Chapter 24:
Strengthen

	Samantha stretched and yawned. "What time is it?" she muttered. She 
opened her eyes and saw Tobias leaning over her. She smiled and hugged him. 
"Good morning handsome!" He hugged back tightly. She squeaked. "Why so 
affectionate all of a sudden?"
	He smiled. "No reason."
	"Oh...then can I please breathe again?" He loosened his grip, but 
refused to let go. "Tobias, what's wrong?"
	"Nothing. I just feel like not letting go of you."
	"Tobias, the last time you did this, something was wrong." She slid 
out of his grasp and sat up. "Please, tell me." He looked at D, then at 
Swift, and then shook his head. "Okay. I understand." He helped her up to 
her feet. "Why do I feel so weak all of a sudden?" she wondered aloud.
	"Don't worry." He shot a look at D. "You'll be fine."
	"Yeah," D reassured them both. "Don't worry about it, Samantha."
	She smiled and used Tobias as a brace. "So, now that we're up, what do 
we do now?"
	"Perhaps I should give you guys a tour of the base. I mean, this is 
going to be your home for the next two days, isn't it?" 
	She nodded. "Sounds like fun. Let's go!"

	D led the small group, excluding the Elite Guard, down to the fountain. 
"So what made you choose this place?" Law asked.
	"It was perfect. Bleu Mesa has so much fertile soil. We couldn't pass 
this opportunity up." He waved a hand to the many corridors. "Every tunnel 
leads to a different place. And they all cross each other. Where would you 
like to see first?"
	His response was Xuon approaching them. "D, we're having problems with 
the strength amplifier. Mind coming to take a look?"
	Tobias chuckled. "I guess that means the labs will be the first stop, 
eh D?"
	D chuckled. "Sure. Let's go." He directed them down one of the tunnels.

	The labs were huge. There were so many different machines that 
apparently did so many different things. The few techies that were there 
were monitoring two or three different things. Xuon hasted for a big glass 
window that seperated them from a testing area. The group watched as Myst 
gave a thumbs up. "Okay," Xuon said. "Give it another go." Myst nodded and 
took what appeared to be the shell of a computer chip in between his thumb 
and index finger. He put it into the headset he wore and tapped something on 
a control panel on his arm. He shut his eyes. Then, out of nowhere, a vest 
of heavy looking palte mail appeared on his chest, with sholder pads that 
jutted out like plane wings. Tobias chuckled. "Now, give him a helmet, some 
boots, and a pair of bracers and he looks like one of those robots from a 
game." At those words, a helmet, bracers, and boots appeared. "Okay, now I 
have seen everything."
	"That's just it. We can get the armor to come on just fine and it 
functions like armor. But it's supposed to have special properties."
	"Like what?"
	Xuon sighed. "Myst, try the Kaiten Slash again." Myst quirked a brow. 
He pointed straight ahead, and then up. "Do the vertical slash." Myst winced 
and nodded. He got into a stance and concentrated. He leaped into the air 
and started to move. But instead, his body jolted and he fell back. The 
armor disappeared. "See, that's what happens! He tries to do the Kaiten 
Slash, or the shock punch, or anything physical, and the armor shorts out!"
	"Well," Kaitlyn said. "Bring it in here. I may be of help."
	Xuon nodded. "It's worth a shot." He turned back to Myst. "Bring the 
equipment in here Myst. We're letting Kaitlyn take a look at it." Myst 
nodded, took everything off, and stepped out of the testing chamber. He 
handed everything to Kaitlyn and smiled. "See what you can do Kaitlyn," Xuon 
said.
	"I will." She brought it over to a table and gave everything a once 
over. She quickly found the problem. "Who's the intelligent guy who designed 
the casing of the chip and not the chip itself?"
	"I designed this. Why?"
	She went over to him and showed him the casing. "This is a fine design. 
However, it needs a conductor, a chip of some sort." She looked at Tobias. 
"Your chip should do fine." She tossed him the casing. "You give it a test."
	D quirked a brow. "Tobias has the equipment capable? I know he has a 
headset, but does he-"
	Tobias made his headset appear and took out his golden chip. "How do I 
fit this Kaitlyn?"
	"Just snap it on top." He did so. "Now, go in and try it out."

	The room was sound proof. Despite the fact the walls were smooth rock, 
he could hear no sound from the lab chambers. Xuon looked at him. "Since you 
don't have the control panel, try a code word or something to get it to 
work."
	"What word do I use?" Tobias asked. Xuon didn't respond. They couldn't 
hear him. He shrugged.
	"Uh...we programmed it to activate when one said amplify. To turn it 
off, say disable."
	He nodded. "Okay." He got his microphone out and tapped it twice to 
make sure it was working. "Amplify." Instantly, the program kicked in. He 
could feel his entire body tingle. Suddenly, he grew shoulders. Big, flat, 
pointy shoulders. A very light weight armor appeaerd, not only there, but on 
his chest as well. His feet tingled. He grew new boots. And his arms, they 
felt stronger as soon as the bracers appeared. His headset grew into a 
helmet. The transform was complete. He looked at himself and chuckled. "I 
feel like a fuckin' Gundam."
	"Uh...Tobias." Xuon said. He looked up to show that Xuon had his 
attention. "What's a Gun-dam?"
	He quirked a brow. "How did you know I said that?"
	"We've heard everything since you turned your microphone on. It must 
have caught our inner mesa frequency."
	"Heh, small world!"
	"Now, what's a Gun-dam?"
	"It's a fictional mech. Don't worry about it."
	"Does it look as foolish as you do?"
	"Regretfully."
	"Ah. Okay." He processed some info. "We're going to try to get the 
techniques to work. Try the Vertical Kaiten Slash."
	"The what?"
	He sighed. "Jump into the air with an uppercut, kick high, kick center, 
kick low, and finish off with a flip."
	"All right." He concentrated and leaped into the air. He flailed 
around wildly and landed on his back.
	"That wasn't it."
	"I know that. It didn't want to come out."
	"It should have been programed into the chip. What's wrong?"
	"Disable." The armor disappeared.
	"What are you doing?"
	"Watch." He pushed a button. "Run diagnostic on chip." His scanner 
appeared and gave him a readout. "Odd. The my chip and your attachment have 
melded. The Slash thingie doesn't work while I'm in this form. But something 
else does. Amplify." The armor re-appeared. He made a double fist.
	"What's up Tobias?"
	He brought his fist above his head and slammed the ground. Everything 
shook. "My natural strength, speed, and agility are amplified by 25%. We 
need to try something."
	Suddenly, alarms started to go off. "Guys," they could hear Mink say. 
"We've got a problem."
	"What's up?" D said.
	"A group of Raiders have set up camp too close for comfort. We've 
managed to deflect their sensors, but the entire base is in trouble."
	"Great," Tobias said. "I'm in. I need to test something with my armor 
and weapon. Disable." The armor disappeared and he left the testing chamber.
	"What do you have planned?" D asked.
	"These amplifiers. Do they power up weapons?"
	"Yes. But Myst has hurt himself trying to fire them off."
	He chuckled. "Well, we know that the conductor helps it to work. How 
many amps do you have left?"
	"One for every person in this base."
	"Got enough conductors that'll fit the headsets you guys made?"
	"We should have enough," Xuon said.
	"Great. I don't mean to take control, but wake Crash and the others. 
We can handle the Raiders fine."
	"I'm not sure. I'm going to send a group with you."
	"Fine. Just arm them with these amps. I'm going to retrieve my body 
armor and my rail gun." He went over to Samantha, kissed her cheek, and 
disappeared down a hall.

	The small unit moved out as stealthily as possible. Tobias led them 
along, ready to fight. He wore his body armor proudly, without the 
amplifications. Amongst the ranks were Myst and Mallory. They were all ready 
to fight. "Ready," Tobias said as they staked out the Raider encampment. 
There was a nod. He turned and looked at the Raider camp. "I'll give them a 
warning shot. When I shoot, hit the amps and get ready to charge." He turned 
his rail gun to low power, aimed, and fired. He hit the ground, which 
exploded.
	"Damn it!" One of the Raiders cried. "Lone Wolf is back." They grabbed 
their arms.
	Tobias leaned against the rock he shot from for protection. "Amplify." 
The armor appeared again, right on top of his normal body armor. He felt a 
little disappointed. But when his rail gun started to change...that was a 
different story.

	The barrel got bigger, to say the least. It went from pencil thin to 
about the size of his arm. The business end grew a larger head, obviously to 
amplify the blast. And his backpack grew in size. "I'm ready," he said. The 
others nodded and hit their amplifiers (they had control panels). Their 
rifles grew to be sleaker, stronger, and scarier looking. "Ready?" They 
nodded. He hopped over the rock and fired his rail gun again. Instead of a 
beam, it launched a ball of energy, which flew out at the ground. It was way 
too short to do any damage, he thought. The ball collided with the ground 
and send a shockwave at the Raiders. They all fell. "Attack!" The rebels 
popped up over the rocks and fired. Oddly, the Raiders were hit, but not 
injured. "The fuck!" He fired at the Raiders. The ball collided with one. 
His body seemed to quiver and he collapsed. He was not going to get back up. 
"Back over the rocks!" They all dived back. "Disable."
	"What are you doing?!" Myst demanded.
	He took his rail gun off his back. "Watch." He got to his feet and 
launched himself off the rocks. He threw his hands out and was instantly 
bathed in a white light. The Raiders saw this and started to back away. When 
he landed, he had changed. The new form stood up and grinned. "Who want's to 
tango?"
	"RUN!" The Raiders cried. They darted away, back for base. He laughed 
and gave chase. He was quicker and caught up to the stragglers. They were 
promptly torn apart. He was unable to, however, catch the rest. He sighed 
and turned back for the rebels. They saw him approaching and backed away.
	"What's wrong guys? It's still me." He continued at his pace. "Don't 
be afriad."
	"Tobias," Mallory said. "Wh-what is-?"
	"This? This is Lone Wolf." She felt silent. He stopped. "Come to me. I 
will not harm you."
	"No way," Myst said. "Change back to Tobias."
	"If I do, Tobias will be weak. He won't make it back to the mesa. 
Listen, you have to trust me."
	"I don't trust you." The rest of the group started to back away. 
Mallory remained still. Myst grew angry. "Mallory, come on! We'll get caught 
out here. Let's get moving!" She nodded and started to move - in Lone Wolf's 
direction. She walked right up to him and looked dead in his eyes. He smiled 
and offered her a hand. She smiled and put her smaller hand in his. His 
fingers closed around it lovingly. She smiled and turned to Myst.
	"It's okay. He's cool."
	Myst was perplexed. "Well, let's head back to base. When we get to the 
doors, you should drop that guise Tobias."

	"So what did we learn this adventure?" D asked. He had gathered Mink, 
Xuon, Tobias, Law, Samantha, Swift, Terry, and Mallory in his meeting hall 
for a debriefing. "I'll tell you what we learned! We learned that Xuon is a 
stupid moron!"
	"I am not!" Xuon retorted. "It's not my fault the weapons become all 
but useless against infantry when the ampers are activated."
	"Yeah, well, you'll fix that, right?"
	"I can try."
	"Good." He turned to Tobias. "And we learned something about you, 
didn't we? You have an alternate form? When were you going to tell us?"
	"When our lives became at risk," Tobias responded. "That time, we were 
in deep trouble."
	Mallory stood up. "Don't be mad at him D. He must have a good reason 
for hiding this from us."
	"I guess. But still."
	Terry put his hand up. Everyone shut up. "D, you are wound up for some 
reason. Please, tell us."
	D shook his head. "They were too close. We should have waited until 
they left. They might know we're here." He sat down and sighed. "I don't 
want to lose this mesa."
	"We won't," Tobias said. "If I have to, I will stay here with you guys 
until the safety of this place is assured."
	"Will Law permit that?" Swift asked.
	"Why won't he? We're helping defeat the Raiders, are we not?" She 
nodded.
	"Tobias," Terry said. "Your power to change form. Why did you choose 
to take this power?"
	"It wasn't a choice. It was more or less a nescessity."
	He nodded. "Did you at least pick out some of the specifications?"
	"Yes. I was allowed to pick the species of-"
	"Why wolf?"
	He fell silent.
	"Why did you pick a wolf?"
	He sighed. "I think of it this way: the wolf, where I come from, is a 
decent blend of strength, cunning, and speed. I don't rely heavily on brawn. 
I would rather think my way through a thick wall than bash it down."
	"Why think?"
	"I have no other choice. If I can't think, I can't control myself. 
I'll go mad if I can't think."
	He nodded. "Okay."
	"Terry, can I ask you a question?"
	"Oh, what the hell! Go ahead."
	"Why do you want to know?"
	Terry shut his eyes and stood up. "Is there anything else I need to 
know, commander?"
	"No Terry," D said. Terry nodded and left.
	D shook his head. "I apologize for Terry, Tobias. He tends to be a 
little-"
	"No apologies," Tobias responded. "I have a gut feeling I know what's 
wrong with Terry." D quirked a brow. "I can't explain it. I'll handle it on 
my own time."
	"All right. You should get back to your quarters and rest up. We may 
need you in case of an emergency."

****************************************************************************

	Swift followed Terry as he left. She wanted to know what exactly was 
up with him. She used her training well, blanketing his senses with 
falsehood to her presence. She followed him up a couple of flights of stairs 
to the top "floor" of the mesa. She watched from the safety of a corridor as 
he entered a small room. She waited a few moments and went up to the door. 
But she didn't find Terry. She found a human in his place. He wore the same 
black robes, thick boots, and medallion as Terry was. She hesitated before 
stepping forward. "Terry?" she asked, in awe.
	The human jumped, his blond hair bouncing along. "Wh-what are you 
doing here?!" he demanded. "You're not supposed to-"
	"Be here. I know." She sat down across from him. "You're human, aren't 
you Terry?"
	He sighed. "I am, unfortunately."
	"And D knows?"
	"No...you are the first to find out."
	"How long have-?"
	"Eight years. I've been on this planet for eight years under this 
guise."
	"Why didn't you-?"
	"Because I heard about the prophesy, that the first one not of your 
people would be declaired a savior and have a whole lot of shit put on their 
shoulders. I didn't want that. I couldn't handle it at the time. So I 
adopted the guise of the wolf they know as Terry." He sighed and looked at 
his medallion. "It's your fault," he told it. "You were the one who brought 
me here." He let it fall from his grip.
	"What's up with that?"
	"In two weeks, it'll be exactly eight years since I found this thing. 
And it will be the official eigth anniversary of my existance on this 
planet."
	"What's so special about this medallion?" She took it in her hand.
	"There's a mark on it. An eye with a vortex in it's iris. The portal 
that brought me here." He took it from her. "And the eye changes." He 
squeezed it gently. The eye changed from that of a human to that of a canine. 
He glowed and became the wolf she knew. "I have to come up here and rest for 
two hours every day. The medallion feeds off of my energy. If I'm not strong 
enough, I can't keep the disguise. My cover will be blown. And god only 
knows what D and the others will do. They don't like being betrayed in any 
way..."
	She took his hand. "Rest here. Gather your strength up. I'll keep 
quiet about this."
	"Thank you Swift. I appreciate it." He tucked a bit of blond hair 
behind his ear.
	"Can I ask you one thing, though?"
	"Sure, go ahead."
	"Why not tell Tobias? He has kept so many secrets. He wouldn't blab 
about it."
	"Becuase I don't trust him just yet."
	"Tobias is the most trustworthy person you can imagine." Her tail 
swayed uneasily. "He would probably love to see that there's a fourth human 
on this planet."
	"A...a fourth human?"
	"Two of Tobias's friends are in Tak Norath in Pack territory. They're 
probably worried half to death about him."
	"So there are more humans?" She nodded. "I see....I should tell him. 
But the time is not right. I will not tell him yet."
	"Okay. I understand." She got up. "Rest up. You need your strength."
	He smiled. "I will. Take care Swift."
	"You too." She left him be and went back down to find the others. She 
had one thing on her mind. And she was going to make sure it was on Tobias's 
mind too.

	"Samantha?" she asked as she entered their quarters. "Samantha, you 
in here?"
	"Shh," Samantha replied. "Tobias is asleep." She stepped out into the 
hall with her. "What do you need?"
	"I was hoping that Tobias was awake. I have some information that 
would be useful to him."
	"Well, he had to transform, so he's-"
	"Tired. Yeah, I know. Ah well, I'll come back later." She started to 
leave.
	"Wait, how about you tell me and I'll tell him."
	She stopped and shrugged. "It's more of a show than a tell."
	"Oh, okay." She thought for a second. "Show me anyway?"
	"Not yet. I want Tobias to make the decision before I show anybody 
else anything."
	Samantha nodded. "Okay. Tobias will be up in an hour or so. Come back 
around then."
	"Yes ma'am," she joked. Samantha smiled and went back inside to tend 
to Tobias. Swift went off to find Crash and the boys.

****************************************************************************

	Terry sat at the edge of the mesa, without his disguise. He watched 
the violent red sun set in silence. "May you rest well, old friend," he told 
it. "See you tomorrow morning." He sighed and turned in the other direction, 
waiting for the moon to rise. His legs hung over the edge of the rockface. 
The normally scorched sky turned into a calmer, healthier looking blue. 
Stars appeared before the moon peeked over the horizon. "A new night dawns."
	"Terry?" Mallory's voice asked.
	He turned around and saw the hedgevixen standing there in the hidden 
stairwell to his room. "Heya hunnybunch. How are you?"
	She smiled and went over to him. "I'm fine." She sat down next to him. 
"How is my main squeeze tonight?"
	He sighed.
	"What's wrong?"
	"You know Swift?"
	"What about her?"
	"She's a psychic. She blanketed my senses earlier and caught me 
without my guise."
	"Oh shit. So she knows now. You should get moving."
	"I don't think so. She said she would tell nobody. I know she's going 
to end up telling Tobias, but I know that's all. She isn't one to betray her 
word."
	She smiled. "I know that Terry. Don't worry about it."
	He nodded and looked at the stars.
	"Terry, when Tobias finds a way home, will you go with him?"
	He remained silent for five minutes. "No. I won't."
	"Why not?"
	"Ah, I'm so used to being here with your people, I wouldn't fit in on 
Earth anymore."
	She smiled and hugged his arm. "Good."
	"I wouldn't leave you anyway, Mallory."
	"I know." They looked to the stars again. "One day, we will be at 
peace." He smiled at nodded. But at what cost, he wondered. 
	At what cost....