The shadow monster, an embodiment of Riya's exploding chi, swung its arms around, grabbing at any Bahari that got too close. It shredded through their flesh and machinery without effort, leaving mangled bodies in its wake. While the Bahari seemed to ignore pain, if their bodies were practically destroyed they were still useless, even if they were still alive. Any attacks from the creatures' based straight through the dark cloud, immediately reforming and sealing up any holes in its body.

Porter was no longer concerned with the bizarre aberration. He knew Riya was the source of it all and he knew he had to reach her. If the communication line was broken, then he would have to find another way of getting through to her, a different approach. Whatever it took to stop Riya, he would do it.

The White Storm took off backwards, dodging through Goliaths and Bahari and skirting around fights. He began the upward climb towards Riya, whom Ardwen had positioned on a cliff so he could better survey that battlefield while also giving The Warlord the ability to act as artillery. It wasn't a far distance to cover, nor a hard one, it just took a bit more time with all the obstacles in the way in the form of soldiers.

There was a loud crack, and then a creaking sound as metal was brought to its limits, just about to break down. Suddenly, the White Storm's left knee blew out, sparks shooting out the side as a severed hose sprayed oils onto the snow, tainting the white powder black. Porter fell forward and managed to catch himself, but the leg was shot. Scans indicated it was now disabled and was outside of his ability to fix. The computer indicated some of the blows from the Mahari could have inflicted that amount of damage, and the continued fighting would have stressed it further.

Slowly, Porter tried to haul himself forward. He wasn't very far from Riya now and could see her just ahead. But not very far for a Goliath and not very far were two different things. Without his speed and size, this would take a lot more time.

There was a massive boom that cut through the air, resonating through Porter's cockpit and sending shivers through his body. He twisted to look back and spotted a massive figure that appeared to be descending from the heavens, a shining aura of light bathing its body. The youth immediately recognized the being in the sky from the last time he had seen them: it was Brigadier General Cross Marian. The fight must have been escalating out of control for him to make an appearance already.

Porter's gaze moved from Marian towards the shadowy creature and he began to calculate a trajectory in his mind. Marian was not heading towards any Bahari, nor was he coming down to go into a tunnel; he was heading straight for Riya's chi. If the Brigadier General was coming down and ignoring the Jahari forces, that meant they must have prioritized the dark monster as a higher threat than the Bahari. Maybe they had seen it shove Porter away and assumed it was an enemy.

The Enian pilot began to cycle through different communication networks, desperately trying to find one that Marian was also using. But the general was offline, staying out of chatting with other members of the army. Obviously his mission was independent from what the rest of the soldiers were doing, and he wanted to keep that as private as possible. Tough to do with his massive Goliath and a bizarre shadow monster running amok.

Porter shook a little in his cockpit, nerves running through his body as stress weighed down on him. He had so many choices and options, so many different issues colliding at once. The last thing he needed was a crippled battlesuit with everything else going on. He tried to move once again, but found his warmachine had begun to lock up as other, smaller break-downs occurred across the frame. His Goliath was entering into its safe mode, preventing him from further damaging it by sealing his movements.

"Ardwen!" Porter frantically flipped through the channels again until he found his friend. "Ardwen I'm stuck. The White Storm is pretty damaged and I'll need your help."

"I can't Porter." The reply was quick and short, surprising Porter.

"What do you mean you can't? You can repair me can't you?" This didn't make any sense at all to Porter. Mother Gaia was equipped to do light repairs on Goliaths, and even if Ardwen couldn't fix the leg, he could easily give Porter a quick ride over to Riya and the Warlord.

"I'm sorry but my Goliath has been locked down. Anyone close to the source of something called the black chi has been forcibly ordered to stand down. Brigadier General is making an announcement right now on the main communication network.

"What?" Porter opened up the link to the announcement and listened to the broadcast as it repeated on loop:

"Repeat, all personnel within the vicinity of the black chi are to stand down and move to a safe distance. All personnel in vicinity to source have had actions terminated to prevent interference."

It continued to play, over and over, as Marian's strong voice had a strange, calming presence on Porter's mind. But he had to shake it off and get focused. It was now more likely than ever that they were going to try and remove the black chi, and if they had identified Riya as the source that meant...Marian would go after Riya next.

Porter didn't think when he hit the manual eject button. He practically leaped out of his seat, flying through the doorways as they opened, heading down the leg of his machine and out the exit. Normally the chest would open for him to emerge but that was all automated and part of the Goliath's now-disabled systems. The emergency exit was always operational though, powered by a completely different system that was independent in each battlesuit. Porter wasn't conscious of his actions as he moved; he just knew he had to get to Riya first.

The blinding sun struck first, amplified by the white landscape around Porter. He had to shield his eyes, turning towards the ground to rub them for a moment. He was used to watching everything through a filtered screen, and he had never visited the north otherwise. The cold began to sink into his skin as his vision adjusted, and he realized just how frigid it was outside of his Goliath. His pilot outfit began to adjust automatically, the material shifting slightly thanks to a tiny computer chip implanted within it. Still, the wind on his face bit into his cheeks, turning them red in an instant. But he began to press forward towards Riya.

The snow came up almost to Porter's waist, and he struggled to move each leg through it. He had to almost completely lift his leg out, turning his hips awkwardly to swivel his leg forward and step. Then the process repeated. Sometimes he felt like he could just drag his legs through the snow faster, but other times it was far too dense.

Porter knew he was only standing on an upper fraction of the powder. He glanced back over his shoulder to examine his Goliath and check his progress and saw how much further into the ground the White Storm's feet had sunk. It seemed there were deeper layers to the snow, but it had been compressed by the fresher powder on top, slowly condensing into something Porter's weight could not pierce through. Every so often though, he would step onto a weaker point and sink even deeper, one leg sliding down a newly formed hole.

It was a frustrating experience for Porter. Everything seemed to be falling apart around him, getting harder and harder instead of falling into place. Since Chase had been killed, everything had unravelled, and Porter almost felt naked, stripped of the world he had built up around him. His Goliath was gone, his friend had disappeared, the love of his life was possibly going to die next, and he couldn't walk through all the damn snow in his way.

* * * * *

Marian landed on the ground without disturbing a single snowflake. His enormous battlesuit touched the earth like a feather, much of its weight lifted by its wings, each of which was nothing more than an embodiment of Marian's chi. It was incredible, Marian thought, that such feats could be achieved using nothing more than his own life force. He was always momentarily amazed whenever he stepped into his Goliath, but it always passed as things turned to more serious matters. After all, Marian didn't get to turn on the Archangel unless it was a serious matter.

As soon as Marian drew close to the black chi, it lashed out at him, its fingers stretching out towards his Goliath. He raised his hand in front of him, his palm open, and shut his eyes, feeling the approach of the shadows rather than seeing them. The fingers ran into the Archangel's hand, deflecting in all directions as if they had hit a wall.

The black chi stopped its rampage, all of its tendrils returns to its body as it turned to face Marian and only Marian. For something to still be alive was not within the comprehension of the monster, if it could even think at all. Up until then, everything it touched had been systematically destroyed within seconds. This was something new and different, something with a significantly more powerful chi that had to be consumed.

Steady," Marian spoke in his own mind."Retain your focus. Maintain your chi." Marian knew the being he was up against was not constructed of anything physical. It was not something could be built or discovered and was nothing more than chi taken form. To fight chi, Marian had to use chi, and only he could fight it. While he had never been the most gifted technically student in the Goliath, his immense control over his chi and the abundance he had within his body made him the ideal weapon against black chi. The Archangel had been designed from the ground up to suit his needs, maximizing its ability to run on his chi, to synchronize with it and withdraw it from his body. It may have meant they had to make the Goliath almost twice as big as a normal battlesuit, but Marian wasn't concerned with size.

The black chi took a swing with its arm, and one of the Archangel's wings knocked the attack aside, curling around Marian's body to create a protective shield. The general had to grit his teeth as he felt the strain begin on his body. Enduring these attacks may have seemed simple to those on the outside, but they required an immense amount of concentration from Marian.

He took a step forward, closing the gap between the Archangel and the shadow monster. In response, it took a step in, accepting the challenge and wishing to draw closer to this new foe. It struck out again with its fingers, colliding with Marian's shield and bending around the Goliath, shooting right past. Another step closer. Tendrils began to shoot out of the black chi, snaking over to the battlesuit. They began to hover around it, looking for openings to strike at, every so often pounding on the shield.

A single feather fluttered up into the air, breaking off from Marian's wings. It disintegrated as it rose and soon it was gone altogether. Marian took note of it as he endured another barrage of attacks from the monster, knocking its blows aside as he took another step forwards. If he could break through the creature and temporarily dissolve its form, he would be able to sever the link between it and its source, and in that moment he would be able to kill the source. As it was, this monster would never allow him to get close to The Warlord and if he lost focus on his shield so he could make a run, it would rip him apart.

Another feather was knocked off the wings, followed by a few more. The black chi was beginning to chip away at Marian's defenses, stripping down the shield bit by bit. It lunged forwards suddenly, swiping at Marian with its claw. The blow struck hard, knocking Marian down onto one knee, but his wings held strong for the moment. He could already see one of them was beginning to dissipate, fading away as he lost the strength to maintain it. He shifted his focus a bit to compensate for the weakness, just in time for another strike from the monster.

Marian suddenly punched forwards, his fist surrounded in a glowing light. His wings burst open around him, knocking back the black chi. This was his moment to strike, his one chance at breaking down the chi for a second.

But the shadow creature was not surprised by the sudden shift to offense from Marian, twisting out of the way, letting the Archangel's fist punch straight through its arm, destroying it in a puff of black smoke. The monster's tendrils immediately took advantage of the opening, shooting forwards and straight through Marian's shoulders, severing much of the machinery between the Archangel's arms and torso. There was a shower of sparks and Marian was greeted with flashing lights on almost every single display in his cockpit.

The black chi stood there a moment, letting its arm regenerate slowly. It raised its other hand up, pointing its fingers at the Archangel's chest, identifying the source of the powerful chi that it had to consume. Before the monster could strike,, Marian's wings folded down in front of it again, severing the tendrils and forming the shield once more as Marian leaped back to gain separation.

The General's arms hung at either side of his body, limp and useless. He had underestimated the creature, assuming it had not been smart enough to detect danger. It seemed it could perceive chi taking form and anticipate his strikes. He would have to wait for another chance to attack, but this time he would not have the luxury of his fists. It didn't matter. He could still concentrate enough of his chi into a single burst to disrupt it. He just needed a minute or two to kill the pilot behind it all, otherwise the black chi would reform infinitely.

All he needed now was one chance.

A/N: The Archangel duels with black chi? Can Porter make it in time to save Riya? And if he does get there...can he even save her?