Digimon: Civil War

[Solsabre]

Titus Cloudraker (Jesmon)
Imperial Throneroom

Titus slammed into the floor, chunks of concrete flying from the impact. He’d laid there stunned, head spinning from the blow to his head and the air driven from his lungs. The dragon knight tried to get up, but he couldn’t concentrate. Instead, the Adamantine’s radiance and Ajax’s power burned into his mind, leaving him in feverish haze.

“Nice try, little one," Chromium mocked. The older Jesmon gestured to Ajax. "If this one could maintain that power for more than a few minutes I'll admit - I might be worried. But the two of you," he glanced to Ryia. "Couldn't be more obvious if you tried. Your effort was valiant, however. But your meager abilities, newly learned, would never match my own. You could master the OS Generics for a thousand years, and only ever scratch the surface of what I can do.

Titus clenched his fist, trying to push himself again. However, he froze as he stared fixated at his right wristblade.

"Mine abilities are powered by Adamantine, by the Realmpact itself. None of our kind has ever accomplished what I have," said Chromium. "And none other ever will."

The younger Jesmon heard the Emperor, but it only half registered at the time. Something was wrong. The zeroes and ones making up his digital structure where fluctuating wildly. Outwardly, parts of his body started to blur as though having trouble keeping together. Titus shook his head to clear his confusion, but only succeeded in making the room spin more. The only thought he could form at that moment, ‘Where did Rene and Por go to?’

____________

Three different colored orbs spun circles around the overly bright Program Orb in their user’s mindscape. Titus’s OS Generic programming pulsed erratically, much like a heart skipping a beat repeatedly.

It won’t shut down! Por exclaimed in a titzy. It’ll drain his digicore completely.

I warned him. Rene replied sternly. We were not ready to initialize the program at only 66% available capacity. Much less attempt to copy the feats of the Other one.

We must act now. Atho rumbled. His fiery red form posed to insert a blade into the OS Generics. Before our foolish dragon kills himself and dooms us all.

It’ll hurt him. Por followed Atho’s example, getting into position.

And us. Rene spoke softly as he moved to complete their triangle formation. We are him and he is us.

All for One. Por chimed.

One for All. Atho roared.

All three constructs thrust their sword-arms into the out-of-control program simultaneously.

INITIALIZING

OS GENERICS EMERGENCY SHUT DOWN

FORCED TERMINATION COMMENCING

______________

He’d managed to back onto his feet, but his whole body suddenly spasm in agony. His broken ribs flared up reminding of his state. Titus staggered clutching a silver-white claw to the crystal embedded in his chest. The dragon knight collapsed onto his side, no longer possessing the strength to stand.

A light enfolded his body as he lost his grip on the Jesmon form. However, with his fading senses, Titus blindly reached out a claw into the air as pounding vibrations shook the ground beneath him. Ryia snagged his hand and arm, tossing the now barely conscious Saviorhackmon onto her back.

The pair raced across the ruined ground toward the exit with the other Realmless. Ajax and the newcomer still fully engaged with the Metal Emperor.

Titus leaned against the Sleipmon’s torso with an arm hooked her shoulder. He drifted in and out of consciousness as Ryia shouted at the other Realmless to get wounded onto Jericho’s back for transport.

The ground shook as a swarm of filth mon emerged from the sewers to converge on Chromium. Ryia abruptly halted in surprised, before resuming her attempts to herd the Reamless along.

"He'll kill you!" Goliath roared at the filth mon.

“I said, get the cub out of here!” Ryia shouted at the Bancho. She finally dashed towards the exit herself, but only after making sure no other Realmless had fallen behind aside from Ajax and the Mastenmon. A dumbfounded Sawyer stood outside in the hallway, staring at the masses of filth mon being slaughter.

Ryia grabbed the frozen Gokuwmon by his leather jacket and threw him behind Titus on her back. “I thought I told you to lead the others back to the sewers.” Ryia nickered angrily.

Sawyer held onto the slumped Saviorhuckmon and Ryia’s purple mane, craning his over his shoulder towards the throne room door growing smaller with distance. “I told the kitty knight how to get there. But forget about that what if Blenderbutt’s palace guards finally show up?”

“There aren’t any....” Titus muttered weakly, unsure if Ryia and Sawyer heard him.

Why would there need to be?

Aside from any forces in the surrounding city, why would Chromium need protection in his own palace. Not when he could directly control his own defenses and his own abilities were enhanced by the Adamantine.

The Emperor knew exactly when they were coming and said himself that nothing occurred in his Realm without his knowledge. Why worry about keeping guards around if you always knew where every threat was. Belatedly, he thought he understood now the point Chromium was trying to convene to him on how pointless their fight was. He alone of the Realmless could see and possibly connect the dots.

Know yourself, know your enemy. Rheagos’s words echoed in his feverish mind.

They were both Jesmon, gifted with senses to understand their environment far beyond any other digimon. Titus was just scratching the surface and depth of his abilities. Just how far further could Chromium’s senses reach out, where they enhanced by the Adamantine as well?

Or...or...

A stray thought bothered him. The whole time they were in the throne room the Adamantine’s power pounded into his mind. It coursed....It bled through the very walls of the massive throne room, like a live circuit or computer board.

The whole layout of the throne room had bothered Titus as he had tried to gleam what he could from the room. Chromium was the Ruler of the Metal Empire, a realm of advanced technology and machine digimon. Cold, hard, calculating, and practical. Chromium had no use for frivolous opulence. No, the sheer size and layout had to serve a specific purpose aside from visual appeal. If only he had a better sense of the rest of the palace...

However, his feverish mind couldn’t keep up the rambling train of thoughts any longer and succumbed to darkness.

_____________

Ryia Rohirrim (Sleipmon)
Through the Sewers

The Sleipmon galloped through the murky waters of the tunnels, bringing up the rear. She held tight to the Saviorhackmon’s limp arm hanging over her shoulder to ensure he didn’t slip off. Straight ahead, the old warhorse spotted the Realmless climbing into Moby’s mouth as quickly as they could.

Without slowly down, Ryia braced herself as she leapt gracefully into Moby’s cavernous, yet still cramped, mouth. Landing squishy organic surface, Ryia squeezed her eyes tight to quell the rising panic, forcing herself to breath deeply. Taking a moment to fortified herself, the Iron Mare stepped to one side that was open. She knelt down carefully onto her knees to help Sawyer ease the unconscious Titus from her back.

Sawyer fussed over his dragon friend, while Ryia glanced about to see how the other Realmless were fairing. However, her head whipped back around at the Gokuwmon’s rising panic. “Ryia, he’s burning up!”

Ryia reached a hand over to the delirious Saviorhackmon’s forehead. Sure enough, the silver-white knight was hot to the touch, sweating profusely. Ryia frowned. The young dragon was muttering incoherently, turning his head from side to side in a feverish state. Sawyer looked at the mare silently begging her to do something.

The Sleipmon turned her shield towards Titus. Cold air drifted over the feverish dragon until a thick layer of frost covered him. Slowly, Titus began to relaxed before quieting down.

“Make sure he stays calm and still,” Ryia instructed Sawyer as she rose stiffly to her hooves. Sawyer silently nodded his thanks as he rested Titus’s head against his leg and shifted the Saviorhackmon’s hood to cover his face.

Ryia breathed a sign of relief. That was one youngster she didn’t have to worry about for now.

However...

Grimacing inward, Ryia made her way over to where the deathly still forms of Surrak and Jaeger laid. The birdbra-Ayas was leaning over the shattered MetalGarurumon trying to staunch some of the bleeding with a few of the others. The Iron Mare rested an armored hand on the Garudamon’s shoulder to get his attention.

Ayas glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, “I am, by no means, a healer, Ryia.”

“I know,” Ryia said quietly, “Just do what you can.”

Ryia stepped away to stand . Her tired eyes drifting over each of the Realmless as each processed the failure of their mission. This wouldn’t do.

“We lost today, yes, but we are not done.” the former herd leader spoke firmly and steady. “We know Chromium's true nature and intentions. Most importantly, and we are *all* still alive. But for now we rest.”

"Whamon," Ryia called out to the fleshy chamber. "How quickly can you get us to one of your organization's bases for medical treatment?

The Iron Mare lowered her tired body to the ground, as she waited for an answer. But she never took her eyes off her herd, particularly Goliath. She waited to see how the Realmless Leader dealt with the fallout of their battle.

 

[Kamotz]

< Goliath Leonhardt (BanchoLeomon) >
- Argentum -

Goliath glanced down to where Surrak and Jaeger lay deathly still. How much longer could they hold on? The flood of dissipating data from their wounds was growing steadier with every passing moment. They were powerful Digimon, that much was certain; but how much free data did they have left to spare?

Whamon," Ryia called out to the fleshy chamber. "How quickly can you get us to one of your organization's bases for medical treatment?

"'Base'? You think we've got 'bases?' Were you not listening to how we work?" Moby's voice echoed all around them. "Besides, we've got bigger things to worry about right now!" A high-pitched ringing sound echoed around them. "Imperial Navy is closing in. I'm doing my best to pull away, but they're gaining fast and you guys are like a huge meal sitting in my stomach slowing me down. Just -- wait -- hold on!"

Explosions rocked the huge Whamon, knocking the Realmless from side to side.

"Damnit, didn't even see them!" Moby growled, though what he was referring to, Goliath couldn't tell. "I'll try to lose them!" It was pure chaos, a crash of motion on all sides, shouts of pain from the Whamon, and a building pressure as he pitched and dove deeper and deeper.

Goliath snarled and grit his teeth against the pressure as they continued to dive. Explosions still rocked the water around them, but slowly began ebbing away.

"I've shaken them for now. The Digimon they sent can't follow me this deep," said Moby. He let out a strained grunt. "But--erhg--I'm hit--rah--and this pressure is not helping things. I'm going to have to surface sooner than later and then they'll be on top of us when I do."

"Get us as far outside the territory as you can, Moby," Goliath said. "If you can get us out of the Mercury Sea and to the shore we can split up. We'll lead them away from you into the Black Coast and lose them in the mountains. You take Surrak and Jaeger for healing."

"I wasn't going to say anything, but," Moby said. "You're sitting in my stomach so I couldn't help noticing." He hesitated.

"What is it?" Goliath asked.

"Those two are hemorrhaging data," the Whamon said. A lot of it. It's...it's actually keeping me sated..."

"You're digesting them!?" Goliath snarled.

"I'm not trying to!" Moby shot back, his voice echoing harshly around them. "But it's free-floating data, it's not really a matter of wanting to or not. And with the way they're bleeding-out I don't know if they'll last until I can get them to safety."

"We have to try," Goliath said. "Keep going, Moby. As fast as you can."

 

[TheSequelReturns]

Jericho Arcos (MetalTyranomon)
- Moby -

With the requirement of de-digivolving back a stage both to fit through the sewer tunnels and to make things easier on Moby, Jericho was thoroughly sore by the time the group made it back to Moby and began their escape from Argentum.

The damage he had sustained in his mega form had been severe. He was almost certain that a metal plate or two had popped off entirely when he and Jaeger landed in the throne room. And then there had been the fight that ensued. It was harder to see the damage on his normally rusted armor, but now that he was more flesh than steel he was covered from head to toe in bruises, cuts, scrapes, and burns. A claw was missing from one foot, which he hoped would grow back. And his muscles were sore to the point of locking up. But he was alive. And some of the others had fared much worse than he had.

True, some of them were young enough to bounce back from just about anything. But... Surrak and Jaeger would be lucky to see the morrow.

And that did nothing to speak to the sacrifices the denizens of Argentum's sewers had paid to get them to safety. How many had Chromium slaughtered this day? How many would he seek out to vent his wrath upon in the days to come? They owed the sewer dwellers a debt that he could only pray they would be able to repay. And perhaps, he owed Sawyer a word on the matter. But that could wait for a time when they had both recovered and Jericho's mind wasn't swimming in a cloud of pain, regret, and guilt.

Utterly exhausted, Jericho dropped to the floor and tried to give his body a chance to mend. He was one of the more intact members of their team, which meant if things went south before they completed their escape then he would be back in action first.

A small sparking sound repeated itself to his right several times, each time followed by a defeated sigh. Jericho popped an eye open and spotted Aakio a short distance away. The dragon was just as battered as the rest of them, but he wasn't nursing his wounds. He was staring at his bracers and frowning. He flicked his wrists once more, embers of red spiraling out of one bracer and towards the other, but erupting into sparks and fizzling out the moment they came close.

"Is it the proper time for practice?" Jericho mumbled. "Rest. You need to recover."

Aakio shook his head. "I can heal. Or, rather, Umon can." He raised his right arm with the blue bracer. "But Umon is spent. Amon however," he raised the arm with the red bracer, "still has energy to spare. But... Amon can only destroy. I've been trying to find a way to gift Amon's energy to Umon but its not compatible at all." He clenched his fists. "I just..." he glanced at the spot where Surrak and Jaeger lay, "feel so useless."

Before Jericho could respond, a series of tremors rocked the whamon. Enemy fire? Of course escaping wouldn't be that easy. He took a moment to listen to the exchange between Goliath and Moby and grumbled deeply. "Then rest, or you will be useless. There's nothing any of us can do at the moment. Our fates lie with Moby."

Aakio let out a pent up breath. Then another. "I should have saved some healing. I should have recalled Umon sooner. I should have done something more."

"Guilt will rust your heart from the inside if you dwell on mights and maybes." The tip of Jericho's tail was flicking back and forth. "Calm yourself. You saved one life at least."

The Goldramon turned and looked again at Surrak and Jaeger, laying motionless on the soft, fleshy floor, bleeding a stream of data. And at Versa, who despite her own terrible injuries, hadn't de-digivolved to LadyDevimon. Instead, she sat by their two fallen comrades, one hand on her stomach wound, eyes locked on the two dying digimon, her face an unreadable mask hiding a storm of raging emotions underneath. Versa hadn't spoken since the battle. Hadn't moved from that spot since they returned.

"I should have saved three." Aakio said, his voice low and serious. "Next time, I will."

 

[Kamotz]

Moby creaked and groaned as they swam through the crushing depths of the Mercury Sea. Every so often he would put on a burst of speed and dive deeper before slowing and letting himself rise up through the depths a bit. Goliath could only assume that this was to avoid their Imperial pursuers, for Moby said next to nothing throughout.

"I should have saved three." Aakio said, his voice low and serious. "Next time, I will."

"You should have had to save none," Goliath muttered to himself, though only then realized he'd spoken loud enough to hear. He cursed under his breath as more eyes turned to him. "I led you on a fool's errand. I thought we had enough strength to end this in one fell swoop. Between all of us, between everything we've seen and done -- no single Digimon could survive that...That's what I'd thought, at least."

He wanted to hit something -- a wall or a boulder. But within the spongy confines of Moby's stomach he had to control his anger and self-loathing. And that was all-together a far more difficult task.

He glanced down toward Surrak and Jaeger. Their bodies vibrated, barely holding together. "I was a fool and it has cost us all so dearly. We don't even have anything to show for all this. I can only beg your forgiveness."

"What about you, Jericho?" Ajax asked. "Did you find that original footage?" He sat cross-legged at the far end of the room, massaging stiff and aching joints. He hadn't said much since they made their escape, and spent most of the voyage glaring suspiciously at the Mastemon. To Ajax's credit, she hadn't yet offered up her name.

Versa looked like someone had punched her wound, but, for once, said nothing.

Aakio turned to watch the proceedings, clearly mulling Goliath's words over in his mind.

Jericho mumbled an affirmative and nodded his head towards his shoulder. "I have the data chip safely tucked away." He moved his left arm a bit. "Though, to be honest I'm not sure where it is in this form. Once I can digivolve again I'll hand it over. It has the recording we were after, as well as other things. Including a log of the Emperor's meddling with the Realmpact."

Ayas snapped his head in alarm from where he sat in a resigned vigil between Surrak and Jaeger after attempting to help stem the data loss, right arm held close to his chest to favor his injured shoulder. "How?"

Legs folded underneath her, Ryia's eyes were clenched tight with effort as she fought to control her breathing and not suffer another freak out. Her ears swiveled towards Jericho gave sign she was paying attention though.

“Jericho,” Titus strained to speak above a whisper. Golden eyes flickered weakly within the confines of his hood, but came into focus with a desperate desire to know. Sawyer helped the utterly drained steel dragon to sit up better and lean against the Gokuwmon's shoulder. “He used the Adamantine to do it, didn't he?"

Jericho let out a low growl of frustration. "I... don't know for sure. Chromium projected an image of the Realmpact from Adamantine. A real-time image, I think. I don't know how. But with the knowledge that data map provided, he was able to override a portion of the Realmpact and assign more authority to the Metal Empire. We have this in his own words, and the words of his inner circle."

"He may have used his overwrite process..." Words trailed off as Titus's eyes started to close. Sawyer jostled his friend back to better awareness, "...with the Adamantine's power added to it."

“If that’s true then he was right,” Goliath snarled, with barely restrained anger. “He was following the mandate of the Realmpact. But he was also the one dictating that mandate! The Realmpact isn’t just broken, it isn’t just unfair or outdated; it’s corrupted.”

"Then we just gotta show everyone what ol' blenderbutt's up to, see if our rebel buddies can get the word circling, there's got to be at least one realm willing to help us after this." Sawyer scowled, unable to forget the sacrifice for their escape. "Hell, let's just steal a Chronicle and see if it puts a wrench in the Realmpact and the tin can's plans. There's got to be a way to destroy those damn things, right?"

"I don't know about that," Goliath muttered. "Versa tried, at least. And who knows what would happen if you do succeed. We don't know whether they even matter anymore." He looked to Jericho. "Protecting that proof -- and showing it to the world -- is the most important thing we can do."

"Yeah..." Sawyer said, subdued, "For the Filthmon's sake."

Jericho growled his aggrement, since his current position made nodding impossible. "That chip isnt the only copy. I have another copy saved to my internal memoery. As does Jaeger."

"Then what?" Versa said, uncharacteristically quietly. "If we manage the best caae scenario, clear the Boss's name, rally the realms to our cause, then what? Chromium," she spoke his name as if it were a curse, "has the Realmpact. He's harnessed a Chronicle. We could march the armies of every realm to his borders and unless we made realmless of them all he could stop them dead with a line of code. We need a way to beat him, or none of this matters."

“I'm with Versa,” Titus said, struggling to stay awake. “Without cutting him off from the Realmpact or the Chronicle, I doubt we'll get another chance go after him directly either. He knew we were coming and allowed us come unhindered. I have a similar 'awareness' but only for my immediate surrounds.” The words left Titus exhausted. “I can't even fathom how far his range goes if it's also enhanced by the Adamantine."

“Exactly,” said Goliath. “We have no idea how that works. We don’t know whether or not we can separate him from that power. But we’re Realmless and being Realmless has always been our greatest strength. If he’s turned the Realmpact into a weapon then we need to get the rest of the world to throw off its yoke just as we have.”

"Then we must determine which Realm is the most willing to turn aside from the Realmpact." A haggard Ayas spoke up for the first time. "Who will be the most motivated to try."

“None of it matters if we can’t get to shelter now,” Ajax stressed. “They all should want this, but we, can’t march across the world the way we are now; in a falling-apart Whamon with two half-dead comrades.”

"We need to get every Realm to stand with us," said Goliath. "As long as keep the Realmpact sacred Chromium will have power over them."

Versa allowed herself to smile, just a little. "I couldn't agree more."

Aakio nodded. "Ajax has a point though." He looked upwards. "Sorry Moby, but it looks like we're counting on you."

Jericho grumbled his way back into the conversation. "We need a safe place to land, hopefully one where we can treat our comrades. And in our current state, we don't have long to find one." he exhaled slowly. "What was our heading when we left Argentum?"

"Headed towards the Black Coast," Moby answered. "It's Syndicate territory, but it's the best shot you have if you want to lose 'em."

Medraut looked over at Adirael. "What chance do you think there is of us finding aid in the Syndicate?"

"Help perhaps," the Beelzemon X answered. "For a price, I imagine. And Moby is right that we likely wouldn't be pursued." He paused with a glance to Versa. "Versa, you and I walked in different circles. Do you know of somewhere in the Syndicate that we could shelter that I don't?"

Versa's hands had clenched tightly into fists since the word "Syndicate" had popped up. "For one or two of us? Hundreds. I could get from one end of the Syndicate's territory to the other without drawing any unwanted attention if I had to. But for a group this size... its more complicated. With enough money anything is possible, of course. But I'm a child of the underworld. My circles rarely had room for guests and a group of our size and prowess will undoubtedly be noticed."

She laughed. "I could always try to see how many of you I could cram into the spare room back home, assuming the shack is still standing upright."

“Syndicate territory along the Black Coast is heavily forested and treacherous enough that we should be able to lose whoever is perusing us,” said Aurelia. “There are enough stray viral pieces seeded through the air to disrupt their sensors. It’s why the Syndicate has remained relatively isolated from the conflict.”

"Oh, its not our pusuers I'm worried about," Versa said. "But personal sentiments aside, I agree that the Syndicate is our best shot."

“That area is heavily trafficked by feral Digimon,” Goliath said. “We’ll need to move quickly, but even from the Black Coast we’ve got a long way to go in order to reach Rix Maadi and the heads of the Seven Houses.”

"I don't care where we go," Ryia muttered. "So long as it's dry ground."

"You have our thanks." Ayas said, bowing low in gratitude to the Mastenmon "If not for your timely arrival, the battle's outcome would have been much different."

“That’s true,” Aurelia said. “You came miserably close to failing and your comrades will likely pay for your ill-conceived plans.”

“Indeed,” Ayas wearily conceded. “It’s obvious you are Realmless, like ourselves, to be able to stand against the Emporer. But how were you aware of our plans?”

“I’ve been watching Chromium for an opening a long time now,” Aurelia said. “When I got wind of your idiot plan I figured it was either watch you die or help. “

 

[Solsabre]

Daiou ‘Sawyer’ Wukong (Gokuwmon)
Enroute to the Black Coast


“FOR THE SEWERS!"

The memory of the rallying cry burned in Sawyer’s mind. Countless numemon and other filthmon had swarmed the Metal Emperor in the full knowledge they would not live past this one moment. The masses of filthmon would remain nameless to the rest of Eon, but not to him. He had been-no-was one of them.

Sawyer spent his childhood with many of those same filthmon. When he became a teenager, his mother finally revealed the whole truth of why their family lived in the sewers in fear for their lives. He slowly withdrew from his circle of friends afterwards, fearful he might slip the truth of his other heritage to anyone. After losing his Hakumon mother in a collasped tunnel and his Tuwarmon father already a conscripted soldier, Sawyer abandoned the sewers at the first opportunity. He continued living as a filthmon, but in the mindset that it was a shameful disguise only useful for hiding in fear.

And he’d lived his teenage and adult years ashamed of that fact. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

The Gokuwmon rubbed a furry arm over watery eyes. The monkey glanced with concern at the Saviorhackmon leaning heavily against his shoulder. Titus had gone still and quiet, though Sawyer was still relieved to hear his pal’s faint breathing. The dragon knight had passed out as the other Realmless carrried on with the conversation. At least Sawyer thought so, when Titus stirred slightly with a low groan. The Saviorhackmon raised a clawed hand to his forehead, which the monkey mon suspected was paining him terribly.

“Hey, Finn, ya hanging in there, pal?” Sawyer asked with concern.

“Hey…” Titus said weakly, unfocused golden eyes peered out from the depths of his hood. A long pause hung between them, when the Saviorhackmon continued, “...you haven’t called me that in a long time.”

It wasn’t really a question, just the ramblings of an exhausted mon.

“Huh, well, now that you mentioned it…” Sawyer floundered a bit, thinking back to recent events. “I don’t know.” The Gokuwmon shrugged. “You just hadn’t seen like your old self lately. Not since we left the hordes. What happened?”

“The Firemind. I hadn’t been around it’s influence for years.” Titus sighed, letting his claw fall into his lap and shifted to move himself to sit upright.. “Though I’ve never...been sure if I’ve ever truly connected to it like a dragon should.” The dragon knight gave a low growl of frustration.

“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about it,” Sawyer said, elbowing the steel dragon in the side. Titus hissed from the jab to his still tender side. The Gokuwmon scratched his furry head sheepishly. “Hey, at least you seem to be picking up on your Jesmon abilities pretty quickly, whatever the hell that was back in the palace.”

“Sawyer, I was stumbling around in the dark without a clue. Even when I tried to recreate the Emporer’s movements, something went wrong. I…” Sawyer firmly gripped the dragon’s shoulder to calm him, realizing his friend was getting wound up. Exhaustion seemed to reclaim Titus as he slumped against Sawyer like before.

“I just wish I didn’t suffer backlash everytime Ajax released his power. It would make things a bit easier.” Titus muttered after a moment, glaring weakly in the crimson knight’s direction. Sawyer glanced in confusion at the dragon knight. “All that rage….

“If that’s the Firemind my father spoke of, then I think I’m better off without it.”

A baffled Sawyer wisely kept his mouth shut for once. He was way out of his element on this one. Despite his recent evolutuonto Gokuwmon, Sawyer still felt he was leagues away to be of any help to Titus.

 

[Kamotz]

< Aurelia Ravencroft (Mastemon) >
- En Route to the Black Coast -

Despite the enormity of the things she'd learned that day, the precariously balanced life-forces of the WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon dominated her thoughts. Their situation so closely mirrored her own deaths and eventual rebirth that she couldn't help the flashes of her previous lives darting into her mind; all at once intimately familiar, yet alien. She remembered reaching out to herself, from both sides. She remembered the agony of watching the one she loved dying. And then...the sensation that those thoughts were no longer happening within her.

No...that wasn't quite it. Those thoughts were still happening within, but her "within" had grown to encompass more than just a single self. It was multiple selves and the entirety of the space between them. Two lives existing across the entirety of time and space. It was an impossible task -- to focus on a single moment from her "before" -- no moment was singular for her in that time. Anything -- memories and emotions -- from before her rebirth was physically painful for her recall.

Their chance to save the two Realmless Digimon was slipping away with every second, but Aurelia found herself wondering if she would be as concerned about the two of them if their situation did not so closely mirror hers.

An Omnimon, she thought to herself. If she could duplicate the process that rebirthed her, an Omnimon would be a powerful ally. But she had no idea if that was possible - Reya and Beatrix loved one another, truly and deeply. How did those two feel about one another? Would they even want to share her fate?

An explosion rocked the Whamon around them, and all further thought on the subject fled her mind, leaving her with only the accompanying headache and vertigo that came with recollecting her previous lives. Moby let out an agonized cry and pitched sideways.

"Surface, Moby!" Goliath yelled. He limped to his feet and seemed to take a quick stock of everyone.

"Dunno if I can make it!" Moby's pained voice echoed around them.

"Get us up and get yourself out of here!" Goliath shouted. "Jericho, Jasper -- grab Surrak and Jaeger. Get ready to run."

Aurelia felt the Whamon shudder around them, then he pitched and turned sharply, driving forward with an echoing howl and roar. She felt him lurch upward and heard a horrible grinding noise as he drove himself on. Scraping against the shallows, she realized. Around her, the other Realmless were holding themselves steady and preparing for a fight. Moby surged onward, practically thrashing through the shallows now. There was a wild shaking as explosions rocked around them. Then a high pitched shriek.

And Moby burst into a cloud of data particles around them.

His momentum carried them forward through the air and dropped them awkwardly onto the shoreline. Aurelia ignited her wings and whipped through the air, hands aglow and ready to fight, but she felt sluggish. Heavy. She'd barely had time to catch her breath after the fight with Chromium. She glanced around, the others were in even worse shape.

"Hills!" Goliath shouted. She spun around and saw the dust and smoke from over two-dozen heavily-armed and armored machine Digimon rolling over the hills. A smattering of WarGrowlmon and MetalTyrannomon, backed by a contingent of UltimateBrachiomon and Cannondramon. And leading them, an imposingly-huge RustTyrannomon.

"Vaevictus Asmadi," she heard Goliath snarl under his breath.

"Ravagers," Aurelia spat. The Empire's most cruel and vile.

"Jasper, Jericho -- get them out of the line of fire. Everyone else, form up on me," Goliath ordered.

"Is that smart?" Ajax challenged. He grasped his halberd tightly. "We're sitting ducks out here."

"We can't lose them in the forest," Goliath said, bristling. "Not without a distraction. They'll just firebomb everything and blow us to hell. We need to slow their momentum. Get them disorganized. So when we make our break they don't know which way to start shooting."

"Can we do that?" Ajax asked. "None of us are in great shape."

"Don't have a choice," Goliath growled, and Aurelia noticed he was barely holding himself on his feet. "Aim for Asmadi. He's a big target and a coward. If we get him on the ropes he'll close ranks."

 

[TheSequelReturns]

Aakio Daisoujou (Goldramon) & Versa Victa (BeelStarmon)
- The Black Coast -

Versa wasn't sure what was more blinding, the sudden change from dimly lit Whamon to bright and sunny coastline or the brilliant blast of data particles that seconds ago had been Moby. She hadn't even had time to blink the vision back into her eyes when she hit the rough ground of the shore and tumbled to a stop. It was time to fight, again. The thought rushed through her head, dragging up whatever adrenaline her body had left in an attempt to get her on her feet and moving. She struggled up, but buckled and fell back to her knees as the wound in her gut screamed with pain.

"Are you okay?" Aakio said as he hovered down to her. He had caught himself with his wings.

"As good as I can be." Versa said. "But Moby..."

Goliath called the group to action and Versa and Aakio turned together to see the approaching empire forces bearing down on them.

"No time to mourn." Aakio said with a deep seated frown on his face.

"Is there ever?" Versa said. She struggled to her feet, wincing the whole time. She couldn't fight like this. She could barely stand. But what other choice did she have? "Those metal bastards are going to pay for that."

"I'll have to avenge the both of you if you try to fight like that." Aakio flapped his wings as he prepared to join the fight. "Hold back. Use your guns. Be ready to bolt."

Versa shook her head. "No way I can run like this."

She looked at Aakio as he struggled to decide his course of action. Did he stay to help her or did he join the fight? He was still mostly intact. Amon still had some fire left. It would be a waste for him to hold back now. And yet, he couldn't leave Versa. If something happened to her because he wasn't there to help her...

"There's no helping it." Versa sighed and motioned towards Aakio. "I can't run, but you've got a nice pair of wings on you. I'll need to borrow them."

"You like my wings?" Aakio said, try to hide his confused blush.

"Shut up and turn around you idiot." Versa said.

Aakio did as she asked and Versa climbed up onto his back. Her scarf wrapped itself tightly around his torso, holding her securely pressed against his back.

"I am not prepared for this." Aakio said.

Versa patted him gently on the cheek. "You'll be fine. Suck it up and fly before I reconsider."

He gulped. "I'll do my best."

"You'd better, you've got fragile cargo back here."

"Versa, I don't think anyone would ever call you fragile."

She snorted. "Was that supposed to be a compliment?"

"...Yes?"

Versa smacked him on the back of the head. "Whatever, just fly. Or those guys will kill us before I die of embarrassment."

Aakio took to the skies, trying to measure out his wing beats to adjust for Versa's presence. It wasn't too hard. He was used to lugging books and paperwork around the Astral Order, and Versa was smaller and lighter than most of those bundles. Not that he'd tell her that now. She'd probably smack him again.

"Let's stick to the small fry. Keep them busy so the others can distract the big one." Versa's breath was so close to Aakio's ear that he could feel it.

He shook his head, trying to stay focused. "You got it."

Amon was ready to go. Aakio could feel the red dragon spirit stirring inside the bracer, eager to let the rest of his destructive power out. And Aakio was more than happy to oblige. Down below, a group of WarGrowlmon were approaching fast. With a flick of his wrist, Amon spiraled up and out of the red bracer, manifesting in a burst of spectral embers. He sent Amon flying like a rocket towards the ground below. The WarGrowlmon moved to dodge, but Amon changed course and struck one of them clear in the chest with an explosion that sent him skidding across the ground.

The red dragon spirit turned again, charging up for another pass. But the enemies were wise that he was no mere projectile now and were ready to block or dodge. Until Versa's Fly Bullets came whizzing around and hit them in the back of the knees or the face or any other weak point they could find. And each time they buckled, Amon would crash into them in an an explosion of destructive energy. The attacks weren't strong enough to actually knock the WarGrowlmon out, but it certainly kept them busy.

A beam of energy flashed past Aakio's head, close enough to singe his hair.

"Watch it!" Versa said, elbowing him in the shoulder. "Those guys have lasers."

"You tell me that now." he said.

She rolled her eyes. "I thought you were the bookworm here?"

Another energy beam flashed past, this time easily dodged. "Can't say I recall studying metal empire battle tactics, miss vigilante."

"Less talking, more dodging." Versa said, as she went back to picking targets for her Fly Bullets.

 

[storymasterb]

Adirael Armaros (Beelzemon X)
The Black Coast

Adirael landed heavily with a jolt, despite his best efforts to glide gracefully. The Beelzemon looked back at the particles that had moments before been Moby, his claws clenching through the sand. As he stood, battered bones and frayed muscles protesting, grains ran between his fingers. More lives slipping through his hands. The Digimon from the sewers. Now Moby.

How many more?

Wounded as he was, weary as he was, the Beelzemon drew his shotguns as he saw the Ravagers advancing. Medraut had landed near him, the Duftmon looking just as worse for wear as him. But regardless, he too rose up and drew his rapier. As Goliath called for the Realmless, the two made their way to his position. The Ravagers were firing now, their munitions kicking up plumes of sand as they fell short. Perhaps they overestimated their range. Perhaps it was suppressive fire.

Medraut nodded in agreement with Goliath.

"What do you think?" the Beelzemon asked Medraut as he eyed the enemy force.

"They're powerful but slowl, and they have no dedicated aerial forces," Medraut noted. "The WarGrowlmon can fly to some extent but they're far more restricted by the weight of their armor than any of our flyers are. Our greatest advantage is our manoeuvrability. As Goliath said, make them disorganised. I think Versa has a fair idea." He pointed to the BeelStarmon, who had mounted Aakio and begun to attack the enemy column from above. "Pull their formation out of shape and expose Vaevictus Asmadi to attack from our heaviest hitters." He indicated Goliath, Ajax and the sort.

Adirael nodded and swept into the air, dancing far enough away that the Ravagers couldn't get a bead on him. Enemy projectiles flared around him, missiles screaming inches from blowing him out of the sky, shells from the Cannondramon almost grazing his wings. He dived between lines of fire and fired slugs into the formation, aiming for vulnerabilities as best he could at a distance and while flying fast.

---

Medraut the Exiled (Duftmon)
The Black Coast

He watched Adirael wing into the air and begin dancing through the volleys the Ravagers hurled his way. Though the two flyers were occupying much attentions, shells and blasts still kicked up eruptions of sand along the beach, steadily creeping closer and closer. Had he made the right call? He wouldn't know until the battle was done, he supposed.

But he had wanted to speak even before Adirael asked for his opinion. He'd been too quiet before. Goliath had led them to Argentum, true, but Medraut with his tactical experience had said nothing. He had to be better than that. Challenge the plan as Ajax had if necessary.

Too many lives had already been lost for him to keep biting his tongue out of discomfort.

Readying his blade, the knight looked at Ayas. "Ayas, I think you and I are best suited to the air too." For now his priority had to be occupying more of the Ravagers. There was only so much that two flyers could do and the explosions of sand and flame nearby only told him that Vaevictus did not yet feel the need to stop hurling firepower up the beach. If nothing else, the distraction would slow the advance and buy the other Realmless time to launch their own angles of attack. He wanted to have a more concrete plan, but right now he didn't have the luxury of standing there composing one.

Unable to wait to see if Ayas followed his call, he too took to the sky. Lasers blitzed past him as he dived in, his blade shining. "Extinction Wave!" He carved arcs of light though the air as he soared, sending crescent blades raining down into the ranks of the enemy.

 

[Kamotz]

< Ajax Vol (MedievalGallantmon) >
- the Black Coast -

Goliath was a liar.

And worst of all, he knew it, too. "Asmadi is a coward," that's what he'd said. But those words couldn't be further from the truth. No one rose through Imperial ranks if they were a coward. No one took command of a group called the Ravagers if they were a coward. No one charged wildly into combat with weapons firing and a roar screaming from their lips if they were a coward.

But what choice did Goliath really have? Their only chance was to tell the Realmless a lie and hope that lie would give them the courage and strength to fight. They were all on their last legs after barely surviving against Chromium.

Ajax himself was slow. Slower than he'd ever been in his life. Two successive uses of the Crimson Mode had frayed him and left him feeling hollowed out, like a wound on his very soul. It was not what the Witchenly Sages had in mind when they'd begrudgingly given him that power.

The Realmless were fighting with everything they had, but it just wouldn't be enough. How could it? Vaevictus Asmadi was violence incarnate. He shred through the trees as he charged, turning stones into sand and trees into sawdust. All while firing shot after shot from his cannon. He wasn't even aiming, didn't care about precision strikes. All he wanted was --

"Move!" Ajax shouted, diving to the side. He could only hope that the others were able to catch on in time, as Vaevictus Asmadi tore through their formation. Jaws snapped shut in the space Ajax stood just moments before. Razor sharp claws whistled through the air behind them, and a thrashing tail cracked from side to side as Asmadi braked hard and skidded to a stop at the end of his charge.

Ajax sent a tearing blast from his halberd, but it splashed over Asmadi's armor without the typical force and impact. He just didn't have the strength to muster up anything more than that. Asmadi howled and sent a cannon blast exploding over the Realmless. Ajax, Goliath, Emmara, Ulysses, and Demo were peppered by the blast and sent tumbling over the black sand. Ryia was fighting her way through the mess of enemies, but she was entirely cut off from the rest of the group. Titus, despite his Cannondramon form, simply couldn't compete with the sheer number of opposing Cannondramon and UltimateBrachiomon.

The rest of them had taken to the air and were dodging crossfire from Asmadi's ground troops. But everyone was tired, barely able to stand. And then what once looked like random strafing and blind cannon blasts suddenly came into focus as a very meticulously-planned move to isolate them all completely and finish them off one-by-one. They'd be worn down until they could barely stand and then slaughtered.

 

[Solsabre]

Daiou “Sawyer” Wukong
(Gokuwmon→ )

Pure Chaos. Explosions sending sand in every direction.

Sawyer crouched low over his fragile little cloud, trying to make himself as small of a target as possible and zipping between cannon blasts and artillery shells. What the hell did he think he was doing? Why did he think zipping between Ravagers and taunting them was a good idea without his lightning staff?!?

The Gokuwmon fumbled with clumsy gestures to try and reassemble his staff after it got destroyed by the Emerpor at the palace. But his panicking mind couldn’t concentrate on the task at hand. Distracted, a WarGrowlmon’s Atomic Blaster collided with the ground directly in front of him. The monkey mon went sailing for several meters. Instinctively, Sawyer curled into a tight ball, before his body collided with the sandy ground.

The Gokuwmon stared up at the open air dazed. Ayas flew overhead in his Phoenixmon form, periodically screeching “Life Force!” as he drained energy from an enemy to restore his flagging strength. However, his injured wing still hindered him and flew without his normal grace and skill to soar through the air. A Starlight Explosion erupted through the air, but without it’s normal brilliance and potency.

Sawyer sat up in his odd reprieve, glancing over to his right. Ryia was in the thick of the ranks, kicking enemies with her legs, shooting her fiery arrows in rapid succession with less accuracy, battering targets with her shield, and freezing the very air around her with fine ice particles to try and interfer with electronic instruments. Her shrilling warcry almost drowned out by Asmadi’s relentless cannon blasts.

A pained roar rose behind the ape. Sawyer jerked his head to look over his shoulder at the vaguely familiar voice. Titus, in his massive Cannondramon form, collapsed onto his side with a shuddering thud in the sand. His side armor sparked and smoke rose from the impact of multiple blasts as the Realmless Cannondramon had been overwhelmed by the opposing forces. How his pal managed to pull off the evolution in the first place had baffled Sawyer to no end at the start of this conflict. He’d had to support the Saviorhackmon after the loss of Moby. Maybe, Finn figured he’d have better luck with four legs instead.

A weak light enveloped Titus, rapidly decreasing in size to reveal a disoriented Saviorhackmon. However, Titus didn’t move from where he laid prone. The closest enemy Cannondramon began charging up the cannon on its chest, aiming directly for the downed dragon knight.

The Gokuwmon’s eyes widen in terror.

No. No. NO. NO.

The Gokuwmon scrambled to his booted feet. His leather jacket flapped around him in his mad dash to reach the vulnerable steel dragon.

Sawyer didn’t stop to think. Didn’t hesitate or waste time to worry about the nearest Cannondramon powering up his grenade launch for another volley. His cloud materialized underneath him to speed up his movements.

The enemy Cannondramon aimed a malicious glare at the pair as the cannon charged to it’s peak point.

Sawyer dropped to the hot black sands, standing between his partner and the Cannondramon releasing the cannon blast.

The Gokuwmon stared down the incoming attack, gritting his teeth so hard that a tooth chipped. But Sawyer wasn’t freezing up in fear. No, hard determined eyes stared narrowly at the incoming laser fire. He didn’t fear his impending demise.

Not today. Not anymore. He wasn’t losing his best friend. Not the one good thing in his messed up life.

An explosion of pure light imploded seconds before the cannon fire impacted the ground right in front of the pair. Sand flew in every direction. A large crater of warped glass, formed from the attack, laid at the epicenter. A thick plume of smoke covered the area.

However, it wasn’t drifting bits of dissolving data that remained when the smoke cleared.

A scorched metallic body stood in the glass crater, chest heaving hard for fresh clean air. Muscular arms were crossed in front of him, taking the brunt of the blast. The MetalEtemon stared at his metallic arms and hands, gosmacked. “****, did I really just do that?”

Titus pushed himself up on his elbows coughing up sand and smoke, but he was still alive. “It would seem so,” Titus said with a grateful, but strained, expression, “but we have to keep movin-” the steel dragon grimaced from a wave of pain, breathing hard, “-too vulnerable while we remain still.”

Titus attempted to stand, but nearly face planted. “Easy there, pal, I gotcha.” The MetalEtemon gripped Titus underneath the arm and helped him to his unsteady feet.

Another barrage sailed to their location. The metal monkey leaped out of the way of danger with his powerful legs, hauling the Saviorhackmon with him. He glared back at the line of Cannondramon and Ultimatebrachimon advancing on the Realmless. The ongoing onslaught was slowly breaking the Realmless from one another. The pair had been separated from the those Realmless still on the ground. But Ryia had been tossed with a vicious sweep of Asmadi’s tail even further and was fighting her way back to face Asmadi with great difficulty.

“Well, pal,” Sawyer said solemnly, “It’s been a hell of a run.”

Titus jerked his head in alarm at the metallic monkey.

The MetalEtemon then snickered mischievously. “But you might want to cover your ears first.”

A black microphone materialzied in his free hand. Sawyer pounded his chest with a resounding clang to psyche himself up. Taking in a deep breath, Sawyer screamed into the microphone, “DARK RECITAL!”

Awful, death metal screeching blasted across their area of the battle field, alternating between piercing high notes to horrible offkey flats assaulted the auditory sensors of those Ravagers in their immediate area..

Ryia Rohirrim (Sleipmon)
The Black Coast


Ryia swore. Damn that cub to the darkest pit in Ironclad.

Asmadi is a coward. Sure he was.

She’d barreled ahead of the other Realmless to meet the RustTyrannomon head on if that was the case. Nope, a surprised sweep of Asmadi’s tail has sent her flying into the Ravager’s ranks, separating her from the other Realmless as he tore past her and into the Realmless's formation.

Damn it. She was going to make Goliath eat one of her fiery bolts, when this was over. The possibility of defeat hadn’t yet crossed her mind.

But that was as far as Ryia’s thoughts went, each moment and movement was a rapid succession to the swarm of WarGrowlmon and MetalTyrannomon that surrounded. A back kick to a red dino, body checking an UltimateBrachimon that got too close, firing a fire bolt into a MetalTyranno…

Cannonfire, from a Cannondramon into her armored side, sent Ryia staggering and slowing her momentum. Her legs burned as if they were on fire. But the Iron Mare refused to relent. She forced her aching body and battered armor into a charge towards the Cannondramon, drawing a careful bearing on the massive dinosaur’s chest cannon with her crossbow. Her enemy let loose another volley from his back cannons at the Sleipmon. Ryia raised her shield over her head, keeping her crossbow steady. The fiery bolt sailed from the crossbow seconds before she was bombarded with the artillery fire. The impact plummeted into the Niflheimer, sending the old warhorse staggering sideways as she galloped forward.

However, her aim proved true and struck into the Cannondramon’s chest grenade cannon, triggering an explosion in dinosaur’s armor and a cry of pain. Four MetalTyrannomon immediately ganged up on her, each charging a laserbeam from their left hand. Ryia positioned the Niflheimer in front as she charged to meet them, “Odin’s Br-”

Suddenly an unholy racket pierced the Iron Mare’s sensitive ears, resulting in a shrill of pain from her throat. However, she didn’t halt her forward momentum and plowed over the similarly affected MetalTyrannomon in front of her. Whirling around (and her head feeling like it was about to implode), Ryia shot another dino with her bow, lash out with her hind legs at another, and bashed the final reeling MetalTyannomon to the side with her shield.

Ryia glared angrily, nostrils flared wide, at a cheeky looking monkey and an out-of-sorts Titus.

“Hiya, Ryia!” The flea-bitten ape sing-songed with a sh*t-eating grin.


Titus Cloudraker
(Saviorhackmon→ Jesmon)
The Black Coast


“WHAT DID YOU SAY?” Ryia shouted at the monkey, entirely too loud. Titus cringed from the warhorse’s bellowing tone. He’d managed to cover his ears before his friend’s impromptu...serenade and even his ears were ringing.

Sawyer started to hollar back, “I said-” Laserfire sent sand flying over them. The Mare blocked the next volley with her shield.

“Forget it, hearing is shot,” Ryia hollered back. She twisted around to offer Titus her backside, apparently realizing the Saviorhackmon could barely stand on his own. “You ride. You- jabbing an armored finger at the monkeymon- follow and keep Asmadi’s lackeys off my tail. We’ve got a rusted tin can to finish.”

Titus straddled the Iron Mare’s backside, gripping the base of her mane tightly. Ryia dashed across the black sand, building up her speed. Sawyer sprinted behind her with long strides, huffing and puffing to keep up with the relentless warhorse. The MetalEtemon threw the occasional punch, kick, and banana peel to cut off any WarGrowlmon or MetalTyrannomon trying to stop them. With stubborn persistence, Ryia began closing the distance between them and Asmadi. However, consistent interference from the Ravagers slowed their progress.

The steel dragon hunched low behind Ryia’s upper torso to shelter from oncoming fire that Ryia dared to ride in the face of. He growled in growing frustration at his current uselessness. What else could he do? He’d barely cobbled together the energy to evolve to Cannondramon, but that had been a useless endeavor and he didn’t think he could handle his Jesmon form right now.

Suddenly, his chest felt burning hot, like a fire rising from within. Titus gasped at the rush of energy coursing out of nowhere with a flash of light. He glanced down at his changed steel-white claws, utterly baffled. Parts of his vision shifted into alternating zeros and ones. Titus slammed up a ramshackled mental shield, afraid to be lost in World’s OS coding again.

Por? Rene? He called out silently.

*******

Are currently unavailable.


A growling whisper said, unheard by the dragon knight.

They shielded you from the backlash of shutting down your OS Generics forcibly, since you foolishly attempted to use it before you were capable of handling it.

The fiery red orb snarled angrily at the futile of berating its user, when they were not yet fully connected.

But it is what we are programmed to do. We are your safety net, even from yourself.

Atho could not aid Titus directly, not like how Rene and Por. Titus refused to accept the Fire and Fury that coursed through his veins, the same coding that defined Atho’s nature. However, there were other ways he could aid his stubborn and foolish dragon.

Atho pressed into Titus’s mind, pressuring him to drop his shield to allow his extrasenory perception to perform as it should. But Atho was met with resistance.

The digital construct snarled, pulsing with agitated light, and essentially gave Titus a mental kick.

You might lack the Fire to maximize it, but you have the discipline to utilize it.


********

Titus’s mind accelerated into overdrive. He could decipher the zeroes and ones of the enemy’s weapons as they charged, when they would fire, determine the trajectory of where the volleys would hit, and how big the radius of the blast would be. The steel-white dragon sucked in a steady breath as he processed all this in less than a second. He cringed waiting for the headache from the input overload. However, something was different.

Titus wasn’t blinded by the Adamanite or overwhelmed by the blood-red rage of Ajax’s Crimson Mode. The speed at which his mind processed the constant changing variables on the battlefield was still lightning fast, but he found himself adjusting to it. His chest burned with an encouraging and grounding pulse. Titus kept a secured grip on Ryia’s mane as he relaxed and allowed himself to sink into a trance.

Titus yanked hard on Ryia’s purple mane, surprising the mare and driving her to the right. A blast from Asmadi’s cannon burned the ground, where they would have been if Titus hadn’t diverted Ryia at the last second. The Iron Mare glared over her shoulder in bewilderment, but saw only Titus in deep concentration. She immediately dismissed the occurrence to engage with another Ravager that chose to get in her way at that moment.

Again, Titus yanked on her mane hard, causing her to rear back on her hind legs as a genade collided into the ground in front of them.

“Alright, Alright!” Ryia shouted, clearly less than thrilled. “You steer. I’ll shoot.”

Ryia continued her charge towards Asmadi with Titus cueing her through the ever changing clear path, making quicker progress to rejoin the other Realmless against the mammoth RustTyrannomon. Sawyer followed closely on the warhorse’s hooves.

“Terror’s Cluster.”

Ryia barely had time to raise the Nilfheimr shield, before an electromagnetic blast impacted. She dugged her six hooves into the black sand to brace against it, but the overwhelming force threw her backwards. Titus lost his grip and tumbled to the ground as well. The dragon knight staggered to his bladed feet. The weakened state of his body was temporarily forgotten due to be completely engrossed in the hyperactivity of his mind.

Ryia rolled onto her hooves after landing on her back. She sneered, pinning her ears back. “Damn it, I’ve had enough of this.”

The mare took off this time by herself, strafing in a wide circle around the RustTyrannomon. “Odin’s Breath!” The Iron Mare began superfreezing the ground beneath her as she galloped, forming thick sheets of ice. Dodging around Asmadi’s lunges and cannon blasts as best as she could.

Titus quickly puzzled out Ryia’s plan to create a slippery surface for the RustTyrannomon to hopefully slide or fall, giving the other Realmless an opening to attack. Asmadi’s cannon continued it’s not so blind attempts to scatter the Realmless.

“Sawyer!” Titus called out to the MetalEtemon stumbling out of the way of Asmadi’s swinging tail. “Throw me onto his back. I’m going to try and disable his cannon and then to help Ryia out.”

The monkeymon rushed over to where Titus stood and grabbed his outstretched hand. With Titus’s direction and timing, Sawyer swung Titus in a circle to build momentum and then released the Jesmon into the air. Titus soared through the air and painfully collided into Asmadi’s backside. Disoriented from the spin and his increasingly frazzled state, Titus could only hope to hang on for dear life and stabbed a wrist blade into a section of Asmadi’s armore. Whether or not Asmadi noticed his new passenger, who knew.

Ryia’s continued galloping circles around Asmadi to prave ice over the black sand. Sawyer waited until Asmadi took his attention off the MetalEtemon and focused more on the Sleipmon. With another dastardly grin, Sawyer began rapid firing banana peel after banana peel till they were too numerous to count and evenly spread out across the ice.

Titus watched as the ever shifting variables continued to remain vastly out of their favor. They need somemore. Speed/ dodging/ and underhanded tricks were not going to be enough to take Asmadi done. No, they needed to match Asmadi’s own strength.

“Jericho!” Titus shouted at the top of his lungs. He only hope-and prayered- that Jericho would hear him.

Aayaash “Ayas” Aminkii
(Phoenixmon)
Skies Above the Black Coast

Ayas labored through the air. The energy he’d absorbed from two enemies had helped to renew his strength, but he’d had to remain close to the ground to do so, and that left him an easier target from enemy attacks. His sharp eyes observed a few of the others attempting to counterattack the Ravager leader, while still taking fire from the Cannondramon and UtlimateBrachimon. They would need coverfire.

He needed to ascend.

With a great surge, Ayas rose high into the air. The agony in his wing screamed at him. However, the Phoenixmon separated himself from his physical ailments, focusing on the sun in his flight path. The golden rays warmed his aching bones and gleamed with brilliance off his radiant feathers.

Ayas’s back feathers felt an ever so slight shift in the wind. His tail feathers adjusted his angle of ascend. Cannonfire blew through the air beside him, singeing the tips of his long wisping tail feathers. The tribal elder didn’t slow. Instead, he flapped harder to gain more altitude, until he was far above the battlefield.

He flared out his wings midflight, holding that position for several long seconds. A golden aura surrounded him, building up power with the sun at his back. Ayas kept his wings spread out for as long as he could to allow the power to build. Golden grains of sand drifted off his feathered body and filled the skies below him and onto a cluster of UltimateBrachimon furthest from the other Realmless.

Finally, Ayas gave a piercing raptorial scream. “Starlight Explosion!”

His body erupted, leading to a chain reaction of explosion following the path of golden grains to the earth below.

 

[Kamotz]

< Goliath Leonhardt (BanchoLeomon) >
- the Black Coast -

They rallied, barely, and his lie seemed to be forgotten in the roars and howls of violence unleashed by the Ravager Corps. They were able to slowly establish a foothold on the beach, capitalizing on their superior maneuverability and individual strength.

But they were still so tired. Daiou's evolution was giving him a burst of renewed strength, but that wouldn't last long - not only because he was unused to the form, but because the well he was drawing from was shallow to begin with. Goliath had never been accused of being a "tactical planner," but he could see the next few minutes play out in his mind. They'd stall, they'd fight, they might even take down Vaevectis Asmadi, but they'd be overwhelmed sooner or later.

They had to find a way out -- except any attempt to retreat or escape would be cut off immediately.

There was a scramble, Titus led a charge against Asmadi with Ryia, Daiou, and Jericho. For a moment it seemed like they were making headway, but a barrage of renewed cannonfire stopped them in their tracks. A roar echoed across the black coast, distinct from the savage, salivating roar of Asmadi. This one bellowed deeply, like the hollow howl of an empty cave. Then more cannonfire lit the coast and slammed into Ryia, sending her and Titus flying.

Another contingent of Metal Empire Digimon marched down through the dark-green trees, and at their head, the crimson form of Nicol Bolas. A trio of Machinedramon fired cannon blasts as they marched, Gigadramon and Megadramon sped forward through the air, strafing the battlefield and bombing the forests behind the Realmless.

"No," Goliath half-groaned, too tired to say anything more.

"Yes," hissed a grating, metallic voice directly beside him. Goliath turned just in time to catch the backhand from Arcades Sabboth. He felt his teeth crack and went flying over the boiling sand. He attacked again, but Ajax managed to intercept and block the blow. The dragon held up for a moment, before Sabboth spun around and whipped him through the air with his tail.

From over the next hill, the soldiers of the D-Brigade joined with the Crack Team and the Ravager Corps, in a silent march sounding only of the metallic trampling of forests under chrome digizoid feet.

 

[Kamotz]

< Goliath Leonhardt (BanchoLeomon) >
- the Black Coast -

Any chance they'd had of outwitting and outmaneuvering the Metal Empire had been dashed as violently as Moby had. The soldiers made a ring as the three Commanders stalked towards them. There was no emotion in their movements, pure and mechanical perfection and synchronicity. Only in their expressions did they betray themselves.

Vaevectis Asmadi practically salivated as he circled them. Nicol Bolas growled low, with a pleased sort of sound, standing like a blood-red monolith at the edge of the ring of soldiers. And then there was Arcades Sabboth, the Digimon who had almost single-handedly slaughtered Goliath's comrades what felt like just yesterday. How long had it been since then? Goliath had almost lost track. Sabboth paced back and forth predatorily, his face etched into a sneering grin of razor sharp teeth.

"How familiar," Sabboth hissed in that same grating metallic voice. "It seems like this is always how we end up, isn't it, Goliath?" He stopped his pacing as the Realmless drew together and closed ranks.

Not that it would do them much good, Goliath snarled to himself. The Imperial soldiers had them in their crosshairs. With a word, the Commanders could have them open fire; Goliath and the Realmless would be obliterated.

"Should I let you live again?" Sabboth mused. "Maybe let you pick another four comrades to spare. Let you try this a third time, eh?"

"Enough, Sabboth," Bolas grumbled. "If you fail to rid us of him once more there will be consequences. Emperor Rhuell will not tolerate another failure."

"Yes," snarled Asmadi, his teeth gnashing angrily. "Kill already."

"No!" another voice shouted. A shimmering form dropped from above and landed between Sabboth and the Realmless. The Justimon -- Ral Zarek -- stood with his arms spread wide. A futile gesture, really, but it seemed to pause the other Commanders. "Remember our duty."

"Our duty?" Sabboth hissed angrily. "Our duty is to exterminate these pests."

"Our duty is to uphold the will of the Realmpact," Zarek insisted. "And bring them to justice."

"Don't tell me you take that seriously with them," Sabboth snarled.

"Yes. Kill!" Asmadi howled.

"They must be tried and brought to justice for the entire Empire to see," declared Ral Zarek, standing firm before the other three, much larger, Commanders. "The Realmpact wills it so."

In the midst of this, Goliath kept the Realmless close together. He and the other Bancho had their Gaku-ran coats removed and positioned as a shield wall, with Ryia and Titus joining them. Versa and Adirael stood on either side of their fortification, pistols locked on any number of Empire targets. Aakio tended to the downed Ayas, while Jericho continued to hover protectively over Jaeger and Surrak.

"This is going to get heated," Goliath said, rumbling low for just the Realmless to hear. "If we get a chance, everyone, run. Run and don't look back. If you fall or stumble…" his voice caught in his throat. "Try and slow them down. Buy the rest as much time as you can."

He clenched his fist -- that was his plan, too. He'd only buy a few seconds, but he'd leap into the Commanders and draw as much fire to him as he could while the others escaped.

"You better not," Ajax muttered knowingly from somewhere within their circle. "I know you, Goliath. You're not about to ask anyone else to die if you're still alive."

"Ajax," Goliath snarled.

"No. What did I tell you? Back in Edenia?" Ajax asked quickly. "'When you must decide between your soldiers and the mission. Do you have the strength to choose?' Do you remember that?"

"That's not --"

"Realmless!" Asmadi bellowed, pointing his ragged claws at them. "No trials. Meat."

"He's right," Bolas snapped. "They get nothing; but death."

"It's because they're Realmless that we must follow the will of the Realmpact," Ral insisted. "Because if we don't then what meaning does it even have anymore? The Great Work must go on."

Sabboth slithered face-to-face with the Justimon. "You will not take this prize from me, cousin."

"You had plenty of opportunity to claim their lives your own way -- you all did. And you each failed," Ral gestured to the other three Commanders.

"So did you!" Sabboth hissed angrily.

"Didn't fail!" Asmadi howled, thrashing his tail. "Have them captured!"

"Only with help," Ral Zarek shot back. "And since we have all failed the Realmpact and the Realm must bear witness."

"And you get to decide that?" Bolas demanded, turning his head slightly.

"I do," Ral declared. "And you all know why. 'Above all things, our rule must be just. So if you are ever in disagreement, I find Ral most worthy to decide.' That's what Chromium declared all those years ago."

"This isn't your call to make, Goliath," Ajax snapped. Goliath couldn't turn his head and maintain his guard, so he couldn't see the damned dragon, but he could hear and feel him shuffling through their formation. "You need to survive this. More than any of us. You're the only one who's ever gotten this close."

"You got closer," Goliath insisted. "To beating Rhuell."

"That's not what I mean, and no, I didn't," Ajax shot back. "But if I can -- if I can take some of that power and buy you the time you need to get that truth to the world…"

"Can you hold that Crimson form?" Emmara asked tentatively.

Ajax was silent for a moment before speaking. "No."

"Then what the hell good is that going to do us?" Goliath growled over his shoulder. "You'll get yourself killed, or maybe even just explode--" He stopped short.

"Oh," Emmara whispered.

"If you think I'm going to let you--"

"Not your choice, Goliath," Ajax said softly. There was a strain in his voice. "Besides. I wasn't asking permission. I was giving you a heads up."

"Absolutely not!" Goliath hissed.

"Well, I've already started," Ajax grunted, and Goliath could feel the heat rising behind him. "Get...get ready," Ajax said through gritted teeth.

"I call the shining heart of Witchelny. Flood me with the burning sea. And cast its flame, that I transform...through crimson light, to crimson form."

The words were spoken in a whisper, like a prayer, and Goliath wondered for a brief moment what had happened to Ajax in the past few years.

"Go," Ajax whispered suddenly. Then, swathed in fiery crimson, he leaped from their circle. His cape atomized in the burning light, his weapon melted to slag in his hands, but still he flew on.

And despite everything his heart pleaded with him for, Goliath turned and began to race in the other direction, all but pushing the others forward and away from Ajax's impending eruption.

==\=/==

< Ajax Vol (MedievalGallantmon) >
- the Black Coast -

He charged, pushing past Ral Zarek with enough force to send the Justimon tumbling over the black sands. He hit the nearby Sabboth with a backhand that fractured his facemask and damn near knocked his head off. The Crimson power flooded his body and shot him forward. He closed the gap between himself and Bolas in a heartbeat and plunged his half-molten fist into the Chaosdramon's chest. Bolas crumpled under the blow and fell back, but Ajax was already moving again, shoulder-tackling Asmadi and melting through layers of rusted-metal armor before driving him into the sands.

He stood over the RustTyrannomon, hsi body vibrating, billowing with wild red flame. The sand beneath him melted and turned to glass in an ever widening circle. All around, the Imperial soldiers opened fire, but without their leaders they were disorganized. They didn't know whether to fire on Ajax or the others, and this gave the Realmless just enough of a head start that some of them might live.

The shots sent his way didn't matter -- barely any of them made it through the ever-widening field of disruptive power. Those that did fractured his armor and only quickened what was coming next. He took a steadying breath, just enough to gather himself and buy another instant for the Realmless to get clear.

Ajax glanced up -- he'd hoped to see the clear blue sky one last time, but a blood-red haze filled with smoke was certainly more fitting for his end.

He drew his power in, condensing it in the fracturing core of his body. And there was a moment where it seemed like the Imperial soldiers could sense what was about to happen. A half-second of scrambling. He could feel himself burning away at the edges, the cracks widening from the inside out. Soon they'd reach the surface and then -- then there'd be nothing left of him.

He thought it would've been agony, and he supposed he was in pain -- but the certainty of his end made it all feel so much...easier.

"Crimson --"

A flash of green filled his vision. Something hard and blunt buried itself in his gut, knocking all the air from his lungs. Then a stiff blow to the back of the neck cut his power off at its source and sent him careening into the darkness.

==\=/==

< Goliath Leonhardt (BanchoLeomon) >
- the Black Coast -

Goliath spared one last glance over his shoulder, a moment to burn that last image of Ajax into his mind. And it almost did - literally. Ajax burned with a cataclysmic intensity, standing over Asmadi, glowing crimson and billowing with heat and flame. Black glass spread out in all directions as the heat liquified the sand beneath him. It was an awe-inspiring sight, and Goliath thought, for a moment, that if Ajax had to go, standing in the heart of a nuclear maelstrom was probably the most fitting way.

Then a flash of green pierced the field of Ajax's crimson power. A form, clad in black appeared amidst the conflagration. The new being slammed a fist in Ajax's gut, and he doubled over with an audible gasp. Then the new arrival spun around and sent a stiff chop to the back of Ajax's neck that collapsed him like a marionette with its strings cut, and shuttered the cascading release of his power.

Goliath stopped in his tracks. "No," he half-whispered. "You."

"By Legion mandate, these Realmless are to be brought to Prahv to stand trial for their crimes against the Realmpact," declared Arahon. The Alphamon held Ajax's limp body in one hand.

"To the Furnace with your mandates," Sabboth hissed angrily. He gnashed his teeth.

"I invoke the Realmpact clause of Imperial--"

"Digitalize of Soul!" Arahon shouted, interrupting Ral Zarek before he could finish declaring his authority. From his free hand a barrage of green energy slammed into Ral and Sabboth and sent them smashing into the crystalized earth.

"Kill it!" slavered Asmadi, clawing to his feet. A bright star of light fell from the sky, swathed in burning flame, and struck the RustTyrannomon with a monstrous blow that sent him sprawling.

Bolas roared and turned upon the newly-arrived ShineGreymon Burst Mode, but a massive glowing morningstar dropped upon his head from the sky and drove him hard into the ground. Then as he tried to climb to his feet, the MirageGaogamon Burst Mode struck again, spinning the weapon in a wide arc, cracking Bolas across the side of his face, and knocking hm into the charred remains of the forest.

"You can't just --" Ral began again. But a flash of blue tackled him and drove him face-first into the ground.

"Quiet, you," the UlforceVeedramon said, before springing off to deliver a stiff kick to Sabboth's neck that sent him tumbling back.

The other Imperial soldiers finally found their wits and opened fire. But a cry of "Breath of the Gods" echoed across the sky, and a wave of force disrupted all their incoming attacks. The Craniummon retaliated with Waltz's End, and struck with a blast of ripping wind that sent scores of Imperials blowing away.

Several other Legion soldiers dropped from the sky and swiftly scattered the Empire's ranks, forcing them to retreat.

"Goliath," Arahon acknowledged, turning back to the Realmless with that same, infuriatingly calm demeanor. Goliath still refused to drop his guard. "I had a feeling we'd meet again. But I didn't think I'd be protecting you."

"What do you want?" Goliath snapped, eyeing the prone Ajax warily.

"To the point, of course," Arahon sighed. "Despite these circumstances, my duty is still to bring you in."

"You could've just let the Empire save you some trouble then," Goliath growled. "Saved us some of your self-righteousness."

"We both know there would have been no justice there," Arahon said sadly. He glanced down to the groaning Ral Zarek. "Despite what this one would have advocated for."

"Oh, and you're so different?" Goliath demanded.

"I am. Yes," Arahon answered simply. "You will be brought back to Prahv to face true justice, as determined by the laws of the Realms and the Realmpact." He noticed Goliath's tensing. "Stop. You don't have a chance here. And this is your best chance for a fair trial. The Order's best Advoksts will be fighting to take your case and set precedence."

"A 'fair' trial, he says," Aurelia mocked haughtily. "I think he actually believes that."

Ral Zarek began struggling to his feet. "I invoke the Realmpact --" But the UlforceVeedramon whipped in front of him, yanked off his scarf, and tied it around his face in one swift movement, muffling the next word.

"No more of that from you, mister talky-talky," he said, and swept the Justimon's legs out from underneath him. The blue knight ignited his beam saber and pointed it down at the Imperial Commander. "Just -- c'mon. Cut it out."

"You think there's fairness!?" Goliath demanded. "You think any of this is justice? You're living a lie. All of this, everything you serve so faithfully is a lie."

"It's not the first time you've made that claim," Arahon said. "And it's not my job to prosecute or hear your case. The Order will handle that."

"Anything done under the banner of your Realmpact will be nothing more than a farce," Goliath snarled. "Your justice, your Realmpact, is a lie. And now we finally have the proof." He turned to Jericho. "Show him."

 

[Solsabre]

Aayaash Animkii (Phoenixmon → Garudamon)
-Black Coast-

Ayas cracked open painfilled eyes. After being blown from the sky and crash landing, the last shreds of the elder’s mental fortitude failed from the incurring injuries and fatigue. A worried Aakio hovered over the injured golden raptor.

Ayas hadn’t made it very far after Goliath tried to urge them away in a hurry, but much of those events were lost on the former judge. Instead, he closed his tired eyes, releasing his mega form and collapsing to his knees. Panting hard, the bird man grasped the injured shoulder of his limp arm and glanced at the sagging wing.

“Aakio,” Ayas barely uttered above a whisper, “Whatever happens to us next, my wing must be bound to my body.” The garudamon went silent as agonizing pain went through him. “It mustn’t drag.”

He gestured vaguely to some vines near them from some wrecked foliage bordering the black beaches.


Sawyer Wukong (MetalEtemon → Gokuwmon)
-Black Coast-


Light engulfed the monkeymon, leaving him disoriented. The power from his desperation left as quickly as it came. The boldness and strength he felt before disappeared and the uncertainty of their future once again ate on his nerves.

Sawyer crept closer to Versa’s backside than perhaps was wise (he invaded Titus’s personal space all the time and the dragon didn’t seem to mind). He bit his lip anxiously, watching over Versa’s slim form, as Goliath and big black scary Knight argued over the truth of the Realmpact.


Ryia Rohirrim (Sleipmon)
-Black Coast-


The Iron Mare stomped a rear hoof in frustration into the black sands. She couldn’t make heads or tails of what was being said. First the cub had the gall to herd her off and way from Chromium’s lackeys like a witless filly and now they were all just standing around while Goliath seemed to be bickering with the newly arrived Legionaire forces.

“Blast that lice-ridden monkey for wrecking my hearing,” Ryia muttered much too loudly to Medraut beside her. She then nodded her head in approval when the familiar UlforceVeedramon gagged and tripped the Justimon Commander.

However, she gritted her teeth at seeing the unconscious Ajax in the Alphamon’s grasp. Ryia’s nostrils flared with anger as her maternal instinct kicked in. That black tin can had better put the red dragon down soon if the Alphamon knew what was good for him. No one messed with one of her brood…

Ryia was then distracted as Titus shifted off her back and onto the ground beside her.


Titus Cloudraker (Jesmon)
-Black Coast-


Titus groaned softly as he slipped off Ryia’s back. Even with Ajax’s warning this time, the Jesmon found trying to shield his mind on his own from the maelstrom of power to still be agonzing. Where were Por and Rene? He had started to get used to their presence in the back of his mind, but there had been nothing but silence since the Realmless left the Metal Empire.

The residual energy of Ajax's explosive attempt and Arahon's interference created a murky pool of shifting zeroes and ones that would have made Titus's normal vision swim if it were possible. However, one stray line of coding kept it sequence for a second longer...

01010100 01101001 01110100 01110101 01110011 00111111 00001010

...only to break up as quickly as it formed. Titus shook his helm, dismissing the sequence and the translation his mind came up with.

The dragon knight kept a silver-white claw on the mare’s back side to steady himself, offhandedly noting the warhorse swiveling her ears rapidly and the frustrated expression on her face. Titus might have felt bad for Ryia’s inability to hear, if his focus wasn’t preoccupied with concern for Ajax.

As much as he had started resenting the usage of the crimson dragon’s power and the raging grip of the Firemind, Titus couldn’t help the underlining eagerness when his blood pulsed and heart quickened each time it happened. The dragon knight shook his horned head to lay aside his conflicted feelings.

Instead, he drew himself up to his full height and called out to the Eternal Legion’s First Blade.

“Arahon! I swear on the memory of my mentor, Rheagos Brightblade, the former White Blade of the Legion and his code of honor that I myself live by ~His word speaks only truth!~, please, hear Goliath out!”

Titus had once asked Rheagos why he had left the Eternal Legion to come to the hordes. However, the old Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode’s only replied that he’d been forced into an early retirement and sent away. But Titus needed to get one truth out, before any of the Metal Empire Commanders could interfere.

“You must not be deceived by Emporer Rhuell. He is not who he appears to be. Chromium is a Jesmon just like myself.”

Titus was just scratching the surface of his abilities and fully understanding what Chromium did. But perhaps, he hoped that a Legionaire of Arahon’s rank and caliber would understand the scope and capabilities of a Jesmon.

“Consider the implications of that with the proof we have.” Titus turned to Jericho, waiting for the RustTyrannomon to proceed.

 

[TheSequelReturns]

Jericho Arcos (MetalTyranomon)
- The Black Coast -

“Jericho!” Titus shouted at the top of his lungs.

Jericho stopped cold. The world around him was chaos and fury, explosions and lasers and bullets and shrapnel flying like dust in a sandstorm. Moby was dead. His friends and comrades were fighting to their last all around him. Jaeger was still bleeding out in his arms.

How many times had he seen this scene play out from a distance? How often had he watched lives fade out like dots on a holomap, watched soldiers march through fire and craters and the broken fragments of peaceful life with all the compassion of watching a lawnmower cut down blades of grass? Never giving a thought to what was happening on the other end of the comms.

The troops that were bearing down on them now should have been under his own command. By all rights, he should stand where Asmadi does now. He should be leading the Metal Empie’s forces to crush their enemies. Moby’s death would have been a tactical victory, another small blip on the map, another grain of sand on his side of the scale to tip the battle in his favor. The Realmless should be cowering before him, powerless to stop the forces under his command.

Why then did the thought of that world that should be so cause the oil in his pipes to boil?

“Jaspar, will you-”

The BanchoGolemon took Jaeger from his arms without a word, tucking him under one arm just as Surrak was under the other, and nodded understandingly.

“Thank you.” Jericho said as he turned and charged back towards the battle.

With each step he picked up speed until he was charging across the battlefield like a steam engine. MetalTyrannomon and WarGrowlmon and other soldiers jumped out of the way or took potshots at him as he passed or stood their ground as was their duty. The shots glanced off his armor as he ran, not even slowing him down. He would feel the pain later, but his adrenaline, or whatever his machine equivalent was, pushed him onwards. The ones who stood in his way he barreled through, knocking them to the side as he passed.

There was one target he knew he had to face. One spectre of his past he had to face.

He passed Titus, who was attending to a wounded Sawyer. He passed Riya, not pausing to return her glance as he barreled past her.

Jericho at last spotted his prey, Asmadi. He allowed himself a glance upwards, one fleeting moment to stare that dark copy of his younger self in the eyes before he crashed into the other RustTyrannomon with a savage headbutt that knocked him from his feet.

But Asmadi was no pushover, to be barreled over. He righted himself with his tail, regained his footing, and sunk the claws on an arm into Jericho’s neck before Jericho could even right himself.

Asmadi roared something that might have been words, but Jericho missed them. All he could see was the next move of the fight.

Jericho pierced Asmadi’s arm with a single, well aimed claw through the elbow joint and the pressure on his throat released. Jericho ducked low, feigning a bite, before sliding forward and slamming Asmadi in the face with the barrel of his cannon. Before the crack of the impact had finished shaking his body, Jericho opened fire. “Terror’s Cluster!”

Asmadi, to his credit, saw it coming and the blast did little but scorch the side of his jaw before it crashed into the hills behind and sent several MetalTyrannomon flying.

A massive foot hit Jericho in the chest and Jericho’s next thought was lost among the litany of warning lights and error messages that flooded his optics.

Someone, Ryia or Titus maybe, jumped in and took Asmadi’s attention for the moment while Jericho manually checked each and every warning message as fast as his processors could manage.

But one thing was clear now. Asmadi was his equal. And he was also half his age. He refused to let his hope die here. He would rise again and fight as many times as it took. As many times as he could manage. But he was starting to think that this cratered, sandy beach would be his resting place.


-+-+-+-


Aakio Daisoujou (Goldramon) & Versa Victa (BeelStarmon)
- The Black Coast -

The battle was over faster than Versa had hoped. If this was going to be her last stand, she at least wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. Take a commander or two down with her, something impressive. She didn’t want to be whittled down, forced to hunker behind a shield until she was arrested and executed.

She didn’t want to run while Ajax took the spotlight again. That man was more willing to die for a cause than she was and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to slap him or ask him out.

And the Legion rescue? That might be more of a low point than Ironclad. At least “Ironclad Escapee” sounded cool. Rescued by the Legion? Not so much.

Now all she could do was stand idly, holding her wounds, and watch Goliath argue the cause. Watch Aakio bandage his mentor’s wings with a tear in his eye. Watch Jericho struggle to breath through his ruined chestpiece and still standing watch over Jaegar and Surrak. Pretend not to watch Sawyer standing a bit too close. She hated watching, it made her feel powerless. Inert. Like she was a bystander.

But as Goliath called Jericho to the front, she knew of at least one thing that she could do.

Jericho nodded at Goliath’s summons, then turned to look down at his charges only to see Versa. She gave him a smile, as warm as she could muster. She didn’t have to say anything. He understood and moved to the front of the group while Versa stood over her wounded comrades.


-+-+-+-


Jericho Arcos (MetalTyranomon)
- The Black Coast -

Jericho moved to the front of the group. Slowly, carefully, as to not let it look like an attack, he used his tail to sweep a space of sand smooth and flat and clean of debris.

He twitched his head slightly, trying to open his projector from its compartment, but the servos buzzed angrily and refused to budge. Thankfully, Titus stepped up and starts giving him both words of support for the benefit of the Legion as well as buying him time to get his rusted, battered body to comply.

He hastily picked at the compartment on the side of his chest until he finally forced it open and the projector hummed to life broadcasting his recorded video on the flattened sands before them, rotated so the Legionaries could see it properly. The speaker in his throat played the sound as the video of Chromium altering himself and discussing the editing of the Realmpact ran in its entirety.

 

[Kamotz]

< Goliath Leonhardt (BanchoLeomon) >
- the Black Coast -

Goliath watched as Arahon took in the video from Jericho's projection. It was the first time he had seen their evidence for himself, and the ease at which Chromium discussed manipulating the very fabric of their reality was chilling, as cold and calculating as anything he'd ever seen from the Metal Empire. That was the day it all started, when everything started and their world began its spiral into the grip of the Metal Empire.

Arahon watched the projection with the same impassive countenance he fought with. He never flinched, never recoiled or scoffed or showed any sign that the scenes Jericho showed him were having any sort of affect. When the recordings ended and disappeared back into Jericho, Arahon simply stared at the spot where the projection once displayed.

The few seconds of silence seemed to stretch out forever, and it was almost more than Goliath could bear. A not-so-small part of him worried that Arahon would simply turn to them, say "I know," and have them killed.

But then...why would he have saved them at all? Why bother?

"It's--it's gotta be a trick, right?" the UlforceVeedramon half-stammered. Arahon's eyes flickered to him briefly before returning to their pensive staring at the empty space. "There's no way that they…" he trailed off.

"I doubt they could pull off something this elaborate, Balion," said the ShineGreymon. She glanced at them sideways. The MirageGaogamon next to her nodded solemnly. "They don't have the resources."

"More believable than rewriting the Realmpact," Balion muttered, but he didn't sound very convinced.

"Arahon, what are you thinking?" asked the MirageGaogamon, eyeing their commander warrily. The small group of elite Legion soldiers turned to the Alphamon.

For a moment it looked like Arahon would speak, but then his teeth snapped shut with an audible click and his brow furrowed. He slowly turned, not to the Legion or the Realmless, but to the captured Ral Zarek.

"I invoke the Legion's Initiative, Seventh Mandate, Order 44. Section 11. Under emergent circumstances, where ascertaining the truth is of utmost import to the resolution of an ongoing conflict, the Legion's First Blade may conjure a Verity Circle," Arahon said, almost robotically, with the same unflinching, forlorn stoicism. A ring of glowing green digimoji runes spread from his hands and formed a circle around the Imperial commander. "Ral Zarek, of the Metal Empire, I hereby bind you. You will take no action but the spoken truth." He glanced to the UlforceVeedramon. "Balion, let him speak."

"You sure?" Balion asked, his eyebrow arching. "If he's not really bound by the 'pact the Circle won't do much to stop him from hitting us with the same."

Arahon hummed thoughtfully and nodded. "Balion, Gatmuz, Keep him in your sights. If he appears unaffected, contain him before he can act."

Balion glanced to the MirageGaogamon, who nodded silently and crouched into a fighting stance, ready to act at a moment's notice. Then Balion eased the tension in his arms and un-lashed the scarf from around Balion's face.

"Are you contained by the Verity Circle?" Arahon asked, his voice full of ceremony and performance.

"I--" Ral began. But Balion was on him in a flash, with his hand clamped around Ral's mouth.

Arahon gave him a concerned look.

"He was going to say 'I invoke the' whatever," Balion said, fixing Ral with a glare. The Justimon could only grunt out a series of muffled sounds.

"I don't believe he was," Arahon mused, a faint smile played across his face. "But well done." He turned back to Ral Zarek. "Now. Same question. Are you contained by the Verity Circle."

Ral began slowly. "I. Am," he hissed.

"State your name for the record," Arahon said.

"Braon Tazri," the Justimon answered.

"Not 'Ral Zarek'?" Arahon asked.

"That is the name given to me by my Emperor," Ral Zarek said. "I was born Braon Tazri." So eve all of that was a lie and a sham. Nothing was as it seemed anymore with the Empire. They were all broken and untrustworthy.

Arahon looked contemplative for a moment, but continued. "The Metal Emperor, Chromium Rhuell, has been accused of rewriting key aspects of the Realmpact. To the best of your knowledge, is this true?"

"Yes."

"How?" Arahon continued, dispensing with the ceremony altogether.

Ral shook his head. "I don't really understand it. But he can. He did."

"You see!" Goliath all but roared. "Everything I've ever said is true, and then some. The Realmpact isn't just insufficient, isn't just cruel. It's artificially cruel. It was made cruel by a single Digimon for his single selfish purpose."

"It's not selfish!" Ral shouted. "The world has improved because of the changes Emperor Rhuell made. Progress can only be made when we change things. Otherwise we're stagnant!"

"But the expansion stems from the rewriting, correct?" Arahon asked, pulling them back on track.

"Yes."

"The subsequent loss of life as well?"

"Yes."

"Do you believe that this was indeed the best way forward?"

"Yes!" Ral said adamantly.

"And this could only be accomplished through deception?"

"I--Yes...no...I don't…"

"And do you believe this was an honorable way to achieve progress?" Arahon asked, his voice even.

"No," Ral answered, and he dropped his head sadly.

"Then do you truly believe this was the best way forward?" Arahon asked his question again.

"No," Ral answered. His eyes went wide, surprised by his own response to the question. He sighed deeply and said again, more firmly. "No."

Arahon waved his hand and the Verity Circle surrounding Ral Zarek dissipated into the air. "Return to your Empire," the Legionnaire said. There were shouts of protest, but Arahon gave the Justimon a curt nod and he leaped away.

"How could you do that?" Goliath demanded. "He'll be back, with reinforcements."

Arahon shook his head. "I doubt that very much," he said. "We've sown doubt and extracted deep truth from an Imperial Commander. There's more value in that than in keeping him as a prisoner."

Goliath frowned, not entirely convinced. He'd fought Ral at Ironclad, he knew he was an honorable Digimon...as far as Imperials were concerned, at least. But letting him go? That was something else. Still...he glanced around and noticed the distinct lack of metallic grinding sounds that signaled the incoming charge of Imperial troops. The dust and smoke from their battle was beginning to settle and clear, revealing a quickly-darkening sky full of storm clouds.

Thunder rumbled low.

"We should take shelter and move from here," Goliath said. He glanced over his group. They were all exhausted and barely on their feet. "We'll need to make camp soon. And we need to get Jaeger and Surrak healing before…" he trailed off.

"What happened to them?" the Craniummon asked.

"Rhuell," Goliath spat. "He did something. We can't heal them, no matter what we try. They just keep...bleeding data." He looked over the two Digimon. They were missing entire pieces of themselves. Gaps in their bodies revealing the wireframe underneath. They weren't injuries in the conventional sense, it wasn't flesh or bone, but a missing portion of their very being.

"That's vile," Balion said grimly. "Kill someone or don't, but this...this is cruel and sick."

Thunder rumbled, noticeably pulling away Arahon's attention. "We do not have the capability to heal such an injury either," he said absently. "But…" the thunder cracked, close and louder. "Hmm...we'll see soon."

Goliath raised an eyebrow. "How do you mean?"

KRAKOOM!!!

Lightning split the near-black sky directly over them with a horrifying crack, and a voice exploded from within the clouds.

"Arahon Ryu!" The clouds shifted and a figure emerged from the gloom, armored in deep red and azure. A gleaming metal halo of gold floated in the air behind him, crackling with lightning.

"Warleader," Arahon acknowledged, and bowed. The Legionnaires beside him bowed deeper still, dropping to one knee and crossing their arms over their chest.

"You have explaining to do, old friend," the Susanoomon said.

 

[storymasterb]

Medraut the Exiled (Duftmon)
The Black Coast

At battle's end Medraut limped to Ryia's side, only just holding his Duftmon form, his wings in tatters and his armor a mess of soot and cracks. In moments he had been lost, torn from the heavens by cannon fire and only just dragged to safety by Adirael. At least he assumed it had been Adirael, in the confusion he had only glimpsed black claws gripping him.

His stratagems useless in the face of a situation he maybe knew was hopeless but rallied against regardless. How could he submit? His oath was written in steel on his heart and until it was done, what else could he do but soldier on to its fulfilment or his death? He kept Arahon in his gaze wearily, at some point in the mayhem he had saluted in the Legion fashion out of instinct. His training so drilled into his bones that with his mind unfocused he defaulted to it, no matter what he was now.

Ryia in her own right looked tilted to one side, her voice louder than normal to the point he winced when she shouted at him. He could only assume the explosions had damaged her hearing.

His eyes wandered over the Legion forces to the Craniummon, who regarded him in turn? Lionel? He thought he had heard Lionel's voice amidst it all but he wasn't sure. He didn't understand.

"At least we are safe now," he said to Ryia, voice a little raised to account for her hearing.

"Famous last words if ever they were spoken," Adirael deadpanned as he came over. He looked about as worse for wear as the rest of them, his own wings shedding feathers as he adjusted them. It was clear that he too was on the edge of regressing to a lower form and as he took another step he finally did so, the gaudy form of a Matadormon replacing the refined Beelzemon.

"Arahon accepts the proof we offered," Medraut replied, and as though to emphasize his point his own form gave way. A Knightmon stood in his place, only a bestial head crest on his shield marking him as different from Lionel or any other. "I have faith-"

His argument was lost to the booming of thunder and blinding bolts of lightning. He knew this and again instinct took over, forcing him to take the knee and salute as the Susanoomon descended. Adirael stayed standing, but nonethless he looked suitably impressed as the Warleader's voice rang out.

"Your Warleader?" the Matadormon asked.

Medraut nodded mutely, thoughts whirling. He had assumed that Arahon had simply pursued escaped fugitives as was the Legion's mandate, as he himself had done in the past. That him stumbling across them in time to intervene was merely fortunate timing.

But if Warleader Iora was demanding explanation, then what on Eon were Arahon and his soldiers doing there?

 

[Kamotz]

~Border of the Metal Empire and the Dragon Hordes~

Palladia Mors stood with a contingent of his Imperial soldiers; tall, lanky Andromon; long-armed Mechanorimon; robust, rust-colored Guardromon. At his side were his officers, Zero-One, a massive MegaGargomon specimen. Zero-Two, a hulking brute of a Boltmon. Zero-Three, a sleek MetalGarurumon. And Zero-Four, a BlitzGreymon so brimming with energy he seemed to vibrate in place.

Before them spread the fiery hellscape of the Dragon Hordes, the fields of Akoum. A wasteland, and if it weren't for the Huanglong Ore under their feet, they would have built a wall around the dragons and kept them as pets in a zoo. But they needed that metal, all for the Great Work, and so Palladia Mors was forced to meet with their new Dragonlord as if he were a legitimate ruler and not some savage.

The upstart and his horde of slavering imbeciles stared at the mechanical might of the Empire from the other side of a lava flow.

"You're tresspassing," the new Dragonlord said. He was adorned in the gleaming white of the Paladin Mode; it wasn't often that these savages were able to achieve that kind of tempered power. The Realmpact reported that this...Imego...had defeated the previous Dragonlord with little effort at all.

"I am here on official business," Palladia Mors said. He gave the Imperialdramon and the other little dragons a withering glare. "As the Dragonlord there are duties you must abide by. Duties to the Realms and the Empire."

"Oh?" Imego asked with a laughing mock. Like the sycophants they were, his horde of dragons joined in laughter. "What do I care about your duties? Why should I give a damn?"

"Because the Realmpact calls for your compliance, dragon," Mors said, his temper rising. How dare this lizard mock him. With but a word he could snuff out this dragon's will. "So. Kneel. Kneel and swear fealty -- as 'Dragonlord' -- to the Realmpact and the rule of his Imperial Majesty Chromium Rhuell."

"Kneel?" Imego asked, his voice snarling past his clenched teeth. He strode forward, fording through the lava flow in a handful of unhindered strides, to stand face-to-face with Mors. "Is that so?"

"I don't care what side of the border you kneel on," Mors spat. Lubricator fluid hissed on the hot earth. He jabbed Imego in the chest with a long finger. "But you. Will. Kneel."

Imego smirked. Then, faster than Palladia Mors could see, the Dragonlord grabbed Mors's hand, balled it into a fist, and drove it back into his own face. Mors felt his faceplate crack, but before he could even utter a sound of shock or pain, Imego drove his hand back again, shattering his faceplate completely and cracking the metal of his helmet. Then again, and again, and again, driving him back further and further, deeper and deeper, until he could feel the volcanic rock begin to crack under him.

==\=/==

Imego smirked as he raised the HiAndromon up by his arm. He still held the android's fist in a vice grip. It had taken seconds, faster than this so-called "great commander" of the Empire could react. Faster than any of his tin soldiers could bring their arms to bear. Imego had beaten the Imperial into submission with his own fist.

"'Kneel' will I?" Imego mocked, holding Mors aloft. The android hung limply in his grip like a loose collection of wire and scrap metal. He regarded the Imperial curiously. "Now, do I send your soldiers back to give Rhuell word of your death? Or do I kill the lot of them and let you go, broken and beaten? Which do you think is more impressive?" He gazed out at the Imperial soldiers. "Anyone?"

"Put him down," a voice rang out from the ash-darkened sky, and his Imperial Majesty himself descended from the clouds.

Chromium. That's the only Digimon it could have been. No other would have the kind of presence. Imego had never seen the Emperor, but he knew royalty when he saw it.

He set down in between Imego and his troops, and three glowing fiery entities sprung to life around him. They circled him agitatedly for a second, then stopped and pointed their glowing blades towards Imego, completely still except for the crackling fire encircling them.

"I won't tell you again," Chromium said. There was a hard edge to it. Imego smirked. Finally a metal man with some backbone. "Put him down and swear fealty to the Metal Empire."

"Kneel," Imego laughed and shook his head ruefully. "You Machines are so single-minded." He raised the shimmering blade in his hands. "If you wanted me to kneel, you should have brought more soldiers!"

He brought his sword down with a roar, sending a ripple of energy flaring from his blade towards Chromium and the Metal Empire soldiers. Chromium's fiery entities formed a triangular shield in front of him, protecting him and the Digimon directly behind him. The four Mega Digimon survived the attack, but the other Digimon not protected by Rhuell were atomized in the cascade.

Chromium flicked his blades and disappeared with a speed that Imego couldn't follow. But that didn't mean he couldn't feel where Chromium was. He felt the thrumming of his almighty blade and listened to its will. He whipped it in an arc, and intercepted Chromium's strike. There was a momentary look of shock on the Emperor's face, and Imego sneered. Then Chromium vanished once more, but again Imego listened to the will of his sword and blocked the following strike, almost without even looking.

It was intoxicating. Karrthus had been nothing compared to his new power. But Chromium pushed him further, pushed his power further, than he could have ever imagined. They traded blows, back and forth, neither scoring a decisive strike against the other.

But then Imego snapped out of his elation and back into the present moment. The startling contrast between the two mindsets caused his concentration to slip and he was distracted long enough for Chromium to rake his wicked tail blade across his chest. Imego felt a sharp pressure, a stinging line of pain, and saw sparks flare between them. He slipped backward with his blade raised and brought a hand quickly to his chest to feel at the wound.

Nothing. Barely a scratch. The Metal Emperor's mighty attack had barely managed to penetrate his armor. Chromium's eyes went wide with shock; Imego's grin spread across his face and he laughed wildly. Yes. This was the true power of the Dragonlord. Of the Khan. Metal Emperor be damned, Realmpact be damned. He was the Horde. The Storm's Fury. The Dragon's Roar.

Chromium danced out of the way of his next strike, moving with that same impossible speed that Imego simply couldn't understand. But it didn't matter -- nothing the Emperor had at his disposal could touch him. Each clash of their blades only solidified that; none of Chromium's strikes moved Imego, but each of Imego's blows sent Rhuell into a backpedal. Chromium stepped back to put distance between them, and his three energy constructs formed up in front of him. They formed a triangular field of iridescent green energy between them.

"One for All!" Chromium shouted. A beam of energy erupted from the triangular field and howled towards Imego, but the sword in his hand hummed again, and with a wild grin, he simply extended his hand into the blast. It splashed against his open palm and fractured, spilling violently around him.

There was a moment of surprise for Imego when Chromium appeared suddenly in front of him, tearing through his own attack, using it to cover his advance. He swung his arm blade down with thunderous force, aiming for the exposed skin of Imego's neck. The Emperor's blade struck, drawing blood, but stopping just below the surface of Imego's skin, unable to penetrate further.

Imego grabbed Chromium's wrist with his empty hand and his grin turned manic.

My turn, he thought.

"Omni Sword!" he roared. He slashed at Chromium from point blank and his power exploded over the Metal Emperor. Chromium let out a howl of pain as the attack washed over him and cracked through him. He was thrown back, tumbling over the scorched earth. The lava flows distorted around him, warping out of his way and solidifying into strange swirled sculptures in his wake.

Chromium swerved to a stop and his three constructs assembled immediately at his side. He straightened, stepped forward, and then was immediately within striking distance of Imego. Except this time he made no moves to attack. Imego raised his sword.

"Impressive," the Emperor acknowledged, his constructs floating around him agitatedly. "Karrthus was a fool to allow you to challenge him."

"As were you," Imego sneered. What was he playing at?

"Perhaps," Rhuell admitted. He glanced down at the still-prone form of Palladia Mors then nodded to the remaining Imperial soldiers, a silent order to collect his commander.

"I wasn't done with that," Imego hissed.

"Don't hiss like that," Chromium scolded him absently. "It's unbecoming for someone of your stature."

"What!?" Imego demanded, he fought the urge to swing his sword and take the Emperor's head off, but something convinced him to hold back.

"Fighting here accomplishes nothing," Chromium said, glancing around at the fiery fields of Akoum. "We could fight for hours and neither of us would gain any ground. It's a waste of our time."

"Or I could just kill you," Imego said with a smirk.

"Perhaps," Rhuell admitted once again with an annoyingly casual shrug. "But that's a bold statement for one who just recently came into that much power. You barely know how to use it, whereas I have full mastery of my abilities. All I'd need is time."

"Your pitiful attacks barely scratched me," Imego snarled.

"But they did scratch you, if barely," Chromium pointed to the thin rivulet of blood trailing down from the shallow wound on his neck. Imego's hands wandered absently to the thin gash across his chest.

"And you look like shit," Imego spat. "You have a long way to go before you kill me with scratches and papercuts."

"Again, perhaps," Rhuell said with a smirk. "But why bother? Maybe I kill you, maybe you kill me, maybe we kill each other. None of those outcomes serve my purpose."

"Killing you would serve me just fine," Imego sneered.

"Would it?" Rhell asked. "And then what? You go back to your calderas and volcanos and lord your power over your kinsmen until you grow old and feeble and some young upstart takes your head or you pass in your sleep?" The Emperor glanced around at the dragons behind him, and Imego could feel their eyes on him. "That sounds like a pitiful end for a Dragonlord. Ask yourself, Dragonlord: what do you want?"

"What do I want?" Imego reiterated with a frown.

"Do you want to sit peacefully on your throne as the world around you marches on?" Chromium asked. "Or do you want something more?" Imego fixed him with a glare. "War is coming to the Realms, and I aim to win it."

"Why should I care?" Imego scoffed.

"Because it will come to your door soon enough," Chromium said.

"Let it," Imego snarled. "I fear no Digimon."

"Your power is great, greater than my own, I'll admit," said Chromium with a nod of respect. "But there are those out there with power in equal measure. If not alone, then together certainly. Alone, the Dragon Hordes will fight fiercely and die fiercely. And if you survive you will be left with nothing but barren rock. Or…"

"Or?" Imego urged him.

"Or join with me," Chromium said. "The Hordes and the Empire united. Our technology and numbers, your ferocity. No Realm would be able to stand against us. And then imagine the possibilities for you. No longer beholden to the borders of your Realm, allowed to venture into the Conclave to taste the sweet fruits of their jungles; allowed to plunder the golden palaces of the Syndicate. You would be able to rule and war as no Dragonlord has done in a thousand years."

There was a ravenous hunger in Imego that bloomed at the thought of all that. A wild urging that chewed at him. But in the end, his pride held firm.

"But only if I bend the knee is that it?" Imego snarled angrily.

"No, I see that won't do at all," Chromium admitted. "I would not have you betray your nature and your pride. That would not serve either of us. No. This would be...an alliance."

The Metal Emperor extended his hand.

Imego grinned.

 

[Kamotz]

< Ajax Vol (MedievalGallantmon) >
- the Black Coast -

Ajax felt the darkness flood away, and groaned as pain filled the space it left behind. He coughed and winced as he slowly rolled himself to his feet. He shouldn't be alive. He should have exploded and taken those Metal Empire bastards with him. But something had gone wrong. What the hell was it? All he remembered was a flash of green and crushing pain. He'd never felt anything like that befo--

No...he had felt that before. Not long ago. When he fought…

"Arahon," he said, somewhere between a cough and a spit. He raised his head and took in the scene. The Legion soldiers standing at attention -- he recognized them from their encounter in Prahv -- the Realmless standing together, eyeing them warrily, but unencumbered and free. He rolled to his feet and shook the coal-black sand from his armor and cloak.

"I'm guessing something finally went right for us," he muttered, but then took notice of another figure standing in the midst of the Legion soldiers. He stood almost a full head taller than Arahon, adorned in deep red and azure armor. A metal ring of gold floated in the air behind him, shining brightly in the gloom of the Black Coast and the dust and the smoke of battle.

"The Warleader," Ajax said aloud, before even realizing it.

Kytheon Iora turned to him with an impassive look. The Susanoomon regarded him for but a heartbeat before turning back to Arahon and fixing him with an almost-glare.

"Explain yourself, First Sword," Kytheon demanded, his voice calm, but heavy with authority. The Warleader's presence was like a thick stormcloud over the horizon; huge and unnerving with catastrophic potential. It was enough that even Arahon seemed on edge, seemed hesitant; and that worried Ajax more than anything else.

"What would you like me to explain?" Arahon asked, his voice calm and respectful. But it lacked any of the characteristic, haughty confidence that Ajax had come to expect from the black knight.

"Explain why I received a report that the Legion's advanced guard, and my most loyal comrades, broke ranks to interfere in the Metal Empire's pursuit of criminal dissidents, prevented their invocation of the Realmpact to maintain order of the situation, and engaged in combat with Imperial officers!" Kytheon's voice rose as he spoke, and his last words were nearly thunderclaps.

"I acted according to Legion mandate, to see that justice was done," Arahon answered. Ajax almost missed the waver in his voice.

"We are not to interfere with the Empire's pursuit of Realmless elements," Kytheon said, his voice harsh but robotic, as if he were reading from a script. It was clear this wasn't something he'd decided on his own. "This is Law."

"And what if our laws and everything we hold dear were lies?" Arahon said. This time there was no missing the shake in his voice.

"Careful, old friend," Kytheon warned. "I am bound to those same laws as Warleader. Do not force me to execute you as a traitor."

"I betray nothing," Arahon said, his voice steadying. "Our laws have been cut apart and rewritten all to suit the needs of those with the power to do so."

"Our laws come from the Realmpact itself," Kytheon scoffed.

"Yes," Arahon said calmly. "They do."

"Be careful with your implications, First Blade," Kytheon snapped. "You come dangerously close to heresy."

"Do you trust me?" Arahon asked. He strode forward to meet the Warleader face-to-face. "Do you trust me as I trusted you all those years ago?"

Kytheon regarded him for a long moment and raised a hand. A holographic display emitted from his palm and he spoke into it.

"All Legion forces, stand down and return to Sunhome," he said. Then he closed his fist and the display vanished. "Very well, explain."

"I'd rather show you," Arahon said. He nodded to Goliath and Jericho. And the giant dinosaur projected an image of Imperial citizens performing some sort of experiment. Ajax realized within moments that it was Chromium and his commanding officers, and the first time they ever manipulated and destroyed the integrity of the Realmpact.

Kytheon watched with ever-widening eyes. When it was over, he wheeled upon Arahon and spoke with a thunderclap. "And you believe this?" He gestured wildly to Jericho. "You know how easy they could fabricate something like this?"

"Not so easily," Arahon countered, and now he was the calm one. "The Imperial Commander, Ral Zarek, confirmed this not long before you arrived."

"Convenient that he is no longer here to corroborate your claim," Kytheon said.

"I did not think it pertinent to keep an Imperial officer detained," Arahon said. "I was not aware you were coming."

"It's still a dubious claim," Kytheon said.

"This is real," Arahon insisted, his voice rising. "I invoked the Legion's Initiative to extract the truth from Ral Zarek." He glared at the Warleader. "I need you to trust me…both of you."

Ajax didn't understand why, but this set off a cascade of uncomfortable shuffling among the Legion soldiers, all of them glancing to one another warily and in disbelief.

"The same way I trusted you all those years ago," Arahon continued.

Kytheon and Arahon stared at one another for a few long, tense moments. Then the Warleader gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Okay," he said, and the word seemed heavy. "I trust you. So what do we do?"

Arahon sighed, and the tension seemed to leave him with that. He shook his head in frustration and turned to Goliath. "That...is a good question."

"This world, and the rules that govern it, are built on a lie," Goliath said, his voice so full of confidence for someone speaking to two beings that could annihilate him in a heartbeat. "All of it, to its core, is corrupted. The only thing to do, the only thing we can do, is excise this corruption at its source."

"War, with the Metal Empire," Kytheon muttered darkly. "You ask....much of the world."

"If the world wants their lives back, wants their futures back, to be free, then yes," Goliath insisted strongly. "I ask much."

"And you would pursue this even on your own?" Kytheon asked curiously.

Goliath turned and looked at the assembled Realmless behind him. He nodded to them before turning back to the Warleader. "Yes. We would."

"He's powerful," Kytheon warned. "Chromium."

"Oh, we're aware," Goliath said.

"To defeat him and the rest of the Empire you would need considerably more strength than you have now," he said. "In fact I doubt any of you could defeat him in combat."

"Not one-on-one," Goliath admitted.

"Not at all," Kytheon insisted. "But I suppose if this is the avenue we're traveling I could step in."

"You?" Goliath asked.

"I am the Warleader," Kytheon said, as if it explained everything. "I am the greatest among the Eternal Legion."

"You don't understand what you're up against," Ajax said, stepping forward. His body still ached, but he held himself upright. "You've never faced anything like that before.

"Chromium is a Jesmon just like myself,” Titus said.

"We know," Kytheon said with a dismissive gesture. "Couldn't understand why he chose to hide his true form, but it's irrelevant nonetheless."

"He's stronger than just a Jesmon," Ajax insisted. He was almost breathless just remembering the fight. "The way he moves, the way--"

"It shouldn't matter," Kytheon waved him off.

"He said he used the Realmpact itself to augment his abilities," Ajax said desperately. "The way he moves, it's like he can be in ten different places at once. He can manipulate reality, he can--"

Kytheon seemed to weigh this for a moment but then shrugged. "Doesn't matter," he said. "My power is still several orders of magnitude higher than his. Those abilities might be an annoyance, but only that."

"Are you saying you'll join us?" Emmara asked tentatively, drawing a hush of whispers from the Realmless and Legion alike.

"I wish it were that simple," Kytheon said with a sigh. "But unfortunately my power is tied to my adherence to the Realmpact." He shook his head in frustration. "If I were to cut ties with the Legion, or if the Legion was to dissociate from the Realmpact, my power would split and I'd lose the strength the Chronicle allows me to maintain."

"Well way to get our hopes up," Goliath muttered under his breath.

"It's not all a lost cause," Kytheon said, fixing Goliath with a disapproving look. "The Chronicles, while tied to the Realmpact, are not entirely dependent upon it. If…" he trailed off and steadied himself. "A Chronicle's allegiance is, first and foremost, to the Realm. If all the Realms were to dissociate from the Realmpact, then --"

"You would be able to maintain the power of the Chronicle, maintain leadership of the Legion, and hold the Susanoomon form," Arahon said, scratching his chin. "That's a tall order."

"You underestimate how persuasive we can be," Goliath said proudly. "We have our work cut out for us, but we can do that. Karrthus is already willing to go to war."

"Karrthus is an idiot," the ShineGreymon muttered.

"And after the Empire burned down Setessa, the Conclave won't side with them for long," Goliath added.

"Seek out the Seven Great Houses of the Unhallowed," Kytheon advised. "They may know more than they've let on. I will speak to Isperia in Prahv." He turned to Jericho and extended his hand. "May I?"

Goliath nodded, and Jericho handed over the drive containing their recording of Chromium's corruption of the Realmpact. Ajax figured if Kytheon was going to destroy them he didn't need to wait for that. If what he said was true, he could have snuffed them out at any time.

"Wait," Goliath said, grabbing Kytheon by the arm. Kytheon made no move to shake him off, but did give him a skeptical glance. "Our comrades," he motioned to Jaeger and Surrak. "They...is there anything you can do?"

Kytheon stepped over, his brow furrowed in concentration. He glanced over their injuries, but maintained a respectful distance. The two of them were deathly still; the empty spaces across their bodies were jagged along the edges. Only the fact that they hadn't exploded into data indicated that they were even still alive at all.

"Chromium," Kytheon said. It wasn't a question. "Damn. He wanted them to hurt." Again, not a question.

"Can you help them?" Goliath asked. "Is there anything--"

"There is," Chromium said warily. "But the decision should not be made lightly."

"Forced, permanent Jogress," Aurelia said. Her voice was quiet, but firm, hard and sharp as broken glass.

Kytheon regarded her silently, seeming to take her in in her entirety with a single glance. "Yes," he answered. "It's not something I would recommend. But I'm sure you would understand."

Aurelia said nothing.

"If you would ask it of me, I would save their lives," Kytheon said. "I will bind them together with the power of Valyrium. Use each of them to fill in a blank space between them. Create a single being." He took a long breath. "Or…"

"Or we let them die," Aurelia said. "Because it isn't anyone's choice to make but theirs. To live on as something…else."

"It shouldn't be, but it is our choice now," Goliath said, his voice grave. "One way or the other, the choice is ours.

"You all knew them," Aurelia said. "What would they want?"

 

[Solsabre]

Black Coast

“Do it,” Ryia called out. The furious mare stepped forward from among the Realmless. “They are the best of us and deserve a better fate than...this.” A grimace crossed her face before hardening again. “I’m certain Surrak at least would want another shot at Chromium.”

“I wouldn’t be so swift to decide another’s fate, Ryia,” Ayas replied, the exhausted garuda elder leaned heavily on Aakio. “We are committing them to an existence that most of us have no way of comprehending.”

“Then you would allow them to simply die?” Ryia shouted with a furor.

Ayas hung his head, shaking it slowly. No. He did not.

Sawyer popped onto Ryia’s back, startling her. The Iron Mare glared at the monkeymon with a sneer.

Titus stepped forward, holding out a clawed hand to placate the Sleipmon. “Warleader, aside from saving their lives, what will it be like for them to live as one individual?” The Jesmon shifted his gaze from Kytheon to Aurelia seeking understanding.

 

[Kamotz]

< Goliath Leonhardt >
- the Black Coast -


“It is…hard to be born again, a third time, bound to another,” Kytheon said. “Even for me. Two lives occupy the same space within you. Two memories, two hearts. It’s—“

“Nothing like that,” Aurelia cut in. “A forced jogress, a permanent one, is not the same. You can’t compare what you’ve chosen to what you’re deciding to do to them. You're forcing a connection where there might not be one."

"So the new soul born from these two might just go insane?" Ryia asked.

"I don't know," Aurelia answered. "I didn't know them. I don't know what kind of bond they shared. But forcing a jogress like that...you might not recognize the Digimon that emerges."

Goliath studied the prone forms of Jaeger and Surrak, searching every memory for a conversation they might have had to give insight into this very unusual and specific situation. It was like Ajax had told him when they fought in Setessa...gods, how long ago was that now? When Ajax had challenged him:

"Sometimes heroes die last, or not at all! Do you have the force of will to watch them die? When you must decide between your soldiers and the mission. Do you have the strength to choose?"

He'd answered "yes" back then, but he never imagined he'd have to make this sort of decision. What would they want? Would they want to rest, or would they keep fighting?

"They've survived this long," Ajax said, eyeing them as well, as if he were reading Goliath's mind. "They've held on. Maybe it's time for us to let them go."

"Or we should honor them and let them keep fighting," Goliath said softly, more to himself than to Ajax. Surrak would want to keep fighting. Whatever the form that fight took, he'd want to keep fighting. He wouldn't know how to not fight.

But Jaeger? The wolf was an enigma. Inscrutable. He was Unbowed by birth, but had spent years in the Empire if what he'd told them was accurate. Part of a kill force. Wouldn't he be tired of fighting? Would he be done, and glad for it to end?

"Jericho, Sawyer, Demo. You're all former citizens of the Empire," Goliath turned to his comrades. "Of anyone here, you might know Jaeger's mind best after his reconditioning."