Nikolai (V2)'s Story

"The name is Black Jack," said Black Jack. "And as for what I was doing here I was to meet up with agents in Fontin and receive some type of device I was to spread at critical locations. As you can plainly see that did not happen."

Meanwhile, Umbra slithers onboard an airship - the S.S. Helios...

"Devices...for what exactly?" Lucas pressed. "Also, there were attackers that sabotaged the defenses right near the Bacaina Shrine. Were they Majestic, too? And why open the barrier near the shrine?!"

"I don't know," said Black Jack, answering the questions in turn. "Yes. It was the best opening for a Haven assault."

---

Meanwhile, Umbra gets to the cockpit of the S.S. Helios and sees that it's started by a hand scanner. She slams a tendril of ooze onto the scanner and shifts it around so that it gets recognized as A: a hand, and B: a positive match. Once the scanner confirms that whoever is meant to start up the ship, started the ship, it sends a signal to the engine room. Now, if Umbra had bothered to check there first, she would have seen that the feystone engine is attached to several bombs...

---

The exploding airship can be seen from pretty much anywhere in Fontin, turning the heads of all my characters.

"The hell was that?" asked John.

"... My ride out," said Black Jack, working hard to keep his stiff upper lip.

---

Right now Umbra is left floating in the water, a barely-conscious puddle of black ooze...

Lucas's leer at Black Jack narrowed further. "I find it hard to believe that you don't know what the devices are for," he said. "You got Coronach assaulted for a reason, and on behalf of this nation, I want to know what possible reason you lowlifes had to invade this land!"

"I'd like to know that as well!!"

Brimir approached the group, hammer hoisted over his shoulder. He gave a stern glare at Dr. Y and Black Jack.

"So! Ye two are the reasons that Coronach's bind on Nil got blown to bits!" Brimir growled. "Well, I can see now why we were awakened in this here year!"

Terrus and Duma had followed Brimir over to Dr. Y's group and tried (in vain) to tell him that they weren't with the Majestic troopers. Black Jack was spaced out during some of Lucas' glare, as he was busy looking over the bodies of his fallen comrades. He pulled his cigarette out of his mouth, dispersing his smoky arm, and put it away, reaching for another - this one regular, as evidenced by the fact that no arm comes out of his empty right sleeve. As Brimir approached he didn't even look up.

"'We two'?" asked Dr. Y. "You honestly think I'm with this scum? You think I'd dare to ever be affiliated with these-"

"Doctor, please," said Black Jack. There was no anger in his voice, no chiding. Only sadness. "They were doing their duty."

Black Jack took off his hat, revealing the face beneath - a dark-skinned, dark-haired man with chiseled features and a thousand-yard stare. He continued to look over the bodies of his troops.

"We're just soldiers," said Black Jack. "We don't question our orders. Hell, we usually aren't told why we do what we do. But we do it anyway, because it's our job, and... well, there's nothing else for us."

Black Jack looked back up at Lucas.

"No, I don't know what we were sent here to retrieve," said Black Jack. "And all I know about why we want to invade Coronach is to set up another HQ here. Now tell me this. Will these men receive a proper burial?"

By now Feathertop had vanished. Just as well - elves and dwarves don't tend to get along. John, meanwhile, was staring at Brimir curiously...

---

Feathertop had made her way over to the waterside, and seemed to be looking for something... or someone...

...

Oh to hell with suspense. It was Umbra. She spotted the puddle of black ooze floating in the water and wondered how on earth she was going to get Umbra out and contained without contaminating herself...

"Well, if it weren't fer yer tomfool'ry in Haven, Mr. Shades, they wouldn'a - !"

Brimir stopped himself when he saw the emotional predicament that Black Jack and Lucas were in. Lucas seemed about to snap back at Jack's request, but stopped himself. His unit's academy was taught that war has no true victors. Everyone that gets involved in a war loses in some way. And Lucas wasn't about to go and lose his own heart over a grudge. Besides that, he remembered that one troop that he scanned - they were robbed of most or all their will, reduced to miserable puppets. They didn't deserve to get thrown into such a mission or situation.

"...Alright," Lucas said. "There should be a field outside of the city with space enough for their burial. A bit to the northwest of the Shadow Forest's boundaries...er, where it was, anyway."

Brimir was still miffed with both the White Platoon and Majestic, but he decided it was best to save it for later. In the meantime, he saw John eyeing him curiously.

"...What? Ye never caught glimpse or word of a dwarf before, lad?"

"My thanks," said Black Jack. "And my apologies. Uldritch has gone too far..."

Black Jack looked back towards the bay, where the airship exploded.

"... And so has Mockingbird..." Black Jack said, mostly to himself.

"Oh, so all this is my fault?" asked Dr. Y. "I'm the one who dropped a nuke on Coronach? Or am I at fault for not doing anything to stop it? Riddle me this, asshole, how do you expect me to stop a nuclear missile while it's in fli-"

"Doc," said Patches, coming out of the shadows. "Let it go."

"No," said John. "It's just... you look familiar... I think I've seen you somewhere before..."

Lucas took notice of the destroyed airship.

"(Guess Majestic had no qualms with eliminating even their best troops,)" Lucas thought.

In any case, he took a moment to gather rhythmic energy through the DRACOS Junction (World Beat), then applied that energy to Nikolai to get him revitalized.

Black Jack takes the time to close the eyes on the bodies of his fallen comrades. In the meantime, Nikolai is powered up once more and because he's got chaff on him powers down again and swings his magnet arms side to side, looking for Minils to destroy. Finding none, he turns to the doctor.

"What did I miss?" asked Nikolai.

"Apparently I'm to blame for Coronach's destruction," said Dr. Y. "And not tall dark and armless over here."

---

Meanwhile, Feathertop, using fishing nets and a large glass container, finally manages to scoop up the sludge that was Umbra and seal her in... just in time for her to wake up and reform. She looks outside the glass, smiles a toothy grin, turns her arm into a hammer, and smashes right through it.

"Let me guess," said Umbra. "You thought it was 'worth a try'?"

Feathertop merely takes a dagger and puts it to Umbra's throat.

"Where is my daughter?" asked Feathertop.

"No, ye surely played a part in it, too," Brimir scolded Dr. Y, "by spookin' them Havenites into shooting the damn bomb! {looking at Black Jack} I ain't intent on relinquishing me grudge on EITHER of yer groups...!"

"I don't blame you," said Black Jack softly.

"And the fact that the redhead can turn into an all-powerful dragon DIDN'T spook them?" asked Dr. Y.

"For God's sake, doc!" said Patches. "Stop it! These are scared people!"

"And they're afraid of the wrong thing," said Dr. Y.

"Well you're certainly not helping!" countered Patches.

"If I stay silent he'll still think I'm responsible," said Dr. Y. "That's all people do! Blame me for their problems, because I'm just SO likeable a guy! People in Haven don't like me. People in Coronach don't like me. I'm willing to bet if I strolled into Umaville or Candy Coated Canyon they'd find a reason to blame me for something going wrong there, too."

"You really think so?" asked John.

"Didn't you hear the dwarf?" asked Dr. Y. "He's not going to let go of this silly idea that I deserve punishment for something I didn't do. Why should the rest of the world be any different?"

Dr. Y turns to Brimir, glaring at him behind his sunglasses.

"Go ahead," said Dr. Y. "Blame the White Platoon for everything going wrong. It's not like you'll be the first. And besides, I know that people like you are too bull-headed to listen to reason and think for one second they might be wrong."

---

"I haven't any idea what you're talking about," said Umbra.

Feathertop pulls out several pictures of Umbra in front of her hole-in-the-wall in Corona - pictures of her in various forms, including a young blonde woman in a lab coat, and a young elf with pale, shoulder-length hair and bangs that almost cover her eyes completely.

"You know her shape," said Feathertop. "You'd only be able to mimic it if you saw her. Now where is she?"

"I see a lot of people," said Umbra with a shrug. "I can hardly be responsible for remembering where I saw all of them."

"Bah, words! Show me action!" Brimir retorted.

"Alright, ENOUGH! Both of you!!" Lucas shouted to Dr. Y and Brimir. "It wasn't either of us that spooked them ultimately. It was Majestic's little scams - the guys in charge played on everyone's fears and led them to this! And it looks like they succeeded at pushing our buttons, too...So let's cut it out, okay? The heart of this conflict is Majestic, not us."

"..." These words really stopped Brimir's lip.

Good thing Lucas intervened because Dr. Y was this close to pulling out his shotgun and blasting Brimir.

"... Save me from the stubbornness of dwarves," spat Dr. Y.

With that, Dr. Y looked around. His plan for refuge in Coronach was obviously a failure, since it seemed no one in Coronach liked him either. So he signaled for his boys to move back to the shipyard. Fantasma wasn't that far away, and they liked Alex fine - it was entirely possible they'd at least tolerate Dr. Y. no telling what would stop them from leaving though...

Dr. Y and company travel unopposed to the shipyards. They soon encounter Feathertop holding Umbra at knife point.

"... Feathertop," said Dr. Y.

"Doctor," said Feathertop.

"You know each other?" asked John.

"You're not my first Platoon," said Dr. Y.

"Wait, what?" asked Patches. "Doc, why didn't you mention-"

"You didn't need to know," interrupted Dr. Y, harshly. He turned back to Feathertop and asked "Why are you holding the shadow?"

"Everyone finds reasons to assault me," said Umbra. "Some of them have to be prodded on."

Feathertop tosses her phone to Dr. Y who proceeds to crank call the shit out of people. He opens it to a series of pictures of Umbra, disguised as a series of young women.

"She's seen my daughter somewhere," said Feathertop. "That's the only way she could recognize her form. I want to find out where."

"And I told her I can hardly keep track of every girl that comes to my door-" began Umbra.

Dr. Y, however, is not interested in the picture of the young elf that is apparently Feathertop's daughter. He instead is staring at the picture of the young woman in a labcoat and blonde hair. He looks up at Feathertop quickly.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" asked Dr. Y.

"I can find my daughter without your help," spat Feathertop.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for this girl?" asked Dr. Y.

He pulled out his shotgun and aimed it at Umbra.

"Where is she?" asked Dr. Y.

Umbra just laughed.

"Now her, I remember," said Umbra. "Good luck finding her. Last I saw her she was sailing up into space for some fancy-pants research mission."

Dr. Y fired, blowing a hole in Umbra's head... which quickly regenerated. She then transformed into the girl.

"My, my," chuckled Umbra. "A girl able to get such a reaction in the 'unflappable' doctor? I'm intrigued..."

Dr. Y just fired again and Umbra transformed back to normal, frowning.

"Doc, what's goin' on?" asked Patches.

"... We're going to need a rocket ship," said Dr. Y, looking around the shipyard to see if anything there is theoretically capable of space travel.

---

Black Jack stays where he is, lost in thought.

As was Brimir. Rarely has he been chewed out so deeply by a human, much less a young man. But...something about Lucas's voice seemed...familiar to the dwarf.

Ten years ago, Dr. Mary Archer suddenly disappeared from the White Platoon. If she had still been around, maybe they could have...

No. The doctor couldn't think about that right now. Black Jack made his choice. And he doubted he could save Tempestra.

But five years ago, immediately before the Platoon was to go on trial for crimes against humanity, Dr. Y received a letter. It held a picture of Mary Archer, taken very recently, and the simple message "go after us and she dies".

He still spoke out against Majestic, of course, but the courts didn't believe him. He thought doing so would lead someone - anyone - to Mary, someone who could save her. But there was no word... until today.

---

Dr. Y was almost too lost in thought to notice that there's still one spaceship left in Fontin. It doesn't look as well-built or advanced as something from Haven, but going back there for a spaceship was tantamount to suicide.

"There," said Dr. Y, pointing it out. "John, Nikolai, Patches, go get that ship ready to fly."

Nikolai and John nod and head off towards the spaceship. Patches stays where she is, but a long glare from Dr. Y finally convinces her to follow the two. Dr. Y then turns to Umbra, still in glare mode.

"You're coming with us," said Dr. Y.

"You all want to join the miles-high club?" asked Umbra. "I'm flattered you think I can take all of you..."

"You're the only one who saw where Mary went," said Dr. Y. "So maybe you can identify the spaceship she took off in."

"Out of the question, doctor," said Feathertop. "She hasn't answered my questions."

"She has a bad habit of not answering anybody's questions," countered Dr. Y.

"I pride myself on customer secrecy," giggled Umbra.

"She's staying with me," said Feathertop with a glare to match Dr. Y's.

"She's coming with me," reiterated Dr. Y.

"Why can't you go with the doctor and still be with her?" asked Terrus.

A brief pause. Both the elf and the doctor consider the idea.

"Well?" asked Dr. Y.

"... This doesn't mean I'm joining your little Platoon," said Feathertop, moving behind Umbra so her daggers are at her back.

"After you ran off last time I wouldn't ask you, anyway," said Dr. Y.

The White Platoon members hear the sound of a rocket jet activating, about to take off... before it suddenly stops.

"SORRY!" shouted John, peeking out from a hatch in the spaceship. "I haven't exactly flown one of these before!"

"So..." Lucas said to Black Jack, breaking the silence, "what do you plan to do now?"

"In all likelihood you're going to toss me into prison," said Black Jack. "Which rather limits any plans I might have. Though, in all honesty... I'm not entirely sure. I'm a soldier. My duty is to fight for my employers. Given that they tried to kill me, I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

---

Eventually, the members of the White Platoon pile into the spaceship.

"Now how sure are you that this thing won't explode?" asked Dr. Y.

"... Not very," admitted John.

"I can 'old it togevver," said Patches.

"Good girl," said Dr. Y.

"What exactly are you trying to do, again?" asked Umbra.

"We're going to launch into space," said Dr. Y. "And you're going to identify which spaceship you saw that scientist leave in."

"If I don't?" asked Umbra with a smile.

"We'll see how you handle the cold vacuum of space," said Dr. Y.

"And you drift around lost," laughed Umbra. "You didn't think your plan through, did you?"

Dr. Y says nothing.

"So..." said John. "Engage?"

"Engage," sighed Dr. Y.

John, Patches, and Nikolai flick numerous switches, engaging the rocket ship and sending it flying into the atmosphere...

Another spacecraft, this one experimental and from Corona, drifts up to the space station, with an odd mixture of passengers on board...

"There!" said Umbra, pointing to the first spaceship. "That's the one!"

"... Strangely cooperative of you," muttered Dr. Y.

"You're welcome," giggled Umbra.

Dr. Y doesn't respond to her laughter, staring at the other ship. Terrus, Duma, and Patches follow his gaze, looking equally worried. John just looks confused.

"What's the big deal?" asked John.

"That's a Majestic ship," said Dr. Y.

"What now, doc?" asked Patches.

Dr. Y is silent for a while.

"... I'm not going to leave her with them," said Dr. Y. "Abraham, cut the power to this station."

Sparks fly out of the generator attached to Duma's back as Abraham goes flying off.

"Once the lights go out," said Dr. Y. "We're going to split up and search the station. Take out anyone besides us that you find."

"What if I find your girl and take her out?" asked Umbra, tauntingly.

"You won't want to do that," said Dr. Y, anger starting to rise in his voice.

---

With a descending hum, the lights throughout the station.

"MARY!" shouted Dom. "What did you do?"

"It wasn't me!" protested Mary.

With a wave of his hand, Dr. Y rushes out of the Corona spaceship, the rest of his Platoon following.

---

"Can you hear me?" said Dom into his communicator.

"Loud and clear," came another voice on the comm.

"We didn't do anything that would shut off the power, would we?" asked Dom.

"Negative, sir," said the voice.

"Then something else is on board," said Dom. "So split up and find it!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea, sir?" asked the voice. "It's dark, and we'd do a lot better in a group so whatever's onboard can't pick us off..."

"... Point taken," said Dom. "Split into teams of two and fan out!"

"Is that much better, sir?" asked the voice.

"And one of you head for the generator room and get the damn lights back on!" continued Dom.