Syber scrambled to his feet, not taking a second glance at the thing before he bolted in the opposite direction. Driven by fear, the energy within his core drove him on. The creature, however was gaining on his heels. Syber took one second to look over his shoulder, too late to dodge its attack as it sprang onto him, pinning him to the ground. It was only when he stopped screaming and looked into its eyes that he realized what the thing really was.

"You're...you're an insurgent!" Syber gasped. The thing growled and struck him across the face, causing his head to swim with pain.

"Stop!" Syber yelped, "You're my kind! I'm a friend!"

The insurgent's acid green armor glinted in the light of the crimson sun blazing in the sky as it looked at him through one eye. A third of its face was missing, haphazardly repaired with a flat sheet of metal, the healer obviously not making a hole for its other eye.

"Please, let me go!" Syber said, trying desperately to see if the insurgent could understand him. The insurgent tilted its head, as if trying to make out his words. It leaned in closer, pushing its face to his. Syber could feel the heat of its breath and he cringed as its hands dug into his shoulders.

"I'm...I'm a friend!" Syber said nervously.

"Fuh-er-ennnd?" The insurgent wheezed, its head rotating to the side with a few clicks.

"Yes! That's it! I'm a friend!" Syber said with the least terrified smile he could muster.

"Freennnnd?" it repeated back, a drop of its mercury saliva spilling out of its gaping mouth and onto his forehead.

"Um...yeah! Friend." Syber winced.

"FRIIEEENND!" it screeched directly into his face.

"Yeah." Syber said. "Now can you..um, let me go?"

"Go?" it hissed, narrowing its eye.

"Please?" Syber whimpered as its claws scraped his armor.

There was a shout in the distance, and the insurgent pinning Syber to the ground froze in attention.

"Can you let me go, er...friend?" Syber awkwardly asked.

The insurgent spun back around to face him and bared its teeth, yelling, "KhishNAW! Nee art'en GO!"

Syber furrowed his brow and tried to figure out what it was saying. But before he could come to any conclusion, a grating voice in the distance yelled, "Geist!"

The insurgent spun around towards the sound and whispered, "nah nah khakah fu...Wicket scrumless siv teh arnem. Ke ke ke." as if complaining before its head snapped back towards Syber and it hissed.

"Geist! If you're not dead yet then for the love of Art'at answer me because I haven't all day to drag you out of the husk heaps." the voice hollered in annoyance.

"KAKAH FUU!" the insurgent shouted back.

"I'll 'khakah fuu' your face if you don't come out of there! And speak properly, you imbecile! Augh! I can't believe Butch assigned me to clean up your mess."

"NAH!" the insurgent, who seemed to answer to the name Geist yelled back.

"Get your lazy can out of there before I have to go messing up my armor with decomp ooze. I'm NOT your babysitter!" the voice screeched, getting closer.

"Er, G...G..Geist? Are they a friend?" Syber asked.

Geist turned towards him again and said, "Nah! Wicket ess rock floss."

"Huh?" Syber said.

The voice let out an angry growl and said, "Alright, Geist! I'm coming in!"

Syber raised his head and squinted, making out the form of the mortarin who was talking. The stranger was tall with a thin build, angular and handsomely forged. As he stepped closer, the light of the red sun breaking through the ashen sky glinted on his well polished violet and magenta armor. The mortarin cautiously stepped around and over the husks that littered the ground, making his way towards Geist.

"I swear, Geist! When I get to you..." the violet newcomer said, shaking an angry fist in the air. Geist stood his ground, nonchalantly watching as his companion nearly tripped over some of the nearby bodies.

"Um, Geist?" Syber asked, as the other Mortarin stepped in closer, nearly having made his way through the minefield of corpses of their kind.

Geist looked back at Syber and grinned.

"Who's that?" Syber said.

"Ess Wick-ett!" Geist replied.

"Say my name right, will you, ya' dunce! It's Wicket!" the newcomer snapped, standing over them.

Geist let out a guttural growl of defiance as Wicket folded his arms and glared at him.

"Well what have we here?" Wicket said, suddenly noticing Syber.

"Miiinnne!" Geist hissed, leaping into a defensive position between Wicket and Syber.

Syber sat up and pulled himself to his feet. He stepped backwards a bit, intimidated by Wicket's striking visage and piercing gaze.

"Well it seems you finally found one alive! Congratulations." Wicket sneered. Geist dropped to all fours and bared his teeth.

"You're...you're an insurgent!" Syber gasped in awe, suddenly realizing that he had met one of the legends of his dreams.

"Well thanks for stating the obvious there, kid! And what, exactly, are you doing here?" Wicket replied, stepping towards Syber while prodding Geist in the shoulder with his foot.

"I...er...um! Y..you're one of the mighty warriors of legend!" Was all that Syber could squeak out. Wicket stepped another few paces towards Syber until he was towering over the young underdweller.

"I am mighty..." Wicket said with a grin. He stroked his chin in contemplation. "And I do quite like the sound of legend." he continued. "But I've never seen a mortarin as pitifully lost as you, kid. You can't be from around here."

"I'm from...I'm..." Syber stammered, as Wicket shot out a clawed hand and grabbed him around the throat. Startled, Syber grabbed Wicket's wrist and gasped in alarm.

"You don't look like you were forged for combat, now do you?" Wicket said, tightening his grip and examining Syber closely.

"Why?..." Syber whimpered, feeling the metal of his neck beginning to bend under the pressure of Wicket's grasp.

"I've snuffed out enough sparks to know that depriving them of oxygen is the most enjoyable way for them to go." Wicket stated. "However, you don't look like you're from up here, now are you? You're just too frail to be of our forged line."

"I...want to be...an insurgent!" Syber gasped, barely choking out the words.