IN DARKEST DESPAIR

Captain Odagiri stood with her hands clasped behind her back and her eyes turned high towards the calm of the rolling clouds above her.

Time had passed so quickly, she reflected, her gaze drawn to the passing condor as it beat its angry wings across the lonely skies. She remembered how furious she had been when, a few scarce months into the Vyram's siege, Chief Counsellor Miura Naoyuki's UAOH division had used the technology of the J-Project, irrespective of her feelings, as a corner stone of their Ohranger project.

She had raged at Miura for disrespecting her authority, threatened to turn in her commission and yet secretly she had been pleased. In a curious way it was almost justification that her vision, her dreams encapsulated within the development of the project had been sound enough to be not only noticed, but recognised and developed further.

Miura had revived the lost energies of Pangaea and constructed a colossal pyramid in order to fuel the transformation of his division's team. By comparison her own research into birdonic waves looked woefully underdeveloped...and yet she still remained proud that without her, without J-Project...without Jetman, there could never have Ohranger.

It seemed only fair then that whilst her own Jet Machines had been destroyed in the conflict, Miura's mystically enthused Ohranger technology still remained intact.

The door creaked open and Miura entered. She turned and bowed curtly; taking in the new lines that now marked his face and the lines of heavy grey that ran through his once dark hair.

"Commander Odagiri..." He began, bowing in return.

"Captain Odagiri." She replied, her voice short and perhaps slightly less cautious than she could have allowed herself to be.

Miura raised an eyebrow.

"I stand corrected. Captain Odagiri, it's been some time since we last met. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

"I want to see your file on Second Lieutenant Washio Gaku." She said firmly and clearly.

Miura smiled quietly and shook his head, taking a seat behind his cluttered desk.

"You are very forward aren't you, Captain?" He remarked. "As for your request however, I don't believe I recall a Second Lieutenant Washio, perhaps if you were to forward the Second Lieutenant's details to my secretary I could..."

"Don't feign innocence with me!" Odagiri shouted, slamming her fist into the desk. "I won't stand for your interference a second time, Counsellor."

He looked up, his eyes dark and mysterious.

"Chief Counsellor." He corrected her softly.

"I stand corrected." She retorted, folding her arms across her chest and glaring down at him.

For a moment he held her gaze and then, with a smile he looked away.

"Ah, but I see you're quiet serious about this. Very well then..." He glanced beyond her, over her shoulder and towards the pale blue sky visible through the open window. "Second Lieutenant Washio was a very talented pilot and, if I recall correctly, one of the best to have graduated from the academy since your famous protégée, Tendou Ryuu.

"He was born in Hokkaido in 1978; his blood type is O and he's also a moderately good swordsman. . Two years ago he was listed as absent without leave, a matter which was still being investigated upon his return and subsequent second disappearance. But I think you know all this already, Captain Odagiri."

"I do." She answered. "Which is why I'm asking again to see your file on him."

Miura smiled again.

"Ah, you think that perhaps there is a secret about Second Lieutenant Washio's behaviour that I am privy to and that I have somehow held this back from you? Shame on you, Captain, it doesn't pay to be so suspicious."

"Tell me now exactly what has happened to Second Lieutenant Washio or I shall report you directly to Supreme Commander Ichijou." She said firmly.

Miura sighed and reclined in his chair.

"Blackmail, eh? To think it's come to that." He shook his head sadly. "Very well, Captain Odagiri, I'll tell you what we know of the Second Lieutenant."

Slowly Miura lifted his head and their eyes met once more. Again, she found herself startled by the striking darkness present in his cold gaze.

"Earlier this year we confirmed a sighting of Second Lieutenant Washio engaged in combat with an unidentified BEM. We looked into the matter and discovered that this breed of BEM appears to have been connected with Washio's initial desertion several years ago. We don't have any details in regards to what these creatures are but we can confirm that they are not extraterrestrial in origin and, as of current analysis, they seem to be entirely separate to the invading other-dimensional force identified as 'Evolian'."

"If these creatures don't come from space then where do they come from?" Odagiri asked with a frown.

Again Miura smiled with disarming patience.

"If you want my guess, and this really is only a guess, then I would say they were our children."

"Children?" Odagiri asked in horror.

Miura nodded slowly, the smile remaining upon his face.

"The Pangaean civilisation ended in blood and fire and, from the ashes, we evolved. What's to say these new BEMs aren't some evolutionary warning of our own predestined end."

"That's nonsense." Odagiri snorted with contempt.

Miura raised another eyebrow.

"Nonsense, perhaps, yet you can't deny that you're worried, can you, Captain."

Odagiri looked away again, turned her back on the counsellor and looking once more to the now empty skies.

"Of course I'm worried." She said quietly. "We've lost an exceptional pilot and what's more, you're now claiming that we've lost him to a war against a species that may possibly signal our own extinction; a war that you seem perfectly content to sit back and wash your hands of."

She turned again and shot a sharp glare at the older man reclining behind his desk.

Miura shrugged and smiled dangerously.

"There is only so much you can do when you're constrained by legalities." He answered before adding: "Perhaps this is the lesson Second Lieutenant Washio also learnt."

"Or perhaps Second Lieutenant Washio's guidance was sufficiently lacking to cause him to be unable to imagine a possibility that would have allowed him to fight within the limits of his legalities." She paused and looked firmly down at her seated superior. "Chief Counsellor Miura, I hereby inform you of my intention to requisition OhrangerRobo from UAOH. Please make the necessary arrangements and have each component machine delivered to Skyforce headquarters."

"I'm afraid I can't authorise that, Captain Odagiri." Miura replied firmly.

"Then I shall report you to Supreme Commander Ichijou and request that he order you to deliver OhrangerRobo to Skyforce."

"You're a very determined lady, Captain." Miura smiled with begrudging respect. "Tell me though, just who will you chose to pilot the machines? Can you honestly say you have someone in your organisation talented enough to control Sky Phoenix? I can't imagine your beloved Tendou returning from retirement just to bloody his hands once again."

"I will find Second Lieutenant Washio and explain to him my interest in employing his skills." She countered.

"I thought you might say that, but isn't this all a bit sudden? Previous to stepping foot in this office you had no conception of Washio's war and yet now, here you are, attempting to intimidate me into handing over classified military equipment in order to aid the plight of someone who is, to all purposes and intents, a deserter. Don't you think that's a bit much?"

"No." She answered coldly. "I think this makes us even."

Miura smiled sadly.

"Ah, you're still angry about J-Project?" He asked.

"Of course I'm still angry." She retorted, her voice trembling with barely restrained rage. "Wouldn't you be?"

"Perhaps." He shrugged. "But I find my use of the J-Project as a stepping stone to the development of the Ohranger project perfectly justifiable. By the time I made the decision to seize your work we already knew that Baranoia was targeting us. It was only a matter of time before they arrived...and I personally felt that we couldn't count on your newly formed Jetman unit to defend Earth in a war on two fronts."

"That doesn't make it any less acceptable, Chief Counsellor." Odagiri answered.

"Ah, but it doesn't soften your heart a little, doesn't it, Captain? Really, you're quite pretty when you're not so angry."

"And your behaviour is just as unacceptable now as it was four years ago." She said and turned away; reaching out for the door and pulling it open by the handle. "Make sure you have OhrangerRobo delivered promptly."

Miura sighed but did not rise from his chair.

"It'll take time to confirm that the machines are still in working order, you wouldn't want UAOH to get a reputation for delivering substandard goods now would you?"

"You have 48 hours, Chief Counsellor. Any longer than that and you can take the matter up with Supreme Commander Ichijou." She paused and looked at his nonchalant smile. "Good day, Chief Counsellor."

The door slammed behind her, the click of her heels resounding down the empty corridor outside for moments after her departure. He waited until the sound of her shoes had completely faded and then slowly reached out and snatched the telephone receiver from its cradle, carefully dialling the number and waiting several more moments.

The phone clicked and Miura smiled at the familiar echo of tools from the other end.

"Good evening, Major Hoshino." He said calmly. "I'm afraid that we're going to have less time than we thought. It would appear our dedicated Captain Odagiri is most certainly going after Washio."

The voice that came over the phone in reply was respectful and firm.

'That's going to cause us some problems. I take it she requested OhrangerRobo as we assumed she would.'

"Indeed she did." Miura replied with a smirk. "In fact she was quite insistent."

'That still leaves us with a lot of firepower regardless of OhrangerRobo's loss.' The voice on the other end paused for a moment and then doubtfully added: 'Are you sure you want us to continue restoration work on this old Defence Ministry machine?'

"That old machine, as you so politely call it, could mean the difference between life and death, Major Hoshino. If our information is correct then these creatures our young friend has been fighting posses a culture a lot older than anyone before now has speculated; it's the evolution of their sciences and technologies that obscure the significance of this.

"By the time we confront them in combat they may be all too well prepared for both OhrangerRobo and OhBlocker and in that case, Tetsuzan's 'old iron man' might be the only thing that gives us an advantage."

'Understood, sir.' The voice on the other end of the phone sighed. 'I assume it's too soon to hope we've obtained a lead on one of those other machines.'

Miura sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger.

"Not yet. We have an idea but no conformation." He answered slowly.

'I understand. I'm sure it'll turn up soon, sir.' The voice paused for a moment, the silence lingering before Hoshino finally added: 'Well, if that's all, I'm going to get back to work, especially now we know time is brief.'

"Thank you...Gorou." Miura smiled. "I really appreciate your efforts on this."

Quietly he returned the receiver back to its cradle and looked once more out of the window and the rolling cloud that slowly spread across the skies.

It had been four years since the defeat of both Baranoia and Vyram; four long years in which the world had fallen prey to almost every possible kind of disaster from space. When the Evolian spacecraft had torn its way across the skies of Earth, releasing the three crazed dinosaur machines, Miura had authorised the remobilisation of Red Puncher and Tackleboy only to find his order countermanded by Ichijou. At the time he had questioned it but Ichijou had been reluctant to answer.

Now, several months later he understood all too well the reasons. Someone was trying to bury UAOH. Even in the face of a hostile alien invasion, certain political measures were being locked firmly in place to stop them from acting in the nation's best interests. The old 'self defence' feint again, he reflected with disgust.

That same pressure that even now prevented UAOH from acting had forced him to manipulated Odagiri and covertly embark upon defence measures of his own. He wasn't especially proud of himself but neither was he about to entrust Earth's fate in the hands of four civilians with unknown levels of destructive powers and an armada of foreboding prehistoric machines.

Chief Counsellor Miura would fight once again to defend the world he believed in and, if he had to manipulate both Odagiri and Skyforce to get what he wanted then so be it. The means justified the end.

Sadly he looked once more out of his wide office window. Of bird life there was no sign at all.

---

Her feet were heavy against the damp forest soil, the rain clinging to the air before her to form a thin mist that seemed to spread out forever through the sinewy branches of the ancient woodland. She hated forests, hated the choking oxygen that spread out from the vegetation and the raw emptiness of the ground beneath her.

With a second burst of speed she kicked away from the ground, wings of putrid and rusted metal and flesh spreading out and sending shivers of bone-splintering agony down her back. Sweat crowded her face but still she kept her wings open, every muscle in her malformed body tensing as she pushed them down and open in mimicry of the flight of some sickly and unkind bird.

For a moment the pain coursed through her body with such raw power that she thought it would tear her apart and then, with a rush of delight she saw the broad shoulders and shimmering golden horn of her waiting companion upon the horizon and her heart soared.

She dropped from the sky and fell to her knees, folding the sickening ruin of her wings back and inclining her head.

"Greetings, Titan-sama. My apologies if my lack of speed has caused you any inconvenience." She whispered with a trembling voice.

The colossal Aurgette stood with his back towards her, his head turned slightly so she could see the emotionless purple of his wide eyes and the emptiness that lay below.

"Talaria," The deep voice of the Aurgette rumbled from his mouthless face. "Your humility sickens me. What news do you have for me?"

Talaria kept her head bowed, staring at the soil beneath her bleeding feet, the sweat pouring from her forehead.

"The dragon-man has been returned to his people. He does not remember his meeting with you however, as commanded; we have ensured his loyalty to us by way of Binding." She answered in her quivering voice.

"Then we are prepared for action?" The hulking Aurgette questioned.

"N-Not yet, my lord. Duke Khthonie begs but a little more time in his preparations."

Prometheus Titan clenched his giant fists and turned slowly to face her, fury boiling in his pale, watery eyes.

"Khthonie is a fool if he thinks if he thinks he can trespass on sacred ground simply because he was born ugly and without a horn. Those are the places that are not for us, Talaria, mark my words. Better that we drown them beneath the earth and blood of their soldiers than risk our own malady."

Talaria ground her teeth together and looked intently at the dirt.

"What's the matter, Talaria?" The Aurgette King murmured mockingly after a while. "Don't you have an opinion?"

"With all due respect, my lord, I can't speak against Duke..." Her speech ended abruptly as Titan's foot crashed into her side, sending her sprawling upon the dirt and leaves of the forest.

"PATHETIC!" He roared with fury.

With his massive hand he reached out and seized her by the golden horn that rose elaborately from her forehead, dragging her screaming from the soft forest ground.

"Mark my words, Talaria; a dog may not have two masters." In contempt he threw her back to the ground and turned away. "You sicken me. Get out whilst you still have limbs to serve you."

Shuddering in pain, Talaria lifted herself and leapt up into the trees, her sickly wings stretching out once more as she jumped upwards, clearing the forest and rising into the pale skies above. Behind her pale hair streamed away, fluttering in the current generated by the agonising beating of her wings.

In the far distance lay the beauty of the crowded and warped cities that had nurtured her since birth and beyond them...beyond was Khthonie and the future of the Orugu Nation.

Beyond was salvation.