Chapter 4: Rage Over Jidoor --------------------------- Gau/Wirey Dragon soared on the thermals, almost a half-mile in the clear blue sky. His Rage-enhanced vision could make out the town even now, the Auction House prominently in view. He noted with pleasure that they had apparently continued rebuilding, and seemed to be thriving, judging from the people traveling to and from the town. Banking for one appreciative overflight, Gau started to wing southward in a long arcing glide, looking for an isolated place to land near the town. As he closed in on the town, Gau noticed a buzzing noise, like nothing he'd ever heard before. It was very faint, but was growing louder as he approached the town. Although Gau didn't realize it, he was hearing the noise from a lot further off than most people would have, thanks to Rage-enhanced senses. Suddenly, the peaceful morning was shattered as soldiers and MagiTek armor materialized on the city limits, seemingly from nowhere. In a matter of seconds, they began to advance on the city. Gau was directly above the troops, and he couldn't see any way they could have been hiding through normal means. No sign of trenches, or any physical means whatsoever. Gau also noticed the buzzing noise was now beneath him, coming from something in the general vicinity, still unseen. Almost as if by... magic? "I thought magic was gone! At least, mine has." Gau was very confused. How could there be MagiTek when the magic has left the world? Certainly if magic had returned, he would have noticed. Ever since Kefka's defeat, certain Rages were no longer as powerful. It was a loss to no longer instinctively call down spells, to lash out with magic that the others could only cast by learning from the Magicite shards but came instinctively to some creatures. Gau frowned as a pang of regret flashed over him from the realization he hadn't thought about her that day. All of a sudden, he wanted to turn around and go back. Better she be with him then alone... Gau wasn't worried about what may happen back at the cave, being as he had cleared out the cave soon after returning to the Veldt. It had taken a hard day's work driving out the Toecutters and one or two Rhyos that were still left. While most of the animals now acknowledged him as master, a few required a show of force, typically the most monstrous ones. Gau started to close in, to discover the identity of the troops, although in his heart he was already certain of the one source that possessed MagiTek before. When he was close enough to pick out details with his Rage-enhanced vision, he finally saw the dreaded symbol, the one he had thought was gone until the dreams had begun. The symbol of the Empire. Then it began. As Gau watched in horror, the troops reached the city proper. Troops that started to torch houses, and slaughter the militia that responded at once, as archers Gau thought were working for Jidoor opened fire on the militia as well. Brilliant streaks of crimson, cobalt, and argent tore through the air as MagiTek armor formations layed down fields of interlocking death and mayhem. Gau was too stunned to react, and all he could do was watch as a vicious battle raged back and forth. Suddenly, he noticed some familiar figures fighting a monster that resembled a metallic Behemoth, only uglier. "Uwaooh! That looks like... AHHH!" Pain lanced through Gau as an arrow sliced across his back and through the flickering aura encasing him. Gau/Wirey Dragon threw back his head and roared in fury, all thought of friends gone. Turning in the direction of attack, he saw nothing, except more arrows materializing from nowhere in a lethal hail. Now prepared, and angered to no small degree, Gau easily evaded the barrage, and closed in as he realized what he was seeing. A vanished airship. Now it made sense, how the troops had appeared from nowhere, and why the arrows where coming from up in the air, as opposed to invisible archers on the ground. Still diving towards the source of the arrows, weaving an intricate series of jinks and evasions to confuse his opponents, Gau began to tick off a list of possible options, as Dee had taught him to. Suddenly, the buzzing noise increased, and a tingling sensation ran across him as the cloak was pierced and the immense craft appeared. Dropping the Rage, Gau landed amidst the surprised archers, and before they could draw their swords, his eyes flared again. Gau laughed as the dark thoughts and emotions of the Retainer ran through his mind. Lashing out at the terrified soldiers with the gleaming blade that appeared in hand, Gau/Retainer easily parried the few attempts made to hit him. As the nearest soldiers died, the remaining ones started to back up, and tried to get far enough to go back to their bows. As his blade gutted the last soldier foolish enough to fight him hand to hand, Gau/Retainer turned to face the now re-grouping archers. With his blade describing intricate arcs and slashes in the air, Gau suddenly stopped and brandished the sword at the archers, just as the first shafts left their bows. The archers watched the unusual figure, and wondered why he was just standing there as the arrows whistled through the air at him. Suddenly the figure flinched as one arrow pierced his arm, but the others flew by harmlessly. Still, as the archers nocked more arrows, they started to smile. Then they died. With an ear-splitting scream, magenta energy exploded beneath the archers as the Shock detonated. Instantly vaporized, the archers were denied a chance even to scream. As the lethal column faded, leaving a gaping hole in the uppper deck, Gau/Retainer heard the footsteps of approaching soldiers and the shriek of alarms sounding. Taking advantage of the smoke and flames that had resulted from the attack, Gau/Retainer jumped into the hole, and as the first Rage faded, another began to flicker into place. Gau thought, as he hit the floor, and immediately slipped into the shadows, becoming effectively invisible. More troops pounded by, as sergeants screamed at them to find and stop whatever had attacked them. Once the troops were gone, Gau paused to pull the arrow out of his arm. It hurt, but it was a clean hit, and nothing to worry about now. Suddenly, the eerie presence of the Outsider began to intrude on his consciousness, and a plan began to form. The Outsider's presence seemed to consider this, and an idea formed in Gau's mind. Gau shivered in revulsion. He wasn't a torturer, but the Rage seemed to consider this a swell concept. One downside to Dee's teaching him to let the Rages extend, and to utilize skills and knowledge as opposed to simple fighting abilities, was that the Rages sometimes took on too much of a mind of their own. This was one side Gau didn't really like, but he would have to deal with it later. "Need some help, Gau?" "Dee!" Gau spun, and saw a familiar figure standing beside him. Long brown hair, green eyes, and a smile that sent shivers up his spine... wait. Green eyes? And how did she get here? Unless... "Hello Gau. I have some news for you." Enygma smiled sweetly at Gau. By all indications, this form should have no trouble lulling Gau into trusting him. Suddenly, Enygma found rough hands wrapped around his throat, as he was hoisted into the air. "You not Dee! Gau know Dee have brown eyes, and back in the Veldt. Talk or die!" Gau's anger started to build. How did this thing know Dee, and why was it shaped like her, only with green eyes that suddenly glowed brighter as he stared into them. The Outsider presence suggested several ideas, most involved creative uses for Tack stars and other sharp objects as incentive for this thing to come clean. In Gau's present state, he was starting to consider them seriously, and apparently the thing before him realized it. "Ok, Ok, you can put me down. I'm sorry, I just thought this would be the best way to make your acquaintance, and offer some information." Enygma thought quickly, as Gau only tightened his grip and slammed him into the bulkhead. Enygma's form started to shift as Gau stared in shock. Suddenly Gau held form #222, inoffensive young man. As Gau continued to stare at the black haired, green eyed man in his grasp, Enygma started to speak again. "I said I was sorry! Look, you want to find the engine room or not? I also have a nice little tidbit concerning dear departed Emperor Gestahl, or rather, the spawn of his loins, if you know what I mean!" Gau/Outsider dropped the young man, and started to finger a Tack star that appeared in his hand out of nowhere. "Alright, speak. But quickly, or..." Enygma started to giggle. Quicker than Gau could react, Enygma snatched the star out of Gau's hand, and began to casually pick his nails with it. "Don't threaten me! I'm trying to do you a favor. First, the engine room is here..." An image formed in Gau's head. Suddenly he could see the whole ship, and the true size of it awed him. But he could make out a path to the engine room, down two decks and past the troop carrier bays. No problem for the Outsider to negotiate with minimal trouble. , Gau wondered. "Secondly, Gestahl, the old coot, had a daughter, who's just the sweetest little swordswoman you could imagine. And you know what that means." "No, I don't." Gau/Outsider was getting impatient. "Geez. Get a clue, beast-boy! That means there's another heir to the Empire, you twit! Her name is Natasha, and she's a looker..." Once again, an image filled Gau's mind, this time of a blue-eyed blonde carrying a black blade and wearing armor of a similar hue. "How did you do that, shifter?" Looking around, Gau realized that the figure was gone! Where the man(?) had been up against the bulkhead there was now three words burned into the wall. "GET HIM! THERE'S THE INTRUDER!" Gau/Outsider was suddenly snatched back to reality by the thundering footsteps of 30 or so soldiers pounding towards him. Before Gau could react, the Outsider took over. Suddenly, a hail of Tack stars whistled down the passageway into the oncoming troops as the Outsider started to hurl them, seemingly from nowhere. More troops died as the lethal shower of ethereal stars tore into them, ignoring armor and burying themselves in hearts, throats, and heads. As the remaining soldiers stopped and brought up shields, the barrage died out. The first soldier to peek over the corner of his shield stared, for there was no sign of the dark figure that had stood there before them. "Alright, fan out. Check every corner, and BE CAREFUL!" This was from the Sgt. in charge. Fortunately for him, he had been in the rear, and the first to remember his shield. He was still trembling, as the intruder had killed over half his men in less than 10 seconds. The thought occurred to him that if the intruder showed up again, it would only take 7 seconds to finish the job. Gau/Outsider smirked as he made his way past the troops, pressed between the beams in the shadow-filled ceiling. he thought. Reaching the end of the passageway after a minute, he dropped to the ground and stepped into the stairwell, a clear image of the ship and his destination still in his head... * - * - * Captain Brazier of the N.I.A. Fury leaned back in his command chair on the bridge, and drummed his fingers as the nervous lieutenant before him gave his report. Apparently the intruder that had singlehandedly wiped out most of his archers, as well as half of the security team sent to find him, was still at large. "And now the intruder, no identification yet, is nowhere to be found. After attacking the security team, he disappeared. The sergeant in charge requests a heavy armor party, at least three MagiTek suits if possible." Captain Brazier sighed, and started to toy with the dull silver fittings on his black greatcoat, an elaborate affair covered with toolwork and metal trim, his one concession to individuality that all commanding officers in the new Empire seemed to embrace now. He guessed that when your new emperor dresses like a colorblind loon, dress codes didn't make that much of a difference. "Very well, he may have them. But I had better see results this time, or..." A small glance to the left, where a well worn set of whips hung, was all that was needed. "Yes sir! Right away, sir!" "Dismissed." Lt. Kron snapped a hasty salute, and left as quickly as possible. Captain Brazier had a reputation for ordering whippings without so much as a twitch to indicate he was angry at all. But at least he was equally quick to reward success, so it balanced out. Still, if only it weren't for those damn floggings... Captain Brazier pondered some more. He would have to notify General Renshield eventually, but how to phrase it? There's no way to write off the deaths of 24 archers, and 17 soldiers as a "minor problem", especially when the cause was ONE figure, which no one got a good look at. The closest soldier that survived mentioned something about a "flicker", or double image, but beyond that, nothing. Meanwhile, three decks below, Gau slipped through dark passageways, as the Outsider presence guided him from shadow to shadow. The image the stranger had implanted in his mind was still crystal clear, and so far everything matched up. Sure enough, the next turn revealed a large bay, two decks in height, that had spaces sufficient for over a hundred suits of MagiTek armor, now only holding about twenty or so. Troops walked between the storage supports, doubly alert and looking around nervously. As Gau/Outsider sized up the situation, he noticed a small group of soldiers activate a trio of MagiTek suits, and then start sweeping the area. Still, Gau had never had trouble taking out MagiTek armor before, and wasn't about to worry now. Gau pushed back the Outsider's thoughts and started to look for a way across that wouldn't draw attention. A moment later, a conveniently placed tack star caused a suit to crash to the ground, immediately drawing a crowd of guards and the MagiTek armor soldiers to the far end of the bay. said the presence in Gau's mind as he sprinted across the walkway and down the next corridor. Gau suddenly realized he had no set plan beyond "Blow up the engine room". As he began to turn over options ranging from simply tearing it apart with the largest rage he had, to Shocking it to pieces, or maybe it was time to try Io. That one had potential, but Gau had never had time to fully try it out. Suddenly, as he padded down the last stretch of corridor, a lone figure strode around the corner and headed straight for Gau. Gau snapped into an attack posture, but paused when he realized the figure was not a soldier of the Empire. Odd leggings, a yellowish tunic and black pants, and a huge backpack with an umbrella strapped across it. The young man looked at Gau, black hair held away from his eyes by a yellow bandanna with black stripes on it. Noting Gau's stance, he only smiled wearily, then spoke. "Furinkan kouka, wa dokoda?" "Beg pardon?" The young man frowned, then turned around and headed back the way he came. Gau relaxed, then started to follow the strange figure. As he rounded the last corner, he stopped in shock. The young man was nowhere to be found! Then he realized there were 3 guards, one in Heavy Armor. Before he could be noticed, Gau/Outsider slipped back around the corner.