The cruiser lurched through the air. When it flew, it was as if a stone were skipped across a pond, constantly dipping then soaring again for lengthy periods of time. People who frequently flew, like those in the military, were very much used to the pattern of the vessels, but someone like Ling Shi, who had never been in one, was quite disturbed by the constant slow drops.

It had become quickly apparent to the rebellious students why the Jade Fang's leader had been so reluctant to help them steal a craft to return to the island: a fear of flying. With each dip, Ling Shi shuddered a bit, holding onto the closest person he could find in Raul. "Do they always move like this?" he mumbled through his fingers as he covered his mouth.

"More or less. You don't notice after a while." Ardwen was quick to respond, proudly steering the ship. For him, any chance to show off his extensive knowledge of nearly everything had to be taken, and so he had hoped into the driver's seat before anyone could say anything. Since then it had been a relatively quiet flight towards the Enian Federation and Artisan Confederate. The deal had been arranged already for the Jade Fang to help supply forces and resources as needed, upon the conditions of meeting both Sigma, and Chandana. Ling Shi obviously had a desire to confirm the existence of his allies before committing to anything, but his willingness to make a deal at least gave Porter hope that they had a future ahead of them now.

"How do you know where you're going though?" Ling Shi had to stop his questioning for a moment to grab the edges of his seat, steadying himself as the cruiser shook. "I mean you said it's some secret island the android took you to."

"Oh, Sigma will do that for us," Porter answered, smiling in an effort to comfort Ling, to no avail. "As we get closer, he will take the system over on the ship and guide it in. He has to disable any tracking systems as well."

"Yeah, why aren't we being hunted down right now?" Nami bounced up in her usual way as she spoke, giant eyes taking in everything around her. "Where's the Eastern United States air force chasing us?"

"Don't worry about them." Ling Shi delivered one of his killer smiles, flashing his green tooth, before he promptly flopped forward, wrapping his arms around his knees for support. "I had men sent out to the main air bases to 'intervene' on our behalf and slow things down. We should be well outside their range before they're ready to even take off."

The screens within the shuttle flickered, shutting down briefly before white screens took over everywhere, bathing the interior in an eerie glow. Sigma's face slowly began to surface, as though he were coming up from underwater. Only his head appeared, created through coding and display, not because it was an actual feed of the cyborg. "I'm sorry that took so long," Sigma began, shaking his head a little. "The interface was different from what I was expecting, and was built using some portions that are not known in Enian or Artisan databases."

Sigma's analysis mirrored the feelings of the students when they had first seen the ship. Unlike the blocky design of the Enian Federation, or the smooth curves of the Artisan Confederate, the craft from the Eastern United States was more natural in its appearance, its tail tapering and its head bulbous, producing the image of a fish. Wings on the side came out looking more like fins, but it flew identically to any other vessel.

Upon seeing the android on the screen, Ling Shi sat up, suddenly caring about what was going on in the ship, rather than trying to imagine himself anywhere else. He peered at Sigma with great fascination, his eyes trying to absorb every detail of the cyborg's face, and he halted at the purple eyes, stuck on their colouration for a moment. "So you're the android."

"So I'm the android," Sigma parroted, staring down the rebel leader from the many monitors. The ship had begun to move in a different direction, slowly tilting to change its course gradually. Sigma had already begun taking control, and Ardwen's hands were away from the controls, leaving them all to simply sit in the shuttle and talk to each other to pass the remaining time.

"They tell me you can kill anything, hack anywhere, fly around the world. That true?" Ling Shi's words were a mixture of skepticism and awe, a curiosity fueled partially by the child within him and partially by the commander he was.

Sigma appeared a bit perplexed on the monitors. It seemed he was having an internal struggle with confirming what had just been said. Nobody have ever explicitly mentioned what Sigma could do to his face, and it appeared as though the gravity and significance of his power was settling in on him. "Yes, I can do those things. Do you need evidence?"

"No, this is enough. I trust in them." with that, Ling Shi went back to focusing on his own issues with flying, no longer concerned with the mystery cyborg. Sigma himself appeared to be quite relieved that he didn't have to do a display of force to prove his power, especially since he was such a vocal advocate against himself previously. The cruiser lurched once more, springing forward and upwards from a little dip, and Ling Shi groaned.

* * * * *

The sun hung in the sky over the island, once more casting its warmth down on the beach and trees. Doctor Roth worked diligently at his computers, constantly trying to stay on top of information around the world that Sigma was gathering. He was searching for a way to bring back Alpha's memories, as well as helping Gretta with tuning-up the Goliaths so they would be combat ready. Shotuku trained with Alpha, practicing using her while also trying to teach her the ways of the proud warrior. It was hoped among everyone that showing her nothing but strong moral values would lead her to thinking the same, though everyone suspected she was only a robot now and had no chance to develop a personality.

Upon landing, Ling Shi had leaped out of the ship and begun kissing the ground, before popping up and trying to look as suave as possible. When he had been taken to Sigma, he had once again lost his cool, spinning around the cyborg over and over and inspecting every inch of him. It was strange to the rest of the group, as all of them were used to knowing Sigma and being with him for so long, and anyone else who had met him previously had been a part of the military, and didn't have time to make a fuss over him.

"How did things go with Chandana?" Porter patted his brother on the shoulder as he asked, trying to still grow the bond between the two of them, forging anything out of the slightest spark.

"Rick was a success." Sigma threw his thumb over his shoulder, indicating a third ship on the island, one that Deckard must have hijacked to return from Arkterra. "Chandana is a bit...different, from the initial reports. Seems prison calmed her down a bit."

"Calmed her down?" Porter leaned around the android, making out the shapes of Rick and Chandana having cups of tea. He rolled his eyes and grabbed Ling Shi, dragging the rebel leader away from the shiny robot, leaving a trail through the san cut by Ling's heels. He threw Ling Shi forwards, letting him stumble up to Chandana, and he stood to attention upon arriving at her location, a different posture than his usual air of coolness.

"Uh...hel...hello Chandana." Ling bumbled over the words, fidgeting slightly as he spoke.

"Ling Shi." Chandana didn't look up to acknowledge the man, busy playing cards with Rick. She eyed her hand, selecting a card and slowly placing it on a rock between them. "Your move."

"So uhm..." Ling Shi's eyes shot all around, seeking out something to talk to the woman about. They finally landed on the shuttle she had come from, and Porter swore he saw a light bulb go off above Ling's head. "So prison huh? How was that?" The man leaned back as he asked, trying to adopt his usual posture, and ended up leaning on air, toppling backwards and crashing into sand.

Porter's hand smacked into his face, and he slowly dragged it down. He yanked Ling Shi out of the sand, pulling the smaller man aside. "What are you doing Ling? You wanted to meet her, here she is! Don't you have stuff to talk about, like rebel connections? You all know each other don't you?"

Ling Shi couldn't meet Porter's eyes, and his head swiveled from side to side as he searched for something to stare at on the ground. "Well, I mean we all know each other, and we...we're in contact it's just..." Ling Shi paused and cupped his mouth with his hands, whispering his next words into Porter's ear. "She's a total babe Porter, and you have to make sure you do it right."

Porter's face slumped forward, unamused at the young man he had had to ferry around the world just so he could hit on a prison escapee. "You mean, the only reason you wanted to meet her, was so you could personally talk to her because you think she's-"

"Shh!" Ling shi scrambled, throwing his hands over Porter's mouth. "You can't give the game away like that."

"Yeah, don't worry, you don't have a game to give away." Porter motioned to Sigma, and a blast of air shot across the beach, crashing into Ling shi and sending him flying into the ocean, shooting up a spray of water. "You guys are right, that is pretty satisfying." Chandana and Rick did not react though, still sipping at their tea and playing cards. "Very well, Chandana, I need to talk to you."

"I don't talk to strangers." Just like that, Chandana brushed Porter aside as easily as Ling Shi, leaving the teen floundering.

"My dear lady, it was Porter who sent me to rescue you," Rick cut in, rectifying the situation. "All of it was part of his desire to see a maiden such as yourself freed."

Porter rolled his eyes at Rick's naïve ignorance. "Yes, sure, that's it."

"I know why you rescued me, and I can see who a leader is around here. Obviously this one couldn't do it without guidance." Porter had to stifle a laugh, as the subtle insult passed straight over Rick's head. "You want to launch some sort of rebellion, correct? I mean, who gathers the head of the Jade Fang and goes so far as to break the leader of the Red Scarf Gang out of prison and puts them on a remote island?"

"Then you'll help us?" Porter perked up. Finally, a bit of light was showing for all this work, rather than Porter playing matchmaker.

Chandana finally halted her card game, laying her hand down on the rock. Her eyes slowly shifted to meet Porter's, and the teen was shocked by the passion within them. Her calm demeanour could not hide the feelings that still sat within her, and it was only fitting considering her role as the head of an anti-government organization. "If you want my help, which I will give as a return for the favour of alleviating me from my previous situation, I'll need something."

"Anything, and we'll see what we can do." Porter clapped his hands together, eager to go out and fetch Chandana her old equipment or her second-in-command, or whatever else she needed.

Chandana strolled over to Roth, motioning Porter to follow. She brought him over to one of the computers, one that the doctor had apparently given to her for her own personal use. "Even when you're imprisoned, you can still get information. It seems the Red Scarf Gang is alive and well, even if underground."

"And you want us to help revive them?" Porter cocked his head to the side as he asked, his brain already spinning with the different ways he could pull that off.

"No, they will be fine on their own and will heed my call when I send it out. There is only an interim leader there for now, waiting until I am freed or executed before someone new can take power." A breeze rustled around the pair as they spoke, causing Chandana's auburn hair to become tussled and partially blow across her face. Porter was stunned for a moment at seeing it, and he took in Chandana in her entirety, something he had never paid attention to before.

Though she was older than him, the rebel leader was still a relatively young woman, her tanned skin wrapped around a tall and lean frame, but he knew underneath her exterior lay a warrior and a master strategist. It was not enough to simply be a good fighter if you were the leader of an organization like the Red Scarf Gang. But Porter could certainly see what Ling Shi had been talking about: Chandana was certainly a beautiful woman, and Porter's breath caught in his chest for a second as his brain admitted it. She turned to look at him, and he realized then that she was nearly as tall as him, their eyes even with each other. He gulped down his sudden nerves and forced out a smile to reassure her everything was fine.

"You're going to break someone out of occupation for me." Chandana waved Porter closer to the screen, and the suddenly nervous youth inched slightly closer, staying a bit of a distance back so he could see the screen over her shoulder as she bent down. "Intelligence by one of my groups says their is a priority target being held in a special facility up north, deep in the mountains, and they're prime rebel material. Break them out, get them for me, and we're on your side. Besides, you're going to need all the help you can get, and they're definitely a plus."

"So we'll have to send Rick out again then." Porter tried to spin and slink away, barely able to maintain his composure around Chandana, but the woman grabbed his shoulder, halting him and spinning him back to face her. He nearly crashed into her, and realized he was impossibly close to the rebel leader. It was only then that he noticed the size of her chest, shocking him for a second, but he tried his best to keep his head up and maintain eye contact with Chandana. The head of the Red Scarf Gang gave him a wicked smile, mixing her passion with her seductive looks, and sent Porter's brain into static.

"No, where you're going, you're going to need those machines of yours."

* * * * *

Private Johnson marched along the corridors of Razul. He had hated every day of being assigned to the city in the north, the only official bastion of Enian power in the mountains. It was frigid and icy, and was barely made hospitable by the heaters everywhere. Gone were his former days of shopping in the streets or playing in the park with his son. Now it was nothing but blizzards and misery and patrolling the military camp just outside the town.

The soldier ceased his marching when he knew he was alone, moving forward with a bit of a saunter, rather than the strict urgency of before. He didn't know why they always had to walk around like that, or even why they needed a patrol. They were allies with the Artisan's at this point, and no marching through corridors was going to prepare them for a Jahari attack. All they were doing was wasting time and making sure they looked good.

He wasn't even sure what there was to protect in this place. The amount of soldiers assigned to this base could be counted on two hands, as all the rest were dispatched to frontier bases or were called away for the war against the Jahari, moving to combat them wherever they appeared. Johnson shuddered, and pulled the locket out from his shirt pocket. He popped it open, smiling as he stared down at his son. No idea who the mother was, and the boy's pale, white skin was clearly different from Johnson's, always an indicator of the adoption.

But it didn't matter where his son came from or who his birth parents really were; all that mattered was love, and Johnson had plenty of it to give to his son. Once he was done his twelve months in the north, he would spend twelve in Arkterra, enjoying every single day he could with his boy.

A dark thought crossed the soldier's mind, imagery of a Jahari attack on the capital city flashing in front of him. the city was ablaze, and the mutants stalked the streets, tearing open doors and crushing humans in their path, yanking them from their homes to slaughter them. Johnson shook the terrible vision from his head and put the locket away, not wishing to associate his child's picture with such terrifying thoughts.

"Johnson!" The barking call of his commanding officer rockets down the hall, shocking the soldier and causing him to jump a little. He scrambled to stand at attention, turning to face his superior. "Reassignment. You're heading down into the basement." His commander had never been one to pause for formalities, always cutting to the point.

"The basement sir?"

"The basement is what I said isn't it? You're on patrol down there, in charge of guarding the cell block. We're rotating men down there." The officer pushed Johnson along as he spoke, taking him down the stairs into the aforementioned basement area, leading him towards the prison section of the base. He indicated where Johnson would be walking before leaving him on his own, disappearing back up the stairs.

Johnson immediately relaxed once the officer was out of sight. The cell block was a single hallway, lined on both sides with empty rooms. They still had bars as the front wall of these cells, a bit archaic but still functional. They weren't being occupied because they only had a single prisoner in captivity, a special delivery of sorts that had arrived with a convoy of Goliaths. The arrival of the pilots and their warmachines had nearly doubled the total amount of people in the military base, much to Johnson's disappointment since it was harder for him to slack off with more eyes around.

At the far end of the hallway was a single metal door, a square window in the middle providing the only sight into the cell. That was where they were holding the single prisoner, the only person Johnson would be spending the next few hours with. He slowly walked down the corridor, no longer feeling obligated to rush or march properly with nobody around. This would be nice then if he would just get to relax all the time and stare at a door.

Johnson felt a chill as he approached the other end of the hall, shivering a bit. Already he regretted coming down here, where there was apparently a draft. He would just sit at the stairs after this, but first, he had to take a look at who was in captivity. He had heard nothing about them, other than that they had arrived and Goliaths had come too, and that was that. This would be his first chance to see what kind of crazy criminal would need an escort of giant battlesuits.

The soldier tried to peer through the window, finding it was coated in a thick layer of ice, turning the light coming from within the cell a slight blue. He had to squint to make out the silhouette of a figure sitting in the middle of the room, but it was all he could see. He placed his hands on the metal of the door but immediately jumped back in shock. The door felt like a slab of ice, colder than it was outside.

Johnson scrambled back from the door, rushing over to the warm safety of the stairwell. He sat on the lowest step, his teeth chattering and his fingers numb. He began squeezing his hands into fists, trying to get the blood flowing again to warm him up while he stared down the hall at the door. What on earth is in there?