-CHAPTER 1 : Confusion-

Nearly 200 years have passed since the last eternal war. The war that had seemed to rage onward had finally ceased. For nearly 200 years, there was a peace between the S.H.C. and Tediz forces, and the home worlds, once broken from years of war, had been rebuilt to their former glory. But then, something new happened, and in a split second the peace that had existed for so long ran back in shambles, and during this time, one Tedi was among the chaos.

This is his story.

A loud clang was heard in the background as several glasses of ale clacked together. Cheers came from the table in the back as the drinks were brought to it. The room was buzzing with laughter and conversation. Tezeriah sighed. He was sitting at the bar, on a wooden stool. He was what the Tediz military would train as a Sky Jockey, mid height and weight. On him were two straps, both slung around his chest and shoulder, with the larger strap holding a pack against his back. The smaller strap held a small pouch, and was at his right side. He looked down at his glass, which glistened from what little liquid was left at the bottom. A voice echoed from behind the counter.

"Something got ya down?"

Tezeriah looked up. The bartender stood above him, cleaning a freshly washed glass with a slightly off white rag. He was a large and tall fellow, being very broad and muscular, towering over most Tediz. The bartender spoke.

"Tez, I haven't seen you this down in a long while. Not since you were last single anyway heh heh." The barkeep realized Tez didn't move, and now seemed alarmed. He usually would get some response from him, but this time was a first.

"Tez, what seems to be the problem? I've never seen you like this"

Tez looked back down at his glass. It didn't have to do anything with his relationship with Kira. No, it was something more than that. It was his life. Tez knew little of his childhood, and of his past. He never really knew his real parents. He rarely remembers who brought him up, and the most he remembers is bringing himself up from scratch, living on the streets as a child. There was one thing Tez was thinking in the back of his mind… how could this all be so? Thoughts were racing through his head. Why are we here? What is the meaning of existence? Why is everything the way it is? Tez closed his eyes and tried to relax, clear his mind a little bit. He couldn't. The more he tried, the more stressed he got; Every other second he would tense up, as if he had a bad headache and surges of pain were rushing to his face. Tez spoke, still with his eyes shut.

"You ever wonder what the meaning of life is?… What's the real purpose?" Tez continued to speak as he raised his head to look at the bartender. "Why on this god forsaken planet we live everyday with no particular plan or guarantee, just guessing what's to come next?"

There was a slight pause as the bartender looked for missed spots on the glass. "Sometimes" he said. "Sometimes I wonder if there's something better out there than mixing drinks, but then sometimes I wonder if part of this was all planned out, as if something important is going to happen, and if I'm not here doing my thing, that chance to make whatever it is that needs to happen… doesn't happen."

"Like what?"

"Well maybe talking to you causes something important to happen."

"Ya, and me finishing off this scotch is going to cure cancer."

Tez stopped. He heard something; A buzzing perhaps? No, it was more like a ringing. It was faint, and Tez had to strain his ears to hear it over the ambience. Tez was frantically looking around for the source of the sound, but he couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.

"You need to lay off that scotch boy, I think it's getting to ya" said the barkeep with a slight laugh. It rang several times before it hit him;

His phone.

Tez scrambled for his pouch that he carried at his side, the strap slung around his chest and shoulder. He answered the phone.

"Hello?…" Tez's tone changed slightly, it was more calm and soothing "What? No, I'm out at the bar… ya, I'm hanging out with a couple of the guys, they're leaving on a trip tomorrow to see some landmark or some shit… Ya, they'll be gone for like 3 weeks and they wanted to hang out before they… no I'm fine… why do you say that?… no I've only had a drink or two… What?.. Look… listen, I've…" There was a slight pause "I've…gotta go… uh… see ya soon." he hung up the phone.

"Out with the guys?" said the bartender with a chuckle

"Yea yea. listen, I gotta run… I've got some important stuff to do…" Tez hopped out of the seat and walked to the exit. The bartender watched as he rounded the corner and walked out the door.

"Man, I hope he gets his shit together."

Once outside, Tez walked to his Jeep. The sky was dark, and the only thing that illuminated the streets was an occasional lonely street lamp on the roadside. There was a fine mist in the air, slightly gloomy. The Jeep was parked on the side of the curb, just outside of the bar. Tez's Jeep looked as if it were designed to run over street barriers, burst through walls, and keep going on the other side. He built it himself. The roof was decked with lights, the tires were beefy and wide, sticking out from the fenders, and was lifted about 10" from its original height. The lift gate had a spare tire placed in a custom fit mount, and the front had a brush guard decked with lights as well. He opened the door and climbed up into the driver's seat. He put the key into the ignition, and slowly turned the key forward one click. The dashboard lit up in electric blue, and voices came through over the CB radio. He turned the key forward once more, this time holding it there. And the engine revved to life. Tez let go of the key, which sprung back to the on position. He shifted from reverse to first gear, let off of the clutch and started to drive onward. The rumble of the Jeep ripped through the air as Tez sped up and shifted gears. Tez didn't know where he was going, he didn't need to. Driving was one thing that helped him think. But as he drove, his original thoughts from the bar had vanished. There was only one thing he could think of now… Kira. She was the only thing left that he had. He'd been with her for ages, and although they'd been fighting recently, he still didn't want to lose her. He loved her. Just the thought of all of the things they'd been through, and the chance that he might lose her, threw all things out of proportion. He shook his head, and began to focus on driving. Thoughts rattled around his head, and the only thing that could keep his mind out of the clutter was listening to the sounds around him. He heard the soft exhaust note as he cruised, the hum of the tires as he flew down the road. There was something peaceful about the lack of noise, the stereo off.

He started to notice something up ahead. There were flashing lights, and it seemed as if a road crew were directing traffic. As he drew closer, he noticed an ambulance, and street guys directing traffic. As he passed by, he tried to get a closer look at what was going on. A stretcher with a covered body was being wheeled slowly into the ambulance; the looks upon the EMT's faces were more than enough to cry upon.

Tez continued to drive on through, and with the low rumble of exhaust filling the air, he made an impulsive move onto an on ramp.

"I've got to go find Kira" he said. His eyes narrowed as he focused on the now wide highway, up on an overpass that he was driving on.

Love is a crazy thing, you know that right? It can make one person… just… crumble…. a… and no matter how stable the mind of someone is, it can make them do things they never in their right mind would even try… even trading their life so that someone else can have theirs. The problem with love is, it's like rain. It's unpredictable. No matter how much you try and predict what its next action will be, it's never a guarantee it will do what you think it will.

When you're in a relationship, you have to treat it like a flower. It requires lots of attention, and if you don't communicate on who's watering the flower, you can both kill it even when you are trying your hardest to keep it alive. If no one does anything the flower dies, and if only one person is doing the work, it creates an atmosphere that kills it. Like a relationship, the flower will get its sunny days, and get it's rainy days, and so long as it gets a balanced amount, it will thrive. Too much sun will shrivel and dry them out, as well as too much rain will drown them. You have to have both, but even if you get both, too much is never good, even when both are together.

Tez turned the corner. He saw it up ahead, parked in front of a gloomy, yet clean apartment complex.

He let out a sigh of relief.

"You never fail to worry me Kira"

He slowly began to park behind Kira's car, a brand new Rocosso, white in color. He had given the little car for her birthday. He bought built it originally for himself, but gave it to her whenever her vehicle had been stolen during a massive riot. After parking, Tez killed the engine. He was in a gaze at the vehicle in front of him, or rather, below him, his hand still, with its grip locked in position. A soft voice called from outside of the driver's side door.

"Tez?" The voice was innocent, sweet like the song of a bird.

The voice startled him, and he shook his head and blinked his eyes, as though he was trying to keep awake after a long day. He looked out of the window. Down below was a small figure, he knew what it was. Tez took the key out of the ignition, and then opened the door. He climbed out of the Jeep cautiously, and while turning around, smoothly shut the door with a soft thud. A face appeared out of the darkness. It was Kira. Only a few inches shorter than Tez, she was one of the most adorable things you could have ever imagined. Tez looked at her in the eyes; the air was still and cool, with the slightest breeze rolling in through the dusk atmosphere. In a quick moment, the two embraced. Tez felt the warmth and relief enter his body even through the cold air. He rest his head to hers, and looked into the stars. The warmth from Kira and the relief that he was with her calmed Tez, the stars and dark sky made his head spin. He took Kira by the shoulders and looked at her, with great concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay? You haven't been hurt have you?"

" Ya I'm fine" Kira said "There were some guys lurking around a couple of nights ago, but Koda took care of them" Tez laughed quietly and while holding her, turned with her.

"Well good, cause if he didn't I was going to have to beat him up ha-ha." Tez began to walk toward the doors of the apartments. "Come on, let's go inside. It's too cold out here to be just standing around". They began walking up the stairs, to the 3rd floor of the complex. Half the lights up the metal staircase were out, but there was enough light to see where you were going. Once inside of the 3rd floor hallway, Tez took out a device from the small pouch at his side. Shaped like a credit card, only thicker, he scanned the padlock on the right side of the door, which had a meter on it. After a few seconds, there was a click at the door along with some electronic noises, and the door popped open. He pushed the door open and flicked on the lights. The room was very plain, and looked like an average room in a hotel. The bathroom was directly to the left through a door, and directly in front of him at the end of the room was a bed, with an end table on the far end. The windows were at the end of the room, and the slight luminescence of the moon shined through the shades. Tez lit some of the candles in the room and turned off the lights, leaving only the lamp on the end table on.

"Tez, we really need to talk." Said Kira. Her voice quivered slightly. "They just announced on the news that the rioting has gotten worse. We really need to move out of here."

"I know" Tez sat down on the foot of the bed. He closed his eyes and hung his head. "I didn't think it'd come down to this."

Kira sat down on the bed next to him. She laid her head onto his shoulder. Feeling the comfort from her, Tez rest his head to hers, putting his arm around her to comfort her. Kira began to speak.

"You know? Even though all this is happening, I think we'll be alright"

"You think?"

"Why not? I mean, it's just some rioting over the new treaty, it can't get much worse can it?"

"Treaty?" said Tez, he sounded confused, but at the same time slightly irate. He sat up and turned his head to look at her. "I thought it was because the Western lands were claiming part of the North and East lands. Then they started evicting people from there, and that's why they started to riot?"

"Yes, so the small land of the Northern S.H.C. was pretty much going to be taken over by the West, and so the East stepped in to make a deal. They just signed a treaty while you were out saying that the West would get half of what they claimed out of the North and East. Any people who have ties with those living in that area seem to be getting irate." she explained

"Well ya, I would be too if I just got evicted without notice." He let out a sigh "it doesn't help either that we live so close to either area. I was hoping that things would die down after a bit, well, they did for a little bit didn't they?"

"Well with this new treaty in effect, people are getting really pissed off" Kira's voice seemed even more unsteady.

"I know, someone overturned a van not far from the bar. Needless to say… not everyone made it out okay"

"Damn it Tez, why doesn't anything work out for us?" Kira now had some tears rolling down her face, and Tez took her in her arms, attempting to sooth her.

"Shhh, it's okay." Tez looked back into the air again speaking in a near whisper "lets… just get some sleep and we'll figure it out in the morning." He brought her over to the side of the bed closest to the door and she climbed in. He went to blow out all of the candles. The room was now dim in all corners except for one, with only the slight blue light from the moon shining through the window shade to illuminate the room. Tez climbed into bed beside her and pulled the covers over him. He cuddled up next to her, and then proceeded to shut off the last bit of light from the lampshade. With all of the light gone, He closed his eyes. Before he could think of what was to come in the days ahead he found himself unconscious, fast asleep.