Volume Twelve - Moon Base Mess

## Chapter 133 - Fear Only Grows

Ow...

That was the word that repeatedly went through Jack's head. Yet despite that, it never distracted him from what Karim had said. He didn't...he didn't think he had any animosity towards Andromeda. How could he? They wet through so much together...they loved each other. Karim was wrong, he had to be! There was no way that...the Socqreath were inherently like that. Of course...he knew that most he met looked down on humans just, it seemed, for the sake of it.

But that didn't mean he had to believe the words of a hundred year old psychopath.

He kept circling this through his mind, hoping that it would become, and stay, true.

Ow...now he remembered that he was in the hospital. He wasn't sure how long he'd been there, but it felt like quite a while. His wounds felt mostly healed by now, but they still ached a bit. Andromeda's hand was on his cheek, bringing the only comfort he felt right now. He couldn't stop thinking that...it was just impossible to defeat Karim. And that wasn't a good thing. Karim is...a terrorist...if he couldn't beat him...he'd fail everyone. But he...couldn't beat him.

He supposed, that meant he failed.

## Chapter 134 - Loss of Heart

A Socqreath girl sat in a wheelchair. She wore a birthday hat, and looked at the night sky with a small smile on her face. Her body seemed rather tame for a Socqreath, but it was hard to tell in this light. Multiple guards, all Socqreath, stood around her, holding Psychic Weapons that seemed like guns. A twig snaps, as one of the guards fires in that direction. The corpse of a bunny falls out, as the girl puts her hand on her mouth with a shocked look in her eye. "We apologize, Miss Artemis. We meant not to kill an innocent creature." The guard who had accidentally shot the bunny says.

"No need to apologize, I killed it." A voice says, a high pitched, raspy voice. The voice of...

Another Socqreath walks out of the woods, wearing his signature purple robes and black mask. It was Cygnus.

The guards begin firing at him, but he deflects the 'bullets' with his own Psychic Weapons. The guards turn their guns into knives and rush at Cygnus, but they are all impaled by his thorns, and made to float beside him like ornaments on a large, invisible Christmas tree. Artemis looks at Cygnus with fear, as he was soon standing directly above her. She couldn't scream, she couldn't shake. She felt paralyzed. She didn't know Cygnus beyond the stories. To see him here...broke her spirit.

"Hello, Artemis." Cygnus says with an evil glee in his voice. "Would you like to go to the Moon?"

## Chapter 135 - Desperation

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Jack shouts at Lynx. It had been a few more days, the pains mostly gone and the wounds healed, but seeing Lynx walking towards Kasper's mansion was enough of a shock to bring a bit of that pain back. "I am here on His Majesty's behalf." Lynx answers. "One of our warriors in training, Artemis, was captured by Cygnus and the remains of Darkstar." "...What...?" Jack breathes, as the door opens and the others see Lynx.

"Lynx? What's going on?" Candice asked, as Lynx shows them a hologram of Artemis. "This is Artemis, one of three new recruits with promising potential. We found her in an old Darkstar facility and brought her home. She's been captured by Darkstar, which now appears to be led by Cygnus and Tsunoi Eizan." He says. "Tsunoi...?" Jack demands, as his hands shake. "Indeed. We believe you five will be able to rescue Artemis from them, before they acquire what they likely want from her." Lynx answers.

"I'm sorry, but I can't come with you..." Kasper says. "Because you cannot use your legs? Do you need your legs to use your device?" Lynx asks. "Do not berate yourself over what Asaka Kazuyuki did to you. You are not useless. We need you five to aid us, we're going up against all that remains of Darkstar." "Wait!" Jack shouts, still not entirely sure about all this. "Where...where even are they?" He asks. Lynx seems to hesitate for a bit, before he finally answers.

"The moon."

## Chapter 136 - Colonization Phase Three: Self-Sufficiency

The trip was rather short, a couple minutes was all it took for army transportation ships to go even moderately long distances. They moved through the barrier protecting the planet, and saw the moon getting steadily closer. It was actually a bit beautiful to see, but as they got closer, they began to see the structures on the moon. They too were originally beautiful, but now they were jet black, with blood red lights, the colors of Darkstar. They...took over the moon base.

The ship began to land on the landing pad, the roof of this pad closing as oxygen filled it. "Our soldiers will go out first. We shouldn't need to know that we can't take on armies alone." Lynx says, as Socqreath soldiers run out of the ship and into the tunnel. Not too long afterwards, they heard gunfire. "Well, at least we know they're here." Jack remarks, as he loads his gun and runs out, Andromeda accompanying him. They get into the tunnels and are immediately greeted by storms of bullets.

Jack ducks and weaves beneath and around bullets as he fires his own back, taking down one of the Darkstar soldiers as he sweeps another off his feet. Andromeda just swats any bullets that come at her out of the air, as she grabs the gun of the nearest Darkstar soldier and snaps half of it off the other half. The soldier looks at her for a moment, before taking out a combat knife and rushing at her. The soldier's arms and legs then come off as he falls to the ground, his body going past Andromeda.

They end up unintentionally splitting up, as they each see someone at the end of a corridor, that someone turning around to greet them.

## Chapter 137 - Treachery Continues

"Hello, Jack." Tsunoi says, as even in this dimly lit room, Jack could tell he was smiling darkly. "How can you still be working for these guys?" Jack demands, angry, as Tsunoi chuckles. "Oh, no. I'm not working for them...they're working for me." He corrects, as he aims his gun at Jack. "And I can assure you, you won't be the one leaving here alive." Tsunoi immediately fires, as Jack dodges the bullets repeatedly, and fires back at Tsunoi, who seems to just stand there as the bullets never reach him.

"...Crap. I just remembered that you turned yourself into a Socqreath." Jack grunts, as Tsunoi grins. "You don't have time to talk." He replies, as he fires at Jack some more. Jack keeps dodging and firing back, as Tsunoi continued to stand there, not being hit at all. Jack growls and rushes at Tsunoi to swing a kick at him, but Tsunoi sidesteps the kick and grabs his leg, tossing him into the wall. Jack grunts in pain and swings his leg back, hitting nothing as Tsunoi had leapt back.

Jack immediately moves to the side, as a bullet hits where his back would have been, and fires at Tsunoi again, Tsunoi tilting his head to dodge as he feels his feet get swept out from beneath him. Jack punches him in the face before he can regain his balance, as Tsunoi leaps back again, with a bloody nose, and throws chain made of tiny links around Jack's arm. He uses this to pull him close, as Jack realized that he was going to use his scalpel on his brain! He kicks Tsunoi in the face, twice, to make him let go, and stumbles back.

"Aren't you the lucky one?" Tsunoi growls. "Don't think you can keep getting clever."

## Chapter 138 - Pushing Past Fear

Andromeda was already on her knees, before a word had even been spoken, before an attack had even been used. She was shaking uncontrollably, sweating uncontrollably, hyperventilating. She didn't even notice Cygnus now standing above her, as he looks down in contempt, but also psychotic glee. "You came here...after me...?" Cygnus asks mockingly. "We both know by now that you cannot do anything to me. My body's regenerated, my power is back. I even got my clothing restored. I am now as good as I was back then, but you? You can't even move."

Andromeda didn't respond, she couldn't. Words couldn't even form in her mind, much less leave her mouth. And if she couldn't even think...there was no way she was going to be able to form her Psychic Weapons. She is then kicked in the face by Cygnus' spiked boot, and just falls backwards, not even able to crumple. She felt paralyzed, it was hard to breathe. She tried to glare at Cygnus, but she knew that the only expression on her face was one of pure terror. He grabs her by the face, and slams her into the wall, repeatedly.

"What happened to all your pride?" Cygnus demands, the halls echoing with his haunting laughter. "Have you finally realized that I am going to outlive you?! In fact, let me show you, it's too late!" He throws Andromeda to the ground, and holds an odd, shiny metal object in his right hand. "This is an antimatter bomb, powerful enough to destroy a planet.." Cygnus says, as Andromeda's eyes widen with shock. "Darkstar put it inside of Artemis, to keep her from rebelling. We already tore it out of her chest. In fact, I did it personally. I love ripping people apart as they scream!"

Andromeda then closed her eyes, and began to think, something interrupted by claws slicing open her stomach.

## Chapter 139 - The Anti-Socqreath Task Force

Lynx was slashing through Darkstar soldiers left and right, there seemingly being no resistance by the armor or weapons, the incredibly long sword just cleaved through them like butter, no, even more cleanly and quickly than that. The shield blocked all projectiles fired, as Lynx continued to walk through the soldiers, cutting them into pieces to make sure they wouldn't keep firing after he had passed them. He looked on at his forces, who were largely dominating in the firefight. "That's what you get for still using bullets..." Lynx remarks.

"Keep firing! We'll deal with this freak no matter what!" One of the soldiers, a younger drafted one it seemed, shouts, as Lynx narrows his eyelids. "I am closer to you humans than I am to my own species biologically." He retorts. "You definitely don't look like it!" The soldier shouts back. "...Oh, I see." Lynx replies. "You're one of the few humans who still judges people based on the color of their skin." Lynx says this as he walks past the soldier, his eyes closed.

Three slash-shaped lights illuminated the dark room, as when they cleared, the soldier literally fell apart, his blood flying through the air behind Lynx before falling into the puddle. Lynx then hears louder, but slower, gunfire, and turns around to, shocked, see all the Darkstar soldiers and his own being shot dead by what appeared to be soldiers wearing pitch black armor with orange lights on them, and Sallet Helmets. Their rifles looked heavy, and yet seemed easily carried. More advanced Barrets? Then, a man with very pale skin, jet black hair and full blue eyes walked out of the shadows to greet him.

"Hello, Socqreath. My name is Richard Robinson, and we are here to exterminate all threats in this sector."

## Chapter 140 - Fight Back

Jack was holding his somewhat bleeding stomach in pain, as Tsunoi was holding the combat knife. Their guns lay on the ground, and Jack was unarmed. Tsunoi rushes at him to drive the knife towards his eye, as Jack leaps back and swings a kick at Tsunoi's chin, Tsunoi tilting back to dodge as he throws the knife at Jack, who had landed and as such just barely avoided it. Jack attempts sweeping Tsunoi off his feet again, but Tsunoi leaps into the air to avoid the sweep, and kick Jack in the face. "Gah!" Jack shouts.

Tsunoi grabs Jack's face with his bare hand, with a big, evil smile on his face, as he aims Jack's gun at his throat. "I think it's time to end this." Tsunoi says, as he prepares to fire the bullet through Jack's neck and kill him. However, they hear a gunshot, and turn to see Richard standing there, his squadron of supersoldiers behind him. "Y-you're..." Jack begins, as Tsunoi lets go of him and leaps back, avoiding gunfire as he backflips into the shadows, throwing down a grenade that doubled as a flash and smoke bomb in one.

"...Oh, no, Andromeda!" Jack shouts.

## Chapter 141 - Scarred and Scared

Andromeda lay against the wall, her own blood staining that wall. She was bleeding badly, and barely breathing, as one of her horns had been torn off. Not cut, torn, by Cygnus' hand. She opens her eyes to glare the vile creature that didn't deserve to be called 'Socqreath', but that glare became a look of terror in less than a second. "You must feel so frightened by now." Cygnus says. "I bet the next time we would have met, your heart would have just stopped. But...there won't be a next time." Cygnus begins to move his clawed, blood covered hand towards her chest, aiming to gouge out her heart.

A gunshot forces Cygnus to leap back, as he weaves around more gunfire, and turns to see that it was Jack firing at him. "Hello...human." Cygnus says, as Jack's skin crawls. He forgot how a voice alone could be this unsettling...until now. "You might as well give up and let yourself be captured." Richard says. "This is the Anti-Socqreath Task Force. Their suits let them see Psychic Weapons, and are durable enough to take hits from them. Not to mention, the bullets they fire are incredibly powerful."

"That means nothing when they cannot harm me." Cygnus says, as he tilts to the side like a Jack-in-the-Box. Heh...that named unnerved Jack, like it was comparing himself to this...monster. There wasn't a shred of good in Cygnus' eyes, he...had to die. Jack begins furiously firing at Cygnus, who keeps dodging or blocking the bullets, even catching one, as he laughs maniacally. The soldiers also fires at Cygnus, as the bullets began to hit, and rip through, his body. "Gah! What?!" Cygnus roars, as he is hit square in the chest by a laser from Richard himself.

"You..."

## Chapter 142 - A Forbidden Reuinion

Andromeda coughs up blood after saying this, as Jack runs over to help her. "Hang in there, Andromeda. We'll get you all fixed up i-in no time..." He says, stuttering at the end. "I'll just let myself out." Cygnus says, holding his chest in pain, as he turns around and begins to run away. "Coward!" One of the soldiers shout, as they run after Cygnus. Jack was trying to determine what method of picking Andromeda up would be the least painless and dangerous. She had lost too much blood, they couldn't stay here. Then...Jack felt someone standing behind him, and turned to aim the gun at...

...Richard.

"Put your gun down, Holland." Richard says, his voice sounding so cold and commanding that, out of nothing more than the sudden fear of him, Jack had to, shakily, lower his gun. He couldn't shoot a military officer anyway. "W-we need to get her to a hospital..." He says, as Richard seemed to coldly and subtly glare down at him. "First you say this thing is your friend, and now you say we should treat her injuries?" Richard demands. "I am no longer just a common soldier. You cannot give me orders."

"...P...please...help her..." Jack pleads, shaking. "I'm begging you...you have to...sh-she'll die if she doesn't get treatment...you have to...please..." Richard's face was now hidden by shadows, as Jack's eyes widened in both shock and horror when Richard aimed his gun at Andromeda. "We are here to eliminate all threats, she is a threat. She must be eliminated." He says without an inch of mercy in his voice, his face partially becoming visible. "I...I won't let you!" Jack shouts, as he grabs Richard's gun, and aims it at his own face, while Richard was still holding it, Richard raising his eyebrow.

"You can take me if you want, but I won't let you kill her! Not for just existing!" He shouts at Richard, who's eye twitched and teeth gritted. "You would rather give your own life than let an actual alien be removed from the list of things we need to worry about?" Richard demands, now sounding angry. "You know what? I will shoot. I'll execute you right here and now, while no one is watching!"

"I'm watching."

## Chapter 143 - General to Captain

They turn to see a man in uniform standing there, with swept back hair and glasses that were reflecting light and thus hiding the man's eyes. He had his hand in one of his pockets, as he was most definitely glaring at Richard from behind those glasses. "...Captain Arabnia? What are you doing here?" Richard demands. "I asked permission to come here and deal with Darkstar, and got it." Arabnia said. "What were you going to do to that boy?" He lowers his head a bit, as one of the lenses showed one of his eyes, which might as well be alight with fury.

"...Nothing." Richard answers, as he wrenches his gun out of Jack's hands and aims it at Andromeda again. "It's her I need dead." "She is allied with us, lower your gun." Arabnia says. "I may be a lower rank than you, but I am also an official member of the military. What do you think will happen if you shoot me?" Richard glares at him for a few moments, in this moments, he returns the glare. Richard then lowers his gun, and puts it back in its holster. "You were lucky." He says to Jack, as Kasper, Candice and Shunsuke arrive.

"Wh-what happened here?" Candice asks, as Richard seemed to glare at her, holding his hand up to make his soldiers halt. "We were just about to get the Socqreath to safety." He answers, as Candice looks at Andromeda's condition, and runs over to her, forming...something in her hand. "Wh...what's that...?" Jack asks weakly. "A staff." Candice answers. "I've been training with Qian in using my Psychic Energy to heal wounds, not inflict them. It's a power I noticed I may have had earlier. I'm just hoping I can get it right enough to stabilize her."

They watch as Candice closes her eyes and concentrates. During this, Andromeda's wounds seemed to slowly, but surely, heal. Although they didn't heal all the way. Candice collapses to her knees and holds her head. "I'm...I'm sorry...I couldn't fully heal her..." She says. "You did enough already, thank you." Jack replies, as he picks Andromeda up and holds her close. "Do we have a stretcher?!" He shouts. "I'll have two of my men bring one here from my ship." Arabnia answers. "Thanks." Jack replies, as he suddenly fell over himself, he had lost too much blood himself, and saw the world go black.

## Chapter 144 - Red Flag

Copernicus sat in his throne, his head bowing down as he seemed to possibly be asleep. However, when the elevator opened, he raised his head, seeing Lynx stumble in, bleeding, as he drops his weapons and falls to his knees. "I'm...sorry, Sir. The humans...attacked us." He says, as Copernicus hears this. "Was this intentional?" He asks. "...Yes, Your Majesty." Lynx answers. Copernicus sighs, and stands up. "In that case...we have no choice." He responds, looking more serious now.

"We will have to declare war."