Sigma/Star

Chapter 90: The War In the North

Porter couldn't feel his body anymore. He knew there was electricity all around him, that his chi was using the Goliath to manifest itself as blue lightning, but he could no longer feel his own body. Was this becoming one with your Goliath, as Shotuku had trained him? Or was this something different, a loss of control from his chi overtaking him? Was this the bottled emotions about his family and his father overrunning his body, leaving his mind on the outside looking in? The last he could remember, he had left Riya behind to charge into battle but...why would he do that?

The blades of the White Storm flashed as they sliced through the body of a Bahari, sending spurts of blood across Porter's chest. He turned away from the creature, satisfied in his execution of the monster. He didn't get far though before he felt a tug at his arm. The Bahari still stood, half of its muscles split open and one arm missing, but it did not seem to care. Its hand was wrapped around the White Storm's arm in a death grip, the creature unwilling to give up on its prey.

A massive shuriken embedded into the Bahari's chest, forcing it to stumble back from the impact. Raul appeared behind the monster in a flash, reaching over to grab his shuriken. He wrenched it through his foe, shearing the Bahari's torso in half. The red, pulsing heart exploded, the liquid contained within spraying up into the sky.

Chase came flying in behind Raul, a fiery fist driving into an approaching Bahari's face, sending the monster flying backwards through the swarm. "Look, if you're going to go crazy like that, at least do it right." Chase smiled in his cockpit, forgetting Porter couldn't see him.

"If you think you are the only one with something to prove here, you will be buried by an avalanche of your incompetence," Raul whispered, vanishing once more to continue wreaking havoc.

"I didn't understand that at all," Porter mumbled.

"Me either," Chase agreed. "Anyways, while you and the old man have been sneaking away for training, the rest of us have been pushing ourselves to improve. After all, a weakling like you has no right surpassing someone as incredible as me. I was just slacking off is all. I can't go about showing off one hundred percent of the time. That just isn't humble."

Porter rolled his eyes at his friend's familiar antics but he grew serious again as he was reminded by the emotions that had driven him this far. "No, wait Chase, you have to go back. I have to do this now, to keep...to keep you ..."

"To keep us what Porter? All your life, what did you want? A family? Friends? People in your life who like you and now you finally have us and you...what? You want to abandon us all, leave us all behind to protect? Sorry buddy, but that's not how family and friends work."

"He's right you know." Ardwen had caught up to the, with Riya right next to him. The young woman was unloading a barrage of missiles and machine-gun fire into the hordes of approaching enemies. "The rest of us haven't always had a family you know. Riya's an only child with a father who she barely knew. Nami's brother is the Kaiser, and her parents passed away long ago. Chase's mother was killed in front of him, and my brother died in war. As far as I know, Raul is some sort of orphan ninja or something. Together we are each other's family, and part of being a family means not leaving anyone behind."

Porter felt his heart softening, bounds that had always been wrapped tightly around his core weakened to Ardwen's words. He watched around him as the Crisis Rescue Unit dissipated into the rest of the army, sparks of their energy and fighting power bursting out from the crowd. He glanced backwards and spotted Nami up on a cliff, his battlesuit automatically zooming in for him to make out her waving to him before she unleashed another bullet. "I understand Ardwen." The leader of the CRU placed his hand on Porter's shoulder for reassurance. "Plus, I thought you were going to be pretty mad at us for ignoring you and charging into the fight like that."