Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ander leaned back in his chair once Riot seemed to compose himself from the rage. His hands released Riot's wrist and neck. Once Riot was free of his grasp they folded themselves across his own chest. Despite bringing Riot out of the mood he still brandished a scowl. This situation was... strange, uncomfortable, and he had no idea how he was going to approach it. There was no doubt in his mind that Nick was already aware of it.

What would she think of it? Ander tried not to allow his mind to venture to such a place. It was difficult considering he had nearly killed her several times, and she him. His chest felt as if it were bound up in barbed wire that only allowed the tightest of breaths to pass.

-Saga... what if?- He mentally communicated with his companion. Saga responded with the wise words he was known for; 'you can't dwell on what if. It didn't happen.'

Despite the grim thoughts of what could have been Ander couldn't help but be slightly thankful Riot had not said anything in regards to -that- situation.
At least not yet.

(LoL Rolled a 20. )

Nick's rage burned, her mind was set on ending the life of every damned officer and solder that had betrayed their general. Riot's own rage kindled this desire. They were one and the same. The glow in her right eye brightened to its peak while her lips twisted in a sinister grin...

One that only lasted a few mere moments.

Thankfully Riot's senses returned to him before Nick's mind had time to settle in his own rage. Her mind was calmed in tune with his. The Iron Judge persona quickly retreated back to the subconscious of her thoughts.

Nick drew a deep breath as her grip on the ZOID's core loosened. The glow in her right eye vanished.

-I am here...- Nick responded quietly while her head slowly stopped spinning.

The command wolf's gears returned to normal as it righted its course to follow Saga, Shun and Talon.

As she gained more of her mind she stretched more thoughts to comfort her love. He wasn't 'alright', she knew this, but at least he had regained his mental stability and she was mentally able to connect with him again. Her mind caressed his own soothingly. Though the words were not spoken the feeling 'it will be alright' was -strongly- conveyed through that caress.

-I am afraid that there is little news I can offer that would be comforting...- Saga sighed. -At least the command wolf has stabilized...-

Saga paused in thought again as he reviewed the events. The were a few things they should know, but some things that could be shared later.

-I do not believe you will be able to return to your home for a while. It would not be safe to do so. Because of your involvement with the Judge that broke her contract you may be hunted as she will. You are fortunate that the Executioner was distracted with the Switch to hold attention to you.-

Just as Saga finished giving his advice Jury's banshie-like screech echoed over the call of thunder.

-On the bright side of things, Jury has agreed to attempt to re-claim your ZOIDs...-

That... Talon had to admit that wasn't bad news. It wasn't great news either. It just made him throw his head back and laugh. And laugh, and laugh until he really could see no reason to laugh about it any more. The Jury was going to reclaim their ZOIDs for them. The Empire, their home. was no longer safe for them. And to top it all off, they were running away from a dangerous and explosive battle that could, and should, have killed them all in a second flat.

It was a good day.


With a grin, perhaps teetering on the mad side, he smiled, "This is the best news I've heard all day. "

Atelius rolled its eyes somehow, and Moe just snorted/sneezed. If they had any issue with the news, they weren't speaking up about it. The bird glanced wearily as the command wolf reingaged in the fleeing party, but nothing more was said or channeled. If it wished them harm, it could have done so by now.

And Talon chose to ignore that, just this once. He was too busy smiling, and trying not to let that large wad of fear that ached in his chest show.

Ander's brow quirked to Riot's surprisingly quick response. Still wise words no matter the tongue that launched them. However wise the words though he still could not shake the heavy feeling in his chest. Would it have changed anything if he had known? Yes, he was certain it would have... Ander was known for fighting for his own kin.

"Are you alright?" Ander spoke flatly to Riot, not wishing to press the former subject further. The question was sincere, just masked by the man's own frustrations.

His hands folded across his chest as he leaned back in the cockpit, waiting for an answer.

"Is she alright?" He added after another thoughtful moment.

Nick drew in a deep breath as her mind searched for Defender's presence. He was there, but he had taken a beating in his previous escape. The memories stored in this organoid were brutal to say the least. His last visual of the Ixion white was the sight of the head crushing under the weight of the gravity cannon followed by an implosion of the core. All the while the entire frame of the monster ZOID was being crushed by the strange blast of the cannon. The enemy ZOIDs that had surrounded the white stallion ZOID were already completely crushed form the weapon.

-He has massive damages from his escape, but is holding on. There is something in his mouth, but he claims it is for you and will not let me see what it is.- Nick responded. -He will not talk to me further, he wants to conserve all his energy for you.-

-Yes, he has a way with dealing with other ZOIDs. I just hope it will not cause much damage to your own... Both entities inhabiting the core are stubborn and very destructive. It is to our own fortune that they are busy quarreling with each other to truly unleash their wrath on anything else... at the moment.-

Saga's pace begun to slow as they reached a clearing in the trees. The storm's rumble had calmed, but the clouds overhead seemed to have grown darker. Behind them the sounds of their ZOIDs could be heard quarreling with the Jury. Cannon fire. bright lights from who know what kind of new weapon might be attached to either ZOID, even with their distance it could be seen over the trees. From could be seen of the Jury's form he remained still as a statue while massive cords lining his body seemed to be doing all the work. He was trying to be careful not to damage the core or memory of the ZOIDs... How he was going to get the switch and Executioner out... only he knew.

Saga tilted his head back to the command wolf before returning focus to his current company.

-You have survived, that is good news... I do not doubt there will be more, even if it should come after more bad news...-

The wolf ZOID begun to trot to a stop. Its frame glowed royal blue briefly before the light shot up to the air than arched back to the ground in front of the ZOID.

Nick stood next to the large eight foot copper Shepard-organoid when the light cleared away. The canine organoid wobbled on its feet, but stubbornly managed his stance. Cracks lined the entire frame as did occasional discharges of electricity each time the ZOID moved to hold its stability.

Something was carefully held in its broken jaw, something blue-ish. Most of the details were hidden behind the organoid's maw though.

The party, it appeared, was coming to a stop. Atelius did join them, flapped its wings, and knocked Talon off. It didn't work as intended, as Talon just slid right off and landed on his feet, still with that rediculous grin. It faltered for one moment when he noticed that Shun was giving him a weird look. "What?" he asked. Seriously, what was wrong? Was there something on his head? Was it his teeth? Did a bug get in there? Running his tongue over his teeth, he discovered nothing. A bonk on the head from Atelius's beak brought a guffaw and a swat out of the slightly insane solider. "Oi, if I don't laugh, I'd be running away. Besides, everything could be worse. For one, we're still alive to fight. That is reason enough to laugh. "

He nodded, though cast a sober glance towards the Command Wolf and its party. Moe was patted, and Talon only shook his head. "We have enough to worry about. The Judge knows what he is doing. If it chose to help us, then so be it. We can take advantage of that. Every bit of help is going to be needed. I might have to call a friend and see if she and hers can't lend us a hand surviving out here. " Moe let out a coo, hopping down from his perch with a well practiced flop. Wiggling its little tail, the cat-dino monster ran full speed into Shun's shins to give him affection. He looked more stressed than Talon did right now. ALL THE ATTENTIONS! And affections~

As Riot jumped from wolf's cockpit Nick wasted no time returning to his side. She gave Shun a returning respectful nod. Sharp eyes scanned her friends for any sign of injury to the sudden flee. Aside Talon's mental state everything seemed to be in order. Hopefully the same can be said of their Zoids.

Once she reached Riot's side she kept in pace with him as they returned to Defender. Her hands remained at her side, but ready to comfort Riot the instant he should need it. Even so, her mind remained caressing his in as much comfort as she could offer to him.

Briefly her gaze shifted to Ander as he emerged from the cockpit, but she gave him no more than a moment's glance. That was a matter to be discussed later. Riot was her priority now.

The Organoid remained where it was, holding what it could of its energy for its task. As Riot approached its golden eyes flashed before he carefully begun to lower his head so Riot could retrieve the items in his mouth.

Among the items was A torn cloth, unmistakably a shred of the shred of the general's uniform, adorned with all of his metals, pins, signs of status. Among them were medals that were obviously not of any branch of the military, ones that had been hand crafted -many- years ago made of paperclips and other scraps of metal that had been warped to look somewhat official. The makeshift medal was displayed even over the most prestigious of honors on the scrap of cloth. If anyone had been familiar with Pictures of the general one would recognize he -always- adorned this bizarre medal. It was the one Riot had made for him when they were little boys dreaming of their carrier in the military.
Another was a strange golden cylinder, slightly damaged, that appeared to be a smaller version of a zoid memory piece. All items were nestled safely in the General's uniform hat, still in remarkable condition.

Saga turned attention toward Talon as he dismounted his new organoid. The man might do good with a bit of mental therapy... perhaps he could just explore his mind, just a little to explore what was going on in that fascinating mind of his.

-The Jury is on our side, you should have no worries there...- He mentioned with a nod of his head. His long whiskers lowered slightly.

Before he could inquire permission to probe the strange pilot's mind Shun had a strange outburst. One that signaled distress? A strange word that... so many uses and not all the same.

-Is there a problem Shun?- He inquired with a tilt of his head. Golden eyes flashed as he waited for the answer.

From the corner of his gaze he could spy Ander approaching their little merry party. There was another one having mental issues... perhaps it was time for a group therapy.

Ander was not as eager as Riot to remove himself from the cockpit. He had far too much swirling about his mind to come into pleasant contact with anyone at the moment. But he knew he couldn't stay there forever. He had to face her at some point.

Glancing from the side of the open cockpit he watched as the crazed Talon slid from his mechanical bird and Shun from his own mechanical cat-thing. From there he could spy Riot approaching Defender and The Iron- Nick.

He heaved a heavy breath. No room for cowardice.

With that thought in mind Ander carefully rose from his seat and lept from the side of the wolf's cockpit. Golden eyes looked back to Nick as he righted his posture. Why? This was a woman he had clashed with several times, one he had almost killed more than once, one he had held so much hatred toward. For twenty four years he had been under the belief that his daughter was dead... and here she was, the being he had swore to kill.

Maybe he was starting to lose his mind. Maybe. Talon considered that thought as he watched the large dog organoid and Riot interact. He took notice of the tension surrounding that scene and couldn't help but feel sympathy for the poor man. But what was his relation to the General, Talon could only wonder.

Atelius peered at Saga, eyes flashing a cool green as he calculated something. They would need to regroup. The humans needed to rest and repair. It seemed like being human was a burden right now. Ruffling his metal feathers in the equivilant of a lazy stretch, the large bird rested its beak on Talon's head. "We should let them be, Master." His voice had changed, but it was still Atelius speaking. Craning his neck, he stared at Talon upside down, amusement blazed in those green optical receptors. "... Squawk? Chirp? Cooo? ... No? Well, it was worth a shot. " The great silver bird moved a few yards away, its eyes to the horizon looking away from the battle still raging behind and before them. Instead he stared off into neutral lands.

Its human was entirely perplex, but mental fatigue was kicking in. At least his mad smile was done and gone with. Another glance back at Anders, Nick, and Riot, and Talon shook his head to join the bird when an explcitive was yelled from the normally quiet Shun. What the... Moe hadn't hit the shins that hard, had he? He was a little ball of metal, but really! A few more blinks and Talon realized that Bent-Tail was missing. "Oh. s**t." He had to agree. That poor kind organoid was still trapped back there. Oh dear, Tacker too!

... It should be fiiine...right?

He caught himself before he could think anything that could doom them all. ( Not that they weren't already doomed to begin with.) Running fingers through his hair, another glance was shot over at the trio yonder. Perhaps it was more of a glare than anything else. What were they doing here? Why... Why did it feel like they had been set up in some way to fail? He was safer out in the desert amongst the dangerous BioZoids than he was on the doorstep to the Empire ( Which was now No-Man's land for him thanks to his association with Nick and her split personality that gave him the giggles of horror.) People were possibly dying at the hands of their own family, friends... government...and here they were standing around doing nothing! No plan had been shared. Only 'Run away!'. And what of Ranee? Was she still back in the Empire? What madness lay there that she was stuck dealing with on her own? What of his own kin on the western border? What of his relations in the Replublic?

With a growl, he shoved his hands in his pockets, kicked a rock. "Now what? Do we wait until we get our Zoids back? Where to from here? It isn't like we have a place to go right now. " He muttered to himself, sighed and resigned himself to living off MRI's and whatever he could catch for the next few months.

Moe squeaked and purred when his head was scratched. The explictive made the little dino squeak and shy away for a moment. Was Shun that upset? Oh no! Must fix! Directive must be fulfilled! The little dinosaur clawed its way up to flop over Shun's shoulder, that little stump of a tail wagging. It let out soft coos of comfort, and tried to be as comforting as possible. Bent-Tail would be okay. "Moe~ "

Ander took his place next to Saga as the group conversed about their situation. For a moment all his attention had been turned toward Nick, Riot and Defender. Riot looked statuesque, but Quin knew all too well that internally his former pupil was struggling. As for Nick, he couldn't read her void features. Her crimson gaze remained fixed upon Riot, no doubt communicating to him through their minds. Much like how he and Saga communicate.

As Talon begun to inquire about their next actions his golden gaze shifted back to the group.

"We wait for the Jury to return... than figure out how to kill a goddess. If he had not done so himself." Quin spoke flatly. Saga was quick to assure him the Jury was not able to kill the Executioner. Why? That answer was complicated.

"It is impossible to take any steps further now. Welcome to living in the moment..."

Saga shook his head. True, this was a life that him and Ander were used to. Being an unwanted "criminal" forced them to often live without advance direction. Living second to second was something that came natural for them.

-I cannot safely return to the ZOIDs to find him...- He glanced at Ander who returned the look. Mentally they were going over the options. Protecting Ander was number one priority, that was his job. However, there were perks to being linked to just about every mechanical being on the planet (within range) -Jury is searching for you. When he has him we will know. Both ZOIDs are intact still. Cockpit is unharmed... -

For now. The two entities were becoming savage in their attacks. It was luck that nothing had exploded yet.

Defender watched Riot wearily as human carefully went over the items in the hat. Once eye-contact returned the large canine lifted his head as best he could, head bobbled a bit in protest.

-Recent entry, recover time code-voice command override last entry- He recited followed by the date and what one could only guess to be the time a few moments ago.

The cylinder clicked as the command was accepted. Defender continued to wobble in his stance stubbornly. His mission was not completed just yet.

Nick's hand moved carefully to Riot's back where she gave him a firm hold. All attention had shifted to him, especially as the golden device clicked. The organoid had relayed what that was in thought; it was the cockpit data-log of every moment Nicodemus was in the ZOID. It held records since he had first taken a seat inside the Ixion White until moments ago... Something Dr. Fox wanted for research, and something he was likely never to see again.

Mentally she focused on keeping Riot sound and comforting his thoughts.

--- A screen appeared over the cylinder revealing a com-link like screen of the inside of the Ixion White's cockpit. The image shown was shaking as the controls were sparking from the increase of pressure to the cockpit. Warning lights were flashing red in screen to the sides of the weary pilot. The pilot looked worn, out of breath, bleeding from the corners of his eyes, mouth, nose, ears, and sweating profusely. Yet, piercing blue eyes seemed determined.

"Riot... *Static-screen cut briefly* Don't go near the Republic or Empire- *Static* Chaos- *Static* set up, something is not right. Please, if you see Kai, let her know- *static* stay away... ... I'm sorry... I coul- *Static* -Live your life.... I am proud of you and what you've accomplished... *Static-screen cuts out briefly* Congratulations on your engag- *Static* Treat her right... have lots and lots of kids." Nicodemus smiled, offering a winded laugh. It was easy to judge by the screen the general was having trouble breathing, even by his winded words. The screen shuttered as in the general gripped at his chest than doubled over with clenched teeth. Once again the screen cut out. When visual returned he was sitting hunched over and clinching his chest. Sweat glistened upon his red brow. "My will... Coleman has it.... for safety.... yours *Static* Estate.... is yours..... please... take care of Titus and Kagi.... they... will be mad I broke a promise...*Static screen flicker. A loud rumbling noise could be heard. More electrical discharges could be seen in the console around him.* At the estate.... Love you broth- *Static* Riot... my the wind be... at your back.... I am proud of you... I wish that I could see you continue to grow. I know you will... just eyes on- *Static, screen cut* Defender! GO!! *Loud rumbles, screen flicker, End transmission* "

The screen turned to black before vanishing completely, leaving the golden cylinder just as it was before.

----
Jury released a loud shriek before rearing up. A gray haze begun to vent from his body, soon overtaking the very distant battle field. At that point even Saga was cut from any communication with the father ZOID...