I rubbed the back of my head as I my gaze fell on Mars, a chuckle forming in my chest.

"Though I can't cause Twi to have a litter, I wont let her suffer from her heat," I replied as I rubbed Twi's belly and smiled. I used my other hand to pull the covers over the both of us enough to make it where we were decent. Mars sighed as she walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and I looked at her very worried.

"What is the matter love?" I asked as I slowly pulled from Twi making her whimper slightly in her sleep and I rubbed her side before sitting up and looked at her.
"I want to know what is going on inside that head of yours. You have grown kind of distant from us, but I can understand why, you lost Aya, but please keep us in the loop okay," Mars said softly as she gently placed a hand on mine.

"I am sorry Mars. I am still trying to get over everything that has happened with Aya and the sneak attack," I explained as I gripped her hand," But I am starting to hear things, see things that I was so blind to before. It is like the planet itself is speaking to me at times. I can feel it dying when I sleep, or when I am close to Twi."

Mars listened and nodded slightly as I looked over at Twi and sighed softly, Ever since I became her mate and Aya's mate as well, I have begun to feel things I never had felt before, heard things I never heard before, and I could see things in a new light, as if my eyes had just opened to a new world.

"Many people have become blinded by what the government tells them through the news and taught in the schools. I am sure you can see that now Mars. I know for you the world has changed now that you have a growing life inside you," I whispered as I placed a hand on her belly and smiled a little," To think that the two of us have created a something that rivals a god, a gift given to us to us by a god. To create life...it is a miracle, the ultimate act that we humans can to in our lives."

Mars laughed softly as she placed her hand over mine and looked me in the eyes. Her eyes were shining with mirth and joy, but were tainted by worry and sadness. I sighed and pulled her into my lap. Mars wrapped her arms around my neck and snuggled into my embrace as I wrapped my arms around her in turn. She tucked her head under my chin and sighed softly as I gently rubbed her back and despite everything that had happened recently, I was happy. Before I knew it, Mars had fallen asleep in my arms. I chuckled and slowly moved her to where she was laying on my right side and Twi was now laying on my left. I pulled them both close to me and smiled as sleep once again claimed me.

I woke from something warm running across my cheek. I groaned and slowly sat up and blinked to clear my vision and chuckled softly as Twi nuzzled my chest. I rubbed her head gently before standing up and stretching. I got dressed then headed out to find something to eat and the clicking of nails on the floor let me know that Twi was behind me. After getting Twi and myself some food I sat down at the table where Pearl, Trish, and Rosy were eating. Saturn and Mars joined me seconds later and Nour was the last to join, her white hair was a complete mess.

"Have a nice sleep there Nour?" I asked between bites of my food and laughed when she grumbled and flipped me off. Mars and Saturn chuckled softly as well and my pokemon shook their heads. Nour gulped down her food as if she had not eaten the past few days. She was the first one to finish and she stood and looked over at me.

"You need to address the people here. This is a rebellion now, it is a war between the government and ourselves. Like it or not you are now a leader of a army and we are well armed and well trained," she explained and I sighed softly. Like it or not this was my role now. To lead an army of people in a large fight, to watch people and pokemon die, but no matter how trained the people were, no matter how planned the attacks were people were going to die. This was war and that is what happened.

" Thanks Nour," I whispered softly and she grunted softly before heading off, dropping her plate off before heading to her room.

"She must not be a morning person," Saturn muttered causing us to laugh softly. It felt good to laugh a little despite the ever lurking battle hanging over our heads. I finished my plate off and gathered up the dishes and took them to get cleaned. Twi was once again behind me and I looked over and noticed Pearl and Trish head for their own room and the door closed behind them. It was then I noticed Rosy slipping into Nour's room. Mars was spending time with Sai and Saturn was brushing down her Absol. I chuckled and shook my head and looked down at Twi and she smiled up at me. I thought about what I needed to do and looked around before locating the command room. I sighed then headed into it and was taken back when the four people there saluted me.

"Hey now there is no need for that. I am just like you," I said softly as I waved for them to drop their hands. When they dropped their salute I walked in and looked over the maps and blueprints they had and was taken back at how informed they were. They had traps layouts, security plans, shift changes, codes, the works. I looked around once again and found the armory list and my eyes bugged out at the firearms they had. It was insanity to say the lest. Many of them were military grade weapons and the plastic explosive was high grade simtex. Once triple checking the list I headed over to the maps and blueprints, my brain was working overtime thinking up a plan of attack. I looked over at the four in the room and cleared my throat causing them to jump and look at me.

"So do you have any idea what their numbers are? If they have military back up?" I asked as I sat down at the table and looked over the layout of the lab.

"We have several of our people on the inside, from what they have told us there will be military back up. Tanks and armored transportation. Their armed personal will give them a two to one advantage over us but we will gain the advantage over them if we use our pokemon," the only female replied as she placed her hands on the table and leaned in to look over what I was looking over.

"With the fact their will be massive cross fire, the use of pokemon will only hinder us. That is why I didn't ask about what kind of pokemon they will be using. Now after our initial assault, break away into smaller groups. A lot of the fighting will get into close quarters combat and right down to hand to hand fighting. That is when our pokemon will become effective," I explained and they nodded as they started to understand more on how to plan for and assault this big, "The biggest thing is that we can not just rush into there, we need to know how many we will be facing and what kind of heat they will be packing. If there will be tanks, snipers, ground troops, and if they have military backing."

"Aren, many of us wonder how you have lasted so long with out help. How you can think of plans this detailed without military training," one of the males asked and I looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

"I may not have military training, but because I have spent many years in the underground fighting rings, I have learned to know who you are going up against before stepping into the ring. I have been hospitalized for several months on several accounts because I didn't take time to learn about who I am fighting," I replied as I stood up," I have to go see to my pokemon. Get me the information but be safe about it, we can't afford anyone dieing."

I didn't give them time to reply as I walked out and Twi fell in step beside me, having waited at the door of the command room so not to interrupt me while I was looking over the intel they had. I walked over to the small deck and sat down into the chair and chuckled as Twi jumped into my lap and settled down. I rubbed her head for a few minutes then quickly pulled out a piece of paper and began writing. If I was going to address the followers here as their leader I needed to know what I was going to say to them. Seconds ticked off into minutes and minutes ticked off into hours. The sound of the pen scratching against the paper lulled Twi off into a nap and ever now and again I would take a break and lean back into the chair and watch her as I ran my hand through her soft fur. I sighed softly and very gently grabbed the small bottle that hung off the necklace around my neck and bowed my head. I couldn't help but think about how much I missed Aya and I knew I would never truly get over her death, but it wasn't just her death I thinking about. I was also thinking about all the people I had killed, all the sons, fathers, mothers, and daughters I had taken away from their loved ones and it hurt.

I opened my eyes and looked at the piece of paper I had spent hours writing and crumbled it up and threw it away. I knew what I was going to say now. I gently picked Twi up causing her to wake up in the process. I gently placed her down onto the floor then stood. She watched me head for the door and quickly followed me as I headed up to the catwalk in front of the command room and looked out over the people below me. I stood there and watched them for a few minutes before I noticed that Nour was standing beside me. She placed her hand onto my shoulder and smiled as Saturn and Mars joined me. When I looked back out over the people below me I noticed everyone was looking at me.

"You can do this Aren. We all are here now to help you. All you need to do is see that you're no longer along on this. Just speak to them and let them know you are here to lead them now," Nour explained as she looked out over the sea of people below us. I nodded and took a few deep breaths and closed my eyes then opened them.

"For many of us we wonder why we are here. I am no different then you. For many years since my mother died and my father left me what my reason for living was. My mother use to tell me many things while she was alive but what I remember the most is one phrase," I paused for a few seconds and took a breath," Don't fear suffering or blames others. According to the laws that govern the universe all sufferings are your labors of love to unveil your real self. Recently, I lost someone I loved, she was the world to me, and this phrase has been lurking around in my mind ever since. The thing is, we all are human, not one of us here is a god or a super hero, just a normal human and that goes for myself as well."

I paused for a few minutes as I looked down at Twi then over at my friends. They smiled at me and I looked back out over the people below me.

"What we are fighting for is our freedom from a corrupted government that pays these labs that trap and experiment on pokemon, on humans, and make the law turn the other cheek as the people from the labs murder and steal. Enough is enough. I wont stop you from fighting if that is your wish. All I ask is that you keep your families in mind," I said loudly," Anyone who dies in this fight will be given a proper burial and your families will be notified. This is war now and I can not ever promise that any of you will return alive, but that is the danger when anyone gets into a fight of this magnitude. Many of you may see me as the leader, but I rather be an equal. All of us have one goal and that is to govern ourselves how we see fit. Thank you for your time and prepare for the assault on my brother's lab."

Once I was done I looked over at Saturn and Mars then I looked over at Nour and they all three nodded to me in turn. No one truly cheered or clapped but I knew they all were going to fight regardless of what I told them. All I hoped was that they would follow my orders when I had to give them. I turned on my heels and headed back down to my room, and Twi was right behind me once again. I had noticed a few of the male pokemon looking at Twi but they kept their distance. Twi didn't take her eyes off me as she followed behind me, her eyes sparkled with her unspoken love. I sighed as I entered my room and closed the door once Twi was with me. I knew it would take a few days to gather the information we needed to plan out the attack on the lab. I settled down onto the bed and relaxed. Twi jumped up and joined me, curling up against the right side of my chest and used my chest as a pillow for her head. I chuckled as I rubbed her head gently as she pushed her head back into my hand and soon the both of us were asleep again.

The next few days were spent sleeping and planning as the spies sent in reports of man power and recent activity. Despite the relaxing and decent sleep, I had been getting I was still tired and sore, but at the same time I was growing restless. Every day, I was a step closer to taking down my brother and another lab. Gaining another step closer to the goal of taking down the government. When I was not going over the plans in the command room, I was in the range shooting at targets to keep myself from becoming soft. Twi was right beside me no matter where I went and there were times she and I would relax and enjoy what time we could together and it kept our minds from going into the dark memories of that day. It felt good to just relax.

Then it came, the final piece of information we needed. I made a few adjustments to the attack plan and smiled. It wasn't perfect but it was going to be hard for my brother to counter once we broke through the front lines, but that was going to be the hardest fight. The front lines were backed by military personnel, tanks, and sniper back up. The plan I came up with uses hit and run tactics and ambushes, but even then it wasn't going to be easy.

"Aren, it is time. We need to load up and strike while their guard is down," Nour said softly as she walked into the command room causing me to look up.

"Okay then, I just need to don on my gear and make sure my pokemon are in the respected balls before I load up," I said as I got up from the table and walked over to her," Are you ready for this Nour?"

"I am," She replied softly as she looked to the side slightly and this perked my interest, so I gently cupped her chin and turned her head so she looked at me.

"Nour, if anything is bothering you right now you need to let me know, other wise your mind will not be where it is needed. What is the matter?" I asked as she looked up at me, unable to break her gaze from mine because of my hand resting under her chin.

"Aren, aren't you scared that you may die this time?" she asked softly as her eyes dropped down to the right, she was doing her best not to meet my gaze. It was then I noticed something was different.

"Nour, are you blind in your right eye?" I asked softly as I knelt down to get a better look, and sure enough I could see the milky glaze over her right eye," Did my brother do this to you?"

Nour pulled away and turned away from me slightly as she rubbed her hands together as she shifted from foot to foot and after a few minutes she nodded slowly.

"He did. At first when he interrogated me about where you were I refused to answer, mainly because I didn't know where you were. Then... then he took an ice pick and placed it over an open flame, he asked me twice more where you were. I yelled at him that I didn't know," she explained softly watching my reactions closely," He then placed his hand over my face, using his fingers to keep my eye open. He took the red hot ice pick to... well to take my sight from my right eye."

I frowned as I stood and slowly walked over to her, though she flinched I pulled her into a hug and rubbed the top of her head. After a few minutes she relaxed and I looked down at her slightly.

"He wont hurt you again once I am done with him," I whispered softly to her, then a thought hit me," Nour, I have noticed that Rosy has been following you around a lot and sleeping in your room. She seems to have grown attached to you. How about I give her to you?"

Nour pulled away from me in shock, looking up at me as if I was crazy. I chuckled as I reached down to my belt and took Rosy's ball off of it and held it out to Nour. Nour stared at the ball for a long time, five or six minutes, before reaching out with shaking hands.

"You really mean it... but why?" She asked as she took Rosy's ball and looked up at me," Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Yes I am sure. I know you have your own pokemon, but Rosy seems to have just clicked with you. Trust me, I can tell that there is more going on between the two of you then you think I do," I whispered softly causing a blush to dust her cheeks," But we can talk about that another time. Gear up and meet up with Saturn and Mars."

Nour nodded then took off, a small smile danced across her face the whole time. I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose before heading to my room to suit up in my dragonskin armor. Once I had it on I pulled my trench coat on and slipped my leather gloves over my hands before grabbing my weapons. Once I was set I headed for the Armored transports and once I was there I recalled my pokemon. Rosy looked at me when I didn't recall her. I pointed to Nour and Rosy let out a soft yip before running over to her. Nour rubbed Rosy's head for a few seconds before recalling her to her ball.

"I know we have gone over this before, but I want to make sure we do this right. Nour I want you to take the team outfitted with RPGs to take out the tanks. Remember, there will be snipers that will be backing them up. That is where you come in Mars. You will be leading a team of snipers, I want you to try and take their snipers out and provide our ground teams with cover fire. Saturn, you will be taking a team like myself to engage their infantry. What I want you to do is try and flank their positions while I will distract them with a heads on approach. Also you and I will be providing Nour and Mars and the other strike teams with locations of the enemy and their movement. We need to take out their leaders. This will cause them to panic and their ranks will fall apart," I explained and they nodded, I noticed the people I had appointed as the leaders of the strike teams had also showed up and they had been listening to what I had been saying," Now here is the thing I want you all to remember, if your team takes a big hit and you have a lot of wounded or dead I want you to fall back. I have put together a medic team to tend to the wounded in the armored transport. I wont lie, people will get hurt and some will die in this attack and we can't afford for people to loose their heads in this. If any of you feel that you can not lead your team knowing this this is the last chance to step down."

I watched for anyone to step down but no one asked to be relieved of their duty, nor did anyone step away from the group. I looked over at Nour, and she smiled slightly before jumping into the armored transport. Mars and Saturn began to load our bags of ammunition and spare guns up into the transports, while the turret gunners loaded the large .50 cals in front of them. I sighed as I watched everyone get ready to move out. I could see many of them were nervous or scared so I climbed on top of armored transport in front of me.

"Everyone your attention please!" I yelled out causing the mass of people to stop moving," Thank you. I wanted to thank you all for your hard work so far. I have noticed that you all have worked hard training to fight as a group, and yet I see that many of you are scared or nervous. Do not be ashamed of this. I am scared right now, it is natural to be nervous or scared of a fight on this scale. All I ask you is to turn your fear into courage, to protect the person on your left and right and remember that even though we fight for something much larger then we can even dream of, that we fight to protect the person next to us. If you remember this while you are out there then it makes it easier to keep moving forward, to keep a calm level head. If everyone is ready it is time to lock and load."

The mood had changed, the nervousness and the fear had faded. I jumped down and climbed into the armored transport. Mars, Saturn, and Nour were already in their seats and buckled in. I found my seat and buckled in as a few more people climbed into our transport. Once all the transports were loaded up and sealed the drivers cranked the engine and pulled off, heading out of the underground bunker towards the lab in Solaceon. The drive was going to be a long one so I pulled out my PS2000 and the magazines for it and began to load them up. Once the first mag was full I slapped the back of the mag against my hand before loading it up into my rifle. I then chambered the first found and slipped the safety on. I looked up just for a second and smiled when the air was filled with the jingle of ammo moving around and loaded into their respected mags. I put on a headset and pulled the mic down in front of my mouth and hit the button on the right ear piece.

"The ride will be about an hour so I hope everyone is filling their mags and getting ready because I can tell you this. When we start unloading it will be under fire," I said and when the leaders answered one by one I could hear the snap of the rifle bolts and the slap of a mag in the background. Once ever leader reported back I put the headset back and returned to loading up the mags for my rifle. Once I I filled enough mags for my rifle I started to fill up the extended clips for my handguns. I had found these clips in the armory, instead of holding the normal fifteen rounds it held forty-five rounds. Though it made the guns a little heavier, the added capacity made up for it. I began to place all the mags in their respected holders along my belt, pants, and the inside of my trench coat. I also began to load up on flash bang grenades, frags, and incendiaries. I wasn't going to pull any punches in this fight, anyone who got in my way that was not friendly I was going to put them six feet under. My target was my brother, I was going to beat him till no one couldn't even tell who he was.

I slipped off into a light trance the droning of the engine and gentle rocking motion the transport brought forth my trance, a moment of a blank calm mind to relax my body and give me a reprieve from the constant worries and thoughts, but that was short lived. The next thing I knew the whole armored transport shuttered then it rolled when a tank round tore through the top half of it. My whole world spun as the transport rolled four times then came to a stop upside down causing my head to slam into the support beam on my right and knocked me completely out cold.