Stranger in a Strange Land - Part 7 - Our Time Has Come - UPDATE 5/2 - Chapter 16

Dancing Gungans make for silly entertainment.

 

New appliances make for happy Gungans

 

especially when they actually dry your clothes

 

Jaxx: Well, hopefully I can do at least half as decent a job as the gang will make with General Grievous in EP3. We'll see soon enough

Casper: I actually hadn't thought of that bot when I first started creating this new threat, but now that you mention it, I guess it has some resemblance. When the curtain finally drops, though, you'll know exactly where this beaut came from

So, here's a bit more for y'all, posters and lurkers alike.

---

?We?re in the green again,? announced Anakin as the sextet made their way through the tunnel. ?Guess this place was more heavily shielded than we thought.?

?The Force would have alerted us to any trouble,? said Jacen, a hint of haughtiness in his voice.

[i]?Does he [b]ever[/b] shut up about that??[/i] wondered Shada, careful to keep her thoughts to herself. ?All right,? she said. ?Ryn, are we still on course??

?Yes,? replied the rogue talent. ?We should be entering an area in a few minutes?a junction. One way will lead to the living areas, one to production, and one to the command centre.?

?Command centre should be the first stop,? commented Anakin. ?At least from there we can see if the Moff of this place kept his key in his room or somewhere else.?

?Perhaps we should split up,? offered Borjin. ?One team heads for the command centre, and the other??

?No.?

Everyone stopped to look at Feslira, whose eyes bore an apprehensive look behind the face shield. ?If we divide, we will fall,? she said cryptically. ?I do not know how I know this, but I just do.?

?I can?t sense anything,? said Jacen, whose comment invited glares from some of those around him.

?None of us can,? said Anakin. ?But Feslira?s listening on a different wavelength, methinks.?

?When Borjin mentioned we should separate,? said the Shamed One, ?I suddenly felt this great wave of anxiety.? She suddenly felt relieved that Shon wasn?t here?the smirk and snide comment would have been irritating. ?Whatever compelled me to go on this mission is now telling me that we must stay together.?

Moments of silence passed between the others as they contemplated what Feslira said. On a cautionary side, her argument was valid. However if none of the other Jedi ? even Anakin for that matter ? could sense this future threat, and given the Shamed One?s recent erratic behaviour since the beginning of this mission, her credibility was at the very least questionable.

?There?s safety in numbers,? said Shada, adding her non-Jedi common sense into the mix. ?Plus, it?s better if we?re all focused rather than have a shred of doubt among us.? She looked at Feslira knowingly. ?So, we stick together and separate only when we?re all in agreement.?

Jacen made a move to protest, but then quickly thought better of it. His devotion to the Force, it seemed, was once again the subject of ridicule amongst his peers. He acquiesced quietly and kept pace with the others as they proceeded towards the junction about which Ryn had spoken.

Anakin noticed the disheartened look of Jacen and felt humbled by it. Ever since returning to the Order as Uncle Luke?s other Padawan, the younger Solo had done his best to be a brother to his siblings. It had gone well over the past years, with the three of them sharing good times and acting more like a family and less like a trio of Jedi. It seemed finally that Jacen had broken out of his shell, and had even caught the eye of Tenel Ka more than before. Granted, her stays at the Academy were brief, as she had her own life these days, but when she was around, Jacen was often not far away.

Then came his graduation into Knighthood?and his choosing of Ryn Maklin as a Padawan Learner.

It had started well enough, with Ryn becoming quite submissive. He seemed eager to soak up as much wisdom as Jacen would offer in a day and never question it?well, not in public, anyway.

After their first year as a bonded pair, Ryn started exhibiting signs of his old paranoid self once more. Now, things he used to do with no hesitation were ofte

 

Ryn, you paranoid hockey stick: the protection is AT THE BASE!

UGH, I can't watch.......what am I saying, its' a story!!!!

You know it isn't paranoia if they are really out to get you.

 

Hmm...Avatar...Gnosis...

of course, when you combine the two words together, you get lovely anagrams such as...

A vaginas sort
A soaring vats
Navigator ass
Vagina roasts
Vagrant Oasis
Avian rag toss
Virago tan ass
Nag saviors at

So yeah...how's THAT for paranoia...

Anagram source

 

*to the top*

(or he pot tot...whichever you prefer )

 

Hockey stick? Did someone say...hockey stick?

FLAMES LEAD WINGS IN ROUND 2 1-0!!! WOO HOO!

GET UP!!
Everybody's gonna move their feet

GET DOWN!!
Everybody's gonna leave their seat

Ya gotta lose your mind in Detroit...Rock City!

Ok...'nuff o' dat...on wit da story

---

[b][i][color=blue]They have the gnosis. They will return soon?

And I will be ready.[/color][/i][/b]

It withdrew its blade from the gel-filled crate and tested it for heft and efficiency. While dense, the remnant of the radioactive substance caused no significant change in overall weight of the weapon. It would function just as well now as it did prior to this inspired move.

Satisfied that the khopesh was ready for use, it moved away from the site of the gel and secured itself in an area that offered no shelter for the coming quarry. It would take advantage of their preoccupation with the radiation to cut them down quickly and efficiently. Jedi or no, the simple fear of radioactive side-effects would unbalance these organics just enough to give it the upper hand?a strategy it believed was worthy of a Mystril.

It checked its blade again, noting the degrading condition of the metal as a result of the radioactive bath. The integrity of the khopesh was declining but at a negligible rate. It would still maintain enough of an edge to dispatch with these thieves before a replacement was required. Then again, with some of them being Jedi Knights, the potential of seizing one or more lightsabres was deliciously tempting.

Now, once more it became a waiting game. Given their time aboard the facility, and the lingering thoughts of this hazardous environment, it calculated the organics would increase their pace back to this area. Therefore, it had not much more time to wait until the trap was sprung, and its mission was successfully completed?

And the gnosis was saved.

* * *

?Almost there,? said Anakin, who could feel the anxiety begin to build in his friends. With the quest to find the information completed, the reality of their situation began to sink in much more than before, and as a result everyone was checking their gauges with the frequency of a stressed out student checking his/her chrono every five seconds during the last half hour of a test. Nearly everyone in the group was familiar with injury and had seen enough combat to know the ugliness that was trauma. However, even with all the medical and technological advances made in all these millennia, the concept of radiation poisoning still struck fear into the hearts of the strongest of warriors.

Horror stories used to range all over Alliance propaganda networks in the days of Palpatine, about how slaves were sent to retrieve radioactive elements without the benefits of even a low-end rad suit. The slaves would work until they succumbed to their sickness and were hauled off to the side to die slowly and painfully of the cancers and lesions that ran rampant in and over their bodies.

It was an insidious killer?a slow assassin equated to poisons used in some corrupt royal courts on aristocratic worlds. At first, it appeared that nothing was wrong, but as time rolled on the degradation of tissue, bone, and muscle became more and more apparent. Usually, by the time one knew they were infected, it was beyond too late for them. All they could hope for was a short time between the onset of the excruciating pain and the inevitable time of their death.

Medical advances had learned to combat many of the results of radiation sickness, but the ordeals suffered by the victims was no less gruesome. Since the advent of laser technology and the proliferation of the blaster as the mainstay weapon in the galaxy, so-called ?gruesome? combat was a thing of the past. Bloody battles were nothing of the sort anymore. Wounds were cauterized and caused no significant blood loss, making war much more antiseptic and almost socially acceptable.

Then came the Vong.

Bladed weapons, biological warfare, and exploding artillery were the calling cards of t

 

The Cliff has Arrived with great vengeance and furious anger!

 

QUICK: EVERYONE DO A WILD E. COYOTE SKIDDING STOP AT THE CLIFF EDGE! STOP!! STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(readers slid, hover in mid air, try not to look down; remembering the cartoon rules of gravity all too well).

I got the new predictions up at GA for hockey, and it does include a Calgary Flames upset over my Red Wings.

FORWARD!

 

Jaxx: Beware the power of the cliff.

Casper: Series tied at 1 each now. Looks to me like Detroit's got their poop back in a group and is ready to play for keeps. Oh well, the curse is broken and the golf courses here should be just turning green when the Flames hit the links

Ok, on with the show.

---

It moved with a speed and agility never seen in any mechanoid in all of history. Even the technological terror known as General Grievous hadn?t been this agile. Like a torpedo, it struck the centre of the group, scattering them and focusing on Ryn. The rogue talent barely had time to activate his lightsabre before being set upon by this thing. While the snap-hiss of the activated weapon was a welcome sound, it did little to reinforce Ryn?s confidence as he noticed that not only did it not slice through this machine the way it should, but its blade actually deflected the energy beam as though it too were a lightsabre. Further, it wore a shield on its left forearm, which also seemed capable of deflecting direct attacks by any weapon.

Ryn barely had time to process just what he was up against before the shield caught him square in the face as he overcompensated on a lateral strike. The blade, the shield?the scarlet eye sockets that now glared at him menacingly?there was only one thing that could be this fearsome and survive in this ever-growing hostile environment?

A Mark I Dark Trooper.

Jacen leapt into the fray with the precision of a trained swordsman, not giving the Trooper a chance to mount any kind of real defence against him. The Jedi had heard of these terrible machines from his all-too-brief encounters with the enigmatic Kyle Katarn. Granted, while facing these monstrosities, Katarn had been a mere Rebel mercenary and had not even realized his own Force potential. Jacen knew any kind of blaster-based attack would be useless against the Trooper, as its body and shield were composed of a laser-resistant material. He marvelled briefly at how the blade was able to deflect his lightsabre, and briefly thought of Dalan and how such a compound would serve him and his arsenal of deadly weapons.

This lapse lasted just one millisecond too long as the Dark Trooper finally gained the advantage and began his own assault. The heavy-looking blade slashed through the air with incredible speed and it was all Jacen could do to keep his lightsabre moving to the blade?s predicted destination.

Suddenly, the Dark Trooper lurched sideways rather rudely, and Jacen?s vision was filled with Shada D?ukal flipping once to use up the momentum of her rather savage kick. Her two sai were flat to her forearms, serving more as bucklers than weapons at that moment, but such a small weapon had a better chance of striking something sensitive on the Dark Trooper, perhaps disabling it. The Jedi rejoined the fray in an effort to aid the Mystril.

Shada?s eyes were stone as she mounted her assault. The Dark Trooper was both fast and well-trained, judging from its progress thus far, but Shada was also well trained?and well experienced in her art. Her sai served the dual purpose of parrying any blows she could not avoid, and making quick stabs in an aggressive but futile attempt to find a weak spot.

Jacen did his best to occupy the Dark Trooper as well, timing his swings to match Shada?s attacks in the hopes that this malevolent machine couldn?t fend off both attackers at once. However, this met with limited success, for while some blows got past the Trooper?s defences, it showed no signs of slowing down.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for its two organic opponents.

The Dark Trooper noted the minute drop in its opponents? speed and took full advantage of this miniscule time gain. After parrying a blow from the Jedi, it brought its sword up and down in a furious arc that cut deep into his sabre arm. The Jedi grunted in pain and feinted back to try and stem the flow of blood exiting his arm at a rather accelerated pace.

Jacen could feel the warm blood washing over the h

 

Holy crap!!

That was pretty darn intense! You did a spectacular job of writing that fight scene. It made me want to go out and write my own...unfortunately, I'm working on yet another paper at the moment, so this is a nice distraction...

Regardless, I especially liked the way you described Borjin's fighting style, but DAY-um! did you have to kill Borjin? Looks like their love will go unfulfilled...

Awesome job, Whiskey...

 

Ditto Jaxx: Borjin's sacrifice was something else. But what could happen is that Feslira could really, really go off the deep end after this. She wasn't in the mood to begin with, and now with Borjin's sacrifice......

Eeks, it could get very interesting if not disturbing. Good post!

As for CAL-DET: Don't have your Flames shinning up their Big Bertha's yet. The series moves to Calgary, where the home team will have the final say on face off matchups: The Wings can't counter with the Grind Line so easily. If Jarome Iginla can keep his head with this advantage Calgary can take one game for certain: he can't score if he's in the penalty box, the drawback of having a physical winger not afraid to drop the gloves.

 

Noooooooooooooooooo! Not the Chiss!?!


And oh man, a Dark Trooper Mk 1? I hated those things in the game. And this ones got a Radioactive sword too? Crackerjack!

But hey! Borjin ain't dead yet! And if Star Wars (and to an even greater degree: comic books) have taught us nothing else, it has taught us that even having the mortals remains of anybody doesn't mean they stay dead!

Hang in there, Borjin! If Mara can survive the Vong Cancer-On-Crack, you can tough out a little hard radiation to the arm! I believe in you buddy!

 

Thanks all for your feedback. And thanks for sticking with this story for so long; you have no idea how much I appreciate it.

Jaxx: If ever a term paper needed an interruption, then dang it, I'm yer Gungan

Casper: Disturbing? <stifles a giggle>

Rok: Y'know, I went back and re-read most of the Battlemaster series to help me through this and the following scene just to get myself back into the zone of combat, so to speak. I hope I deliver.

Ok, here's a shorty for tonight, and tomorrow, all Schmeck breaks loose

---

[b]?NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!?[/b]

Anakin, his blood boiling the moment the Dark Trooper?s blade touched his Padawan, felt his anger surge and his body tingle as it began to channel his powers. Like a capacitor building up an energy charge, the Jedi could feel every cell in his body slowly become energized with the Force. It was akin to the Lifesurge he used to feel when he lived on Corellia, only a thousand times more powerful. All the repressed anger, passion, hatred, and frustration began to slowly seep out into Anakin?s body, helping him draw all the power he needed for his next decisive action.

Anakin rushed the Dark Trooper, lightsabre swinging wildly and forcing the droid to take a few steps back. It then leapt high into the air, only to see its move matched by the Jedi Knight. The two combatants clashed in midair in a flurry of sword and sabre strikes.

The pair landed atop one of the cargo crates and continued to battle relentlessly. In an attempt to distance itself from this berserk organic, the Dark Trooper would fight for a time, then leap to another cargo crate, only to be followed by Anakin not a heartbeat later. There would be no way to shake this combatant, the Trooper reasoned, so a different strategy had to be employed.

The Trooper began hopping from crate to crate, rather than stopping each time to exchange blows with the Jedi. Sure enough, the organic took the bait and started matching it jump for jump, crate for crate. It would wait until the Jedi was at the apex of his jump before leaping to its next destination, forcing Anakin into a pattern of predictability?

Deadly predictability?

After a dozen or so jumps like this, the Dark Trooper decided that it was time and executed his next jump. Sure enough, the Jedi followed. However, instead of jumping away to another crate, the Dark Trooper leapt up and hurled itself towards the onrushing Jedi like a surface to air missile. It held out its shield like a battering ram and slowly counted the milliseconds before the final strike?

Far below, cradling a fallen Borjin in her arms, Feslira heard the distant [i]BROONNNNNGGG![/i] and felt Anakin?s consciousness fall out of the Force. She looked around her and realized with horror that she was the only one left. The elevated radiation levels would keep the others aboard the Wild Karrde and Millennium Falcon from coming to her rescue, or the rescue of the others.

She was going to die, and with her the secret location of the [i]Prometheus[/i] would die as well.

[i]There is another way.[/i]

Feslira looked up, knowing she would find no one there, and that the voice came from within her?from within the ever-growing darkness in her mind.

[i]You cannot defeat that profane beast?but I can.

// What makes you so different than I? It is the same body. //

The body is only a part of the puzzle, Feslira breed La?Hris. The will to fight must be there as well, and your grief over this Jee-dai is clouding that will.

// Then, you can help? //

Yes.

// Why? //

If you die, then I die as well, Feslira breed La?Hris. I would sooner see my end on the field of battle with honour, instead of falling here a victim to some abomination while trapped inside a useless whelp?s mind. Your continued existence lies with me?let us finally end this charade and embrace our true heritage?the heritage of the Yuuzhan Vong?

[b]THUD![/b][/i]

Feslira turned to behold the Dark Trooper, which had just landed carrying Anakin?s limp form

 

...wow. Holy crapola!

*rubs hands in anticipation*

Vong Jedi versus Dark Trooper...it's like a wet dream for Celebrity Death Match!

 

Not a long wait, but a long post. Hopefully it'll be worth the time you took to read it.

---

The Dark Trooper registered the metabolic change in its last opponent, but it could not have foreseen the consequences of that change. As the female stood, it reached into its protective suit and seemingly drew something from within. It was some kind of creature?and ophidian of some sort. At first, the purpose of this creature was not clear, until it was gripped near the middle, at which point it became rigid and straight. It could see its body, flattened in parts to an edge so fine it could undoubtedly cut through durasteel.

The contest had just gotten interesting.

<Musical Cue: ?Mysteria? by Edguy>

Feslira felt an evil smile twist her lips as she regarded the metallic demon before her. She felt no fear of this thing?only a soul-wrenching hatred of its mechanical essence and origin. It was the pinnacle of blasphemy to her?the greatest affront to the Purity?the ultimate sin against the gods. That it stood before her and blocked her way out of this place was cause enough for its discontinued state of function.

She looked around at those felled by this walking sacrilege. Most of them were Jee-dai, based on their equally blasphemous weapons. She felt a slight pang of familiarity with them?doubtless comrades of her weaker self?her [i]former[/i] self. She looked directly at the droid once more.

The Dark Trooper leapt at the Shamed One, but Feslira was too quick, fending off the sword slash with her amphistaff and countering with a flurry of her own attacks. The resulting clashing of serpent on steel echoed throughout the warehouse with the frequency of a rapid-fire laser turret. Both combatants were taken somewhat off-guard that the other could move with such speed and agility.

The amphistaff was proving to be a more fearsome weapon than even a lightsabre against the Dark Trooper. Several nicks and gouges on its shield and sword made it play more of a dodging game than a real melee. The thickness and edge of that serpentine blade could very easily cause far more grievous wounds than that of a lightsabre.

Feslira knew all too well that her weapon was the superior one and she made no bones about using it to its fullest potential. When the opportunity allowed, she would let loose a slash attack that chipped off a quarter of the Dark Trooper?s shield. Two slashes later, the droid abandoned the useless buckler, which was little more than scrap metal.

The Dark Trooper stepped back twice to avoid being struck and also to compute a new strategy. It searched its databanks for some kind of defence that could possibly save its life from this anomalous organic, which had just rendered a supposedly unbreakable shield useless. Assuming a side-step pose, the droid settled into a fencing poise, which seemed rather comical given the size of its blade. It crossed the blade before it in a figure-8 pattern, signalling its opponent to ?bring it on.?

Feslira charged the Dark Trooper with an oath on her lips and her amphistaff swinging wildly. This time, though, the Dark Trooper was more aloof in its fighting style, deftly dodging swipes and stabs, and parrying anything that got too close. This was coming at a price, though, for with each parried blow, another small chip appeared on the blade. Apparently its treatment in the radioactive gel had done more harm than it had anticipated.

Seeing an opening, the droid cut loose with a left punch that carried the force of a pile driver behind it. The shot caught Feslira in the cheek and she spun to the ground. Thankfully, the spinning motion had deflected most of the punch?s momentum, so at least her jaw was intact albeit sore. Her vision grew spotty as she shook her head, trying desperately to shake the cobwebs loose and regain her focus.

Her ears could pick up the sound of the droid coming closer, no doubt to come and finish the job. She looked towards the sound and saw the monstrosity preparing to swing its blade in a nonchalant but

 

...whoa, that was intense. Superb writing, Whiskey!

Having this as possibly the last post I read online here is quite a satisfying way to end it...yet with a cliffhanger (as usual )

Awesome job!

 

First Post: The Fall begins..... supurbly.

And we wouldn't miss your posts if we can help it.

Second post:

That was great! See, this is why we hang around: you deliever the goods. Feslira pulling the ampistaff out of her body was a really nice touch. Apparently whatever program she was running on back there didn't have full boot of her brain so she was able to reboot herself; a conflicting battle between two Operating Systems in the same mainframe: only one or the other can operate certain programs only. If she's not careful, either the evil OS will totally take over, or she will all together sircumb to a biological equilovent of a computer crash.

As always, patience pays off! FORWARD!

 

Thanks a lot for all your comments.

Jaxx: Like I said in the PM, I think it's great that you've got an opportunity to go overseas if for only a short time. Not to worry, though; this fic'll still be here when you come back and it'll be continuously updated on TDG as well.

Casper: Me? Deliver the goods? Well, I do my best with what little real SW knowledge I have.

In truth, most of what I've gone off of comes from a combination of reading several fanfics and TF.N's Timeline compendium, which is basically the cliff notes for anything and everything related to SW. The rest is largely extrapolation from what I've read and seen, and a little artistic license thrown in for good measure.

I took some time over the past couple of weeks to re-read a lot of the completed fics I was reading over the past 4 years, including the Battlemaster, Trials, and Gessa Sagas in an effort to get me back into that zone I used to be in when I wrote. Kinda like the 'Jedi writing Trance' or something.

It's helped a lot, too; I'm feeling a lot more inspired now than before.

Feslira's conflicting personalities are indeed like a PC with two operating systems and a poor dual-boot system. When one O/S is running, the other cannot (this ain't Linux ).

When I read the 'cliff notes' on Tahiri's near-successful transformation, I got the impression that a Vong warrior was in a continual trance-like state and somewhat disconnected from reality. I might be way off from what the Vong creator had originally thought, but hey, it works for me

I will say this much WRT the future in this story: Someone is coming that will be so deliciously evil, I think I may get a tip of the hat from the Master Sith writer himself

Post coming soon...

 

If you're doing this good with what little information you have gathered than it makes it all the more appealing to read.

Master Sith? Me? I blush!

FORWARD!

 

And I blush some more.

 

Ok, I think you've blushed long enough

Man, what a crazy month it's been. These past two weeks have been absolute murder for me, but I think I'm getting back to as normal as I ever get.

On May 21 I went to my nephew's graduation ceremony in northern Alberta, and it turned into a bit of a family reunion. Only one of my brothers didn't make it. His loss, though, because one of my sisters who lives in Whitehorse has a friend in Juneau...a fishing friend who helped her get a hold of 25 lbs of Alaskan King Crab. Yum.

Best part of that was I used be allergic to the stuff...not anymore. It seems that with old age comes a loss of allergies. Still, I think I'd better stay away from lobster Thermadore...that test left a welt on my arm the size of a walnut. Baby steps.

I meant what I said about the 'Master' of Sith writing too, Casper. I mean, TOTF and the Battlemaster saga seem to sprout from the Gessa saga in a lot of ways, which makes you an inspiration to them and to me. That your stories could inspire such trains of thought as those is the mark of one helluvan author.

Ok, enough ego stroking...let's get back to this.

---

[b][i][u]Chapter 13 ? Father Denied[/u][/i][/b]

[i]{Musical Cue ? ?Hunting High and Low? by Stratovarius}[/i]

Seven vehicles screamed out of the Invid hive?s main entrance and rocketed skyward. Each one resembled a speeder of some sort, with the pilot sitting near the back and the body preceding the pilot by a good ten to twenty feet. No weapons were visible on any of the vehicles, but any airborne particles that happened by the path of these machines was disintegrated on contact with some kind of energy field surrounding the whole of the vehicle.

Aboard six of these vehicles, Azar and five of the most experienced Enforcers rode. The vehicles were actually extensions of their battle armour, as it actually locked them in by their arms and legs, seemingly making each Invid into a larger, more powerful suit of armour. By mere thought they could command their speeders to accelerate, stop, climb, dive, roll?anything they needed to do was all done so through the bond the Invid shared with the Flower of Life.

Someone who looked like they had very little business in such a contraption, but was still able to run with the so-called big dogs piloted the seventh vehicle. The hand and foot controls had been modified to accommodate a much smaller individual who was not as heavily armoured as the others. The modifications had only been done a few hours before, and had only taken a mere thought from the Queen to accomplish. Truly, the central intelligence behind the Invid race was a being few could reckon with.

Unfortunately, Triel knew of one race that was not only out to try such a thing?they were apparently winning: The Yuuzhan Vong.

As the young Jedi levelled her modified speeder out, she thought about what Dalan had said to her about the Queen?s unwillingness to commit her ?children? to the cause of defending this planet. Deep down, she knew he?d been right about the overwhelming odds stacked against them, but she couldn?t let the argument end there. It was no point of pride or teenage defiance on her part?no?it was something more that compelled her to reveal that one truth between them. She had to remain by any means possible, and if that meant severing this most precious of ties with someone she?d revered as a father figure then so be it.

The next two days had been a funk for Triel. She?d wandered aimlessly through the Invid hive complex for part of the time, getting to know the intricacies of its operations and capabilities. She?d seen the machinery in the mecha bays take the shattered remains of the harvesters damaged by the Vong raids and repair them in less than a few minutes. Any Invid slain by the Vong were quickly replaced as well, thanks to accelerated growth in the Genesis Pits. Triel had actually watched a shapeless blob in one of the pit?s many pools begin to grow into a Stage 1 Invid in mere minutes. She knew right there that within

 

I feel the wind in my hair
And it's whispering telling me things
'Bout the storm that is gathering near
Full of power; I'm spreading my wings.

Now I'm leaving my worries behind
Feel the freedom of body and mind.
I am starting my journey
I'm drifting away with the wind

Now I know...

 

PUNT!