“What was that about?” Aurex asked in a sharp tone, darting forward to grab Ronin by the breastplate. “You’d better start talking while I’m still asking nice.” Blinking, Ronin finally looked down from the screen, to see the human sized Aurex holding onto his armor. He was easily two feet shorter than Ronin while in his suit, and no matter how good he thought he was at fighting, without a weapon there was nothing he could do to Ronin inside his armored power suit.

“I’m not sure,” he said dazedly after a moment, not even bothering to respond to the threat. Jaya did though, having arrived in time to catch the tail end of the message, she stepped up to Ronin’s side and slapped Aurex away as easily as one could knock a cat from a table. He tumbled head over heels for a moment before coming back to his feet, cursing, and balling his hands into fists, only to stare straight into the barrel of Ian’s cannon.

“You heard the robot,” Ian said, hands steady as he pointed the weapon, capable of blowing apart an armored suit, at Aurex. “There’s a chance to get off this planet before we’re all killed, but it won’t happen if you antagonize Lord Ronin. So back off unless you want to die here and now.” Ronin cast his gaze at Ian’s back, wondering at the sudden shift in the man’s demeanor. Only a minute ago, he’d told Ronin he wanted to get a feel for the landscape before he decided who to back.

“Look at the screen,” Mycroft said pointing upwards. Ronin looked up as the whole thing moved in fast forward, he was confused for only a second, before remembering that it had been paused when he came in. The Doctor must be bringing it back up to the present. Everyone watched, in fascination as the beetle dropships rocketed towards the ground. Each heading for an area of the map that had been marked with a name.

“They’ve all landed over known human settlements,” someone said quietly. The words still carried to everyone, since they had all gone silent as the smaller screens replaced the cube ships with the drop ships. Ronin watched in as much shock as the others as twenty people rushed out of every ship once they’d landed, heading for the entrances of the settlements as the ships lifted off again.

“I ask again, Dawson,” Aurex said only half facing Ronin, as he also looked at the screen. “What is going on here?” Ronin didn’t answer, too busy watching as hundreds of yokai swarmed from dozens of ships. Each carrying a giant pack on their back, or dragging sleds loaded down with gear behind them. A few from each ship were even wearing the armored Exo-suits that Ronin himself now favored.

“Those are Ronin’s forces, brought over by Owl Two… the android in the video.” Elyria answered him, as Ronin continued to stare at the screen, still lost in his own thoughts about Owl Two. He’d been the ship’s AI. An epochs old intelligence that had ferried its passengers across the void of space for who knew how long. “If I knew that crafty android at all, I’d bet he took over the colony ship as soon as the government left and has been pumping it dry of every resource, he could squeeze out of it. The yokai teams are most likely there to keep the lizards distracted, while we fix the ship.”

“Why didn’t they come here then?” Someone asked.

“How do you have so many forces? I was limited to only two.” Someone else said over the first.

“Shut up, look at those four ships, they are heading right for us.” Doctor Mycroft snapped, taking the room’s attention back off Ronin again, and placing it on the main screen. The screen that now showed an enlarged image of four ships flying in a diamond pattern directly towards their position. The view was taken from space, and as the ships dove down towards the ground, another rose out from the lake, just long enough to open its hatch. Before lowering itself back into the water.

“What was that, isn’t that one of the four ships you hid in the water earlier? Why did it go out and open like that, do you have more people up there?” Fabius asked, speaking for the first time. He had been outspoken at the ball, but now he seemed content to let his son do most of the talking.

“One of our people got sucked out through an underwater tunnel. We didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves by grabbing her earlier.” Elyria said, answering for Ronin again. She was still behind him, using his large body as cover while keeping her rifle ready at hand. “We do have people on board those ships, but if I understood Owl Two correctly, Sam is flying them all with the help of a program he wrote her.”

The water churned, and though Ronin couldn’t see through the reflection the sun was casting on the surface, he imagined the four ships that had been parked just below the surface now submerging themselves deeper into the lake, hunting for the tunnel that would lead them towards the cube ship’s hangar.

With a huge gush of water, the four descending ships slammed into the lake. Ronin couldn’t hear anything, but it was easy to guess at the racket they were making as the previously still water sloshed over the banks, flooding the surrounding area for what must be close to a mile.

“Why are they going so fast?” Someone new asked, Ronin thought it was one of the several natural humans who’d stayed behind, since they were speaking through a breathing mask, but again, he paid them no mind. Their question was answered a moment later anyway when over two dozen lizard dropships slammed into the water right behind them, flying even faster.

“Look what you did, fool.” Aurex snapped, pushing his way back through the crowd towards Ronin, ignoring the cannon aimed his way, only stopping when Jaya’s suit hand wrapped around his biceps. “You’ve led them right to our door. How will we defend ourselves against that many ships? Let me go, you brute, I’m going to kill that fool… agh.” He let out a pained grunt when Jaya, who’d been appointed as Ronin’s bodyguard when K3 was away, gave his trapped arm a squeeze at the threat.

“Stop this at once Aurex.” The old Priest said, appearing out of nowhere to place a hand on Jaya’s mechanical one. “Please, let him go. I will send him away.” Jaya didn’t move, only adjusting her other hand’s grip on her gatling gun.

“Let him go Jaya,” Ronin said with a sigh. Just as worried that the ships would follow the beetle ships straight too them. He barely paid attention as his guard let go of Aurex’s arm and the old man ushered him away. Still captivated by the waves, working their way across the lake. “What have we done?” He whispered to himself when movement caught his eye.

The lake water was churning again, and more waves thrashed the sky as roughly half the lizard craft who’d entered the lake flew back out in a rush. They circled once, before settling down near the mine. Ronin frowned, trying to figure out why half of them had left, until he followed Elyria’s pointed finger towards the lake. It was hard to see, until Mycroft zoomed in even further. Yet, once she did, the chunks of broken craft floating on the lake’s surface became clear.

“What the hell happened?” Ronin recognized the voice as the minotaur who’d captured his people. He hadn’t seen much of the giant bovine, but he seemed to be one of Aurex’s supporters.

“Look, there are chunks of beetle ship mixed in with the lizard.” One of the natural human priests said, pointing. Sure enough, as the waves settled down again, more smashed chunks of ship were exposed… pearlescent chunks, which were predominantly white in their coloration.

“Son of a bitch,” Ronin breathed out, clenching his hands into fists, and only backing off the hold when he felt the gatling gun’s grip groan under the pressure. “That maniacal tin can found a way to destroy my ship after all.”

“White Flame, what about K3 and the others? They were leaving the cave when we got called earlier.” Elyria said, panic clear in her voice. Panic that Ronin felt surging through his own veins a moment later, when he thought about his people crawling through the underwater tunnel, with its deadly current, as eight, no, seven now, beetle ships rushed towards them.

“K3, this is Ronin. Can you hear me?” He snapped into his earpiece, only remembering to press the button halfway through the sentence. “K3, this is Ronin. Are you still in the tunnel?” He asked, panic clear in his voice. “You must get out. Right now. Owl Two is sending the ships through as we speak, and they aren’t going slowly. Get out of there now, or you risk being washed away.” Taking a last look at the screen, which showed a flood of small forms rushing from the dropships and into the mine. Ronin turned to the Priest. “I’m sorry, but I have to check on my people, and if the ships make it down safely, I need to consult with my pilot and Xerox. I’ll come back and explain what I can as soon as I’ve made sure that my people are safe.” Barely waiting for the bent old man’s nod, Ronin rushed from the room, his three followers hot on his heels.

Ronin didn’t pay attention to the terrain as he ran, moving on instinct through the crumble down city. His mind was too busy seeing images of Dandelion’s nightmare trip through the tunnel. Images that kept getting overlaid with those of K3, his closest friend, and Leo, Karr, and all the others. He listened for his comms to activate with every step. Waiting for one of his people to answer his calls, but there was only silence. Did that mean they were still underwater, unable to talk? Or was something blocking the signal to them?

He reached the lake in what felt no time at all, and an eternity at the same time. The water was already agitated, sloshing around in ever larger waves. Ronin didn’t know if that meant the ships were already here, or if it was residual motion from the activity on the surface. His gaze caught then on the ferry ship, bucking wildly against the rope that held it in place, slowly getting dragged further into the deeper waters. The waves crashed over the boats deck, taking everything that wasn’t nailed down with them over the other side, including a few of the sailors.

It was a flat-bottomed craft, since being underground there was no current or wind to worry about. The crew fought wildly, trying to maintain their balance, while pulling on the rope, desperately trying to get the ship back to shore. Ronin, still worried about his people, cast his gaze down into the waters, now too disturbed to see into, before shouting in frustration and rushing towards the thick rope, still attached to the shore. He didn’t see his people and he couldn’t swim, but he couldn’t just stand there and watch.

“What are you doing?” Elyria shouted into his ear, as he grabbed onto the guide rope and gave it a few experimental pulls. “You can’t be thinking what it looks like. Are you crazy? You can’t swim remember, and the suit weighs a ton. You don’t even have a breathing mask on, if you… you’re crazy, you know that? Absolutely crazy...” Ronin ignored her as he threw himself out over the water, his hand wrapped loosely around the rope. He slid along its length, riding the momentum from his jump. Sliding out like he was riding a glider.

“Can’t leave them out there.” Ronin said, trying to control the fear that was doing its best to climb out his throat. “The waves are getting worse, and that ship wasn’t designed for these waves.” He’d slid some twenty feet on momentum alone, but he’d come to a stop now, and was forced to haul himself along, hand over hand. Unfortunately, the rope hadn’t been designed to carry this much weight. Its only function was to span the lake and be pulled on laterally. The further he got from the shore, the farther down the rope sagged, until he found himself underwater up to his waist.

Slowly, he pulled himself along, dropping further and further into the water as he moved. All the while, the waves surged around him. Elyria, who’d been at his side until a particularly high wave had nearly gotten her wings wet, was now hovering high overhead, shouting down at him with words he could barely hear and did his best to ignore. Water was now everywhere inside his suit, he could feel the drag, slowing his reactions even further, and he worried what would happen if the suit’s batteries got wet. Something he should have considered before he tried this crazy stunt.

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The water dropped down, being pulled away like it had been repelled, leaving him hanging some twenty feet above the waves. That was, until the wave came crashing back down on him. The force of the wave battered him around like a kite during a thunderstorm. Thanks to the strength of the suit, Ronin wasn’t worried about letting go, but that didn’t mean the rope would hold. Ronin spluttered, trying to hold his breath as the armor’s chest cavity filled with water. Elyria had been right about him not having a breathing mask, and the water, once inside the suit, didn’t seem to want to leave it again.

He couldn’t see anymore, and he could barely breathe, as water continued to slosh around inside his armor. Ronin was only able to put one hand in front of the other, and continue to pull himself along, until, after what could have been a few seconds, but felt like a lifetime, he reached something solid. Feeling around, he had a tough time knowing if he’d reached the boat or not. There were no feeling receptors in the suit, so the only way he would be sure if he was touching something was to see it, or to have so much resistance pushing back against him, he could feel it through the suit. Out here, with the water slamming into him, and the boat, if indeed that was what he was holding, bouncing around like it was, he just couldn’t tell.

“You’re there, you stupid fool.” Elyria screamed into the comm, still in his ear, but barely functioning now that it was completely submerged in water. How had K3’s team been able to use theirs? Maybe they were modified when they got the mask seals changed out, Ronin thought idly, as he forced himself up and onto the boat. Once he was sure he wasn’t going to sink by letting go of the rope, Ronin used one hand to flip a latch on the suit, opening it enough so that the water drained, and he could see again. Looking around through blurry eyes, Ronin found he’d made it to the ship.

“What are you doing?” He heard the captain screaming at him. “We need to get out of here, now.”

“Glad to see you too,” Ronin grumbled as he gasped for air, “don’t worry about me, I’m totally fine.” Despite his words, Ronin had already begun hauling on the rope with everything the suit was capable of. Which turned out to be not that much. He cursed as the suit slowed under his hands, each time he grabbed the rope, it seemed to lag further and further behind, until the point he couldn’t make it move at all. Letting go of the rope, lest the suit’s hands get stuck wrapped around it, Ronin tried to unlatch himself the rest of the way.

“Shit,” he shouted when the suit locked up entirely, clearly not having been made to function underwater like that. Straining with everything he had, Ronin tried to move his arms. All he succeeded in doing was breaking the bands that connected his arms to the switches. The suit was a mix of mechanical and digital, the motions he made being relayed through a computer system. Meaning his hand motions weren’t what actually moved the suit. It was the switches that his limbs were strapped to that did the actual movement, and with them dead, the suit was effectively a boat anchor. A saying that hit a little too close to home, when the waves smashed into the ship again, sending him tumbling over backwards and sliding towards the boat’s edge.

“You damned fool,” Elyria said, landing on top of him as another wave crashed into them. Her wings were now thoroughly soaked. “These aren’t our people. They aren’t tied to the ship’s core. What are you doing out here? This is reckless beyond measure.” The elf’s hands danced madly across the suit, fingers working latches free, even as she berated him for a fool. Ronin, who hadn’t considered the risks to himself, was now terrified at the sight of her wings. He knew she couldn’t fly when her wings got wet like that, so she’d effectively trapped herself out here with him in order to get him out of the suit.

“Thanks,” he said, when she’d popped the last latch and the suit fell apart around him. Ronin kicked his way out, and hauled himself to his feet, not sparing the dead suit so much as a glance as he grabbed Elyria and dragged her towards the center of the ship, where the remaining crew were straining against the rope. “But you shouldn’t have come down, now you’re stuck out here with me.” He said it quietly, but the elf’s keen ears picked up on the words, and he felt her punch connect lightly with his gut.

“Ouch, damn it.” She said, shaking her hand, and Ronin winced. Guess she hadn’t hit him that lightly after all, he just hadn’t felt it through the chitin armor plates that covered his body. “Shut up and save us already.” She grouched at him, following his lead when he grabbed onto the rope and started pulling with all his strength. The crew, who were mostly naturals, were doing their best, but they didn’t have the strength to move the boat through the crashing waves. Ronin, who wore a ship body, wasn’t strong enough either. He pulled the rope with everything he had, but it just wasn’t enough. He’d counted on the suit, and without it they were going to die out here.

“No,” he grunted as the rope slipped beneath his fingers, waves pushing the craft even further from shore. “Come on, come on, move…” he chanted to himself as he pulled, thankful that his hands were covered in gloves of armor, otherwise they would have been stripped raw. A scream from behind him let him know that the others helping to pull weren’t as lucky, and the next wave took not only his suit, but a good handful of the crew with it.

“Cut the rope,” Elyria shouted into his ear from right beside him. Her voice almost not making it to him over the sound of waves crashing into the stone walls of the cavern.

“What?” He shouted back, confused as to why he’d sever their only lifeline to the shore.

“Just trust me and cut the rope damn it,” she said. Her hand slapping into his helmetless head, a move he barely felt through the adrenaline running through his system.

“Ok,” he said after only a second. He didn’t know what she was thinking, but he knew he couldn’t pull them out as he was anyway. So, he pulled out the small belt knife he carried for occasions… well, not like this, but just in case, and slashed at the rope.

“What are you doing?” The captain shouted from behind him as he sawed away at the rope. “You’re going to kill us all.” Before he had a chance to do anything however, the rope split. Snapping under the pressure and knocking Ronin down when it whipped away back towards the shore. The other end, however, was still being held by half the ship’s crew. They were dragged along as the rope snapped away from them, most of them let go in time, but a few were taken overboard.

“You murderous fool,” The captain said finally reaching them. “You’ve killed us all, but I’ll get to take you out first.” His hands wrapped themselves around Ronin’s neck. Elyria tried to pull him off, but the captain was stronger than she was, and he held on for dear life. At least, until the jaws rose from beneath them, and swallowed the ship.

That’s what it looked and felt like to Ronin, anyway. Until he realized that it was the cargo door of a dropship, opening right below the boat, before rising into the air to swallow them up into the cavernous troop compartment.

Not much water was sucked in with them. Though at that moment, while falling through the air towards the back wall of the open space, Ronin wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. The captain’s grip was torn free of his neck, and the man went falling away. Followed by half the remaining crew who hadn’t gotten a hold of the deck. Ronin, who’d braced himself with his off hand was still anchored to the boat, but he worried about Elyria, at least, until he felt her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Dropping the knife he wrapped his free hand around her torso, pulling her to himself to provide what protection he could.

They hit the far end of the ship’s troop compartment with a boat shattering crash. Huge splinters of wood crashing around them, and for the first time in a long while, Ronin smashed his head on something hard and was knocked unconscious.

* * *

Ronin didn’t know how much time had passed when he finally opened his eyes again. Sitting up with a jolt, he found himself laying in a comfortable bed. Looking around, it looked like he’d been teleported back into his hotel room. Because that’s exactly what this room resembled, there was even a globe hovering over the desk, though he could tell at a glance that it wasn’t the holographic globe he’d used to build his pocket world, it was a projection, but of much lower quality. He caught movement, and looked around to see Elyria, seated at the desk chair, now pulled over by the bed.

“Thought Five had helped you kick this habit,” she said snidely, though Ronin could see the relief written plainly on her face even as she spoke those harsh words. “What, nothing to say? Mycroft is pissed, by the way. It was her ship Sam used to catch you with. None of her equipment survived the landing.” She continued, spinning her belt knife around her fingers. It was something she’d rarely done since they’d left the pocket world. Ronin had used to equate it to her threatening him, but now he thought it was a nervous tick of hers. Since she only did it while under stress.

“How long was I out this time?” Ronin asked, climbing out of bed, and looking around in wonder. “And where are we, this looks a lot like my hotel room on the ship.” Walking slowly over to the desk, he swiped his hand through the image of the globe. His hand passed right through without so much as a flicker, reaffirming his belief that it was a projection.

“It’s been six hours.” Elyria said, thankfully dropping the angry act as she stood up and walked over to stand beside him. “We’re inside one of the ships Owl Two sent down. They were all packed with equipment, but each one also held a half dozen shipping containers. Each one of them contains a room like this. Guess Owl Two had some spare time, since he went out of his way to give us a couple dozen houses.” She shrugged, seeming at a loss for words.

“And the sailors?” Ronin asked tentatively, not sure if he wanted to know the answer or not.

“About half of them made it, though, with the benefit of hindsight, they likely would have been better off if you hadn’t gone out there like a lunatic… we didn’t tell them that though, they are all well and truly convinced that you saved their lives.” She scoffed, clearly trying to sound uncaring. Her tone would have fooled him, once upon a time, now he heard the pain hidden behind her carefree façade.

“So, it was the well all over again.” Ronin whispered, slumping back onto the bed.

“What?” Elyria asked, dropping back into the chair, and looking at him with concern.

“Back when I first was crystallized, when K3’s raiding party attacked. I tried to save the villagers by throwing them down the well… turned out when the battle was all over, the only villagers who died were the ones I’d ‘helped’ since they got crushed or drown before the battle ended. They’d have been better off if I hadn’t done anything at all… and I did it again…” His voice faded in and out as he told the story, reliving that night, and what had just happened on the boat.

“I’ve killed more innocent people trying to save them, than would have died had I done nothing… I’m a failu…”

“And let me stop you right there.” Elyria said, smacking him on the back of the head. “You screwed up, that’s true enough.” She said, now standing over him, looking down into his eyes. “But both now, and back then, you were doing your best to save them, acting on instinct to save people who couldn’t save themselves. It didn’t work out like you planned, but that instinctive drive to save people… I’m pretty sure that’s what Owl Two was looking for, when he chose you to save everyone in his core. Out of everyone on his ship, he chose you. Not Leo, not Mycroft, not Aurex or any of the government bureaucrats, you. So, snap out of it, and let’s go meet with Xerox. He’s unloading the ships as we speak, and I think you will want to meet the workforce.” Frowning at how she’d cut off his pity party before he’d even started, Ronin nevertheless got up and looked around.

“Very well,” he said with a sigh. “The front door takes us outside?” At her nod, he walked over, taking a quick second to turn on the shower head, just to make sure it worked, before exiting the hotel room. He found himself in a troop compartment, still more than three quarters packed to the ceiling. Turning around, he took in the hotel room from the outside, it really did look just like a shipping crate. Bare metal gleaming off the light of over a dozen exosuits, as they trooped up and down the ramp, emptying the ship of all the resources that were piled within.

“My suit…” Ronin grumbled, remembering the sight of the dead power suit going over the edge of the boat.

“Oh, it’s dead and gone.” Elyria said cheerfully. “But Xerox said Owl Two told him to make you a new one already. It will be done when the latest batch of troops is finished growing in the government ships, we captured a while back. Though, it’s likely to take another few weeks he said, since it is way more complex than the one you were using.” Well, that was something at least. Ronin thought as he looked around at the bustling activity. Then he froze, eyes taking in what he’d glossed over before.

“Hhhiggghhh huummmaaann Ronnniinnn!” Shouted a familiar voice, as a six-legged jade green beetle scurried over to do a dance around him, throwing its two toed forelegs into the air. “I was wondering if I was going to see you again… look, remember Ruby?” She gestured at another beetle, this one the size of a semitruck. “Most of us got bodies the size of the one you made for me, I mean I look so cute and at this size I can interact with you and help repair the ship sssooooo much better. But Ruby was already in a body, ya know… and since there was room and everything, the smart man with all the ideas said she could come as she is… her and Amethyst, but everyone else had to be small. I was jealous of her… until I realized that he only wanted a few of us at our full size so we could use the equipment in the dropships too big for you tiny humans… guess I can’t say tiny now can I, since you’re bigger than me now? Anyway, I thought that was a hard pass, why be normal sized when it means I have to work that much harder, am I right?... So…” Ronin listened as the beetle prattled on, pointing out at the veritable sea of dog sized, six legged bodies scurrying all over the cube ship the drop ship was parked near.

“Lovely…” He said with a sigh, which had Elyria bursting into laughter beside him.