Author's Note:
First off, let me say that I didn't think I'd ever update this again. Really, I didn't. But the other day, I was looking through an old, overflowing folder on my laptop, and I found this basically-complete ninth chapter for Breakaway. I was in a slightly BLoSC mood anyway, so I thought, Eh, I'll just finish this one and upload it. I can't promise that I'll ever update again, especially since I can no longer remember my plans for the following chapters (I'd foolishly never typed them out). But at least you can have this.
You might also notice that I deleted all other chapters. That was something I was debating with myself for a long time—whether or not I'd delete the old chapters before I rewrote them. I decided just to get it over with, so now they're gone. Sorry about that, but I didn't want any confusion between the original story and the (drastically different) rewrite.
To my reviewers:
KJ: I'm sorry it took so long to give you this little offering, hon. Hope you enjoy it, though, and I'm glad you enjoyed the quotes in the previous chapter.
Historian1912: I feel kinda like I answered your review in-part, ages ago… but I can't be for sure, so I'll just answer here. ^_^ So glad you think the previous chapter was awesome! =) Erin just has a good memory—I can sing all but one of those songs off the top of my head. I... have a pretty good idea I know why you'd want to acquaint Warp with the business-end of a flamethrower, yeah. Hopefully this chapter will leave you more favorably-inclined toward him. ;D All in all, thank you for the wonderful review! That chapter took a lot of work, so it's good to know that work paid off.
Momo: Thank you very much for all the praise! I'm so glad you've enjoyed this.
Morgan Williams: Thank you very much, and I'm glad you've enjoyed the Christian overtones. Not many reviewers have mentioned that (before now, anyway), so it was really nice that you did.
Jakkin: Ha-ha, it's a case of the reader getting more out of the story than the writer put into it! The "kid sister" bit was not actually a conscious nod to the movie, though, as you've pointed out, it does parallel Mira and Buzz. Maybe it was subconscious on my part? *shrugs* Dunno. Regardless, thank you!
Darkmatterfangirl: Thank you very much (and thank you for all the faves)! I'm glad you cried (yes, glad), and I'm humbled by the fact that you return to this story to get yourself back in the BLoSC mood! I wish I could do a sequel, but, at this point in time, it doesn't seem like that's possible. But, hey, don't give up hope. And God bless you, too! ((P.S. I read your profile, and I think it's so neat that a) you like Buzz/Mira and b) you're an AIO fan! High five!))
dp: Thank you very much! I'm so glad that Chapter 3 was able to help you, and that you enjoyed the Christian themes. God bless you, too!
Disclaimer: BLoSC characters and situations belong to Disney. Mara Jade (Skywalker) belongs to Lucasfilm Ltd. and Timothy Zahn. Erin Frame and Zomega are © Aleine Skyfire 2010. All rights reserved.
==Chapter IX==
Wars Seen and Unseen
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/No incoming viruses detected/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
FROM: Warp Darkmatter luv2sh00t&galaxy,net
TO: Mara Jade jb_sherlockian&infinity,com
CC:
BCC:
SUBJECT: Apology
Erin,
I wouldn't blame you if you didn't reply to this or deleted me from your contacts. I really am sorry. Please believe me when I say that. Just ask Buzz—I don't apologize often.
Sincerely,
~Warp Darkmatter
"Knock-knock… may I come in?"
Warp whirled in his seat at the sound of the Old Galactic accent and the familiar voice belonging to it. "Aunt Z," he breathed.
In the doorway of his little-used Planet Z office stood a tall, black-clad woman with lavender skin and dusty violet hair. Her mismatched eyes—one a large cybernetic red eye and the other a natural indigo—casually swept the room and came to rest on him. Warp knew better, though, than to think that she was really as at ease as she appeared to be. Her literally-supercomputer brain was constantly on the alert, relentlessly analyzing and assessing.
She swung into the office with feline grace and perched herself on his desk. "Aren't you a little old to be calling me that, love?" A lock of violet hair fell over the cybernetic eye, and she didn't bother to push it back.
Warp folded his arms behind his head and leaned back in his seat, grinning but surreptitiously running his own analysis. "Nope." She was one of the three people in the galaxy around whom he felt completely safe—ironic, since she was also one of the most dangerous people in the galaxy. The five years that had passed since he'd last seen her had not been kind. She was paler and thinner than ever, there was a dark ring under her natural eye, and her face was creased by a few lines that hadn't been there before.
"You haven't asked me why I'm here." Her whole form still radiated that tensed-coil energy and unflagging determination—signs marking her as one of the few surviving Purple Guards, the elite of the old Zeta Empire.
"I already know." All traces of his grin were gone now. "You heard about last night."
"One up on that. I was there."
Warp sighed. "Mistress of Disguise."
"Thank you. So…"
He ran his real hand over his face. "As far as I can tell, it had no cause and was completely harmless."
"He's sleeping it off right now." Not a question.
He exhaled heavily. "Yeah. Lost consciousness on the ride home, and he's been out ever since. Heh, y'know, you peel the chest plate and pauldrons off, and he's actually deceptively light."
"I know." She smirked a little. "Had to carry him once out from a bar fight."
Warp's eyes widened.
"That was a long time ago. He couldn't've been any older than twenty-seven, and very few people knew yet about his new appearance."
"…ah."
It was a good minute before either spoke again. "I miss that…"
Warp looked away. "Can't imagine what that must be like—to have known him when he was a kid and to know him now."
She ran a hand through layered, shoulder-length hair. "It was hard, at first. But after almost forty years, you get used to it."
Warp turned his gaze back to her and searched her face. "It still hurts."
She laughed humorlessly. "Warp Darkmatter, you are not as dumb as you act around Zurg sometimes."
He snorted. "I'd better not be. I was, I'd hope somebody would be decent enough to shoot me and put me out of my misery."
She eyed him speculatively. "The idea regardless is not without merit."
"Ooo, you hurt me." His expression was theatrically wounded, but his twinkling eyes gave him away.
She shook her head. "Warp, I'm not here for small talk."
He sobered instantly, leaning forward in his seat. "And?"
She looked down at the floor.
"Zomega, it's been five years. Five bloody years since that big fight with Zurg."
"He kicked me off," she said flatly.
"He could kick you all the way from here to the Core and you'd bounce right back! Why didn't you come back?"
She blew at her bangs. "Do you know why we fought?"
Warp shook his head. "I have no idea."
She sighed and smoothed back her hair, pushing herself off the desk. "Five years ago, Warp. What happened five years ago that was big?"
He remembered very well what Zurg did five years ago, and it didn't take an evil genius to connect the dots from there. "The planetary conquest campaign."
"Yes." She began to pace. "We argued about it—I jumped on his case big-time—and he told me to get off his planet." She glanced at him. "Trust me when I say that you don't ever want to hear that tone of voice directed at you."
Warp shivered involuntarily. "So why're you here now? Why didn't you come back after the Unimind fiasco?"
She sighed. "I was on an undercover assignment for someone who will remain anonymous. You know how the game works."
"That was ten months ago."
"I was on the job for another six months."
"Okay, four months. Fact remains, you didn't—"
"'I didn't what?" she exploded. "What was I supposed to do, Warp—you tell me! Tell Zuriel off? I've been doing that since before you were born—bloody lot of good it's ever done!"
Warp stood and wordlessly moved to a nearby shelf, taking a bottle and a shot glass. He filled the shot glass and handed it to Zomega. She hesitated briefly, then accepted the glass with a muttered "thanks" and downed the drink.
He perched himself on his desk. "Sorry," he said quietly. "Life's been a little rough lately."
One corner of Zomega's mouth pulled back. "Ah, yes, the redoubtable Erin Frame."
Warp tensed. "None of your business, Zomega."
"Really?" She eyed him. "Warp, she's a kid."
"No, she's not."
She arched a skeptical eyebrow.
"You talk to her for longer than five minutes, and you find out she's a pretty mature young woman."
"Young woman," Zomega emphasized. "Buzz's sister, Ranger-to-be, sweet, innocent… antithesis of you?"
"Shut up," he snarled.
But her expression was anything but mocking. "Warp, I don't want to see you get hurt—for that matter, I don't want to see her get hurt, either. How do you think this is going to end?"
"I don't know," he ground out.
"I can give you a few scenarios, only the pleasant ones are totally unrealistic."
"Zomega!"
"Warp."
"Good grief, you're acting like I proposed to her!"
"You were waltzing, for stars' sakes! You don't get much more romantic than that!"
"Nobody else was offering to dance with her! I was being—oh, boy…"
"Nice. Yeah, I know."
Warp's mouth worked, but nothing came out.
Zomega slumped against the wall. "Warp…"
"That was a long time ago," he mumbled, staring at the floor.
"Beg pardon?"
He glanced up. "Shalli. That was a long time ago."
"…Fourteen years?"
He nodded.
She sighed. "You're scared. Aren't you." Again, not a question.
He shrugged. "None of my more… vested attempts at relationships ever came off."
"No… no, they didn't, did they." Warp didn't bristle, because he knew she was more thinking aloud than speaking to him. "So what's different about this one?"
"'Scuse me?"
She was trying to make eye contact with him, he knew, but he wasn't going for it. "This time around is different, isn't it?" she pressed. He still wouldn't—couldn't—look up. "Hate to break it to you, Warp, but you've got yourself a mess on your hands."
He exhaled slowly. "…I know."
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/No incoming viruses detected/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
FROM: Erin Lightyear jb_sherlockian&infinity,com
TO: Warp Darkmatter luv2sh00t&galaxy,net
CC:
BCC:
SUBJECT: Re: Apology
I changed my ID. Like it?
~Erin
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/No incoming viruses detected/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
FROM: Warp Darkmatter luv2sh00t&galaxy,net
TO: Erin Lightyear jb_sherlockian&infinity,com
CC:
BCC:
SUBJECT: Re: Re: Apology
O.o Um, yeah? Um, that was a weird reply?
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/No incoming viruses detected/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
FROM: Erin Lightyear jb_sherlockian&infinity,com
TO: Warp Darkmatter luv2sh00t&galaxy,net
CC:
BCC:
SUBJECT: Re: Re: Re: Apology
*sighs* I already forgave you, you idiot. As for continuing our emails, I honestly don't know. Give me some time.
Vaya con Dios,
~Erin
Erin pushed herself away from the desk with a sigh. She looked forward to starting her training with Buzz next week, and not just because it was her first step towards becoming a Ranger. She could use the distraction from her thoughts—specifically, her thoughts regarding a certain former Ranger.
Author's Note:
FINALLY. Finally, finally, finally, I get to unveil Zomega. She was created about two years ago as a combination of many concepts, not the least of which was Saron's (a.k.a. Gurz) OC Shade. But it would be unfair to both Shade and Zomega to say that Zomega is a copy—Zomega merely shares a history with Zurg like Shade does, and would probably not exist if not for Shade's inspiration. End resemblance. On the other hand, Zomega is largely inspired by Major Motoko Kusanagi of the anime Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex—with a dash of Mara Jade and Talon Karrde of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. In fact, we could almost say that Zomega is a Western-animation version of Major Kusanagi. Almost.
So there's a large back-story lurking there with Zurg. I say "lurking" because even when I was posting stuff up on the XR fan club, it was still in the experimental stage and I was afraid I'd already put up too much (I probably had). But the fact is that just about nobody knows the full story I've got in my head. I'm not even sure that I'll ever get far enough to reveal it, and I don't have it all straight, either. And… just maybe… I'm even a little scared to reveal something so radical. It seriously is. Zurg back-stories range from the imaginative to the unbelievable, but this really differs from anything else I've seen. I'm not boasting—I'm just stating a fact based on what I've seen. It's because it's so radical that I've held back all these years because I'm genuinely afraid of the backlash I know I could well receive.
Anyway, I enjoyed writing Warp in this chapter. Zomega, too, of course. And, again, I don't know when I'll update again, if ever. But, please, don't let that stop you from reviewing! I really hope that some of my readers of old will come back to this and pick it back up, and that I'll get to hear what they think. So, yes…
Please review!
1.05.12