"There is no need for any of that." Georgi replied, his eyes scanning their surroundings. To anyone who had seen prolonged combat, they would recognize the look in Georgi's eyes. It was the 'One Thousand Yard Stare'. His eyes moved back to Saito. "I was a soldier doing my job. When your time comes it comes."

A big smile crossed his face as he placed his hand on Saito's shoulder. "But it was not my day. I'm glad you showed up when you did." A brief moment passes before he continued. "To tell you the truth, I though we had lost you. Your Mecha did explode afterall."

Saito looked to Georgi with a confused look on his face.

"The Meteor exploded? During my training simulations right? All I remember is being almost ripped from my cockpit but you say that the rest of the machine was destroyed as well?"

Val catched up to Lily and Kai, a slight spring on her step as she looked at her surroundings. She loved being on rural areas, forests, grass, flowers. She liked them a lot.

Valerie stepped into the air, wearing her school uniform. Literally walking in the air, Val hovers about a feet off from the ground. "Are we there yet?".

"I'd like to tell it sometime," Lily answers Kai as Valerie trots up from behind.

Seeing Val in brighter spirits brings a smile to Lily's face...a smile that fades a little in surprise when she steps into the air.

"No...it's a fairly long walk," she replies. "I didn't know you could fly."

Georgi realized that Saito had not been debriefed on what had ocurred. "That's what the scanners showed. The Meteor dissappeared with bright flash. We assumed it had vaporized in an explosion. There was even a memorial service."

"Oh, this?" Val pointed at her feet. "It's not so much flying, as it's stepping on air itself." Val stops walking and drops to the ground. "It has this side effect, I can't hover....or rather I can if I dance on the air, or do jumping jacks."

She motions trudging up a small set of stairs and she recovers her lift. "The good thing, is that it tires me as much as walking does, which is not much." Val smiles, a bit shy at having to explain one of her 'abilitites'.

"But I was sure you already saw me doing this the first time the school was attacked...but I guess everyone was too busy then?"

Lily grins.

"I had my hands full at the time, yeah. You know it's funny...all this time, and we hardly know anything about each other. Any of us, really."

The adorable little critter on her shoulder, a weird cross between a young cat and a rabbit, purrs and rubs its nose against her ear, eliciting a giggle from her and a bout of spirited petting.

"We might want to compare notes," she goes on doggedly as her pet playfully bats at her mouth with a tiny paw. "So we can plan some team tactics..."

"I had no idea. I thought that you might be worried that I had been gone for so long but that you thought that I was dead is a bit unsettling."

Saito could not help wonder to himself what his father's original plan was for him if he had made it appear as though his son had died during an accident. Was he planning to send Saito up against those that he defended and called friend? Surely there had to be much more to it than that, Sanger was after all the Federation's greatest warrior and could not have expected his son to carry out that mission.

"It was a long three months sir, I spent much of the time wondering if you were well and hoping that you did not require my aid. Although Jindai has been destroyed, it is a relief that you are all unharmed. Together, we can make both Jindai and Tokyo a home again."

"Well, you have seen most of what I can do already. There aren't that many tactics to plan around going 'pewpewpew' on the bad guys. You on the other hand, can teleport and create a sword out of thin air." Val makes motions about all this things with her hands, moving her whole body to make poses and accompaning with sound effects. "That's much more impressive."

Val flies over to 'stand' besides Kai "Now Kai here is a mystery. Saito has a big robot, Coach is handy with guns, Lily can shoot stuff, make weapons and teleport, I can fly and throw lasers. But what does Kai-senpai do that makes him think he can go on and accept random duels with enemies?" Val says this in a huff, holding into Kai's robe. "Hmm?"

"That archmage guy said you knew a spell too," Lily points out, reaching out a bit to jerk the bit of robe Val was holding onto out of her hands with a quick motion.

"And Kai is the Skeleton Key. He..."

Lily trails off, something jostling in her memory. She whirls to look at Kai questioningly.

"Did you say there's -another- one?"

Kai frowns. "I'd seen her fight before, I thought I could win, I didn't realize Amaya was a five hundred year old Demon ninja. I hate being useless, and I thought I could win. Sadly I was mistaken." His tone had darkened considerably.

He looks to Lily. "Yes of course. Skeleton Keys are exceptionally rare, but not unique. I only can feel myself and Takashi with the same pattern, but I have to believe there could be others. The second I saw Takashi I knew he was the same as me." He looks at them, none of you sensed that in his energy aura?"

Lily's mouth drops open in abject shock.

"Takashi?!" she blurts. "That insane xenophobic Takashi?! We're talking about the same Takashi right?"

She puts a hand to her forehead and tries to think. Two Keys was bad enough, but one of them was...HIM?

"How is that possible?" she asks. But even as she asks it, she realizes it makes sense. How else could Satoshi have gained so much, so fast, with no space fleet? While the Empire and Federation had been spreading in the galaxy, Satoshi had been exploring universes...with their Key.

"Goddess," Lily breathes. "They could have factories in other dimensions, resources we know nothing about. Ships and armies... Why didn't the other Captains say anything about this?"

"Did you ever ask them?"

Kai smiles, even though his face still looks serious. "It has to be one of their big secrets Lily. In all honesty I'd wager that only a handful actually know he is a Skeleton Key for sure. Most just probably think he purely uses Teleportation. Of the Officers on our side, I'd say only Amane and Raisho would have likely known, considering their backgrounds."

"Shamballa Base was in another dimension, though I can't tell you which one. Consider something though. They may have bases in other worlds, even factories, but they are primarily based out of Earth. All twelve sets of officers were on Earth fighting against Circinus and Dalaraan opponets, and the Kage. The amount of power required to artificially send anythin across the dimensional barriers without a Gate nearby is enormous. I'm sure that Shamballa base must have had an utterly massive power generation system to deal with the demands of all the coming and going troops."

We know of Luna base in our world, I'd wager they another actual military base on Earth, simply because we know there are currently three more ships being constructed. If I had to hazard a guess it's somewhere in Argentina or Chile. The high mountains bordering the sea would provide ample masking for a major military operation."

He shrugs. "It could be anywhere, but right now that's not our concern." His voice takes on a bit more of an authoritive tone. "Our mission at hand is to help Arich and save Ikaris, and get the flowers we need to save Amane and the others. Until we can get back to our world, that's what we have to focus on."

Georgi was trying to follow the conversation between Lily, Kai, and Valerie, as well as the one with Saito. He kept his eyes straight ahead, so that he could keep himself on their trail.

"I hope we can get Jindai and Tokyo healed as well. Doing that is as important as anything else we are doing." Georgi wondered where Saito was during that time.

Georgi glanced quickly over to Saito before looking straight ahead. "Do you know where you were during the time you were gone?"

Lily nods at Kai's words with a shrug. "I didn't mean we shouldn't do what we're here for," she says defensively. "I was just saying..."

She pauses. Replays what Kai said. Gives him a funny look.

"What do you mean when we can? You're the...you're a Skeleton Key. You can shift us home whenever you want to. Right?"

Saito lowered his head as if to hesitate what he was about to say.

"I do know where I was but before I tell you I must have your word not to tell Miss Lily until I feel that the time is right."

Saito walked alongside Georgi patiently waiting for his response.

Kai shook his head once. "No. I've been trying to open some sort of gateway, but I've gotten NO response. I'm affraid we're here on Ikaris for the duration. Arich's spell may have messed with my own abilities, I'd recommend you try your own, simply to know where we stand. It's best to be prepared."

His words brought another pulse from Senbonzakura, and to everyone's suprise, the SDz responded with it's own pulse.

Lily looks like she wants to ask more, but the sword and wand pulse distract her.

"What is going on with that thing? First me, now Valerie's...her..."

She looks at Valerie, sidetracked again. "What is that thing?"

"The Stock? Like I told Archmage Arich, it's just a Ambient Energy Transformer. It just gathers energy from the surroundings, like every time you teleport you leave a path made of energy in between the space you bend, and leave a bigger spot of energy on the place you dissapeared from and appeared in. All that energy, and stuff like tachyons and photons." Valerie put the SdZ back into her outfit, while walking backwards on the air infront of Lily and Kai.

"It's kinda difficult to explain, Father had this theory that every kind of energy came from a similar source and thus could be decomposed into very small fragments and turned into a single homogenous type of energy. His research led to several devices that transformed energy from what they were into this energy he theorized."

Looking up into the sky, Val's eyes moistened a bit when she remembered her Father, but she wiped it away. "Anyway, one of the first things he came up with was the SdZ, was pretty much a prototype. It's primary function is a rapid accumulation of energy and then releasing it in an unidirectional blast of energy. And I'm sure you HAVE seen that one." Valerie looks at Lily.

Taking the SdZ out again, Val holds it resting on her forearm, holding the base with her hand. "But why did it just pulse with energy? I hadn't activated it's AI or programmed any alarm." Val looked at it puzzled, still walking right in front of Kai. "Any idea oh great Skeleton Key?" Val offered the SdZ to Kai in a mock reverence.

"None whatsoever, well none that make sense concerning what you've just told me. To be honest I don't really know how Senbonzakura truly works. I do know that she has a voice, and can call to me. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that the fundamental force your father found was Magical energy itself. Magical energy, or as I've heard it called, Mana, can be used to power spells of an incredible variety, things like shooting fireballs, flight, even healing and running faster."

He shrugs. "I know this world is practically overflowing with it."

"I see no reason why I should tell her." Georgi responed. "It is something that you experienced." Georgi was curious as to why he did not fell it necessary to tell Lily. "I promise that it will remain between the two of us."

"Magic," Lily says with a roll of her eyes, "Right. I dunno, I always heard magic was just a word people use to describe spiritual powers, you know? People like that 'archmage,' might have achieved great spiritual ability, but culturally they don't really understand how it works, so they call it magic."

She shrugs...then doubletakes.

"Wait...you said you couldn't open a portal? What could do that? What could possible stop a -Skeleton Key?-"

With a worried expression, she takes Kai's advice and ties to d-shift, to teleport.

A moment later she opens her eyes with a frightened expression.

"I can't shift either! I can't flash step!"

Ibis had been listening to the human and the Dalaraan Princess intently. He was literally the Key to Earth, and she was royalty for her sworn enemies, yet right now they seemed vulnerable. She thought about summoning the Asterion, but realized it may not be prudent with them rapidly approaching the town. "It has always been said that Magic has its price, perhaps this is part of the bargain struck with the wizard. We get our abilities back once we finish his tasks."

Kai looks at her and nods. "That honestly sounds like a pretty good explanation to me. Ibis right, You're from the Circinus Federation aren't you?"

She nods once. "Yes, I serve under Major General Sanger Zonbolt, Leader of the Specials. He ordered me to come to Earth with Saito, and thus I am here doing so. " It wasn't a total lie, but it was definitely a half-truth.

"Good to have you with us." Kai turns to Growler. "Considering you and I are the only ones here dressed somewhat appropriately I think you and I need to be the ones who enter town first. The rest of you remain here and keep watch."

He quickly raises a hand to forestall any arguement, "I'll have Growler with me, so I'll be fine. Besides, it's best that we don't arouse ttoo much suspicion. The main reason we're going to this town is to get the right clothing and provisions to travel to the mountains. Growler and I can handle it."

Saito nods at the Coach.

"Very well, After the event on the ship I was transported to a location that I believe to be somewhere between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Saturn. It was there that I met my father."

Saito swallowed a bit before continuing, as he was not used to talking about such sensitive material. He also lowered his voice to make certain that no one other than Georgi could hear him.

"There it was revealed to me that I am not human, I am an agent placed here on Earth by the Circinus Federation to protect the planet. However, I am not protecting Earth for the sake of humanity, I am under orders to protect the Earth for the incoming Federation forces."

Saito gave a slight pause while he allowed Georgi to absorb the information that was just revealed.

"None of this information was known to me before I left you all, in fact I always thought that I was a human but it turns out that it was not the case."

"Now, I do not want to tell Miss Lily because her people have been at war with the Federation for many years and after I met her I told her that I was not with the Federation. I am under the impression that she might become angry with me if she finds out that I was lying to her, even on a subconsious level. Although, I plan to tell her very shortly I would prefer to do that alone."

"After a number of days training, I was called into an audience with my father and he asked me what I wanted to do. I told him that I wanted to return to Earth and lend what support that I could to my friends and thus I returned to the planet with Ibis."

Saito gestures to Georgi.

"And there you have it, my story in a very brief summary."

Georgi's eyes gleam dangerously as he grabs Saito by the shoulder and stops them both. He turns and looks Saito in the eyes. "You are making a very dangerous gamble telling me this. While I will not tell Lily, I am concerned that you are working for the Circinus Federation, and that you are protecting earth for them, not for us. One cannot have two masters."

His voice deepens, slows and takes on a tone of lethality. "And just what does the Circinus Federation plan on doing to Earth, once their fleet arrives?"

Lily doesn't look too pleased with Kai going off on his own. "Do you have a radio at least so you can call for help? I won't be able to shift over to you if you get in trouble, you know."

She looks at the hulking form of Growler. "And do you have enough money?"

"No means of communication beyond my voice, though I really think we'll be okay. Besides, I won't be alone, Growler will be there. If worse comes to worse I have Senbonzakura and Growler has his Guan-do. We should be able to fight our way away. As for money the letters of Marque were given to us to procure supplies, this will be part of that."


Ibis tenses and drops back behind Georgi. "I'd let him go Terran. I should think it enough that we both intervened to slay the demons overrunning Japan, and that we both have given our word to defend Earth from all hostile forces. Is that not enough?" Her voice is so soft as to make it where only Georgi and Saito hear her words.

Saito stopped suddenly under Georgi's iron grip.

"Make no mistake Coach, I am not working for the Federation. I was under orders to protect both Tokyo and the planet Earth but at the time, I had no idea why. I thought that my father had died years ago and left me with one final order: To protect this city and this planet. The Federation is bringing their entire population to the Earth in order to colonize it, they will eradicate the entire population."

Saito glared back at Georgi with an intensity that only a soldier could muster.

"Rest assured, I will die before I let that happen."

Swiveling on his feet, he turns to Ibis; his eyes glared a challenge to her. "I will not let this issue drop. Protecting the Earth from demons is his job...his promise. Conquering a planet filled with demons is far more difficult than one with humans." Georgi turned again to listen to Saito's explanation of his loyalties.

Georgi visibly relaxes. The look in Saito's eyes, told Georgi that while he might have been sent by Circinus, he WOULD die before he let them take over Earth.

"Then you and I shall fight Circinus when they come." He said.

"Oh right, those scrolls..." She produces her scroll and looks at it, then replaces it with a sigh.

"Alright...alright. Just don't take any chances. If you get in trouble, make a light or as big a display as you can, and I'll come flying."

She glances at Growler sternly and jabs a finger at him...almost comical in her tinyness compared to him.

"You take care of him."

The two nod and head off together leaving the party there. Ibis watches the others leave and speaks softly. "Looks like Kai and Growler are going to procure appropriate attire for us. We might as well take a break until they return. If you truly want to discuss what the Federation will do civilly, I'll tell you what I know, to the best of my abilities. However this conversation might be a bit much for Valerie, and perhaps even Lily to handle right now."

Her Icy gaze meets both sets of eyes as she waits to hear the reply.

Saito nods in agreement with Georgi.

"Although, I hope that we can reach a peaceful end to this conflict, if the call to arms is raised you can bet that my loyalties will lie with Earth."

Georgi watches Growler and Kai head off for clothing and supplies. He turns to Ibis. "When the battle comes to earth, what can I expect from the Federation?"

"Now that I know Saito will stand with the Earth when Circinus comes, I want to know what sort of tactics they will use." Georgi's eyes trail towards Saito as he speaks.

"Specially tuned Neutron beam bombardment. Humanity will cease to exist in moments, leaving every other part of the ecosystem intact. After the last Debacle at the castle, they won't use the Plasma cannons, they'll just kill humanity. With over ten thousand ships of the line, they can easily cover the entire earth at once."

She frowns. "To my knowledge no species targeted by the Sanitization Order has survived, and unfortunately there have been several. Coexistence has been tried many times before, but it has always ended with the loss of a Colony, and great loss of life. Thus I believe it will not be tried here."

There's a very nostalgic look in her eyes. "I remember growing up here, I had friends beyond my sib-mates like Saito, Even after so many years gone, I don't want to think about them being ripped to particles. I could never discern any difference between us of the Federation and humanity, I don't see why genocide is the only option."

"Genocide?"

Lily's caught some of the conversation...naturally the worst part. She comes over, looking understandably concerned.

"What about genocide?"