The Cratto War

Explosions crush the surface on both her left and her right, Emerald tried to keep her head low but left and right her Cortega sister’s fell. “Damn it, it’s hard to believe I was at a nice dinner last night and now I’m in the middle of a dang war!” she screamed, diving out of the way as a plasma grenade landed in her area. “MOVE!” she screamed the grenade went off ripping shreds into the moon rock; shaking the foundation of the entire moon.

“Emerald, this is Maki; we’re trying to maneuver through this blockade, but they have THOUSANDS of ships firing from all sides this is like a suicide mission” Emerald’s connection with Maki was quickly cut. “I should’ve stayed with the Trinity Foundation” she said, making a mad dash across the battlefield to a downed sister.

“Stop moving, you’re going to bleed out!” she screamed, ripping the sleeves from her uniform she tied it above the wound trying to stop the blood. “Emerald, the commander has been killed…you’re in charge” her down friend said, wincing in pain. “Yes I know…” Emerald said, dragging her friend back to the bunker. “Oh…Surkit…” she said, softly as she positioned her friend with her back against the bunker.

“Commander, the enemy have landed” a member of the Lanterns said, before he was shot down. “No…” she said, running over to him; this was a lost cause. “Good…” she said, watching as the snake like juggernauts began to disperse over the battle field. “This is my kind of fighting” she said, touching her commlink trying to get in touch with Maki.

“Commander, I need a blast from the alternaught, also I need some sort of beacon set up we need help” she reported back in to Maki. “I’ll work on the blast, but you have to get that beacon up on the hill, or the distress will never work” Maki reported back.

“Any word on the counsel memb-“she didn’t finish her sentence, she was sent flying by a swift smack from a Serpenine’s tail. Coming to a rolling stop, she finally made it back to her feet. “Emerald your power Core is at 100%” Maki said, advising her to switch from Green Lantern to Cortega. Doing a dodge roll she escaped being shot by hiding behind her bunker. “Time to even the odds” popping up over the bunker, she pushed her hands over the stone wall and fired a huge beam of emerald energy destroying two of the Serp’s instantly.

“Give me cover!” she yelled, as the Green Lantern members quickly provided fire for her left and right sides. This was her job, the most dangerous job in the universe; she loved the adrenaline, but in this moment as she dashed across the frontline; she could only think of Surkit. The moment that they shared together kept her pushing; it kept her striving to live. She’d give anything in the world to feel what he gave her again, just not her life.

Running fast, she ran up the snake’s stomach and executed a perfect front flip; which put her at his back, constructing a huge drill she pushed it through the snake’s body all before she landed perfectly on the ground. “Whoa…Emerald” one of the lantern’s said completely impressed; “It’s the shoes…” she said, embarrassed.

“Ok cover me, I’m trying to get this beacon up” she said, using her ecosphere to tap into the beacon. “Emerald, its Cleo” Maki’s commander chimed in, trying to check the status of her team.

“Ma’am we’re completely depleted, I’m the only Cortega on ground, with a team of 50 or so Lanterns, I’d say retreat, but given the blockade I don’t think it’s possible” she said, finally managing to crack the beacon. “SOS…SOS, This is Emerald Canary of the Cortega Force of the Citadel; we’ve been ambushed by the Serpenine on the moon of Cratto, anyone crazy enough to help, we’d be forever in your debt” she said; sending the message to the Alternaught.

Maki then relayed the message to nearby systems. “Alright, we need to get to the counsel, hopefully we can at least, get the schematics for this new defense mechanism.” “Alright guys let’s move out, and hopefully someone comes” she said, pushing north towards the bunker.

Eleemos calmly sat in the forest, in a nook that had no trees, but was protected by them like a gate of natural growth. A singular stump, centuries old resided in the middle of the passage, which is what she rested upon. She relaxingly pulled through her hair with a comb made from the bark of an Tykka tree, some of the strongest natural material in the Wonderland. This was her life now. There had been no reason for her to intervene in the affairs of others, or at least that is what she thought. As much as she loved helping people, part of her soul wanted nothing more than to live out the rest of her life in serene peace. So she sat, and combed her hair, its luster brought out by the sparkling sunlight that broke through the almost non existent canopy. A slight breeze picked up, causing her little tan dress sleeve to flutter in the wind, batting like the wings of a butterfly, ever so gently. Soon she saw the cause of the babysbreath air. Oliss, taken to the regular size of a Northern Snowy Owl, swooped in beside her.

"My dear. It has been a while since we have seen each other." Eleemos turned to look at him, still fiddling her long locks as she did. "Oliss!" She reached down to grab him in her hands, pulling him in for an awkward hug, still imperfect, even after so long. The relationship between these two, woman and animal was peculiar. He was like a father figure to her, her teacher, her guidance. For Oliss, Elee was his daughter, human or not. She was his pupil, and his warrior. "Oliss. I've missed you. Memory serves companion in your absence, but nothing is flesh and blood...Well feather, flesh and blood I should say." The bird chuckled at her innocent joke, and began speaking to her in an old voice, full of wisdom, compassion and knowledge. "My dear, it has been too long for since we have seen each other. And there is good reason. The High Council asked me to watch over the Earth, the one that most of your missions had been cause for." She looked at him, eyes closed to a ruminating slit, as she thought of all of the time she spent there trying to coral evil, and protect the innocent. "Yes. I remember. But why are you telling me now. You could have taken me with you?" Eleemos didn't love battle, although it was in essence the reason for her existence, the reason for her salvation and title of Estrovenge. "Yes, I could have. But the High Council specifically asked me, more like demanded that I didn't. You see, there has been a lot of activity in that dimension and if I did, you would have been spread too thin. And then, the creatures called Ninjans came. My dear..." He sighed, preparring her for pain, rubbing her arm with his benign wing. "The Earth was nearly destroyed on account of that invasion, and so many more things that I am too coward to say...It was unlike anything we've ever faced." Eleemos was shocked, and hurt. "EVEN MALICE!" she said. Her sister was the bane of existence, especially hers. Nothing had ever been so hard as to fight her own family. But to hear words that counteracted her own belief that nothing was worse than Malice, made her gut churn. "But now, there is something for us to do. In the distance of space there is distress. We must go and help, for we are needed."

With that Eleemos jumped up from her stoop, and ran from the lush green forest. On the horizon she saw the place where she had called home. The Overland was unmistakably beautiful. The sun shone everyday, happiness abounded, feeding the privileged souls that lived there.

She ran with so much speed that, as she pressed on, each step kicked up dirt. Finally reaching the High Council armory, she stopped. Oliss had flown ahead. "What do you think I'll need Oliss. That distant place you said...Cratto...Its in not exactly an Earthly place, so I don't know if any of my regular weapons will do any good." This was not doubt in her abilities, it was the truth. She usually ran with bow and arrow, staff and or sword. None of these things seemed like an appropriate remedy to an alien race. And if they were anything like the Ninjans, Oliss spoke of, then they would definitely do nothing to stop the onslaught. "You are right my dear. But just for this, I had the mechanic gnolls fashion you something that will. It's unlike anything you've ever used before so you should test it out." He handed her a gun, she knew what it was from her encounters on Earth. She took it from Oliss, and aimed it towards the ground, cocking the hammer back, she pulled the trigger and a Brillia crystal bullet shot out, and drove itself so far into the ground that she couldn't see its radiance anymore. As the bullet descended though, the prismatic effects of the crystal appeased her, a streak of rainbow colored light left a trail. "It does well against the dirt, let's see how it fairs against a real threat. But just in case..." The Estrovenge grabbed her favorite sword from the shelf. It was edged with brillia crystal.

With that, Oliss enlarged to massive proportions, and she hopped on his back. He was her delivery system. As he flew, at greater and greater speeds, day turned into night, stars streaked past her eyes like streams of light. And finally, entered the space where all of the action was taking place. "Elee. They are called the Serpanine. They are the invading force here on Cratto. The ones in the green are your allies. Find their leader." She knew that was the end of his briefing, and so she jumped from the glorious sky, falling through the barricade of warring ships. Unholstering her Brillia gun, she took aim at one, just to see it's effects. "BOOM" one shot fired at the top of a ship. The bullet shattered upon impact, and for a second she thought she was going to indeed be useless. But taking a closer look, the shattered pieces began to glow that same radiant rainbow, synonymous with the crystal.The metallic surface began to glow a hot red, and melt. The hot red spread over the ship and caused it to explode, setting of a chain reaction, of one other ships demise. Smiling now, she finally fell to the ground, rolling out of her momentum. Dawning her nearly naked uniform, she saw on of the green warriors. "Hello. My name is Eleemos, and I have answered your call for help. Show me to your leader please."

Shinji Tsukazaki wandered the newly minted Nippon Trinity Headquarters fuming off a potent spell of tranquil silence. Not even a half hour ago, Shinji slipped from the Imperial Golden Palace immediately after his routine dinner, snuck past his sensitive attendants, overprotective cousin Daisuke and found calming solitude at Trinity headquarters. His soundless silicon boot-soles hit the metallic surface as if he were not present. After wandering the bases private quarter corridors and the briefing room he stumbled upon the surveillance room and decided to monitor the city. A supermoniter arrayed on the wall opposite the main entrance blazoned the bustling city life outside the base. The marvel of the mesh of cultures and individuality never ceased to amaze the Young Emperor. It made him wonder if it was possible to capture that same diversity for the countries other rebuilding cities.

Nippon became the sanctuary for the survivors of the Age of Arrow and the Ninjans All Out Assault on Humanity. Prior to the chaos, Shinji knew the country wasn't in the best of shape. Mainly the Xechellum radiation that Ziccarra's father, Derrekken brought from his homeplanet. His people were still suffering the mental and physical trauma he brought upon them. The second Ninjan invasion was the last nerve. It was unanimous the people needed protection, a wider spectrum of safety in a dangerous world and uncomfortably unknown universe. Trinity became that beacon, the figureheads of the zeitgeist Shinji wanted to spread across the countries. The Age of Humanity. The Age where humans remove there ignorance to extraterrestrial beings and take action. The Age where humans and mutants can work as equals to protect their country. But Shinji knew if he wanted the change to come to fruition it had to emanate from him first.

He heard a squad of footsteps echoing through the base and cursed under his breath in Japanese before preparing to investigate. None of the Trinity members arrived in numbers over four--four was rare--they all had there own lives outside of Trinity. Strolling down the hall with his obsidian cape emblazonment the Tsukazaki family crest in ivory lacquer. The men marching ahead of him shared the crest as well. He secretly sighed.

"Lord Shinji, Her Majesty Grace request you at her pagoda." His Kamikaji Officer Tojiro Sawa uttered urgently speaking fast Japanese while he bowed with his men flanking his left and right.

Shinji stood rigid with an unflinching gaze glossing over the three men. "What does she want. What are the details."

Officer Tojiro sensed the resistance in Shinji's stance and removed his midnight-colored helmet with a transparent crimson red across the helmet's visor. "It's your son, Crown Prince Alexander. His reaction to her psychic therapy has proven tumultuous....again."

Although this result became routine and was only a tantrum, taking him off his grandmother's hands became routine as well. It was the only way to immediately quell his fits of rage. Walking past his Imperial sentries he gestured with a hand swipe. "No need to escort me, I'll fly."Officer Sawa obeyed Shinji's request and caught the drift of his irritation and proceeded in the opposite direction of his men after bowing to Shinji's back.

Sure, Shinji could continue to enjoy his solitude and let his son cry himself to sleep; but it was the concept of his son being disturbed, at ill ease. Simply devoting his attention to the one year old fulfilled one of the core responsibilities he had for Alex.

With the idea of Maya supporting him with Alex, Trinity and the country running through his psyche, the analog beeping that echoed through the hall took him by surprise and froze him momentarily. The alarm resonated from the surveillance room and signaled trouble. He returned with the red screen light pouring across his body. A blinking mail icon was blazoned on the screen with the capital text of "URGENT" set directly above it.

He opened the audio file and pressed play: "SOS…SOS, This is Emerald Canary of the Cortega Force of the Citadel; we’ve been ambushed by the Serpenine on the moon of Cratto, anyone crazy enough to help, we’d be forever in your debt"

As Shinji's eyes narrowed, he wondered the gravity of situation. He came to the conclusion his son would be fineand headed for the armor dispensary. There was no way he could relay a message back to her after he confiscated her Trinity paraphernalia, but he could track the transmission of her message through his airship.

Geared in his ablative Naito armor and equipped with research instruments, Shinji headed for the Trinity hangar bay below holding the Hiroshima frigate."SHINJI!" He heard someone yelling behind him. "I need the ship! Emerald's..." Turning full circle to Bishop Shinji finished for him. "Fighting Serpenine the Cratto moon. Suit up--"

"Where's my spacesuit?" A teenage girl with fair skin and wavy mohagony hair ambled out shyly with her hands behind her back. "Levina?" He said. "Where have--nevermind your suits on the frigate. Let's go."

ON THE MOON OF CRATTO.

The Hiroshima landed one mile from Emerald Canary's distress signal and the three Trinity members exited the ship swiftly. There was a clear sign of a gunfight with scorch marks spread through the visible surface. Creating a glowing green cosmic bubble around Surkit, Hi-Voltage and himself, they hovered fast towards Emerald's last confirmed location. "This is Mercury. Surkit, Hi-Voltage and I have landed on the moon of Cratto in response to a SOS from Emerald Canary. She, along with Cortega agents, were ambushed by Serpinine. Transmitting a feed to the base on our location." With that he continued on to meet with Emerald for a briefing on her situation.

Draper City, UT

She ran, she couldn’t believe it herself… but she actually ran away. Ran away from her teammates, the people she vowed to protect, her responsibilities as a hero. When the world went into a war, the teenager grew a fear she never felt before. The fear of dying. She had looked at the face of death before, not too long ago, and at that time she wasn’t scared, she welcomed it with open arms but when everything turned to sh!t, she became terrified. The hero ran away, running off to the place she called home, Draper City UT.

With the war going on, Levina stuck at her home town and neighboring cities, protecting them along with the help of her two friends Daniel and Michael. It was still chaotic there, but a chaos that she was able to handle with minimal fear. Even after the war was over, Levina didn’t dare go back to The Trinity, ashamed for what she did. So she stuck around at home, tried to live her life as normally as possible, until one day…

After school Daniel and Michael spoke to her about going back to Trinity.

“Are you two crazy? I LEFT them when they NEEDED me, and you want me to just… go back?” The secret hero blurted out at her two friends.

“Look, you can’t just stick around here forever, you need to go where your needed.” Daniel tried to talk some sense into her friend.

“YOU were the one who was pissed at me for leaving in the first place and NOW you want me gone?”

“Because you didn’t give us a heads up until the last second!”

“Because I KNEW you would get mad!”

“Because it was a stupid reason for you to leave!”

“Only stupid to you because-“

“GUYS!” Michael stepped between them. “Look, Levina, the WORST that’s going to happen if you go back, is that their going to tell you, your no longer on the team. If that’s the case, just come back and we’ll figure things from there. You at least have to go over there and apologize to them, it’s the least you can do.”

Levina stayed silent for a few seconds, her eyes looking on the ground as she nod her head. “I’ll just drop off my stuff at home and head over there.” The hero began walking ahead of her two friends.

Trinity HQ

Her eyes widen at the newly built building, everything was so... different. Not to mention the new location that Daniel was able to pick up for her. Everything had changed. “The old one must have been destroyed…” she whispered to herself as she continued walking through the building dressed as Hi Voltage. But everything was so new and different, she felt as if she was stuck in a maze, blind to where she was going.

‘How are things going?’ Daniel’s voice was a little static, probably because of the altitude she was at.

“Fine, just you know, lost… you guys wouldn’t believe how massive this place is.”

‘TELL HER TO ASK FOR DIRECTIONS!’ she heard Michael blurt out.

With a chuckle she turned a corner and began to hear a transmission not too far away. "SOS…SOS, This is Emerald Canary of the Cortega Force of the Citadel; we’ve been ambushed by the Serpenine on the moon of Cratto, anyone crazy enough to help, we’d be forever in your debt"

“Canary.” The hero whispered.

‘Who?’ she could hear Daniel and Michael ask at the same time.

“Hold on.”

Emerald Canary was a former member of Trinity, she remembered the team working with her on more than one occasion and now she needed their help. She could hear footsteps running down the halls, and she followed closely behind until they made it to the hanger bay. Her jaw almost dropped.

“Guys, if you were here right now, you would probably piss yourself.”

The sound of Daniel being shoved out of chair could be heard coming from the earpiece as Michael blurted out. ‘WHY!? I WANNA SEEEEEEE WHAT YOU SE-‘ Daniel and Michael could then be heard trying to wrestle each other to the ground, leaving Levina to roll her eyes at the two boy’s she couldn’t see.

Looking ahead she saw Mr. Mercury ready to go along with Surkit. This was her chance, she had to take to take it. Stepping forward with nerves tightening in her stomach spoke out. “Where’s my spacesuit?”

‘YOUR GOING TO OUTERSPACE!?’ she could hear both boy’s suddenly yell out in shock.

She could see Mercury turn to her, confusion taking over for a few seconds. “Levina where have—never mind your suits on the frigate. Let’s go.”

With a huge grin she nod her head, following the two men into the ship as she got dressed and ready to go.

ON THE MOON OF CRATTO

The voltaic hero’s heart pound her chest with excitement, her ocean blue eyes shifting back and forth as the trio soared over the surface of the moon. Sure they were about to go into war, which was the last thing she wanted to do right now, but just being in outer space, on an actual moon.“I never thought I would ever go into space.” She whispered to herself with excitement. “The guys would be totally jealous right now.” The boy’s wouldn’t be able to use the communicator to talk to her and the computer that Daniel has was no where near close to be able to lock onto her position in space.

Her eyes then looked over at Surkit, it was clear he was worried about Emerald. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her and help her.” She gave a small grin as she tried to reassure the fellow hero.“But you know…” she tugged on her space suit. “This is kinda not very comfortable.” She joked a little as the three went forward to meet up with Emerald Canary and Serpinine.

Trinity Nippon HQ

For once, the day seemed to have a sun. The Kinetic King walks down the Corridors of the Nippon Headquarters with an uncharacteristically calm smile on his face. Shinji had held his word, ushering in an incredible new way of life for the Citizens of Utop...Nippon. Some would think any place made after the majestic country of Utopia, would only live in it's shadow; Nippon was the acception to that rule. Tomorrow shines brighter, and yesterday fades into memory

On top of the thriving happiness that seemed to envelope the entire continent, Bishop's dark shell of a life seemed to have one, emerald light cracking through it. Canary was a woman not many men could understand or accept. She was strong, independent, and intimidatingly gorgeous, yet, carried herself with a humble demeanor. She was the type of woman men long thought to have gone extinct on earth, and maybe they had. But Xiox wasn't earth.

The humming of the screens and supercomputers begin as he opens the communication filters and begins monitoring, hoping to sneak a message to his, girlfriend? If the traffic of emergencies gave him the opportunity. Though he should have known, it's always brightest before the night. “SOS…SOS, This is Emerald Canary of the Cortega Force of the Citadel; we’ve been ambushed by the Serpenine on the moon of Cratto, anyone crazy enough to help, we’d be forever in your debt” From a lazed position with his feet on the console, he jolts up with wide eyes, as the melodic voice leaves the speaker. All he had heard was "Emerald Canary" and "Cratto" before jumping up and blazing down the halls to find Shinji. This place was a maze for the most part, he'd need help finding a ship, let alone using it. "SHINJI! I need the ship Emeralds'-" But the emperor was already informed, which was impressive though unexpected. Clearly this man took his role seriously and it was reassuring to know his team was equally worried about Em.

Just as they turn to head for the Hangar in their sleek fresh woven space suits, a rambunctious girl turns the corner and yells anxiously, "Where's my spacesuit?!" He didn't know who she was, and it wasn't that he didn't care for her, but the focus of the Blue breaker was laser pointed at getting on the frigate, and on Cratto. Three members of the Trinity, a unique band of heroes, fulfill the title as they head for the desolate moon as hopeful saviors of an outmatched brigade of light warriors.

Cratto

The three soar across a war zone of galactic proportions, viewing a greyish mass of scorched earth. As they touch down and set foot, Shinji calls in the reinforcment response, now that they had finally gotten into range for a link. There was a taste in the air of stale blood, the smell of roasted snake, and bodies of Cortega enforcers strewn all over. He didn't bother to check their bodies for identification; He knew his girl was better than that. But there int he pit of his stomach was a forboding feeling dread, ' What if she was captured, what would they do to her, was she valuable enough to keep alive to them? ' His mind is a cauldron of swirling thoughts stirred by the serpenine. ' I should never have let her leave... I could feel it, I should have mad eher I should have- '

His inner monolague is, in hindsight, thankfully broken by the sweet girl known as Hi-Voltage, "Haha, I think I'm supposed to be the one making sure you aren't nervous little girl. " He pushes her shoulder slightly trying to help relieve them of the tension before it caused a problem later, "Agreed. I kind of... forgot my helmet. So on the plus side, the atmosphere is obviously breathable" He sucks in a long wind to confirm it to his comrades. The three stand on a crater viewing the landscape, The blue blaze looks over the area with a furrowed brow and pursed lips, "If they don't respond in the next twenty minutes... I'm going in either way. Stay with the ship or follow it's your choices, I won't put you int his if you don't want to be...But I have to bring her home"

Maki fired the Thanes cannon from the Alternaught; destroying nearly every ship in its path. The detonation could be seen on the moon, the mesh of colors momentarily captivated Emerald for a moment; the only shame was knowing that people were dying in the process. “Can I get the coordinates for…” she was halted by the sound of a ring. (Scanning for sentiment replacement) “Damn it!” she screamed, as another one of her sentries fell dead to the ground. “Maki…you’re going to have to find a way for us to retreat!” She said, firing a multitude energy beams across a berm to try and force the enemy fire.

“Commander, we have aid!” one of the lanterns said, pointing towards a half-naked woman. Emerald glanced at the woman’s figure, and instantly found herself looking past the half-naked woman. “A-A…Yes” she responded still not trying to look at the woman’s half naked body. Growing up on a Ninjan planet, did nothing to tell her self-awareness, if she felt another woman poessed a better body, she tried her hardest not to get caught looking. “We’ve been pinned in, the Serpenine have the whole perimeter locked down” she said, pointing at the sky. “On top of that, they’ve got us blocked in on this moon”.

The Lanterns did their best to keep the fire shifted so that Emerald an Eleemos could converse; the attacks became far more aggressive, even in the air; huge Cortega starships exploded from the superior fire of the Serpenine’s. “We could really use your help, if we breach the perimeter, we can get down below” She said, pointing north which was where the council was being housed. “The Somorians are a mole like people; they won’t fight until the Serp’s enter their cities”. She thought that was an idiotic ideology; there would be no time for them to counter-attack; but that’s why she was here.

"This is Mercury. Surkit, Hi-Voltage and I have landed on the moon of Cratto in response to a SOS from Emerald Canary. She, along with Cortega agents were ambushed by the Serpinine. Transmitting a feed to the base on our location."

Maki had intercepted the message from Mercury; she didn’t take long at all to relay the message to Emerald.

“Commander, one clicks south!” A Lantern said, handing Emerald a pair of binoculars. Emerald gazed through the lens to see Mercury, Hi-Voltage and Surkit moving in a cosmic bubble towards her location. The way her tenure in the Trinity ended, she didn’t know if she could call any of them friends, with the exception of Bishop. “Don’t just stand there, get them over here!” she hissed whilst pointing at her friends. The Lanterns quickly rushed out creating encompassing shields their right and left sides and ushered the TF members in the Cortega’s bunker.

She kept her composure as she stood in front of Shinji, but still she had a hard time restraining herself from hugging the soul out of Bishop. “You guys came…” her voice broke as she spoke, but she cleared her throat to get a grasp on the situation.

“Here’s the situation” she said, waving over Eleemos. “The Samorians have the council members from the Citadel safety locked away in a bunker, underneath the surface. We have to get to them and get them off the planet, the only problem is…that” she said, pointing at the blockade in the sky. “If we managed to get to them, we’d never get through that blockade. “I can take care of the blockade, but I need those council members secured” she said, looking into the eyes of Shinji and then back at Eleemos.

Removing a small detonator from her satchel, she handed it to Eleemos and smiled. “Miss, I need this on that mother ship…it’ll cause the orbiting ships to scramble; you can take my shuttle if you need to” She said, pointing behind her, “Everyone else come with me” she said, running north; a small shuttle landed and more Serpenine forces emerged. “Take them down…” she yelled firing forward.

It hurt just a little bit, being this close to Bishop and not being able to openly display her feelings for him. The state of war forbid any type of romantic involvement, she longed for this conflict to be laid to rest. She wondered if this was how Maya felt, after each one of their conversations, she grew more intrigued about love.

“Their surrounding us! Everyone prepare for close combat!” she screamed charging her power core.

Within minutes of her arrival; taking down a single ship, and landing on the sturdy but soft dust of the Cratto moon, Elee was greeted by the sounder of the beacon. Her name was Emerald, and she was quite impressive to say the least. Her stature was formidable by any standards, and she was intelligent. You could see in her eyes, the fire of wisdom beyond her years burning. An ocean filled with hope and promise churned within her spirit, a fighting spirit. These attributes were admirable, she did admire them.

She followed behind Emerald, awaiting her orders. The obvious was to fight. That was always her duty when called upon. But tactics were never her forte' and even when she thought out what she wanted to achieve thing never seemed to go her way. So, to put her faith in the hands of someone visibly younger than she was a twinge psychotic, but she'd faced crazier situations; this one, however new would be just another fight.

Once they were within range of the Serpanine armadda, she spoke again. By this time the two female heroins had been joined by a squad from Earth. Eleemos wanted to introduce herself, as she had been to Earth many times, but had never encountered any of them. She doubted if they'd even heard of the Overland, where she came from. “Miss, I need this on that mother ship…it’ll cause the orbiting ships to scramble; you can take my shuttle if you need to” This strategy was brilliant, and yet so simple. Even though the she wanted to help the others, she'd been called upon to help in whatever way necessary, and that meant taking down the fleet of ships that prevented a seamless escape. "That won't be necessary. I've got a way. By the way, the name is Eleemos, Warri..." Her words were cut short by a warning from Emerald. The Estrovenge watched calmly as droves of the alien creatures marched in, closing in from all sides.

Right now the Warrior of Justice and Peace had to decide what was most important: Destroying the fleet, or fighting off throngs of attackers. Knowing that when she was within range, she would be fired upon by the ships that vastly outgunned her. It would be a true test of her skill, and Oliss' as well; trying to navigate artillery being hurled at them. She caressed the Brillia crystal gun in her hand before Oliss swooped in and carried her away. There was a telepathic link between them that allowed her to call her faithful watcher without saying a word. She jumped into the air, somersaulting into a fall as she landed on his back.

His feathers, white as light, and speckled with mahogany brown snow were so strong that she could pull on them, hold them until her palm bled, and they would still not pluck. As she held them, Oliss let out an Eagle like caw, that vibrated at the same frequency as the glass in the deck windows of the Serpanine ships. "BAM. BOOM. BAM" She fired off three shots, each aimed at a different ship. The same effect took hold as she passed them at whirring speeds. All the while the bird and child ducked laser blasts aimed to kill. They closed in on the largest of the ships, the mothership, and she made sure she had the bobit that had been given to her. The importance of such a small gadget seemed silly, and yet it was so. The lives of the leaders of this world depended on it, and her, and Oliss. He climbed, flying at lower speeds as to encourage accuracy of his upward swoop. He arched backward, bringing Eleemos closer to the ship. Within moments, she let go, falling towards the top of the mothership. Just upon impact, Oliss allowed another echo-y howl to escape, but it vibrated in her ears differently. There was pain in it. As she looked on, she saw her best freind, falling towards the Cratto moon surface, seemingly unconscious.

Her task unfulfilled, she called to him, pain and sorrow leading her quivering cry. "Oliiiisss!" She nearly reached form him, but the distance between them was too great, too apparent to her. She did not jump to him, for sacrifice belonged to those who deserved it. Her life was about saving others, the ultimate sacrifice was made when she forgave her sister. And she'd do it no more. She took her fist, encrusted with the very same crystal that was loaded in her gun and punched through the hull of the ship. Ripping metal apart, she jumped down into the inner workings. Fortunately she was close enough to the navigational deck. Meeting her, as she burst through a cadre of wires and welded sheets of metal were Serpanine warriors. She wanted, for the first time to shed blood from them, from anyone for that matter. They'd hurt the most important figure in her life, and they would pay. The title she held, Estrovenge began to take meaning, as she promptly attacked. Leaping forward, she close lined two of the beastly fighters, surprising them with her hidden strength. Out cold, they lye motionless on the floor. She tucked and rolled, grabbing one of the unconscious warriors by the ankle, swinging him in front of her as she came to stand. Letting go at the perihelion of the swing, it took out three more. Leaving one, now frightened Serpanine. She let out a feral, gutteral scream, her fair still braided down the middle, swinging fervently behind her as she plunged into his gut, tackling him to the ground. One punch, two punches, three, and then four, and his life force faded away into the land of the unknown.

Emerald hadn't given any specifics as to where she was supposed to plant the device, but she assumed, hoping that it would be right, that she was to get it somewhere near the navigational deck. Thankfully, she was near it, as she saw the cracked window when walking further down the corridor of the ship. Her bare feet, made a gentle pitter patter when she took a step.

The room was marvelously cliche. Monitor arrays, boards with buttons. It was all to familiar to even someone who'd only seen the inside of an Earthly airplane once. She loosened her grip on the trinket, and placed it on the nearest monitor. And almost immediately it synchronized with the nav-system that guided the ships, keeping them in deadly unison. Without a second thought punched through the window, the large shards of glass propelled outwards. Eleemos jumped from the there, thinking loudly, calling to Oliss, hoping, just hoping that he was alive.

The gang of heroes wait anxiously for the reply. Bishops' patience is finally overruled by worry. "To hell with this. We need to move out, those things won't give them time to regroup." Shinji nods in agreement,saying "You two hold on, we'll get there faster with a construct. Bishop do you think you can follow the energy trail? " As he's about to answer, the radar attached to the wrist of his suit begins to beep vibrantly with a green dot <Cortega Energies exposde 1 click north>

The Verde orb lands with a thud on the ground in the center of a battlefield, Mercury being forced out of the sky by surpressing fire. They seemed to have misunderestimated the Serponine as barbaric, but their technology proved to be slightly more than modern in comparison to the norm in universal weaponry. As they lay under the thin cover of an extended slice of rock, emerald claws scoop them from either side until reforming into an orb rsembling Shinjis' though with more intensity and solidity. They are lightly dumped feet first in a makeshift bunker sunken beneath the field. Bishop looks around then grabs a Cortega soldier by the shoulder, "Emerald Canary. Where?" The gangly cadet stares at him fearfully, "Th-the commander is discussing strategy in the tent over there, sir!" The bronze battery lets go regretting his outburst, patting the young man on the shoulder, "You're doing a great job out here kid, go keep up the good work."

In unified steps the three enter the tent, to see Emerald war battered but alive, and in full control of the battalion. She turns breaking her warriors focus,dashign two steps forward uickly, before stopping and turning her peripherals to the troops, then back to him. As much as it pained him, he knew that she needed to remain in full control of her spectrum of emotions if they were to win the day. "Of course we did..." He replies while shaking her forearm as though she were another soldier, then leaning in quickly to whisper, "Of course I did." Backing away, his Valkyrie lays down the plan.

10 MINUTES LATER

A small regime of serpenine soldiers flows out of a carrier ship with plasma rifles in hand and armor on their backs. Surkit never entered a battle and felt fear. Whether his time came today didn't matter, he knew he'd die on the field. But having someone he genuinely cared for, that he never has since the passing of his old ways, turned the Blue bullets' stomach. If something were to happen he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

A serpenine warrior slither forward with it's tailed backside while rushing forward with a bayonet like plasma rifle attachment towards his canarys'. The words fatal mistake are defined vividly, as the hero punches the rifles barrel mid thrust, shattering it into pieces. He takes the jagged weapons end and forces it into the maw of the serpenine, it's extensive jaw being pushed to the breaking limit until it had finally suffocated. He stands quickly, igniting his hands in blue plasma, sparks of blackish blue flying off his aura back to back with the Emerald shine of his Minerva. A dozen rush them from both sides with the end of the duo's lives running on replay in their berserker minds. he charges to blast them all back with a concussive blast of earthquaking proportions, turning dangerously with a warm and strangely placed smile of happiness in the thicket of war to say, "I love you"

The Emerald Dragon of Nippon listened to Canary's briefing while his mind wandered on the rare location. He had never heard of Cratto or the Serpenine, but the experience was exhilarating. New planets and new species for him to study to expand upon in his catalog of interstellar studies. Shinji was waiting to get into the battlefield and gauge these Serpenine's behavior and their technology, so when Renegade Lantern's Daughter revealed what she needed done he marched out the Cortega camp and called to his squad member."Hi-Voltage, you're coming with me." He said as a cosmic bubble lifted the duo into the air. "Surkit, you need anything, reach us on the comm --but I'll check in for status updates."

Flying two-hundred feet above the Cratto moon rock at 100 miles per an hour, the New Emperor built a rapport with his estranged Draper City teammate. "About your absence, it's all right." He assured turning his gaze directly at the young girl. "I know it was with valid reason. Right now--" A blood-curdling screech ripped through the sky and Shinji felt a hard impact on the left side of his cosmic bubble. His emerald construct wobbled through the air and broke Shinji and Levina's balance sending them to their hands and knees. The shield gave way no sooner and left the two barreling across the obsidian white-specked sky at high velocity.

Levina held no control over her body in the air and Shinji knew if he didn't reach her with haste, her injury could be fatal. A green aura diffused from Shinji's gymnastic physique and he sped forward with a burst of cosmic energy before gripping Levina's hand. He reeled her in with a full body grip and faced his back to the rocky surface. A plasma construct the shape of a surfboard caught the two and diffused there ground impact with a cushioned landing.

"What was that!?" Levina gasped out from heavy panting brimming with adrenaline rush and fear.

In an instant Shinji rolled them on their side and sprung to his feet and into the air, basically dragging the brunette heroine off her feet. The blood-curdling screech sounded again and exploded below the two's feet. Making a mobile 180 degree turn he watched a pale purple beam of energy kick moon rock into the air as it drilled a hole into the satellite's surface. The heat tickling his feet confirmed it was a photon beam and clearly originated from the Serpenine mother ship that served as a conflicting blockade.

"Nevermind.." Levina uttered taking a long gaze at the colossal vessal light years beyond any Earthly space vessal."Woah!" she shrieked as Shinji unsuspectingly lifted her body into a cradle.

"We'll put a smaller target on on heads!" He yelled as he sloped down lower to the surface of the moon pulling past the grey floor in an exhilarating blur of speed. He was sure the strong force of the wind from his flight was uncomfortable for Levina so he constructed a thin and transparent windshield spanning adjacent to Levina's body. Shinji had a feeling they would quit firing at that point.

"That must be the bunker" Shinji shifted his weight rotated vertically into the air before softly landing. Shinji grabbed Levina's hand and dropped into a steep crater. "We have to clear those guys swarming the door. But I have an idea. Stay down." With Levina clued in to a promised plan, The Cosmic King rose into the air with torrential emerald energy exuding from his fist. He thrust his long arm forward and the green energy exploded from his fist, propelling forward and closing the space between Shinji and the Serpinnine before blindsiding them. The incinerating energy expanded in a loud explosion and burning green energy washed over their alien anatomy. The heat of the explosion would sap the oxygen from a human's lungs, but Shinji was testing his theory on these Serpinine.

The concussive wave of the impact sent them scattering and splayed their bodies across the bunker entrance. "Hi-Voltage, engage!" He yelled only to shake his head. "Fight!" They were downed, but he wanted Levina on her guard when she emerged from the hole. Three Serpenine staggered to their feet and grabbed their metallic guns. Shinji wondered what type of rounds they carried. He erected a panoramic shield to gauge their firearms. Electronic pulses thumped through the air and blue lights crashed into Shinji's glowing shield. "Kuso! (Sh!t!)" He uttered in Japanese turning his back to the armed Serpinine and grabbed Levina with unexplained joy painted across his vanilla face. "Kuso!"

""Iiichioo...stay close on my right. We're clearing them out" His speech pattern had reverted to his native Japanese, it was always apparent in his English, but more so when he mixed English with Japanese, like now. "That blast shook them pretty good, a few of your charges can....incapacitate them. Take the two on the left and listen for my go."

There photon beams sizzled against the shield and Shinji prepared to charge out at the three otherworldly reptilians. Squatting at the tip of the shield's cover Shinji darted out into the fray. His combat boots puffing moon dust around his ankles. Reaching his right arm over his torso he initiated a shuriken dance. Stylishly pirouetting between two photon bullets a green shuriken launched from his body and planted into a Serpenine's throat causing him to choke and gurgle his blood. Quickly assisting his attack Levina released a vein-like pulse of electrical energy that sent a Serpinine into a mind-numbing convulsion. The Emerald Archer dropped on one knee and stretched his right arm back until a green yumi flashed into grip at full draw. With professional precision he released his pull and the glowing green arrow stabbed intoLast Serpenine'sleft eye socket.

"Don't know if they know we're coming, but be ready." Shinji uttered with the unfettered mind of a Zen Samurai finally taking hold of his entire psyche.

Planet Hilden: Several Days ago

Sitting in a chair was the robed figure of the silent king, Vrakmul the Undying, the dark messiah of the Black Hand. His night black and blood red robes and cloak hung loosely from his long rotted body, while burning red pinpoints of light danced in empty eyesockets. Curling obsidian ramshorns emerged from the sides of his hood, while his black staff was clenched in his right hand. Flanking him were two enhanced enlightened guards, given technology and magic that would have allowed them to outmatch virtually any opponent who would deign to attack the Dark hearted one.

Standing opposite to him was the ophidian serpenine triarch, whose snake like lower body coiled around his oddly designed seat, designed to accomodate the snakelike aliens. She was surrounded by a veritable army of guards who were clad in gleaming burnished arms and armour. Vrakmul was not impressed, he alone would have been able to take out the entire delegation if he wanted to...but that was simply not how he operated. He preferred subtle manipulation, setting up the dominoes and then pushing them all down to get what he wanted.

He needed no overblown display of force to intimidate others, his presence alone could suffice, and indeed, those that knew of him tended to speak of him in whispered tones, for legend had it that he could listen in on any conversation that uttered his name. His skeletal fingers were held within gloves that he proceeded to put into a finger pyramid. "I want thesssse humanssss gone from my moon...they defile it with their....presssence...." He hissed, clearly not caring about the natives already living on the moon forked tongue flicking out of his mouth, slitted eyes focusing on the Archlich.

"I understand this desire, Triarch Ophidiark'l." He responded with a voice as chill as the grave itself, tapping two index fingers together briefly. "The presence of foreigners so close to your world must so offend you. But understand this, I will want something in return for the aid of my Black Hand." Vrakmul almost whispered to the Triarch, his voice seemingly carried to the snake man by the wind itself, causing the Serpenine to shake it's rattle briefly out of an involuntary reaction. If Vrakmul found this to be an amusing reaction, he showed no sign of it.

"What do you want...foreigner?" Ophidiark'l asked, flicking out his tongue from his fanged mouth once again, briefly recoiling from the Lich as he caught a whiff of the scent of the grave itself. "Very little...a bauble really..." He responded cooly, never seeming to move his undead body besides the motion of tapping his fingers together once every thirty seconds. "I would like that mask..." Vrakmul asked as one of his bodyguards, his silents, responded by pointing it's black arm cannon at a flask lying on top of a shelf. This prompted the Serpenine Triarch to turn towards it and then chuckle.

"You will give me the aid of your armiesss...for that?" He said, restraining his laughter for a moment. "Very well...I sssee no harm then...When the humansss come to protect their preciousss basssse...your armiesss in the area....they mussst respond to the call to war!" Ophidiark'l responded, thumbing his fist onto his chest proudly and extending the flaps of his cobra like hood and letting out an ferocious hiss, joined in by the rest of the serpenines in the room as one of his servants presented the mask, an completely blank visage that simply partially reflected whatever was cast upon it.

"A pleasure doing business with you then." Vrakmul said as he stepped out of his chair, his silents turning and following him, their motors silently working to keep themselves to the sides of their master. Vrakmul had counted on the fact that the Serpenines would not know the true value of this mask. It was one of his mighty artifacts, lost to him in a battle with a mighty champion of the Holy Navigator millenia ago, a relic that would fall on this world and would eventually be discovered and used as a trinket by the Serpenines...

And of course...the Trinity deciding to finally take direct action against the Hand due to their interference in these affairs was an outcome Vrakmul desired...he wanted them to realize that they were a threat and take action against his hand, to play right into his plan. Attacking them in the force needed to get them to respond in the way he desired on earth would have simply wiped them out, especially so soon after the Ninjan invasion that left the hand mostly untouched to emerge from the ashes more powerful than ever. He needed an altogether...more removed playing field.

Stoking the Triarch's ambitions was all too easy. He was a vain creature, and believed that the establishment of bases at his cosmic front doorstep interfering with what he believed was a matter for him to deal with to was a personal affront to his monarchy. All he needed to do was convince him to go from a simple angry envoy to the meddling humans to an all out war against the humans stationed there. Easily done if he offered him some reinforcements for the job. If Vrakmul had the lips for it, he would have smiled. He loved it when a plan came together.

During the assault, Cratto moon base.

As the assault went underway, at the behest of the Serpenine Generals and Marshalls, the Black Hand was finally beginning to deploy from asteroid bases, sleek; black coloured stealth craft slipping through the void of space to head to the moon base before vomiting out their angry swarms of atmospheric vessels which dived down into the atmosphere to land their own troops, a well trained and disciplined mixture of species who were all brought to the black hand's military unity, with vastly different species being brought into their own corps.

But of course, the Black Hand had also brought in their mercenaries. The brutal chitauri and their enormous leviathans and skiff-tanks and deadly warriors along with their potent shapeshifting abilities,which the Black Hand had always preferred to the less physically imposing skrull, especially after the virtual extinction of that race following the secret invasion, and the massive, powerful Rak'gol, eight limbed repto-insectoid monstrosities with enough strength to rip apart steel and carry what humans would consider crew served weapons with their bare hands while being durable enough to take light artillery fire.

The first sign that the Black Hand had arrived would be subterranean armoured personnel carriers pushing up through the ground with their enormous, noisy drills and then disgorging forth waves of disciplined acolyte squads who would begin to lay down accurate volleys of laser rifle fire, followed by the blue pulses of chitauri fire as their skiff tanks came rocketing in overhead, their pilots shrieking angrily as they took their shots as soon as they saw their targets before banking away. What was once a simple matter had now become significantly more complicated.

Emerald and her Cortega members quickly returned fire; as the Serps held the perimeter; though she had no knowledge of Eleemos; she was confident in her abilities to bring down the mother ship. As she continued to return fire; her mind slaved over what this was all for. The Samorians never did anything to anyone; this simply seemed as if the Serpenine were trying to bully they’re way into this system.

She fought back to back with Bishop though this moment happened to be the most exhilarating moment in her life. Yet she was fearful; her battalion had suffered a critical blow of forces and losing Bishop would send her into a downward spiral. “I…love you too” she said, softly not turning back to look at him for fear of breaking down. “Eleemos has succeeded” she said, pointing to the figure high above them falling back towards the ground. Mercury and Levina were already in the thick of battle with the Serps; as much as she wanted to stand back to back with Bishop; she had to push forward.

“Let me show you, how we do battle…” she said, with a slight smirk on her face. Finding a hole in the Serp defenses; she charged forward with an erotic emerald trail tailing behind her. She dashed forward mastering movement; as she leapt over a Serp; with no usage of her hands, landing on the balls of her feet; she created a blade with her cosmic energy and swiftly separated the north and south halves of the snake’s body.

“You know for a quick invasion, things are starting to slow down” she said; creating a cosmic shield, to protect her, Surkit and another CF member. “Commander, I’m receiving a message from the Alternaught”.

“Emerald, I’m picking up; reinforcements heading towards Cratto, things are going to get dire down there; I suggest you and your forces find those council members and then GET OUT!” Maki yelled, with deep concern for her protégé and friend.

“Roger that commander” Emerald responded, looking a bit dumbfounded. “There’s reinforcements coming”…she didn’t even bother to look at Surkit; the Serpenine army never had this much power before; she could only deduct that they had garnered enough strength from an outside hand. “Plug these coordinates in and send them to Mercury, I need him in and out of that bunker with the council members like yesterday!”

Emerald screamed, handing the coordinates to Surkit; while he was doing that; her eye’s glazed over with a green glow and finally a green “screen” eclipsed the whole space around the moon of Cratto. This would deter any attacks from the air; giving them a bit of a cushion to move around.

Huge tanks began to fire from far; gigantic drill like vehicle came burrowing through the moons crust. “Maki, I need more troops!” she screamed, back in her commlink. The moon literally began to quake under the pressure of the vehicles moving across the moon.

“We got them on the way, the Citadel has dispatched 500,000 Cortega and Lanterns forces to you guys, just hang in there just a while longer.” Mina Esposa herself chimed in trying to gauge the damage to her troops, she was in charge of all the Cortega Force.

No sooner than Emerald broke the line with Mina, the Serpenine mother ship exploded, sending a vibrant ray of flames across the star lit sky; freeing space for the Cortega forces.

“Give me some fire from the Alternaught!” Emerald screamed again; hoping her ship could free a section of the moon to defend. “You guys are being pushed into a wall, I’m prepping the thanix cannon now but you’ll have to wait”. Cleo responded trying to ward off the threats in the air.

“Sound boom!” Emerald yelled, knocking Surkit out of the way; the boom; went off crippling the Earth beneath them; she and her cadet took the blunt of the blast. The cadet was killed on impact; she however lay motionless under the debris.