[ Baron's log 1 00:35 location: ? ] A preface to "Untitled"

How did I get stuck here? Light years away from home, drifting aimlessly in the void of space with an overweight beast that dares call itself a boy. The air in here is dank, we've been breathing it so long. I'm glad our planet has the technology to convert our CO2 into oxygen. Of course, it's not the freshest of air, but breathing is breathing.

I have a lot of time up here. Time cramped into a tiny space ship with a giant, but I'm making due. I have time to think about where we're going, what I could be doing, how things are back home. But that also means I have time to reminisce on how we got in such an unlucky position. I replay it and over in my mind.

It was chaos. The royal palace was ablaze, people scrambling out of the doors like ants. The streets were packed with confused citizens, all heading in different directions. Rebel mutraddi tanks rumbled down the streets, crushing everything in their wake. It was pure pandemonium.

I was completely calm.

Happy even. The plan had worked. General Modula would soon be this pathetic planet's dictator, my father by his side. Life couldn't be sweeter for an anarchist's son. Of course, that idiot Lance had to try to ruin it, but gladly the guards handled it for me, calling him loony and locking him up in jail. He's glad I didn't step in; he may have come out much worse for wear.

Things were set in motion just as planned, everything flowing smoothly, however, to keep suspicion down, Father told me to remain with the Royal Guard anyway that day.

I honestly wish he hadn't.

When the attack started, I acted scared and panicked just like everyone else. Key word: "acted". I'm not a horrible actor, if I do say so myself. Not too shabby of a liar either. It all comes with being me. Even in their right mind, they wouldn't have been able to pick me out, and trust me, they weren't in their right minds. On the outside they saw a poor, scared guard, but on the inside I was laughing so hard at how gullible they were!

And then they asked me to join the fight! Ha! This was delicious. They would probably let an assassin with a paper-bag for a costume into their ranks if distracted enough. Even when I was young and somewhat loyal to the king, I questioned how "top-notch" the Royal Guard really was.

I went out with the group they assigned me, and we herded out together in a tight-knit group. I felt like a wolf in sheep's clothing. It didn't take long to come face to face with a mutraddi tank. The group almost simultaneously cocked their guns and opened fire. I followed suit, but it didn't take more than a swift wink to let the mutraddi know whose side I was on.

The slobbering monster moved the barrel of the tank a smidge out of my direction, and began to charge it. The vaporizing boom that came from the shot nearly took out half the flock of soldiers. For them, this meant hold them back and call for reinforcements. For me, this meant I had a distraction.

I chucked my gun to the ground and sprinted away from the wreckage. In a chaotic street, someone running isn't exactly something that stands out, so no one yelled "Hey it's that incredibly handsome guard running into the ship carrier!"

Have I mentioned that all of this time in space may have driven me slightly insane?

Anyway-

After reaching the carrier, I went for a small, single pilot, pod-ship I had previously prepped just for this occasion. It was hidden in the far darkened corner of the room, so no one bothered it. I dodged through the sea of cadets to get to my little ship. I felt kind of bad for the kids; this was their first real fight. Oh well. Their loss.

After reaching the corner of the room, I did a swift check of the pod to make sure it was set to fly. I ran my hand through every crevice of the little ship, toggling switches to see if they were connected and making sure there were no dents in its egg shaped body. I stopped at the prize of this ship, something that made it special.

There was a miniature, easily concealed rift gate generator on the front of it. This was no simple technology, and it wasn't simple getting it. Father had to pull a lot of strings to get this, and I was elated he trusted me with it. It had nearly cost us everything to go toward the research and perfect it, but my Father went to the length to make sure it was secured to my ship when this day came.

"Baron!"

A violent cry from across the room. I knew who that voice was, and to this day I wish I would've just ignored it. Arthur, the bumbling bear of a soldier, had spotted me from across the room. He was large and muscular, the large part being expected since he was huge when we were younger, but definitely not the muscular. He had matured since then, arms big as cannons, with his hair over his shoulders and filling his sideburns, but he was still just a huge puppy.

With how he ran at me, somehow not crushing any cadets, you would think we were friends. I'm assuming he was just glad to see a familiar face amongst the chaos, but really, mine? This boy never learned.

"Baron! Thank goodness I found you, I mean, things are blowing up out there! I know you're better at stealth missions, but I need your help in the where did you find that ship?"

Quick as a whip.

"Arthur, do you really need to know? Really? Shouldn't you be doing something like making sure kids don't die?" I really did not want this guy coming with me. Not only was he big and annoying, he was also loyal to the king and could sabotage this whole thing. I started getting into the pod and starting it up, preparations all done.

"Are you leaving?" he asked, somewhat perplexed.

"Wow you're observant, bravo."

He paused for a moment.

"…Can I come with you?"

I just stopped. I stopped what I was doing and just looked at him, dead in the eyes. That he would ask was so obscure a concept to me that I couldn't say anything for a few seconds. I just sat there, and looked at him, the dumbest of looks on my face, mouth slightly agape, lightly shaking my head. I somehow gathered myself up enough to give an answer.

"No."

"But why?!"

"Arthur we don't have time to talk about this."

"Baron, just let me in the ship!"

Just then, the ceiling exploded. One of the mutraddi tanks must have reached the carrier. We really didn't have time for this. If I wanted to get out alive, I'd have to take this idiot with me. I sighed.

"Get in loser, we're getting out of here"

He scrambled into the little carrier, his gorilla sized posterior nearly catching me in the face. I slammed the door and smashed the gas, us barely surviving the building's tumble. We shot straight up, attempting to reach a good speed to leave the atmosphere.

I initiated the tiny rift gate in the front, and it began to glow. I really needed this to work. If it didn't, we would be destroyed on impact, and that's if it even deployed. Death wasn't a far-fethced idea. Gladly, it did. Extra passenger aside, things were going smoothly.

Key word: were.

Remember how this ship is only meant for one person? They didn't account for buffoons pushing the pilot into the buttons and screwing up the coordinates. We entered the rift gate fine, but we sure weren't on the planet I had intended to be picked up on. We were in the dead of space, aimlessly drifting. I had no idea where we were. I doubt he did. The monster looked at me, eyes pleading and pitiful.

"Sorry."

The only reason I didn't kill him was because I didn't want to be floating around with a dead body.

And that's how we got here. Rebreathing the same air over and over, in no way knowing our location or even the time. No signals. No living things. Just space. Just blackness.

I hate my life.