Ghosts of the Past...

[Kane]

Not everything was going as planned for Luciaden. First off, the shuttles landing kicked up enormous amounts of dust, dirt, and grit. Second, the take off blew even more of the little tan particles into the air. Strange that a shuttle would just land, and then take off again. The quiet crunch of sand under someones boots indicated that Luciaden was no longer alone on the wind-swept desert. Soon enough a figure emerged from the swirling sand; the figure of arguably the most notorious man in all of Sirius, Dark Star.

The man in question simple looked down at the corpse of Rafel.

Hn. I suspected as much. He looked up at Luciaden and smiled.

I suppose he should have thanked you. The only other option was to live and continue the species, and I really dont think you two would have gotten along together as a couple. Luciaden started at the implication, the perverseness of it shocked what even the alien expected from the madman. That, or he could just thank you from releasing him from the mortal coil. He life cant have been a very happy one. I think you might have done him a favor.

Luciaden settled for firing off a mind blast that should have scrambled Dark Stars brains. However, what it did instead was splash off the insane human like water off a plastic tarp. The humans smile broadened. Im sorry, did your little mind trick not work?

The human pointed to a thin black circlet on his head. This would be a psychic repressor. In short, it means you cant use any little psychic tricks on me.

The human kept up his smile, although now it turned to something almost like when a shark spots a bare behind. Now Two little orange short-swords sprang from his bracers. Shall we dance?

Despite the immense power Luciaden possessed, Dark Star still managed to evade his attacks directly. Not only that, but the enhanced human hit hard. The crystal sword almost rang each time the maniacal man blocked his attacks. He was fast too, the twin arm-blades whistling through the dusty air, cleaving arcs into the blown-sand. But in the end, even this advanced construct tired. The blows were not quite as fast, the strokes not as hard as they had been. Slowly but surely Luciaden was backing Dark Star into a corner. One of the fallen HAA units lay behind him, Dark Star almost backing into it when Luciaden saw his opening.

Taking the sword in both hands, he drove forward intent on piercing Dark Stars heart. At the last second, however, the insane human twisted and the point descended. There was a sickening Shink! as the blade cut its way through Dark Stars shoulder and impaled him on the armor. Dark Star gave a gasp, his eyes wide with pain. Luciaden took the moment to savor that expression. Dark Star had other ideas, on the other hand.

Now Dark Star started to smile, although his normally arrogant expression was contorted with agony. This is where You run into a problem Luciaden suddenly stopped gloating. What was the bastard talking about?

Yours is better then mine, individually, but I have two Luciaden suddenly understood and made to withdraw his weapon. Unfortunately, the blade has stuck in Dark Stars bone and in the metal behind him. His other hand came up in a blur, a spurt of red following behind after. Luciaden backed away, only to find his sword still stuck in the injured human, his hand still grasping the hilt. Looking at his arm, all that remained was the stump of a wrist. The pain finally set in, forcing Luciaden to grit his teeth or cry out.

At least its a clean cut. Some detached part of Luciadens brain commented.

Dark Star, now free of the alien looming over him, grasped the sword in his shoulder. He pulled it slowly, drawing out the crystal blade through metal, bone, and flesh. The wound bled freely, the super-sharp edges cutting it open further, and still the insane human pulled. With an intake of breath, the crystal shard was finally drawn free. Panting in hurt and from the fight, Dark Star stepped away from the fallen mech.

So Now what? You give up trying to fight fair and and use your new-found powers? The two stood, Luciaden cradling the stump of his hand, Dark Stars left arm held to his chest. It wont do anything. Theyre coming, and they plan to finish you.

There was a flickering about Dark Star, something effecting reality in his vicinity. Luciaden recognized it; one of the CTan Free-End Teleports. Most teleports required two pads, one at the beginning and one at the end. The Free-End versions were not quite as stable, were not quite as precise, and consumed huge amounts of energy, but they were quite handy at certain times. Like now, for Dark Star.

The human held up the sword and Luciadens hand. Im keeping these. So maybe you wont be entirely forgotten. The flickering intensified, building into a bright white light. A ripping sound assaulted Luciadens ears, and the light disappeared. Dark Star along with it.

Luciaden felt into the air with his mind, and found what Dark Star was talking about; a Psy-Bomb, somewhere in the Giga-range, descending rapidly towards the surface. When that bomb detonated, it would fill the planets atmosphere with a psychic frequency that shattered consciousness and destroyed minds. Trying to stop it from detonating it was futile; since the bomb was psychic, any tampering would be registered and considered a detonation command. Trying to stop the blast-wave would be difficult, because the bombs effects would last for days. The initial wave, Luciaden could stop. But the echoes would slowly erode his defenses and finally reach the target they so viciously sought. So, Luciaden did the next best thing; he ran. Not in the same way as a normal person, but he did run. He knew how to find one specific person, no matter where they were. Locking onto that psyching presence, he teleported himself to their side.

Her side, actually. Aurelia suddenly found the wounded and physically exhausted Luciaden falling into her arms. The only explanation that she got before delivering him into the arms of the surprised medics was, Im going to kill that man

She also noticed the new sword he was carrying. She had thought about asking him about it, but the pure hate the rolled around in his eyes strangled the question before it could be vocalized.


Dark Star lay on nothing, seeming to just hang in the air. The CTan surgeon was deftly reconstructing the humans wounded shoulder. He had an idea, a wonderfully vicious idea. One that would require a tad of sacrifice on one part, but the rewards would be great. In his left hand, Dark Star still held the crystal sword; Luciadens hand still attached. His maniac grin never left his face. It had been a good day after all.

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This is the real true story of rock and roll; it was not about anything more then, how to live your life, as a gangster, in sartorial splendor, and turning the world into a place where normality would never return again...- Malcolm McLaren