"Ally," Chaos murmured with a sigh, "is not the right word for it."
She leaned forward on the dragon and rested her head along Hikanemon's neck, exhaling heavily against his scales. It was night again; two days, now, and she had gotten maybe thirty minutes of sleep. Any other rest she had gotten was because she had spent a fair amount of time knocked deeply unconscious, and that was a poor substitute for sleep.
There had been a semblence of sleep, in the Freezeland, in the Crater. but considering how poorly those had gone for her, she couldn't even consider it proper sleep. Altogether, in addition to that good thirty minutes... maybe two hours. Maybe.
It'll be nice to be able to sleep again, the voice purred. Settle down into a warm, comfortable bed-- or any bed at all. Maybe you'll be able to drift off again, just lose yourself to it-- Screw you.
"You know where you're going?" Chaos said blandly, exhaustion beginning to claw at her mind again, now that she was given a moment where adrenaline wasn't forcing her awake. She could always feel herself drift away when she wouldn't be able to sleep; travel was too jerky to allow her to rest properly.
"Yes. I still know where I'm going," the wolf replied.
"Thas' good."
Where's your friend? Know where she's going?
I said screw you.
I can tell you. I know.
She contemplated giving in for a moment, but fought against the urge as best she could. No, no, I don't care what you can say to me.
Just a matter of time, m'dear, the voice returned. You can't fight it forever.
I can damn well try.
Good luck, then.
The presence backed away again, but she knew it; no way she was going to be getting sleep anymore.

Odin stopped as they hovered in the sky, wary about appraoching the Overlord's domain. Levi halted behind him as he picked up the radio form his waist, "Who the hell is located in the bog? The targets have arrived and are most likely moving towards the Overlord's Castle for a safe Haven. Which targets are open game and which are wanted alive?" Levi whacked him across the head as she looked down. "They are moving," she hissed as she slithered forward. Odin cut off the transmition and flew off after her.

The pitch black flame pattern continued to materialize slowly along his neck, occasionally flickering toi a scarlet glow. Despite the pain that continued to course through every nerve and atom of his body he managed to force himself to open his eyes, and wearily look around. He heard voices, one definately female the other he recognized as Suriumon's. The third he assumed was the Overlord's from the title Sicarexmon had mentioned. He opened his mouth to speak--
A wave of pain shot from his neck, racing through his nervous system, seeming to sear every nerve raw. He bit his lip, mostly to keep himself concious. For now he'd listen.

The party had finally entered Murkwood proper, and though it wasn't really much of a proper place to call home Kikota immediately felt a little bit more comfortable, especially now that they were out of the strange forest his clone had created. They had met no resistance so far; either the enemy had given up their pursuit for the moment, or his agents were doing their job at keeping them occupied. Chaos seemed distracted by some inner conflict; but the human's worries really weren't his concern, so Kikota continued his conversation with Suriumon for the moment.

"Have you been to the Castle before? I have only been in residence for a bit over a month now." The wolf certainly seemed to be familiar with the Bog at least, having no trouble maneuvering through its twisted and misty confines despite the darkness that even the altered Angel Island's light couldn't penetrate and easily avoiding the more dangerous areas; perhaps it could simply be attributed to experience.

A whisper on the wind alerted Kikota to a new presence, but a familiar call eased his worries as a squad of seven DemiDevimon emerged from the trees to flank them on both sides, struggling a bit to keep pace with the wolf and two dragons but doing an admirable job of it.

"Hail, Overlord! We're here to escort ya to the Castle," their leader shouted, eyeing the others with trepidation.

"These four are with me. Send a scout to spread word to the perimiter squads to keep a lookout for Cain and aid him if necessary; we have been separated." The DemiDevimon somehow managed a salute with a wing, and after a harshly-barked order one of them split off from the group to head back the way they had come. "I will breif the rest of the Castle staff on the situation once we arrive."

"Athenus will be here in a while. I told you we need more thrusters and a stronger engine." Levi continued to nag as he looked down, watching the group fade into the thicks of the forest. Sparks of electricity surrounded his left hand as he held it up the the air. "Now what are you doing?"
"Just watch," he replied as storm clouds began slowly rolling in. "We need some sort of cover incase those bats find us." The sparks soon turned into a strong orb of electricity as the clouds began to cover the sky, shrouding the bog in a darkness and hiding them from view. Thunder boomed aloud as the clouds grew darker.
"So what exactly will we do when Athenus arrives? This castle must be strong if it's been able to survive for so long," Levi turned to face him, feeling unsure of his actions. He looked at her for a moment as he he continued to wait for a reply on the radio. "Our plan will be decided once I get a god damn answer."

"Yeah, I have been there before," the wolf replied, easily skirting around one of the trees. "I've been around the area pretty often; only inside once. A long while ago. Had a different name back then."
He looked up as the DemiDevimon flitted into view and then faded back into the forest, smiling to himself. "Looks like you're working the old system pretty well."
The trees were beginning to thin, now, but the ever-present fog was beginning to thicken, and Noxmon was having a bit of trouble keeping himself as straight as he had been; the presence in the Bog usually managed to scramble his mind a little bit. He had never liked that aspect. Regardless, he had enough experience -- and, again, he was very thankful that the trees were thinning out -- to navigate the area without suffering any collisions. Eventually, a new darkness began to rise out of the mists, a thick mass given shadow-shape at first, but slowly coming into focus as he continued to approach.
"Ah," he said, almost wistfully. "Here we go."



The voice on the other side remained completely calm as it repeated the prior transmission. "Objective Abikari, should you find her, is to be left alone completely. Objective Pandora is preferred alive -- her overall condition is of no consequence, but preferred alive -- although if necessary, she is expendable. Other Objectives are left to your judgment, whatever you will do with them."

Aurora slowly pulled her face up from the mud, the slimy, gritty stuff rolling off her cheeks and smacking the ground with a series of wet plops. Ugh... She extended one arm, then the other, then sank both hands elbow-deep in the muck and managed to push herself to her knees.

"Augh!" She fell flat on her face again. Her entire body ached, and her hand was pinned beneath some kind of wound on her chest, opposite the viral armor on the other side. Her right knee, which she had damaged long ago in the real world, crackled as she bent it, but it freed itself with a pop and edged back into place.

Freezing cold, too. She still felt as if she were in the icy mountains. Come on, suck it up. You can't just sit here and die yet. Thrusting herself to her knees again, she winced and ground her teeth but managed to stay upright.

Mud was in her mouth. She spat it into the swamp and lurched to her feet. Enjou. Where did she go? Her mind was still in a fog, so she wobbled through the mire until she could reach out and grab hold of a tree trunk. Her legs came free of the mud with a loud sucking noise, and she stood atop a raised root and shook most of the blobs off her shoes. Bringing a hand to her chest, she pulled away her shirt from a deep slash over the left side. That would leave a mark. Not to mention it was bloody painful...

She opened her mouth to yell for any allies, but then remembered that enemies were much more plentiful and observant. And probably closer, too. There went that idea.

Silent and cautious, peeking around every tree, she inched her way through the forest and toward a faint noise coming from the distance. Hopefully she wasn't being completely stupid and walking into a trap.

Then again, right about now, with the worst headache she had ever felt and a boiling pain shooting through her, she really didn't care what it was.



Hikanemon growled to himself at the darkness beyond the trees. He rolled his eyes up to watch Chaos' reaction and kept his rough baritone as faint as possible. "You're sure we can trust this guy?"

"Roger." He cut the transmission off andbegan floating around in circles. The chillin gusts of wind felt like nothing as he scouted the main area. Levi slithered about next to him, as she watched him.

"You've gotten the go ahead, now what?" He sent her a chilling glance before turning to face the Castle once more.

"I thought it would be a lot more obvious," he began, "do you think we can go rushing into battle with Athenus miles away and without scouting the castle?" He looked at Levi again, this time glaring at her as she lowered her head. "First I will scout out the Castle, look for weak spots and the such. When Athenus arrives, then we attack. Some of the most simple basics of War and seige." Levi nodded in agreement as Odin furthered his speech by adding, "though Requiem and Genesis are most likely enough, but then again, these targets have done surprising things."

The dark clouds began to release a acidy rain onto the bog as thunder rang out and lightning streaked across the sky, starting a few fires in the area. Far in the distance, if one really squinted hard to the point it hurt, a small spec was moving towards them.

"Long time no see brother..." Said Edge to Odin as his ghostly hand appeared out of nowhere on Odin's shoulder. The hand then began to move forward out in front of both Levi and Odin, until finally stopping about five feet in front of them. Around the ghostly hand dark energy began to manifest in the area as small blue embers, the embers then slowly began coming together as one large blue fire flare which was then dispersed to reveal Edge, with his back toward Odin looking at the castle, in a Physical not ghostly form. He then turns to speak to his brethren. Edge looked almost complete different since the last time Odin saw him. His oddly friendly personality was the same however. His Gold and Silver eyes giving a friendly face to Odin and Levi, "So what’s the plan? I know we aren't just going to rush in all reckless."
Once again dark energy began to manifest in the area, but this time in a much larger amount, and low ghost roar could be hear by Odin, Levi, and Edge as Kai began to manifest around then in a circle of Chilling blue flames. His body circled around Odin, Levi, and Edge as his head materialized right beside Edge, His Silver eyes glowing at Levi and Odin in a look of all business.
Edge looked over at Kai then back over to Levi and Odin as the crystal on his neck glowed eerily, "How do you two like the new looks?" He said as he really wanted to know what they thought.

"No," she admitted quietly. "But I'm nearly beyond caring by now."
It was true; she was exhausted, she was hot, her clothes were nearly siphoned to her body, and the humidity was starting to affect her ability to breath. She was drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness. and that slow creeping sensation was refusing to go away.
It was a good thing to see the shadow of a building rising out of the mists; not so much to begin feeling the twinges of raindrops against her skin.
"Gah, what a time for it to--"
She stopped and realized that the faint pain upon impact was more than just the feeling of oversized droplets hitting her skin. They burned for too long.
"Oh, crap."

The wolf had realized at about the same time, and his form suddenly went shooting ahead of the small congregation, toward the entrance of the castle. The pain was still minute, but this -- she knew, somehow -- this was not the typical rains of the Bog. Somebody knew they were there.
"I hope the Castle still has nice defenses," he growled. "I hope it's been updated since last I was here..."



"Target to Murkwood Bog."
"Yes, I've been listening to the transmission."
"Shall we... give chase?" There was an almost playful edge to the inquiry, and then a moment of silence, followed by a chuckle.
"No need. There are enough going after them to cover for our absence."
"Another is always useful, if they must be eliminated."
"She can be... far more useful if not eliminated. However much I would like to ensure that my colleagues don't go over the top in their attempts to storm the castle, I'm afraid that I can't allow them to know of my presence yet."
"Why, pray tell, is that?"
"I have better things to do with my time, simply. I have certain preparations to make-- particularly while the mountain is not playing home to any combatants."
"Ah-- you had been waiting for them to move their antics away."
"Indeed. Come now; everyone else has had an opportunity to play with their respective locations. I was a bit late to the scene."
"Shall we begin, then?"
"Let's shall."

"Look at them run, guess the abnormal rain gve them quite the shock," Levi snickered as Odin sent a silencing glare at her. He turned his face to face Edge, studying his new form. "You've changed...that's something I can say for sure. For the better? I'm not sure, but you've changed."
Levi replied with a alight nod. "As for my plan, you'll see soon enough." Gathering a large bolt of electricity, he hurled it at the castle, followed by a couple more bolts of lightning, waiting for a reaction. "Too bad it's not made of metal, that would make thigns so much easier."



"Starboard 120, Pitch 15. Engines to 25% power, thrusters to 50% output. Dispatch Mirrors. Genesis charge. Requiem Status." The voice was loud as it echoed in the command post.

"Engines at 25%, thrusters at 50% output, activating Genesis, charging Genesis, dispatching Requiem mirrors, Cloaking mirrors, Requiem at 60% power." The hagurumon replied.

"Good." The voice went silent as the Hagurumon and Andromon continued to work feverishly.

Dragon and Sol peered into the command post from high above, though a vent. "So what now?" Sol asked. Dragon thought for a moment before slowly crawling away, back into the vent. Sol slithering after him.

Sicarexmon narrowed his eyes, feeling the rain against his acales. His hide was tough enough to withstand the acidic weather, but not for long. He flared his wings, before dropping from the congregation, using his momentum to pick up speed before flapping his wings to to stay aloft, skimming the mucky water at high speeds he was bound to attract attention from a Gizamon-
And seemingly right on cue one such bladed fish plopped to the surface, a grin openingt its mouth in anticipation, before it dived under the surface as the dragon's taloned foot slashed the waters surface. The dragon sped over the bog, eyes ever alert for possible enemies.
However, he'd prefer it if his Tamer were more alert now, and that preference transfered into a physical motion as he buffeted the shinobi with a jostle of his shoulder blade.
At that movement, the dragon's flesh making brief contact with a flame pattern of the Curse Seal, it began to recede. Phoenix pushed himself into an upright position as the searing sensation throughout his body dulled. "What?!" He hissed, keeping his voice low, he could feel the mark recede back to its prior form. "Keep a look out." Came the reply. The wind whipped by themm as the dragon beat his wings once. Phoenix drew a shuriken. "You see any-" he stopped as a stining rain drop hit him on the cheek. "Oh."

The familiar Castle grounds were in sight now, the trees clearing to reveal a somewhat hilly, open area litterd with tombstones, masoleums, and assorted statuary. They were approaching from the graveyard side; but with the Overlord present, its inhabitants made no effort to impede the group. The rain was forming shallow puddles, but the undead residents weren't really bothered by its acidic nature.

Kikota, on the other hand, couldn't agree more as the wolf put on a burst of speed; the burning rain wasn't hurting him faster than his skin could heal, but it was painful nonetheless. Breif flashes of illumination in the distance -- probably lightning due to the unnatural storm -- put the stark castle walls in momentary relief. Its decrepid appearance probably didn't inspire much comfort in the others, but Kikota knew better than to doubt its defenses. Suriumon was slowed down momentarily by a passing resistance, but the invisible shield let up the pressure immediately as it recognized the Overlord's presence.

The last of their little party made it under the protective barrier just in time, followed by the trailing members of their escort, as a large blast of electricity hammered the shield; several more followed it, revealing the domed shape of the shield in hissing, irridescent energy for a few seconds. The barrier held, and seemed no weaker from the attack, but as some sort of massive structure loomed out of the clouds above them Kikota knew there was much more to come than a few lightning bolts.

"We need to get inside, now!" he shouted to the others; the bridge was already down and the portcullis rising. "Disperse through the Castle! All agents to battle stations! Arm all defenses!" the Overlord ordered his DemiDevimon in rapid succession, his full Princely nature coming to bear as he prepared to command the defense of his stronghold. Anesthesia materialized from the shadows as they entered the courtyard.

"What is going on?" the guardian Digimon demanded, glaring at the other Tamers in disdain. As Kikota leapt from Suriumon's back, he marched past the Devimon and flung open the gates to the main hall. Another blast of lightning crackled against the shield.

"As of this moment, the Castle is under seige."

A white-helmeted DemiDevimon appeared at Kikota's side, somewhat flustered. "Ah, Baal. Just the minion I needed to speak to." He gestured to the ninja, who seemed to have come to consciousness. "Have someone take this Human and his Digimon to the infirmary, but keep them under guard. I expect an immediate report if they do anything suspicious, but for now fulfill any reasonable requests and bring them to me when the Human has recovered. And send out word to my generals to convene in the Throne Room at once." When everyone had assembled in the hall, the gates closed with a sense of finality, leaving the high-ceilinged passageway dimly lit only by candles and the occasional chandelier. "The rest of you: follow me."

Aurora tried in vain to shield herself from the rain. Great. First she's dumped into the Bog all beat up, then she's wandering in a swamp and standing moderately outside a creepy-looking castle, and now acid rain. Great. Something was going on nearer to the eerie place; she wanted to get close enough to see, but she knew that she was a very obvious person, between her lack of stealth ability and her bluish plating that would stand out against the blackish-browns and greens of the Bog.

A loud crack of energy echoed from the opposite side of the castle, and Aurora instinctively threw herself to the ground and rolled behind a stack of fallen stones. Only after a few seconds did her mind call attention to the fact that the sound, however alarming, was somewhat distant and didn't pose a threat. Yet. Bursts of thunder like a hailstorm rolled overhead; stone shattered in the distance, the sound tangled with shouting voices that she couldn't understand.

She reached for her Digivice to check Varomon's position. With her luck, he would probably be somewhere across the island.

Or not. She peered at the screen, then shook the gadget once. I still said the same thing -- Varomon was near her, in an area that corresponded to the castle. He was inside, she was outside, and she had very little way to contact him, except...

Varomon! Hikanemon! Whatever form you're in! Can you hear me?



Inside the castle, Hikanemon flinched, his mind temporarily blank as his attention shifted inward. As soon as he caught himself zoning out, he shook his head. This was definitely not a good time to be in thought.


Varomon, darnit! Can you hear me? Or thought-hear? Or whatever?


Someone said his name? He glanced back over his shoulder even while running for the castle. No, no one was talking. Actually, that sounded more like a thought-voice...

Is someone there? He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. Hopefully the voice was of an ally.


Someone? Yeah, that's me! Aurora! Can you hear me?


About all Hikanemon heard was 'hear me' and a word that sounded very familiar...

Who are you?


Aurora! I swear! Come get me! Where are you?


"Aurora!" Hikanemon skidded to a stop in the mud and swung his head here and there as he searched for her in the tangle of trees and mire.

"Gah!"
Hikanemon was not supposed to come to such an abrupt stop, and Chaos had no time to do anything but cry out in shock before she found herself hurtling through the air and hitting the wet ground, rolling once in the muck before coming to a stop just short of the castle, lying on her back, coated in a thin layer of mud. She forced herself into a sitting position and gagged, trying to get the mud out of her mouth before she picked herself up all the way and turned to stare at Hikanemon.
What the hell was that, man?
He seemed thoroughly distracted by something, as he had turned to yell something, but she hadn't been able to pick it up, busy as she was being thrown from his back. She did decide, however, that for the moment self-preservation meant more to her than figuring out what was bothering the dragon, and she made the brief sprint toward where the others had landed normally, entering the castle and bringing herself to a stop as well. Back to adrenaline-forced wakefulness.
"Ugh--"
She stood still as Kikota took his position as the figure of authority, and she felt vaguely imressed; impressed enough to immediately follow his orders to the rest of them, and she pushed herself forward and fell in step behind the demonic figure. Alongside her, Noxmon was abandoning his Armour form and reverting to Suriumon.
He must have been even more exhausted than she was; he did all the fighting, and he did all the Digivolving, and the amount of up-and-down evolution he had been doing for the past couple of days must have been wearing a heavy chunk out of his constitution. Brushing flakes of mud off of her, she turned to look at the wolf.
"You all right?"
"Relatively speaking."
Well enough.

Phoenix climbed off of Sicarexmon's back, and landed on the floor with a thud. he glanced about as three or four Demi-Devimon surrounded him, fluttering in the air on small bat-like wings. Starius reverted to his rookie form with a soft pulse of light. Phoenix wiped some of the strange rain from his brow before proceeding with the Demi-Devimon to the infirmary. As he, starius and the guards strode down the elegant hallways something troubled his mind. he turned to Baal.
"Just how good are the castle's defenses? The enemy has a ship with enough ammo to wipe out Murkwood Bog not to mention Angel Island has been transformed ito a mobile fortress." he explained.

Odin hovered in place as his enormous citadel decended form the clouds. Bolts of lightning struck the metallic structure as he landed onto the wall. There, waiting to greet him, a group of Hagurumon.

"Man the Giga Cannons, arm the Giga Missles." He dismissed the group and strode passed the large barrier around the citadel. Levi followed him silently as he smashed the doors into the command post.

"Begin the assualt, but do not, I repeat, DO NOT fire Genesis or the Requiem until I give the Okay. I will be in my quarters, planning. Levi with me." She nodded and slithered beside him.

"What about Edge?" she asked as they made a turn into a dead end.

He lifted his hand and the metal wall moved aside, revealing a large room, filled with computers screens. "Leave him, he is capable of taking care of himself. I on the other hand have something to get to."

"At a time like this?!" but he cut her off before she could finish. In his hand, he brought out an orange gem, the smae one they had stolen from his clone. He grinned as he made his way into a smaller room and locked the door. Levi turned to the computer screen and it turned on. "This is Leviamon, aim the Giga Cannons and Giga missles."

"Yes Mistress," the Hagurumon replied in a monotone.

Meanwhile, in the room, Odin laughed insanely as the orange gem glowed brightly, and then he dropped into his chair, motionless, souless.

"FIRE!" The bold voice rang out into the hallways as a hail of golden orbs descended onto the castle, follwed by a hail of missles.

Hikanemon winced as Chaos went flying off his back and skidding through the mud. He was about to apologize, but instead bellowed, "Aurora's here! We have to find her!" Beating his wings and throwing flecks of swamp muck in all directions, he launched into the air for a better view.

And then a loud series of crashes jolted him -- and Aurora, who was on the other side of the castle -- to attention. Gold flares erupted into the sky, reflecting off the wet stones, and a wave of hot air caught his wings and threw him back in a wild spiral. He managed to catch himself before he bashed into a tree. Orange eyes wide, he wove through the forest and rushed toward the scene of the attack, hoping he wouldn't find any casualties...

Suriumon perked up; not because of the explosion (that came after, and he had to hit the ground and cover his ears for that) but because of an otherwise useless comment. He excused himself from the small group and began to work his way back through the castle.
The explosions smashed about them, but while they certainly rocked the barrier and sent shockwaves through the castle itself, they had no direct adverse effects. No doubt, however, that after an assault powerful enough to cause such an earthquake around him, He recovered quickly enough regardless and began to move out again, down the corridor where Baal had taken the ninja and his dragon.
He addressed the ninja in general terms, and he addressed the ninja angrily.
"Hey," he called out. "You're awful loud, you know." He began to walk down the corridor, carefully this time, and furrowed his brow. "I can understand that you picked up information on the ship quick, but I wasn't aware that Angel Island was a mobile fortress; a fortress, yes. But it's mobility should have been limited to its normal flight path." He ducked his head slightly. "Is this just... conjecture on your part?"

Phoenix stopped and turned to look at the wolf. "Well hey, if it turned into a giant mirror thing and then moved to direct the sunlight towards us it must be mobile.... unless the mirrors can pivot to redirect light." He replied, noticing one of the many light fixtures on the cieling shudder as the blasts struck the barriers. "What happened to Chaos? aren't you supposed to be babysitting her?" He added, matching the digimon's edge perfectly

Levi coiled up next to her makeshift throne, watching the many computer panels before her. A black screen flickered on as she turned to face the Andromon that was on the other side of the screen.

"Project Retribution is under construction," the android reported, "construction is under way and the samples are safely protected." The dark cavern behind the robot was illuminated by several lamps as the buzzing of saws and shadows of workers moved I the background.

"Perfect. Continue on and keep this from Odin. I don't want him knowing I still doubt those bastard siblings of his." The screen turned black as she turned to face the rest of the panels. Extending ehr tail, she turned on the mic. "Prepare to fire bombardment shells. Have the catapults charged to fulled strength. Ignite the Dominion and load it from top to bottom with explosives. Move the mirrors in place. Have the first wave of Hagurumon on stand by to move in when the barrier falls. Give me a status report on the Requiem and Genesis."

A pair of crimosn eyes stared back at her through the screen. "As you wish my lady." The machine then turned to face the crew. "Status Report!" The voice bellowed out. The crew swarmed everywhere to ge tthe report ready.

"We've stopped movement and are holding at 500. No damage has been taken at the moment and not men lost." the Hagurumon coward in fear as the Captain stood up.

"I want a report on GENESIS and Requiem! Now!" The Hagurumon flipped a few pages and read aloud.

"Requiem at 100% power, GENESIS at 60%. Mirrors are waiting for coordinates sir,"the gear went silent as Levi spoke thorugh the mic.

"I will be taking over the placement of the mirrors. Continue on with the assault. I now give access to all weapons bar the Requiem and GENESIS." She turned off the mike as she thought deply on where to palce the mirrors.

"You heard the Mistress! Contiue with the assualt! Positron Blaster Cannons activate and aim! High-Energy Beam Cannons aim! Linear Cannons aim! Giga Cannons aim! All missiles arm! On my command!" THe crew worked feverishly to comply with the captain's demands.

"Aiming positron blaster cannons, releasing safety mechanisms. High-Energy Beam Cannons armed and ready. Linear Cannons aimed and ready. Giga Cannons and missiles on stand by." A Hagurumon replied, un willing to face the captain as it stared straight. The Captain grinned.

"FIRE!"

Again a hail of missiles rained down on the Castle, followed by a hail of golden orbs, concentrated emerald energy beams, crimson-chrome positron beams and blinding yellow cannonballs with a black hail of explosive spikes.

"She'll survive," he said curtly. "What an interesting point about the fortress, it was nighttime, what sunlight is there to redirect?"

After hastily explaining his plans to those that had gathered in such short notice, Kikota's forces dispersed to defend the Castle and ultimately drive off the mobile assault platform, if things went well enough. His army of DemiDevimon were arranged in ranks just outside the moat; from the moat itself, a massive SkullSeadramon had risen as well, and their ranks were also supplemented by three Imperial Tamers that had been on site at the time, their partners of various levels. Seven Devidramon had answered Kikota's summons, and they were slavering for the command to begin attacking the forttress. A sizeable vanguard from the Graveyard had shown up, Candlemon and Bakemon and other, less recognizable horrors, so apparently they weren't too happy about their home being threatened either. A large number of local Digimon not technically loyal to the Empire had sought and been granted refuge under the shield, on the stipulation that they fight as well if the need arose. And last but not least, three Lilithmon who called themselves the Weird Sisters had unexpectedly shown up from deep within the bog; Kikota was unsure as to their interests in the Empire, but was willing to take all the capable fighters he could get at this point.

And of course their was Anesthesia himself, who, after a requisite teasing of Kikota for losing another arm, had gone to command the DemiDevimon.

The barrier was holding for now, but Kikota knew it couldn't withstand the barrage much longer. Taking Chaos aside and leading her to the Archives so he could more effectively coordinate the defense -- after all, he hated to admit it, but without Cain he was largely useless in such a large-scale battle -- he offered her a chair at a console and sat beside her. There was a lot of noise and bustle around them as a skeleton crew of DemiDevimon was hard at work trying to get more information on their enemies and determine what was going on to throw the entire island into chaos.

"Normally I would not ask an outsider for aid; but I assume you would prefer to have at least some part in your own defense rather than leave your life entirely in the hands of a stranger." Kikota smiled, genuinely, and offered her his remaining hand for a shake. "I realize that the Empire has a reputation, but I assure you that I have always held myself to my word. We may not have much to go on to trust each other, but for now I think a more formal alliance would be beneficial to both of us."

"Now where to go?" Odin whispered as he penetrade the barrier easily enough. Floating about he observed the ranks of digimon gathering to defend the castle. He smiled wickdely as he flew into the shadow of the large congregation and sunk into it, reappearing somewhere within the castle. Luckily, most of his sensors were still functional as he switched to Heat Sensors, attempting to locate the brat overlord.
"What a pathetic structure for an overlord." he muttered, "If salvagable, I would really need to hire a new designer." He floated about the halls, lost and confused at the large numebr of heat sources running around the castle. An image of a place flashed in his mind vaguely, but gave him a good enough clue to start searching.

"Aim Tristans and Vulcans. Eagle Stallions and Giga Missiles FIRE!"

As Dragon moved through the castle's halls, unseen forces began to divert him from his path. At first he didn't notice it, moving aside from certain corridors as if he had decided to do so himself, false images confusing his sensors; but as his attempts to find the Overlord became increasingly frustrating and he found himself more and more lost, further than ever from his goal, it became apparent that something was hindering him.

The Castle was aware of his presence. And it did not like intruders

"So the rumors are true, guess the god damn castle is alive. Well, time for plan B." He said as he flew upwards, through the ceiling and out into the sky. turnig on his heat sensors, he viewed the castle as a whole, looking for Kikota's heat signature.
"Target........Narsil. No use. Target.....Chaos. No use. Target.......ah, Kikota. Perfect." From above, he descended directly towards his heat signature, passing the ceiling and walls. The stupid castle would have to do more than move some stuff around to thwart his plans.

Chaos accepted his seat and his hand, and nodded faintly. "You're entirely right," she said. "I appreciate having a hand in my own defense." She released his hand, cementing the alliance -- however transient it might need to be -- and sent her gaze to the terminal.
She didn't know a thing about the Empire; she had never gotten an opportunity to ask about the potential politics of Mirage Island, and while she had heard brief referenced made by the wolf he had never elaborated and never bothered to explain himself and what he spoke of. Judging by the castle and by the name itself, she could make assumptions, but whatever those assumptions could be were shoved out of her mind; the situation before them blurred any potential disagreements, and all that came now was survival against whatever this threat was.
"Now this is--"
She had been prepared to inquire further about the purpose of the terminal, but a brief look around and she could guess that what the DemiDevimon had pulled up was the primary use for the station; blocks of information and images flashed by on their screens, and occassionally one of them seemed to reference information to another, who would fly off, most likely to give instructions to the guard that was monitoring the shields themselves.
She was silent for a moment, then: "What've we got?"

"Aren't you the sharp one?" Phoenix replied coolly, narrowing his eyes on the wolf with obvious distaste. He knew now of the digimon's capabilities, he knew he was strong and he knew very well the digimon could manipulate the power of the vortex elemental, and he had an ego issue, which would be rather easy to shatter should he find the shatterpoint and exploit it. "I'm surprised, for as witty and powerful you make yourself up to be you certainly don't live up to it." He added.

Suriumon tilted his head and smirked slightly, genuinely bemused. "I'm sorry," he said cooly, "but what the hell does that hav to do with anything? When have I," he made a faint flourish, "ever advertised myself like that?" His eyes flickered to Skydramon. "Except in comparison to your dragon."

Hikanemon, now outside the castle again, rushed around the walls, dodging debris and trying to stay as low as he could. He spotted a blue spark near a patch of fallen stones; frantic, he dug away at them until he found a body crouched behind them, two gray-blue eyes peering out at the world.

"Aurora!"

About time you showed up. She smiled and clambered onto his back. Get me out of here.

Chaos is in the castle. So are most of the others.

Then let's go.

He vaulted off the ground and rushed back inside, then touched down and let Aurora walk. "Are you okay?" Finally, he took a his chance to survey her damage. She was mobile, but definitely worn out and battered.

"Could be worse, could be better..." She glanced down at the slash across her chest. She had seen one like it before, somewhere, but she just couldn't remember. "Where's Chaos?"

"They went farther inside. I'm not sure where." Claws clicking on the stone floors, the dragon strode through the hall with Aurora in tow. After a few minutes, she climbed onto his back again and leaned forward, resting there while he searched out the Tamers. His orange eyes scanned the area, lingering on passing Digimon to ensure that they were temporary allies. Bakemon. DemiDevimon. Evil.

You're not so friendly yourself when you're in Ultimate mode.

But I'm not evil by nature. And I'm not ugly.

Aurora chuckled to herself and nodded her agreement. I'll go with you on those.

After some time of wandering, she heard human voices in the distance. "Anyone there?" Her voice echoed down the hall.

"You insolent wolf." Phoenix replied, closing his eyes for a split-second. The familiar booming echo of chakra in the back of his mind followed as his eyes opened to scarlet Mangekyou Sharingan. He opened his mouth--
A snarling beast of chakra exploded in all directions around him, slashing through whatever it touched seemingly without resistance. The demi-devimon escorts flew back, slamming into the wal with a symphony of nauseating cracks. Starius flew into the ground, narrowly avoiding the scything edge of a shattered steel support beam. The narrow space had concentrated the chakra burst more efficiently and had even been strong enough to hurl the vortex wolf down the corridor.
In Phoenix' place, Zaqueia stood; perfectly calm. From the sleeve of his AKatsuki cloak a long-kunai flashed into existance from a concealed pocket. He held up his left hand, forming several hand-seals before melting into water, seeping through the floor, running along the cracks, through the pipes until--
He materialized directly behind Kikota, and held the blade at the overlord's throat.

Starius coughed, shaking his head, disloding the pieces of debris in his mane, standing up right before unfurling his wings. He looked at the escort group. The Demi-Devimon for starters didn't look so great.

Suriumon stood strong against the suddenly blast of energy, his claws digging into the stonework below him to keep him held in place, a barrier forming between himself and the energy burst. When the blast had subsided and the ninja had melted away, he dropped the barricade and looked over to Starius.
"Tch," he hissed, "touchy, touchy. Are all the ninjas this angry all the time?"
He shot back down the corridor where he had come from; he had an idea of where they had all gone, and he had an idea of where the ninja was headed.

Chaos whirled and shoved the chair out of the way, getting to her feet instantly and bringing the Cadera to her hand. The seering along the back of her neck and her shoulders was fainter when Zaqueia was present -- fainter than it was in other situations, possibly because of his supremely screwy design -- but she could still feel the faint pulsing. There was no emotional spike; there was no enforcement of will. It just... was.
"Ah, damn," she hissed, "the ninja followed us home."

"Drop the Shuttles, prepare to march on the opposition when the barrier falls."

"Yes Captain," the Andromon replied, tapping the comlink on his forearm. He turned to the ranks of Hagurumon, Armormon, Tankmon and Guardromon standing before him. Raising his arm, he dropped it swiftly. "Head out!"

"Roger!" The ranks replied in unison.

"What now?" Dragon whispered to Sol as the ranks began marching onto the ships. Sol smiled slyly as she slithered over to a shuttle that was loading.

"Your good with computers, sabotage it," Dragon smiled back as she moved aside for him. He began working immediately as the machines began filing onto the shuttle.

"Hurry up, their leaving soon," she hissed as the Andromon began sending the shuttles off.

"Shuttles 1-4 ready for launch." The first set left the bay. Dragon was still not finished as Sol continued to push him. "Shuttles 5-9 ready for launch." The second set left the bay.

"Are you done yet?" Sol peeked out form behind the shuttle as it filled up and close up.
"Almost," he said as he continued to work feverishly.

"Shuttles 10-14 ready for launch." As the third set left the bay, Sol slithered back into the vent. The Andromon was appraoching the last set of shuttles as Dragon finished up his work. He patched it up and crawled back to teh vent, sealig it before the Andromon launched the last set of shuttles.

"This should be funny he whispered." Sol snickered as they crawled back into the darkness of the vent.

"Gokyakyu no jutsu!"
A brilliant jet of scarlet flame erupted in the dark, a clang of metal followed as a Hagurumon, with his sensory cables charred beyond repair hit the wet wooden walkway. Phoenix stopped for a moment, clutching the curse seal again.
Pulse.The Curse Seal infection seemed to murmur and a stab of pain verbalised itself into a short cry of pain. Beneath his fingers the mark shone slightly with a shimmering of the red color spectrum. Slowly, rather painfully he made his way forward, drawing a kunai knife as the whiteglow of thrusters pierced the fog above. "Crap." he muttered, wincing again as another lash of pain struck his nerves.
"What the hell." He muttered, and he forced himself into a sprint, using mostly his chakra to keep him from slipping on the soaked wood, while his footsteps remained light and swift. he glanced to the castle in the distance, then towards the shuttles.
Part of him wondered just how many of the troops he could handle with the curse mark with ninjutsu and taijutsu.
However the other part of him knew that genjutsu was useless against machines. he came to a sliding stop, digging the blade into the wood to slow himself to duck behind a log as a search light passed overhead. he considered his options, one would be to make a run for it and hope the search light didn't spot him, or blow up the light with ninjutsu and then make a run for it and draw the landing parties away--
"Koton, Ryuka no jutsu!"
Phoenix leapt from his current position , hands already forming into seals to unleash a crimson bolt of flame from his mouth. The searchlight exploded into a blossom of flame and glass, sparks of electricity sprayed from the broken tool. before weapons could open fire he was already on the move again, preparing another jutsu as he landed on a log.

Kikota hissed as he felt cold steel slide up against his neck. Without Cain... without even the Ars Magnum, he was at a disadvantage... fortunately, he had another appendage at his disposal that the ninja hadn't taken into account.

"I don't know how you managed to penetrate my defenses --" Using his words as a distraction, Kikota didn't finish the sentence as his tail slipped up and around Zaqueia's wrist in an instant and snapped it, and he hopped away to Chaos' side. The Human had produced a wicked dagger from somewhere, and Kikota feared betrayal for a second until he realized she was brandishing it at their common foe.

The DemiDevimon present were cowering in a corner; the species already lacked courage, and this particular group had no battle experience whatsoever. Slamming his fist down on an alert key, Kikota set off the emergency alarm that signified the castle had been breached.

Aurora jerked to attention at the sounds of battle. Hikanemon. Digivolve.

"Hikanemon, Digivolve to..." A black sphere enveloped him, misty and twirling, iridescent silver at the edges. It expanded until it flashed apart on either side in a cloud of fog, leaving MorphoHikanemon standing on the stones, the lines between his scales blue. With Aurora shielded behind him and wielding her dual longswords, he charged into the battle zone where Zaqueia, Chaos, and Kikota stood at odds.

"Eclipse Perdition!" A black aura gathered around him, swirling with silver, and the blast shot out at the enemies, a dark streak that exploded into brilliant light at its edges.


Aurora joined Chaos and Kikota. "What the heck is going on?"

At the crack of his wrist and the impact of the attack, his body crumbled into a splash of water; a flawless Water Clone. The puddle roiled, building itself up until it reformed into Zaqueia. "I don't need to explain, It was quite easy with a replication technique though." He replied. His sharingan analyzed the tension on the surrounding opponents, already making accurate predictions to where they would move.
Perfect.
He shot forward with mind-numbing speed delivering a blow to her gut as he released the chakra, amplifying the force of the impact even further. before slamming chaos into the wall with a brusing thud. He held her at arms length, hitting various pressure points, the weight of his arm on her throat combined with the points keeping her from moving her head.

Chaos didn't bother responding to that statement and instead gave her a moment of brief eye contact, an expression that said everything: Nice to see you're alive. And with a minor alteration: Do you really need to ask?
She looked back to the ninja, keeping her eyes lowered to the knife held in his hand. It wasn't much of a blade, but it was thin and it was sharp and it probably slid between ribs real easy. She didn't like that idea.
Ninja's suck.
The thought was familiar, and though she agreed, it was not her own. Nor was it a thought so much as a vibe, which meant that--
Suriumon!
Her eyes flickered to behind the door, and the vortex wolf stood in the doorframe, spurts of flame covering his muzzle when he exhaled. He pulled his head up and murmured something, then released a jet of flame aimed straight for his opponent's exposed back.
She hit the wall hard and forced her eyes closed immediately. The pain was enough to give her an excuse, but she knew how the ninja worked; she had an idea, anyway.
Tch, the infernal voice thought to her, he can't kill you, you know.
What?
He can't kill you. Not without pissing off somebody really bad, anyway. He's been given orders.
He... orders...?
Everyone has. They can kill everyone else, though. That kinda sucks for them, doesn't it? Well... no, there's one they can't even touch, but the name fails to come to mind.
The hell? Who are you?
You've had me speaking to you for this long and you never bothered to ask?
The only response that was silence.
Just relax; if he doesn't have good reason to believe that killing you will make things infinitely easier, he's under orders not to.
The consequence of not being killed?
That, the voice said invitingly, is for you to find for yourself.
The presence moved away, and as it did so, Chaos felt her relaxing against the wall. She didn't really intend to, but when the presence moved away it seemed to take a substantial piece of her energy with it. Pain pulsed across her body, she could barely move for it, so what was the point of trying to fight, anyway?
Just... relax...

"Chaos!"
Suriumon glared and clenched his teeth, pulling back and stepping nervously about, almost pacing in place. He couldn't attack the ninja without risking injury to the Tamer, and while mind injury was certainly nothing new to her (she looked a mess right now, covered in lacerations and bruised and dotted with bloodstains on her skin) if the ninja moved, the attack would go past its intended target and hit her--
He stopped his pacing and stood there. He'd had to wait for an opportunity now. He did not like waiting.

He squeezed the pressure points hard in her neck and her eyes shot open--
Directly into his.
"Tsukiyomi."
He felt the sharp intake of breath , the delicate pulse of the vein beneath his thumb quicken like prey caught between a predators jaws--
The split second of eye contact was all that was needed--
He withdrew as an agnuished, tortured scream erupted from her throat. He leapt away, sailing over the flamethrower to land crouched on the floor. If Tsukiyomi didn't kill her, her own digimon's attack would. His arm rose in a blur, a large dark green seperent conjured from his sleeve, slicing through the air at amazing speeds , jaws opened wide--
The fangs sunk into the wolf's neck, delivering a harsh toxin before the snake dissipated into chakra.

Aurora leaped in front of Chaos and held her swords in a block. If you got anything worthwhile from Enjou over all this time and all this struggle since you came to this world, now's the time to use it...if she can do this, so can I... She closed her eyes, braced herself, and focused as hard as she could on the thin wall of air between her and the incoming flame. If she didn't manage this, maybe at least her armor would blunt some of the strike...forget that, it was a giant firestorm, they'd both be burned alive...

"Aaaahhhhh!" The first wave, a blast of superheated air, struck her outstretched hands and swords and split with a sound like hurricane winds. The force of her barely-mustered data manipulation stabbed at her brain; her head pounded, making the pain across her body all the worse. Her knees shook, but she managed to lean into the force of the firestorm and let it keep her upright.

The second wave, the fire itself, nearly knocked her unconscious as it blasted against silver and blue and tan. Some of the flames licked against her skin, breaking past her hastily formed shield, drying all the water off her plating in a burst of steam and turning her skin red where it touched. Most of the onslaught, however, divided enough to skirt either of her arms, and therefore also avoided Chaos, who was pressed back against the wall.

When the last embers dissipated, Aurora stumbled forward, using all her strength to keep herself on her feet, both swords wavering but still held straight.