Atrox spoke to his Nano-Mage friend, "Wot was up wit dat guy, uh?"

"I don't know, but he seemed very odd to me.. best keep your distance from people like that." The Nano-Mage took the Atrox by the hand and they walked off down the Platform ramp to a portal.

Borealis was just as busy as Jobe was, people running about with their own muses, they represented a bunch of reets with their heads cut off. Stefano grinned to himself as he continued his now haunting walk through the main stretch of Borealis. He stopped as he heard a Solitus Female talking into her comm with a male, "Yeah! There's a big party at Reets! I heard OP was there to party, thats very cool! Oh! And guess wh...." She stopped and glanced at Stefano,

"Can I help you, Mister Spooky Man?"

Stefano grinned and winked at the girl, hearing this news of Omni-Pol being at Reets made him very excited, perhaps Jade would be there?

The girl made a noise of disgust and continued with her pointless conversation, Stefano set his destination for Reets, he walked to the Wompahs materilizing into Stret West Bank. Stefano came from under the archway onto the main road in Stret West, he looked up, the rain started to come down rapidly,

"Heh heh, today seems like a good day for this.."

Stefano walked into Reets hearing faint music, most likely coming from the Glass Dance Floor, everyone partied there. He threw his rifle over his shoulders and let it hang by a strap, he couldn't fight in here with the Gas Level so high. He made his way to the Glass Dance Floor unnoticed, barely anyone sees him, he saw Jadeshimmer sitting on the arm of a chair enjoying the party. Stefano grinned at the sight of her and hit his cloaking device, disappearing from any detection, even from the best radar. He ran behind Jade as she got up to get a drink from the Bar, she froze realizing he was there, "You..."

Stefano grinned, "Miss me, Michelle?"

"Miss your stench? Never." Jadeshimmer tried to move away but found she being held by Stefano, unable to move.

"Don't move. I don't want to ruin these nice peoples time here. I came to relax and enjoy myself, I'm free to do that, no?" Stefano gave her a small tug backwards to be out of sight of some people.

"I'll kill you Stefano, don't you worry." Jade spoke with determination but Stefano took it and shot it down, "But Michelle... I am already am dead on this planet.." Stefano took his right hand and stroked Jade's right cheek.

"I will cut that hand off, get off me!"

Stefano gently pushed her forward as he deactivated his cloaking device, everyone already gathered their attention at the small conflict going on. Stefano spoke, "It's not time yet, Jade.. no.. Next time we meet, we shall see then."

Jadeshimmer's feelow officer, Virta, came over encapsulated in a large Slayerdroid Case, he stared at Stefano. Jadeshimmer glared at Stefano with a determined stare. Stefano grinned and winked at Jade as he walked out, as he left he blew a kiss at Jade, ".. Until next time.."

[Saito]

“I will spread your guts over Omni-2!” Jade yelled after him in rage, partly over his insolence and partly over her inattentiveness. How could she let him get this close again?

Stefano turned around and his nonchalant reaction, a sneer… the air felt like thick-cotton wool with the suppression gas working hard on her nervous system. She stumbled. All this didn’t help to make any kind of impression on her enemy.

“So you want to make this public?”

The crowd had long forgotten to party, DJ Veldron stopped the music. The following words fell in dead silence.

“I suggest you check your Sentinel’s for weak spots because I will find them.”

“And I suggest you watch your back next time you find yourself in low suppression gas area… Michelle.”

Stefano decided it was time to leave when Virta’s Slayerdroid Robo took a step closer. Of course droids were bound to the same restrictions because of their dependence to the “host system”. The agent probably just didn’t find it amusing anymore to play with her. For now. Fear seemed an emotion far from him. Michelle thought that it wouldn’t matter. Each time she would hurt him, the pain in his face would repay for what he did to her.

Michelle was losing herself. Malachii would have concluded she was finding herself.

Three days later

Jimi had agreed, after long persuasion, not to report her personal vendetta. After the hearing in Omni-1 HQ about the events in the wake of the Neo-Luddite’s first public appearance, her captain had covered her. Not that it was ever against Omni-Tek law to finish off a clansman, the fact that it had happened on neutral ground, combined with her emotional involvement with the case, demanded one. She ended up receiving a medal.

Virta’s face showed sorrow nonetheless every time he found her brooding over dark thoughts.

Jade sat on a pillar of polished basalt to the feets of Hypnagogic Xum-Ixi Shere. The brisk Unredeemed had, surprisingly enough for himself, warmed up to the woman. Ever since she had earned access to Elysium garden and he had heard of her deeds in the further realms, the Omni-Tek employee had found a highly intelligent but strict conversation partner. The air was still wet this morning in Elysium and the dew lay in twinkling pearls over the meadows and woods of this realm.

“Utterly beautiful.”

Jade looked back over her shoulder at the being, blushing.

“Not you, fool. Not this time at least. I am referring to this.”

He seemed to grin and then made a wide, sweeping movement with his mace over the land, encompassing all.

“Yet underneath lays darkness and decay. We have accepted the ambivalence of the corporeal world. I feel you are too stupid to perceive it.”

She bit her lips.

“Still… it is not like we have not tried, and are still attempting to influence it. Either side belongs to what is and will be.”

He looked down at her and she felt his piercing glance on her back.

“Much opposed to the pitiful Inamorata, we have made the shadow our own and found strength beyond comparison. I long to see you embrace it for a much more powerful ally would you be”

“For the reluctance in me I have no explanation. But my vision holds destruction against me, for it often leads to that of its wielder.”

“You are blabbering nonsense. In this environment of constant change, destruction is the only constant of the equation. Besides… vision is not your field of expertise. But mine, rather…”

He chuckled. They continued to let their gaze wander over the awakening fields as the first explorers began to stir, looking for bounty and adventure.

[Voyager]

She leaned against the wall by the door of the storage facility, nimble fingers tucking and smoothing her inky tresses back up into the severe, anachronistic butterfly coiffure she had always worn to honor her ancient and timeless heritage. It was, like many things her parents had taught her, one of many links to the chain that spanned centuries, even beyond the gulf of the Collapse back on Terra. These things were important reminders of her origins and her tenuous commonality with the dominant species of the planet she called home -- and a constant reminder that she too had once been one of them beyond question.

And this was very important to Yin Koresawa. Unlike most, she could not take her membership and inclusion in the classification of humanity for granted, and because of this, perhaps, she treasured this and safeguarded it diligently. Though sometimes, on days like today, she herself found it difficult to maintain any true feeling of kinship with the fragile, irrational and utterly infuriating species that was humanity. What she did and what she was called upon to do made her feel her differences with a painful clarity and made her sometimes question why this bothered her.

But still, she had felt the urgent need to do that most primitive and oddly comforting of things, burying herself in the familiar and uncomplicated stimulus of the shell that contained her consciousness, devouring with its senses all of the sweetness and savagery that Stefano Kyen knew how to offer her. It was perplexing how someone like the opifex agent could make her almost forget how inhuman she was at times. After all, he himself was as cold and rational and relentless as she was in the pursuit of their shared objectives. But the hand that pulled the trigger to send fear and death to the enemy was warm and pleasant and exciting when it touched her. That such a powerful and deadly man could love her, knowing what she was and what she wasn't.... was Yin's salvation.

Her thoughts of the recently implemented projects to gather intel and find tools to begin bringing the more decadent and misguided clans back to the fold drifted towards her impending wedding. Salvation was an inadequate word to attatch to the signifigance of Stefano's desire to legally and legitimately claim her as not his property or posession... but his acknowledged equal, helpmate, partner and lover. The ramifications of this legal binding were staggering. Not merely from a personal and emotional perspective, though indeed this was omnipresent in her mind and heart. The very legality of the union itself, considering the nature of its prospective parties, would create legal precedent legitimizing the recognition of sentient machines as citizens of Rubika.

She laughed, thinking of the expression THAT would bring to the face of that grubby little Neo-Luddite bot-hater who so passionately desired the extinction of her less human-looking extended kin. She'd have to find some way to set up suviellance on him to catch it.

And this brought her thoughts round to OmniPol... and the annoyingly persistant officer who hunted her fiancee. This Jadeshimmer woman was next on her agenda of Things That Require Attention and Action. Yin smiled, savoring the knowledge that she'd let this one carry every painful memory to her permanent grave with her. And she enjoyed thinking about how long and excruciating that journey was going to be.

[Stefano-Kyren]

Stefano tapped his index finger against the wood of the desk, a dim blue light illuminating only his face and the entire room dark, he stared at the screen. "Boring.. boring.." A video feed was being played on the screen showing numerous locations, some occupied with random civilians and others empty rooms and alley ways. Apparently he was just monitering the areas.

Stefano had been recently accepted to The Black Company by his good friend and now his Captain, Astera. He was just a member but was granted the job to locate some new recruits if at all possible, the job.. seemed boring. Tons of new people flooded the streets but none had potential, he didn't care about people or what was to become of them at all. Stefano had a rare ability to kill with no remorse.. Estoven.. he was killed with no regret at all, Stefano didn't even plan on killing Estoven that day. Stefano seemed to have a partner in his line of work now, his wife Yin, she made him feel loved and needed. He had always been solo most of his life, the jobs he did, the assassination of Sensuality, the bomb in Baboons, the kidnapping of Kithrak, all involving himself alone. Partnership.. odd but a necessity in life.

The video continued to feed through, people enjoying the holiday season on Rubi-Ka. Pointless. Idiotic. Stefano needed something to occupy his time, his time now spent monitering stupid videos whilst some idiot plans to save the day. He adjusted his black shades, perhaps he missed Yin. The shadowlands had been occupying her time to much. His glory days seemed dim now.. he had so many titles among the general public of Omni-Tek. A terrorist, murderer, assassin and a petty criminal. Now he is a Clansmen on the fast track to a domesticated life, he knew Yin would never have that, he wouldn't want that. Peace has been poisening the world he lived in. To hell with the ******* that invented peace.. it is ignorant. Some consider it bliss to be at peace, be at peace with oneself but don't bring peace into a War Torn planet with no purpose but to be faught upon by man versus man. Omni-Tek versus Clan. And the Shadowlands with it's conflicts.. Redeemed versus the Un Redeemed.

Stefano narrowed his eyes, pissed to no limits at this world, he got up from his chair then walked over to his bed, he was sick and tired of waiting but he heard... "Good things come to those who wait." Screw them. Nothing can ever happen to someone who sits idle viewing screens for something of interest. He laid in his bed then rolled over, taking off his shades revealing a dim red glow on the wall, he eventually fell asleep still pondering things at hand.

[Stefano-Kyren]

A small crowd exited the small Tir Motel and Bar called "The Happy Rebel," mostly militants and soldiers of The Black Company and allies to them. Amongst them was Stefano, he was wearing his usual Sentinel's outfit mixed some pieces of armor he stole from the Inner Sanctum. He turned the corner and stopped to lean on a wall, he took out a small Datapad and started to input some information. Some thing that were visible on it read, "Clans Military Weapons Storage" and the Sentinels mark all over the Gridsite that Stefano was accesed to.

He repeated the Captain's speech over and over in his head, this gave him inspiration to make a couple changes about himself. He hadn't done much in the past few days, he let his Wife train to gain Access Levels while he himself was at a standstill. Access Level 201 was an accomplishment but not truely good enough for himself, he needed to be better. Stefano was not at the level he wanted to be, though he was an excellent shot, his Close-Quarters Combat was lacking severly.

Stefano hit a few buttons and closed out of the Gridsite, he made the transactions needed for his plans to better himself in training. He felt he needed to join his Wife in improving his methods. Though Stefano longed for real combat soon with Omni-Tek. He felt he always needed some sort of direction in his life, the Wraiths revived him and he was rehabilitated into a Militant enviorment, always having an order. His mentor taught him everything that he knew, though Stefano still considered that his mentor kept alot from him. But Stefano got what he needed and expanded on it, now he wasn't a precursser to legacy anymore, he wasn't an apprentice either, but his own person. A soldier with an emotion to carry into battle, living on a war torn planet. These thought brought joy to Stefano though, he had a lover who thought the same and The Black Company shared his feelings aswell. Espionage was his ways and tactics, he wasn't some seasoned veteran though, but he had skill in his art.

Stefano grinned to himself in the moonlight with the famous "Purple Nebula" illuminating the night sky, he grew fond of Tir, it was never like Galaway County but it had a feel to it. He knew it was time. As Stefano walked past the clubs in Tir, he could hear cheering, it was the new year 29479, Nano Bots lit the sky in different colors, Stefano grinned. The war was about to begin..

[Stefano-Kyren]

Gun fire roared across the once quiet desert land of Aegean, the notum wars had been going on for a couple years despite alien threats, The Black Company had aquired land in Aegean recently and it had been targeted for demolition.

Captain Astera Gorslin talked to her members, no, her comrades. It was a meeting and during which they were all oblivious to the oncoming threat to their land. Stefano sat in the corner with his rifle resting on his shoulder while he listened to Astera's speech. She looked in his direction and ordered him front and center, he gave a quick curious look but followed the orders and stood in front of her, she grinned down at him from the Bar Table,

"Stefano Kyren, you are now Commander of our Spec Ops Division."

She saluted him and he did the same back, moments after everyone's comms were buzzing, their land was being hit. They all rushed out of the Bar through all modes of transportation, from Stefano's Glowing Red Yalmaha to a members Kodiak, they made their way to Aegean.

When they arrived only a turret had fallen and a handful of Omni-Tek Employees stood there, some attacking and some caught off guard by the new reinforcements, Stefano nodded to everyone and yelled, "GIVE THEM HELL!"

Black Company members charged forth towards the attackers the battle ensued. Stefano, Astera and the Lieutenant Steelyglint stood back, due to ICC Regulations their Security Level was too high to fire on the Omni-Tek sheep. Stefano paced about the edges of the battle ground, monitering tactics and watching what the Omni's did.

The desert winds continued to rage through, both members of each side fell, some Omni and some Clan. Each time he saw an Omni fell he would give a motivational yell, he had not been in a tower battle in a long time, let alone be in a commanding posistion. The last time was when he was the leader of his own group of people, Avalanche, he had attacked a tower field in Galway County.

"So is this it, boss?"

A small fixer with a rusty helmet asked Stefano this. Stefano grinned and enthusiasticly nodded, they were staring at a small field of towers, about 6 or so Avalanche members present. Stefano was still new to Rubi-Ka, could easily be compared to a baby. He wore patchwork armor, some Titan's Plasteel and other mixes he found in his battles. He looked back and grinned to his little band of fighters, "Let's go! We're going to take this place baby! Ahah!" they charged and fought all night.

An Omni-Tek employee screaming from plasma burns near Stefano, Stefano came back to reality and laughed at the dieing man. Much had changed in Stefano since that day back in Galaway. He was now married to the love of his life and his personality had a huge makeover after his accident in ICC Space area.

5 hours later, the Aegean base had fallen to the Omni-Tek employees. Stefano crouched down and cursed under his breath, he knew he wasn't invinciable now. The attackers never took the land, just wreaked havoc to it, the Company had later rebuilt on it and it was now functioning again. It was a lost battle but revenge was a dish best served cold in Stefano's opinion.