The days of fury

Wrapped up in a thick winter coat Knuckles waded through the snow. He hated leaving his warm shelter but it was his duty to look after the Master Emerald at least once a day.

This winter was very unusual. First of all it had been there earlier than expected. Second it hardly ever snowed on Angel Island - aside of the Ice Cap Zone - but right now the snow was several inches deep. And third the last time the young Guardian had experienced such a freezing coldness was during the Days of Fury. But since those days not even three years had passed and normally they didn't come in such short intervals. Something grave needed to happen to make the Days of Fury return within just a few years. Had a tower full of Chaos energy and two ripped open passageways between zones within just one day been grave enough?

Knuckles had now reached the shrine of the Master Emerald and was still thinking about those things when he noticed someone standing only a few steps away. Because of his hooded cloak Knuckles could only see part of the other's face - it was an Echidna, no doubt, but the Guardian didn't recognize him. Was it a Dark Legionnaire? But what was one of them doing on Angel Island, especially in front of the shrine? And if it was a Legionnaire then it must have been an old fashioned one because since the Legion had split up each department got new uniforms. This one was still wearing the cloak they used to wear years ago.

So far the hooded Echidna did nothing else but to stand there and stare up at the Master Emerald.

"Hey, who are you?" Knuckles loudly asked.

The other one winced quickly turned around and walked away - running was hardly possible in that snow.

"Wait, I didn't mean to scare you away", the Guardian shouted, "You can stay if you want. I only wanted to know who you are."

But the Legionnaire already had reached the nearby wood and soon he disappeared out of sight. Knuckles shook his head. This surely was something the other Guardians should know about.
 

~~~***~~~
 

Remington pulled his scarf over his nose so that at least part of his face was protected from the wind. On his way to the new built council hall he met Locke. If it hadn't been for his red fur the Guardian would have been invisible in the snow with his white winter coat, hood pulled over his head.

"Camouflage?" the Constable asked.

"No, the only clothing I found in Haven that was warm enough for such a winter - unless I wanted to walk around in one of Spectre's robes."

At the stairs to the council building they already were awaited.

"Gosh, I was nearly freezing my butt off. Thought you would never come."

"Athair?" both males asked surprised.

"Yeah, yeah, I know what I'm called", the former Guardian quickly said, "Now can we please go inside."

"Why are you here?" Locke asked slightly worried. So far Athair mostly had appeared to warn or prevent them from grave danger.

"Oh, I heard about your weekly meetings with the Dark Legion Grandmaster and wanted to see it with my own eyes at least once to believe it. If this really works and helps preventing civil wars I wonder why we didn't get that idea earlier."

"Because it wouldn't have worked in the past", Locke answered, "and I'm also not sure if it will work for too long now."

"I don't think that Lien-Da wants to see another Guardian in the meeting, former or not", now Remington said, "She will kick you out within seconds."

"Heck, I'm a godly being or whatever I should call myself. I want to see how she will kick me out. And now come, we can't let a lady wait."
 

"What in Edmund's name is he doing here?" Locke asked when they entered the meeting room and nodded back at the door. They just had passed by Xenin who had been standing beside the door like a security guard and had shot each of them sceptic looks.

"And what in Dimitri's name is he doing here?" Lien-Da countered and stared at Athair.

"I'm a god, I'm allowed to do that", the brown furred male said and sat down at the table.

"He heard about our meetings and wanted to take part in one of them", Remington explained. "Is he allowed to stay for this one meeting?"

Lien-Da sighed. "Actually our discussions are none of the Neo Walkers' business and as long as they are only concerning Echidna matters I don't want to make them public to the whole wide world. But after I don't have any important news to tell and he's a former Guardian I will make an exception today."

"So what's with Xenin?" Locke asked again.

"He's my new bodyguard."

"He? Your bodyguard?" Remington asked surprised. He still remembered very well the time Xenin had been under Finitevus' control, killed a few Dark Legionnaires and even was after the Constable.

"Yes, he's loyal to the Legion, possesses great strength and I trust him."

"Since when do you bring your bodyguards to the town?"

"I always have but while my other two were hiding in the background, ready for a surprise attack if I ever was in danger, Xenin chooses to warn the people in advance by letting them see someone is here to help me in case of danger."

"Whatever, can we start with the more important parts now?" Athair asked.

"As you wish, my god", Lien-Da said sarcasm in her voice but still she sat down and so did the other two males.
 

After nothing of too grave importance had happened in the town or among the Legions Locke got to talking about the happenings on Angel Island.

“Since a few days a Legionnaire regularly visits the shrine of the Master Emerald but he runs away as soon as he notices Knuckles. He’s not doing anything forbidden, so far he just stood and stared, but we would like to know who he is or why he’s so interested in the shrine. Is he one of your soldiers?”

“I might not control where my Legionnaires are going but I would have noticed if one of the few camp’s vehicles was gone”, Lien-Da said, “So wherever he comes from, he surely hasn’t used any of our meanings of transportation.”

“Alright, we will check for flying vehicles in the town as well”, Locke said, “And as soon as our communicators are working again I’ll tell Knuckles he shall have an eye on that Legionnaire. He mightn’t have done anything for now but I don’t trust the whole thing.”
 

After the meeting was over Lien-Da stayed a little longer because she still had another meeting with members of the High Council so the three males left without her. They passed Xenin again and this time Athair stopped and stared at him. The cyborg raised his eyebrow.

“What the heck do you want?”

“Oh, I’m just interested in what Legionnaires like you think about Lien-Da. I can’t really suss her out. Before I always saw her as cold and cruel, someone who would have sent her own people into death without caring but right now she lives in peace with her enemies and also seems to care about her people a lot. So what do you think of her?”

“All I can say is that she’s a great leader and I would die for her if necessary.”

“Well, that’s what a Legionnaire thinks about a Grandmaster. But I also want to know what you think about her in person. Don’t see her as your leader for a change; see her as Lien-Da only.”

Xenin crossed his arms. Maybe he also was annoyed by Athair’s questions but most of all he was confused.

“Why in Dimitri’s name do you want to know that? We would never tell our personal thoughts about one Dark Legionnaire to anyone other than another Dark Legionnaire, especially…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence because Athair suddenly burst into laughter. Xenin turned to Remington and Locke. “What on Mobius is wrong with this guy?”

“I’m sorry but I have no clue”, Locke said looking as confused as Xenin. “Come, we should better leave. Maybe the cold brings him back to his senses.” He grabbed Athair’s arm and dragged him away.
 

“Now will you please tell us what had been so funny?” Locke asked when they were walking through the snow and Athair had calmed down a bit.

“You should have seen his thoughts when I asked him what he thinks about Lien-Da in person”, the former Guardian answered with an amused smile on his lips.

“Wait”, the other Guardian stopped and stared at him, “does that mean you can read thoughts.”

“I can but don’t worry; I hardly ever use that ability. Thoughts are private after all and moreover my life is easier as long as I don’t know what everyone is thinking. I only made an exception because right now I actually wanted to know what someone was thinking.”

“So what was he thinking?” Remington asked. He now was curious as well.

“Quite a lot for those few seconds but I think I can sum them all up as ‘She is hot as hell’.”

“What? No way” The Constable shook his head in disbelief.

“Why not? He might nearly look like a robot but he’s still a living, breathing Echidna after all.”

“If it’s true you know it’s very immature to burst into laughter about such things, grandfather”, Locke said but he now had a grin on his face as well.

“I really hope for him it’s just a mild attraction and he will never be hit by the soultouch. Lien-Da would never fall for him”, Remington said.

“Who knows”, Athair replied, “The soultouch sometimes takes strange turns. Who would have guessed that Knuckles would fall in love with a Legionnaire for example?”

“Speaking of Knuckles”, Locke said now looking serious again; “can you please stop by on Angel Island? Our communicators broke contact and I don’t know if it’s because of the cold, because the island is out of reach at the moment or because something has happened. I have a very bad feeling and would like to know if everything is still okay.”

“Alright, I’ll pay him a visit.”

The three males said their goodbyes then each of them headed into another direction.
 

~~~***~~~
 

Knuckles and Julie-Su fought their way through the snow.

“You could have stayed at home”, the young Guardian said. “It’s enough that one of us has to go out into that cold.”

“And leave you alone? No way. If your feelings were right and there’s really something bad going on two fighters are still better than one all alone.”

A sudden rumble went through the island then a beam of green light shot into the sky and exploded into many smaller blinding bright rays of light. When the two Echidnas were finally able to open their eyes again the island was still bathed in emerald green light. And it was sinking. Angel Island sank slowly but still fast enough to notice.

“Something is using nearly all of the Emerald’s energy”, Knuckles shouted. He sped up, Julie-Su followed close behind.

They only were a few meters away from the shrine when Julie grabbed Knuckles’ arm and held him back. Silently she pointed at an open field not too far away. Two figures were standing there. If his girlfriend hadn’t called attention to them Knuckles would have overseen them – the Dark Legionnaire because it was usual for him to stand near the shrine and Finitevus because his white fur made him nearly invisible in the snow. Before them a ball of Chaos Energy was growing and slowly ripped open when the albino spread his arms. He had created a portal. At first Knuckles still asked himself why he hadn’t used a warp ring instead but only seconds later he knew the answer – because a warp ring only could transport a few people but not a whole army. Dark Legionnaires were streaming through the portal. At this very moment the army had grown to a few dozens. How many were still living in the Twilight Zone? Thousands?

“I have to stop that”, Knuckles said, quickly turned around and ran up the stairs to the shrine. He stopped and looked down again when he heard the one Legionnaire who already had been with Finitevus before speaking.

“Your leader has returned and those fools who once inhabited the city of Echidnaopolis have been weakened by wars. If we strike now nothing will be able to stop us. We will finally finish what our ancestors began.”

This voice was so terribly familiar. Knuckles looked at Julie-Su and she returned his gaze. In her eyes there was fear and disbelief.

“It can’t be”, she whispered. “He is dead.”

‘And so was Xenin’, the Guardian thought and looked back at the army. The Legionnaire and Finitevus now already were surrounded and the former turned around so he could speak to all of his soldiers and Knuckles now could see who had been hiding under this hood. He looked into Kragok’s face.
 

~~~***~~~
 

The Guardians were standing outside Haven 3 staring at the green glow in the sky.

“Knuckles”, Locke whispered.

“It’s using up nearly all our Chaos Energy”, Thunderhawk snarled. “We can’t even try to glide there.”

“Even if we could, the island is too far away”, Sabre said.

“Who on Mobius had the bright idea to put something worth protecting on a shrine which is easily reachable by everyone with nothing more around it than grass, trees and the open sky?” Spectre roared.

“And who wanted to join forces with Lien-Da and mainly concentrate on what was going on in the town and the Legion camp instead of finding a better place for the Master Emerald?” Sojourner snapped but Spectre didn’t answer. No one answered because they knew they all had to bear the blame for not caring about it. They had hoped no one would bother about a deserted floating island and that it alone was the best protection for the Emerald. Now Knuckles was the only hope left.
 

~~~***~~~
 

Julie-Su finally reached the top of the shrine. Knuckles had dashed off so fast she barely had been able follow him. Now she found him standing in front of the Master Emerald. He had laid his hands at the glowing gem, his lips were moving but she couldn’t understand what he said.

“Stay back, girl. It’s already dangerous enough for a Guardian to get too close”, someone shouted behind her. She whirled around and saw Athair running upstairs.

“What is he doing?” Julie-Su shouted. Her eyes went back on Knuckles again.

“Tikal’s Prayer, but it’s not that easy to perform if you don’t know exactly what you want to do or how you want to do it. And even if you know it the released energy can be lethal.”

He ran over to Knuckles and started with the ritual as well then he turned to the younger Guardian and said, “We have to lead the energy back but the Master Emerald can’t take it all. There’s not just energy coming from itself but also from the Twilight Zone and other resources around. If we try to lead it all into the Master Emerald we might cause it to explode.”

“What else can we do? We can’t stuff the energy back into the Twilight Zone or somewhere else. And we can’t let it fly around freely.”

“It will slowly go back where it belongs once we have the Master Emerald under control again but until then it needs storage.” He paused a few seconds then said, “I will be the storage for now. I’m a god after all and you can’t kill a god that easily.”

“You? No! The Ancient Walkers were gods too and they were destroyed.”

But Athair already had continued with the ritual and Knuckles had no other choice than doing the same if he didn’t want to let the Chaos Energy get out of control. The Emerald now wasn’t the only thing glowing. Athair was surrounded by a green energy sphere. A shockwave coming from the rapidly closing portal pushed Knuckles back close to the edge of the shrine. He lost balance but Julie-Su grabbed his arm and dragged him back. The green light had faded but Finitevus didn’t seem to care too much about the loss of his portal or the control over the Master Emerald. The two young Echidnas stood at the edge of the shrine and watched while several warp rings appeared to teleport several hundred soldiers by and by.

“This isn’t good at all”, Knuckles finally brought out. He then noticed the green sphere floating beside the Master Emerald and quickly walked over to it. Athair had his eyes closed but at least he was still alive.

“I think he will stay that way for a while. Great, we have no working communicators, the old jets in Haven 2 would need at least half an hour if not far more to reach Albion and the only Guardian near us with the ability to teleport is knocked out. How on Mobius are we supposed to warn the others?” He went around Athair another time then slapped his forehead. “I’m and idiot”, he shouted. “For nearly two year I had a fire ant as my companion and now I forget that some of his kind are still living on the island. Come, I guess they have already noticed what has happened and gone into hiding after there was nothing they could do. If we’re lucky we will even find Archimedes.”
 

~~~***~~~
 

The Guardian’s energy slowly returned. Locke still was worried but Sabre placed a hand on his shoulder. “Remember, Athair is with him. I’m sure he teleports here soon to tell us what exactly had happened and that Knuckles is alright.”

But the one who appeared between them only a short time later was not an Echidna.

“Knuckles sent me with a warning”, Archimedes said. “Finitevus was able to open a gate to the Twilight Zone and several hundred Legionnaires are free now. He thinks they were heading for the town.”

The Guardians exchanged concerned gazes.

"We have to warn the people", Spectre said, "They shall get ready for an attack. I will go to the Legion camp to inform Lien-Da. In an hour we will meet in the council hall."
 

"My scouts found out that there's a camp of Finitevus' Legions in the canyon to the north. They are blocking all of the routes through it", Lien-Da told the convened Guardians, members of the High Council and Remington. "But so far they haven't prepared for an attack."

"This is not good", Sabre said. "The area around is buried in mountains of snow and the canyon is the only way to enter or leave the region of Albion and the Emerald Sea. They are blocking our only escape route."

"Has he also found out how many they are?" Remington asked.

"He said about five hundred."

The light on Lien-Da's communicator started blinking. At first they only heard the roaring of the wind but then a voice said, "This is the Grandmaster of the Dark Legion. I want to tell you that we aren't attacking your ridiculous little town. No, we will wait until you come to us. And we know you will. But don't let us wait for too long or we will really come for you."

The quality of the communicator wasn't the best. It was hard to tell if they had heard that voice ever before.

"Who are you?" Lien-Da asked, "And why can you connect with my communicator."

"I already told you who I am. I'm the Grandmaster of the Dark Legion. And this device is one of the things your spy had in his pockets. Maybe we shall send you his head as a warning what will happen to you if you hesitate for too long."

The connection was interrupted.

Lien-Da bared her teeth. "Now he's gone too far. Not just that he started killing my people again, no, now he's also putting his own Grandmaster in the lead while Dimitri and I would be the only one left who are allowed to carry that title and sieges Dark Legionnaires with other Dark Legionnaires. I don't know what you want to do but to me this is a declaration of war and my troops shall get ready for an attack."

She jumped up and ran out of the room. Nothing could hold her back anymore now.

Spectre rubbed his temples. "What shall we do? An attack seems like the only possibility but I also don't want our people to run headlong into another war. Sabre, you're our tactician. What would be your advice?"

"I..." Sabre hesitated. All eyes were now on him. But then he shook off his nervousness and continued. "I don't think this town is made for a besiegement. Our own food production is not enough for all of us and with a blocked trading route our supplies will be gone soon. And even if they were enough I wouldn't want to wait until they attack. The town should be the sanctuary for all those we can't send out into battle. I would say we should team up with Lien-Da's Legions and attack the enemy camp before they can attack our sanctuary."

"I too think we should do this", one of the High Council members said.

"But before we have to announce our plans to the people", another one said. "Let's hear their opinions and then decide what to do next."
 

The Guardians stood at the stairs of the Council Hall and watched. Most people had come here to listen to the announcement and now they were trying to talk all at once, the Legionnaires were in an uproar, the people of Albion mostly were frightened.

"Those people can barely fight", on Legionnaire shouted, "Why should we team up with someone who will stand in our way the whole time?"

"Those are Legionnaires", someone from Albion cried out, "Of course they will fight at the side of their own kind. We don't need to go to the enemy because he already is in our town."

"What do you think of us? We will never team up with the cockroach Finitevus. Unlike some of you we know something called honour."

The situation slowly got out of control. If no one stopped it the civil war would start before the enemy even had taken a single step towards Albion.

Spectre walked down the stairs, squeezed through the mass of people and got up the speaker's desk.

"May I take over the microphone?" he asked.

The High Councilor who looked as if he already had given up anyways stepped to the side.

"People of Albion and the Dark Legion..." the dark Echidna started.

Several of them stopped talking. A Guardian at least was someone better to listen to than a politician most of the time.

Spectre looked over the people. Yes, the Legionnaire was right - most of the inhabitants of Albion weren't too familiar with weapons. Maybe they had used weapons during the war but they never got enough practice. But they also couldn't all stay back and only let Lien-Da's troops march against the enemy - they weren't enough unless they also wanted to take elders, children or mothers with babies with them. So much worries and fear in those faces and they weren't just afraid of Finitevus' Legions. Spectre vigorously shook his head. How should he give them hope if he already started to give up his own? 'Remember, the only thing you have to fear is fear itself', he thought.

"Fellow Echidnas", he started again, "you already have heard that we are in danger. Not just Albion but also the Legions for they are living in the same area. We have to act now or else it is too late and we have to act together. Finitevus is the enemy of both tribes. No one of us will join forces with him because we all know that he will turn tables as soon as his enemies are defeated and go against his former allies next. Alone we will only get into each other's way but if we fight side by side we will make it."

"They will still be in our way", a Legionnaire threw in, "because they hardly know how to fight. I'm not too fond of getting shot in the back even if it wasn't on purpose."

"There are enough weapons that are easier to handle", now Remington said. "All of us have held a gun at least once and if I put the people through EST gun training we can easily figure out who are the more talented ones."

"A few will have to stay back anyways", Sabre who now stood beside Spectre said, "We can't leave our children, mothers with babies and elders without protection. At least two Guardians shall stay too. And, Archimedes, I know you are still among the people somewhere, please take the Chaotix to Angel Island. Maybe there won't be another attack but we also don't want to risk leaving the Emerald protected by only two Echidnas. Knuckles will be glad that his friends were chosen to work at his side instead of some strangers."

Spectre took the word again. "They might be 500; we are at least a thousand and out of them we can send at least 800 into battle. They might have Finitevus, we have Guardians. Maybe some of us will lose their lives in battle but if we don't take that risk they will take over Albion and even more will die. I'm asking you now, are you willing to work together? Are you willing to follow your leaders into the fight?"

Most of the Echidnas of Albion, one Dingo and several Legionnaires were shouting “Yes” but then another Legionnaire loudly said, "I wished I could believe you but after all you are a Guardian which means you are one of those. You can push your kind around as much as you want but don't think that the Dark Legion will believe in what you said."

"So you would only follow another Dark Legionnaire?"

"Of course but I don't see one anywhere close to the speaker's desk."

Spectre looked around. He couldn't find Lien-Da. Had she even come to listen to the announcement? Was she standing somewhere in the crowd but still disagreed? Or maybe she agreed with him and already was on her way to the front of the crowd but should Spectre really stand around silently and wait if she really came? Then he had an idea though it cost him a lot of courage to do it.

"The Dark Legionnaire is already standing in front of you the whole time", he said, "But you couldn't see him because of his choice of clothing." With that he took off his helmet and showed his cybernetic spines. Several gasps were heard, the buzz started again.

"I have been born as a Guardian so I also stayed one", Spectre loudly continued, "But a Grandmaster has been my foster-father and my mentor for years. He also is the reason why I have that cybernetics. After I am both, Guardian and Legionnaire, I am allowed to speak to all of you. I can't tell you Legionnaires to follow me into battle for I am not your Grandmaster but at least I can await that you are listening to and believing the words of another Legionnaire."

Someone slowly clapped.

"Amazing", Lien-Da was heard, "I guess the last one who held such speeches was Steppenwolf." There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Still you used an interesting tactic. Maybe we should have worked together a bit more often in the past if there's really a little Legionnaire in you."

Spectre put his helmet back on and glared at her. The last he needed now was a Grandmaster mocking him.

"But what you said is my opinion too." Her sarcasm had disappeared and she now sounded completely serious. "My troops barely have a chance alone and as long as we still have the same enemy why shouldn't we stay a team?"

Spectre nodded then he asked, "How much time do you think we have before Finitevus will start an attack because it's taking too long for him?"

"Knowing him … maybe two days if we are lucky. Your people better should learn fast how to handle a weapon without shooting an ally's back because we have to start marching tomorrow."
 

Spectre had chosen Sojourner and Locke to stay in Albion but while his son only had agreed and then walked off to help with preparation he still had a little discussion with Locke.

"Why do I need to stay here? I'm not a bad fighter and my tech skill could come in handy. Besides you know how bad I am in interacting with other people. At the frontline I would have to fight for them but not interact with them."

"We have enough Dark Legionnaires with tech skills but there aren't enough in Albion. And you are not staying because I think you are weak. I leave you because if the worst case occurs and we are defeated I don't want to know the town under the protection of a few of the worst fighters. It's better if there are at least two strong Guardians."

"It still feels like going into hiding like..." Locke was interrupted because a little boy had run over to him and now was clinging to his tail as if it was for pure life.

"What the ..." He picked up the boy. "Wait, you're looking familiar. Aren't you Mace, little one?"

"Na?" the child asked.

"Yes, I know how much Knuckles and I look alike but still I'm not him. I'm Locke."

"Lok", Mace happily replied, grabbed one of Locke's spines and started chewing on it. Spectre couldn't suppress a grin. The younger Guardian shot him a glare. He still wanted to continue arguing but it was much harder with a little boy in his arms and with drool on his spines.

"Locke, Spectre, thank goodness you found him." Lara-Le ran over to them. "Since he's able to walk he tends to disappear without a trace. I'm sorry if he caused any trouble."

"No, it's alright", Locke quickly said.

"I also was looking for you, Locke, to ask you if you can do me a favour. I promised to help out in the egg station but I can't take Kneecaps with me. I would rather leave him in the care of someone I know very well so I wanted to ask you if you can have an eye on him."

"Of course."

"Thank you so much. I owe you something. And you be a good boy and don't cause too much trouble." With that she turned around and ran off again.

Spectre still grinned widely. "Looks like you now have a mission in the town. Will doing your beloved Lara a favour at least be enough reason for you to stay."

Locke sighed. "I still would prefer to go with you but it has not much sense to continue arguing with you so I have to agree and stay."
 

In the afternoon of the next day they set out for the canyon. It had started snowing and the sky darkened before they even reached the path between the rocks. Thunderhawk looked up.

"It can't be possible that night has already fallen in", he said, "Looks more like a storm. Let's hope it's not heading towards us."

They still needed to go deeper into the canyon until they found traces where the enemy camp once had been.

"The tracks are barely covered by the snow", a Legionnaire said, "They can't have left too long ago."

The Echidnas who had been sent out to investigate the area around the former camp returned. They had found no other trails which led in or out of the camp.

"First they wanted us to come and now they are playing hare and hounds with us", Spectre said. "But even the best hounds can't help us as long as the hares are using Warp Rings."

"Legionnaires, get ready for an incoming attack", Lien-Da ordered. "And the others should get ready too. I don't think Finitevus' so-called Grandmaster would have wanted us to come here just to run away in the last minute."

For several minutes they stood, stared at the white surrounding and listened. The wind and snowfall had grown stronger and several Echidnas started shivering - but not just because of the cold.

And then Warp Rings appeared around them.

"Fire!" they heard Lien-Da's cry but even without it they would have opened fire. The first few intruders were caught completely off guard and hit by blasters but the next ones were warned and could open fire or take cover faster. Lien-Da's Legions spread out so that they were harder to hit and could also take the rocks as cover, most of the Albion Echidnas followed their example. The Guardians shielded them or used Chaos attacks against the enemies. One Ring was hit and vaporized by a mighty Chaos blast that also took out the enemies close to it but only a few seconds later another Ring appeared.

The fight was now lasting for several minutes and the snowstorm made it harder and harder to keep enemy from friend if they were standing farther than a few steps away.

"Stop! We retreat!" a voice bellowed but it was no one of Lien-Da's Legions or the people of Albion.

The Warp Rings closed one after another.

"What is this? Another kind of trick?" Lien-Da shouted.

"No trick", the voice answered. "I only saw that Dark Legionnaires are fighting side by side with the scum and even if they have chosen the wrong allies they are my people after all. I want to give them a fair chance to fight - which a snowstorm is not. Maybe with a bit more respite they will also come to their senses and see which side they really should belong to - and join forces with me."

Heads turned around until they finally found the speaker standing on top of some rocks. Xenin aimed his gun at him but hadn't shot yet as if he was still waiting for a command. Lien-Da laid her hand on his arm. "No, don't shoot." She looked at the figure on the rocks again. "I don't want my brother to get killed - again."

"Legionnaires, where is your leader?" Kragok now called out. "Maybe he already has decided that it's better for you to be commanded by a Grandmaster again instead of getting pushed around by Guardians."

"They already have a Grandmaster", Lien-Da now shouted, "And she says, yes, it would be nice to joining forces with you again..." All eyes now were on her and she continued, "... if it wasn't for one little problem: You're working for Finitevus. Hell will freeze over before I join that bastard."

"Working for Fintevus? I've never been so insulted. No Grandmaster with even a last piece of honour would work for someone else. If anything then he is working for me."

"That's what you think."

"Enough!" Kragok's voice echoed from the rock faces. "I give you one night to decide, Grandmaster. If you don't change sides you will be eliminated with the other scum."

He also disappeared through a Warp Ring.

Lien-Da sighed. "We have to stay here, if we want or not. The storm makes it impossible to fight and even if we could go after them we would have to leave our wounded behind."

"Besides we don't even know where those cowards are now", Spectre snarled.

"I think I have a clue", Harry said, "I heard one of the retreating Legionnaires say something 'bout the south of the canyon. Sounded like they are going to block our way back to the town."

"So this canyon is a death trap", Sabre scowled. "We can attack their camp and get defeated, try to get help from the kingdom of Mercia and freeze to death on our way or stay here with the same fate. And we will never know when they decide to attack Albion. Even if we reach Mercia and they are willing to help us our way back will take a very long time and again we will lose people to the cold."

"I don't thin they will attack the town too soon", Remington said. "If they do then they will unblock the path, we can follow them and then they will have to fight with us and with the soldiers who stayed back for the town's protection. No, I think they will try to eliminate us first."

Lien-Da dejectedly shook her head. "Let's just find a protected place for now and take care of the wounded. Iskander?" She turned to one of her Legionnaires. "As soon as the snowstorm dies down I want you to dress in old Dark Legion cloaks and go south. Infiltrate their camp and try to find out as much as possible."
 

~~~***~~~

For three days and nights we are now trapped in this white hell and all we could do was attack a few smaller bases around us or defend our own. We still have found no way to attack their stronghold in the south. Thanks to Iskander's warnings of planned attacks we never were caught off guard but still we lost several people, too many people. And now we haven't heard from Iskander for one whole day.

Our supplies will only last for five more days but I think we will be dead before they are gone. Either frozen to death or killed by enemies.

Remington stopped writing and closed his eyes for a few seconds. Writing in this dim light was straining them. Only a small fire was burning. It could barely warm the tent, the reason why a lot of soldiers shared the same shelter - the more people the faster their own bodies could heat up the place - but at least it didn't produce enough light to get detected that easily by enemies.

He was the only one in the tent who was still awake. Harry at his side was already fast asleep and so were the others.

The Constable put away paper and pencil and laid down in the hope to find some sleep - escape from reality for at least some hours. He had already given up hope they would survive this war but he had started to write down notes - people at least should know what had happened to them.
 

~~~***~~~
 

Locke stood on top of a building and stared into the darkness. During moments like these he somehow missed playing babysitter for Mace. Watching over the little boy while his mother was busy at least kept him distracted and he had less time for fears and worries. But as soon as he was alone again everything returned. For three days he hadn't heard anything from those who had gone to the canyon. Not knowing what had happened to the other Guardians, the people of Albion or even the Dark Legion was driving him insane.
 

~~~***~~~
 

Not even three hours later Remington was woken up by one of the guards.

"Is it already my turn to be on guard duty?" he sleepily asked.

"No, but all group leaders are meeting in the supply tent, even the sergeants of the Dark Legion and after you are the leader of the EST I thought you should know about it too."
 

Remington was terribly freezing. In the supply tent it was as cold as outside - supplies didn't need warmth - but outside he at least could move while in here he mostly had to stand around. With him there were Spectre and Sabre - Thunderhawk volunteered in the hospital tent and didn't want to leave as long as his help was still needed - Lien-Da, the two surviving Dark Legion sergeants and Xenin who went wherever Lien-Da went, if he was invited or not.
 

"Iskander's silence is making me nervous", Spectre said. "Either our communicators lost connection or he can't contact us anymore because else he would be detected or he already had been detected. In any of these cases we need to find out what really happened to him."

"But this time we have to send scouts from Albion", Lien-Da said, "If they really have detected Iskander then they will be alerted and watch out for anyone they don't know. In this case we could even send out the Dingo as spy. We need people who know how to move silently and stay hidden. My people are warriors, not snipers. They are trained for open field battle and not for hiding."

"And what makes you think our people are more experienced in that case?" Remington asked.

"I had hoped for a few hunters in your team. Someone who knows how to silently stalk his prey. Furthermore we don't just need a spying team but also a distraction team. I and one or two Legionnaires will go and I will pretend that I want to talk to Kragok because I have changed my mind and fight with him. The longer most eyes are on me the more time our spies have to move more freely without being detected."

"We can't let Albion Echidnas walk to an enemy camp all alone", Sabre said, "Even if they are good hunters they would need someone with military knowledge with them - their prey normally doesn't have things like well trained guards with weapons."

"Harry can go with them", Remington suggested.

"The Dingo?" one of the sergeants sneered.

"Why not? Your Grandmaster was the one who said we could even send him. He once was a soldier and the people trust him."

"I also have chosen the first one I want to come with me", Lien-Da said, "You, Remington."

"I'm not a Dark Legionnaire. They won't believe that you have changed your mind if they see you with the leader of the EST."

"Some of them know you are Kragok's son. If their Grandmaster's sister has changed her mind why not also his heir?"

"This is insane", a voice said.

Heads turned and they looked at Xenin as if they saw him for the very first time now. They nearly had forgotten he was still there and it was also a surprise to hear him questioning one of his Grandmaster's decisions.

"And what don't you like about our plans", Lien-Da asked with a glare and crossed her arms in front of her chest. The lieutenants exchanged worried gazes.

Xenin still looked straight into her eyes when he answered, "We can't risk losing our Grandmaster."

Lien-Da laughed. "Have you noticed that we are in the middle of a war zone? Anyone of us is in danger to get killed anytime."

"But then you are always surrounded by other soldiers. Your plan will be something different because you will go right into the enemy's camp with only a traitor of his heritage by your side. Please, let at least me accompany you."

Lien-Da looked at him for a few more seconds then she said, "Seems like someone will never leave me alone, no matter what. But you are one of my trustiest soldiers - not even Finitevus could break your loyalty. Yes, you shall come with me."

Xenin lowered his head. "Thank you, Grandmaster."

"And now go and wake up the others so we can find suitable people. Our mission has to start as long as we still have the screen of night."
 

Not too much later two small groups - one with Lien-Da, Remington and Xenin, the other with Harry and two young females from Albion - headed for separate directions. At least it had stopped snowing and so the moon lit their ways.

About half an hour later Lien-Da's team had reached a sentry east of the enemy camp. They took cover behind a snow hill and watched the guards.

"Shouldn't we go to them right away?" Remington asked silently, "If they detect us in our hideout I'm not sure they will believe our story."

"No, wait", Lien-Da whispered back, "They aren't even paying attention to what's happening outside of their little camp and concentrating on the main camp only. Looks like they are waiting for something or someone. I don't want to give up cover until I know what's coming."

Minutes passed and Remington already had started freezing again when three more soldiers appeared - two were dragging the third one with them. Only seconds later Kragok and Finitevus followed. The two soldiers forced their prisoner to his knees.

"Have you thought I wouldn't notice if a stranger entered my camp?" Kragok asked. "Finitevus had warned me in advance that something like this would happen and so I learned the names and faces of my Legionnaires. I can't remember the name Iskander nor have I ever seen you before."

"Yes, yes it's true; I'm not one of yours. But when you appeared in front of us for the very first time I saw you as the one true Grandmaster and decided to follow you instead", Iskander answered trembling with fear.

"And you were so eager to follow me that you even forgot to leave your communicator behind though you knew that as soon as you turn it on your former Legion would hear everything you or someone close to you was saying? Or maybe you kept it on purpose to tell all of former colleagues how nice it is over here", Kragok said his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Don't lie to me. My soldiers heard part of what you were telling your people."

"No, they only thought I was spying for them. I was giving them false information."

Kragok looked at his bionic arm. "This thing was actually built as a gun but it also has pretty sharp claws. I like the sight of blood but only when it's the one of others."

"No, please, show mercy", Iskander now cried out, "I will prove you I can be trusted. Just give me a chance."

"You already had your chance."

Kragok's move was so quick that Iskander didn't even have time to scream before the claws were driven through his chest. Remington felt Lien-Da wince at his side and he also wished he didn't have to see more of it but he couldn't avert his gaze from the scenery. Their spy broke down and the two soldiers dragged him away to dispose his body somewhere in the darkness outside of the small camp.

"Why haven't you killed him in front of all your people?" Finitevus asked. "Would have been nice to watch for them and also a good warning what would happen if anyone betrayed you."

"I didn't want to make my camp dirty. Besides you wanted to show me something outside anyways."

"Oh yes, I have good news for you. The poisonous gas is ready. At the moment we have stored it at different places. One of the storages is only a few meters south of here if you want to see it. We can't fly by night but as soon as the sun rises we will head for Albion and drop the barrels."

Kragok coldly smiled. "Now those are really good news."

Remington could finally turn his head and met the others' gazes. Lien-Da looked as shocked as he felt.

"We... we have to warn them..." She frantically searched her coat then she let out a silent curse. "The communicator ... I must have lost it. We have to go back to the camp to get in contact with the town."

"But now we have to get around a camp of guards who are paying attention again", Remington said. "It will take an eternity."

"Unless someone takes the shortest way and runs right through the camp", Xenin said.

The others stared at him.

"Don't tell me you were serious", Lien-Da whispered.

But Xenin looked as if he had never been more serious.

"My skin can take a few shots and my cybernetics allow me to run for hours while theirs don't. You can take your time to find a safe way around the guards while I deliver the message to the camp."

Lien-Da sighed and weakly smiled. "Okay, but when you return I want to see you still in one piece. And take this as an order."

For a second it looked as if Xenin still wanted to say something but then he just nodded, jumped up and slided down the snow hill. At first the guards were too surprised to react then they opened fire but Xenin's metal skin protected him.

"And we will return to the camp too?" Remington asked.

"No, we will only go towards the camp to meet Xenin halfway when he returns and then we have another mission - to sabotage as many barrels as possible."
 

It was Spectre's turn of guard duty when Xenin arrived at the camp. The Guardian immediately was alarmed. If this Dark Legionnaire returned without his Grandmaster something bad must have happened. The news he delivered concerned him even more.

"I don't want to leave our camp alone but on the other hand I have this strong feeling a communicator call isn't enough and that I might be needed in the town", Spectre said and bit his lip while quickly thinking it over then he continued, "Ah, dammit, tell Thunderhawk he's in charge as long as I am gone. I will teleport to Albion."
 

~~~***~~~
 

Locke just wanted to turn around and leave the roof when he heard a mental call for him and Sojourner. Spectre! But it couldn't be possible because it was coming from somewhere in the town. But if it was something strange that was even a bigger reason to find out more about it.
 

The people at the place in front of the Council Hall were in an uproar. Lara-Le came over to Locke when she noticed him. Mace whom she never wanted to leave alone, not even for a second, was fast asleep in her arms and couldn't care less about all the noise around them.

"Do you know what has happened here?" Locke asked her.

"They all are talking about that Spectre has returned but I couldn't get through to see if it's true."

"I'm sure they will leave a Guardian through. Just follow me if you want."
 

Spectre stood in the middle and tried to calm the people down but they kept storming him with questions.

"SILENCE!" he finally roared loud enough that several people around him needed to cover their ears. When it became silent he took a deep breath and turned around to talk to Locke and Sojourner but he spoke loud enough that the others could hear him as well.

"Albion is in danger. Finitevus' Legion is about to drop barrels of something toxic over the town at the crack of dawn. There are troops out who will try to find and destroy as many barrels as possible but after we neither know how many storages there are or where they are hidden the chance it high that they can still deliver some to Albion. We only have a few hours left and within that time we must evacuate the town."

He had awaited that the storm around him would break loose again but the pinching silence stayed. The shock was too deep for words.

"And where are we supposed to go?" Sojourner asked soundlessly. "There are pregnant females, eggs, babies, elders in this town. We neither won't be able to get away very fast, nor very far unless our destiny is called death by freezing."

Locke silently cursed and dejectedly shook his head.

"I wished I had gotten the jets to Haven 3 as long as I still had the chance."

Spectre looked at him. "The jets? I thought they were destroyed during the attack on Haven."

"No, two survived the attack and had been transported to the Grand Conservatory later. But Knuckles' communicator still doesn't work and Angel Island is too far away for teleportation now."

Spectre's eyes were lighting up.

"Two jets have survived... They aren't that large but if all people squeeze together as close as possible... And the weight will be the least problem...", he silently said as if he was rather talking to himself then he suddenly addressed Locke and Sojourner again, "An hour should be enough for a jet to reach Albion. If you don't hear from me within that time span, evacuate the town immediately. Even in the frozen wasteland you would have a greater chance to survive than in Albion then."

"Wait ... you mean ... but what if you don't manage to get far enough?" Locke sputtered when he realized what Spectre planned.

"I have to use all my energy and if I miss Angel Island I have nothing left to catch my fall, I know. But it's still worth the try", was the dark Echidnas determined answer. "You all get ready for your departure might it be on one way or the other."

Locke and Sojourner looked at each other then at Spectre again and nodded though something inside them jibbed to do so.

Spectre closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt the Chaos Energy rush through his blood. Only one try...

A cloud of smoke shot up around him and within a blink he was gone.
 

~~~***~~~
 

Spectre landed face first in the snow. For several seconds he remained lying deathlike. He couldn't move a single muscle. Then while his energy was slowly returning he carefully set up a bit and looked into the abyss only centimetres away from him. The surface of Mobius was several hundred meters below. He had really made it to the edge of Angel Island. Slowly he stood up and walked the way that would lead him to the Master Emerald because his senses told him that he would find Knuckles and his friends there and as soon as he felt strong enough he started running.
 

Two lights greeted him when he entered the Emerald Chamber and for a second Spectre was stunned when he saw Athair in his cocoon of light. "What in Edmund's name..."

Knuckles and the Chaotix weren't less surprised to see the other Guardian approaching.

"Spectre? Why are you here? How is the battle going? Is something wrong?"

The dark Echidna lifted up his hands. "Not so many questions. I barely have time." He quickly explained why he had come to Angel Island. "I also need a second pilot for I can't fly both jets all by myself."

"I can do that", Julie-Su offered, "During my time in the Legion I had been a pilot several times."

"Alright, then come with me."
 

On their way Spectre tried to give as much information about their current battle situation as possible and also asked about Athair.

"He's still recovering", Julie answered, "Or at least we hope so. After we couldn't leave him on the top of the shrine all alone we brought him into the chamber as well."
 

The doors of the Grand Conservatory couldn't be shut completely anymore and while in summer everything had been covered in dust now snow was lying everywhere.

Though covered with snow the jets were still in good shape and whoever had brought them here - Spectre supposed it had been Locke - must have thought about the possibility that they might be needed fast sooner or later because they were already facing the underground air corridor of Haven 2.

The two Echidnas quickly climbed their seats, engines were started and seconds later the two jets shot through the underground corridor and out of Angel Island.
 

~~~***~~~
 

Locke was standing at the roof he had left because of Spectre's arrival not too long ago and stared north again but this time he was rather looking at the night sky than at the canyon. The feeling of being helpless had strongly grown within those last few minutes and now it was also mixed with a slight feeling of hopelessness. Spectre hadn't said much about their battle situation but a look into his eyes told enough. The dark Echidna was still determined to fight until his last breath but the rare successes, the fact that too many people already had fallen and that now they would also lose Albion were wearing him down.

"May I join you?" Lara-Le's voice asked and moments later she stood beside him, Mace still sleeping in her arms.

Locke only nodded and for a moment they just stood silently side by side.

"I know how you must feel", Lara said after a while, "having family members out there and not knowing if they are okay or even still alive."

"I think if a Guardian had died Spectre would have mentioned it", Locke said. "And I'm also sure that Wyn is alright", he added despite the sting of jealousness in his heart when thinking about him. Anything to console Lara-Le.

"You really think so?" she asked.

"He was among the best fighters during Remington's training session and he can take care of himself."

A little smile wandered over her face. "Thanks for your words of confidence."

'No, I'm not feeling too confident', he silently thought while looking back north again. 'All I know is that no Guardian had died until the time Spectre had left the camp but what happened afterwards? What about all the other Echidnas out there? '

"I wished I could be with our troops right now", he said, "In this city I have done nothing so far and I feel completely useless."

Lara-Le put a hand on his shoulder. "You, Sojourner and the few other fighters stayed here to protect us in case of emergency. You aren't useless."

"But before they haven't attacked and all I did nearly the whole day long was watching the skyline. And now they are starting an attack and all I can do is waiting for some jets to arrive not knowing if they will ever come."

"I think that must sound very familiar for a Guardian. How often since you had become Guardian has the Master Emerald been attacked? Nearly never. And still you kept protecting it. And how much else could you do if the Emerald suddenly lost power other than wait for it to recover?"

Locke stared at her with slightly opened mouth. Yes, why hadn't he thought about that earlier? Protecting the Emerald or protecting Albion - it was about the same right now.

"You see, you aren't useless at all", Lara-Le continued and smiled, "And I am glad to have you as Albion's Guardian." Locke returned her smile.

That moment a rustle came from his communicator, something that hadn't been heard from it for days.

"This is Spectre, can you hear me? Get your preparations done. The jets will arrive within half an hour. Over."

A transmission of very bad quality but still the best thing they had heard for days.

"He made it! He really made it!" Locke cried out and hugged Lara-Le but not too stormily because else he would have crushed Mace between them. "Now we have a good chance to escape. Come, we need to spread the good news."
 

Half an hour later the two jets landed outside of the town. While Sojourner and Locke took over organization and led the people to their places so that each of them would fit in and still have a secure place Spectre jumped out of the jet and called for Locke.

"You will fly my jet back", he said. "I wished I could have stayed longer to make sure you safely arrive on the island or to tell you how our fights are going but I have to return."

"Can't we return and use our jets to get the fighters out as well?" Locke asked.

The dark Echidna slightly shook his head. "Sadly not. I have considered it myself but Finitevus' troops have flying vehicles too. They would follow us and they have weapons aboard - the Guardian jets don't. And even if we managed to get to Angel Island they would land too and then attack us in our own homeland. No, we have to weaken them on Mobius Prime as far as possible first."

Locke silently stared at the floor for a few seconds then it looked as if he remembered something and searched his coat until he found a small box.

"Can you take that with you? We have collected notes. Just a few words from home to tell the most important things that had been going on in the town during the last few days but I think they will raise our fighters' spirits."

"I will. Good luck to you", Spectre silently said then he was surrounded by smoke again.
 

~~~***~~~
 

Remington grabbed Lien-Da's shoulder and held her back. "Wait, I hear someone coming."

Lien-Da stood still and listened. It were the steps of just one Echidna but who knew if a hostile troop wasn't hiding between the rocks and they only sent out a scout. They now saw an Echidna approaching and he obviously also had noticed them because he too stopped. They were still too far apart to recognize each other so Lien-Da said, "Who are you? Reveal your identity or die."

"I know the watchwords, Grandmaster", the other one said, "but they are the Guardians' words. No loyal Dark Legionnaire in their right mind would use them."

Lien-Da let out her breath. "Xenin, no doubt."

The Dark Legionnaire ran to them. "Glad to see you safely got away from the sentry. I informed the camp. Spectre teleported to Albion and a few more small troops were sent out to find and sabotage other poison storages."

"Good, now we too have to return to the enemy camp. We know one storage location for sure and we would be stupid if we didn't destroy it."
 

Not even five hundred meters south of the watch camp they found the storage, protected by a high metal wall. From their position guards were none to be seen but they were sure that Legionnaires were either patrolling on the other side of the fence or lying hidden in the canyon.

"Okay", Lien-Da whispered and turned around, "the safest way to sabotage them is to steal as many barrels as possible. We could also open them and let the gas fly away or make them explode but both ways are quite insane. And if we manage to get some of them we will also gain a weapon. So one of us will have to get inside and look for a way to get the barrels out while the others stand on guard. Xenin, do you see that large boulder? If you move that close to the wall I can use it as a ramp to get in."

"You?" Xenin asked and raised his eyebrow.

Lien-Da sighed and turned to him with a glare. "What's the problem with you? Are you questioning everything I'm saying today? And don't start with 'It's too dangerous to go' again. It's dangerous outside too, like it is everywhere else and I'm not a little child anymore."

Xenin lowered his head. "I'm sorry. I ... didn't mean it that way. I only wondered ... why can't I go? When moving barrels my strength could come in handy."

"Yes, but I'm a faster climber and maybe I will have to balance over the wall for a while to find a safe way down which I think I can also do better than you guys. And after I know my bodyguard is worried about me again even if he doesn't want to admit it - the greatest danger will be outside of the walls, there won't be any guards inside, so you will be a better protection for me if you stay outside."

The Legionnaire nodded reluctantly, "Yes, Grandmaster." Then he went to get the boulder.
 

When the discussion between the others started Remington had decided to sneak around the walls and look for enemies. Now he returned.

"I couldn't find any guards, not even at the door. I also checked that but it's carefully locked and we might need hours to open it", he told.

"That means they are really hiding in the canyon. I also want you to investigate the area around a bit while I'm inside the storage. Be back in a few minutes."

"Be careful", Xenin said when he helped her get up the first bit of the boulder.

She weakly smiled at him then continued climbing up.

"I can see boxes leaned against the wall. They are a good way down."

The guys could see her balance over the wall a few meters then she jumped down at the first box and disappeared out of their sight. They silently looked at each other then went different ways to examine the closest parts of the canyon.
 

A few minutes later they met again at the boulder.

"I even climbed up a few canyon walls", Remington said, "but I couldn't find anyone. What have you done? Have you seen any guards?"

"I trampled over the rocks loud enough to be heard within a range of ten meters and whistled our national anthem", Xenin answered.

The Constable frowned. "This isn't the time for stupid jokes."

"It wasn't a joke, bub. I already got the feeling that we're all alone in this part of the canyon so I started doing loud things and I can tell you if there really had been any snipers around I already would have gotten a bullet through the non metal protected part of my head. Looks like they are feeling a bit too safe and thinking that no one would find their storages."

"But what if ... they did it on purpose?" Remington whispered when a sudden idea shot through his head. "What if they wanted us to enter the storage?"

Xenin's eyes widened.

"Lien-Da!" he shouted, whirled around and jumped up the boulder. Instead of going to the boxes he just jumped off the wall. Bones would have been broken after such a fall but thanks to his metallic legs Xenin only stumbled a bit after his landing, found his balance again and continued running.

Remington wanted to follow him but he couldn't climb as fast. When he finally reached the top of the wall, Xenin already had disappeared. He just wanted to stand up and balance to the boxes when he saw a flash in the darkness. Immediately he let himself fall back and slid down a major part of the boulder. The slide was chafing his skin but he didn't care as long as he escaped the explosion and the resulting shockwave. Metal parts rained down on him but the worst was the following smell - a sickening sweet smell. Remington coughed and pulled the collar of his coat over his nose but that was barely helping. It might have been better to get away from this place as fast as possible but he still started to climb up again. No way would he leave his team mates as long as there was the slightest chance they had survived.
 

Fog filled the storage but then Remington saw a movement. Lien-Da tried to get out from underneath Xenin who still was lying half on top of her. She tried to cover her muzzle with her arm and was coughing badly. Xenin obviously had shielded her with his body. The metal skin on his back was ripped off and he was lying in a puddle of crimson. Remington expected the worst when he knelt down to help Lien-Da and to examine Xenin but the cyborg was still breathing weakly.

"Rem, we ... we have ..." Lien-Da brought out between her coughing fits. The Constable already was prepared for an order to leave the wounded Legionnaire behind and thought of arguments to reason her so the next few words surprised him.

"We have to ... get him out of here. The door ... it was blasted open ... We won't have to climb with him..."

Xenin wasn't a lightweight and they could only move slowly with him between them but still Lien-Da didn't want to leave him behind - even though he was holding them up, even though he was already half-dead and no one was sure if he would reach the camp alive, even though her own legs threatened to give in any second.

Remington doubted that they could make it back to the camp in time. Lien-Da had breathed in quite a lot of the poison and she would break down sooner or later but while Remington could have carried her there was no way he could have carried Xenin all alone.
 

After half of their way the Grandmaster's legs gave in and Xenin's weight forced Remington to his knees as well.

"Too ... heavy", she gasped, "Give me just ... a minute..."

Remington's chest hurt. Breathing in the cold air got harder each minute. He remembered that he had read somewhere that this kind of poisonous gas worked best in cold and wet air but how on Mobius should they reach a warm place fast enough?

It was getting lighter at the horizon thus he noticed the figures that approached them very quickly. If those were enemies they would have had an easy job. But then he recognized one of them, quickly stood up and ran closer.

"Harry! It's me, Remington!" He then noticed that only one of the female Echidnas was walking while Harry carried the other one. She pressed her hands against a gash at her side.

"A trap", Harry said breathlessly, "I called my team back in time so we didn't breathe in too much poisoned gas but on our way back we ran right into one of their troops. We managed to escape but Terry-Lu was wounded."

"We also have two wounded Echidnas here but I can't carry both."

"I can walk", Lien-Da said and slowly came closer. "But I can't carry more than my own weight."

So the other female helped Remington support Xenin and they continued their slow march to the camp.
 

At the entrance of the hospital tent Lien-Da broke down again and this time she couldn't get up on her own anymore. Also Remington felt weak. With the strong pain in his chest breathing was very hard now.

One of the doctors, a Dark Legionnaire, ran over to them. "That smell... No, don't tell me yet another trap..." Then his gaze fell on Lien-Da. "In Dimitri's name... Grandmaster!" He turned around and yelled, "Quick, we need more of the antidote. There are six new poison cases, one of them is the Grandmaster and two of them are badly wounded!"

Remington was dragged away and pushed onto a mattress. He could see that the others were led to free spaces too. The injection he barely felt.

Doctors were running around not knowing where to help first, the hospital never had been fuller. Each of the sent out teams had returned poisoned. Remington saw Sabre standing close to him talking with another Dark Legion doctor.

"One of the doctors said the antidote alone wouldn't work and we need warmth so where's the fire I asked for a long time ago?"

"There's no wood around anymore and all we could do is burn this tent down", was the answer.

"What about the weapons of the Flame Legion? If we put them up like flares..."

"Those flames are ammo. They will run out of it before the war is over if you use them to heat up a tent."

Sabre bared his teeth. "You want to say that weapons are more important than lifes?"

"They will understand that they have to die for the greater weal. What would it be good for to save them if we lose a war because of a lack of weapons?"

Now the normally calm Guardian lost his patience. "Get those damn weapons or I will rip your heads off and use them as cannonballs", he roared and at that very moment he rather looked like his dark ancestor and reminded everyone that Spectre's blood was also rushing through his veins. The Legionnaire stumbled backwards and quickly ran out of the tent.
 

Terry-Lu and Harry were sitting on a mattress close to Remington. The young female had burst into tears and cried into Harry's shoulder.

"I don't want to fight anymore. I just want to be home", she sobbed.

"But if we give up there soon wouldn't be anything left to call home. We gotta stay strong."

"I can't be strong anymore. All those fights only lead to death and I don't want to die."

"You won't. You got these wounds because of me and as redemption I will do anything to protect you from now on and get you out of this alive."

Harry looked up and his gaze met Remington's. While Remington just felt tired and empty at the moment the fire in Harry's eyes still hadn't died. And General Stryker really had called this Dingo a coward once? He might prefer the easy life most of the time but Harry was far from being a coward. Seeing the fighting spirit still alive in his friend's eyes Remington also regained part of his courage. The tiredness remained though so he leaned back and closed his eyes not sure if he would even be able to find sleep within the chaos around him but then he still dozed off.

When he woke up it had become a bit quieter inside the tent because the people either slept or had left already but therefore there was uproar outside. Remington felt a bit dizzy, either from too less sleep or a side effect of the antidote; still he decided to go outside.
 

Spectre found himself in the middle of a crowd again but this time most of the Echidnas became silent fast and waited for him to tell them news from Albion.

"This very moment they are boarding the jets. Before there's enough sunlight for the other Legionnaires to take off they will already be on their way to Angel Island", the Guardian announced. A silent sigh of relief went through the crowd. "I also brought you letters from home. Well, not really letters, they are rather little notes. But from my own experience I know that the smallest things can be the biggest reasons to live."
 

Remington's heart made a jump when his name fell and he was given his note. When he saw Komi-Ko's handwriting and read the message the small piece of paper contained he felt like he suddenly stood in a warm shower.

"What's larkin', guv, 's everything alright?"

The Constable looked up and stared at Harry for a few seconds. What should he say? 'Everything is great but nothing is okay'? Instead he gave him the note.

Harry raised his eyebrows when he read it then a wide smile spread on his face. "The eggs are already there and there's two of them? Now that's some good news." He patted Remington's shoulder. "D'you and Komi know how to name them once they're hatched?"

"Well, yes, we thought about Elzevir for a boy and Tami-Ko for a girl. But what if we now have two daughters or two sons? We need more names." He silently laughed but then frowned and slowly shook his head. "This isn't right ... I should be with them right now. Instead I'm as absent as my own father was."

"But you are not Kragok and unlike him you are protecting your children - right here and right now."

Remington weakly smiled. "Yeah, and I hope they can grow up with a father by their side in a more peaceful time than most of us did."
 

The night was almost over when Remington returned to the hospital tent. He was still feeling dizzy and needed some more sleep and he also didn't want to go back to his normal sleeping place as long as he was pumped with antidote and before the doctors told him he didn't need supervision anymore. On his way between the mattresses he noticed that someone else was awake too. Lien-Da stared at the ceiling. When she saw Remington coming closer she said, "I heard Spectre returned from Albion. Any good news from the town? Will the people there make it to safety?" Her voice sounded weak and very rough.

The Constable nodded. "Yes, they will be able to leave Albion before the attack starts and find shelter on Angel Island."

"That's good." She continued staring at the ceiling. "Would have been bad if the Legionnaires who had to stay back would have died just because their Grandmaster is a failure who can't see a trap when it's in front of her."

Remington sat down beside her. Lien-Da losing her self-esteem and talking bad about herself - now that was something new and it was nearly frightening.

"Hey, no one would have guessed they were blowing up their own supplies. We all thought about snipers hidden between the nearby rocks."

She let out a grim laugh. "And we should have swarmed out to make sure they really were hiding there and to get rid of them before entering an obviously unattended storage. It had written 'trap' all over it and I should have been able to recognize Kragok's handwriting after working with him for so many years." She turned her head and looked across the room. "The doctors said they don't have the right material to replace the metal skin on his back", she said and without following her gaze Remington knew who she was talking about. "Even if his wounds heal he stays as vulnerable as any other Legionnaire during the rest of the war. If he hadn't followed me in we wouldn't have lost our tank." Lien-Da remained silent for a few seconds and then she said, "I had given him the order to stay back so why did he still follow me?"

Remington shrugged. "I guess after we found out that it was a trap he didn't want to leave his Grandmaster alone in the danger zone."

But Lien-Da shook her head. "That wouldn't be the way Xenin normally thinks. An order is an order to him and he never questioned them, no matter how stupid they were or if following them meant the one giving them could be killed. He even left Dimitri behind in a burning complex because his orders were not to be disturbed at any costs."

Remington closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Thanks to Athair he had a clue what was going on inside of Xenin's mind but he didn't want to be the one to give it away to Lien-Da - not until Xenin himself wanted him to do so.

"I would say ... it was all about the greater weal before. He wouldn't be called one of the most loyal Dark Legionnaires if he wasn't ready to sacrifice it all - even the life of a Grandmaster - for the Legion. A few will die in the process but in the end it's a success for the majority and nothing else matters. It also was a personal gain for him. The better he carried out orders the higher he got in favour with those who gave the orders."

"Yes, that's his normal way of thinking but it doesn't explain the way he behaved before. Saving me wasn't for the greater weal and while I'm somehow glad he disobeyed my orders to save my life I'm sure he didn't think about his own gain when he decided to do so."

"Might it be because you helped him out of Finitevus' control and allowed him to return to the Dark Legion even though he killed some of its members, because you proved your great leadership by fighting in one of the greatest wars on Mobius while other Grandmasters only had to fight in the smaller civil wars or because of any other reason I can't think of now - he really values you. Assigning him to be your bodyguard maybe was the greatest honour for him. And all those times when he questioned your plans and orders in the past few days or wanted you to stay back, he didn't do it because he meant to be disrespectful - he cares for you and wanted to keep harm away from you."

Lien-Da turned her head to face the ceiling again and after a few more moments of silence Remington found it was best to leave her to her thoughts, stood up and continued his way to his mattress.
 

~~~***~~~
 

After the jets had landed Locke was one of the first to get out and take a look at the complex. Snow covered the floors and the generators stopped working so they had no electricity. For months he barely had thought about the near-derelict Grand Conservatory and now he wanted to slap himself for only caring about building up Haven 3 instead of starting to repair Haven 2. But on the other hand he never would have thought to ever see his isle of home again. He vigorously shook his head. No time for self-reproach or for floating in old memories as long as people still needed his help.

"Alright, I need a few people who can handle tools and repair the doors. Sojourner knows where they are and can show you. Meanwhile I will try to set up the generators. Some of us need warmth, especially the eggs." He searched for his tools and then quickly walked to the room where the generators were located.

"Those who are strong enough have to get the snow out", Sojourner continued. "One room of our sick bay will be used as hatching station, the beds in the other rooms will be reserved for those who really need them because I don't think we have enough beds for all of you."

"I will take care of that problem later on", Locke's voice was heard in the background. When it was about improving Haven he completely was in his element.

"Uh, well, you heard him. But until he is able to take care of it we have to make do with sleeping bags and the floor."
 

Not even an hour later the generators were doing their usual job and one of the terminals in the computer room was running. Locke tried to get a view of Albion in. The camera showed a picture but it was tilted to the side and half covered in snow. Normally the batteries of these cameras charged themselves while flying but they hadn't been in use for months and now they barely had enough energy to lift themselves off the ground.

"Oh come on..." Locke said, slightly annoyed. All this camera needed was a little jump in the air and it would immediately start charging again. He continued pushing the buttons. First the picture only slightly moved, after the next few tries it moved a bit more and finally the camera turned and slowly rose from the ground. The picture was still swaying from side to side as if someone tried to film on a ship during a storm but at least he had a full view of Albion. At first the town looked like it always had, just without the Echidnas but then the flying Legion vehicles arrived. Each of them carried a poisonous freight which they dropped over the town. No explosions, no destruction, just barrels bursting open. The end of Albion, the old city all Echidnas originated from, was silent, unspectacular but still - or maybe because of that - shocking. The gas didn't spread so only Albion was surrounded by a slight fog but it didn’t reach the Emerald Sea or the coasts. Life would continue in the areas around but years or even decades would need to pass until anyone could return to Albion.

Locke turned off the screen. He had seen enough. Though Albion’s downfall was upsetting now wasn’t the time to grief and he had to concentrate on rebuilding Haven 2 again.
 

~~~***~~~
 

The sun now had fully risen. In the hospital tent it was silent. Nearly everyone there was sleeping and only from time to time a doctor came in to check if everything was alright.

Lien-Da finally decided to stand up and made her way between the sleeping Echidnas until she stood in front of Xenin. They had turned him to the side so that he didn't need to lie on his wounds and still could breathe freely. Because of the metal skin on most parts of his body the doctors couldn't inject the antidote and thus Thunderhawk's healing abilities had been neccessary. 'Saved by a Guardian', Lien-Da thought, 'I hope you will never find out.' But still it was no guarantee that he really had been saved and could survive. Thunderhawk had stopped the poison from spreading in his body but he couldn't repair his lungs if they already had been damaged or any other wound. They neither had the materials to replace the skin on his back nor to repair anything else in his body. In the best case he only had the wound on the back and could wake up within a few hours but in the worst case... Lien-Da didn't even want to think of it.
 

Other thoughts were still spinning in her head.

"He cares for you."

Had Remington really just meant that Xenin appreciated her as a Grandmaster or had there been more behind his words? And what about her? Why had she insisted on taking a badly wounded Legionnaire with them though she could barely stand on her own feet? Why did she still care if this Legionnaire would make it through or not? And why was it so hard to just go out and leave the camp when she thought about that she also had to leave him behind?

She felt as if she still needed to say or do something before her goodbye but didn't know what so she just whispered a simple "Thank you", turned around and left the tent.

She made it out of the camp without being seen by any of the guards but even if they had noticed her she wouldn't have stopped. Her plan was insane, dangerous and could even result in her death but still sometimes sacrifices had to be made for the greater weal. She needed to speak with Kragok.

Actually Remington had been the one responsible for this idea by mentioning that she got Xenin back to his mind. Controlling a soldier who was used to taking orders was one thing but a Grandmaster was something completely different. She was sure that Kragok's mind already struggled hard to get free of it and she needed to give it the last push to make it.
 

Step by step she forced herself through the snow and each step was harder than the previous one. She had gotten up too soon - the antidote had just started to take effect and the cold made her even dizzier.

Lien-Da turned around. Her own camp now was farther away than the enemy camp - if she wanted to go back now in all probability she would break down before she had reached it but she had never planned to return before she had been successful anyways. If she could only reach the next group of rocks. There she could rest for a little while. One step after another... Her legs gave in. For a little while she could still prop up but then her arms gave in too.
 

"Sir, someone is lying over here. Is she one of us or one of them?"

"With that dress code? Definitely not one of us. But she still is on our territory. Check her if she's still alive and if she is she will wish she hadn't survived."

Lien-Da's eyes snapped open and despite still feeling weak she quickly tried to get up. But even if she still had all of her strength there was barely anything she could have done with three weapons pointed at her.

"No, I don't think I'm in the right mood to torture anyone", the leader of the group said, "Just kill her."

"Wait!" Another Legionnaire slided down the rocks. "Can't you see who that is? It's their Grandmaster. Kragok's instructions were to lead her to him if we should ever be able to capture her."

"Alright, you heard him", the leader said to Lien-Da. "You will accompany us back to the fortress."

"Good idea", Lien-Da coolly answered, "I wanted to exchange a word or two with my brother anyways."
 

On an open square in the middle of the fortress Legionnaires formed a circle in which Lien-Da was pushed inside. She wanted to get up again but two soldiers held her in place. Kneeling before Kragok was the last thing she wanted but with so many armed soldiers around her she had to defer and only could shoot them glares.

A few Legionnaires made place so that Kragok and Finitevus could enter the circle too.

"Grandmaster, you joined forces with traitors of our kind, refused to join me when I offered it to you and you still don't look as if you want to fight for us", Kragok said when he stood right before her. "So what shall I do with you?"

"I know what you can do", Lien-Da snapped, "You can shut up and listen. I'm at least only fighting side by side with traitors instead of working for that scum." She nodded to Finitevus.

Kragok frowned. "I'm NOT working for him. He is my advisor but it's still me who decides if I follow his advises or not."

"He only makes you think you still have a free will. Dimitri once worked together with him too and it only led to his disappearance and to Moritori being banned to another Zone. After our grandfather hadn't been among those who returned when Finitevus opened the gates for your army I believe he's dead."

She wasn't sure but she thought she had seen a little flickering in Kragok's eyes.

"I'm not fighting for the Guardians or the people of Albion but I've teamed up with them to protect my own people. The Echidna race is dying. Yes, both of the tribes, the Dark Legion and the traitors. The war that had taken place over a year ago claimed too many victims and several of those who hadn't fallen in the fights were eradicated in Robotnik's Egg Grape Chamber. There once were several million Echidnas. Now all that's left are a few hundred. And they also will soon be gone if this civil war continues. That's exactly what Finitevus wants. Dimitri might have found out about his true plans too late but at least we are warned now and won't fall for him anymore. Do you really want to sacrifice the last few of our kind?"

"Enough!" Finitevus yelled, "We've listened long enough to this traitor's lies. She's not worth being called a Legionnaire anymore and the faster we get rid of her, the better. We want to see her bleed. You want to see her bleed."

Lien-Da's eyes widened. "No, Kragok, you don't want to kill me. I know you don't want to. Please, snap out of his control."

Kragok raised his bionic arm, ready for the deadly strike. Lien-Da quickly shut her eyes and awaited death.

Seconds passed and still nothing had happened. Carefully she opened one eye. Kragok's claws were only centimetres away from her throat but he seemed to be frozen on the spot. She looked up and their gazes met for a second then Kragok quickly turned his head so she could only see his bionic eye.

"Get rid of her? Are you insane?" he shouted at Finitevus. "Do you know what would happen to the Legion if they lost their Grandmaster? They'd go berserk and roll over us like a thunderstorm. And they will also have three angry Guardians and the army of Albion as backup."

Finitevus crossed his arms. "Well, and what do you want to do instead."

"We will keep her as a hostage. Her Legionnaires will want her to stay alive so they won't attack us anymore. Maybe some of them will even join us." He turned to the soldiers beside Lien-Da. "Keep her imprisoned but treat her like a guest."
 

Lien-Da wandered around in circles restlessly. The tent she had been brought into was surrounded by soldiers and there was no way to escape. She needed to find out why Kragok hadn't killed her on the spot. Had he really snapped out of Finitevus' control or was it just exactly what he had said - a way to weaken her army. In the second case her stupid plan to talk to her brother would have led her own people into doom.

The entrance of the tent was opened and from outside she heard Kragok's voice.

"This is a private talk, from Grandmaster to Grandmaster. I don't want to be disturbed unless it's an emergency."

He closed the tent-door behind him, walked closer to her and lowered his voice.

"Lien-Da, thank goodness you are still alive. I don't even want to imagine what could have happened if... But why have you even been outside of your camp?"

"I wanted to talk to you and help you to get rid of Finitevus' influence."

"Yes, I think I'm finally free of it. But now I know all of us are in danger and I have no clue how we can get out of it alive."

He would never have admitted it but Lien-Da could see the fear in his eyes. Mortal fear. Unlike her brother she had never been afraid of death but she knew exactly how he felt.

"I'm ... thinking about it ...."

She continued walking through the tent.

"Best would be if we had a Guardian in the fortress. Some of them - if not all - know how to create a Chaos shield and would be a good protection if it's getting rough."

"Oh, I think it would look great if a Guardian marched right through my fortress and tried to convince my Legion and Finitevus that he decided to become one of us."

"No, I rather think that some of my Legion should do as if they want to join you and as a present to let everyone see they are serious they bring a captured Guardian along. Which means it can't be Spectre because before he can be captured he would blow up the whole canyon. But before I continue making up a plan we still need someone who can deliver the message to my camp. The whole thing would be good for nothing if it never leaves this tent. Unfortunately you have killed my spy. Do you know anyone who is loyal to you and you only, not to Finitevus?"

"Yeah, a few. If I tell them that I have found out Finitevus will betray us they will believe me immediately and keep fighting for me. We only have to make sure that the one I choose to be our messenger will reach the camp alive."

"We use a code to know my troops from yours. Something no loyal Legionnaire in his right mind would say." The corners of her mouth slightly twitched when she remembered this was exactly the way Xenin had described them. "But to be honest, we are Legionnaires fighting against Legionnaires so we already must have gotten insane. And now let's make up the rest of our plan."
 

~~~***~~~
 

Sabre was on guard when he saw the enemy Legionnaire approaching. He stood ready for an attack when the soldier suddenly called out, "In the name of Edmund, I have a message for you."

The Guardian relaxed a bit. No Legionnaire would have used Edmund's name unless he knew it was a code. This guy had to be one of Lien-Da's scouts.

"So what news do you have?"

"A plan to infiltrate our fortress and defeat Finitevus and the Legionnaires who are loyal to him, made up by Lien-Da and Kragok."

Sabre stared at him for a few seconds then he brought out, "Wait ... what? Lien-Da and Kragok are together again? And they made up a plan to capture the fortress... Where in Edmund's name are those two? And we haven't been able to defeat them in days and now we suddenly have a plan?" He rubbed his temples. "Okay ... please, come with me. This sounds like something that needs to be discussed with all team leaders."
 

"Have I got it right?" Spectre said. "Some Legionnaires are acting like they want to join and bring a Guardian with them. Somewhat later the rest of us is marching up and waiting in front of one of the doors of the fortress. Kragok will make sure that no guards are in that area or that those guards are our people. Then he announces that he knows about Finitevus' treacherous plans and gives the order to attack him. Those who are loyal will follow his orders, the rest will still fight for Finitevus but they won't have a chance because someone already opened the gates for us." He paused for a few seconds and looked at the others then he said, "Sounds like a useful plan to me."

Thunderhawk slowly shook his head. "This sounds too easy. If we could get into the fortress just like that why haven't we done it days ago?"

"Because the only one inside there who was on our side was Iskander", Sabre said, "And now we have two Grandmasters. But still it won't be easy at all. Someone could notice that our troops never wanted to join them and eliminate them on the spot - and our Grandmasters with them. Or barely anyone will join Kragok and then our teams will be equally strong."

"I'm with our Grandmaster no matter what", one of the Dark Legion commanders said.

Remington thought about the last of Lien-Da's plans that had nearly cost their lives and now she had made up yet another extremely dangerous plan. But last time they ran into one of Kragok's traps - now they had the trapper on their side. How many other choices did they have? They could either follow the plan and in the worst case die a fast death or continue their little fights like the days before and die slowly one by one.

"I'm with her too."

Spectre just nodded and Thunderhawk sighed. "Alright, I know I have lost. But who will be the Guardian gift?"

"I'll go", Sabre said. "Spectre is our wildcard and Finitevus knows that too. He will be very suspicious if the troop was able to take him captive. Thunderhawk is our best healer and we can't send him away too soon as long as there are still badly wounded in the hospital. My tactical knowledge won't be needed in the camp at the moment. Rather where the fight would start."

"We will pick the Legionnaires who will go on the mission", another Legion commander said.
 

In front of the hospital tent there was a little discussion. Xenin had regained consciousness and as soon as he was able to realise what was going on he had been as unstoppable as a tank on his way out.

"You are wounded. We can't take you with us", the sergeant tried to reason him.

"I'm perfectly fine and I can still fight. My wounds don't make me more vulnerable than one of you", Xenin insisted and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was standing completely upright even though he might just have done so because there were no muscles in his legs to give in but there was a fire burning in his eyes that told he would bring up the strength to stand it through.

The sergeant let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine, go into battle wounded if you want to. You're not under my command and I don't know what the Grandmaster would have ordered you to do."

"I will remind her to kick my ass later on if she wasn't pleased with my decision", Xenin said, mockingly saluted and went to the place where the other chosen Legionnaires already stood.
 

~~~***~~~
 

Lien-Da walked through her tent in circles. It seemed like hours since she and Kragok had finished their plan and he had left to send his messenger. Waiting was nearly worse than torture.

Her tent door opened and a soldier came in.

"Grandmaster, come with me. I'm sure this will interest you."
 

Legionnaires walked through the fortress, some of them had the uniforms of the Flame and Frost Legion. In their middle they carried an unconscious looking Guardian. Either they had really knocked him out to make it look more authentically or Sabre was a very good actor. They threw him before Kragok's feet.

"A present from us for the Grandmaster", one of them said and knelt down before him. Despite the cold he didn't wear a cloak and Lien-Da saw he wore a bandage around his upper body. Her heart made a jump when she realised it was Xenin and suddenly she felt a strange mix of anger and relief. She was relieved because he really had been able to recover that fast but why had that idiot not stayed in the hospital?

"Those Guardians are starry-eyed fools", Xenin went on, "They trust us completely and think we will always stay their allies and so they made the mistake to let this one keep watch together with a bunch of Dark Legionnaires who already had grown sick of working with scum and made the decision to switch sides."

"You see, Finitevus?" Kragok asked with a cool smile, "Just be nice to their Grandmaster and they also soon will find out which side is the better one and come to you on their own. But I still want to make another check of your loyalty. Some of you will guard the north gate. If we suddenly have enemies in our camp we know who we can't trust. And take that Guardian out of my sight. Unless Lien-Da you don't need to treat him like a guest."

"But don't say you also want to spare his life", Finitevus threw in, "He definitely isn't worth it."

"Don't worry but this is such an extraordinary chance that we need the right place or even the right light for it. I would say he will be executed when the sun is standing highest and the place will be the middle of the fortress where everyone can watch."
 

A silent army stood in front of the north gate waiting for their signal to attack. They were watched but the guards at the gate belonged to them. If they won or lost, it would be their last battle in this war.

Remington turned his head. He felt that he needed to have a last look at those he knew and loved before the final battle. Maybe he wouldn't be able to see some of them one more time afterwards. Harry was at his side as usual. They gazes shortly met and the Dingo gave him an encouraging smile. Remington tried to return the smile but the muscles in his face felt like they were frozen and it wasn't just because of the coldness. Terry-Lu had to stay back because of her wounds. In the hospital she was safe for the moment but if this battle was lost would there be any secure places left?

He also saw colleagues from the EST. Even the most experienced ones only had been in the team for a few months. Two of them already had fallen in previous battles and the Constable prayed to Aurora his team wouldn't lose more members.

Wynmacher, Lara-Le's husband, was standing in one of the front rows. He had been in one of the sabotage teams but had been lucky enough to neither inhale too many of the poison nor get wounded too badly. He had a few cuts but nothing that wouldn't heal within a few days. Hopefully his lucky streak would continue during the last battle.

Just like Remington Wyn had a family waiting for him at home. The brown furred male closed his eyes and thought of Komi-Ko and his children. He had to survive for them.
 

The sun had reached its highest spot when Sabre was led before the crowd of Legionnaires. Lien-Da stood in front of her own team, Xenin by her side. He stood so close to her that their shoulders touched. No matter how stupid she still thought his action was at the moment she was just glad to know him by her side.

"Legionnaires", Kragok said loud enough that everyone could hear him, "You are awaiting an execution today but I have to tell you it won't be this Guardian, at least not for now."

The soldiers exchanged surprised looks.

"I found out we have a traitor among us. He made me believe my own sister had gone insane and is working for the Guardians and the people of Albion now and advised me to attack Legionnaires with Legionnaires."

Finitevus' eyes narrowed but he still remained silent and awaited the next things to come.

"Now I know she only agreed to stay neutral to them for the survival of her own Legions", Kragok continued. "Since a great war the Echidna race is dying and if she had continued fighting the traitors she slowly would have eradicated her own race. But this is what my advisor plans right here right now. He wants us to fight against each other so we would do what Lien-Da tried to prevent."

The albino let out a laugh. "Listen to your Grandmaster, Legionnaires. The words of a madman. Suddenly obeying to the rules of Albion is doing a world of good to the Legion? Well, you wouldn't have been the first one to become insane during a war."

"I only was insane when I saw an enemy in my sister but thankfully I was able to clear up my mind and see the truth. Legionnaires, if you are still loyal to me, get this traitor!"

"Die!"

Finitevus fired a Chaos blast against Kragok but it was blocked by Sabre's counter attack. At the same moment those who still believed Finitevus stormed up against Kragok's loyal followers. Finitevus still had many soldiers and the teams of the two Grandmasters would have been outnumbered and defeated soon but then the north gate opened.
 

If Sabre ever had made up any tactics for this battle they now were foiled simply by uniforms. In the chaos of the battle it was hard to tell enemy from ally because Kragok's Legionnaires still wore their old cloaks - the same as Finitevus' soldiers. Their only chance to prevent getting mowed down by their new allies too was to stay close to the Grandmasters.

Finitevus let down a hail of Chaos Energy but was stopped when a Chaos Blast by Thunderhawk hit his chest. The Guardian however couldn't continue his fight against the albino because now several guns were aimed at him and he had to protect himself. Spectre raged through a group of Legionnaires like a dervish. Lien-Da, Kragok and Xenin fought back to back.

Someone beside Remington fell but he had no chance to look who it was. A few blasts missed him just closely then one hit his side. The wound would have been terrible but thanks to one of Sabre's shields the blast was weakened and only left a nasty burn.

Finitevus watched his soon outnumbered soldiers dying. He didn't care about their deaths at all. Sooner or later they would have died anyways. The only thing that troubled him was that a loss of his Legions would mean his defeat.

"You fools have weakened your own kind once another time", he silently said, "Maybe I have to retreat this time, maybe I have to retreat a few more times but I can wait. Wait while you slowly exterminate your own kind."

He used another Warp Ring.
 

A few of his soldiers noticed the Warp Ring but the gate closed before they could follow him. Slowly they all realised their leader was gone. A few continued the fight till their deaths, the rest fell to their knees and either begged for mercy or silently awaited their end. Their lives were spared. Not even a dozen of Finitevus' soldiers had survived the battle. But also the other teams had great losses.

It needed them a while to fully realise it was over. Victory, sad victory. In crimson snow surrounded by corpses no one felt like celebrating. And where should they go now? Echidnaopolis was destroyed, Albion poisoned for years. Were they supposed to wander over Mobius like the Forgotten Tribe once did - without the hope to find a home?

Remington looked around. At least his prayers had been heard. Harry as the only Dingo was standing out from the crowd. He covered part of his face with his hand but else he seemed to be unwounded. Wyn and the remaining members of the EST also had their injuries but at least they were still alive.

"We will ... return to Haven", Spectre finally said. "I'm sure you all want to be reunited with your families. We can still think about our further possibilities in the warmth of Haven. I'll go to get the jets."

Thunderhawk held him back. "No, you're not going on another suicidal mission."

"But how are we supposed to get the jets then? Our communicators are dead."

"And why do I have Haven on the line right now?"

Spectre stared at Thunderhawk, then at the communicator in his hand, then at Thunderhawk again.

"To make it short and without all the technical details, thanks to the more advanced technology in Haven 2 Locke is using a stronger signal now", the lavender Guardian explained. "I will ask him if he can send out two pilots."
 

The jets had to land outside of Haven because the hangar was needed as additional place for all the Echidnas. Also some of the bigger things had been moved out of the Grand Conservatory.

For the first time since days cheers were heard when the returning soldiers were greeted. Tears were cried, tears of happiness and tears of grief. Remington squeezed through the people, asked around for Komi-Ko until he finally found out that she had last been seen in the hatching room. He ran in said direction and met her halfway. They fell into each others arms crying tears of joy. For the next moments they were unable to let go of each other or even say a word. Then Komi-Ko finally brought out, "The eggs have hatched ... just a few hours ago... It's a girl and a boy."
 

Together they entered the hatching room. The two babies were fast asleep. Tami-Ko's fur was of a dark brown while Elzevir had the dark purple, nearly black, colour of his mother.

"When they were awake I saw they have your blue eyes", Komi-Ko said with a warm smile.

Remington carefully sat down beside them and gently stroke over their cheeks. The world went soft.
 

Within all the chaos no one noticed the god wandering through Haven until he patted on Locke's shoulder.

"Hey, whatever had been started a few days ago, have we won it? Oh and I saw Kragok and a few Legionnaires waiting in front of Haven. Just thought I should tell you about that."

"Athair", Locke cried out, "You recovered?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Uhm, well, as you can see we won. And Kragok might have teamed up with Lien-Da again but he still mistrusts us and rather prefers to wait outside."

"So come on, boy. Tell me what happened the last few days. And I also want to know why there are so many Echidnas in Haven."

"I only know half of it. To find out about the rest you have to ask one of those who took part in the battles. But I can tell you what I know anyways."

He pulled Athair to a quieter place and started telling his part of the story.
 

"We Legionnaires decided to pitch our own camp and not to stay with you in the Grand Conservatory or wherever you want to live later on", Lien-Da said, "Though we will stay neutral to you as long as it's neccessary for our recovery. If one of your people appears in our camp he might get strange looks but he won't be harmed."

"Your people are still welcomed here too", Spectre said, "But it would be a pity if we became enemies again after we went through such a troublesome times as allies."

"Dream on, Guardian", the Grandmaster said with a smile, "Your people can't live with us and my people can't live with you. It's only a matter of time until the next problems occur."

"But that would be exactly what Finitevus would wish us to do. You don't want to continue his work, do you?"

She stared at him for a few seconds but then her smile returned. "Touché, Guardian. Well, I have a long recovery time to think about it."

She waved her goodbye then left.
 

Two days later.

Underneath the stars Remington was sitting on a stone wall outside and looked over the ruins that once had been Echidnaopolis. It was another one of those nights where he couldn't find sleep and kept waking up. He didn't want to wake up Komi-Ko or the children and so he decided to go out and get some fresh air in the hope it would make him tired. At least it wasn't the skin biting freezing coldness he experienced during the war time but the cool winter air he had been used to for years. The days of fury finally seemed to be over.

"May I join you in your loneliness?"

Without awaiting an answer Harry climbed up the wall and sat beside him. He wore an eye patch now but it only covered part of the wound - a blaster had hit the left side of his face.

"How's your wound going?"

"Well, sooner or later fur will grow over it then you will just be able to feel there once had been a burn but not see it. And for my eye, if it heals it heals, if not, what do we have technology for? I still don't understand why you Echidnas once wanted to ban all technology. Not all of it is bad."

Remington sighed. "If I knew... We fight wars and kill each other with it and the same time some people only survive because of it. It's not the things that are good or bad, it's how people handle them."

They remained silent for a couple of seconds then the Echidna asked, "Do you know how Terry-Lu is doing?" He didn't know her very much but he still wanted to ask because it seemed as if Harry had been caring a lot about her.

"Yeah, met her quite often. She still needs a lot of time to recover and I don't just mean those bodily wounds. Just like all of us. You too seem to have some trouble on your mind. Aside of sleeping problems or returning nightmares I mean."

"Yeah, I now also started to worry about where we should live. Haven and the Conservatory are nice but no place where hundreds of Echidnas could live for a long time."

"What about this place?" Harry asked and pointed at the ruins, "Gee, that city had been damaged quite often in the past and still you always built it up. And just because some more buildings are damaged now you want to give it up? Something that had been your home for centuries? You now even have the bigger machines from the Conservatory. If you managed to rebuild Albion within a few months why don't you build up a new Echidnaopolis too?"

Yes, why not? If they didn't have to fear the attacks of the Dingoes or the Dark Legion Angel Island was the safest place they could have wished for. The Echidna kind might have originated from Albion but the place that later became Angel Island had been the home of the majority of Echidnas for centuries. And now after being away for over a year they finally had returned home.