The Mirror Shatters - Part 2

She didn't know what to do. She had no idea how much time had passed since the last moment she was awake because she had obviously slept for a little while. Trying to move her arms, it didn't take long for her to realize that nothing about their situation had changed. Not that she expected it. Stith snorted. The more she thought about it, and it was hard not to, the more the anger threatened to cloud her mind. Of all the horrible things she said to him, the person wearing the face of her mate's brother, she meant every single word of it. Never had she felt so much hatred toward a single person. The things he did: murder, hurting their loved ones, turning their friends against them. That last one wasn't entirely his fault. She could hardly believe it. Rilas, how could you? The thought cracked even her hardened spirit and brought a bit of moist to her eyes. That wasn't all. There were still so many things he could use against them. The'lah, the children, even her father. Dad. Though there was little he could do on his own, if they hadn't already captured him, or worse, she was putting a little bit of faith in him, that he could get them out of this somehow. Ganyu had gone off on a mission but he had promised to return soon the last time they had contact. Now would actually be a very good time, dad. If she were real honest to herself however, their personal problems were small and perhaps insignificant compared to what was going to happen next. The evil version of Kero's brother had started a war as if it was some sort of game. Nothing mattered to him, she was convinced of that. He had to be stopped but right now they couldn't do a thing. One other thing that she was a afraid of was her mate. Listening carefully she could hear him breathing, probably asleep too but she couldn't see. He was in so much pain. Never had she heard him rant like that before. He shouted it all out. She was afraid. Afraid that he would never be the same again. Things like this had the tendency to change someone's character.

"Kero?" she asked carefully. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough to see him. He was still hanging in the chains, sleeping. Though she was hesitant to wake him, because she didn't know how he would react, she still wanted to talk to him. She just wanted to know if he was all right. Calling his name again, she noticed that he heard her, his left ear twitching slightly. She heard him take a breath and he snorted. He didn't actually talk but he made a groggy and confused sound. "Are you... all right?"

"What? Where?" His chains rattled. The noise was followed by a groan. Then it was silent for a moment. "I'm... sorry."

Stith sighed. She actually opened her beak to say something but that sigh was everything that came out. In her mind she had already accepted the apologies that would follow his outburst -she figured this wouldn't be the first one- but there was nothing to apologize for. Maybe she was just more used to being angry. The whole situation, everything that happened during the past few hours infuriated her as well but she kept it under control. Though she would actually love to shout some of it out, it wouldn't achieve anything. Just a sore throat eventually perhaps.

"It's... okay," she eventually said, staring at the stone floor under her feet.

Shuffling her feet a little she tried to find a more comfortable position to spend the next few hours standing. Her species usually had no trouble standing for periods of time that would be considered uncomfortably long by others but they had been standing for quite some time and even their legs needed rest now and then. She hadn't tried sitting down yet but the chains around her wrists weren't very long. Trying it out by placing her back against the wall, she realized they would have to keep their arms up all the time.

"No... it's not!" His shout even startled her. Her mate's voice was little more than a growl, full of anger and hatred. Shortly thereafter though it was followed by a sob. "I-I hate him. By Kirliya..."

Drawing long shaky breaths, he began to cry softly. She couldn't listen to it. It tore at her hearts to hear him cry like that. Fighting vainly against the tears, she couldn't stop them from coming but at the same moments she could feel her claws stinging in the palms of her hands as she balled them to fists.

"We're gonna get out of this, Kero. My dad was supposed to come back. I-I'm sure he will come looking for us."

"What can he do? He's on his own. There's nobody in the palace he can trust anymore. Rajah has everything under his control now. He's going to turn our entire people against our allies." He snorted, letting his body fall back against the wall. "I'm so worried. What's he gonna do to the children? My mom? What does he want from us? Why does he persist on me joining his side?"

"Because he's out of his fricken mind!" Something ugly left her mouth before she knew it, but Kero didn't even seem to mind. Staring at the glowing force field that blocked the only way into the prison cell, she grinded her teeth. Right at this moment they didn't have the faintest idea of what was going on outside the walls of the palace. Undoubtedly Rajah was executing his plans, perhaps even trying to take the place of Kero's brother as the new Emperor. Only because they placed a bit of trust in him he had everything so perfectly worked out. With the entire Imperial family out of the way and a people thirsty for revenge there was nothing standing in his way. For a moment they said nothing to each other, sunken into their own thoughts. Eventually though, Stith noticed that her stomach was growling and hers wasn't the only one. She was actually quite thirsty too. Was that his plan to turn them over to his side? Starve them until they were finally ready to play his twisted game? So far they hadn't had anything to eat or drink for the past couple of hours. "It could be our only way out."

"What?"

"Maybe we should just pretend. It might be the only way right now."

"No." He looked at her. One of the few details she was able to see clearly were his eyes. "He is going to start a war in which millions are gonna die. I don't want that kind of blood on my hands." He snorted derisively. "I'd rather die."

She was both shocked and surprised by hearing him say that, without a detectable trace of hesitation. There was one other feeling that blocked her throat. Was it pride?

"Kero."

"No, Stith. I won't do it."

"No, I mean. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you," he muttered quietly under his breath.

She felt that he looked at her. If those stupid chains weren't preventing them from getting near each other, she would've flung her arms around his neck. Their bond was incredibly strong. All the time she was more worried about him than about herself. She was pretty sure he felt the same way.

"But can't we just use it to escape? I mean, once were out, we can just-" Her voice went dead as soon as her ears picked up the noise coming from the direction of the door. They were coming back! She was pretty sure she heard Rajah's voice among them. Maybe this was their chance. "Are we gonna do it or what?" she hissed.

"They'll kill us as soon as we try to leave the palace. I think we should just-"

The force field deactivated with a powerful hum that echoed through the almost empty room. Lights turned on almost immediately thereafter. It stung in their eyes for a couple of seconds making them both squint. Stith noticed how a large figure dressed mostly in black approached them. When her eyes found their focus back, Rajah glared at the both of them, a grin plastered on his scarred face. How she would love to completely reconstruct that face using just her fists. Of course he wasn't alone. The guards were present too, three of them this time, as well as the little Orketh Mantrin named As'bit. He looked at them, visibly enjoying their misery, absorbing everything that happened with his sly little eyes and perky ears. There was something about him she found immensely annoying and she would love to give him the same treatment. Rajah snorted and crossed his arms.

"Have you thought about what I said during our last conversation? Are you ready to stand up for our people and fight?"

Kero produced a fake laugh.

"You know, you're asking the wrong question. You better ask us if we're ready to commit genocide and wash our hands in innocence under the cover that it's all for the good of our own people. Well, the answer is still no."

Annoyance over the fact that he obviously couldn't get them to do what he wanted leaked into the expression on his face. However the first thing he did was snapping the fingers of his right hand and it quickly became obvious why. Two of the guards walked up to them with something that truly made them feel like prisoners. The third remained standing near the door opening, resting an energy lance on the stone floor. Both carried an object that could best be described as a bowl on a stick. The left one also carried a bucket filled with a transparent liquid; water perhaps? He put it down on the ground and both filled the bowl at the end of the stick with it.

"You must be thirsty by now. Don't worry, it's just water. Drink." Stith was still in doubt. On one hand, her dry throat was craving for a little fluid. Just seeing it drip from the bottom of the bowl made it even worse. On the other, there could be something in that water. He was capable of doing anything without remorse. "I really haven't poisoned it," Rajah added. She couldn't fight it anymore. Her thirst got the upper hand pretty quick. As soon as the surface of the water came in contact with her lips she dipped her entire beak into the bowl and drank with large gulps. Kero did the same. The bowl was empty before she knew it. With water dripping from her face she panted, hoping for more, but Rajah held his men back after the first time and stepped closer. "There's more where that came from," he said, getting closer to Kero. "Try to understand. I don't wanna do this. Just tell what I wanna hear and we'll forget all this. We'll have a feast in the honor of both Empires as we unify them into one." He was now so close to Kero that he could place a hand on his shoulder. But Kero tried to shake it off. In a response his grip tightened. "What do you say, brother?"

He growled as they locked into a stare.

"Tell you what. You stink out of your mouth."

Rajah's eyes narrowed to slits. He removed his hand from his shoulder.

"What?"

"Probably from talking all that rubbish. I will never join your side. You can write that down in your log."

At first Rajah appeared as if he were going to explode. His fists were balled, his face a mask of anger. But instead, he turned around with a lash of his tail and a growl.

"Fine!" he spat. "Have it your way! If you prefer this, I'll just leave you here to rot! But know this: I might have even considered saving your little human friends. I might have spared them."

"What're you talking about?" Kero shouted, shaking with anger, his tail beating the wall behind him.

"Their planet is under attack."

"No!" Stith heard herself shout.

It was the first thing that went through her mind. For a fraction of second she saw the faces of Akima, Cale and their little daughter.

"You could've saved them! But you chose not to. Now I've got no more time for this. I have an Empire to rule."

"I hate you!" Kero yelled as Rajah and his men turned their backs on them.

"Wait a minute," Rajah said flicking an ear. "You might be able to offer some help here." Stith could almost feel his icy stare as if trying to spear her just by looking. "Release her!"

"You can forget about it," she bit, spitting on the floor as the three guards approached her. "Dare to try and come near me," she thought, fueled by anger.

It didn't stop them though. Mistake on your part. However it turned out to be unwise of her, as she realized later. The right guard, a Sogowan male had just removed the metal shackle from her sore wrist when he felt claws in his face. She could feel the sharp of them hitting flesh and drawing blood instantly. The Mantrin roared and stepped back, covering the wounded side of his face with his hand as the blood seeped through his fingers. What she hadn't accounted for was the one not busy trying to free her. Before she knew it, he activated his energy lance and rammed the spherical tip into her stomach. The pain was intense, sending powerful shocks through her body, the discharge enough to knock her back against the wall. Still hanging in one shackle she was immediately dizzy, disoriented. Panting and sweating she clamped her stomach with her other hand. It smelled a little like burned clothing.

"I wouldn't do that again if I were you," Rajah warned. "Get yourself to sickbay. You're bleeding all over the place."

The injured guard left, leaving her with the other two. The weapon was powerful. She could barely stand on her tired legs anymore. She could hear Kero's worried and angry shouting. It didn't matter. Now she was too weak to resist them. Maybe it was better to find out what he wanted anyway. There wasn't a thing she could do about it now. The guards released her from the wall chains but cuffed her hands behind her back immediately thereafter. The one that released her forced her to walk in the direction of the corridor while the other directed the energy lance at her back. The expressions on their faces were fairly neutral, likely little on their minds but just following orders. For a moment she was glad they weren't members of the palace guard. Rajah was replacing every single person close to him he couldn't fully trust with his own men.

"Move!"

She was pushed in the back as she tried to make one last eye contact with her mate. Kero was furious, shouting, growling and stamping but still tied to the wall. Walking slowly on purpose toward the exit, her path was blocked by Rajah. Stretching out his hand he grabbed her muzzle and brought her face closer to his.

"Don't worry my dear. We're just going to have a little talk first. Nothing will happen if you cooperate."

She growled.

"He was right about one thing you know. Your breath really does smell like ass."

He merely laughed.

"You think you're pretty funny do you? Now get moving and I'll show you what's fun."

"Return fire, all batteries! And watch that cruiser off the starboard bow, she's lining up for another shot!"

Preed was trying to mind his own business as the Tsun'rhaa's bridge had turned into a chaos of crewmembers frantically trying to deal with the enormous amount of ships and weapons fire shooting past their hull and colliding with the shields. They all knew it. They crash-landed into the middle of the first devastating battle of a war that seemed to try and rip the Republic apart. It was still hard to believe that the Mantrins had sided with the Drej. He just knew it. That parallel universe was creating a mess. What kind of twisted place was that other side? He didn't have time to think about the answer to that question though. The battle was intense but Earth's forces, though not necessarily outnumbered, were outgunned by the devastating firepower of the combined enemy fleet. Although she was a powerful Militia warship, the Tsun'rhaa's shields were draining quite rapidly and even Ayko knew they couldn't win this fight without any extra help.

"Shields are down to forty-two percent!"

"Then make sure we're hit less often! Kheitran, can you divert more power to the shields?"

The Akrennian with the unusual dark blue skin color had stuck with her since he joined her crew on the N'gara during the last conflict. He was a good tactical officer, Preed had to agree with his mate on that one. Grinding his teeth, flicking his left ear which had a blaster hole in it he shook his head.

"I've given us all we have. If they keep pounding us like that we're not gonna hold out for long."

It was as if the enemy heard him. A squadron of Drej Slijah targeted their engines and fired their beam cannons across the hull as they strafed the Tsun'rhaa from behind. The entire ship trembled, sparks showering on the deck as a couple of power relays overloaded. On his flickering console, Preed noticed that the ships, no less than twelve of them broke off their attack, creating distance for another one. At this point they were vulnerable though.

"Lock weapons on those fighters."

"Already did ma'am. Firing."

A large salvo of missiles fired from the launchers went in pursuit. Though fast and nimble, the Slijah couldn't avoid the high-speed tracking systems of the Tsun'rhaa's upgraded launchers. A series of quick flashes marked the end of them before they could start another attack. All of this happened in just a couple of seconds. There was no time to sit still or they would be an easy target. For such a large vessel, the Akrennian warship was fast and of course well-armed, flying through the enemy ranks at high speed, blasting in all directions with her numerous weapons arrays. They were taking hits though.

"What about reinforcements?" Ayko yelled over the noise of an exploding conduit. It was clear after only a few minutes into the battle. Earth's defenses wouldn't hold without help. The planet wasn't completely defenseless though. The Atlas space station as well as several smaller installations around the planet had powerful long range weapons installed on them. In addition to the crewed stations, Earth also had fixed point defense turrets and orbital weapon platforms. Of course it wasn't a heavily fortified military position but it would give them a better fighting chance as the enemy fleet had moved itself relatively close to the planet, within firing range of these installations. The Earth ships had all been thrown into the fight to defend their world, aided by quite a lot of alien ships as well, the Tsun'rhaa being one of them. They all battled against the advancing enemy force. However, though they fought back courageously and managed to hold them back for while, the Republic forces were taking losses, faster as the battle progressed. Korso cursed as another one of Earth's ships was destroyed by the combined fire of two Imperial warships. "Korso! I thought your Commanders recalled all ships?"

"They have! Even at maximum speed it'll take them some time to get here. I'm monitoring all com channels and it looks like we can expect some in the next few minutes."

"We may not have a few minutes!" Ayko growled. "Preed, what about our ships?"

"A battle group is on its way. They'll be here in less than a minute."

"I sincerely hope for the people on that planet they'll get here in time," she said through clenched teeth, bracing for another hit as an enemy warship fired its broadside weapons array in their direction. These Mantrin warships were even tougher, featuring weapons none of her crew had ever seen on one before. Their mass drivers were capable of occasionally passing through shields causing major damage. Fortunately they still had their armor but it was buckling under all the violence. C'mon hurry up. We don't have that much time.

Ayko, Preed and Korso didn't have the slightest idea that the people they were going to search for before the battle they found themselves in even started, were right under their noses. There was virtually no way they could know that however. They were far too busy to fight off the enemy fleet trying to blow them and everything else around Earth to bits to look for them. The imprisoned crew of the Valkyrie knew that too. Akima sat huddled against the cool metal walls of the cell. Only just a moment ago Cale had stopped talking to her in an attempt to ease her mind. It didn't matter much anyway. Instead of crawling away entirely into a corner however, she tried to keep her head up, though it was hard. They had dropped out of warp a couple of seconds ago and everyone noticed.

"Where could we be?"

"Captain, I thought you said we were heading for Earth. Sir?"

"Yeah, that ugly bastard said that after beating me up," said Cale's voice from the cell opposite to hers. "Received new orders from his Emperor. I think they're going to attack."

She thought she heard a sob. Most likely Yani.

"You think we're there already?" Ramirez asked.

"Could be. We were pretty close to Earth when they caught up with us."

She heard him sigh. Mentally she did the same thing. Nobody had an idea that could get them out of this situation. It was impossible to disable the force field and the walls were pretty solid. On top of that, anything that could've been used to escape had been taken from them before they were locked up. Even Gune's pockets were empty. Usually the inventor carried all kinds of little creative gizmo's that according to him were good for 'something'. But unfortunately he was stripped of his toys. No matter how she looked at it, the situation was pretty dire.

"Derek, are you still all right?" she asked.

It was quite possibly the third time she asked in a relatively short time span but the alien Captain and his men beat him up pretty badly.

"I'm still here, Akima," he replied under a slight groan. "Thanks for checking up on me again."

"Hold on there, Derek," Cale commanded. "You're gonna make it outta here. I promise you that."

"Thanks, sir."

She hoped he would be all right. His injuries were quite severe and those wounds had to be cleaned. Fortunately the cells were pretty clean. If not, they could have easily become infected which could quickly turn fatal if left untreated. And it didn't look like they were going to treat him soon, especially not with a battle ahead. The conversations between the crew were rudely interrupted as the ship apparently went to high alert status with an acoustic alarm blaring through the corridors, followed shortly thereafter by the thundering voice of the ship's Captain. Whatever was happening out there, neither side was in the mood for shaking hands. There were mainly two questions everyone asked him or herself: Where were they and what the hell was going on out there? The answer was given eventually in the form of something colliding with the shields, generating shockwaves that were sent through the vessel's superstructure. Fortunately warships like these were designed to take a beating but if they just entered a battle with Republic forces there was no way to let them know they were aboard. As everyone listened for a couple of seconds in silence, they could all hear the sound of powerful capacitors charging and discharging as weapons were fired.

"We're in battle," Yani said, her voice little more than a whisper.

"This ship has powerful weapons I've never seen being used on any of my people's ships," Treazan grumbled. "These are not from here. Emperor Zahn would never send warships to attack innocent people."

"But Emperor Zahn is dead," Cale said. "Someone else has taken control of the Empire." The ship trembled again, more powerful this time and the smaller vibrations became more frequent. The sounds of weapons firing sounded continuously in the background. The fight really heated up quickly. "Damn it! We need to get outta here. If Earth's forces target this ship we're goners."

There was an explosion and the lights flickered for a second. It was as if the sound of his voice drew the attention of their own allies. The ship was taking damage. They had to get out. But how?

"Aft shields down to fifteen percent! We're taking damage."

"Bring us about! Keep her ass away from them."

Ayko cursed as she braced for another series of hits that pounded on the buckling shields of the warship. The Tsun'rhaa was tough as nails but against this many powerful enemies, her Captain began to realize it was perhaps better to bail out and lick their wounds. They were running low on ammo for the missile launchers and the ship was taking damage with each new hit. The enemy numbers were still greater than theirs despite reinforcements. As her tactical officer fired the ventral weapons array into the dorsal shielding of an Imperial cruiser they watched the small strike group of Akrennian warships, lead by a ship of the same class as theirs, punching a hole through the enemy lines, blasting in all directions while executing evasive maneuvers. The Captain of the lead ship turned out to be an old acquaintance of Ayko. Distracting a number of enemy ships that were harassing the Tsun'rhaa, he contacted them.

"You better get your ship and crew outta here Ayko. No sense dying here."

"Don't tell me what to do, Vershan."

The average-sized Akrennian who missed a good piece of his left ear too, as Preed noticed, grinned but his voice kept the serious tone.

"Don't be a fool. You're low on ammo and your shields are almost gone."

Another hit struck the shields and broke through. The sounds of an explosion on one of the lower decks rumbled through the ship, followed by another shower of sparks on the bridge. Several crewmembers held up their arms to protect their faces from the glowing particles.

"Direct hit! Hull breach on deck seven! We're losing structural integrity on the surrounding decks. Captain, it might be wise to do as he says."

"I'll decide if it's a wise thing, Lieutenant!"

A second direct hit followed with more damage as a result before she could say more.

"You better do as he says, Ayko."

"Damn you!" she said with a playful grin, revealing sharp teeth. "All right. Get us outta here and closer to Earth. Keep those long-range cannons firing. We can still do some damage. Korso, what's the status of your fleet?"

The human shook his head.

"I'm receiving multiple distress calls. They're being hammered. I've just received word from Captain Jericho. The Odyssey 's launching." As the Tsun'rhaa quickly pulled out of the fight, Iyu locked the main viewer on the ship's space dock. The large streamlined ship maneuvered out of her holding area toward the battle as if the crew forgot about the mission she was commissioned for, with active shields and powered up weapons. A battle that was getting dangerously close to Earth. The Tsun'rhaa shook again, violently this time. "The enemy is moving closer. The Atlas station reports that they're under attack. This is Korso to Captain Jericho. Michael, you there?"

It wasn't hard for Preed to detect the panic in Korso's voice. There was a slight trace of it. He couldn't blame him. Things were going bad. He did get a response though.

"Joseph, I know this sounds crazy but we're throwing everything we have at them. We can't let them destroy Earth."

"I know. Good luck. Let 'm have it."

The Odyssey opened fire. Though they were trying to get out of the fight, explosions and fired shots were still all around them. The docks were being hit too. Stray shots entered the atmosphere of Earth and they were still being targeted.

"By the Gods, damn it! They're really not planning on quitting," Ayko shouted, her voice trailing off into an angry growl.

"Mommy, daddy!"

"What're you guys doing here?"

But before she could finish her sentences her son crawled into her lap. Hayzii crawled on Preed's, burying her face into his chest.

"I'm scared," he cried, tears rolling over his cheeks.

With both arms she held on to him. Preed look at the wet face of his daughter and did the same. It made him realize one thing. Maybe it was selfish, but he was not going to sacrifice the lives of his son and daughter. Apparently, his thoughts and Ayko's were on the same line.

"Get us outta here!" she said with a hard expression on her face.

"Ayko."

"I'm sorry Korso. But there's nothing more we can do. I-" It was as if the ship was breaking apart so powerful was the next attack on their hull. With the shields practically gone, the Tsun'rhaa was an easy target. A large Mantrin warship, virtually unhindered by the defensive fire of the nearby weapon platforms aimed her forward weapons array on them. Ayko cursed. If they kept hitting them like that they wouldn't even be able to go anywhere. The noise of the general com channel sounded over the speakers. People were shouting, begging for help with the noise of the ongoing battle in the background. "We're not gonna make it," Ayko said to herself.

Preed could hear it though and she could be right this time. Unless the flashing lights on his console were able to change that. But before he was able to inform his mate, he, her and several crewmembers were launched out of their seats as a torpedo exploded on the hull, obviously not far from the bridge. They both turned around, shouting as they hit the deck backs first, protecting their screaming children. Holding onto Hayzii with one arm, Preed bit his teeth as he pulled himself up on the console, checking what it was, trying to ignore the chaos and the shouting for a second.

"Captain, detecting multiple new contacts."

"What kind?" she grunted, supporting her back, finding her way back into her seat. "Lemme guess. Our playmates have requested more reinforcements as well so they can crush us more easily."

"No, it's..."

"What?"

"It's coming from that portal we detected earlier. They're all kinds of ships. Akrennian, human, Solbrechtian, even a couple of unknown types. They're heading this way... fast."

What was this all about? It could only mean that they were from that parallel universe that also brought these Drej and the Mantrins here. That can't be good.

"Captain, they're entering visual range," Iyu yelled, zooming on the fleet of ships. There were quite a lot of them but not very organized. In fact, the ships themselves were a mess to look at as well, featuring all kinds of extensions. They looked heavily modified from their original design and a scan revealed all kinds of extra tactical systems like weapons, shields, scanners and other equipment. "One of the ships is transmitting a general message to all ships. It looks like an Akrennian warship. Captain, their transponder signature..."

But before Iyu could finish her sentence, the ship's Captain showed her face. And what a familiar face it was. Different though, marked by the scars of a hard life and the permanent anger and hatred over what happened to her.

"It's... It's..." Preed stammered.

Even their kids looked at the main viewer with eyes that had grown to twice their normal size.

"It's me," Ayko brought out, barely believing her eyes.

"This is Captain Ayko of the rebel battle group Vengeance of the Gods. It's time to settle this once and for all. Kirliya the Enlightened is not going to protect you this time. You better go and tell you wretched Emperor that I'm coming for him. I know he's hiding here. Well I have a message for you. You took my Preedex from me and I'm going to separate your head from the rest of your body. You created this rebellion and you will feel our wrath for what you've done to us all! For the rebellion! Death to the Empire!"

With their mouths falling open, the entire bridge of the Tsun'rhaa watched as the rebel forces assaulted the combined Drej and Mantrin fleet from behind. Now they were sandwiched between Earth's remaining defenses and a second fleet. It took a few seconds for everyone to realize that they had a chance. One that better not be wasted.