"Ladies and gentlemen of the Committee," the man called Null Lareaux said with almost theatrical flair. "We finally have information on the whereabouts of the Inner Hegemony's secret weapon, as well as those of Cerulean."

Cello sat, legs crossed, at what seemed to be a mile away from the illuminated round table. She knew that the entire meeting room was a virtual projection, meant to intimidate visitors of lower rank, but with the darkness, she couldn't shake the feeling that they had all been locked in a futuristic dungeon.

At one end of the table sat a short, stocky man who looked like his few remaining hairs could jump out at any moment. She knew him as the Prime Overseer for the military forces in the Outer Planets. Sitting around the table were aides and various nobles.

On the other end was her commanding officer, Null Lareaux. A handsome man with long gray hair and a large pair of glasses, he was dressed in his typical white and blue uniform. He seemed to be rather pleased with himself at the moment.

"We are familiar with your array of lies and half-truths," commented the Prime Overseer irritably. "We will be most displeased if you are keeping anything from the Committee."

"But of course," Null responded with a short bow. He withdrew a small remote and clicked it. In the center of the table, a cube appeared, displaying an image of a blue Battleframe wielding two sword-like weapons. Quick intakes of breath could be heard around the table. "One week ago, one of my agents engaged the weapon on Balder. It also defeated two of our brand new RS-21 Rukhs with apparent ease."

"So you failed to apprehend Epitaph? Is that it?" questioned one noble, angrily.

"It was not a complete loss. During the battle, the agent managed to record the battle and we now have a substantial amount of information regarding the Hegemony's weapon." Null pushed the glasses back up to his eyes. "And now we have confirmed the identity of Cerulean. It is only a matter of time before we locate the third and final subject of Azure Lab."

"With all due respect, commander, we have tolerated your eccentricity long enough. Azure Lab was a failed venture and now your plans for its useless lab monkeys are of no concern to the Committee. There is a far more important issue here," he said imperiously. "What are your plans for dealing with Epitaph?" the Prime Overseer asked.

"You need not worry, Overseer. Our scientists are hard at work analyzing the weapon. "

The lights on the table disappeared, and all but Cello, Null and the Prime Overseer remained.

"We have tolerated your failures for long enough, Lareaux. Our patience is wearing thin." And with that, he disappeared as well.

Save your tears for the day, when your pain is far behind.

On your feet, come with me. We are soldiers, stand or die.

Save your fears, take your place. Save them for the judgment day.

Fast and free, follow me. Time to make the sacrifice.

We rise or fall…

Azure Skies – PHASE 02: EVASION

Central command at the Inner Hegemony Vanguard base on Fjord had been in a state of ordered chaos for the past week. According to reports, the Battleframe that would have won the war was not destroyed.

No, Epitaph had in fact been discovered, and stolen, a week ago on the planet of Balder. Command had believed that when the Dreadnaught had crashed, it had taken the Battleframe with it. There was not a single model that had been proven capable of surviving a drop from orbit. Epitaph, apparently was the first.

Playing on screens inside the Central Command Chamber, a huge cavernous room filled to the brim with computers, hologram projectors and Vanguard personnel, was a scratchy bit of film taken from a battle involving the robot.

It was clearly shown destroying two Outer Territory Rukhs, the newest model of Outer Battleframe technology. It then routed a third opponent and proceeded to fly off camera. It was speculated then that the energy emitted from the Epitaph blew the Reconframe away from the action, causing the film to be damaged.

Meanwhile, in a Vanguard hangar, the starship Scaobladnir was being prepped. The anvil-shaped cruiser had a set of large wings that would fold forward for flight. Two people moved through the weightlessness of the hangar and landed on the boarding ramp.

Inside the ship, most of the crew was on the bridge, receiving the final message from Central Command.

"Your ship is part of the most important mission since the end of the war. Scaobladnir's assignment is to recapture the Epitaph Battleframe," Commander Rishi was saying from a large screen mounted over the forward viewport. "We have arranged for any reports involving the weapon to be forwarded directly to this ship. You have been equipped with a full compliment of Battleframes as well as new engine technology to assist in an expeditious capture. You are authorized to use whatever methods necessary to bring the weapon in."

Captain Vance Nagara brought his hand up to salute. The rest of his crew did the same. The commander returned the salute and the connection blinked off.

"I don't think I need to reiterate the importance of this mission. I am confident that you will all give me your best efforts," Vance said, black eyes sweeping the crowd assembled before him.

Murmurings of agreement came from the crew as they gave another military salute. Vance returned it and settled into the captain's seat, drawing his polished cap over his head.

"Avenger-class military transport Scaobladnir ready for launch."

Cords detached from the ship's hull all around them and the rear of the ship rumbled as the engine systems came to life. Slowly but surely, the great starship began moving out of the hangar. A technician waved the glowrods, directing the ship.

The captain leaned back in his chair and began perusing the reports logged into the ship's computer.

Godspeed, he thought.

--------------

Lorelei sat in a crowded lounge overlooking a large cylinder-shaped hangar. On the very far end, Tempest stood, wrapped in overhangs, ladders and platforms. Sparks shot from all over the Battleframe as mechanics slowly but surely repaired the damage the poor Battleframe had suffered on Balder. This was not going to be cheap.

A week after the fiasco, the Artemis had entered civilized space and had immediately landed the take care of repairs and buy supplies. Lorelei had brought the battered Tempest to the Vulture's Nest, hailed as the best repair dock on Delling.

She absent-mindedly ran a hand through her brown hair and wandered back to the bar.

"Welcome back, ma'am," greeted the bartender. "What can I get you?"

"Another Himner Wash," she muttered, plunking down a handful of credits. The bartender turned around, taking the credits, and started pouring the drink. She was glad nobody had asked for her ID. Actually, she was only twenty, a year too young to be drinking on Delling, but she had been in bars on planets that didn't even have age laws.

A glass full of clear liquid with a slight blue tint was placed in front of her. Glaring into her reflection's green eyes, she gulped down the drink.

----------------

Epitaph stood up straight inside Artemis's hangar, devoid of any of the god-like aura and power that it had exhibited a week ago. Render looked up at it, seeing only another boring Battleframe. A blue, heavily-armed Battleframe. One that nobody could pilot.

For the past week, he had attempted to get back into the mysterious robot, hoping that sitting once again in the cockpit would jog his memory on the events of Balder. He could barely remember most of what he did; only knowing the amazing feats he performed from Lorelei and Surges.

"Quit standing around and help me with this!" came an irritated yell from nearby. Render looked over his shoulder to see the Surges attempting to lift the large capacitator they had evidently procured on Balder. All that could be seen of him was his graying hair sticking out from behind the large cylinder.

Render rushed over and stuck a knee under the cylinder and helped raise the side of it so that he was holding the other hand.

"At least you're good for something around here," Surges grumbled. Render had been on the ship long enough to know that the old man didn't really despise his crew as much as it seemed like he did.

"Right, right. I only saved you from evil Battleframes and brought this thing onto Artemis for you," Render said sarcastically.

"Shut up and walk."

They took the capacitator over to a skimcraft, a sort of hovering truck, and heaved it into the back.

"We'll be eating well tonight. I know a guy who will pay big bucks for this thing," Surges said, moving around to the driver's seat. "Are you coming?"

"I suppose," Render said, climbing into the passenger seat. "I was thinking, captain-."

"Really."

"I was thinking that we could take my Battleframe over to where the Tempest is getting worked on and see if anybody there could open it."

"Hold on there," he said as the skimcraft moved out onto the streets outside the massive hangar. "Your Battleframe?"

"Well, yeah. I found it, and I was the only one who could pilot it, after all."

"Doesn't mean a thing. It's in my ship now, so it's my property. And anyway, we can't take that thing out of Artemis. You saw how much those guys seemed to want it. Imagine what would happen if your average mercenary found out that the ultimate Battleframe was hiding right here in the middle of Delling City?"

"Ultimate Battleframe?"

"I've never seen a robot move like that one did. There's definitely something special about it. Besides, I have a feeling you average mechanic wouldn't even know where to begin on that thing."

They drove for another few minutes until Surges brought the vehicle to a stop just outside an old shack of a building. Windows on either side were boarded up and the front door looked like it could fall off its hinges any minute.

"You're going to try and pawn this thing off here?" Render said, looking up at an old, rusted sign marking the building as Honest Wingram's Mechanical Emporium.

Surges chuckled, stepping out of the vehicle. "Wingram's a very secretive fellow. Only a select few know what the real shop is like." He motioned for Render to follow and he opened the door to the building.

Render began coughing as they stepped in. He looked over the shop as he walked in. A few aisles of dusty old machinery sat lopsided on the shelves. At the far end, an old, rusted robot stood at attention.

Surges then walked behind the counter and kicked open the side of the robot's hip. Render heard something fall out and make a metallic sound on the floor. Then to his surprise, the wall behind the counter descended into the floor and bright lights came through the new opening.

"You might say that Wingram has a thing for the theatrical," Surges remarked as if this was all very uninteresting to him. He walked over the threshold, and Render cautiously followed him in.

Inside, he could hear the sound of a bunch of people talking excitedly behind the rows and rows of pristine equipment and computer screens. Far off on the side, a screen displayed the current standings of a Battleframe arena competition. Far off, there was the sound of flowing liquid and the clinking of glasses.

A plump old man appeared at the end of the aisle, blinking through the strange contraption hanging in front of his eye.

"Well if it isn't the fearless Captain Surges Merdian! Master of the spaceways, leading his troops into battle against the bastards from the Outer Territories!" the man said, walking up to Surges and wrapping his large arms around the comparatively short man.

"Quit bringing up ancient history, Wingram. Listen, I got something for you that you might be very interested in," Surges began saying as if greeting a very old friend.

Render suddenly understood. Scavenging mechanical equipment from the military was a slightly less than legal activity so, even on Delling, it paid to be able to hide your operation from prying eyes.

-----------

A few hours later, Render emerged from Wingram's into the crowded streets. Leaving Surges behind to reminisce with his friends, he had come out for a bit of air. The skimcraft was right where they had parked it and the capacitator had been easily sold for a couple hundred credits, not bad for the trouble they had went through.

He began walking east; into what must have been a sort of marketplace. People sat under tarps showing off their bizarre wares. A good amount of them were probably just fronts for drug trafficking or other illegal operations.

Along one side were more shops which seemed to sell various forms of equipment and machinery. The booths and shops lead down an alleyway which seemed to house the lower-class stalls.

Right as he crossed the threshold, he felt a loud impact on the back of his head. Attempting to get his bearings, he turned to face his attacker but he didn't spin in time. Another long object dug into his side and his mind went black.

----------

"What the 'ell 'appened to yer Battleframe?" questioned the mechanic with whom Lorelei was paying.

"That's kind of a long story," she said, trying to brush off the question. "Now how much is this going to cost me?"

"Quite a lot, little lady," he said, grinning. He withdrew a sheet of paper and shoved it in her face. Lorelei's eyes went wide.

"That much? I might as well buy a new Battleframe!"

"On Delling? Yeah right. People're lucky enough to find a place to repair their Battleframes, much less buy one 'round these parts."

"Fine, fine," she muttered, withdrawing the credits and looking somberly into her now-empty pockets. Surges had better have made a mint on that capicitator.

------------

Render's blue eyes fluttered open and he almost instantly noticed that he was bound up somewhere. From the looks of his surroundings, he seemed to be in some old warehouse. A crowd of ragged-looking guys sat around a table playing some card game.

"Hey boss! He's awake!" shouted a man sitting behind Render. The men at the table looked up and a bald man with a long mustache stood up with a smirk on his face. He strode over to Render, flanked by his mercenary companions. The man leaned down and looked him in the eye.

"So you're the brat who killed our man?" he said maliciously.

"I don't know who you're talking about."

"Of course you do. Red hair, kind of annoying? Came looking for that engine capacitator?"

His memory stirred for a moment. He was talking about the leader of the guys that had tried to kill him back at the Dreadnaught.

"Well, one of his pals managed to escape before you brought the house down."

"I didn't do that. That was-"

"Shut up, kid. First, you're going to tell us where that fancy Battleframe of yours is, and then we're going to kill you, nice and slow-like. You see, we don't take well to people who kill our people."

Render would've rolled his eyes, but he didn't want to incense the crowd.

"So start talking."

----------

Lorelei landed Tempest outside of Artemis.

"Where is everybody? Did the captain not get out yet?" she wondered to herself. She keyed in the code to open the ship's hangar and maneuvered Tempest inside. Epitaph still stood in the corner, unmoving.

She settled the Battleframe into its position and then climbed onto the access gantry outside the cockpit. Descending to the floor, she looked over the repairs. Good as new, she thought. They didn't call themselves the best repair bay for nothing.

Then, the strangest thing happened. The floor trembled beneath her and she spun to see Epitaph moving away from the wall of the hangar. Had Render finally got it to move again?

She jumped backwards as she realized what the Battleframe was about to do. Epitaph looked out through the hangar door and activated its back jets. Blue energy shot out as the robot's single eye glowed blue. It hovered in the air for an instant and then burst from the hangar.

Lorelei scrambled to grab onto Tempest's leg as the wind from the launch buffeted the walls. Her hair and jacket ruffled in the breeze. She opened her eyes and was just in time to see Epitaph ascend into the night sky.

"Damn kid," she said to herself as she jumped onto the gantry and rose up to Tempest's cockpit.

-----------

The giant blue Battleframe flew through the sky, at first just a blue light against the lit up buildings and signs of nighttime Delling City.

Then people began looking up from their vehicles as it swiftly descended downward between the buildings. Commuters on the large roads looked up, and then shielded their eyes as the Battleframe accelerated down the street, arms stretched behind it, head looking resolutely forward.

-----------

"Boss! You'd better look at this!" bellowed one of the mercenaries, staring into a TV screen on the table.

"What is it?" he yelled back, not looking away from the kid below him.

"Epitaph is coming." The brat had answered for him. The large man blinked his eyes in astonishment at the glowing blue eyes in front of him.

------------

For the second time tonight, Render found himself somewhere without knowing how he had gotten there. This time, it was the familiar cockpit of Epitaph. He looked at his feet to see the cords binding him had pooled at his feet.

"Jeez, am I going to have to nearly kill myself every time I want to use this thing?" he wondered aloud.

ENEMY BATTLEFRAMES SIGHTED

MODEL JHX-109 CANCER

ENGAGE?

Render looked out the blue-tinted canopy to see three crab-like Battleframes flying up from behind the warehouse. Their lanky arms ended in large, serrated pinchers.

"Render, are you in there?" came a voice from the speaker to his right.

"It's me, Lorelei."

"Nice to get an answer this time. What's going on here?"

"No time to explain, just get to work," he said smoothly, reaching for the controls.

----------

He didn't know how it had happened, but the kid had disappeared the moment he had turned his back. Now his hideout was under attack by the same giant Battleframe.

All he knew was this was his chance to kill two birds with one stone.

----------

Epitaph withdrew both Vector Sabers as Tempest brought out her own Laser Staff. The three mercenary Battleframes accelerated towards the two of them, claws extended.

Tempest spun her Laser Staff in a circle and tossed it into the first one like a giant javelin. It stabbed deep into the chest of the first Cancer, dropping it to the ground with ease. She spun to see Epitaph making short work of the other two units.

He flew into the oncoming Battleframes, swords extended outwards. When the two sides met, Epitaph brought both weapons through the Cancers, crossing the swords as he flew between the two of them. Behind him, both Battleframes split in two and fell into the warehouse below, tossing up debris and smoke.

"That was way easier then it should have been," Render remarked. Three explosions erupted below him, destroying the warehouse and probably, the outlaws inside.

---------

Vance Nagara walked back onto the bridge, sipping from a water bottle. Settling in the captain's chair, he gazed out the viewport at the dark brown planet of Delling hanging before them.

The crew on the bridge looked out into space uneasily. For many of them, it seemed like finding the Battleframe was going to be just another wild goose chase.

But the contact had reported that the ship had been spotted entering the planet's airspace. This was as good a location as any to begin that chase.

I can feel your heart in motion,

Deep down in your mind and passion.

Life goes on and on, we love each other

In the sadness of time…

From Origa's "Rise" and Yuki Kajiura's "Life Goes On", respectively.

AN: Thanks for the reviews so far. I promise I'll get around to returning the favor sometime. I have somewhat of a habit of focusing too much on the plot of the story and too little time on getting it on paper, but I'm working on that. It's going to improve soon. Really.