Well here's something new. A new chapter that is, taking the place of the original chapter five. That chapter is one That I actually like and don't want to change very much, so it'll be pushed back to later in the series. I felt that Sarah and Ryler's relationship wasn't as flushed out as I had wanted it to be so I made this. Like the title shows, this is part one and part two will be coming next. As of now only this chapter and the ones before are canon and the rest should be ignored for now until they get their rewrites. So yeah, how he you been? Wow, has it really been more than five years since I last made a new chapter? What can I say, time just got away from me there. Anyway, hope you enjoy this, I'll be sending more soon.

Chapter 4: Reasons Part One.

Ryler sat on his replica bed shielding his face from the coming assault by the angry woman before him. He knew it was coming, it always came whenever he made a stupid mistake. Sarah no doubt thought that this was the stupidest mistake he's ever made. He once fell down a cliff because he took an extra step and she yelled and berated him for the rest of the day. It was inevitable. He started thinking about how bad it would be. Though she never hurt him more than what he could handle, she knew the full extent of his powers after all, she still made sure that he wouldn't forget why he was punished. He waited and waited but nothing came. He was not being yelled at and being called every variant of the word stupid in multiple different languages. He looked up and saw Sarah sitting in her seat looking defeated. It was like she just found out that her grandmother had died.

Ryler stood up and walked over to her. He knelt down in front of her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Sarah, are you alright?" He asked her. She was very rarely more that a little sad before so this was completely new to him. He didn't know what to do so he made sure that he was as gentle as he could be. That's when he noticed the tears. "Sarah never cries, something is seriously wrong!" Ryler thought to himself. He pulled her into a comforting hug and Sarah began crying freely. It was a strange position to be in but he couldn't think of anything else to do in that moment.

"It's my fault. You're in this situation because I couldn't be there for you." Ryler heard those word and his heart broke into a million pieces. "No Sarah, this isn't your fault. What happened was all on me, me and my recklessness." Ryler held her and let her cry into his shoulder for as long as she wanted. She pulled back and looked him in the eyes. No other words were spoken between them. There was a mutual understanding between them and they didn't have to explain it to the other.

Ryler was now certain that she was upset because she couldn't look out for him like she used to before. She was overbearing, overly protective and way too motherly at times for his liking. But he knew it was because she loved him. It wasn't the type of love you find in some sappy romance novel. It was the kind of love people developed over years of looking out for each other. It was respect, it was compassion, it was trust and it was pure. They were family and always would be until the very end.

It was a good 10 minutes before Sarah said she was feeling better. The let each other go and she thanked Ryler for comforting her just then. Ryler sat back on the bed but made sure to sit closer to her so he didn't make her feel like he wanted to keep his distance from her. They discussed what happened to him again in better detail. He had been rambling and fast talking through all the details to get to the insults sooner. Sarah again apologized for not being there to help him out. "I told you, it's not your fault. If anything you should be blaming me for all this. If I had just listened to you none of this would have happened. You wouldn't be here."

The story of what happened that day was still a sore spot for the both of them. They'd never forget the day when everything changed for them

X-X

Earth 2352

Two Years Ago

Ryler was sat with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His body rocked back and forth from time to time. The wind rushed violently by outside his window. The airship he was on was not the best type suited for this type of weather but it was the one best suited for stealth missions. Crossing enemy lines was definitely a stealth mission. His dark blue hair clashed against his still pale skin. His face was older than what it normally was. Scars covered his large biceps from the many times he had been hit with shrapnel, blades and bullets alike. He wore a navy blue t-shirt that had a few scorch marks along the bottom hem near his waist. That last battle featured a guy wearing armor that looked like it was made to stop tank rounds. He seemed to have some kind of obsession with fire. His helmet was currently beside Ryler in the seat to his left. The distinct pattern of shark teeth that was spray painted on it made for a nice souvenir. Ryler looked at the blood stain on his navy blue military pants. It would've been a serious injury that should be looked at immediately. That is, if it was his blood. The blood trailed down into his black leather boots, no doubt ruining his favorite pair of socks. Basic amenities like socks had become scarce since the war began.

"Captain, how long until we reach base?" Ryler's was deep and rough, sounding like what his body looked like. Well worn with experience and by time. He had to shout just to be heard by the guy piloting the airship. The storm raging around them didn't help either. "ETA 12 minutes to Nest Alpha!" The pilot shouted back. Ryler was tired, he knew 12 minutes wasn't enough time to get any significant rest, so he had to endure for the time being.

"You look beat McNeal. Did that last guy out up that much of a fight?" The woman who sat three seats away in the opposite window seat said. It was sarah. She wore the same outfit as him but obviously without the burned section and she also had a few more parts that Ryler didn't. Instead of just a shirt she wore a black vest that was riddled with bullets holes. Her arms glowed with a deep purple energy that helped protect her during their mission. She wore the same kind of pants but they too had a lot of bullet holes in them with the same purple energy glowing through the holes. She had on a silver collar that had stripes of purple all around it. She was looking out the window just staring at the rain. "Maybe you're just getting old." She glanced in his direction at that last part. The smirk on her face was something that Ryler had seen often. Always smug when she thought she had an advantage over him. To be fair though, he was the same way with her. It was a way to challenge each other to be better than they were before.

Ryler just patted the helmet beside him offering her a smirk of his own. She scoffed and turned back to looking out the window. Suddenly the airship shook violently and started alarms were blaring all throughout the ship. Ryler looked out his window and saw the engine was smoking and had a large hole on the side. Something had hit them. The pilot started going through the procedures he was trained to do when something like this happened. "Mayday mayday mayday, this is Falcon 3-5 executing emergency protocol Hotel Victor India dash 735. Be advised, present location is 10 Mikes East of Alpha Nest. I repeat, 10 Mikes East of Alpha Nest." The pilot was busy keeping the ship flying that he didn't notice something flying by outside the cockpit window.

Ryler, now with his harness fastened right was looking out the window when he saw it, something small and dark. Falcons were the basic personnel transport for the Rebellion. They were about the size of a 21st century CH-47 Chinook that was used by the American Military of that era. Though they were quite large they were exceptionally faster. It's too speed was around 375 to 400 Kilometers per hour. The thing that Ryler saw was about half the size and twice the speed. No human could survive speeds that fast while also maneuvering around a Falcon at speed. There was only one option as to what it was.

"Sarah, there's a drone hunting us! We need to do something about it now!" At that point, the alarms, the storm and the engines, everything was making it hard to hear even yourself speak at a . They had to shout to one another just to be heard. Sarah nodded and jumped into action. she unhooked her harness and moved up to the cockpit to assist the pilot. Ryler also removed his restraints and opened a hatch an over cabin near the entryway to the cockpit. When the hatch opened completely a ladder kid out automatically. He climbed the ladder into another section of the Falcon. This was the gunners cabin.

Ryler looked at the rows of three turrets that line the sides of the entire upper deck of the ship. Then he spotted the on he wanted at the very back of the rows of guns. He quickly made his way to that guns' seat. He flicked a few switches and the turret came to life. The targeting screen highlighted any nearby objects around the ship and showed that there was more than just one drone. Ryler blinked as he saw that there were dozens of small object zipping across his screen. He opened a channel to the cockpit and told Sarah about this new information. "Sarah, there's gotta be about 40 of these thing buzzing around us, they're like flies."

"Yeah, we noticed, try to take out as may as you can, we'll keep moving so they can't lock onto us." The radio cut out after Sarah gave her garbled reply. Ryler immediately went to work, he gripped the triggers of the gun and aimed at the densest part of the swarm he could see. The large, dual mounted, 20 mm, plasma fed gatling guns showered the drones with white hot glowing balls of super heated lead. The sky was lit up by the constant stream of rounds coming from the back of the Falcon. Anything that stood in the way of the stream of death was instantly shredded. After about 30 seconds of firing upon their attackers, Ryler noticed that it was becoming harder to hit his targets. He had only taken out about 10 or so drones before they started changing their attack pattern.

"Sarah, these thing are starting to wise up to my shots." He shouted over the radio as he let off a burst of shots to ward off a few drones that were coming close to attack them again. "I don't know how long I'll be able to keep them off us." Ryler didn't like any of what was happening but he especially didn't like that their pursuers hadn't taken down their ship yet. He saw them flying around the ship's Windows earlier but now they were staying behind the ship. Why? It didn't make sense at all. Then it hit him, they weren't being attacked, they were being followed. They were leading the drones back to their base.

The sudden realization made Ryler also think of something else. He had been in the R and D lab about a week ago to pick up some new toys the scientists, Lab Rats as he called them, had cooked up for him to use in battle. He was about to leave when he overheard a conversation between two Rats.

"I'm telling you, these things have some seriously futuristic comms tech in them. It's like the Federation is upping their spy capabilities." The first Lab Rat, a guy with short black hair, dark rimmed glasses, a light blue shirt and tie and a pair of beige slacks, said to the other Lab Rat. She wore a green blouse, a white lab coat and her slightly frizzy orange hair was tied into a ponytail. He was showing her a paper that no doubt had all the relevant data on it. She didn't seem to be very impressed with him.

She signed and pinched the bridge of her nose as she addressed her colleague, "Look, Josh, we've been over this already, it's not spy equipment it's just for the upgraded swarm communications algorithm that they've been programmed with. We've tested each drone we've collected and there's no way for them to spy on anything more that a few micrometers off their hulls. There would need to be hundreds of them pulling their resources together to get any kind of usable data. Plus out encryption schemes are evolving all the time, not to mention their algorithm can't handle that kind of data stream, fly the drones together and the process the information all at the same time." Josh looked annoyed that his discovery was being overlooked again. Sure they did do those tests but it wasn't as if the Feds were sticking with the tech they have now. It was pretty much a guarantee that they were working on something big to end the war, just as they had been doing all this time.

"But look at the data here..." He was cut of by the female Lab Rats before he could continue arguing his case. "Listen to me carefully, okay? It's just. Not. Possible. Do you understand? I don't want to hear anymore of your conspiracy theories after this, alright? Now finish working on that prototype I requested or I'm going to have you transferred to another department." She walked away to her station where she had been working on some kind of engine upgrade. Josh just returned to his station on the other side of the room and continued working on the drone he had.

Ryler was listening to the exchange but thought nothing of it. He figured if there was a problem than the higher ups would have already been notified. He just left the science building and was headed for the barracks to get some rest.

Ryler thought back to thing that the female Lab Rat had said about there needing to be hundreds. But what if they were going after something with less encryption and was closer than expected. They no doubt were listening in on their communications and probably even heard their distress call back to Nest Alpha. There would be no way to alert base about their situation without giving a more accurate location of their home. Using the radio would not be either. If they knew their plan wasn't going to work Then they would just shot them down anyway. There was only one thing left to do. Ryler climbed out of his seat and drew his side arm. He climbed back down the ladder and made his way into the cockpit. Sarah saw him but before he could ask him what he was doing he picked up the radio and spoke.

"Nest Alpha, this is Falcon 3-5 we are currently 50 Kilometers North West of your location, Comms Corrupted, going dark." Ryler then aimed his weapon at the console and fired of 5 shots into the radio. Neither Sarah nor the pilot had a chance to stop him. Before they knew it the swarm was upon them. Each drone attached itself to the outside of the ship and self destructed. The Falcon lurched toward the ground in an irreversible nose dive. Ryler activated his power and summoned a bubble shield to protect them from the crash.

"This is going to suck!" Sarah screamed as she braced herself in her seat, the pilot doing the same. Ryler stood there with his arms extended in front of him to keep the barrier from failing. The ground was coming fast and they all shut their eyes waiting for

X-X

Sarah awoke in a burning forest. The wreckage of their Falcon was all around her. A massive trench was carved out of the forest floor by their crash landing. She felt around her body looking for any wounds she might not have noticed yet. She reached for her leg and winced in pain when she felt her thigh. There was no blood and it didn't feel broken so it might be a fracture or a wicked bruise. She didn't feel anything else wrong. Her Full Body Armor Reactor, or F-BAR for short, took most of the damage. Probably saved her life too. She limped toward a large section of the ship, which she assumed was the majority of the wreckage, hoping to find Ryler and figure out why the hell he shot their ship. The storm that had been plaguing them for most of their journey home had finally broken and now the light of the full moon was shining down on them. The ground was incredibly slick which made walking for her that much more difficult.

She slowly walked around the flaming debris and came upon a scene she had not expected to see. She saw Ryler sitting in a crater with their pilot cradled in his arms. He was struggling to breathe and Sarah saw why. There was a piece of metal sticking out of his chest. He was dying. She heard Ryler say something to the man but couldn't make out what it was so she moved closer to them.

"I know it hurts, but try to breathe slowly. You need to save your strength until we can get out of here." Ryler spoke in a low, calm and reassuring voice to the pilot. Even in the remains of their ship, there was an air of tranquillity surrounding all three of them. "Think about your wife and your kids, they want to see you again. do you really want to disappoint them like this?" The pilot looked up at the stars and tried to speak. He was weak but Sarah would never forget what he said, "tell my girls... I'll be there..." He pointed upward to the sky. He smiled and took his last few breaths. His body went limp and he slipped away, the thoughts of his family leading him away to eternal slumber. Sarah choked the years that welled up in her eyes. She couldn't afford to lose herself to emotions right now. They might still be in danger and she needs to be able to think clearly if she was going to be of any use in their escape. She would shed a tear for their fallen ally at his memorial service. Ryler slowly and gently laid his body on the ground. He stood up and walked over to a large piece of the ship's wing that had broken off in the crash. He placed his hand on it and activated his power. The metal of the wing warped and shifted into a coffin. He placed the coffin beside the pilot and then went over to a patch of found near the base of a massive tree. Again he used his powers to shape the earth until it was turned into a grave with the bottom of it being packed into a layer of rock.

"We can recover his body later but he still deserves to be put to rest with honor and dignity." That was the only thing Ryler had said to Sarah. It was the only thing said as he removed the pilot's dog tags. The only thing said as he placed his body into the coffin and into the grave. He used his powers to move more dirt into the grave and bury his fallen friend. Ryler fell to his knees and let out a pain fueled shout to the heavens. Sarah just stood there without saying a word. Ryler was always like this. He took every death of one of his allies as a personal failure. Sarah could do nothing but reassure him that it wasn't his fault and be there for

The faint blue glow of Ryler's powers lit up the world around them for a few seconds. Sarah looked down at him and saw that he was now in his original form. Instead of his military uniform he had on a plain white shirt and a gray hoodie that was unzipped. The mud stained his white jeans a dirty brown at the knees and his black sneakers sank into the dirt. His white hair was now dry, having all the rain droplets wicked away when he transformed. He stated down at the freshly dug grave as tears silently fell from his eyes. He stood up and wiped the tears from his eyes using the sleeve of his jacket. He turned to Sarah, the look of angry and determination overtaking very other emotion he felt at that moment.

"I'm going to kill every last one of them."