Battle for Croft Part II

With Blackflame dead, Darkstar suffers a huge blow. Jason has slipped into a depression as Junon works with the inquisition architects, engineers, and workers to expand The Fortress and accommodate the new refugees. Lazarus has an idea on how to recover Amana and Trill, but he doesn't like it. Everybody in Darkstar and the Inquisition continue to prepare for the war against Calliope's new army. Despite moving forward, Sam's death has shook everyone to the core.

Lazarus' Plan

Kyrael invites Darkstar to the planning table, where she introduces everyone to her team who serve as her advisors and comrades. Commander Conlan Randor, of the Inquisition Knights, Alex Swallowtail, a bureaucrat who handles the diplomatic things of the inquisition, and Yuko Shinigami, leader of the stealth corps. Conlan shakes Lazarus' hand and tells him that he is sorry for the loss of Samuel Mason, understanding full well what it is like to lose comrades.

The mood is somber, as the remaining members of Darkstar quietly watch Lazarus create green holograms with his ethereal magic. Lazarus tells Kyrael that during his time as a hero in Millennium City, he encountered a realm that was home to a powerful celestial being, known as The Pact, a seven headed cosmic entity. The Pact was known for being the very fabric of existence, and was capable of warping reality. The Pact ruled over his universe. When Lazarus arrived in his realm, The Pact trapped him in some kind of five dimensional space, asking him why he came to his realm. Lazarus explained that he needed to return to his realm and was sent to this realm by accident. The Pact and Lazarus struck a deal; where he would extinguish the seven deadly sins that were corrupting his realm. The Pact tells Wright that he had foreseen his arrival, and tasks him to serve as his messenger. Lazarus considered him why, but decided against it as he learned never to question a cosmic beings motives.

After he had completed the tasks, he expected The Pact to betray him, but surprisingly, The Pact let him go, telling him that cosmic entities like him are all bound to one precept. His precept was to always be bound by contracts. One day, Lazarus will return. Lazarus never understood why, but now he did.

Kyrael asks Lazarus what he is suggesting, and Lazarus tells Kyrael that The Pact is all powerful, and if that is so, he might be able to save Amana and Trill. Kyrael asks Lazarus if going to such an extent is necessary, and asks if there is any other mage capable of undoing it. Lazarus tells the elf that he's studied magic for years, and is able to tell if a certain condition is reversible or not. Magic tends to go with the flow, and right now, the flow for those two is to turn them into their infernal and avatar states permanently. No amount of magic to undo the tide, not even negation magic. The only way to reverse it is to break the rules. The only being he knows capable of doing that is The Pact. However, knowing The Pact, Lazarus will be asked to do something for him, as a deal. Kyrael tells Lazarus that this idea of his is extremely risky. Conlan shakes his head and tells Lazarus that is idea is insane, but admirable, worthy of a knight.

Kyrael turns to her advisors and asks for an update. Conlan reports that his soldiers have made it back safe and sound, no injuries or casualties. He has deployed several forces to guard the perimeter as the engineers and workers continue expanding The Fortress to house the refugees, and have commanded his mage department to reinforce the Fortress with stronger cloaking magic to avoid detection. Yuko tells Kyrael that his scouts report none of Calliope's forces. Alex reports that she has contracted more soldiers and outside help to assist in the war effort, however she is unable to get in contact with Merrow Rivenlight. Reya thanks Kyrael and her advisors for putting so much effort for their cause, and Kyrael tells her that it is the best she can do. Sam's loss shook her hard too, as Decen was a long time friend of hers, and to hear that a reincarnation of his was killed like that. He will be remembered. Darkstar stares at the ground. Kyrael adjourns the meeting.

Lazarus heads to the Inquisition infirmary and sits next to Jason, who is holding Amana's hand. Lazarus tells Jason that he's going to take Amana and Trill to see The Pact, and hopefully he will agree to save them. Jason snaps but suddenly stops himself. Lazarus asks Jason if he wants to stay, and Jason tells Lazarus that he wants to be alone. Lazarus shrouds Amana and Trill with green ethereal magic, and promises to bring them back awake. Jason nods, his eyes still puffy. Lazarus notices Tob, Dennis, and Reya next to Trill, and Ferris preparing a grave for Sam at the heart of The Fortress. Lazarus tells him that Sam's death did not go in vain. They will avenge Jason's protege and put an end to Calliope's tyranny.

Junon meets up with Lazarus and tells him she's going to come too. Lazarus looks at her and asks if she is sure. Junon walks up to Lazarus and tells him that it is the least she can do. Lazarus notices something in her pocket. A piece of black nano weave cloth. Sam's jacket. Lazarus tells her to be careful.

Lazarus opens a portal to the realm of The Pact. Giving Junon and the others a green protective shield, the group enter.

The Pact's Deal

Lazarus and the group appear in a five dimensional space, and a huge towering cosmic entity approaches them. Junon is shaking in fear, but Lazarus floats in front of her. The Pact regards the mage with his seven faces, and welcomes him back. Lazarus tells The Pact his request. Amana and Trill suddenly appear in front of the being. One of the faces regards them. The Pact tells Lazarus that he wants him to bend the rules and restore the two back to what they were before. Lazarus confirms. The Pact declines, to Lazarus' shock. Lazarus asks why.

The Pact tells Lazarus that everything happens for a reason. Perhaps it is Destiny for the two to become their respective beings. To try to bend the path of Destiny would be as hopeless as trying to understand the motives of a cosmic with mere mortal logic. Lazarus asks The Pact what deal he wants to make. The Pact tells Lazarus that he will give his two comrades their consciousness again, but what happens to them, what changes they will experience, will remain. Lazarus agrees and asks The Pact what he wants.

The Pact looks at Lazarus, and tells him that he wants his soul. The Pact wants The Goatman. Junon's eyes go wide. Lazarus looks at Amana and Trill, then thinks back on how hard he at worked to master his powers, despite being hopelessly inept at the soul link. But the price, the price is to see his best friend smile again. Lazarus agrees. However, The Pact tells him he's not done. The Pact guides the group to a section of the 5D space, and shows a massive planetary mass. The planet, dwarfing the sun in size, drifts through space. Junon asks what's so special about the planet, but suddenly, the planet elongates. A huge hole opens up, and a tendril appears, absorbing the space mass and a nearby planet. The planet was eating another planet. Lazarus asks The Pact if he needs to destroy the monster. The Pact tells Lazarus that this creature, the World-Eater, has grown too powerful from absorbing things, and must be eliminated to restore the order. Lazarus asks The Pact how he can destroy the monster, and The Pact tells him that he won't destroy the monster. Amana and Trill will. He will allow them to transform, then he will change their power affinity to celestial, but give them their consciousness. Essentially, they will become celestials. In the presence of The Pact, they will be strong enough to destroy the creature. Lazarus will keep them alive to survive the vacuum of space. After the World-Eater is destroyed, he will terminate his soul-link with The Goatman, and return the team home. Lazarus closes his eyes, and agrees.

Junon has her hands over her mouth, and asks Lazarus if he's really ok with losing his powers. Lazarus jokes that maybe he can spend some time learning engineering with the best of the best. Junon tells Lazarus that she will teach him everything he knows.

The Pact summons Amana and Trill, and their bodies glow red and blue. Suddenly they begin screaming, their bodies changing. The screams die down. The two glow again, becoming too hard to see. The glow dies down, and Lazarus sees Amana and Trill, transformed.

Amana's outfit, completely changed. Her aviator jacket now into bronze armoured plating and white fur lined at the collar, a plated skirt, bronze boots. A series of elegant lines pattern her thighs, arms, and face, her hair, flowing upwards and her eyes, now fully glowing red. Trill's outfit similar, but the lines arcing like veins, silver plating, and a huge wing sprouting from his left shoulder. His bow now split into two weapons, a crossbow in one hand and a huge broadsword in the other. His eyes and veins glowing cyan.

The two open their eyes. Junon rushes forward and hugs Amana. Amana looks at Lazarus and Junon and asks what happened. Trill turns around and sees The Pact, and screams asking what the hell is going on. Trill suddenly sees his body and screams again. The Pact tells the two that Lazarus has struck a deal, their return to the battle against The Corruption, for the destruction of the World Eater and Lazarus' Powers. Amana stares at Lazarus and asks if he was okay with this. Lazarus tells her that Jason was worried sick, and had slipped into a depression. He fills her in on the Exodus. Trill asks if everybody made it back alive, and Lazarus and Junon's faces become grim. Amana gasps, hands on her mouth.

Junon tells Trill that Tob survived. Dennis survived. Then goes up to Amana. She pulls the piece of Sam's jacket that had ripped off out of her pocket and puts it in Amana's hands. Amana's eyes well up in tears. The jacket was a gift from Amana to Sam when they first met. Lazarus tells Amana that Sam and Tob tried to fend off Calliope, but were defeated. Tob managed to make it out alive, but Sam was killed right in front of their eyes. He did not make it to the portal. Amana puts the cloth in her pocket, and tells The Pact where the World Eater is.

The fight ends as soon as it started. Amana powers up, and manifests her tail which has also evolved. Amana manifests three other tails. She jabs the planet with four huge tails that shatter it through the other side. Junon stares at Amana's new power. For the first time, Amana did not come up with a plan. She rushed in, with pure rage. Trill flies in and powers up his broadsword giving it a huge cyan overmold. Trill fires his crossbow, that freezes the entire planet, and swipes downwards, shattering the planet into many pieces.

The Pact returns to the group, and tells them that half of the bargain has been sealed. Lazarus closes his eyes and The Goatman manifests. Lazarus waves the soul goodbye as it is absorbed into one of the faces of The Pact. The Pact tells Lazarus that his deal is complete. The being tells Amana and Trill that once they return to their realm, they will realize that their powers won't be as powerful as they were in the fight against the World Eater. The team is sent back to Corinth.

The Return

Lazarus and Junon emerges from the portal, alongside the newly restored Amana Cross and Trill Cohen. Jason looks back and sees Amana. Jason picks her up and hugs her, causing Amana to laugh. Tob and the others notice the two's new appearance and asks what happened. Lazarus explains that he has restored the two and made a deal with The Pact. Jason looks at Lazarus and realizes that his eyes are no longer silver, but have reverted to their natural green. Jason is shocked. Lazarus tells the team that the deal was to give up The Goatman and his powers. In a way, Darkstar has lost their healer. Despite this, he will continue to support the effort alongside Junon to retake Croft. Amana and Trill revert back to their original forms, alongside their original outfits. Amana notes that this "celestial form" will be useful in their fight to avenge Sam.

The following evening, Amana and Jason go to Sam's grave. Amana and Jason kneel down and put the piece of fabric on the tombstone. Amana turns around and sees Jason in tears, and rests his head on her shoulder as he cries. Amana also lets the tears loose.

Underworld

Sam wakes up to a bright light and Redbone playing in the background. The silhouette of a person with black skin and long white hair hovering over his face. Sam asks if he is in heaven. The person tells him no, but that he is dead, sort of. Sam sits up and sees the person in full detail. The man's skin, black with yellow stripes, his hair white as snow. His eyes were black and had yellow irises. Sam asks who he is, and the man tells him his name is Connor Shel, but he would otherwise know him as Sentry. Sam is surprised, and asks what happened to the weird mask, crazy samurai armour and everything. Connor tells Sam that they are in the Underworld. Down here, he is free to assume the form that is most natural to him, which is the form that he initially had. Sam looks around and realizes he is in cave, with industrial lighting. Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love" continues playing in the background. Sam asks Connor if he really is in the Underworld, and Connor asks him if it's illegal for an underworld creature to have a normal life in the underworld. Connor asks Sam if he likes the song, telling him he heard it from this cool movie he watched while Sam was still unconscious. Sam apologizes. Connor tells him that he managed to send him and his soul to the Underworld before his body gave out. So technically he is dead, but his soul isn't. Sam asks if Darkstar made it back alive, but Connor tells him that he does not know. Frustrated, Sam jumps out of his pod. Connor tells him that they are probably still alive, but Sam tells him that they're all probably mourning over his death.

Connor goes to his computer, and begins typing. Sam asks Connor what they are going to do, and Connor tells him that they need to find a way to get him a body. But even then, he has no idea how to fight Calliope, now that he knows she can use more than 100% of her power without any effort. Sam sits down on a chair, clearly annoyed. Sam asks Connor how he got all this tech anyway. Connor raises an eyebrow, and tells Sam that he had a life before becoming Sentry too. He was planning on going to college to study computer science. Sam stares at Connor. The hellspawn chuckles and tells him that just because he was in a clan with a samurai for a mother and a hellspawn for a father, doesn't mean he didn't get to live a normal life once in a while. They were after all, living in Millennium City at the time. Ever since he got contracted to become Decen's familiar, battle was all he knew. He always dreamed of being able to catch up on his old hobbies. Now that Sam screwed up and got himself killed, he's able to pursue his love for coding and movies again.

Sam leans back on the office chair and tries to update himself on what happened. He was stabbed by that maniac Calliope, and his body died. But before it did, Sentry took his soul and brought it to the Underworld. Right now, he is moving and walking around as a spirit. Their current objective is to get a body. Sam's update is interrupted and finished by a familiar voice telling him to also figure out how to defeat Ariandal, and then Mogul. Sam turns around and sees a woman with green hair. Sam exclaims how Merrow is down here too. Connor finishes up on his computer and walks to the table and tells Sam that Merrow is Decen's guardian. Since Sam is a reincarnation of Decen, she is also his guardian. Sam is still confused, and Connor takes out an amulet, giving it to Sam. Connor tells the boy that this amulet belonged to Decen, and was what he used to call Merrow. Since only Decen was able to use the amulet, when he died, the amulet was thought to be useless. However, since Sam is here, Connor was able to call Merrow by having the amulet in contact with the reincarnation.

Sam asks Merrow if she has heard of any word from Darkstar, and Merrow tells him they are fine. When she was being pulled in to the Underworld by Sentry, she was receiving messages from the outside of Chron about the Exodus. She wasn't able to respond because someone was being too hasty.

Merrow tells Sam that since his body is gone, and his spirit remains, there is a chance that Decen has fully merged with his spirit, since only one left the body. Since Decen is a regenerator, it should be easy to regenerate a body for him to inhabit. Sam doesn't follow. Merrow laughs and tells the boy that he is definitely as slow as Decen. Merrow walks up to Sam, grabbing his shoulders. Sam must inhabit Decen's body, and complete the reincarnation. He must become the next Decen.

Rebirth

Merrow returns with a piece of Decen's DNA. Sam asks her how in the hell she managed to find that. Merrow tells him that during the inauguration process to induct the Paladin and the Guardian, the Guardian must obtain a piece of the Paladin's DNA. Merrow laughs and remembers when she had to do it with Decen. With most Paladins, their Guardians were often monsters, beasts, or big smelly guys, so it was often a sight to see. When it was Decen's turn, Decen was so embarrassed and annoyed watching a girl play around with his hair. Sam chuckles.

Merrow places Decen's hair on a test table. Sam asks Merrow if Decen was capable of insane regeneration, why didn't he just regenerate that piece of hair. Connor pauses his movie and turns around, telling Sam that it would have been nice, if his soul hadn't left his body and fragmented into a million pieces. Merrow tells Sam to touch the hair, and suddenly, Sam's head is flooded with memories of Decen. Too many to keep track of. Merrow catches Sam before he could hit the pavement. Connor leans in and the trio watch as the hair begins to bubble. A red substance swirling around, and the hair growing, longer, thicker, until it begins to light up in red flames. Merrow tells Connor to put the sample into a chamber.

Sam sits down, watching Sentry continue binging on decades worth of movies. Merrow asks Sam if he is worried about his friends in Darkstar. Sam confesses that he is, and feels really guilty sitting here in some high tech lounge watching his soul creature binge TV nonstop. Merrow puts her hand on his head. Normally if someone did that to him, he would have pushed it away, but when Merrow did it, it felt right, like a mother cheering her kid up. Sam cracks a smile. Merrow tells Sam that she sees a lot of Decen in him, and Sam tells her that it's kind of obvious, since he is a reincarnation, but Merrow tells him that's not what she means. In many ways, Decen was to Merrow like a little brother. His death shook her hard. Seeing him again like this, decades later, even if a little different, gives her a sense of nostalgia.

Merrow tells Sam that when it's time to inhabit the body, he will notice that it will undergo some kind of shift to accommodate his soul. It will attempt to find a compromise, mixing his past as Samuel Mason, and Decen's past together. Sam will have access to all of Decen's base powers, but will also have the old powers he had while soul-linked with Connor, just at a lower strength. Sam throws his hands in the air. Basically all the work he has done is out the window and he's back to square one. Merrow calms Sam down, and tells him that it's more of getting used to his body again. He's also got a whole slew of new abilities too. The only other downside she can think of is a little appearance change. Sam asks what she means, and she tells Sam that he will know.

The body regenerates, and Sam looks at it. Sam complains that he needs to inhabit that, complaining it's way to scrawny. Sam looks at the hair and cringes. Merrow tells Sam to enter the body. Sam asks her how, and Connor walks up to the spirit and pushes him into the shell. Suddenly, Sam's vision turns black.

Sam awakens to Merrow and Connor looking down on him. Sam sits up and realizes he is naked. Sam screams and runs into a room with immense speed. Sam notices his body still trailing with red fire. Sam quickly grabs the door but crushes the handle, shocked at his new strength. Sam looks around and is suddenly greeted by his reflection. His body, although changed, looks nothing like the body he saw in the chamber. His muscle mass stayed the same (which was a relief), and his hair, although longer, stayed the same shape. As if his fade grew out over the few months and he never trimmed it. Sam's eyes, no longer silver, but not his original brown, now grey. Sam peeks from outside the door, where Merrow and Connor are waiting. Merrow asks Sam if he finally understood what she meant by the "compromise". Sam nods, and tells the two to bring him some clothes. Merrow yelps, and tells Sam that she found some of Decen's old clothes while she was rummaging through his house. She throws Sam the clothes and tells him to try it on.

Sam looks at the clothes. Baggy jeans, black hoodie, black jacket that was long enough to be a trench coat, t-shirt. This guy was 100% an emo, and watched way too much dark anime. Sam puts the clothes on, but realizes that the "baggy" jeans were only baggy for the old Decen because his legs were literal toothpicks. Sam puts on the t-shirt and realizes that the fit is tight. Sam slips on the hoodie and tries to put on the jacket, but Sam accidentally rips the sleeves. Sam decides to open the hoodie so he doesn't suffocate. Sam emerges from the room, telling Merrow that almost all of the clothes she just gave him don't fit anymore, minus the shoes. Merrow remarks that Sam looks like a buffed up and matured Decen. Sam asks Connor what to do now. Connor tells Sam that he's going to send him to the mortal realm, Corinth, and tells him to put on the amulet. Sam puts it on, and suddenly, Merrow dissipates into the gem. Merrow's voice appears in his mind, telling Connor that he is ready. Connor enters the amulet too. Sam suddenly sparks with black lightning as he is jettisoned upwards. The speed is fast, and Sam realizes that his skin and clothes are peeling away. Sam screams, asking if Connor is insane, but Merrow tells Sam that was partially why they got him Decen's body, mostly because the trip back would have spaghettified any normal person's body, even his old one. At least with Decen's body, his super regeneration should regenerate his body once it gets reduced to a mere "skeleton". As for his clothes, Merrow tells him that since he wore them the first time, the mental image should allow him to regenerate his clothes too, albeit no longer via. cloth, but rather Decen's biomass, but still, better that than naked. Sam screams as everything turns bright.

Welcome to the Inquisition, Connor Wong

Sam regains consciousness, and sees a bunch of trees. Sam gets up and realizes that he missing all his limbs except for his left arm. Sam tries to scream, but realizes his lungs are gone too. Merrow reassures Sam that he will be fine, he just needs to regenerate. If he wants to speed up the process, he should absorb some wildlife. Sam hesitates, and Merrow tells him that it's okay. He could try something that Decen used to do back in the day called "half absorption". Go up to the animal, wildlife, tree, plant, anything of organic matter, and grasp it, imagining he is sucking its life force for nourishment. He will sense the transfer and decay of the object. Once he senses that the object is around halfway drained, let go. Sam has managed to regenerate his innards and manages to grunt to the nearest plant he could find. Sam grasps the grass and begins absorbing it. Unfortunately, Sam's control of Absorption is mediocre at best, and he ends up draining all the grass dry. The good news is his body has completely regenerated, along with his clothes. Sam pokes at them and realizes they feel just like cloth. Sam asks Merrow where he is, and Merrow tells him that he is in Corinth. Sam locates a hunting party, and a familiar face. Steel. Sam rushes forward, but underestimates his speed, causing him to crash into a tree. Connor snickers.

Sam follows the Steel Pack and realize that they are on the hunt for dragons. Sam tells Sentry to use Hunter's Eye and look for a dragon, but Sentry tells him that 1: he hasn't mastered manifestation yet, and 2: the pack has already located it, the monster is on the mountain. Sam judging his distance, and prepares to make a leap. His legs swirl and Sam bounds to the monster. Commenting on the coolness of the jump, Merrow suddenly tells Sam to watch out, and the dragon's tail swipes at the boy, sending him through several trees. Sam manages to get to his feet, but is blasted by fire from the dragon's breath. Sam opens his eyes and realizes that one of his hands has turned into some weird shield. Merrow tells the boy that since Decen was able to regenerate, he was also able to shape shift, which was his most common style of fighting. Sam remarks on how similar it is to a game he played. However, before he can finish, the dragon slashes at the boy, ripping his chest open. Sam screams, but the scream dies as he realizes that such an injury doesn't even matter anymore, and begins to regenerate. The dragon roars at Sam, and Sam opens his hands turning it into a claw. Merrow tells him that the claw won't do much against the dragon's hide. So Sam decides to imbue it with Darkfire. Merrow tells Sam that's not going to work since the dragon is also fireproof. His hand glows with black and red flames, and Sam slashes at the hide, but misses, catching the dragon in the mouth instead. The body hits the ground. Sam turns and realizes that Steel was staring at him the whole time.

Sam stares at Steel, and tries to say something, but ends up stuttering like an idiot. Steel's face turns into a huge grin, and then suddenly everybody in the squad cheer. Steel grabs Sam by the shoulders and tells him that was the most badass thing he ever saw. Steel tells Sam to join his hunting crew, but Sam hesitates. Merrow tells Sam that he should do it, so he can be granted access into the Inquisition. He can't let anyone know about his identity as Samuel Mason, as no one knows, even Ariandal. This will allow their side to gain an advantage. Sam agrees. Steel compliments Sam's raw strength and regeneration and asks for his name. Sam stops. Merrow tells him to come up with a name quick. Connor tells him to make it sound asian-like since he's technically in Decen's body, albeit a modified one. Sam manages to come up with a name: Connor Wong. Connor asks Sam what in the hell he is thinking, and Merrow tells him to roll with it. No point in changing it now. Steel shouts his new name to the rest of the squad, who turn it into the chant. Steel claps his hand behind "Connor"'s back and congratulates him, welcoming him to the Inquisition. The first thing to do is to treat him to a huge drink at the bar.

Life in the Inquisition

Connor drinks with the Steel Pack. As he is drinking someone catches his eye. A beautiful young woman with black flowing hair, silver at the ends, with orange irises, wearing an iconic aviator jacket laying flowers to a grave. Steel catches Connor staring and laughs a hearty laugh, telling him that she is way out of his league. Connor stares at his new captain, and Steel tells him that the woman is Amana Cross, the leader of Darkstar, who has been helping out the Inquisition with everything, from hunts to protection, to security. They're basically the Inquisition's superstar special forces, best of the best. Everybody in Darkstar is a badass, with Amana being the most badass out of all of them. She's also taken by a guy named Jason. He's great when you're on his good side, and terrifying when you're on his bad side. Connor tells Steel that's good to know. Steel finishes up his drink and tells the boy he's going to introduce him to another Darkstar member.

The two walk up to the grave. Connor is uncomfortable seeing his own gravestone. The gravestone is decorated with a bunch of flowers and a piece of fabric. His jacket! Connor totally forgot about the jacket Amana had given him. It's probably gone now, burnt to ashes by those Militia jerks. Steel introduces Connor to Samuel Mason, a.k.a. Blackflame. Sam was the strongest member of Darkstar. He fought valiantly alongside his friend, Lupine, against Calliope Ariandal, the lady the Inquisition is preparing to take down. Steel tells Connor that he knew the boy, and he was amazing. The greatest fighter ever known, with the firepower to back it up. Connor grumbles he'll bet. Steel doesn't notice, continuing. Every Monday, the Inquisition hosts a party to honour the fallen warrior, known as Mason Monday's. There's also No Pants Fridays, and Hot Wings Wednesdays. But those are days exclusive to the Steel Pack. Steel tells Connor he will show him his place.

Connor and Steel make their way to the barracks. Junon approaches the two and asks if Connor is the new recruit. Connor extends his hand, and Junon shakes it. Junon sees Connor's eyes and tells him he reminds her a lot of someone who had eyes similar to his, but were a bit more brighter and shinier. Connor grumbles. Junon laughs, and tells him it's a compliment to be similar to the person she was referring to. Junon leaves. Steel tells Connor that the girl back then was Junon Gareth, the engineering extraordinare. She's single, but her expectations for a guy are through the roof. Steel leads Connor to his living quarters. A small room with a bed and a desk. Not bad. Steel tells Connor that missions are often pretty erratic in the Pack, but when they happen, they go full throttle. As for what to do in the meantime, he is free to do whatever he wants. Most of the pack just end up in the bar anyway. Steel tells Connor that it's getting late, and he's going to head to bed. Steel leaves.

Sam sits on the bed. Merrow asks him if he's alright, and Sam tells her that he doesn't know what to think about being here. Everybody thinks he is dead, and he isn't allowed to do anything about it. Merrow tells him that she understands how hard it is, but it's for the best of the mission and for the impending war. He needs to stay strong. Sam decides to head out and check out the gravestone again.

Sam goes to his gravestone and looks at the numerous flowers and gifts surrounding it. So many people miss him, and loved him. He really messed up big time getting killed. Jason had so much expectations for him. He must have been devastated upon hearing his death. First his girlfriend, then his protege. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a voice. Sam turns around and sees Amana, who asks if he is the new superstar recruit Steel had been bragging about. Connor clears his throat and replies that he is. Connor looks at the gravestone and Amana's expression becomes sad. Connor asks Amana if Blackflame was her comrade, and Amana tells him that Sam was much more than that. He was family. In many ways, he showed Amana what it was like to have a little brother, who always got in trouble, but had the biggest heart out of everyone in Darkstar. Amana looks at Connor and tells him he kind of reminds her of him. The same confidence, prodigious power. But at the same time, he is so different from Sam. Connor tells Amana she has his deepest condolences. Amana tells Connor that she appreciates it. Connor heads back to his room and goes to bed, knowing that his life will never be the same.