We're all in this virtual space together.
Ta Tsun

You follow the somber twin, leaving the other one coyly wavinggoodbye as your party leaves. The twin leads the four of you down a darkhallway much like before, but you refuse to call out in distress this time. Thesorceress sticks close to your and the man with the shields’ side, while theswordswoman stays close to the twin. Perhaps she is keeping an eye on her.Perhaps she sparks memories in the swordswoman like you felt earlier.

At the end of the path the twin stops, pointing forward andshaking her head. She looks at you with concern, barely distinguishable on hermostly unchanged face.

What do you do?

The five members of themakeshift rebellion were once again gathered in Achernar’s bar which wasbecoming somewhat of a headquarters for them. Most of the ship was too heavilypopulated to do anything remotely secretive, so the sleazy back alleys of thestern of the ship were perfect for them. Razzy had outfitted all of them withthe mechanics to activating their armor; Myos himself merely had to press thestar shaped indention on his the gauntlet on his lower arm and it would whirloff and surround him in the metallic protection of his new gear. Zeke’s wasactivated by swiftly pulling off his thumb ring, a choice Myos snickered at dueto the idea of tricking the other by switching their matching rings andwatching his face contort in frustration at the inability of the armor to work.The chipper blonde, Amaya, was by far the most dramatic of them all - herweapon was activated by throwing the tiara that floated suspended above herhead into the air above her and the metal would collapse and expand,encompassing her with light and the protective embrace of the form fittingarmor suit. Achernar’s was relatively simple; she pulled on the golden anchorcharm that hung around her neck. Razzy was even more simple - with the literalpush of the phoenix emblazoned belt buckle her armor would activate in aninstant.

A development even moreoverwhelming to Myos was the fact that his new companions all had gotten thestar symbol that was so close to his heart all permanently etched onto theirbodies to support their uprising and join as a unit. Every night when he wasyounger he would look out through the wide panels with Zeke and dream of thingsgreater out there, among the stars and galaxies that he was always so close tobut he could never touch. Now that symbol of freedom would be the thing thatwould light their way, like it had inspired him so many years ago. Amaya, theone who most eagerly jumped at the thought of something like this unifying themas a team, got the sign on her left shoulder, Achernar had twin ones on herhips, and Razzy solidified the one claiming the skin in the corner of her eye. EvenZeke, whom Myos didn’t consider to be as supportive as the rest of the team,now wore a star proudly on his chest. The black mark that separated the five ofthem from the rest of the Empire now nestled itself over the ravenette’s heart,making the red head’s emerald eyes light up in happiness. They were reallycoming together, his dream was happening.

They were really goingto do this.

“Traitors of the Empire,come out with your hands up!” A gruff voice yelled, kicking open the door. Myosjerked his head quickly to the sound, jarring his enormous headphones in theprocess. Crimson hair fell into his face, and red X’s and alarms sounded in hiscomputer glasses - the classic sign of Empress Guards.

The first to react wastheir resident bluenette - Achernar ripped the golden anchor from her neck andthe guards jumped back as a fully armored figure replaced where she had beenstanding moments before. The armor was sleek and muscled like a big cat, withwide pivoting hips that allowed her to attack in any direction with ease. Along thin blue ribbon plumed from the smooth helmet, distending down her bodyin ripples like her oceanic hair. Like the girl’s shoes out of the armor, thefull body weapon was littered with small spikes studding every surface, the onlything disrupting the surface of the almost literal flowing water of thepolished metal. Her chainsaw buzzed in front of her as she dove in, slashingthrough the guards without hesitation. The rest of the team soon followed suit,one by one unleashing the powerful weapons that Razzy had designed for them.

Zeke unleashed theunique blade, wielded expertly by his slightly stockier suit, and though theblade was a force to be reckoned with on its own he preferred to stay back andshoot of plasma rounds, blasting through his fellow guards before they couldget close to him. His armor had wide over exaggerated shoulders, with blockyarmored plates where Achernar’s was smooth has a calm lake, but even though thearmor itself was bulky the joints where the thick plates connected were thin asthe branch of a birch tree, pivoting the hulking steel muscles adeptly to hisfighting style. Three dark lines ran down the suit’s masked face, extendingfrom his right eye and ending underneath his jaw.

Amaya bounced aroundlike a rabbit, not really wanting to attack the guards themselves but makingsure to keep her friends safe with the chakram like discs that she threw aroundlike deadly Frisbees, always returning to her armor on their own. Her armormatched her personality to a tee, like a playful nymph full of curves andvivaciousness. Thin spindles rose like spikes from the crown of her helmet,buzzing and twisting like drills in a formation similar to that of her prizedtiara that activated the armor’s transformation around her. If her circulardiscs didn’t come back to her fast enough, she just drew more from the layersof ringed plates that covered her suit.

Razzy was one of thelast to react but certainly not the least, she flitted around the small spacelike a ballerina, landing hits with ease but never so much as even coming closeto being scratched. Her armored frame was slight like that of butterfly’s wing,carrying herself in battle with all of the same quiet grace. The boots of thearmor were deadly stilettos that barely touched to the ground due to her quickmovement, the front of them curving upward like a Jester’s shoes though she wasno laughing matter. Thin, metallic whip-like blades extended like projectionsfrom the waist of the girl’s personal gear like the flowing feathers of aphoenix tail, hovering just slightly away but never touching. They moved andswayed with her quickly moving body, never staying in the same place. A thin,ring-like structure snaked its way around the girl’s helmet like the fur of hericonic jacket did, protecting her angular face.

Myos held out his armthat housed the gauntlet that he had always worn since he started gaming, nowcoursing with the power of technological innovation. He pressed the yellow staremblem with all his might, and in a time that seemed slowed to all but him, thefaux celestial body twirled out from the metal like something akin to a comet,thin ribbons of metal trailing behind it. He watched as the metal expanded withrapid speed, overlapping itself and lean boy with fish scales of glisteningchrome. After his entire body had been covered with the thin digitized squaresof metallic light, the smoothed and hardened, flowing across his frame likeliquid steel. A lime green visor that matched the design of his computerglasses settled itself over his head, and reaching up a new metal protectedhand, he felt a pair of star emblazoned headphones sitting atop his head.Smiling to himself, Myos tested out the fluidity of the mechanism. It felt asif he were moving his own body, the armor flowing as if it were connected tothe sinews and tendons of his muscles. Plates of armor continuously overlappedand reformed, making all movement seamless. Drawing out the upgraded crossbowthat had been equipped to his armor’s mainframe system, he took aim with theflame covered object at the nearest guard and fired, sending off a barrage ofeloquent heat seeking missiles. The projectiles were sleek, a combination ofthe accuracy of a bullet and the firepower of a rocket being shot out like anarrow. Myos was exhilarated; the force of his new power giving him a headystrength that flowed through his veins and seemed to make every fiber of hisbody course with a new aura. He felt like a real hero.

Looking around, thescarlet maned boy found that the rest of the guards had been quickly dispatchedby the rest of his star embellished team. Myos grinned proudly, tossing athumbs up from within his armored casing. Suddenly a message from Razzy flashedacross his screen, along with a familiar red flashing dot.