Unbeknownst to Aztur

[Saetos]

A marching mob, thirteen hundred feet hit the pavement in perfect unison...
"Saetos... Saetos... Saetos..."
Waves of panic... a man struck numb by the chant...
"Saetos... Saetos... Saetos... SAETOS!!!"
An upsurge of fear, of anguish. Pain... unbearable... ...
SAETOS!

"... wha...?"

A young African-American man named Ron "Saetos" Frederickson opened his eyes. That chant... he'd been dreaming about it before, a mob of blue-shirted people waving pitchforks, swords, and the leader of them all weilding a huge sword, chanting his name...

Slowly his pulse rolled down. On his hologram watch he found that it was nearly the afternoon. He had been tired after running from the sixth sandworm of the day in the Temple of Three Winds. The idiots. So, he thought a nap would help, and subsequently.. there he was.

Every night after dying at the temple, he'd dream about the cultists of that canabalistic religion... if you could call it religion. The nightmare was always the same. And it scared Saetos. Aztur the Immortal was not one to be taken lightly, having been fallen at the hands of Aztur about... oh... ten times, and wondered vaguely why Omni-Tek assigned the doctor to assist the fall of Aztur. It had no point. Aztur would reappear. He was "immortal" after all; didn't Tarkhan Zora recognize the word "immortal!?" ...

The watch beeped.

Saetos pressed a button on the watch. He was glad he knew what all the buttons did... because the watch seemed to be made of nothing but buttons.

"Saetos?" a female voice rang out of the watch. He recognized it as Iskkira, a Clan adventurer who had been beside Saetos' side in the Temple.

"Mmm?" Saetos said, still a bit bleary. Vaguely he registered a feeling of contentment.

"I really need those Tears of Uklesh. I'm assembling a group; can you meet me at..."

"... the temple?" Saetos finished. He sighed. "Well... all right... but let's not get myself killed again; I need time to recharge my nanobots, and does anyone listen?"

Iskkira laughed. "I guess not. Well... you know what to do."

Saetos, dreading what would come tonight, walked out of his apartment and headed for Rome Green.

[Chapter 2 will follow. ]

[Saetos]

.... has been deleted. Doesn't fit into the story.

[Saetos]

Saetos sighed again. Iskkira was nice and all; but who did she bring with her? He'd been in some ragtag teams, some with about as much intelligence as a backyard leet. A dead backyard leet, to be more exact.

Exiting the backyard district, he landed in Borealis. Breathing the deep smell of neutrality he noticed Iskkira and some other people. One of them looked familiar...

"There you are!" Iskkira happily said. She was surrounded by what looked like two enforcers, a trader, and an engineer.

"I suppose it's me," Saetos murmured. The group laughed. Saetos kept looking at the trader. He knew it... he definately looked familiar. The engineer's robot made its little noises.

Not too long afterwards, Saetos found himself in Greater Tir County. Saetos took in the surroundings, checking out the rocks, the little pillars, all the players, a sandworm, the blind cul...

A sandworm?

His mind flew to overdrive.

"EVERYONE RUN! IT'S A SANDWORM!!!" Saetos and the trader shouted.

Every single Omni-Tek employee, rebel, and neutral shot to the door. Random deathwails shot through the camp as the sandworm happily munched on its lunch.

"C'mon, zone, zone..." Saetos begged to himself...

Sandworm hit you for 334 points of melee damage.

"C'MON!!!"

Sandworm hit you for 511 points of melee damage.

He could taste blood; the natural nanobot-protection was getting hashed to bits.

Just before the Sandworm closed its mouth, time stopped. A few seconds later, he saw the welcome, rust-colored walls of the interior.

The trader had died. "I'm in Galway Shire," he said through the team feed, clearly in a tone of forced indifference, "wait for me at the entrance."

Saetos, Iskkira, and an enforcer said their okay, but the other enforcer, not caring what was going on, bolted straight to the next room.

Saetos jumped up by instinct. "What the hell are you doing?" he screamed.

"I need levels!" was the reply.

Saetos's watch started clicking. Someone was getting battered. "... um... guys?" said the overzealous enforcer

"What?!" Iskkira and Saetos said together, Saetos attempting to calm down in spite of the current situation.

"Help?"

Suddenly a stream of those blue-colored cultists pelted through the door. They kept coming, almost like a human waterfall cascading in the first hallway. No gunpower was enough for the angry mob of Cultists, who promptly wiped the whole team. The last thing Saetos heard before he resurrected was a chant of "Saetos, Saetos, Saetos..."

[Saetos]

Back at the reclaim. Again. The odd feeling of half-retardedness came back as his mind and the notum connection attempted to reboot itself. Confused, Saetos noted the insurance booth looked like a hugging booth. He shook his head. He was being an idiot.

Stupid, stupid enforcers. Saetos's mind suddenly got clearer, and shaking his head, he hit the private feed to Iskkira, and asked:

To [Iskkira]: You want to try a new team? Kinda dissolved back there.

Iskkira's eyes (visible on Saetos's watch's hologram display) shifted back and forth for a moment; she was obviously thinking hard.

[Iskkira]: How about we keep the trader and the other enforcer, kick the others, and invite a soldier for backup tank and a nanotech for HE?
To [Iskkira]: Sounds like a plan. Is Exinsoldier there?

A pause, and then:

[Exinsoldier]: Sure am. How are you mate?

Exinsoldier's face appeared in the hologram display, next to Iskkira's. Saetos remembered Exinsoldier; after begging for the team, Saetos had reluctantly agreed. It turned out Exinsoldier had a cunning ability for his profession, shocking Saetos completely.

To [Iskkira]: What about Mastaofpie?
[Iskkira]: Meh... he's in suspended animation at the moment, probably sleeping.
To [Iskkira]: ... well... we can try some other time I suppose.
[Iskkira]: I suppose. How fast can you make it to the temple?
To [Iskkira]: About ten minutes maybe?
[Exinsoldier]: <laughing> Make it quick, team's almost full.

Forced to choose between staying nice and safe in bed at Borealis or going to the temple to avenge Aztur, Saetos racked his brains.

[Exinsoldier]: Get the hell into the temple!
To [Exinsoldier]: Fine, fine, let me get there first, Jesus Christ...

Saetos gave up, and ran to Rome Green, through the portal, and arrived, once again, at Greater Tir County.

There they were, Iskkira and Exinsoldier, flanked by the trader, the enforcer...

... and Saetos's sister, Xianghua.

"Xianghua!" Saetos shouted. A few people jumped. One pippy agent found himself on the floor from flinching awkwardly. "Sister! How... it... who... I, the, how, what," Saetos babbled.

Xianghua giggled. "Someone needed Humidity Extractor?"

She started to conjure up notum threads, weaving them together as only a Nano-Technician would, gentle, expert, a veteran at the art.

"Xianghua runs Humidity Extractor within your NCU," Saetos read on his headset.

Logging on to the team grid feed, Saetos said, "Well, I guess we can... ... wait... Ryuahn!?"

The opifex trader in the team had, all along, been Saetos's brother. Saetos was floored. Half the family was now in the team.

[Team] Ryuahn: Saetos! You didn't notice me? What kind of brother are you?

"Ryuahn runs Sensory Improvement Expertise within your NCU."

[Team] Ryuahn: That should make it a bit better to see me. <laughs>

Saetos blushed. He was about to lift his Phase Blades, but then he knew it wasn't worth it. The enforcer in the team looked at the pair of them, nonplussed. Regaining his senses, the enforcer said, "Um... whenever you two are done... Isk, Exin, Xiang, and I are ready..."

Saetos came out of his mini trance. Ryuahn, on the verge of volleying off his Vektor ND, lowered the shotgun.

[Team] Saetos: Fine. Fine, let's go.

Iskkira, Exinsoldier, and Mastaofpie are actual characters, and actual players that I have teamed with in the temple. They've been memorable enough to me to involve them in this story.

Keep 'tooned!

[Saetos]

Saetos was the first to arrive at the temple. After a few minutes, however, no one else had entered.

The enforcer was the first to speak:

[Team] Iwannatank: Saetos... you might wanna see this. It's kind of funny - these two guys are duking it out verbally.

Saetos raised one eyebrow.

[Team] Exinsoldier: Oh, god. One of them is just being an ass to the other... Saetos, come out here, we need you.

Saetos obliged... and came upon an enforcer and a bureaucrat arguing. A level 212 enforcer, to be exact, verbally sparring off against a level 33 bureaucrat.

The enforcer rallied off: "I don't care! You're being an idiot to my organization, harrassing my leader, and I really need to deal with you!"
The bureaucrat stepped back. "It wasn't me! Someone's been posing as me lately, how can you prove that...."
"Don't deny it! I heard you not too long ago whispering to one of your little friends, trying to get some revenge on me." The enforcer's face contorted in rage. "You wanna see revenge!?"

The congregation, who had formed a circle, gasped. The enforcer had run his top challenger nano and Mighty Challenger to Behemoth, and was now triple or quadruple Saetos's height.

Saetos suddenly had an idea.

To [Ryuahn]: I've got an idea; tell everyone to fire when I lift my blades. I'm going to distract the enforcer. I'll tell you when you can fire your Vektor.
[Ryuahn]: Awesome, Saetos! ... Telling everyone right now...

Saetos got out of the circle. "Can we talk?" Behind his back, Ryuahn mouthed if he could attack the enforcer. Giving a very slight nod, he waited for the enforcer to reply.

The enforcer laughed. "No! I have no idea why you're standing up for that little crat there, in fact, I'm..."

He never got around to what he was, for Ryuahn pulled the trigger on his Vektor. The triple beam hit the enforcer on the left shoulderblade.

"Oh, my, god, lowbies are so funny. Can't even dent an enforcer. I could just stand here and... ... what are you doing?" he interrogated to the bureaucrat, who was whispering into his watch. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" the enforcer yelled. "FINE! Don't talk!" he yelled, lifting his Kyr'Ozch Sword. Before he could properly swing it...

Fourty to fifty people had jumped off of the platform above the door. They'd been in sneak mode the entire time, it seemed, and on the orders of the bureaucrat, had showed up to stick up for everyone else.

"Err..." the enforcer said, but that was about as far as he got. Saetos had unsheathed his blades.

Pandemonium ensued. Countless swords, pistols, shotguns, nukes, and daggers struck the enforcer in a mad volley. One deathwail later, the enforcer had fallen. He was a terrible mess.

[Team] Iwannatank: That... was interesting. Let's, umm...

All in unison, the six teammates entered the temple, for what Saetos hoped would go better than usual...

[Saetos]

The team filed in, one by one, waiting inside for each subsequent member to enter. They were all silent for a moment, looking at each other as if they were afraid to do something noticeable. Xianghua was the first to cast anything - being a Nano-Technician, she had a lot to do. They all watched her weave bunches of notum threads as only Xianghua could - delicately, skillfully, graciously. Mentally shaking themselves out of their reverie, the rest of the team started to fill up their team, making a lot of colorful lights in their section of the hallway. Ryuahn left the hallway to drain a cultist to get his weapon up to speed. They could hear the familiar sounds of drain casting, the Vektor firing off, and the Cultist's deathwail. Saetos selected a button on his headset, and small bunches of notum materialized into his hands. Deftly waving his hands, he casted Bodily Invigoration, bringing some hit points into the team. Finally casting his team heal, Saetos announced that he was ready.

The team was still quite silent, as if their task ahead of them removed any meaning of communication. As they moved down the hallways, they shifted left and right, eradicating subsequent hallways of cultists. Ryuahn detached himself from the team; his drains had run out. A one thousand-point crit later, he ran back to the team. The enforcer ran to the Defender of the Three, easily taking him out with his Kyr'Ozch Sword.

The enforcer finally spoke.

[Team] Iwannatank: So, what do you think. Left door, middle door, or ...
[Team] Ryuahn: Well... what about Guardian of Tomorrow? We all need tanks, don't we?

Ryuahn stared at his Acolyte Robe with a sort of grimace on his face. He always was the guy who wanted to look tough and menacing, to contrast with his Opifex fragility.

[Team] Saetos: Guess so, bro. I don't think sis wants one, does she? ... Xianghua...? Helloooooo? .... Wakey wakey...
[Team] Xianghua: .. ???
[Team] Iskkira: Whoa.. sorry, we were kinda chatting... sorta... perhaps... maybe... !?

Ryuahn scowled, and Saetos looked disgusted.

[Team] Iwannatank: Saetos wondered if you wanted a Guardian Tank, Xianghua.
[Team] Xianghua: Hehe... sorry... no thanks, not exactly my kind of thing.

Xianghua playfully stuck her tongue out.

[Team] Ryuahn: Finally, an answer. ... Bah, whatever. Right door I guess.
[Team] Saetos: Sounds good to ...

<beep beep>

[Team] Saetos: <sighing> Hold on.

Saetos pushed a button, and found his father, Antonuelo Cifuentes, displayed holographically. Iskkira and Iwannatank had no idea what was going on. However, Xianghua and Ryuahn were wide eyed.

[Xianghua]: Is that... Dad!?
[Ryuahn]: Dude...

Antonuelo logged on his alias and started to chat with Saetos.

[Rokshi]: Hello, son. Look, this can't wait. I need to talk.
To [Rokshi]: Dad... no, I can't. I'm with my buddies in the Temple, special order from Omni-Tek.

Far from being annoyed, Saetos's father laughed. Well... that was it looked like. There was no voice, only words displaying on Saetos's headset.

[Rokshi]: Omni-Tek... ah, those guys, yep. Anyways... well, it can't... well... I suppose it could... but...

Ryuahn spoke into his watch. He hadn't pressed the private feed, but the vicinity feed. Saetos and Xianghua decided to as well; Xianghua wanted to hear her father as well, and Saetos decided to do Xianghua and Ryuahn justice.

"Dad, cut to the chase please," Ryuahn said, bitter.

"Ryuahn Cifuentes, calm down." Rokshi chuckled; he never got mad easily. Ryuahn's face softened up a bit.

"Well, anyways... Ron, ...."

"Call me Saetos, Dad," Saetos said. Tears welled up in his eyes; he hadn't heard from his father in ages.

"Whatever." Rokshi was suddenly monotone; it sounded he wanted to get his point across, as Ryuahn wanted, and apparently his son was hindering him. "Saetos, I need to explain the curse put upon you."

Everyone was nonplussed. Saetos thought hard for a moment... curse? ...

Then something clicked.

"Dad.. my dreams?"

Rokshi smiled. "Yep. Well... remember when you first fought Lien the Memorystalker? How he kept wailing on you? That terrible headache you had?"

Saetos nodded. The memory haunted him.

"Well... apparently, Lien saw you as such a threat - you know our bond - almost unbeatable at the most stricken moments ... anyways, Lien attempted to break the bond, so that he could kill you permenantly, or just addle our bond so much that Aztur the Immortal... well... could stay immortal. He went as far as giving yuo these dreams to make you afraid of going to the temple. But, that's almost not important at the moment.

Rokshi set his face in a matter-of-fact alignment, and spoke as if what he said was more important than what Tarkhan Zora could ever say.

"You, me, Xianghua, and Ryuahn are the reason Aztur can be touched. Let me explain - Aztur was just a random character, but he was known for crafting the best swords in the world. He was a legend on Earth, Jupiter, and Rubi-Ka. In a battle of mine, I told Aztur that if I won, I could get his best sword... the Stygian Desolator. It so turns out, of course, I won. I got his Stygian Desolator, and he's been extremely mad ever since, because he thought I had won it on some trumped up charge. He created the temple, and used metaphysical powers to conjure up the Guardian of Tomorrow, Lien the Memorystalker, the works. I adopted you, Xianghua, and Ryuahn to create a spiritual bond to prevent Aztur to rise up to whatever power people fear him to contain. I suppose that's why your brother's Opifex instead of being solitus as you and Xianghua are - you and Ryuahn are not blood relatives. Those who were slain by me all these years rose out of the dead, and joined Aztur, in hopes of breaking the bond that prevented Aztur the Immortal from living up to his name. They've created a religion out of the whole ordeal. I am the destined to be killed. Aztur the Immortal knows, if anyone of you permanently dies, the bond will be broken, and Aztur will be strong enough to leave his temple and wreck havoc on all of Rubi-Ka."

Iskkira was wide-eyed. Her friend, Saetos, with this kind of father? Iwannatank was nonplussed still.

Xianghua said, "Daddy... how did you figure all of this out?"

"Years and years of research, Xianghua," Rokshi replied. "Listen, you three..." - Ryuahn shook out of his reverie after hearing that Saetos and himself weren't related - "under no circumstances shall you break away from each other. Stick together, protect each other. Saetos, you're a doctor - consider yourself ... well... me in a way, the protector of you all."

"But, then, why does everyone go in the temple?" Saetos asked.

"They all think they can take down Aztur by themselves. They bring their little friends to take down Aztur - sometimes they succeed, but after a period of time, Aztur comes back. He's still 'immortal' after all... but not fully. He can still die... but not properly."

"Dad... so what's the point of going in to take down Aztur the Immortal and his lackeys if he just reappears?" asked Ryuahn.

"Because you three are the only ones who can kill Aztur; and you can't do it with other people around, unless you, Xianghua, or Saetos deal the final blow. You can hit pretty hard I hear... thousand point critical hits at level thirty-five... you've always had a thirst for huge guns and over-equipping yourself..." Ryuahn and Rokshi laughed, and so did Iwannatank, who finally got what was going on. "Well, point is, your teammates can wail on them all they want, but you guys must teach Aztur that I and my family can take him down, that we are superior. So, either of you three must deal the final blow, otherwise, Aztur will just come back."

"Now... enough chatting. I've been invited for Elysium hecklers, and so... welll..."

"Yeah... thanks Dad," Saetos said to his watch. Rokshi's face had disappeared.

Iskkira smiled. "Time to fulfill someone's destiny I guess?" she said.

The rest of the team smiled, and with some newfound hope, ran towards the right door.

[Saetos]

Down the hallway they ran, all twelve of their feet hitting the floor in random moment, the sound echoing around the temple. So began the Cifuentes family's quest to tackle the temple and eradicate Aztur the Immortal.

The trek went without a hitch, except for some random interference from Nathan the Faithful and Reverend Julaan, who gave Ryuahn a hard time with his nano debuffs before Iwannatank launched a lucky Mongo Slam!, saving Ryuahn from getting whacked to death.

As they got to Guardian of Tomorrow, they found that the Guardian was gone - and replacing him were about ten to fifteen people, armed with Perennium Blasters, Stygians, Kyr'Ozch Pistols, Mausser Chemical Streamers, you-name-it-they-had-it. Saetos was floored; all they had were a Frost Scythe, a Vektor ND Lizard, four Phase Blades (Iskkira and Saetos) and Xianghua's cyberdeck.

If only...

Suddenly, they heard the juggernaut's digital whine.

"POP IT OFF, GUYS!" Saetos shouted. Iskkira quickly wolf-morphed, and she and the entire congregation flew to the juggernaut.

It was total chaos. A hail of energy blasts, swords, bullets, daggers, fists, and nukes were pummeling the juggernaut. Another whine, and a hail of flechettes. Saetos aimed his Nano Bandage nano at Iwannatank, and watched as Iwannatank's nanobot protection reconstructed itself.

Ryuahn spoke over the noise.

[Team] Ryuahn: Remember the enforcer outside the temple? How we all beat him down after the argument? Just think of the juggernaut as the enforcer, and, well... have some fun!

Ryuahn laughed. The others didn't; they suddenly gained some new resolve at the analogy. Their efforts doubled, to make absolute certain the tank would be theirs.

The first real hitch was when Guardian was at half health. Someone had run in, and following them were waves upon waves of Cultists. Xianghua smiled; she knew what to do. Threading notum strands together, she hit the nearest one with her favorite nuke, Shrapnel Burst. She conjured up thousands of tiny metal shards, which struck each and every cultist, striking them all down in one hit.

Meanwhile, Ryuahn was looking murderous. The Guardian of Tomorrow noticed this, and it started to shoot flechettes at Ryuahn to keep him from doing anything. Ryuahn was at very low health - a deep gash could be seen down his left arm, as Ryuahn's natural nano protection was breaking down. The juggernaut had sounded off its digital whine, and knowing what would come next, Ryuahn flung back the trigger.

Ryuahn had popped a crit.

Sparks were flying. The triple energy beam had struck a major circuit exposed from a stab from Iwannatank's scythe. Everyone stood back. The juggernaut disengaged, and crashed to the ground in a rain of metal and sparks.

Saetos, Xianghua, and Ryuahn smiled. One boss down, many more to go...

[Saetos]

I have reached writers block atm. Hopefully you'll be able to see yours truly defeat Aztur

<attempts to think up more story>

[Saetos]

After two weeks - oh noes - UtA is back on its little feet and tottling along once more! <confetti> So...

[------]

Ryuahn chuckled. GOT dead by the "bond" between them and their father... GOT would never come back - it was fruitless for these little masses of people to sit on the cold stone floor and wait for the juggernaut now.

At the hallway leading to the room, the group sat down and pondered who to take next.

[Team] Saetos: GoT's down...
[Team] Iskkira: Gathered that...
[Team] Saetos: So... who are we taking down next? Lien? Reanimator? Curator? Nematet?
[Team] Ryuahn: Hrmm...
[Team] Xianghua: Um...

The enforcer in the team looked bleary-eyed.

[Team] Iwannatank: Guys, I've got to hit the sack.

Ryuahn grumbled. They all watched Iwannatank evaporate in a cloud of flashing blue-white dots.

[Team] Ryuahn: Fine... fine... there's no point in fighting with no tank.
[Team] Saetos: Hey, wait a minute...
[Team] Ryuahn: What, what!?
[Team] Xianghua: Hey... what about...
[Team] Ryuahn: CAN YOU GET TO THE POINT!?!
[Team] Iskkira: Erm... What the heck is going on...
[Team] Xianghua: ... Hydrojen... ? Maybe... kind... a?
[Team] Iskkira: ... ... o.o
[Team] Ryuahn: Cousin Hydrojen... (Ryuahn winked...)Haven't seen him in ages.
[Team] Saetos: Iskkira, Hydrojen's an engineer, he's Xianghua's, Ryuahn's, and my cousin.
[Team] Iskkira: ... yeee... ah, Oh... kay...

Iskkira looked taken aback.

[Team] Ryuahn: No sense in sitting around. Let's contact the guy.

Saetos pressed a few buttons on his wristwatch, and a hologram of Hydrojen, a nanomage engineer, appeared. Next to him was a Warbot. Hydrojen was in a chair, hammering away at what appeared to be carbonum. A series of bangs could be heard.

"O.o ... Saetos!?" said Hydrojen, bewildered. He was apparently thinking along Ryuahn's lines as well.

"Tch... who else?" Saetos replied.

The warbot, dubbed Smeagol, spoke. "Master is making some armor at the moment. Check out the wad of cash... master makes a lot of money making armor. Human mindset logic..."

"Smeagol... do I have to resolder that brain chip of yours? Again? ... Don't mind him Saetos, he blunders like that all the time. Whatcha need?" chuckled Hydrojen.

"Ryuahn, Xianghua, and I were..."

"Xianghua?! Wow! My family, all in one place... How's the Cifuentes clan doing?"

"Not to shabby... we're in the temple at the moment, our tank logged and we were wondering if..."

"... I could replace him? What do you think Smeagol?"

Smeagol's gradual movements halted. "I... master, I'd love too... master and his human family together again - that is truly astounding."

"Guess that's a yes," Hydrojen said. "I'll gridwarp this bag and I'll be on my way."

[------]

Hehe... Hydro's now involved stay 'tooned!

[Saetos]

About thirty minutes later, Hydrojen filed in the hallway, in a billowing Lava Trenchcoat and matching hood. Smeagol, for what Saetos assumed was the four hundredth time, smacked a wall before entering.

: Hydrojen's pet, Smeagol: Ouch...

Hydrojen sighed. "Smeagol's kinda clumsy when it comes to pathing. Motion sensors are kind of broken at the moment." He stuck out his tongue.

"Well, Smeagol's only useful to us if you join our alliance - Omni-Tek can't grant you the right to loot or gain rankings without authorization, cousin," barked Ryuahn.

Hydrojen and Saetos connected their watches together with a small port extending from them. A few tinny beeps later, Hydrojen was considered in the team.

[Team] Hydrojen: Man... quite honestly I can't wait to get out of here. I have people flagging me down, yelling for Stygians. It's sick...
[Team] Xianghua: Well, after Aztur falls... no more stygians for them.

Xianghua laughed.

[Team] Iskkira: What do you think of fighting Lien?

: Hydrojen's pet, Smeagol: Nematet's a pansy. Master knows me well - I take down the bosses like cake.

Through the subsequent hallways they went, Smeagol blowing away Cultist after Cultist who dared enter their midst. Another door, and they could hear the grinding sharpening of scythes.

[Team] Hydrojen: Stay back guys. These legionnaires...
[Team] Ryuahn: Oh come on. We have Saetos.
[Team] Iskkira: And me.
[Team] Ryuahn: And Iskkira. Let's get some fun started.

Cutting through the legionnaires like butter, they met the end of the spiral hallway, where Lien was.

But Lien wasn't there.

[Team] Xianghua: So... where is he?
[Team] Saetos: ...
[Team] Ryuahn: Bro... you OK?
[Team] Saetos: Guys... this, this guy, he... he... O.O
[Team] Iskkira: Oh, my, god...

Lien the Memorystalker stood towering behind Saetos. And he wasn't all too happy. In rapid German, he rasped, "Saetos,Leuchtfeuer des Schicksals zu unserer Familie, Ihre Seele, die ich plündere... Meine Energie fordert Sie herau... Ich zerhacke Ihr Gedächtnis... Bogen... Jetzt!!!"

Saetos's face was screwed up. Slowly he arched forward - meanwhile, the warbot was wailing on Lien, but Lien didn't seem to care.

"Ich lasse Ihr Wesentliches aus Ihnen ab... Mein Feuer äschert Ihre Seele ein und versengt Ihren Verstand... Auslieferung...

Saetos was now screaming. His mind was totally blank. Swirls of color flashed in his eyes - the floor was green, then black, pink, orange, yellow, red, blue, white... an extreme ring was in his ears, like a tuning radio, and climbing in octaves.

"TRAGEN SIE IHREN ALPTRAUM EIN! ÜBERGEBEN SIE AZTUR!"

And there he was, once more... the field, up in flames, with seven hundred cultists, and Aztur the Immortal looming over them all. Marching feet in unison...

Lien spoke one last time.

"Gehen... Sie... nie... nahe... uns... wieder...! Jetzt... WÜRFEL!!!"

Saetos's internal nanobot system corrupted, and he collasped. Lien finally fell at the hands of Smeagol, but it was too late.

Hydrojen screamed. "OH MY GOD... Saetos!!! ... Omni-Med, Omni-Med, come in..."

[Anderral]

just gotta say this ^^ I LOVE YOUR STORY

so thats sayd :P

[Saetos]

just gotta say this ^^ I LOVE YOUR STORY

so thats sayd :P

Hehe, thanks a lot Anderral

Surprising absolutely no one, introducing... another chapter!!!
[-------]

Saetos woke up. Well... in a sense. His eyes felt dead at the moment. The muscles in his fingers were very weak, but as he moved them, slowly, he felt cloth.

A small sensation ran up his spine. His back, neck, and head muscles felt slightly recharged. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

Swirls of white, gray, and orange met his eyes. Where was he? And what were these colors? Wincing, he pathetically lifted his arm, and let it fall on metal. Adding to the fact that he felt more cloth on what was now bare torso, he registered that he was in a bed.

More tingling sensations. His vision started clearing. Omni-Med suits... he was in a hospital? But why? Saetos had no idea what had gone on. People stood around him - Ryuahn, Hydrojen, and Xianghua stood next to him.

"Mr. Frederickson... you're up?"

Saetos rasped, "Y...yeah..."

"Sir, we're sorry about your lack of movement at the moment. Our Chief of Staff Surgery found you, after the grid-warp - thank you, Mr. Hydrojen Cifuentes - thrashing terribly. Before any operation could be done, we had to run Epsilon Purge on you."

"Epsi...lon... what?" Saetos said.

"Epsilon Purge. A nanoprogram used as last resort during extreme cases of nanofield corruption. Lien the Memorystalker apparently ran a virus in your NCU, which addled your nervous system. Screw health points - it doesn't spill blood, it hacks your brain. Now, as observed by Omni-Med Enforcers, Lien usually uses his own minor viral nervous infection - motor movement is shut down, and your brain starts toying with bodily systems. Usually it goes away by itself.

"If Lien, however, builds up enough hate, it will hack the hippocampus - the nano energy core in all humans. Now, usually, if the body finds something wrong, the cerebrum sends a message that gets to all body parts - very quickly I might add. It uses the hippocampus to run an internal viral shield. Being VERY close to the brain, the brain makes its first stop there, and with the hippocampus's defenses very low, as it has not got enough time to start a wall, it cannot override internal hackage; thus enterinh a mode of corruption and panic within both the hippocampus and victim, as the cerebrum attempts ferverishly to reproduce natural nano. The brain overloads, and combined with internal hackage, the victim is sent into a coma."

Xianghua spoke. "It's fatal?"

"If not caught in time. We actually try to make sure the brain does -not- restart before any operation; being hacked, the hippocampus has no nano energy left to heal the body, and any repairs is halted, thereby perma-killing the victim - you need a trace amount of nano energy to respawn at any reclaim terminal."

Ryuahn cried. Saetos, quite awake now, noticed the irony within this - his own brother, boasting about him being able to do x, able to defeat y, able to accomplish z, crying. No physical toughness could comprehend emotional pain.

"Ms. Terry?" shouted the Omni-Med nurse.

"Whatcha need?" said a bright-spirited, nanomage female Nano-Technician, in the same Omni-Med suit.

"Are you free? I need some nano-programs run on this young man over here - severe case of nanobot corruption. His hippocampus has been operated on, and we've got an HoT on him, but the entire nanosystem is still confused at the moment."

Xianghua piped up. "I'm a nano-tech! I..."

The nurse jumped a bit. "Well... I suppose we could use some help from you. You can start off by running your best Root and Blind programs on him, if you may."

Xianghua blinked. "B..but... why would I root my ... he's my brother!"

"We need to get him in a stiff state, and light must not enter the retina - it screws up any controlled healing. Luckily, the body salvaged some nano energy to contain any buffs run on your brother - he'll be fine."

"Erm... yes, ma'am," muttered Xianghua. "Saetos, this is for the best."

Suddenly, Saetos's limbs stopped any sort of feeling at all. His muscles seemed to be stuck in neutral. A green aura appeared - a sort of net. Then, a black, shifting, gaseous cloud started to shroud his vision.

"Ms. Terry - NS/BHE/NCS if you may."

Saetos's headset reeled off:

Ovalence Terry runs Neuronal Stimulator in your NCU.
Ovalence Terry runs Boundless Humidity Extractor in your NCU.
Ovalence Terry runs Nano Cloud Supplement in your NCU.

"This provides a base for the cerebrum to start analyzing and recalibrating nano particles entering the body," explained Ms. Terry. "NS stimulates the cerebrum and hippocampus, and has been proven to help the brain finish building anti-viral walls. In combat, NCS increases the range of nanobot projection. The medical version is different - notum strands are weaved in a different pattern, and thus reprograms the bots to build a nanobase rather than increase the range."

Saetos watched his headset visor spam the nanobot healing messages. He couldn't care though... this medical terminology was unimportant. He thought to himself how much of a failure he made himself - his body fallen at the hands of Lien, the only priest that could ever overpower Saetos. Lien took the loss of Aztur's duel to Rokshi so personally - and was now avenging it on his sons and daughter.

Omni-Med Nurse runs Epsilon Purge in your NCU.

The root and healing was gone. Saetos sat up, the blanket slipping off his bare torso; and now he was weeping.

"Bro... what's wrong?" asked Ryuahn, still touched.

"We.. we.. can't... we can't win. We can't... I'm too w-weak for Azt-tur... we can't go back!..."

Hydrojen frowned. "Rubbish. Rokshi depends on US to save the world from the hands of Aztur the Immortal, and THIS is how you show your father respect?"

"Hydro... you don't understand. You have Smeagol by your side every minute. All... all I have is my body, and my heals. I can't protect myself against Lien - I've only got my Phase Blades, and for s-someone l-like L-l-lien..."

Xianghua scowled. "Saetos - remember what Dad said? 'Under no circumstances shall you break away from each other. Stick together, protect each other. Saetos, you're a doctor - consider yourself ... well... me in a way, the protector of you all...'"

Hydrojen nodded.

Ryuahn turned angry. "Mate, you can't just bow out of a fight. Hydro's right - Dad DEPENDS on us. You're there to heal us, protect us from Aztur and his little minions, but giving up on us won't make this go away. Oh, sure, we can have Smeagol take Lien down - but what happens if the bot falls apart? And only you can provide frontline healing..."

The nurses were standing back. Saetos retorted, "He hates me! Aztur loathes me! He's trained his minions to go after me first; I can't do something like this! They'll go to any lengths to eradicate me; look what they did to me! I wouldn't be in a coma in Rome Green if I was just doing some random mission!"

Ryuahn shouted. He was livid now, and he tightened the grip of his Vektor ND Shotgun. "When I was in school - way back - I had this one kid who would hunt me down and hit me with a DOT every time we'd meet. I almost gave up... I almost bowed down to him. You know what I did, bro? I drained the little bastard! That tought him something..."

Saetos's expression changed. He was attentively listening now.

"Fact was," Ryuahn relayed, "I would try to find every way possible to thwart my enemy, to catch him off-guard so that he wouldn't mess with me. You know, I think we can thwart Lien like I did that kid if we just think of what to do to catch the bastard off guard - confuse him, distract him from any recognition of you and any bond."

Saetos nodded, smiling. Ms. Terry wasn't all too happy. "This man needs all the rest he can get. I've contacted Tarkhan Zora about this. He has appointed the decision to disengage your rights into the Temple of Three Winds."

"You... don't understand," blurted Xianghua. "Aztur the Immortal..."

The nurse sneered. "You believe that? You believe Aztur's gonna take over the world? Ha! He would have scurried off his little cave by now; he would have killed us all by now! It's been years!! So don't count on a little fairy tale people tell you, because I DON'T BELIEVE IT!"

"So why did Lien the Memorystalker attack me like that?" Saetos asked.

The nurse yelled, "It HAPPENS! It happens; your brain gets corrupted! Lien has been known to do that! He's not called Lien the Memorystalker for nothing! Perhaps Lien also believes in this fanciful legend Aztur tells his little minions, and thinks you are involved in this supposed 'bond'," she finished, moving her fingers in a taunting quotation-mark movement.

"But, madam, Lien was..."

But Saetos's assigned nurse had enough.

"SILENCE! Ms. Terry and I haven't expertised in fantasy, or legends, or any other trash! Ms. Terry, EPI, now!!"

Saetos had no time to explain. He fell into forced sleep, musing and silently crying.

[Saetos]

For the second time in half an hour, Saetos woke up. This time, he was as strong as ever. Omni-Med came through for the solitus doctor once more, and he was now laying down in Hydrojen's Yalmaha. The car was very roomy - Hydrojen and Ryuahn sat at the front, Saetos and Xianghua at the back, and Smeagol kneeling at the back, making all the familiar warbot noises.

Saetos started at his Tears of Uklesh blades, flipping them over and over. He watched as cold water dripped from the tip, to evaporate on Saetos's robe. He lost any faith he had regained over at Omni-Med - besides, what was the proof this "bond" existed? Hell, he didn't even want to go into the temple anymore. Besides, wouldn't Father get angry if he thought his own son didn't believe him?

Father's far away; all communications between him and I are banned... freaking Omni-Pol... Saetos whispered. For the second time on the trip, he pressed one of the many buttons on the watch, and listened to a gridfeed of the latest broadcast - the decision on Saetos's mission to kill Aztur.

"Today, Rome Green citizens are in an uproar as Omni-Med intern Ron 'Saetos' Frederickson has been disengaged from his mission to take down one of our most feared masterminds, Aztur the Immortal.

The desicion was made after grid-chat from an Omni-Med nurse to Mr. Tarkhan Zora, CEO of Omni-Tek, saying that Mr. Saetos had suffered from nanobot corruption from one of Aztur's lackeys. At this time, only rumors lead to the explanation of this revelation. One of them consists of a spiritual bond between Mr. Saetos, his cousin, two brothers, his sister, and his father, but Ovalence Terry of Omni-Med quickly denies this, saying she, if she had the resources, could prove that this bond never exists.

She also denies the 'bond' being the cause of Mr. Saetos's tragic nano-corruption.

Mr. Tarkhan Zora has told IRRK that Saetos is hereby banned from all communication between him, his family and Mr. Rokshi Cifuentes. Furthermore, his mission to kill Aztur has been cancelled.

Live from Borealis, this is Genevieve Jackson, IRRK."

Hydrojen smirked. "Baloney. You know what Father says is true. He's a KEEPER, for godsake..."

Saetos laughed. "Omni-Tek doesn't. All it takes is an Omni-Med aide to convince Zora that, hey, I'm a deluded idiot who's part of a spiritual 'bond' with a liar... now let's ban him!"

Said Xianghua, "Saetos... I never knew you were this tough. Father will come through for..."

Ryuahn turned around in his seat. "Xianghua, you've got to stop thinking that Dad's gonna make everything better. Yeah, he's cool, but he hasn't got the power to change Rubi-Ka's face around, much less Zora's decision. And he certainly can't do it alone.

Smeagol voiced, "So, sir, what do you propose on this matter?"

Ryuahn thought hard. "I say we find him."

Saetos laughed. "Oh, brilliant. How? I can't chat with him, because then I'll be chucked in prison; for all we know, he could be hunting in Perpetual Wastelands, and that's a great place to get lost in!"

Hydrojen's watch hummed. "News feed? Wow... kinda high-strung today."

What came from the watch created four shocked faces...

"Omni-Pol is in total frustration as Mr. Rokshi Cifuentes, arrested for attempt to barge in a high-security office, namely Mr. Tarkhan Zora's, has fleed. Five Omni-Pol volunteers are dead, after a mass struggle, involving six Omni-Pols and four warmachines. At this time, all location feed from Mr. Cifuentes has been stopped. Mr. Cifuentes, from what little Omni-Pol could research, is still alive, and unlocated.

Live from Borealis, this is Genevieve Jackson, IRRK."

[Saetos]

No one moved, spoke, or made any sort of reaction. Stone-faced, they stared at Hydrojen's watch. Even Smeagol was unusually still.

The Yalmaha started to dip. Hydrojen was preparing to park the car into his house in Stret West Bank. It overlooked the river - convenient because Hydrojen liked to fish. It was said that Hydrojen was a genius not just because of his nanomage breed, but because of the high omega-3 content of fish caught in Stret waters.

The car hovered over a strip of paved dirt - the driveway. Hydrojen disengaged the engine, and invited the family in.

Hydrojen's house, to summarize, was ... large. The interior was built in an early 21st century style, albeit with the odd contraption here and there. A set of Carbonum tools sat in a tray, and misbent carbonum sheets littered a nearby trashcan.

The family sat in the living room, on automatic reclining chairs. Smeagol fetched bottles of water from the fridge, and helped himself to a can of oil.

Xianghua sighed, taking off her cyberdeck. "As if we don't have enough problems to deal with... let alone Dad running off somewhere," she muttered.

Hydrojen narrowed his eyes. "You know... maybe after hearing Genevieve's first bulletin, he ran to Omni-HQ to talk to Zora..."

"... and then Omni-Pol thought he was barging in, because he was in such a panic, and then got arrested!" Saetos finished.

Ryuahn laid down his Vektor ND Shotgun. "Well, with Dad gone, we can't exactly convince anyone that the rumors are false. Dad did say there was a bond between all of us... but, quite frankly, there's no way to prove it."

Saetos slumped down. "Aztur's gonna get us all... if Dad hadn't dueled him, then..."

Hydrojen interrupted, "Then what? Does it matter if Uncle Cifuentes still exists or not? We know he's after us; hell, he's after all of Rubi-Ka!"

Xianghua's face lit up. "There is proof."

Ryuahn and Hydrojen lifted an eyebrow, Saetos jumped, and Smeagol turned to face Xianghua.

"Really?" Smeagol said. "Tell master your story, it'll give us a laugh, won..."

"Hush, Smeagol," barked Hydrojen. "Well?"

Xianghua was excited. "Guardian of Tomorrow! He's not coming back!"

Saetos blinked. "Oh...kay. So, we're going to swing right in the temple, and tell Zora, 'Hey, Mr. Zora, here's proof that the rumors are wrong!' and Omni-Tek will say 'Oh, we're sorry, we'll get your mission re-uploaded' and then birds will sing and..."

"Shut... the... hell... up," barked Ryuahn. "Who says we have to prove to Zora?"

"Ryuahn's got a point," Hydrojen said. "In fact, why not use Iskkira?"

Saetos blinked again. "Hydrojen... Iskkira's a member of the clans."

"Hold up," Xianghua said. "Dad never mentioned Hydrojen being in the bond. Besides, he's our cousin, not our brother. Wouldn't he be allowed to enter the temple?"

Saetos's eyes widened. "You've got a point. Hydrojen, do you think you can go to the temple and get some pictures taken?"

Hydrojen's face darkened. "I'll try. I don't know if it will be enough to convince Zora. I think, eventually, we'll have to collect a lot of evidence, and then head to Omni-HQ. Even then, we'll need your father to back it up."

Hydrojen's computer in the next room beeped. "Hmm... ah, another Carbonum order," muttered Hydrojen. "OK, guys, I gotta go work. Grid access is in the bedroom. Go home until I get some pictures done."

"Thanks, Hydrojen," said Saetos and Ryuahn. Xianghua kissed Hydrojen, and Smeagol waved at the family as best he could with his mechanical joints as they scurried off to the bedroom.

[Saetos]

After a grid-chat between the Cifuentes clan and Hydrojen, the Cifuentes family hit the grid and headed for Stret West Bank.

"Well," Hydrojen said, after meeting Smeagol and sitting down again. "I've made some progress. I've gone to the temple, interviewed some people, made some time logs... found someone we really needed to find... and I also came across a mercenary."

Saetos blinked. Xianghua scratched her nose. Ryuahn smiled - he was a mercenary too.

"He calls himself Aeorro, and I told him to come here..."

Hydrojen's doorbell rang out, interrupting Hydrojen.

Smeagol flew into action, executing his security program Hydrojen had crafted. Striding to the door, gun loaded, taser energized, he said, "Please state name, affiliation, job, reason."

Behind the door, a muffled opifex male voice rang out, "Poseidon Daedalus, aka Aeorro, Omni-Tek, mercenary, I am entering on Patrick Cifuentes's wishes."

Ryuahn smirked. This "Aeorro" dude and himself would get along well.

Smeagol lowered his gun. "Access Approved. Disengaging locks..."

A small click, the swing of a front door, and an opifex male keeper with one of the hugest swords Saetos had ever seen stood by the door. He wore a trenchcoat, almost like Hydrojen's, except it was entirely black. Constantly, red dots would appear around the opifex.

"'sup, homeboys?" he said, carefree attitude showing on his young face. Ryuahn laughed - a carbon copy of himself, in melee form. He walked over to the keeper, and the two sat down in a chair and started clicking at once.

Saetos smiled. Ryuahn never truly had a friend, and it was almost like God had sent his brother a gift - an opifex male mercenary, with a carefree, I'm-uber-now-give-me-the-world attitude. Hydrojen and Xianghua cracked a smile as well - they knew as well. Clearing his throat, Hydrojen motioned to Aeorro and Ryuahn to come to the living room. Aeorro and Ryuahn slung themselves over the couch, and the rest took the reclining chairs. Suffice to say, they were all comfortable.

"Aeorro, meet my family. Now, you heard about the whole Saetos-getting-banned and whatnot, and that Rokshi is off somewhere?"

Aeorro nodded.

"Well, Saetos is ... um... right there..." Hydrojen explained, pointing to Saetos, who pretended to hide from view, failing miserably, "... and Rokshi is their father, and my uncle," he finished, sweeping his arm to mention Xianghua, Ryuahn, and Saetos.

Aeorro widened his eyes. Ryuahn, practically a refugee? Amusing...

"So, what we're trying to do is convince Omni-Pol that this bond you've heard about is true, and that Saetos and Rokshi can start convincing and turning around the banning of Saetos's mission. We need to make sure Rokshi stays alive; we need to make sure no one attempts to kill our father."

Aeorro spoke. "If you haven't found him, then..."

Hydrojen smirked. "Guys, remember when I said I found someone we really needed to find? Well... ... Dad!?" Hydrojen yelled.

A shuffle of feet, limping steps, and the glimpse of a Stygian Desolator appeared.

Aeorro jumped out of his skin.

"OH MY GOD... IT'S AZTUR THE I-IMMORRRRTAAALLL..."

An Atroxian voice rang out, "Why, thank you for calling me immortal, ... what was your name?"

An answer never came. He was covered by hugs from Saetos and Ryuahn. Meanwhile, Xianghua had fainted.

"Oh my god, Dad..." Ryuahn said. "You look hurt..."

Rokshi indeed looked injured. Burn marks covered about a quarter of his face, a gash could be found from his left shoulderblade to his waist, and he was limping.

"You old folks know I'm a hardy breed. Stuff like this? Nah, I'm fine," he said, smiling. "By the way, young man, I never caught your name..."

"My name is Poseidon Daedalus. You can call me Aeorro. I'm a mercenary. Your cousin here has payed me to work for your protection."

"A mercenary. A bodyguard. Hydrojen, my boy, you've done excellent," Rokshi chuckled. "I hope you're up to the job, Aeorro - half of Omni-Tek is after my ass, and if I want to get to Omni-HQ alive, well - then I'll need someone compotent enough to keep the family in check."

"No problem, sir. I've gotten trained up lately, my evades are in check, I've been working out, sharpening this alien artifact..." he indicated his sword. "But I honestly don't know why you need me if you've got a Stygian Desolator to defend yourself."

Rokshi frowned. "Aeorro, son, I can't dodge for squat. I've seen you opifexes... heck, I've raised one myself, he's the guy with the Vektor over there. Yep, I've seen boys and girls like him, darting around the playground as if obstacles were air. Combat training was all about dodging and swift attacking... I had it differently. I had to take the pain, rely on my auras, everything. I made it, though. Fact is, you're much better at defensive maneuvers than I am, and ... well... another thing. My insurance has been hacked."

Xianghua almost fainted again.

"So, I gotta have a guy to help me out; thanks to Hydrojen, I've got one."

Rokshi stood up, and yelled, "Alright, children, get your butts off those nice chairs and help each other fight our way to Omni-HQ."

With resolve in the Cifuentes' hearts, and money in Aeorro's pocket, the group headed out the door.

[Saetos]

Bump for writer's block

[Saetos]

"James!!!"

A young man continued to drowse in his chemistry class...

"JAMES CIFUENTES!!"

James "Archimedios" Cifuentes bolted out of his sleep. In a state of panic, he reeled off, "Oxygen! 1947! Albert Einstein! HO2C3! Uran... HOLY C--P, Uranus!!!" Meanwhile, his classmates were falling off their chairs, laughing.

"James Archimedios Cifuentes, why the heck are you sleeping in my classroom?" The teacher, Ms. Thompson, was a neutral lv150 Doctor, and taught Chemistry to high school seniors and juniors - juniors like Archimedios.

In a sort of daze, he muttered, "Sorry, I was rezzing, your lecture killed me."

Archimedios, a bit too late, got back to his senses. Whatever oxygen the class had left escaped them in a second round of laughter. To Archimedios's surprise, the teacher was smiling.

"No problem, Archimedios. Your father is here to see you; meet him in the office."

Archimedios raised an eyebrow. Rokshi was with his adopted sons and daughter - why did he of all people want to see Archimedios?

At the office, Archimedios looked at Rokshi, the familiar Stygian Desolator, the familiar Omni-Tek Elite armor, everything.

Rokshi barked at the secretaries, "I hope this ain't tapped!"

Rokshi then whispered to Archimedios: "I know how good you are with Submachine Guns. I smuggled a pair of Blackbirds across the Stret River, plus 10.000 units of ammo. Use them wisely. I worked it out with the school board; you're coming with me. I'm meeting Hydrojen, Xianghua, Saetos, and apparently a mercenary Hydrojen hired. You guys were assigned to protect me on my way to Omni-HQ."

Archimedios's eyes widened. "I heard all about it, Dad... the bond thing... Saetos fainting... just before he left the hospital he was chatting to me about everything. So, I've got to help Aeorro protect you from anyone that tries to interfere?"

"The Blackbirds will have to be used as a precaution. I'm not expecting you to zerg at the Omni guards - I'd never forgive you. But in self-defense... the Blackbirds, and Aeorro's Kyr'Ozch Sword, should provide some great bodyguard skills. It'll take about 4 days to reach them - I'm planning to meet them over around Borealis. I'm not allowed to use the whompah system or the grid. I'm allowed to walk in Neutral territory, and I'm allowed a talk with Zora, but step foot in a sided city... I'm permakilled. It's going to be a tough road and I need you guys to help me out."

This was hard for Archimedios to ponder. Leave school and join his siblings on this wild adventure and risk getting killed, or stay at home, safe in bed, while the family fell apart? ... wait a minute...

"Can I bring Nanonexus?"

Rokshi raised an eyebrow. "Erm... Nano-who?"

"-nexus... my homeboy," Archimedios smirked. "Solitus nano-technician... and here he comes now."

------
Well... that was fun ^^ More to come! OMG!

[Saetos]

\o/

Finished chapter abound!
More to come! OMG!

[Saetos]

"Nanonexus! Wazzup, man..." Archimedios drawled.

"Got ya back, mate," Nanonexus replied, slapping each other's hands in a sort of quickie handshake. Rokshi looked at the young men beside him, chatting away nonchalantly, as if this little excursion was life. And it was... at least for Archimedios. After school he'd run out to Galway's Private Trove, load his Perennium, and play target-practice against the scorpiods there. Nanonexus was an avid nano-tech: he could do what the others called "kiting", running in circles while casting wide-radial nukes. It was rather nice to notice that Nanonexus had 37 alien kills under his belt - impressive for his age.

The group of three found themselves next to the Teleport Room, where many fixers stood. Students and staff would team with these fixers, who would instant-evacuate out of the room into any gridpoint the traveller wanted. The job was rather easy - all it took was a rather precedented knowledge of the grid and making sure nothing happened when the natural nanoshield corrupted.

A smiling solitus male fixer in an Omni-Trans suit darted forward, almost as if his legs were a mere hindrance instead of propellation. Such an effort to use your legs to move forward...

"Well, boys, let's hit the grid..."

They teamed... and the fixer stared at his wrist device.

"IT'S THE RENEGADE!!! GET HIM!!!"

He madly pushed buttons on his console, trying to find his HOT's... instead, he hit the evac button.

Rokshi, Archimedios, Nanonexus, and the fixer landed in the grid. The three wasted no time: Nanonexus hit his root program, and skidaddled to Rokshi and Archimedios, who were on their way to Stret West Bank.

:-:-:-:-:

Saetos stretched. "Well, here we are, Aeorro," said Saetos, half-comically. "... the grid from Stret West B..."

BZZZAaaAAAPPP...

"Someone's coming out!!! OMIGOD..." Xianghua ran in little circles, freaked out.

Someone unfamiliar sighed. And then two more voices said, "Made it..."

Hydrojen and Ryuahn shouted, "Dad!... Archimedios!!!... ... and, who are you?" he added, staring at Nanonexus. A brief excitement among the group halted as they all stared at the solitus nanotechnician.

Xianghua's eyes glowed brightly. "Teehee... he's a solitus nanotechnician too!"

Nanonexus blinked. "R-r-rea-lly? .. Oh, I see the cyberdeck," he said, and blushed.

"Nothing to be cracked about, guys," Archimedios said. "He's Nanonexus, goes to school in Lush Hills Resort too."

Nanonexus was shifty-eyed. "You must be Saetos," he muttered, pointing to the black Doctor standing before him.

Saetos winked. "Guilty."

"I'm Hydrojen... with a 'j'," smirked Hydrojen. "The opifex with the Vektor ND Shotgun is Ryuahn... and, well, no one else really needs to be mentioned..."

Xianghua chimed in. "Guys, we've all got to find a way of getting Dad to Omni HQ. ... so, um..."

Everyone sat on the ground, thinking. Ryuahn was munching on potato chips. Archimedios was polishing his Perennium. Nanonexus was drawing with a stick in the sand, muttering to himself. Then he smiled.

"Guys... why not just use Hydrojen's Beacon Warp to get Rokshi to Omni HQ?"

Ryuahn frowned. "So, somehow, the guards are not gonna notice an atrox, with a Stygian, who's known as a renegade - and don't even THINK about warping into Zora's office. Zora's gonna arrest Hydrojen for warping Rokshi in."

Saetos blinked. "Why not say we're Omni-Pol volunteers?"

Xianghua jumped up and down. "Why not make a scene outside Trade Grid?"

Ryuahn, Nanonexus, and Rokshi froze. Hydrojen and Saetos snapped their heads up. Archimedios raised an eyebrow.

"What we do," Xianghua said, "is we do some sort of mock riot, get everyone's attention. The city is bound to notice Dad, and will probably call for Omni-Pol to help. We come out, disguised as Omni-Pol officials, do some random diatribing, and keep him somewhere desolate... Stret West Bank grid, I dunno."

"All of us except for Rokshi, and Aeorro and Nanonexus, who can guard, go to Omni HQ and say that we're about to Beacon Warp a prisoner, but he wants to tell his side of the story."

Saetos nodded. "Nice, Xianghua... brilliant, but there's one flaw... what if Omni-Pol notices we're just random Omni citizens?"

Aeorro piped up. "Once they capture someone they look for Engineers in the crowd who can Beacon Warp. Considering the mass riot Xianghua wants, there's bound to be engineers everywhere. The only hope we have is making sure Hydrojen is noticed... we've gotta find a way to make sure he's noticed."

Nanonexus smiled. "He'll be noticed all right."
---:---

Oooooh... tension!

[Saetos]

Just one of those curiosities... if this story were a novel at your local bookstore, would ya buy it?