"Sorry," Alasea said, flushing slightly. Her own clothes were a complete mess thanks to her technique.

After a few minutes, some soldiers, with Hugo in tow, appeared at the doorway.

"Jesus Christ," one of them swore, looking at the gigantic bloody splatters in the front half of the room. "What the hell happened in here?"

Matt flashed a smile. "Something we'll never talk about again."

"Well, come on, let's get out of here," the soldier said, gesturing. "We'll get you back up to where its more livable. I'm sure that the General will want to speak with you, too."

"All right." Matt stood with a grunt. "Come on."

The pathway through the base was long and winding--many passages had been blocked off completely thanks to rubble, and all too often, the hallway walls and floors were encrusted with gore from the violently detonated monsters that had attacked.

"... I made a real mess of things, didn't I?" Alasea muttered, looking squeamish as they passed through it all. Behind her, Ileyna clung to Helena's skirt, keeping her eyes averted and looking rather pale.

Helena smiled and laid her hand on Alasea's shoulder. Her hand was still damp from the rainstorm. "Just buy me a nice dress when this is over, okay?"

Alasea looked back at Helena when the other girl put her hand on her shoulder, then smiled. "Sure," she said, sounding a bit more cheerful. "I can do that."

As they turned the corner thanks to another blockage, they found themselves before Jared. The soldiers briefly saluted the cyborg, who returned it. Like nearly every other combatant in the facility, his armor was painted in a copious amount of blood. His helmet was no longer equipped, but his Trikeros rifle was still attached to his arm, over the Ao-Gem.

"Jared!" Alasea greeted enthusiastically. He returned her smile.

"Glad to see you guys are safe," he said, walking up and alongside them as the soldiers continued their escort. "Where are you all headed?"

"Up to Central Command, sir," the squad leader answered. "We had to get them out of the way so the engineers could get to work on the blast doors down in the Barricade Chamber."

"What? Something managed to break through those things?"

"They were called Barons of Hell," Hugo supplied. "But Alasea took them out."

"Oh, Jesus, those two? Every time they've appeared they massacred everything until we drove them back," Jared said. "Small wonder. You sure you managed to kill them, 'sea?"

"We're practically wearing what's left of them," Alasea sad with a slight frown, her face flushing a bit as she looked away.

"To be fair," Matt said with a double-handed gesture, "it was a pretty damn good shot."

"No kidding," Jared said. "Took out every damn monster in the base. Made my job of getting Colonel Patterson back up to Central Command a lot easier."

"Is that where you're headed now?" Alasea asked.

"Yeah, my job's done. I'll need to find some technicians to get my armor repaired and the Nova Reactor removed, and its easier to do it from there than anywhere else."

He looked around. "Hey, where's your other friend, R.D.? Did he get up to the surface?"

"Yeah, didn't you hear the announcement?" Matt asked. "He's the one that cleaned out those monsters."

"Really. I'll have to go ask him how he did it," Jared said with a hint of a laugh.

It wasn't long before they reached Central Command--when the door slid up into the ceiling, they were blasted with a cacophony of voices, as various technicians and officers relayed General Dagenais' orders and took in reports from various sections of the Aube military compound. Numerous screens were displayed on monitors all over the place.

"--medical bay on Level 15 is reporting its full, all wounded personnel must be taken to the medical facilities on Level 14. Repeat--"
"--getting numerous reports of caved in hallways! Sections C through V have numerous instances where the enemy has--"
"--approximately sixteen percent of all Nine-Ball forces have been destroyed. Remaining units are twenty-f--"
"--we're getting a request from Special Officer R.D. to allow the dragons to enter Hanger Bays on Level 10! He says--"
"--confirmed that two of our main defense turrets have been completely destroyed! The turrets at--"

Jared looked around a bit and spotted General Dagenais up at his desk. Colonel Patterson was working alongside various officers at the terminals.

"Looks like its just as bad as before," Jared muttered, and Alasea was barely able to hear him over the noise of everyone shouting back and forth at one another.

===Area K, Innerpeace===

Using both shield and sword, Seril did her best to defend against the onslaught of attackers. Though skilled, Seril's counters began to lag, and a few of Cora's attacks got past her defenses, cutting open her arm and legs through her dress. The flames of the katanas did not bother her in the least, however, due to the heat tolerances of her kind.

One last blade struck against her shield, and Seril whispered two words:

"Barrier Burst."

Within nanoseconds, the energies creating the barrier surged and exploded forward at the demons, clouding the room up with dust and smoke. From out the back, Seril slid out, holding her blade at the ready.

===Donovan's Throne===

"The name's Michael," he introduced himself, making a specific salute that was known as a particularly grievous insult to demons in many dimensions. "I'm what you'd call the absolute strongest native on the planet."

Looking down at the cage, Michael took a drag of his cigarette and removed it from his mouth with a hand. He tapped the cage once, then twice, with his foot while blowing a ring of smoke down at it. The ring easily dissipated before it could get anywhere close to the bars.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking back my subordinate now," said the unusual teenager in a casual tone of voice. "I need him for various tasks and he can't do that when you're keeping him locked up like some sort of parrot. He'd be a terrible parrot, after all; he doesn't like talking, you know?"

Kneeling down, Michael flicked away his cigarette into the darkest recesses of the throne room, and somehow physically grabbed a hold of the dark aura surrounding the cage, then released it before standing back up.

"Damn. Part of that blasted Rod of yours. Well, so much for that idea."

Edited by RisingDragon on June 10, 2009 at 1:38:13.

"Guess that's war for ya," Matt remarked. He figured R.D. was able to turn the battle permanently towards the good guys. Guess one super robot can't do it all, even in a battle of this minor size. Well, compared to what he had seen, that is.

Alasea, meanwhile, walked up towards her father's desk as he sat back, a holographic screen showing some report hovering in the air over it. As he leaned back, she put a hand on his shoulder. The General looked up at his daughter's concerned face.

"You alright, father?" she asked. He nodded.

"Its just been a long day... already."

===Donovan's Throne===

Michael raised an eyebrow in suspicion, then jumped off of the cage before it completely dispersed--it wouldn't do to fall on top of Zhatsuroth. Landing smoothly, he stood back up and hooked his thumbs into the pockets of his trousers. "Probably wouldn't be a good idea," he said. Zhatsuroth would kill him. He's not happy unless he's hurting something, and he doesn't really discern friend from foe. We'll just keep to ourselves. Besides, I don't think any of your minions would like to get on our bad side."

===Area K, Innerpeace===

Seril's response was quick--flinging up one hand, she channeled her power, discharging lightning down the hallway before the copies could reach her. As the bolt flew through the air, it'd strike a single being and then produce another, firing it at a second target, and repeat--Chain Lightning.

It wouldn't be too long before she found the real Cora. Then she'd be able to turn the tide of battle against the demoness.

"I know how that feels," Matt said, with a glance at Hugo.

"Do you know where R.D. is now?" the Mettaur asked the general.

"He should be returning through the hanger bays on Level 10," the General responded after a moment. "Apparently he requested clearance to allow the dragons that accompanied his mechanoid into the hangers with him."

"Dragons?" Ileyna asked, wide-eyed. Alasea nodded.

"The Dragon Tribes have taken a liking to R.D. since he defeated Sheena," she explained. She looked down at her father. "You should grant it. They won't harm anyone but your enemies."

After a moment, the General nodded. "Very well. I'll trust your judgment on this, Alasea," he said, standing up. "Contact Special Officer R.D., and tell him clearance has been granted."

"Roger!" a female officer responded, then opened up the communication array.

"Hailing Special Officer R.D., repeat, hailing Special Officer R.D.," she spoke into her head-set, while bringing up up-to-date schematics on the Level 10 floor plan. Numerous rooms were highlighted in red and flashing steadily. "Your request for clearance has been granted. You are authorized to use the hangers in 10-A, 10-B, and 10-F, over."

"Roger that," came R.D.'s voice on the head-set's speaker.

"Matt," Helena said, turning to him. "Do you know anything about them?"

"Who?"

"The Dragon Tribes."

He shrugged. "Not really. All I know is that their leader, Bahamut, bailed us out of that big fight with Diablo. Anything else, I've probably forgotten."

"I want to see them. Tell R.D. I want to see them," she said to the general.

The General simply shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that. However," he started, looking off towards one of the soldiers that had escorted the group. "You there. Take Ms. Hiroshi to the Level 10 hangers.

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Go on ahead, guys," Alasea said, looking at them. "I'm gonna stay here."

"All right," Matt said. "See you later."

As they made their way to the hangars, Hugo said what Matt was about to ask. "Are you going to ask them about your powers?"

"Yeah," Helena said.

Matt walked backward as he nailed Helena with his serious eye. "The possibility of the Dragon Tribe having anything to do with your powers is very slim, Helena. I hope you realize that."

"I know." The ceiling lights-whichever ones still worked-ran over her face in a steady pulse. "But I might as well ask, right?"

Colonel Patterson then came up to the General he was bloody, dirty, sweaty, but in one piece. He looked up to the General however with relief.

"We won this one General," He saluted, "You did a good job." Patterson commented, keeping his position. There was a lot yet to do, but for now Patterson felt they could enjoy this victory while it lasted.

Up in the Level 10-B hanger, three dragons, of red, blue, and black colored scales, slowly marched into the metallic confines of the hanger bay, followed by the much larger and longer Tamaran, now having completed the Fusion Out sequence. The Dragon Spirits were much too long and wide to store within the hangers, and thus rested outside, out of the way of the returning combat units.

Two of the dragons looked back as Tamaran lowered its neck and head to the floor, and opened its mouth to allow R.D. exit. He was still clad in the Dragon King Armor, and its Nova Reactor still issued out the glowing particles, but it was no longer swathed in the blue glow of Ao-Gem energies.

"I'm surprised to see the likes of you here," he said, walking up to the Dragons.

"We came at the behest of the Queen of Dragons, young one," one of them said. "And it was not long before Tamaran heard your call."

===Central Command===

"At what cost, though?" the General asked, perhaps rhetorically. He slumped to one side in his chair, his arm propped up against the armrest and holding his head up. "We lost a lot of good men today, and most of our defenses were destroyed. It would have been worse were it not for Alasea and R.D.."

Edited by RisingDragon on June 11, 2009 at 23:50:24.

The group soon entered into the large hangar, and upon the sight of the great dragons, Helena's eyes widened. Oh, yeah-she didn't remember meeting Bahamut.

So much so that she held back a bit. Probably intimidated by their size. "Come on, it's cool," Matt said. "They're friendly." Well, he hoped they were.

"You did the best you could, sir. We did lose a lot of men, I know that first hand, but they died for a reason. They died for this victory. No reason to mourn them sir, they did their duty and did so proudly. You did yours as well, so no reason to wallow in some sort of grief. We won, let's enjoy it...excuse me for speaking so freely sir." Patterson said, but blushed a bit for being, if only a little, out of line. Though deep down...he figured he was right.

As the group came closer, they came within range of hearing the dragons' conversation with R.D..

"... and whatever this possession did to her gave her the ability to transform into one," they heard R.D. say to the dragon at the head of the group, the red dragon. "Her condition seems to be worsening and her--"

He cut off as they came closer; and four heads turned in their direction.

"Hey guys. What in the hell happened to you?" R.D. asked, looking warily at their clothing. "You guys are a mess."

===Central Command, Aube===

"Its fine," Patrick waved it off. "You know I value what you have to say, Colonel."

"Take it to heart, then, father," Alasea said, giving him a brief smile. "We know that its difficult, but we can still get through this."

"Sir!" came a frantic voice, as an aide ran up to him. He hastily saluted to the General. "Dr. Malloway's requesting your presence down in the main genetics lab. He says they found one of those white demons!"

"What?" the General said, standing up quickly.

"Giant demon fight," Matt remarked. "It happens."

Helena looked up at the red dragon, the one that drew her attention right away, and said nothing.

The green dragon turned its gaze back to R.D. and spoke in a rumbling voice. "Is this the girl you spoke of?"

R.D. nodded. "Yeah, that's her," he muttered, looking away. He had no idea how the dragons would respond after examining Helena, after all; while he contained the soul of a dragon alongside his own, he was far from privy to their behavior. He had no idea if this was going to turn ugly or not.

Shifting its body around, the red dragon lowered its head down to Helena's level, leaning his head in uncomfortably close. The yellow-gold eyes seemed to bore into Helena as it sniffed a couple times, then snorted through its nose once, causing her skirt to flutter from the exhalation.

Helena flattened her hands against her legs to stop the skirt from flying up. She managed to meet the dragon's massive eyes, though not straight on.

"...hello," she said. Meekly.