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"It's me." Huck said, but he sounded strained instead of his usual cheerful self, and the Drakkaren frowned a bit, looking down. "You'd better come and look at this, Boss... some pretty serious shit looks like it just hit the fan. I'm up waiting for you in the tower, alright? Albatross wants you up here too."

"On my way." Zerrex said mildly, then he snapped the phone closed in one hand and gave a curt two-fingered wave to Cherry, who nodded immediately and hopped up to join him, excusing herself and quickly making her way after her master and commander, as the male headed for the elevator. She joined him inside only a few seconds later, roughly shouldering her way past several other soldiers and making it inside a moment before the gate slid closed, Zerrex tapping the button for the third floor.

As they rose, the Drakkaren shared a glance with Cherry, who nodded: she could be serious when she needed to, especially about anything pertaining to the military. They were quiet as the elevator quickly rose and halted at the first floor, a few other soldiers stepping into the elevator, but none of them stepping off onto the third floor with the two Drakkaren, instead riding it back down to the subbasement levels with the others.

The two quickly made their way up the ladder and into the first level of the tower, where they were immediately greeted by Huck, who looked a bit pale as he turned and ran back and forth around the various terminals, hitting buttons and bringing up different screens as he said quickly: "Albatross ran up to the rooftops... he'll come back down later with us." The Dragokkaren paused, then added mildly: "But for now, take a look at these readings, you two."

The two nodded, then Zerrex turned his attention to the monitor and glanced over the readings it had currently displayed: thermal, electrical, and bionic, giving readings of all manner and variety. And both Drakkaren were immediately able to see exactly what had Huck so worried; all the statistics had made a sudden, massive upswing... and obviously, Paradise and the enemy camps were the source of this increase in energy and power.

The Drakkaren knew what it meant - thermal signatures and bionic signals indicated that there was some sudden upswing in soldiers and possibly artillery or other heat-producing objects.; his best guess was that Narrius had either gone through a manufacturing blitz or had been keeping his soldiers hidden underground until recently. Worse, the electrical signals meant Paradise was somehow gearing up and gaining even more power: it might even mean that the worst fear of the scientists had been true - that Paradise had risen, but had been incomplete.

Zerrex frowned a bit, leaning back and putting his hands on either side of the monitor, glancing slowly over the other charts and estimates - a hundred thousand increase in soldier power, more machinery detected, mobile artillery detected, and very large thermal signals that would likely belong to the Titans or some other freaks of nature Narrius had constructed. Cherry was cursing quietly under her breath, giving voice to the male's thoughts as she turned to Huck with a frown. "This is some pretty heavy shit, Huck... where did these numbers crop up from? Worse, where the hell are they coming from?"

"Uh... here." Huck stepped forwards, then tapped a few buttons, bringing up a digital side-view of the temples that had apparently been built through echo location and radio waves, along with a few other deep-screening technologies. It made the reptile wonder exactly what Huck had managed to hack into from here... but looking at these mapped estimations, he could see that there had apparently been sizeable burrows dug under the temples, and all of these radiated strong thermal and electrical signals. The Dragokkaren frowned deeply himself, then looked back and forth at the other technicians and scientists operating the terminals before saying quietly: "These energy readings are off the charts... it's almost like the nuclear power station below Uroboros, but way cleaner and clearer."

Zerrex nodded slowly; to him, it looked almost like a crowded urban center, which made him think that those areas were either the manufacturing plants or the barracks where Narrius had been hiding his soldiers. The Drakkaren frowned a bit, looking down thoughtfully before glancing back at Huck and asking: "Have you managed to hack into any of Narrius's transmissions?"

"They're on a rotation... by the time I figure out their protocols, they've changed it for the month." The Dragokkaren rubbed at a grease stain on his shirt, making a face. "I'm trying to monitor them all, but I only have so many computer systems... so it's pretty tedious attempting to figure out what's what when."

Cherry nodded, making a face. "Shit. They probably have computers doin' that so the soldiers don't even have to do jack-all. Hopefully it is rotation and patterning... not randomization by computers through transceivers." She paused, then looked back and forth before sighing and leaning back, crossing her arms. "So what do you think we should do, Boss?"

Zerrex made a bit of a face... he hated always being placed on the spot... but it was what they expected of him... so he only shook his head a bit before mimicking Cherry's position and looking down thoughtfully, arguing with himself and then finally saying softly: "Alright. The first thing we have to do is prepare our secondary artillery and other defenses, and we should put our soldiers on standby and defense.

"I also want you to keep your scanners focused on the area around Uroboros, but double the watch around the facility." The Drakkaren looked thoughtfully over at the terminals, turning and tapping a few buttons to bring up another scan of the area, noting the 'dead zones' where certain areas had obviously been blocked from various scanning technologies by some counter-system in place. Zerrex tapped this, then murmured quietly: "But we can't keep sitting on our hands anymore, and this is obviously proof. If Narrius wanted to broadcast us a signal, he'd do something clearer than this... I think he's trying to slip this or something else under the radar, and probably doesn't realize we have a team of scientists and technical consultants at our disposal... but I'm worried about underestimating his plans or falling into a trap."

"We're already guilty of complacency, aren't we? Living our lives, gathering our strength and ignoring Paradise." Albatross said mildly, and Zerrex looked up in surprise, watching the blue-scaled Dragokkaren swing in through a broken window off a rope that hung from the scaffolding they'd set up to support the ruins of the tower above. He sighed a bit, shaking his head and then rubbing at the scarred side of his face slowly. "I'm going to send in scouts again... armed this time, with some heavier weaponry than the low-level equipment I sent them in with last time.

"Look, Lord Zerrex... we can afford maybe a week, from Huck's calculations." The Dragokkaren added, joining them and crossing his arms with a sigh. "I know this is asking a lot of you... but can you have your team ready by then? We've been talking with the other rebel bases, and more soldiers are going to move into Uroboros and prepare for war and a full-out assault on the Patriarch's ground forces. We're well aware he'll likely incinerate us even if it means taking out his own soldiers and burning the Cradle of Life to the ground... but Huck and I were discussing building a weapon he's calling a... what was it?"

Now Huck gave a bit of a grin, seeming to relax slightly as he said in a proud voice: "A floating anti-armor concussive-wave claymore... what I like to call an anti-Paradise bomb." He paused, looking at the expressions of Cherry and Zerrex and holding up his hands with a cough. "What?"

"You think a claymore can take down that giant thing out there?" Cherry asked incredulously, then snapped: "And what the fuck is with the fancy-ass long name, dude? This is supposed to be serious, we can't bear to fuck around any more with how things are going here!"

Albatross and Huck both looked surprised at the fact Cherry, of all people, was currently admonishing them for trying to put things in a lighter mood: Zerrex, however, looked flatly unimpressed, but he could understand where the female Drakkaren was coming from and why the two other Commanders might be surprised. Cherry might seem like she was all fun and games... but underneath her playful demeanor, she was a serious, well-organized and ruthless military leader.

When it came to actual work, however, the female was focused and made it a point not to mix her business and pleasure, although war was obviously both for her. Before she could start ranting or scare Huck anymore with her glare of death, however, Zerrex gently touched Cherry's shoulder and reminded her softly: "The Commanders are competent, Cherry. You know that as well as I do; no need to tense up yet, we're only seeing military movement and soldier gains, not active hostility."

"Alright." Cherry nodded and backed off immediately, just as Marina had... and once more, Zerrex found himself feeling that strange sensation of both affection and despair at the power he held over her... at how he could make Cherry do anything and everything he wanted, just with a word. For a few moments, he fought the urge to tell her to get to her knees or to pleasure him somehow... and then he winced a bit and successfully fought that off. He and Cherry had, after all, been enjoying their company probably too much... and often with at least one of his other daughters present as well.

Zerrex glanced from one Dragokkaren to the other, asking quietly: "So how exactly is this thing supposed to work? And would it actually damage Paradise with all the armor it seems to have? I mean, none of our scanning programs can even get through that hull... it's too thick for even the scanners to penetrate, isn't it?"

"To a point." Huck acknowledged carefully, wincing a bit and rubbing his head slowly. "I guess a better term than 'claymore' would actually be aerial mine, because for the best impact, I'd want to set it off only once Paradise was right over it. Basically, we'll need to modify up one of the covered transports, add a kind of heavy spring launch system on the back and an air-cannon overtop that to give the best launch ability...

"But I found one of those lightweight diamond drills in one of the civilian storehouses... I'm pretty sure that'll let us gouge a good-sized hole into the armor of that huge-ass flying fortress." The Dragokkaren paused, rubbing the back of his head idly and making a face. "Setup won't be hard, but makin' the thing actually work... that could be a bit of a tricksy bitch. Plus we'll have to test it in an unsafe area, using a big chunk of iron or whatever's equal weight to the drill and the extra little surprise I'm gonna attach in a chamber I'll have to build on it."

Zerrex tilted his head at this, and after a dark glare from Cherry, Huck's eyes widened and he rose his hands. "Guess it shouldn't be a surprise for you guys though, huh, Boss and scary Miss Cherry?

"Basically, what I want to do is put a mixed explosive charge in a carry-along case, set to go off maybe... five seconds after impact?" A thoughtful tilt of his head, looking down a bit as he rubbed at the slope of his skull. "Yeah, I think that'd be good, especially if the drill works... and I'm hoping that the blast will be strong enough to stutter whatever counterbalancing systems are inside the floating fortress and damage the motor system... if I do that, it'll probably stutter the whole ship, in a best case scenario... and at worst, it'll at least fuck with their computer systems, I guarantee you that."

"Unless he's got protected wiring and reinforced the armor somehow... sounds like it could work." Cherry said musingly, then she glanced up at Zerrex, asking before she could stop herself: "Orders, Captain Ravenlight?"

Zerrex smiled a bit at this, despite the fact Cherry seemed almost embarrassed at her outburst, wincing back a bit and apparently expecting a reprimand. Zerrex, however, only laughed softly and shook his head slightly, feeling a faint ruffle at the old line... but also remembering a promise he'd technically made to himself and looking from one Commander to the other, realizing with a strange twist of amusement that they'd just shoved him forcefully into the role of High Commander of the rebels with the almost pleading look Huck was giving him and Albatross's own loyal gaze. They looked up to him as their superior, because he had more military experience... and he'd certainly proven himself tougher than both on at least one occasion, little as he liked to think of it.

Again, he glanced over them thoughtfully... then he finally nodded a bit and gave his orders. "Huck, I want you and a squad of your best mechanics modifying that weapon... requisition one of our transports, and take apart one of the mobile artillery cannons to get the parts you need if you have to. But I can only sacrifice one gun on faith... if you give me results, I'll let you take down one of the southern sector artillery mortars as well and use its parts to bolster your launcher if necessary.

"Albatross, I want you to switch the base over to alert status, level two. Send veteran non-replication soldiers out, or first-generation Children with specialization in infiltration." He paused to smile slightly, glancing at Cherry, who grinned slightly as her scales flickered to red for a moment before returning to their usual color. "I've got someone in mind, actually... but you can't have her for another three days, until I've completed quick-training with the Black RED." He paused at their surprised stares, then shrugged. "I was going to get Cindy to look up some information, but with things developing as they are, that's not necessary. It does mean I'm going to have to change the dynamics of the team around for a bit, though..."

The two Dragokkaren exchanged a look with a bit of a frown, then Albatross said slowly: "Look, Lord Zerrex, if you need any armament or extra equipment..."

"Won't be necessary." Zerrex rose a hand, shaking his head quickly and smiling slightly. "We'll procure what's necessary from the damaged areas of the city, like you first suggested." A pause, and a glance at Huck. "I want the anti-Paradise claymore ready in a week's time at the most... and oh right, damn. Get Churchill to marshal his forces, too, tell all the soldiers in Uroboros to prepare for battle within ten days' time."

"Wait, wait, wait. It'll take longer than that for all of the other rebel forces to arrive here at Headquarters... our supply lines are constantly raided by bandits and unwieldy as it is, always expecting attack from Narrius." Albatross said slowly, frowning at the Drakkaren. "You can't seriously expect us to tell everyone to rush their soldiers here as fast as they can..."

"I don't." Zerrex shook his head slowly, and then Cherry grinned a bit as she looked up at him, likely catching on to what the Drakkaren had planned before the Drakkaren explained in a calm voice: "It's likely that his army will be bigger than ours... and without a doubt, better armed and more powerful. They are, however, all clustered in that one area... so to deal with that, we're going to use spook tactics and guerilla warfare." A pause and a quiet laugh. "I'll want Churchill's original GA veterans for this, by the way... people who grew up in the jungle, who are used to it. Narrius's soldiers will be mostly carbon-copies and they'll have neither the experience nor the training necessary to fight in a jungle environment, against enemies that can camouflage themselves anywhere from the treetops to below the ground.

"We'll cause chaos in their ranks... then hit them whatever vehicles we have at our disposal that'll be ready by then and bring in your claymore for positioning with a team of heavy-armors around them." He paused for a moment to judge their reactions, then continued: "And we'll also use my special strike team to level the temples and afterwards, we'll infiltrate the fortress."

Huck looked at him skeptically for a few moments, then he nodded and muttered: "Well, it sounds cool, at least... but how exactly do you plan to do the last part? Got a giant can opener and a rocket ship?"

Zerrex grinned a bit in return at this, saying softly: "Let's just say I think I've got a way figured out. You just take care of the rest."

Narrius snorted in distaste as he adjusted his already-straight tie, rolling his shoulders a bit as he stood in the biogenetics lab and stared at a repulsive mass of grey matter floating slowly in a chamber of white liquid: dangling from it was a long, bony stalk... he guessed the brain stem and first few links of vertebrae. It had its own large battery-shaped capsule at the back of this room, with wires that had been carefully linked into the brain sifting down from the top metal portion of the chamber.

The Dragokkaren, meanwhile, stood in the vapid green glow of six other capsules, which all contained small, twisted fetal bodies of Dragokkaren that were maturing so goddamn slowly. He glanced towards one of these six, which formed arching walls on either side of him, spaced evenly from the wall and the center of the small, circular room: combined with the wrought-iron, twisted dome above their heads, it was like stepping into a small temple... a little world of worship for the next generation, the true rulers of the universe... for those children born only of destruction, and only for that single purpose: to destroy, and bring chaos into the places that thought they were safely hidden away in the light.

Then he turned his attention back to this new occupant in this little room: the smallest capsule, but also the only one that had a control terminal in front of it, with a variety of buttons, levers, and a small holographic system. The brain floated miserably, alone by itself in this sea of replicated Dragokkaren... and then Narrius pressed an intercom button and said softly: "Hello, Dr. Tstegi." A pause where he waited a moment for a reply... then he hit another button, and the brain convulsed, grey matter literally writhing and the spinal segments twitching as a surge of electricity ran through it.

"Patriarch..." Mengele's voice spoke finally from the console, but he sounded weak, broken... and the faint scarring on various parts of his brain likely depicted a more subtle reason why. The brain twitched, and bubbles rose up to the ceiling of the chamber as Mengele's voice whispered: "What would you have me do, Lord Narrius?"

"I want you to continue the construction of Godsmite..." Narrius responded calmly, looking at the lonesome, scarred brain floating in the chamber with a cruelly-amused grin, his ruby eyes flickering with entertainment as he stroked the button that would electrocute the ball of grey matter at will. Not that it would hurt him... the brain didn't feel pain, it didn't have nerves like skin or organs; it was structurally a far different, stranger part of the body. But the shocks were targeted specifically to the pain center... so Mengele would feel as if he still had the rest of his body attached... and that it was on fire, to say the least. "You'll find that you're interfaced through a little... virtual babysitter I've set up for you. His name is Ultima... you two can get to know each other well enough over the next little while.

"Godsmite is to be completed within the next month... I've had my plans pushed back too many times over the last few weeks and I'll no longer wait for circumstance to prevail." He paused, then added idly: "The sooner the better, good doctor Tstegi... or I'll have to..." A pause to press the button, and the brain twitched and Mengele's voice shrieked, the holographic system bringing up all manner of measurements on the glass front of the capsule. One of them displayed brainwaves, which spiked violently... then slowly began to settle. Another, in the form of a bar graph that updated every few seconds, showed the former wolf, now only brain's stress level, which had gone into the red but was slowly settling back into yellow from the top of the graph. Narrius wanted his top, 'favored' scientist to always remain a touch stressed, though... so he pressed the button again as he continued in a casual, calm voice over Mengele's shrieks of agony: "Give you a bit more inspiration. I've already taken your will and ability to make a decision on your own without my input... so don't fight, don't cause problems, and work as fast as you can... I can even be generous and give you some positive feedback and encouragement when needed."

Narrius smiled slightly at this, his ruby eyes flickering as he slid his finger across to hit another button, and one of the wires sent down a short electrical surge, and Mengele gave a wheezing gasp even though he had no lungs, the bit of spine twitching back and forth violently, the brain shaking back and forth as Narrius leaned towards the glass and said softly: "Feel that? The synthetic CSF works as better transmitter than the wires do for your thoughts into the translation terminal... and along with that single electrode on the back. The rest of the wires aren't just for show, though... that one, for instance, is hooked into the part of your brain that regulates your oxygen intake.

"You're artificially fed... but the brain is stupid. You have no nerves... but as any amputee will tell you, you can still feel a phantom itch where a limb used to be." Narrius idly hit the button again, and Mengele's voice rasped 'breaths' in and out, the brain inside the chamber slumping. "Just like you can't actually see... but you're creating designer images for yourself nonetheless, inside your head, and seeing those; past reconstructions come to life. With a press of any of these buttons, I can make you feel like you just pissed yourself, like you haven't eaten for a month... or like you're being skinned alive." A pause and a slight smile. "What was that you said to me once? I screwed up the wiring in your head and something like... 'do anything you want to me, it doesn't matter,' correct? But more vulgar...

"Well, good Doctor Tstegi. I didn't screw up this time, let me tell you that..." he said softly, then turned and said mildly over one shoulder: "Do your work. Ultima will inform you of the rest once I'm gone... and don't try to find the will to fight. We cut that out with the rest of you... all you are now is some filth under the rug of Paradise... but filth that will be used to fuel the fires of my beautiful little garden."

With that, he turned and left, heading outside to deal with more pressing matters that required his attention, as his crimson eyes burned with barely-masked irritation. After the bombing runs he'd done against his own capital city, he'd fallen in disfavor with most of Hez'Ranna... and that didn't matter, but it meant the civilians would be more likely to hide rebels, which would become irksome if his operations weren't sped up an appreciable amount over the next few weeks.

Worse still, he hadn't recognized the toll the simple rise from Uroboros would take on the power levels in Paradise, nor that his incompetent technicians hadn't designed the circuits properly and the power surge that resulted from all of Paradise's systems being overridden and forced into launch mode had fried several of the security countermeasures, his long-range transmitter, one of the three manually-operated satellite uplinks that operated on a separate system from the computer... and of course, had damaged his already-inactive weapon systems. It meant Narrius had to change his focus from the design of Godsmite and his other pet projects for the much-more mundane task of ordering his soldiers to set up camp below him and around the temples. He'd also tested his Black Rogues at some point... and been disgusted by their performance, ordering the scientists to complete Phase Three as soon as possible.

As it was, the new-style of Enforcers lacked actual intellect and reasoning skills - a flaw inherent in all of the replicated children, he'd noticed. Narrius still hadn't realized, however, this was due to his own training, and no fault of genetics: from their birth, they had never been allowed to play, or learn about life... everything was taught in a rigid, strict format, went by rules and protocols, and no one lifted a finger or took a leak without first asking their commanding officer, who then told them yes or no... based upon the current circumstances they were in. And the RED Enforcers were far worse: stripped of the privilege of some individualism when they graduated from GA to Enforcer, they quickly became only a number, losing whatever emotional attachments they had formed as they went through another 'education' program.

Last came the Black Rogues... and they, not even born, but grown by a rapid-cloning process as ageless goliaths that stepped out from their genetic chambers with blank minds and predetermined loyalty, they were then sent with their emotionless, mechanical personalities out into the battlefield to fight and kill, always instructed continuously to only 'obey the mission parameters, do not step outside orders, and listen always to your superior officer and the will of the Patriarch.'

They were excellent killing machines... as long as the enemy followed normal tactics and they were ordered to engage opponents directly though any means necessary. But even a misstep of words - blast that fucker! was a common such phrase that ended in issue - from a commanding officer - almost always someone of natural origins - meant they would only use one method of combat against any type of enemy, no matter what the engagement. It disgusted Narrius to watch Black Rogues taken down by scrawny slaves or prisoners who were attempting to rebel or break out of the death camps they were kept in, simply because they ran in close and stabbed the giants until they stopped moving... and the Black Rogues did nothing but step backwards again and again, trying to shoot them with their oversized assault rifles until they ran out of ammo... and then stood motionless until they were eventually killed.

Lately, however, his teams of scientists had been working hard on finding how they could combat this problem, which had resulted in them discovering a way to mimic a brain condition that caused the loss of free will. By modifying this, they had figured out a way to enslave a person: in place of this lost will, they forced them to become dependant on a single powerful person who stood out in their mind... and in all cases, it would be the Patriarch.

With that dealt with, they could safely pour in the battle knowledge and experiences of a warrior even as great - but in Narrius's opinion, uselessly emotional - as Requiem, without the interference and setbacks caused by an honor code or personal belief. It also meant his soldiers would be able to display some semblance of intelligence and logically react or solve puzzles with reason.

In test cases, some had shown inability to complete certain missions or obstacles because of the strength of the reprogramming, which made them confused when it came to actively making a decision that didn't seem to directly route back to the mission itself in some way. For example: climb a wall or walk around. The soldier had been unable to decide, so he had been terminated; just as another who had been unable to choose between a set of doors labeled 'one' and 'two.'

Through adjustments to the programming, however, they had been able to remove free will without completing stripping that need to decide, but firmly keeping in place the loyalty segment: now soldiers would do anything to complete whatever task was assigned them by the Patriarch... but they weren't stalled by needing to make a choice in any area, instead simply taking the fastest route. Some had even shown the ability to factor in things like terrain and present enemies... and so Narrius had decided to restart his facilities and had ordered the first-stage Black Rogues either be used for some menial purpose, sent to the experiment labs... or simply terminated. In many areas, the last had been the common option, and one Black Rogue had stood at the front of a long line, efficiently breaking the necks of his comrades and stacking them into waist-high piles of corpses... before it had finally done the same in the end for itself.

Narrius idly swept his claws against his pristine suit, then he paused in front of an electronic door and hit the open button, the flat metal plate sliding smoothly into the wall and the Dragokkaren stepping through into the conference room beyond, looking mildly at the plain metal table and the enormous flat screen on one wall, which had a pair of smaller, square televisions on either side of it, these set into the corners on an angle. He looked at these for a few moments with distaste as he picked up a small microphone from the table, clipping it onto his breast pocket and then clearing his throat, and causing the monitors to flicker on, displaying the Hez'Ranna Double Standard.

Now it was time to give his orders to the world... or at least, the parts of the world that were still in contact with the Patriarch. Over the last month, communications had grown shaky and damaged, as the scientists struggled to set up the communications hub in the floating fortress - a much greater technological feat than designing a satellite uplink in a single, reinforced, well-guarded location, it seemed. The Dragokkaren had been disgusted when he'd found out about this... and when he'd started hearing alerts and warnings from different districts of his 'Great Hez'Rannah,' he had been furious beyond words. The fact that his soldiers had been unable to hold down their positions and bases without any word from him... and that he had actually lost control in so many areas utterly disgusted him. They had switched from active attack and control to withdrawing into their bases, following a protocol that stated to switch to passive defense in case of loss of communication with the Patriarch during any military operation.

The damage to his active battlefronts had been devastating: and worse, it had inspired other insurgents to push forwards hard, and all over the world, his enormous military force was suddenly suffering casualties and damages he'd never imagined would occur. And all because he'd been out of transmission for a day every now and then, until the scientists had finally secured a working, coded satellite uplink...

It displeased him, but on the other hand, it wasn't like it would really matter soon enough: Godsmite was nearly completed, and when that was done, he'd wipe the world clean and fill the barren world below with his own species, his own ultimate race. As much as he hated losing even the idea of power... he wouldn't have to worry for much longer about such menial things as his soldiers and their abilities.

A moment later, the screens flickered and began to divide up, and Narrius made a disgusted face at how many of them were filled with static. During the night, he worked here... and during the next day, he'd deal with the rebels, which had proved to be an irritating thorn in his side for too long now. He would chop the head off the snake by taking their base before he cleansed the world... and he smiled coldly as his red eyes focused over the monitors, putting his hands behind his back. I will enjoy ripping them apart... piece-by-piece... and then killing my bastard child after I hunt down and eviscerate his whores...

Zerrex awoke early the next morning in a sweat, sitting up in bed with a grunt... and then closing his eyes and falling back on the pillow of his bed with a quiet sigh. The girls were out in "their" room with Mahihko, spending the night together, since the Drakkaren had spent most of it up and sitting at his desk, thinking up plans, writing down notes and spending some time alone and quiet, relaxing a bit. He'd thought about checking in with the girls... but left them to their own devices and instead went to bed.

He'd had a nightmare... that he couldn't remember the details of. Just shadows, immaterial and intangible... things that came and went in his mind like wisps of black smoke in coming up from a deep pit. The smell mixed with other smells of rotten earth, the sight of it was hidden until the last moment, and maybe there was no fire deep within... or maybe it was a roaring inferno, just out of sight under an overhang or deeper into the black ground.

The Drakkaren sighed a bit as he rested with his head on his pillow, pulling the blankets up over his chest with a mumble, the room around him almost pitch-black except for the faint whispers of light sliding through the underside of the door... then he slid a bit onto his side and reached a hand up to brush through his hair slowly. "Probably just... some old memories or something like that unsettling me."

He sighed a bit, shifting on the spot and tugging the covers up to his neck, then rolling over to the other side to look at the clock he'd stolen from some abandoned apartment in Uroboros some time ago now. He stretched and winced a bit, sighing and mumbling under his breath. "Four in the morning... so I got an hour of sleep. Great."

Another sigh, a slow shake of the head as he closed his eyes, still feeling tired and horrible: a way he usually did in the mornings, especially one like this. He'd have to get himself moving soon, though... he needed to pick up some equipment he'd requisitioned for the use and training of his team.

After about a half-hour of laying in bed and almost moping about how busy today was going to be - and over his own lack of sleep - before he finally managed to get himself up and out of bed, clicking on the light and grunting as he stretched slowly, then rubbed at his uniform pants before straightening and mumbling under his breath: "I need a break... or maybe a vacation or something... it's like every time I try to relax I get dragged away to do something else involving not-fun stuffs."

He sighed a bit, looking down and brushing a hand through his hair before turning and heading towards the door, making a bit of a face as he rolled his shoulders slowly. As usual, he found himself wondering idly about exactly what normal people got to do during normal days of their normal lives, muttering under his breath: "And people who think 'normal' doesn't exist just want to be special or don't live my kind of life."

The Drakkaren admitted that he was probably more than a touch bitter, sure; that was probably part of the reason he had so many goddamn opinions on everything and anything that he came across. The lizard made a slight face as he rubbed at his face slowly, then he brushed his ivory hair out of his eyes again and walked down the dim hallway and out into the facility.

A few minutes later, the reptile was standing behind one of the counters of the mess hall and foraging for something to eat from the variety of snacks and other foodstuffs present in the cupboard. He glanced idly over the stacks of stuff, then finally grabbed a few nutrition bars and a bottle of water, making a face. He hated water, but... whatever. It would do for now, and it wasn't like he was expecting to eat the same kinda fancy-ass meals Churchill did. Better to eat the same stuff as the grunts and hope for the best.

Zerrex made a bit of a face, thinking back to the glamorous feasts he'd seen Churchill eating once on a routine report from the Resistance Headquarters to Uroboros. He'd had roast pork, a salad, a delicious-smelling bowl of grilled shrimp and garlic sauce... and meanwhile, everyone else was stuck living on basic meals and most of the soldiers on the field nutrition and supplement pills that could replace a meal... but just never filled one up as well as a real meal did.

He sighed as he walked over to sit at one of the empty tables: there were a few other soldiers and civilians in here, talking idly for the most part, some eating soup and others just sitting around or just chatting. This early in the morning, not too many soldiers were up... but in an hour, around six, the shifts would be changing out and there'd be a whole new set of people present in here. Some of these people were probably recruits that had woken up early and decided to snag breakfast before they changed out to do their duties for the morning... and the Drakkaren shifted a bit as he snacked on the crunchy cereal bars, looking around curiously for anyone he knew or any other members of the Black RED unit.

Finally, his eyes settled on another Dragokkaren in the far corner, who was morosely picking at a buttered bun, his other hand gripping a flask and holding it in his lap. He sat a bit away from the table, chair pushed out from it so that Zerrex could just make out the glint of metal and guess at the shape of the container he had tightly clenched in one hand... and the reptile wondered idly what Rayne was doing looking so miserable. He'd done well enough in the combat tryouts, after all... then it occurred to the reptile that the Dragokkaren perhaps didn't think so.

Rayne glanced up, then looked at Zerrex with surprise and slid back a bit further from the table as his feet struck the floor hard, and the Drakkaren couldn't help a faint smile; he had that effect on a lot of people. Instead of the angry response that Rayne obviously expected from his gradual paling, however, he only nodded and rose his bottle of water to him before taking a drink and returning his attention to his own 'meal' of crappy nutrition bars. With the corner of his eye, however, he kept watch on the Dragokkaren, acting as noncommittal as possible and waiting to see if Rayne would approach.

A voice in the deeper recesses of his mind asked a question, so gently that it slipped through the Drakkaren's sensors, the reptile not realizing it was hostile until too late, until he'd taken the fatal step of actually listening to it: What do you think is in that flask?

A few moments went by, and the reptile felt a stirring, another urge to look, as if he could tell from here what the Dragokkaren was drinking. Drinking... funny word, isn't it? Doesn't describe what you're doing right now at all... you're just having a sip of water. 'Drinking' refers to getting yourself some of the good stuff... some of that good, strong alcohol...

"Shut up." Zerrex muttered under his breath, and he crushed the last cereal bar in his hand when he picked it up to open it, glancing down with surprise and then making a face and tossing this down crankily. Instead, he lowered his head to gaze down into the water bottle, eying the crystalline contents inside as he grasped the sides of the table and squeezed gently.

The voice, however, already had its hook in his mind... and the Drakkaren was having a hard time fighting the trembles growing in him. He wasn't an addict, he was a dependant... and the reptile seized on this, seized on the old philosophical arguments that he usually hated but would serve just as good a getaway as ever, closing his eyes tightly. It just means that I'm a step away from full-fledged addiction, that's all... treading the dangerous line, I feel that I need it, I'm dependant on it, but only to a point - I don't get as severe side effects from withdrawal, I... I...

Semantic argument, whispered that cruel voice in his head... a voice darker than Ravenlight's, and silkier than even his father's. But that's what an addict does best, isn't it? Make up excuses, reasons it can't be true, and worst of all, rationalize it and then go and fill in the gaps with that need... so why don't you go and ask him... or better yet, take a taste for yourself ,and if it's good enough...

"I don't need you... my only problem is my own inner darkness." he muttered under his breath. "And this has nothing to do with it." A pause, then he patted his pockets quickly before glancing up and wincing, the thirst still present... but now with something else to focus on as he quickly pushed out from his desk and cursed under his breath. "Dammit, this is why I hate technology..."

The Drakkaren snatched up his trash, taking the last gulp of water from his bottle as he walked between the narrow tables and tossed the junk into one of the trash barrels as he passed, then rubbing at his head and wincing a bit at the dull throb there. His skull ached like a bitch... and he could feel his body tensing up almost painfully. He needed to just relax, just take a moment to breathe, and he really did have plenty of time this morning... but as usual, it might just end up filled with little dumb things like this, running to get his stupid-ass cellphone that he was supposed to carry everywhere on him...

As he approached the elevator, however, the doors slid open, and a sleepy-looking Cherry staggered out, holding up his small black phone and waggling it. He stopped and let out a sigh of relief, then a wince as he asked: "It didn't wake you up, did it?"

"Fuckin' right it did. That bitch Al... ba..." A large, long yawn, which she made little effort to hide, only distractedly half-waving at her mouth before rubbing a hand over the slope of her skull and mumbling: "Albatross, fuck. But yeah, shitty... shithead called. He wanted to know something about... a requisition you made, or whatever? Kwaibars you signed out from the armory. And um... shit. He said something about uniforms or whatever, too... or that the tailor's in town? Beats me, I wasn't really listening. I just mumbled here and there and he eventually got the point you weren't around." She paused, then added in a mutter: "My balls hurt. That feels so weird to say, but they really, really do."

"Thanks for sharing. It's normal if you've been abusing your penis too much." Zerrex responded taking the cellphone from her, then pushing her lightly back into the elevator, making her grumble a bit but otherwise doing nothing to resist, as Zerrex stepped in with her and tapped the button for the first floor. "Come on, let's go wake up a bit outside. We can do some exercises and stuff."

"I hate you." Cherry whined, then stepped forwards and clung onto his neck, pressing her head against his chest and yawning again as Zerrex winced a bit, arms out to either side as she added morbidly: "Dude, I'm too old for this."

"Oh, go to hell. I'm older than you." The larger male responded with mild amusement, then rolled his eyes as Cherry yawned in his face in response, before squeaking when he grabbed her sides and squeezed firmly. "Look, you can show off a bit later today. You do gotta be awake enough for that."

The female shifted awkwardly, then ground the body part against him that gave a rather firm reminder she was a hermaphrodite, no pun intended. She grinned a bit up at him, then said in a voice that was sensual but still-sleepy: "You're sexy when you're covered in blood and sweat, you know that?"

Zerrex rolled his eyes, but felt glad that at least he'd gotten her convinced: and after a few hours of stretching, light grappling, and playing with their new, odd powers, the female was back to her usual self, cackling and running around like an idiot and attempting to molest Zerrex every now and then, no longer wanting to go back inside as she strutted around the safe desert area around the base.

It had done good for the male as well, banishing his nastier thoughts and giving him some time to just play and be at peace... and eventually he'd managed to drag Cherry back into the facility with him, saying they had to be at the platform early, and they still needed to do their work for the day around the facility - Zerrex had a self-defense class to teach and the female was on weapon cleaning duty. She promised to bring the kwaibars down to the platform once done with that, then ran off to terrorize the other unfortunates placed onto what she referred to grudgingly as 'grunt work.'

For Zerrex, the time went surprisingly fast: possibly a bit too fast, as he taught a class of civilians who wanted to join the military how to escape basic holds and, near the end of the class, how to counter someone and grab them in return. The next lesson would be about saving from throws: the actual use of the counter or more aggressive, offensive tactics wouldn't be taught until later; the Drakkaren had learned from Requiem the same way, and he wanted to emulate his mentor's teachings as much as he could.

He smiled a bit once the class was done, looking of the twenty civilians he had been working with today in the civilian barracks, in one of the smaller rooms that had been converted into a safely-matted training room. He'd discovered a love of teaching... of working with students who weren't all... 'grr kill everything' but honestly wanted to learn to protect themselves or their family, and who hoped to put these skills to use for a good thing instead of just looking cool. It... invigorated him, in a sense... and he thought they were all catching on pretty fast. They were also more fun to work with than Churchill's GA soldiers or Children rebels... those people he had to teach in groups of fifty to a hundred as the norm, and that meant he couldn't one-on-one with anyone but the few who approached him after class... and if he did or ordered something they didn't understand, he often wasted a few minutes trying to couch things in military terms and then going over exactly why they couldn't just learn the offensive tactics right away.

They frustrated him sometimes, to be honest: they just wanted to learn to better kill the Patriarch's minions, and Zerrex wasn't entirely willing to share the fact that one of the hardest battles in his entire life had been won not by swinging a fist, but instead taking a punch. So he ended up calling rank far too many times for his liking, leaving many of the non-clone soldiers grumpy and irritable... on the bright side, the Children would at least listen to him and his explanations. The problem was, explaining things to them was more difficult... they still often didn't understand a lot of metaphors or almost anything outside of a purely practical or military point-of-view, which meant the Drakkaren usually ended up saying something like: "If you learn to do this first, you'll be better at this later. So it only makes sense to learn such-and-such first."

The lizard rubbed a hand through his hair, then he coughed a bit as he glanced over the civilians leaving, nodding to a few of them and smiling slightly to himself. "Well, whatever." He murmured. "These guys are a lot better."

He knew it probably sounded prejudicial, or like he was a supporter of the Patriarch, but he was pretty sure that Hez'Ranna Dragokkaren were probably the best students in the world. Not only were they almost all physically fit to begin with, they all had at least some form of military training depending on their status in society, and Zerrex was pretty sure that they could all take on your average loudmouthed idiot civilian from Ire without any problems whatsoever. They also didn't rely on guns or modern conventional warfare, but traditional close-combat weaponry.

Zerrex watched the last few leave, then he walked in a slow circle around the room, stretching a bit and glancing down with a slight smile at a small blood splatter on the ground near his feet. They also whined a lot less and didn't get as pissed-off with other people when they made a mistake or got a bit overzealous in practice. The Drakkaren looked down at this for a few moments, then again returned his gaze around the room to make sure that no one had left anything behind, before he turned and headed for the door himself.

It was eleven thirty now... and ten minutes later, he was down at the platform with Cherry and the others. Marina looked up at him admiringly, already with a kwaibar on her back in the traditional rear holster of the Hez'Rannan military... and Cindy and Mahihko were both dressed in similar tight jeans and tops, except Cindy's was tied at the front and Mahihko had just done up a few buttons of his own light chemise. It was shoulderless and strapless, one of the traditional-style, aristocratic Hez'Ranna-type wear... and she had her kwaibar strapped to one leg, while Mahihko was wearing his with the handle sticking up over his shoulder.

The Drakkaren stretched slowly, rolling his shoulders a bit as he took a kwaibar from Cherry, looking around at his daughters and the little wolf that was gazing up at him so admiringly he was tempted to loop that in with his little girls as well. He easily strapped this on around the waist, placed in the same style as Marina... then he paused and looked at Cherry for a few moments, saying mildly: "I hate to say this, but you look like a retard."

"Fuck you. This is the shit." She grumbled, looking offended as she touched the handle of her kwaibar, which was just above her left breast... and the sheathed blade stuck out several feet past her shoulder. He looked at her flatly for a few moments... and then she grumbled before shifting it around a bit to attach it against her back. "Happy?"

Within the next fifteen minutes, the rest of the Black RED showed up, all of them dressed in the same style of clothing as yesterday... except for Damien. Zerrex idly looked through the crowd for him as Cherry began to hand out kwaibars to the group - several of whom looked nervous - then he asked mildly: "Has anyone seen Vampire?"

They all looked confused... and then a grinning Cherry nudged Zerrex, who gave her a look of confusion before he realized what he'd said, and he blinked a bit before coughing and glancing over the group again, correcting himself quickly. "I mean, Damien, I mean." He said lamely, trying to ignore the fact he'd just said something else stupid and redundant. A pause, then he continued mildly, trying to save at least a little bit of face: "Which reminds me... we should all choose codenames for ourselves. I shouldn't need to go into all the reasons why it's necessary to define ourselves through code..." Especially since we work in a special unit... we have to hide our identities in every way possible, whether or not that'll all become public information later on.

A pause, and then he looked over the others thoughtfully, crossing his arms and speaking in an easier voice, regaining some of his lost ground as the others looked at him respectfully: "You should all use a codename that suits you, but may also act to mislead the enemy if they ever hack into our codec system." He grinned a bit, resting back a bit against the clear metal shielding. "For instance, Vampire, who I just spoke of: he was a powerful, aggressive opponent, but his name was extremely misleading as to his powers, which were more defense-based than anything else.

"Cherry Blossom, too..." A glance at the female at his side, who was leaning back with a grin, one leg up and the other splayed outwards, arms crossed under her sizeable breasts. "She's way more of a bitch than you'd think from her innocent, flowery name." He paused and rose a foot to avoid a kick aimed at his ankle. "But there's also other names that are reflective of a person's powers directly, but this is meant more for intimidation purposes or sticks after someone else labels them with it jokingly. Tinman, another former member of my original unit, after all... I believe a certain someone else from the Goth Legion called him that first, because she thought he was a frail little pansy despite his strange metal shaping powers."

The muscular hermaphroditic female blushed deeply at this, tilting her head upwards and looking stoically at the ceiling as Cindy tossed her a glare, and Marina cocked her head curiously at this. Zerrex paused, remembering that they'd never gotten to telling her much about Tinny as a child... just that he had been a very brave, important friend who had made them their wrought-iron statue-sign that decorated the front lawn.

Zerrex mused to himself for a few moments, then he looked up and turned his attention back to the other soldiers, saying mildly: "Your codename will become your name, your identity. It will define who you are, in a sense, and thus it should reflect who you are; I'll let you choose your codenames for yourself, but I'm not just going to let you be 'King Awesome' or whatever." A bit of a smile, his emerald eyes flickering slightly. "Think of it this way. It's a report: I want you to write out your reasons why this codename suits you best and I'll judge you on that - if you present your argument well enough, you get that name. If you don't, I'll choose for you." A pause. "You've got three days to write this up and submit it to me in person... the length of our training."

The others mumbled at this in surprise... then a haughty voice said from near the back: "That's ridiculous... three days isn't long enough to train a special elite unit." A pause, and Damien shouldered his way to the front, looking disgusted... and his face swollen up quite a bit on one side, his clothing far more ragged than yesterday and an obvious lack of self-hygiene currently present in him today - it looked almost like he hadn't bothered to do anything but sulk in a pile of garbage ever since he'd been beaten up yesterday.

Now that he had everyone's attention, he turned to look over his shoulder with disgust, apparently attempting to form a mutiny with the other soldiers. "Come on. Do any of you honestly think this bastard can manage to turn us into some ridiculous 'super-elites' in three days' time? Furthermore, this is during a war... we're supposed to train to become some special elite unit while-"

Then Damien's eyes rolled up in the back of his head and he fell over, Zerrex blinking before he noticed the disturbance in the air beside the canine. A pause, and a bit of a grin as he said softly: "Little Sin, there's such a thing as asking permission before you do something like that." A pause as the Dragokkaren faded into existence, blushing slightly and rubbing the back of her head as Cherry cackled a bit and even Cindy gave a slight smile. "But I suppose I'll ignore it for now, since no one else seems to have a problem with what you did, either."

A glance over the other soldiers confirmed this, then the Drakkaren crossed his arms and glanced at Marina: she looked back up at him, recognizing the command he gave with his eyes, and she smiled a bit before turning her gaze on Damien, and the dog's ears twitched before he suddenly leapt up with a snarl, looking back and forth in surprise as he shouted raggedly: "Who... what... idiots!"

"Little bastard." Little Sin muttered, as she stepped back by Brute, and the larger Child rubbed her shoulder gently as Zerrex snorted a bit. Damien began to turn to track the female, his hands twitching... and Zerrex whistled to get his attention, the dog looking immediately back at him with a disgusted look, but also a hint of fear at Marina's immediate glower.

"Damien..." Zerrex began pleasantly, crossing his arms and smiling, then pausing for a moment to make sure that he had the supposed-Hunter's attention. "Since you seem to think that you're better than everyone else... and that my training methods won't work and this entire idea of a specialized, quick-formed unit is useless... I'll give you a choice. You can excuse yourself from today's practice without consequence, or you can come along with us. If you do the latter, you are not to cause any problems whatsoever. If you do, the punishments for your continued insubordination will be severe."

Their eyes met... and then the cold emerald gaze of the Drakkaren finally defeated Damien's own defiant but fearful one, and the dog looked down, clenching his hands into fists and snarling a bit, looking disgusted but also nodding a bit. Zerrex smiled slightly at this, then nodded to Cherry, who passed the canid a kwaibar, and the reptile noted that even in his current state, he caught it easily in one hand and slid it into his belt in a smooth movement.

There was one kwaibar left over, which Cherry tucked on her back with the other weapon, and Zerrex nodded a bit at this before turning and heading down the stairs into the rarely-patrolled tunnels, his eyes flicking back and forth before he asked a simple mental question to Drake: You remember which way I went?

Don't insult me. Drake sounded almost amused, however, mentally returning the nod before he added dryly: By the way, I really don't trust this jerkoff. You should get rid of him... he'll only serve as a disturbance to the team.

"Come on, let's go. Time's wasting now and we've got some ground to cover before we start our training." Zerrex said clearly over his shoulder, then paused and added: "Double line formation, keep a short distance between our ranks. No reason to be sloppy." His voice, however, was a bit distant, as he attempted to hold a mental conversation with Drake at the same time - a difficult trick he'd been working his ass off to attempt to master. I know, but the others told me the same about Vampire, too. He's about the same... and whether I like him or not, he's got a lot of potential and he's a pretty good soldier as it is. We can use him... he just needs to be beaten into his place, which should be easier than it was with Vampire, too.

Drake nodded a bit at this, but he still sounded pessimistic, saying mildly: I'm not so sure about that. Vampire seems to have definitely been worthwhile despite his arrogance, from what I've seen of your memories... but I don't think this bastard is nearly as useful in any way, shape or form. A pause, and he added dryly: By the way, I've finished that evaluation you wanted me to do, and I don't think it's going to make you very happy.

"I figured it wouldn't." Zerrex murmured, as he led the way down the hall, glancing idly back and forth and not even realizing he had spoken the words out loud. "But tell me anyway. Just straight facts, no sugarcoating."

Like I'd do that for you. Drake grinned a bit in his head, and Zerrex snorted, the same expression creeping onto his features; lately, this had been happening more and more, and neither of the two were even that aware of it as of yet. But alright. Basics? From what you've shown me of your memories and your own past self, the soldiers who tried out for the Goth Legion originally - those top one hundred, elite specialists from every field and unit of Ire - were about the equivalent of Narrius's basic GA in terms of basic strength and ability.

Most of the Patriarch's army now, if they're based around Requiem as you suspect, will be at least ten times as strong as any RED Enforcer, who in turns are around ten times as skilled and tough as the usual GA. A pause. I'm making these guesses by combing the factors of strength, speed, dexterity, physical toughness and of course, intelligence. And even giving the super Enforcers a zero in that last category, they're still hugely superior to even your Goth Legion soldiers at the end of their long career of bloodshed and violence, and far better than the clone soldiers.

The only thing we have going right now, is the fact we're using guns and ranged armament like that. The "great equalizer," as it's been called: we're using weapons of such caliber and carrying such powerful artillery rounds that we can blow chunks out of each other from miles away. Drake sounded distasteful at this. But that's the only reason we stand any chance at all... otherwise...

"We're outnumbered, outgunned, and overpowered. All we have is experience, and the defenses of this base and Uroboros." Zerrex muttered quietly to himself, then he shook his head slowly and continued mentally: Thanks for the information though, Drake. I appreciate it.

Yeah, no problem. The dark nephilim replied absently, then he paused a bit. But I guess the worst part is this. Your current soldiers, in terms of their abilities, are better than most of the GA in their different categories, but the super Enforcers will still pound any of them to a pulp individually. Their powers are also substandard compared to the original Goth Legion's, especially considering the fact that Narrius may have outfitted a good number of his own soldiers with the same types of ability. The only two in the unit with superior abilities are Cherry and Marina. Even your own powers - although impressive - aren't exactly variable or useful for anything other than short-range, often short-term physical encounters.

Zerrex nodded a bit, thinking idly again over the powers of the others and recognizing that he was right. Brute was probably the worst off in that respect... a goliath already, the fact his power was to increase his size and strength just meant he'd be a pathetically-easy target for any soldier with... well, any kind of gun, which was pretty nasty. Then Light, since her powers were much the same... even the white tiger Benjamin was better off than those two in that respect, despite having no real physical powers, but instead the strange genetic mutation that provided him with those small bone spikes Zerrex knew from experience would be an excellent armor and weapon. If he remembered right, he thought the white tiger's bones would be harder to break as well, giving him increased durability similar to many of the Dragokkaren's.

Next was Damien, who he thought could control some form of telekinesis and maybe could sense the powers of others, if not manipulate them... Rayne was next with his experience and his strange, apparently automatically-acting dodge ability, and finally, Little Sin, who was the only person who could likely compare to the original Goth Legion in terms of special ability. Cherry and Marina had discussed it with him for a little bit last night before he'd started working, after all, and they'd decided it wasn't a chameleon ability like Cherry's - since Cherry's clothing, obviously, didn't change color with her - but instead some strange ability to refract light around her body and turn herself transparent.

Zerrex mused a bit on this, continuing onwards and then smiling slightly as he turned and led them down one fork of the tunnel ahead, into a dimmer area he had once fled down on his escape from the rebel base. He made a gesture without bothering to look back at the rest of the unit, Cherry calling for him firmly: "Fork ahead, watch for direction!"

She's too into protocol. It wouldn't hurt for her to say left or right once in a while... not like we're communicating through radio with any danger of the enemy listenin' in. Zerrex thought amusedly, but he did still appreciate that Cherry was so firmly sticking to the usual protocols and ideas of the old Goth Legion: one of them was never verbally revealing which direction you were going to be moving in, instead using hand signals or simply watching which way the leader went. It meant that any units following would have to either stop and spend time checking for a trail or tracks... or they'd have to split up their pursuers.

As they walked down this fork, Zerrex began to count to forty in his head, timing himself as he kept their pace regular and resisting the urge to look back over his shoulder: doing so would possibly alert one or two of the smarter members of the unit. The Drakkaren definitely didn't want to give any extra hints about the surprise coming up, after all... and he grinned a bit as he focused ahead, continuing to walk easily forwards.

After the forty count, the reptile began another count, this one to ten - the time it would take to allow the other squadron of large, well-trained Dragokkaren borrowed from Uroboros to catch up to their little convoy. Then, once that was done, he'd start another count, this one indefinite, to see how long it would take for someone from this unit to notice they were being slowly followed by a group of spook ops in camouflage and using tactical gear.

The Drakkaren had high hopes for his group... and smiled when he only made it to twelve in the last count, before Cherry walked up from where she had been walking with Marina to mutter: "Little Sin just vanished from the back of the line, and Brute's got a hand on his kwaibar. Marina tells me they're passing information up the line."

"What the fuck do you mean, being followed?" Damien shouted angrily a moment later, his voice bouncing off the walls of the tunnel... and every echo only serving to magnify the obvious shock and fear in his tone. "Why do I care if that bitch has run off to track them!"

Zerrex halted and frowned as the rest of the group stopped, turning around as the convoy immediately broke down into a ragged, tangled group: the Drakkaren grouped with the four others, Cherry and Marina immediately stepping in front of him and out to the sides, keeping a short distance between them with Zerrex in the middle and back a pace or so, and Mahihko and Cindy both dropped to their knees: Eagle formation from the Goth Legion, used to guard a sniper or someone performing a delicate operation in an open area when they were being attacked from behind and the front. Vulnerable against explosives because of the way they were knit together, but it excelled against normal infantry when they were forced to stand ground or guard someone for whatever purpose. Best used in T-shaped corridors, or instances like this: two soldiers kneeling and guarding the back, two soldiers standing and guarding the back to the far side and able to wheel and back up the 'tail' of the Eagle whenever necessary, just as the others were able to spin and back up the soldiers who would be at the tips of the 'wings', although this was a bit more dangerous to the person in the middle.

Maybe it wasn't the best choice for here... but it would still make a clear point when Zerrex turned and looked over the fumbling six. Little Sin had her kwaibar at the throat of one of the masked soldiers, other arm twisted up high with her other hand... but her back was an open target to the three other spooks that currently had their assault rifles leveled. Brute, of course, was already running to back her up with a growl, and Light Voice had run to the side of the tunnel, with Rayne on the other side, kneeled down and wincing... Benjamin was cocking his arm back and preparing to throw a large combat knife... and Damien had hit the ground and covered his head, as if they would show him mercy.

"Stop!" Zerrex ordered, and his commanding voice echoed up and down the tunnel, the spooks immediately lowering their rifles and even Little Sin looking up with surprise and dropping the soldier she had secured, wincing a bit and lowering her weapon as well. Brute almost fell; Benjamin fumbled and dropped his knife; the dog looked up with a wince. A pause, and a few moments later the reptile said mildly: "Spook team two-seven-five, attention and line up."

Immediately, the four Dragokkaren stood straight, saluting before quickly forming a straight line with their hands behind their backs, assault rifles dangling on harnesses attached to their bodies so they wouldn't jingle or fall by accident. They stood tall and proud, dark, black bug-eye bulges forming the one-way eyes of their masks and their uniforms grey and dirty-looking, skin-tight and with small bits of padding here and there to protect their bodies and muffle the sounds of their movement. The rest of the group looked confused for the moment, then Zerrex continued in his Captain's voice: "This is the reason you never let down your guard, soldiers... in war, there is never a moment of safety, never a moment of rest and relaxation. Every time you let down your guard and stop watching your surroundings, you fall into the danger of being ambushed or attacked by the enemy."

"Before Little Sin took action against these opponents, I reached a count of twelve in my head after they'd caught up to our group from the fork." The Drakkaren paused and said softly: "A real, well-trained ghost squad would have wiped out an unwary unit by a count of ten... at most."

He let that sink in, then turned his attention to the muscular Dragokkaren female that was so obviously following in Cherry's footsteps. "Little Sin... congratulations on discovering the enemy unit. You did it in a good time, too... like I said, we would have all been dead, but I didn't expect any of you to discover the soldiers following us before at least twenty. You have good senses." The Drakkaren paused, then added gently: "But your first task should have been to alert the soldiers ahead of you instead of taking action, especially without the leave and approval of myself." Another pause as Little Sin glanced down shamefully, rubbing the back of his head, and then he finished softly: "But that was very good nonetheless. Except for the fact you left yourself open to attack from enemies we can't expect will do anything to minimize their losses... you did make a decision on your own, and acted swiftly. And sometimes disobeying your commanding officer is the only thing that will keep your unit alive. So you did the best of your unit. And you also did alert the rest of the soldiers in line before you took your own actions, overeager or not... which brings me to the next topic."

"On the other hand... Damien, you not only alerted the following team we were aware of their presence before Sin had a chance to strike, but you then proceeded to hit the ground in the middle of an open tunnel. I couldn't have ordered a worse display." The reptile's voice almost dripped with contempt and disgust as Damien snarled and looked at the ground angrily. "I'm going to want to speak to you later about your military career in private, once this section of training is completed.

"The rest of you were here and there in between." He paused, assessing them easily in his head and speaking again; he knew it was always embarrassing to be rated publically, especially in front of the rest of the team - it often went that being congratulated was more humiliating than being mocked, because no one liked to seem like an asskisser or as if they were better than everyone else when you were with a bunch of people who were also being trained to kick other people's asses - but he also knew this was the only way to force them quickly into getting comfortable with each other. Sure, it would cause some conflict and some other issues... but it was better now than later, and it would get rid of all the major issues earlier rather than later too, he thought, forcing the soldiers to deal with each other and eventually recognize their abilities in comparison to each other. Zerrex was a believer in absolute balance, after all, not 'everyone is equal' crap: there had to be someone in this group who would be a zero compared to the others, just as there would be someone else who was a perfect ten.

"Benjamin had the best reflexes of you all: he immediately went for his knife in an attempt to throw it, responding to opponents armed with ranged weapons with an improvised one of his own. I found that impressive." He nodded to the white tiger, then turned his attention to Rayne and Light Voice, who had automatically grouped together; Zerrex loved the way people who acted in similar ways were like magnets... it made it so much easier to talk to them about something. "You two immediately ran to the wings, which is normally a good, basic move to get yourselves out of the line of fire, although in this instance you wouldn't gain any real protection... but armed as you were with only kwaibars, it just meant they'd expend a little bit more ammo to try and hit you instead of giving you any advantage whatsoever.

"Lastly, that leaves Brute." A pause and look at him with a faint smile. "You ran to protect Little Sin, seeing her vulnerable... which is noble. And unfortunately, pointless nobility in war often leaves corpses of good soldiers on the ground." He stopped again as Brute looked down with a flush of shame, glancing at Little Sin almost apologetically, and stuck in the crux of torn loyalties: that to always obey the Queen Mother and who had been called the Lord Father of the Children... and that of his love and devotion to his siblings and whatever else he thought of Little Sin as.

Then the Drakkaren looked over them all, and as much as he hated to be a jerk this early in the game... he knew it was unfortunately necessary right now. "Overall, however... you all failed this first little exercise, and I can only hope you perform better in your next mission." Zerrex said mildly, looking over them with disappointment in his emerald eyes - something that bit most of the soldiers far deeper than anger would have.

Cherry, of course, decided to butt in here, taking up the job as his second without so much as a twitch. "Look, assholes! You guys need like... to get your balls reattached and blown up by some heavy-duty air pumps, or you guys are gonna need to switch to something else like... cooking or some other faggotry!" Mahihko and Cindy both looked a bit offended at this, but Cherry didn't notice as she strolled forwards, grinning viciously as she crossed her arms and swaggered her hips, saying tauntingly: "Look, fuckfaces. Here's the deal... we're doin' a program called the three-step, and no, it ain't no pretty dance or fancy-ass shit like that. It's some rough-fuckin' training, and it'll force all of you to upgrade your abilities or go down in a ball of blazing fire to Hell or deeper.

"Now, I don't know if all of you can handle this..." she continued cockily, walking slowly forwards and slipping between the soldiers in the group, her eyes sharp and predatory, her gaze almost hungry as she licked at her muzzle slowly. "I think, in fact, that one or two of you losers might just conk out on the way..." A pause as she approached Damien, who looked almost entranced by her despite himself, at her flexing body - thick with muscle, but with breasts so big that it would arouse almost any male whose interests lay in females... and possibly a few who weren't.

A pause, and then she squeezed down into his shoulders, and the dog's eyes bulged as he arched his back in pain, letting out a hiss of pain as he grabbed at her wrists with a snarl... but before he could speak, the female cooed almost tenderly: "And I'm going to enjoy mopping up the fragments of you losers who fuck too hard with your betters."

Damien struggled weakly... but it was clear he wouldn't be able to break out of the female's deadly grip. A few moments later, however, Cherry released him of her own volition, and he staggered backwards, falling over on his ass as she glanced over the other soldiers and said softly: "Survival is everything. These tests measure that... and nothing else matters in them; because unfortunately, if only surviving is your key... then you have to be cruel, and you have to be ruthless, and sometimes you have to be honorless."

Zerrex smiled a bit at this, crossing his arms and nodding slowly; that was very true. After all, as the saying went... if you were being chased by a feral bear, you didn't have to outrun the bear... just the other person. The same concept applied to an enemy unit... and many of the other horrors that occurred in a survival mission.

The Drakkaren, however, would be measuring and weighing their ability to survive against loyalty and whether or not they functioned as a unit, even with this in mind. He wanted them confused, wanted them to question themselves and find both their inner darkness and the beacon-light of mercy; he wanted them to be fighting hard against not only the test, but themselves in their race for survival against the clock.

Then he made a clicking sound as he tilted his head to the side, and Cherry immediately looked back at him and nodded before retreating quietly to stand beside him. The larger male nodded to her a bit, then gazed over the others, saying mildly: "Come on. We still have some ground to cover." A pause, and a glance past them to the spooks. "Get yourselves back to base, and thanks for helping out. You can make your reports to Churchill or Albatross."

They nodded, saluted, then left, and Zerrex turned and motioned for his unit to follow, which made Cherry immediately shout: "Forwards! Step in time, people!"

The other females had been oddly quiet for this trip, but Zerrex knew he couldn't exactly fall back just to talk to Marina and Cindy... or even Mahihko, who he thought was probably the most uncomfortable with this whole process and idea. He had to attend to other things right now... like slowing their pace as Drake murmured in his head: Almost there. Start looking.

"There." Zerrex murmured, and then he headed towards a crack in the wall - it had been blown open into an actual crude archway since the last time he'd been here, probably by his pursuers... and he only hoped they had done the same the whole way through, or Brute was going to have a very uncomfortable trip. When he'd discussed this with Huck, the Dragokkaren had also mentioned that they'd actually harvested most of the radioactive crystals with special equipment, to harness the energy hidden inside. So that threat was gone, at least... and Zerrex did note that he thought he could see a bit more of the inside of the cavern now, which meant light was visibly filtering in from somewhere other than here with no odd green luminescence present. "We're going to cut through here into the Cradle of Life, and there we'll begin our training."

The Drakkaren rose a hand to silence the questions he expected, saying firmly: "I'll explain everything once we get to our location. For now, however, everyone stays quiet while we move through the caverns."

It only took a good five minutes to transverse the machine-widened cavern this time: Zerrex could tell, from gently touching the various broken sides of the rocks, that someone had obviously gone a bit crazy with some heavy-duty explosives in this area. He smiled a bit, wondering idly how long and how far they'd attempted to track him... before emerging out of the cavern and into the sunlight, covering his eyes with one arm as he looked around the small field outside the tunnel at the trees and flora of the great jungle.

The others emerged as well, a few of them with looks of wonder and awe... although Damien just looked sulky, and Rayne seemed almost impassive, except a closer glance revealed that he was just nervous as hell. Zerrex smiled to himself as he stepped deeper into the jungle... he knew that this was a place considered sacred, after all, to almost all the inhabitants of Hez'Ranna's more traditional society. It was something they always did their best to coexist with, instead of clearing it out or doing anything that would damage the jungle... at least until Narrius had taken over.

But here, the great trees and all the strange creatures that inhabited them were still untouched, and the floor of the jungle was littered not with bullet shells but seeds, twigs, and other detritus. The Drakkaren gazed back and forth as his personal almost-half of the team lined up on one side of him... and the other six on the other. Zerrex noted the subtle differences in their positions... legs straight here, spread shoulder-width there, hands at the sides, right arm in the across-the-chest salute he was used to seeing, and another with his hand raised up beside his head, fingers straight, as if about to tip the hat he wasn't wearing to him. A pause... and the Drakkaren said mildly: "From this day forwards... when you assemble in a line... stand tall, be proud... but there's no need to take up a salute. Be at ease." A pause, and then he added in the same even voice: "And that means you can relax now, as well."

Immediately, the soldiers did so, dropping their stances and a few looking almost-embarrassed, before Zerrex glanced around them all, then cleared his throat. "Today will be your basic survival training. Armed only as you are with a kwaibar... you need to go one kilometer in that direction..." The Drakkaren turned during his explanation, pointing deeper into the jungle. "And find the search beacon. Should you fail to do this, you need to spend the night in the forest, acting as if in enemy territory... and then you'll have to try again." Zerrex smiled slightly at this, enjoying the shock on Damien's features, and Rayne's wince. "You'll be left outside for up to a week if you continuously fail to find the beacon, and then we'll come get you, and you'll fail the course and be removed from the Black RED." A pause, and he added idly: "And because of certain new difficulties arising that require my attention, I'm neither going to be willing nor able to train all of you, so only four people will pass this test, and I'll eventually cut it down to one, who I'll deal with in one-on-one, personal tutelage. As it is, you're already being evaluated by myself and the others."

Now everyone was staring in horror, and Zerrex smiled, leaning forwards and saying gently: "Go." A pause as no one ran, then he tilted his head and asked mildly: "So... does everyone want to just give up and go home, then?"

That got Damien charging off through the forest, and Little Sin snarled before vanishing as she sprinted after him, closely followed by Brute and the others. Zerrex and his little company watched them smash their way through the forest, then the reptile tilted his head as Cindy muttered quietly: "This is pretty cruel, even for you, Daddy. They're going to be trying to cut each others' throats over the course of the night."

"Notice that even Damien didn't realize the little conflict in words, though." Cherry piped up in her own murmur. "You said a week, and earlier that they were only getting three days... little fuckhead specifically bitched about that. I can understand why no one else would remember, from not paying attention to the little shithead, but..."

Zerrex nodded a bit, then he glanced to Mahihko and Marina, who both looked up at him with slight smiles: both of their gazes fawning, but Marina's entirely servile where Mahihko just had a more 'I-like-to-please' look... although he'd obviously be more than willing to likely turn himself into an Iuratus, first chance he got. "Our first order of business is to track them. That's up to you and Cherry, Marina, so you'd better get going now... I can still hear them plowin' through the undergrowth ahead, but I think a few of them are getting their senses back."

"Got it." Cherry said briskly, then she closed her eyes, her body becoming chameleonic and blending with the environment as she ran forwards, looking only like a blob of odd black shapes and shadow that were her clothing as she ran into the undergrowth, and Marina ran off a moment later, keeping a distance back as she focused her powers but moving with equal silence... likely mimicking Cherry's movements, in fact. Zerrex again admired her powers: combined with her incredibly-flexible body, it meant she could copy almost anyone's physical movement down and mock it as long as she concentrated, although he knew it would likely give her a bit of a headache later. But she was also naturally-quiet... and Narrius had made the grievous mistake of letting Black Requiem mentor her even while knowing Zerrex had taught her the basics of combat as a child.

Then he glanced to Cindy and Mahihko, kneeling a bit down to the wolf's level and asking him in a gentle voice: "Do you have the GPS?"

"Yes, Boss!" Mahihko said proudly, pulling the small black device quickly out of his pocket and holding it up. He blushed happily at Zerrex's smile, then asked in a meek voice: "So should I go, then?"

"Yep, that's right, kid." Zerrex reached out and ruffled the wolf's headfur a bit, and Mahihko blushed deeper. "Curve around from the side, just like we discussed, set yourself up in a tree, and then wait until nightfall before you do what we discussed, though, okay?"

"Yes, Boss!" Mahihko nodded firmly, then took off towards the reptile's right, and Zerrex watched him go, amused by how intently he was looking at the GPS and the way he kept running into bushes here and there. A shake of his head, and he glanced at Cindy, who was still looking up at him with soft disapproval.

He gazed back, then gently stroked her face with the back of his hand and asked in a gentle voice: "Would it help if I explained it to you in full?"

"Yeah." Cindy nodded and pressed her hands against his chest, gazing up at him softly. "I don't like you lyin' so blatantly to people, Boss."

"I don't like to lie to my own unit, either." Zerrex responded, smiling a bit. "And I realize it's a pretty cheap thing that I'm doing, too. But it's the best way to make sure they're capable of working together even when the situation calls for sacrifice or throwing their own to the fire. Once they fail to find or realize there's no tracking beacon, then they'll probably be able to sort themselves out instead of squabbling. I hope." A pause and a slight shake of his head. "But basically, they're all thinking that they have to cross each other out and get rid of whoever they deem is the biggest threat. If they can pull together even with all these odds against them, they'll learn to trust each other and work as a team, even moving against the commander's orders when necessary, like I told them back in that tunnel." He stopped, then added gently: "We just have to keep things real and stress them to see how they react. Little Sin's the one I guess I'm worried about most, though... Damien especially will see her as a threat."

"It sounds like reality television." Cindy murmured, but then she did look a bit placated, before sighing a bit and glancing up at him quietly: "So attack from the left, or from behind?"

"Left, to pincer them. We'll wait for L... I mean, Mahihko, to move in first, though, after nightfall." Zerrex responded, then patted her on the shoulder gently and kissed her forehead. "It's a nasty test, I do agree, but if they're going to be in an elite unit, they have to learn what their priority is and especially how to deal with misinformation."

Cindy nodded, then pressed her head gently against him for a moment before turning and running off through the forest, moving with grace and barely a rustle of leaves as Zerrex watched her softly. Then he shook his head a bit and turned, heading straight and walking easily through the underbrush: he had to let Marina and Cherry scout out the 'opposition' before he joined them.