“Blast!” Sebastian raged, as another volley from the Blunock’s war-corvette slammed into his fighter. His inner-thoughts centered solely around regretting taking this contract on. But, he needed the money. Hell he needed money in general, the anger and frustration bubbled back up from that day, clearly it still hung onto his thoughts. But, now wasn't the time to dwell on that, he could when he finished this job.

"We’ve lost all shields, left stabilizer hit." His old and trusted combat A.I informed. Great, just what he needed, more bad news.

"Contact the guild, I need help!" He snapped to his companion. He quickly looked at the radar and felt the hair on his neck stand on end in alarm. The Blunock war-corvette that was chasing him had launched multiple fighters. From experience he knew, with no doubt, they launched them to haul him back. To no doubt use his ship for scrap and feed him to the grunts, something he obviously wasn't keen on. A familiar flash of dread pulsed in his heart, he quickly choked it out as per his nature. He had to, if he panicked, he would died. he gritted his teeth hard, he knew he had to fall on anger and determination, he let it both fill his bones and fuel him. Like hell he was going to allow his enemies to use his ship for scrap; moreover, he refused to let his corpse be fodder for grunts. he wasn't going to be some xeno scum's lunch, he wasn't, going to be dying today, though, the unyielding dread didn't agree.

With more shakey piloting, he managed to set his ship right; he'd hit Hyporous. Or he hoped at least, another volley of fire hit his ship, causing him to hit his helmeted head upon the blast-glass cockpit.

Quickly his A.I reported the damages. "Grav sigs are gone, the forward thrusters too."

It then hit Sebastian. The dread won out. He was going to die. There was no way he could slow down before hitting the ground, even if he could. The sheer G's of the nose dive would knock him out. dread filled his very soul, to the point he couldn't stamp it out, he really shouldn't have taken this job. an icy regret washed over him, stabbing at his heart and acting as the cherry atop his dread.

"Entering the atmosphere."

This was it. He gave another prayer out to whatever deus'es or deaes'es might be out there. Maybe someone would receive his soul, he doubted it, he's an awful, sinful man, but it was a final comfort. He slowly started to doze when the harsh G's slammed into him.

"Oh deus'es or deaes'es in the heavens, please have mercy on me." Sebastian felt his world fade to black as he fell unconscious.

: — — — :

The prestige forests of Hyporous always kept itself lush with the wide variety of life, most notably of them are mosses, tall timbered trees, and animals. However, the recent anomaly among the boulders of the forest floors, disrupted the flow. A lone crashed and smoldering wreck of a light-fighter starship littered the grounds, its vessage smudged the beauty of the forest. Even odder yet was a second, somehow more mysterious anomaly was among the trees. A woman dressed in a white dress, whom shined a soft light that was warm like the sun.

The young angelic beauty stepped into the slight valley which the wreck was situated in, her amber gaze taking in the smoldering debris. The woman couldn't help the excitement which boiled in her belly, today was actually the day she would be assigned to someone! It was exciting to say the least. Her enthusiasm was dampened slightly by the smell which filled the fresh clean air. Said smell was a pungent smell mixed with burnt oil along and other chemicals she couldn't quite place. It ruined the pristine atmosphere, well the wreck did technically ruin it as well, but the smell was worse in her honest opinion, but she wasn't going to nitpick such fussy details.

"What a mess..." she observed blankly. she did hate to walk among filthy environments, and yes, she knew, as a spirit, she can't be affected by such things. But she couldn't help the trepidation she felt, what if she got her dress dirty? She didn't want to have a bad first impression with whom she'd be assisting. Well if he accepted the deal of course... She quickly realized she got distracted again, this was the third time this morning for saol sake… Anyway, there was a job to do. she slightly hesitated as she stepped into the unknown terrain, Heaven was never a mess like this. Really, the marred landscaping was so different then what she was used to, and it really threw her off. Xavier’s previous warning for her to not get fussy rung through her head, she felt slightly offended, was she really that predictable? But his words about what to do with such unfamiliar settings graced her memory, sure there would be many new... Experiences, but she'd have to 'power through it', at least that's what Xavier would say, but it still didn’t make it any easier. She sighed, archangels and their arch-angel-ness.

She sighed again to herself, she wasn’t going to get anything done if she didn’t move. So she took a deep breath, adjusted her glasses, then her brand new leather messenger bag and stepped forward again. Soon she skipped from tousled boulder to tousled boulder, doing her best to avoid the loose dirt all around. After landing atop another mossy boulder she looked up and felt her earlier excitement return, she was close enough to see her target laying inside the cockpit. With renewed enthusiasm she jumped half hazardly onto a particularly slippery boulder that was still slick with morning dew. Her world froze momentarily as her bare feet lifted into view and the stabbing sensation of dropping caused a slight panic to rush into her. She landed on the ripped up grass with a dull thud and let out an undignified yelp that scared off the songbirds. Her hands flew to her bottom as she jumped up trying to rub the dull pain away “Ow…” she whined slightly. The now red with embarrassment angel looked around, hoping no one witnessed her slight mishap. Gratefully there wasn't a soul around, so she quickly brushed herself off and went back to her task. She was glad there was not a thing to see that... or so she thought.

For inside the cockpit, roughly sixty feet away, held more than a dead mercenary. She was unaware that this certain merc had a powerful, albeit gray, Battle-A.I. The little yelp she cried a few moments prior had reactivated the willful program. With a spark it jumped out of the bent antenna which sat on the shoulder plate of the merc, and back into the console; leaving behind a trail of cubic blue sparks, the console sparked itself as it silently came to life and cast a low glow upon the bloodied cadaver.

The A.I quickly jumped and raced through the fighter’s wrecked internal systems, all in an attempt to get it online. Finally it reached the processing and computer core, where it could operate the majority of the, hopefully, operational systems.

[INITIATING REBOOT…]

[RECONNECTING WITH HOST' LIGHT FIGHTER SYSTEMS... SUCCESSFUL, CHECKING SYSTEMS.]

[LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM, OFFLINE… WEAPONS SYSTEM AT 53%… FLIGHT SYSTEMS OFFLINE….]

[CHECKING HOST… HOST STATUS DECEASED, CHECKING REVIVE CHANCE... IMPOSSIBLE, DECEASED FOR 9.7HRS… ALL ATTEMPTS TO RESUSCITATE FAILED…]

[CHECKING FOR NEW HOST… NO SIGNALS DETECTED… CHECKING FOR OPTICS SYSTEMS AND RADAR…]

[OPTICS CRACKED BUT OPERATING… RADAR OFFLINE YET REPAIRABLE… CHECKING FOR DRONE-]

[WARNING, MOTION DETECTED, PRIMING WEAPONS SYSTEMS, POWERING OPTICS. PER DEFENSE PROTOCOLS]

Out of the smoldering wreck of the Z-3R fighter extended the probe branch optical. It rapidly moved about to locate the movement the ship detected, its searching blazed through the rugged forest terrain that sat casted in the early glow of morning. The approaching movement, which it found, was caused by a petite humanoid female. At the same time the angel quickly stopped, her amber eyes locking onto the protruding optic system. There was a mutual showdown, neither of them having seen the other, the angel never seen such an odd device, It left her frankly curious. whilst the A.I had never seen a flippen glowing woman. She went to speak but was cut off by the cold, monotone voice of the A.I.

“Identify yourself immediately or face termination.” A.I commanded and backed with the plasma blaster audibly priming to blast her to bits. The gilded threat worked splendidly on her.

She quickly ground to a halt, her features twisted in surprise and worry, but neither even coming close to matching the utter confusion she felt, this wasn’t a part of the report she was given. Either way she spoke easily and carefree “Wait, who? Me?” She looked around, maybe there was someone else about?

There was a long pause between the two whilst the A.I processed the sheer stupidity of the question. It was greatly tempted to calculate this thing's obviously low I.Q “No, the command was meant for the insect next to you.”

That... Hardly made sense, she thought to herself, but neither did a ship talking. She gave a slight shrug and slow nod as uncertainty still laced throughout her, but the excitement was too much, her earlier cautious nature long forgotten. However she’d be reminded of it as she stepped forward and a large explosion slammed into the dirt right in front of her, causing her to squeak in surprise as dirt and stone was thrown every which way, some even hitting her dress! She just knew she'd get dirty, but that mattered very little to her at the moment as she quickly dove to cover, leaving a wake of flower petals behind due to her using her divine nature. She slowly peaked out of cover, her glasses just as jarred as her bones and excitement. her earlier confidence was shattered into oblivion, what the heck was that?! Her amber eyes quickly spotted what that was, the ship’s back turret’s barrels smoldered, a true sign it just fired and was the thing threatening her.

She exasperatedly, and admittedly fearfully, announced “H-hey! You could have hit me!” she protested as she fixed her round glasses, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment for some reason, what was this ship's problem!?

Just as surprised as her, was the A.I. what was supposed to be a direct hit, was in fact a miss.

[RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS OF WEAPON ACCURACY… SIGHTS UNALIGNED, ACCURACY AT 30%]

“Consider that a warning shot, now, identify yourself immediately or be terminated.” The A.I's monotone robotic voice repeated mercilessly.

The angel puffed up her cheeks as she fixed her glasses again, she slightly worried they broke. “So this is how you want to play” she mumbled annoyedly, she gave a withering glare to the ship, slowly she left her cover that she previously dove behind. And while dusting off her dress she spoke with an offended tone. “My identification hardly concerns you, stupid bot. But, If you must. I’m a messenger sent by The Great Dia.” She finished as she snubbed her nose, her amber eyes never leavening the ship. Behind her brave and bothered veneer was an honest phobia of the ship.

Now with some information, the A.I could check for a “Great Dia,” his master had a lot of enemies. Some being men and others Xeno. And being the ever wise man he was, he had programmed his A.I to check all outside individuals before business ventures.

[CHECKING DEBT LOGS… CHECKING WANTED POSTERS… CHECKING IOU’S… CHECKING CLIENTS… CHECKING NOTES…]

With a pause only lasting a second the A.I responded. “This name isn’t in my data banks. Vaycate in five seconds or be terminated.”

She really couldn’t help her face and heart dropping by that response. Really, who didn’t know of the Great Dia!? Also this thing seemed oddly murder happy “W-what! Really?!” She questioned indignantly, she was reminded of the peril she was in when the hum of the plasma cannon priming to throw searing hot plasma again reached her perked up ears. “W-wait! I’m here to help your owner!” She quickly yelled, while trying to sound disarming, she even added a toothy grin. perhaps both came off more fearful and nervous then not, so it probably didn't help her at all.

She started to back away when sudden realization enlightened her, the previous trepidation she had left in an instant. She sighed, remembering she could just hack the system, now she felt extremely stupid now… Really, it was a breeze for a spirit to access a digital system. With a heavy and exasperated sigh, the angel outstretched her hand and closed her eyes, soon her spirit outstretched, coming out of her physical apparition, and flew forward in the form of petals and pure light.

The A.I was truly alarmed when a foreign entity flooded its systems, it really did try to wrestle the other program free from its systems, perhaps it should have updated its firewalls after all, oh right, Sebastian never let it update its systems, or named it! And it was going to get erased because of that! The A.I was easily shut up when the angel override the systems. It really shouldn’t have split its processing systems to gripe.

[FOREIGN PRESENCE DETECTED- ACCESS DENIED- ACCESS GRANTED, GREETINGS NEW USER.]

With a cheeky smirk, the angel flicked her wrist back. The light and petals she sent out flew to her hand in a flurry of petals. “What a stupid bot, you need to update your firewalls.” With a giggle she realized Xavier’s previous instructions were right, as per usual of course. She really shouldn't be surprised, since she was a bit fussy at times and needed to use her brain more, when she did, it worked well! She continued her walk to the ship, her steps turning into a confident skip as the ship’s optics and turret retracted back into the ship with a groan and rattle. As per previously requested when she was inside the system. The ship’s cockpit slowly opened with a hiss, it was rather clear the gears needed greasing.

The short angel finally reached the nose of the fighter and peaked in. She really, really couldn’t help the absolute disgust that hit her. No offense to the dead man of course, but he was utterly unsightly. “Ew…” with a grimace she walked a bit closer, suddenly regretting she didn’t pack a pair of gloves. But, with the ‘don’t be so fussy’ quip in mind she stooped down, making sure of course to keep her dress skirt respectable, and outstretched her hand pressing it to the man's chest covered in blood and cold steel plate. She started to speak and recite the prayer of revival, having full-faith in her Dia, and in all his greatness, she knew he would keep his promise.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

* — — — *

Sebastian slowly kept walking forward through the blinding white light which encompassed him, his boots pattered on the worn and narrow path he found himself on. If he was being honest, he had no idea where he was, hence his cautionary disposition, what was odd was the fact he didn’t feel in danger. Which made him… uneasy. To his credit, he was a xeno hunter, in this line of work, the unknown was deadly. Sebastian went over his memory again, in a vain attempt to figure out how he got here, the last thing he remembered was entering the atmosphere of Hyporous and nothing else, it was… concerning; however, he was an experienced member of the Blackout Guild, he’s never had this happen before, which within itself was something unusual for Blackout members, they were known for dealing with… unusual things.

As his boots pattered further down the path, which was flanked on both sides by white trees with golden leafs that seemed to sing a soft melody, well he guessed it was the leafy canopy that sung, there wasn’t anything else out here, or in here… He didn’t know what his environment entailed, so he couldn’t be overly sure; nevertheless, he assumed he was outdoors, the air was crisp like it was, there was also the stone pathway to lend that credence. Upon further inspection he noticed a very soft, minty green… grass? Weaved throughout the flagstone, with a pause in stride, He used the toe of his boot to test it. The grass-like plant folded like grass would, what amazed him was the smell that wafted up. The color of the grass hinted at its smell. Sebastian couldn’t wait to share this discovery with Silvy, she’d lose her marbles.

Satisfied that the grass was intact grass. Sebastian looked up and saw a cloaked figure. Okay, that definitely wasn’t there before, Sebastian’s hand reflectively went to his holster, which he just now noticed was empty. With a grimace, dare he say internal panic looked back up, he’d just have to get into fisticuffs if the need arise. Though he quickly realized that would be a bad idea. The cloak the man wore was black as night, having several detailed en-scriptions done in a royal crimson, what really caught Sebastian’s eye, (besides the sword and shield.) was the sigile on the man’s cloak. It was set on the shoulder and embroidered with fabric gold which shimmered in the blanketed light of this place. The design itself was odd, he’d never seen such a design, again odd for a Blackout member, though, it was a big galaxy after all, looking closer at the design it slightly reminded him of a star pattern. But further thought he realized it was more shaped like a triangle, well two interlaced together, both had no lines attaching the points together, so neither weren't true complet triangles. Sebastian realized the figure was looking him down, though he could only make out a pair of blazing white eyes.

“Greetings, Brother.” The figure’s voice boomed slightly, an edge of authority and power gilded on his tone. Sebastian’s eyes were still locked onto the eyes which blazed a white fire, then back down to the sword that had the same sigil upon its hilt which was in-crested upon the knight-like figure’s cloak.

Sebastian cleared his throat and squared his shoulders, in an attempt to mirror the man’s rock in the river, sort of disposition “Greetings… brother- Who are you?” Sebastian tried to ease his growing unease, though it was more of an awkwardness than true unease. He’s felt uneasy before, his day job was to jump into a xeno nests after all.

The figure chuckled lightly as both men stood like they were about to duel. “I’m an ally, fret not mercenary, I’ve come to send you back to where you’ve come.”

Sebastian tilt his head slightly; moreover, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck settle, he didn’t even realize they were raised. If this guy was an ally though, he should be able to place his sigil. Which he couldn’t. “I apologize, but I’m unfamiliar with the sigile, what guild are you from?” Sebastian took a step forward, if this was going to devolve to a brawl, he’d need to close the gap before this guy could pull his sword.

Matching his step, the knight-like figure settled his armored mitts on his belt. “I’m not surprised you don’t recognize it. It’s been long lost to time and history.” The figure took a breath, his tone shifting to a more eased and relaxed one. “The sigil itself is called the Trinity Star, it’s the sign of our Deus, he’s better known as The Creator.”

Sebastian frowned a bit, this was… he was going to be honest, crazy. “I see…” so this guy was a religious nut, he should have figured, with the whole ancient Hospitaller vibe and all.

“Sebastian Young. I sense your confusion, fret not, there’s someone who will explain things. But for now, this path is not yet yours to tread.” The knight figure started to walk forward, closing the large gap.

Sebastian went to object, but his vision blurred pure white as the knight got closer, then a sharp gasp racked his body, as he felt as if he was falling.

| — — — |

Sebastian suddenly gained consciousness again within his fighter's cockpit. He quickly wish he'd hadn’t, as pain like liquid fire racked his bones, causing him to gasp sharply and sputter blood onto his already marred visor. In his panic he hardly noticed the unusually focused short stack busy trying to finish her prayer- she had accidentally forgotten a few verses... whoops. In a flash Sebastian's pain stopped, he was left grasping his chest and panting heavily while trying to figure out what was going on.

"Wonderful! You're awake!" A warm voice broke through Sebastian's muddled consciousness, giving him footing in his own mind; moreover, giving him footing to choke down the panic. He was still hacking however and trying to remove his helmet for a breath of fresh air, which was made harder due to a lack of any finesse or grace. "Oh here, let me help! Now, how do you open this thing..." The same feminine voice spoke through the thinning fog.

He slowly was able to control his breathing, but was thrown back into fight or flight when he felt petite hands on his shoulders. Slim hands meant he was on the ground, which meant he was on Hyporous, which is a vacant planet, which meant those hands had to be a Blunok.

Sebastian quickly ripped the hands off him, and he went to get up to fight this xeno. But was thrown back down due to his flight harness still keeping him buckled, his hands flew to the button, Frick, it was jammed. Okay, now may be a good time to panic.

“Hey, hey! Relax.” the soft and young feminine voice broke through his panic.

Sebastian still tried to find the clasp for his helmet again, he had to see what was touching him, as no alien could speak.

“Oh here, let me help you!” The woman announced, her voice more chipper and excited now. He heard the audible click of his helmet and he swiftly threw it off between jagged coughs. He had to squint his eyes as harsh light hit them, he also took deep breaths.

Slowly his eyes adjusted as he fiddled for his harness lock. He paused however, his coughing and panic subsiding, he was now downright confused, a petite and grinning… girl stood in front of him, well. A woman, but she glowed… “who the hell are you?!” Sebastian barked as he punched the jammed harness button, which finally did the trick to loosen it.

Hyporous was vacant, well abandoned. Ever since the inner-continental corporation fell to xenos.

The woman looked at him a bit blankly, Sebastian had no time, what if Blunok were about? He swiftly clambered out, causing the glowing, wide eyed woman to jump back with a yelp. “I’m, well I don’t have a name! But I’m a message! Who was sent to help you!” She chirped joyously, she actually did it! Even though she accidentally forgotten the pain part… that was hardly the point. Sebastian gave her a hard look and then looked around. People ‘helping’ him never turned out… where the heck was his A.I, it should have blasted her.

“Ahuh, and who sent you, nameless…” he gestured to her, he wasn’t even sure she was human, who the heck glowed!? Also it was clear she was from around here, she was flippen bare foot. Though, luckily there wasn't any sign of a Blunock warband around.

The woman gave a slight frown, sinking back from his harsh and gruff tone. “W-well the Great Dia sent me to help you…” She almost inaudibly mumbled as she laced her fingers and stared down at them. Clearly affected by his harsh tone, he had to calm down. She was probably just some bystander, who was clearly trying to help.

Sebastian took a deep breath, looking around then back to her, he was out of that death trap of a cockpit, and she didn’t pose a threat… she hardly even came up to his shoulders. He relaxed further and looked back to her glasses rimmed amber eyes, her cheeks flushed with freckles, her full cheeks framed with a river of golden locks. It all really painted her as unthreatening. He realized he jumped the bit, he needed to relax a bit.

“Okay.” Sebastian ventured softly, he ran a gloved hand through his matted brown locs. “So, who is this ‘Great Dia’ that sent you to help me?” His gaze shifted back to the trees, maybe he crashed on the planet and not the moon. But the surrounding landscape confirmed he definitely crashed onto Hyporous. He looked back to the woman, and he noticed the softer tone definitely caused her to perk up, as excitement graced her features again. It oddly felt good, this was rather fitting for her. Not to mention definitely made him feel less like a heel.

“Well!” She began gesturing wildly and boldly, further extenuating her joy. Eventually her hands stopped gesturing, one stopped while pointing skyward, the other splayed open upon her modest chest. She closed her eyes, and could picture him clear as day. “He’s the Great Dia, it’s really self explanatory!” She opened her eyes and pointed at the merc. “He’s also sent me. to offer you. A deal!” Sebastian simply raised an eyebrow at her in his annoyance and disbelief, did this girl really just repeat herself? She slowly lowered her skyward hand and the other from her chest, she was slightly confused why he didn't seem to catch on... it wasn't that hard, it was really simple.

The pair stared at each other in shared bewilderment. On one side the angel was baffled at the mere notion that someone was unaware who the Great Dia was, he was life itself! It was truly perplexing to her, well and the fact he was covered in blood, but she felt that was slightly fussy. Sebastian on the other hand was confused on how someone could obviously think so highly of a person, to the point of using their name with an honorific, at least he was assuming 'great' was some form of an honorific; and yet, not go into detail when promoted. well there was the other fact she glowed, but that seemed explanatory somehow, gosh, when had glowing people come somewhat normal?! Sebastian found himself mulling that question in his mind, a random pang of feeling really old hit him, but he'd deal with that later.

With a heavy handed sigh, Sebastian was the first to relent on being silent. With a ruffle of his brown beard, he began again in a slower tone, hoping that would help her comprehend what he wanted. “Okay, let’s try this again. Who is the Great Dia. And what are you.” He quickly added, “I’ve never heard of them. Be specific, I mean, really knock yourself out with details.”

The angel frowned while lost in thought for a second, who’s never heard of him? Like, well. It’s God himself, The Creator. “Well… I’m an angel.” She paused at the sight of Sebastian’s incredulous look, which made her cheeks heat from his intense gaze for some reason. She started to use her hands again to explain, it was slightly a nervous habit, slightly helpful for herself. “A-and, as an… angel, I- well. I serve the… Great Dia… who’s, um… The Creator. And... He created, like. Everything.” her hands fell to her side as she wasn't sure what else there was to explain. But something told her the explanation wasn't going to suffice with this human.

Yup, she was crazy, thought Sebastian. He checked his holster visually, making sure his holstered rotiliary plasmatic revolver was still in place, he might need it. Then he looked back to this supposed angel. Suddenly the previous events in that white place, or realm, came back to him in a rush. An absurd thought hit him, maybe... that wasn't a dream. Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose in disbelief of himself, he was the crazy one here. “Okay, so, let's get this straight, this Creator sent you. to help me... Why?”

The angel slowly beamed again, he actually did get it! And here she thought this guy thought her flat out crazy. Though her tone was measured and small, she answered his inquiry. “Well, he has a proposition for you.”

Sebastian skeptically raised a brow, he's heard that before. “A proposition?”

The angel nodded enthusiastically, finally she could get down to business. The slight overkill shaking caused her round rimmed glasses to slip down her nose, which she fixed before going on. “Yes! A deal. If you’d like, I will explain it to you!”

Sebastian sighed a bit, he was extremely skeptical, but… there was that whole knight fellow business he couldn't shake, and that felt very real. He must have hit his head, because he felt completely ridiculous. Sebastian looked at her, and his eyes went wide. There was that same sigil on her. Perhaps a bit quicker than he wanted, he pressed. “Okay, but firstly, where’s that sigil.” It seemed a random ask, but he learnt sigils were highly important. For instance, people fought and died for a sigil. It seemed useless and simple; however, there was an unspoken power about symbols and banners, that power was the authority they kept and held.

The girl looked absolutely baffled, she wasn’t sure what he meant, then it clicked. “Oh! Do you mean this?" She held her bag up, the one with said golden sigil he was referring to. Sebastian gave a slight nod of confirmation before she continued. "Well! This is, The Trinity Star! It’s the symbol of the holy-“ The angel was cut off by a distant roar, a roar Sebastian knew by heart, a roar that stoked fury in his heart; A fury he hoped didn’t turn to rage, for he knew that roar belonged to the Blunock. Something he utterly hated.

The angel was the first to turn to the roar, an unfitting glare fell upon her youthful features. “It seems we have some unwanted company, how rude.”

Sebastian sprung into action, not even bothering to waste time, he knew time was now very limited. running to his fighter, he retrieved two things, his revolver extension kit, something very expensive and hard to come by. The other thing he was getting was both those things as well as abstinent, but the A.I was too useful to leave behind. “I was thinking the same thing, angel lady. The Blunock-“ His jaw drew slack as suddenly two massive white figures jumped into the valley, standing head and shoulder above him, they wore pure white armor they were covered head to toe with it. The armor had a golden trim to match; he also noticed the blazing golden sigil upon their pauldrons, so, at least they were allies.

“We have to get moving. The Whelps have a Devil leading them.” One of the almost identical figures, with a massive war hammer boomed to no one in particular. Sebastian felt like he was sputtering more than ever, but he had retrieved what he wanted from his fighter. He quickly jumped off and chased after the now running angels.

“R-Right! Sebastian! We need to get going, all of us! we will continue this later!”

“Wait! Just hold on, who the hell are those guys!?” It was unusual for him, but Sebastian knew it was best to follow them.

“Oh! They are your guardian angels, let me introduce them! The one with the hammer is Davis! And the other with the shield is Jones!” In unison both, now named, apparent guardian angels nodded, both were again, identical in height and armor look, the only distinction was their weapons and sound of their voices.

Sebastian had so many questions, so, so many questions. He went and listed the craziness in his own mind. First he crashed then met this guy with a black cloak in some weird white realm. Then a crazy woman, who mind you flippen glowed showed up, then said some god wants to make a deal. And now there were these seven foot tall, knight… things, that apparently were his ‘guardian angels’. Oh, don’t forget the fact that apparently devils were chasing him now. Either he accidentally took some drugs, hit his head or was in the greatest scam he’d ever seen. Or possibly all three at once!

“You owe me a lot of explanations!” Sebastian yelled out to the angel he was chasing. She really did owe him a lot of explanations, one chief thing being who the heck was chasing him.

“We apologize, sire, we don’t have the authority to answer questions, we simply guard, sire.” Jones announced stoically while keeping stride with Sebastian, and admittedly was a bit too close for comfort.

Davis quickly added. “And defeat our fallen brothers.”

“And that too.”

Fallen what? Great, now there was apparently family drama. Sebastian was starting to think he was in a dream. He then had an idea, what if he just stopped? It would all end, probably. But, the sudden roar of a Blunock warboss made that clear it wasn’t a bright idea, dream or not, that wasn’t something he wanted to see.

“No, not you two! I mean her!” Sebastian pointed to the girl he was chasing, he knew now wasn’t the best time; but he wanted to be clear, he wasn’t some dummy to push about.

“You could always name her, sire. It would make things easier.” Jones quipped. Sebastian had half the mind too. ‘Pain in his ass’ seemed as good of a name as any. Also, why did this guy keep calling him sire!? Sebastian felt more confused and frustrated then doing basic training all those years ago for the Blackout guild.

The little angel, for some awful reason, stopped in the middle of her stride and turned. Which was utterly foolish, as Sebastian was enclosed on both sides by the massive knights and had no time to stop. Even though he didn’t want to, as it would probably hurt. He crashed into her hard. She yelped in pain, obviously. But he kept her from falling, by wrapping his arms around her waist and hoisting her up and over his shoulder. She protested immediately after yelping in shock. “H-hey! Put me down!”

“Don’t even start! You really need to stop and think before doing dumb crap like that!” He chastised harshly. He heard her falter to respond, her words dying on her lips and he could tell she was upset. He didn’t mean to sound so stern or cross, but… she kinda deserved it, didn’t she?. Then a sudden idea sparked, if he could name her, he would. “You know what? Selah, let your new name be a reminder to pause and think before acting!” Though it was on the fly, the name was a good one. He thought so at least.

Selah sputtered, a mix between excitement, annoyance and being flustered crossed her features. She went to say something, but she decided to shut her mouth. Good, the name was already working. Sebastian couldn’t help but feel smug, something which was wiped clean off by a Blunock roar that was uncomfortably close.

“Sire! Have you been advised on what to do next?” Jones inquired, suddenly jerking his shield to the side and apparently smashing his shield into something. Sebastian didn’t see what, but he definitely heard the crack of bones like the shield connected with something. What was impressive to him was that the war-angel never lost his stride, that shield looked flippen heavy!

“Um, no, I wasn’t able to finish explaining the details to him.” Selah, still pouting, grumbled indignantly. “You’ll need to go to grid ZZ-3.”

Wasn’t able to finish? Sebastian didn’t even remember her starting to give details. She was extremely good about skirting them, it being purposeful or not was to be decided. But he didn’t really have time to figure out, he’d just go to the cords given for now. “A.I! Route me to grid ZZ-3!”

The long pause left him confused, he then realized his normally opinionated partner was silent for longer than usual. Panic swept through him, had he grabbed the wrong data chip by mistake when he grabbed it from the ship? But a certain timid voice chimed in and explained.

Selah suddenly with flushed, freckled cheeks, Explained “I, uh, I turned that thing off… It was really mean and violent.” she whispered.

“That’s the whole point! It’s a combat A.I! Just, GRAH!” Sebastian felt a headache coming on, he was surprised it hadn’t come sooner in all honesty. “Program! Reboot!” An audible click sounded from his armor, the sound then ramped up to a soft ditty, announcing the start up sequence finished.

“I want a name, also, I want to kill her.” His A.I didn’t even try to hide the monotone disdain. Finally some calm and normalcy in this crap storm.

“Not now! You can kill her later, but for now route me to ZZ-3!” Sebastian yelled, he could hear the Blunock were nearly upon their heels. His A.I seemed pleased by the promise of violence later and quickly routed the location, giving audible instructions the whole group started to follow through the sparse but beautiful forest.

Selah then whispered softly- timidly, still over his shoulder. “Um- you won’t actually… Let that happen, right? The whole killing thing?”

Sebastian felt very torn, between his still stirring aggravation with the little angel- Selah. And a sudden feelings of protectiveness over her. He shouldn’t be surprised, she oddly reminded him of his little sister. Especially the last comment. He felt a sudden torrent of long repressed guilt and remorse, but he couldn’t do this, Not right now.“…we will discuss this later, when we aren’t under threat of death.” He still had so many questions, he had a feeling he was going to get them answered, just not right now. So, he decided to just go with the flow, he’d deal with the aftermath later. Just like the rest of his life, he’d go with the flow and roll with the punches as they came. For better or worse.