Between a rock and a hard place

Malik opened his eyes and looked at Xanthus. Xanthus tried to hold his tears back but it wasn't working. Sitting up Malik said softly, "Go on and just get it out already. I won't tell anyone you cried in front of me." Xanthus said, "Tch what are you talking about you stupid ass blond..." He looked off to the side.

Malik sighed and said, "You're going to make yourself sick just cry it out and be done with it. Trust me you'll feel better when you do." The sound of the wooden post to Malik's bed was heard cracking as Xanthus finally lost it and punched it breaking it. He then punched the floor repeatedly crying, "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! It's not fair! Why, why is it he's so much stronger then we are! I mean he got to us twice and now! Now Hayden's dead because of it! Whose next! I can't believe how weak I am! I'm useless damn it! A waste of space!" Xanthus had bloodied up both his fists at this point.

Malik just stood up even though he was still in a lot of pain both physical and emotional. "Hades is fueled by his own anger and hatred which is no way to fight. Sooner or later it'll consume him then any hope of him regaining his true self will be gone forever. Xanthus you're not weak he's just that strong.... But we can't give up." Said Malik softly. Xanthus just sat there on his knees trying to catch his breath.

He was starting to feel a sense of relief now that he had gotten all that off his back. "Your brother or not he's going to pay! I'll make him pay for what he's done!" Said Xanthus in determination. He then wiped off his face and said, "Sorry for the damages.... I had to break something to get the weight off my shoulders..." "Feel better though?" Asked Malik. "Yes.... I just pictured your bed post as that bastards face and finally snapped I guess." Said Xanthus as a few more stray tears ran down his face. "Malik smiled and said, "Good don't ever lose that pride of yours Xanthus. It's a strength to cry as well. I had my share of tears a while ago. Just ask Tawnie I lost it in front of her." He patted Xanthus on his back and took a seat.

"If you think he can be saved then I'm not going to stop you, but he's going this far then it's safe to assume he's beyond reach. I saw that attack coming before it happened, since that day I've been having weird flashes that I can't explain." Tawnie said as she looked to Xanthus and shook her head, she knew he'd do that but she didn't like talking about it as it seemed strange. She'd known about the attack but never said anything as she dismissed it as her imagination overacting.

"You'll have two sets of issues, and Malik it's ok. We'll have a familiar shadow as well as Hades, and do they have your lap top..." She cursed as she realized the futility of this given they might also have the entire collective of his knowledge. That would have helped them in case they had to face the fleet that would be under Hades influence now. "Malik if they have it we need that laptop, we could use it to our advantage..."

Malik suddenly whipped around looking toward the window sensing something almost immediately. Xanthus looked at him too. A hooded figure was walking up to the gates. The tow guards that stood thee had their spears on him in an instant.

He was thrown to the ground and bound cuffed almost immediately. Malik came walking up to the gate and said, "Now what is it? Are we under attack again. Whose this stranger." He yanked back his hood only to moved back startled to see Luke. "Fool you just walked right into the lions den. Are you trying to two time us or something. I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you." Said Malik.

Xanthus walked up and Luke who was dragged to his feet said, "Malik say what you will but I am my own person. I left without a trace before the commander even had returned. I refuse to make an alliance for the sake of evil. Hades is not to be trusted. And besides I don't have much time left to live. I'm terminally sick. So at most I thought I could try and make some use of myself before I die. And die as a human being not as some monster."

"He's telling the truth, if anything it seems his commander has made a deal. This could prove dangerous, ease up on him brother." Lunaria said as she showed up and wondered what to do with Luke, death was never easy to accept but he was willing to face it. So instead she had to use what she knew from spies to act, in fact the commander had returned already and was already establishing operations on the surface. "If we do not succeed, humans could be the next target. Betrayed by one of their own, she is a dangerous opponent who would sell out her own home for greater power... A perfect fit to his whims, for they desire the same."

Her words were calm and she did not betray any sign of worry, though the one human did worry her as she made up for her weaker nature by using technology that made her more difficult to hurt and cable to use more powerful weapons.

The guards release Luke and he fell forward Malik catching him. "Damn it.... I won't let you die even if you do annoy me...." Said Malik lifting him onto his back. He carried him off to get him to a doctor. After that he went back to Tawnie and just curled up in bed his head resting on her lap while he slept.

She was half asleep when he returned, and she just lay there and avoided her sides. Death would have been too good for her now, she had so much more to do and as it stood she had more to handle. "What was that, you shouldn't be too active your only going to strain your injuries." She said smiling as she watched him, since coming here nothing seemed right but she was probably safer and more able to be herself now.

"Someone came didn't they and their time was short, what will you do?" She said as she watched him and kissed his cheek while wincing before going back. This was rough, she could not even train and she had to keep her skills sharp. She was getting rusty and however this was going to play out then she was going to have to do her best, though she would handle the commander and try to end her ambition.

Malik just cuddled Tawnie closed and kissed her saying, "I won't let him give up and die so pitifully. I'll leave it to our doctor to cure him..." He then rolled over going back to sleep.

Xanthus meanwhile sat by Lunaria's side. His tail was twitching in agitation. To think she trusted Luke so easily miffed him. But he figured she had been around long enough to see through someone telling whether they were lying or not. He suddenly let out a hiss and moved in front of Lunaria fast as an arrow shot and struck the area by her. "Relax I just wanted to keep you on your toes you dimwitted cat." Said the man appearing.

Kneeling down in front of Lunaria he said, "Forgive me my lady. I was worried your only guard was being a space case. With Hayden gone your protection has weakened. We can't afford any slacking off now that we've been attacked more then once in a two day period." "Tch get lost you asshole. I'm perfectly fine of protecting her on my own Allen!" Said Xanthus ripping the arrow out of the wall in fury.

"Don't let that happen I think he's got much more to live for, for now take care of yourself ok..." Tawnie replied then fell asleep as she was really only worried about the here and now, these attacks were exhausting and she was going to recover first and then focus on action.

"Settle down you two, he would use any discord between you two to his advantage. Xanthus it is necessary, five years ago we were caught by surprise. Now things are starting again, how about you go for a walk." She said and then sighed as she had to plan based on little or no knowledge, though she probably had an even bigger advantage now than before. She had to get some of those human ships, perhaps this was fate itself intervening to even the odds. "Allen can you deliver a message to our guest, when he had a chance I would like to speak with him in private."

Xanthus thrust the arrow back into Allen's hand and walked out infuriated still. The doors slammed shut after that with a loud echo. "Of course my lady." Said Allen standing up and bowing politely before leaving. It was twenty minutes later the doors were heard creaking open again and Luke came walking in looking deathly pale. His illness had seemed to get even worse upon arriving. Kneeling down in front of her he said, "You asked for me my lady? What can I do for you? Though I doubt I can do much in the physical state I'm in. Your healer said I could be cured but it'll be a bit rough on my body for a while. I just got the first treatment a while ago."

"I'm certain it will, however that is not what is important. I was wondering if you could give me your assessment of your people, how many actually support her and how many are also willing to join you. I was surprised when you came to us, how did you find out where to go." She offered him some water as well when she finished speaking, obviously he was in no shape to do much but she was sure he would recover. Hopefully he could help her out even now, but even so she needed everyone at peak performance.

"Your brother has a transmitter I had put into him back when he tried to take our ship out. It embedded in his wrist. My advice is have that thing removed as fast as possible. But it was faint but I found its signal here." Said Luke softly. Taking the water he just sat there on his knees and he drank it down slowly. "It's been so many years since I tasted non filtered water..." He said softly then set the glass aside "The crew had no idea I left. There's about two hundred and fifty people on board the ship and of course they're all human. You need not worry I left a parting gift. I set the ship to self destruct in twelve hours. By now I'm sure Hades new little ally has returned and she'll die with everyone on board."

On her way back to the ship Starling was in communications with them when they suddenly cut out, this was odd until she picked up the distress beacon and realized that something was wrong. Immediately suspecting Malik she entered in a code on a small remote, which triggered the kill switch in Malik's arm that was a slow acting poison. "I was wise to do this, now you will suffer even more than you hoped I would you worm..." She then changed course for the planet where operations were being established, she would work from there and use stolen ships to transport her goods.

Malik was sound asleep when suddenly he felt violently sick. Sitting up he held his head it was then his face paled when he noticed the discolorization going up his arm. It was then he remember they had tagged him. Getting out of bed he managed to get out into the hall.

Luke was in discussion with Lunaria still when the doors burst open and Malik came staggering in. He was breathing heavily as he reached out toward Lunaria saying, "Help... me... sister..." He then collapsed with a thud. Luke ran over and helped Malik sit up. Looking at his arm Luke said, "She didn't! She told me it was just a transmitter!"

Allen came running in that moment with Xanthus not too far behind."What's wrong with him?" Asked Xanthus. "Give me your sword Allen. This arm has to go or he is going to die." Said Luke quickly. Malik looked terrified and Luke said, "Both you hold him down. Allen make sure his arm is spread out as far as possible. I'm going to make a clean cut."

Handing his sword over to Luke. Allen made sure Malik's arm was stretched out while Xanthus held him down. "No please don't! Anything! I'll do anything but that! Cried Malik terrified. Luke raised the blade that moment and Xanthus tilted Malik's head to the side so he couldn't see it come down. Luke swung the blade down and a loud scream was heard through the palace from Malik as his arm was cleaved right off.

His screams lasted for a few moments and there was silence as he lay there. Luke tore his cloak into some strips and wrapped them around what was left of Malik's arm to subside the bleeding. Allen then picked him up gently careful not to move him too much. "I'll get him to the doctor to have this taken care of the rest of the way." Said Allen. He then hurried off. Luke has a furious look at his face as he stood up. He had Malik's blood down the front of his shirt from what had splattered from the amputation. Turning he just walked out.

Tawnie had no idea what was going on, and the sounds were like Malik was being murdered. She had no idea that he had some kind of weapon in his wrist, if she knew that she would have pushed to get it removed. Finally checking on him she closed her eyes for a second, as if this were a nightmare. "What happened, I thought you were being killed... Who did this to you?" She spoke, concerned for his safety now that he had lost an arm.

"Please just give him some breathing space. He won't be able to answer you. He's in a state of shock right now and probably will be for a while." Said Allen who stood in the corner while the doctor had managed to stop the bleeding. "Are all you people this reckless. Chances are I could have neutralized the poison. Yet you took his arm off." Said the doctor looking at Luke who came in.

He obviously wasn't happy. "Shut up you old fool. It was either that or he'd be dead right now. That was a fast acting poison. If it hit any main arteries in his body it would have spread to his heart and killed him in an instant. I know who we're dealing with and she don't play games when she gets even with people." Said Luke.

"Yet you cut in such a way he could have bled to death. It's a good thing I managed to stop it." Said the doctor. "I may not be trained for field battles. But you do what you must in order to possibly spare the life of the person whose fighting alongside you. I did what I had to and he's going to survive because he's stubborn that way." Said Luke. "That's if the fever he's developed don't kill him." Said Allen with a sigh. "I doubt it will. But he'll need a replacement if he's to protect himself." Said Luke.

Xanthus meanwhile sat there looking at Lunaria worried. She hadn't said a thing the whole time during what had happened. He sighed and transformed back into his smaller feline form and jumped onto her lap curling up on it. He hoped she wasn't to shocked and him doing this would help relax her.

This was going too far, humans at their worst could be just as evil as Hades. Whoever did this was going to pay, if anything there was two faces to light. One was a gentle and warm face, and the other was a searing and deadly face. Now the situation had gotten out of hand, and she looked to Xanthus and finally spoke after a few minutes. "I want to know who did this, I will answer their move with equal force. Who else knew about this implant, and why did nobody say it was lethal." If it was the commander she would remove something vital in a sense, if it was another they would suffer the same fate.

"I'm not sure... I wasn't even informed of this matter my lady. I'm sure Luke knows who responsible though." Said Xanthus with a flick of his tail. He then looked up at her as the doors swung open and Allen came walking in. Kneeling down he said, "I've come to report on your brother's condition my lady. He's stable now but in a bit of shock. Top it off he's come down with a mild fever. The doctor said he'd live but we'll have to find someone who can replace his arm for him."

"Have you found out whose responsible for the poisoning of him. Or has that fool not told you anything?" Asked Xanthus making Allen fall over startled. "Xanthus is that you?" Allen asked looking a bit freaked to see a talking cat. "Of course you fool. This is my other form I use. No one ever suspects a cat. You think I became our lady's guard for my good looks?" Asked Xanthus annoyed. "Oh well an answer to your question. Luke said it has to be his former commanders doing. Only she would be cunning enough to pull such a thing. That's all he knows." Said Allen.

"I need to know what she is currently up to, and then pull all spies we left amongst her remaining staff. Target the processing operations of her enterprise, shut them down for a while." She said and then looked at Allen with an amused smile like it was funny he didn't know, this was probably where things shifted as she had just been serious before this. "Nobody would expect this, though you should have seen the look on your face." She actually enjoyed this, Xanthus provided some amusing moments too.

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Starling landed on the surface and made her way into a makeshift command building, any resources they had now were going into alternate plans. In fact she was already planning on starting operations on a smaller scale, though she knew that there would be the other fleet coming in. They had not arrived yet, stalled in an asteroid field exploring for minerals for their companies use. "Establish an SOS beacon and prepare a trap, we will need more ships due to that brats tinkering. Have as many security teams available in heavy armor, we will need their ships and personnel. Any who resist kill them, the rest will work for me." She ordered and people got to work on things, not realizing that there would be chaos soon and she would need ships for parts as well soon.

Allen's face turned pink seeing how she was amused by his reaction. "Of course my lady I'll get right too it." he said standing up and turning and leaving. Xanthus just snickered and said, "His reaction was priceless right my lady? I can tell you were amused by how he nearly freaked."

Footsteps were heard and Hades came walking up to her with his guards by his side. "You humans amaze me. To think I was worried about you getting caught up in your own ships destruction for nothing. Did you find out whose responsible for eliminating it? Either way I brought you some assistance." Said Hades as three men stepped forward. "Sozen, Lucifer, and Zeke you are to follow her orders now." Said Hades. The three men gave a nod.

"It was a setback yes, but nothing huge. I suspect that pest Malik, but it seems I am missing someone else. Malik should be suffering sufficiently for this though, I activated the poison in his implant. I doubt it will kill him, but it should weaken him a fair bit. Thank you Lord Hades, I will do what I can." She looked to the three of them after addressing Hades and then pondered how to handle this, she would have two major strike teams to take ships and they would need suitable leadership. She would also need someone on the ground to help with keeping operations in line, in order to prevent more betrayal from her people.

"Lord Hades it seems I have an issue with people betraying me, Luke has been lost due to that and I would rather keep people then lose them." She spoke frankly as she pondered how to do it, though a show of strength was in order she also had to make them understand how this worked. She was in charge here, and if anybody was going to betray her they would end up dead.

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"Yeah, he looked like he was going nuts there for a second. Anyways Malik will be fine, send word to to Doctor Promethtus, ask him to come to the palace right away Xanthus." She then smiled and sat therem she would fix this situation quite well and make sure that Malik had the right care for his situation.

"I can understand where you're coming from. I've had my fair share of betrayals myself. But you're telling me your second in command did not die on that ship? If so we can assume he's with them." Said Hades.

Xanthus hopped off her lap saying, "Of course my lady." He turned back into his normal form and left the double doors closing behind him.

Malik meanwhile was coming to his senses as he heard voices talking. They sounded to be far away to him. His eyes fluttered open and he sat up with a gasp. Looking to his right he bit his lip seeing he no longer had an arm. "Tawnie looks like he's awake. Malik are you alright? It was a close call for you." Said Luke going over. "I... My heads still spinning." Said Malik softly. "Well you did lose a lot of blood and got poisoned minor thanks to the amputation of your arm we stopped the severity of it. Just lay down and relax." Said Luke.

"I am certain he too died, but if he did not then he will suffer all the same. Assume he did betray me and if he does not show up then he did die, Sozen and Zeke I will leave you two in charge of the raiding teams. I want the ships and as much of their crew alive as possible, we will need ships and...." The sounds of an explosion from the almost completed refining base could be heard as Starling cursed and swore loudly, reports flooded in and news of four workers disappearing beforehand made her punch a post and making it bend. I want whoever was in charge of that project here now! If they did not notice problems, their incompetence will be their grave!" She pulled out a pistol and held it so it was ready to be fired once the person was in sight.

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"I had no idea about this, but it would seem we were all tricked. Your sister is pretty angry, and she's probably going to make a move soon." Her words did not have much to them but she was obviously concerned, the shock of the blood and the fact Malik had been poisoned did get to her since emotionally she was trying to shut out what she felt at the moment.

Footsteps were heard and two other workers were dragging a man out who appeared to be in bad shape.. "Commander... wait... I got a lead on whose responsible." He said as he was dropped in front of her. But before he could speak he coughed up blood and collapsed on his side dead. His body was kicked aside by Hades who said, "I expected better then this from you Starling. Remember failure is also not acceptable on my end." Pandora walked up and said, "Such as life I suppose. There's no other survivors mind you. I went to look myself it's probably her doing Hades."

Malik lay back down and said, "Tawnie if you need to cry just do it. I already made it clear to Xanthus it's not good to hold your emotions in. I know you're upset because this happened to me. It's okay alright?"

Chance came in next and looked to them, as he dropped someone to the ground who looked rather startled. He knew what happened but he was too stunned to act before it could happen, so really he would get the bullet. "According to him four people on the ground crew teleported away seconds before the explosion, she was watching all along quite closely." Starling looked to the man and then pointed her gun at his head, she then pulled the trigger as he tried to protest this action then tossed the body out as a warning. Sending a message to all terminals it replayed the footage, and the following text appeared afterwards.

"Anyone who does not comply with security regulations in reporting suspicious behavior will be shot, begin cleanup operations and as of now this operation will be operating under martial law." She then smiled at her message, and hoped they understood she was serious about this matter.

Tawnie was not wanting to cry, in fact she cursed at the fact that she had ever served under such a twisted manipulative monster. Though she would try to kill her now, and if she failed she would try again as there was nothing left that could save her former commander.

"Poor fool..." Was all Hades said before she shot him point blank into the forehead killing him. "I'm leaving now I don't feel like hanging around this dirty area any further. Blood shed is not appealing to me anyways. Let's go Chance." Said Hades turning and leaving going back to his smaller ship. Pandora suddenly jerked Hades by his arm and skidded back fast behind a rock as the ship suddenly exploded rocking the area with the huge fire ball.

"Hades you certainly are a foolish one. Two attacks in a two day period. Trying to kill off our lady's little brother. You even killed one of her guards. I see you've been a busy man." Echoed a voice on top of the rock they were standing by. Hades moved out of the way fast with Pandora as the woman who had blown his ship came crashing down leaving a crator where they had been standing.

She stood up straight and said, "My name is Terra and I was ordered to go on the attack to pay you back for what you did! And will gladly do so even if it costs me my life!!" She then charged at Hades who smirked and said, "Fool..." He sent a blast right at her and it struck her. But when she exploded into nothing but dirt he paled and echoed, "Up above you!" She came flying down pointing her spear at him and Hades flipped out of the way fast as another hole appeared right where he had been standing.

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Meanwhile Allen had gone back to Lunaria's chambers and approached her saying, "My lady our scouts have returned unharmed. Also Terra has made contact with Hades himself. You positive she'll be able to survive?"