“The ship? I had been debating turning it over to Karr, to do independent harvesting with. Why, did you have something in mind?” Ronin asked, thrown by the topic change. Since it wasn’t every day, your android assistant turns out to be some super smart machine of mystery.
“I think our farming trip has come to an end, kid,” Leo said gravely. “If the government is sending people after us, and with my history with them it’s likely they are. Then we need to get off the grid, and fast. I already talked to Red. She agreed to let me tag along with her, since she’s customized her ship too much to want to part with it. I’d like to use our original ship, plus the one you got from Stanly’s peons to throw any pursuers off our trail.” Ronin thought about the suggestion for a short time, finally nodding his agreement.
“Ok, I think that’s probably the wisest course we can take. Give my people the night to get it stripped of anything useful?” He asked, hoping he wouldn’t have to give up on the spoils of war.
“No problem, kid,” Leo said. “In fact, I’ll have my girls help out. I’ve already had them strip my ship of everything that wasn’t nailed down, so the process should go faster the second time around.”
“Alright deal,” Ronin said, stifling a yawn. “If that’s all? I don’t think I’ve slept at all since I got this body, and it’s catching up to me. What with today’s revelations and everything… I really could use some sleep.”
“Don’t blame you at all kid. Chin up though, at least we have a chance at leaving the planet. All our competitors, and everyone stuck up on the ship… Well, there is not much we can do for them. Not if we want to survive ourselves anyway.” Ronin frowned but nodded. The older man had a point. If they told people about the ship heading to earth, everyone would panic. If they told them about the ship underground, they would try and steal it. Still, Ronin would do everything in his power, to save those he could.
After Leo left, Ronin stood in the ancient bathroom, looking at his closest companions. No one said anything, and Ronin suddenly felt exhausted. More tired than he ever remembered feeling, even during his three weeks in hell, when he’d first been learning to fight. Breathing in deeply, he let it out in a long sigh.
“I’m going to bed.” He said at last, giving a defeated shrug. “I have no idea what’s happening, or why they are questioning how real you two are. It’s nonsense. Anyone with eyes can tell you are real, living, breathing people… I guess it doesn’t really matter what they say anyway, right?” He’d started to ramble, and he knew it. So, Ronin just nodded his head and repeated. “I’m going to bed.”
The climb back down the building’s ruined stairwell took longer than it ever had before. Ronin was just too distracted to pay attention, and a quick grab from K3 on no less than two occasions was the only thing that kept him from going down headfirst. By the time they made it back to Ronin’s dropship, he was staggering. Nodding his head at his people, who were busy stripping the gangster’s ship of everything it had to offer, Ronin finally entered the house inside the ship. Not even bothering to find a bedroom, he threw himself into an armchair, kicked the feet out and fell asleep in seconds.
* * *
Ronin was dreaming. At least he thought this was a dream. He couldn’t be sure, since he hadn’t had a dream since he’d been crystallized. All he knew was he was running. Running from a pyramid shaped ship, which was composed of fourteen stacked cubes. It was the lizard ship, the one that, even now, was heading to earth. Only it wasn’t way out in space. It was already here. Ronin ran for all he was worth, but the ship was gaining on him. He kept glancing over his shoulder as he ran, each time he looked, the ship had gotten closer.
During one such look, Ronin spotted another ship behind his pursuer. It was the human ship they were gathering materials for. Already fixed and using Ronin as a distraction to leave. He wanted to call them for help, but they were already too far gone, and he was out of breath. Turning forward again, Ronin put his head down and ran with everything he had. It just wasn’t enough. He could feel the ship, nipping at his heels. When he heard a voice.
“Over here, my lord.” It was Xerox, or perhaps Owl Two. He was standing near a cave, beckoning Ronin to enter. Ronin changed directions, heading for his assistant’s outstretched hand. Only to see a silhouette behind him in the cave. It was a massive shadow, with multiple limbs, and huge fangs. He could almost swear he heard the rustling and clattering it made, as it moved. What was worse, Owl Two was the one casting that shadow. “Hurry up, my lord. They are already here. You must hurry if you want to survive.” Despite knowing the ship was almost on him, Ronin wasn’t sure if he should take that proffered hand or not. Owl Two had used him so many times, that he’d be a fool to trust him blindly. Now, with what Doctor Mycroft had said about him, Ronin didn’t know what to do. Yet… the ship was almost on him. Making a decision, Ronin reached out his hand… and woke up.
* * *
“Hey boss, Doctor Mycroft is calling for you. She says there is brain activity in the color force. Looks like they are waking up.” The voice was Stone’s, and he could feel someone gently shaking his arm. Opening his eyes, Ronin glanced around, vision still hazy from sleep.
Sitting up in the chair, Ronin rubbed his eyes and thought about the dream. What did it mean? He’d read a book about dreams and their meanings once. It had been filled with references he didn’t understand. Every other entry talked about cars and cell phones and elevators. Nothing that really resonated with him. If the dream was just a delusion brought on by the revelations the doc had shared with him, and his fear of being trapped on the planet or not, he didn’t know. What he did know was he now had a burning desire to get moving before anything caught up with him.
“I’ll head right over,” he said with a nod of thanks to Stone. “How is stripping the gangster ship going?” He asked as he punched in an order for enhanced Nutrient fluid. Only about an ounce of the pink fluid splashed into the cup and Ronin frowned. Remembering how hard it was to create the pink fluid, he figured they must just be running low and topped the glass off with the regular, green fluid. As the colors mixed, the ship memories he sometimes got kicked in, and made him think about coffee with a shot of expresso.
“We are almost done, boss.” Stone said, her voice relaxed. “We cleared out the troop transport section easily enough, but getting the good stuff from the middle compartment has been giving us fits.” As she talked, she had grabbed a glass of her own, copying Ronin with a glass of green and a shot of pink. “Mmm this is rather good boss, great idea. Anyway, with all the exosuits working on it together, we managed to get the fabrication unit outside, but there’s just no moving the growth vat I’m afraid. It’s just too big.”
“Hold on, fabrication unit and growth vat?” Ronin asked, confused. “What do you mean, I thought the fabrication units were in the troop compartment, and I didn’t even know we had a growth vat…”
“Oh right, yea the small ones in the troop compartment we have been using are portable units. The beetles are so damn big they can carry one of them around with them for field work. I think they also use it to make the puddy or whatever they make their warren, or termite mound, or city, or whatever they call the thing they live in. But there’s also a big one in the middle portion of the ship, there’s actually a door that opens outside in there, the thing’s big enough for a beetle to fit inside. The growth vat is the same, I guess it's there for regrowing a body if someone gets killed during a landing excursion. The tanks are empty, but it’s still plumbed into the ship more than we can separate. Unlike the fabrication unit, which was designed to be taken from the ship after landing… we think.” Ronin eyed the chipper goblin scout while he sipped his breakfast and listened to her chatter. She was respectful, but she clearly didn’t take it to extremes like some of the goblins had.
“Ok, thanks for the heads up,” Ronin said polishing off his glass. “You got me curious now, I’ll have to check out the middle section of our ship… but not until we get airborne. I don’t know why, but I’ve got a feeling we need to move. So, if you wouldn’t mind, gather everyone up and get that fabrication unit over here. If you can't get it done before the new troops are done waking up, we’ll have to leave it.”
“You got it boss,” Stone said, clashing her fist against her chest. “Consider it done.” Draining the rest of her own glass, the goblin tossed it into the sink and headed for the door at a trot.
“You good, White Flame?” Elyria asked, from where she’d been seated at the table. Ronin hadn’t seen her there before, but that didn’t mean anything. She was agile enough to sneak in, and he had been groggy enough to have missed her.
“Yea, I’m fine.” Ronin said, heading for the door. “Just woke up with a bad feeling is all. I think we need to move.” Elyria hopped up as he passed and followed.
“Strange,” K3 said as he fell into step with the pair. “I had a dream last night, it was Owl Two, telling me if I didn’t get you to the cave, you’d die.” The kaldarr looked agitated, gripping his rifle so tightly Ronin could hear the polymers creaking.
“You too?” Elyria said, turning her head as she walked. “I had a dream too, it… ah, well it was a lot like yours.” She said, stumbling over the words and turning away from them while she spoke.
“Me too.” Ronin said with a grimace. “Owl Two, telling me I needed to get to the cave, while the lizard ship chased me, and the human government used me as a distraction to flee.”
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“I’d like to say that isn’t possible,” Elyria said. “But it’s Owl Two we’re talking about here. If he wanted us to have visions, he’d find a way.” Neither of the two men wanted to argue the point, so instead, they picked up their pace.
“There you are, they’re waking up.” A frazzled looking Doctor Mycroft said as they entered the cafeteria that had been set up as the teleportation, crystallization room. It was nearly empty now; all her equipment had been removed, relocated back to her ship. Ronin was thankful the others had taken Owl Two’s warning to heart. Now all they needed to do was wait for the twelve empty bodies to wake up, and they could go.
The six bodies that had once belonged to the color force were stirring. Arms and legs twitching, and fingers curling. Ronin watched, as first one, then another, then all six sat up. They didn’t have eyelids, so none of them blinked or yawned, but there were a few stretches. That was, until the biggest of the bunch, the one whose armor was black, noticed Ronin standing there, between K3 and Elyria.
“My lord,” he said in a voice that had to belong to a man. He Jumped to his feet, slamming his fist against his chest, and even dropped to one knee. “It’s an honor, lord White Flame.”
“Lord White Flame, It’s an honor.” The other five said, reacting with lightning speed after the first one had noticed Ronin. Now, all six of them knelt before him, fists clasped to their chests with their heads lowered. Ronin blinked in confusion for a moment, not sure what to do, until Elyria cleared her throat beside him, and he snapped out of it.
“Right, uh, please rise.” He said at last, feeling lame even as the words left his mouth. “As you seemed to have guessed,” Ronin said once they’d all stood up. “I’m Ronin, or lord White Flame. This is K3, my bodyguard and friend, and this is Elyria, my councilor and overseer, I suppose.” Ronin said, introducing his companions. “Oh, and this is Doctor Mycroft. She’s the one who helped get these bodies hooked up for you.” He added, pointing at the busty doctor.
The six people just stood there, at attention, not saying anything. At a loss, Ronin looked to K3 and Elyria for help. It was K3 who stepped in and intervened on his behalf.
“Name, race, gender, and specialty. Also tell us a bit about yourselves.” He said, Reminding Ronin of when he’d first met Owl team. Only Owl Two and Five were still alive from back then. He hoped they were doing well. Owl Two was fine, Ronin was sure of that. It was Brie he was worried about. He’d left her behind when she’d so clearly wanted to come along. He only hoped she’d found the happiness his presence was denying her. It was the yellow armored color force who stepped forward first.
“My name is dandelion. I am a wood elf and female. I’m the team scout and sniper. I don’t know if my lord remembers me, but you saved me from execution when I was younger. Shared your food, played a game of cards with me… and gave me a home. I was with the goblin scouts for a few years before reassignment to yokai team 01.” Ronin stared into the yellow suit visor, wishing there was a face there to read. Dandelion? She’d been just a kid when he’d last seen her. Heck, she couldn’t be all that old now.
“Of course, I remember you Dandelion.” Ronin said, stepping forward and raising his arms. “You were so dirty back then I couldn’t see just how cute you were. I see your all-grown u…” his greeting was cut off when the yellow suited wood elf leapt at him. Ronin caught K3 lifting his gun from the corner of his eye, but Elyria stepped in and stopped him before Ronin had to say anything.
“What you mean to say, lord Ronin,” The girl said with an obvious catch to her voice. “Was that you mistook me for a boy and embarrassed me in front of half the camp.” She squeezed him so hard that Ronin felt his armor creaking, and he made a mental note to ask the doc about that armor upgrade.
“Your body is a bit stronger than mine, kiddo.” He wheezed out, patting her on the back.
“Oh, I’m sorry lord Ronin.” The girl said, stepping back. “I was just so excited; I’ve been training hard since that day. Waiting to repay your kindness. My rifle is forever at your service.” She gave another fist to chest salute and stepped back into line.
“My name is Vaira.” The pink armored warrior said, stepping forward. “I am a female bugbear. Frontline offensive specialist, proficient with small arms. You might not remember me, my lord. But I was one of the forty Gilded Lily bugbear girls you took into your service. We forty are your ever loyal swords, my lord.” She slapped her fist to her chest and then stepped back into line.
“My name is K12,” said the member in red. “I am a male yokai of kaldarr descent and a combat gunner. My lord may not remember this, but you came to watch us being trained when I was a few months old. Owl Two was testing the different variations of yokai to see which of us were the smartest and had the best coordination. Knowing you cared enough to come watch me train gave me the extra drive I needed to gain a spot on yokai team 01. My dedication has earned me the nanite treatment to keep me fit, even while my peers aged around me. My life is yours my lord.” After speaking, he too stepped back. Ronin remembered going to watch the kids training a few times, but he couldn’t tell them apart from that one encounter, even if they’d been in their original bodies.
“My name is O17,” said the largest member in black. “I’m a male yokai of oni descent. When I joined yokai team 01 I earned the nickname Tank. That is my role on the team. You were gone on campaign before I was born, my lord. But I look forward to proving my value to you in the field.” He saluted and stepped back.
“My name is Liana,” said the blue armored warrior. “Like Vaira I’m a female bugbear. Also like her, I am a frontline combat specialist, and one of the forty girls who entered your service when you saved us from the honeycomb. We forty are your ever loyal swords, my lord.”
“I am K6.” Said the last team member, in green. “I am a female yokai of kaldarr descent, and the leader of yokai team 01. Like K12 I’m a combat gunner. Also, like K12 I remember you from my childhood. You held me when I was just a toddler, checking me over to make sure I was safe and watched me playing with Samantha before you let Owl Two continue with the yokai program. Though I don’t believe it had been named back then. I am the oldest yokai still living, and one of the very first in the program. Owl two picked our unit to support you because we are the best yokai team in the valley. We have worked with squads like sergeant Karr’s several times and can be integrated into a larger unit or be deployed for smaller team operations. We live and die for you, lord White Flame.”
“We live and die for you, lord White Flame.” The rest of the team echoed along with their leader. Causing Ronin to go red with embarrassment. Why did all his people treat him like that?
“Oh gosh,” Doctor Mycroft said with an eye roll. “You’re one of those power mad idiots, aren’t you? The ones who rule their worlds like some kind of God. I had thought better of you kid.” Yokai team 01 stiffened at the jab, heads turning as one to face the doctor.
“Surprisingly no.” It was Elyria who spoke, saving Ronin from having to think of an excuse she would buy. “As much of a pain in the ass as the White Flame is, he doesn’t like all this pomp and respect.” She said waving at the six kids. “This is all Owl Two’s doing. The man has his faults, but small-minded arrogance isn’t one of them.” Before Ronin could get properly touched by her defense of his character, she continued. “Small-minded ignorance, however, certainly is.”
“Gee, thanks Elyria,” Ronin said with a sigh. “Where would I be without you at my side…”
“You’d be dead, most likely,” the elf said with a shrug. “Now give these kids some orders already, they have to be tired of holding those poses.”
“Oh, right.” Ronin said, turning back to the still saluting yokai team. “K6, we are on a bit of a time crunch. So, take your team and follow K3. He will lead you outside to help the rest of our people load up a fabrication unit. It could be vital to our long-term survival, and I’d rather not have to leave it behind, but as soon as the rest of these guys wake up, we will have to go. If you get it loaded and secured before we make it out, then take some time and mingle with your fellows. Get to know each other, and the new bodies your in. They will likely take some getting used to.”
“Come on kids,” K3 said, stepping forward and motioning them to follow.
“It’s an honor, sir.” K6 said, saluting the much taller kaldarr. Ronin wondered what the team members looked like in their normal bodies. He supposed he would just have to wait and see. He watched as they left the room, turning back around to an excited noise from the doctor.
“Brain activity, good, looks like it won’t be much longer now.” Ronin turned at the doc’s words, and they waited impatiently as the gangsters twitched, stretched, and blinked, rubbing their eyes as they yawned.
Unlike yokai team 01, these six didn’t jump up and salute when they saw Ronin. Instead, they slouched their way to their feet. Not even bothering to face him straight on, instead they all looked to Bunny and Chip, who looked at each other. Finally, Bunny turned to Ronin.
“Hey boss, we’re back and willing to follow yer orders. We’re good at shoot outs, stealing stuff and getting out of jail… What else, oh yea. Owl Two said to tell you that after our, ‘conditioning’ we are trustworthy.”
“Conditioning my ass,” Chip interjected. “What she means to say is he locked us in a prison cell for three months and tortured us with some kinda loyalty training until we caved… I mean, that’s not to say we aren’t loyal boss. Cuz, we’ll do what ya need.” He added, looking at Ronin with fear clearly written on his face.
“We have a message from the android.” Mycroft said, looking at her laptop. “Here, I forwarded it to you.” Pulling out his tablet, Ronin looked down at the short line of text.
“My lord, sorry I couldn’t send you more powerful backup. The Yokai team really is the best the younger generation has to offer. The color force bodies you captured were remarkably high quality. These gangsters on the other hand, are little better than humans. Increased strength and dexterity, that’s it. I felt it wasn’t worth risking any of our quality troops in such weak bodies. Along a similar line, it seemed pointless to send you anything but the best. So, I compromised. These fools know how to use their bodies the best, and they should be loyal enough to you for now. Use them until they are of no further value, then discard them.
Get to the cave,
Owl Two.”
“Guess we’ll just go with it then.” Ronin said once he’d finished reading the letter. “Doctor Mycroft, I was wondering if there had been any headway on the armor reinforcer you were working on?” He asked, turning to Mycroft as Chip and Bunny started kissing and Knuckles began cracking his fingers menacingly.
“I am making progress but haven’t finished just yet.” The Doc said with a shake of her head. “It should take a few days to reach the mountain you need to find. I’ll spend the trip working on it. Your damned android actually slipped some notes into the file I’d been working on. It pisses me right off to say that some of them are pretty promising. So don’t worry kid, we’ll get you fighting shape before the lizards get here.”
“Hopefully we’ll be long gone before then,” Elyria muttered. “You ready then, White Flame?” She asked, gesturing towards the door. “We should go while we still can.”
“Yea let’s go.” He agreed, heading for the door when his comm crackled.
“My lord, this is Stone…” The voice came through, bringing the news he really had hoped to avoid. “I see at least three ships inbound.”
“Shit,” Ronin cursed, looking back over at his people and the Doctor. “We have to go now. They are already here. Let’s go people… move it.” Barely waiting to finish his own sentence, Ronin took off towards the ships. Elyria and Mycroft right on his heels, the gangsters cursing and stumbling over everything in their path as they did their best to follow.
Ronin ran for all he was worth, having flashbacks to his dream and hoping desperately they weren’t going to be too late.