Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
― Sun Tzu

Cygnu gasped, struggling for breath. His arms and chest felt like they were on fire, shaking with exertion as he rolled over to his side, finally released from the crushing toil of his greatest trial yet. 

“Oh stop being dramatic, Cygnu, that’s not even 40,000 tons, I could do reps with that.” 

“Easy for you to say! - “ he panted, doubled over the weight bench, and took another minute to compose himself after the bench-press training.

“... You’ve got at least 20,000 tons on me, Atlan!” he finished after finally catching his breath. 

“And every pound of it I earned too, ya’know. You don’t build up this kind of muscle just by complaining, you have to keep pushing yourself harder, and work for it every day!”

Atlan brought her arms together, the overlapping plates of her solar armor flexing around her wide shoulders as she bragged.

The rookie blue warrior looked up, glaring. “You’re gonna kill me if you make me press that amount every day."

“Of course not, that’d be insane! Tomorrow’s leg day anyways. We’re doing squats.” She grinned with friendly malice at him.

Cygnu's legs were already aching at just the thought of it.

Atlan’s grin was broader as it dropped the teasing tone. She shoved him playfully on the shoulder. “Don’t look so down, kid. You’ve actually made a lot of progress since you first joined up. Remember the first time we were in this gym? You could barely press the bar . Now c’mon, you can spot me this time-”

She walked past him and started pulling off another weight from the rack against the wall. And another one. 

Cygnu remained silent apart from his second - and third, and fourth - thoughts regarding the truly worrying amount of tonnage she was now pulling over to the weight bench.

“Don’t just sit there, give me a hand!” 

“Uh, Atlan, I think-”

“Here, miss, I can help you with that.”

Another silver hand reached over to the rack, and lifted up a weight towards Atlan. She glanced up, taken aback by the sudden intrusion. 

A warm smile, from wide golden eyes set in a rounded face met her look. To both Atlan and Cygnu, it was instantly recognizable as-

“Ultraman 80! Sir! Uh- It… it’s an honor!” Atlan stammered, nearly dropping another weight from her grip. 

“It’s an honor to be spotted by me? Please, you don’t need to be that uptight. I’m here for the same reason you two are.”

“Really? But-”

Atlan took in the incongruous sight, one of the foremost, renowned heroes of her people, standing casually in the middle of this otherwise-empty gymnasium. Everything else about the small chamber was practical, simple, well-worn from regular use but also careful, dutiful maintenance. Nothing was ornamental, from the flat padded floors, the straight, blank walls, the rows of equipment and weights, all otherwise waiting patiently for the next unknown trainee or warrior. The legends of the feats and strength of the Ultra Brothers seemed like they were too big to be contained by this mundane space, or the unassuming appearance of Ultraman 80 before them now.

“But sir, don’t you - the Ultra Brothers I mean - don’t you have your own training equipment? I didn’t think we’d see you here!” 

80 laughed at the thought. “What, you thought they made gold-plated dumbbells for us? No, even if I did have my own gym, I’d never get a chance to use it much, I’m hardly ever home here for long these days! This one serves my purposes just fine. Now here, let’s get started...”

The shared, familiar routine of setting and securing the weights quickly replaced nervousness for the two young Ultras. Soon, Atlan set her shoulders and back firmly against the bench and began a series of reps with gusto. Perhaps more gusto than was necessary, especially with more tonnage loaded on her bar than Cygnu had ever seen her attempt before. I guess she’s gotten stronger too. 

Or maybe she was just trying to show off. 

“I don’t believe I’ve seen you two around the Garrison before, are you both new recruits?” 80 asked, making polite conversation. 

“What? I guess I am but - Oh! I’m so sorry, sir, we forgot to introduce ourselves! That’s Atlan-” Cygnu gestured to his teammate, who was otherwise occupied, gritting her teeth against the strain. “And I’m Cygnu. It really is an honor to be able to meet you!” 

80’s careful eye was still watching the rhythmic rise and fall of the weighted bar, but he nodded in assent. “Cygnu? So you’re the young Blue warrior that Hikari was talking about.”

“He was talking about me?” His eyes widened, sparkling.

“Sure was, said he was proud of how you’ve been wearing his armor, he’s got high hopes for you,” 80 remarked, winking. 

Cygnu’s slender chest swelled with the unexpected praise. “Thank you! I’ve been doing my best…I think.”

The bar came to rest in its holding positing with a clunk that vibrated through the frame of the weight bench.

“Don’t let him fool you, Cygnu’s been showing off those big purple wings of his whenever he gets the chance,” Atlan grunted, then readjusted her form between the two of them.

“It’s a good thing to take pride in your strengths. Speaking of which, you’re twisting your shoulders when you push up, keep your hips set flatter on the bench this time," 80 added.

Already red-faced from the workout, Atlan blushed deeper. Then she leaned down again for the next set of reps - slower, this time, her face scrunched up in deliberate concentration.

After a moment, with only the creak of the bench and Atlan’s exertion, 80 continued, thoughtfully. “It is great to see more Blue warriors joining the Garrison though. It can be hard sometimes to be held up as an example, feel like you’re singled out-”

“I don’t really see it that way, sir. Uh, sorry to interrupt...” 

“Not at all, please.” 80 gestured, encouraging.

Cygnu paused, considering. “Well, I know that before, there weren’t a lot of Blues on the force, they didn’t travel off-planet much. After being with the Garrison myself, I think I can understand why."

He looked down at his silver-gloved hands, flexing them against the smooth material, as he gathered his thoughts again. “But I don’t really see myself as an example, I’m not doing this to try and prove a point, or anything, I’m doing it just because… well, I want to. For myself, that probably sounds selfish, doesn’t it? But I wanted the challenge, I just didn’t think I would’ve been happy studying the universe only from a lab, like Hikari and the rest of the Science Team does. I wanted to see it for myself. For better or worse…”

80 nodded at his words. “That sounds like a fine reason to me.”

Another silence rested over the trio as Atlan finished her last set of reps, and lay back, catching her breath. The long pause seemed strange to Cygnu, with 80 still standing, his arms crossed over his chest, looming over the bench. Did we do something wrong? 

“You know, it’s not talked about much in the Academy’s history lessons, but there was a time when very few Ultras in general traveled off-planet, or away from the M78 nebula,” 80 remarked, his expression unfocused between the two of them.

Atlan sat up, and scratched at her head. “What? I thought the Garrison was formed after we kicked Empera’s ass and sent him and the other evil aliens packing after the Ultimate Wars, wasn’t that a really, really long time ago?”

“Yes, it was, even before my time. But… I’m sorry, I’m being a teacher again.” 80 laughed and uncrossed his arms, shrugging in embarrassment. 

“It’s okay, Mr. 80 sir, I want to hear about it.” 

“Me too!” 

80 was always happy to have eager pupils. He adjusted himself, adopting a stance Cygnu remembered from his own instructors at the Academy. One hand raised to gesture in emphasis when necessary, the other resting casually on his hip. All he needed was a projection screen and a pointer stick and the illusion of a lecture hall would be complete. 

“Well...when the Garrison was first founded and Father of Ultra was made its Commander, its mission wasn’t really the same as today. The Ultra Warriors then protected the Land of Light itself, sure, and fought direct threats that still faced it. But all the other organizations we have now, like Civilization Guardians, or even just routine patrols, like what your team does? Those were only established relatively recently,” 80 finished the lesson, shrugging.

“Hold on-” Atlan raised her hand to interject, before remembering they weren’t actually in the Academy anymore, and continued. “Uh, what about you and the Ultra Brothers? You traveled to Earth! You all fought against a whole bunch of other aliens and monsters to protect other planets too, right?” 

80 nodded. “And that’s mostly why the mission of the Garrison changed. It wasn’t until our people were forced out of our comfort zone that we understood what we truly fought for, what the source of our strength and courage was.”

He paused, and looked intently at his two impromptu pupils. “But I don’t need to lecture you two about that, you’re doing a fine job of carrying on that mission already, it seems. Say, who’s your commanding officer?”

Surprised at the question, Cygnu instinctively straightened to attention. “Well, technically Ultraman Taro, but our captain is another warrior named Helios.” 

“Ah, that’s a name I recognize! Good, smart kid, graduated with Mebius’ cohort, if I’m remembering right. I always figured he was leadership material.”

The Ultra brother's pleased grin suddenly turned downwards at another thought. “That’s odd though, last I heard he wasn’t a member of the Garrison’s patrol squad.”

“Well we’re a pretty new team, Cygnu’s still a rookie and we were only put together around the same time he graduated-” 

“No, that’s not what I mean, Helios was-”

His words broke off with another distant look, pausing motionless where he stood. But this time, Atlan and Cygnu both immediately recognized he was having a completely different conversation - telepathically - elsewhere.

Only a few seconds later, his attention returned to the gym around them, and he sighed.  “I’m terribly sorry, I’ve just been called away for something urgent. It’s been a pleasure meeting you both.”

“Wait, sir, what were you going to say about Helios?” Atlan called after him as he turned to leave.

80 looked over his shoulder at the two of them and gave a friendly wave, without interrupting his stride. “Oh, he can tell you that himself if you’re curious. I have to run now! Be seeing you, keep up the good work!” 

Just as suddenly as they had met him, the gymnasium was now once again empty. 

“Well that was weird.”

“Atlan, I thought you said that you knew Helios before?” Something about 80’s tone was nagging at Cygnu. The impression of a chasm opened up when the Ultra Brother had paused, something heavy and unknown resting inside of it. Cygnu shook his head, refocusing his thoughts. 

Atlan lacked her teammate’s empathic senses but the conversation had unnerved her too. She paused, a scene in her memory rising as she now pictured their steadfast captain.

“Sure… I knew him back in the Academy, I was still in training, this was before either of us had graduated to the Garrison…” 

More than anything else about the Academy, Atlan hated sparring practice. 

She could feign interest in the history lessons, the science lectures, the rote memorization of rules, regulations and statutes throughout the rest of the day.

She couldn’t fake sparring. 

It wasn’t that she was too weak to fight against the other cadets. No, she could have handled that too. She wanted to become stronger! She would have welcomed the challenge, if that was all it was. But instead, she was already too strong, even at that young age. Still gangly and growing even, yet to fill out her frame with the hard muscle and rigid solar plates that would eventually mark her as an Ultra Warrior. 

What was she supposed to do? It wasn’t like she wanted to constantly loom over her peers, uncomfortable and clumsy at everything she tried. All it did was make her a target for the snide adolescent jokes from her classmates, the disappointing looks from instructors who thought her size meant she was already older, more experienced, and expected something beyond what she could prove. 

The sheer unfairness of it burned in her chest with helpless frustration. It was the same thing. Every damn day. Every day, the other cadets all fell into the same pairs, dutifully working on whatever attack or form the instructors were drilling them in. And every day, they drifted away from her, not even looking back to acknowledge it. 

Eventually, she stopped even looking for that acknowledgement, the stares and appraising looks. She was just fine in her own little corner, practicing her own forms, after all. 

She’d show them at the next testing anyway. They’d see then.

She almost welcomed the chance to give them a reason to be afraid of her. 

Except one of them wasn’t.

“Your stance is too narrow right there.” He said as if it was so plainly obvious. 

“Nobody asked you.” Atlan snapped at him, the first time. 

“I’m just trying to help. I thought someone should tell you.”

“I’m doing fine, why are you even over here? Isn’t your class over on the other side of the arena?” Atlan turned her back, hoping he’d finally get the hint.

He clearly did not. 

“Here, let me show you.” 

She had never seen this cadet before, but she was sure she wouldn’t have remembered him regardless. There was nothing remarkable about him at all. But the absolutely unremarkable, matter-of-fact way he crossed in front of her, then took up a fighting stance shocked Atlan enough to cut off further protests.

“Now come at me, using that kick you were just practicing.” 

“Wh… what are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m your sparring partner. Don’t worry, I won’t be too hard on you, you’re younger after all.”

The condescension felt like a slap to her face. Resentment rose hot behind it. That’s all this was, then, another joke, something else to humiliate her. Well Atlan wasn’t going to play along with it. 

Her knee snapped upwards, almost following through on the kick he had asked for - and Atlan wanted to deliver it square in his teeth, after all - but suddenly she shifted her feet, skipping forward to close the distance, her long arms flashing forward in a series of punches. 

Instead of them landing as expected into his unprotected stomach though, Atlan found herself swinging through empty space. She stumbled, trying to draw back, to lash out towards the cadet who had neatly side-stepped her attack. But once again, without hardly moving his arms, he ducked around a wild elbow strike. A leg flashed out, Atlan’s own knee twisted painfully, and she felt herself falling. She crashed awkwardly on her side, still burning in anger, but also something else. 

No one had ever managed to floor her before!

A hand appeared down towards her, open. 

“You should really watch your footwork better.” 

Atlan scowled, and considered swatting it aside for a second, but she found herself instead grasping it, as the cadet helped roll her up onto her feet. 

“Here, let’s go again, and watch my feet this time.” 

She was angry, certainly, mad at herself for letting this puny little know-it-all knock her over like that. But as he resumed the same stance in front of her. Atlan found she couldn’t help but start grinning too. 

She finally had someone to fight against besides herself. 

“That was just an accident, you’ll see this time!” She squared up to match him. 

“-He graduated ahead of me though. I didn’t hear anything else until I got out myself. But I always assumed during that time he was off doing, I dunno… Garrison things like what we’re doing now. I never thought to ask him before, and he doesn’t really talk about himself either.” Atlan trailed off, looking down at the dull floor tiles, still dwelling on the memory.

“Well I don’t think he was doing anything bad, I mean this is Helios we’re talking about,” Cygnu offered, reassuringly.

“Yeah he was probably organizing their, I don’t know, lunch orders or something. Attendance rosters.” Atlan chuckled, imagining Helios’ position behind a desk with a mountain of data slates and spreadsheets that surely would have buried him.

“We’ll just have to ask him, like 80 said.”

Atlan raised an eyebrow. “That can wait for later. We still need to finish off with cardio before you get cooled down too much!” 

“Aw come on, we’re not done yet?”

“Keep complaining and we’ll do the squats tomorrow in triple gravity .”

The bustle of activity in the hallways of the Garrison slowly dwindled away as Helios paced closer to the meeting room. Eventually, only two other clerks were by him, absorbed in their own tasks. Without even greeting him, they quickly turned down another corner departing to a different destination, and the quiet tap of their feet faded behind him. 

That silence was quickly replaced with other sounds, hushed voices muffled by the door now in front of him. Helios checked his memo again to make sure - he had already committed its message to memory immediately after receiving it, but nervousness gnawed at him anyways. No, this was the right room number, which meant that this conversation was-

“- Zoffy know about this? There’s no way he’d approve of such a foolhardy, rabbidog-brained scheme like-”

“Zoffy is the first one I suggested this to, and he approved it . In fact, he’s briefing 80 and Yullian right now.”

“This is ridiculous, there’s no reason why we have to do this, to ask them to put their lives in the hands of -”

What am I doing? Eavesdropping like a little child? This really is ridiculous.

Helios shook his head and took a deep breath, entering the door with as much confidence in his interruption as he could muster. 

Two steps inside, he snapped off a well-practiced salute and faced his superior officer, making a point to meet his eyes directly.

“Commander Taro. I’m here for my patrol’s orders. But if you and Seven-Two-One are busy right now...” He kept his voice flat, deliberately emotionless, doing his best to not register the disapproving gaze 721 was currently fixing on him from across the table.

“Not at all, Captain. We were just discussing strategies,” Taro welcomed him, his voice suggesting nothing more than the warm smile he provided to Helios.  He motioned towards the table. “Come in, please.”

Helios lowered his salute, and continued his deliberate walk to meet the two, where he resumed standing at attention. Before him, Taro wore his cape, the symbol of his authority of the Land of Light, almost as if he didn’t notice its sweeping length, or the weight of its golden chain fastening it around his shoulders. 721 had no cape, he wouldn’t have worn one even if they had offered it to him. His own arms were still crossed sternly in front of him where he stood, but he had turned his focus back to the projected hologram displaying above the table. 

Taro leaned casually against the table, considering it as well. “How much do you know about the Keel Empire, Helios?”

“Not a lot,” Helios answered honestly, attempting a half shrug while still maintaining his posture. “They’re not part of our patrol’s region. They don’t often venture out of their own space, so I don’t know much of their language or customs... “

He trailed off, but what Taro thought was an opportunity to start his own briefing was Helios merely composing his thoughts.

“-Beyond the fact that they’re a militaristic imperialist power ruled by different dynasties of rival families. I know the Garrison has had several conflicts with them before when they’ve stepped out of their imperial borders for military action, conquest or just saber-rattling. If I’m recalling correctly, I believe the Galactic Federation even worked to put down an invasion attempt on Earth some time before Ultraman himself arrived there.”

This, in fact, was far more than any other warrior in the Garrison would be expected to know about the Keel. Taro’s mouth was still slightly open at the interruption, and wondered where his subordinate had picked it up.

What - for Light’s sake - is he doing with his time off? Does he even take time off?

Helios politely cleared his throat with the awkward silence. “But that’s really it. I assume they have something to do with this mission?”

Taro looked dejectedly down at the console in front of him and, with a few taps of its buttons, flipped the hologram through a rapid sequence of displays, all repeating the same information that Helios had just explained.

And I worked really hard at putting that dossier together too! Aw man… 

“Long story short, they’re back to saber-rattling again,” 721 took over the briefing for him. “Looks like there’s been another coup in the Empire, and the new ruling family wants to establish their legitimacy by putting their boot against a nearby system. You can probably guess why, too, you’re a smart kid. Expanding their borders, showing off for the neighbors, make themselves look good so they keep some other upstart family from knocking them off in return.”

“ What do you mean, ‘another’ coup?” Helios finally looked over at the other Ultraman.

The flickering hologram between them finally resolved on a stable image, displaying a projection of a clouded, ravaged planet. The glowing script below it read Planet Hammer . 

Satisfied, Taro straightened from the table and picked up with his presentation. “The last time we had an encounter with the Keel was back during what we call the Rayonix Succession Wars now. The ruling dynasty then tried to position one of their own, named Grande, to win the Rayonix Battle and take the power of Reiblood. They thought it would secure their own power in the Empire, like a weapon pointed outwards, but also inwards at their own political and military rivals.”

“I take it that’s not what happened.”

Taro shook his head, firmly. “And thank Noa it didn’t. Grande didn’t win, but even if he did, I don’t think the Keel would have benefited from it. Seven actually met the guy during his...er, mission on the planet during that war. I believe he described him as...” He cleared his throat and put on an exaggerated affected scowl, doing his best to imitate his cousin. “A bloodthirsty, violent asshole, but pretty alright otherwise.” 

721 rolled his eyes. “Anyways, this Grande character didn’t give two Bemulars’ shits about his family’s politics and only cared about the Rayonix battle itself. He disappeared shortly after the battle ended and the planet was destroyed. Apparently, without their ‘secret weapon’, that dynasty lost control of the Empire, a new family deposed them and usurped control of the Imperial Court in the meantime.” 

“Look, this is all very interesting,” And Helios meant that genuinely. “-But I still don’t know what this has to do with my patrol.”

“Three day cycles ago, my agents got wind of a Keel invasion within a system near their imperial borders. Apparently, in less than two hours local time, they wiped out the previous ruling government and its magistrate of leaders on its capital planet named Dulvonus. Yesterday, we received this-” 721 gestured to Taro, who pressed another button, bringing up a scrolling series of neat, glowing letters. They hung in midair, shimmering in their projection as Helios quickly scanned them.

Esteemed guardians of light, paragons of the universe, we send our humble pleas with our most respected envoys, our representatives, the right hand of our people, who stand before you to ask you most kindly to consider-

It continued like that for quite some time. Helios scanned quicker.

-by right of our claim, we have extended to you an invitation befitting of your magnanimity, your wisdom and the respect all of the galaxy gathered around us, witnessing this momentous occasion. We pray you accept our entreaty and show your generosity for the ages by seeing the deeds we have brought about for the benefit of all living beings on this humble planet of Dulvonus and its many stars and moons, in harmony that befits the grand order and design of the cosmos, to which we come this singular stage of history. In the space of one galactic-centered week, the time necessary and proper for us to display to you all that we most graciously offer, that we might share in the joys of victory and work towards a more beneficent universe together, we implore you to send your most respected and highly favored ambassadors to participate in such a momentous occasion-

Helios squinted, then rubbed between eyes. He couldn’t believe what he was reading. 

“Wait, am I translating this correctly? They want peace talks ?”

“Not just any peace talks," 721 growled, his face hardening into an inscrutable glare. "We read through this whole black-hole-damned letter enough times to wear out the disk, they specifically requested royalty to meet with them and give their blessing to this sham of an invasion.”

“Royalty? But that means-”

“The Princess Yullian, yes," Taro added. "And of course, she’s not going anywhere without her, ah - what’s the title she used again?” He looked over to 721, sheepishly.

“First Esteemed Knight Protector of the ‘Because I Said So, Now Piss Off’ Royal Order” were her exact words when I asked.”

“Right. Yes, ‘Knight Protector’ - er, Ultraman 80. He’ll be accompanying her on this mission too, as usual.”

“Mission to do what? If they’ve already overthrown the rulers of this planet, then why do they need our approval? This doesn’t make any sense.” 

“That’s what I said.” 721 grumbled.

“But we can’t turn them down.” Taro stated firmly, turning to level his attention at the leader of the Galactic Security Agency. “We’re not just warriors, 721, we’re Ambassadors of the Light. If we refused this request, how would it look to the rest of the universe? We’d be cowards, abandoning an entire system like that!”

721 slammed a hand down on the table, disturbing its holographic projection but meeting Taro's challenge unflinchingly.

“And it’s that pride, that stupid obsession with putting on a brave face for the rest of the universe, that will get an Ultra Brother and a member of the royal family killed, or worse.” 

“Which is exactly why I want to send Helios and his team with them, to keep that from happening”

“Commander?” Helios jolted, facing Taro. He was sure he had misheard his statement- 

“Commander, with all due respect, I cannot support this decision. No, let me rephrase that. You’re being a bloody fool.” 721 banged his fist down again, adding punctuation to his final word.

“I agree with 721. Er, not about the ‘bloody fool’ part... But I don’t see how we’re supposed to help, why are you sending us and not someone else who’s more experienced, stronger?” 

Taro looked pointedly at the Captain. “Like I said, think of how this looks to the rest of the universe. If we send them with famous heroes, someone like Ultraman, Seven, or even myself or Ace, then the Keel know something’s up. They’ll know we’re preparing for a fight. If they want us to serve as diplomats, then that’s exactly what we’ll give them.”

“My team and I are not diplomats though.”

“No, you’re something better. You’re unknowns.”

It was as if a lightbulb went off behind 721’s eyes. “Oh, you canny bastard.”

Taro smiled wryly. “I thought I was a bloody fool.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Taro,” he muttered. The scowl quickly reasserted itself on his face.

Helios’ own frown persisted, if not deepened further as the weight of their new mission sat on his mind. “We’re unknowns for a reason though, we’re just a Garrison patrol, we find people who need help, fight off the occasional monster, and come home at the end of the day with a job well done. The rest of my team isn’t trained to be embedded in a foreign place over a long period of time, or to handle rigorous diplomatic talks with the fate of an entire system, a civilization riding on it.”

“You’re not handling the talks, 80 and Yullian are,” Taro answered.

“You know what I mean,” Helios sighed. He couldn’t tell if his Commander’s matter-of-fact assuredness came from wisdom, or simple stubbornness. “There’s a hundred other Garrison patrols and a thousand other soldiers you could’ve pulled from, why us?”

“Because we don’t know what we’re walking into. It’s a trap, even I can see that. But what the purpose of that trap is, or how they’ll spring it on us, we can’t say. We need to be prepared for anything. And if there’s one thing you and your patrol have proven yourselves in, it’s dealing with the unknown and unexpected. With you alongside them, I’m confident 80 and Yullian can do what they need to in order to ensure the safety of this planet, without any further lives being lost.”

721 tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Your team might be a bunch of rookies, but in terms of raw power, and your experience… There’s probably not much between 80 and Yullian, and you three that you couldn’t handle. And even better, the Keel don’t know any of this themselves.”  As much as he was reluctant to admit it - even to himself, he would never give Taro the satisfaction of agreement out loud - even he could see this plan working. Possibly. With some help. Maybe a lot of help. 

“So it’s decided," Taro stated firmly. "Your team is scheduled to depart with the royal shuttle four days from now. You’ll receive further details as we’re made aware of them, but this is still… a developing situation.” 

“That’s my cue then-” 721 straightened and made towards the door, casting a barbed glare towards the other two as he passed by them. “My agents are the ones putting their asses in the fire for this intelligence you need, Taro. Don’t waste it.” 

The hiss and click of the door closing behind him clipped his words abruptly and decisively. Taro and Helios stood in silence, the flickering glow of the holographic display still buzzing softly. 

Taro glanced over his shoulder. “You’re still not convinced, Helios.”

The younger Captain stared at the floor, starting and then halting several attempts to answer his superior officer. For once, he was at a loss for words. Something sat heavy in his chest, blocking them.

Taro merely waited patiently for him to find his voice again. Eventually, Helios took a deep breath and looked up at him. 

“No, I agree with the logic of your plan. That’s not the problem. But… You called 721 in for this meeting. Will we be working with the Galactic Security Agents on this?” 

Taro remembered the first time he had briefed Helios on a mission. He remembered his eyes - confident, calm twin pools of smooth and unbroken golden light. Those same eyes flickered now. Taro did his best to try and meet them as he gave his orders.

“Not as a part of the main diplomatic envoy. There will be a few agents in the system, prepared as contacts, or emergency escape routes if the worst were to happen. But 721 believes it’d be too dangerous to try and move any other Ultra warriors or agents on or off the planet, with things as they are. I won’t lie to you Helios-” Taro rushed forward with his words, almost apologetically as Helios broke off his gaze and looked towards the side. It was as if he was expecting this. “We’re trusting you and your team with a lot here, I know. It will just be you five on the planet, in the capital city, against an empire of seijin we are almost certain are planning to cause you harm. If you have any doubts, I’d like to hear them now.”

“Taro… are you aware of my history before joining this patrol?”

“Of course. What kind of commander would I be if I didn’t know things like that?” Taro put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, in the moment trying his best to be a friend, rather than one of the foremost Commanders of the Intergalactic Defense Corps of the Land of Light. “Why do you think we’re trusting your team with this mission in the first place?”

With a sudden jerk, Helios wrenched himself away from the hand. “Then you should know, missions like this are why I left the GSA in the first place!” he snapped.

Taro felt the words like an electric shock as Helios continued, refusing to meet his eyes again. “These cloak-and-dagger games, this secrecy, trying to hold these schemes together on my own, I can’t… I didn’t want to do that anymore. I can’t let another mission-” Helios’ voice cracked under some unseen weight, his head bowed low.

“If all goes well then you won’t have to do any of that.”

“How is this mission supposed to go well?” He demanded, whipping back towards his commander. “Every other time we’ve been on patrol, there’s been a reason, a goal, something we… we could be proud to accomplish. What are we accomplishing here other than lies , giving legitimacy to something we should be fighting instead. You said yourself, the Keel mean to hurt us-”

“But what if they don’t? What if they actually do want peace? 721 won’t see it, but-”

“You can’t be serious .”

Taro drew himself up to his full height. The red mantle around his broad shoulders almost seemed to glow with a new fire as it reflected the ambient light from the room's holographic projector.

“I am absolutely serious, serious enough to trust my most promising students and their Captain with this mission, to carry that same hope for peace out into the galaxy. Now, are you serious about doing the same?” He glared sternly down towards Helios.

Helios’ anger suddenly broke. He slumped again, and sighed. “You’re right, Taro, sir. I… I apologize for my outburst. But I’m still worried, what if that hope for peace isn’t enough? What if-”

“Then your mission is the same as it always has been. Protect lives. Make sure everyone comes back safe. Remember what I said before, when you came back with Cygnu?  You’re too quick to take responsibility for everything on your own shoulders. Trust in your team. Even if things get bad, I have faith that you can lead them, and they’ll fight their hardest for you in return.”

Helios still looked downwards, lips pursed, weighing every one of his commander’s words. Without more words of his own, he arrived at a decision, his head lifting up with the smooth, habitual motion of his arm, producing a silent salute at attention.

“Good. Now go prepare your team.” 

Chapter Text

“They want us to do what?”

“Helios, I thought we were done with the weird jobs.”

“I told you, Atlan, there are no normal jobs in the Garrison. We go where we are most needed, and right now that’s to provide assistance with this diplomatic mission.”

In a briefing room much like all the others in this wing of the Garrison, chairs and tables and holographic displays sat in orderly groupings. They were copied and pasted from the same layouts, in the same designs, cast in the same greenish, metallic materials. The trio of Ultras making use of this room had seen many, many meetings in spaces identical to this one. But now they listened to a mission description that was wholly unfamiliar to them.

Unfamiliar to two of them, at least. 

Cygnu raised a brow over his normally-sparkling silver lit eyes. They shifted uneasily at this news, however. “A diplomatic mission that we’re almost sure is fake and is a set-up to try and kill us. That diplomatic mission?” 

“Yes. That one.” 

“Actually on second thought, I think I’d rather be Ultraman Great’s field assistant instead, do you know if that position is still open-”

Helios’ stoic expression finally collapsed. “Atlan it’s not like this is the first time we’ve had to use a humanoid form for a mission on another planet, why are you complaining?” 

“Because that last time, tracking black market D-Splinter dust in the Vega system, we were trying to avoid getting caught in obvious traps!” she argued, pointing an exasperated finger at her Captain. “Not blundering right into them like a dumb, blind Garamon!” 

Helios sighed “That’s the point of this mission. We’re there to spring this trap, and then be prepared for what happens afterward.”

“We’re bait, then.” Atlan withdrew her finger and hunched back in her seat, glowering at her captain.

“We’re insurance.”

“That doesn’t make it sound any better,” Cygnu hesitantly added, glancing between them, worried. He had far less experience on missions than his captain, or his older teammate, but the tone of their banter was different this time. Usually they’re just sparring with each other, this is-

“We won’t be alone on this mission though, 80 and Yullian are more than capable of taking care of themselves. This isn’t their first time being in a potentially dangerous situation, they are well aware of the risks. But they can’t handle everything, watch for every possible threat on this planet, and focus on diplomacy at the same time. That’s where we come in, they are counting on us for this. ”

Helios hadn’t changed position at all, still calmly holding a tablet raised in front of him, but his words took on an unyielding rigor. In other briefings Cygnu recalled, he was trying to almost persuade them, to talk them into thinking the plan was a good idea. 

No, this time, the matter is already decided. These are orders.

Even Atlan could feel the change. If she had more objections, she kept them to herself.

“While they keep the attention of whatever ambassadors or representatives the Keel send, we can watch their backs. We are there to be their eyes-” 

Helios turned his golden eyes to focus on Cygnu.

“-and their shield," he directed towards Atlan. “So we can keep everyone safe,” he finished, still looking at the red warrior, frowning in her seat. She matched his gaze. 

Helios glanced down to his tablet once again, continuing his delivery. “We’ve been on many missions before where we had to protect our own lives. But this time, it will also be the lives of an Ultra Brother and our own people’s royalty on the line, along with billions of lives across this system. If we fail, if we can’t follow through on our task, I… we need to-” 

“We won’t fail,” Cygnu broke in.  “We’ll protect everyone, I promise, Captain. Just tell us what we need to do.” 

“Well, if those Keel jerks think they can hold an entire planet hostage, and our own princess, then we’ll just prove them wrong!” Atlan 's mood quickly lifted at the thought, she pressed a fist into her open hand, twisting it. Helios and Cygnu could picture the poor, imaginary opponent getting eagerly pulped by the motion.

For once, Helios was thankful to his subordinates for the interruption. He attempted to show his gratitude with a brief smile.

But something else was still present, hanging in the new silence around them. Atlan and Cygnu glanced at each other, wondering who was going to break it first. 

“Now, we have a lot of work to take care of before we depart….”

Cygnu raised a hand. “Actually, there is one other thing, Captain-” 

“Oh for the stars and heavens, what is it now?” 

“What did you do before you were a patrol captain?” 

A hardened steel door slammed shut in front of Cygnu’s mind. The expression on his Captain’s face - the face he had come to know through life and death missions, narrow escapes and victories, meals and jokes and hasty apologies - was unreadable. 

“Why do you want to know?” Those golden eyes were opaque now, looking directly at Cygnu. He felt cold. 

“The other day, we met Ultraman 80 at the gym, and got to talking," Atlan suggested, shrugging. "When we mentioned you, he said that you weren’t on the Garrison patrol when you graduated, but he had to leave before he could explain. We were just curious, is all.”  She either didn’t notice what Cygnu had sensed, or was being her usual blunt self and didn’t care. 

The bluntness opened a small crack however, the door creeped open slightly. A ray of light from it spread outwards. Cygnu sighed in quiet relief. 

“Yes, well, I suppose there’s no reason I shouldn’t tell you. I was a Galactic Security Agent.”

Atlan leaned back, taking the statement in. “The spooks? No kidding, I would’ve never expected. So why the secrecy then, are you still on assignment for them as an undercover spy?” She gave a small chuckle which trailed off, seeing the darkened look on the captain’s face.

“No!” Helios burst out, disgusted at the accusation.  “No, I would never- I’m sorry. You deserve to know. I was on a mission which… ended badly.”

“Oh… Oh, I’m sorry Helios, I didn’t -”

“No, Atlan, it’s fine," he huffed. "Really. You wouldn’t have known, I left the Agency after…After that incident . I wanted to join the Garrison, and I realized that I could do more good on a patrol, rather than having to keep doing that- ”

“Doing what?” Cygnu feared what the answer might be, but even more, feared that the steel door would slam shut again. 

Instead, Helios' eyes shone brighter towards him. “Working alone. Thank the Spark I have fighters like you to help now.” 

Thank the Spark, indeed. Cygnu took a deep, steadying breath, seeing his captain back to - mostly - normal good spirits, flipping through his tablet once again. Their minds refocused on the duty at hand.

“Now, if you don’t have any further questions, there’s some training we need to take care of first-”

“Helios, we just got done with that today at the gym!.”

“Not bench presses, Atlan. This is different. Cygnu, my records show that you’ve never been on a mission where you had to take a humanoid form, correct?” He looked up and raised an eyebrow at the youngest member of their team.

“Wait, why do we need to hide our appearance for this? Isn’t the whole point of the mission that they know we’re Ultras in the first place?” Cygnu didn’t like the new attention on him now, he looked between Helios and Atlan.

“These won’t be disguises, necessarily. It’s more for our benefit.”

“Being small for too long burns energy really fast when you’re just in your Ultra form. It’s easier to stay at ground level on a different planet if you take on a shape that’s smaller to match,” Atlan explained, then she grinned. “Don’t worry, it’s not as hard as it sounds, you’ll get used to it pretty quickly!”

“Are you sure? That’s... uh, well the Academy made it sound like it was a pretty big deal to take on a new form.” Cygnu tapped absentmindedly at his color timer, self-conscious.

Helios’ stance eased further as he fell into his favorite role on the team - guest lecturer.

“When heroes, like the Ultra Brothers, lived on another planet for an extended period of time, it’s true that they often put a lot of thought into their appearance. It was modeled after a person or an ideal that they wished to represent to the people of the planet. To build a relationship, in other words, an identity that others could relate to. This is a different circumstance.”

“How so?”

“We will be there as diplomats, yes, but we’re supposed to be more or less in the background. We’ll be presented as a part of the ambassadorial party, but the Keel will see us as attendants or bodyguards instead. And we’re only supposed to be there for a week, regardless. So that leaves us with a little more freedom to… simply be ourselves in the meantime.” 

“How am I supposed to ‘be myself’ in a different body though?”

“It’s not a different body, it’s your same light energy, you’ll just look different to others.” Atlan spread her hands out as if it was the most obvious point to make, expectantly looking at Cygnu who was still several stops behind on this train of thought.

Atlan scratched at her slugger, trying to think of a new angle. “You remember Amia? She could look like how she was introduced to us, or she could be human-sized and switch between them whenever. We can do that too, kind of. But for us it’s like… when you’re trying to isolate a specific muscle in weight training that you don’t use by itself a lot.” She shrugged, the best attempt she could manage.

Helios placed his tablet down on the table in front of him. “It’d be another, more challenging matter if you were taking on a host , Cygnu. But just shifting appearances is relatively simple. You just take your light energy, and hold the image in your head, then.. “

He closed his eyes. raised his hands slightly, then his form dissolved into a swirl of golden light. 

“Push it inwards-”

They both heard him telepathically as the golden cloud streamed to the table in front of them, pulsed once, then brightened and solidified into a miniature image.

Before them, stood Helios, but not as he was before. Dark skinned, with short, wiry black hair cropped neatly against his scalp with razor-straight lines above his ears. His smooth, golden eyes were now as darkened as his hair, but somehow Cygnu could still feel the warmth from them as his expression crinkled into a smile, looking upwards at his teammates. He took a second to adjust the sash around the simple, linen robe he wore in this form. 

“It just takes practice. Now you try.” Despite his relatively tiny form, both Atlan and Cygnu could make out his words as clearly as if he were standing by them, at his full height. 

“I suppose I’m next-” Atlan straightened and awkwardly shifted her weight. She wasn’t quite sure what to do with her hands. 

“How did I do it last time? Oh, right-”

She pulled her hands into fists, and drew her elbows in towards her sides. With the motion, light spiraled upwards around her body, dissolving away in the same fashion.

It took her form slightly longer to materialize on the table. When she gained her footing again, Cygnu was unsurprised to find she still rose over the captain with her new appearance. Reddish bronze hair fell in a long, thick braid over one shoulder. Atlan took one moment to look over herself and raised a hand, feeling across her strong jawline and severe aquiline nose. Cygnu would’ve thought her appearance royal, haughty almost, if he didn’t know her better.

“Oh good, it’s been awhile since I’ve done this, does everything- owwwww!” Atlan’s new face grimaced and she gingerly rubbed her shoulder. “Must’ve overdone it with the weights, I forgot this stuff hurts worse when you’re smaller.” 

While Atlan worked at the knots in her shoulder blade, Helios looked back up to the one remaining Ultra warrior in the room. He tilted his head and gestured to his side.

“Yeah, I know, just… Give me a second to think.”

Cygnu frowned, then tugged off the gloves which normally covered his hands. He crossed his arms in front of him, and screwed his eyes shut in concentration. 

Atlan cupped her hands in front of her mouth to yell at him, although she knew it was unnecessary to be heard. “We don’t have all day, Cygnu. Just try it!” 

Even with his eyes closed, Cygnu could clearly see the two lights of his teammates. Regardless of size, he could’ve picked them out of a crowd, on this planet or any other in the galaxy. Helios radiated a strong, steady golden glow, just as his eyes did ordinarily, but bright lines of blue streaked through his core, flaring like needlelike crystals out through his heart. In comparison, Atlan was a roiling emerald fire, a flame that burned deep in her core, sending waves of heat, rippling through her limbs. It shimmered as she shifted her weight impatiently.

Take your light energy, picture it in your mind, Helios said-

Cygnu’s own light energy was cyan, then cobalt, and as he turned his mind’s eye into himself, plunging further into his own thoughts, it darkened as he reached through the depths. There, lying quietly within his own heart, was that dark crystal, indigo light flaring around it, caressing it gently. 

And push it inwards.

Atlan cursed as intense blue light flared, filling the room, she and Helios both recoiled at the eruption. Silent wind whipped the fabric of their robes around them.

Just as quickly as it appeared, the brilliant light shrunk downwards, then condensed atop the table’s surface beside them.

It stood, wavering there, an indistinct, vaguely-limbed shape, pulsing irregularly. After a second it released, swirling outwards again. Cygnu staggered back to his full form, and grabbed the edge of the table to regain his balance, gasping. 

“I... I can’t- what happened?”

“I told you, it takes practice, Cygnu. Just try it again!” Helios called out encouragingly. 

Cygnu forced his breathing to slow, inhaling forcefully as he tried to gather his focus. He stood, eyes closed again. His form dissolved into light, but stuck in the same pose, unmoving apart from the flickering edges surrounding his energy.  It held for an even briefer moment before he snapped back to his original form.

“It’s no good, I can’t hold it together!" He groaned, frustrated. "It’s like it keeps sliding out of my grasp, every time I try to hold it-!"

Helios and Atlan looked at each other, then rejoined him with their own original size. 

“Look, it really is like weight training," Atlan offered, trying her best to encourage him. "You have to work up to that level, it doesn’t happen overnight. We can always try again later!”

“But I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong! And if we’re supposed to leave the planet in three more days, then I can’t hold up everyone up like this. Helios said everyone’s counting on us, I don’t want to hold the mission back-"

“You’re not holding us back, Cygnu. This is normal-” 

“Not for me it’s not!” he burst out, then turned, pacing the floor of the meeting room.

“I don’t get it, I was always good at this sort of thing in the Academy, manipulating energy, using it in different ways. This should be easy for me, so why can’t I…?”

Cygnu's steps suddenly halted, and his hand rose unsteadily to his color timer. He looked downwards.

Cobalt… and indigo.

Unexpectedly, a stab of pain made him flinch, he raised his shaking hand to his eye, trying to push the growing ache away. Not this again-

Helios drew beside the young Ultra, pressing a hand into his shoulder. “You can do this Cygnu, just relax. Close your eyes, empty your mind-”

“I’m telling you, I can’t! Even with my eyes closed, it’s too much, I can feel… too much. I can’t just shut it out!” 

“Then stop looking at yourself. Look at me. ” 

Helios pivoted Cygnu towards him. He took his wrist, gently pulling his hand away from his face. Looking into his eyes, unimpeded now, holding his gaze, Helios brought the bare hand to rest directly onto his own color timer, glimmering, faceted cerulean.

Cygnu’s eyes widened. He almost jerked his hand away on reflex, but Helios’ steady grip kept it there. This wasn’t an accident, a rude intrusion into another person’s thoughts, memories, into their soul. No, Helios was showing him, letting the steel door open wider, to see behind it.

“Now watch my light, and follow-”

Despite his captain’s sure tone, Cygnu’s pulse was racing as he forced his eyes to close again. But as he focused on the sensation of his hand, resting on the warm light before him, he could feel another pulse, the slow rise and fall of the chest with each breath. Following that rhythm - in and out - Cygnu found his own heartbeat slowing to match.

That pulse was as reliable as the dawn, punctual as the motion of the constellations of M78 rotating around the planet's sky. Helios had always been an anchor, a constant presence for Cygnu even as a rookie. Patient when showing him the ropes, teaching him the proper drills for everything from sword-fighting to weather reports. He was even there daily when he was in the hospital after the accident, wasn’t he? During all that time, he had become familiar with the shape of his captain’s light, which now shifted and glinted with its ice-blue rays under his touch. 

His sight traced the glittering points of crystal through that light, out from his heart, into his limbs, down through his torso and snaking through his neck. As he followed them, they took on a new appearance, thick ropes of fibers - tissue, like veins and blood vessels - but not-

Cygnu’s hand flinched with the realization.

They’re scars.

This new vision unfolding before him, Cygnu considered the pattern of light - familiar, but no longer glowing light, now opaque networks of flesh and bone - exposed to his senses. The same body, the same light, not an illusion or a disguise. An inversion, his innermost light - laid open. 

This is what it means then - to have a body.

And now, the same veins, the lines of tissue through his own hand - tracing up his own arm. 

And now, the sensation of air flowing through his own lungs with a small gasp, accompanied by stretch and pull of muscles, the slide of bones across each socket and joint with the motion, his own chest expanding and contracting in time with Helios, a rhythm which had not changed through this time. 

Still with the gentle pressure from Helios’ grasp holding onto his hand, Cygnu’s indistinct shape stumbled briefly. A lurch, and then the two glowing lights resolved into focus. 

Cygnu’s eyes finally snapped open, out of his trance, revealing irises of deep cobalt blue. They flared once, glowing, then settled into a solid color. 

“See, I knew you could do it.” Helios released him, and stepped back.

“Th-thanks.” The words shaped themselves in an odd way within his mouth. Cygnu still felt unbalanced on his new feet. He looked down at his hands - shockingly pale - as he raised them to brush a fringe of silvered hair away from his eyes. 

“It should be easier to fix the details when we arrive on the planet, and you can see other types of humanoids there. The actual appearance isn't as important as learning how it feels, how to move within it and interact with other people. Do you understand now?” 

“I… I think so, sir. This still feels weird though -” Every fresh nerve in Cygnu's body was currently sensing too much, he could feel the small shifts in muscles, the stretch of his skin pulled over his form, the flex of tendons involuntarily to maintain his balance as he stood. 

“Don’t worry, Cygnu! Like I said, you’ll get used to it!” Atlan grinned at him. 

Despite the congratulations, Cygnu was still glad when he could release that form and rise to his full size again. He tugged the silver gloves back on, the feel of the fabric a comfortable pressure once again. 

Of course there were more preparations, the same as any other mission. There was equipment to double check and maps to study. There was Helios’ insistence on lessons of the history, geology, and every other kind of -ology related to the system which was to be their destination. There was the memorization of polite addresses, the practice of decorum and posture-

Atlan still needed plenty of practice for that, at least. Cygnu was just glad to have the opportunity to distract himself with new tasks. 

And then the departure was at hand. 

It was a departure like many others, from a hangar that looked like every other hangar in this wing of the Garrison, the same technicians and crewmembers milling around, busy with their own preparations. But now, with his own preparations complete, and nothing to focus on but the new mission, the familiar surroundings seemed oddly strange, brightly outlined, as if he was seeing them as a new recruit once again. 

Is this from my new training? Or the new light I have? 

Cygnu absentmindedly felt around the edges of his color timer again, feeling a weight settle in his chest. 

Why does it feel like I’ll never see any of this again?

Chapter Text

80 wasn’t used to traveling in ships. Red travel spheres were the fast, efficient way that most Ultras from the Garrison chose when crossing over the long distances of deep space. But the spacious silver craft being prepared now was Yullian’s personal vessel, and better equipped for transporting a larger diplomatic party rather than a single warrior. 

It was also, as Yullian insisted, far more stylish.

But for as spacious and refined as its interior was, 80 felt a small bit of apprehension entering its bridge. It was empty, apart from Yullian herself, settled in a chair and looking intently over a glowing display of their travel route.

“There you are! I was just about to send a page to go pick you up if Zoffy was keeping you too long again-” She exclaimed, turning around to greet him.

“Zoffy wasn’t keeping me, don’t be too hard on him, Yullian. If anything, I’d rather have more time to stay here. I only got back a few days ago and here we are, ready to rocket off through space for another mission before I could even get settled again.” 80 leaned over, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, as they both considered the map before them. 

“I was looking forward to some time with you, to relax, with nothing else to worry about-”

Yullian reached up and patted an arm, then stole a kiss on his cheek as he leaned over her. “Oh, don’t try to play that with me, I know you too well, you’d get bored too fast with just domestic life.”

“Maybe-” But as 80 stood there, his arms around the woman he’d fell in love with on Earth so many years ago, seeing the excitement in her face as she looked over the images of their latest assignment together, he wished that there was nothing else to distract them for once.

“I’ve never visited this sector in person before, it has such beautiful comets-” She murmured, flipping through images on the screen.

“Unfortunately we’re not going to sightsee.” 

“Oh, every trip is an opportunity for sightseeing, 80! We could be on the dullest frozen rock in the galaxy, but it’d still be worth it, to see it with you at my side, love. This isn’t like you, being so pessimistic-”

80 blushed furiously as he straightened up. “I just want to make sure you stay safe, everyone is worried about this mission, I just wonder what has you so cheerful about this…”

“Well someone has to keep the spirits up! You know, you look terrible with that frown on your face.” 

Yullian finally looked up from the map, and drew a hand across his face, towards her. “You should be facing this with a smile too, just think about the other Garrison soldiers with us, what kind of example would we set for them if you’re already in such a sour mood?” She pouted theatrically. 

Despite his worries, 80 couldn’t help but find himself laughing at the sight. She really did know him too well.

“You’re right, Yullian-”

“Of course I am.” The screen flicked off, and she rose from her seat, offering one graceful hand to her Knight Protector. “Now let's be good hosts and meet our crew downstairs.”

Down the loading ramp, in the hangar bay, Helios was in his usual position triple-checking his tablet. He gestured to another red-colored technician as they made their adjustments to the craft.

“-yes, right over there, be sure to check the coupling hydraulics, they were just replaced and might leak some pressure if they’re not secured-”

Atlan thought better of interrupting him, so she cast a quick wave, which he returned without looking up. The motion reassured her, though. It’s good to see him back at work again. Back to normal.

With a little more energy in her step, she crossed over, in between the busy crew shuttling fuel and supplies back and forth, to where the rest of their newly-assembled party was standing. Cygnu spotted her first, giving a more enthusiastic wave, one that involved his whole arm, down to the balls of his feet. 

“Oh and here she is, welcome to the royal shuttle, Atlan!” Yullian smiled demurely and offered her own hand towards her. “We’ll give you a tour around it, although the trip to the Dulvonus system won’t take more than a day and a half-”

“Uh, well…” Atlan glanced down, unsure what to do about the hand in front of her. Isn’t this the princess? Am I allowed to just- 

“It’s quite all right, you, Cygnu and your captain are all teammates with us on this mission, no need to be so formal.” Yullian added, the smile unbroken across her face. 

Atlan awkwardly took the hand, slender in her much larger grip and gave it one shake, “It’s, ah, a pleasure to meet you, Princess.”

“Just Yullian, the only ones I care about using my full title are those Keel we’re about to meet. After all, I feel like I’ve already been introduced to you both, 80 was just talking about his meeting with you the other day.” 

80 took the cue to offer his own handshake as well. “What a coincidence that was! When I got the news from Zoffy, I knew he made the right choice picking your squad to help us out. You still working the weight bench hard, eh?” He released her hand with a knowing wink.

“Yes sir, have to stay in top shape to make sure we’re keeping you and Yullian safe!” Atlan threw a mock salute, matching the grin on his face. She was used to being the tallest one in most rooms, attracting attention wherever she found herself on the Garrison or out in the streets. But now, the two figures, casually chatting with her and Cygnu, seemed to overshadow the hangar bay with their presence. They naturally stood with the confidence and personality that could direct a hundred crafts at their orders, and yet somehow acted as if they never noticed it. 

Taking them aboard, and showing them around the ship’s interior, was just as casual for 80 and Yullian as anyone would have a neighbor over for a cup of tea.

As they were introduced to the quarters inside, Cygnu spoke up, curious. “You said the voyage wouldn’t take long, but aren’t we supposed to be on the planet for a whole week? It doesn’t seem like we’re loading many supplies.” 

“Oh, we won’t be staying on the ship during that time, what kind of ambassadors would we be if we just hid away the entire time? Why even bother making the trip?” Yullian gestured as she rolled her eyes, theatrically. “No, if we’re meeting them face-to-face then we’ll be taking full advantage of their hospitality as well. The ship will remain in orbit until it’s time to make our decision and return home.”

“Not to second-guess you, but that seems… dangerous?”

“Yes, very dangerous - for them, if they decide to break that promise of hospitality.“ Her smile sharpened into a diamond cut line across her lips, delivering the rest of the threat.

Soon enough, only a day and a half of travel later, the ochre yellow curvature of Dulvonus-II rose within sight of the ship’s viewports. Helios’ briefing provided an accompanying commentary as all five of them, gathered together on the bridge, looked on it for the first time.

“Second planet from its G-type main sequence star, the innermost planet is uninhabited, thanks to its proximity. Completely lacking an atmosphere and bombarded by strong X-rays. The other planets which we passed you can note various attempts at terraforming, although most of them have since been abandoned. Dulvolnus-II itself serves as the capital in this system, with its most dense populations lying in a belt between 50 and 70 degrees northward in its upper hemisphere. The rest of the planet is mostly an arid biome with scorching temperatures, due to its close orbital radius as well. The inhabited belt is protected by a jet-stream which carries most of the remaining water vapor of the planet, as well as a thicker layer of cloud cover to protect its population from the strongest solar radiation during its local summer season-”

Cygnu was barely listening, instead scanning its surface with his own senses. He didn’t know much about patterns of precipitation or airborne ozone-carbonyl-complexes as Helios was now reciting, but he could clearly see huge stretches of craters, scars which outlined the deserts pressing in on the few threads of inhabited regions left on its landmasses. 

“Did the Keel attack already?”

“-native fauna which- What?” Helios looked up from his notes.

Cygnu pointed out the window. “Look at the size of those ruins! Did they do this when they invaded?”

“Cygnu, those ruins have been there for at least 300 years.” 

“But… they’re all over the place, what else could have caused them?”

“The Keel only brought a small expedition force with them, and arrived just 12 days ago, local time. Those are likely left over from the last major civil war on this planet, didn’t you read any of the documents before we left?” Helios gestured to said documents, displayed on his own notepad, although Cygnu figured that he could probably give this entire presentation from memory without them.

But just reading the dry lists of demographic facts and historical dates was a far different experience from seeing the swaths of rifts, congealed lava flows, and blasted planes of fused sands which marked such intense fighting, so long ago.

“Why?” He whispered.

“Why what?”

“Why do this to your own people?”

Helios lay down his tablet, and walked over to join Cygnu at the window. “Dulvonus’ history is… a sad one. At one time, the planet and others in this system were famed for a natural mineral necessary for hyperdrive travel used in spacecraft. You can see the remnants of the mining in some of the areas here-” 

Helios’ hand stretched out past them, towards one of the rifts that the young Ultra thought were craters from an explosion. As the ship drew over the location from its orbit though, he could make out the ramrod-straight lines extending out from it, the winding spiral walls carving into the sides of the canyon. Not random destruction then, but organized. 

“But that wealth also made them a target for other controlling powers in this sector.” Helios continued. “This system passed through several hands in a series of conflicts - Baltans, Hipporit, and others - which claimed ownership of the mines, until the planet was stripped down and exhausted of its minerals. The terraforming projects we passed by were attempts at other mining operations, but were deemed too expensive for the small amount of ore left, and abandoned. The system attracted little attention by the wayside, just another spot on a map by then.”

“It’s all too common, unfortunately.” Yullian added, standing with her arms crossed, the glow of yellow light reflected from the planet’s surface casting her torso in dramatic shadows. “When faced with such hardship, seeing your planet invaded so many times and ruined, some decide to turn that suffering onto others, and seize whatever is left for themselves. Dulvonus isn't the only planet to tear itself apart by war under these circumstances.” 

“So why are the Keel interested in it now?” Atlan asked, still seated carelessly by the center console.

“We’ll find out once we talk to them.” Yullian said, turning back to the business at hand.

“Why are we just interested in what the Keel are interested in?” Cygnu burst out. “If there’s been these wars, so much suffering here for hundreds of years, why hasn’t anyone done anything to change it before now?” 

80 shook his head. “That’s not our mission. We can’t step in and rule every planet ourselves, we have to let them find their own way.”

“Right, they’ve done a great job of that so far- Ow!” 

Yullian cuffed Atlan across her slugger as she rejoined them at the table. “It’s easy to make jokes here from space, looking down on them. That’s another reason why we’re going down there, to see things for ourselves, eye-to-eye, face-to-face. Speaking of which, we should be receiving a hail from the surface with the landing codes any minute now-” 

As they directed their attention to securing the bridge before departure, Cygnu found himself pulled to the side by his captain, through a door in the bulkhead into an empty, quiet corridor.

“A word before we leave-”

“Captain, I’m sorry for what I said, if I spoke out of turn-”

Helios sighed. “No, you were right, Cygnu. It is a shame that the people of this system have had to endure this, alone. That’s why we’re here now, to try and prevent the Keel from taking advantage of them, if they mean to cause more suffering. But first, I wanted to make sure you had this-”

He opened his hand to reveal a small, unadorned, rounded metal object. A colorless, transparent sphere sat in its center. 

“This is a transformation device. When you take on your human form, it will store your light energy safely, and allow you to turn back to your full size again later.” Helios pressed it into Cygnu’s hands.

“But we didn’t use this the last time when I tried it?”

“Because we were on the Land of Light. The Plasma Spark provides enough light energy across the entire planet to allow us to shift appearances easily. We have to make due otherwise here. Now, listen carefully, this is important - “ Helios took him by the shoulder, making sure to look directly at him, intently watching to make sure he had his full attention before he continued. 

Cygnu nodded, still holding the device out before him.

“Protect this with your life . Because it is your life, it will become a part of you, by storing your light. If you lose it, or it’s taken by the wrong person, then it will be almost impossible to transform back to this form. And worse, others might be able to use that light for evil things, to do harm to you, or others. Do you understand?”

He nodded again, drawing it close to his chest in a fist.

“Good. You’ll do just fine, don’t worry. We all have faith in you.” Helios gave his shoulder a squeeze before releasing him and walking to rejoin the others. 

The same pressure against Cygnu’s chest tightened again, where the device pressed against it. Now, only minutes before they were set to leave the comfortable surroundings of this ship, the familiar shapes and lines of their own planet’s technology, Cygnu was beginning to understand just how much was depending on him.

He glanced over his shoulder, through the bulkhead into the bridge again, at his - now four - teammates. The pressure lessened, slightly. 

At least I have them to help me. How do the Ultra Brothers do this by themselves?

He glanced at Helios, making final adjustments to their orbit on a monitor. 

How did Helios?

A glittering line of text, in curving script across the screens, appeared suddenly with a series of beeps. 

“That’s our final set of coordinates for landing.” Helios looked over towards 80 and Yullian, who both nodded, acknowledging. 

Yullian couldn’t help but smile again, drawing herself up into a practiced, noble posture. 

“Well, let’s not keep them waiting!”

Chapter Text

From high above, the swarming black dots on the stonework landing platform appeared as ants. Black-shelled, shiny, scuttling in neat lines, dragging large pieces of ornamental bunting and banners behind them - equally as black with blue and red blazes depicting artfully inked seals. The metal fixtures where the anticipated shuttle would rest, in the center of the old stonework, gleamed new, incongruent on top of bricks pitted and discolored from long years exposed to the intense sunlight of Dulvonus’ acrid yellow sky. 

Two standing figures were clearly uninterested in the work around them, and observed the still-empty platform instead. The shorter one sagged in the midday heat, not helped by the thick armor plates bound around his portly frame. At one time the armor would have fit him like a black-leather glove, but they had to let the bindings and straps out quite a bit today - not too much, he was too vain to admit them out that much. Just enough to breathe. He drew a small handkerchief and patted at his damp, red face. 

“Did we really have to pick this hell-forsaken, shit-hole desert? I’m sweating straight out of my armor. Cece could’ve at least sent some of her servants with cooling fans, this wait is interminable out here-”

The second figure rolled his eyes at the constant stream of complaints, thankful that the motion was hidden under the smooth eggshell-blue mask set into the helmet of his own armor. The complaints had hardly ceased since they had stepped out into the wide landing arena, but he could hardly blame the Consort. The armor was, after all, entirely ceremonial - thankfully - since Orfeo would likely be reduced to unfortunate mincemeat if he ever was forced to step on a real battlefield instead of the parade grounds around them.

His own armor was far less elaborate in appearance, but hid far more detailed additions - lightweight carbon-fiber supports, cooling tubes, muscle synapse receptors - under its smooth, matte-black carapace. Scattered ridges resembling fangs over his shoulders and across his hips marked his office, and the reason why he was here, as a member of the delegation alongside the noble ambassadors.

Although he was quickly coming to regret it, listening to the bottomless spout of ill-tempered whining that was still issuing from the man at his side. 

“This is just a stupid formality, anyways, we could be waiting inside the air-conditioned palace still, I could be enjoying some more of those delicious little fruit pastries we had this morning, I will have to remind one of the kitchen staff to have them brought to our chambers-”

“The ‘formality’ is a first impression, to show our guests the pride and strength of the Keel Empire, Orfeo.” The taller, armored figure growled out. He tilted his head towards the man. “And if you eat any more of those pastries, you’ll look even more like a dressed-up pig, rather than the First Consort you are supposed to be.” 

“ Pig? You’re just the captain of the expedition force here! I could’ve pulled any of the soldiers-” Orfeo gestured to the guards in much simpler versions of the same armor, ringing the arena, “-And stuck them in your helmet and given them a powersaber and no one would be able to tell the difference. At least I will be standing by the side of the Baroness when-”

“You’ll be lucky if she lets you stand at her side, you’re a reeking embarrassment right now.” Rayan smirked, hidden by the mask. “You always could just go back, and wait in one of the hover-cars, spare us all the shame of-”

“You both are shaming your people, right now, bickering like children,” Another voice snapped behind them. They turned to see the Baroness Dicene striding out towards them, two attendants busily adjusting the complicated folds and enameled ornaments of her dress. Her hair, done in an elaborate up-do with multiple strands of braids, threaded with silver bands with ruby and onyx - shone in the bright sunlight. Only a few dark hairs strayed from their severe placement, which the attendants took as a personal insult and drove them into submission as she drew even with her two companions.

“Orfeo, you will stay right here, and keep your mouth shut . I didn’t marry such a weak-willed toad that couldn’t stand to be out in the sun for twenty minutes. And you.” She turned to glare at Rayan, matching his height, her obsidian-flinted eyes boring through his smooth mask. 

“Don’t forget your station. You are here as a soldier, nothing more. If you wish to treat my husband in that tone again, then I will take your sword hand myself, and then throw the useless body it was attached to into the same dungeon where the rest of your misbegotten, traitorous family rots.”

The only answer was a smooth, practiced bow, from the waist. “Whatever you wish, my lady.” Rayan intoned.

“What I wish is that these Ultras would arrive here already, these maids did a terrible job of fitting my dress-” Dicene adjusted the boning at the waist of the elaborate costume, then awkwardly smoothed it back into place before arranging her hands more appropriately, folded in front of her. 

Just like her husband, always complaining. They certainly deserve each other. Rayan burned underneath the blank faceplate, despite his cool words to her. 

Another attendant leaned in behind them. “The message has been received, I assure you, my lady, the agreed-upon time will be here in-” He paused and drew a finely-detailed timepiece from the pocket of a simple black waistcoat, considering it.  “-twenty-two seconds.”

The seconds were impatiently counted by those gathered, until the last one ticked away. A silver streak appeared in the sky, almost invisible against the bright glare of sunlight. A second flash confirmed to those looking upwards that it was not a heat mirage, but the shuttle carrying the diplomatic party. Silently, it drew over them, and then rapidly descended. The only noise it made was the abrupt clunk of the landing mechanisms catching into place. Not even a puff of dust rose around it as it came to rest.

The crowd then was forced to count another eight seconds until the door of the shuttle opened, withdrawing into its smooth, rounded walls.. 

Cygnu figured that Yullian was being purposely dramatic with her timing, but the brief moment of humor to him was lost as he stepped out into the searingly hot sun of the planet’s surface. He tried not to wince, meeting an abrupt wall of noise - it took him a moment to realize where the sound came from. Horns, providing a loud fanfare, matched with the blast of a cannonade announcing their arrival. The sound echoed off the walls, but as quickly as it exploded outwards, it reverberated and faded in the wide, open space of the arena. It was as if the fanfare was trying to push the dust, the flaky sediment lining the crumbling mortar of its walls and squat hangars, and the silent pressure of years which had accumulated on top of them, away from the gathered parties. But soon the quiet hiss and whistle of the wind flowed back in, patiently resuming where the time had left off. 

The leader of the Keel party - at least, Cygnu assumed that she was the leader - stepped forward ahead of them. Two neat lines of black-armored, faceless soldiers extended, marking a pathway through the otherwise un-tracked grit between the two gathered groups. She raised her hands and her voice filled the remaining space. 

“Welcome, ambassadors of the light!” She began, her steady voice rang out, making herself heard with a practiced ease of projection. “We welcome you to Dulvonus, and are grateful for your generous appearance and aid, at this historical moment between our two peoples. I am the Baroness Dicene, First of the House of Corda, and Regent Ambassador of the Keel Empire.” 

She produced her titles without waiting for acknowledgement from the Ultras. They were simply fact, with no submissive curtsy or bow accompanying them. Instead, she looked Yullian straight on, unflinching. “We acknowledge that the past relationship between us has been… fraught with tragedy and misunderstanding-” 

Cygnu caught sight of Atlan off to his side, rolling her eyes at that. They both remembered the briefing Helios had run them through. The Keel were particularly fond of leaving whole planets destroyed with their kaiju bioweapons, and provided materials and soldiers to other organizations to do the same when they weren’t getting their own hands dirty. It’s not hard to misunderstand those actions, Cygnu thought. Direct, brutal and… very much unlike what he was currently watching with the elaborate ceremony unfolding before them.

Dicene gestured elegantly with one black-gloved hand behind her, towards her two companions. “Alongside me, also carrying the authority and respect of the Keel Empire, is my First Consort and Minister of Corda, Orfeo.” The short one with the drooping mustache bowed, stiffly in his tightly-bound plates. “-And Captain of my personal guard, Rayan” The taller one, with the smooth, featureless mask covering his helmet bowed almost mechanically in turn. No other given name? I wonder if that’s significant.  Cygnu wondered to himself. 

A wave from the Baroness, and more attendants filed in before them, carrying elaborate chests and containers. One after another, they opened them, presenting to Yullian. 

“In order to convey our deep respect , and appropriately show the honor we wish to pay to your wise and ancient station in the galaxy, we humbly present to you riches from the Keel.”

The opened chests glittered, with precious gems, crystals, metal ingots of rare metals that Cygnu didn’t even have names for. They sparkled in the strong sunlight, and almost seemed to glow themselves. 

“We cannot accept these.” 

Yullian’s voice, level and assured, cut through the air like a thunderbolt.

The Baroness gaped. “We.. we insist, Princess, please accept our kindness-”

“We acknowledge your kindness, but you have presented us with such a wondrous gift that our people have no use for. I do not wish to waste your generosity by taking such fine things and merely locking them in a vault.” Yullian spread her hands, apologetically. “The gift you provide of your hospitality, the thought of your welcome, your desire for peace, is all that we desire, more than gold or gemstones. And you have provided that for us already.” 

And then she did something that shocked Cygnu - who was already standing wide-eyed, after witnessing what he was pretty sure was an offense grave enough to immediately get them all kicked off the planet.

Yullian bowed. Deeply, with hands folded against the silken folds of her own simple dress. “Please forgive our presumption, but we submit ourselves to your service, and ask for nothing more.” She straightened. “To show our desire for mutual peace, and our service in the spirit of cooperation between our peoples, we also wish to present a gift, however.” She turned and nodded to 80, who raised his own hands, and a green flash of light - bright enough to be seen in the broad daylight - filled them. 

Cygnu saw the guard, the one introduced as Rayan, tighten his grip on the sword at his side, at the motion.

But then the light solidified into a large, crystalline tablet. Ornate carvings decorated its faceted, jade edges. 80 stepped forward, and offered it to an attendant, and bowed the same as Yullian. Dicene eyed the tablet as it was presented to her, but kept her hands deliberately to her sides.

Yullian smiled, her expression glinting with the same hard light that refracted from the gemstones, now forgotten at their feet. Nobody else was looking at her though, they were looking at the tablet.  “As you say, we are a wise and ancient race. The treasure of our wisdom is provided to you here. In your hands is a record of the millions of years of history of this system and its people. May your own rule be a wise and benevolent one with it.” 

A small frown flitted across Dicene’s face, breaking the illusion of placidity for only a fraction of a second, before she adjusted it into honest concern. “Yes, well, we accept your gift then, wholeheartedly with appreciation.” 

“Hey wait a second, Helios, is that literally just your briefing notes?” Even telepathically, Cygnu could hear the laugh stifled in Atlan’s voice.

“ You try organizing millions of years of data on astronomical models from the archives next time if you think it’s a joke.”

Helios shot the pair an irritated look. “And keep telepathy to a minimum, we don’t know if the Keel can-”

“I don’t think there’s anyone here who can hear us like this. At least, I don’t get that impression from them.” Cygnu broke in.

Without a change in Helios’ expression, a vague frown of concentration still on his face, he turned back towards the Princess and Baroness, where more words were being exchanged. Cygnu and Atlan felt his mental presence withdraw, considering.

It soon returned. “Do you notice anything else strange, Cygnu?” Helios asked.

“Everything’s strange.”

“What about anything “dangerous”?” Atlan added.

A new feeling spread between the trio, of a space that was simultaneously too open, and too claustrophobic. A trembling tension filled the arena, the walls ringing it, bristling with armed, black-armored Keel guards, resembling the sharp jaws of a spring-loaded trap - with them standing at the center.

Atlan’s telepathic voice was shaken. “Okay, that was a bad question too.”

“Let’s try something more specific then, can you get a read on the Keel party?” Helios directed.

“Oh, sure, that’s easy”  Cygnu was starting to get a feel for his senses in his human form, making note of light both visible and invisible that swirled around him in recognizable patterns. He shifted his weight, temporarily distracted by the feel of gritty sand underfoot, but then managed to wrangle his attention back upwards, to look at the gathered Keel party. 

“Show us.”

Cygnu closed his eyes, blocking out the light of the harsh sun above them, but still feeling its warmth around him. He focused on a different warmth though, centered above his chest and hidden beneath the folds of his simple tunic. There, the same transformation device Helios had given him, rested against his pale skin. When he took this form with it, it had elongated, sharpened to resemble the shape of his Nocturne Aegis, and was now fastened around his neck with a length of silver chain to match its gleaming enameled metal. 

It flashed once, unseen, pulsing blue, as Cygnu cast his sight outwards.

He tilted his head, as slightly as he could manage to avoid attracting attention, to the Baroness. “The leader. Nobility of some kind, used to being in charge- “

“You talking about the Baroness, or Yullian?”

“Not now, Atlan.”

“She’s… desperate almost. Wants to prove something.” A network of red fissures and cracks opened through her under Cygnu’s sight, like glass being compressed by some great, unknown force. But whether the pressure would drive the cracks further inward, or to explode outwards, he couldn’t say.

Another shift of his eyes to the two figures standing behind her. “These two hate each other-” That was definitely the strongest impression he got from them. And as he looked more intently at their forms, he could begin to see why. Both of their lights were alike, and resembled wrapped chains, binding them to the Baroness in the center. But while one was being led willingly, gladly even, the other one was dragged by them. He saw chafing, raw, red wounds burning like embers where those chains wrapped around him. 

Cygnu started, briefly losing his connection as he realized the two parties now were beginning to turn and leave. The attendants and soldiers filed in neat ranks flanking them, with the Baroness and her own companions at the head of the parade. 

“Anyone else look important?” Helios asked, as he gestured quickly behind him. They took up position, following behind, marching smartly in pace with the others. 

Many other Keel surrounded them now, the soldiers, but also servants, clerks, staff - probably pulled from whatever quarters the Baroness had, to fill out the arena for their welcome. Cygnu cast around, shallowly, but wouldn’t call any of them Important. In fact, the thoughts and impressions he was getting from them were almost comfortingly familiar: concerns about what to have for lunch, paperwork to be filed, halls to be mopped and cleaned and prepared for the guests. Not too different from what we’d be doing back in the Garrison. The thought reassured and saddened him in equal measures.

The column filed into a darkened tunnel, leading through the walls and out into another plaza bordering the streets of the city itself. Cygnu was still looking around, when another attendant caught his eye. He realized this one had also been standing with the Baroness during their introductions, but she hadn’t mentioned him at all. 

“I noticed him as well.” Helios’ thoughts cut in. Cygnu felt the attention of his Captain sharpen to a knife’s edge on the unknown figure’s back, as they calmly walked. 

Cygnu tried looking harder. He was otherwise unremarkable, with no fancy suit or armor like the rest of the entourage, wearing a simple collared coat, tailored with the now-recognizable seal of the Baroness’ house. But something nagged at the back of his mind. He was different, somehow. 

“He’s not Keel.” Cygnu concluded. 

“What is he then?” Atlan was curious.

“...I don’t know.” 

As they continued to walk, Cygnu’s own curiosity grew, and he pushed, deeper, trying to see him clearer, to read what he might be thinking of, what duties he would be taking on alongside the Baronness. 

A cold grip closed around his mind, icy and paralyzing. He had the impression of a great, dark pit that opened before him, sending him reeling, stumbling into it. His sight narrowed, smoky static closing in and compressing his attention on the attendant - who silently turned around, looked at him and smiled - 

“Oops, sorry kid-” Atlan tread on his foot, the sudden wrenching pain broke his vision and jerked him back to his own body. 

“Must’ve stepped on a rock,” she continued, maneuvering his shaking body to the side, her strong hands keeping a grip on his shoulders, supporting him. “Are you okay?” She looked down at her teammate, his wide eyes set into a face that - somehow - had become even paler in fright. 

Cygnu gulped another breath and leaned into her. She surreptitiously took a step ahead of him, now walking positioned between him and the other Keel attendants.

“Yes… I.. I think you twisted my ankle.” He whispered. 

“Well, clumsy old me! I’m sure sorry about that, here, let me help you-” Atlan’s big grin shone out, and she leaned down, adjusting an arm to take the weight off of his unsteady feet. Cygnu almost protested, but realized just how cold and leaden his limbs felt, even after severing his connection with… whatever that was. 

Cygnu dearly wished that he would never have to see it again. 

The arena where their ship was welcomed, and now rested securely in place, was some distance from the palace where the Keel had taken up residence, and where temporary residence for the Ultras had been prepared. Dicene cheerfully described it to Yullian and 80. The two of them rode along with the Baroness and Orfeo, keeping one ear on her polite patter, but also taking the opportunity to observe more of the city streets speeding past the window of the elegant hover-car. Another train of similar cars followed behind, snaking through the narrow, winding avenues.

But apart from the gleaming black and chrome vehicles, and guards stationed at checkpoints, the brown cobblestone streets of the city were empty. The windows of the buildings were darkened, even in the early afternoon. 

“Do the people here take a siesta?” 80 asked, watching the ancient brownstone facades stream past in neat order. 

The Baroness fanned herself. Even in the interior of the car, the day’s heat was building. “A what? I beg your pardon, I’m not familiar with the local customs just yet, we are newly arrived-” 

80 grinned apologetically. “Oh, sorry, it’s a custom I learned about when I was on Earth. A siesta, an afternoon rest, usually after eating lunch. It’s quite a nice time, actually, wish more of us would take advantage of it-”

Yullian cut him off with a gentle hand laid across his arm. “You’ll have to forgive him, he does enjoy talking about his time on that planet, quite frequently.”

“Yes. I see. Well. Why do you ask?” Ever since her carefully-rehearsed gift-giving was interrupted back in the arena, Dicene felt like she was playing catch-up with the two Ultra ambassadors. Casting around for some way to redirect the conversation - a new angle, surely they must be trying to lure her into a trap - she thought of something. “It sounds like a nice custom, maybe we could institute it for the people of this planet if you-”

80 never let her finish it. “I asked because there’s nobody out on the streets right now. For such a large city, it does seem strangely… quiet.”

Yullian looked pointedly at the Baroness. “I was wondering the same thing, to be honest.” 

“You’re not missing much, believe -” Orfeo started before a stiletto heel quietly drove into his ankle, accompanied by a severe glare. 

“Similarly, I should ask forgiveness for my husband’s rudeness in speaking out of turn.” Dicene continued, coldly. She snapped the fan shut, then used it to gesture out the window. “Today, we have arranged guards to clear the streets and keep watch over our motorcade, to avoid any… unfortunate accidents. We wanted to do everything possible to assure the safety of you, our most honored guests. “

“But why would our safety be in jeopardy?” Yullian’s wide-eyed look of innocent shock was well-known to 80, she used it all the time to excuse him from Garrison duties when she wanted to take a vacation jaunt across the galaxy. “I would have thought that this city would be the safest place in this sector, under your guidance! After all, we heard such terrible stories about the governing magistrates on this planet before your arrival, after justly deposing them, why would things still be dangerous? Wouldn’t they welcome your presence here?”

The act was so melodramatic, 80 almost expected the strains of a lone violin to float underneath Yullian’s words. Surely Dicene has to see through this concern trolling- 

She didn’t. Or if she did, she was now competing for even more melodrama, and more violins. Maybe a cello too. 

Dicene pouted. “It’s terrible, the people here lived under fear so long that it’s all they’ve known.” She turned her head, sadly considering the scene outside. “They were reduced to scrabbling for meager food in poverty, oppressed by such cruel tyrants, they know no other way to live! And now, when we offer them our aid, our kind generosity, they don’t know how to respond, other than biting the hand that feeds them.”

“And what are you feeding them?” Yullian’s question abruptly flattened. 

“I mean the statement quite literally, you know. After those tyrants were removed, we directed our manpower immediately to build food storehouses, medical centers, facilities to distribute supplies for anyone who wished. We’re passing one right now - “ She pointed the fan again to a squat, sheet-metal building with black struts still marking the scaffolding around it. It was ringed in barbed wire with a shimmer marking a stronger barrier against laser weapons. Armed guards stationed at the entrance snapped to attention as they rolled past.

“Of course, simply offering material goods isn’t enough to change things permanently for the people of Dulvonus. These are merely surface solutions that don’t address the real issues facing civilians here…”

Yullian nodded, waiting for her to continue. 

“The people would merely snap up food, and ungratefully demand more, becoming dependent on us. The Keel should be strong, productive and hard-working. We wanted to make sure that the rabble would earn their dignity, a better way of life, than being reduced to further begging. ”

Yullian nodded again, more stiffly this time. “And what do you mean by earn?” 

A chill ran through 80 at this tone. He was used to her affected, sweet demeanor to get what she wanted. Nobody else in the car had heard this voice from her before, but 80 recognized it for what it was. Oh, no, they’ve already made her mad-

“It’s simple, they are members of the Keel now, as I said. It is important that they are properly educated in the rights and dignities afforded by that status. We want them to take pride in that common identity, a new culture to unite them rather than the violent squabbling that led to such ruin before we arrived. But, unfortunately, such education cannot happen in hovels where the populace live in such unhygienic squalor-”

“Where is this education, ah, being delivered then?” 80 hastily broke in before Yullian had a chance to voice her own thoughts.

“Our soldiers have secured several parts of the city where we have created safe housing for them. There we can provide all the necessary needs that they lacked otherwise - a clean place to live, food, medicine, schooling. We want to be able to say that nobody who comes to us for help would ever be turned down, and would want for nothing under the protection of the Keel.” 

Dicene turned back to the two ambassadors and snapped the fan open once again, a benevolent, welcoming smile fluttering behind its motion. “In fact, we have prepared a tour for you at one of these facilities. Would you like to see it?”

Yullian drew a fierce breath in through her nose, then fell back into practiced, innocent frankness, sighing. “Maybe at another time. We are tired from our long interstellar journey, and all the new sights and sounds of this planet. Perhaps we could retire to the palace? I know the escorts we brought are excited to see it as well, and we are all eager to avail ourselves of your hospitality. As you said, we would want for nothing under your care.” 

“Very well then. Another time. We do have a week to spend together, to get to know each other, after all.” Dicene seemed satisfied, and motioned to the driver.

Arriving at the palace was a quick trip after that, and even quicker to be escorted to the wing of the elaborate compound where rooms had been prepared for the Ultras. They had brought no luggage or supplies with them, and had no need of it even in these forms. On reaching the ornately carved doors to the suite on the third floor, Yullian curtly dismissed the servants in the hallway, and then closed them with a click. 

“Don’t you dare start, we haven’t even swept this room yet, Yullian!” 80 warned under his breath, as she spun around, a dangerous, fiery look in her eyes.

The suite was huge, richly furnished with warm brown wood seating and tables, leading off into several other private chambers with beds and washing rooms. But the furniture stood out against bare walls and unadorned windows. The palace itself was old, made of the same brownish sandstone as most of the rest of the city, but was marked out from them not just by its immense size, but also by carved facades of wide columns, statues and handcrafted tiles which were still (mostly) in place after hundreds of years of use. Inside was a different impression entirely though, it was as if the collected debris history that would have been expected - artwork, portraits, tiles and ceiling molding from older times, rugs and drapes covering the stone and white-washed walls - was swept clean. Erased, almost.

That was the read Cygnu got from it first, but Helios snapped him to attention from his own idle thoughts. 

“Cygnu, do you sense any guards around us?” 

“Uh, hold on…” He concentrated, feeling outside the windows, into the hallway, and even the floors above and below for good measure.

“Two guards outside on regular patrol, they’re passing in front of us right now-” Cygnu’s voice dropped as he felt their razor-sharp focus cut by them. “More guards outside by the fence, at least fifty yards out from us though. I think there’s another one patrolling the wall… but he’s on the other side of the building right now, I can’t get a good read on him, maybe-”

“That’s good enough, don’t worry, just keep an eye on the hallway for now.” The pressure of Helios’ hand coming to rest on his shoulder brought his sight back to the room again.

“I don’t feel any electromagnetic signatures in here-” 80 added, glancing around himself. “If there are traps or listening devices, they’ve hidden them pretty well.” 

Helios briefly closed his eyes as well. They all could feel a pulse of light from him, and Cygnu saw the icy needle points of blue light trace outwards, whipping towards the walls and ceiling. Then they abruptly retracted.

“I agree.” Helios concluded. His eyes snapped open, then looked puzzled. “That’s… pretty lax security. Maybe they just didn’t have time to set up anything since they haven’t been here for long-”

“Permission to speak freely, Captain ” Yullian gritted out between her teeth, her face reddened by the strain of impatience. 

“Er, sorry, go ahead Princess, what do you make of the-”

Everyone in the room jumped as Yullian put one sandaled foot up and abruptly kicked a chair, sending it skidding across the smooth hardwood floors.

“‘Dignity’ my ass! They’re putting them in camps and jail cells! Taking the people here, locking them up and brainwashing them into their xenophobic little empire. And then acting as if that’s normal , as if there’s no other way to save people from themselves!” The words poured forth, fractured through her previously-gracious demeanor, lashed towards no one in particular, simply to get them out of her chest where she had been forced to lock them up.

“And then, this little tart has the nerve to try and play the victim here, like they’re some high-and-mighty saviors to swoop down from the heavens, what did she think we would think of them after that show-”

Only Atlan was brave - or obtuse - enough to answer that rhetorical question. 

“Well we already figured this was a set-up, I don’t think they cared what we thought, they just wanted a show of force, to brag about. Maybe they’re getting off on being petty tyrant assholes-”

“They picked a bad planet to show off then, if they’re having this trouble with just a local group of guerilla fighters. I’ve seen shows of force. This is a half-measure,” Helios stated plainly. He collapsed into a nearby sofa, arms crossed.

Yullian made a gesture like she was shaking someone around the shoulders. Finally, she thrust her arms down to her side, throwing the imaginary target of her fury to the floor, and heaved a strained sigh. 

“We can’t negotiate with petty tyrant assholes, though.” She said, more levelly, the force of her anger slackened - for now. “We need to figure out what they want, why they’re doing this, why they decided to take this planet over in the first place. From Helios’ information, we know there aren’t resources here that they would need-” Yullian looked up to 80 and Helios. “Is there anything else we’re missing? What about its location?” 

Helios shook his head. “This system isn’t in any strategic place. It’s relatively close to their borders, yes, but it’s cut off from easy interstellar travel by a dense dark matter cluster that lies between it and the galactic center. It was a quick trip for us thanks to our light technology, but for the Keel? If they wanted a staging position to launch a more significant military force, then there are better options, like the Ursine system in-”

“Okay, so that’s a ‘no’ then.” Yullian cut him off before he could launch into another briefing presentation. “But what else is there?”

“What if.. they actually are telling the truth?”

Everyone in the room paused and looked over to 80, who was distantly considering something, a hand raised to his chin. He looked up to see the silence of the room pressed onto him, expectantly. 

“Uh, well, I mean, we Ultras try to meet people where they are, to learn from them and allow them to learn from us in return, an example for them to follow. The Keel claim they’re trying to do the same thing for the people of Dulvonus-”

Atlan rolled her eyes. “ ‘Claim’ being the key word here, we all know that’s a crock of Cowra-shit.” 

“But what if we’re here because the Keel need help?” 80 turned to Yullian, his hands open, as if to present her with this new idea. “Just hear me out for a second, we know this current dynasty for the Keel has risen from a dark background, think about it from their perspective.” 

He paused, allowing everyone else to do just that, then continued. “The Keel have had to wield political and military power just to ensure their own survival from each other. What if they’re just genuinely trying to help, but that military power, intimidation, and political double-dealing are the only means they know how to use? If they just wanted to, say, strip-mine the planet for its last chunks of ore, then they could’ve just leveled the city itself and be done with it. If they just wanted to trap or hurt us, they could’ve done that at any point today, they’ve had plenty of opportunity for it! But they came to us with diplomacy!” 

Watching 80, Helios suddenly remembered Taro’s words, when they had first received this mission. The image of his commander, the gravity of his orders, coming back to him.

“What if they actually do want peace? 721 won’t see it, but…”

“80, you do realize what you’re proposing makes no sense, and is, in fact, almost impossible to prove here.” Yullian brought her hands to rest on her hips, an eyebrow arched. Suddenly though, her lips curled up into a small smile, seeing the look in his eyes. He’s never lost that innocence, always trying to find the best in everything, in everyone…

Yullian raised her hands into a shrug, finally. “But, you do make a point, this would be a way they could ask for that help while saving face-”

“No. That’s not it. There’s something else.” Cygnu’s voice cut in, clipped and unsure of his own words.

The attention of the room now snapped to him, where he leaned unsteadily against the back of a chair, staring at the floor. 

“Ever since we came here, I’ve been feeling… something.” He hesitantly started.

“Like what?” Helios offered calmly, to reassure him to continue, but his own uneasiness grew. He had felt the cold snap of the severed mental connection when they were walking to the cars earlier that day. What did he see there?

“Something… painful. Like a…” Cygnu rubbed at his forehead, nervously trying to find words amidst the swirl of experiences that were still new to him “When you hurt a tooth and can’t help pushing at it even if you- I’m sorry, this doesn’t make any sense. But it doesn’t feel good. If the Keel actually had good intentions, then why does this whole planet feel like this?” He trailed off again.

“Sometimes good intentions aren’t enough.” Helios stated, bitterly.

“Well, there’s an easy way to figure out what’s going on,” Atlan slapped her thighs and then rolled upwards from her own seat. “Let's ditch these human forms and go beat it out of them!”

“Absolutely not, and that’s an order, Atlan,” Helios responded, his frown deepening. “That won’t help us answer anything. Not to mention, the Keel did the exact same thing when they arrived here, and executed the entire ruling government-”

“We’re not trying to rule it though, just give it back over to the people when we’re finished dealing with these scumbags!”

“Helios is right, Atlan.” Yullian’s face had lost its fire, concern now extended across her eyes in its place. “Leaving a power vacuum here is dangerous, that’s one thing the Keel were right about. There’s too many other issues that need to be addressed first: resources, food, but more importantly the people here need hope. They need something to believe in and fight for, to protect for themselves, or we’re just leaving them vulnerable for someone - another alien empire, warlords, or worse - to take advantage of the chaos and crush them further in this cycle."

“The shadows lengthen… and darkness gives birth to itself-” 

Cygnu’s voice sounded strained and distant. In his mind, despite his efforts, that same terrifying pit opened before him again, he was collapsing, falling into its inexorable pull, the cold depths- 

He jerked as he fell against 80’s arms, catching him just before he crumpled to the floor. 

“Kid, are you okay?” 80’s voice was soft, carefully pulling him back to his feet. 

“I… I’m sorry. I think I’m just tired. E-Excuse me.” He stiffly pushed away 80’s hands, then abruptly veered to one of the side chambers. The door slammed behind him. 

No sooner had the noise dissipated, than Atlan yanked her eyes away from it, to glare at the rest of the gathered party. “See, we don’t have time to play stupid games! If Cygnu is acting like this, then who knows what evil stuff the Keel have planned, we’re just sitting around right now, doing nothing when-”

“This isn’t ‘ nothing’, Atlan.” Yullian walked over and attempted to put a reassuring arm around her shoulder where she stood. After a short consideration, Yullian settled for a one-armed, friendly squeeze around her chest instead. “We all want to figure out what’s happening, and stop it from getting worse. You and Cygnu aren’t alone in this - believe me, 80 and I have the worst end of this job, we have to listen to all this crap in their meetings now!” She grinned conspiratorially upwards. 

“We all have our part to play. Remember your mission: we’re here to make sure Yullian and 80 can get to the bottom of matters. You don’t have to do all the fighting yourself,” Helios added.

Atlan’s face still scrunched in frustration, biting at her bottom lip. “I just… I should probably go out and get some fresh air-”

Suddenly, a knock at the door caused them all to jump again, as if an electric shock passed through the floor. 

“ Shit,” Yulian swore under her breath, a breach in decorum she couldn’t afford once the Keel entered. She adjusted her smile into place and locked her gaze on the doors to greet them.

The Baroness Dicene swept in. She had adjusted herself into a new, simpler dress, without the elaborate jeweled decorations in her hair. But she now boasted a set of attendants and blank-masked guards following behind her as her accessories. 

“Baroness! What a surprise-” Yullian smiled warmly and cast a small, more casual bow to match her host’s more casual appearance. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your calling-”

“Are your people not attending our banquet this evening?” Dicene tilted her head. “I assure you, we have taken every pain to make sure you and your servants are welcomed and made comfortable-” 

“My fellow ambassador and our guards,” Yullian leaned into the word, dropping it like a rock through thin ice. “We are tired from our journey, as I said to you before. I also assure you, 80 and myself will be present, but I have excused the others to do as they wish.”

“And this one, Atlan, I believe you were introduced to me,” Dicene ignored the correction and focused her flinty eyes on the Ultra warrior. “I heard that you wish to leave?”

“Baroness, I... I simply-” Atlan stuttered under the force of her presence. Yullian was forceful herself, when she wanted to be, but warm and genuine even when giving directions she expected to not be questioned. In contrast, the Baroness was a crushing boulder of hard, cold granite. 

“Atlan would make for a rude, childish guest at such a banquet. She has no manners at all, I’m sad to say.” Yullian remarked. 

Atlan’s eyes widened, then narrowed. Her gaze flicked between Yullian and Dicene, with no idea of how either would respond next. 

She certainly didn’t expect Dicene to laugh. 

“Of course, I understand. It was rather foolish of me to think that your guards would be as courteously refined as you and 80 appear to be. I wouldn’t want to have anything spoiling our mood at the banquet, after all. Very well.” Dicene snapped her fingers, and two guards stepped forward, saluting, then lowering their grasp to the swords at their side once again.

“If you would, kindly accompany Atlan on her evening stroll. After all, the streets can be quite dangerous alone, especially for someone newly arrived and unfamiliar with the city. Please make sure she returns to us safely when she is satisfied.” 

The guards nodded, blank masks silent. 

Helios stepped forward, mouth opened with the start of a protest, Yullian caught him by the arm and gently pulled him to the side. 

“Thank you for the generous gift of your personal guards, Baroness. We are always grateful for your concern.” Yullian dipped her head, cooly concluding the matters. Then she nodded to Atlan, gesturing to join the black armored figures expecting her.

After both parties left, and the doors once again clicked shut, Helios pressed his hands against their wooden, polished surface, resuming a telepathetic lookout. When he was satisfied that their chambers were once again private, he turned back to Yullian and 80. 

“You don’t give orders or decide what my subordinates do here-” He hissed.

“Helios, calm down. You’re not thinking straight either.” 80 held up one hand, attempting to placate the captain. 

“I’ll say, you’re being just as hot-headed as Atlan!” Yullian crossed her arms, exasperated at the day’s events. She wasn’t looking forward to having to joust further with the Keel delegation just to enjoy a dinner. Arguing with her own party had proven to be exhausting enough this afternoon. “If she feels that strongly, then forcing her to stick around here will only make things worse. Besides, her heart’s in the right place. She might surprise you, after all.” 

Helios sat heavily, back into the sofa with a huff. He rubbed at his eyes. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Chapter Text

The sun had barely started dipping below the eaves of the city when Atlan lost her guards. 

She glanced backwards a few times, darting in and out of alleyways where the late afternoon sunlight avoided, casting its narrow avenues in warm, dusky shadows. But no black-armored goons were seen on her tail, and soon she came to a halt along a corner, below a rusted stairwell. She grinned to herself even as her heart beat an excited patter. That’s the first mistake everyone makes - she thought. They assume “big” means “slow”. 

But here, in busier streets, away from the quarter of the city patrolled and controlled by the Keel, she wasn’t even the biggest figure to be found. There were people! Lots of them! Atlan was excited to see something more like normal city life, compared to the lengths of empty sidewalks and shuttered windows they had observed when driving to the palace earlier that day. People leaning out of widows, casting greetings, complaints and (what she assumed were) insults to the people below. She abruptly stepped back into the corner as a hovering two-person bike zoomed past, inches away from her. One of the insults was hurled at her as it passed. She filed it into her memory for use later - it might come in handy. 

The setting was comfortably familiar - but not because it resembled the Land of Light. No, cities there were big, bustling and even loud at times, but it was from a sense of orderly business. Everyone had a job to do, somewhere to be, and was constantly in transit from one business to another. Here, as she watched individuals sitting casually in flimsy canvas seats, leaning against the still-warm brownstone facades, passing burning rolled splints of some kind, talking over tables from makeshift crates and much-repaired metal frames, engaged in some sort of card game she didn’t recognize, it was more like they had nowhere better to be. And so they made the most of their time here. 

Atlan had seen other planets, explored their cities, outposts, villages (and sometimes - unfortunately, their blasted ruins) alongside Helios before this mission. Whether it was tracking dangerous contraband or dangerous monster appearances, she had seen many other streets on evenings just like this one. She took a deep breath in, of smoke from kitchens, thin, dagger-like dried leaves blown about her feet, and old, old bricks. This is what I came to this planet for, not sitting at some stupid banquet. 

A new momentum in her stride, she turned out of the alleyway, trying to look as purposeful as possible. That was another thing she had picked up on those previous missions - look like you belong, and most people won’t take the trouble to ask questions. 

But the words that floated into her mind from her memories weren’t her own, they were from Helios, weren’t they? Didn’t he teach her how to move quickly, to teleport from one place to another when people weren’t looking, to keep her head down but also on a swivel, observing all her surroundings. He was always good at that sort of thing.

Atlan never stopped to question why. Now, she wished she did. 

She turned her head, looking backwards again. Still no goons. 

So what now? Admittedly, she didn’t think much further than just escaping from the guards at first. She wanted to really see the city, sure. But the thought of Helios - and the disappointment on his face at her outbursts earlier - brought a new idea to mind. I can’t go back to the palace quarter empty-handed now, I need to show him… I need to make things up to him. 

Information, that’s what she needed. What kind of information? Atlan glanced around again, looking at the passers-by with a different kind of interest. She recognized most of their appearances from her briefings. The native people of the planet were human in appearance, with heavy-lidded eyes ranging from golden, to greenish, to darker nut-brown shades. Their straw-golden hair reminded her of certain types of desert cats she had seen on other planets. But there were many other aliens here besides herself. She spotted Hook, Icarus, Markind, and even - 

Oh, shit! - A pair of Nackle talking in front of a market booth. Atlan ducked behind another alleyway as they passed, heart pounding in her chest. Purposeful stride or not, aliens like that definitely would’ve recognized her for who she was if she was spotted. Okay, maybe I need a new strategy here, I can’t be out in the open like this. Atlan looked down at herself and remembered she hadn’t even brought money on her little impromptu tour, let alone clothes to better fit in.

The familiar surroundings suddenly felt like they were pressing in on her. Maybe the Keel were right about it being dangerous. Maybe I should just call it a day and go back, after all-

A distant scream crashed into her mind. Her limbs flew into action, propelling her down the alleyway, closer to where it had pierced the air. The alley opened into a narrower, darker street, with no-one else to be seen. Another scream echoed through, cut off quickly this time and muffled. Atlan’s heightened hearing could hear a scuffle, scraping against brick, and a weighted thump- 

She vaulted over a metal linked fence blocking another alley, sandaled feet landed heavily, and then she saw where the noise came from. 

Two larger men, one of them grabbing at a canvas parcel with one hand, and the rough-spun linen fabric of a woman’s dress in the other. He shoved her against the brick wall of the alley again, trying to yank the package away. The other mugger had seized a young boy by his upper arm. The kid was struggling to scramble forward, his spindly limbs flying in anger, trying to hit back against the attackers. 

All of this, maybe thirty yards away from Atlan, gathered in an instant as her emerald eyes narrowed, and flashed. 

“Stop yer strugglin’ lady, or I’ll have to get real mean with you-” A sudden clatter made him turn his head - which connected directly into Atlan’s fist, staggering him to the ground, spitting blood and the broken pieces of a tooth. Suddenly released, the woman stumbled backwards and tripped. 

The second mugger gave a shout, losing his grip on the boy. The kid took the sudden opportunity to swing his boot into the man’s knee, and he bolted to the woman.

Atlan now had her hand around the coat collar of the first mugger hauling him back up to face her. Something flashed in his hand. Atlan dropped her arm and jerked quickly to the side, barely avoiding the knife as it snicked open. Two more wild swings drove her back to the wall. She caught him by the wrist with the third, twisting his body and driving her knee - hard - into his rib cage. He collapsed, wheezing. 

PTANG - A laser shot burned into the bricks just a hairsbreadth from Atlan’s shoulder. She froze, eyes darting over to where the second mugger had gained his footing, and drawn a pistol, now trained on her. In slow-motion, she watched his finger tighten around it again. 

In one moment Atlan was frozen against the wall, and in the next, a sickening CRUNCH cut through the air, and she was holding the mugger’s arm, twisted entirely backwards. She wrenched the pistol out of his now-limp hand, flipped it around and brought its butt sharply across his temple. 

She dropped them - mugger and pistol, into a heap in the dusty cobblestone alley. Atlan was breathing hard, but from anger more than exertion. 

The first mugger stumbled upwards, still winded, gasping even as he snarled at her. “You… you bitch! You won’t-” 

Atlan thrust one knee upwards, positioned for a snap-kick to break his jaw again. The mugger gave a yelp, turned and scrambled out of the alleyway, feet slapping heavily against the stones.

“Same mistake as always. They never expect it to be that quick-” She muttered. Satisfied, she drew her foot down, deliberately finishing a well-practiced form. Then she remembered the reason why she had bolted to this street in the first place. Behind her, the woman and - what Atlan assumed was her son - younger brother maybe? - were still pressed against the wall. The woman was shaking, wide-eyed, staring at her in fright. The boy on the other hand, was also wide-eyed but for a completely different reason. A huge grin spread over his face. 

“That was so cool! You just went WHAM - an’... an’ BOOM - and you SPLATTERED them-” He punched at more invisible muggers before him. The woman pulled him to her side, hurrying back down the alley before he could add any more colorful adjectives to his blow-by-blow recap. She didn’t look backwards. 

Atlan shrugged. Not watching someone get murdered here is thanks enough, I suppose. But then she glanced to her side where the other mugger still lay, arm snapped in…at least three places, Atlan judged. She rolled him over and he groaned, softly. 

After checking through his garments, she quickly found a folded bill of paper money, and a pouch of coins tied into his belt. “Well, this seems like a good payment for leaving you here with one working arm.” She patted him on his - unbroken - shoulder, and turned to leave.

She quickly tucked the purse under her own tunic and peered out into the street again. This part of the city definitely looked different from the first one she had walked into that day. Rather than the warm hum of residential life, people out here were also like her - paradoxically trying to look important and confident in order to draw as little attention as possible. Smaller groups huddled in the orange glow of street lamps, muttering between them. Just the right place for a dangerous alien mercenary to travel around with some cash to spend. Face still flushed from the earlier excitement, she strode out again. 

Now she knew where to go. The lit neon sign was in letters she didn’t recognize, but she recognized the look of it well enough. A bar, hopefully where she could get rid of some of those bills and learn something really interesting to bring back to the others. 

It was mostly empty inside. A few individuals who looked like regulars stared into their drinks at the worn, wooden bartop, while others pressed into dimly-lit red plastic booths. Atlan slid up to a seat, and laid out a bill she thought was the appropriate amount along with her winningest smile. 

“You’re not going to get much more other than’a drink of water here with that, miss.” The bartender turned towards her - Markind, she noted. He tilted his head, antenna fluttering, toward the bar in front of her. “Lukewarm water, at that.”

“Oh… well, I’m pretty new around here.” Atlan did her best to make up for it with her smile and added a few more bills. Finally, he looked satisfied enough, or as satisfied as she could read from his huge yellow compound eyes, and Atlan ordered one of whatever the house specialty was. 

“Coming right up.” He swept up the money before she could change her mind, then made another gesture, expectantly. 

“Now you’re just taking advantage of me.” Atlan frowned and slapped another bill into his hand. 

“Not hard to do, you’re not exactly the meanest-looking customer I’ve had today.” He turned back and began assembling the drink. “You’re probably from a planet where they don’t deal with money much, I can tell.”

Well that’s certainly true. Atlan quickly tried to change the topic away from herself. “So what kind of customers do you typically get?”

The Markind passed his hand around the small room, cutting through lazily-rolling smoke and harsh incandescent lights. “Just what you see here. This is about the busiest it’ll get tonight, I expect.” Finished, he slid the glass over - a suspiciously green, fizzing concoction. Atlan eyed it, doubtfully.

“Miss, you already paid. I wouldn’t be much of a businessman if I tried to poison the people who give me money.” The Markind folded his arms, and one antenna flexed upwards - the equivalent of a raised eyebrow. 

Atlan grabbed its rim with one hand, made a casual gesture in a toast, then sipped it. She grimaced, it tasted like sour pulp and gasoline. “Are you sure you’re not trying to poison me?” She choked. 

“It’s an acquired taste.” But she heard the hint of a laugh behind the otherwise-expressionless insectoid face. 

She made a few more attempts to acquire that taste, but then gave up and let it sit. The soft effervescence of the drink blended with the murmurs of the other patrons, but it was oddly quiet, subdued. Did I pick the wrong place for information? Or maybe…

“So is this a slow night?” She prodded at the bartender, who was doing his best to look busy polishing glasses. 

“Any other time, it would’ve been. But things have been even slower here since the Keel took over-”

Aha! There we go! Atlan tried to not let the thrill of victory show on her face. “The Keel? I heard they were here, but I can’t see why they’d care about this place. What are they doing here anyways?” She idly turned the glass this way and that, doing her best to give off an air of casual boredom even as she leaned forward slightly, waiting for his answer. 

“Who knows? Making our lives even more miserable, I suppose. This already was a pretty out-of-the-way galactic stop, but they’ve shut down all’ve the traffic on or off the planet.” The ritualistic motion of the bar towel stopped and he glared at her. “Look, miss, I’ll warn you from getting too curious about the Keel. There’s been… some disappearances around here from people asking too many questions. I’m telling you for your own good.”

“Oh… I don’t care much about the Keel themselves. I’m just, well, passing through. Just making some small talk, you know?” Atlan leaned back on the seat and dramatically sighed. “But it is a shame, I was hoping to get resupplied before my travels take me away again. A good businessman such as yourself… you wouldn’t happen to know where I might find some new toys, would you?” She withdrew another stack of bills from the folds of her tunic, noticeably thicker than before. 

The Markind swiftly leaned over the bar, pushing the bills back, drawing close to her. “Not out here, are you nuts?” He hissed, shifting his head back and forth, antenna nervously whipping now. But the only other patrons of the bar were currently absorbed in studying their own drinks, or the pattern of wood grain in the tables in front of them. “Wait another ten minutes, finish your drink… or not, then go up the fire escape ladder up top to the second floor.”

Atlan nodded, looking equally as serious as he sounded now.

He continued. “Tell ‘em Carrazo sent you. Can’t guarantee they have what you’re looking for, but…” 

“You’ve been a huge help, Carrazo.” Atlan flashed another wide smile, patting his hand on the bartop. He withdrew it quickly and resumed polishing the glass, more fretfully now.

Just as Carrazo had said, up the staircase to the second floor, a plain wooden door was set into a battered frame. Shades were cast over all the windows on this level, and Atlan could hear nothing from inside. Finally, she rapped twice, sharply on the door. 

No answer. 

Another rap, and she saw a darkened curtain twitch, slip open a hair, then close again. Almost immediately, something was unlocked on the other side of the door, rattling, and a slot slid open. Slitted hazel eyes peered through, and a voice rasped behind them: “You the stupid one they told us about?”

“Uh… Carrazo sent me?”

The eyes disappeared for a brief second. “Yep, it’s her!” 

Another series of rattles and clicks, then the door swung open, ushering Atlan inside. The interior of the room was full of hanging tapestries, faded and stained from long years of use. It was stiflingly hot, not helped by the sweet, stale smell that hung around her now. 

“So, we hear you’re in the market for ‘new toys’, is it?” Atlan assumed the woman standing in front of her was the one that answered the door, based on her eyes. She had the tawny golden hair of a native Dulvonus citizen. ( Dulvonean? Dulvonic? Atlan made a mental note to ask them about the word later.) She held out one hand, which Atlan took firmly, trying to make a good first impression. “You can call me Gauda.” 

“Thanks. Uh, I’m Atlan-” She silently cursed at the slip, using her real name. Oh well, not like anyone here knows who I am anyways. “Did Carrazo really call me ‘stupid’?”

“Don’t let it get to you, he likes to pretend he’s a big important dealer when he’s just stuck running that dive bar on this lil’ ol’ backwater planet. He thinks everyone is stupid.” Gauda gestured to her partner: younger with hair cropped short and an eager look on her face. “This here’s Bia. Bia, please bring a drink for our guest. It seems Carrazo’s brew wasn’t to her taste. We’ll try to be a little more accommodating.”  

Atlan could telepathically translate almost any language in the galaxy, but noticed how the words rolled rhythmically off of her tongue as Gauda launched into her sales pitch. A small, delicate cup of cold tea was thrust into her hands. 

“I… Well, I wasn’t expecting this kind of hospitality.” Atlan offered, sheepishly. 

“You probably heard downstairs that business has been pretty slow. We like to make people feel welcome here - helps them open their pocketbooks better.”

The business at hand suddenly thrust itself back into Atlan’s attention. “That’s if you have what I’m looking for, Gauda.” She tried to take on an air of authority - picturing in her mind how Yullian would draw herself up when preparing to absolutely devastate someone with savage politeness. 

“What’re you in the market for?”

Atlan wasn’t looking forward to trying mysterious drinks again tonight, but she took a gulp of the tea, honeyed and thick, and used the moment to consider her cover story. “I was just passing through, expecting to find a fight to offer my skills for. I’m… something of a mercenary.” 

Gauda looked her up and down. “No kidding. I thought you were a florist . So what’s a mercenary looking for here?”

Atlan swallowed again, her mouth suddenly dry. “Nothing special at first, but…When I heard the Keel were here, I got interested. We don’t see them a lot, and I’m… not really familiar with their technology or weapons. I thought it’d be interesting to see if I could get my hands on some of it.”

Gauda paused, arms crossed, sizing up the intent behind that statement. “The Keel are dangerous, no one ‘round here goes messing with them.” She stated flatly.

“No one?” Atlan raised her brow, curious. “I can pay for the trouble, if that’s the problem.” She probably couldn’t just with the bills and coins still left in her new - gently used - purse. But Gauda didn’t need to know that yet.

“It’s not about the money-“ Gauda broke off, then gestured again for Bia. She whispered something in her ear. It seemed they didn’t realize Atlan could still hear them with her own senses. She sipped at her tea, glancing off to the side while trying to not let on to that fact.

“Call up Indrick, he should know about this.” She shooed Bia off to an adjoining room. 

“Sorry about that, I have some connections who might have something of interest.” Gauda continued in her normal, grinning tone of voice. “But in the meantime, maybe you’d like to have a look at my stock anyways? You might see something you could use… as a mercenary.”

“Sure, if you’re offering.”

Gauda drew aside one of the tapestries, revealing another door, and took a coppery key from her belt, unlatching it. She gestured to Atlan to come inside ahead of her. 

The entryway where they had welcomed Atlan stood in stark contrast to this room. Rather than tapestries, it had bare brick walls, with metal-framed tables and shelves built into them. A few crates were shoved against the wall, stamped black with unfamiliar characters and pictograms. A single bank of harsh fluorescent lights lit the room with a quiet hum. 

The shelves and tables were crowded with a million different items, Atlan didn’t know what to examine first. Laser pistols from dozens of origins, energy cores for larger weapons and ships, computer chips and other various devices, all competed for her attention. 

Atlan wandered between a few shelves, looking them over while acutely aware of Gauda’s attention on her back. She was careful not to touch anything - especially the pieces that were completely unknown to her. But most of the menagerie were items that she had seen many times on other missions, and sometimes even had fought against herself. 

Finally, she carefully reached over, and lifted a metal breastplate from where it hung on the wall. “Pedan design, this came from an officer, if I’m not mistaken. How’d you guys get it here?” She raised an eyebrow at her host.

“Not the direct way, if that’s what you mean. But I can’t say anything more than that, bad business if I reveal my suppliers, you know.” She winked. 

Another shelf caught Atlan’s eye. “Wait, these are-” Sure enough, set securely under glass cases, were miniature figures of kaiju. They looked astonishingly life-like, with details that almost seemed to suggest movement, breathing, even though they rested still. Atlan knew that was because they were life-like, but in suspended animation. “Spark Dolls?” She was shocked - the technology to preserve kaiju in this form was powerful and very, very rare. 

“Good eye, most people just think those are art pieces.”

“But without a Dummy Spark to activate them, they’re useless.” Atlan affected an air of disappointment, but inwardly, was very glad that they weren’t running around with the technology to return them to their full size at will. 

“Oh, I don’t know… maybe we just don’t have that piece on public display.” Gauda smirked at her from where she leaned against the door frame.

A cold chill dropped into Atlan’s stomach. “And I don’t suppose you have Devil Splinters in the back alongside it, do you…?” She ventured, now suddenly remembering the kind of black markets that she had busted alongside Helios on her other missions.

“Devil what?”  

Atlan could only read genuine befuddlement from her. Thank Noa for that. She didn’t want to have to deal with other threats besides the Keel. Or worse, the idea of Keel running around with shards of a dark Ultraman’s power. She shuddered again at that thought.

Bia appeared at the doorway, and tapped Gauda on the shoulder. She leaned down towards her, still keeping one eye on Atlan.

“ He says he wants to meet her, give her the drop location for tomorrow sometime before noon-” Atlan overheard. 

Gauda nodded and directed her attention fully back to Atlan. “Well, if you don’t see anything you like here, I have good news. My connection has agreed to discuss your interest in Keel items tomorrow, sometime in the morning.”

Atlan considered. She didn’t know what kind of trouble she’d come back to at the palace, especially after humiliating the guards assigned to her escort. But any worries about that were currently being drowned out by the buzz of curiosity building in her chest. She nodded. “Sure, let’s say… around ten? Where will this meeting happen?”

“Off the corner of Brinyan street, in the old-” 

With a wave of her hand, Atlan cut her off. “Whoa, whoa wait a second, I’m new to this city. You’ll have to give me directions.” 

“Figures. There are four major plazas in this town. Brinyan is the northernmost one. It has the big statue of the Toorwa beast in the center. There’s an abandoned factory two blocks east, building’s shaped like a big, squat chimney, you can’t miss it.”

“Do I need to know a password or anything for it?”

Gauda grinned again, toothily this time. Atlan had the impression of a cat, languidly examining a cornered mouse. “We’ll know you’re coming.” 

The flames rose around him, choking with thick oily smoke. He couldn’t tell where he was, tripping over broken rubble and twisted spars of metal. He couldn’t see, but something drove him forward, stumbling.

They’re still there.

They’re still trapped! 

After an eternity pushing through the rolling waves of heat, he fell to his knees before another pile of debris, concrete fallen over a steel bar. A small, dark gap was exposed under it. He tried desperately, pushing his shoulder into the stone, putting all his remaining strength into moving it. But nothing budged. It was as if he simply slid around its rough surface. His hands, numbed and unresponsive, tried to grab around the bar, but it resisted all his efforts. He felt weak, helpless, gasping with tears and the awful urgency that still drove him against it.

They’re still there! I have to-

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the gap towards him. It was bloodied, covered in grimy dust. 

 A moment of terrifying relief flooded through him. They’re still there! He reached his own hand towards it, trembling.

The hand seized him around his forearm. He could feel its nails driving into his skin, scraping deep gouges.

‘YOU LEFT US HERE” 

The voice echoed in his head, as he was pulled into the darkness - 

Helios jolted awake in his chair, his arms unconsciously thrashed around him for a second before he regained his bearings. His heart was still pounding rapidly in his chest, and he gasped like he had just run for miles. In the cooler, dark air of the suite, he tried to slow his breathing, but didn’t dare to close his eyes again.

A nightmare. 

Helios couldn’t remember the last time he had dreamed that vividly, let alone had a nightmare. It’s been awhile since I’ve had this form, I suppose. The thought reassured him enough to stand up and stretch his limbs, stiff from the awkward position where he had fallen asleep. It took him another minute to recall why he had fallen asleep in the chair in the first place. The sound of Cygnu’s soft snores from the other room reminded him. Helios was glad at least that his sleep seemed to be untroubled… for now. 

The palace was ringed by an old sandstone wall, but the balcony from their suite was high enough that one could look out into the city from it. Helios stood there, considering the lazy curl of smoke from chimneys, and the orange glow of streetlights and lit windows. He figured it was close to midnight, and wondered what else was keeping the citizens of the city awake with him. 

He stood there for some time, absorbed by the image of people at the windows, going about their own concerns, unaware and unconcerned with his quiet vigil here. Then the hairs on the back of his neck raised at a presence behind him - 

“Whoa, Helios, it’s just me!” 80 ducked around a swift chop aimed directly where his head had been only a split second before. 

Helios froze, then sagged, realizing. “You could have announced yourself, you know.” 

“We thought you and Cygnu would be sleeping at this hour, we didn’t want to wake you up.” Yullian stepped out onto the balcony with them. 

The two together, the Ultra Brother and the Princess, made a very unusual sight for their people. There wasn’t much use for fancy formal clothing on the Land of Light itself, so they had both taken the custom of wearing fashions from Earth in its place. 80 cut a neat figure in a white suit coat and vest, and Yullian shimmered from the lights of the street in a red ball gown. Despite her earlier words about them having no use for gemstones, gold or silver, Helios noted diamonds glittering around her neck, wrists and dangling from her ears. He couldn’t complain about the overall effect though, the sight of her glinted warmly against the night, almost giving off a radiant aura all her own.

“You didn’t miss much at the banquet, unless you wanted to hear an hour-long poetry reading about how wonderful and charming little Miss Baroness and her husband are.” The sarcastic, fake-gagging expression Yullian made immediately broke the effect. She made a gesture with her hands, and the diamonds disappeared with a flash of light. “Well, I’m off to bed, I believe! Helios, do try to refrain from killing my bodyguard while I’m asleep.” 

She turned back inside, but not before delivering an affectionate peck on the cheek to 80, then shut the wide double doors behind her with a dramatic click.

80 awkwardly blushed for a second, before re-adjusting his coat. He looked towards Helios, expecting more questions, to pick his brain over the very important diplomatic meeting that just took place between their party and the Keel. But the captain was still silent, gazing over the streets, his mind elsewhere.

80 cleared his throat. “How’s Cygnu?”

“The same. He’s not used to having a form like this, and it’s taking a lot out of him.”

“It’s stressful for all of us, constantly being under this kind of scrutiny, not just from the Keel. It’s too easy to spend all your energy second-guessing and doubting yourself in times like this.” 80 joined Helios at the balcony rail, mimicking his hunched stance over it. The warm night wind tousled through his dark hair. “I’ll take over watching for Atlan, you can go knock off for the night.”

“Maybe later.”

“You’ll collapse if you keep going like this, you know.” 80 looked towards him with a paternal air of concern. 

Helios felt like he was back in the Academy again, under the scrutiny of his careworn gaze, and hated it. He searched for something to take the attention off of himself. “So, 80… you met my team before this mission was assigned to us, on the Land of Light?”

“Sure did, ran into them at the gym, believe it or not. Strange coincidence, I say.” 

“What did you think?”

“Oh, you should’ve seen how much weight Atlan tried to bench-press when she realized it was me. I think you’d either be impressed, or lay into her for spraining a muscle. Maybe both.” 80 chuckled. “And Cygnu, boy, that kid is going places. I had heard about the armor from Hikari, but he’s a bright kid, and driven too. I’m sure he’ll get even stronger when he’s older-”

 “What did you say to them?” Helios cut in. 

80 frowned, trying to remember. “Nothing special I can recall, really. We just chatted, I asked them who their Captain was, and then I said that I remembered you from the Academy. I can’t say that about many of my students from back then, not all of them stuck out like you did. You had one of the highest performance grades in your entire class, you realize?”

“Mebius’ was higher.”

“Well that’s Mebius . You were no slouch yourself, and better at Specium beam weapons too. Ah, I remember when I was still teaching History lessons back then-”

“They didn’t know I was an Agent.” 

“Pardon?”

“Atlan and Cygnu, they asked me what I did after graduating, in my first position. After they talked to you, and you mentioned it. But they didn’t know, I never told them…” Helios gripped the rail of the balcony harder. 

80 sighed, and brought a hand across his shoulder, giving it reassuring pressure. “I’m sorry. I really am. But I didn’t know it was a painful memory for you, and neither did they. Maybe… you should have told them sooner.”

“I didn’t need to.” Helios remained staring at the street below him, as if by keeping his eyes focused on anything but 80, he could ignore how his hands shook, and how the cold, leaden weight of his mistakes was pressing into his chest, harder now. “They didn’t need to know.”

“But they need to now. We all do. We have enough to worry about just from outside, from our Keel delegation, the Baroness, and…” 80 trailed off, thinking about Cygnu’s collapse earlier that day. “And who knows what else. We can’t afford to have any secrets between us on this mission.”

Helios remained silent, but made no motion to leave, or shrug off 80’s hand. 

“If there’s anything else you’d like to get off your chest, now would be the time to do it.” 80 concluded, returning his hand to the railing. 

Several more moments passed, marked only by the soft sound of wind around them. Finally, Helios closed his eyes, drew in a heavy breath, and turned towards him.

“I have a bad feeling about this mission.” 

“We all do-”

“No. Not like this.” Helios said, forcefully. “I - I did fall asleep while you were gone.” His face took on a pained expression, as if even admitting it was a struggle. “I had a nightmare. I remembered another mission I was on, when I was an Agent. My last one… before I left. This isn’t a simple coincidence.”

80 nodded, gravely. He was one of the youngest Ultra Brothers, but he had still been around for long enough to recognize an omen when one presented itself. He waited patiently for Helios to find a place to start. 

And soon, he did, from the beginning.

“I had been on many assignments before that one. I had been in the Agency for… I don’t remember now, at least two hundred years by that point. I had been to lots of other planets, met lots of other beings. This one didn’t seem any different at first. It was a planet called Syrvane, a human colony. They were using it to grow crops, developing agricultural technology to use elsewhere. It was…” Helios trailed off, looking upwards, imagining it again. “It was the most peaceful world I’d ever seen. It was so green, but not the same kind of green in the Land of Light. It was deep and vivid, full of life. It was beautiful, in the summer when everything was at the height of the growing season.”

He could almost feel the cool breeze from it again, standing on that balcony, and smell the grains, the flowers blooming in neat rows stretching endlessly into the distance, over hills and valleys. 

“It does sound beautiful, I’d like to see it sometime.” 80 added. “Why were you there?”

Helios drew in another breath, and held it. 80 feared he wouldn’t continue, but then he released it, shakily, trying to gather his thoughts for the events that would follow. 

“The Agency got word that there was other research being done on the planet. By Metrons. I was sent there to try and find evidence of this, then report back to the Land of Light so they could send a more significant force. I was supposed to make contact with the humans, exchange information. It took us almost six months to uncover it, but… I guess the Metron got sloppy. The radio frequency patterns, the missing equipment from a ZAP outpost, it all added up pretty quickly after that. The humans didn’t realize what they had found, but I knew. I knew what was going to happen-” The rest of the sentence caught in his teeth, now unconsciously gritted tight. 

“You couldn’t leave them.” 

“No, I… owed it to them. We had worked together, they were my teammates. More than that, they were my friends. I had to warn them what was coming. I told them everything.” Helios rested his elbows against the rail, burying his face in his hands, anxiously rubbing against his temples as he recalled. “Somehow, I still don’t know how, word got back to the Metron. They realized that their operation was compromised - by Ultras, even - and decided to draw me out.”

80’s heart sank seeing Helios’ distress at just remembering all this, and realizing what that statement meant. 

“What else was I supposed to do?” The question was whispered, nearly lost in the gentle sound of the breeze. It was as if he was questioning himself rather than 80, turning over his own choices in his head, again, an uncountable number of times. 

But still, the past could only ever take one path. Helios continued down it, reciting the facts precisely, as dispassionately as he could manage.  “Once they activated the interdimensional array, the feedback cascade did exactly what they wanted it to - and it summoned Choujuu.”

“Wait, ‘Choujuu’? Plural?” 80’s eyes widened, shocked, but curious.

Helios nodded slowly, head still held in his hands.  “Designated Vakishim and Doragory.”

80 still couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You fought two Choujuu? By yourself? It’s a miracle you survived-” 

“Technically, I didn’t. I don’t remember what happened after I fell, but apparently they pronounced me killed in action when 721 arrived to… extract me from the scene. I was brought back to the Land of Light. They revived me there. But many other lives… so many others there, still on the planet behind me-” He buried his face in his hands again, and gasped a breath to steady himself, then another, shaking.

80 hesitated, wondering if he should cut things here for the night. After several long moments, somehow, Helios found his voice. If he didn’t get the words out here - all of it - then Helios didn’t think he could ever bring himself to say any of it again.

“After I recovered, I was debriefed-”

“I have to go back!” 

“You’re not going anywhere, you little insubordinate prick. I’ll handcuff you to the bed-rails if I have to.” 721 stood in the hospital room with his arms crossed, the threat carried in a low, severe tone.

“This isn’t fair, it’s not right! My mission isn’t over yet-” Helios remembered how he tried to swing himself out of the cot, to stand up and protest these orders on his own feet, and then nearly screamed in frustration as he found himself too weak to even do that.

And 721 just stood there, making no move to help him. “Mission? What exactly was your mission, Agent?” Coming out of his mouth, the address snapped like an insult.

“The mission was… But my friends! They’re still there! They’re… hurt, and I still have to-” Helios struggled both with a body still too exhausted and debilitated to respond to him, but also the surge of fire that rose to his mind, recalling his last moments on the planet, before he fell. Before… everything fell apart. He fought against burning tears, choking him.

“They weren’t your mission. They were never your mission! Your mission was to provide us with the intel we needed to move against a threat to the entire star cluster, and because you refused to follow those orders we have to clean up your mess now. Do you understand? ” 721’s voice never increased in volume but slammed into Helios with the force of a meteor. He collapsed back into the cot under it.

And he did, in that moment, all too well. All of the casualties, the friends he lost, the damage to the small colony that he had called home for the last six months.

He understood that all of it was his fault. 

“...I regret what I said there now. But what’s done is done. I don’t think 721 would’ve sent me back out on another mission after that anyways. I don’t think I would’ve agreed to one regardless.”

“So why did you decide to join the patrol?”

Zoffy looked from the thin sheet of crystalline material, a neatly-typed document that matched the neat appearance of the young Ultra before him. 

“This is quite an application here.” He remarked. “Usually we get cadets straight from the Academy, eager to see the universe. Not ones with... Well, such contradictory letters of recommendation accompanying them.” 

Helios clung to the chair under him, as if it might pitch sideways at any second and throw him out of the small, orderly office of the Garrison’s chief commander. “I understand if you don’t want the baggage, Sir-” 

“We all have ‘baggage’, Helios. If that was all it took to refuse an application then there would be no Ultra Warriors in the universe at all. But you’re still young, you could do anything on the planet you wanted. Why come back here, and to a patrol squad, no less? That’s a job for rookies, or…” Zoffy trailed off, studying Helios intently. The look in his eyes carried something of familiarity, a note of ironic humor to his assessment. “...People who want to keep their head down, and stay out of the way.“

Helios was unsure what the commander was trying to fish out from him so he said nothing. He couldn’t risk saying anything else. 

Zoffy sighed at the lack of response. “In my opinion-” He laid the tablet on the desk, and raised an eyebrow at him, “You’re selling yourself short.”

Helios tried to open his mouth to answer the commander, but his thoughts crashed into each other. The professional explanation he had built up in his mind over the last day rang hollow before he could even voice it. His impeccable record in the Academy, all the skills he had built up over the last two centuries in the field, all his knowledge of star systems and alien kaiju, his skill with beams, what did he have to show for it? What good did any of it do for him? What good did it do for the people of Syrvane?

He stared at the application resting in front of Zoffy. “I… I don’t know what else I could do, sir. I just want to help.” 

The seconds it took Zoffy to consider that statement ticked over into a terrifying length of ages. Finally, he produced a stylus, and added his Ultra Sign with a practiced flourish. 

“We can work with that.”

“It’s what I’m good at.” He concluded, a small smile finding its way hesitantly across his face.

80 found himself smiling too, relieved at Helios’ apparent relief. They stood there, silently for another moment, simply considering the glowing lights and drifting haze from the city before them. Neither of them felt much like sleeping now.

Finally, Helios decided that he deserved a turn to ask questions of his own. “What about you, 80? You’re not just a regular grunt, like Cygnu or Atlan, or me. You’re not just a soldier taking orders-”

“You three are far from “regular grunts” too, you know.”

“Not like you.” Helios looked over to him, irritated at his deflection. “You know you could have done anything else other than be here, right now, stuck in the middle of this. You could’ve refused Zoffy-”

“Could I?” 80 snorted at the thought. Of course he thinks that. He gets his orders from Taro, after all.  

“Save the false modesty, you’re an Ultra Brother. And Yullian is the princess-”

“But she’s never been, well, that kind of princess.” 80 interrupted, “Even when I first met her on Earth. I was trying to protect her, not just because she was royalty, but because she needed it. She went out looking for trouble every time I took my eye off of her. She insisted on being in the thick of things, taking charge, doing whatever she could to help. There’s no way she would’ve turned an assignment like this down.”

“And you?”

80 pondered for a second. Then he reached down, and stood on his hands. An upside-down grin grew across his face, as he looked at Helios’ reaction.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, nothing much-” 80 said, still keeping the handstand up as steadily as he would’ve if he were on his feet, “I just like to get a new perspective on things sometimes.” With more of a flourish than necessary, he brought his legs down, and popped upright again. 

Looking at him straight on, 80 continued. “Sometimes our missions feel like too much to carry on your own feet. That’s why I like to do that, when things seem too heavy, too hard for me to do on my own. If you can stand like that, it feels like you can hold up the whole world, with just your hands! Then your own problems seem a little more bearable.” 

Helios interrupted him with a glare. “I’m not some green recruit from the Academy anymore, I don’t need the motivational speech . Nobody can hold up the world just like that, it’s not that easy-”

“No. No it’s not. But we can hold each other up. One person at a time. You just need to have some confidence in your own strength first though.” 

Helios opened his mouth to protest further, but 80 was determined to say his piece now. “I know Yullian will always be running ahead of me, but I want to run with her, to be by her side, so I can help her shine the brightest she can. That’s the reason I became an Ultra Brother, not because I thought I’d get cushy jobs, or special treatment, and certainly not because I actually think I can move an entire world with my hands. But Yullian can do what she needs to because she knows I’m also fighting my hardest, at her side, regardless of what happens. You need to find the strength to do the same for your own team.”

“... Do I need to stand on my hands for that, though?” Helios sulked.

80 burst into laughter again at the look on his face. “Who knows? You might see things differently from it.”

Despite his best efforts to continue glowering, Helios soon found he couldn’t resist joining him in that laughter either.

Then, suddenly the mirth was halted by the sound of metal clattering on the street. Helios raised a hand, listening within their abrupt pause. “Maybe an animal got into the garbage cans.” He suggested, doubtfully. 

80 leaned over the balcony rail, peering below. “Oh I don’t know, are there any feral animals on this planet that curse like that?” 

Sure enough, the unmistakable sound drifted upwards, of someone with skinned knees hurling an astonishing stream of profanities. Helios joined 80, looking over, and there was Atlan, picking herself up from the cobblestones. Judging from the pieces of broken, rusted drainpipe at her feet, she was going to have to find a different way to sneak over the wall.

Atlan caught sight of their faces, silhouetted with the warm light of the palace suite behind them, and sheepishly gave a salute. “Uh… Reporting from reconnaissance duty?” 

Helios groaned, “Stop playing around and get back in here so you can deliver your report!” 

80 attempted to stifle another laugh and failed. It seems she learned from the best, he silently thought, watching the two of them.

Chapter Text

The morning was still cool and dark, with mist winding through the stone walkways enclosed by the palace’s walls. At the end of one walkway sat a long, narrow building, once housing a stable, but now buzzing with soldiers traveling back and forth from patrols and other duties. Such a hub of information and activity was necessary for their forces to maintain their tenuous hold on this section of the city, even during these early hours before the sunrise. But Rayan still sought out quieter surroundings elsewhere on the grounds, a respite from the comings and goings of the changing guard shift.

The dried remains of an ancient tree trunk, rusted garden trellises and worn benches suggested that this corner had once been a popular garden retreat. But Rayan was alone now, in the thin, bluish predawn light as he walked through his usual routine of sword practice. His boots scuffed against the grit and packed dirt, following precise steps, the red glow of his lit energy blade sweeping behind in complicated arcs. 

These forms were familiar to him. He had been practicing them since he was a child, barely able to hold a blunt metal baton for practice. Now, as the captain of this force, the full-sized sword he carried was designed to be used with the specialized armored suit that marked his station. Its smooth black exterior appeared seamless, but hid sophisticated plated reinforcements, supports for increased strength, and a hundred other technological improvements to bring his performance with any weapon to its highest efficiency. 

But this morning, that suit lay neatly folded on one of the benches. Rayan was stripped to the waist, proceeding through his routine with only his own skill and bare skin exposed in the cool air. Regardless, the speed of the whirling cuts of his blade was unchanged. He wouldn’t accept anything less from his own performance. The thought of relying solely on that suit and its markings as the symbol of his office was abhorrent to him. His body automatically traced another series of thrusts into empty air. This is all the proof I need.  

A foreign scuff of boots echoed like a gunshot behind him. Rayan whirled his blade around to meet the threat - and froze in place seeing the Baroness Dicene, alone. Her hands were still folded calmly in front of her as she regarded the motionless tip of his sword, only inches from her face. 

The red glare of the blade extinguished, plunging the air around them back into darkness. Rayan pivoted back, and began re-assembling his armor. When the pale blue faceplate of his helmet snapped into place, he straightened to address her once more, blade now sheathed at his side.

“My Lady.” He dipped his head with the appropriate deference.

“Captain. I heard that our wayward guest returned last night, without the accompaniment of her assigned guards.” Dicene’s tone was as unreadable as her expression in the dim light. 

Rayan bowed again, more deeply this time. “The two were disciplined severely and removed from their duties. I take full responsibility for their failure, Baroness.” 

A wheedling note of concern crept into her voice. “Oh dear, I do hope you weren’t too hard on them. I’m sure they tried their best and were only doing what you trained them to,” Now a smirk clearly joined it. “But I was so concerned for the poor guards, that I thought it would only be fair to give them a second chance, to make up for their mistakes.”

I wish she would save this act for the Ultras instead of practicing it on me. “My Lady, please-” 

Dicene held up an elegant hand, cutting him off. “After all, it wasn’t their fault that Atlan was such a naughty sneak and left them behind. You know how devious those Ultras can be. Now that they know better, they’ll certainly make sure she is kept under watch if she chooses to visit the city again. In fact, I’ll see to it personally, and have them report to me - directly - to ensure they understand how important this is. Do you agree?” 

The question was implied by her inflection, but Rayan heard the grinning teeth of a trap tightening behind it. For all his skill fencing with swords he had no patience for duels with words. After a moment’s consideration, he settled for honesty. “Baroness, I am the captain of the soldiers assigned here, and the head of your security. Please trust my expertise here, I cannot-”

“Your expertise means nothing here, Rayan,” Dicene snapped. “You might have the title, but all the soldiers here are mine , and that includes you. I didn’t hire you to brandish your weapons around as you please, I hired you to do as you are told. And if you really want to beat some discipline into your men, you’ll do exactly that and show them how a good soldier obeys their orders. Have I made myself clear?” 

Rayan remained silent, neither of them flinching as the sharp words drifted into the mist. After another moment he bowed, holding the pose for slightly longer this time. “As you wish, it will be done, Baroness.” 

Dicene lifted her head, peering down at him, the curl of a sneer marking her victory. “See? You can still be trained at least.”

Atlan wasn’t sure whether she was getting better at sneaking away from her official escorts, or if they just didn’t bother to tail her this time. The other possibility, that the two guards assigned to her yesterday were the best trained ones in the Keel force, just seemed uncharitably embarrassing. 

Regardless, she was satisfied to not see any sign of the armored, blank-faced soldiers around her when she briskly stepped along a busy street that morning. The air had lost its chill with the bustle of market stalls, open-air food vendors, and hand-carted wagons trundling through the crowds. She made a note to more carefully watch the money exchanged around her. When she stopped one of the carts and pointed to a length of orange embroidered fabric, she had a better idea of how many coins to count out into the thankful merchant’s hand. 

Gauda was right, Atlan couldn’t miss the huge metal statue in the center of the plaza when she arrived. She didn’t know what a Toorwa was (another thing she filed away to ask later), but the bronzed effigy of a wild tiger with huge, curving fangs certainly fit the bill of a legendary beast. It was frozen in a snarling grimace while caught mid-pounce on some kind of giant serpentine monster writhing under its claws. There was no plaque or memorial around it, but Atlan also noticed where the metal gleamed, worn smooth from years of people petting the tiger’s nose, and rubbing its upraised paw. She found herself placing her own hand on it, sizing up the span of her fingers across its wide-spread claws. She laughed wryly to herself, seeing how it dwarfed her own hand.

All of this was observed by Gauda, perched from a carefully-selected alcove several stories above. A worn cloak wrapped around her, blending into the yellowed bricks, out of the sunlight, hiding her silhouette. A sniper rifle rested to the side, missing its scope, which was now held as she smoothly traced Atlan through the morning’s drift of passers-by. Gauda hoped she wouldn’t have to use the rest of the gun today. 

She had no trouble picking Atlan out of the throng, even with a new, patterned scarf covering the coppery red plait of her hair. Atlan was tall, yes, but moved with an uncanny self-assuredness that immediately stuck out. She didn’t shove others aside, they simply parted from her, clearing a path unconsciously with only the pressure of her presence. If she’s trying to keep a low profile, she’s doing a really bad job of it. Unless she wants us to know she’s coming? Silently, Gauda tried to weigh which of the two possibilities would be more useful for them.

“Hey sis! What’s goin’ on over there?”

Gauda yelped at the sudden intrusion through her earpiece, briefly juggling the scope in midair as it dropped through her fingers from surprise. “Bia! What are you doing, this is a secured comms line! This is important-” She hissed.

“Yeah, important enough to leave me here at home again. I’m boooooooored.”  

Gauda could hear the pout through the crackle of radio static. “You shouldn’t be, considering the stuff we’ve got stocked there now. You need to keep a close eye on the store, instead of buggin’ me over the - hey!” Gauda looked up from the rifle’s scope again,  “How’d you get into this line anyways, I didn’t give you the receiver!” 

“Neat, huh? I used a Protean circuit to hop frequencies, all it takes is a lil’ time to match the-”

“You can tell me about it later, Bia. And pay me back for the missing inventory too!”

“But sis-” 

“That’s enough. I’m not risking you out here, and you’re risking us enough by chatterin’ like this on our radio!” 

“Hmph. Fine. But you have to tell me all about it when you get back!” 

Gauda glanced down to the rifle, its metal dully gleaming against the ambient, burnished light of the alcove. “Absolutely, Bia. Just wait for me, okay?”

A quiet click marked Bia’s disconnection. Gauda sighed, then reached down to her own transceiver and signaled the person she had intended to talk to this morning. 

“Is something wrong? You’re late.” The voice on the other end was bassy, gruff from years of the windblown sands and grit of the planet, but just as warm.

“Another one of Bia’s little engineering projects.”

A chuckle rang through her earpiece. “You should encourage her. She’s not a kid anymore. Hasn’t been for years.”

“I’m not getting her involved in this.” Gauda insisted.

“But running a black market trade for banned alien tech is safer?”

“That’s different, that’s…” Expected. Familiar. Gauda thought silently as she trailed off. She and her sister could deal with stuff . But the stranger, now stopping, reflecting on the huge beast statue at the center of the plaza… Well, she hadn’t decided what to think of her yet. 

“So tell me about this alien.” The voice cut back in, thankfully moving things along while they still had time to be joking.

“Carazzo was right. You know she tried to pay for a drink with Jinhe bills last night?”

A surprised whistle slid through her earpiece. “You’re kidding, those haven’t been issued for years. She could’ve bought a half-dozen rounds for the house just at face value!” 

“You’re tellin’ me, not a lick of self-awareness about her. She’s lucky Carazzo was happy with just bilking her out of a handful of ‘em. Guess he felt bad.”

“Even a Markind’s gotta have some sort of conscience, I reckon. Do you think she’s being honest about being a mercenary?”

“She’d be the strangest mercenary I ever seen if that’s the case. No clue ‘bout how money works, no smarts for barter or dealin’, but…” 

“But what, then? You wouldn’t be wasting our time for just a runaway brat trying to play at bein’ a big-shot outlaw.”

“This “Atlan”, whoever she is, she’s seen fightin’. She knew most the pieces in the back room, knew enough about Pedan soldiers to recognize officers’ gear, she picked out the Spark Dolls , Indrick.” 

“And she was asking about the Keel.”

“Heavens knows what her reasons are, but I think it’d be a good idea to keep her close. If naught’ else, I think she’d be useful to have on our side in a fight.” 

Atlan was moving to the other end of the plaza now, with the same assured, unhurried pace as before. “Heads up. She’s headed your way now, give her a couple minutes-” 

Gauda watched her pass through a wide stonework gate. She had barely stepped one foot on the adjoining street when men appeared, and just as quickly wrenched her into a small side street, out of sight.

“Shit!” It had all happened in just a moment, but she recognized those jackets with the red-blazoned edges.

“Gauda, what’s going on?”

“She got jumped - three guys. I think they’re Barno’s boys!”

“She’s only been on the planet for one day and already pissed them off?” 

Gauda couldn’t tell if Indrick was upset or impressed - she was too busy screwing the scope back onto the iron rails along the rifle’s barrel. With silent tread from the soft soles of her leather boots, she swung into the eaves below her and scrambled along the roof, looking for a better vantage point. 

“I don’t know, but if she can’t handle this, then she won’t last a hot second ‘gainst the Keel!”  Still, she grit her teeth, and found herself hoping that she wouldn’t find them too late. 

Helios is going to kill me when I get back.

Atlan ruefully laughed, before the thought was cut off by another blow into her stomach. She flinched. The bastards! That actually hurt!   

Two men had her arms pinned around her back, shoving her to her knees before she realized what was happening. But even now she balked at the idea of attracting even more of a scene during the daytime. 

What if someone calls the cops? Wait, are there even cops around here? The Keel would probably know what happened, that’d be bad - Another punch to her face, pain welling up with anger and the metallic taste of blood in her mouth.

“This is for Burford and Smokey!” The man standing before her crowed, slapping a meaty fist into his other hand.

“Names don’t ring a bell.” Atlan spat a smear of blood onto his boot. She grinned up at him. “Why don’t we introduce ourselves properly instead?” 

“You think you’re so fucking smart-” The boot swung upwards under her ribs, driving the air out from Atlan’s lungs. The man grinned down at her. “You think you can come into my streets, and whip my men, and just fucking walk away? You should’ve just minded yer own business yesterday!” His fist pulled back for another blow.

Ah. I won’t feel bad about this then. 

The man’s fist collided with the face of his lackey, as Atlan whipped an arm around, dragging him haplessly into its path. He crumpled, out cold. The man above her yelled in pain and wrung his hand, stinging against the unexpected collision. Atlan took the opportunity to snap the other lackey downwards before his grip loosened, her arm flashed out almost instantaneously, hammering an elbow into his nose. She wrapped her now-free arms around his head and twisted, slamming him into the cobblestones hard enough to raise dust from where they stood. 

The first man recovered enough to launch himself at Atlan while she tried to regain her footing. He pitched his bristling, sinewy arms around her to pin her in a headlock. 

He would’ve had better luck trying to arm-wrestle a tornado. Atlan heaved him upwards as she stood and swung him into a metal dumpster, the ringing noise echoing throughout the alley. He somehow was still standing, dazed, but Atlan wasn’t going to let any of them get out with just a warning this time. She grabbed the red embroidered lapels of his battered, bloodied, coat and lifted him clear off the ground. 

“You’re only used to fighting children, huh?” She snarled. “Don’t know how to take a punch from someone in a fair fight? Get the hell out of my sight. The next time you send whatever stupid gangsters you have after me, I’ll break more than your bones.” Before he could answer, she pitched him into the dumpster with a hollow bang . The metal shutter fell over it, punctuating her threat with finality.

Atlan sighed as she turned. She winced as she drew the back of her hand across her mouth, wiping away the blood and feeling where the punches had cut across her lip. A flash of movement, from the corner of her vision caused her to freeze. She realized that - aside from the now severely beaten and unconscious thugs at her feet, she wasn’t alone in the alley. 

She pulled her hands back into another fighting stance, eyes wide. But the group of people now watching her, similarly wide-eyed, made no move to attack. 

One of them stepped forward, taller and impressively-broad shouldered with golden hair tied back in a rough ponytail and a darker brown, neatly-trimmed beard. He raised one hand with a radio communicator upwards, without taking his olive eyes off of Atlan. 

“Well, Gauda -” He spoke cautiously into it. “You were right about her being useful in a fight.”

Inside the factory sat hulking, rusted gears, with chains and broken belts hung from the high ceilings. Atlan couldn’t tell what they once produced, but now the detritus did a fine job of hiding the new additions: banks of computer consoles and power generators, metal storage crates and lockers, and even a few bedrolls and gas-powered cooking stoves. She admired all of this from the windows of a cramped office above the factory floor, where Indrick and several of his officers now gathered. They all considered what to make of their new acquaintance.

Indrick sat with his arms crossed in a battered chair, which creaked ominously under his massive frame. His eyes narrowed towards Atlan. Finally he broke the silence. “I’m going to cut to the chase. We don’t have much to offer you, we don’t have money, but you don’t look like someone who has much use for it. We can’t promise you any fame or glory, but you wouldn’t have come to this planet if that’s what you wanted either. I think you came here looking for a good fight. And that’s something we have plenty of.”

Atlan glanced towards him, then back to the factory floor. She wasn’t much of a strategist, but she had been in the Garrison long enough to be familiar with the operations of any organized military force. It certainly seemed like they were gearing up for fighting - this wasn’t just a rag-tag gang of thugs, like the ones she had whipped in the alley earlier. The duties carried out below her suggested organization, forethought. Purpose. 

The scope of the operation gave her pause. She had come to the meeting today for information, to get a different perspective on the goings-on within the city and its surroundings. Not to be… drafted. 

“If you’re just going to stand there, then you’re of no use to us. Speak up,” another man, standing to Indrick’s side, growled. A huge scar stretched down his cheek, splitting his lip. 

“Give her a second, Haryn. She’s probably just overwhelmed at everything we got in here.” A woman with darker, brassy colored hair pulled up in a severe bun, leaned against the door. 

“Well, to be perfectly honest, it’s more than I expected.” Atlan finally responded, shrugging.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Haryn took a step forward. Indrick held up a hand, immediately halting him. “Indrick, you want this punk working with us? Insulting us like this?” He gestured violently towards her.

Indrick stood up, and looked Atlan directly in the eyes. He was one of the few human beings who could claim to have done so. His confident stance suggested he was also aware of the rarity of such a feat.

“I think you’re more than just a punk, Atlan. I don’t know what brought you to this planet, but there’s a reason why you came here. I won’t force you to join up, but if you really want to know more about the Keel, and maybe help us get back at the black-suited bastards, we’d appreciate you lendin’ us your strength.” 

“Doesn’t look like you need my help, you’ve got all this already-” Atlan waved a hand towards the window. “Why do you want me?”

“You went looking for us , remember? So what’s it gonna be?” 

Atlan frowned. Indrick was right, she supposed. She wanted to be able to get her hands on the Keel personally, to fight alongside the people of this planet, to protect their lives. But something about Indrick’s air of authority reminded her of her other duties. Is this really going to help the others… and our mission? Her heart raced, torn by the question. Maybe I can just say I’ll think about it, and report back first. We still have the rest of the week here. 

She turned over the response in her head, and looked back around towards the gathered, expectant officers, ready to answer them -

A squawk blared out from the radio communicator pinned against Indrick’s vest. He put a hand to it, then to his earpiece, listening intently. 

“What do you mean ‘trouble’? ” His eyes grew wide.

Several streets away, Gauda raised the sights of her rifle, unconsciously before realizing that she would just give away her position if she acted now. But her hands trembled seeing the chaos unfolding below her. 

Keel soldiers swarmed like a plague of insects through the streets surrounding the plaza. Doors splintered and slammed as they searched houses. They shoved aside carts, grabbed bystanders, and restrained them in cuffs. She saw one of them beat down a fruit seller, his only crime was fleeing in fright.

Gauda ducked behind a cluster of pipes on the roof. “I don’t know!” She rasped. “They’re pushing people into the plaza, clearing out the streets and houses. They’ll be down your way any second now!”

“What? But they’ve never done a sweep this far away from the palace quarter!”

More soldiers marched into an adjoining street, as Gauda peered between the cracks of the tiles. “I don’t know why, but if you don’t move now, you’ll be trapped!” 

Realizing that the perimeter was also about to close around her own position, Gauda abruptly shut off the communicator, flung her cloak over the rifle, and bolted across the tiles. Anxious dread gripped her. She was running out of time to escape with her own life, she could only pray that the others could do the same. 

Atlan heard all of this over the line. Cold panic swept through her - were they looking for her? Did she not lose the guards so easily after all? Around her, the other officers were bolting in alarm for their weapons, and their own communicators.

“Give your people the order to move out, now!” Indrick’s deep voice became hard as iron.

“We don’t have time to run! We need to go out there and give those fuckers the fight they want.”  A woman drew her own pistol. She turned it to its side, slipping a switch from its position and it armed with the whine of a plasma coil.

Haryn glared at Atlan again, pointing. “This is a trap, she set us up! She’s a spy for the Keel-”

Another officer snorted. “She’s a terrible spy in that case, giving herself away after only being in our quarters for five minutes, you idiot.”

Haryn’s finger swung to address him instead. “Don’t you talk to me like that, Lythe! I’ve been fighting longer than you’ve been alive-”

“ENOUGH!” The boom of Indrick’s voice was backed by the crash of his huge hand against the metal table. It brought the entire room to a standstill, and even the people on the factory floor turned in shock at the noise. 

“The Keel only can stop us if they catch us.” His level voice carried the full weight of his authority now. Even Atlan found herself snapping to attention. “Leave the base, we’ll go through the tunnels and block them behind us. Get your teams, take only what you can carry. Go!” 

The flurry of activity began to flow into a unified direction. Metal shutters slammed shut and were tightened. Weapons were adjusted and claimed, and soon the small force was gathered in a storeroom in the factory’s basement. One of them flung a canvas aside to reveal an improvised tunnel, lit by dim, sooty yellow lamps. They silently passed into it, and the last one pressed a series of buttons on a metal device, tossing it to the ground behind them. When the Keel would arrive, they would only find an unassuming blank wall - a hologram disguising their exit into the winding, ancient foundations that snaked underneath the city. 

Harsh handheld lights illuminated the blackened, slippery bricks under their feet as they silently tread in a tight column. Mud and algae filled the channel beside their walkway, but no water flowed through it now. Atlan wondered how long these sewers had been here, but then they passed by a strange-looking pile of stone. She recognized steps leading into a door now filled with compacted soil and more fragments of tile and debris. Was this even a sewer? Where did these ancient streets lead to?

The rest of the group seemed to know, at least. She found herself in the middle of them, following their backs as they turned through a memorized series of corners, and ducked under low portals. They traveled like this for some time in the dark underground passageways slowly, but surely. 

One might have almost forgotten what they were fleeing from, until they drew closer to the surface, and daylight cut through metal grates along the street above. Then the sounds of the fighting, the shouts and crashes, drifted back towards them. The unmistakable PTANG and ricochet of laser blasts froze the group for an anxious second. But then the sounds passed by them as they continued forward. When they had faded entirely, the figure leading the group raised a hand to halt their travel. She made another series of gestures, then pointed to a metal step-ladder riveted into the stone work.

Atlan’s first instinct was to lead first, and clear the way ahead of her into the street. It would’ve been the order they would take if she was on any other mission, but before she took a second step, a hand grabbed her arm and held her back. The one called Lythe glared at her, his expression starkly lit  by their lamps. 

The foreguard cautiously raised the heavy iron cover at the top of the ladder, and after a pause that seemed to stretch another hour, made another hand signal behind her. Atlan understood what that one meant - All clear. She sighed in relief, along with the rest of the gathered rebels. 

But even while climbing the ladder in the middle of the group, Atlan resented the feeling of the eyes (and probably guns) trained on her back. This wasn’t how she wanted things to go. She wanted to fight alongside them as an equal, an ally, but this felt like being under the armed escort of the Keel again. She fumed under the tension of their suspicions. 

The group held their anxious silence, even in the daylight of the empty street. They all stood warily, waiting for the last few members of their group to clear the ladder. 

Atlan felt the shift in the air pressure first, the motion of shadows on the other side of the street. With the other rebels still bent down to help pull their teammates from the tunnel, a mass of black soldiers turned the corner to face them. 

“Get down!” Someone cried out. Atlan didn’t know if it was her or not.

With a single, collected motion, all of the Keel raised their guns. 

Her foot flashed out, kicking the metal manhole cover into her hands only an instant before the soldiers tightened their triggers, sending a hail of laser fire down the narrow street. She flung herself forward to cover the others scrambling off of the ladder. Behind the improvised shield, she crouched the best she could manage. With her free arm, she pushed them towards a pile of cans and discarded crates.

A sear of pain punched through her thigh before she made it behind them. It faded as anger surged up into its place. Before the rebels could launch their own attack, she rolled, and heaved the metal cover with all her momentum. It collided with the soldiers, punching at least four of them backwards. They collapsed against the rest of the ranks. 

The rebels’ guns erupted into thunderous blasts to return fire. Atlan drew her own Ultra Eye and twisted it backwards into a new shape. The energy from it, concentrated into precise shots, joined their volley. Such a technique was only supposed to be used as a last resort. Atlan figured this counted. 

Another yell, unintelligible in the noise of the firefight, came from behind a pile of wood spars to her side. Atlan saw an arm rise up and loft a gleaming metal sphere towards the Keel. It sparked, then exploded into a dazzle of disorienting lights and smoke. The wall of white fumes was thick enough to give them cover to escape down the other end of the street. Despite her stinging wound, Atlan ran in front this time, making sure to put herself between any other Keel soldiers and her newfound teammates.

A Keel soldier marked as a lieutenant with his ridged armor stumbled to the side of the street. He stopped coughing from the smoke grenade long enough to call in his own report.

“Encountered hostiles in sector one-one-two-alpha! Fire exchanged, they’re headed eastward! Cut them off-” 

“No. Let them run.” 

The officer started at the order. “Are… are you sure? We can catch them in the perimeter if-”

“I am quite sure, lieutenant. This is exactly what we were hoping for. Give the order for your men to withdraw.”

The Keel paused, looking around at his men, some of whom were lying unmoving, on the cobblestones. 

“You’ll have your chance to fight them again.”  The voice assured. “This is only the beginning.” 

The small group of rebels limped eastward, but thankfully they nursed no injuries more serious than scrapes, sprains and laser burns from the ambush. Adrenaline carried them through the back doors of houses, and across wooden walkways bridging gaps between windows and roofs. Some of these shook dangerously enough that they could only pass one at a time. They eventually found themselves back at a building that Atlan immediately recognized - the same one housing Carazzo’s bar and Gauda’s black market. The stairs around its exterior led past the entrance Atlan used the previous day, into another set of apartments and rooms set in the building’s top two floors. 

Like the floor below, the rooms here were also covered by hanging tapestries, hot and dimly-lit. The stifling air was more comforting though, at least compared to the wide-open streets where the Keel surely were patrolling with brazen vigilance now. Roughly two dozen rebels pressed into the small rooms, a few sitting cross-legged on the carpeted floors, others reclining on pillows, but most were still standing or pacing with agitation.

The officer Haryn, as usual, voiced the group’s complaints first. “What do you think you’re doing, Indrick? That base took us months to fortify! We don’t have a safehouse in the Brinyan district anymore! We ran off like scared rabbits because of you, and because of her! ” Once again, the accusatory finger thrust towards Atlan.

Atlan swatted it out of her face, standing up to loom over his figure with a dangerous-looking scowl. “It’s because of me that we made it out of there!” 

“Shut up! ” He shouted. “You haven’t got the right to speak here!”

A chorus of voices spoke up behind him, emboldened by this outburst. “He’s right, we nearly all got killed because of you!” 

“They had to have been looking for her, maybe we can make a deal and-”

“Yeah, we don’t even know who she is-”

“I do.” Indrick’s statement reverberated through the huddled crowd in the room, extinguishing the complaints. He held out his hand.

“The gun you used back there. Show me it.” 

Without thinking, Atlan brought a hand up to her tunic, against where the Ultra Eye was hidden against the folds of fabric, and then froze. But as everyone’s eyes bored into her, she figured that there was no excuse in the universe that would get her out of this now. She sighed, and drew it outwards, but refused to relinquish her grip on it.

“It doesn’t look like a gun-” Someone murmured around them.

“Never seen that model before-”

“I have. It’s an Ultra Eye.” 

The statement sent a wave of confused mutters through the gathered rebels. Atlan felt the electric jolt of realization from her outstretched arm, across the back of her neck with cold needles. How did he know?

“I suspected back at the factory,” Indrick continued, answering the unspoken question so precisely that Atlan wondered if he was telepathic himself. “Someone so completely naïve, but skilled in fighting, strong and bold? No one else in the galaxy fights like that, like you do. Like an Ultra Warrior.”

Lythe stepped forward, his eyes still locked on the angular metal piece held by Atlan. “Wait, Indrick, are you sure-” 

“That’s just stories-” 

“Fairy tales-”

“Do they actually exist?”

Indrick grinned. “I wasn’t always living on this dirtball of a planet. I seen ‘em myself, in my younger years, out in space. Never thought one would show up here though.” 

With his smile, the murmurs broke into more excited whispers, and even shouts. A legendary warrior! Fighting alongside us! The Keel won’t know what hit them! 

The cold prickle of shock became a hot, embarrassed blush as Atlan withdrew the device back into her tunic. “Th-thanks, I guess. I’m nothing special though, I’m just… here to help.”

That only seemed to please them more, congratulations and hearty thumps on her back were delivered, and several of the rebels sought to shake her hands. Despite the happiness around her, Atlan was still uneasy. She had expected a welcome, but nothing like this.

“Look, everyone,” Atlan raised her hands trying to temper the celebration. “I’m not going to single-handedly beat all the Keel, we’re just-” 

“We?”

“There’s more of you here?”

“Maybe it’s a whole army!” 

Shit, now Helios actually IS going to kill me. Atlan raised a hand to her face, wincing at the thought.

A familiar voice came to her rescue “Would y’all PLEASE quiet down!” Gauda yelled from her position, eyeing the street outside. “You’re gonna bring the Keel straight to us again with that noise!” 

At this, the exuberance quieted, but whispers still buzzed around the gathered rebels, eyes flicking on and off of Atlan.

Indrick looked pointedly at her and held out a hand. “So, have you considered our offer?”

Atlan felt the stab of pain through the side of her leg as she shifted her weight. Ah, Noa’s wings, why not. I’ve already got the scars for it. She matched Indrick’s grin and thrust her own hand into his grip. 

And who says Helios has to know about this, anyways?

The hours of the afternoon passed on, and the gathered rebels drifted back to their own places. They left in groups of twos and threes, departing for other safe-houses, homes, or simply disappeared into the usual crowds of the streets. The bustle outside resumed, unbroken by the skirmish that morning. It was as if everyone was determined to ignore it, in the hopes that by not mentioning the Keel, they would be spared from another explosion of violence in the city.

Now only a handful of their group remained, including Indrick, Haryn, Gauda, Lythe, and several others that Atlan hadn’t been introduced to yet. Some of them drifted into and out from a small kitchen, preparing a meal to close out this eventful day. Atlan’s stomach growled, loud enough for everyone else at the table to hear. She realized that she had left the palace quarter this morning without eating anything. Stupid body. I have to remember to keep up my strength if we’re going to be fighting like that again.

Over the edge of the wooden table where she sat, Atlan then saw a row of bright, wide eyes peering at her. At least four or five children had joined their group, Atlan realized that the rebels who lived in these apartments with Gauda and Bia must also have families of their own. Families in danger if the Keel decide to raid here next… A twinge of fear cut through her thoughts, but the eyes staring at her were completely fearless. One of them popped up at her side, under the corner of the table.

“Are you a monster too? Mamma said that Ultra’s are as big as monsters! You even roared like one just now!” 

“Can you turn into a monster? I heard Ultras get all big and red when they’re angry!” 

“Yeah! Show us!” The rest of the children scrambled over, eager to see this strange new alien now sitting in their house.

One of the cooks looked around the corner into the main communal area. “Krell! You stop that and leave our guest alone!” She glared at the group. 

The first child hunkered down, crestfallen. “Aw but mamma….” 

Atlan laughed, then leaned over and grabbed the back of his shirt, hoisting him up to look at him eye-to-eye. She made an exaggerated, comedic scowl and lowered her voice to growl at him. “I only get big and red when I’m fighting kaiju! Are you a kaiju?” 

Krell squealed with laughter. “I’m notta kaiju, I’m a little boy!”

“You’re too big and strong to be a little boy, you smell like a kaiju!” Atlan made another grinning face at him, and the squeals intensified. 

“He’s an awful kaiju!” 

“He smells!” The other children giggled helplessly, now encouraging Atlan further.

Atlan wrinkled her nose in affected disgust, and put down the boy. “Pyeww! You’re right, he’s too stinky for me to eat!”

The rest of the children scrambled over to her, grabbing Atlan’s arm for their turn to be lifted. 

Indrick walked into the room carrying two steaming bowls of some unknown grain, and chuckled seeing her flexing an arm, now suspending three kids shrieking in laughter. She had used the same arm earlier that day to nearly snap Keel soldiers in half. The fact almost didn’t seem real, and he wouldn’t have believed it himself if he hadn’t witnessed it.

“You’re real good with kids, Atlan.” Indrick said, resting his bulk into another cushioned seat at the table.

“I didn’t really have friends to play with when I was younger. Guess I just like seeing them be happy like this while they can still be kids.” Atlan smiled wistfully, watching the children run off to another room, engrossed in their new game of Ultra Warrior vs. Evil Stinky Kaiju. 

Indrick looked carefully at her. “I never really thought of Ultras ever being kids before. Well, you can’t blame them for being curious about you. We all are.” 

“I suppose I owe you an explanation-”

“Introductions first, then we can talk business.” Indrick held up a hand to pause her apology. “We can’t deal properly if we don’t know anything about each other.” 

As if cued in, the remaining rebels in the apartments joined them at the table. Dinner was served. In addition to the bowls Indrick brought in, roasted birds dripping with juices, a starchy root of some kind, smashed and covered in dried, fragrant herbs, and a cracker-like type of flatbread took up space in front of them. Unlike the meals that the Keel had provided at the palace, nothing was decorated or presented on fine crystal dishes. There were no servants to provide drinks or napkins, or to clear away dishes, everyone simply grabbed a piece of bread and dove in gratefully. 

While the food was being shared between them, Atlan got to know the rest of the group. Gauda and Bia she had already met. She thought they were just merchants, but discovered they served a host of roles to help out the group: guards, scouts, and in Bia’s case, an aspiring engineer and mechanic. They were also Indrick’s nieces. She recognized a paternal air of pride in his expression as he recounted their accomplishments, and how smart and resourceful the two were. 

The others were also pointed out to her -  like Haryn, the former decorated general of Dulvonus’ Royal Army. She heard how civil war and then the Keel disbanded their forces, conscripting those they could and killing the ones who wouldn’t comply. Lythe and several of the others in the rebel group were survivors from these purges as well. Others, like Unho, the older woman Atlan had seen in the factory, were civilians caught in bad luck. After her family’s business burned to the ground, she found shelter and assistance from their group, and decided to stay on and fight with them. Some were starry-eyed idealists who sought out the promise of a glorious stand to bring freedom to their world. The motivations were as varied as the shades of colors in their eyes, and the responsibilities, hard choices and regrets hidden behind many of them. 

But as the bowls emptied, the attention drifted back to Atlan herself. 

“So tell us, why’re the Ultra picking a fight with the Keel, here of all places?” Lythe leaned forward, considering her. 

“Uh, well…” Atlan scratched the back of her neck. She had already revealed more than she wanted to, but she didn’t want to strain their newfound camaraderie. “I hope you understand that I can’t tell you everything . My teammates and I came here originally just to… investigate the Keel. I meant what I said earlier, about not beating them all single-handedly. We’re not equipped or prepared for that.”

“Bullshit, I’ve heard stories about Ultras destroying armies of kaiju, breaking the forces of empires, liberating other worlds. We know what your kind are capable of. You’re practically immortal!” Haryn groused, his arms crossed.

Atlan’s eyes narrowed. “Those are some pretty exaggerated stories, we’re just as vulnerable as your people. We bleed and die the same too.” 

“Are the rest of your teammates also in the city?” Unho swiftly changed the subject before their argument could escalate again. “Can we count on their help too?”

All of the eyes at the table focused on her again. She carefully considered her next words - a rare occurrence. “Our main mission here, along with all other Ultra warriors, is to protect lives. Especially innocent lives, people who don’t have the power to fight for themselves. My teammates, my friends , have different tasks they have to take care of as well, but if this really is a war that will threaten those lives, then… yes.” Atlan set her face, meeting each of their looks with determination. “Yes, you can count on their help. I promise you.”

The group nodded and smiled between themselves, relieved with her answer for the moment. Underneath the look of determination though, Atlan desperately hoped that their efforts would stop the Keel before that help was necessary.

Indrick spoke up again. “It’s an honor for all of us, to say the Toorwanyu are friends of the Ultras then.”

“The what?” Even with her telepathy aiding her, Atlan couldn’t figure out a translation for that one. The best she approximated was “Beast soldiers”. 

“The Toorwa , the statue in the plaza. It’s a legendary creature, supposedly defeated a demon that unleashed fire to destroy the world. That’s the snake under its claws. Then it stole the fire for itself and it became a god to protect the world against the demons. We thought it was appropriate to use the idea for our little group.” Indrick grinned, recounting the story.

Atlan suddenly recalled the other question she had from the previous night, when she first met Gauda and Bia. “Do you have a name for your people, like, in general? Dulvoneans? Or-”

“D’runya.” Indrick replied. “The name for our planet used to be D’runossu. When the Hipporit came, they transcribed it like that, and that’s how the rest of the galaxy came to know us. Guess it stuck.”

“D’runossu.” Atlan tried the word out. “It sounds nice. What does it mean?”

“The jungle.”

Atlan frowned, confused. That wouldn’t make any sense, unless… 

“It’s a very old name.” Indrick chuckled at her puzzlement.

Atlan huffed, feeling like she was being deliberately teased. “You don’t seem like an ordinary historian, Indrick. How many of these stories have you got?” 

“Oh, plenty. I wasn’t always leading this lot here,” He raised a glass and gestured to the rebels still sitting around them. “In fact, I’m not even a soldier like most of ‘em. I was an architect, a stonemason. Worked for a time with a big syndicate in this sector overseeing construction and mining businesses. I seen a lot and heard a lot out in space.”

“Why did you come back?”

Indrick gave her a look and pointed to Gauda and Bia, who were occupied with cleaning and stacking the bowls from their meal. “Their mother was my older sister, Tabyth. Stars rest her soul, she and her husband were killed during the wars about twelve years back. I couldn’t just stay up in space after I got word, I owed it to ‘Bytha to make sure her daughters were safe, and could grow up to be fine women like her.”

He drained the rest of his drink and continued. “‘Sides, my blood runs through this planet. Lots of the buildings around this city and elsewhere, you can trace them back to my ancestors. I’m not the first stonemason in my family.”

“What about being a…” What was the word he used again? “Toorwanyu?”

“Ah, now that’s a different kind of business. I studied and got a license to run construction projects. They don’t make licenses to lead a rebellion, you just fall into it. When I came back here, all of us were all separate, running gangs, thievin’, running black markets, doing whatever we could just to survive. But we did it for our own families, and then to help the families next door, ‘n our friends…” He poured another slosh into his cup. “The Keel coming just made us realize, we only have each other to rely on. So I took that responsibility seriously.”

Atlan’s puzzled frown deepened. “But you’re relying on me now, and the Ultras? What about other aliens on this planet? Like Carazzo downstairs, and I know there’s others. All of them call this planet home too, why don’t I see any of them in your group here?” 

Haryn snorted. “You’ve only heard part’a our history. There’s hundreds - no, thousands of years, where the only aliens we knew conquered us. Took prisoners, forced us into slavery. Even now, you can’t trust the ones that seem “nice” or “useful”. They’re only in it to protect their own sorry hide. Doing business with them is one thing, but trusting them by your side, in a fight?” He shook his head, gravely. “Nothing good can come of that. We have to do this on our own.”

Indrick sighed and brought his cup down, with a heavy clunk against the wooden table. “We’ll have to accept it eventually, Haryn. Things have changed! There’s too much, too many other worlds ‘n races out there for us to ignore it forever. If we want to protect this planet we can’t do it just by shuttin’ everything else out! 

“So what’s left for us then? Just choosing which masters to serve?” Haryn pushed to his feet, slamming his hands onto the table. “The Keel? Who take over our streets like a cancer? Or the Ultras-” He stared, eyes burning in anger, at Atlan.

“We’re not your masters, Haryn. ”   Atlan’s low growl cut off Indrick’s own response, just as he had a finger raised to his second-in-command. Her voice carried a new edge to it, one that reminded everyone at the table that she was over 60 meters taller, and thousands of years older than anyone else there. She looked up, green eyes flashing with restrained disgust. “We’re nothing like the Keel, or the Hipporit, or any of those others. You know why? ”

She rose to her feet, the others instinctively drew back as she loomed over the gathering. She brought up her foot, slamming it into the chair hard enough to crack the joints, and drew up the loose-fitting fabric of her pants leg to expose her thigh. She gestured to the bandage tightly wrapped around it, with a smear of red barely visible through its tightly-wound linen. “That’s why. Indrick said that his blood is on this planet, that’s why he came here, and why he fights for it. Well… so’s mine now.”

Everyone stared at her, speechless.. Indrick suddenly sprang to his feet, gripping the bottle he was drinking from. “Atlan’s right! We’re all bound by blood now, D’runya , aliens, Ultras, all’ve us! That’s the proof of our bond, it’s the strength that will help us fight, to protect everyone on this planet. So let’s all give a toast then -” He began to pour out more glasses for the others.

“A toast?”

“To the Toorwanyu! Blood brothers, and ah, sisters.” Indrick gestured his own glass upwards, and Atlan followed suit. After a moment, all the others had one as well, similarly raised.

“Our blood will not be shed in vain!” 

“We’re gonna make those Keel bastards bleed for it too! Ha ha!” 

The remaining half-dozen rebels added to the toasts, drinking from their glasses, inspired by Indrick and Atlan’s passion. 

Everyone, except one, who had silently left a minute before, and slipped out the stairwell.

Atlan swung herself up onto the balcony railing with slightly more dexterity than the previous night, but she was surprised to only find Yullian there. Wrapped in a simple, beige robe, she leaned casually against the wrought-iron bars. Yullian appeared totally unsurprised to see her and smirked at her appearance. 

“Did you have some fun today?” She giggled, looking Atlan up and down. 

“Uh, well. You could say that. Hey, where’re all the guys tonight?” Atlan tried to not wince as she landed on her injured leg. 

“We were invited on a tour of the palace’s defenses - or at least, what they’re willing to show us. 80, Cygnu and your captain are still occupied there, I assume. I found it terribly boring and excused myself back here. You look like your day was anything but boring though.” Yullian gestured towards her own lip, and Atlan brought her hand up. 

Aw, nuts, I forgot about that.  “I’m sorry, I just… needed to blow off some steam. I went looking for a fight,” she responded sheepishly, feeling the bruised cut from her encounter that morning.

“I take it you found one. Or did it find you?” Yullian laughed again. Atlan couldn’t tell if the laugh was at her expense, or if Yullian was just amused at the thought of her throttling some unsuspecting mugger who picked the wrong mark.

“A little of both, kind of. I realized something today though. I thought…just beating up some gangsters in an alleyway doesn’t change anything. Not really. I wanted to do something to help, so…” She trailed off, looking at Yullian’s patient, affectionate expression. 

Every fiber of Atlan’s body was fighting against her thoughts, and against the words she was struggling to voice next. The idea of telling the truth, of how she bumbled her way into revealing her identity and may have risked exposing all of them, was too much to bear. But the thought of lying to Yullian, the princess , with those serene, beautiful eyes looking straight through her, was just as impossible. 

“...So I decided to come back here.” Atlan sighed, finishing the sentence. Good enough. 

Yullian arched an eyebrow. “Are you going to go looking for more fights tomorrow?”

Atlan shook her head, more severely than she intended. “I think I’ll stick with the rest of the team now. I’ll do more good here than just out in the streets.” Technically true. But then why did this tension still ache in her chest?

“I’m glad you think so. Tomorrow, the Keel have a tour planned of one of those abominable jails they call “charity shelters.” Yullian’s lip curled in contempt. “It would help to have everyone’s eyes around us while we’re there.”

“I didn't want you all to worry about me.”

Yullian’s expression softened. She brought Atlan’s hand into her own grasp, holding it sympathetically. “We only worried about you getting in over your head. But 80 was right, you’re a fine Ultra Warrior. We’re lucky to have you here watching our backs.” Her smile grew brightly, reaching her dark brown eyes. It glowed, not with pity or condescension, but genuine appreciation. 

Atlan could hardly bear to hold eye contact with that smile. Finally, she turned back into the suite, excusing herself to bed. As the doors closed quietly, evening darkness hiding the more lavish surroundings around her, the pressure in her chest only increased. Why? I have more friends now, allies. I helped save lives today. I did what I was supposed to, what I was meant to do on this planet, didn’t I?

As she adjusted herself against the pillows though, she felt the shift of the Ultra Eye, hidden underneath her shirt. Alongside it now rested a small radio communicator, provided to her when she left the Toorwanyu base. It pressed against her skin with unbearable weight, along with the knowledge of the secrets she was keeping from her friends and teammates. All of them. 

Chapter Text

Four days spent on Dulvonus didn’t seem like a lot, not compared to the ancient millennia which passed in the typical course of an Ultra’s lifetime. But it was much longer than Cygnu had spent on other planets, on other missions with his patrol squad. Usually it was a brief event, to defeat a monster, to take note of something new and important in a system, to escort some dignitary or important figure, then return home after a day or two. To go to sleep and wake up the next morning on a foreign planet - and in a foreign body - was a new experience to him. And this new form meant all his experiences were new as well.

This morning, Cygnu was distracted by the play of light on motes of dust, swirling through the air as they exited the cars. The gentle vibration of the hover-engines pulsated into the stones underfoot, adding a whiff of ozone and plastics to the air. Eddies pushed outwards from the engines, driving the spinning motion of the dust up around him, softly brushing against his loose clothing, and through his silver hair.

All of it, the sounds and sights and smells as he breathed deeply in, were things that he couldn’t sense if he towered 40 meters above the street. When he first arrived, he disliked being so small and compressed against the gravity of this planet. But now, Cygnu had to admit he was growing to appreciate his new senses in this body.

That appreciation suddenly evaporated as they crossed the gate into the Keels’ featured tour this morning. The building designed as a “charity kitchen” was illuminated with buzzing fluorescent lights. The interior flattened into a harsh monochrome when he stepped inside. It set his teeth on edge.

The entryway was constructed of flat metal, bare walls displaying only a few buntings of the black material sporting the Keel’s emblems. It reminded him of the same emptiness of the palace suite. Whatever building was here before had been swept away and replaced by nothing in particular. The facility now stood as a placeholder facade, like scaffolding on the outside of a construction site. But that implied that the Keel were trying to hide something, didn’t it? What was being built here in its place? 

A uneasy feeling opened in his mind at the question.

This place gives me the creeps.

Ahead of them, Yullian was chatting with the Keel delegation. Now, the Baroness presented another Keel to shake Yullian’s hand. Presumably he was the director of this facility. He seemed to be excited about the visit, and gestured behind him to the storage rooms and lines of gleaming metal counters, currently empty of any food. 

80, standing patiently by Yullian’s side, glanced over and noted Cygnu’s shiver at the surroundings.

“We all feel it too,” 80’s response was read clearly, meeting his eyes. “That’s why we’re here. This would be the best place to find some clues about what the Keel have planned for Dulvonus and its people.”

Cygnu quickly composed himself, standing stiffly upright. “I don’t know what to look for, sir. It’s not like the Keel are just going to show us, they wouldn’t be that obvious… would they?”

“Trust your instincts, Cygnu,” a different voice cut into their conversation, from Helios.

He stood calmly at Cygnu’s side, arms folded behind his back in a well-practiced stance at attention. He could maintain this pose for hours, while his mind roamed freely, considering the scene around him. Cygnu felt him doing exactly that as he continued, reassuringly.

“The Keel won’t bother hiding what they already think we can’t see. And you can see better than any of us.”  

Helios nudged him with an elbow, and nodded his head to a line of black-uniformed figures. These weren’t Keel though, Cygnu recognized the golden hair and tanned skin of the city’s citizens. “Like them. The Keel expect us to see the people of Dulvonus as being grateful for the aid, welcoming to their ‘liberators’, and on their best behavior. But what kind of feeling are you getting from them?”

“Uh…” Cygnu frowned, considering an impression of the scene . “Grateful and welcoming, actually.” 

“What?” The captain’s stance didn’t shift by a single muscle, but Cygnu heard the surprise in his voice. 

“I mean, they’re nervous because of all the attention on them. And the armed soldiers. But I’m not getting anything else worrying?” Cygnu was puzzled too. Saying they felt “happy” would be too much, he decided. But to him, the citizens standing there simply felt content and healthy. Normal , if that word could apply to anything about this mission. 

“Are you sure?”

“I’m pretty sure.” Cygnu shifted his focus around the remaining people in the room, cautiously. “ Maybe this place isn’t what-”  

His next thought cut off as he swayed dangerously to the side. Helios’ hand shot out, grabbing his shoulder, planting him upright before the rest of the Keel noticed his reaction. 

The young Ultra gave his head a small shake and seemed to come back to his senses after only a moment, but then his eyes narrowed, confused.

“Oh, no, no, no that’s bad- ”

“The civilians? What did you see?” Helios could hear his thoughts start to race faster.

“No! It’s the guards! I…I can’t read them anymore. They were fine the other day when we landed on the planet, but there’s just… It’s blank, empty.” Cygnu’s eyes widened in recognition. “It’s that pit again-”

Helios’ hand pushed harder into his shoulder, trying to anchor him firmly against the feeling of growing panic - both Cygnu’s and his own. “Calm down. Are they blocking you? The Keel might have some sort of shield against telepathy after all-”

“There’s nothing there! If it was a shield, there’d be something like static, a wall. I’d have to push through it. This is… darkness. It’s like they’ve been hollowed out!”

Now 80’s eyes narrowed and his head abruptly turned towards their silent conversation. He took one casual step, then stumbled.

The ground underneath the entire group, Keel and Ultras and D’runya alike, began to shake. A rumbling, creaking roar filled the air along with panicked screams from the civilians. Figures tripped and wobbled as they clambered for the doors. But not all the figures were swept into the fear-stricken rush. Some stood, too paralyzed by the sudden earthquake to move, as dust shook out from the swaying walls and frenzied, jerking motion of dangling lights. 

All of the Ultras moved, not with panic or fear like the people around them, but in a concentrated push to reach them. Even Yullian found herself grabbing civilians, some who were crouched motionless against the shaking, treacherous tiled floor. Other yells joined the noise, the Keel Captain, Rayan, was ordering his men to clear paths, and fight through the melee to open the exits for the rest of them. Other cries, of relief and gratitude, were heard as they found the relative safety of clear skies outside. In only a minute, the room was mostly cleared, and the quakes quieted and halted. 

The Ultras and remaining Keel looked around uneasily. Was it just a natural accident? Would there be more following as aftershocks? Silence drifted amidst the dust and scattered debris that had fallen from the shaking. 

A screech shattered the quiet just as a massive, scaly hand crushed through the ceiling. A wall crumpled like paper, sending fragments of sheet metal spilling across the floor with broken glass.  Fresh screams spread through the remaining huddled figures. Another blow from the huge, clawed limb tore out the wall entirely. Through the haze, they saw the source of the attack: a hulking, bulbous shape stood, cut by the new slants of daylight streaming in through the ragged hole above them. A fanged reptilian face leered down.

“It’s a Takkong!” 80 cried out.

As if cued by its introduction, the monster screeched again. It reared back and a torrential gout of oil spilled outward, into the building. Lit by the sparks of broken electrical wires and grinding metal, a fire blazed outwards. Sooty, heavy smoke billowed behind it.

80 recoiled against the spreading, searing heat, but then realized where Yullian was in the chaotic scene. Her back was turned, just as she had helped another figure over a heap of metal, a fallen beam, between them and one of the doors. She turned around, too late to see the fire racing towards them. 

A hurling leap, and 80 crashed into her, sending them both rolling across the tiled floor. The blazing oil swept up against the rubble only a half breath behind them. They came to a halt, awkwardly sprawled together 

“Yullian! Are you hurt?!” 80 tried to raise her shoulder, while still coughing from the smoke and exertion himself. 

Yullian only laughed, answering his question. She pushed herself over, propped on her elbows. “Stop worrying about me! This isn’t the worst kaiju attack we’ve seen, is it?”

80 couldn’t bring himself to let go of his grip on her upper arm though. Yullian casually raised her own hand and beat down a stray flame that had caught on his suit jacket. “Don’t just stand there, 80! We need to make sure everyone else is out!” She gave him a look, one 80 had grown to know and love in its own unique way - the red glow of her cheeks, streaked with soot and the sparkle of her eyes. He was breathless, from the panic of the moment, but also from the singular sight, blazed into his memory like the red-orange flames behind them. 

Yullian abruptly turned, pulling out of his grasp. “Oh, and of all the days to pick a nice dress-” she muttered to herself, amused. The flat heels of her shoes tap-tapped as she ran back into the smoky glow of the building. 

The sight of her glowing face still hung before 80, shell-shocked from the moment. But then another creak of unsteady beams above him brought him back to the moment and he shrugged off the love-struck confusion. He had to hurry after her, or he wouldn’t be able to catch up.

While 80 rushed after the princess, Helios found himself separated and lost from his own team. “What’s a Takkong doing here?” He hissed.Of all the things that could’ve gone wrong on this mission, a random attack from a kaiju wasn’t even close to the top of his list. Still, he reached for his own transformation device, a softly pulsing red gem set between two curving arcs of metal. He withdrew it from his robe and and held it against his chest, taking a deep breath-

Laser shots burst through the smoke. Device still in hand, Helios flung himself into a roll, towards another pile of metal and ceiling tile, seeking cover. 

“Death to the Keel!” Shouts rang out from the smoke around them. More laser fire rained down, randomly. All the remaining figures were pinned tight against the ground. Or, like Helios, were pressed behind makeshift cover of ruined spars of rebar.

Their surroundings were obscured by dark, sooty clouds, aglow with flames and green laser shots. Another shape stumbled out of the smog towards him. Helios started, but then eased back into his crouched position when he recognized it as Cygnu.

The younger Ultra gagged from the thick atmosphere and heat. He flung himself next to the captain and gasped, regaining his breath. “I think I know where the monster came from!”

“Bastard rebels!” A returning blaze of red laser fire burst out from another pile of rubble several paces from their position. Rayan’s voice was heard loud and clear, directing his soldiers into formation against their attackers. 

“DYUWAH!” 

The titanic shout cut off further orders from Rayan. A new blaze of light, green and gold,  dwarfed the flames and the laser shots alike. The ground shook again as a huge foot landed thunderously between their positions and the monster. It solidified into a red and silver figure, Atlan materialized in her full form. New streaks of sunlight fell across the ruined hole of the ceiling as she collided with the monster, pushing it back from the building. 

“Great job, Atlan!” Helios stood up, cupping his hands to shout encouragement to her, although he knew it was unnecessary. Even with the din of battle, the yells from figures around them at ground level, the crackling of flames and crashing debris underfoot, any Ultra warrior would be able to hear those words. “Keep pushing it back! We’ll finish evacuating here!” 

He looked back over his shoulder, Cygnu at his side, then saw Rayan raise his sword to signal another volley of laser fire. Helios leapt over, and wrenched his arm downwards. 

“What do you think you’re doing?”  Rayan flung him off, shocked and angry at the intrusion. “We’re under attack!” 

“And the only target you’ll hit like this is my subordinate!” Helios yelled back at him over the din, thrusting a finger toward the grappling figures of Atlan and the Takkong. “Tell your men to stand down!”

Another burst of laser fire through the smoke emphasized his point. It pelted down from random directions, a few shots pinging off of the sheet metal and concrete behind them. One nearly lanced through Rayan’s helmet. He reflexively ducked back down into their position. His soldiers quickly followed his example, yelping at a handful of burns and cauterized wounds punched through their armor.

Helios pulled him upwards again, this time pointing away from the pitched battle between kaiju and Ultra Warrior. “Get your men out of here! Atlan can handle the Takkong!”

A roar from the Takkong, and a mighty headbutt into Atlan resounded with a meaty crash and a whoosh of air. One giant red foot landed heavily only meters from them, taking down another section of the wall. A fresh wave of dust from crushed concrete and glass rolled over the group, sending them all into fits of coughing. 

“Are you sure about that?” Rayan shot back when the grime settled out of the air. Flames gleamed, reflected from his blank mask, but Helios could hear the wry note of sarcasm behind it.

Helios smiled grimly, nodding. He remembered 80’s words from the other night. “Absolutely.” He responded, turning back towards Atlan, silhouetted against the afternoon sunlight. “I would trust her with my life.” 

This is not going like we planned!

Atlan thought to herself as she wiped the stinging, dark oil from her eyes. In the brief lapse of her attention, she forgot about the dark oil also now covering the streets below her, and her foot shot out from under her. Atlan caught herself, stumbling down to one knee. Before she could regain her footing, another blow from Takkong’s claws knocked her sideways. Atlan couldn’t stop herself this time from falling awkwardly into another building. She winced, pulling herself upwards, bricks and crumpled tin roofing sheets falling to the ground under her. Part of her desperately hoped the Keel had actually done as they claimed, and thoroughly emptied this section of the city before their visit today.

As she rose, a telepathic laugh rang out, audaciously pleased with itself.

“Is that all you got? I can’t believe you’re struggling so much against this big, ugly thing!” Whoever was controlling the Takkong was clearly enjoying themselves. The huge clawed hands slapped together in a show of flexing, and it screeched again, mirroring the sound of its laughter.

Atlan stutter-stepped backwards, watching her feet more surely this time. With the distance, she gained enough time to refocus herself. Finding a section of bricks not covered in slick oil also helped.  

“I’m used to wrestling with monsters!” She shot back, warily eying her new sparring partner. “Takkong is… well-” 

They had managed to pick a Spark Doll monster frustratingly well-suited to resist her fighting style. She tried to charge and wrap her arms around its massive, rounded bulk, to get more leverage against it. But every time she sprang forward, Atlan’s feet slipped awkwardly in puddles of oil. And when she finally found purchase, it still stubbornly refused to budge, with a low center of gravity and fleshy suckers that adhered to the ground. Its rubbery body deflected all her punches and kicks.

It wasn’t long before Atlan found herself staring at the Takkong, breathing heavily, and feeling very upset about how idiotic she looked right now. It wasn’t just that she looked foolish in front of the Keel and her Ultra teammates though. Atlan knew she’d never hear the end of this from the rebels orchestrating this distraction either. 

“Aw, don’t look so disappointed! We needed to make it convincing, didn’t we?” The monster reared back and slapped its thick tail into the brick streets with a heavy THWACK that reverberated up through Atlan’s feet. The tail curled under its weight, like a huge, meaty spring.

Oh, Spark-! Atlan had at least seen this move before. But she still only just barely managed to raise her arms in time. A double kick launched at impressive speed from the momentum of the tail’s leverage. Atlan braced herself, stepping back only once this time, but once was all Takkong needed. A spear of pain shot through her leg, and it collapsed under the weight of the impact. 

“Owwww! You did that on purpose! That’s where I got shot the other day!” Atlan cried out indignantly. “Take it easy, this isn’t supposed to be a real fight!”

“Hey, it’s not every day one of us gets to spar with a real Ultra Warrior! This is actually pretty fun!” A fresh peal of laughter from the Takkong’s controller rang out again. “Now c’mon, stop playing around and show me what you can really do!”

Behind the building, another group of figures dressed in drab browns and yellows huddled around a corner. Small quakes sporadically rattled the chain link fences around them, and they crouched low, trying to keep steady footing. The eyes of the foremost guards watched a back exit warily.

The door slammed open. A pair of black-suited Keel raced out, straight into the butts of rebel guns. One fell immediately backwards. The momentum of the other carried him pitching over the concrete loading dock. Both lay still where they landed.

The rest of the rebels quickly swarmed over the bodies, tying them up securely, quickly seizing small metal cards from within pockets and folds of their black uniforms. Alien characters and blinking lights were emblazoned across the cards’ surfaces. 

Unho stood up, satisfied at their find, and silently gave a gesture to the foreguard. Two figures, rifles in hand, leaned inside the door to check if any other Keel would be joining the two unconscious guards at their feet. A few tense moments, then they waved back. Unho nodded, and directed the rest of the group inside. They followed neatly inside, with the officer Lythe and Bia bringing up the rear. 

Lythe’s normally smiling, sarcastic face was drawn, fretful. Every creak and shudder that spread through the ground under them was met with a startled jump. Bia hardly noticed, buoyed ahead with an excited grin. She gripped a metal briefcase against her body as they stalked around corners further into the back rooms of the building. 

Finally, I’m on a real mission! Not stuck inside anymore, waiting to hear second-hand what happened. I’m doing it myself! I’m here! Bia’s heart pounded with adrenaline as they cleared each hallway in sequence. The advance scouts of the group carefully checked a glowing, holographic projection of the floor plans at each intersection, awaiting resistance and guards. None showed up to meet their expectations.

Soon, the group of a half-dozen rebels crouched beside a nondescript metal door set into a nondescript metal hallway. The only sign of their prize was the blank metal plate resting above a simple electronic lock. None of them could translate the lettering on it, but the map confirmed that it should read “Main Office: STAFF ONLY.” The stolen key cards made quick work to enter inside.

As the door swung open, Bia, Unho and two others swept inside. The rest of the party remained crouching in the hallway, but the extra watchfulness proved to be unnecessary. All the other guards and workers had evacuated, pushed out the other exits by Atlan’s fight. A fight that was still in progress just around the corner, judging from how the lights swayed and flickered periodically. Even with the vacant hallways around them, worry still gnawed at the group. They didn’t know whether to anticipate an unseen Keel, a straggler from the evacuation, or a huge Takkong foot crashing through the ceiling above them at any moment.

Bia only vaguely registered these concerns through the heady joy of her work. She flipped open a latch on the case, revealing a computer console and screen. Deftly, she drew out wires to connect to another set of computers - or what she assumed were computers - the Keel loved to make their technology frustratingly smooth and blackened. It took her a few moments to puzzle out where to connect the two computers together. 

“Bia, you need to hurry up! We’re still trying to keep them pinned out here, but they’ll figure out it’s a decoy any minute now!” Gauda’s voice interrupted the tense silence inside, crackling from the noise outside.

“Now you’re the one interrupting my important work, sis!” Bia muttered in feigned indignation. Her fingers flew over the keyboard of her own console, glowing green letters spreading across her screen. It was too rapid for anyone else looking over her shoulder to make sense of, but after a few more moments, she pumped her fist, an excited grin beaming from her face.

“What’d you find?” Unho whispered.

“Oh, I don’t know yet. We’ll have to wait until we get back to the base to decode it!” Bia gestured proudly to the screen where the words “ DATA DOWNLOAD PROGRESS” now flashed. “I have have the rest of my stuff there, it’ll be easier to process the files with-”

Another crash, much closer this time, interrupted her, and set both computer screens flickering ominously. Scattered yells erupted as they were thrown to the floor, and even Bia yelped as she was pitched out of her seat.

“Any day now would be great, guys!” Atlan’s voice grabbed everyone’s attention, as one might do when telepathically yelling into several people’s minds at once. The group sprang into a renewed urgency at the call.

Bia fretfully adjusted the wires on her case, and the screen blinked on again. “DOWNLOAD COMPLETE” it read, and she huffed in relief. 

Unho raised her radio transmitter. She wasn’t exactly sure how it was designed to communicate with Atlan directly - Bia had mentioned something about “sympathetic electromagnetic frequencies.” But if it didn’t work, they’d all be easy targets for the Keel when they finally regrouped. “We’ve got the package! Finish it!” 

The sunlight had dimmed to a fiery red orange, silhouetting the huge figures standing about the rubble. Atlan held her slugger, split into two curved daggers before her in a deliberate pose, waiting for her opening. Below her, the remaining Keel and civilians anxiously held their breath, waiting for the end of this thrilling, titanic struggle.

Atlan frowned, picturing her final attack. “No, no you need to be a little more to the right-”

The Takkong roared, waving its arms impatiently. “Aren’t you ready yet?”

“We need to make this convincing, remember?” Atlan grinned and adjusted her grip. “On the count of three! One… two-”

“THREE!” Both monster and Ultra sprang towards each other, covering a huge distance in the blink of an eye. With a yell, Atlan brought her blades swinging forward, and carefully angled them to strike across thin air behind the Takkong. The instant they crossed, the two sluggers struck each other, making a rain of sparks as if she honed their edges against steel. To all other onlookers, it surely had to be a decisive, lethal blow.

Atlan glanced behind her to see the Takkong’s controller put on an equally impressive performance. It gave one final, pained screech, spinning almost gracefully on one stumpy leg. Then it fell slowly, with a shuddering impact into the street. 

“Now! Disengage the Spark!” Atlan flung her hands outwards, and her blades glowed, spinning back to rest along the crest of her head. As she sank down, finishing the motion of her attack, the Takkong’s form exploded into another rain of sparks, then harmlessly drifted through the evening air. She could hear the faint sound of cheers drift up from the streets at the sight, and struggled to keep a smile from her face.

Several blocks away, the rest of the decoy group of rebels gathered. One at a time, they had retreated from the firefight, covered from sight by the haze of dust and smoky flames. Now, they watched from under the eaves of an abandoned storefront as a stream of golden sparks drifted towards them. The motes of light gathered silently, and solidified into human figure, but he only managed another step before stumbling into the grateful arms of his teammates. 

The darkened Dummy Spark dropped from his stiff hands, clattering onto the stones. A small pop and crackle of energy arced out from the device, its remaining energy dissipating completely. Beside it, a miniature figure of Takkong dropped as well. It rolled gently then lay still against the cobblestones. Gauda carefully collected both, tucking them into a satchel tied under her cloak. She adjusted it, and the strap holding her long rifle against her back. 

The young D’runya - who was fighting a 65 meter tall Ultra Warrior only a minute before - was pulled to his feet by the encouragement around him. He had only been selected to use the Spark Doll by drawing a lucky straw, but now basked in the happy relief and admiration of his teammates. Some of them ruffled his reddish hair, slapped him on the back appreciatively or elbowed him in the side - he winced at that last one. 

“Iorr, you were awesome!” 

“You should’ve seen the fight from down here! You kicked her ass!” 

“Maybe we should’ve ended it with you defeating Atlan instead! Hahaha!” 

“Whoa, guys, hold off a second-“ Iorr held up a hand and gasped, even while laughing along with his friends, “Using these Spark Dolls takes a lot out of you!” 

Even Gauda couldn’t resist the good cheer - a smile spread across her face. “We can’t stick around here, we have to get back to the tunnels to meet up with the others!” She hoisted a thumb over her shoulder, indicating where a stone staircase cut down below the street’s level. A basement door into the store stood there, rusted shut. But beside it, a drain had been cut out, and recently widened to allow the rebels’ passage. They ducked under it, into the dark underground corridors. The quiet stretches of stone now buzzed with eager excitement from the day’s success.

“Can I use the Spark Doll next, Gauda? I want to fight with one! Something cool like a-” 

“I only got three of the things, Wilfreyd. ‘Sides we need to wait for the Dummy Spark to recharge, it takes a shitload of energy to activate.” 

“Shame, imagine how much more we’d be able to do against the Keel if we could just smash all their heads in,” Iorr chuckled. “Even using something as daft-looking as Takkong, it feels…” He trailed off, flexing his hand, still stiff from where he gripped the Spark. He itched to hold it again. “It feels awesome,” he concluded.

Gauda glared back towards him, her face darkened by shadows cast from subdued, orange light streaming from grates above them. “Don’t get too carried away, Iorr. We don’t know if the Keel have any monsters of their own.” 

“Oh please, you saw me fight against Atlan! I can take on whatever ugly kaiju they have too!” 

Further argument was forgotten as they rounded another corner and saw the glare of flashlights from the other squad. Gauda’s attempt at professionalism among the younger members of their group was also forgotten as she rushed ahead. Her breath caught in her throat and she flung her arms around Bia in a desperate, long-awaited embrace. The whole operation had only taken an hour, but that time with her sister in danger had felt like years. She tried to make up that time by holding onto Bia in a tight squeeze. 

“Gauda! I can’t decode the information we stole like this!” Bia laughed and pushed her sister’s arms away. She poked her teasingly. “See, easy-peasy! Nothing to worry about after all.”

Gauda frowned again. “There was plenty to worry about! We got lucky that things went that well, that’s all.”

“We make our own luck. And you kids did a great job out there, doing just that.” Unho shouldered her own rifle, and sat down heavily beside them. She breathed a sigh of relief, seeing all of them reunited from their separate missions.

Bia focused back on her work, fingers flying over the makeshift keyboard of the console before her. Soon, files opened and glowing lines of text and code flowed out across the small screen. Lines stretched, forming the blueprint of another building. Then the lines extended further, forming supply lines, roads and tunnels all converging into it. 

Unho glanced over, then stood up, pointing towards the building at the center of the screen. “Wait, I know that location! That’s the old temple in the western quarter!” 

“Are you sure? That place has been a ruin for as long as I can remember, no one even lives around there. At least, no one decent…” 

“Yeah, I’ve heard it’s cursed!”

“Perfect place for the Keel to set up, then!” Other rebels laughed, but a thread of unease made the laughter sound harsh and forced in the dark air around them.

Guada leaned over. “What are they doing there? Building something? Why are they shipping hover-trucks that way?”

Unho shrugged. “I haven’t heard any reports of construction. Maybe they’re using it for storage? After all, if it’s abandoned, they wouldn’t worry about people hanging around.”

“Storing what, though?”

“Is that where people are disappearing to?”

Bia sighed, and shut the screen of the case. It fastened with a sharp click, extinguishing the murmurs and rumors already beginning around the group. “I can’t figure out any more than that. I’ll need to take it back home and use the rest of the tech I have there to help out.”

“And I’m sure Indrick can help us figure out their plans. He knows the stones of this city like the back of his hand!” Unho slapped her hands down and pushed herself upwards, resolutely. 

Joining behind her, Bia fell into formation alongside her sister. But something nagged at her thoughts as they silently trudged back to their base. Now that the adrenaline was wearing away, worry for the next mission, the next attack, and more infiltrations weighed down each of her steps. 

Iorr threw a hand across her shoulder, seeing her concern. “Aw, don’t worry, kid! We couldn’t have done any of this without you. And even if we didn’t learn anything new, there’s still one less eyesore sitting in this city, thanks to you guys!” 

The remaining hours of daylight were spent in hushed, hurried silence as the group of Ultras were escorted - insistently - by armed guards back to the palace quarter. No chance of conversation other than brief snatches of telepathy was afforded them under the constant watch of soldiers. No privacy was found even after arriving back at their suite in the palace quarter. The Keel had insisted on leaving guards outside their doors, around the walls, and pacing around the roof tiles above their balcony. Yullian’s insistence to return to the scene of the destroyed building was patiently denied. The Keel insisted themselves that they would investigate matters, and were more concerned that the Ultras be kept out of danger under their guard. 

At the next day’s talks, in the large, formal meeting chamber, the strain was beginning to show among the Ultras. Only 80 seemed unfazed by the heightened security and suspicion. He chuckled as the guards filed in behind them that morning.

“With all this ruckus, you would think that we were the ones that summoned Takkong!” He joked as they took their seats, on opposite sides of the long table.

“Well you might have!” Orfeo huffed, red-faced. “We’re still investigating - besides you all ran when that monster appeared!” 

An elegant, blue-gloved hand laid across his hand, pulling his accusing finger downwards. Dicene smiled towards him, then offered it to the Ultras as well. Her teeth gleamed in perfect white rows. “Dear, dear, I know you’re upset, but you’re being rude to our guests.” 

Her husband rolled his eyes, but remained silent. Still smiling, Dicene continued. “But… I hope my husband’s words impress upon you our concern for the future of this planet. It seems an appropriately urgent way to open today’s proceedings.” The smile turned into a pouting, plaintive frown. “Surely you can see now the reason we have requested your aid. These sorts of attacks will only become more common unless we can work together to stop the murderous threat of these rebels. They are an obstacle to our wish for peace here, to benefit all people of Dulvonus-”

“The rebels themselves are people of Dulvonus, are they not?” Yullian cooly responded.

Dicene hesitated. “Well… No. No, if they have decided to respond to our wish for peace in such a cruel, violent way, then they have no place here.” She sat upright, imperiously glaring towards the princess. 

“Dicene is right!” Orfeo pounded the table beside her. “And I don’t understand why you Ultras allow such violence to occur and don’t seem to care about it at all!”

“Hey! I was the one actually fighting the Takkong, remember?” Atlan uncrossed her arms to jerk a thumb towards herself.

“Yeah sure, and that’s all you’ve done for us so far! You could’ve crushed the rest of those rebels under your foot yesterday, but-”

“That is not what we are here for.” Yullian’s voice cut through their argument, snuffing both sides with its weight. 

A moment more of silence ensured that she had the attention of everyone in the room. She continued, after looking around to make sure all eyes were deliberately following her next words. “We are here - by invitation - to give our blessing to your control of the planet. You have spoken much about your desire for peace. However, this is your opportunity to show it, Baroness.”

Yullian looked straight towards Dicene, settling into an assuredly calm focus. “If you cannot deal with this on your own, to convincingly demonstrate your sincere wish to benefit this planet and its people, then we cannot force matters ourselves.”

Dicene’s face contorted, offended. “How can you just stand by and let this happen? We cannot defend ourselves against such attacks, the only arms we have brought are the ones you have seen. Our small security contingent is only composed of my personal guard, led by Captain Rayan. We have only small guns and armored vehicles with us! If the rebels attack with kaiju, how do you expect us to fight back?” 

“We are not here to fight your wars for you, Baroness.” 80 responded gravely. “We are here as ambassadors. If you truly want to lead this planet, then you must decide for yourself how to settle these matters.” 

“As Ultras, we would deal with any other planet, and its native citizens, in the same way. You are not the first - nor the last - to make this request.” Yullian added. 

“And suppose we choose to, as you say, ‘settle’ matters with weapons of our own? With our own kaiju?” Rayan’s question caught the rest of the table off guard. He had been standing silently alongside his own guards even before the rest of the Keel group had arrived in the meeting chamber. “It would be a simple matter to communicate back to our home world and arrange for them to be sent.”

80 looked up, meeting the blank surface of his opaque, blue helmet. “Then these would no longer be peace talks. And we would no longer be on this planet as ambassadors…”

“Oh of course, that’s just a hypothetical, nobody wants that -” Dicene tittered with amusement while shooting a severe look towards the captain of her guards. She turned, then sniffed in disdain at the suggestion. “Unlike previous leaders of my people, I feel there is no place for kaiju in our civilized empire. They are barbaric, disgusting creatures, and we have no need for such things here, especially to ensure peace.”

The Baroness directed a hand towards Atlan, who was still hunched angrily over the table. “In fact, I would like to commend your warrior, Atlan, for fighting such a monster yesterday.”

Atlan shot up, then blushed in embarrassment. She withdrew her hands, fumbling into her lap, suddenly uncomfortable with everyone looking towards her. “It… it was no big deal, really! I just, uh, did what I was trained to do!” She forced a small bit of laughter to make her point. “Besides, it wasn’t even that strong, it was just a Spark Doll after all-”

“How did you know it was a Spark Doll?” Rayan interrupted.

Atlan froze. She swallowed, her words suddenly thick in her throat. “Uh, uh… well-”

“Takkong is an aquatic monster, this isn’t its native habitat.” Helios’s level tone matched Rayan, and drew his attention away from his teammate. “Clearly, the rebels summoned it somehow. Atlan knew that.” He stated, as if completely assured by such obvious facts. 

“Ah, yes, thank you, captain-” Yullian nodded appreciatively.

Helios, however, had more facts to point out to the Keel delegation before she could redirect the conversation. “Baroness, with all due respect, despite your revulsion for these monsters, it would benefit you to learn more about them. Especially if you wish to rule an empire. After all, don’t your own people make use of marine kaiju such as Bostang? I would have expected you and your guards to recognize such a weapon more quickly.” 

His poker-face was impenetrable. Even Yullian didn’t know if he just couldn’t resist getting in another teaching moment, or if he was actually trying to piss off the Keel. Perhaps both.

He certainly succeeded at the latter. Orfeo shot up from his seat, blustering at the insult. “How dare you! This just makes you Ultras look even more weak. Your strongest warrior, struggling so much to just take down a puppet! An empty tool used by our vicious enemies!”

“Yes, I agree, it is concerning that it took her so long to subdue Takkong.” Helios pushed his chair back and stood, his expression still calm, serious, and thoroughly inscrutable. With that neutral gaze, he bowed towards Yullian. “Princess, may I be excused with my subordinates, in order to discuss this matter further?”

Yullian met his gaze, frowned, but nodded back to dismiss him. 

Dicene looked between the group, then raised an eyebrow towards her husband. She tugged the sleeve of his embroidered dress coat to force him back to his seat. 

As the three Ultras quietly stepped towards the door, trying to make as little noise as possible, she smiled, showing her teeth again. “Do return quickly, Captain.” She called out. “We would value your expertise to stop this kaiju menace as soon as possible.” 

Her answer was the heavy sound of the white-painted doors shutting firmly behind them. 

“Cygnu, wait here.”

Helios pointed to a spot outside of the doors of the suite.

“What do you mean, sir?”

“You need to stand watch, the Keel might send guards up to eavesdrop while we’re here. I don’t want anyone listening in.” Helios’ tone was low, severe.

“But what about me? If you need to say something to Atlan, you can say it in front of me too, sir!” Cygnu was surprised at his own words, but then realized he meant all of them, sincerely. His brow furrowed and he met his Captain’s eyes. “We’re a team, aren’t we?”

“And your orders as part of this team are to stand guard here.” 

It only took a flicker in his gaze, the angle of the creases against his dark brown skin, and the sudden, sharp edge to his voice to stop Cygnu cold. He felt the steel door slam shut, behind his mind again. The silent pressure choked any follow-up he could possibly make. 

Helios didn’t wait for a response anyways, he swung through the doors, slamming them shut perhaps with more force than intended as he joined Atlan inside. 

Atlan turned towards him as he strode in, relief obvious now that they were away from the Keel. “Thanks for covering for me, Helios! Man, I thought for sure-”

Helios raised one finger between them. “I’ll give you a chance to explain yourself. Are you involved with this?” 

“Well, kind of?” She shrugged, sheepishly. “It was a decoy attack so we could break in and get information from the Keel-”

“We?” 

“The rebels, I mean, they just wanted to-”

Helios’ calm expression snapped into anger. “Wanted to do what? Arrange to have a kaiju attack in the middle of the day while we were still inside the building - and lie to us about it?” 

Atlan drew back, shocked at his reaction. “I… I was just trying to help you-”

“The only thing this helps is your own ego!” 

Atlan felt like she had been slapped. 

Helios realized that he had raised his voice, but as it lowered again, the sharp whisper only intensified its cutting effect. “I’m disappointed, and ashamed that you think this stupid stunt helps anyone. I trusted you out in the city because I thought you’d keep to the mission! Not so you could-”

“This mission is bullshit!” Now Atlan’s voice raised to match her captain’s anger. “You want us to just follow the Keel around, playing along with their stupid games to get information. I actually went out there! I put myself on the line, to help the people on this planet, I saw personally what the Keel are doing to hurt them! Kidnapping them, throwing them in prisons-”

“We already knew that!” 

Atlan threw a hand out beyond the balcony, towards the tall stone buildings beyond the curtains hiding their argument at this moment. “Then why aren’t we out there, fighting alongside them? That facility we destroyed, people disappear there, taken away and processed for… for who knows what!” 

She looked behind her, out towards the covered windows, then her voice dropped, hissing. “The rebels think they’re being kidnapped, brainwashed, forced into slavery. There’s something evil going on here, captain-”

“And now, thanks to you and your friends, we’ll have an even harder time figuring out what.” Helios turned and began pacing, frustrated. “The Keel aren’t stupid, they probably already realized the attack was a distraction, and now they’ll push any other evidence further underground. But now we’re under an even heavier guard, we’re being watched even more closely…” 

He stopped, drawing back towards Atlan, and thrust a finger towards her.  “The only thing you’ve done is escalate matters. You’ve put everyone, our entire mission here, at risk!”

The shock at her captain’s disappointment had worn thin, and now it was replaced with disgust, rising hot like bile in her words. “Don’t talk to me about the ‘mission’ Helios! Our mission is supposed to protect lives! What are you doing for that? I’m the only one out there putting my life on the line for these people! Why are you just hiding in here, scared? Don’t you care about the people here? Don’t their lives matter?-”

“They do!” Helios shouted, and a crash erupted as he struck his fist downwards. It collided with a table, wood and enamel splintering apart under the blow. Both of them stood silently, tense as the noise cut off. Their breaths were held together, but no other sounds joined them. The doors remained shut, as even Cygnu waited outside the suite for them. 

Helios realized his hands were shaking as he withdrew his fist, and clutched it into his chest. He felt weary, drained.  “They do matter.” He whispered, again. “More than you realize.”

Atlan could find no words to answer him. The professional and composed mask of his expression, one she was familiar with even when they were in the Academy, was gone. In its place was a painful grimace, sorrow that made him almost unrecognizable. 

“You have taken their lives in your hands, Atlan.” Helios’ voice was firmer now, as he looked back towards her. “Are you prepared for that responsibility? Being an Ultraman means giving your life for those you care about. Are you prepared to do that?”

Blood welled between the knuckles of his fist as he held it, dripping onto the smooth wooden panels of the floor.

Atlan remembered the toast she had made with the Toorwanyu , two days ago. I promised I’d bleed with them, for this planet…

Atlan struggled to keep the shame out of her own voice. She didn’t want to fail at that, on top of everything else today. “I didn’t want them to fight alone-”

“They won’t. I promise you. But you need to trust the rest of us instead of running off half-cocked! Just…” Helios’ grimace melted into a more familiar expression, an exasperated sigh, “...Have some patience.”

“I’m sorry, Helios. Sir. I’ll… I’ll try to do better.” 

Helios unclenched his fist and shook it out. The bleeding appeared to have stopped at least. He laid his uninjured hand against Atlan’s arm, an attempt at reassurance. “That’s all I wanted to hear. But I think you might want to stay up here until we’re finished with today’s meeting.”

Atlan smiled, gratefully. “And that’s exactly what I wanted to hear. I don’t think I could’ve stood listening to that fat jackass Orfeo any longer-”

Helios had already paced out of the suite, however. Guess he’s in a hurry to get back and finish it too. Atlan shrugged, and then flopped her tall frame down onto one of the sofas. There was nothing left to do, except… 

She withdrew the small metal communicator from its hiding place in her tunic. It glinted against the yellow light from the lamps of the room. If working with the rebels would just put them in more danger, she should destroy it, shouldn’t she? Atlan frowned, considering. It would make things easier, then the Keel couldn’t find it either, and they wouldn’t be able to trace it back to their hiding place. 

Her hand closed around it. But something stopped her from pressing her full strength into her grip to crush its delicate circuits and transistors. She tucked it back, and then leaned against the cushions, settling in with a sigh. Just in case. 

“Is Atlan… are you okay?” Cygnu’s wide blue eyes looked towards the captain as he strode out of the door. 

Helios smoothly withdrew his injured hand to his side, behind a fold of his robe. Cygnu followed the motion, and Helios suddenly realized how perceptive he truly was. A pang of guilt flashed across his face.

“I’m sorry. You were right. We’re teammates and we need to be honest with each other for this mission to work. I just… wanted Atlan to understand that too.” 

Cygnu nodded, silently, but his wide eyes still radiated concern. For all his talents, Cygnu was unnervingly open with his own emotions, especially in this form. 

Helios doubled down, trying to show enough confidence to support both of them. “I’m okay, Cygnu. Really. There’s only two more days here and then we can leave and return home. This will just be a funny story then, won’t it?” He gave his best attempt at a smile to conclude the matter, and then turned to continue walking briskly down the hallway. A few paces beyond, he heard the slam and click of the doors’ latches, telling him that Cygnu had rushed back inside the suite behind him. Just as he thought, Cygnu was more worried about Atlan after overhearing their argument. Good. 

Helios turned again around a corner, and out of sight of anyone else, the emotions squeezed into his chest suddenly burst forth. His hands, curled into fists, struck against the bare, white-washed walls and his head sunk between them, shaking with the force of his wracking sobs. The sadness and anger and disappointment that had been building, ever since he realized what Atlan had been doing the day before, during her fight, released like a wave rushing ahead of a breaking glacier. 

He had played through the events of his time in the Galactic Security Agency, over and over in his head, countless times since he left that position. Each time he couldn’t help but ask himself, if there was something else he could’ve done, a different decision that could’ve been made, something to avert the disaster that fell on his shoulders. Each time, he was forced to acknowledge his own mistakes. But only now could he see those same memories from a different view.

           “They weren’t your mission! They were never your mission!”

He would have liked to claim that the heated words he spat at Atlan were just that - words, from his own anger, that didn’t mean anything. But he knew. 

           “ Because you refused to follow those orders, we have to clean up your mess now. Do you understand? ”

He knew that his own former commander was right all along.

He could only hope that Atlan realized that before it was too late.

The cool, dark night had drawn upwards around the city. Unseasonably chilly air, and the weight of uncertainty around yesterday’s kaiju attack pressed the normal bustle of nightlife into darker corners and homes along the streets. Sounds were hushed, muted by fear. Soft ribbons of white mist flowed around damp cobblestones outside. 

The hallways of the palace were lit in warm golden tones, but the flickering shadows cast by the lamps flowed around Rayan’s boots. They led him, stalking angrily towards Dicene’s personal chambers. He was risking almost certain insult, but after the events of the past two days, he could no longer keep his doubts to himself. 

Dicene didn’t even look up to mark his entrance, slamming through the ornately carved doors. He motioned to the guards who left them immediately. None of them would want to be caught in the middle of the skirmish about to erupt. Only Orfeo remained with them, standing uneasily in the doorway to a bedchamber.

Dicene reclined, unconcerned, in a cushioned chair. Unlike earlier in the day, she wore a simple, loose black shirt and trousers. Her hair cascaded down freely in thick, dark curls. In her arms, she held the heavy tablet the Ultras had brought with them as a welcoming gift. Its crystalline, jade-colored surface gleamed with glowing runes. 

“I warned you about brandishing your sword around, remember?” With one finger raised casually to her lips, she flicked through the tome, waiting for Rayan to decide his opening move.

“And what are you brandishing against the Ultras, Baroness?” He snarled. “Do you think just your words will let you steal this system out from under their noses? This whole scheme obviously isn’t working, as I’m sure you realize by now.” 

The Baroness arched an eyebrow, but still considered the tablet in her lap. “Oh? What makes you so sure?”  

“The rebel terrorists are getting bolder, the Ultras have something to do with it, you’ve assumed command of half of my soldiers - for what?  All you seem to be concerned about is sitting there, playing games, batting around flattery and half-truths!” 

“And what would you do in my place, I wonder?” 

Rayan paced around, in front of her chair as he continued. “Everyone knows this peace is a sham! We need to strike now, with force! Enough force to save the face that you’ve lost here!”

“What would you know of ‘saving face’, considering how you hide yours?”  Dicene chuckled to herself. 

Under his helmet, Rayan burned with fury. He knew she was playing the same games with him, trying to provoke a reaction, to make him act rashly. He didn’t really care anymore. 

“You’ve had your chance to prove yourself. It failed. Cut your losses, call in kaiju from the homeworld, get some real weapons to crush this rebellion once and for all. They don’t have the power to-”

“Power, is that it?” Dicene’s chuckles intensified to a full peal of laughter, shrill and caustic. She finally looked towards Rayan. “That’s really what it all comes down to, doesn’t it? You think power just comes from wielding kaiju. You and your whole family , you’re too much like your brother.” 

Rayan kept his fist clenched around his sword. If his hands had been free when he heard that remark, he would have struck her. 

Dicene merely smirked, and returned a hand to gently trace the intricate carvings set into the tablet’s edge. “Of course the Ultras think their knowledge is power,” She purred, feeling the warmth of its light energy. “What an incredible piece of technology, and they simply handed it over to us! But they’re only half right...”

Curiosity at her words fought with hot anger within Rayan’s chest. She wanted him to ask. She knew he would. He felt the tug of the chains even as he stood motionless before her. That curiosity became unbearable as she waited patiently for him.

“What do you mean?” he growled, finally.

She grinned in victory at his response. “Just knowing things isn’t enough, it’s what you do with it! To them, gemstones and gold are useless trash - you saw how they refused our gifts when they arrived. But, ah such irony, they treat their own hoarded knowledge in the same way. To them, it’s a collection of baubles, carefully arranged and designed to show off how important and respected they are to the rest of the universe.” 

Her expression turned to disgust again, but not as Rayan saw it during the meeting that day. Rather than an evocative show of innocent shock, this disgust was harsh, burning and acrid as it flared in her eyes. She tightened a hand around the tablet and flung it away from her. It clattered across the tiles. 

Orfeo paced over, his own dark eyes shining as he watched the tablet tumble to the floor. He drew to Dicene’s side, hands wringing together with fanatical eagerness. “You were a fool to doubt her, Rayan! Once we rule the world, that knowledge, what the Ultras use to lord over the rest of the galaxy, it will all be useless! The only history that will matter will be the one shaped by our hands!”

Rayan’s eyes narrowed under the mask. “You wouldn’t have brought me all the way here across space if you didn’t trust me. Tell me what you’re planning.”

Dicene gracefully rolled up from the cushions, and she answered him while standing even with the captain. “I told you already. Your part in the plan is to follow my orders, and keep your men in line. I’m afraid you are quite obsolete otherwise.”

Orfeo sniggered behind her, enjoying the show.

“Dicene… Baroness. You can’t hope to fight a war without me or my men-”

“How do you think a war is fought? Hm?” She turned from him towards a side table where a tall decanter of a ruby red liquid stood, and continued. “Our people used to think war just meant throwing kaiju at worlds and expecting them to be impressed, to fear their inevitable crushing destruction.” Dicene gave a sharp laugh and tossed her dark hair over her shoulder.

Her tone assumed a professional air of business as she poured two fingers of the liquid into a heavy glass. She glanced over its rim towards Rayan. “Times have changed! Power doesn’t just come from having bigger, stronger monsters than anyone else. Especially with those Ultras interfering in everyone’s business nowadays…” Dicene trailed off as she sipped at the drink. 

Rayan was growing tired of the monologue now. “The rest of the universe doesn’t listen to words alone though, Baroness. You should know, considering how many people you had had to assassinate, backstab or blackmail to call yourself that in the first place.” 

Dicene finished draining her drink and then grinned wickedly. “Again, you are only half right there. I have to admit, I had help. You remember the new attendant I brought with us?”

“Yago? Isn’t he just a butler?”

“He has many skills, secretary, butler, but he is also quite a skilled scientist. He saw my vision to transform our society, and helped give me the tools for it. And now, with his technology, I have the key to defeat the Ultras with their own cowardly hypocrisy.”  

This time, instead of hot anger, the sound of her laughter sent a chill through Rayan, even under the heavily armored suit he wore. Transform our society? Forget Dulvonus, what does Dicene have planned when we go back home?

“Trust me, Rayan.” She held out the empty glass towards him. “Here, on this planet, I will show you and those Ultras real power. The power to crush our enemies with their own weakness, before they can even fight back!” Another round of laughter, softer, withdrawn followed her words. “That really is the secret to peace, isn’t it?” she remarked, more to herself. 

A knock at the door made Rayan jump, but Dicene merely glanced over, expectantly. “Ah, speaking of which - “ 

The doors opened, held by the guards who accompanied the simple, unassuming figure between them. Yago was of medium height and unremarkable build, with dark hair swept severely backwards off his high forehead. His sharp cheekbones and jawline adjusted themselves into an expression of pleasant surprise as he passed into the room. The doors clicked shut softly again and he bowed towards the Baroness.

“Yago, I hope you’ve brought me good news.”

“Indeed, my Lady. We have verified the correct frequencies, and have arranged for matters at tomorrow’s meeting. Everything is in place, as you wished.” His voice was smooth, flowing and deep as it wound around his calm smile. 

Without a further word, Dicene waved, motioning the guards to leave the chamber. Orfeo turned along with them. Dicene glared at Rayan long enough to make her wish to dismiss him also known. But somehow, the motion of turning his back to the attendant was difficult. He felt pinpricks of nerves heighten across the back of his neck, then spread down to the soles of his boots. 

The pressure abated as they entered the hallway and the doors shut behind them, muffling the sound of Dicene and Yago’s new arrangements. It was replaced with shame, heavy in Rayan’s chest. He was ashamed at his own ignorance, how easily Dicene led him around like her mewling husband, how he had missed Yago’s influence on this own operation for so long. But more than any of those thoughts, what disgusted Rayan the most was shame at his own powerlessness. 

“This isn’t right. Yago’s not even Keel , if he’s putting all these ideas into Dicene’s head, it might be dangerous-”

“By our own kind’s law, you are not Keel either, remember?” Orfeo raised an eyebrow towards him, from where he leaned against the corner moulding of the hallway. “It was Dicene who saw your skills, even in that prison labor camp. She realized what a waste it would be for you to simply be executed, or exiled.”

“Don’t you lecture to me, you sniveling coward-”

“Insult me all you want, but that’s not why I’m here. That same keen eye, her drive for the future… that’s why I fell in love with her, you know.”

For the first time, looking at the paunchy figure with the ridiculous mustache and thinning hair, Rayan realized that he was indeed in love with her. It practically glowed out from his sweaty face as he gazed towards the shut doors.

“She sees a future for us, for the Keel beyond our petty barbarian history. The stupid feuds and endless squabbles between upstart families.” He smirked towards Rayan, who still stood rooted to the spot in surprise. “That’s why she hired you. That’s why she hired Yago. That’s why we’re here, on this fucking desert of a planet, and why I came with her. When all this is over, I want to stand at her side, ruling in our rightful place, a new age of power for our people. Don’t you want the same?” 

A new age of power? 

Something about that promise still rang hollow to Rayan. He stood in silence, before equally silent, unanswering doors, before leaving to return to his quarters in the soldiers’ barracks. The alcoves behind him extinguished into darkness as the lights were drawn up for the close of the night. One thought still followed him as he paced back down the hallways

Who will really be standing when this is all over?

Chapter Text

It took most of the previous day, but thanks to Bia’s knack for machines and some spare Babilar transistor circuits “borrowed” from Gauda’s storehouse, she decoded the rest of the downloaded information. The record of shipments pointed them to a crumbling, mostly-abandoned section in the westernmost part of the city. The buildings here were even more ancient, beyond repair, and most of the population had simply moved elsewhere rather than attempt it.

At the center of this sector was an even larger crumbling ruin, what was once a sprawling temple complex. A huge stonework dome in its center had long since collapsed, leaving the structure open to the elements. Erosion from the progress of centuries continued to wear down the clay between bricks, tiled mosaics, and once-colorful paints decorating the temple. Now the main sanctuary only consisted of a few standing walls, piles of rubble, bird nests and scrubby bushes bristling with thorns. But one tall spire adjoining the circular ruin still stood, more or less intact. Chunks had fallen from its parapets, and the treacherous state of the rest of the temple warned away any daredevils who might have tried venturing to its top.

The tunnels running under the streets here were just as dilapidated. Unlike the wider sewer passages elsewhere in the city, these paths were narrow and low. Sometimes the directions the Toorwanyu rebels were following led them to passageways that were completely caved in. The time spent backtracking and picking around alternate routes added to the tension of the group.

“Didn’t Indrick say he knows every stone of this city?” One of them grumbled as handheld lamps flashed around, looking for a frustratingly obscured side tunnel. 

“Not even Indrick’s memory goes that far back, Zudos.” Haryn remarked, from the head of the group. “And I should know, I’ve known him for most’ve his life.” 

“So you’re admitting you’re an old man?” Zudos’ voice shot back, a hint of a sarcastic grin carried through the oppressive darkness. 

“No, I’m saying Indrick is a cocky amateur, no matter the number of grey hairs he gets in that beard of his.” Stifled chuckles rippled through the group. 

Haryn turned back to them, glaring in the harsh incandescent lamp light. “Shut up, ya lot. That’s enough joking for this mission. Bia, come up here.” He gestured to their youngest member.

“Y-yes, sir!” she squeaked and pushed forward through the group. Her computer briefcase was clutched tightly at her side. Despite its strong leather strap, she was terrified that it would disappear into the blackness around them if she loosened her grip around it. And then we’d be lost here forever!

“C'mere and let’s see that map of yours,” Haryn continued. Bia snapped open the clasps of the case and flipped the screen towards him. The glittering lines of the map she had generated from the Keel’s data and Indrick’s own knowledge sprawled across its surface. 

Bia pointed to a blinking node along one of the lines. “I… I think we’re right here. I can’t check the marker because the ceiling here is too thick to cross-reference with aerial geo-magnetic readings, but we’ve walked about three-and-a-half semi-lengths here and here-” Her finger continued to trace their path as she continued, breathlessly,  “-And we haven’t seen another cross-cut in that time so I figger this intersection here has to be up another half length further but then if we-”

“Whoa, kid that’s all I wanted to see.” Haryn pushed her hand back down. “Yer Uncle knows more about the stones here than I ever cared to learn. It’s clear his knack for brainy shit rubbed off on you too.” He smirked. 

Bia practically glowed with pride in the flickering light around them. 

“Right, let’s keep going. Eyes on swivels, watch the back, lights at half-red.” Haryn’s orders to the rest of the squad snapped out. They fell back into a tight formation, lights dimmed and focused on the stones below them in a unified sweep.

The map led them straight and true. Soon, the lights swept over a haphazard clump of wires, then piles of metal beams half-covered by a plastic tarp. The materials were shiny, new and completely incongruous with the dank, deteriorating surroundings. A few paces onward, the gleaming steel frame of a service hatch and accompanying vents came into view. 

Haryn signaled for the group to stop, and they obediently fanned out around the newly-discovered entrance. But there was no sign of any work crews here, not at these late hours. Indrick and Haryn had specifically arranged this operation based on the schedule of deliveries and maintenance marked out by the stolen information. It seemed all their planning was paying off, allowing them such easy access to the Keel’s secrets. 

It only took a few moments for Bia to find the correct wires from the crumbling stonework around the hatch. In a swift motion she cut and crossed them, creating a few sparks, and the hatch wooshed open. A rush of pressurized air swept out into the tunnels, replacing the damp stench with something sharper and metallic. 

Haryn looked sternly towards the seven other Toorwanyu accompanying him. “Remember, this is just to look around. We find something that looks like a computer terminal and then get out. Bertram and Euria, you wait here and secure the exit. If we’re not back in half an hour, retreat and check in at the pick-up spot.” 

The two figures, still half-hidden by the dimmed lamps, snapped to attention, and took up wary positions. The rest filed inside. Bia shouldered her case, pushing it into the small hatch ahead of her, then instinctively looked behind for her sister, following after her.

Oh right… she’s not on this mission. 

Gauda didn’t like that decision. She and Uncle Indrick had a big argument before they left, but Bia had only overheard parts of it. She clearly recalled the hurt look on Gauda’s face, the anger in her voice. 

Didn’t Gauda used to smile more? Not the brave smile, the cunning smile that she put on for others, when selling to potential buyers. It had been so long since Bia recalled seeing her truly, genuinely smile at something. She didn’t really remember the time before her parents - her real parents - died in the wars. She only recalled vague things, impressions of the time before all this. Before the hiding, the fighting, all of it during a lifetime of war. 

Bia tucked her legs up behind her, following the rest of the team into the hatch. She resolved to see this mission through, to help stop the Keel with all her friends and the other Toorwanyu. Maybe then they wouldn’t have to fight another war. Maybe then, I can see Gauda smile more. The thought pushed her forward with renewed certainty. 

Gauda frowned, watching the streets below her. 

The night was unusually damp and heavy, with intermittent rain that floated almost like light flakes in the orange light streaming below the street lamps. Thick fog swirled and coiled around the streets, flowing from the comparatively-warmer air rising lazily from the sewer tunnels. Part of her mind was idly considering the atmospheric conditions, thinking of how to compensate for the lack of visibility tonight, the best place to hide in her lookout position while still preserving freedom of movement and her night-vision. 

The other part of her mind was reliving the argument with Indrick shortly before she swept out in a huff - against his orders - to serve as the sentry at the pick-up point. 

“You’re bein' too overprotective! Bia's not a little girl anymore, she can make her own decisions. She’s a grown woman, you can’t keep hidin' her from this when she wants to fight with us!” 

“You don’t wanna treat her as a “grown woman,” you want another soldier! Why do you want to put her out in the middle of this? She’s your niece! Don’t you care about her life?!”

“I do! Both of you… I care 'bout both your lives. That’s why I kept you here. Bia’s talents are right fer this job. Your’s…” 

“Is that all we are to you then? Operatives? Lil' pieces on a gameboard to move around?” 

Gauda remembered the tone of disgust, the sneer she used there. She regretted it now. Of course Indrick didn’t think of them - or any of the Toorwanyu - in such a callous way. But she didn’t know how else to give voice to her own fear of losing Bia, or worse… Gauda glanced down at the rifle in her hands. She had grown to become familiar with the heft of its weight, each individual sliding lever and switch, the fine mechanisms all polished and oiled, poised ready at a moment’s notice. Ready for what? To reliably put a 605k watt bolt of electromagnetic force into an enemy’s center of mass. 

Bia was always good with machines, especially computers. But the thought of her using those smarts to only tinker with weapons turned Gauda’s stomach. More than seeing Bia hurt in this war, she hated that her sister might become just like her. A weapon.

Gauda stewed in her thoughts for another long while, but the abject silence, even in this lonely section of the city, unnerved her the longer she sat. 

She looked down at her communicator, clipped under her cloak.

I’ll give them five more minutes. 

The service hatch opened into an immaculately clean hallway. White metal and tile floors gleamed under banks of fluorescent lights. The team of rebels formed a brownish smudge against its brilliantly polished surfaces, tracking gritty mud with them from the tunnel. They crept forward slowly, but there was no sound other than their rapid heartbeats and the buzz of the lights overhead.

“This doesn’t make any sense…” One of them whispered before Haryn glared towards the offending sound, hushing him. But they were all thinking the same idea. 

Is this a hospital? Bia wondered. But why would they bring people here? The ones who disappeared were all healthy…I think. She shivered, clutching her case tighter across her body. 

The team made their way through the long, sterile hallway at an anxiously slow pace. They could only guess where the other passages led. Each door they passed was unmarked, without windows. But after a few tense minutes, they came across one with a recognizable keypad set into its handle. Bia had cracked several just like it in the facility they had infiltrated only a few days ago. She withdrew a knife and a long metal probe from a belt pouch, setting to work on its mechanism with a now-practiced ease. It opened with a jarring buzz. Bia jerked backwards at the noise, then was pushed aside as the front guards of their group cautiously took positions by the door. It swung outwards, and three gun barrels lifted up to face whatever was inside.

More fluorescent lights blinked on automatically at the entrance, revealing the unoccupied room. A large console sat against the far wall, displaying a readout of unintelligible data. Wires and tubes extended from the console into a huge metal container, reaching from the floor to ceiling. Much of its surface was similarly plain, white metal, but a sliding glass door across the front was locked securely, sealing some sort of chamber in its center. It appeared empty apart from a few beakers, syringes, and another blank metal box. Two blinking red lights pulsed evenly along the box’s front panel. It looks like a microwave oven. Bia almost laughed at the image. 

Pushed against the opposite side of the room was medical equipment: an examination bed, stacks of shelves, a small sink, metal stands for IV bags and tools. That seemed to confirm, to Bia at least, that this was a hospital after all. 

Haryn was unable to keep more hushed questions from breaking out amidst the group, as they all swept around the room, searching.

“What the hell’s this for?”

“This place creeps me out, we should leave-”

“Bia.” Haryn tried to snap her out of her own dazed uncertainty. He pointed to the console. “Let’s get this over with, kid.”

She jumped to attention again, and fumbled at the clasps of her case. The console here was different from the one she accessed back at the “charity” facility. It was made of chunky metal angles, pragmatic and simple in its presentation compared to the smooth black surface of the Keel’s computers. That detail wasn’t even the strangest thing about this place though, and she quickly discarded the thought while searching for a way to access its data. 

Her search was quickly rewarded. She had to get on her hands and knees to pop out a metal panel under the bank of glowing screens, but it revealed the wires she needed. Sitting cross-legged, she fell back comfortably into the familiar programs of her own computer, quickly skimming through what she could find from this new network.

Bia frowned in confusion. This data was in a completely different language. The Keel’s files at least had some similarities to systems she had used from other alien technologies. The scrolling red hexagons now flashing across the screen unnerved her. They seemed less like strings of information, and more like… a countdown?

The lights went out. Bia let out a shrill yelp, jumping to her feet. Her console clattered to the floor, its screen now dark as well. A clamorous whine began to ring in the room, and echoed from the hallway. 

Strings of curses erupted from around her, joining the commotion. Nobody on the team was bothering to stay silent now, it was too late for that. 

“Shit, we’ve set off an alarm! Everyone, get out of here! Go!” Haryn drew his pistol, and thrust his free hand towards the door. It was an order they were all glad to follow.

Bia was also glad she disabled the lock’s electronics entirely rather than just opening it. The group found it still ajar behind them. They pounded through it, back into the corridor. Green security lights flashed intermittently in the hall. The bright white glare of the handlamps they each carried cut through the disorienting strobe effect.

Another sound rose above the blaring alarms - a scream behind them. 

The group froze. The panic they felt intensified, somehow turning colder and heavier, biting into their veins. 

“Zudos!” The woman next to Bia yelled, realizing he was missing from the group. She spun to race back towards the room.

“Lynase, no! Wait-” Haryn tried to call her to the group, but it was too late, she arrived at the door, skidded and laid her hands on its frame to brace herself from falling.

A black mass shot out from the door, illuminated by the acrid green light. It wrapped around her leg and wrenched her out of their sight. A new scream cut through the air as she disappeared. Then the sound abruptly stopped, dying into a choking gurgle that was barely audible above the ringing alarms.

Bia screamed too, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Haryn, pushing her behind the group. 

“Go, you stupid girl, get out of here, we’ll be right behind you!” 

“N-no!” She suddenly found her voice, but it cracked with terror. “I can’t-” 

“Bertram and Euria’ll get you back to the surface, go!” He shoved her again. She stumbled, hot pain shot through her knee as it struck the tiles below her.

She looked up, to see dark shadows swelling, flowing out from the door again. It rose upwards, huge rows of teeth emerged from its sticky surface, rearranging themselves, quivering. Bia thought she saw it smile. 

Then it lunged.

The negotiations went later than usual after Atlan left the meeting chamber. They all took dinner in the suite, but nobody had much of an appetite. The cheese, bread and fruit brought to them lay mostly untouched until another group of interchangeable maids came to fetch the dishes. 

Now, in the small hours of the morning, the rest of the Ultras were all asleep. But despite her best attempts, Atlan couldn’t keep her eyes shut long enough to get any benefit from trying to fake it. She found herself outside, hunched over the balcony, looking in the direction of the Toorwanyu stronghold. The curvature of the planet’s surface and the night’s hazy air prevented her from seeing it directly, even with her powerful senses, but the thought that it remained there still comforted her. 

She was startled out of contemplation by a small vibration and chirrup from under her tunic. It took Atlan a second to realize it was the communicator, putting her in contact with the rebel group. She narrowed her eyes, half suspecting a trap after the events of the day had almost certainly blown her cover. But she warily pressed a button on the side to activate its message, without saying another word. 

Thankfully, Atlan immediately recognized the voice on the other end, the whisper of her words buzzing through the communicator’s small speaker.

“Are you there? It’s Gauda-” 

“Is something wrong? You’re calling awfully late at night.”

 “There was a recon team sent out, they’re way past their set pick-up time. I've gotta bad feeling about this… we might need your help.”

“Things are too hot around here. I don’t know if I can find a way to get outside of the compound. It’s dangerous now.”

“That didn’t stop you before.”

“Things have changed. I think… I think I may have made things worse.” Atlan turned away from the communicator and sighed, trying to hide her hesitation from Gauda.

“Things're already worse out here. You made a promise to fight with us, remember? Are you jus' going to sit there and do nothing?”

Gauda’s demand brought to mind her argument with Helios. She heard the words drift across her memory again. “Are you prepared to take responsibility for their lives?”

She still didn’t know how to answer that. For a moment, she considered waking up her captain and telling him about this. But then there’d be more questions, and the others would be dragged into matters, it would just be more trouble for her. For all of them, if the Keel noticed their whole squad leaving too. She could take care of it herself, leave to check things out, then come right back before the sun even comes up.

“Okay, fine, I’ll meet you-” Atlan began, and halted.

Across the wide distances of space, Ultras can always find their way to where they are most needed. Some scientists have speculated on this, explaining the nature of invisible electromagnetic energies, neurological adaptations for homing instincts, sympathetic psychic connections and the like. But the truth is much more simple than that.

Regardless of where they are, Ultras can always hear people who cry out to them for help.

At this moment, Atlan’s attention focused like a laser point onto a distant, desperate shriek echoing across the city. 

Her communicator disappeared into her tunic again, muffling the sound of Gauda’s confusion at her sudden silence. Atlan glanced briefly around below the balcony, but there were hardly any guards posted this late at night. Steeling her nerves, she took a step back. Then with a single tremendous leap, she cleared the stone walls a dozen yards away, across the palace’s surrounding gardens. The momentum from her fall on the other side tucked into an ungainly roll against the cobblestone street. She rose up quickly, planting her feet firmly under her as she sprinted closer to the scream.

Across the city, Gauda was yelling at her communicator, or at the very least, whispering as loudly as she dared to risk. “Atlan, what happened? Where are you?-” 

“I’m here!” 

Gauda jumped in surprise, nearly sliding off her perch. The roof tiles thumped as Atlan landed heavily beside her. 

“Wh-what’s going on?” Did she seriously just jump all the way up here? 

Atlan’s eyes narrowed fiercely, scanning the street below them. “Someone’s in trouble! I’m going into the tunnels-”

“Wait!-”

Atlan pushed her back into her position against the roof. “Stay here! I might need your gun!”  Then she leapt down the three-story height to the ground below. A kick sent the closest sewer grate flying into the air before it came to rest, clanging onto the sidewalk. Without another word, Atlan swung herself down into the small access hole.

As soon as the Ultra warrior disappeared into the tunnels, Gauda jumped to her own feet. She still wanted to run behind her, but cold fear rooted her in place, dreading what might be waiting down there. She cursed herself for being a coward as she clenched the butt of her rifle to her shoulder, hands clammy and sweating as she waited.

Gauda suddenly heard the scream this time, but it was followed by an unearthly roar, reverberating through the stones under her. The reverberation spread, and turned into a lurch. She pitched forward from her alcove with a yelp. Rolling, she managed to fumble, and grab hold of a drainpipe. Her momentum sent her swinging clumsily onto rickety scaffolding below. The rough, rusted edges cut into her hands, even through her gloves, as she clutched at it, steadying herself against intensifying tremors. But Gauda ignored her aches as she watched what was happening in the street.  

A deafening crash and a spray of dust erupted. The worn cobblestones collapsed inwards, piling into a massive sinkhole. Then Gauda screamed too, the shadows cast by the street lamps twisted around the stones. She watched, frozen in terror as it flowed upwards out of the hole. Hints of a monstrous form with fangs and whipping razor-edged tentacles unfolded as it spilled into the street.

A searing flash of light cut through the growing shadows. The roar erupted again and the darkness recoiled, withdrawing into a new, solid shape. It was hulking, beastial, with gorilla-like muscular arms tapering into knife-like talons. They sunk into the stones like they were soft clay as it snorted and pounded its limbs in pain and frustration. Its head, turning back and forth with confusion, was small and set low into its thick neck, seemingly with no eyes. More talons - no, fangs - bristled from where its mouth should be, in a cavernous, gaping maw down its chest. It dripped yellow-green slime from several gashes. More vapor rose from its greasy skin as it slavered and howled, trying to find the source of its new injuries.

The flash of light faded and resolved itself on the other side of the ruined street. Gauda looked down to see Atlan in her Ultra form, but human-sized this time. One hand grasped her slugger, extended into a glowing sword held in front of her. The other hand clutched another figure, deathly pale and still.

Gauda’s heart stopped when she realized it was her sister.

“Bia!!” Gauda shrieked. She instinctively leaned forward to go to her side, but the monster heard her outburst too. Its eyeless head snapped upwards, then it charged towards her. Gauda recoiled, only managing to fire off wild shots as she stumbled back.

Something collided against the ground again with a thump , sending jarring vibrations through the swaying scaffold. Gauda chanced a look from her perch and saw that Atlan had thrown herself into the monster. Her slugger blade extended into it, drawing more of the greenish ichor from oozing wounds as it jerked under her. She scrambled, trying to find better leverage to drive the sword in deeper, but new squirming tentacles rose around her, battering her arms away. They thrust away her attempts to regain her grip; the tentacles wrapped around Atlan and heaved her off, throwing her roughly to the ground. Air wooshed out of her lungs as she was crushed into the street 

The monster bellowed, the sound reverberating and quivering through fleshy lobes in its mouth between the huge rows of teeth. Its body twisted unnaturally around to bring its feet under it, stomping towards Gauda. Atlan’s red and silver-armored arms appeared around it once more. She grabbed its huge bulk from behind, slamming her slugger directly into its mouth in the same motion. With all her strength, she wrapped her arms under it, and tried to pull its body off the street, to deny it purchase. The monster thrashed wildly against the blade. The motion only tore deeper into its jaws.

Seeing this, Gauda regained her bearings enough to raise her rifle. Through the scope she could now see a pulsating, ugly greenish organ exposed by the wounds inflicted by Atlan’s slugger. She hesitated. It was writhing desperately in Atlan’s grip. The risk of accidentally shooting her-

“Do it! Take the shot!” Atlan yelled, seeing her hesitation. She struggled to keep her arms locked around the beast.

The blaze of her laser illuminated the street, followed by a final, guttural scream and dying gurgle from the monster. It melted through Atlan’s hands, dripping black, steaming grime around her. 

Atlan fell to her knees. Light intensified around her, and when it cleared, she had returned to her human form. Or more specifically, the form that Gauda recognized better. Atlan’s face twisted in exhaustion and disgust as she tried to wipe the remaining ichor off her face and clothes. But as she raised her hands up, the darkness evaporated, swirling like smoke to join the misty air around them. Soon, there was no sign of the monster anywhere. Except-

“Bia!” Gauda screamed again, and swung off from the scaffolding. She hurled herself down to street level, joining Atlan at her sister’s side.

They both were relieved to find her still breathing, but shallowly. More concerning was the amount of blood soaked into her clothes. Surely that can’t all be hers, can it? 

Gauda fought the impulse to simultaneously shake Bia for being so stupid to go on this mission, and to yank her into a desperate embrace at her return. She forced the urge down, there was no time for that. She had to be harder now, an operative in this war. Still, the force of those emotions choked out in a sob as she tried to clear the sticky blood and dirt from Bia’s face.

“Gauda, move.” Atlan’s voice was stern, insistent.

“No! I-”

“Gauda! She’s hurt!” Atlan grabbed her arm, rougher than intended, moving her aside. Gauda now saw another dark stain growing, seeping out of the ruined slash through her tunic.

“A few broken bones, this slice goes deep-” Atlan muttered as she investigated, gingerly running her hand over Bia’s face, and down her side, under the torn fabric. The pressure of her fingers came to rest on the wound. Gauda noticed her eyes widen in alarm.

“What? What is it?” Gauda’s voice was on the verge of shrill panic.

“The monster… it must’ve used some sort of toxin.” Atlan’s face was set like stone, mouth drawn into a tight, pursed line. The orange scarf around her head ripped free, releasing her hair. Atlan set to work quickly tearing it into long strips, and tied them around Bia’s stomach tightly in an attempt to slow the bleeding.

“Call the others, tell them to get medical supplies ready. I’ll take her back.” She directed the orders to Gauda, without looking up from her work.

Each passing second brought Gauda closer to a breakdown. She was petrified, shivering despite the emotions raging inside her chest. “I’m not leaving her! I can’t lose her-”

“There’s no time!” Atlan snapped “Call Indrick and the others, now!” 

Atlan gingerly adjusted the makeshift bandages into place, and pulled Bia’s limp form upwards. Bia cried out softly in pain at the motion, causing them all to wince. Atlan tucked her against her chest, carrying her like a child. Then she looked directly at Gauda. “I need you to do this. I’ll take care of your sister, trust me.” 

It was then that Gauda realized that Atlan was a soldier, too. Those emerald green eyes, focusing on her so keenly, they had seen countless other battles, more than she could imagine in her own lifetime. That look, despite being so gravely serious, somehow reassured Gauda. She swallowed, a cumbersome effort against her fear, and nodded.

In a blink, Atlan was gone. The thick mists swirled in her wake.

Gauda came to her senses after a few seconds had passed. The shock and terror faded only slightly, but she had a job to do now. She signaled the communicator.

“Indrick! Indrick, come in!”

“Gauda? What’s goin' on, we’ve been waiting for almost an hour on-”

“Get a clean bed and a med kit ready!”

“...What happened?” Indrick’s question was steady, but grim. It was as if he already expected the worst.

Gauda gaped, trying to think of how to phrase what had just happened. Tears threatened to burst forth again, but she couldn’t let Indrick hear that, not yet. She remembered the look on Atlan’s face and tried her best to emulate it before speaking. “It’s Bia…She’s the only one left.” And then her attempt failed.

Indrick had just finished giving the order to send a hover-car to the pick-up point when Atlan showed up, almost breaking the door down in her rush. The guards meeting her outside on the street had pointed to the back entrance behind the space rented out for Carazzo’s bar. Luckily, no other unsuspecting patrons were around in the early hours of the morning. The half dozen other rebels manning the ground-level entrance jumped into action as soon as she crashed inside, skidding to a halt, heaving from the exertion of sprinting the entire way.

She was urgently directed to a side room. A single oil lamp flickered overhead, illuminating a small circle of smoky yellow light that sunk into shadows against the corners of the room.

Atlan refused to release her tight hold on Bia until she arrived at the prepared bed, a makeshift hospital cot that was little more than a stuffed straw mattress covered in clean sheets. It didn’t remain clean for long. Blood still oozed from the bandages wrapped around Bia’s side, staining the off-white linens as Atlan laid her down. 

Even then after coming to a rest, her hand remained pushed against the wound. To the rest of the rebels now preparing hot water and new bandages, sutures and medicine for her injuries, Atlan was trying valiantly to staunch the bleeding. But they couldn’t see what else had been caught inside the ragged gash, torn through her muscle and cracked into her bones. 

Atlan had lied to Gauda. It wasn’t a toxin. At least, not an ordinary one.

Darkness squirmed under her hand. She felt it inside the wound, even after the monstrous shadow kaiju had evaporated. Now, she could sense it sink deeper into Bia with each passing moment. Atlan felt her body flinch with each snapping convulsion from the parasite, driving fear through her drained and wounded body. Even worse, Atlan could tell that it was growing larger, somehow feeding on her at the same time.

Noa’s wings, what did they find down there? Atlan didn’t know, she had never seen this before. She didn’t have the luxury of time to ask those questions, the act of simply preventing its spread was steadily draining her own light energy. Trying to extract it, or kill it without hurting Bia further in the process seemed impossible with her own remaining power.

But she knew someone who probably could.

More figures crowded into the small room, pushing Atlan aside with professional urgency. Atlan relented, but kept her bloodied hand pressed hard into Bia’s shoulder, trying to push against the dark presence with her own exhausted will. 

She sank to her knees with the realization of what she was about to risk. But the fear of losing Bia, and breaking her promise to Gauda, pained her more than the thought of being caught sneaking out again. Atlan screwed her eyes shut and concentrated. 

“Cygnu! Wake up!” 

Silence met her thoughts. She grit her teeth and focused her telepathy, picturing the suite where her teammates were still asleep, unaware of these events elsewhere in the city. 

“CYGNU!” 

“...What? Sheesh, I’m awake, stop yelling. What’s going on?” Atlan felt his response pause, then return more forcibly. “Where are you?”

“I need your help Cygnu-” 

“With what? Going around behind the captain’s back again? Disobeying orders? You got yourself into this mess, why should I-”

“She’s dying, Cygnu! I can’t save her by myself!” Hot tears squeezed out from Atlan’s eyes, her head bowed low against her chest.

Cygnu’s outrage halted. Miles away, in the darkened room where he sat perched on his own bed, Cygnu sensed a searing upheaval of sorrow. Tears almost sprang to his eyes hearing this tone from Atlan, something he had never seen or felt from her before.

“Tell me what’s going on.” His voice softened, restrained with cautious concern now.

“Something attacked the rebels on a mission - there’s only one survivor, something’s infected her, something dark, like you warned us about. I - I can’t heal it myself, and if I leave her, then-”

“Atlan, I can’t! I’m not even trained in healing!”

“There’s no one else who can!” Atlan’s free hand tightened into a fist, her nails painfully digging into her own palm. Cygnu could now feel that too. “She’ll die if we don’t do anything, I can’t have that on my conscience!”

“No… so you’ll put it on mine instead.”

Atlan didn’t know how to answer him. There were no other options left for her, or Bia. “Cygnu, please…”

More silence sat ponderously in her mind as her own thoughts trailed off. Finally, the pressure of the mental connection eased. Atlan recognized it as a sigh.

“Fine. But this is the only time. Show me where you are.”

The guards outside the base’s back entrance had already been spooked by Atlan’s arrival, barreling out from the streets while carrying the only survivor of the last mission. They shifted warily, trying their best to stay out of the glare of streetlights while scanning around them. Every scratch of rats in the dumpsters caused them to jump, every drip of water from the damp eaves frayed at their nerves. 

The sudden ghost-like appearance of a new figure, stepping from the mist towards them, caused both guards to yell and raise their weapons

To their surprise, the ghost yelled and jumped backwards too. His hands flew upwards, pale but thoroughly solid flesh and bone. Shockingly deep blue eyes gazed wide from under his brown cloak. 

“Uh… Is Atlan here?” The question was muffled by the damp air. Cygnu hesitantly took a step into the illuminated circle under a street light, hands still raised. The guards slowly lowered their guns, not sure what to make of his arrival.

His voice was clearer now, youthful but pouring outwards with a conviction that also steadied the guards’ nerves. “She asked me to come. I’m here to help.”

The rest of the gathered Toorwanyu turned at the sound of unfamiliar boots clomping into the cramped safehouse. Cygnu whipped his hood off, his silver hair shook out in awkward spikes from the damp air. His arrival silenced the worried mutters that filled the space only moments before. Even though he looked nothing like his fellow teammate - they had grown familiar with Atlan’s appearance over the past few days - all the gathered rebels immediately recognized him as another Ultra. Just like Atlan, there was something about his presence that drew their attention to the center of the room. 

Cygnu immediately sensed the heavy atmosphere around him, a swirl of grief, fear and anxiety. It clung to him like the clammy fog from outside. Through its haze however, he clearly felt Atlan’s light. It burned as a hot, rolling emerald fire, but one that was now flickering and weakening. He turned briskly and hurried towards her. 

“Thank Noa, you’re here-” Atlan called as he appeared at the doorway. Cygnu didn’t answer, his mouth was drawn in a tight line. He almost seemed to glow in the dim lamplight. The unearthly apparition didn’t quite strike fear into the doctor and surrounding figures, but a new pressure - of the unknown, fathomless energies now at play in the small room - caused them all to step backward.

Cygnu stopped at the bedside, kneeling down to match Atlan’s stance, and laid a hand alongside hers. Both hands visibly glowed, resting on Bia’s arm. One or two muffled gasps burst from the crowd gathered behind them.

Almost immediately, Cygnu’s show of calm authority broke, flinching when he sensed why Atlan called him for help. A squirming, living shadow, consuming its victim from within a wound that would’ve been horribly painful and life-threatening even without its poison. 

He also quickly realized something Atlan didn’t consider. This was no natural living creature. It was a weapon, a virus feeding on its victim’s pain and fear, growing larger in a horrific feedback loop. What would happen when it reached its full size? Cygnu shuddered, remembering the pitch-black voids he saw the other day, standing at attention as Keel soldiers. 

“Can you fix it?” Atlan’s question was delivered telepathically. She didn’t want the rest of the rebels to have more reasons to panic after their losses tonight. 

He almost shook his head, then glanced behind him. His brow furrowed, betraying his worry anyways. “I… I don’t know. If it were me, or you, or another Ultra, then maybe. You could use your light energy to force it out, but I don’t know how she-”

“Cygnu, we’re running out of time!”

“I know!” He snapped, aloud. He continued in silent telepathy again, but the growl of frustration still carried through his tone. “I know. Just let me concentrate. I need to get a closer look.” He abruptly pushed Atlan’s hand aside, stood and more tentatively reached for Bia’s own limp hand. Raising it slightly, grasping it between both his hands, he inhaled deeply.

Opening his senses more fully, he could feel her shallow breaths and her rapid, fluttering heartbeat. Both were weakening, struggling against the wounds she had sustained. But Cygnu could also feel that pulse still trying to push against the dark intrusion, the parasite now attacking her from within. The force of that energy reminded her of Atlan’s own light somehow: stubborn, resilient and fiery. But it wasn’t light energy, was it? So why did it feel like -

His vision wavered and swam. Cygnu nearly lost his balance in surprise as Bia’s appearance shifted before his sight. In the same way he remembered seeing Helios’ light when he first learned how to take on a human form, the opaque lines of connective tissue, muscle and bone suddenly glowed with energy. The image snapped into focus, a pattern of light tracing through her body. Her life energy , Cygnu realized. He could see it clearly now, along with the parasite consuming it, a dark smear of oily dread against the bright lines criss-crossing her form. 

“Cygnu?” Atlan’s worried voice cut in.

“I’m fine, give me a second.” He insisted, shutting further distraction out of his mind. 

Despite being able to trace the path of her life force now, He still had no idea how to manipulate it. He couldn’t just reach out and grab it, to push or pull it around. 

…Could he? Cygnu’s brow creased, considering the thought for a moment. 

Still holding onto her hand, he reached out and lightly touched a finger against her breastbone. Then laid the rest of his hand flat against it, and watched as the light flowing through her parted, and swirled in response to his touch. It curved in small currents, whirling alongside his hand as if he had dipped it into a clear, fast-running stream of water. He hesitated to plunge his hand deeper into it though. What would happen if he were to touch it directly?

The parasite snapped, biting deeper into the flow of energy. Bia recoiled and cried out, and even Cygnu could feel it through his own connection. The dark tendrils extended further out, seeping into the flow of light. Atlan was right, they were running out of time. 

I can’t force her light to flow how I want it to… but what if I followed it? What if I used some of my own light? 

Suddenly he realized what he had to do next. He glanced up, taking in the image of Bia’s face, wan and grimacing in pain. He held that thought before him, assuring him of his next action. He shut his eyes again to focus on her light.

An even trade, then.

Cygnu drew in several more deep breaths through clenched teeth, bracing himself as if preparing to plunge into deep, cold water. He withdrew his hand, glowing blue, from her sternum, and quickly thrust it against her side. Rather than opening the bandages around it, its glowing shape sunk into her. The light grew, covering both their forms. A silent tempest of wind and bright motes of light erupted in the small room. 

To Atlan and the others still looking on, it seemed as if a massive set of glowing purple wings burst forth, swept outwards once, then closed around both figures at the center. They were hidden behind a blinding curtain of light, casting swirling afterimages across the sight of anyone trying to glimpse what was happening now.

Cygnu reeled inside of it. He could feel himself still holding onto Bia’s hand- my hand - held by the warmth of light - within and without - the sharp breaths rasping against his chest - in my heart - sensations of a fluttering pulse, feeling fear, and hope and curiosity mixing and melding together.

A stab of pain drove another cry out of him - our breath - leaving his body, and he felt the now-familiar icy talons of darkness close around his mind and his chest. Despite everything, a new feeling rose through Cygnu - determination. 

I won’t run away from you this time! The thought was his, but seemed to echo around him, from another source as well. It brought his attention back to his task at hand, long enough for him to rip himself away, upwards, and back to rest within his own body. The light shuddered and faded around them.

I got you now! Cygnu grinned to himself. The grin quickly broke as he staggered, doubled over and heaving. Pain ripped through him - direct and intense within his own body, no longer buffered by the shared connection with another life. Blood spattered from between his teeth onto the worn wooden floor. Blue lines of light traced up his skin, burning from his eyes as he summoned all his strength to drive the parasite out in a final blaze of energy. He hacked, gagging against the feeling, then the dark mass rose up and out, vomited onto the floor before him.

It was all over in only a few seconds. The people around him shouted, seeing the squirming, shadowy ooze still sticking to the floorboards. A sandaled foot stomped down into the puddle. Atlan ground her foot against it, even as the remaining stain evaporated away into smoke, disappearing entirely.

The screams died away, but everyone remained frozen in shock, still in disbelief and confusion at what had just happened. A small sound, of sheets sliding against each other, brought their attention up from the floor.

Bia’s eyes fluttered, and opened slowly. “What… what happened?” Her voice was barely audible as a whisper.

“Bia!” Gauda’s voice rang over the immediate uproar at her sister’s recovery. Still wet from the rain falling outside, she fought her way through the crowd eagerly pushing against the small door frame. The rush to Bia’s side felt like another eternity, even longer than her trek on foot back to the base. She finally reached the side of the bed, and threw her arms around her, sobbing. “Bia! I thought you were going to-” 

“Going to what, die? I wasn’t going to leave you like that!” Bia tried to laugh, and discovered that it came easily, painlessly now. The realization made her stop, and Gauda drew back as well, but refused to let go of her hand.

“Are you okay? Are you still hurt?” Gauda anxiously asked, as Bia felt herself over, and then lifted aside the stained, bloody bandages around her side. The skin underneath it was completely smooth, unbroken, without even a scar. Bia poked at it. It wasn’t even sore. 

“I… I guess I’m fine?” Bia’s voice was steadier, but still unsure. “I feel like I woke up from a nightmare though.” 

She suddenly turned to Gauda, then to the other faces crowding around her, her eyes wide. “There was someone else there with me! In the nightmare!” 

“Bia, you were probably just delirious, don’t tire yourself out again!” Gauda tried to reassure her.

“No, I’m sure! I…” But the memories of the nightmare were fading now, pressed out of her mind by the warm excitement and relief of those around her. 

Bia smiled, seeing the faces of her friends and family once again. “...I’m glad I’m awake!”

Cheers broke out, filling the room, and echoing out into the street. Many other lives were lost this night, and the time to mourn them would come soon enough. For now, the remaining rebels celebrated knowing that at least one of them had made it out of the darkness, and back home.

One figure, hooded and limping, stalked out of the back door while the celebration continued inside. He was glad for the distraction, to allow him to leave quickly through streets now glistening under street lamps. Cygnu tried to steady his walk with one hand still pressed to his side. Dull stabs of pain thudded through his chest with each breath, each heavy step he made back towards the palace quarters. 

“Cygnu, wait!” Atlan rounded a corner to find him, and hurried to catch up. Her red hair whipped behind her, throwing off more shining droplets into the humid air. 

“Cygnu!” She called again, seeing that he refused to turn around.

She drew alongside him, just in time to catch him as he tripped heavily, stumbling with exhaustion and nausea. Atlan felt him shaking under the damp cloak as she pulled him back to his feet. 

“You need to come back to the base, you can’t be out walking around like this!” 

He shrugged her hand off, trying his best to stand without betraying the ache still burning into his bones. “No, I’m going back before someone realizes we’re both gone. I told you, I’m not doing this again.” The anger carried by his voice turned to a raw sob in his throat. “I can’t save every one of them like this, Atlan.”

He turned to leave again, but Atlan reached out, this time drawing him back into a fierce hug, tight with unspent adrenaline and sincere relief. “You saved one of them though. Thank you.” She whispered, then released him, taking a moment to make sure he was steadier now.

Cygnu never answered her, but Atlan noticed his pace was stronger and more even as he turned to continue down the street. Eventually, his form disappeared into soft sparks of blue and silver, swirling through the misty rain. Atlan smirked, realizing he simply teleported back to the others. I need to ask Helios to train me on that sometime… The thought of her captain shot a new spike of anxiety through her. She looked back over her shoulder, in the direction of the Toorwanyu base. 

I should at least apologize. Helios was right, things really are too dangerous now - 

A sharp sting sunk into her back. Atlan whipped around, grabbing behind her, then heard a clink against the stones. The small, metallic dart laying at her feet faded in and out of focus, her head suddenly felt heavy and her vision blurred as thoughts struggled to form themselves in her groggy mind. Before she dropped to the ground unconscious, one of them resolved, then drifted away 

Why didn’t I see it?...

Black-suited soldiers swarmed from the shadows. Atlan’s limp body was surprisingly light as they shifted her, in a unified mechanical motion to a waiting hover-car. 

From a lit screen, Yago observed all this in his sparsely-furnished quarters of the palace. The camera feed from the vehicle replayed, showing Atlan spin in confusion, before falling heavily to the street. He chuckled at the sight, such a formidable warrior taken out with only the smallest pinprick. He was glad she dropped so quickly though, he was curious if the dosage of concentrated Juran extract would produce the desired results. Another successful experiment. 

He raised a small, discreet communicator and spoke his orders quietly into it. “Return to the testing facility directly. Make no other stops.” 

No response was heard from the receiver, but through the computer monitor’s video, the soldiers turned automatically and filed one at a time into the vehicle before speeding away.

The sun hadn’t even risen yet, but it was already proving a fruitful day for his research. Every part of his plan was falling into place, fitting together like the carefully-etched gears of a clock, passing each ticking second smoothly, predictably.

Only a few more loose ends to clear away, before the hour strikes. He thought, closing the monitor and returning it to its place on his plain, metal-framed desk.

A polite knock on his door rang out the moment his monitor screen clicked shut. 

“Enter,” Yago commanded. 

The door opened only by a small arc, light from the hallway spilling into his chambers. It silhouetted the face of a maid in a plain black dress with blue-edged lapels. She bowed in her practiced, courtly manner. “The Baroness thought you would be awake at this time. She wishes to know the state of the day’s arrangements.”

Yago pivoted his chair around, presenting her with a kind smile. “Tell her Highness that the traitor has been apprehended and is on route to the palace as we speak. She is under heavy guard, and will be ready to face judgment at the Lady’s earliest convenience.” The lie passed through the mask-like smile as easily and lightly as he breathed. 

The maid bowed again, satisfied. The door shut tightly behind her, plunging the room back into shadows. Yago rose to his feet, and once more he was interrupted. He frowned, pulling the communicator from his breast pocket, but he smiled again when he read the identifying code of the caller. His face was still hidden by the early morning’s darkness, but if one could see the shadows like Yago, they would notice that this smile was formed by his mouth twisting upwards with malicious glee, the promise of pain and punishment to be delivered. A promise he was very much looking forward to fulfilling. 

Speaking of loose ends…

“I thought I told you to never contact me directly.” His voice glittered with treacherous humor as he answered, like razor shards of volcanic glass.

Cygnu wasn’t the only one glad for the distraction provided by the celebration over Bia’s recovery. 

Lythe stood outside, shivering from the cold pre-dawn mists. He hunched behind empty garbage bins, looking around nervously. Typically he would have taken more pains to keep this conversation hidden, but a new fear squeezing through him overpowered his fear of the voice on the other end of the line.

“I want out. The deal’s off, you bastard.”

“I might be a bastard, but you’re a coward. Why walk away now? Do you think they’ll take you back as if nothing has happened?” The voice sounded vaguely amused at this. 

“You promised that they’d be safe! You just wanted the woman, right? The Ultra? But the information you gave us was a trap! You let that thing loose on them-”

“Merely insurance to make sure that she’d be there-”

“It killed them! It killed Haryn! It would’ve killed Bia too, if Atlan’s friend hadn’t shown up! I saw that fucking thing after he pulled it out of her, I don’t want anything to do with that.” Lythe shuddered more deeply now, remembering the sight of the squirming ooze and what it did to Indrick’s niece. What it would have done to all of them.

“...Atlan’s friend, you say? Another Ultra? Hmmm… Silver hair and blue eyes?”

“Yeah, he - oh no, don’t you try to fish for more information, I’m done being your snitch.”

“Interesting. But it changes nothing. You have done as I asked, and for that, you will be rewarded.”

“I don’t care. Keep whatever money you have. You leave us alone, you hear me?” Unconsciously, Lythe stood up and his voice raised to a shout. He desperately hoped that by making them louder, his words would become fact.

“Ah, I’m afraid that’s not possible now, it’d be too messy to leave any unfinished business at this point. But consider this reward a small mercy…” 

Lythe’s heartbeat pounded wildly as he saw a motion from the shadows across the street. A flickering street lamp - its bulb a hairsbreadth from burning out - illuminated the staggered motion of Keel soldiers raising their guns. Each flash of light seared the image into his mind, frozen in time before him.

“You won’t live to see what happens next.”

The communicator fell to the ground, shattering against the wet cobblestones. But the line had already gone dead.

Lythe stepped back, feeling the brick wall behind him. His eyes widened, surely this would be the last thing he ever saw, murdered by the Keel-

A new figure crashed into the guard at the front of the group. Lasers shot wildly from the remaining guards and Lythe yelled, throwing himself to the ground. Still, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the scene. The dark shape was a blur of motion. Kicks thrust out, sending soldiers spinning away. Gun muzzles were knocked aside by sharp punches, no shot from them seemed to touch the man as he flowed through the empty air around them. One gun hit the wall only a foot from Lythe, splintering into metal and ceramic pieces. He screamed and threw himself to the side again. The gun’s former owner joined it with a bone-rattling crash only a second later. 

In less than a minute, five Keel guards lay in an unmoving pile at the feet of the unknown figure. Cracks ran through their dark helmets. Lythe’s eyes widened, seeing a puddle gather underneath some of them. The blood appeared black and oily in the still-flickering orange light. 

The man stood above them, motionless for another few breaths. Then he turned. Lythe had almost uncoiled himself in relief, standing upright, but he quailed backwards against the brick wall once again when he saw the look on his face. 

His eyes were dark brown - dark enough to appear black in the dim surroundings. They were illuminated by a single cut of the streetlight’s glow, slashed underneath by the shadow of a building’s cornice. More shadows hid the rest of his face, but the thunderous glare that bored into him, illuminated by the single ray of orange light, shocked Lythe. A strangled cry was all that escaped from his throat as the figure advanced to him step by step, but he had nowhere else to retreat to now.

Then another scream. Lythe pointed over the man’s shoulder - to the pile of Keel guards. They were now rising to their feet, and changing.

Thick black ooze - definitely not blood, they both now realized - flowed out of the cracks in the guards’ masks. The gaping holes revealed only more blackness, it surged forward, splitting the smooth surface of the helmets further apart. The jagged edges of the cracks matched with jagged fangs, emerging through the pulsating, oily substance. Soon, they became great jaws, and the twisted limbs of the newly mutated monsters expanded outwards, cracking through the rest of their armor to match the new bulk of their fanged maws. 

Lythe was rooted to the ground in terror. As the monsters gave a roar and lunged towards them, the other man sprang forward, tackling him into a roll, out of the way. 

He had barely regained his feet when another hail of laser fire opened up behind them. It poured into the misshapen, mutated beasts until they finally lay still once again. More lasers seared into them, sporadically, just to make sure. After another moment, even those died away, since there were no bodies left. The darkened pile dissolved into smoke, not even leaving a stain against the stones. Mist, the smell of rotten, charred meat, and the plink plink of overheated metal barrel shrouds were all that remained within the yawning silence around them.

A line of rebels, who had stepped out to investigate the noise, lowered their guns hesitantly. One of them chanced a step forward to get a better look at the empty space where the pile of dead monsters lay only a second before. His partner thrust an arm ahead of him, holding him back. 

 “What happened to them?...” The question murmured out from the crowd.

“I think you might know-” Helios turned back to Lythe, the same thunderous look returning to his eyes.

“I don’t! I don’t know! They almost killed me too, I didn’t-” 

His sputtering apology cut off as Helios grabbed the front of his coat and slammed him into the wall. “Liar!” he snarled, only inches from the traitor’s face. Helios heard the snap of ribs under his grip. He deserved worse.

A series of clicks rang out behind him again. The line of guns now traced steadily in his direction.

Indrick stepped forward. He cast his deepest commanding voice towards the intruder. “Stop right there. Who are you? What're you doing with my officer?”

Helios continued glaring at Lythe, who moaned with pain and fear under the captain’s pressure.

The line of guns advanced, warily.

“If I wished harm against you, you wouldn’t have time to pull those triggers.” Helios turned towards them and growled, dangerously low. The sound cast shivers through the group, but the line of muzzles didn’t drop or waver.

“And if you don’t wanna test that claim, you’ll put him down right now, and tell us what the fuck is going on!” Iorr yelled from his position, kneeling with his own rifle. The rest of the triggers alongside him tightened under tension.

Helios’ dark eyes shifted back to Indrick, Iorr, then across the line of gathered rebels. It finally came to rest back to Lythe, who shook again under the gaze. He was well aware that only one quick motion from Helios’ hands would snap his spine.

The hands unclenched. Lythe dropped painfully to the street. 

The same hands now raised towards the gathered rebels. Helios released his breath in a single furious sigh, only conceding for a short parley. His face still remained scowling. “I don’t have time for this. They took my subordinate - Atlan.”

At her name, the line finally lowered the guns.

“ Another Ultra?” Indrick was shocked, but was also growing annoyed at how many of them seemed to be showing up unannounced tonight.

“Wait, you’re her boss?” Iorr stood up, curious.

“Captain. I’m not the one you should be interrogating though-” Helios stared specium-edged knives towards Lythe again, while keeping his hands open and upraised.

Lythe scrambled backwards against the street, holding his injured side. “I don’t… I didn’t know this would happen! I thought they’d leave the rest of you alone…”

He trailed off, whimpering with pain and unassailable despair. Indrick paced forward from the crowd, and stood over Lythe for a moment. Then in one smooth motion, he brought his hands down to grasp his disgraced officer’s coat and hauled him upright, pinning him against the wall in the exact same position. 

“Talk.” Indrick rumbled.

“They promised they wouldn’t hurt you guys!” Lythe wailed. “They just wanted Atlan, said that she was dangerous, they promised that if we handed her over they’d let the rest of us - I just wanted to protect you all…”

“And you failed.” Indrick interrupted him before any useful information was lost under his blubbering. “Do you actually want to help? Then start by telling us where they took her!”

“I don’t know!”

“Stop saying that!” 

“All I heard is something about bringing her to the testing facility-”

“The temple.” Indrick released him, Lythe collapsed to the ground again, this time not bothering trying to sit upright, much less stand for more punishment. Indrick stepped over him, pacing fretfully towards the rest of the gathered group, considering their next move.

“We won’t be able to get inside with the tunnels again. And the place must be swarmin' inside with monsters, if that’s where they’re makin' them-”

Helios dropped his hands, so he could thrust a finger towards Indrick. “ ‘We’ are not getting inside. I am. It won’t be long before whoever’s behind this realizes their soldiers didn’t report back, and they’ll send more troops-” He pointed back to where he had dropped an entire squad of mutated Keel guards, as a reminder, “-and they’ll come to finish the job. Get your people, go to ground. This is only going to get worse tonight.”

“We can’t sit around and do nothing, though!” Iorr protested, making a move to join their argument, but Helios disappeared in a spiralling blaze of golden light before he took a second step.

“I wish they’d stop doing that.” Indrick grumbled under his breath. 

Helios lost track of Atlan’s light after a few tense minutes. Swirling golden sparks condensed into his dark-skinned human form on a tall roof in an unknown part of the city. Helios cursed himself for not studying the map of the capital more thoroughly before arriving. But that brief thought was merely a stopgap, to keep himself from cursing his many, many other failures over the past two days. His failure to track Atlan’s movements more closely, not realizing she had already made contact with the rebel faction of the city, not realizing she had even left the palace this night until he felt the powerful surge of her telepathic message to Cygnu. 

And now her light was gone, faded into the fog just as the vehicle he was tracking entered through the ruined gate below him. The huge, decaying walls of the temple complex surely hid the key to the Keel’s schemes on this planet. They all knew it, even the rebels had unearthed enough evidence to point them here, although they couldn’t feel the crawling pins and needles that marked such a massive conglomeration of Minus Energy under his feet. It practically reeked in the air. 

Up above the streets, a stronger breeze flowed, bringing relief from the humidity below, and Helios welcomed the clarity the sensation brought him. Closing his eyes, he pictured the breeze he once felt when he was younger, on the planet Syrvane.

When he was an Agent, those long centuries ago, he wasn’t strong enough to protect anyone. He couldn’t save his friends, the innocent lives that trusted him. But that was then. 80 was right, he was responsible for his team now. He has the strength to lead them, he only needed to find the confidence again. 

I can do this now.

I’m strong enough. I can fight for them all, give my life, so that no one else has to die in this war. 

Helios opened his eyes. They flashed once, a golden glow settling into his irises before fading back into their usual umber hue. For the first time on this mission, he knew exactly what he had to do next.

Nobody gets left behind this time.

He swung down from the eaves, then padded silently into a darkened alley below, making his way to the temple, and to Atlan.

Chapter Text

Cygnu awoke, disoriented. The sensation of a hard, flat surface pressed against the side of his face. It took him another second to realize where he was.

Ah, that’s the floor.

He groaned, and squinted his eyes, trying to clear the gritty residue clouding his vision. With the flickering light, his memories of the previous night swam back into focus. Did I actually just collapse just getting out of bed? I think I used more energy than I should’ve-

His thoughts resolved clearly as he turned his head. The image of a very confused face looking down towards him came into focus.

“What happened to you, kid? We heard a thump, and…” 80 broke off to help him from the heap of tangled sheets laying on the wood-paneled floor.

“I’m fine, it’s nothing.” Cygnu quickly responded, trying to pull himself up under his own power. He tried carrying as much confidence as possible with the statement, but the effort wasn’t helped by his sudden, dizzy sway when he rose to his feet. 80 caught him again, this time maneuvering him to a nearby chair to sit. Under his hands, Cygnu felt clammy and feverish. 

“You are certainly not fine.” 

“Look, I’ve been feeling pretty bad ever since we came to this planet, this isn’t anything new-” Cygnu protested as 80 started feeling him over for injuries, or worse. 

“No, this is an acute attack. Minus energy toxicity, I’d recognize the signs anywhere. Hold still," he ordered, holding one cobalt-blue eye open and looking deeply into it. 

“What in King’s name is keeping you two - oh!” Yullian peered into the bedchamber, her eyes widening at the scene. 

“Yullian, honey can you please get Helios and Atlan? This might be serious.” 

Any other time, Cygnu would’ve expected her to respond with a sarcastic retort, teasing her steadfast companion, but her expression was grave as she nodded. She turned from the doorway, nightdress swishing behind her.

“It’s really not that big of a deal, I’m okay.” The combined concern of an Ultra Brother standing above him, and now the princess too, made Cygnu’s stomach churn worse. His mouth felt dry.

“Cygnu, stop trying to put on a brave face. If you’re this sensitive to these energies, then you need to be honest so you can warn us! You’re like our canary in a coal mine.”

“Wh…what’s a coal mine?”

80 shook his head. “Not important right now, it means that you can sense when things are getting bad, before it escalates into something that we can’t stop.” He suddenly assumed a different stance, arms folded. He raised an eyebrow and glared down at the young Ultra as if he had been caught drawing rude messages on a desk at the Academy. “Now be honest, what were you doing last night? Where did you get exposed to this level of Minus energy?”

Cygnu anxiously twisted at a pillow between his hands, staring at the floor. “Uh… well I don’t really remember. I don’t know the city like Atlan, I just happened to come across - “ 

“Just ‘happened’ to? Why were you sneaking out?”

“I felt like taking a walk!” Cygnu snapped.

80 leaned closer to him, an uncharacteristically grim look on his face. “Cygnu, I didn’t think it was possible but you’re a worse liar than Atlan. I don’t know what you’re trying to cover for, but if things are as bad as I fear, then we don’t have much time to act. You need to tell us what’s going on.”

Cygnu finally matched his look, eyes widened with fear. “Promise you won’t get mad at Atlan?”

“That’s what you’re worried about?” 80 let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, I promise , now what happened?”

“She asked me to help heal someone last night - she said that the girl was dying. I didn’t realize it until I got there, but there was something… evil. Dark. Some kind of parasite, stuck into her life energy, feeding on it, using it to grow.” Cygnu let out a shuddering breath, burying his head in his hands. Bile rose in the back of his throat just imagining the feel of that thing inside him again. “Somehow… I dunno, I pulled it away from her, then used my light to burn it out. It hurt a lot though. I came straight back here to try and recover, but - “

Cygnu suddenly looked up again. “Did Atlan come back last night?”

“Apparently not!” Yullian’s voice rang out as she swung through the doorway again. “Neither of them. Helios isn’t here either.” 

80 had already suspected that. The captain was always the first of them to rise in the morning. “Where did he go?” 

“Probably to go find Atlan by himself, the idiot.” Yullian huffed. “This patrol sure makes for some fine guards, running off every which way into danger the moment we take our eyes off of them…”  

“Yes, Yullian, it certainly is frustrating when that happens. You’re always so prudent and cautious of danger yourself.”

“Was that sarcasm, dear?”

“Oh no, no of course not.” A twinkle returned to 80’s expression, he grinned back towards her. “But could you try to contact them while I help Cygnu get back on his feet?”

“Anything to serve, my loyal Knight.” She curtsied. A silent laugh played across her smile before she turned to concentrate on the task. 

Despite the cheer shared between the two, the sick fear gnawing at Cygnu intensified. 80 looked down to see him shaking, gripping into the pillow with white-knuckles

“It’ll be okay, kid. You didn’t do anything wrong. If anything, you’ve impressed all of us. Being able to siphon off that kind of concentrated infestation of Minus energy? Without transforming? That’d be a hell of a feat, even for me!” He laid reassuring hands onto both his shoulders. Light glowed from them, a comforting, warming weight. ”It must’ve taken a lot out of you though, why didn’t you tell us when you came back?”

The trembling steadied as Cygnu took in several deep breaths. “Atlan was already in trouble with Helios, I didn’t… didn’t want him to worry. I thought that he’d just get angry, and then it’d ruin the mission if they started to argue again. I mean, the negotiations are supposed to finish today, right?” 

“ Damn the negotiations. If there’s something in this city powerful enough to produce monsters with this mutagenic effect, we’re dealing with a potential omega-level emergence event.”

“That sounds bad.”

80 withdrew, deliberating the situation with one hand held to his chin. “If we don’t find the source of the Minus energy and shut it down, we’ll be neck-deep in berserk kaiju and then peace talks will be the least of our worries.”

Impolite curses interrupted further thoughts. Yullian opened her eyes, violent irritation flashed across them. “It’s the Keel, they’re headed up the hall.”

“Spark’s Light , what’re they trying to pull now?” 

“I don’t know. I’ll buy you some time.” Yullian smoothed her robes with both hands. It shimmered under her hands, and faded into clean, dignified folds of cloth. She fixed her most gleaming smile to match it and swept back towards the suite to meet the delegation.

Cygnu found his feet, steadier thanks to 80’s help. His brow furrowed with new determination, hands clenched before him. “We need to go find Atlan and the captain!”

80 nodded to him. “I agree, do you think you could retrace your steps from last night?”

“Probably. It’d look different in the daytime but I’m sure I-” 

Doors banged open. The sounds of shouting and scrapes against wood floors erupted from outside the bedroom. 80 and Cygnu rushed forwards, then halted. Both hearts pounded in their chests but they didn’t dare move another inch forward. 

Before them was Yullian, gripped by three guards and a gun held under her chin. A bruise was already spreading around one eye, but the burning grimace of fury that twisted her face overshadowed it. Her expression only faltered for a brief moment, seeing 80 freeze in front of the bristling row of guards.

Dicene swished through their ranks, parting the formation without uttering an order. She sneered at Yullian, then back to the two Ultra warriors, allowing all the time in the world for them to take in the sight. 

White teeth glittered between her blood-red lips. “Time’s up.” 

Both delegations took their usual seats in the meeting chamber, but the proceedings no longer consisted of formal courtesies. This was an interrogation, with the matte black barrels of laser rifles leveled at the three Ultras. They sat stiffly in their chairs, hands forced flat on the table before them. 

Cygnu was numb in shock, but 80 and Yullian bore themselves resolutely. This wasn’t even close to the worst situation they had been stuck in - not yet, anyways. The warm pressure of each of their transformation devices rested against them, unseen under their robes but ready for the lightest touch of their wills. A diamond bracelet around Yullian’s wrist glittered, catching the sunrise’s rosy light through the tall windows.

“It seems your diplomatic skills need some polish. I don’t know if you realized, but civilized people don’t appreciate being threatened like this for no reason.” Yullian remarked. Her poise remained regal as always, even ringed by armed guards. She carried a confidence suggesting that she could speak and command them herself from her chair. 

“Do civilized races such as yourself go around supporting murderous, thieving terrorists under the pretense of diplomacy?” Orfeo snapped from across the table

“I have no idea what you’re-” 

“Lying is unbecoming of you, princess. ” Dicene sneered again, cutting off her protest. “The attack on the charity facility two days ago. And now, I have been informed by my trusted advisor Yago that another break-in occurred last night. Stealing supplies, sabotaging our gracious, most compassionate efforts to lift these miserable wretches out of the dirt-”

“And I fail to see why you think we had anything to do with it, Baroness.” 80 could no longer bear her grandstanding, the pomp and circumstance along with their new, precarious position had worn his nerves down to the quick. Every second they spent here trading catty words was time wasted while Atlan and Helios might be in danger, and the threat of Minus energy grew. Even 80 could feel something now, close, itching, making his heart race. His anxiety forced his next words out: “We were under your hospitality during both attacks, we never even left the palace yesterday!”

Dicene gestured, a fist from the guard behind 80 crashed into his cheek, snapping his head to the side. A startled cry broke from Yullian, she instinctively drew her hands up at the attack. A sequence of clacks stopped her cold. The guns surrounding them trained on her movement. Slowly, all three Ultras returned to their positions, carefully arranging themselves under the wary attention of the Keel.

“Are lies the only thing you can provide us, Ambassadors of Light?” Dicene shook her head, tsking at the show before her. “No, not just lies… condescension as well. Did you really think we were foolish enough to not see your plans?” 

“And what plans might those be, Dicene?”

The Baroness inhaled sharply at the insult implied by Yullian refusing her title. “It’s simple, you were rigging the negotiations from the moment you set foot on Dulvonus! What hypocrisy, such sweet words about serving our wish for peace, to seek the best for this world, when all along you were secretly working with this rebellion! You provided them information, enabled their vicious plots against our people, and tried to use them to overthrow us!”

80 chuckled derisively as blood dripped down his nose. “You have no evidence. Not without an official proceeding, and the Galactic Federation won’t likely listen to your claims after taking two of the council’s highest-ranking members hostage like this.” 

The Consort Orfeo met his chuckle with an uproarious laugh of his own. Dicene merely smiled a predatory light in her flint eyes. “Your corrupt connections and royal titles won’t help you here. We have the evidence you deny, captured and in our custody.”

A ripple of shock moved through the Ultras. No telepathy gave word of their thoughts to the others, but all their eyes widened, suddenly realizing what she meant.

“No…” Yullian breathed, softly.

That’s impossible! Cygnu struggled to keep his terrified thoughts to himself. She would never have let herself get captured so easily!

“Ah, so you do know what I’m talking about!” Dicene gloated, now rising dramatically from her chair. One elegantly raised hand motioned, and a panel withdrew from the surface of the long table between them. A squat metal device ratched upwards, and hummed. Red lines traced in the air above it, then solidified into an image. Shimmering, the outline of a metal capsule appeared, a suspended form unconscious within it.

“Atlan!” Cygnu burst out, jumping to his feet. Automatically, a guard swung the butt of his gun to strike him back down. Cygnu flinched, trying to block it awkwardly with his arms, but another one joined it. The heavy polymer and metal weights punched into his face, against his chest. His other arm was wrenched behind him, and soon the three guards twisted him back into the chair. Their grip slammed his head with a hollow thunk against the table. Held there, his arms pinned painfully behind his back, Cygnu grew still. The pressure of their gloved hands against him was unbearably cold, so freezing that it burned against his skin.

“What do we do?” he telepathically pleaded.

“This farce has gone on long enough.” Yullian scowled.

80 glanced towards the soldier who struck him. “I’ll distract the guards, you guys break for it-” 

“What’s the matter, Ultras? Do your words fail you now?” Orfeo taunted. “Will you not answer for your crimes?”

80’s eyes continued to flick around the room, sizing up the Keel. “On the count of three… one, two-”

Dicene snapped her fingers. In the same moment, 80 drew a small metal baton, one smooth end unfolded, a glowing gem emerging as he brought it before him. The stinging scent of ozone and hot metal swept through the room.

A streak of burning red electricity erupted from the device in the center of the table, extending to his hand. The wand dropped from 80’s paralyzed fingers. He gasped, pain tearing up his arm. The same red lightning forked, extending around the table before anyone could move. It struck Cygnu through his spine. He screamed, back arching up in agony. Yullian grit her teeth determinedly, but she gripped at her wrist. The sparkling bracelet had shattered, red scorched burns left underneath it.

Shrieks of laughter erupted when the lightning died away. Dicene was possessed by its throes of triumph, fully exuberant at the sight of the three Ultras aching, writhing in pain as their last opportunity for resistance shattered before them. 

“What… what did you do?” 80 hissed through grit teeth. He felt like the nails had been pulled from his hand. He could barely move his fingers against the stabs of pain through them. The Bright Stick lay at his feet, dull and inert. 

“Can’t you tell? I’ve revealed your weakness! I’ve shown your arrogance for the hollow sham it is! Without your transformation devices you’re just as weak and mortal as the pitiful people of this planet - maybe even more so!” Dicene crowed. “The technology I’ve discovered allows me to pinpoint the energy signatures that each of you so jealously guard in those trinkets of yours. It took time though, about… oh, five days, give or take, of constant observation and detailed measurements.” 

Dread creeped in to replace the numb, stinging sensations along 80’s limbs. “That was why the letter said a week…” he trailed off, realizing. They had walked into a trap after all. But none of them had expected its teeth to close around them like this. 

“You duplicitous bitch!” Yullian hurled the insult like a knife towards Dicene.

“Typical. Diplomacy fails and your first instinct is violence. And yet you presume to lecture me about civilized decorum?” Dicene’s laughter tapered into giggles.

“Decorum, my sparkly-heeled foot!” An indignant stomp rattled the table to emphasize Yullian’s words. “This was a set up!”

“Of course it was! But why else would you have agreed to meet us here in the first place? You came here with plots, aspirations of your own, don’t you dare look down on us for simply trying to insure our interests!”

“Face it, you lost. At least accept defeat a little more graciously” Orfeo added.

“Every other upstart race in this galaxy wants to challenge you, to bring you down from your high and mighty arrogance. And we’ve actually succeeded! Do you know why?” The Baroness stalked around the table. She leaned over Yullian, still straining against three guards trying their best to keep her pinned in her chair.

“I don’t give a shit what you think-”

Dicene continued, not paying her outrage any mind. “Without your fancy technology, your light energy, your gigantic forms that so easily crush your enemies, you’re nothing. You so innocently claim neutrality, and then use those empty words to enforce your will on every other planet. I always wondered, why bother? It would be so much easier to simply wipe them all out with force instead! Eventually, I had to conclude that either it was all bluffing, or…” She trailed off smirking at Yullian. The princess’s cold brown eyes stared steadily through her, but she refused to give Dicene the satisfaction of a response.

Eventually Dicene sighed and completed her point regardless. “-Or else you somehow enjoy this. The show, the pretension, the control you wield over those weaker races. So I thought, why not use that against you? I simply set the stage…” 

Each realization increased the leaden weight pressing into 80’s stomach. How could we have been so careless? “The rebels… you wanted Atlan to find them! What are you going to do with her?” he demanded.

Orfeo leaned back in his chair, folding his hands across his fat stomach contentedly. “You should be more concerned for yourselves! It won’t be long before the news spreads about your embarrassing mistakes here. You know how gossip travels. Especially gossip about Ultra warriors and their royalty caught red handed, humiliated and powerless.” 

“And the Keel Empire, once overlooked by the rest of the galaxy, now standing triumphant as the ones who revealed the empty arrogance of their reign.” Dicene swept upwards with the proclamation, her jaw thrust out proudly.

“This bullshit won’t stand for long, the Land of Light has greater forces than you can imagine-”

“Oh I can imagine quite well, Princess. But even if they come to rescue you, the damage is done. Your people will be a laughingstock. We have already proven we have the strength to stand up to those forces, and to destroy the light technology which you rely on so dearly. Soon, you won’t be able to set foot outside of your nebula ever again.”

“It’ll destroy you.” Cygnu’s voice answered her this time, weakly, but its reedy, pained sound carried an odd depth. All the gathered figures in the room heard it clearly, as if he was standing right next to them. Their eyes snapped to him. In his chair, still bent over, Cygnu was held against the table, but he remained still, unresisting.  

“You tried to turn the darkness into a weapon… in your technology, infecting your soldiers. It will turn on you. You can’t escape it. It won’t let you escape-”

“Shut up, you wretched child.” Orfeo snarled, beginning to rise from his seat.

Something about his words stuck like a thorny burr in Rayan’s mind as he stood at attention against the doors. Soldiers?

He glanced around the guards ringing the table, holding the Ultras fast in their seats. They were good, strong men. The runt was just frightened of them, surely. He must see them as monstrous and evil. But as Rayan narrowed his eyes, examining them, their forms seemed oddly rigid. They were almost frozen in their stances. Were they even breathing? 

“Baroness, what does he mean?” His voice carried the edge of a threat.

“Rayan, are you seriously entertaining such pathetic whimpers from our enemies?” Dicene scoffed. “Or are you simply letting jealousy over my command cloud your judgment? Don’t be ridiculous-” 

“You don’t see it, do you? You don’t see them, as they truly are.” Cygnu’s voice grew stronger, sharper, it cut through her as it echoed around the room. “You don’t know what’s happened to them. Why? Why did you-” She felt a presence now creep around her, probing. Her blood froze into ice, seizing the breath in her chest.

“You wanted subjects - no, you wanted puppets. You wanted things to control, to put your will over them, into them. But you don’t control them anymore, the darkness does-”

The feeling snapped, and disappeared. Cygnu fell silent once more. Dicene’s heart jumped several beats forward, the pressure of the probing sensation vanishing from her chest.

“Dicene, what did you do?-” Rayan hissed, grip tightening around his sword.

“He’s lying! Don’t be a fool. He wants you to turn against me, so they can escape while we quarrel.” But her voice verged on shrill, betraying her shaken nerves to everyone around her. “They’re powerless to stop us! Not even their captain - we’ll have him captured soon enough too.” Her lips twisted into another smile, grim but confident.

“You have no hope left.” She concluded.

The central building of the temple had long since collapsed, but the complex sprawled outwards from the shattered dome with long wings, once housing clerics, students and acolytes, smaller chapels, markets and more. They spread out of its center like spokes of a wheel. One of these wings provided high windows, showing a grand view of the city stretching away into the distance. Supported by buttresses still sturdy after long years of disrepair, it was a hidden treasure only found by those who knew which winding staircases to follow through the ruins. But more importantly for Yago, it provided access to the single standing tower attached to the temple.

The room itself was wide and spacious, the tiles here were smooth and glazed, but plainer and lacking the riotous colors that once painted mosaics across other parts of the temple. The brown sandstone bricks stood silently, but at one end of the chamber they had been overtaken by sharp metal corners, revealing where new reinforcements had been erected to support the walls and foundation of the tower. The combined effect of clean white metal and glass fixtures brought to mind a crystal occlusion, the broken corners of a geode embedded in a rock. 

Power cables, ducts and tubes snaked in and out, humming and buzzing. Some extended deep underground to compose the rest of the sprawling laboratory complex. Some ran upwards, to the very top of the tower’s parapet. All of it had been hastily but carefully assembled in anticipation of this day, this momentous occasion when Yago’s long years of research would come to fruition.

He stood calmly, waiting. Beside him, prepared for the arrival of a crew of modified assistants and automaton servants, rested a huge metal capsule, smooth glass enclosing Atlan’s tall form - preserved unconscious in stasis. 

While waiting, he admired the orange-red sunlight streaking through the narrow, open windows. At one time, he knew that the windows would have been covered with multicolored panes of glass, and the effect must have been truly impressive, casting swirls of vivid hues across these tiles. 

Yago himself had perused through the tablet that Dicene received from the Ultras - it was quite an interesting read. In it, he learned that the people of this planet once used this temple and others like it to worship the sun. It wasn’t hard to see why. The sun of the Dulvonus system was rendered huge and fiery by its close proximity. Surely the citizens couldn’t resist being drawn by its light even when the planet was devastated by its heat and radiation after the centuries of constant warfare destroyed the surface’s biomes, then eventually its atmosphere. 

Even so, this temple, the city, the planet had survived through thousands and thousands of years. Countless times, the sun had risen and set over it. Now, it would all be swept away, reborn into something new. The sun over it now would be the last the one the planet would see, ever.

“An appropriately magnificent sight… don’t you agree, Captain?”

Silently, Helios rose behind him, from the opposite side of the room. The bodies of two guards lay still at his feet. The specium blade he had used against them flashed, and disappeared in a whine of frequencies he had thought were beyond normal human hearing. He had made sure this time to sever the cores containing the fully-matured Minus energy parasites from the soldiers’ bodies, cleanly and quickly. They would never rise again.

“I see you’ve discovered the one shameful weakness of my new soldiers. Hmm, I’ll have to design something to fix that for the next round of experimentation. But I must congratulate you, it’s not easy for such beings of pure light to sneak up and attack these Minus-enhanced assets. If you had been the one who made contact with the resistance cell instead of Atlan, then things would’ve been much more interesting…” As Yago continued to talk, Helios lifted a pistol from the side of one of the dead guards, and advanced on him, slowly.

“...But the game would still end the same way.” Yago finished, falling into a contemplative silence, his back still turned to Helios.

Helios hesitated. The mysterious attendant had already shown himself to be unexpectedly alert and dangerous. Atlan was right there, constrained by unfamiliar technology, in unknown condition. She could be gravely wounded. She could be- No, Helios shook his head. Her light was weak, but still there. She was fine. She would be okay. But there were too many other weighty unknowns swirling through his logical, reasoned assessment of the scene before him. Apprehension fought with another feeling burning in Helios chest. 

I have to know why…  

“And what game is that?” Helios finally demanded. “Growing Minus energy like a disease? Infecting the people here, your own soldiers, turning them into monsters? For what? What do the Keel get out of this?”

“You think I’m doing this for the Keel?” Yago let out a contemptuous snort. “The Keel are short-sighted and petty, more concerned about putting on airs and winning the admiration of other alien empires rather than wielding true power.”

“You’re pretty arrogant, bragging about true power when you’re just a yipping lapdog with a fancy lab.”

“And what do you think I’m using the lab for, Captain?” Yago gestured around him, while still idly considering the floating motes of dust, caught in the light beaming at slanted angles through the windows. “Dicene asked me to give her stronger soldiers, subjects that would follow any whim unquestioningly. Of course I gave that to her, she just never bothered to ask whose whims they would be following…”

Helios remained silent, hoping he would talk himself into a corner eventually, to give him an angle to use to finally spring into decisive action.

Yago, like all scientists, reveled in the opportunity to discuss his work. “Dicene thinks that everyone will choose to follow her either from fear or love, and doesn’t particularly distinguish between the two. Sloppy methodology if you ask me. The idea that she could be manipulated by anyone else, simply by giving her exactly what she asks for, never occurred to her. And in return, she hands me an entire planet to use for my experiments-”

A new feeling, one rising from the depths of Helios’ memories, centuries ago, streaked through him. It left the burning trail of a meteor in its wake, crashing anger welling up in him. “What kind of experiments?” 

The storm of curiosity, rage, and long-buried sorrow swept through his question, and Yago tilted his head. He pivoted, facing Helios with newfound attention.

“Tell me, Helios. Do you know despair?” The question prodded at the captain. Yago patiently studied the expression on his face as he continued.

“You Ultras, you call yourselves ambassadors of light, yet I’m sure you’ve seen darkness. You know sadness and fear, loss. But what about despair? That hole left behind when your greatest desires are stolen away, out from your desperate, clutching hands. Having that brief taste of salvation forever denied to you, and the abyss that such an absence creates. Do you know how potent that darkness is? Can you imagine?” His voice dropped low in forbidden excitement at the thought.

Despite his best attempts, Helios could imagine exactly that. He felt the pit that opened up, trapping him when he found himself back on the Land of Light, answering for his mistakes before 721. The feeling when he realized that he would never see his friends again, because of everything that he did. 

His hands trembled holding the stolen gun, almost imperceptibly. 

Yago noted the quaver, and began to pace. “It was frustrating at first. My initial experiments could only harvest small amounts of the Minus energy, one individual at a time. Such an inefficient process! But then Dicene’s plan for you Ultras gave me an idea, a new hypothesis. She knew that you’d sneak out to make contact with the people of this planet. You just can’t resist butting into others’ business, and sure enough, one of you took the bait-”

“So you wanted Atlan to make contact with the rebels. Why?” Helios growled, stepping forward. He was nervous at Yago’s movement, trying to trace him with the pistol.

“Such a fierce spark of light, she is! We knew that she’d set a fire underneath them, ignite hope in the people. We wanted to kindle that flame… but Dicene just wanted to snuff it out, grind it into the dirt and rub your noses in it like a misbehaving dog. What a waste…” Yago shook his head condescendingly. “Instead, what if that flame were to be used to ignite something even greater?”

“What did you do to her?” Helios demanded again. Yago ignored the outburst, turning his back to the captain as he considered Atlan’s still form.

“I need a conduit, you see. Unfortunately, the younger one, Cygnu I believe you call him-” He waved a hand, dismissively. “Powerful, yes, but a freak of nature. His energies are completely unsuited to this. But Atlan, on the other hand…”

Yago grinned, looming over the capsule. Atlan rested inside, paralyzed by the technological restraints. He raised a hand to brush the glass along her face.

“I wonder-”

Several laser shots erupted. Helios was sure he had aimed directly for the man’s head, but Yago somehow dodged through all of them, even turned away from him. Two more shots went wild as Helios charged forward. Then he could no longer risk firing in such close range. The gun flew to the side, and in the same motion, Helios pulled a fist back. With lightning speed he swept towards Yago. But the unassuming, black-clad scientist seemed to slide between all his strikes. Helios kicked outwards, Yago caught his foot, one-handed and turned it aside. He flowed around and deflected them without even seeming to exert any force at all. But with each frustrated blow, each jab and punch pushed aside, Helios’ fury built into a terrifying, unstoppable force. 

That fury drove him to reach inside his robe, without thinking, and draw forth his own transformation device. He willed his grasp deep into himself, gripping a fist around his own light, and pulled it upwards. The embedded red gem at its core pulsed, and intensified.

Then Yago’s own fist closed around the device.

Darkness crashed through Helios’ vision, rupturing through his body. He screamed in anguish, it felt as if his arm had been torn off, dragging every nerve ending through a ragged, gaping hole behind it. Falling to his knees, the scream forced itself through his body, before dying off, tapering into sobbing gasps.

Yago ripped the device upwards, grinning in victory. Dark shadows flowed around him, but the light in his eyes took on a strange greenish hue. The lashing darkness sunk into him, he inhaled it and his form seemed to expand, taking on more heft without any change to his shape or pose. Instead, air itself seemed to flex inwards, curved by new gravity he exerted around himself.

The now emptied device dropped to the tiles beside Helios’ shaking body. It shattered into glimmering pieces. Yago leaned down, wrapping a hand around Helios’ neck and lifting him - now effortlessly - into the air.

Helios gasped and choked in his grip. He realized, too late. “You’re Sturm-!”

“You should stop struggling, and simply accept it, Captain. It would be less painful.” Yago’s voice bore the same note of amused observation as before. But now it rang out with low reverberations that matched the flow and twist of dark energy around him, absorbed from the inverted power of Helios’ own transformation device.

“I’ll kill you before I let you hurt Atlan-” Helios spat the words out. Despite the ache of his leaden limbs, he desperately strained against the immoveable grip around his neck. 

“Oh I’m not talking about her . That experiment can wait for later. It’d be too much trouble to break her now, why bother when I already have a conduit prepared?

“What - ?” Helios’ hands stilled in shock and confusion, still clutching against Yago’s arm suspending him.

“You know what darkness I’m speaking of, don’t you, Captain? All along it’s been right here…” Yago brought his free hand up, and gently traced a circle above Helios’ heart.  “Waiting for the right spark...”

The hand plunged into his chest. Helios tried to scream again, but no sound came out. Yago jerked again, deeper, gleaming light burst forth from the wound at the motion. With a final titanic heave and an awful sucking sound, Yago withdrew his hand, holding something solid and shining in his grasp. 

It was Helios’ heart, but not his heart. It flared with golden and ice blue light before resolving itself into a solid shape. An apple-sized, round metal core set with a cerulean blue crystal window. 

Yago held the color timer upwards, admiring it.

Helios’ body flared with the same light, fading back to his natural silver and red appearance. Yago dropped his now-limp figure to the floor. His smooth, golden eyes darkened, the silver of his skin dulled, almost appearing to corrode against the stones. Shining fluid seeped out from the gaping hole in his chest, and dripped from the Sturm’s hand. It fell into the dusty tiles at his feet with a steady plip, plip . 

As Yago continued to examine the color timer, the touch of his deft fingers left a tarnished residue against its metal. It darkened, absorbing through its surface. He smiled, the process continuing as expected. It wouldn’t take long now to see the desired effect. Soon enough, the blue color dissolved into red and blinked, then even that faded completely black. But then the blackness reached beyond into ultraviolet purple, a lurid eclipse with a red corona leaked from the crystal, casting the entire space in its new light. Deeper, more intense than the sun, the inverted radiance turned the stones around them to the color of blood

The strange light washed over Helios’ still body. It convulsed.

In the palace’s meeting chamber, there was nothing left for Dicene to take pleasure in, other than seeing the Ultras rot in a jail cell. 

“Rayan, have the guards take them away.” 

He bowed, stiffly acknowledging. “Move them to the holding cells in the barracks.” He cast one hand outwards, directing them to leave the room. But the guards remained still, unresponsive. 

Something cold settled into Rayan’s senses. Even with his armored suit and weapons, he felt oddly vulnerable. Looking around at the half-dozen guards standing unmoving, they seemed unrecognizable. He opened his mouth to give the order again.

Dicene interrupted him, her voice petulantly shrill. “Can’t you even do this correctly? You’re embarrassing your people in our greatest moment of victory, Captain!” She snapped her fingers twice. “Go! Take them away!” 

The device in the center of the table buzzed. Red lines snaked upwards, this time unprompted by anyone’s direction.

Yago’s figure, standing calmly with his arms folded behind him, appeared in midair above it.

Dicene stomped angrily to the center of the room, thrusting her finger towards his holographic face. “I demand to know what’s going on here, Yago! My soldiers are-”

“-Functioning exactly as I designed them to.” Yago casually interrupted. His voice sounded tinny and distant from the receiver. “I assure you they’re perfectly crafted and obedient. But they were never your soldiers.”

Dicene drew back as if she had been slapped by the glowing crimson image. Fury shone in her face.

Orfeo rushed to her side. “You! You… scum! You’ll regret this treachery!” he blustered.

The holograph laughed. “There is nothing you can do to change matters. Everyone in this room is now powerless to stop the fate of this planet. You, Orfeo, should consider your own regrets, before you’re left in the debris of history along with these ruins. No one will even remember your names.” In sight of the transmitter capturing his image, Yago raised a small remote for them to see.

The Keel consort’s eyes widened. “Wh-what do you mean? What are you planning-” 

Yago pressed a button on the device. Then the message cut before Orfeo could finish his demands.

A blur of black movement made the gathered figures jump. The frozen guards snapped into an attack, drawing guns and blades against the three Ultras. All three moved quickly to match them. Punches flashed, disarming them as their laser shots went wild. The rest of the Keel and their attendants gasped, shouting. They threw themselves under tables, behind chairs, or simply stood paralyzed in shock. Rayan shouted above the melee for the soldiers to stand down. None of them responded.

80 kept two guards at bay, a complicated series of kicks driving them into a wall. Finally his fists drove into them, shattering bones and cracking the whitewash at each impact. They fell. 80 whipped around to see Yullian had already taken care of one guard herself. She aimed a stolen rifle towards the three who loomed over Cygnu. Three clean shots blazed through their helmets, they dropped abruptly like marionettes with cut strings. 

Despite their aching, stinging limbs, all three of them were glad for the chance to finally take out their frustrations in a real fight. Relief turned into confusion as they looked around them. 80 knelt down to examine the guards collapsed against the wall. Something black and oily seemed to be seeping from their armor. He reached a finger out towards it, then halted as the pins and needles racing up his hand throbbed worse.

New shrieks rang out. Several Keel servants were looking out a window, pointing in alarm. More gathered next to them, staring upwards. The light outside dimmed, taking on a cast more similar to late afternoon than the early morning hours. 

An eclipse? 80 wondered. He rose, and turned to a window to see for himself. His breath stuck in his throat at the sight. Above the city, the once-brilliant sun was becoming overshadowed, occluded by some dark object. But as it slowly drew over the sun, the corona streaming around the eclipse took on a color that none of them had ever seen before. As if dripping from a grievous wound, blood red light creeped outwards, then surrounded them.

Cygnu had only just steadied himself, having been freed from the paralyzing grasp of the possessed guards. But he swayed, lightheaded as he felt the same pit of darkness open up again. This time though, the feeling of dizzy terror didn’t just come from the soldiers. It sunk into the very air they breathed in the room. Everyone looked around, in unknown dread, some sinking to their knees. They all felt its weight this time, Keel and Ultra alike. 

No! Cygnu bared his teeth, his fists clenched at his sides. The words he heard when connected to Bia’s light rang in his mind. I won’t run away from you this time!

A flare of indigo light erupted from his form. Cygnu cried out, thrusting his hands outwards. At the motion, wings appeared, lifting him upwards from the floor slightly. They beat forwards, the silent wind erupting from them passed harmlessly through the remaining figures in the room. But in its swirling wake, the dark weight around them dissolved. Clear, luminous air settled in its place. 

80 tore his eyes away from him, and back to the downed guards. The black slime sublimated, disappearing under the cool blue light now surrounding them. He raised a hand, a shining film seemed to settle around him. He felt refreshed, new energy returning to his limbs. 80 clenched and unclenched his hand a few times, testing it. How in Noa’s Light is the kid doing this? Where is he getting this energy from?

Cygnu himself didn’t know either. He remained floating with his wings aloft. He still appeared human - vaguely - but now with glowing blue and purple lines shining through his skin and around his clothes. His cobalt eyes blazed in concentration, trying to extend the new barrier as far as possible. Somehow, the effort was working. 

Shakily, the rest of the Keel rose to their feet. The terror of immediate demise under the blood-red eclipse had faded with Cygnu’s light, but they could clearly see its full effects outside of the barrier. Deep shadows cast under its crimson glow seemed to twist and lash with their own will, merging and growing into each other. Whiplike, some of them began striking against the walls, and against the blue glowing surface of Cygnu’s shield. He flinched at each impact. 

The young Ultra took a deep breath, trying to force the shadows away. He plunged his energy deeper into them, ignoring the feel of the icy, rending jaws of the surrounding abyss which now consumed the streets outside. A silent prayer rested on Yullian and 80’s minds, watching him struggle. They could do nothing else at the moment. 

Cygnu’s eyes shot open, wider, staring at something in the distance. The light around him stilled. Inside the pit, as he stretched his hands forward, he brushed against the edges of something familiar. 

“…. Captain?” he whispered. Only 80 was close enough to hear the word.

The red light intensified and flashed around them, like a crack of lightning. The force rebounded off the shield, shattering the glass windows. Cygnu’s wings seemed to shatter and faded into sparkling shards. He hung in midair for a second, a cry of shock frozen on his face, then fell backwards. 80 tried to catch him, only half succeeding at grabbing a limp arm as he crashed against the smooth wooden floor. 

The sound of yammering screeches and growls, monstrous noises from outside the walls, filled the horrified silence of the meeting chamber. The blue light began to flicker and fade, as Cygnu drifted away, unconscious in 80’s arms.

Chapter Text

The night passed at the Toorwanyu base with very little sleep. Morning arrived to find the rebels buzzing with anxious activity that seemed to only spin wheels, sinking further into a tense mire as they waited for the day to draw brighter. Teams of guards traded off with the watch in the street. Calls were made to other houses, simply to check in, and double-check again. Supplies were organized and counted, but whether they were being gathered for storage, or to take with them in flight, no one could say. They had all waited for the dawn with held breaths, but seemingly nothing else arrived with it, no news with the sunrise. So they continued to wait. 

A small breakfast was prepared, cold soup dished out to whoever felt like trying to eat. Not many tried. Bia didn’t mind though, she had the quiet kitchen to herself, and was glad to have something to fill her stomach after last night. She took solace in the quiet, red-orange light of the sunrise peering through a slitted window above the small ceramic counter. But as she adjusted a blanket draped around her shoulders, Bia felt like something around her was missing.

She remembered going on a mission. In her recollection, she could clearly picture herself following along behind the others, through the tunnels, entering a room in a clean white hallway, then… nothing. At least, nothing until she woke up in the small bed, surrounded by the terrified, then graciously relieved faces of her friends and family. Vaguely, she knew that she was hurt, and very very sick last night. But she was okay now, and home safely. Bia had heard from the hushed talk of the others that the rest of the group sent with her wasn’t so fortunate. But oddly, she felt no sadness at that knowledge. They were here last night, and now they weren’t. That was all there was to it. 

The soup was salty, seasoned with flakes of some spicy pepper. Bia sipped at it again, frowning. There was something else, wasn’t there? A misty shape, half-remembered words slid through her mind, out of her grasp as she stared into the cloudy broth.

New voices drifted in from the other room. Bia looked up, recognizing her uncle. But he sounded different, not the deep, warm laughter she associated most with him. He sounded like he did yesterday, when arguing with Gauda, before the mission. He wasn’t talking with Gauda this time though…

“We’ve waited long enough. If we give the Keel any more time t' get their info op together, we’re dead . Our only chance is to take whoever’s left and move-”

“To where?” Unho was seated against a cushion, her steel-streaked hair loose across her shoulders. 

Indrick paced through the room, not looking at her, or anything else in particular. Unho knew him well enough to recognize the expression on his face though. He was recalling the winding streets, a mental map of the city spilling forward as he planned their route. “North, the edge of town. We can meet wit' another cell there and-”

“Indrick, this is the most secure base we have here, if we abandon it, we’re abandoning this city!”

“D'you think I don’t know that?” Indrick spun sharply, fixing his olive eyes on her. “But what else can we do here? You saw those monsters the Keel have now! We got lucky, we were warned this time, but that luck won't last long.” 

“Exactly, we need to get everyone - and I mean everyone -  together and shut this down, now, before they start swarming the streets! Put out the calls! I know Chorosk’s band’s been pushing to-”

“Chorosk’s a kid, 'e's barely got a team of a dozen. There’s not enough of us, Unho! It took nine of us pourin' lasers into those things to take 'em down, and we got the jump! We can’t hope to stand against an army of those monsters, not when they start hunting us.” He turned away, shaking his head anxiously. “The Ultra captain was right, we need to go to ground, wait things out.”

“Are you listening to yourself? You want to leave things like this? To go hide, leave the city, the D’runya, all the lives here to a bunch of surly aliens that just landed on this planet a week ago?”

Indrick’s back remained turned to her. “What choice do we have? This's the only way to protect the ones left…”

Unho drew back, sitting heavily into the cushions, staring at him with silent disgust. Finally, after a long moment of considering her words, she picked the ones certain to cut him through. “Haryn was right about you. You left this planet behind once already, going out there to space made you soft-“

“And now Haryn is dead!” Indrick shouted, wheeling back to loom over Unho. The woman didn’t budge a muscle, arms crossed, while staring into his face from her seat. Her golden hazel eyes drove into his conscience, and he finally turned away with a huff. 

“He’s dead, Unho.” Indrick repeated, heavily.  “We’re the only ones from th' old guard left. And I… I was never a soldier. Haryn was the one who turned us from just a band 'a thieves and spies into somethin' better. More organized. All I did was try to live up to his example.”

A heavy, thick hand rubbed through his dark brown beard, ruefully. “I never wanted to have to make these decisions.”

“Then why did you come back?”

“To build somethin', a future for Gauda and Bia. For their children too. But I can’t do this on my own, I needed Haryn, his information, his experience. And now he’s dead. I nearly lost Bia with him…” Finally, Indrick collapsed into a chair. His large frame seemed to shrink into it, wilting under pressure.

Unho had known Indrick for over twenty years, and had never seen the man like this before. He carried a reputation of being strong, immovable and stern, yet with powerful courage. But now she wondered how much of that came from the impression of his huge stature. How much weight have we piled on those shoulders? How much more can he bear before he breaks? Could any of us lead the Toorwanyu if he does?... 

Indrick swallowed heavily, setting his stern face once again. “We can’t afford to fight a war that gets everyone killed. There’s no point in that future if yer all dead.”

“We’re not dead yet.” Unho quietly answered.

Indrick felt his heart race with the weight of the unknown threats before them. Unho’s reassurance did little to calm his thoughts. The memory of last night, the black twisting shadows that formed themselves into powerful jaws and teeth. Men becoming ravenous monsters in the dim orange light. He remembered the cold horror as they watched the mutation ripping through the Keel soldiers. Indrick was sure that the same fate would wait for them if they remained, twisted by darkness, or devoured by it, ripping them apart. They would all be left to die, slowly choking on their own shadows-

Indrick shook his head at the vision. Whatever blood-streaked horror was rising behind his eyes was unfamiliar, struggling with his own thoughts. It felt like something was trying to push its way up his spine, deeper into his memory. He glanced over at Unho, who also stared horrified into the distance, gripping white-knuckled against her leg.

He leapt to his feet. All the senses in his body screamed in alarm, at some dark intrusion now building in the air around him. The fear coated the back of his throat, and yet he was sure that the feeling was coming from something else , outside. More figures from other rooms stumbled in, confused.

A ceramic soup bowl smashed against the floor. Bia threw herself towards the doorway.

“Get away from the windows!” She yelled.

Somehow, her voice cut through the fog of terror. Everyone dropped to the floor, ducking behind chairs and tables.

The morning light filtering through the thick tapestries dimmed. Then a deep crimson glow bled into the room.

At the same time, the red light rolled thick, like a tide, filling the streets below them. As it passed over figures running, panic-stricken, some collapsed and lay still. The lucky ones reached the threshold of a door, slamming it and locking it firmly against the wave of crimson energy. Others never made it to safety, and froze standing or crouched, paralyzed by the visions of death locking them into unmoving rigor. Still others fell to the ground, but did not lie still. Their forms shuddered and twitched, and shadows bled from them. The darkness twisted into venomous forms, clawed, winged, scaled, hungry to spread more terror around them. They screeched and yelped, stalking the red-stained streets.

In only a few moments, the city was eerily quiet, apart from the sounds of terrible creatures bearing the names of each person’s darkest nightmares. 

The rebels peeked around the edge of the curtains, seeing all this unfold outside the stronghold. The same whispered thoughts rushed through their minds, horror and despair at seeing their neighbors, the ordinary people of the city attacked and killed - or worse - by this newly risen evil.

One of the rebels, lifting his head slightly over the windowsill, raised a tentative hand. He flexed his fingers against the streaming red light, looking at its silhouette, and realized that none of it reached them inside the room. A shining layer fell around them, sparkling. The cool air filled them, refracting the blue light like a perfectly smooth crystal lens. Each edge of the furniture around them, each crease and hair on the gathered faces glowed in sharp relief.

Unho blinked her eyes. As they adjusted to the sight, she noticed the two dueling shades cast strange colored shadows before them. Looking up, she gasped. 

Bia still stood in the center of the room, the blue light faintly emanating from her body.

The hushed silence from their collected terror faded away like the red light itself. New murmurs rose around the gathered figures.

“What’s happening?”

“What’s with the light?”

“I don’t understand-”

“Are we safe here?”

Despite the unknown energies swirling around them, they all felt the answer to that last one, filling through them with certainty. Yes, for now at least. The room was safe. 

Bia looked at her hands, turning them over. The same sense of safety and comfort draped around her, like the blanket which had fallen to her feet in her rush. But to her, the light also felt familiar. She was sure she had seen it before. She recalled it outlining the shape of a face, illuminating a hand reaching towards her.

It reached through her memory, and the scene immediately flooded back into her mind. She had survived a nightmare last night, from a sickening darkness which attacked her. Bia now clearly recalled the fear and pain she endured, but also that blue light that so briefly touched her. She was a part of it at that moment. She felt it, breathed it in, it coursed through her body with her heartbeat. 

The light was at home in her, but also was not from her. It was given to her from someone else, wasn’t it? Who was he? Her eyes closed, tighter, trying to dive deeper through that light to the answers she sought.

Blue eyes. Enfolding wings around her. The hand reaching towards her, the feel of its grasp around her own. And finally, a name echoed in her heart.

“Cygnu.” She whispered.

Following this recollection, something painful whipped through her mind. A shuddering crack, like the sound of a broken bone, sent her stumbling, falling roughly against the edge of a chair. New shouts rang out. Hands grabbed her and tried to pull her to sit in a chair, but she barely felt them. 

“Bia! Bia, are you okay?” Gauda and others gathered around her, a circle of worried faces. “What the hell was that? Why are you glowing?”

Bia shook her head, gulping deep gasps of air, trying to bring herself back to the present. She couldn’t answer her sister.

 “That’s the same light from last night, when that one Ultra healed her!” someone in the crowd muttered, amazed.

“Cygnu.” Bia finally found her voice. “He’s… I think he’s still helping us somehow.” 

Her eyes snapped upwards to her sister, terrified. “We have to find him again!”

Gauda squeezed tightly against her shoulder. “Why? If the light’s protecting us here, then-”

“Something happened!” Bia cried out. “He’s hurt, I don’t know how much longer this… this shield will last. I can feel…” she trailed off, shivering cold. Gauda gripped her tighter, her embrace providing enough pressure to steady her against the sensation. “It’s like he’s drifting away. I have to go help him!” 

“But what can you do?”

“I don’t know!” Bia jerked away, angry tears welling in her eyes as she stood in the middle of the crowd. “I don’t know, but I have to do something! Haryn, the others, they all… they died protecting me! I don’t want to lose anyone else like that!” 

She turned, pleading to her uncle. “Please, if we don’t go, then he’ll die too!”

The worried mutters turned to arguments around them.

“This is insane, you want us to go outside and fight all those monsters out there?”

“How can you possibly know all this?”

“Maybe that shadow is still in her, poisoning her-”

“Yeah, this has to be something from the Keel, they just want to flush us out-”

“We’re going.” Indrick made his decision. The discussion halted.

Another figure stepped forward, an older man with a sandy-blonde mustache, his pinched face scowling. “You can’t tell us-”

Indrick crossed between the gathered rebels and his nieces. He overshadowed the room. “All ‘ve us, Bia most of all, owe the Ultras our lives . Atlan fought with us, without one thought of her own safety. You all saw how much pain Cygnu went through to heal Bia last night. And then their captain helped us to fight the rest of those shadow monsters in the alley. Without them, we wouldn’t have made it to the sunrise.” He let the fact sink in. They all knew it was true. “We’re still connected to them, fer’ better or worse. We can’t ignore them if they’re in trouble now.”

Unho nodded, standing alongside him. “They were ready to give their lives to help protect us, to fight for our planet. We have the chance to pay them back. What kind of cowards would we be if we couldn’t do the same?” She stared them all down in turn, daring them to say otherwise.

Between the looming presence of their leader, and the clear, energizing light around them, nobody could disagree for long. Excitement grew to replace the fear outside the windows. There was no space for it to take root in the room.

Around them, the activity of the base resumed, but now focused with a single, clear direction in mind. Calls were made to reassure other bases, directing them to remain inside barricades. Supplies were gathered to take with them on an expedition through now-unfamiliar streets. 

Indrick selected a small group of their best to join them on this mission. Unho refused the offer. 

“There needs to be someone here in case the worst happens.” she stated. “I’ll see to it everyone stays safe… and keep an eye on Lythe.” 

The disgraced officer sat sullenly in the corner, his arm bound hastily in a sling, matching more bandages around his bruised chest.

“You just want to leave us here to get eaten by the monsters.” he muttered, refusing to meet Indrick’s eyes. “Just kill me now if that’s-”

Lythe broke off with a yelp as Indrick grabbed his shirt, pulling him roughly from the chair. Lythe shuddered, expecting a blow to follow. 

“That would be too easy, to just send you off to die. No, you get a chance to pay everyone back too.” Indrick growled into his face. “You can’t keep up with the rest of the group with those broken ribs. So I’m giving you a diff’rent job instead.”

He winced, inhaling sharply as Indrick returned him to his seat and continued.

“You wanted to protect the Toorwanyu , right? That’s what you said last night.” 

Lythe gulped, nodding his head in shameful recollection.

“Good. Protect them. The ones we’re trusting with you and Unho. ” 

Lythe screwed his eyes shut, quailing from Indricks’ hand as it descended towards him again. But Indrick patted his shoulder with his hefty open palm. 

Several moments later, Lythe opened his eyes, realizing he was alone again. Looking down at the table next to him, he found the only other occupant in the room - a gun Indrick left behind for him. The sight of it churned his stomach, Lythe recognized it for what it was - a challenge. Haryn was never seen without that sidearm; the former general was famed for his dead-eye aim with it.

He cursed Indrick, and the horrific red light outside their building. Lythe had nowhere left to run now. He couldn’t get out of this by lying, or ignoring what was happening around him. There was only one thing to do. I can at least do this, can’t I? Protect them? … I can try. He’s giving me a chance. I probably won’t get another one. 

Lythe snatched the pistol up, and awkwardly armed its laser clip as best he could with one arm tied against his side in a sling. He attempted to give it a spin around his uninjured hand, the same as he saw Haryn do once. It flipped once, fumbling. Lythe sighed, placing it back onto the table. I’ll have to figure out how to do that one of these days.

His hand rested on the pistol. He smiled at the thought. There would be another day for it. And days after that. New days, for him to learn to carry that pistol more surely.

On a lower floor, Gauda led the group to her hidden door. Unlocking the market’s storeroom, the full array of weapons, armor, technology, and even assorted explosives were at their disposal. Between each of them, they pulled crates out into the main room and sorted through the supplies. Not all of it would be useful for their rush to the palace, but it would probably pay to be over-prepared for this particular mission. All of them selected a combination of heavy armaments and smaller side-weapons, expecting heavy resistance the moment they stepped on the street. 

Bia peeked her head into the room, watching them gear up in silence. “Sis, I thought you said we weren’t supposed to take stuff from your inventory?”

“Special occasion.” Gauda frowned as she triple-checked her rifle, attaching extra clips to a bandolier belt around her cloak. She shifted her arms, uncomfortably realizing that her well-worn brown cloak snagged around its clasps. She sighed and removed it, shrugging out of the rough fabric. It wasn’t like they were trying to stay hidden, after all.

Holding the cloak in her hands, the weight of the new guns replacing it around her shoulders, Gauda stared at it. “Bia…” She began quietly.

“Yeah, sis?”

“I just…I want you to stay safe. I don’t know what’s waiting out there for us.”

“Neither do I.” Bia stepped more fully into the room, rolling on the balls of her feet, shyly self-conscious of the fact that she was still visibly glowing under the fluorescent lights. “But nothing is going to change if we just sit in here. We have to try.” 

“You should stay close to me, so I can-”

“No, you should stay close to me!” Bia laughed and spread her arms out towards her. “You and Uncle Indrick always tried to keep me safe, but now I can do the same for you too! That’s really why I wanted to go on missions, you know. I hated just sitting in here while I knew you were out risking yourselves all the time…”

Gauda looked up at her sister, her only surviving family, linking her to a time without war. Without death and fear. The blue light that Bia embodied filled her with equal amounts of courage, but also dread at what they might lose before the day was over. She stepped over and drew Bia into a tight hug. With the warmth of her presence under her embrace, she never wanted to move from the spot, but Gauda was aware of the rest of their team slowly leaving the room around them. It was time to go.

“Then we’ll keep each other safe,” Gauda whispered fiercely to her. “We’re going to take the biggest goddamned guns possible, and make sure of it. We’ll both come back with Indrick.”

“Sis, you’re embarrassing both of us right now! We haven’t even left yet!” Bia laughed again, and Gauda finally, reluctantly, released her to step away.

But as they turned to leave the storeroom, a new feeling prickled at the back of Bia’s mind. She felt something else, not the calm light that suffused the air around her, but thoughts that were heavy and ancient. They came from the Spark Dolls, still resting under their glass containers.

Gauda noticed her look towards them. “They won’t be much use, the Dummy Spark hasn’t had a chance to recharge yet.”

“No, but… they want to help!” Bia frowned, leaning closer to look at them.

“What do you mean ‘want to’? They’re just monsters-”

“I can hear them, Gauda. They want to go with us! They don’t like the shadows out there either, they want to fight them too.” 

“This is no time for joking.”

“It’s not a joke! I really can hear them-” Bia reached a hand tentatively towards them. Blue light sparked and flashed from her fingers. She yelped, Gauda grabbed her, yanking her away from the table. When the light before her dimmed, Bia drew up her hand, holding something new. The light crystallized into something that looked like one of Gauda’s Dummy Sparks, but it was a pale cyan blue, made out of some sort of glowing, crystalline material.

Bia turned it over, curious. “Did… did I just recharge it? Have you ever seen a Dummy Spark look like this?” She asked, holding it out to her sister.

“I haven’t. But I don’t think it’s a ‘Dummy’ Spark.” Gauda considered it warily. “I heard rumors from Indrick, that the Sparks were something invented in the Land of Light, and other aliens copied the design for themselves. If that’s true…”

“Then I can… holy shit!” Bia’s eyes widened. She clutched the Spark tighter, in both hands. It was too important to risk dropping now.

Gauda was still too shocked herself to complain about her sister’s choice of language. Either from the shock, Bia’s outburst, or simply the cumulative effect of adrenaline building over the morning’s strange events, she started laughing. 

Bia started at the sound. It had been so long since she had heard it from Gauda. It was infectious, and she soon joined in.

“Looks like we just got some new recruits for the Toorwanyu, ” Gauda concluded, still grinning. She gently picked up the miniature kaiju figures and secured them in a case, strapped alongside her gun’s cartridges. “Fitting isn’t it? Beasts for the beast soldiers .”

Bia grinned back, the light coming from her seemed to shine brighter. It was matched by a glow she saw from the Spark Dolls now - a simple, primal joy. They waited eagerly for the chance to be unleashed, to rampage and fight against the darkness. 

Gauda’s statement was right, even if she meant it as a joke. They were the same. The cage had been broken. The heavily-armed group strode out into the street, Bia securely protected in the center of their wary watch. Dim, swirling red light and deep shadows flowed around them, but the stronger blue glow streamed amidst their footsteps, clearing the way forward. They took off at a running pace towards the palace.

80 could feel Cygnu’s light begin to wane as he held his unconscious body. Even lying slumped and still against the wood-paneled floor, the blue light from him seemed to ward off the effects of the heavy crimson glow bleeding through the broken window panes. It glittered, reflected by the shards of glass littering the floor. To all of the figures in the room, Keel and Ultra, a cool breeze swirled, but the air outside sat foul and stagnant. In the thick shadows, they could all hear the shuffling and muted roars of unseen, unknown monsters. Each sound chilled their nerves, but they came no closer. 

Not yet, anyways. The light was still slowly fading away.

The Baroness Dicene stood in shocked silence, still gazing out the windows.

Yullian rounded towards her. “Baroness, we won’t be safe here for much longer. You need to take your people to safety!” 

Dicene suddenly whirled, the flash of a small, black gun in her hand, now leveled towards the Princess. “Don’t you dare try to tell me what to do. We’re not moving until I say so. We’re not finished here!” she snarled.

“Stop being ridiculous, we’re all in danger now.” Yullian’s voice never wavered, but she took a step backwards from the sight of the dark gun barrel. “The eclipse is driving those shadows out into the street, they’ll start attacking us next, you need our help-” 

A single, shrill laugh cut off Yullian’s argument. “Your help? What help can you offer? Without your powers, you couldn’t stop this from happening. That damned traitor Yago…” 

Dicene trailed off. Her eyes narrowed and a wild, raging look struck her face. Her voice dropped low. “You knew about this. That’s why your captain went missing, even that brat knew about the darkness, you wanted this to happen!” The gun snapped up with renewed intent. Dicene advanced towards the Ultras.

“Are you insane? We never-”

“Never what? Thought I’d catch on to your plans? Well I won’t let you win, I’ll have the final victory here!”

“Please, stop this!” Orfeo cried out from where he was crouched, against a corner. “If the Ultras know what’s going on, then they can help us get out of here!”

The pistol jerked towards him. “And now you’re going to turn on me too? Running like the pitiful coward you are, to join the Ultras against your own people? You were just waiting for your chance to betray me with Yago!” 

 “Cece, I would never… I love you, but this is the only way we can survive this!” Orfeo raised his hands in surrender, his face sweating heavily but pale.

For a moment, Dicene considered this. The gun dipped towards her side. Then her face hardened. “No. We won’t. But at least I’ll be satisfied seeing the Ultras dead first.” She swung her arm, bringing the gun again towards Yullian. Her finger latched against the trigger.

A blazing stroke of red plasma cut upwards. The smooth black metal of the pistol gleamed as it spun in a slow arc then clattered to the floor, still clutched in Dicene’s severed hand. 

Dicene screamed, falling to her knees. Her other hand gripped tightly around the newly-cauterized stump of her wrist. The glowing point of Rayan’s sword met her, only inches from her face. Her screams died into a whimper.

“Stop brandishing weapons you don’t know how to use.” Rayan growled.

The glare of the sword’s edge extinguished. He no longer needed it against the Baroness. In the sudden absence of its spitting, humming energy, Dicene’s face shone with silent tears in the dim light.

Rayan sheathed his sword with a click that echoed around the now-silenced room. His blank, blue helmet turned to address 80. “The young one there, his light is protecting us, right?” 

80 nodded, slowly, wary of the captain’s intentions. “I don’t know for how much longer though, he’s fading.”

“Can we move him?”

“Why?”

Rayan wasted no time once he had assumed command of the remaining Keel. He pointed around to the thick walls and narrow windows of the palace, its location atop a gently-sloping hill within the city, and its high sandstone ramparts surrounding its now-barren courtyards. It was clearly built to serve as a fortress during Dulvonus’ long years of warfare. With the dozen attendants and maids from the meeting rooms, they moved warily into its main entry hall. Materials were scavenged from broken windows, furniture, anything that could be used to barricade doors and shutters to make a chokepoint through the wide entryway. 

Double sets of stairs, crafted of dark wood with a gleaming, rich patina, rose to a mezzanine overlooking the main doors. In another time, the Baroness or her consort would’ve presented an impressive regal appearance descending from these stairs. Now, only Rayan was left to direct the Keel, barking orders to keep them busy collecting weapons, ammunition from various guard caches, and securing any opening to the crimson-lit grounds outside. 

Their small contingent was soon joined by reinforcements - even a small handful of guards had survived the initial wave of attacks following the blackened eclipse’s arrival. They found themselves attracted to the front lines, thanks to Rayan’s commanding shouts, and the gently shimmering light which still pressed forward from Cygnu.

The heady rush of activity soon quieted as the civilians best equipped to fight hunkered down behind their makeshift barricade. There was little to do but wait for the threats outside the palace’s walls to finally emerge. 

“There’s one last thing...” Rayan began, addressing 80 and Yullian. “The kitchens are windowless and in the center of the building. I’m sending all those who are too injured to fight-'' He paused, turning to consider Dicene, sitting in a nearly-catatonic state. Orfeo was still with her, helplessly trying to cajole her back into action. She did nothing apart from grip her bandaged wrist, staring at it.

“...They’ll wait there, lock themselves to stay protected. We’ll hold out for as long as possible here,” he concluded.

Yullian snorted, indignant. “To do what, sacrifice yourselves gloriously so we can sit and wait to die in a cellar? What happens then?”

Rayan paused, his expression unreadable behind the flat blue faceplate. “I… I did not consider my strategy past that.”

“Oh, for Noa’s white slippers- ” Yullian rubbed her graceful fingers into her temples. “80 and I may not be able to transform, but we’re far from helpless.”

Beside them, 80 gently laid Cygnu’s head down against the floor, folding a length of tablecloth under his neck to keep him stable. He crossed the young Ultra’s pale arms over his chest, which still rose and fell with shallow, fitful breaths. As 80 shifted his position, Cygnu’s necklace fell out from the folds of his tunic. The silver had tarnished, and the blue crystals set into its sharp form were cracked, dull and now darkened. The blue eyes that had seen beyond the palace, into the depths of the abyss outside, were still tightly shut.

80 rose to Yullian’s side. “Cygnu did everything he could to give us a fighting chance. We’re the only ones who can stop the darkness now.” 

“I assume that means you have a strategy of your own.” Rayan tilted his head towards the Ultra brother.

80 nodded with certainty. “This is an omega-level emergence event-” 

“A what?”

“All of the shadows, the monsters being created, it’s all Minus energy, of course.” 80 trailed off, trying to prompt him.

Rayan’s stance was unchanged.

80 sighed. “Look, I don’t have time to give you an entire lesson on it!”

Rayan drew his arms up, crossing them over his ridged chestplate. His voice bristled with irritation. “Then make time. I’ve been ignored, lied to, played as a pawn in this game for long enough. If you want my help, then I want to know what in the dark hells of space happened out there, and you’re going to tell me. Now.”

Yullian smirked. It was the most they had heard the captain say during the length of negotiations on the planet. “You know, you could learn a thing or two from him, 80. You should get to know each other better!” she laughed.

80 sighed again, deliberately showing his annoyance at being put on the spot by both of them. He pinched the bridge of his nose while considering how to move on as quickly as possible.

“It’s… well, all living things have an energy, a spirit, by the very fact that they are alive . It reflects their ability to grow, to become stronger. It also allows us to connect to others and help them to grow, and become stronger as well. That is our light.”

“Your light?”

“Our light. Everyone has it, to some degree. But sometimes it can be twisted inwards, inverted, and it becomes… something else. It sinks deeper, hollowing out into a sort of hunger instead. Fear, rage, sorrow, despair… that’s what this darkness is.”

“...The absence of light.” Rayan considered this with a somber voice.

“Minus energy.” 80 nodded.

Rayan’s helmet shifted, shaking his head. “But that doesn’t make any sense, this red energy creating the darkness, it is light!” The motion paused, his voice trailed off. “I think…” 

80 shifted his weight, uneasily. He began to pace, hoping his feet would help put his own thoughts in order. “You’re right, that’s the problem. Left on its own, Minus energy should quickly burn itself out, it literally consumes whatever is producing it. Somehow, it seems your friend Yago figured out a way to continually generate it. He must have some sort of… I don’t know, an engine of some kind that keeps this feedback loop going. If we can find whatever technology is producing the emergence effect and destroy it-”

“We stop the eclipse.”

80 halted, pointing a finger towards him. “Bingo.”

“Bingo?” Rayan’s helmet tilted in confusion again.

“I mean… Yes, that’s correct, it would stop the eclipse. In theory at least.”

Rayan nodded in agreement. “I think I know where the energy is coming from. When we first took control of the planet, Yago requested a specific site for his lab, a temple. He said he needed the tower there for an antenna . I thought he meant for communication signals…”

“Not for radio waves. I bet he’s using it to collect and concentrate the Minus energy. There’s no time to waste then-” 80 spun on his heel to leave.

Rayan stepped abruptly behind him, calling out. “Wait, you’re not going to make it all the way there alive on your own without being able to transform. You don’t even know where the temple is, much less how to get past the security systems.”

80 stopped, but turned and fixed a determined eye on him. “We don’t have any other options.”

“We might…” Rayan hesitated. He was used to making decisions on the field of battle, in the heat of a fight for his own life, but this position of leadership was new. Before, he could trust in his own strength, or the strength of his well-trained, brutally strong guards and their technology, to survive on their own. That was the way of his people. Survival and strength.

Dicene had wanted a new way, not just relying on brute force, but cunning, and connections from outside of the Keel. He believed in that vision, once. But now he realized why she had failed. She only saw a new future to secure for herself. Rayan understood his new duty, not just for his own survival, but the fate of all the Keel, around them in the palace. There was only one chance to stop this for good.

“Take me with you.”  

“No, your people need you here-” 80 began to protest.

A roar erupted from beyond the doors. The few Keel who were prepared with their weapons suddenly fumbled them, not expecting to be tested so soon. 

Yullian had been against the barricades, helping to set a larger belt-fed rifle securely on a tripod support while Rayan and 80 discussed their plans. Her hands shifted, effortlessly pulling the entire weight of the long-barreled gun upwards and drawing it forward. A stream of laser fire pulsed from it, with Yullian securely stationed, one foot anchored on the wall to keep her aim. From their position, 80 and Rayan could only see snapping teeth and long, insectoid legs emerge through the door. Another screech burst forth from it, victorious for only a second. It was greeted with the bulky end of the rifle, swung into its face with a final squelching thump. 

The creature now taken care of, Yullian turned her attention back to them. “Stop messing around and get going, you idiots! These creatures are only going to get bigger and meaner if you just stand around talking for the rest of the day! Move it!” She waved her hands, to sternly shoo them into the courtyard like they were misbehaving children sent on an errand.

 Rayan stared, dumbstruck. “... I think they’re in good hands.”

80 nodded, a faint smile on his face. “She’s the best.” 

A vehicle would attract too much attention from the roaming monsters, even with the remnants of Cygnu’s light protecting them. 80 and Rayan rushed on foot through the back alleys and oppressively silent streets of the city. By a clock’s reckoning, it was still mid-morning, but the sun that peered over the eaves of the brownstone buildings was darkened. Streaks of blood-red light streamed out from it, a wounded corona that seared their eyes if they looked upwards for more than a brief glance. 

80 spied the occasional jerk and twist of shadowed curtains from the windows above the street. Brief flashes of eyes peered down on them. He silently prayed that the unseen figures behind the windows would remain hidden well enough from the stalking creatures outside. 

One of the creatures crossed ahead of the pair. 80 grabbed Rayan’s arm and pulled him behind a corner before it could sense their intrusion.

“This is bad, the city itself is starting to call up monsters now.” 80 whispered. 

A shambling, grunting beast with slimy eyes along its ridged spine oozed forward. They both watched it, breaths held tight while taking in the hideous appearance of this new mutation. 80 didn’t want to dwell long on considering what awful thoughts, deeply-buried hatred or grudges gave shape to it. 

Movement caught Rayan’s eye as they waited. Dark cracks through the cobblestones underfoot began to writhe upwards. Thin, razor-wire tendrils lashed eagerly towards his leg. He brought a heavy boot down onto the oozing presence. Something squealed and crunched with the stomp. He and 80 both flinched, eyes darting back. The huge beast swung its blind, elongated reptilian head over, snuffling the air, revealing a huge mouth with too many bristling teeth. The eyes along its back blinked in sequence. A guttural roar bellowed, and it lunged. 

Rayan leapt out of the alley without a word, his gun held securely before him, pressing a rapid stream of laser fire into its face. Its thick, bony scales seemed to deflect the fire, but it grunted and shook its head in pain from the sustained barrage. It was enough of an opportunity for Rayan. His sword whipped forward, then into a complicated spiral arc. Rayan finished the motion by stepping to the side. The monster’s head parted neatly from its neck and fell to the cobblestones in a squelching heap. The rest of its body dissolved into thick, oozing shadows, seeping into the ground

The entire attack had only lasted a few heartbeats. 80 breathed a sigh of relief from where he was pressed against the alleyway. The combination of the black sun overhead, and the gnawing hole left behind by his broken Bright Stick made him feel especially vulnerable. He would never admit it to the Keel - or to Yullian, for that matter - but he was glad to have Rayan’s help.

The Keel soldier turned back, whipping his blade down to clear the oily darkness from off its edge. “I thought you said Minus energy came from living things?” His voice carried a doubtful tone.

“It does, usually! But anything with a long enough memory can absorb dark emotions, like hatred and regrets. Think of all the wars fought on this planet. There’s probably a lot of blood already soaked into these stones...” 80 could almost taste it, a heavy metallic tang from the stagnant air. 

80 exhaled forcefully, and felt like spitting it out. He wasn’t sure if that would call up something worse however, and settled instead for a distasteful grimace. “We need to keep moving,” he urged.

In quick time, they arrived at the temple complex. Quicker than 80 anticipated, in fact. He wondered what Rayan’s training consisted of if he could keep pace with an Ultra warrior through the crushing presence of Minus energy filling the atmosphere around them. Were the Keel stronger than they were led to believe, or was Rayan drawing on something else to keep moving? Perhaps he’s more at home in the darkness than the rest of us… 80 shook his head again, unsure if that doubt came from the red light, or from his own intuition. Or worse yet, if it was fueled by both.

The tower loomed before them, higher than any of the surrounding buildings in this section of the city. Set into its highest point, against a pinnacle half-supported by new gleaming metal beams, they could clearly see another blazing red light. To 80, it resembled the Plasma Spark of their homeworld. Its appearance set his teeth on edge, a mockery of the life-giving energy that his people bore as a gift to the rest of the universe. On the Land of Light, the Spark’s power gave them their huge stature and immense strength. Here, the light that gleamed from the red spark twisted all the life it touched into something violently evil. 

The sight of it only strengthened his resolve against its influence. They had to destroy it, or soon the only beings left on the planet would be the terrifying demons that now ruled the city. 

A pair of guards emerged from a broken gate as they approached the temple grounds. Unlike the ones before, they didn’t even wait to be injured before shedding their forms. Their silhouettes shuddered and swelled, twisting to form the now-familiar jaws and savage talons of the Minus energy beasts. 

80 drew his own gun and steadied his aim next to Rayan, preparing for the oncoming rush.

“I’m sorry you have to face your own men like this.”

“They aren’t my men anymore.”

The straightforward statement drove guilt deeper into 80’s chest. “If we knew this was coming, we could’ve stopped them from-”

“No, if they were weak enough to be taken by Dicene and Yago and infected like this, then they were too weak to follow me to begin with.”

80 looked over to the captain, silently aghast.

“If they were still under my command, they would have been executed for their failure.” Rayan coolly drew his own weapons, flipping the sword around into a reverse guard, and positioning the fist holding it under his gun to support its fire. 

The Ultra brother wasn’t sure if he was reassured by his certainty or not. But regardless of whether Rayan drew his strength from the darkness or the light, he was standing next to him in battle now. He had no choice but to trust in his strength. 

The shadow parasites - once loyal Keel soldiers - bellowed and charged. 

We’re going to need all the help we can get to survive! 

With that thought, 80 and Rayan shouted, and rushed forward to meet them.

As the newly-conscripted Keel and Yullian discovered, insectoid beasts with spider legs and multiple rows of venomous fangs were only the start of their problems. With each monster that was shot down in the courtyard, or driven back with improvised grenades, flaming projectiles cobbled from cloth and lamp oil, more rose from the shadows behind them. 

Thus far, the monsters were locked behind the high walls and firmly-secured gates surrounding the courtyard. But many of them could climb up, or snap open bat-like, scaled wings to flap over like huge carrion birds. Yullian could’ve sworn that they didn’t do that before. It almost seemed like they were changing, adapting to fulfill whatever evil urges drove them to attack the survivors in the palace. 

Soon, there was no denying that things were getting worse. The dark masses beyond the gates were visibly shifting, merging together to grow larger. Some of them turned on other creatures caught underfoot, consuming them to add to their own vicious strength. 

This wasn’t the first time Yullian had felt fear. But now she was responsible for the lives of roughly two dozen alien citizens who were just as terrified - perhaps more so. She hadn’t even learned all their names yet - there was no time - and now they were fighting to the death alongside her. There was no time for her own fears either. 80 always worried enough for the both of them, but the weight of her responsibility felt even heavier without his straightforward, pragmatic support. Yullian hadn’t realized how much she relied on it during this mission, until now. 

Until now, she hadn’t realized how much she wanted to see his smile again. Only a few hours had passed since the Keel had tried to arrest them, and before that when he had gallantly teased her in their suite. 

How did it come to this? she wondered, the reflex of her rifle’s fire now automatic enough that her thoughts could wander.

Yullian glanced behind her, to where Cygnu rested, secured behind another layer of barricades. They had attempted to make him more comfortable with a few cushions under his sleeping form. His face still looked strained, struggling against something unseen.

A new wave of yells from the Keel marked the arrival of another surge of monsters. Yullian checked the belt attached to the rifle once again, and secured her hands around its stock and trigger, bracing for the attack. Whatever was going on inside his head, she desperately hoped he would figure it out before she ran out of laser-charged bullets. 

Cygnu fought through the cold tempest around him, one step at a time. 

Each step grew heavier. He could no longer remember why he was fighting through the storm. Maybe at one time, he had known where this blindingly white vortex arose from, and how he came to be trapped in it, but that felt like a lifetime ago. Several lifetimes, perhaps, long ago on a planet that had no name. 

Each step sunk into white drifts. He hugged his arms tight around him, and shuddered more intensely. Not just from the cold - somehow the feel of his own skin was wrong. He didn’t have the right body. Cygnu looked down, at his own shivering arms, pale and dull against the blazing white void around him. Another cutting gust of wind whipped snow through his silver hair. 

Wait, snow?

He blinked, eyes squinting through the twisting stream of icy flakes. He could see no way out through the storm. Every direction was swallowed up in the white drifts around him. 

His next step thunked against something buried. He stumbled, sprawling painfully into the icy drifts. And then he saw it, some sort of emblem, half-hidden by the snowbank. It was affixed with ribbons and glimmering silver filigree, representing a white and black bird against a sun. Cygnu reached over with a half-numbed hand, puzzled. It looked familiar, somehow.

His hand brushed against something else, buried in the snow under it.

The gale pushed more of the drift away, revealing another hand, frosted white and stiff. Then a face appeared - a young woman. She was sprawled where she had fallen. Even after being pushed off, toppling through the air from such a height to land here in the snow, she was still clutching the seal. Her eyes were still wide, staring up at him. His hand met hers, bearing the emblem. 

A dim thought rose to Cygnu’s mind, that the sight should be horrible, but his body was already too numb to respond. Instead, his confusion only deepened. Why would she still be holding onto it, so tightly, even in death? Why was the seal so important?

And why do I know that she fell…?

The sudden strangeness of his surroundings jolted through him. Cygnu jerked his hand away, falling backwards from her, gasping. A stabbing pain from behind his eyes intensified and temporarily cut through the ache in his frozen limbs. It wasn’t a feeling anymore, Cygnu was certain , with every frozen fiber of his being, that he knew her, but the memory still remained buried in the snowdrifts. 

Grief and loss welled up in his chest, intensifying the ache of his head. It was the weight of some dread, from something he was forbidden to recall, resting in exile just on the edge of his thoughts. A nameless sadness, more painful than the stinging whip of the blinding snow, paralyzed him. Death swirled on the wind.

He curled up where he had fallen, trying to shield himself from the wind, to close around the pit of that sorrow. But the chill only seeped further into him.

Am I dead too?

The barricades against the palace gates shook and clattered at a new tremor. Yullian and the rest of the Keel flinched at a bellowing roar - deeper and more savage than any of the others. It reverberated through the crimson glowing air. The red light almost seemed to flash and swell in response to it.

“It’s trying to breach the gate!” one of the other guards yelled, crouched behind a wall made of a broken table and an ancient chest of drawers.

“Don’t just stand there slack-jawed, stop it!” Yullian snapped. Her rifle swung around. But it was too late.

With another roar, a huge cleft in the wall broke off, crashing into the courtyard with a plume of pulverized cement erupting outwards from it. The looming, reptilian skull of the new monster made an easy target for their weapons, but each laser bolt and fiery arcing grenade seemed to have as much effect as bird droppings on statues. The shots died away as they took in the terrifying, looming appearance of its dripping fangs, each the size of swords in its heavy jaws.

Crackling blue electricity streamed through the air, at once drowning out the red glare from the eclipse. It plunged into the massive monster, spitting and burning across its slimy, scaled flesh. Smaller creatures that flitted and cried around its feet were evaporated in the electric wave. Others were crushed as the giant collapsed to the ground with a bellowing scream of pain.

The pit in Yullian’s stomach dropped further. What kind of creature could have possibly attacked like that? Would it be coming for them next? The rest of the Keel looked to her, with the same horrified questions in mind. She had no answers to reassure them. In lieu of a response, she tried to keep a steady, determined expression on her face as she tentatively stepped over the barricades to judge the new turn of events. 

The air outside the now-smashed gate shimmered, sparkling with more electricity. Yullian halted. She had seen this phenomenon before. 

That’s impossible! 80 was right, the Minus energy must have driven all the kaiju on this planet berserk. There’s no other reason a Neronga would be attacking right now!

Almost as if it responded to her naming it, the shimmer resolved itself into a huge quadrupedal beast. It stood on its back legs proudly, but on revealing itself, it crashed onto its forelimbs. With the impact, horns against its brow and bony nose swept forward, concentrating the electricity into another crowd of smaller shadow creatures trying to squirm through the cracks in the walls.

The reverberating impact sent tremors under the stones and through the palace’s floors. Yullian briefly stumbled, jolted out of her shock. She pivoted back, ready to yell an order to fire on the new monster. 

Then a telepathic laugh rang through her mind.

“Come and get some, you bastards!” It howled with delight. “This is for Haryn! ” Another limb crushed into the dark swarm. “And Zudos! Euria! All of them!” Each name was punctuated by crackling shots of lightning and heavy stomps. 

Another pair of hulking silhouettes now loomed over the palace walls, joining the melee. Yullian shaded her eyes against the sudden surge of energy that arrived with them. One with the tapered, smoothly segmented body she instantly recognized as a Telesdon. But the last figure, a rounded, almost comedically bulbous shape, was instantly recognizable for another reason. Yullian knew it, not just from her experience as an Ultra - an Ambassador of Light throughout the galaxy, encountering such kaiju on other planets.

It was the same Takkong from earlier that week. 

The wave of shadowed monsters was quickly thrashed, clawed apart into ribbons, and smashed into ooze. The remaining mass seeped outwards through the ground, retreating from the walls.

Yullian tried valiantly to restrain herself, to remain just as stoic as she had appeared only a few minutes before when the gates broke. But she couldn’t. She grinned in relief, laughing to match the new kaiju that stomped triumphantly towards the courtyard. No, not just kaiju. The Spark Dolls! 

The three kaiju figures bellowed one last time, over the walls, then dissolved into pale blue sparks. They re-appeared as human figures, staggering only briefly upon their arrival amidst a crowd of rebels rushing into the palace grounds. Even as the small motes of light disappeared, a clear light seemed to suffuse the atmosphere around them. It lit up wide grins on the faces of the Toorwanyu who had arrived.

Black-uniformed figures peered out from over the barricades of the palace. Whatever caused the crashing tremors hadn’t immediately destroyed the palace or killed them all, so the Keel stepped outside to see what was happening instead.

On their tentative appearance more shouts erupted. These were not triumphant cheers. The rebels raised their guns once again, towards the few remaining Keel soldiers who appeared in the courtyard.

“Stop!” The full force of Yullian’s command swept through the crowd, rooting them all where they stood. Silence reigned at her side, without even the sound of the dark creatures around them to interrupt now. She swept between the two sides, the stained and ripped skirt of her diplomatic robes gliding behind her like the train of an imperial cloak. 

Yullian gave them all a moment to freeze at the sight of her displeasure, carefully turning to fix her glare on every single figure before continuing. “No gun will be raised against anyone, not here. Not in this sanctuary.”   

Her words almost seemed to give further shape and dimension to the light around them. It strengthened, glowing like a spotlight to highlight her smooth features and dark eyes. “All of us here, whether Keel, D’runya , or Ultra-” Yullian gestured towards herself, sweeping the light with the motion. “We have all arrived here, to find ourselves in this moment together because we have all sought the same thing. Peace. Strength. Light. How can we protect that light if you turn on each other? We are the only ones left to carry it now!”

Shame sat heavily on both sides. But as Yullian gestured back to the palace, they could all see where the protective light was laid inside, weak and still. Too still. The blue glow shivered around them.

“No!” 

Bia’s scream cut through the crowd. 

Yullian and all the others looked towards her, shocked. 

“Cygnu!” she screamed again, pushing her way through the crowd, sprinting towards the tall doors, still partly ajar against the makeshift barricades.

Stumbling, she came to a halt inside, over his body. Bia had finally made it, she had found her way back to him. But she was too late. Her shoulders shook heavily with sobs. The blue glow around her flickered and dimmed. 

Only a few steps behind her, Yullian ran towards the scene. It took the rest of the Keel and rebels several more seconds to realize the light in the courtyard was rapidly diminishing. The encroaching blood-red swirl of light drove them back inside.

“It’s not fair! You saved my life, you protected all of us-” In the wide hallway, Bia dropped to her knees. She grabbed for his hand, holding it to her chest the same way she remembered. Hot, shameful tears at her own weakness squeezed out from her sobs. She had failed once again, the light was quickly draining from the room. 

“You saved me, and you didn’t even tell me your name!” 

She bent over him, weeping. Tears dripped onto his stilled chest. They splashed against the broken shards of Cygnu’s pendant. Light burst out from the drops. It sparkled, swirling in a brief pulse, then began to grow more strongly with a deep cobalt color. 

The light spread, intensifying in a wave around them.

This is how it ends then.

The snow closed around Cygnu’s body, its white glare fading from his sight, into darkness.

A hand rested against his back, between frozen, aching shoulder blades. Cygnu flinched at the touch, but warmth spread out from it. The sensation flowed into his limbs, like a hot spring, plunging through his chest.

Cygnu drew in a heavy gasp. He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath.

The feeling from the hand faded, withdrawing. Cygnu pushed himself upright again, whirling around to look behind him.

He had never seen them before, but the figure was unmistakably an Ultra. Sharp cuts of purple and black defined the angles of her limbs and the elegant slant of her cheekbones. A crest lifted over her brow, resembling the points of a silver tiara. Her eyes shone pale white, strong and stark, but gentle. 

Cygnu had never seen these features before, or this figure standing calmly, staring past him within the swirl of driving winds. But somehow, he knew her name.

“Noct?”

“In many ways, death was the kindest gift my sister could give me.” Her voice echoed serenely, heedless of Cygnu’s confusion or the storm which now almost seemed to fade into the background. The cutting edge of the icy vortex dulled.

Something flowed, hot and flushed across Cygnu’s face. He drew a hand across it, and realized they were tears. His face flushed further, heated by anger. What use were tears here, for a death that was long in the past? “Why? Why would your sister…?” he choked out.

“There will always be ones who only know how to take from others. Pride, ambition, deceit… death is indeed the end for such things. Perhaps even my own pride in thinking I could have changed things…” 

Noct walked past him, and through him, a ghost sliding through his vision. She strode to meet her body, and knelt down into the snow beside it. Her graceful fingers stretched out to close the lids of her eyes. She appeared to be at peace, a quiet, wistful smile on her face. Both of them.

The sight only made Cygnu’s frustration burn more painfully. He was still stuck here, in this memory, helpless when his teammates, and an entire planet of innocent lives, tilted on the precipice of darkness. His hands clenched into fists. 

“How can you just say that? I took on this power, the Aegis, because I wanted to fight to protect others, so no one else would have to die like this, like you did! But I…“ 

He brought his fists upwards, shaking with the exertion. Even with his hands drawn together, he could still feel that brief touch, the brush of his fingers against a familiar light - Helios’ spirit. He felt that warm glow, the strong spires of ice blue radiating from a golden star, moments before it struck him down. 

“-I couldn’t stop it, I’m not strong enough. And now it took the captain…” 

He trailed off, the anger dying into strained sobs doubled over in the snow.

“And now? Do you think this is the end, Cygnu?” 

Cygnu’s eyes snapped open. He glanced up to see Noct addressing him, gazing down towards him with pristine white, shining eyes.

“It is because of my sister’s selfishness, my death at her hands, millennia before you came to know my name, that I am here now.” 

Standing, Noct retrieved the seal from her own hand. It blazed with light, shifting between her fingers. Soon, it grew and sharpened into a new shape - the familiar silver curves of the Nocturne Aegis. 

She turned and presented it to Cygnu.

“And so are you.”

Like a pebble dropped into a still pond, deep blue light rippled outwards, covering the crowd of worried onlookers. It settled around each of their bodies, renewing the protective barrier, shielding them from the blood-stained eclipse. Cygnu’s eyes still remained shut, but as Bia fretted over him, his chest began to rise and fall with a more regular rhythm. His face relaxed, relieving whatever painful tension he was fighting while unconscious.

Indrick was at least relieved that his niece was no longer glowing blue now. The effect was unsettling. He breathed a heavy sigh, and turned to Yullian, introducing himself.

“We came here to help, but… I don’t have the slightest clue what’s goin’ on here, ma’am,” he admitted sheepishly. 

That makes two of us. Yullian wished 80 was still here - he would’ve been able to describe exactly what was happening with the young Ultra’s light, in his casual, cheerful way. 

“We are glad for your help regardless,” Yullian demurred. “Your journey here must have been a dangerous one, and I’m afraid we aren’t out of that danger yet.”

“Tell us what you want to do then.” More rebels turned towards her, a hardened, determined light in their eyes now. 

What do I want to do? By the Spark, where do I begin? Yullian wanted to go out into the streets and beat every single monster with the heel of her shoe. She wanted to fly into every home where innocent lives huddled in fear and despair and pull them to safety. She wanted to find that bastard Yago and kick his teeth in. But she couldn’t. Not with the shattered metal settings of her bracelet still chained around her wrist. Not with this small group of haphazard civilians and rough guerillas. Not by herself, without her loyal Knight Protector.

Finally, she looked around the entry hall. Despite her misgivings, the remains of the Keel and the gathered force of Toorwanyu returned her look, unflinchingly resolute. 

I suppose we can begin here, at least. 

Yullian nodded towards Indrick. “Send any snipers you have to the roof. We need new angles to prevent the monsters from pushing through the breach again. We’ll set incendiaries and razor wire against the gate to trip up anything that survives that. Get the rest of your people behind the barricades - we’ll trade off volleys to conserve ammunition for as long as possible. Hurry, we don’t have much time before the shadows regroup.”

“Why would they regroup?”

“I don’t quite know the reason why… but I think they’re scared of Cygnu’s light. They’re trying to destroy it. We need to protect him until the others find the source of this eclipse.” 

Yullian glanced back once more, to see Bia still firmly holding onto Cygnu’s hand, kneeling against the smooth wooden paneled floor. She sighed, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, I wish I could give you better news-” 

All the rebels gathered stood at attention, their fists raised over their chests in a silent pledge.

“We would be honored to serve with you, Princess.” Indrick spoke for them all.

Yullian lifted her chin, regally acknowledging them. “Take your positions then, command your people as you see fit. And…”

Her gaze flicked out through the smashed gate, in the direction that 80 and Rayan had taken when they ran off. 

“...Pray that we aren’t too late to stop this.”

Chapter Text

Atlan fell to the floor, awareness slowly filling her after she stumbled from the opened containment cell. The hard concrete under her hands and knees was polished to a mirror-smooth sheen. It reflected the harsh fluorescent lights around the wide chamber. She squinted, the glare was intensified by the long bare white walls with clean metal fixtures.

Hands grasped around her shoulders, trying to lift her up, but Atlan couldn’t move her legs to set them under her. Stinging, stiff aches shot through her limbs. Whatever toxin had knocked her out still hadn’t worn off.

Suddenly recognizing her freedom, Atlan sharply turned, and saw whose hands were now pushing her to sit upright on the floor. 

“80!...” She finally stammered out, hoarsely. 

Then she jumped again, seeing another figure, black-armored and faceless beside him. She shrank back, eyes wide with horror.

“Atlan, wait!” 80 tried to steady her. “It’s fine, he’s …” 

Well, he couldn’t exactly describe him as a friend yet.

“...He’s trying to help.” 80 stated. That was truthful enough, he figured.

Atlan’s panicked, short breaths slowed somewhat, but her eyes were still fearful, darting around them, taking in the rest of the wide chamber. Apart from rows of secured doors set at regular intervals, and a high row of railings along an overlooking catwalk, the room was void of any other furniture, equipment or people. Some of the doors blinked red or green lights, but there were no windows to reveal what they might contain.

“Thank Noa we found you, this whole place is a maze…” 80 muttered, checking over the Ultra warrior. She didn’t seem to be injured, just in shock and dazed.

Suddenly Atlan cried out and shoved his hands away. She tried to push herself to her feet again.

“Take it easy, I told you, the Keel’s with me, he’s not going to hurt you!”

“No, not him!” She finally forced the words out through clenched teeth. “It’s Helios! He… tried to rescue me but-”

“Where’s he now?” Rayan stepped forward, impatient. 

“He was here, I saw him! And then he…” She grew more agitated, recalling the groggy nightmare she witnessed while paralyzed in her cell. “He fought with the Sturm and-”

80 shot upright. “Wait, a Sturm ? Why would-” His eyes grew wide to match her panic. “By the Spark , that’s Yago, isn’t it?” He looked at Rayan, who shrugged. 

Cygnu’s last word in the meeting room, before he was struck unconscious, drifted back to 80. 

     Captain. 

What did he do with Helios?

His heart seized with cold dread, but he tried his best to not show it to Atlan as he turned back to her. “Slow down, take a deep breath, what happened?”

The chamber’s entrance slammed shut, thick double rows of doors latching securely with a hiss of pressurized air. 

A new voice, thin and tinny through hidden speakers, broke through. 

“Ah, what a touching demonstration of the powers of light. Your kind make for such powerful beacons, drawing towards each other, like starships passing through deep space. Unfortunately for you, it also makes your movements so easily predictable…” 

“Yago!” Rayan shouted, whirling around to find the source, but there was no sign of it. The voice was empty, disembodied without even a holograph to deliver the message. “Stop making your goddamned speeches and come out here to fight!” 

The voice laughed. “If you’re that eager for a fight, captain, I can certainly give you one...” 

Another hiss of released pressure caused them all to start and turn. They watched as another door opened with a dull ka-chunk . The latches withdrew from its edge, and it slid upwards into the wall. At this angle, they could see nothing it contained, only the pulse of deep red light. Then the light shifted, and a shape lurched from within it.

A hand grabbed the frame of the cell, purple-black colored like a bruise. A hunched figure, swathed in blood, staggered out. 

A strangled gasp of shock came from 80. He realized it wasn’t blood. It was the red color of Helios’ body. But the familiar pattern of his Ultra form was disfigured now, covered in a thick pall of black over the usual silver. Black streaks cut sharply across his eyes, which glowed with the same red light from the eclipse outside. A dark, oily stain smeared from his chest and abdomen, dripping from a gaping wound through his heart. Within the wound sat darkness, cold and solid. It wreathed around a searing red-orange light. None of them could bear the sight for long, the light made their eyes ache as they stared at it.

Even Rayan felt the horror emanating from Atlan and 80, taking in the new appearance of the respected patrol captain. He knew what Ultras were supposed to look like, but this was a mockery of their shape, a dark negative print that dulled even the stark white surfaces of the chamber around them. The air itself seemed to freeze and darken around his skin.

Atlan sobbed. “He took his color timer.” 

“He was an interesting experiment.” Yago’s voice gloated as he revealed him to the gathered party. “What happens when you take the light out of an Ultraman? I expected there to only be an empty husk, but no - there was still power left behind, to my surprise. If I wasn’t so busy, I would have loved to observe such an effect more closely. It probably won’t last for very long, of course, he must be in such agonizing pain right now… But I am interested to see which of you gives out first.” 

His casual tone dissolved into vicious laughter, then static before disappearing, leaving silence behind once more.

Helios stood there, rigid. All three figures facing him braced, their breaths held. Could he speak? Did he even see them there? 80 took one hesitant step, his shoe tapping against the tiles, a hand raised towards him. 

Helios’ head snapped upwards at the sound.The blood-red light in his eyes narrowed, intensifying. A grating, telepathic snarl ripped through their minds. He hurled himself forward, closing the distance with speed undiminished by his wounds. Only 80 reacted in time to block it, lunging forward to intercept him. His hands grasped around Helios’ forearms, struggling to hold him in place. They were locked for only a moment, before Helios swung him aside. But the brief moment of contact, as 80 braced against his burning, blackened skin, was enough for 80 to understand what Yago had meant.

There was a power driving Helios, something far more bleak and savage than he had ever felt before. Rage and desperate fear rose and crashed together in a deafening psychic scream. Helios’ mind was still wrapped in the flames from Syrvane. 80 tried to shake the sight of that fire from his own vision while unsteadily rolling back to his feet.

He looked up to see Rayan drawing his own sidearm, aiming for a shot against the captain. 80’s eyes widened, he sprang forward to grab the Keel’s arm.

 “Get off me! He needs to be stopped, can’t you see he’s already dead?” Rayan pulled his hand away, trying to shake the Ultra brother.

80 refused to let go, but also couldn’t risk taking his eye off of Helios, even as he staggered, dazed under the influence of the darkness. He didn’t know how long the respite would last. “No! You’re just going to make it worse!” he shouted.

“Things can’t get worse than dead!” 

“Helios already died once, you idiot! He gave his life, all of the light he had to try and stop monsters from destroying a colony, and right now he still thinks he’s fighting them!-”

80 pushed Rayan awkwardly away, flinging himself backwards at the same time, narrowly dodging Helios’ next charge. This time 80 crouched low, and sprung towards Helios, wrapping his arms around his midsection with a yell, trying to tackle him to the floor. 

Flames rose again in his vision, intense and painful. He fought through it, struggling to push the captain down.

“Stop this! You’re not fighting Choujuu anymore! It’s me! 80! You have to remember!-”

80’s words were cut off. Helios’ arms twisted and jerked him off-balance, breaking his grip. A fist flew up, punching him savagely into the stomach once, twice, three times. Even harder, an elbow flew into his face, cracking his jaw. A final devastating kick threw him backwards, rolling across the tiles. More blood dripped onto them, from 80’s mouth as he lay there, gasping and winded.

Rayan still gripped his sword and pistol, but his arms hung at his sides. He understood now that neither would repel another attack from the dark Ultra long enough for him to gain any advantage. Despite his own strength, his armor and training, he was no Ultra warrior. He stood, unsure of a battle plan for the first time in his life. His mind couldn’t reconcile the bestial figure now facing them with the calm, collected, quiet strength that Helios had radiated before. 

In 80’s mind, the red light burning from Helios’ ruined chest reminded him of something else.

He had once watched a star die.

80 remembered its final death throes, only milliseconds before it erupted into a supernova. Its fuel had long since been exhausted, millions of years before, but desperately the star pushed even deeper, taking heavier atoms and fusing them together at a faster and faster rate. It cannibalized itself until suddenly the core became dark, cold iron. A pit that drained all the star’s energy into it, a stone from which blood no longer could flow. Its heart was gone.

Immediately, without the heat and light from the core to buoy the star’s immense layers outwards, it all collapsed. Trillions upon trillions of tons of stellar matter, crushed together, falling endlessly inwards. The iron sank into a dense, formless mass of neutrons, but it couldn’t stop. The collapse pushed even further, deeper into darkness, until the only thing remaining was a singularity that no light could escape from. A jagged wound in the fabric of space itself.

A black hole.

Helios died once. But if he keeps fighting like this… the darkness will consume him so completely, he’ll never be able to come back again-

A spitting crackle cut through his horror. Still prone, 80 looked up to see a red blaze - a specium sawblade spinning towards him. There was no time to move.

Golden sparks erupted in a shower. The sawblade whizzed away, cutting deep into the wall before it shattered and evaporated. 80 flinched away from a new whirling blade that whipped over his body in a tight loop.

The edged slugger zipped back, and Atlan seized it from its path. She held it out warily as she slid into a fighting stance, positioning herself directly between 80 and her captain. Her body now was covered in the red and silver patterns of her true form, golden eyes blazing with a resolute will.

“Go! Find his color timer! I’ll cover you!” She said, without looking back over her shoulder. Her gaze was locked on Helios. He paced like a caged animal on the other side of the room, considering them with a ravenous gleam in his red eyes. 

“You can’t fight him by yourself!” 80 pushed himself upright, and moved to try and join her. She swung out her arm, still tightly holding the slugger to block him.

“I have to!” Atlan cried out. “There’s no other way! You’re the only one who knows enough to stop the Minus energy. Please!” 

80 hesitated. Rayan drew close behind him. “She’s right, Ultraman. In case you forgot, she’s also the only one who can transform right now, neither of us can match him either,” he hissed, low. “We need to go, now!”

Rayan pulled against his shoulder, trying to jerk 80 out of his silent indecision as he stood frozen. “Trust her. Trust her strength.”

Finally, 80 looked back to the Keel, and nodded. Both of them broke running for the next hallway.

Atlan only dropped her guard for a brief moment, to see them break the doors open from their latches. They were now on their own, fighting their way deeper into the lab. She couldn’t help them anymore, except by focusing on what was in front of her. 

Helios. My captain. My… friend.

Almost as if waiting for the cue, Helios howled, and charged again. A cry ripped from Atlan to match him, and they collided together in the chamber. 

She quickly realized that 80 was right. It took all her energy to simply keep up with Helios’ movements. His onrushing flurry of jabs and thrusts knocked her backwards, driving her against the wall. Her own arms raised up, blocking him as fast as she could sense his wild attacks. The flat of her slugger blade struck aside lightning-quick punches. She ducked under a chop. The edge of Helios’ hand slammed into the wall, driving cracks through it, which sparked with residual crimson energy bleeding off from him. 

Atlan circled cautiously. Helios jumped, aiming a high-angled kick towards her. She ducked again, but was too slow to miss his other foot rising behind it. It cracked across her face. Atlan stumbled backwards, dazed. She found her footing just in time to brace against a spinning heel. The armored plates along her shoulders clattered, deflecting the blows. She reached outwards, caught an arm as it swung behind Helios’ kick and she pulled him in closer. Her knee drove into his stomach. She felt something crack and shift under the blow, Helios howled in pain. She shifted her weight, pivoting on her foot, and struck him again with a kick, sending him staggering back again while she leapt away. 

The attack had bought her enough time to regain her bearings, gasping for breath, but Atlan knew she was now fighting for her own life. She just couldn’t overcome Helios’ ferocious speed, even with his injuries. On top of that, she was burning energy too fast to stay in this form for more than another minute. Two perhaps, if she conserved her slugger attacks-

A lash of burning energy snapped towards her, a beam fired from Helios’ raised arm. Atlan yelped, dropping to one knee. She rolled to the side, springing up as soon as a second blast sparked and singed the wall over her shoulder. A blackened blur sped across the edge of her vision, she raised an arm instinctively and Helios’ foot crashed into the armor extending down her arms. Another kick followed. Atlan took it squarely. It slammed across her abdomen, but she surged upwards through it. It was the only opening she could find. Atlan struck her arm out, knocking Helios’ punch aside, then grabbing, twisting around his wrist. She wrenched her grip to the side, momentarily dragging him off-balance, exposed. Atlan raised her slugger above him.

She aimed the blade to drop straight across his neck, but found herself unable to move. 

A voice drifted out of her memory as she looked down at her Captain’s horrific appearance, the burning red eyes filled with anger and loathing. They were so unlike the steady golden eyes that fixed on her that day at the Academy.

     “What are you doing?”

     “What does it look like? I’m your sparring partner.” 

Her hand quavered. It refused to bring her slugger blade down.

     “Don’t worry, I won’t be too hard on you, you’re younger after all.”

Helios’ fists cracked against her chest armor, driving the air out of her. Atlan sputtered, gasped, limping backwards. She clutched her hand with the slugger across her heart. 

Helios’ attack ceased. He once again stood several paces away, hunched with pained breaths hissing from his form, watching her. Atlan slowly straightened, and  brought the slugger back up to rest along her head crest, with a deliberately smooth motion. She hoped he saw and understood the decision. But if he did, there was no indication through the haze of blood red light in his eyes.

Atlan realized that she couldn’t overpower him. She couldn’t kill him - what good would that do, if he’s already dying? No, there was only one way to win this fight. She had to match his strength - his true strength. 

Even back in the Academy, Helios was always strong enough to match her. Now, centuries later, Atlan understood why. He never did it to embarrass her, or to take glory in standing over her defeated. He fought with all his strength because he wanted her to be stronger too.

I have to show him that. I have to prove this to him…

Atlan lowered her arms. She took on an old, familiar stance she remembered from her days of training, exhaling in a long, controlled breath. This time, her footing was solid and sure. Her knees bent, bracing to meet Helios as he rushed towards her.

“Are you sure this is the area? There’s no one around. If I was still in command here, I would order them to put a heavy guard around this engine…”

Rayan and 80 rushed through another long, sterile white hallway. To Rayan, it was indistinguishable from the others apart from strings of letters and numbers emblazoned on plaques, marking location codes. 

“Believe me, it doesn’t need guards.” 80 staggered, breathing heavily, but not from the exertion of running up stairs and along the corridors. He leaned heavily against a corner as they came to a T-shaped intersection. 

Rayan stared at him, under the blank faceplate. “Perhaps we should circle back to the main floor-” 

“Would you shut up and trust me, Rayan!” 80 snapped. He stopped, pushing himself upright again. He gasped deep to catch his breath temporarily against the powerful pressure of whatever dark influence was being generated on this level of the facility. “The power conduits all run up to this level, it’s connected directly to the antenna in the tower, there’s no other place the generator would be.” 

The Ultra brother was trying to focus on these facts in plain, sequential order. They filed neatly into lists, as he mentally recited the technical mechanisms of this phenomenon. It was the only anchor his mind had to hold fast against the sickening fear which steadily intensified. Cygnu’s light helped protect them from the eclipse outside, but the oppressive feeling from the Minus energy was overwhelming at such a close distance to its source.

Even more sickening was the knowledge of what lay at its heart. To take an Ultra’s light, and twist it, drowning an entire city - perhaps the planet itself - in this terrifying darkness… It was unthinkable. Blasphemous. But the magnitude of 80’s outrage against Yago’s plans helped to drive his footsteps further, towards the doors at the end of this hallway. 

No words labeled its smooth surface, but both of them recognized the single stenciled pictograph describing what it contained.

     -DANGER-

Rayan gestured his gauntleted hand over the locked control panel. It remained silent, unresponsive. He pounded his fist, frustrated, into its blank surface.

Nothing happened. 

Two laser blasts followed, and the doors slid open with halting jerks, the whine of strained gears.

The last barrier was removed between them and the Minus energy engine. All the remaining strength in 80’s limbs drained out as the doors opened, revealing the searingly bright red light. He couldn’t even stand under its weight in the chamber. He collapsed against the threshold, this time sinking to his knees, his arms shaking. The pulsing, bloody light at the center of the huge metal and glass apparatus filled his sight. It pushed out all other thoughts in his mind. Dark-edged static pressed against the edges of his vision, and against his chest. 

80’s arms dropped from where they clutched the frame of the door. He couldn’t feel his limbs anymore.

Then the red light flickered. It dimmed, once, then faded entirely away in a second. The pressure immediately lifted behind it. 80 choked, air filling his lungs again. He shook his head, and his hands, tightening them to restore circulation. Then he looked up to see Rayan standing over the machine as it whined and went dark. A thin trail of smoke and a few stray sparks spit from a cracked glass panel against its side.

Giddy relief flushed through 80, he half-staggered, running over to examine the broken engine.

“Of course!” He cried out, tentatively picking through dead wires and busted fuses. “It was running off of a quantum entanglement cascade, the superdense wave vectors were self-sustaining in a feedback loop through the rubidium-beryllide radiative cooling element!” He would've been impressed at the level of sophisticated technology under his fingers if it hadn’t just been used to corrupt the bleeding heart of one of his best students.

He turned, looking upwards to Rayan. “But how did you shut it down?”

“I hit it with my sword.”

For a moment, 80 thought Rayan had attempted a joke. The smooth, pale blue faceplate revealed nothing as he stood silently, arms crossed. 

Soon, sensation was fully restored to his limbs, and 80 reached into the machine carefully. His hands cradled around the color timer at its center. Stray arcs of energy, residual static, crackled through the small chamber as he lifted it upward. 

80 turned it over in both hands, examining it. It appeared to be in one piece, without cracks or any other visible damage. Most importantly, the device had lost its tarnished purplish-black color.

In fact, there was no color left in it at all. It rested in his open palms, chilled, dark and silent.

Are we too late?

The sharp, jangling tone of Atlan’s flashing color timer pierced through her nerves. Helios’ attacks only seemed to speed up as the fight continued, and energy drained from them both. She was amazed at how long his strength was holding out, but it wasn’t helping either of them in this case.

There were no openings left for her. The best she could manage to survive, to match his strength, was to predict the direction of his furious blows, and brace herself against them. She twisted, deflecting a devastating straight-line punch into a glancing strike against her side. But even that was painful, punishing her already-bruised muscles and bones further. Atlan brought her arms up, together, protecting her head from a high swinging kick. The impact flung her staggering sideways.

She dropped, crouching low, preparing for another flurry. But from this angle, she noticed something different. Helios’ feet, as he stepped forward - overextended. Too far over his center . Easy mistake to make, if you’re not focused…

Atlan stepped right, only narrowly ducking under the series of savage jabs. She dipped, rising back up to Helios’ side. Quickly - too quickly - he twisted to meet her. His foot lifted awkwardly, trying to cross behind his off-center stance.

Atlan dropped again, thrusting her leg out in a sweep. It collided with Helios’ ankles, toppling his balance. He stumbled. Atlan shot upwards, grabbing around one of his wheeling arms, locking it around her elbow. She spun, pulling him with her. Helios’ body lifted up. Another twist drove her full body weight onto him. Both crashed loudly into the smooth tiled floor. 

Still breathing hard, Atlan changed her grip, trying to pin him. It would only be another moment before he’d thrash, shove her off, and rise to deliver another brutal whirlwind of attacks…

Under her straining arms, Helios lay still. She could feel his chest rising and falling unsteadily, struggling. The awful, gaping wound was exposed with its motion. Inside the darkness, the red-orange abyss blinked, weakening. 

Atlan released him, jumping to her feet, hardly daring to hope that it was finally over.

Still lying on his back, Helios blinked, once. Twice. The red faded away from his eyes, back into the soft, dimmed golden light Atlan recognized. 

A dark tunnel constraining his vision cleared, to see Atlan reach down with one hand open, in a familiar gesture. 

His head tilted up, seeing her face. She was crying, but smiling above him.

“You really should watch your footwork better… Captain,” she whispered.

“Atlan?” Helios croaked. “You’ve gotten… stronger.” He reached towards her hand, weakly. The blood-red and blackened fingers brushed against Atlan, but the fire had gone out of his touch. 

Then his arm fell to the floor. The red glow in his chest evaporated, leaving only an empty hole.

“Captain?”

Atlan threw herself to the floor beside him, taking his body in her arms. She squeezed, trembling, trying to wake him. 

“Helios!” she screamed.

Across his skin, the purple-tinged black shroud faded, leaving the silver once again. But the wound remained, a deep abyss with ragged, stained edges. The extremities of his body, the tips of his fingers and feet, began to dull, cracking into stone as Atlan watched in horror, helpless

“Atlan!”

The voice called from above her, startling her from her grief. Something flashed, hurled towards her. She snatched it from the air on reflex, then held it out.

A color timer, darkened and cold. 

“Put it back!” 80 shouted, dropping from the catwalk. He scrambled forward.

His direction pulled her focus back. Cautiously, she lowered the metal device into the wound. It slid with a gentle pressure into place. But nothing changed. Both the lacerated edges of his open chest and the timer remained still and colorless. His eyes were concrete grey and blank. 

Shallow sobs intensified in Atlan’s voice. “It’s not working! We’re too-”

“Don’t you dare say it .” 80 snapped. “It’s never too late. Now, with me, focus-”

80 guided his hand over top of hers, against Helios’ chest. He pressed both their hands against the color timer. The touch of his skin - still in his human form - was reassuringly warm and steadying.

“Think about his light.” He breathed, gently directing her. “Remember your bonds with him-”

Atlan’s heart only raced faster. Bonds? Light? That’s Cygnu’s thing, I can’t do that! I was never good at understanding people, the only thing I could ever do was fight. How can I reach him with just that?  

But that’s what worked, didn’t it? Another small voice in Atlan’s mind joined her doubts. It was quiet, so quiet that all the rest of her panicked thoughts were silenced by it. 

Helios reached out to her first, with that sparring match, didn’t he? 

She focused on that small voice, clenching her teeth to imagine her words with all the strength she had left. If it wasn’t for you, I would’ve been the same… something violent and brutal, lashing out against everything. Trying to make everyone around me hurt, hurt more, all because of how much I hated them, and hated myself for it. If it weren’t for you, I would have never changed. But you gave me something else, a different kind of strength. You were someone - anyone else - I could fight with, other than myself.

Warmth built up under their hands, glowing. Atlan couldn’t see it, her eyes tightly shut. Glimmering tears streamed from them.

I’m sorry, it’s too late now to tell you all this. I’m so sorry, I just wanted… I wanted you to be proud of me. I wanted to be as strong as you. I wanted you to know that you weren’t wrong. You weren’t wrong to believe in me back then, to put me on your team… to fight with me.

Please… I just want to fight alongside you again! I don’t want it to end like this!

The beep of a color timer interrupted her thoughts. It wasn’t hers. 

She opened her eyes and glanced downwards. Helios’ color timer, now secured in his chest, was glowing a pale red, flashing intermittently. A heavy sigh of relief burst from her. She sat back heavily against the tiles, a bright swirl of golden light emerging around her as she faded back into her human body. 

A similar glow rose around Helios, resolving into his deeply browned skin and dark hair. The front of his robes were tattered, slashed open and stained with blood. Under it, his chest rose and fell shallowly. Rather than a gaping hole, his injury appeared as deep lacerations, cutting his flesh down to slick bone in some parts. He was unconscious, still stiff with pain.

But alive.

Atlan’s human face frowned, worrying. The fight was over, she was at a loss for how to help him now. 80 wasted no time however, tearing the upper tunic of Helios’ clothing away. He ripped lengths of fabric from it, and began tying makeshift bandages around his ruined chest.

“Don’t worry, the worst of it seems to be over.” He reassured her as he worked. “The Silver Cross can take care of the rest of this when we get back home.”

Home…

The word hung, gleaming with hopeful promise in their imagination. 

“Is it over then?” Atlan tentatively asked. 

“I…I think so. We broke the engine creating this darkness. Things should go back to normal now.” 80 couldn’t believe his words either. They had survived, somehow. All of them. 

Hold on a second… All of us?

 80 suddenly looked around, anxiously. “Where did Rayan go?”

“Who? The Keel?" Atlan’s brow creased deeper. “You’re the only one who’s come back, 80.” 

80 turned back to Helios’ comatose form, settled against the tiles. Atlan and the captain were both rescued, secured. They had stopped the eclipse. Their mission was over. 

Even though the darkness had dissipated from the city, cold dread settled into them once again. 

Yago swore, kicking the side of a huge metal apparatus set into the top of the temple’s parapet. He was a scientific man, he knew that striking the machine would do nothing to fix matters. The Minus energy that his equipment had gathered and recirculated, intensifying it into tangible material for his use, fuel for his experiments, his power, was now steadily leaking away. It seeped and bled into the gusting grey winds that swirled around the tower. Without the inverted energy from the Ultra captain’s light core, the cascade effect had broken. The skies were now steely and cold. The only light around them was pale, suffused through the heavy clouds gathered above the silent city. 

He kicked it again. Nothing changed, but the sharp clank of the impact, the force against his boot, was satisfying regardless. The brief diversion passed, he needed to focus on salvaging the remainder of his technology. A waiting ship, hidden even from the Keel, would take him and his supplies away from this planet, to a new hideout, where he could begin a new round of experiments-

A flash of red cut through his peripheral vision. He yelped, stepping back against a narrow wall. Pieces of mortar crumbled from it, down to the street hundreds of feet below. 

The red glow leveled, laying edgewise alongside his throat - the edge of a sword. Its handle was deftly wielded by a figure with no face, only a smooth pale blue faceplate set into a helmet with sharp, black ridges.  

“Rayan,” Yago hissed, not daring to move against the sword’s humming plasma edge.

“It’s over, Yago. Surrender yourself to the law of the Keel, and answer for your treachery,” he growled.

The Sturm laughed. 

Rayan didn’t anticipate that reaction. The edge of his sword shifted, uneasily. Had he set another trap for them? 

Yago leaned forward into the opening, to examine him closer. “The law of the Keel, you say? Your people have no laws, Rayan, only whims, and blind devotion to the power necessary to enforce them on the worlds you conquer.”

He grinned, allowing the thought to sink in. “And you, my dear captain, have no power to threaten me with.” 

Rayan thrust the sword forward again, with renewed strength. It trembled at the force he used to grip it now.

Yago probed him further. “Time is short, so I will offer you a deal instead. You want power, don’t you? I can see how you quailed under Dicene’s thumb, how much you hated that pompous ass, Orfeo. You wanted to be free of them. I can give you that power, to break your chains. Aren’t you tired of just being their hound?”

“And what do you get out of this deal?” 

“Curiosity, mostly. But I find it expedient, in situations like this, a benefit to have new allies-”

Rayan advanced on him. Yago gulped, eyes wide. He tried to step back again, but was pressed against the tower’s wall. 

“No deal. I know what you did to my soldiers.” 

“They were weak! Look at what you’ve already done here. You made it all the way through the city, under the influence of the Black Sun! I know you’re strong enough to use it. You know it too. You could become so much more …” 

The sword edge stilled. Rayan remained silent.

“No. All you can offer me is another set of chains.” His answer was low, almost lost in the sound of the wind.

Yago frowned. An unexpected result. He tried to protest again, but the glowing red edge rose upwards. It came to rest pointed directly before his eyes. The crimson glare was blinding.

“Besides, you’re powerless now too, aren’t you? Without the eclipse, you-” 

Darkness exploded around the two figures. A twisting, whipping gale of shadows lashed out at Rayan. The force shoved him backwards, off his feet. He crashed, landing against rotten wooden beams. They gave way under his weight, cracking and splintering. Rayan dropped with them to a landing below the tower’s uppermost platform. The impact drove the breath out of him, his helmet had smashed against boards and metal supports in the fall. Pieces of dark glass and ceramic crumbled, falling away from the hole punched through its once-smooth surface. Rayan groaned and brought a hand up to the jagged opening. He felt blood, warm and slick under it. He had lost his sword in the gloom around him. 

Yago appeared, gloating above the broken boards. Shafts of thin light outlined his silhouette, swirling with dust and thick, coursing tendrils of darkness around him. 

“The Black Sun may be gone, but I’ve gathered more than enough power from it to serve my purposes, captain. You should’ve joined me when I gave you the chance.” He laughed. The sound echoed, heedless of the strong winds around the tower. The temperature was rapidly dropping, anticipating the imminent arrival of a storm. 

“Go fuck yourself,” Rayan growled, still trying to push himself out from under a pile of splintered wooden spars.

“You still don’t understand what the darkness is. None of you Keel do. When night falls, when the stars themselves die at the end of time, when nothing else is left of this pitiful, insubstantial universe, there will still be the shadows…”

Yago clenched a fist, baring his teeth in only the grimmest semblance of a grin. 

“...And me.” 

He smashed his fist through the machinery, the metal split and buckled under the blow. Sparks flashed, then were consumed as pure black ichor flowed out and up his arm, embracing it. Soon his entire form was covered by it. The dark mass twisted and swelled, pulsing with a sickly greenish glow around its surface. 

The darkness around where Rayan lay thickened and streamed upwards to meet it. The black river flowing around him was ice cold, he cried out as it brushed over the exposed skin around his hands, his face. In only a moment, it was gone, but so was the pulsating, black mass that Yago had become. 

With a final heave, Rayan shoved aside the debris, and clambered up the remains of a ladder to the top again. He spun around, looking out over the city. In the dimming, pale light of the cloudy sky, the shadows solidified and lengthed. Cast at low angles between buildings, wildly contradicting each other without a single light source, the dark smears flowed across streets and instead gathered into a single source. 

A tremor began, and intensified through the city. The tower under Rayan shook dangerously. But his attention was totally fixed on the swollen, distended mass of shadows that had erupted. It billowed upwards, taking on a new shape. 

The monsters stalking the streets had collapsed into piles of black sludge when the red light disappeared. After many tense minutes of careful watch, doors cracked open only slightly. But slowly, figures emerged, humanoid, other aliens, who all huddled together to find shelter during the eclipse. The same question was on all of their minds.

Is it over?

A child ran out, leaping over the stairs descending from the door of his house, heedless of the cry of caution from his parents. Stick in hand, he poked curiously at one of the dark puddles, examining it like it was a pond left behind by a sudden torrential summer rain. 

The puddle twitched. The child yelled, falling backwards. Before him, the surface of the puddle rippled and swelled, then streamed upwards as if pulled by a giant invisible straw. All around them, more shadows stretched and grew to join it. 

Screams began fresh as they watched the shadows under their feet pull away to join the gathered swarm. Quakes began as the darkness twisted together. A titanic limb larger than any of the kaiju they had seen in the city emerged from the shapeless mass at its center. Brick walls cracked, sending the debris crashing under it as it descended with a step. Wide, clawed wings extended with a deafening snap, casting more darkness over the city. The rush of air nearly knocked people over, sending blinding sand rushing through the streets. The ones still on their feet turned, and began running 

With a crack of lightning, a thunderous roar exploded through the city, drowning out the cries of the civilians around it. The sound shaped itself into words, thrust into the minds of everyone who witnessed its towering, monstrous form.

-I HAVE COME TO BRING THE END-

Chapter Text

Atlan stood with 80 on the temple grounds, staring upwards. Helios’ unconscious body was suspended between them, his limp arms secured over their shoulders. Cold rain streamed and spit around them, whipped in between broken stone arches, some collapsed into new piles of debris after the tremors that shook through the entire city. They had only narrowly dodged falling beams and roof tiles as they escaped from the labyrinth of bare corridors making up the laboratory’s underground complex. 

But now the tremors were rhythmic, shuddering like a massive heartbeat, matching the footsteps of the titanic, shadowy beast over the horizon. They froze, the sight of it more chilling than the storm’s winds around them. 

It was more than a hundred meters’ height of unctuous black flesh, fangs and spines. The bulk of it was lumbering, quadrupedal, but a huge muscular trunk with more limbs and huge clawed wings extended from it. Its wingspan cast an intimidatingly deep darkness under it, even through the dim grey light of the storm clouds. Cracks oozing sickly greenish-yellow light opened around its joints with each motion, dragging inexorably forward, revealing the churning power animating it, only barely concealed within the mass of shadows composing its body. A long, serpentine neck twisted outwards, restlessly prowling over the city streets, striking seemingly at random with swift snaps and heavy blasts of energy. The red glare of fires, exploding under its footsteps, erupted in the distance.

Atlan’s hands dropped as she looked on, horrified. 80 took Helio’s weight, supporting his head carefully. He maneuvered him down onto the stones, in the shelter of a causeway that was still mostly-intact. 

All three were silent. Helios, still out cold from his grievous wounds, 80, fretting over adjusting the hastily-tied bandages around his chest, and Atlan, with her fists clenched and shaking. 

“What do I do now?” she whispered, hoping the sound of the driving rain would drown out the question, because she already knew the answer. It was obvious. There was only one of them on this planet left with a functioning transformation device. 

80 felt just as terrified as she looked, but he was too tired to try and hide that fact. He sighed, and looked up towards her. “What you’ve already been doing. What we all trusted you to do, Cygnu and Yullian and myself, and Helios. And Taro and Zoffy.  Everyone else in the Garrison, who trusted you with this mission.” 

She shook her head fiercely, drops cascading from her sodden braid. “No, don’t say that. Don’t tell me that, I’m the one who let them all down, the mission failed because of me-”

“The mission hasn’t changed, Atlan. We’re here to protect lives.” 

     “Being an Ultraman means giving your life for those you care about.”

Even unconscious, laid out on the ancient stonework beside her, she still heard Helios’ challenge in her mind, as clear as a bell. 

     “Are you prepared to do that?”

Lightning flashed, illuminating the gigantic silhouette of the monster. Atlan stood tense against whipping wind streaming through the ruined columns, and drew in a deep breath. She tilted her head upwards, feeling the rain spray against her face, temporarily hiding her fear.

One way or another, it’s time to finish what I’ve started.  

She raised a fist across her tunic, drawing her Ultra Eye forward. It sparked, and the golden light grew around her. 

The gathered D’runya and Keel burst into celebration with the end of the eclipse. The moment of elated relief passed quickly however, snatched away with the fierce storm winds, and the sight of the kaiju rising over the center of the city.

For a brief moment, Yullian stood motionless, breath held, expecting to see another figure join it in a blaze of glittering colored light. She waited for that familiar rise, the glowing pillar cutting through the clouds, for the form of 80 to appear alongside it, just like old times.

But seconds ticked by, with nothing to answer her prayers, apart from a torrential rain beginning to fall from ponderous grey clouds. A multitude of heavy fears began to crowd her thoughts. What if something happened to him? To the others? What if they never escaped? What if…

What if I’m the only one left?  

“Yullian?” 

Another small, frightened voice startled her. Yullian turned, looking down towards Bia, still kneeling by Cygnu’s sleeping body. 

“Why hasn’t he woken up yet?” Bia asked quietly, holding his hand between both of hers. It was warm, but still hung limp in her grasp. 

“He’ll come back to us when he’s good and ready,” Yullian answered, trying her best to present a reassuring smile.

But she heard her own words, calm and steady amid the growing panic and rush of activity around them in the palace’s entry hall. She hadn’t intended the statement in that way, but realized those words were exactly what she needed to hear as well. 

Her smile grew wider, taking on a sarcastic lilt as she continued. “We’ll take care of things until then. We can’t let him take all the credit, it’d go straight to his head,” she giggled. 

Beyond the wide doors, in the courtyard, Indrick had already begun organizing the Toorwanyu around him into squads. 

“You, Monduul, take Sulhe, Azo and Isalka, start sweeping northeast. Find anyone out in the street, push them here, back to the palace grounds,” he shouted, trying to make himself heard clearly over the storm. He turned, pointing to two women trying to huddle away from the weather under the wide promenade jutting out from the entryway. “Kelleia, you and Ceydre head behind them. Stick to two blocks around the walls ‘ere, keep the way clear, break up any scuffs from civilians evacuating this way. The last thing we need is people gettin’ trampled by each other instead of that monster!” 

They stood frozen, hearing the words, but not putting together how to make their frightened limbs follow the orders. 

“Go!” Indrick roared again, thrusting his hand out towards the city. They yelped and scrambled, following closely behind the group, bent low against the driving rain.

Iorr appeared at his side, one hand trying futilely to block the sheets of rain from his face. “Sir, shouldn’t we be using the tunnels? They’d be out of the way of the storm at least…”

“Are you crazy? In this flood? There’s no telling what might get washed down there! ‘Specially with these quakes, we can’t risk bein’ caught by a cave-in, or falling bricks!” Indrick shook his head, drops flying from his shaggy ponytail, appearing as dark brown as his beard in the gloomy, wet weather. 

“But is the palace any safer? I mean… what can we do against that?” Iorr cried out, gesturing towards the monster. It moved so slowly against the backdrop of the storm, but he could tell already - it was now larger, and drawing closer. “We already used up most’ve our ammo against the other monsters! We barely have any left to-”

Indrick whirled around to him, olive eyes flashing with another lightning strike, and glared. 

“You wanna give up now, Iorr? After everythin’ we’ve done already? Why did you come with us then, all this way, just to put down yer gun and die under that thing’s foot?” he growled dangerously.  

Iorr shrank back as his commander continued. “You, ‘n me, and everyone else here today became rebels - Toorwanyu - to fight against the demons threatenin’ our world. You’ve seen the beast statue, you’ve held its paw, for luck and guidance. You spoke th’ same oaths as the rest of us! Would the Toorwa back down from this challenge?”

“But… but we’re not some mythical beast, Sir! We’re just people-” 

“And so are they!” Indrick pointed again, out to the city. “Thousands of people out there, who need our help! D’you think you need some fancy spark doll power to answer them?” 

Iorr’s complaint died, withering under the heat of Indrick’s disapproval. He paused only long enough to snap off a salute, then rushed to join the other rebels running through the smashed gates.

Gauda ran alongside them as well, into the cobblestoned streets. She wished she had brought her cloak after all, they had to drop their weapons, the grenades, the ammo clips, and even her case with the spark dolls, to move together quickly. She had graciously thanked the kaiju for their assistance, and could still picture them resting quietly - satisfied - against the stone walls of the palace behind her. 

The only other thing she carried was her long-barreled rifle, still strapped securely across her back. Just in case. But for once, its weight over her shoulders was reassuring, comforting. Gauda realized that she had never carried it with her like this, running openly through the streets. Rather than scrambling over roofs, ducking through alleys or into tunnels. They emerged to push the frightened and panicked civilians through the streets, not as soldiers or rebels or hunters, but D’runya. Inhabitants of D’runossu - the jungle. 

That was the explanation Indrick had given to Atlan, but Gauda and the others around her heard the word differently. It carried even deeper connotations, of warmth and security and friendship. 

Home…

The flowing rush of civilians, shouting in terror, swept up in the panic alongside them, pushed through the city ahead of the shuddering tremors from the monster’s stride. Another huge earthquake shook through the streets under them, sending the crowd stumbling, falling against strewn debris and clambering for support against stone walls.

Two running figures, a mother and her son, tripped and skidded painfully against the wet cobblestones. The boy quickly rose to his feet, he reached his mother’s side, pulling her arm to help her up, staring wide-eyed at the renewed press of the crowd around them. She was unable to stand, clutching painfully at her foot. 

Lightning cracked against the sky, revealing the looming silhouette of the monster, only a few blocks from them. They could now feel an even colder, icy wind pushing outwards from it. The boy yelled out, throwing himself over the prone figure of his mother. They both crouched, shaking, eyes shut against what would surely be their final moments together.

Then another blaze of light seared through their eyelids. A new wind - hot and sharp - brushed past them. A yell ripped through the air behind it.

“DYUWAH!” 

The boy’s eyes snapped open, just in time to see lightning flash again, illuminating a huge red and silver giant. She bore a blade that looked as if she had grasped the lightning itself, forging it into gleaming, sharp metal. 

She crashed into the monster, her momentum pushing it back a step, then another. Dark tentacles rose, thrashing from the monster’s back. The blade shone, tracing a bright line through the whipping tendrils. They broke away, evaporating into mist, dispersed by the storm’s raging winds. 

The monster roared, but this time in a pained bellow thrumming through the ground under them. 

More figures around them glanced up, pointing, mouths agape in shock - but also trembling with a new feeling. Somehow, the boy recognized the giant. The way she whirled around, striking it, her foot rising into mighty kicks, snapping forward to halt its momentum, all seemed familiar to him.. 

He remembered only a few days ago, when a stranger single-handedly fought off muggers that attacked his mom in that alleyway…

Atlan surged into a powerful uppercut, driving into what - hopefully - she thought was the base of the monster’s long neck. Her fist collided with its flesh in a satisfyingly meaty WHUMP, but the monster barely seemed to respond to it. The force of the blow rippled across its oily surface, then sunk into the dense shadows swirling over its body. 

The sinuous neck swung back around, slamming into Atlan’s torso. She braced against it, struggling to wrap her arms around its thrashing, twisting length, but it lifted her off her feet. She stumbled, slamming backwards into the street before rolling and regaining her footing again. 

She rose, crouched low in a wrestling stance and grimaced, considering the situation. The monster wasn’t moving forward with any hurry, but its advancing creep was inexorable. Under the spread of its blackened wings and lashing, clawed tendrils, more darkness seemed to sink outwards across the city. Atlan’s breath drew sharp with horror as she looked closer at it. More creatures like the one she fought last night pulled themselves out from the growing penumbra, skittering and lunging away. 

It was sending heralds out ahead of its arrival.

The shock twisted into burning anger and frustration, releasing itself as a growling cry from Atlan’s chest. She leapt back, angling her stance to avoid crushing the buildings around them. Drawing her slugger blade forward, she snapped her wrist, sending it away from her in a spinning arc, slicing through one of the monsters’ wings. It whizzed back into her grasp with a flourish. But her grip on it tightened, twitched in disbelief as she watched a nest of savage, hooked appendages erupt from the dripping wound. 

Freshly sprouted talons extended to slash her. Her slugger flashed, extending into a longer sword only moments before the claws could rake into her. A crash of golden sparks fell around them with the impact. She grabbed her blade’s handle with both hands, wrenching it aside, briefly snapping off the hooks from its edge.

Atlan yelled again, swinging her blade in a flurry against the monster’s massive body. But her strikes seemed to have no effect. Searing, bubbling slashes cut across its oozing black surface, but nothing seemed to slow or stagger it. Breathing heavily from the exertion, Atlan was once again forced to step back several paces, sword cautiously held before her.

The monster she had fought with alongside Gauda last night hadn’t been like this. It had some sort of core that they destroyed, pierced by a single round from Gauda’s rifle. But Atlan remembered how hard she had to struggle just to expose the organ in the first place. The sheer bulk of shadows needed to make this gigantic kaiju, swirling densely around its form, probably hid a similar core somewhere. But how deeply was it buried? Could she hit it hard enough to even do damage to it?

Tentatively, Atlan’s foot slid backwards, trying to keep her distance. But now, the distance between them - and the distance to the most densely-populated areas of the city, crowded with thousands of screaming, fearful lives behind her - was steadily shrinking.

“Blessed heavens, is that Atlan?” 

Gauda shielded her eyes from the pouring rain, looking in shock at the huge red and silver giant. She had seen her fight before, but Atlan’s form stood even taller now. She was even larger than the time she had fought their Takkong. Gauda silently wondered where she was drawing the strength from. A colder thought entered her mind, creeping behind it. How much strength does she have left? 

The palace grounds quickly filled with civilians, guided into shelter away from the storm, and hopefully away from the path of destruction from the monster. Gathered under wide awnings, huddled against the stone palisades, they watched in hushed, stunned awe as the Ultra warrior grappled against the beast. 

Despite her huge stature, the monster was still larger. 

A collective gasp rose up from the people. Atlan turned to the side, dodging another swipe from clawed tentacles. From this angle, they could now see her color timer - pulsing red. 

Yullian didn’t need to see it from within the palace’s hall. She could hear its jangling alarm ringing clearly through her mind.

Around her, she could now make out worried mutters, from both the Keel and scattered remaining Toorwanyu. 

“You see that, right? It’s headed this way-”

“She’s not going to stop it in time!” 

“We’ll have to move everyone, we can’t stay here!”

Bia could hear them too. She gripped Cygnu’s hand tighter, her mouth drawn in a thin line. 

I won’t run away from this. I’ll stay with you… until the right time, Cygnu. 

But when that time would arrive, she didn’t know. Bia looked over her shoulder, heart racing faster, out through the broken windows to glimpse Atlan’s continued struggle. 

Turned away, she couldn’t see a small blue light flicker and grow, laying against Cygnu’s chest. It quivered fitfully, steadied, then intensified, pulsing in time with the light in Atlan’s own armor.

With one final swirl, the wind finally dropped, sweeping the snow away from Cygnu and Noct. The night remained chilly and brisk, but now he could see their surroundings clearly.

He thought this space was just a void, conjured somehow in his mind, but the dark stone spires rising around them were solid, gleaming with ice and thin skiffs of snow still stubbornly clinging to their crevices. The glare from its white sheen stood in stark contrast to the deep black sky. Any pinpricks of starlight one might have seen otherwise were entirely drowned out by a brilliant shine above them. 

The moon must be especially bright on this planet, Cygnu considered. Immediately he realized that was wrong, then his eyes widened. 

He knew the name of this planet, and the mountain peak under him. 

Hesitantly, he lifted his head towards the source of the powerful radiance around them. He already knew what would meet his eyes, but somehow dreaded the sight of it anyways.

A gently undulating, blazing white circuit of cold fire, suspended in the clear air. 

The Ring of Light.

Noct’s hand extended towards him, into his peripheral vision. Cygnu flinched at the intrusion, then grabbed it, relieved. As she helped him to his feet, he noticed his own hand was once again silver, with curves of blue extending over his arms, up his shoulders and across his chest. He stood beside her, still slightly off-balance, the hoary crust of snow under his feet quietly crunching as he shifted his weight.

The Aegis in his hands glittered in the harsh illumination of the Ring. Cygnu stared at it, uneasily. Even though he had regained his more familiar appearance, he still felt very, very small on the mountain peak.

“I… don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” 

“I didn’t either, at first,” Noct said, an amused twinkle in her white glowing eyes, “But I have died twice now. And twice now, I have been reborn with the light’s power.” 

She pointed upwards, guiding him to look through the Ring. Cygnu squinted against its glare, but then his eyes adjusted to it, and he saw something new. It shimmered, resolving into an image, presenting a window outside, beyond the mountain and the memory he found himself within. Through it, he could see an emerald fire, with golden sparks being thrown erratically from its crackling heat. 

That’s Atlan’s light… but why is it showing me this? He frowned, and paced forward another step under the Ring, trying to see more of the image. 

Noct followed behind, still looking towards it with him. “If I have learned anything from the Ring, it is that to be an Ultra means to be reborn continually - to pass from darkness into light - and to lead others through it as well. One cannot happen without the other,” she remarked.

Drawing behind Cygnu, she lay her hands on his shoulders. Cygnu didn’t notice the touch, absorbed by the flickering illumination above him. 

“We are both the gate, and its sentinel,” Noct intoned, her voice sounding from a distance around him.

Cygnu recognized what the other golden sparks were. Thousands of them, crowded into streets, homes, makeshift shelters. Everyone in the city gathered together around Atlan’s fire, drawn to it like moths to a flame. They glimmered like stars, orbiting around a galaxy’s spiral core, once separated by huge, distant gulfs, but now held together by a new force of gravity. 

He understood what to do next.

Cygnu raised the Aegis, and brought it to rest against his chest once more. It glowed, swirling across his body, taking the familiar shape of his armor. Behind him, Noct’s form faded as well, becoming purple and silver light. Flowing together, the light surrounding him swelled into wings. They stretched, thrusting against the thin, chilled mountain air. Snow spun under him as he shot upwards, rising towards the Ring. 

Noct’s words continued to echo, following him through the air.

“We are the watchmen, and the lamp…”

Cygnu reached his hand through it, breaking the plane through the radiant circle. It rippled like the surface of still water, deep as the ocean.

“...And the long-awaited dawn.”

Yullian tore her gaze from Atlan’s fight. She hated to admit it - most of all to herself, her stubborn pride still protesting against her better judgment - but they would shortly be forced to abandon this palace after all. Its walls protected them from monsters throughout the day, but they all knew it wouldn’t stand long under the crushing shadows of the massive kaiju, or the smashed debris flung by Atlan’s struggle against it.

She turned from the window, and strode over to Bia, still holding Cygnu’s hand, waiting patiently. Her steps halted, apologies dying before she could give voice to them. 

The pendant over Cygnu’s body burst into blue light again. But this time, the glow wasn’t just from the crystals embedded in its silver fixtures. Light spread over him, covering his features under the blinding radiance.

Bia pulled her hand away in shock, dropping his arm. It floated where she released it. His body rose, slowly, seemingly lifted weightlessly by the pendant. Unseen currents of energy drifted around him, fluttering through his silver hair, drawing him upright to hover before the shocked crowd inside the palace.

Yullian’s own shock faded into something resembling jealousy. She was a practiced enough diplomat and politician to recognize the showmanship behind such a dramatic entrance. 

“Well, I told you he’d come back when he was ready, didn’t I?” she said, chuckling to Bia. “You certainly took your sweet time though, Cygnu. We were starting to worry!”

If Cygnu was happy at the welcome, none of them could see it. His expression was still hidden under the glow surrounding his form. But his head lowered towards Yullian, his eyes opened, revealing solid, sparkling white light, gleaming even against the bright glare covering the rest of his body. Blue and purple lines shifted, tracing across its surface, following the patterns of his armor, but they couldn’t make out any solid edges or shadows against it. It was as if he had become a silent flame, a silver will-o-the-wisp suspended, illuminating the wide foyer.

Cygnu turned to Atlan, fighting now only a half mile from their location. Then his gaze drew back to the room around him, to Yullian, Bia and the others. He opened his hands towards them, pleading.

“She cannot do this alone.” 

The telepathic voice echoed powerfully around everyone in the room, drowning out the sound of the storm around the palace. It continued haltingly, hesitant, despite the strength of the light around him.

“I… cannot do-” 

Bia reached to grasp his hand again, cutting him off. 

“I understand, don’t worry! You’re not alone, Cygnu!” she chided him cheerfully.

He looked down to her, they saw his scintillating, brilliantly white eyes blink once, then draw up, matching her broad smile. 

Bia brought both her hands together, gently folding around his outstretched fingers. A single breath was drawn between them, and then the glow flowed outwards, extending over her body.

Yullian noticed her cue. She stepped forward, placing her hand on Bia’s shoulder. The broken, scorched gemstones around her bracelet flashed and sparked. Then the light became an electric current, jumping from the gathered figures, sweeping over the crowd in a chain reaction.

A glowing blue pillar shot up from the palace, swirling like a cyclone, heedless of the storm. A new shape swelled from it - extending wings. 

Centered in the light, Cygnu could sense all the lives in the city around him, even more strongly than before. Somehow, he felt his spirit sweeping through the air, soaring above them, observing the scene unfolding through the streets.

The lights in the palace under him crowded together like a sea of candles. They were the remaining Keel, Yullian and the rebels, more civilians from the city, native inhabitants, aliens of all kinds, but all their lives glowed with the same fitful golden sparks. 

He saw more sparks throughout the city as he passed over, gathered in buildings, trapped in alleys or pressed with fear into other streets. But from their fear, he also felt a new hesitant feeling rising, overcoming it. Hoping against hope, silent prayers of all different languages, they held their breaths together, watching Atlan stand against the shadows.

Cygnu’s vision arrived at the temple next. He could clearly make out the lights of 80 - colorful, sparkling, yet steady and patient - and Helios. The blue streaks within his golden light were weak now, but peaceful. Both of them rested, bearing witness to his passing. They were strengthened by a kind of hope as well - a future carried by Atlan and Cygnu’s lights, the same way they had both borne the hopes of the Ultra warriors who had gone before them.

A red light clinging to the top of the temple’s parapet caught his attention. Rayan’s spirit, his hope for the future of his people, burned unbound now. Glowing chains lay broken at his feet. 

Cygnu’s wings shifted, circling towards the emerald furnace at the center of the city. 

Atlan’s light swirled in distress, fighting against the roaring force of darkness before her. With his vision, Cygnu could see streaks of gold shoot through her spirit’s flame, as her slugger split in two. She held them together, blocking a sickly green-yellow blaze of energy erupting from the creature’s maw.

She clenched her teeth, bending her knees to lean into the force of the beam. Her hands ached trying to hold the blades steady. They began to crack, pieces of glowing metal splintering into sparks, whipped away by the wind. 

No! Don’t fail me now, just hold out a little longer! She desperately prayed.

A presence came to rest behind her, air rushing with unfolding wings. Time slowed to a crawl, then froze.

Cygnu? 

Atlan couldn’t turn her head to look, but she knew the feel of his light, within the cool zephyr swirling around her. Its blue luminescence glittered around the raindrops suspended, motionless.

But it was far more intense, stronger than she had ever felt before. Carried by the rushing breeze - even with the air itself hushed and settled around them - she could feel new connections, the gathered lights of all the lives in the city. Cygnu had brought them to her, united. He presented her with their expectations and dreams, the courage they had found in their struggle against the darkness, and embodied in her own fight now against the titanic beast of shadows.

Atlan realized what her teammate was trying to do. Her heart shivered and shrank away.

“It’s too much! They’re asking too much of me, I can’t do that on my own-”

Hands rested across her armored shoulders, a gentle pressure holding her fast as the dark force surged against her blades. Atlan heard Cygnu’s voice, calmly whispered into her ear, but as loud as the crash of a tsunami, pushed forward with the strength of all the glittering lights around them.

“You don’t have to.”

Time snapped forward, in an explosion of golden light. The monster flinched, roaring, drawing back with a thunderous step.

Wings, shimmering gold, stretched behind Atlan, then drew up as a flowing cloak of light. Atlan staggered at first, then rose from underneath the weight of this new power. The interlocking silver metal of her solar plates glowed, then extended into solid golden armor across her shoulders, chest, and down her waist. Across her head, the tall crest over her brow split, forming angled edges along its length. She shifted her weight against new greaves that enshrouded her legs, holding her feet fast against the rain-slicked cobblestones of the street.

The monster's head swung low, considering this new flare of power, swiveling to peer at her through its slitted green viper eyes.

“YOU DARE STAND AGAINST ME?”

It roared, the reverberation shaking through the stones around them. The head shot forward, snapping its jaws. 

The glowing twin sluggers crossed, blocking the strike in a spray of sparks. It screeched at the collision, drawing back again. For now, its creep across the city had halted. 

Atlan took the blades, rotating them in her grip to bring one straight perpendicular against the other. A searing light billowed from where they met, merging into a solid crosspiece guard resting above her fists. 

The blade, now held straight vertically before her, erupted into the same light, extending even further into the sky. A white-hot blaze raced up its length, raindrops disappeared in a sizzling wave against the energy pouring out from its surface. 

The sword’s tip circled once, the massive blade pivoting to find a new balance in her double-handed grip. Atlan maneuvered it to rest, pointed directly towards the monster. Its head lowered again, spitting venomous rage as it bellowed.

“YOUR LIGHT IS FUTILE. I AM DESPAIR, THE SHADOW OF CREATION. I AM THE ABYSS, THAT HAS EXISTED BEFORE THE LIGHT, AND TO WHICH ALL MUST RETURN.”

Rearing up on its massive trunk-like legs, the beast loomed even higher above Atlan and the city. Its form twisted in serpentine curves, wings sweeping further outwards and splitting. The shadow extended to cover more of the city, but seemed to stop short of Atlan’s feet and the threatening edge of her blade.

“YOU CANNOT STOP ME. I AM THE END OF ALL THINGS.”

Atlan raised her head, her golden eyes flashing, narrowing as she challenged the monster. The sword lifted towards it. Light surged behind her answer.

“And I am the beginning.”

The sword swept through a smooth arc, then Atlan leaped, becoming a golden thunderbolt streaking towards the monster. Crashing waves of light parted behind her, extending outwards in a shimmering plume from the force of her speed. 

Burning, acrid green energy streaked from the monster’s jaws, aimed to stop her. With a yell, Atlan brought the blade forward, through it, into a blazing downward stroke. Then she twisted it up again, passing through the monster, a shimmering afterimage severing even the clouds above them with the blow. 

The arc of light cut cleanly through the monster, leaving golden streaks burning through its bisected form. At once, its body disappeared within a deafening explosion, throwing off oozing debris and soot. Then nothing remained, even the oily smoke was consumed in the golden fire radiating from her blade.

Atlan slid to a stop, sparks flung away from the stones under her feet, jumping like drops of water on hot metal until they evaporated. In a moment, the storm clouds had dissipated as well, driven away by the massive force of her final strike. She rose, straightening above the city. The blade swept through a final flourish, then like the clouds, it dissolved away. The rest of her form joined it, forming countless tiny motes of light, drifting on the now-calmed breeze.

Cheers swelled and filled the silence where destruction loomed imminently just moments ago. Shafts of warm sunlight piercing through the remaining clouds. The golden sky spread above the city once again.

The next morning, the giddy adrenaline following Atlan’s victory had worn off. The Keel began the slow, inevitable process of departure early in the day. By the time the hot sun had reached its zenith in the sky, they had already loaded much of the equipment and supplies that survived the battle into their broad-winged Manta Ray ships. 

As they worked, some of the remaining attendants and soldiers grumbled over the abrupt exit strategy, but the complaints were quickly silenced by Rayan’s discipline. He was firmly in charge now, comfortable with snapping orders as he worked to haul crates and organize storage holds alongside the rest of the survivors. That alone was a dramatic enough change for the Keel to immediately accept his new command. But Rayan committed even further to distance himself from the disgraced Baroness, and decided that would start first with honesty. 

The original terms of the treaty did only arrange for a week, after all. 

“Ah, Captain! Pardon the interruption, I wanted to speak with you before your departure…” 80 called out politely as he arrived at the wide, sandy-bricked arena serving as a loading platform. He was unsurprised to find Rayan with his back turned, leveraging a wide metal container up onto one of the ship's ramps. 

What happened next, however, completely shocked him. Rayan straightened at the hail, turned towards 80, and then removed his helmet. Drawing it ceremoniously under one arm, he bowed smoothly with the same motion. 

“Ambassador…” he greeted 80, who stopped mid-stride before him. “Or would it be Ultra Brother?” 

“80 is fine.” He offered the captain his hand. “I wanted to thank you formally before you and your people left. Without your help, we never would’ve survived yesterday. We all owe our lives to your strength, Rayan.” 

“Our strength is for our own survival. But I’m pleased we’ve surpassed your expectations, Ultraman, er… 80.”  His dark brows furrowed sternly, but he returned the handshake.

80 looked him over, curious. His face was oddly familiar, something from the briefing he remembered, from before they had left the Land of Light. It seemed like years ago now. Suddenly, 80 grinned. “I know where I recognize you from. The Rayonix, Grande-”

“Is… Was my older brother.”

“He’s still alive, you know.”

Rayan drew a sharp breath, surprised. “We heard of the aftermath of the slaughter on Planet Hammer, I had thought…” he trailed off. A contradictory play of emotions flit through his expression, wistful relief, but also sadness.

“You still miss him.”

The Keel flinched, eyes growing wide. He glanced to the side for only a moment before the stern gaze reasserted itself across his face. Even after fighting alongside them, the depth of the Ultras’ sight still shocked him.

80 laughed. “You’re too used to wearing that helmet, I don’t need Cygnu’s eyes to read you. It’s clear you care about him a lot.” 

Rayan’s relaxed at the laugh. 80’s natural ease and good humor were so completely foreign from the culture of his people. But without his helmet covering his expression, Rayan opened up with a small, apologetic grin of his own. 

“Grande was the reason I became a soldier, and eventually… an exile too,” he mused, looking off into the distance. “When we were children, I wanted nothing more than to become stronger, so I could match him. But then, when he found his Battlenizer, he…” 

Rayan trailed off, struggling with doubts he thought long since buried. “How could I have surpassed him then? He found a strength greater than I could’ve ever achieved. He went… a way I could not follow.” The captain fell silent again, shaking his head to dispel the memories. “But still, I am glad that he escaped… and I understand why he didn’t return. He never wanted any part of the family dynasty, even before he came into his powers.”

“You don’t have to return to it either, after all that’s happened here,” 80 suggested, an eyebrow raised as he considered the captain. “I could put in a good word at the Galactic Federation, they’re always looking for new representatives to-”

“No,” Rayan interrupted forcefully, cutting off any further argument. “Thank you, I know you offer this in generosity. But, no. You lead your people through your own strength. I must do the same for mine. To abandon the Empire would be seen as unforgivable cowardice, not just against my reputation, but for every one of the Keel who has served under me here.”

“I understand. Well, the offer will remain open, if we ever meet again.” 

Instead of another handshake, 80 offered a small bow, signifying the formality.

Rayan raised the helmet over his head, and clicked its latches securely into place. Its newly restored, smooth blue curve concealed his face once again. But 80 could imagine his expression now - determined resolve lining his clean-shaven features under its surface. 

“If I, or my men, face you again on the field of battle… I will remember what you have done for us.” Rayan returned the bow, deeper. He held the position for another moment longer - perhaps overcompensating for 80’s own formal offering - then turned back to the ship.

Cygnu drew alongside 80 as he walked back across the sandy arena. “Are you sure we should just let them go like that?” he asked, glancing back over his shoulder.

“They’ll find their own way home, in time.” 80 winked towards him. “You know how the saying goes on Earth, ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink it.’”

Cygnu had no idea what manner of seijin a “horse” was, let alone why it wouldn’t want to drink water, but he nodded gravely. Whatever 80 referred to was surely a profound observation gathered from his long years as an ambassador across the galaxy.

80 spotted Yullian on the other side of the landing arena, but also another group of figures joining them. He recognized the Toorwanyu and their leaders, if he correctly remembered their belated introductions from yesterday, following Atlan’s victory. He definitely recognized the shorter, younger one tentatively standing behind the broad form of Indrick. 

She also recognized them, glancing over. 80 and Cygnu saw her face light up, she waved and took off running towards them.

Cygnu protested as 80 cast a commanding arm around his shoulders, turning to push him towards Bia.

“But… but what should I say to her?” he whispered anxiously.

“Just go talk to her, I’m sure she wants to thank you too! Now c'mon, don’t be rude-” 80 thumped him on the back, then left him behind - alone - as he briskly joined Yullian.

Bia’s rush slowed, then became an awkward, shy shuffle as she approached Cygnu. They both stood, stiffly, a pace apart from each other, wondering where to start from. Even though Cygnu had shared her light, and she had lent him the strength to connect with the lives of every inhabitant of the city, putting those feelings into words proved to be a far more grueling challenge.

After a terse, silent minute, Bia finally took another step towards the young Ultra. “I… I just thought I should see you again. I wanted to say thanks, before…” she trailed off, scared to speak the next words. “...Before you and your team leave.”

“Uh… you’re welcome, I guess?” Cygnu crossed his pale arms, trying to affect a casual shrug. “But why are you thanking me? We were only able to defeat that monster because of you, and everyone else coming together. It was because you and the rest of the rebels came back that we were strong enough for it.”

That wasn’t the response Bia had been imagining in her head all morning. She frowned, crossing her own arms to match Cygnu’s stance. “No, you deserve thanks too! We wouldn’t even be alive to do that if it wasn’t for your light!”

Cygnu opened his mouth to protest further, but Bia refused to let him. She thrust a finger into his chest. “Besides, it’s not just me, everyone in the city owes you their life! No… more than that. You gave us a chance to fight together, with Atlan!” 

He knew that. He remembered the feel of all the lives gathered within his wings, the sensation of soaring on that updraft of thousands of points of light. And it terrified him, reflecting back on the previous day’s events. They had been so close to annihilation against the shadows, it came down to only him and Atlan to carry the light that eventually defeated it, and so many lives were snuffed out, darkened in the battle. What if it happens again? What will happen to this planet when we’re gone?  

“Will we see you again?” 

Bia’s question cut through his heart. Cygnu had no idea how to answer it, but raised his head with a sigh. The sigh caught in his chest briefly as he looked at Bia, and noticed something new.

She tilted her head, confused, but Cygnu smiled at her.

“You don’t need to see me.”

“Excuse me?” Her eyes narrowed, concerned.

“I mean… you can see me whenever you want, Bia. Right in here,” Cygnu hesitantly explained. He brought a hand up against his chest, where his pendant rested under his shirt. “You can still feel it, I think, that light. It never went away.”

The necklace pulsed blue, visible through the fabric of his clothes. Bia gasped slightly, feeling its warmth even through the hot midday air around them. He was right, she felt the same light singing just under her skin, pulsing with her own heartbeat. 

She held up her hands, turning them over, considering them wide-eyed. They looked normal - at the very least, not glowing.

“What… what should I do with it though?”

Where have I heard that before…? Cygnu’s smile grew to a laugh, ringing around the dusty stones. 

“Just… keep carrying it, like you already did,” he answered. “It’ll help you, and your friends, and the rest of your planet if you can keep shining like you did yesterday, during the battle with everyone.”

Bia clenched her hands, her face lighting up in a determined grin. She nodded. 

Cygnu returned the grin, Noct’s words rose in his memory again as he looked towards Bia, and over to the rest of the Toorwanyu. 

“To be an Ultra means to be reborn continually - to pass from darkness into light - and to lead others through it as well.”

He could leave without regrets now. 

Helios awoke, slowly blinking against the bright daylight filtering through the windows. He flinched with shallow, panicked breaths for a moment, before recognizing his surroundings, back in his bed at the palace suite. Sharp, stabbing aches burned through his torso, he flinched again as he tried to prop himself up to look around. 

Wide arms flung around him, driving him back against the pillows, wrapped forcefully within a tight hug. 

“Atlan!...” he gasped, painfully. 

“Oh, oh no, I’m so sorry-” Atlan quickly released him, drawing her arms apologetically up before her. She sat timidly on a chair beside his bed. 

“No. I’m the one who owes you an apology,” Helios sighed, adjusting his sitting position against the bed’s cushions. “This is all-”

“It’s all my fault!” Atlan cried out, interrupting him. Helios looked upwards again, seeing tears rolling down her face, lip quivering. “I was such an idiot, even after you told me not to, I went off back to the rebels, and then got myself captured, and… and-” she broke off, sniffling. She rubbed the back of her hand against her eyes, trying to clear them in front of her captain.

“Atlan, no. You did what every Ultra warrior was supposed to. I was the one who failed. I was too weak, and the darkness-” Helios’ voice was strained. He was unable to complete his sentence, remembering the blood-red haze that drowned him. Even more horrifyingly, as he clenched his aching, bruised hands, he remembered throwing them towards her-

“Screw the darkness!” Atlan yelled, shocking Helios out of his thoughts. “ You came back for me, you saved the rebels that night. Without you, there wouldn’t have been anyone left to fight! I wouldn’t have been strong enough to do… any of that on my own if you didn’t go back for me!” 

The captain fell silent again. Atlan sniffed occasionally, looking down into her lap.

“I’m just glad you’re alive,” she whispered, finally. 

Helios couldn’t quite believe it either. He gingerly tugged at the gauze wrappings around his chest. He dreaded seeing the injuries left behind, but part of him desperately wanted proof that it was over, that he was whole and healed again.

Ragged scars, tender and pinkish, slashed across his dark skin. They centered, intersecting over his sternum where another larger bandage rested. But as he looked down at them, he realized that the lacerated marks bore a unique pattern. In fact, they looked oddly like rays-

“80 says the Silver Cross can fix those when we get back,” Atlan spoke up, noticing his stare.

“No.” Helios readjusted the bandages, laying heavily back against the pillows. “I carried these for too long already, inside. I refused to let anyone see them, least of all, myself. But…”

He turned his head to look at her again. Even with his dark brown eyes in this form, Atlan could feel the smooth golden light from him, reassuring.

“I think I like how they look,” he finished. 

Then he smiled, for the first time Atlan could recall seeing on this entire mission.

The day remained bright, but the sun had started its slow descent towards the horizon when the Ultras finished preparing their shuttle for departure. They had brought nothing with them apart from their simple robes and their transformation devices. Those devices now gleamed, repaired and filled with light once again. 

But each of them wished to leave important things behind them, on the planet of Dulvonus - also known now as D’runossu. The Ultra ambassadors had called the leaders of the Toorwanyu to the landing platform to arrange final matters. Yullian and 80 stood before the gleaming silver ship, with Cygnu and Atlan standing at attention on either side. The rebel leaders took up rows facing them. They arrived not just as leaders of the rebels, however, but now represented all the civilians who had united together in their final battle against Yago’s shadows. 

Yullian began the proceedings. She elegantly raised a hand to mark her royal status as she addressed the crowd before them.

“We came here with a hope to build peace, or to fight to preserve it if necessary. None of us expected to owe such a debt to your people for your strength and courage offered during that fight. We, the ambassadors of the Land of Light, and all Ultras of the M78 nebula, offer our deep gratitude.” She bowed.

As she rose again, her face lost its placid expression. Her eyes furrowed, sorrowful. “We are also deeply saddened by the destruction and deaths that followed from our actions. We grieve these tragedies alongside you, and have suffered our own losses and failures.”

Indrick waved a hand, brushing aside the worry. “We can always make new buildings, Ma’am. You’ve left us the chance to do that, to build things back stronger. This planet’s home to good, hardy stones. They’ll make a fine foundation to repair things with.” 

“The new buildings, monuments, and streets we build will stand in honor of the lives we lost,” Unho added beside him. “Their sacrifice won’t be forgotten, we’ll see to that. It’s only with that memory that we can keep our foundation strong, to keep this from ever happening again.”

Indrick nodded gravely at her words, but then turned back to 80 and Yullian, frowning. “I admit, we could sore’ use your experience to help out with that. You’ve done so much for us already though-”

“And we wish to continue that help in the future, Indrick,” 80 answered. “This isn’t the end of the relationship between our worlds.” 

Yullian raised her hands again, jade-green light flashing between them. “We must depart from here now, but we won’t leave you without recourse…” 

She held out the ornately-carved tablet towards him. Tentatively, as if its smooth surface might burn him, Indrick reached towards it. Finally, his broad, scarred hands gripped around it, drawing it back close against his barrel chest.

“Accept these gifts as tokens of our humble service,” Yullian’s voice rang out with the familiar words. “May your rule be a wise and benevolent one.”

The Toorwanyu stood in silent awe, gazing at the tablet held by their leader. 

“... So is that everything, then?” Unho glanced back around, raising an eyebrow.

The princess threw her head back, her laugh sparkling around the wide arena. 

“Oh, certainly not! You think we’d just leave you with some light reading then go jaunting off back home without another word?” The peals of laughter died down, and she shook her head, smirking at the thought. “No, we’ll send another delegation here after we return and make our report. We can also arrange for a corps of our engineers to assist with your rebuilding efforts. The Ultra Ninja squads could arrive here in as little as another week, if you wish.”

“That’s… mighty generous of you, Yullian- er, Ma’am. Princess,” Indrick gulped. “We’d hate to be a burden on your people though.”

“Nonsense,” 80 interjected, holding up a hand to silence the objection. “We’ve fought together. We’ve shared the same light. You are our people now, just as we are yours. Be assured, you aren’t alone in this universe. If you have any need for us, you only have to call.” 

Another round of bows, handshakes and farewells concluded the brief ceremony. There was only one matter remaining. 

Yullian turned back as she walked up the gleaming ramp to enter the shuttle, giving one last casual wave to the gathered crowd below her. The ramp drew up silently, leaving the surface of the shuttle smooth, without a single line or crevasse to mark its machined parts. 

With a tremendous eruption of light, blindingly brilliant under the afternoon sun, Cygnu, Atlan and 80 stretched their arms out and took on their full forms. They also waved down to the people below in the plaza. 80 threw a thumbs-up, satisfied cheer obvious on his rounded silver face. 

The shuttle lifted into the air with only a small puff of dust pushed away, swirling out from under it. It sped upwards. Alongside it, the Ultra Warriors crouched, then threw themselves into flight, escorting it into the sky with a mighty echoing SHUWATCH!

In only a moment, they were all lost to sight, glimmering then fading against the warm golden rays of the sun.