Sylus internally groaned, not wanting to express his own frustration through noises made with the mouth. He decided it was not right to delve any further, but he simply spoke one final set of words so he hopefully would not come off as a heartless man only seeking information. "I appreciate that you care enough for me even though we have not met. However, I would like to let you know I can take care of myself. Whatever I choose to do will not harm me, for I have done it my entire life. Sleeping outside, surviving in the wilderness, and all of the fun stuff that comes with living on a planet that no longer exists anymore. Do not waste your worry on me." Thus was all he said, if she wanted to continue on with it, he would await her response.

Vienna had an epiphany. A silent one. She had found the answer to her own question, but it was an answer she was sure she would never voice, nor hint at. "I'm gonna turn in for the night." She stood, and brushed the dirt off of her clothes. She knew they'd be stained from laying in the grass, but at the moment, she really didn't care. Without turning to face him again, she started walking further into the woods than in the other direction, which led to the town. "G'night." was all she said, not bothering to turn back nor wave, too consumed in her own thoughts.

Sylus lifted his head to meet his eyes with her figure for one final time as she walked off into the night. There was a certain beauty that Sylus found in the human race, the beauty of ambition and desire that he had not found many other races. After all, humes were the first to raise him, and although he had seen countless other races who were similar to the appearance and mentality of the human race, the humans were the only ones that Sylus felt he related to. They survived, they did not gave up even with the blunt extinction attempt of them years and years ago, they did not give up when the earth was destroyed, and they did not give up with the appearance of the greatest destroyer the universe had ever known. Although most of the humans here were not from the original Earth, they still held the same survialist's instinct. Sylus brushed his hair aside when she was far enough away, fare enough that his face was no longer hidden. Exposing what made him different, what made him nowhere near being accepted by the humans...

Tomorrow, Pyrus was going to burn the city down.

Goodnight Vienna.

(Pyrus is? o.o ... the horror! D:)

Cara couldn't sleep, to say the least. Halfway through the night, she woke up, and despite her best effort, she couldn't go back to her previous state of sleep. She let out a soft sigh and sat up, rubbing her eyes. If she was going to find something to do, she didn't want to go about it blind. Getting up, she took a shower, being careful as to keep the lights off and keep sound minimal, she did not want to wake Nex. Afterwards, she got ready as she would have in the morning, and sat when she finished. Only to find a glowing light coming from her bag. "Via?" she asked softly. That was it. She had to go back down to the town.

Nex stirred in his sleep but did not wake up through it all, but as she moved he did stir a bit more, making the bed a bit messier as he did so.

Sylus meanwhile was asleep in the place he was left by Vienna, sometimes moving in his sleep, he was curled up in the flowers like a child who had worked too hard in the day. But something woke him up, the sound of speaking men. He jumped up quickly and walked off in that direction, realizing it was just too villagers as he spotted them. He decided it would be best to stay up, just in case his thoughts from before he went to sleep came true early. He did not want to see this town burn to the ground with the brutality of Pyrus.

Cara managed to sneak off the ship, again traveling by the way of the odd light thing. It took little asking around to find out in which direction Vienna had went off to, and she jogged rather quickly in that direction. Upon seeing Sylus along in a meadow-like place, she approached him, making sure he was indeed awake before doing so. "Sorry if I'm interrupting something.. but have you seen Vienna?"

Sylus looked around for a moment, he was bored, deciding that he did not want to go back to sleep. But something odd caught his eye in the distance. Cara, it was rather uncharacteristic of her to go wandering off in the dark. Something is wrong. Sylus remembered last night, seeing Vienna walk off into the forest, he should have guided her.... He should have been there. He gritted his fist and shook his head. "You are interupting nothing... The last place I saw her was with me here as I went to sleep.... I assume that was 4 hours ago... I thought she was going back to the ship, but she must have gotten lost along the way. I'm sorry.... This is my fault... I thought she would know the way back...." He paused, looking up into the sky afterwords, "I need to find her.... You can either search the forest with me or go back to form a search party, I'm going it alone..." He said in a hurried fashion, running into the forest soon after until he eventually took a flying leap and jumped into the trees.

I will find you Vienna.... I promise.

Vienna saw a figure through the branches, a man. Who was this? Had Sylus followed after her? No. She had gone to look for her ship, since she had planned to crash there, but had not had any luck yet. Curious, and half hoping it was indeed Sylus, she went to the clearing where she saw him, and was greatly surprised. Vienna quickly started to back away, but he, as she knew, was too fast.

Cara's father, better known by the name of Alcair, had been walking to greet the Mavericks at the village when he saw one of his old colleagues through the brush. Vienna. How delightful. He licked his lips as she approached, drawing out her sword. As he had guessed, she hadn't been prepared for this.

Once he was done, he merely walked off.

Cara ran through the forrest, in the direction that Sylus had pointed. She wasn't near as fast as Sylus, but that orb that had been glowing in her bag... that was their way of emergency contact. Something had gone wrong.

Sylus spotted what he was searching for, but it was nearly too late. Sylus was just in time, jumping between the slowly decreasing gap between Alcair and Vienna. The wind soon followed him behind, blowing his hair forward as he turned his head toward the man. The glint of his spikes glowed brilliantly between the two of them, floating as a shield so he could go no further. "If you value your life... You will not take another step forward..." He was blunt, his eyes full of fury directed toward the man in defense of this woman he had not meant more than a day ago.

"Burn it down!" Came the shouts of the IAP as a line of them stood at the outskirts of the forest outlining the village. Pyrus was at the front of them as the flurry of flames licked the edges of the forest. The animals of this planet began to run as far as they could away from the quickly spreading fire. By the time Cara returned, the fire would be inches away from burning down the village.

The alarm sounded in the ship shortly after the buring of the outlining forest, the IAP had reached their position. Mavericks poured out of their rooms, Nex was not among them though, frantically looking for Cara. He first opened the bathroom, but then thought that the only place should could possibly be in this terrible event. She was down at the village. He grabbed his plasma sword and changed into his gear and rushed out and down the familiar tubing which shot them downward the first time they came to this planet, the transporting light was gone for fear of the returning IAP members.

As they reached the planet the fire was already at the first house, people being instructed to evacuate as the people of the IAP searched frantically for a remedy to this poor city. Nex was calm, he concentrated, as though he was waiting for something. A wall of water emerged between the town and the forest, Cheng Yu at the front of it as he held his hands up. Wolfe had his rifle out, they had not reached the city yet... But they were waiting for it.

Vienna had had her eyes closed. She had no weapons with her, and she, more than anyone, knew this man's strength. She had been counting on death. When wind came in, her eyes opened quickly, then widened. "Sylus.." she whispered, barely louder than a breath. Alacair smiled at this. "Oooh.. you too hooked up with a space freak? Good goin' kid." he mocked, directing this comment at Vienna. He simply eyed the spikes, then put his hands up defensively and backed away. "Your right. I'll wait til the real fighting begins." He again licked his lips, and smiled, pointy teeth visible. He heard the alarms and ran off.

Vienna let out a mixture of a sigh of relief and a breath she had been holding in anticipation. She hadn't wanted the two to fight. This, also, puzzled her. Vienna's gaze went to Sylus, looking at him rather dumbly. "Why are you here?" she asked, voice matching her dumbfounded expression.

Cara hearing the sirens, frowned, caught between the two. She had faith in Sylus' abilities, whether he had close ties to Vienna or not, so she chose to pursue the problem in the village, running back in the direction of which she had come.

Sylus followed the lizard with his eyes the entire time he walked off, he would have driven several needles into his back, but knew that as soon as he heard the needles through the air that the man would be out of range. As soon as he felt it was safe enough, the needles went back where they belonged into his wrist. He paid no mind to the man's final comment, uncaring for anything he said, he wouldn't care if the man had died or not, it was not in his best interests.

Sylus slowly turned around to meet the eyes of Vienna, he spoke honestly to her question, knowing that it would need explaining from the beginning. "Cara came to me wondering where you were... I assumed that you were lost in the woods. I quickly took action and searched the woods until I found you. I was worried something would have happened to you... I know you can handle yourself, but I should have been here to escort you.... Even the bravest of men or women cannot take on a whole group of pirates or IAP members in an ambush." He heard the alarm in the distance, "We should go, Now."

The flurry of gunfire could be heard in the village as the IAP finally reached the nearly burned out village. At least 2/3rds of the village burnt down before Cheng Yu was able to stop it for good. He was now able to focus on the task at hand, repelling the members. Nex's Plasma rifle tore through all who attempted to get close, and it was eagerly accompanied by Wolfe's powerful chain gun. It was going to be a long fight, but at least the fire was out.... The casualties easily numbered in the hundreds already, it was no telling how far the IAP would get before more innocents were slain.

Zhao was a great distance away from the firefight, seeing the smoke rising from the town to indicate that they were trying to start the fire up yet again. He knew that with the distraction of the main force that he would not have anything blocking him from the reason he was here. He placed a large case upon the ground. Slowly, he opened it up and looked upon that case through the thick helmet upon his head. He began to construct his weapon....

Vienna again stood there, still rather dumfounded, simply nodding in agreement. She started on the way back to the village, running of course. She herself had new questions in her mind, but now was not the time.

Cara, as it was, had no sense of direction. She ended up way too far from the fight, the town, the flames. Clueless as to where she was, which was unusual for her character, she kept walking. She kept to the thicker parts of the forrest, not wanting to stumble upon something too suddenly, but of course, she did. There was s ingle man but yards in front of her, with , what she thought, was a rather silly looking helmet on. He also had a case with him, a rather large one, which he bent down to open. Cara slowly approached, curiosity as to what was in that case getting the best of her. She silently cursed as she was finally close, because she had stepped on a pile of leaves, which made a very loud crunching sound.

Sylus ran at a quickened pace, but with what was going on he was not going to allow Vienna to get too far out of his sights. He simply ran alongside her at a normal human speed. He saw the smoke escaping the town, they had already lit a second fire. He jumped upward toward the fire, the screaming of death escaping soon after. Fire would not prevent him from his destination.

Zhao was focused, constructing his weapon of supreme destruction, but unlike the other destructive weapons that the IAP was using it had a small barell and a scope. It was a sniper rifle pointed in the direction of the town, he was looking to take someone out. But before he could do that, the problem at hand was slowly coming forward. Someone had caught him! He was not about to be caught at this point in the mission! He pulled out his pistol and pointed it in the direction of the oncomming individual. He wasted no time, pulling the trigger once and aiming in her general direction, hoping it would scare whoever it was away.

Vienna knew Sylus' physical strength allowed him to run much faster, and she found herself wondering why he was running alongside her rather than speeding off. Again, though, now was not the time for her questions. She ran into the town, up towards where he fighting was taking place. She then realized she, still, was not armed, quickly slipping a corpse's sword from them to use for the moment.

Cara's breath caught as she saw the pistol, though not pointed at her. It shot about a yard or so off. She saw the start of, well, some sort of weapon that he was working on. And it was pointed at the town. Her eyes narrowed and the approached the man fully, sliding her sword out easily, tip pointed in the middle of the man's back. "What's this for?"

The screaming ended along with the fire as more than half of the town was now ashes. Cheng Yu released a sigh as Sylus jumped out with blood stains on his body, he was unable to clean up himself as he normally was, it was closer than he would want. Cheng Yu saw Vienna run back into town, causing him to smile at Sylus. Sylus did not smile back, he only walked to the side of Yu and patted him on the back, as if it was a job well down and it was his turn. The man could only do so much in his age, and he was the only one who could douse the flames, he had to conserve his energy. Nex then noticed something was wrong, "Where is Cara!?" He shouted through the flurry of bullets, getting no reaction.

Zhao felt the sword poke at his armor, he was not about to be taken here. He touched the sniper once, adjusting it perfectly...

Bang

The high speed bullet flew into the town toward Nex, he was unaware of the doom coming toward him. Wolfe jumped and pushed him to the side, taking the bullet in the process. Wolfe fell upon the ground, the bullet hitting him in the chest as the blood flowed outward. He grew pale quickly, all that was left of his life leaving him and escaping upon the ground. Wolfe was dead. Nex roared outward as his longtime friend lost his life barely an inch away from him. Beserk took him over as what was left of the frontline of IAP troops turned into a bloody mass of bodies after his plasma rifle tore into them. They began to run away as fast as they could, they were in a panic as the flurry of bullets coming from the Mavericks followed shortly behind. The IAP had been pushed away for now, but at what cost?

Zhao jumped over his sniper shortly after, spinning around so he was at a good distance away from her and he was no longer at striking distance. One problem, he was unarmed, having to put away his pistol in order to perform those acrobatics. He said nothing, only watched her as she held the sword, waiting for her to make a move before he did anything.

Cara's eyes widened as he shot a single bullet down at the village, horror flooding her features. Who was that bullet for? Who did it hit? Did it hit anyone? Realization hit her, and it hit her hard. It could have been anyone, more specifically the Mavericks.. Sylus, Wolfe, Yu.. Nex... Anger took her over, her grip tightening on her sword's hilt, a now very familiar flame substance being emitted from the sword itself, but more happened. The flames shot outward, as they had when she had been meditating, fighting at a long range, straight for the man. Cara only hope they hit him as she ran forward towards him, anger obvious, and sword ready.

Vienna was oblivious to Nex's outrage. She had heard the shot fire, but.. She looked around, where eh had been, and her eyes immediately widened. The opposite-gender version of her, Wolfe, was dead. Something inside of her ticked. He wasn't close to her, but they were fighting for the same purpose, and he was someone she had spoken to, which just put her on edge and made realization hit.

Sylus was right alongside Nex as the two made a charge in the direction of the sniper. Zhao saw this situation to be hopeless, he was about to become surrounded by the strongest warriors of this battlefield, but before he was able to escape, fire smashed into him and knocked him to the ground. Sylus was there as well along with Nex by now. He could feel 6 needles just inches away from his face and just knew that Nex had his gun pointing in his direction. "You bastard... Tell me why I shouldn't kill you know for what you did... For what you are going to do..." Zhao once again said nothing, but he was luckily saved by an unexpected visitor.

The figure charged forth and smashed himself into Sylus and Nex, the Needles following Sylus along as the sniper was safe for now. He took advantage of this confusion and started for a mad dash back toward the IAP base on this planet. Pyrus was blocking her from pursuit, his grin very toothy as Nex and Sylus recovered themselves. It was a 3 on 1. "So... The coward, his bitch, and the destroyer of earth... You should have known better than to cross me... I'll just rip off your other arm and take your woman for another one of my illustrious dancers... She will be excellent... I can already tell." He licked his lips, confidence and lust lining his voice. Nex was the first to go, the Plasma rifle connecting with Pyrus's chest and causing him to fall back, a flurry of needles to follow quickly. Pyrus fought back, the same flamethrower used to burn the village being used to burn Nex, Sylus, and Cara. He started the ground in front of him on fire, being true to his name as the flames spread as a wall between the three of them. He paid less attention to Cara, not thinking she was a threat due to his ideas of women being entirely weak.

Cara was a bit relieved seeing Nex and Sylus, though it gave her no relief over the question of who had been shot. But she knew better than to ask, she would figure out soon enough. As the approached, she was a bit glad that she had proved somewhat useful, the flames emitted by her sword had atleast pushed the sniper down. Then confusion resurfaced as another man appeared, Sylus and Nex both seemingly knowing him. It was only at the point where he mentioned Nex's arm that she figured it out. Pyrus.. Her gaze narrowed at the man in front of her, grip tightening at his words. 'Illustrious dancers?' That son of a- She cut off her own thoughts with a shiver, not liking the lust she had heard lining his voice. The fighting erupted yet again, Cara not hesitating to attack the man, knowing he was an obvious threat, but at the same time, making sure Sylus and Nex had the right away, she did not want to get in their way.

The attack continued, Pyrus feeling the unexpected charge of Cara slashing at his arm, he felt the plasma of the blade connect with steel as he roared in anger. He was obviously at a disadvantage in this situation and he felt it would be foolish to stay. Sylus was not about to let him escape though, his needles stabbing at him until he felt himself pushed back by the three warriors. "Bah! Meet me in a one on one battle and I will take you down in a matter of seconds... And You..." He looked toward Sylus, "I will make sure that the only way you leave this planet is in pieces..." flame jets shot out from his boots as he charged away from them, there was no chance to catch up with him at this rate. The commander now blocking their pursuit, Sylus looking upon him with a supreme hatred. "You.... You shouldn't be here! And why are you working for the IAP..." The Commander released an eerie laugh, awaiting their reaction. He was only here to buy even more time for his troops to escape along with Pyrus. But there seemed to be another purpose, he did not strike, he did not move, only looked on with his consealed eyes. His face was covered with a decorated helmet that consealed any chances of looking him in the eyes.

Cara was still utterly confused, glancing at Nex and Sylus before the new man in front of them, blocking the pursuit of Pyrus. However, she didn't catch much of the conversation, the small orb Cara still held in the pocket started glowing, buzzing, vibrating, letting out all sorts of lights and sounds, all hell breaking loose inside the small gadget. Her eyes widened in horror, and she turned around completely, eyes going to the distant village. Vienna. For the second time tonight, she was in trouble, and for the second time again, she was not anywhere near her.

Sylus saw this as futile. Wolfe was dead, Pyrus was moving away at immense speeds, and the sniper was far away. He knew that he could not kill him in this situation, even if he was in range. Nex found himself frozen, distracted by the glowing jewel in his love's pocket. " What is going on!?" Nex asked out loud, turning toward Cara. The commander looked at the group one final time before speaking, "hmmm, you people seem too busy for my interuption... My purpose is done here anyway... Enjoy the rest of your day... However long it may be," He then turned around and walked into the blackness of the night.

Sylus saw the full extent of the IAP's terror at this time, there were the corpses of the innocent littered upon the ground all around them, he thought the village was going to be no better. The attack was not over however, the village once again showing signs of another attempted fire attack, smoke billowing out of what was left of the poor city. Sylus said nothing, he only began his mad dash back into the town, seeing as the Mavericks fought desperately to keep the city intact along with themselves. This was a losing battle, they would have to escape if things continued like this.

Cara was confused, and her foot was now throbbing, not having healed properly yet. As soon as the commander was out of sight, she turned to look at Nex, who seemed rather... angry, perhaps? Had she done something? Now was not time for this. "I have to find Vienna!" she called out rather quickly, running full speed ahead into the forrest, for now ignoring the pain in her foot.

It didn't take Cara long to get lost, again having to walk around aimlessly until she found something. And she did. The matching orb that had been Vienna's, was laying on the ground, going crazy as hers had been. "What the..?" she bent down and picked it up, noticing a trail nearby. Not bothering to think, she was desperate at this point, she ran off towards the trail, following it, but stopping rather soon afterwards, noticing something. There was a small group of men ahead, IAP, Mavericks, or space pirates, she did not know... but she definitely didn't like he look of them. Huffing, she plopped onto the ground, now exhausted from running, and all teh madness going on. Where is she? And why is she suddenly in harm's way so often? It's unlike her..

Nex would not lose track of her, following her along the entire way to wherever Vienna was being held. He spotted the crystal upon the ground and frowned, knowing that Vienna was lost, he then lifted his head, spotting a circle of men [I don't know what you have planned... But you left the door open, feel free to protest].

This was where Vienna was, it was obvious that they were not in friendly territory, the gunfire still echoing behind them. At the front of the group of men was the person of Nex's nightmares, Pyrus. He gave the two a toothy grin and commanded a gun be pointed at Vienna's head for extra emphasis on the desperate situation. "I believe you have something that belongs to us.... A little monster by the name of Sylus that seems to have integrated very well within your group. Bring him here... He needs to be returned to the lab for his tests... We have fallen so far behind. If you do not get the creature within the next hour... We will put a bullet through your friend's head. Now... Be a darling and go get him for me."

[no protest, i didn't have anything planned yet. XP Kinda short, sorry. >.<]

Cara stood there rather dumbfounded. She knew Sylus was very valuable to the Mavericks, along with having personal connections to Yu.. and she didn't know him well, but he seemed like an okay guy. This, needless to say, was not a situation she wanted to be in. Cara hesitated there, looking to Nex for some sort of hint as to what to do.

Vienna shook her head slowly, turning to face Pyrus. "Sylus won't come, idiots. I'm of no meaning to him, if you were smart, you would have brought Yu. Or someone of value."

[s'allright, i'll give you a reason to post big eventually XD]

Pyrus turned toward her with the same smug look. "And what worth are you to anybody? You might just risk the one reason you've been winning this little scrap between the three of us. You are nothing, just as insignificant as any other insect I've ever had the displeasure of stomping on. You humans sicken me with your beliefs... If there was no chance of exchange you wouldn't be alive anymore."

"Pyrus, you devalue human life too much, release the woman... And I shall meet your demands." Sylus walked through the trees, a grim look upon his face as he was finally seen. Nex turned to him, wondering exactly what they wanted with Sylus. Pyrus smirked, "Good... Good, but we have to make sure it is you. Show us the pretty little feature of you that makes you unique boy." Sylus sighed, looking at Cara, Vierra, and then Nex in that order. He reached up with his two hands and brushed his hair and held it back until everyone could see that feature. His ears were not of the generic shape of most human ears. They appeared to belong to a hairless fox, but they were still at the general area that normal human ears were at. Pyrus smiled and nodded in the direction of the IAP, Sylus took the advantage and allowed his hair to fall. They first cuffed Sylus up so he could not move, he groaned in pain as he felt his spikes restricted by that damn collar yet again. They then hauled him like an animal back toward the spot Vienna was previously, the transfer was complete. "A pleasure doing business with you... I hope we do this again soon." He said, laughing as he walked off into the forest.

Sylus was soon after, but he was able to say one more thing before being hauled off. "Do me a favor... Make sure that these people get what they deserve." The soldiers said nothing, Pyrus releasing a louder laughter soon after, as though he found it amusing that they still had hope.