Prologue

Chapter 1 :: Parasite

September 23, 2549 AD

103 Hours

Space, Aboard the CAF(Czeq Allied Forces) In'Chenema

Her sixteen year old mind was rampant as she watched the ring slowly spinning on the inside of the shield world the Czeq Allied Forces created to house it. They had named it Ma'Chenema after the Thylamun goddess of defence. It was a sight to behold. She could feel the warm orange glow of the shield world's core splash against her skin from a view port aboard the In'Chenema missile cruiser.

"Hana!" J'Hene I'son"sus looked over her shoulder to see a man into his early two-hundreds, (appears to be mid-fifties by human standards), approaching her. He was balding and had a large bushy beard. She recognized him instantly and saluted. He smiled at sixteen year old. "I take it you're keeping yourself out of trouble?" She nodded her head somewhat hesitantly. They both turned their attention back to the ring world.

The man had something on his mind, J'Hene could see that from her peripheral vision. "Yes, Captain Loke…" There was silence as J'Hene watched the spinning ring. "How much longer do I have to wear these things?" The man looked at what she was referring to. She had bracelets around her wrists.

"Forever. J'Hene, we all need rules and regulations. Those bracelets keep your innate natural energy stores from being usable, and without them, we fear that you won't be able to control it and might end up hurting yourself..." J'Hene shook her head. "You don't really need them to live anyway."

"I'm telling you, I have them under control."

"How do you know?"

"We won't know unless we try, huh?" He let out a chuckle that seemed more of a sigh.

"Trust me Hana, you'll grow out of it. The want to use them." She shook her head.

"I don't think I will. From what other people have told me… my energy is different."

"Could be because of your mother… You know, some people hail Aei'ae as a god?" J'Hene narrowed her face at the mention of her mother. She nodded her head slowly and hesitantly. The man read the expression on her face. "You don't like her do you?" She opted to not say anything, watching the ring spin around inside the planet. He felt like inquiring on the young Thylamun's reasons for having a distaste for her, but he felt like he would have been pushing on her boundaries.

She had issues with family as she never actually had one. Her brother had died on birth and her father was basically a test tube. On top of that, she never really got to meet her mother. The government agents that watched over her, never really answered that question fully or truthfully. Whenever she asked, the government either ignored her or dodged the question without her even realizing.

"Anyways, I've heard that plenty of times… The whole 'my problem is unique to only me!' plenty times before. Trust me, you'll grow out of it." She looked at him, still thinking otherwise. A sigh escaped his lips. "Just don't take them off anymore. Okay?" He looked at her and patted her shoulder. "But that's not what I came here for. The ring-" They turned their attention to it. "-has some very interesting specimen. Consumes biomass. Very erratic in nature. It seems to be… parasitic."

His voice made her uneasy. "Well, if it's a parasite then we should leave it alone, right?"

"Hana. Do you know how we figured that out?" J'Hene assumed someone was infected.

"Someone was infected." He nodded his head. "And? Plenty of other people get infected by parasites on Czeq. We have the medical capabilities to restore them..." He ignored her last statement.

"Nature would dictate everything wishes to do the least it can do to do something." J'Hene nodded her head.

"You're losing me..." He turned to look into her glowing light blue irises.

"This thing does not abide by the basic rule of nature. It does not infect to get by. It infects to consume. It's forever hungry, always wanting more. Think back to your philosophy lessons, J'Hene. Do you understand what we have found?"

"..." J'Hene at first was getting annoyed with him. She showed little interest in what he was talking about, but his voice. And so, she put her mind to it. "It's a chaotic force."

"This thing… It seeks to destroy. There are no natural occurrences that balance it. Nothing." A sinister looking smile danced on his face. "My dear J'Hene. This is not a parasite. It's the end. An ultimatum. It was created to destroy"

"But then… why? Who created it?" There was a pause for a moment. "Do you think it was the guys who made the ring? Looks like a perfect testing place..."

"Maybe. Could be a farm for the Pyroma. A place for it to absorb more biomass."

"The Pyroma? That's the name for hellfire."

"It's what the scientists named the organism due to its nature and way it infects. Engulfs something much like hellfire (Hellfire is a special type of fire caused by Natural Energy and can burn almost anything, converting it to various forms of energy.)" There was a pregnant pause.

"How far are we from home?"

"I remember seeing like… somewhere around thirty light-aesons away." (An aeson is equivalent to ~2.6 minutes.) He let out a laugh. "Pretty close to home, huh?" She nodded her head, watching the marvel spin. "Don't worry, contingency plans are already being concocted as we speak." There was silence for a moment until he bid adieu and left.

J'Hene sat down and leaned in closer to the glass of the window, looking at the constructs. She began singing to herself silently to pass time by.

END OF PROLOGUE CHAPTER 1.

Prologue