Bloodlines.
"Your commandos are dead Bra'ka" said Scorpius looking towards Lt Bra'ka. A few moments passed before Scorpius turned to the bright young pilot next to Bra'ka, "officer Cobren, we can wait no longer" ordered Scorpius in his calm and somewhat demonic tone. Cobren stood grinning then saluted at his chance to show off his skills as a pilot. "Yes sir" he replied. The Peacekeeper marauder rocketed into space from the ice planet.
Crais stood on the bridge of Talyn, several lights flashed and beeps were herd "Yes talyn I see it, that is a vessel leaving the planet, no a transport pod would not be attempting a stealth trajectory. Pursue" ordered Crais and Talyn preceded to move at best speed in pursuit of the marauder. The marauder speeded through the asteroids in orbit of the planet closely perused by Talyn. Although compared to Talyn the Marauder was vastly inferior in size and armament the pilot performed evasive mauves in an attempt to shake the Leviathan gunship in pursuit. "Crais cease this pursuit at once" ordered Scorpius over the come link. "This pursuit will end in your death Scorpius" replied Crais his voice filling with a vengeful tone. "Aboard this Marauder is information that will help us defeat the scarran's. You may have forsworn the Peacekeepers but before you act consider your fellow sebacen's." replied Scorpius as Crais considered this on the bridge of Talyn. "You consider one Sebacen who died at your hands officer Aeryn Sun", replied Crais. The Marauder screamed passed an asteroid four times its size then revealed Scoprius's awaiting Command Carrier in the near vicinity.
Talyn's warning sounds beeped alerting Crais to the presence of the carrier "Yes Talyn I see it, Command Carrier" said Crais. "Crais if you destroy this ship my command carrier will destroy you," warned Scorpius over the com. "possibly. Talyn are we in agreement" offered Crais to his living warship. With that Talyn's main cannon primed aiming directly at the Marauder. "FIRE!" ordered Crais and with one shot from Talyn's main cannon the Marauder exploding into a fireball of metal chunks and explosive gases.
Officer Mira Cobren woke screaming from her nightmare, she sat up panting and sweating holding her self defensively. Her brown hair fell down in front of her troubled bright eyes. In seconds she realised she was on the command carrier she was stationed on, in her quarters. Within seconds the fear and pain retreated under her strong and automatic Peace Keeper demeanour. She got dressed in her usual black leather Peace Keeper uniform and moved towards her assigned position on board the ship. She had feeling once, long ago before the death of her brother. Know the only feeling she knew was hate; her only commitments were honour, duty and regulation. She passed the hundred or so other peacekeepers that were amassed in the small corridors of the ship. She didn't chance her glance for a second to look into the eyes of another. After the death of her brother three months ago had left her dead inside. She approached her workstation then started to perform the checks on the prison cells on level 23. She had finished her rounds on level 23 when her comm's chip beeped. "Officer Cobren report to Lt Bra'ka on level 1 section velka." Ordered the voice on the other end of the comm's. She started off towards the command deck to receive her orders from one of the finest officers on the ship from her point of view.
Mira arrived and was immediately greeted by the Lt. "Officer Mira Cobren reporting for duty sir" the response was cold and military like a computer repeating its programming for the thousandth time. "Ah officer Cobren you have been given a new assignment by Scorpius himself" smiled Bra'ka. "Sir permission to speak freely" Mira quickly spoke up. Bra'ka nodded in acceptance. "Why was I recalled from active duty with the retrieval squad that was in pursuit of the leviathan gunship" she snapped. Bra'ka sighed, "You were recalled by order of Scorpius himself. I am to here by promote you to the rank of LT. And give you, your new orders" replied Bra'ka defensively. "Well that's great news" replied Mira now realising Bra'ka was her equal. "So Bra'ka" her tone had changed to one of mocking, "Shall we discuss my new assignment" she offered with the same tone.
Bra'ka placed a small chip into the slot on the table and a hologram of a man in a peacekeeper uniform appeared. The man had brown hair, which matched his eyes and a dark complication. "This is a vid-file of ex-officer Anase". She studied the picture carefully taking in all the features of the person in the holographic image. "He has left the peacekeepers and is considered a renegade LT and high command believe in this time of uneasiness between the scarran's and us, that he should be eliminated. Therefore you are to track down this renegade and capture him." Bra'ka spoke harshly and coarsely, but this was his usual tone according to the rumours going round the mess hall. Mira collected the data chip and walked to the door "I will report as soon as I have found him" she said marching off down the corridor. Mira stalked down the corridor, her mind once more filled with the thoughts of why she had been taken away from the hunting of the leviathan gunship, even more annoying to her was the fact that she was being sent to find a renegade. Although her skills have been more and more aggressive and deadly since the death of her brother, she was still amazed that peacekeeper High command had failed to see her usefulness to the hunting of Crais and Talyn. She rounded the corner and slipped into her quarters quickly gathering her weapons then placing the vid-chip into the slot.
The holographic table came to life and depicted several smaller views of the man. The man had brown hair, brown eyes and a somewhat dark complication. This allowed Mira to deduce he was conscripted and not born into service. " Lieutenant Cobren, you have been assigned by High Command to seek and capture this man, Ja'don Anase. As an Lt he served in the 92nd regiment under Captain Tra'tal. Promoted into the elite, he was a black op specialist in infiltration and intelligence techniques. Deserted and turned renegade shortly after the destruction of the Gamm'ak base in the uncharted territories" Mira sighed at the recording. How could such a fine officer and peacekeeper turn renegade. She sat taking in all the information about the man she was shortly to track before heading to the flight bay.
Commerce planet 2 solar days later.
It had taken only a short time to locate the planet her target was on. She had been monitoring an attack on a local peacekeeper base by a small group of renegades. Only one had made it out alive and that was her target. She had instructed the pilot of her Marauder to follow a small plasma distortion caused by a plasma leak on the escaping prowler. She looked out of the Marauder's porthole at the planet. The planet being a commerce planet was highly populated and covered with dense cities. The atmosphere was thick with different gases and oxygen provided by the large air purifying station near to the power core of the city. The smog from the different industries clouded the air nearly blocking out the suns that the planet orbited. Mira stepped out of the Marauder pulse rifle in hands and scanned the horizons. Her troops stepped out and assembled in front of her. They were commandos, not dressed as normal troops but in a thinner body covering and no helmets. The red coverings on their arms signified commando elite. She was proud that her team responded so well to their new commander. There were seven including herself, she looked them up and down walking from left to right "You two stay with the Marauder, you four will split into two teams a search velka and lurge sectors of the city, I will go on alone and search the reaming areas. When you locate the target communicate directly to me before action." She gave the orders with a commanding and calm tone. Her troops simple responded "Yes ma`am" then began to move towards their objectives.
Mira stalked slowly thorough the crowed streets of the city. She held her pulse rifle a little slumped but still ready to dispatch death at a moments notice. The hustle, bustle and general din of the crowded small streets was nothing to her. She had been trained to block it out and after her younger brothers death she had no interest in anything that wasn't her duty or obligation. Many races and many faces past her in the crowds, to others this would be a wonder but to her they were potential enemies. She turned down an alley and made her way through several stands of containers. She stopped suddenly as three Zaniton pirates appeared in front of her another two behind. "Well, well a peacekeeper and a female one at that" the leader was standing just forward grinning wildly as Mira took a defensive posture. Her troops where nowhere near her position, she was alone and numbered five to one. "Oh don't worry love, we just want some fun" he chuckled before signalling for the attack.
The two behind her lunged forward grabbing her arms. She struggled her fist colliding with one of the pirates face then with another's groin. The two feel off but were replaced by another two one hit her his fist colliding with her cheek. She fell to the ground and felt a boot collide into her mid- section with force. She struggled to breathe as the boots impact knocked the air out of her. Next thing she knew was a blinding sensation as someone hit her on the back with his weapon. Mira feel to the ground, she couldn't focus enough to se properly but her mind was wondering why the pirates had stopped their assault. She noticed a few bright red flashes "a pulse blast" her mind screamed before waiting for the pain of being shot. The pain didn't come; she rolled over onto her back and looked up. As the blurriness cleared in her eyes she saw a man wearing peacekeeper uniform, he was defending her moving with skill and firing off accuracy as he quickly took out all five of the pilots before extending a hand to her "Are you ok?" he said. Still hazy but with a now very real sense of pain from her injuries she rose to a stand and pushed his hand away "I'm fine". She snapped embarrassed that she was attacked and at the fact another had saved her. She stared a little at the back of his head; his uniform was similar to hers. She watched him move to check the area was secured, she wasn't sure who he was but he looked peacekeeper and he didn't seem to have ill intentions to her or he wouldn't of saved her. He glanced back and her and her expression changed to surprise as she saw a glimpse of his face. It was he, her target the man she had been sent to capture and return for execution. He had saved her, why her mind asked.
They had moved into a quiet area now, away from the hustle and bustle of the city streets. He had guarded her like a soldier would a commander, why she hadn't made any attempt to capture him puzzled her. She was recuperated and was now ready for action as they approached a prowler. It looked beaten up and wounded. They hadn't spoken, not one word since he had originally saved her. "So are you going to tell me who you are a why a peacekeeper Lt is on this planet" he said looking at readouts. She noticed him drop his guard placing his pistol down. "That depends on who you are" she said calmly in response not wanting to alert him to her knowledge of him or her mission to apprehend him. "I'm just a guy trying to live out a peaceful existence." He said in response. She made the descion that knowing more about why he had saved her would be better than just attacking him, he was already un-armed but she still had her pistol. She couldn't believe her in- descion to take him in or listen to his life story, and couldn't explain to herself why she hadn't attack when she has had more than the perfect opportunity to do so. She looked around the large room big enough to house a prowler but not much else; she noticed picture on the wall by what appeared to be his bed. The picture was off a blonde Sebacen female wearing what looked like a tech's uniform. "You look and fight like one of us, so why aren't you a peacekeeper" she said still looking at the picture of the blonde girl in front of her, until she noticed him staring at her. She looked up wondering if she had provoked a bad reaction and went to defensive mode. "Who is she" she asked trying to get information but alarmed that he hadn't spoken yet, "She was the last thing I had to care about, and it was the peacekeepers that took her from he" he hissed. She knew by the tone of his voice he had lost either love or family in the smiling face on the wall, as strange for a peacekeeper to understand she felt close to him knowing the lose of her brother at the hands of an ex- peacekeeper. He sat down and switched off a console near the stool he sat, motioning for her to sit on the bed. She slowly sat down nervously watching him. "She was my reason for living, when I lost her. I." He paused then looked away. Mira couldn't help but ease her composer, she had felt the pain she saw in him.
"So when are you going to alert your troops that you have your target?" he said still looking at the picture on his wall and not at her directly. Her eyes shot up looking at him nervously, how did he know she was here for him, why did he save her life if he knew she had been sent to capture him. "Relax," he said throwing his pulse pistol onto the floor in front of her. "Don't you think an ex-peacekeeper with my skills could be caught unaware?" he said looking to the floor. She was confused and dumfounded. The man she had been told was a ruthless killer and would die as soon as she returned him to the command carrier, had not only saved her life but was now giving himself up to her and surrounding his weapon. Her hand instinctively moved to her pulse pistol in its holster on her right thigh, "How did you know it was me, and why did you save my life?" she asked trying to mask the surprise in her voice. "Because like me you had your life destroyed by the same man" he replied. She kept staring at him "Crais" she responded. "No, you liked me were lied to about the death of a loved one, but I found out the truth and couldn't live as something that robbed me of the only good thing in my life." His gaze had now shifted to her eyes locking onto them. She looked back seeing only pain and hurt in his eyes but no ill will or hate towards her. "What do you mean, I saw the reports I saw what Crais and that gun-ship did to my brother. They took him away from me." She was getting more aggressive now the pain filling her mind again breaking through the emotional barriers the peacekeepers forced on their troops. He tossed a peacekeeper vid chip in front of her "I wont move, watch that and know the truth" he said still looking at her. She leaned over putting the chip into the small slot on the control panel on the wall. The picture was a vid recording of Scorpius; she listened carefully to what he was saying. "When faced with the possibility that I could be destroyed, I willingly sacrificed officer Cobren, to protect the wormhole knowledge obtained from John Crichton's brain. By leading them to believe I am dead, the fugitives will now pose no threat to the project" He said looking towards the screen. "This concludes my report" he finished and the recording cut off. She pulled the chip out and held it in her hands fighting to keep the anger and pain bottled inside. "That soulless creature took my love as well as yours" she said looking up through the pain building inside her. "No, he robbed us of our family, that was my sister he murdered for the sake of his dam project. I lost my sister Gillina because she cared enough to do the right thing for the man she loved." Her pain was mirrored in his words and she lost all the obligation and duty she held in such high regard. He looked at her again "ive failed to find another reason to live in the last two cycles. Which is why I wont fight you, take me back" he said into he pain
Scoprius's command carrier – two solar days later.
She had done it, in a shorter time than anyone could believe. She had captured her target and brought him back to the command carrier, made her reports and been congratulated. She had been told that Scorpius was busy with his guest John Crichton working on his wormholes but she didn't care. She approached her quarters a false smile and strong composure for all to see, but when she reached the privacy of her room she collapsed in the corner and started to cry. "Frell" she thought, she was crying now in floods of tears. The coldness was gone, replaced by a sense of loss and guilt. She hadn't let her superiors know that Anase had given himself up, let alone that he had shown her classified data that was no for view by anyone but the council. She couldn't get him out of her mind, he was the one person that could acknowledge the pain and hurt she felt because he had gone through it a few cycles before. She couldn't understand why he had touched her so deeply, let alone saved her life on that commerce planet. He could of left her for dead, why didn't he? Her thoughts were racing, her mind a jumble and the tears kept flooding out.
She collected her self and started to wonder the ship, not caring weather she was needed in places to do jobs. The only person to make her feel anything in the last cycle plagued her mind, and she had condemned him to an early death. She didn't believe he deserved it and was no longer feeling like a peacekeeper, but a woman. There was a din in the hall way as she rounded the corner, she became consciously aware of the intercom as the sound of Crichton and Scorpius going through a wormhole together was herd. Chatter between the module currently flying through the wormhole and the researchers prodding and probing with the readings from the flight. Unknown to her at the time Crais and Aeryn sun were attacking the hanger to get access to Talyn. Completely unaware and not really caring about anything Mira walked through the corridors, she passed a cell with a strange collection of prisoners. She glanced in seeing a Luxcon, nebari, hynerian and another she didn't recognise, but in her current mental state she didn't care and kept walking. She moved down two levels towards the 5th level holding cells her stomach grinding and nervous. What was wrong with her she kept thinking, why is she so moved by this man, by this renegade? She continued to walk knowing full well where Anase was being held. The chatter on the intercom was now different, she paused hearing the voice of the man she had hated most of the last cycle.
"You are the most repellent of creatures Scorpius" Crais sounded clam but nervous of something. Her interest now perked on the conversation between Crais and the monster that had arranged her only families death. Her mind danced between the conversation and memories of her brother, the vid file Anase had shown her on the planet. "Someone get that traitor off that ship" barked Scorpius growing more and more angry. She held the pulse pistol in her hands not knowing what to believe anymore. Her whole world turned upside down again, she had always been a peacekeeper and never knew anything else, but now it was different. She looked down at the uniform she wore and felt sick, her tears welled up and she only just kept them bottled inside her. Her mind popped back into reality just in time to hear Crais say "Talyn. Starburst" he sounded saddened and expecting. In the Bay only nine levels away across the vast ship, the leviathan gunship activated starburst.
The explosion of a starburst in a small and confined hanger had created a massive ship wide orgy of chaos and fire. The command carrier was collapsing in on its self and slowly imploding. Mira was thrown clear across the corridor landing in a heap after hitting the bulkhead. The ship shook violently explosions happening all around. She heard a terrifying wale from the prisoners she had passed earlier. The ship shook throwing her to the bulkhead, she caught her head on the wall and collapsed unconscious her brown hair coming out over her closed eyes. The ship started collapsing more and more, the escape pods and all available craft were launching. The intercom came alive with the last orders of the commander of the ship that was now dieing "This is Scorpius, priority one escape procedures for everyone on the ship" the com-link cut off, partly drowned out by the explosions and sounds of rupturing metal. The ship started to fall to pieces as ships left. A brown coloured leviathan moved away closely followed by a prowler and John Crichtons white module. The peacekeeper ships retreated quickly as the command carrier broke into sections the implosion increasing as the wormhole beneath it started to destabilise. Many retreating ships were destroyed by debris as the command carrier finally was gone leaving nothing left but a variety of different sized burning metal chunks.
Mira woke; she was lying on a bunk near a window. She looked out seeing what was left of the command carrier and the rapidly fleeing peacekeeper vessels. In the far distance she noticed a leviathan, which seemed to be searching for survivors. She felt the side of her head it was cut and bruised she didn't remember coming to be in this place. She looked around and quickly recognised that she was aboard a Marauder, in one of the smaller compartments in the back of the ship. She felt sick feeling the people she was feeling hatred for had saved her life, until she noticed this marauder was moving in the opposite direction to the other peacekeeper vessels. She quickly got up stumbling as she made her way through the small corridors in the middle of the ship that only had about nine compartments on board. It seemed abandoned; she couldn't work out why this ship seemed empty. There is usually a standard crew of five commandos, but it could carry at least twenty peacekeepers to escape. What the frell was going on she thought. She made her way to the bridge, which wasn't that big, she came to the door but still wondered why she was alone and who had saved her life. She felt down but the pulse pistol she had carried on the carrier was gone from her hands. She slowly opened the door and moved in the pilot was wearing the uniform of a commando but with the elite gear only the personal guards wear, the helmet hide the person face. She slowly approached but was startled when the pilot stood up and looked at her. "Glad to see your awake, I was worried their for a second." The guard said. The helmets com's had distorted the voice. The guard held up a pulse pistol "Pease remain still and close your eyes" the guard ordered. Still unsteady and not ready for combat she did as she was told and closed her eyes. She heard the guard remove the helmet hiding the face of who it was. She resisted the urge to look who was her saviour was. She stood rigid and as still as possible until she felt a warm pair of lips met her for a gentle kiss. Her eyes snapped open locking with the eyes of Anase as he gently pulled away. Her heart lifted and she felt a rush of positive-ness at the man who had saved her life twice, she let go of he control and passionately kissed him back. She smiled "Why do you keep saving my life" she asked gently touching his hand with hers, "Because something's are worth fighting for" her replied.
Feeling the first positive emotion for either of them in a long time, they shared a kind moment together, before disappearing deep into the uncharted territories. They shared the remaining cycles of their lives together in the only happiness they can know. As for what they did and where they went, well that's another story.
By
Jamie Wills
(Jay)
"Your commandos are dead Bra'ka" said Scorpius looking towards Lt Bra'ka. A few moments passed before Scorpius turned to the bright young pilot next to Bra'ka, "officer Cobren, we can wait no longer" ordered Scorpius in his calm and somewhat demonic tone. Cobren stood grinning then saluted at his chance to show off his skills as a pilot. "Yes sir" he replied. The Peacekeeper marauder rocketed into space from the ice planet.
Crais stood on the bridge of Talyn, several lights flashed and beeps were herd "Yes talyn I see it, that is a vessel leaving the planet, no a transport pod would not be attempting a stealth trajectory. Pursue" ordered Crais and Talyn preceded to move at best speed in pursuit of the marauder. The marauder speeded through the asteroids in orbit of the planet closely perused by Talyn. Although compared to Talyn the Marauder was vastly inferior in size and armament the pilot performed evasive mauves in an attempt to shake the Leviathan gunship in pursuit. "Crais cease this pursuit at once" ordered Scorpius over the come link. "This pursuit will end in your death Scorpius" replied Crais his voice filling with a vengeful tone. "Aboard this Marauder is information that will help us defeat the scarran's. You may have forsworn the Peacekeepers but before you act consider your fellow sebacen's." replied Scorpius as Crais considered this on the bridge of Talyn. "You consider one Sebacen who died at your hands officer Aeryn Sun", replied Crais. The Marauder screamed passed an asteroid four times its size then revealed Scoprius's awaiting Command Carrier in the near vicinity.
Talyn's warning sounds beeped alerting Crais to the presence of the carrier "Yes Talyn I see it, Command Carrier" said Crais. "Crais if you destroy this ship my command carrier will destroy you," warned Scorpius over the com. "possibly. Talyn are we in agreement" offered Crais to his living warship. With that Talyn's main cannon primed aiming directly at the Marauder. "FIRE!" ordered Crais and with one shot from Talyn's main cannon the Marauder exploding into a fireball of metal chunks and explosive gases.
Officer Mira Cobren woke screaming from her nightmare, she sat up panting and sweating holding her self defensively. Her brown hair fell down in front of her troubled bright eyes. In seconds she realised she was on the command carrier she was stationed on, in her quarters. Within seconds the fear and pain retreated under her strong and automatic Peace Keeper demeanour. She got dressed in her usual black leather Peace Keeper uniform and moved towards her assigned position on board the ship. She had feeling once, long ago before the death of her brother. Know the only feeling she knew was hate; her only commitments were honour, duty and regulation. She passed the hundred or so other peacekeepers that were amassed in the small corridors of the ship. She didn't chance her glance for a second to look into the eyes of another. After the death of her brother three months ago had left her dead inside. She approached her workstation then started to perform the checks on the prison cells on level 23. She had finished her rounds on level 23 when her comm's chip beeped. "Officer Cobren report to Lt Bra'ka on level 1 section velka." Ordered the voice on the other end of the comm's. She started off towards the command deck to receive her orders from one of the finest officers on the ship from her point of view.
Mira arrived and was immediately greeted by the Lt. "Officer Mira Cobren reporting for duty sir" the response was cold and military like a computer repeating its programming for the thousandth time. "Ah officer Cobren you have been given a new assignment by Scorpius himself" smiled Bra'ka. "Sir permission to speak freely" Mira quickly spoke up. Bra'ka nodded in acceptance. "Why was I recalled from active duty with the retrieval squad that was in pursuit of the leviathan gunship" she snapped. Bra'ka sighed, "You were recalled by order of Scorpius himself. I am to here by promote you to the rank of LT. And give you, your new orders" replied Bra'ka defensively. "Well that's great news" replied Mira now realising Bra'ka was her equal. "So Bra'ka" her tone had changed to one of mocking, "Shall we discuss my new assignment" she offered with the same tone.
Bra'ka placed a small chip into the slot on the table and a hologram of a man in a peacekeeper uniform appeared. The man had brown hair, which matched his eyes and a dark complication. "This is a vid-file of ex-officer Anase". She studied the picture carefully taking in all the features of the person in the holographic image. "He has left the peacekeepers and is considered a renegade LT and high command believe in this time of uneasiness between the scarran's and us, that he should be eliminated. Therefore you are to track down this renegade and capture him." Bra'ka spoke harshly and coarsely, but this was his usual tone according to the rumours going round the mess hall. Mira collected the data chip and walked to the door "I will report as soon as I have found him" she said marching off down the corridor. Mira stalked down the corridor, her mind once more filled with the thoughts of why she had been taken away from the hunting of the leviathan gunship, even more annoying to her was the fact that she was being sent to find a renegade. Although her skills have been more and more aggressive and deadly since the death of her brother, she was still amazed that peacekeeper High command had failed to see her usefulness to the hunting of Crais and Talyn. She rounded the corner and slipped into her quarters quickly gathering her weapons then placing the vid-chip into the slot.
The holographic table came to life and depicted several smaller views of the man. The man had brown hair, brown eyes and a somewhat dark complication. This allowed Mira to deduce he was conscripted and not born into service. " Lieutenant Cobren, you have been assigned by High Command to seek and capture this man, Ja'don Anase. As an Lt he served in the 92nd regiment under Captain Tra'tal. Promoted into the elite, he was a black op specialist in infiltration and intelligence techniques. Deserted and turned renegade shortly after the destruction of the Gamm'ak base in the uncharted territories" Mira sighed at the recording. How could such a fine officer and peacekeeper turn renegade. She sat taking in all the information about the man she was shortly to track before heading to the flight bay.
Commerce planet 2 solar days later.
It had taken only a short time to locate the planet her target was on. She had been monitoring an attack on a local peacekeeper base by a small group of renegades. Only one had made it out alive and that was her target. She had instructed the pilot of her Marauder to follow a small plasma distortion caused by a plasma leak on the escaping prowler. She looked out of the Marauder's porthole at the planet. The planet being a commerce planet was highly populated and covered with dense cities. The atmosphere was thick with different gases and oxygen provided by the large air purifying station near to the power core of the city. The smog from the different industries clouded the air nearly blocking out the suns that the planet orbited. Mira stepped out of the Marauder pulse rifle in hands and scanned the horizons. Her troops stepped out and assembled in front of her. They were commandos, not dressed as normal troops but in a thinner body covering and no helmets. The red coverings on their arms signified commando elite. She was proud that her team responded so well to their new commander. There were seven including herself, she looked them up and down walking from left to right "You two stay with the Marauder, you four will split into two teams a search velka and lurge sectors of the city, I will go on alone and search the reaming areas. When you locate the target communicate directly to me before action." She gave the orders with a commanding and calm tone. Her troops simple responded "Yes ma`am" then began to move towards their objectives.
Mira stalked slowly thorough the crowed streets of the city. She held her pulse rifle a little slumped but still ready to dispatch death at a moments notice. The hustle, bustle and general din of the crowded small streets was nothing to her. She had been trained to block it out and after her younger brothers death she had no interest in anything that wasn't her duty or obligation. Many races and many faces past her in the crowds, to others this would be a wonder but to her they were potential enemies. She turned down an alley and made her way through several stands of containers. She stopped suddenly as three Zaniton pirates appeared in front of her another two behind. "Well, well a peacekeeper and a female one at that" the leader was standing just forward grinning wildly as Mira took a defensive posture. Her troops where nowhere near her position, she was alone and numbered five to one. "Oh don't worry love, we just want some fun" he chuckled before signalling for the attack.
The two behind her lunged forward grabbing her arms. She struggled her fist colliding with one of the pirates face then with another's groin. The two feel off but were replaced by another two one hit her his fist colliding with her cheek. She fell to the ground and felt a boot collide into her mid- section with force. She struggled to breathe as the boots impact knocked the air out of her. Next thing she knew was a blinding sensation as someone hit her on the back with his weapon. Mira feel to the ground, she couldn't focus enough to se properly but her mind was wondering why the pirates had stopped their assault. She noticed a few bright red flashes "a pulse blast" her mind screamed before waiting for the pain of being shot. The pain didn't come; she rolled over onto her back and looked up. As the blurriness cleared in her eyes she saw a man wearing peacekeeper uniform, he was defending her moving with skill and firing off accuracy as he quickly took out all five of the pilots before extending a hand to her "Are you ok?" he said. Still hazy but with a now very real sense of pain from her injuries she rose to a stand and pushed his hand away "I'm fine". She snapped embarrassed that she was attacked and at the fact another had saved her. She stared a little at the back of his head; his uniform was similar to hers. She watched him move to check the area was secured, she wasn't sure who he was but he looked peacekeeper and he didn't seem to have ill intentions to her or he wouldn't of saved her. He glanced back and her and her expression changed to surprise as she saw a glimpse of his face. It was he, her target the man she had been sent to capture and return for execution. He had saved her, why her mind asked.
They had moved into a quiet area now, away from the hustle and bustle of the city streets. He had guarded her like a soldier would a commander, why she hadn't made any attempt to capture him puzzled her. She was recuperated and was now ready for action as they approached a prowler. It looked beaten up and wounded. They hadn't spoken, not one word since he had originally saved her. "So are you going to tell me who you are a why a peacekeeper Lt is on this planet" he said looking at readouts. She noticed him drop his guard placing his pistol down. "That depends on who you are" she said calmly in response not wanting to alert him to her knowledge of him or her mission to apprehend him. "I'm just a guy trying to live out a peaceful existence." He said in response. She made the descion that knowing more about why he had saved her would be better than just attacking him, he was already un-armed but she still had her pistol. She couldn't believe her in- descion to take him in or listen to his life story, and couldn't explain to herself why she hadn't attack when she has had more than the perfect opportunity to do so. She looked around the large room big enough to house a prowler but not much else; she noticed picture on the wall by what appeared to be his bed. The picture was off a blonde Sebacen female wearing what looked like a tech's uniform. "You look and fight like one of us, so why aren't you a peacekeeper" she said still looking at the picture of the blonde girl in front of her, until she noticed him staring at her. She looked up wondering if she had provoked a bad reaction and went to defensive mode. "Who is she" she asked trying to get information but alarmed that he hadn't spoken yet, "She was the last thing I had to care about, and it was the peacekeepers that took her from he" he hissed. She knew by the tone of his voice he had lost either love or family in the smiling face on the wall, as strange for a peacekeeper to understand she felt close to him knowing the lose of her brother at the hands of an ex- peacekeeper. He sat down and switched off a console near the stool he sat, motioning for her to sit on the bed. She slowly sat down nervously watching him. "She was my reason for living, when I lost her. I." He paused then looked away. Mira couldn't help but ease her composer, she had felt the pain she saw in him.
"So when are you going to alert your troops that you have your target?" he said still looking at the picture on his wall and not at her directly. Her eyes shot up looking at him nervously, how did he know she was here for him, why did he save her life if he knew she had been sent to capture him. "Relax," he said throwing his pulse pistol onto the floor in front of her. "Don't you think an ex-peacekeeper with my skills could be caught unaware?" he said looking to the floor. She was confused and dumfounded. The man she had been told was a ruthless killer and would die as soon as she returned him to the command carrier, had not only saved her life but was now giving himself up to her and surrounding his weapon. Her hand instinctively moved to her pulse pistol in its holster on her right thigh, "How did you know it was me, and why did you save my life?" she asked trying to mask the surprise in her voice. "Because like me you had your life destroyed by the same man" he replied. She kept staring at him "Crais" she responded. "No, you liked me were lied to about the death of a loved one, but I found out the truth and couldn't live as something that robbed me of the only good thing in my life." His gaze had now shifted to her eyes locking onto them. She looked back seeing only pain and hurt in his eyes but no ill will or hate towards her. "What do you mean, I saw the reports I saw what Crais and that gun-ship did to my brother. They took him away from me." She was getting more aggressive now the pain filling her mind again breaking through the emotional barriers the peacekeepers forced on their troops. He tossed a peacekeeper vid chip in front of her "I wont move, watch that and know the truth" he said still looking at her. She leaned over putting the chip into the small slot on the control panel on the wall. The picture was a vid recording of Scorpius; she listened carefully to what he was saying. "When faced with the possibility that I could be destroyed, I willingly sacrificed officer Cobren, to protect the wormhole knowledge obtained from John Crichton's brain. By leading them to believe I am dead, the fugitives will now pose no threat to the project" He said looking towards the screen. "This concludes my report" he finished and the recording cut off. She pulled the chip out and held it in her hands fighting to keep the anger and pain bottled inside. "That soulless creature took my love as well as yours" she said looking up through the pain building inside her. "No, he robbed us of our family, that was my sister he murdered for the sake of his dam project. I lost my sister Gillina because she cared enough to do the right thing for the man she loved." Her pain was mirrored in his words and she lost all the obligation and duty she held in such high regard. He looked at her again "ive failed to find another reason to live in the last two cycles. Which is why I wont fight you, take me back" he said into he pain
Scoprius's command carrier – two solar days later.
She had done it, in a shorter time than anyone could believe. She had captured her target and brought him back to the command carrier, made her reports and been congratulated. She had been told that Scorpius was busy with his guest John Crichton working on his wormholes but she didn't care. She approached her quarters a false smile and strong composure for all to see, but when she reached the privacy of her room she collapsed in the corner and started to cry. "Frell" she thought, she was crying now in floods of tears. The coldness was gone, replaced by a sense of loss and guilt. She hadn't let her superiors know that Anase had given himself up, let alone that he had shown her classified data that was no for view by anyone but the council. She couldn't get him out of her mind, he was the one person that could acknowledge the pain and hurt she felt because he had gone through it a few cycles before. She couldn't understand why he had touched her so deeply, let alone saved her life on that commerce planet. He could of left her for dead, why didn't he? Her thoughts were racing, her mind a jumble and the tears kept flooding out.
She collected her self and started to wonder the ship, not caring weather she was needed in places to do jobs. The only person to make her feel anything in the last cycle plagued her mind, and she had condemned him to an early death. She didn't believe he deserved it and was no longer feeling like a peacekeeper, but a woman. There was a din in the hall way as she rounded the corner, she became consciously aware of the intercom as the sound of Crichton and Scorpius going through a wormhole together was herd. Chatter between the module currently flying through the wormhole and the researchers prodding and probing with the readings from the flight. Unknown to her at the time Crais and Aeryn sun were attacking the hanger to get access to Talyn. Completely unaware and not really caring about anything Mira walked through the corridors, she passed a cell with a strange collection of prisoners. She glanced in seeing a Luxcon, nebari, hynerian and another she didn't recognise, but in her current mental state she didn't care and kept walking. She moved down two levels towards the 5th level holding cells her stomach grinding and nervous. What was wrong with her she kept thinking, why is she so moved by this man, by this renegade? She continued to walk knowing full well where Anase was being held. The chatter on the intercom was now different, she paused hearing the voice of the man she had hated most of the last cycle.
"You are the most repellent of creatures Scorpius" Crais sounded clam but nervous of something. Her interest now perked on the conversation between Crais and the monster that had arranged her only families death. Her mind danced between the conversation and memories of her brother, the vid file Anase had shown her on the planet. "Someone get that traitor off that ship" barked Scorpius growing more and more angry. She held the pulse pistol in her hands not knowing what to believe anymore. Her whole world turned upside down again, she had always been a peacekeeper and never knew anything else, but now it was different. She looked down at the uniform she wore and felt sick, her tears welled up and she only just kept them bottled inside her. Her mind popped back into reality just in time to hear Crais say "Talyn. Starburst" he sounded saddened and expecting. In the Bay only nine levels away across the vast ship, the leviathan gunship activated starburst.
The explosion of a starburst in a small and confined hanger had created a massive ship wide orgy of chaos and fire. The command carrier was collapsing in on its self and slowly imploding. Mira was thrown clear across the corridor landing in a heap after hitting the bulkhead. The ship shook violently explosions happening all around. She heard a terrifying wale from the prisoners she had passed earlier. The ship shook throwing her to the bulkhead, she caught her head on the wall and collapsed unconscious her brown hair coming out over her closed eyes. The ship started collapsing more and more, the escape pods and all available craft were launching. The intercom came alive with the last orders of the commander of the ship that was now dieing "This is Scorpius, priority one escape procedures for everyone on the ship" the com-link cut off, partly drowned out by the explosions and sounds of rupturing metal. The ship started to fall to pieces as ships left. A brown coloured leviathan moved away closely followed by a prowler and John Crichtons white module. The peacekeeper ships retreated quickly as the command carrier broke into sections the implosion increasing as the wormhole beneath it started to destabilise. Many retreating ships were destroyed by debris as the command carrier finally was gone leaving nothing left but a variety of different sized burning metal chunks.
Mira woke; she was lying on a bunk near a window. She looked out seeing what was left of the command carrier and the rapidly fleeing peacekeeper vessels. In the far distance she noticed a leviathan, which seemed to be searching for survivors. She felt the side of her head it was cut and bruised she didn't remember coming to be in this place. She looked around and quickly recognised that she was aboard a Marauder, in one of the smaller compartments in the back of the ship. She felt sick feeling the people she was feeling hatred for had saved her life, until she noticed this marauder was moving in the opposite direction to the other peacekeeper vessels. She quickly got up stumbling as she made her way through the small corridors in the middle of the ship that only had about nine compartments on board. It seemed abandoned; she couldn't work out why this ship seemed empty. There is usually a standard crew of five commandos, but it could carry at least twenty peacekeepers to escape. What the frell was going on she thought. She made her way to the bridge, which wasn't that big, she came to the door but still wondered why she was alone and who had saved her life. She felt down but the pulse pistol she had carried on the carrier was gone from her hands. She slowly opened the door and moved in the pilot was wearing the uniform of a commando but with the elite gear only the personal guards wear, the helmet hide the person face. She slowly approached but was startled when the pilot stood up and looked at her. "Glad to see your awake, I was worried their for a second." The guard said. The helmets com's had distorted the voice. The guard held up a pulse pistol "Pease remain still and close your eyes" the guard ordered. Still unsteady and not ready for combat she did as she was told and closed her eyes. She heard the guard remove the helmet hiding the face of who it was. She resisted the urge to look who was her saviour was. She stood rigid and as still as possible until she felt a warm pair of lips met her for a gentle kiss. Her eyes snapped open locking with the eyes of Anase as he gently pulled away. Her heart lifted and she felt a rush of positive-ness at the man who had saved her life twice, she let go of he control and passionately kissed him back. She smiled "Why do you keep saving my life" she asked gently touching his hand with hers, "Because something's are worth fighting for" her replied.
Feeling the first positive emotion for either of them in a long time, they shared a kind moment together, before disappearing deep into the uncharted territories. They shared the remaining cycles of their lives together in the only happiness they can know. As for what they did and where they went, well that's another story.
By
Jamie Wills
(Jay)