Fire was Siren’s welcome from the bottom of Zelan’s heart. Fire was a physical expression of hatred, and the red haired wren-type certainly had plenty of that. He could call forth the heat at will and he was no stranger to it; remembering so very many years with the angry fire by his side.

For an android the intensity of his nafoi spell was phenomenal, given the fact that there was only half as much oxygen in the air to feed it than usual. Siren gestured and performed the ancient esper signal that mean ‘fire’ and everything ignited before him, the air catching alight and leaping towards his foes. He followed this up with a brief volley of cannon fire, shooting through the flames and the smoke. The aim wasn’t great because his vision was temporarily obscured, but he was confident that his shots would be able to hit something.

The two-part strike came at Rune and his company quick and there was hardly any time to move, yet the survival instinct and evasive action practically made their legs move all on their own. Rune could pre-emptively estimate the size of the spell but even he was surprised, diving to the left and leaping off the floor as the fired energy bullets zinged past his ear like hornets. The temperature rose dramatically, singeing the ends of his robes if not his friends.

Demi got out of the blast zone rather quickly too and expected her master to follow, as he was always at her side. Perhaps it was the other way around instead. Anyway, like Rune Demi also recoiled from the heat but ran to the right, protecting her own body from danger. Three rapidly-moving and powerful energy based projectiles shot through in the flames, one missing its target but the other two hitting home. One struck Demi in the upper arm as she fled, the other hitting Wren squarely in the chest.

Their armour stopped the bullets from reaching their inner circuitry but it burned down all the way into three of the five metal layers. It was a close call; those were certainly some powerful shots. Wren’s reflexes were the slowest when compared to his two comrades and he had tried to back away when the fire had started, but he had not anticipated both the magic and the shots. It was as if a giant had tried to push him over. He had just barely been able to maintain his balance.

Rune hit the ground on his elbow and winced as his funny bone received a good beating. He flinched as tingly pain spiralled up all the way to the tips of his fingers. It hurt like hell but this was no time to lie back and hesitate now. Rune had to think only of two people; himself and his enemy. There was barely enough air in this control room for him to breathe right now, if the fire ate it all up then he was simply going to suffocate.

He couldn’t let that happen. Rune flexed feeling back into his velvet-gloved hand and picked up his staff which had fallen with him, pointing it not at the enemy android but at the inferno he had caused. Rune could cast easily with his hands just as Siren was doing but his laconia staff was like an amplifier, focussing all his magical energies into one point. He needed to focus to be able to do this properly.

There was a flash of pale blue light as Rune cancelled out the fire with his ice spell. The sudden low temperatures compressed the air, cutting off the fire’s fuel and smothering it to death. Any lingering flames which protested the rough treatment were immediately frozen into clear, beautiful icy glass. It lasted for only a few moments before they shattered. There, threat neutralized… for now.

The little boxy robot on wheels sitting right off to the side of Siren made a long cooing noise, a general sound to show that Whistler was impressed. It had never seen anything like that before in its short automated life. Rune picked himself up from off the floor, maintaining eye contact with the enemy. The no-man’s land between them was blackened and scorched, yet frosted over at the same time.

Siren merely watched for a moment, of Rune getting up and of Wren staggering under the force of the shot. The layan never ceased to cancel his magic out, but Siren was only half an esper and frankly hoped that Rune would be able to do better. A tiny smile quirked his lips. “… Please. If you are just going to succumb so easily I cannot see why I allowed you on board in the first place.” He announced.

Rune and Wren seemed to recover at the same time and they advanced towards Siren together, one gripping his laconia staff and the other with a smoking bullet hole in his chest. They had fought together so often in the past that they didn’t have to speak; they already knew what to do. Were Chaz and Rika with them also the old team would be together again at last, but they could do this on their own.

This was just a continuation of the confrontation started on Azura, and Siren so very deeply wanted to repay those two for the head injury and hyper-jammed induced deactivation. Now that he had the upper hand it was only fair. His body was not completely repaired yet but certain other features were fixed and ready to go. Let them come.

Wren’s photon eraser cannon reached maximum charge as he raised it, aiming for Siren’s figurative heart. He could detect Demi far away from them and possibly scrambling to find some way to help, and Rune was by his side; cooking up a fire spell of his own. If they could force Siren to the ground and disarm him of his weapon he would be neutralized.

They attacked together but this time Siren was ready and waiting. The moment before Wren fired Siren charged at him and grabbed the android by his gun arm, raising it slightly and then using his strength to spin Wren around and alter his aim. Side by side, Siren’s hand enclosed over Wren’s and with a predatory smile he forced his enemy to depress the trigger.

Rune started, suddenly the target. Siren had manipulated Wren and turned him into a weapon. He had only a heartbeat to act. The esper hit the ground as if his very life depended on it, which it certainly did. The superheated cannon blast flew over his head and missed him by only a few millimetres, Rune thumping ungracefully to the floor all over again. So he was still this crazy android’s main target. Just great.

The expression on Wren’s face was that of surprise, yet he quickly got to the task of gaining control of the situation again. He drew his free arm back and slammed his elbow as hard as possible into Siren’s side, shoving the other android away. His hand slipped away from Wren’s and he immediately raised his cannon, this time using it to smash Siren across the face as a simple blunt instrument.

As Rune climbed to his feet Siren recoiled from the strike, firing his shot weapon two more times to distract Wren while he recovered. He anticipated this defensive assault and hastily sidestepped out of the line of fire, sharply moving to Siren’s left while the bullets wound up burning right into the metal of the opposing wall, leaving half-melted holes.

Rune and Wren began to somewhat juggle their enemy. After Wren had struck Siren the Lutz had popped up and without a word assaulted him with a hewn spell, intense gusts of razor bladed wind shredding through the outer layers of his armour. When the spell ended Wren came forward and gave the other wren-type a good taste of his fist. Siren took the assault well, but when the very first break in the battle’s rhythm appeared he wiped briefly at his bloody split lip and then suddenly… disappeared.

He was gone. Rune and Wren were left with an empty space. They had been so focussed on attacking Siren that neither of them had actually seen the moment he had vanished. Rune blinked at Wren in confusion and Wren looked down at his bloody knuckles. The traces of blood on his hand were surprisingly red. That was strange. Second generation wren-types and upwards were not supposed to have red-coloured synthetic blood cells. Was it- could it be that Siren was maybe a first generation wren type?

This was not the time or the place to consider anything like that. He and Rune looked about in vain for their target. “Where’d he go?” The esper asked out loud, his hackles raised. He hated feeling so vulnerable with a target that could be anywhere.

“Stand behind me, back to back. Demi, get over here immediately!” Wren ordered with authority. The smaller android jumped a little as he shouted at her but she immediately obeyed. Rune thought it was a good idea and stood closely beside his friend, trusting him with his back. Wren frowned. “It seems as though he has repaired his thermoptical system.”

“So we’ll just have to wreck it again like last time. I can have a tandle technique ready for him if you give me five seconds.” Rune replied, turning his head slightly to speak to his comrade. When Demi scurried up to them and put her own back to their side he felt the girl gently take his empty hand. It was a relief that she had made it safely; Siren could have easily been able to snatch her in the middle of her journey.

“Negative, Rune. You will not pursue that course of action. Remember where you stand. This is the core of Zelan’s control centre, if your stray electricity damages the system in any way Zelan may become non-functional. I will not risk that chance.” Wren protested calmly.

Wren had a point. Even Siren, wherever he was now, could also see that point. Zelan was irreplaceable and both parties would be in a much better position were it left untouched. Rune chewed the inside of his lip. So where did that leave him now?

The next volley of shots fired would have killed Rune if he hadn’t been defended by Demi’s barrier shield. The little android’s barrier could absorb all hostile energy sources and the bullets were no exception, causing the shield to flicker for a few moments before coming back online. Wren’s order that they stand back to back had turned all three of them into an extremely small phalanx unit; defended on every side.

They were capable of defending themselves from Siren, for now at least, but if they couldn’t attack either then they were just sitting ducks with nowhere to go. Rune thought back to the night before. While cloaked the only one who could detect Siren was him. The android’s esperine magical signal was like a very weak homing beacon to him. The thermoptical energy couldn’t cover that up.

A brilliant idea hit Rune and he smiled. Let that siren’s inexplicable magic be his downfall. He nudged Wren gently to get his attention. “Hey, if I gave you a bearing to shoot at would you trust me to give directions?” He asked quietly, just in case their enemy was close by to hear.

Wren considered this stoically. They could all hear metallic footsteps and he raised his barrier shield quickly to deflect more shots. The heat absorbed was amazing. If Siren got bored of shooting at them and went back to magic then they were in trouble. He could hear the wren-type laughing softly at them. Wren would very much like to hear that laughter end, provided it did not harm Zelan. “I will trust you.” He agreed.

“Are you sure that’s a wise idea?” Demi piped up.

“Please follow my example.” Was all Wren had to say to that. She had a gun too; she might as well use it.

Demi nodded firmly. “Yes master.”

So now it was all up to Rune. He had to still his mind, calm his heart, and perform a meditation without losing himself in the process. Quite hard to do while an invisible demon had them in his sights as he stalked them. The esper closed his eyes and emptied his lungs, trying to open his inner eye which could see far beyond the physical plane. Relax and forget about the urgency, the need. The most important thing now was to see.

“Your instructions?” Wren interrupted Rune’s concentration to push him. He deflected three more shots with his barrier shield but the force behind it was weakening. He could probably take ten more shots before the shield would drop.

“Shh, I’m thinking…” Rune frowned as he attempted to ignore his friend. Demi guarded his front and Wren guarded his back, so there was no need to fear. Espers and priests, anybody who could cast real, true magic burned like they bore an inner flame. Rune burned brightly as the Lutz, Siren burned darkly as the freakish hybrid that he was. He was circling them, not standing still for long, savouring the moment. Rune could follow him in his mind so long as he didn’t open his eyes.

As the androids were beginning to get seriously anxious Rune finally made up his mind and shouted out his orders. If he made a mistake and told them to shoot at a delicate area he was confident his friends would use their own judgement and compensate for the error. “Ten ‘o clock from Demi’s perspective! Fire!” He cried.

Demi’s ten ‘o clock was Wren’s two ‘o clock, so both androids robotically acted on Rune’s orders. Rune was out of range so he could not blindly contribute, but the energy unleashed by Wren’s cannon and Demi’s smaller weapon was enough to incinerate a standard target. The explosion echoed within the control centre’s walls. The shots struck nothing, that is, the blasts hit something that did not appear to be there.

Rune and his team waited for the smoke and green-tinged energy to clear. A silhouette appeared in the smoke, crouched defensively like a wounded, cornered animal. They got to see a second or two of Siren recovering, a murderous look of hatred on his face before he stood again and moved, fading back into invisibility.

Damn. They had managed to hurt him but it hadn’t been enough to wreck his thermoptical system again. Rune could not see this now as he was, so Wren took the liberty of voicing it for him. “The first strike hit but was not successful. Further orders, please.” He requested blankly. They would hit him until he fell and he did not get up again. Receiving orders this way was beginning to remind Wren of his old days in the army.

“Okay, okay…” Rune agreed, seeing what the others could not see and vice-versa. Siren had a definite limp now and he had lowered his gun, his flame burning brighter as the android concentrated in casting magic. This time he was within his own range. Rune prepared to blindly cast a spell over Demi’s head. “Five ‘o clock from Wren’s perspective! Get him!”

They missed. Siren was a fast learner and he had heard Rune’s second shout, certainly he wasn’t going to stand still like an idiot and just accept the firing squad. The android got out of the way as quickly as he possibly could, silently diving out of the line of fire and heading straight for Rune. The shots and the fire spell damaged the bullet-pocked wall further, revealing the inner wires and electrical cable within.

It was very simple. Siren could see that the layan was the one giving orders and so it was the layan who needed to be removed first. Those barriers could deflect energy-based projectiles, but physical force could pass straight through as if the shield were made of air. Limping but still unimaginably strong, Siren lunged at Rune and grabbed him by the arm before the esper could sense him there and recoil. It was easy; all he had to do was reach over the short Le Cille girl’s head.

Rune felt a sudden vice-like grip on his arm and the first thought he had was that he was going to wind up with a horrible bruise. There was no way he could resist it, it was like being pulled by a train. Rune was hauled forward and out of his phalanx protection, knocking Demi aside. “You need to keep your mouth shut.” Siren growled, sliding his hand up Rune’s arm to get a better grip on him, and then he lifted and tossed the man across the room as if he were a doll made of rags.

Demi tried to snatch at Rune when the esper was pulled away, but two things stopped her from succeeding. The first was that her arm was too short and her fingertips merely brushed at the sleeve of his robe, and the second was that if she did yank him back with the same force as Siren pulling forward she might seriously injure her friend.

The Lutz went flying and wound up slamming his head against the surface of Zelan’s control panel. The way Siren had thrown him meant he hit the terminal almost upside-down, taking a tumble and landing in a sprawled heap. Blood flowed. He wasn’t unconscious but rattled and kind of shocked. Still invisible, Siren straightened up. “Whistler, do not just sit there like a broken heap. Participate in the battle. I insist upon it.” He said impassively.

Whistler’s top half perked up immediately like a dog that had been called. It was watching the fight but it hadn’t wanted to interfere with its master’s plans. It squeaked in its little robot’s version of a battle cry and charged, wheels spinning as it careened towards Rune to finish him off. It readied its small laser. Truthfully Whistler wasn’t strong enough to harm an android, but a palman like Rune was easy game.

Demi intercepted. Like Whistler she also ran towards Rune, but to give aid rather than to fry him into a crisp. When she reached the esper she knelt beside him and raised her cannon, waiting for Whistler to arrive. She had a charge ready and waiting for it, yet Demi also turned to her friend and hoped fervently that Rune wasn’t hit hard enough to be concussed.

Wren turned to face where he hoped Siren would be. The phalanx was shattered and now all he could do was continue the battle regardless. He was about to set a few logic programs in motion to guess where Siren may be standing when a horrible, pained scream tore through Zelan, cutting the heated battle atmosphere like a scythe. There was just enough pain in that scream as there was frustration.

For a moment almost everybody froze, on both sides. Rune was the only one unable to hear the scream, and he was too busy shaking the stars out of his eyes to notice the others had paused. Demi looked around the control area anxiously as Whistler rolled to a slow halt, its extendable eye waving around; seemingly confused. Wren went still, expressionless, and even Siren exited his stealth mode to appear visible to his foes. Perhaps his concentration had lapsed due to the cry.

Only the androids had heard the scream. It was because the sound had been produced on a wavelength that only they could hear. Were Demi capable of paling she would have. “Mieus…” She murmured, but did not budge from Rune’s side.

Siren had just lost Mieus. She had dropped right off his list of member addresses and became offline. The layans had gotten her, but that was not his concern right now. At least Warren still seemed to be online and preoccupied with his orders. The ancient android gazed confidently at Wren, who was frowning. “It is of no consequence. What happens here is more important.” He said.

Strange to see somebody talking so calmly with blood pouring down his face from where Wren had struck him repeatedly. His Palma ring of the stars had really cut up one of Siren’s temples quite badly. Beneath that red blood and synthetic flesh there lay cold, unfeeling steel. “Just who are you, Siren?” Wren asked, buying some time as Rune struggled to gather his bearings and stand. “Why have you come here?”

Siren’s answer was demure, with just the slightest hint of arrogance. Even while wounded he still seemed to appear righteous, perfectly in control. “I thought that was already clear. I am but a humble servant of the correct way; the way of Lord Orakio Sa Ruik. I’m here to punish you heretics with death. Stop trying to find complexities in a very simple fact.”

This time it was Wren’s turn to smile, even though it was only a very small one. “Were we not meant to be dead some minutes ago, according to your estimation?” It was a surprisingly wicked observation coming from somebody like Wren.

Rune stood and touched his head where it hurt. There was blood in his hair, but not enough to be cause for concern. Demi kind of helped him up by offering her shoulder, and when Whistler approached and readied its laser Rune simply drew back his boot and kicked the little robot as hard as he could, sending Whistler squealing and reeling. Clear waves of heat turned his laconia staff a dull red at the end, like a matchstick. Rune was now angry.

Wren’s body altered itself, the plates of his shoulder armour lifting away to reveal the dark gleaming barrels of the android’s napalm cannons. A decidedly chemical-like smell filled the thin air, the napalm in its safe state ready to be ignited. He was going to use his own burst rockets weapon in the control centre. Was that a smart thing to do? Maybe. Probably. Fire was a lot safer than electricity, in theory.

To complete the triangle, and to disrupt his enemies and prevent Rune and Wren combining their skills into the macrostic technique shooting star, Siren focussed his inner power into his spellcasting hand. Not another nafoi spell like Rune, but the same energy-based blast that had destroyed his cryogenic prison for good. It would rip through Wren in the same fashion and destroy his core. He stood back, aiming, his hand shining with compressed light.

“Nafoi!”

“Nathu!”

“Activating burst rockets system.”

As Whistler attempted to right itself by using its extendable eye as leverage, Demi watched the three men unleash their strongest attacks all at the same time. To call the explosion powerful was a severe understatement. She recoiled from it and she was many feet away. Rune was blown back from the combustible air and hit the ground flat on his back, but this time he was well and truly out of the fight. The only reason he hadn’t been incinerated instantly was because he had been standing behind Siren and was far away from Wren. His staff lay askew close to the enemy android, having fallen from his hands before Rune fell.

Ironically, while Siren’s nathu technique caused the firestorm to go crazy in the first place and seriously injure the target, it was the general thrust of the laser pushing Wren back and slamming him hard against the wall that saved him from being caught up in the attack. The laser struck him and destroyed what was left of his chest armour, causing raw burning pain to rip unchecked through his body and shatter his hold on consciousness. Wren’s awareness vanished like a light bulb blinking out.

Siren was consumed in the flames. He knew the fire well, so when it took him he was somehow unconcerned. When it destroyed a very important part of him it was no great loss. The ancient android sunk down into the fire and involuntarily deactivated himself to protect his inner workings from harm. He was vulnerable like this but he was shielded by the fire, just as his armour glowed burning red from the heat.

The smoke cleared and then he knelt, one of three unmovable bodies. Demi was the only person left awake on Zelan, if you didn’t count Whistler buzzing in frustration as it tried to get up on its own. It just couldn’t seem to make it. She rose slowly, lonely, wondering what to do next. Her eyes widened in shock and horror when she saw Siren and what the fire had done to him. He wasn’t bleeding anymore but it would have been better if he had; less gruesome.

His flesh had burned and melted right off his face. All that was left was metal, a reinforced layer of facial features which had helped to give the flesh its proper shape. Now it was gone, framed by his seemingly indestructible fire-red hair.

Demi found herself staring at him from the sheer grossness of it all. When she eventually snapped out of it a single important thought came to mind. What should she do? Should she run over to Siren and finish him off while the bigger android was wounded and non-functional? She looked at him and supposed that she probably should, but she couldn’t. She was too afraid. There was the chance he might reactivate and harm her, and she was frightened of something like that.

Her top priority was her friends. Rune and Wren could be seriously hurt. She moved to the esper first and dropped down to her knees. He had a gash on his scalp from where he’d hit the edge of the control panel and the firestorm hadn’t exactly damaged his body, but it had sent it locking down into shock. Demi leaned over him and placed a hand on his chest, reaching out to check the pulse from his throat. She paused. It was then she realised his lips had turned faintly blue.

He had a pulse, but Rune had stopped breathing.

The small android didn’t panic, though she wanted to. The extremely thin atmosphere in this room coupled with the shock of the explosion had been too much for Rune’s body to handle. Demi considered administering CPR, but what good would that do for him but breathe hardly sustainable air into his starving lungs?

She had to work quickly. Demi stood and rushed to the main control panel, climbing up into the chair and accessing Zelan’s computer mainframe. It had only been a day but Siren had already begun and made some serious steps to completely overhaul the system. To Demi it was like coming home and discovering her home structurally the same, but reorganized and redecorated in a completely different way. The life support system was not where she initially thought it would be.

Fortunately it didn’t take long to find, and even better than that it wasn’t password protected this time. Siren probably hadn’t expected anybody to tamper with the system while he was in the same room as them. However, one small problem had Demi biting her lip in dismay. Complete control of the life support system had been granted to Siren’s positronic brain alone, via a wireless up-link. She could tamper with the life support of this room in particular, but the rest of Zelan was completely closed off to her.

But for now this one room was enough. Demi pushed the life-support back up to one hundred percent and detected the influx of oxygen and temperature rush back into the room. Satisfied, Demi hopped off her chair and rushed back to Rune, moving him about to clear his airways and make sure he hadn’t swallowed his tongue. His heartbeat was weaker, much weaker, but still there. She commenced CPR.

Two uncertain minutes of carefully controlled respiration and Rune was coughing in his unconsciousness, whereupon Demi rolled him onto his side in the recovery position. Colour seemed to come back into his lips and his face. Demi actually sighed in relief. With the crisis averted she looked to the two wren-types also damaged and in their respective heaps. It hurt to see her master lying there, with that bullet hole and great big laser wound in his chest. They could be out for, well, she had no idea.

Internally they were working incredibly fast, busily repairing themselves. Demi quickly rushed back to the terminal to gather some more information on the life support system, taking a moment to tip Whistler over again just after the little robot had finally righted itself with a triumphant squeal.

Rune wasn’t the only one who needed to breathe on this space station. In these free minutes, if possible, Demi hoped that she could lend a hand to her friends who were fighting their own battles elsewhere on Zelan. Her clearance to fiddle with the life support was still active, yet there was no way for her to input her commands into the program, breaking it down into components, hoping to find some accessible input that way.

The time it took for the wrens to repair themselves were many minutes longer than usual, but like identical brothers or clones of themselves they reactivated at the very same time. As Siren opened his eyes and attempted to stand, he briefly wondered why the pain receptors in his facial area were either screaming in agony or totally gone. Wren pushed himself up and winced, then slowly reached an arm up and detached the ruined armour plates from his chest.

Torn cables from his gun and his arm trailed after him as he moved his hand. The impact had severed his weapon from his body, and without external repair work he would be unable to power his own weapon. His cannon lay beside him, completely dead. Wren merely looked at it blankly for a second and then got up without any aid.

In his experience wren-types did not always need a gun to be dangerous. Wren did not speak; he just rose and made his way towards Siren without a sound. When war is declared one can only do one thing in the end; that is, simply kill the offending presence with the minimum amount of sacrifice while the enemy’s guard was still down. He could easily do what Demi could not. That was why he was the master and she the servant.

As Wren stalked towards the recovering, wounded Siren, over on the other side of the room Demi made a breakthrough. She thought she might have found a proper access to the program and entered her commands eagerly: to restore one hundred percent life support to the totality of Zelan. Now that Siren was online again a new opportunity had just popped up out of thin, or normal, air.

From the corner of his eyes Siren looked at Demi. He detected the usurping attempt on his system and smiled nastily. No chance, he thought and touched upon the program himself in revenge.

// "Life support system deactivated. Life support at fifty three percent and dropping. Total deactivation in minus sixteen minutes." //

The automated voice seemed to taunt Demi and all her efforts with cruelty. “What? No!” She cried and raced to find some way, any way to stop it. The system that she and her master knew so well had become their enemy. If Demi could have cried she would have; it was just so unfair. Rune was safe, but what of Chaz and Rika and Raja and Hahn…?

“… What have I done?” She asked herself, aghast.

Wren was bare-handed, but there was a weapon left lying on the floor which did not require electricity. He picked up Rune’s laconia staff and held it awkwardly, but really there was no proper way to hold a staff incorrectly. In some ways it wasn’t so difficult at all. From there he went straight toward Siren, weapon in hand.

Siren knew he was coming and his arm shot out at a right angle, like a puppet with its strings suddenly pulled. He aimed his gun at Wren and fired, so confident of his accuracy that he did not even feel the need to look at his adversary. With some of Wren’s armour gone a single shot could destroy him. That was all that Siren needed. His arm recoiled slightly with the shot and the energy was taxed from his system and then he felt a pain, a sharp pain, and his wrist was slapped away.

His shot was knocked down and made a bullet hole in the floor before his feet. Smoke rose from it, but at least it hadn’t been another wound upon Wren’s body. The dark-haired android had actually taken the staff and used it to parry Siren’s arm, cracking it smartly across his wrist and deflecting his attack. Siren glanced up at Wren with his half-burned, half-destroyed face, his arm pushing against the tough density of the stave. Wren was unaffected by the sight. “Please drop your weapon and surrender.” He said coolly.

Siren said nothing, but shot his hand out to try and wrench the staff out of Wren’s hands. It didn’t work, for Wren pulled away in time and drew his weapon back, gaining force, and then he brought it down again upon his enemy and struck Siren over the head hard enough to crush a typical palman’s skull.

But Siren had a rather thick skull, made of a material much tougher than bone. His senses were rattled for a few moments, but he had a more serious shock when Wren hit him again, and then a third time. Lastly, mimicking a move he had seen Rune use once many years ago, Wren hooked the length of the staff behind Siren’s good leg, the one that wasn’t limping, and pulled. He fell.

He sunk to his knees before the other wren-type but grabbed the weapon that had tripped him. Obviously as an android Siren was going to be remarkably resilient to the assault, but Wren had never known anybody to take a beating like that absolutely silent either. The Silent Wren indeed, it was almost admirable. There was a murderous look in his enemy’s eyes and Siren squeezed the weapon tighter. Electricity crackled up his hands.

“Tandle.”

Just as Wren let go of the staff to save himself from fatal electrocution Rune groaned and regained consciousness. His whole body ached and just didn’t feel right, as if each of his limbs had been pulled and stretched in all directions. His mouth tasted bitter, the chemical aftermath of adrenaline. Slowly he got to his feet, swaying from a wobbly balance, and then he heard a hideous thunder crack as a tandle spell was cast off to the side. Oh shit, the control centre! Wouldn’t it kill-

Although Wren was no longer touching the conductive pole and magical amplifier he was still the closest target made out of metal and the electricity bounded straight towards him, leaping through the thin air to reach its goal. The control centre wasn’t harmed because Wren took the full brunt of the attack by himself. He howled in pain.

It was only through the sheer force of will that Wren did not deactivate totally. Now the tables were turned, with Wren completely at the siren-type’s mercy. Rune glared. If his staff hadn’t been stolen he could have blown Siren away with whatever painful spell that came to mind. It really did look like their enemy was unable to take any more abuse. They were so close! Rune prepared a flaeli spell anyway, eager to finish this fight once and for all.

Demi spun around in her chair quickly when she heard her master cry out in pain. She’d been frantically trying to override Siren’s commands to the life support system, her fingers a little blur on the buttons and the keys. After he had come back online that horrible four-letter password protection program had popped up as well, immune to all different kinds of cipher-cracking tricks. If Wren couldn’t break through it then she had no hope for success, but she tried desperately anyway. What was the four letter word that held the secret to Siren’s mind?

It was all in vain. Immediately after realising her master was in danger Demi abandoned the computer terminal and ran straight to Wren, hoping to assist him if she could. He was struggling to pick himself up from off of the ground, his synthetic nervous system completely frazzled from the surplus electricity. Siren stood tall before him, his gun in one hand and Rune’s staff in the other. “You are pathetic.” He said with deep satisfaction.

When Wren attempted to answer him Siren twisted the staff in his grip like a professional and smashed him across the mouth to shut him up. He didn’t want to listen to protestations from a filthy layan sympathizer. Siren’s expression was colder and darker now that his flesh had burnt away to nothing. “Silence.” He commanded. “This is foolish. Accept that you have been replaced, Forren of Zelan.”

“Master!” Demi cried, and for a moment she all but forgot Siren was there, skidding to a halt by Wren’s side. She could do nothing for him but she still had to be there nonetheless.

That was the downfall of them all. Seeing a golden opportunity, and of course detecting Rune behind him about to blast him with a spell, Siren placed the esper’s weapon on the floor with the utmost of care. His eyes were on the enemy kneeling before him.

“Demi.” Wren said faintly, dealing with the full consequences of his injuries.

“Yes Master? What is it? What can I do to help?” Demi answered.

“Please… get away from me.”

But it was too late. Siren had wanted Demi under his control ever since he had seen that cursed red mark on her face. He reached out and grabbed her by the back of the neck, much like how one would handle a kitten or puppy, hauling her up and pointing the barrel of his cannon inches from her face. She was very light so it didn’t present a problem holding her that way, even though he was wounded.

“I’m afraid its now time for me to ask you all to surrender. No spells, no funny business if you know what is best for this girl.” Siren announced, pulling on her hair roughly to tilt Demi’s head back. The little android squeaked, but she was too afraid to move. “This means you, filthy layan spellcaster.” He added, looking over his shoulder to Rune.

“Shit.” Rune swore, abandoning the flaeli spell he had been preparing. If he had his staff he could have cast it instantaneously. Damn it, who the hell took hostages in a situation like this? Only somebody who had no choices left. The esper raised his hands. “Okay okay, just don’t hurt her. I’m not gonna do anything. Don’t hurt Demi.”

Rune wanted to kill Siren. He wanted to smash the damned android into a million pieces and get revenge for all the stuff he had set in motion so far, but he would not step over the body of a friend to do it. Rune cared about the android girl, so he gave it up. His mind raced to think of another solution, some way to separate her from him so he could attack. Gods did he want to attack…

“I take it you layans care greatly for the house of Le Cille,” Siren announced, taking a step away from Wren and carrying Demi with him, “of course. Just like the layans I know so well.” He looked down at Wren who had yet to put his hands up. The defeated android had a stormy frown on his face.

“Will you not surrender?” He continued, pressing the barrel closer to Demi’s neck.

Wren didn’t say anything, but he had repaired himself up to the point where he could move competently again. Hesitantly, as if guarded by a snake, his hand slowly moved for the fallen staff again. He wasn’t going to listen to threats.

“Master, please!” Demi gasped. “I’m scared!”

“Wren!” Rune shouted as well. “Put your gods damned hands up!”

This was amusing Siren. He smiled. “Do you not care? Perhaps you are orakian after all. Surrender.”

The dark-haired android had thought of this very decision before on the evening of last night. The only reason he had lost Zelan to Siren was because of a split-second decision made upon their departure. When Siren had grabbed Demi that first time he had been forced to choose: Demi or Zelan. His first choice was illogical and regrettable. He did indeed care for his servant but Zelan’s safety was paramount. It was worth more than her life, or his.

After all, Demi was replaceable. He had built her with his own two hands; he could do so again. This time he had the opportunity to think properly before he acted. Perhaps if he still had all of his emotions rather than mere memories he would feel more conflicted, but a memory was not nothing. It was something. As such, Wren felt something of a ghostly pang when he said those next words, but he did it anyway. He was resolute.

He shook his head and looked up at Siren intensely.

“No. I will not. Do your worst.” He said.