“Yaaahaaaa” Sen yelled, performing a double somersault mid air and plunging his stone penetrators in the rock wall before him before scrabbling up its surface hand over foot.

~Sen, It’s been thirteen 26 days of scaling the brown-stone cliffs to lure out the bahoms.~ Josh pruned his weary face as he mentioned the foul smelling local variety of large, bird-winged-goats that nested in the surface caves of a three-thousand-meter barrier wall near Noha-3's equator they had been harvesting. ~You aren’t a feeling a little ‘been here done that’ yet?~

Sen smiled in true glee. ~Nope! It is true that the flying caprids, while territorial and aggressive to the point of attacking whenever we get too close to their rock-nooks are not truly a challenge... But... Fighting secured to a sheer rock wall while being held in place by hip and foot slings... This I am loving!~

Sen propelled himself back in a reverse 720 degree flip with the activation of the stone penetrators he held in each hand landing on the vertical wall with his right hand penetrator and his left foot in cruciate limb pattern to prove his point

Winking toward Joshua, Sen continued. ~I’m Especially loving these stone penetrators~

Sen twirled the thin, Essence-enhanced, sinuously forged steel loops, topped with thermal flaring tips, in his hands as if showing the pair to Josh for the first time.

Conceding look. ~ Well you do have the whole rock-mounted ‘whirlwind of death’ thing going on. I’ll give you that. None of the bahoms coming near us have survived your onslaught to attack us again... I’m glad there are no PETA chapters on this planet— Ya know we have similar devices on my home world to climb ice walls...”

Sen adopted a reflective look. ~... I can see that... you do come from a very technologically backward planet where I would expect you to have to climb over ice instead of flying around it or melting it like any reasonable race of spirit beings would...~

~Hey just one—~ Josh countered, exasperated.

But another pack of bahoms had attacked taking Sen away from the conversation. Sen was all too happy to let Josh stew while Sen ‘impersonated a blender’ as Joshua called it. He would forget the joking slight Sen had made and change the topic the next time they had free time to talk. Joshua was easy to get along that way—never focusing on unnecessary things too long. Senyak respected his brother for his flexible thinking and ability to adapt to changing situations.

Soon enough the group of seven flying caprids were dispatched. Sen let their bodies fall the twenty-five hundred meters to the collection troops below. The soldiers, while technically commanded by Alysa, were under the direct leadership of Lobo and Mzamo. She called it ‘a cohesion-building exercise’. Sen admired the way she built up the men below her to lead if necessary, in her stead. Sen saw the requirements of it for combat in the mortal planes where communication wasn’t instantaneous between all involved parties regardless of the situation and environs. Giving them the ability to act and command without seeking guidance from her would be crucial in some situations for all her lieutenants.

And it is clearly working. No one was interested in arguing with either Lobo or Mzamo individually, let alone when they presented a unified front. Moreover, they seemed to get along well and formed a real camaraderie.

Josh nodded. ~Ya... I’ve seen them drinking together at night and frequenting the same soprando clubs.~

Sen cleared his throat awkwardly. ~You mean, where the soldiers seek romantic attention from other spirit beings for compensation?~

~The very same, brother…~ Josh gave a knowing smirk. ~Don’t Immortals not do the same?~

Acknowledging his comment with a nod, Sen replied. ~When on physical matter iterational planes... some Immortals have been known to partake of the local... customs... but it is absolutely unnecessary in other places. Mental spiritual, and to what extent Immortals experience them, emotional unity is achieved as a matter of course in all other places~.

A wide eyed look of accepted surprise came from Josh. ~You don’t say... Not sure I’m looking forward to that... ~

Sen smiled knowingly. ~Can’t say I blame you, brother... half the words that come out of your mouth will be seen for the complete inaccuracies they are.

A look of perplexed outrage followed a chuckling acceptance. ~...Can't deny that’s true, Sen. They must not have much need for scumbag criminal defense lawyers in those places…~

They both laughed out loud before returning to their climbing hunt. Thus far, Lobo, Mzamo, the three helmsman, Jishin, Amnaki, and Zurui, along with their six lieutenants and the first twenty-nine hundred and forty of the Brigantine's elite fighters identified by Mzamo, as well as the two thousand three hundred and eighty-six space marines he and Josh had Awoken Cultivations for, had all expanded their Cores to the maximum six times. All were prepared for Attunement should Reality provide the necessary items of power. There was also five times that amount of Spirit Beast Core Essence in reserve from unharvested Cores in animals they had collected over the last several days. The Core expansions and Awakenings would continue long after they left Noha-3. Everyone on the Brigantine would be brought up to maximum capacity if Alysa had anything to say about it—and as de facto military leader, she did!

But now it's time for us to get to work on our own Cores—

Giant hands formed from the rock face and surged out to grab Sen. The living rock's crushing force could not be denied. It would render him into a pulp if it ever got a direct hold on him.

Josh’s panicked gaze was turned toward his brother.

~Look out Sen!~ Josh called out 3 micros too late to actually serve as a warning. But Sen's reflexes were equal to the challenge and he spun away from the surprise attack.And it wasn't as if he hadn't been expecting the attack. It was the fourth time in the last three hours that rock elementals had taken offense to their presence.

Sen propagated a full earthen shield and pushed out with his legs while releasing slack through his repelling gear. His momentum let the rope slide through the belay as he somersaulted off the elemental's groping fingertips. Sen swiped through three outreaching granite appendages at the peak of his jump with a quick slash of the rock penetrator's activated thermal edge. Shattered gray shards sprayed everywhere, and three lifeless shafts of sheared rock the length and width of tree trunks fell. All plummeting down the sheer cliff toward the Brigantine's forces below.

Shielding his eyes, Josh tapped his communicator and called to the waiting teams, "Look out below! Another elemental attack!"

"Roger that." Mzamo's deep voice replied over the open channel. Sen's enhanced ears could hear Mzamo's orders as he shouted them to the mixed teams below.

"Get underneath the overhangs until the all clear is given. Yes, take the bahoms' carcasses. It won't be much fun transporting them back to the Brigantine if they are squashed into plasmid jelly, will it?"

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A good officer. They were lucky to have the junior leadership they did. All were very capable. They had also all passed the loyalty screens Intelligence had insisted Josh and Sen perform with their Mind Attunements to assess for duplicity. No betrayers had been found. Karma had been kind to them in that regard. With Ishan, Lobo, and Mzamo guiding the troops and Jishin and his two junior helmsmen, Zurui and Amnaki, commanding the Brigantine, there was hope that he, Joshua, and Alysa would be able to ultimately focus on their own growth. With the challenges that Sophie was showing lay ahead of them, there was no question that Karma required them to increase in strength.

However, as he climbed and fought on the wall, advancing his Cultivation and combat strength weren't the main thoughts on Sen's mind. Strangely, he reflected on camaraderie. It would have cut deeply if any of the ones I am growing to trust had been treasonous.

The thought surprised Sen, but its truth couldn't be denied. He took it as evidence that he was learning his grandfather's lessons concerning mortality. Treachery was ubiquitous in the multiverse. You accepted that and set up your defenses, expecting to find it where you least expected. Sen's gratitude at not finding duplicity in their top ranks meant he had developed bonds with other mortals that he was unwilling to lose easily.

I have been rewarded with comrades through investing my efforts in others instead of simply acquiring power for power's sake. I have learned that such roads lead to an empty existence and ultimate failure.

After three million years of existence, this was a new…and strangely gratifying perspective. I guess the all-powerful Bulwark of the Hegemony knows a few things after all.

Sen mentally tipped his hat to his grandfather as he slashed through the remainder of the attacking elemental. It took several enhanced cuts. Elementals would continually reform their attacking appendages until all the Essence they had absorbed was expended. It would only stop when it ran out of living force and ceased to exist. As this one had, leaving a gaping hole filled with frozen rock loops. All that remained of what had been a very determined monster less than a micro ago. While dangerous, the elementals were no significant challenge. Even Josh had dealt with the one that had attacked him directly. Only with a lot more cursing and several dozen more hacking cuts than Sen usually needed.

Glaring look from below. ~I heard that!~

~You were meant to, brother!~

Laughing to himself kilometers above the vast stretching expanse of the yellow and dark-orange sands of Noha-3, Sen continued up the cliff face. He refocused his mind back on the job before them. The elementals... and the bahoms were getting stronger the higher they climbed.

He and Josh had tried absorbing the goats near the bottom of the shield wall. The amount of Essence added to their Core was less than negligible. It would take thousands of goats with that strength to advance them. So, they had started gathering the spirit beasts for the Brigantine's troops. Josh had called it ‘farming.’ Sen had yet to ask for more details. He was clearly missing some unseen connection between growing seeds in the ground and killing flying goats in a desert. But... it just seemed like something he didn't need to know.

Two days ago, they had encountered their first large nest of caprids. Three great males and one enormous female led the 124 members of their herd. The fight they had put up was significantly greater than the previous battles. It has also been inside of the cliff face in their hollowed-out warren. The sires of the herd had been able to charge with their horns to significant effect. If not for the quick propagation of his earthen shield, Josh would have looked very amusing with a goat's head poking through his chest. As it was, he had been sent flying through the cave and embedded into the far stone wall.

Rolling his eyes, Josh scowled. ~I heard that too! Painful but worth it!

Snort. ~ Yes. It definitely was Joshua.~

The level of Essence they had absorbed from the four had been well worth the risk. He, Josh, and Alysa had been able to advance their Cores. Alysa had expanded hers 4 times from one of the male goats alone. He and Josh twice, each with the other two males and the female. That, along with the two expansions they had gotten from the Kaizuko they had expunged during the battle to take the Brigantine, left them all with two more to go before they could absorb their Space Attunement from the Tears of Nekusassu. Onward, they climbed, looking for another nest. But in the last two days, they had yet to find one.

Tilting his head. ~Sen... This is taking too long. Let's stop hunting blind and open our mindscape to find them. I'm sure I could find them in 10 seconds... err... micros.~

Reflexive shiver. ~I'm hesitant to let our minds be vulnerable to mental attacks. If not for the wisdom of Spock, we would not have gotten out of Kyon Shi's lava compulsion.~

Nod. I know Sen, "Since escaping, we've kept our mental shields tight… I know you aren't over what happened to us last time... Hell! I'm not over it either. If the Clone hadn't blue-flamed that bastard, I'd still be looking over my shoulder every time a cold wind blew... But we have the mind Attunement for a reason. To grow as we should, we need to use it to its fullest... We can't live our lives in fear... As you've said many times—~

Josh pitched his voice higher and squinted his eyes in a feeble imitation of an Asian face. "We must grow stronger."

Sen snorted at Josh's pathetic impersonation... Though he couldn't deny his logic and reasoning were sound. Sen pointed his index finger. "First, I don't sound like that! Second ...I... You are right—"

As if he had only been waiting for Sen to give him a window to throw them both out of, Josh went into the litany of how using their mindscape would be different this time.

"Sen, first of all, only one of us will open their mindscape—And I volunteer for that. Second, I've given you my Tetrahedral power, so if, for whatever reason there are psychically powered juggernauts on this desert planet you can get me out like I got you out last time... That is, assuming of course I can't get myself out. I'm pretty sure I could do it for anyone quad-Attuned or lower. So, I see the risk as minuscule to us! Let's do it... We really need the Space Attunement!" Josh finished with his hands spread out in front of himself like a kiosk peddler on the Hegemon-4, showing his latest wares and demanding a compliment on its quality.

Sen squeezed his eyes shut. ~ I'm not going to be able to convince you that this is a bad idea, am I?~

Josh shook his head. ~Not when I know I'm right!~

Sen could hear the cheer in Joshua's thoughts through the Bond.

Sigh, ~Ok, brother…But I will stand constant guard, and you agree to only expand your mindscape for ten seconds no matter what you find. Agreed~

Joshua drew an 'X' over the left side of his chest, crossed his thumb and little finger of his right hand, and held it up.

~Scout's honor and hope to die!~

Sen cocked his brow. ~Scouts?~

Josh nodded. ~Boy Scouts of America Sen. You'd like them, and they would love you. I bet they would make you an honorary member—Now this is how I see this going...~

* * * * *

Josh's plan had been simple. First, they were finished with the Kaizuko joint forces. They sent the troops back to the ship to work on their pre-Attuned Cultivations. They also sent Alysa back. She was ready to absorb the Nekusassu and was extremely eager to do so. But Josh and Sen both agreed that she, and through her—Sophie would need to wait to use the item of power so they could be informed by their experiences in going through it. Whatever Josh and Sen could share would only be of assistance to them. Sure, it was the Path of One, and they would need to make their own Karmic connections with the Attunement and the iteration... But whatever preparation that could be provided was only smart to wait for. Cultivation was a marathon, not a sprint.

With the last of the shuttles carrying the ground forces flying over the lip of the shield wall back to the Brigantine, it was just the two of them again. Josh's actual plan for using the mindscape was, if anything, disturbingly simple. Basically, they stayed where they had been, strapped and pinioned to the rock face with Sen sitting there holding his penetrators. Still, Sen couldn't argue. There was little chance of running into a significant mental force here and now. Sen signaled Josh to start. The focus of his eyes slipped as he expanded his Mindscape three hundred meters while Sen counted out loud to ten.

At the end of Sen's counting, Josh opened his eyes and shook his head negatively. Sen didn't need his Bond to understand that.

They tried it four more times until Josh found what they were looking for—a much larger nest with over two hundred individual winged goats. Most were deep in the rock face, but Josh also noted several stragglers closer to the cliff face, which likely represented the entry to their warren. The deep crag was only twenty-five meters below them and was big enough to let them in standing up, but only single file.

When they got to the opening, Josh nodded. ~One more time to check if this is the way in.~

Sen resignedly tilted his head. ~... Sure.~

Again, Sen signaled, and Josh expanded his mindscape. But Sen had only reached the count of five when Joshua returned to himself.

Josh looked at Sen gravely. "There is a lot more in there than flying goats!"