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Full Circle (Razgriz x Candira)

Exodus fought as hard as he could; however, even for someone with as advanced close-quarters capability as Exodus, taking on a lieutenant-class Beastman along with several other lackies backing him up made it that much harder to fight. He knew that this was going to be the toughest fight he'd encountered so far; he was determined to win, to stay alive long enough for Harbinger to come and give him some back-up. In the meantime, he'd take out as many as he could and deal as much damage to Adiane as possible. Even with the lieutenant hounding his heels, Exodus proved to be quite tenacious; he wasn't going down without a fight. "Not to you I won't! So long as my hatred towards the Beastmen burns, so long as a breath can escape my lips, I will never fall!"

As the remainder of Adiane's forces fell, leaving it increasing Exodus against the lieutenant, Exodus could feel himself beginning to tire. Even when he destroyed most of the others, it was him versus the lieutenant and the rest of the subordinates. His Gunman was in rough shape, but nothing he couldn't use freely. Couple of ruptures in the armor and some fairly significant dents mostly, no major internal damage. "Damn you Beastmen. Why don't you all just die!?" Adiane would see that Exodus had been 'infused' with Sovereign's brutality; his rage plus the fact he'd defeated so many of her troops single-handedly was evidence of that. He then charged the lieutenant after a momentary pause in the action, intent on ripping him apart.

The adjutant was caught off guard by Harbinger's speed; her bullets ripped through the armor of his hull and nearly took him out. His shrill voice rang out again, his Gunman's mouth forming the words themselves, "You worthless bitch! Once I'm done with you, I'm going to have fun beating Exodus into submission until he serves the great General Adiane! Hehehehehe!" He then prepared to strike again, leveling both shotguns at Harbinger to blow her away.

The transports were almost there; almost all of the other enemies had been defeated, and the friendly casualties were minimal. Three disabled friendly guard Gunmen and an active transport's disable autocannon; no transports were disabled as of yet. The leader noticed that Harbinger was still enshrouded in smoke; he then ordered, "Transport C! Fire autocannon around the smoke cloud's right side! Give Harbinger some visibility!" The autocannon did as instructed; six shots rang out, creating an impressive blast wind that cleared the smoke instantly. The adjutant's Gunman was now revealed; he saw that he was the only one left. He then looked and saw that Harbinger's shots made Swiss cheese of his Gunman's weapons and smoke launchers, leaving him completely defenseless.

He gulped nervously, saying in a squeaky tone, "Oh, crap." He knew he was fucked; not only did he threaten to break Exodus - though he didn't consider this an instigating factor - but now Harbinger could see where he was quite clearly.
 
The lieutenant had managed to fight it out and stay out of harms way, though he'd also taken a good deal of damage. Panting and furious at the amount of disrespect he was lobbing at his general and his race in general, the lieutenant was ready to go on the move. And move he did, launching into combat with Exodus, not giving him time to breath or room to maneuver.

Adiane watched with interest, taking into account just how much she would need to take into account when facing Exodus. Her mind briefly went to Harbringer, wondering if her squad had taken her out yet. She probably wouldn't go down without a fight, but the general couldn't imagine her still being alive.



Unfortunately for Adiane and her henchmen, Harbringer was alive and well, and thanks to her pilots and their leader she was that much closer to victory. She smirked in a rather twisted way as the smoke was cleared and her attacker was blown back. Without hesitating, she fired straight into some of the holes she'd already put into the enemy gunman. And she was right in front of him with a higher powered rifle aimed right at his cockpit. "We'll see whose worthless when you're dead," she said, pulling the trigger and effectively ending him. Once that was finished, she turned to her friends and helped them finish off the rest of the enemies, pretty much burning through her ammo. There wasn't much left to spare. But they were finally in the clear.

She breathed a sigh of relief and looked at him. "Okay, No-Bark, how's the transport? Captain, casualties? How are the civilians?" she asked, as they all moved toward the shelter. She didn't have time to stay long, but she needed to at least see to them all.
 
Exodus continued to battle Adiane's lieutenant and the dwindling remainder of her forces; the bastard was lucky he was faster than Exodus, otherwise he would have been toast long ago. Exodus kept up his guard and attacked selectively, trying to find a weak point to exploit in his opponent's defenses, "Damn it, he's too fast. I can't even keep up with him. Even if I can overpower a lieutenant, I need to hit the bastard first. And these others are just pissing me off." he thought; his body was starting to give out. He couldn't maintain this level of intensity much longer, as much as he wanted to. He would try to hold out, but there was no guarantee that he wouldn't be overpowered eventually.
Once the situation was under control, No-Bark reported to Harbinger at first with a much-relieved, semi-maniacal laugh. "WHOO-WHEE!-That-was-a-tizzy-Ol'-No-Bark-wasn't-sure-if-we-was-gonna-make-it-out-of-that-one-but-Harbinger-you-were-great-and-the-transports-are-all-fine-just-a-few-dings-and-the-broken-leg-but-all-is-accounted-for." The leader then reported in, "Casualties are low, no deaths, a couple of our Guard Gunmen were disabled in the fighting, but the pilots are still alive. Once the civilians are safely into the bunker, we'll send a squad and use the transport as a lift to get them out. Now, go Harbinger. I know you want to run back to Exodus. We can handle it from here." He then paused and said, "Give Adiane my regards when you put that bullet in her head."
 
Cackling maniacally, the lieutenant continued to fight Exodus, not slowing down. The only problem was that if he kept up this pace, he might tire out before Exodus, who was supposed to be legendary for his endurance. Still, right now he was winning, and it felt great.



Harbringer was relieved to know that while she'd followed Exodus her whole life, she still had the capability to be a good leader. She was overjoyed that they'd succeeded and everyone was still alive. "Very well. Keep the command," she said with a smile. "I'm off to go kick some ass. I'm trusting them to you now. Thank you for everything," and before they could question her meaning she was gone.
 
If Exodus could have seen the way Harbinger performed, he would have been very proud indeed; however, that was not at the forefront of his mind at the moment. More of the grunts fell, even under the increasing pressure from the lieutenant's Gunman; Exodus would at times try to maneuver to go straight for Adiane, but he kept getting cut off and it was only serving to fuel his anger.

The leader would be appalled at the amount of damage done to his town; many of the homes now laid in piles of rubble. Only the outer perimeter homes were Exodus' fault, the rest came from the projectile weaponry of some of the Beastman units. Even though Exodus didn't know that Harbinger was on her way back to assist him, he had a feeling she was still alive; truth be told, he wished heavily that she would just stay with them. But he noticed that she could be extremely stubborn, much like him.

As the fighting dragged on and on for a few more hours, and Harbinger unknowingly to Exodus, Adiane and the lieutenant drew closer, Exodus was reaching his physical limit; at this rate, he wouldn't last a whole lot longer. His endurance had put on quite the show for Adiane; for anyone to last this long against so many enemies was truly an incredible feat.
 
On the merit of his endurance alone Adiane would have promoted him, but he needed to be broken. Bit by bit until there was just nothing left. Harbringer's death would do that. She would have to retrieve video footage from her forces when they returned. It seemed that Sovereign's animosity had been transferred to Exodus and she could only be impressed as the fighting continued. Still, her lieutenant was probably reaching his limit as well. In fact, he had already started to slow down.

There was less force behind his blows and he was so thoroughly engrossed in fighting Exodus at this point that he hadn't even noticed that his gunman had a lock on it from Harbringer's long range rifle. She didn't have much ammo left, but she had enough to take out this ass hole. Safely tucked away and in every stealth mode possible, Harbringer carefully took aim at the lieutenant and fired just as Exodus was swinging for a punch. The round ripped through the the gunman, effectively weakening it and crushing the focus of the lieutenant. All Exodus need do was finish him off.

Harbringer grinned and typed a quick message to her lover. "Miss me?"
 
Exodus had finished off the last of the grunts; it was now a one-on-one fight and had been for some time before Harbinger's arrival. Just as Exodus was about to catch the opponent's mech with a powerful blow, Exodus started when he saw a portion of the lieutenant's Gunman explode and forced his Gunman jumped back; his screen prompted a message, which he recognized to be from Harbinger. "Forgot we had that installed" Exodus said, then typed back "More than you know. Gimme one second."

He then drove his Gunman's fist into the large hole Harbinger's rifle had created and crushed the enemy mech's modified Spiral Engine; he then kicked the lieutenant's Gunman, causing it to stumbled backwards out of the way before it exploded from an overload. And with that, it was Harbinger and Exodus versus General Adiane. Harbinger would see the destruction his fighting had caused, not just to Bator, but the surrounding area as well. Pieces of enemy Gunmen caught in the minefield explosion lay everywhere, some smoking, others simply laying lifeless on the ground, their bodies dented and torn to shreds. Burn marks pocked the landscape, and a massive crater encircled the ruined town of Bator. Exodus was glad that they had evacuated the area; he had a feeling things would get hairy. Exodus' Gunman was in no great shape either; the now-dull blue-gray armor was dented or pierced in multiple areas, the fingers on his mech's right hand were either broken off or severely damaged. And most of all, he was exhausted from having to fight 100+ troops and Adiane's lieutenant alone; even if the majority had been taken out by his detonating the minefield, it was no easy feat for him.

Despite all this, his mech and him stood tall, ready to continue the fight. Exodus typed "How many rounds do you have left?" Even if it was just one, that would be enough. When Harbinger gave him her answer, he would begin. Regardless of the number of bullets, which he imagined to be fairly low, Exodus would try to maneuver Adiane into a position where Harbinger could take her out easily; he knew that would be hard, but it was the best that he could do given the circumstances. "Well, now, Adiane......looks you have nothing left to hide behind. Did you enjoy watching me slaughter your forces? I hope so, because it's going to be the last thing you ever see!" And with that, he took off straight for her, his vigor for combat renewed at the prospect of killing the one directly responsible for all of this.
 
Harbringer smiled at his response and took aim at Adiane. She typed a fast response. "Not much. Maybe enough to help you get through her armor, but she'll find me if I'm not careful."

She grinned at the idea of finally finishing off this bitch. They were in dire straights--both tired and running low, but if they didn't take her on now, they'd be running for the rest of their lives. And the destruction of Bator would have been in vain. So it was that Harbringer chose to make a stand and do whatever she could to protect the people she loved--especially exodus. She growled and felt rage pouring through her. She hoped that it would channel into Exodus and give him strength.



Adiane watched, hardly believing what she'd seen. Had Exodus actually thrown a punch hard enough to kill her lieutenant? No...surely that wasn't possible. Someone was here and helping him. Harbringer? She grinned at the idea. With that, she knew just how to handle this from now on. Seyrune could take a large battering, and she doubted that Harbringer had much ammunition left over from fighting her forces...And even if Adiane lost this battle, she would win. Grinning maniacally, she watched as Exodus came forth bragging and brimming with confidence. He would be broken soon enough.
 
Exodus was quickly closing the distance between him and Adiane; now that Harbinger was back by his side, he felt empowered, like he could take on the world. Their combined efforts would take her down and avenge their fallen comrade along with everyone else who fell to the horrific genocide these monsters waged against humanity. "It's funny what your former lieutenant said about divine punishment, Adiane. Because that's what I'm going to do to you!" he bellowed as his Gunman was almost right in front of Adiane's; his Gunman gave a small leap as its powerful fist was cocked back. If Adiane didn't move, this would hurt a lot.
 
Adiane watched as Exodus came flying toward her not moving until the very last second. Funny thing about anger--it clouds the senses. She grinned and enjoyed that piece of knowledge as she slipped out of the way and used her reflexes to time the perfect side assault. She had, however, forgotten Harbringer.

The golden eyes were glowing as Harbringer took aim and fired into the armor weak points of Adiane. The force sent her stumbling, only just hitting Exodus, but it wouldn't do as significant damage as she had hoped. This battle might be more difficult than she had originally thought. But Harbringer didn't have enough bullets to take her out, and Exodus was tired. Victory was assured.
 
Exodus nearly fell forward as his blow completely missed its target; he growled and turned, but saw that the razor-sharp talon's on her Gunman's hand were coming up for him. He saw her get knocked back and knew that Harbinger had shot her; however, the talons still did some damage to his Gunman, raking the armor and cutting through as if they were hot knives through butter. He jumped back and prepared to launch another assault; he checked his Gunman's condition and found no major internal damage. Still, he needed to be careful; however, caution was thrown to the wind as he charged Adiane again, his eyes glowing gold as well as he closed the distance once more; little did he know of the energy whips and tendrils Adiane's Gunman possessed and the damage they could cause.
 
And damage they caused as he ran straight into them. She laughed maniacally over the speaker. "Do you really think you can defeat a divine general?" She charged in on her own and delivered some blows of her own, missing here and there. Only to have Harbringer fire more rounds into her. The girl was a minor nuisance, but she had to be careful. It was possible that she would have enough ammunition to get through the Seyrune's armor, and then she'd be an easy target, even for Exodus.
 
Exodus growled angrily as Adiane's energy whips ripped through his armor like it didn't even exist; her mech's talons caused superficial damage, but these were actually tearing into the sub-systems that allowed his Gunman to operate. Alarms blared in his ears as one system after another began to fail; eventually he got fed up and drove a gauntlet-covered fist into the control console, silencing them. He knew his Gunman was messed, but that mattered little to him. His fury and strength was directed toward Adiane and Adiane alone.

The two entered another short dance of death; they dealt each other blows, some missing and some making contact. It was clear, however, that even with Harbinger's assistance, Adiane was slowly winning. Even while the effects of the Blood Rage coursed through him, his body felt drained and worse yet, his Gunman was getting close to being completely destroyed.
 
Her cackling was giving Harbringer a headache, and all her moving around was making it difficult for Harbringer to pierce the armor of Adiane's gunman. It became clear that she and Exodus were fighting a losing battle, but there was no place for them to run. Her heart ached at the thought of her happiness being taken away yet again, along with her life. She simply couldn't bear that. Even if she died, she wanted Exodus to go on living, and living his life freely. She would die before she'd see him in the clutches of the enemy yet again.

"You'll never get him, Adiane. You'll never get your grimy hands on him, you self-praising bitch!" She kept firing, but soon she'd be out of rounds. Every shot had to count.

The general continued to cackle as she used her energy whips to rip Exodus' gunman apart.
 
If Exodus could have heard Harbinger's thoughts, he would have called her an idiot; in his mind, she was the one who needed to go on living, and he would take Adiane out with him if it meant she could live without fear of persecution. Still, he was finding it increasingly hard to combat Adiane; her whips cut through even more essential systems, causing several subsystems to shut down. "Damn it!" he growled as one of her strikes severed the counter-weight system in his Gunman's right leg, causing the leg to give out and leave his Gunman completely immobile. His whole mech was covered in scorched slashes; one blow to his Gunman's center would knock out his spiral engine and cause an overload.
 
Harbringer ran out of ammo just as Exodus was immobilized. She gasped as Adiane closed in on her lover and she just lost control. Her eyes glowed golden and she slammed into the general. "You can't have him, you witch!" Exodus needed to go on living to lead the rest of the human race to a victory against Adiane. If she didn't make it...he could still make a difference.

Her charge knocked the general back and far away from Exodus. Harbringer was easily twice as fast as Adiane's lieutenant, and she made use of that skill, attacking before the general could react. She kept her stealth up while she could, figuring that any edge she could get was worth it. The real key would be avoiding the energy whips Adiane possessed. If she could just find a way to disable them, she would be able to shift the fight back into her and Exodus' favor.
 
When Adiane struck him one final time, his Gunman could take no more; it overloaded, forcing him to eject just before it exploded. The resultant blast of energy burned him and through him back; though he felt like he'd twisted his leg. Blood dripped down from his right side, a mess full of singed lacerations. He primed his gauntlets, getting to take on Adiane when an unseen force seemed to collide with Adiane's Gunman; he knew it had to be Harbinger. "Harbinger, you idiot!" he shouted mentally as he tried to go help Harbinger; his injuries, however, made it difficult for him to move. He didn't utter a word so that he didn't give Harbinger away; however, he had a feeling Adiane already knew where she was. He limp-charged towards them, intent on using the distraction as a means to land a hard enough blow to immobilize Adiane.
 
Adiane was using her whips to make a wide sweep of attacks. Eventually, one of them hit Harbringer and that was enough for Adiane to strike. She struck hard, knocking Harbringer back. just a bit. The blonde's mecha lost it's cloaking ability and it was revealed. Well, so much for stealth. She uncloaked her speakers as well. "Damn it. Well, I guess it would have been too easy if I could have killed a general without damage," she snarled. She went immediately back to striking quickly, using her momentum to her advantage.

The explosion caught them both by surprise, but Harbringer was sure that Exodus had survived, so she kept up her assault, keeping Adiane occupied.
 
For some reason, Exodus' body seemed to be giving out on him; well, he had been fighting by himself for hours on end with the Blood rage active, so it should have come as no surprise that he was exhausted. His wounds also compounded the problem; while they didn't hurt per se, their bodily effects of draining his energy were quickly making themselves apparent. Still, he pushed on, shifting most of his weight to his good leg.

Harbinger's comment took him by surprise; then again, she hated Adiane just as much as he did. Still, even if he would never say it to her face unless absolutely necessary, he knew that Harbinger's speed would only help her so much against Adiane. They traded blows to each other with amazing speed, Exodus could hardly keep up; the fact that Adiane was touching his beloved, however, made his blood boil. His eyes, which had been shifting between brown and gold, instantly flared to gold as what seemed like solid energy gathered around his right hand. When he saw an opportunity, he launched himself high into the air, his gauntlet glowing with his Spiral Power. "BACK OFF, YOU DISGUSTING HAG!" Exodus bellowed as the charged gauntlet collided with Adiane's Gunman, delivering every ounce of his impressive power that he could muster in his weakened condition.
 
"Ah?! What is this power!?" And with those words, Adiane was thrown back at the hands of Exodus. Harbringer turned to face him now, shocked at the state he was in. There was no way Harbringer could win this battle now, and if Adiane wanted Exodus, there was little he could do to stop her in this condition.

The blonde lowered her hand and lifted him up to her. She opened her hatch and ran to him. "Exodus!"
 
Exodus fell to the ground after his blow sent Adiane flying; unfortunately, he landed on his bad leg, causing him to grit his teeth and let out a slew of barely-audible curses. He went down to his knees in pain, the gold in his eyes disappearing to reveal their true brown coloration. He then felt a mechanical hand scoop him up. He looked to see it was Harbinger's mech; even though the blood slightly clouded the vision in his right eye, matting the right half of his jet-black hair, he recognized enough of it. He then saw his love run out to him; what the hell was she thinking?!

"Harbinger...get out of here......" he said as his heavy breaths made it difficult for him to form complete sentences. "Run......I'll hold Adiane........You need to go......" It was obvious he was going to be stubborn about this, despite how beaten up he was. Given the chance, she knew he would fight to his dying breath to destroy Adiane and the rest of the savage Beastmen.
 
"Exodus, I can't just leave you to her," she said with a frown. Her arms wrapped around him lovingly and she gently held him to her. "You might think going out with a blaze of glory is noble, but it's a really stupid thing to do when someone's counting on you to come back alive." She frowned and looked up at him, well aware that their time was growing short. "I love you, Exodus. And no matter what, Adiane cannot have you. You're what she's really after..." She looked up at him with tears in her eyes and hugged him close to her once more.

In the distance, Adiane was beginning to recover, severely shaken by the blow exodus had dealt her. "Just what was that?"

Harbringer, glanced back at the Seyrune and then looked back up at her lover. "I'm so sorry Exodus. I wish I could have been here sooner." She let him go reluctantly and felt the tears start to cloud her vision.
 
Exodus felt Harbinger's warm embrace; as much as he wanted to hug her back, he knew she needed to get out of here. He felt tears leave his own eyes, creating slight stinging sensations as they traveled down his ravaged body. "Harbinger, damn it, don't make this harder than it needs to be. Please.......just go........I can't lose you.....if that bitch killed you....." he said, his voice choking up before he cut off. He couldn't stand the thought of Adiane killing Harbinger; it wasn't personal glory he was after, it was divine retribution and a desire to protect the woman he loved with every fiber of his being.

When she apologized for not being here sooner, Exodus shook his head weakly, "No.....Harbinger.....don't say that.......It was me who failed....I have to make this right." His eyes widenedslightly as she saw Adiane stand back up; when Harbinger backed away, the tears forming in her eyes, he just said, the light in his eyes faded slightly from lack from energy, ".....Please, Harbinger....run away...."
 
She shook her head and climbed back into her cockpit. "I'm truly sorry, Exodus. I love you so much...Please...forgive me." She sobbed and then before he could question her, she held him in her hand and threw him with all her might, tears running down her face. "Exodus!"

She continued to cry as she charged Adiane one last time. "You'll never get your hands on him, you bitch!"

"FOOL! DIE!" And with that, Adiane delivered a final blow that even Exodus would see. An explosion enveloped Harbringer's gunman and she looked at the picture of herself and Exodus, remembering their short-lived happiness. "I'm sorry, my love."

With a final good bye--an apology to Exodus--the beautiful and strong warrior, Harbringer was wiped from the face of the planet, and her existence would be remembered only by the villagers of Bator and the one man who would always love her.
 
Exodus tried to reach out to Harbinger, but his body failed him. "Harbinger....forgive you for what....." he started to ask, but when her Gunman's fingers closed around him and the arm cocked back, Exodus' eyes widened in horror as the realization dawned on him. He weakly struggled to get free; was she crazy?! "Harbinger! No! Don't do this......." he shouted before feeling himself being launched forward at an incredible speed. He then felt himself flying through the air; unfortunately, he would see Harbinger's heart-wrenching destruction just before it faded from his view. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he cried out as he flew away from Adiane's grasp once more.

He flew for a good long time before landing in an oasis; the impact knocked the wind out of him, but it was shallow to where he could get out if he wanted to. He crawled out slowly; he wiped the blood and water from his eyes, but his vision clouded continuously by his tears. His body shook as the realization sunk in fully; he'd just suffered the fate he was trying his damnedest to not have happen. He cringed and cried, his tears of pain and emotional anguish streaming down his face. He then threw his arms and chest out, bellowing "HARBINGEEEEEEEEEEEER!" The cry of her name echoed throughout the deserted plains as he descended into sobs of pure agony.

His heart felt like it had been ripped out from his body, stomped to pieces and vaporized to ash in flames. For what seemed like hours, he sobbed. When he could cry no more, reduced to only sniffs of sadnes, he pulled the picture out of his gauntlet and looked at it. "Damn it......" he mumbled as he held the picture to his heart, his teeth clenched hard before he bellowed again "DAMN IT!!!!!!!!!" He dry-heaved, his body trying to produce tears where none could be made.

After his grieving had subsided somewhat, he pulled the picture from his chest and looked at it; they seemed so happy together. And they were. He finally said, "Harbinger........I'm sorry.....I should have been stronger.......It should have been me.......You didn't deserve an idiot like me......." And with that, he tore the picture in half, throwing his photographed self to the side and leaving the half with Harbinger still with him. He slid it back into his gauntlet, as a reminder of his failure. He then limped away, a now-broken ghost of the man he used to be.

*Flashback terminated*

"And from there, I just wandered the area, trying to recover enough to continue what the three of us had originally started. I felt like I had to continue, for their sake. For six months, I waged war against them, trying to avenge my comrades. And then you all found me, so you know the rest." said the current Exodus, one full of scars and a dead, hollow expression on his face. The whole time he'd told his story, he wanted to cry as he remembered fondly his brother and lover. But tears would not fall simply because they couldn't. His massive, scar-riddled arms were crossed in front of him, his head hung lowly in reverance of the two fallen heroes.

In truth, however, it did feel a little good to reveal his past, like the weight of secrecy had been lifted somewhat off his shoulders. "So, you can see why I didn't exactly want to talk about this." he then added solemnly, his tone flat, as if all ability to feel had died within him. Which was true to a degree; he could only express a certain range of emotions outwardly. He looked back to see how they would react to his tale.

Kamina just looked like someone beat the living crap out of him; his mouth opened and closed several times, but no words left his mouth. What could he say? This guy went through a lot more hell than any of them could have possibly imagined. Naturally, he felt extreme anger towards the Beastmen, yet extreme sorrow for the man standing before them with his back against the wall.
 
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