Chapter One
Memories since Long Past
After 16 weeks of drifting silently through the stars, she had finally decided to steer the ship in a certain direction. Which way that was, only time would tell, but she knew the direction she was taking felt right. Allowing the auto pilot to continue on the course she had given it, she went towards the door and took one look back at the endless universe and sighed.
'One of these days…' she thought, 'I'll be home again.'
Gliding smoothly like a bird in the air, she left the cockpit and headed for the cabin. Turning the lights low and pulling the window slides shut she sat down at the table which sat in a cozy corner. She then pulled a blanket around her and dozed off.
Her eyes opened wide and quick. 'Where am I?' She wondered. 'Ah I am only dreaming!' Realizing this, she allowed her mind to continue on its path hoping that this time it would provide her with more comforting thoughts rather than the horrible memories that usually filled her head as of late.
The scene soon unfolded before her, as light slowly seeped through to her eyes. She was flying through the air, just her and nothing else around her. The wind in her face and her long chestnut brown hair flowing freely behind her. Her soft pastel skin covered with goose bumps from sheer joy. Her bright blue eyes were brighter than the blue of the sky and reflected the puffy crisp white clouds that seemed bigger than the planets themselves. Her wonderful journey did not last long. Soon the scene turned to memories long past for which she has tried hard to forget.
There were people around her, fighting with others. Beams of death from foreign weapons flew through the air like a dart with a sharp edge. And she new some of these people. They were her friends and loved ones. She found herself on the ground and lying next to her on her right was a man dressed in a uniform. Beige in color with a simple top and pant, this man was older, much older. His hat had fallen off him and lie still on the ground next to his bleeding head. He had a wound that reached far into his scull. And many others all over his body, many with burn marks' from the energy blasts that had grazed his arms and torso. His was badly hurt, blood streamed uncontrollably from his head wound. She went to help stop the bleeding when she realized what she was holding in her right hand. A gun. She didn't like guns. She didn't understand why she would be holding one. She lifted her left arm and took a look at her other hand. It was covered in blood, or rather dripping in it. It was still warm. Frantic, she searched her body for wounds but surprisingly found none. And so turned to her left and saw many other bodies, all dead or dying from deep wounds. She was horrified. Above her to her front, a man yelled.
'AliAnna, Get UP…GET UP! Hurry…we need your help!'
She new this man…she loved this man; this is what her heart told her. And so she obediently listened and stood up. At first her legs didn't want to listen to her head's commands. But she prevailed and was walking within seconds. She then turned to go and fetch her weapon and felt around her side for a holster. Her belt hung low to one side and found that the holster was there empty. She admired the craftsmanship of the piece. Real leather she thought, but not leather she was familiar with. This came from an animal from a planet that she new, but couldn't put her finger on it. She was wearing black pants that stopped at the mid calf and had a small poof of fabric before it met her high boots, also made out of that same leather. Her top was two layers, the bottom also being black with a simple turtle neck top and clean cut edge bottom. Her sleeves were long and airy, until her upper forearm, where the sleeves got real tight and had a cris cross tying. Her outer top was made of a thicker cloth and had a stately appearance. It was maroon in color and hung lower hugging her waist. The sleeves on this were shorter and stopped just below the elbow and flared at the ends. She wondered to herself why she would be wearing such an outfit. It was so like a uniform and yet no patches of insignia to show rank.
'AliAnna! Hurry, they're coming faster!'
Without hesitation she ran up to the front of the ranks. Before her she saw a sight she had seen many times in her dreams but each time felt even more evil and horrible than the last. The air was thick with evil from the opponent on the other side, and thick with fear from the side she stood. Without realizing what she was really doing, she lifted her right arm and hand and held it straight in front of her with hand upright. She took a deep breath and let her heart guide her. A glowing orb started to form out of her hand and grew slowly. It soon spread into a flat sheet and separated them from the other side. The opponent shot and fired towards them, but nothing came through. Her shield held strong and tight while another energy began to form from her hand. It started small and it too soon grew. Lifting her head to allow the tears to fall from her eyes, she then let out the second wave of energy. However this time, it went through the shield and hit the oncoming army of evil. Wave after wave, the army soon slowed and started to retreat. This caused the other side to cheer with a kind of prehistoric sense. Waving their weapons in the air and jumping up and down like a bunch of animals. She didn't understand what was going on, but she had a strong feeling that she had been there before, in real life. She felt a strong hand grab her left arm, and pulled her around. It was the man that had called her earlier and he had a happy look on his face. He was handsome in every way and all she wanted to do was be held by him.
"AliAnna…are you alright? Every time seems worse than the last. How much longer do you think you can hold up?" he asked with heavy breathing.
She did not know how to respond. She kept silent, hoping he would continue to talk while holding her so that she could not break free.
"No matter…however I'm thinking that we'll not have so much success next time and it will prove to be much more difficult to hold them off with or without you."
Again she was silent.
"Okay…let's go! We need to leave this planet as soon as possible and find another base for operations. We'll get the ships ready and leave at once and evacuate everyone. There is a system 12 light years away that will do until we find a more permanent base. Come ON, we need to hurry!" he said still holding on.
All she could do was to stare as her hair lightly fell across her face in the breeze. A siren started sounding. It was loud and came in a sort of beating rhythm. There was screaming and everyone was running franticly away when she realized that she had let down her shield. More shots started coming their way. Shots were firing every which way and were flying so close; one had grazed her outer coat. As quickly as the shots came, the grip on her arm went loose and she heard and felt someone fall hard to the ground. She turned only to see that the man she new, the only thing that made some sort of sense in this place, had fallen hard to the ground and was bleeding badly from his stomach and his upper shoulder. She ran back towards him and turned him over on his back. His eyes were ready to roll back as blood came streaming from his mouth and nose. She tried to cover the wounds but found that there just was no use in trying. He parted his lips to form words, but all that came out was his last breath.
She started running hard and fast. She didn't turn back, she just ran. A wave of dizziness came over her. Her sight soon blurred and she found herself falling slowly to the ground. She looked up at the dark red sky, and her lids of her eyes slowly fell closed. She didn't care what happened to her. She would rather be dead than to relive these horrible memories once again. She faded away only to keep hearing that awful loud siren ringing in her ears.
