//"Do you think we've reached their border yet, Arron?" Cyrene asked softly, trying to adjust the comm system so it would not be picked up by the enemy.

"How would we know?" he responded in the same quiet voice, as if whispering would keep them hidden from notice. "Their Gate is undetectable. I don't think we'll know until we actually run into it."

She nodded to herself, switching the system off. Of course they could not know -- Solaris was very good at keeping its secrets. If they had not detected that temperal disturbance nearby, she doubted they would be out here now. As it was, she was lucky to be here without a full escort. //I'm a veteran of the Solaris-Nisan war. Don't they think I can take better care of myself?// Of course, that arrogance would probably get her in trouble someday.

Hopefully not today.

"Cyrene...." Arron's voice held a note of urgency.

"Yes? Is something wrong?"

He was silent a moment, and Shelsee's readouts showed Arron's scanners reaching into the distance, toward the point they had detected the original temperal disturbance. "This is insane. The power output is incredible! But I can't get a visual......"

She switched to her own scanners, sweeping the area. A blip appeared on the screen just at the edge of her range, shining like a miniature sun. The numbers left her momentarily speechless. Could it be...... an Onmigear? Solarian......?

"Yes, it must be." Arron's gear turned back to her. "Head back to Shevat, Your Majesty. I cannot risk letting you get caught up in this battle."

So formal, suddenly......? "Arron --"

"GO, Cyrene," he said firmly, dropping his formality.

"But......" she trailed off under his intense gaze. He meant it. She sighed, and turned about. He was only doing his job -- if he felt it was too dangerous to risk her presence, well...... he knew what he was talking about. But that would not save him from the lecture he was going to get when he returned to Shevat. Perhaps his victory would dampen her anger - a bit. "Be careful, Arron. An Omnigear......"

"This is the one I've been waiting for. Ever since I caught that glimpse of him......" He paused. "I will lead him back to the city, so we may get a better look at this...... enemy. I do not relish the idea of battling an Omnigear myself, unless I have to."

"You think this is that gear you saw......? How would you know?"

"Please go back, Cyrene. You must be safe - you can't take chances, in your position. I will return, with this gear, if possible. Don't worry about me......"//

The memory played again before here eyes, as the pendant dangled from her fingers.

The battle above the gardens, how close it had come to her palace...... Such vicious combat, so destructive...... But Arron had matched his mysterious opponent strike for strike, until finally, they both took to the skies. Her sensors had still not been able to discern the type or appearance of that gear, though she knew it was definitely an Omnigear.

If it was the same gear Arron had described upon returning from his latest mission...... He had described Lacan's Weltal almost perfectly. Was it coincidence? Wasn't Lacan dead, or vanished?

Did it really matter?

The pendant turned, swinging back and forth...... back, and forth.

Cyrene increased its momentum, twining the chain more tightly about her slender fingers, watching what was left of the gold glint in the pale light of her chamber.

Sophia's pendant.

...... Salvaged from the remains of the Angel Haven -- Nisan's flagship -- after the fateful battle that turned Solaris away from the country.

The gold and silver adorning the ancient pendant was so tarnished, and scorched, that she could hardly imagine it whole. Parts of it were warped, melted in the blast that had killed its former owner, and dark, black streaks criss-crossed its arms; blood scorched and so fused to the metal that nothing would chip it off.

Nothing had been left of her body. It had not been burned away, as with the rest of the ship...... No, it had simply...... disappeared. Only a few streaks of blood and the pendant had remained of the Mother of the people...... Oh, how angry they had been, to see they had no remnants of their beloved friend...... leader......

Did Morden even know she had this? His love for Sophia had been a poorly kept secret......

No...... She shook her head, eyes still following the pendant's random swinging. If he had known, he would have brought his wrath to Shevat -- a wrath brighter, and more destructive, than the sun itself. For her, in any case.

//I wonder why he has not tried to destroy us already.....?//

//I wonder what he would do if I......// Dangled it before his eyes, tempted him...... No. //I must have a death wish.// Why do something so cruel? She should show that she, at least, had been able to overcome her grudges. It was her responsibility to her people, at the very least.

Of course, her ability to ignore such grudges would not necessarily save her people from *that man*, or Solaris.

The thought did not make her feel any better.