Episode 46: Unite or Die

[Vince Hardy]

When Maria chose Clayf and Frosch, Vince had to smirk, because that duo was the most consistent across the board. Plus, she didn't choose a duo that will most likely bicker with each other the whole time like Apollonir and Oberus who - in terms of damage potential - is the most dangerous duo of the Legendary Soldiers.

"I like everything I heard," Vince replied to Maria's question. "Now Frosch, if the big guy gets out of control, Kyuki may turn tail. Clayf loves a challenge, but he needs to take it slow."

"He certainly does," Frosch agreed. "But enough about us. What's going on for the others?"

"We know that the Hurranians are going to be here on Earth to combat Kyuki, so we'll have a squad here that'll observe what's going on. We also need a squad on Vestal since it is likely Dasia will appear there at least once. The Hurranians are doing all kinds of shenanigans from what Andrew and I saw. Because of that, I will be there personally with a squad Apollonir decides to choose. I also think it'll be responsible of us to keep our criminal allies here on Earth as we need to maintain control of where they are."

[Xavier Turano]

"Hm..." The criminals they have could be problematic. He was going to leave Nero out of the equation for now, because Vince seemed confident that he wasn't going to shoot anyone in the back.

"When he does make a decision, let me know about it," Xavier requested. "I'm hoping that you know what you're doing by having Nero on board. One of the terrorists he set free has some history with one of the Spartans. He does look like he'll be dangerous on the battlefield, so I'm all for it if he cooperates with us."

"Don't worry. He will," Clayf assured him, entering the room in the process. "I got tired of beating the crap out of him, so Excedra did his thing and warped his mind. He'll be on our side, at least until the Hurranians are gone."

"I don't usually allow that, but just this once..." Lars Lion said with some worry.

"We're fiiinnne," Clayf promised. "Now...as for why I'm here. Apollonir has his plan figured out, so I wanted to run it by you guys to see what you think."

"Just in time. We were just talking about that."

"Apollonir wants ALL of the Soldiers who aren't taking Kyuki to task to go to Vestal. He also wants the remaining Resistors, and Damian, Deon, and Yita with us as well."

"Okay."

"The other two Spartans will remain here with our criminal masterminds."

"Sounds like we're going all in on Vestal here. What if something happens here?"

"That's up to whatever the Silver Knights and Eden are going to be doing. Our main concerns right now are Vestal and Kyuki. Some of the personnel here recommended that we do that as well. Also, Apollonir's reasoning behind our Earth squad was recommended to us by the other Admiral. Let's just say she's not too happy about what our Nero friend pulled."

"Alright. I'm happy with your choices. No objections from me."

"Good. Now, I'm going to go sharpen my axe." He then turned to leave, but only took two steps before realizing that he had something else to say. "Oh, before I forget, there's something I have to say to Maria. Vince and Xavier, can you leave the room for a little bit?"

[Vince Hardy]

This took Vince by surprise. He was thinking they were going to at least deliberate on the situation first, but it sounded like everything was set-in-stone. Whatever he had to say to Maria must have been important if he didn't want either him or Xavier there to hear it, so he shrugged and left. Frosch and Lars Lion looked at each other in confusion as they walked out. Even they didn't know what this was about.

"I didn't want either of them in the room, because what I'm about to tell you involves some controversy a Spartan and a Resistor are apart of, and I don't want them knowing about it yet. I will talk with Xavier about this afterwards so he can deal with it on his own time," Clayf started. He must be talking about Noland and Yita's activity from within the depths of the Silver Knights HQ.

"First off, are you okay?" he curiously asked. "We heard about what happened to you. We're happy you're still alive, but if there's something bothering you, let us know. None of us will be doing anything until we're absolutely sure everyone is in prime condition."

[Maria Zenovia]

A quiet sigh escaped Maria's lips at that question. "Of course I am not. None of us are." She replied jokingly yet honestly. In her nature, she was barely a fighter; she was simply blessed with a well-trained friend with potential to progress even more. Other than that, she was quite a peaceful soul. Her position as Admiral was handed to her because of Misfortune 13 and her exceptional perception and strategist potential. If it was her own willingness to take initiative for battles she would never have made it. Only exception was when her loved ones are in harm.

"Fighting your greatest fear is not a simple task; especially when you have no other choice but to fight it. Many, like Excedra and some others, are disgusted by fear- I have seen that the day when Kyuki came to our Headquarters. Everyone acts cocky..." Maria says as a sort of criticism towards what she had witnessed in the HQ. Knights were considered cowards because they feared Kyuki- after witnessing countless horrors, in far greater number than any other living being on the planet bravery would be a foolish quality to own. In the end, they are just living beings, intelligent creatures in the face of death. "... I will never overcome this fear. However, I have someone to protect, I must make sure she is safe; pain she felt is beyond anything I will ever feel, so even if that scares, even if it will tear me apart I will fight. And I will emerge victorious... WE will." Maria said. Reference was to her younger, tortured and hurt sister who can never feel safe due to being a target of Kyuki's attacks and whose childhood was taken away from her. Fear of facing Kyuki, their torturer, is nothing to Maria compared to fear of a world whete her sister cannot live safely. Maria has always admired Asuka for her exceptional bravery and qualities far above average of any normal human. One could say she fell in love with Asuka (not affectionally, of course) after what Asuka showed to Silver Knights, including Maria and Victoria, several years ago. Maria learned to fight one fear with another.

[Vince Hardy]

Seeing as how Frosch was one of the ones who were making comments about the Silver Knights from the time that Kyuki appeared, he felt like he needed to address that personally before anyone else says anything.

"Perhaps I was cocky," Frosch began to analyze. "I've been around for many generations, so it does seem easy for someone like me to make those type of comments. At the same time, it is expected of me, because the young people will view me as someone to look up to. That's why the Resistors as a whole were not disturbed by Kyuki showing up like that. Like it or not, you Knights have some admirers. That's just what happens, am I right?"

"Not only that, but if anyone didn't inform you of what was going on leading up to the end of the Hurranian threat back then, I'll tell you," Clayf took over. "Truth is, we weren't the only ones out there who could've been called legendary. There were plenty of others who could stand with us, but when it was time to buckle down and get tough, they chickened out and left us by ourselves. Many of us took it personally, some more personally than others."

"All six of us were reminded by the days of old when we saw all of you. It was hard for us not to see it," Lars Lion explained. "Do not take what those like Excedra says to heart. He acts sinister, but he is also scared; however, he has learned to control that fear into an overwhelming weapon. Learning to find that correct balance of fear and bravery is a difficult task though. Those who don't fear anything can become too overzealous, and those who fear everything are hopeless. Our initial assumption was that an organization that is tasked to deal with these type of problems would have already achieved that balance across the board. Our primitive ways of thinking got the better of us when the Knights' behavior did not match with our assumptions. We are sorry."

"You know, I think you lot may be better than those rustbuckets we had with us back then," Frosch admitted. "I'm more comfortable helping out with the fight against this mad doctor now, except for one tiny thing. Cut the word 'never' out of your vocabulary, okay? You can't let anyone tell you what your limits are, not even yourself. Oberus used to be one of the weakest Bakugan in history, but here she is. Nothing's impossible, my dear."

"Even if you don't have a natural attraction to battle," Clayf noted, noticing that Maria was a pacifist at heart. "You have a good heart, and I respect that 100%. Just remember, going into this fight, each of you are going to be challenged in a way you've never imagined. That's why it'll be important to get the jitters out now. He MUST answer to us now. You understand that, don't you?"

[Maria Zenovia]

"Oh, he will answer to me..." Maria replied. Her intentions were far from killing the man; considering what he did to them and what his position was Maria intended to torture him in return while squeezing every piece of information out of that brain of his. Hydra would enjoy getting revenge on that madman once and for all for everything he had done to Maria and her younger sister; if she ever gets her hands on him he will beg for mercy as one by one limb is torn away from his body and fed to the beasts of Doom Dimension. She may or may not have such luck if Asuka orders otherwise as her interest in Kyuki's knowledge is far beyond Maria's. After all, Maria is driven by rage and revenge while Asuka is driven by objective observation and intellect; it would not be wise to leave Maria in the same room as Kyuki then. That is quite a long shot to talk about anyways as the man is yet to be defeated and brought to justice. 

Maria will certainly not work on her power's improvement any more. Her intention when this war is over, provided that she survives, is to quit Silver Knights and go back to her brother and grasp the power she rightfully deserves- to become the queen of Advent. With that power she could, virtually, become one of the most-influential beings in the universe and use that power to finally 'fix' Earth. Knowing this race's economy and organization she could aid in the process of getting Earth rid of its 'evil roots'. In a way, Maria considers humans to be inferior to Advent, but not in a bad way; she thinks humans are in dire need for aid- the way they are now, even if Dasia is defeated, they will blow away with the next gust that arrives. So, as a favor for Silver Knights who kept her safe all those years and, especially, to Asuka who trained her day and night Maria will attempt to give them way more power and influence that not even the governments will be able to oppose. She wants to make Silver Knights the government of its own; organization that would represent and lead humanity. 

"I will be fine so pay it no mind." Maria said. She knew she was not a fighter, but there were things she could do, as mentioned above. "Once this war is over I will try to... 'fix' this planet..." She stated. She considers humans inferior because of their obvious fragile minds and bodies- that is why she has to make sure they do not 'hurt themselves' anymore. Noland was the best example of this whole thing- a hero one day because he defeated Baalenoid and suddenly a villain, attacked and hated, because he is a Gundalian. Why would kids like him have to suffer every day on the planet because they have to live with people of questionable intelligence. "After all, it would not be fair of me to let six of you and a bunch of kids to clean up all of the mess of this planet, would it?" She said jokingly not intending to mention any of her plans for the planet. "But first I have to visit our dear doctor and cut his manhood off." Maria said proudly while holding a kitchen knife in her left hand and laughing silently and innocently. Well, if she does what she just said Kyuki might finally feel the irony of things he had been doing to other people.

[Noland Hardy]