"'And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal. and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as a sack cloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth'..."

The dirt shifted behind him.

"'The Revelation of St. John the Devine', I'm impressed, Wiendigo, it's not normal of you to quote Bible scriptres."

"You wouldn't know, boot-licker, there's alot to me none of you knew about" Wiendigo replied to Dominator, looking up into the smoke-glogged air.

"You never exactly gave any of us a chance to."

Wiendigo looked down at the ground, digging lines into the soft soil with his sword. "You have a point there. But it's not like it was any of your business to begin with."

"True, but when you're in a tight knit group like we were, it helps to know the stories of those around you, they might come in handy later on." Dominator said, examining Wiendigo's dirt etchings.

"Is there something you wanted, soldier boy, or are you just tired of speaking to those idiots that follow you around?"

Dominator sighed and took a spot on the hillside not too far away from Wien, staring up into the sky. "They mean well, Wiendigo, you should give them a chance."

Snorting, Wiendigo sneared at the thought of it. "Fuck that, they're worthless, they're only alive because we've been around to save their sorry asses." Taking out a cigar, Wien lit up and puffed on it. "As a matter of fact, if you weren't around, I'd rip the lot of 'em apart."

"Charming thought, I suppose it is a good thing that I'm here then. Which brings me to a question, Wien, what exactly are you doing here, anyway?"

Wien blew several smoke rings into the night air before he responded. "I have my reasons."

"I don't suppose you'd care to share any of them, would you?"
Snarling and tossing his stogie away, Wiendigo stood up and turned his back to Dom. "If you really must know, I was heading towards Earthgov's main complex."

"You were going to copy their entire mainframe for yourself, just like you did with CorSec all those years ago."

Smirking, he turned back to Dom. "What do you know, you do have a brain. For your information, yes, that was my original plan, but then I spotted you and your idiot savant squadron, and figured you'd need help."

"No offense, but helping others has never been one of your stronger suits, Wien."

"Go fuck a hard drive, transistor-breath."

Chosing to ignore Wien's rude comment, Dominator went on. "You had an ulterior motive, what was it?"

Kicking at the dirt, Wiendigo gritted his teeth. "I figured I owed you, we were teammates once, I thought it was a good enough reason."

Dominator stood silently, this was a revalation of sorts. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Seriously, don't mention it to anyone, ever. Otherwise I'll hunt you down and kill your sentimental ass."

"Fair enough."

The two of them stood there silently for a long while, awkwardly looking around for lack of anything else to do. Finally Dominator broke the quietness. "You know, we thought you were dead."

"Then you were a bunch of frickin' idiots."

"...Well, I-"

"Save it, I figured as much, only Death Star really probably knew I would've survived, that's why he let me sacrifice myself."

"So you've really been alive all these years and never let any of us know, interesting..."

"Had to, didn't have any other choice. I was finally free. From Hell, from CorSec's phantom touch, from everything. I died a hero, and I'd be remembered for my sacrifice rather than the the mass murdering psychopath I once was."

"I suppose that'd be worth while reason to lie low for all this time."

Wiendigo snatched a stone from the ground and pitched it into open air. "I knew they were coming, you know."

"Pardon?"

"The aliens. I knew about their invasion. So did EarthGov, it's the real reason they formed the SU."

Dominator was surprised by this news, scratching his head, he sat down on a nearby boulder. "So you knew, and you didn't get the word out to anyone."

"Yeah, and tell them what? A huge space convoy's on its way to Earth to wipe us out? Even in this day and age, not many people would take that seriously."

"True, but you could have at least tried."

"Hey, I had my own fucking things to deal with, okay? It's not like I can save the world while being dead."

"What sort of 'things'?"

Twirling his katana in the air, Wiendigo started practicing some fancy techniques. "I was training my pupil. Don't look so surprised, he happened upon my doorstep, and I took him in, I saw alot of myself in him, so that's why I decided to train him. He needed guidance, even if that guidance came from me." He answered, never taking his eyes off of the horizon.

"This is certainly a new side of you, I must say."

"How do you think I feel? I hate everybody, then I go off and train some kid for the hell of it. Let me tell you, soldier boy, time really does change a person."

Clenching his fist, Dominator tensed at Wiendigo's insistance on calling him that. But being the wiser, he relaxed his fist and let it go."Could I ask you something of a personal nature?"

"Maybe, what is it, boot-licker?"

"...Why do you continuously call me 'soldier boy', and 'boot-licker'?"

"Simple," Wiendigo grinned as he continued his excerscises. "I have no respect for you or the strict militant regimen you insist on following."

"I don't quite follow. Why, exactly?"

Sighing with contempt, Wiendigo stopped. "Because back during our days, you'd always kiss whatever higher ranking official's ass happened to be around and follow whatever little thing they told you to do, even in most instances where they were dead wrong. But it didn't matter to you, because you were the good little 'soldier boy', who'd do what he was told. You might as well have been spit polishing their boots for as much as you followed orders, hence 'boot-licker'. I don't respect those who don't question the motives or morality of their orders."

"While I thank you for the breakdown, I can't say that I agree with your reasoning, especially on the subject of morality from someone such as yourself, Wiendigo."

Wien fed him a heavy, icy glare.

"I followed my orders because that's what I'm trained to do, I'm a soldier, that's what soldiers do. While you see me as someone who doesn't stand up for myself or what you believe is 'right', I examine every order I'm given to the last dot. Just because you didn't deem them 'morally just' according to your definition, it doesn't make it any less right or wrong. And if you'll recall, I declined to follow my orders when need be, though not often. I even removed Death Star from power during that whole Iceheart affair, so I certainly do not always play little Mr. 'Soldier Boy'. I do what's in the best interest for those around me, Wien, can you say the same for yourself? My ultimate goal was to destroy the Mavericks in order to improve human-reploid relations, and eventually make Venerator's dream a reality."

"I'm a warrior, not a soldier, I fight for my own gain, no one elses. I happen to like my individuality, thanks."

"And that time with the cult...?"

"...Fuck off."

Wien's reaction brought a small smirk to Dominator's face. "I see."

"Stow it, I know what you're thinking. I don't give a rat's ass about any of you, I just want to repay old debts. After that, you all had better stay the hell out of my way."

"I'll remember that advice."

"You damn well better."

Chuckling to himself, Dom turned around and looked back at their campsite a good distance away. The ragtag band had a fire built and looked to be sitting around, sharing stories, more than likely. Crossing his arms, he looked back to Wien, who'd silently moved away, up onto a ridge of concrete debris. "Wien?"

"I was there, you know."

"Where?"

"The funeral, I was watching from a distance."

"And you didn't join in to help us save Death Star?" Dominator inquired, his eyes narrowing at this news.

"And blow my cover, hell no. 'Sides, you handled the situation alright...even if he did end up a pile up scrap."

"Wait, I thought you were in the Artic..."

"I was, but I had hacked into the station's mainframe, and once I found out about the funeral, so I went. I returned home after the that. Well, after I put my statue back up, no thanks to any of you..."

Scowling, Dom looked back to the camp, noticing the troops were starting to cook. "It looks like they managed to scrounge up some food, you hungry?"

Wiendigo turned around and stared.

"What?" Inquizeted Dominator.

"No. No, I don't, not with those idiots." Taking out another cigar, Wiendigo lit it up. "Besides, they need it, I don't." He said as he inhaled the cancer stick. "They don't even have enough for who's there right now."

"How can you tell?"

As he tapped his visor, Wiendigo flicked some ashes from the cigar away. "This sure as hell ain't for the sunlight."

"Ah, of course. Well then, I suppose if my men shall starve, then so shall I." said Dominator, to which he was met with a roaring laughter from his conversation mate.

"God, do you ever listen to yourself talk? George-Fucking-Washington wasn't even that corny."

"Perhaps. I'll keep that in mind."

A puzzled look came over Wien's face, then shaking his head, he looked back out at the charred and ruined city. "Whatever..."

"I'm going to head back to the camp, are you coming?"

"I will, in awhile, I've got some thinking to do."

"Do you ever think Earth'll be the same, Wien?"

Pausing, Wiendigo dwelled on that question for a few moments, then he turned back to face Dominator. "Yeah, but it's gonna take a whole hell of alot of time. Even then, who knows."

"Let's hope so."

"Yeah."

"I'll see you back at camp, I hope you figure out whatever it is you're sorting out." As Dom was about to start his walk back, he was stopped by something he never thought he'd hear.

"Uh huh."

"Merry Christmas, Wien."

"...GO SCREW, PANSY ASS! Fuck you and your "Merry Christmas", bah fucking humbug! Go to hell and burn, you sentimential piece of shit."

"Riiiigghhhht...." Poking his tonuge into his cheek, Dominator turned and started his trek back to camp, leaving Wien to his own devices on the cleft, as a light snow started to fall over the area, beginning to blanket the burnt-out ruins of the once and former glorious city. As Wien looked up into the sky, a break formed in the clouds and he could see the stars. And overhead, a star streaked across the night air, a sign of good fortune. Smirking to himself, Wiendigo stood up and started walking back to the camp.

On his way back, a small bunny bounced up next to Wien and wrinkled its nose.

"Awww, what a cute litte-"

Shunk.

Giggling with sadistic glee, Wien lifted his katana up into the air, which he'd silently slid out just moments ago, now adorned with the small mammal pierced through on the tip of the glistening blade.

"Mmmm...maybe I'll have a bite to eat afterall..." With a lick of his chops, Wiendigo started back for camp, whistling into the night air.