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  Through shimmering air he came that day,

  A broken hologram that wouldn't stay,

  While chills ran down all spines who saw

  This being beyond natural law.

  Terrifying was his stride,

  As toward Lumi he did glide,

  Until before her form he stood,

  With eyes where darkness only could.

  Fear had frozen her in place,

  She could not flee this time and space,

  His pain and terror, vast and wide,

  Made her feel as though she'd died.

  Like marble carved by master's skill,

  Before him she stood deathly still,

  His boundless anguish, fear, despair,

  Flowed through her beyond compare.

  Then something shifted in his gaze,

  Human essence through the haze,

  Exhausted, tormented, yet alive,

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  Something of his soul survived.

  His lips moved silent in the night,

  As if to speak but lost the might,

  Then from his depths came feelings strong,

  That swept through Lumi like a song.

  First recognition washed her through,

  Then gratitude came surging new,

  And tenderness flowed pure and deep,

  These waves from him made her heart leap.

  She gasped for breath in that deep hour,

  But someone took that sound for power,

  Then gunshots shattered through the peace,

  As weapons found their quick release.

  Strong hands pulled her safe away,

  While Shaman's form began to sway,

  More unstable than before,

  Reality twisting evermore.

  Head thrown back in voiceless scream,

  He fell, his knees struck earth supreme,

  And as they met the planet's face,

  A shudder shook through time and space.

  "No! Stop! What are you doing?" Lumi cried,

  But gunfire drowned her voice aside,

  Two missiles from the mech did soar,

  Till smoke concealed what went before.

  When dust had settled on the ground,

  No trace of Shaman could be found,

  No body left to mark his end,

  No sign to show where he might wend.

  Now kneeling where he disappeared,

  Rocking as her vision bleared,

  She whispered to the empty air,

  Lost within her own despair.

  Till Jorrek Dainar broke the spell,

  "My Lady, from the heights where dwell

  An unknown ship in orbit's sight,

  Requesting contact through the night."

  With silent grace her hand reached out,

  To take the comm without a doubt,

  A whispered "Yes..." was all she shared,

  While memories of Shaman still flared.