Prologue

"Master, is this really necessary?" the young Knight asked. Despite the elimination of over twenty Rogues, the use of explosives on an inhabited, civilian structure was certainly not justified.

"It is student," came the sharp reply, "It is not prefered, but it is indeed necessary." Withdrawing the detonator from the folds of his cloak, the old bandicoot depressed the button.

Silence...

He pressed it two more times, and each attempt was met with silence. The explosives were not working. "Well, what have we here?" The two Knights spun around, and found themselves facing the group of Rogues they were attempting to assassinate. "Just a couple of vermin I see," said the leader, activating his saber. The rest of his clan followed suit, as did the Knights. "Come everyone, let us exterminate them." The Rogues launched into an assault, and the Knight's tried to defend themselves from the onslaught. It was clearly a vain attempt, for master and student were soon divided, and the younger, less experienced weasel was soon disarmed and knocked to the ground. She looked up at the circle of Rogues around her, fear in her eyes. "Leave her alive," said one, "We can have our fun with her la-" They did not finish, for a flash of light ended their life. Several more flashes, all to quick to be seen, and the Rogues were gone. The Knight stared in horror.

Limbs and heads were strewn about on the ground, oozing crimson. She herself was covered in the Rogues' blood, and she felt sick to her stomach. It was almost as if the wind had killed them all. "What the--!" Her attention returned to reality. "It's Shadow Hawke!" Upon hearing the name, she spun around and saw the new comer to the battle. A male fox, easily over six feet tall and powerfully built. An extremely large, black cloak billowed in the breeze. His red fur was devoid of any stains from the blood, and his green eyes seemed to drive the darkness away.

"How very perceptive of you," he said in a flat, emotionless tone.

"There's still more of us! Get him!" one of the Rogues shouted, prompting them all to charge the new threat. They never knew what hit them. The Knight could not see what happened, and she was certain her master couldn't either. More quickly than even her senses could follow, Shadow Hawke sliced into the Rogues in a whirlwind of violence. As quickly as the fight had begun, it was over. All the Rogues were dead, but Shadow Hawke remained, nary a splash on him.

He switched off his saber and replaced it at his side, looking to her master. "I assume you're the one responsible," he said.

"Responsible for what?" the bandicoot demanded. Shadow Hawke extended and opened his hand, allowing several thin objects to fall to the ground.

At once, both Knights knew what they were: the trigger pins from the explosives they had set. "So it was you," Shadow Hawke said again, "Is the removal of a mere twenty Rogues worth the unnecessary deaths of four hundred, thirty seven innocents to you?"

The weasel was stunned, and her master was infuriated. "You're one to talk about unnecessary deaths! You simply kill whomever you please, murderer!" He charged at Shadow Hawke, saber drawn and seeming to demand violence.

CRAK!

Like lightning, Shadow Hawke had also charged, slamming his palm into the Knight's chest, shattering ribs and destroying organs. Death was instantaneous.

"Master!" Dumbstruck, she found herself unable to move, and when she noticed Shadow Hawke directly in front of her, at eye level, she was completely terrified. Knowing her life had reached its end so early, tears began to run down her face. She closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable.

"Child..." She opened her eyes when she felt a hand brushing her tears away. To her surprise, it was Shadow Hawke. His expression was not the steel cold one he wore during the battle, but had softened and was almost caring. "If ever a Knight proposes an action which you question the morality of, then they should not be doing it," he said, standing up. His expression hardened into one that promised death. "As a Knight, it is your duty to prevent them from taking that course of action. If you do not, then you will be aiding them, and I will kill you."

He turned and began to walk away, the sabers of the fallen lofting into the air and trailing after him. The girl tried to comprehend what happened. "Destroy corruption and immorality," she said to herself, looking at her blood drenched hands, "Is that what he does?"

Chapter 1: Aftermath

What am I doing here, anyways? Trevor asked himself. He'd picked a hell of a planet to start looking for information. It was practically ripped apart during the Knight War, and the aftermath left nearly everyone with a severe phobia of Knights (those who had risen above this weren't about to say so). Of course, with such a widespread fear of Knights, it would also be the perfect place for one to hide. There had been rumors of a Knight in the area, but patrols from the local constabulary and also by groups of Hunters (the anti-Knight) had turned up nothing. Still, there weren't about to let their guard down, and immigration was a testament to this.

"Did you pack your own bags?" asked the security officer, who looked like some sort of a large mantis.

"Yes," replied Trevor, his words not liquid, but in the native tongue nonetheless.

"Has anyone unknown to you asked you to carry anything into the terminal?"

"No."

"Have you had any contact with Knights within the last twenty-four hours?"

Trevor froze and considered the question. After a couple seconds of staring at the officer like he was a nut, Trevor still didn't know how to answer. The question itself was simply so ludicrous that it didn't even deserve an answer. "Sir?" the mantis asked, trying to get his attention.

"Um, no," was the reply.

"Are you sure?"

Trevor was starting to get pissed off. "Yes, I'm sure, and even if I did come into contact with a Knight, how would I know? It's not like I associate with them." The officer eyed him suspiciously, but stamped his passport and told Trevor to enjoy his stay, though he didn't sound like he meant it. Whatever.

Exiting the spaceport, Trevor hailed a cab and was soon off to a hotel. He didn't like spending the money he was paying off his debts with, but he had little choice right now. As he checked into a room, he considered asking around to see if he could pull a job for someone. At the very least, it would help his situation. He plopped down on his bed, though he was tired. He managed to get some sleep on the flight. A thought crossing his mind, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

To his pleasure, it had service and was able to transmit, although no one was answering. "Com'on, com'on," Trevor begged, "Don't tell me you've gone out of range."

After several more rings, someone finally answer, their voice distorted by the distance. "'llo?" they asked, giving themselves away.

"What's up bro?" Trevor asked.

"What's up bro?" came the reply.

"What-Trev? Man, where're you callin' from?" Wolf half asked, half demanded.

Judging from the delay between replies, pretty damn far away. "Somewhere not there." Smartass.

"Trev, d' you have any idea how many people hate you right now? Here's a small hint, everyone," Wolf stated, an agitated edge in his voice.

"Even Delphi?"

"Yes, even...well, no, Delphi's been pretty indifferent, but she's been pickin' on me and Shade 'stead o' you."

"Ouch," Trevor said, wincing slightly, "Sorry about that."

"Eh, it's cool. What're you doin' that requires you to be elsewhere?"

"Can't say, pal. I'll be traveling a lot, so my phone may or may not work. Tell Ariel to upload 300,000 credits to my account, I'll pay her back," Trevor said.

He disconnect his call and only heard "300,000?! Are you freakin' insa-". Sighing, his dropped the cell onto the bed, gazing up at the ceiling. It would be dark in a couple hours, so he decided to run over a few katas until then. Until it was dark, he wouldn't be able to get information like he needed to.

Chapter 2: Slayer

Trevor slowly opened his eyes, his vision hazy for a moment but clearing soon afterward. He remembered that the boredom had finally become too much for him. Rubbing sleep out of his eyes, he glanced out the window, seeing the veil of night cover the land. Perfect.

Unlatching his window, he looked out and around. Sure enough, there were sufficient platforms and handholds to climb around the city in a practical fashion. Satisfied, he donned his coat and made sure he had all of his gear. Quickly placing his "Do Not Disturb" sign on the outside doorknob, he climbed out onto the fire escape. A quick hop later, and he was quickly and silently sliding down two stories of rain gutter, landing soundlessly and unnoticed. Quickly, he moved away from the hotel and onto the streets, melting into the scene and appearing to belong.

Ducking into a seedy looking bar, he surveyed his new surroundings. He didn't like them much, but these sorts of dark locales were good places to find informants. Stealthily clicking a switch on his glasses, the room lit up with black and white, at least to Trevor's right eye. Infrared made it much easier to navigate through the gloom, though it didn't much help him find what he was looking for.

"Hey," someone hissed to him in a hushed voice. Turning to the sound and looking over in its general direction, he spotted a woman, a mink in light, skanky clothes, beckoning to him. With nothing else to do, he walked over to her. "Yer lookin' for someone, I can tell," she said in a slightly accented voice.

"You have a keen eye," Trevor responded, "Perhaps you can help me."

"Maybe," she replied, "Wha's in it fer me?"

Trevor leaned closer. "I will give you five hundred if you talk, and another five hundred if you can actually help me."

Judging by the way here eyes lit up, she was interested. "Whacha need ta know?" she asked.

"I'm looking for this guy, calls himself Tordek. Heard of him?" Trevor asked back.

The mink glanced around, as if trying to locate someone. "Yea, I heard o' 'im," she said, "Ya can probably find 'im at this other bar, about three blocks down th' street. Stoker's, I think."

"Thanks," Trevor said, turning to leave until the woman grabbed his arm and held out her hand. "Oh, right." Trevor pulled out a roll of bills and dropped it in her hand, not bothering to count it. After that, he turned and left, clicking off his infrared as he left the door. He hadn't passed any other bars on his way to this one (amazingly), so he had a pretty good idea where he needed to look.

"Hey, you," said someone from his left, leaning against a wall.

"Hm?" Trevor glanced in their direction. "Are you a Knight?"

Again, Trevor froze and considered the question. And again, it was simply so ludicrous that it didn't deserve an answer. "Am I...what the hell kind of question is that?!" he half shouted.

"He's a Knight!" came another voice, and in but a few seconds, Trevor found himself surrounded by armed thugs.

Oh, you did not just pick a fight with me, Trevor thought to himself, irritated. "Look guys, I don't have the patience for this, so scadaddle," Trevor said to them, "I'm a Slayer, and you are wasting valuable time that could be better spent, oh, killing Knights."

They didn't listen, and the four closest to him charge, clubs and knives drawn, while the rest prepared more knives and several firearms as well. Trevor simply threw a high side kick to the face of the one in front of him, and used the kinetic backlash to spin 90 degrees to his right and repeat the tactic three more times. He initiated a charge of his own, leaping into the air and pushing off the heads of one of the Hunters with his hand, landing behind them gracefully.

He dashed off, zigging and zagging as he went. He was much faster than his pursuers, and as fate had it, they were all terrible shots. He cleared the three blocks while they were still on the first, and ducked into the bar indicated as Stoker's. What the hell? Trevor thought, I've never run that fast before. Shrugging, he set about finding an open table, but had to settle for a bar stool.

"Can I getcha somethin'?" the barkeep asked, cleaning out a dirty mug with a towel that didn't look much cleaner.

"Just get me some brandy," Trevor replied, turning to the crowd and then back again a moment later, "Make it a double." The barkeep nodded as Trevor returned to scanning the crowd.

All Slayers have the innate ability to detect any Knight that simply moves within range of their perception, the so-called "Knight Sense." As soon as Trevor entered the bar, he picked up on the presence of a Knight. Focusing for a moment or two when he sat down, he had divided that presence into the actual three that were presently at the back. Now, as he waited for his drink, he concentrated more, trying to identify the auras he felt. Two were easy, they were clearly Rogues. The third one eluded him though. If it wasn't a Slayer, then it was just a phantom, left over psychic impressions.

"'ere ya go," said the barkeep at last, placing the double of brandy in Trevor of Trevor, who thanked him and dropped a twenty on the counter, not bothering to get change. He stood and walked to the three Knights at the back. The Rogues might not be aware, but if the third was a Slayer, he most certainly knew that Trevor was here. He saw them finally, two ermines (probably twins), and...something. It was only waist high, or so, if not sitting on the chair it was. Bronze colored skin, a thick, full beard, and stout. He must have been a Slayer, because none of them reacted much when Trevor just walked up and sat down like he was with them the entire time.

"Ahk, what do ye want? It ta'es a lot o' nerve t' jus' walk up an' sit do'n like ye own this table," the Slayer said. One of the ermine twins took on a look of shock, and Trevor knew exactly why.

"Drusillia, what is it?" the other asked. Trevor turned his head so that his left cheek, the tattooed one, was facing them. The second Rogue also took on that look of shock, while the Slayer simply laughed.

"I nev'r thought I'd see th' day when th' legendary Black Adder sits do'n at m' table," he said, looking visibly pleased, "The've written 'ntire books about you." Trevor chuckled at the thought, flattered.

"I presume you to be Tordek," Trevor said, still grinning. Now the Slayer looked shocked, and the twins continued the trend.

"Ye've heard o' me?" Tordek asked.

"Oh, of course," Trevor replied, "Surely you didn't think I was the only legendary one in this room." Again, Tordek laughed and grinned, and both twins looked pleased with the remark. Black Adder knew exactly how to play the game.

"Well, what kin I do fer ye?" Trevor's expression turned serious as he leaned closer.

"What the hell is going on in the Circle?" he asked, bringing the Slayer society and information network into the light. The trio also sobered, and Tordek leaned in as well, the twins following slightly so they could hear.

"There's been too much movement fer 'nyone t' keep track. I don' know m'self, but rumor says..." he glanced around and leaned in even more, and the twins, again, followed suit so they could hear, obviously intrigued by secret Slayer things, "Rumor says, th't 'nother war is brewin'." Both the twins looked at Tordek, probably in hopes that he was joking.

Trevor leaned back in his chair. "Shit," he muttered. He spoke again after a moment of silence. "I'd love to stay longer, but the amount of work I have to do just doubled, so I need to be off," he said, standing up.

"Dinna f'get yer drink," Tordek told him.

"Eh, keep it. My treat," Trevor replied, quickly exiting the bar and walking rapidly down the street.

"There he is!" someone shouted. Trevor looked over his shoulder at the sound, and saw the same Hunters from earlier.

"Goddess, not again!" Trevor whined as he bolted off down the street, easily outrunning them once again. Escaping and arriving at his hotel once again, he leapt and quickly climbed up the fire escape and back into his window, where he found someone attempting to steal the television set. "It's bolted down moron," Trevor said before he roughly grabbed the perpetrator and lobbed them out the window, closing and locking it behind them.

Exhausted, Trevor dropped his coat onto a chair and collapsed on the bed, falling asleep not long after. His dreams were troubled, filled with nightmares of what might happen if everyone remains unaware.

Chapter 3: Shadow Hawke

Wolf sighed. He glanced around. He spotted a shiny, reflective surface and had a staring contest with his reflection. He glanced around again, and sighed. I am so, frickin', BORED! Wolf thought to himself. Where the hell was Trevor?

"Man, even wake boarding though rice patties would be more fun than this..." Wolf said to nobody. Actually, wake boarding through rice patties was more fun than a lot of things, at least until the farmers caught you, but that was beside the point.

The point was, Wolf was bored, and even getting drunk to the point that Shade started to look attractive didn't help. He thought about drinking just enough to limber up his muscles, but Ariel wasn't in the mood, so that was pretty pointless. He thought about tormenting Mariko, but given her current condition, Wolf decided that even he wasn't that cruel.

He dropped his head onto the desk out of pure boredom, and the impact did nothing to better his mood, or to make it worse.

"Wolf," Delphi said, getting his attention, "We are approaching a small, transport craft. It does not appear to be moving."

Grumbling, Wolf stood and sat down at the communications panel in the room, picking up a headset and putting it to his ear. "Mysterious transport, please state your business here," he said into the mic.

"Um, Wolf..." Delphi began.

"Yea, yea," Wolf interrupted, switching the link with the shuttle "on." "A'ight, can anyone there hear me?" He was met with silence. "Transport, please respond," he repeated. Still no answer.

"Delphi, get everyone in here and raise alert status 4," Wolf instructed, initiating a scan of the ship.

Boomer was the first one there. "Wolf, what's going on?" she asked.

"I'll tell when I know."

After a few more minutes, everyone else had arrived in the room, sans Trevor. Wolf was still staring at the results of the scan.

"What's happening Wolf?" Shade asked.

"That's not right. That ship is just floating there abandoned. It just can't be!" he exclaimed. Everyone else was at a loss for words.

"Are you sure, Wolf?" Ariel asked. After all, with an unknown ship right there, it was her team that was at risk.

"Oh, I'm sure. No one answers my hails. Infrared returned nothing. It's not even on autopilot, for god's sake. It's just there!" was the reply.

Ariel considered this, and considered it again. "Delphi, prepare to bring that ship on board," she said after a minute or so. The rest of the group didn't look so sure about that idea.

"Ariel, are you sure-" Wolf began.

"Yes, I am," she snapped back.

"Ok, you da boss." With Boomer's help (meaning her doing most of the work), Wolf began to tow the ship into the docking bay. After several minutes of waiting, and several more scans, it was decided to investigate.

In the docking bay, it was fairly chaotic. Shade was mentally preparing himself for the worst while Wolf was donning light combat armor. The debate to decide who would go inside was short and the responsibility fell to him. Mariko, given her condition, was automatically exempt and was not even present. Stupid team mates, makin' me do things I don' wanna... Wolf thought to himself. Boomer and Ariel were conducting a few more scans, just in case.

"Everything looks good," Boomer said at last, satisfied with the results.

"Goodie," Wolf said, getting a rifle ready, "Here I go." He walked right up to the shuttle and punched some buttons on the panel he saw. The door opened loudly, and Wolf peered inside.

Nothing. Cautiously, he ventured inside.

"Talk to me, Ariel," he said over his com-link.

"Looking good Wolf. You're the only living body in there," she replied.

Wolf checked the stern side of the ship, and then the bow. "Moving into the bow. How am I looking?" he asked, sweeping his rifle left to right.

"Looking good, stud, looking good," Ariel said back. "Good." Wolf continued forward.

What the- Wolf thought. He saw something that was large and black. "Yo, I found somethin'," he said, moving closer.

"What is it?" Shade asked, unable to contain himself.

"Dunno," Wolf replied. Getting ready to leap back, Wolf removed the safety from his rifle (Ariel's policies prohibited him from entering with an armed weapon, for some reason). Carefully, he lightly tapped the shape with the barrel of his gun. When nothing happened, he jabbed it hard. Still nothing. Unable to stand it, he reached out and grabbed it...

It was a large, black cloak. Nothing else. At least, that's what Wolf thought until he tried to pick it up. "GAH! Shit!" he shouted.

"What?! What happened?!" Ariel screamed.

"Ow, nothing," Wolf said, holding his shoulder, "Shit, that hurt."

"What hurt? Wolf, what happened?" Ariel asked again.

"Found this cloak, kinna like Mari's, but holy hell it's heavy! It hasta weigh as much as that W.A.S.P. rig we got!" he replied. A cloth mantle that weighed as much as a missile pod?

"I still alone?" Wolf asked.

"Yes, you're still alone," Boomer replied, "No one else in this room except for us. You want someone to join you?" The last remark was teasing, at best.

"Naw, I'm good," Wolf half said, half snarled at her, "Moving to the stern." Getting a firm grasp on the cloak, he began to drag it towards the entrance, where he simply left it. Stretching his injured muscles, he shouldered the rifle again, moving towards the back of the shuttle. Thus far, it had been nothing special, aside from the cloak. The shuttle appeared, in all respects, to have been abandoned. "Ariel, this crate is dead. Permission to stop exploring and have a beer?" he asked her. Ariel chuckled at the remark.

"Permission-" she began, only to be cut off by Boomer.

"Wait, hold on!" the dog shouted, checking her readouts again, "Wolf, I'm picking up a heat signature from the stern that wasn't there before. It's small, so it's probably just a light, or something, but..."

"Yea, yea," the lupine snorted, disappointed at having to wait longer to have his drink.

Moving to the rear once more, he looked for Boomer's find. "Ya sure yer gear's workin' right, Grey? Ain't nothing back here 'cept darkness and what I'm hoping is cold coffee," he said into the comm.

"I'm sure, Wolf. You're showing up fine, and you should be right on top of the signature," she replied. Wolf didn't know what to think. Despite what she was telling him, there was really nothing in that area. Hearing the sound of metal breaking, Wolf spun around and was hit by a large section of the floor as it flew into his face. The pain and surprise was enough to cause his finger to pull the trigger of his rifle, firing off a burst of gunfire.

Hearing the shots discharge, Shade sprang into action, rushing into the shuttle as he activated his saber. Something exited at the same time he was entering, and whatever it was, it had a serious advantage over him. All 198 pounds of the Somali were knocked away from the shuttle, sprawling him on the ground some ten feet away. Something caught the eyes of the women waiting outside, but it was too fast for them to see. By the time they realized it was even there, all they glimpsed was the tail of the cloak Wolf had found disappearing into the hallways of the New Atlantis. Ariel was already dashing inside of the shuttle while Boomer considered helping Shade. Seeing that he was only stunned, she instead went after the intruder, gun drawn.

Wolf had been right, the shuttle was nothing special. Running towards the back, Ariel found him, partly awake, bloodied, and probably with a concussion. "Wolf!" she shouted. Wolf was busy trying to regain his senses, unable to really focus on anything. "Wolf," Ariel said again, kneeling down to help him, "Oh, baby, are you alright?"

"That really hurt but I'm ok" he replied, in obvious pain.

Ariel was relieved to see that his injuries were not life threatening. "Good. Come on, let's get out of here," she said, carefully helping him stand up.

While the havoc was brewing in the hanger, Mariko had gotten hungry and decided to have a snack. No sooner had she gotten herself a fruit salad and some chocolate ice cream when all hell broke loose. At once, she was set on going to aid her friends, pregnant or not. Not long after, common sense set in, and he realized that such a course of action was not in the least bit wise. She was even more certain of then when she felt "dead space" moving about the ship. A pocket that was completely devoid of psionic energy and rapidly approaching. At once, she was certain that it had to be a Slayer, and that since she had done nothing to be considered dangerous to the populous, she instead returned to the freezer and grabbed the first two quarts of ice cream she found.

"That was fast," she said, feeling the Slayer inside of the room already.

"Not that fast," came the reply. Definitely male, full of confidence and ever demanding of respect. An older, more powerful Slayer for certain. Mariko turned around and faced her company. A red fox, slightly shorter than Shade but built with much more power. He was dressed in a fairly traditional Knight fashion, complete with the cloak, black as her's but oddly much larger. She couldn't tell for certain, but it looked as though it might be twice as big. However, what stood out most were his eyes. Piercing green eyes reminded her very much of Trevor, and Mariko decided that it wouldn't be much of a surprise if they were, in fact, related.

"Chocolate, or vanilla?" she asked, holding up both cartons of dessert.

"Chocolate, please," the fox replied, "I assume then that you do not mind if I sit down."

Mariko placed the vanilla back into the freezer and closed the door. "Feel free. My comrades will probably be here in a moment. I admit, we've had many people aboard this ship, but you're the first to actually sneak on," she informed him.

"The security is quite good," he said as he sat down, removing his cloak, "But for me, it's all just a cakewalk."

"I see," Mariko said, sitting down as well, "May I ask your name?"

"Of course. I am Shadow Hawke."

When Mariko heard that, she nearly choked. "The Shadow Hawke?!" she asked him frantically.

"None other. May I have my ice cream before it melts?" he asked back. Wordlessly, she passed him the entire sample along with a spoon. Oh, if only Trevor were here for this, she thought to herself. Indeed, she was witness to the Legendary Knight Slayer's return.

However, even Trevor could not have known what news his return would bring.