Author's Note:

Hi everyone; I'm back once again! Welcome back for Chapter 7! Thank you so much for sticking with this story. It really means a lot to me to know that you're all enjoying this, plus my newly posted story Sym-Bionic Titan: The Final Chapter! If there's some of you who haven't checked it out yet, please do! It was actually the first story I ever wrote; this one just ended up being the first one I decided to publish :D

The suspense will start to build up from here, so I hope you're ready to begin the wild ride! Things may appear straightforward in this chapter, but I promise that some interesting twists are coming. :-)

Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to drop a review below!


Upon falling asleep the night before, Lance and Ilana thought that their morning would begin like any other; the only difference now being Ilana a year older...however, they were, sadly, very, very wrong.

Lance's blaring communicator startled them awake at 4 in the morning; the red color it was emitting with every screech embedding a pit in their stomachs...red was the color of emergency.

Lance's face darkened as he shot out of bed, and walked over to the slider, keeping his whereabouts unknown to the person on the other end with only the curtains for a backdrop. "What's going on? What's happening?" he asked as he answered the call.

Baron's face appeared on the other end of the screen. "I just got a call from the king. Our scout groups we left on murtad are dead...they were murdered, Lance. Brutally."

Lance's eyes widened; his face growing darker, and eyes emitting confusion and concern. "What?! How? What...or who, killed them?"

Baron proceeded to pull up several images of their fallen comrades on their shared screen. What had started out as one two-man team for each base had increased to five-man teams due to, what Baron had called at the time, Lance's 'extreme over-caution'. Well, it now seemed that his worries had been justified. The images were absolutely barbaric; In it, all ten of their comrades lay in pools of their own blood. Many were decapitated; their heads mounted on spikes in a row behind the bodies. The leaders of the teams had even been disemboweled. Someone had brought all of the bodies to a central location to perform this butchery; though, who, they did not know. "They never checked in last night for their evening reports. We received these photos a few hours later."

Lance's breath caught in his throat at the sight of his officers, HIS officers, cut down so cruelly. "The last time I saw something like this was back on mutrad, right before Modula laid siege to the kingdom. Baron, what the hell happened?"

Baron just shook his head solemnly. "I wish I knew, Lance. The images were sent to us by an unknown entity, but we couldn't trace them back to their original source. Also...there was one other, as well." With that, Baron pulled up the final image. On the picture was what looked to be a clearing in the woods close to the mass slaughter of their comrades.

Lance's heart skipped a beat. Written in the dirt, in his soldiers' own blood, were the words 'YOU FOOLS BELIEVED YOU HAD DISPOSED OF ME. WELL, UNFORTUNATELY FOR YOU, THAT IS NOT SO. I'M BACK, AND YOU ALL WILL PAY'.

Lance remained silent for a few moments, his face stony and ashen, trying to process the message. "...There's no way...It can't be possible. He's dead; we killed him..."

Baron's face mirrored Lance's. "I don't know what the hell's going on, but we need to find out. Pronto". Lance merely nodded in return.

"The king has summoned all of the military leaders; we meet in 15 minutes. I volunteered to let you know, cause I had a feeling I knew where you'd be. I gotta go, but I'll see you then." With that, Baron signed off.

Lance just stood there, frozen; lost in his thoughts. 'He can't still be alive. I know we killed him. How...?'

Ilana, who had been watching her fiancé with grave concern, and listening intently to Baron speak, gently rose from her bed. She walked over to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. The contact made Lance jump, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He locked eyes with her for a moment, and she felt like they suddenly bore the weight of the world on their shoulders. "Lance...what's going to happen next?"

Lance could see the fear in her eyes, and the concern on her face. They had only just fully recovered from the last war; the last thing Galaluna needed was another.

Slowly, he turned toward her, and brought her into a tight embrace. She buried her face in his chest as he stroked her hair tenderly. "I honestly don't know. Whatever happens, though, I promise I'll keep you safe; I'll keep the kingdom safe. We'll get through this together, just like we always have."

He offered her what he hoped was a comforting smile, which she returned. Her gaze then dropped to the communicator on his wrist. "Can I see the photos?"

Lance just shook his head. "Not right now. I need to get dressed, and meet everyone in the conference room."

Ilana nodded in acknowledgement. "Okay. You can show me when you get back, then."

She could immediately see the hesitation in Lance's face; He clearly felt uncomfortable with that idea. She raised a questioning eyebrow in prompting curiosity.

Lance sighed, and looked her in the eyes. "To be honest, babe, I'd rather you didn't see them. They're...well, frankly, grotesque and horrifying. I don't want you to have to see something like that."

Ilana gave him a reassuring smile before replying. "I appreciate your concern, honey, I really do. I'm the princess of this planet, though; the future queen. This is part of my job description. I need to see the fates of my men for myself. They died serving the kingdom, and they deserve the attention of the crown. Besides, it couldn't be much worse than what I had to live through during our battle with Modula...there were some scenes I witnessed back then that I hope I'll never have to see again."

Lance took a deep breath before relenting, knowing she was right. He offered her a smile that reflected his pride in her. "As you wish, my princess. We'll take a look at everything when I get back."

Ilana returned his smile, and nodded in agreement before letting him go; proceeding toward her bathroom to get showered and ready for the day.

Lance changed quickly while Ilana was in the shower, and proceeded out his usual exit route via her balcony, before making his way through, and slinking out of, the surrounding woods; meeting up with Baron on his way into the palace, and joining the other military leaders in the conference room.

Back in her room, Ilana was hoping and praying that their mysterious enemy was not the person she feared it was...

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"Generals, Colonels, thank you for coming so quickly. Please, take a seat." the king said to his officers as he entered the conference room.

The officers took their seats as the king proceeded to his spot at the head of the table.

Once everyone was seated, and the king had the attention of the room, he proceeded to pull up a holographic image of murtad from the projector at the center of the long rectangular table.

"As you're all aware, there were two large secret military bases on Mutrad that Modula had utilized to store his mega-beasts, weapons, and install manufacturing plants." As he spoke, the king highlighted each base in red on the holographic globe for his men to see. "Those bases were neutralized by General Lance, the princess, and Octus just after the end of the war. Several weeks ago, however, there was a large spike in activity around those areas, so I dispatched General Lance, Colonel Baron, and two teams of their choosing to each of the bases to investigate. Their reconnaissance mission lasted three weeks, during which, all they observed was an increase in animal migration patterns. This seemed to account for the strange readings, so they returned to Galaluna. General Lance, however, had a suspicion that not everything was as it appeared, and requested that two teams of five men be sent to murtad; each team stationed at one base for further monitoring."

At this point, the king paused for a moment to survey his men before continuing. "Well, it would seem that General Lance's suspicions were well-founded. Those teams have now been brutally murdered, and all we have to go on to find out who did it is this image."

At this point, the king pulled up the picture of the message written in blood on the large screen behind him; observing the faces of his officers.

To his surprise, Lance and Baron seemed to be the only ones not shocked by the message. "Baron must have reviewed the image, and shown it to Lance before this meeting." He thought.

Focusing back on his officers, the king continued. "I'm well aware of the assumption you all must be jumping to, and I have to admit that I was thinking along those lines as well. Before we make any final verdict, however, we need to investigate further. I have some ideas, but those will be discussed later with the proper personnel. The reason I have called you all here now is two-fold. First: to get everyone up to speed on the current situation; and, second: to make an announcement. In light of this situation, and the theory I'm sure we all share as to who is behind it, I have decided to re-organize the chain of command for the military, temporarily, to deal with this new and dangerous threat. It will be myself overseeing all operations as king of Galaluna, with only one other directly below me organizing and orchestrating all military strategies, actions, and chains of command. That person will be responsible for dividing up the various military units, appointing leaders to each, and organizing the chains of command below him as he sees fit. This person has vast knowledge of the Galalunian military, including knowledge of nearly every strong and weak point of every officer, warrant officer, and enlisted soldier...both past and present, if you understand me."

Everyone in attendance merely nodded, catching on to the king's insinuation.

"Everyone will report to him, and he will then review with me, for the crown's approval, any decision he makes before implementation occurs. This will be an incredibly difficult job, but I know this person is up to the challenge."

As the king had begun to speak, everyone had starting glancing around the room, wondering who the king had chosen for his second-in-command. By the end of the king's mini speech, all eyes had landed on one person...including the king's.

"Lance, do you accept the commission?" the king asked as he looked the young man in the eye.

Lance himself was taken off-guard. He hadn't thought the king would feel comfortable enough to leave such an important job in his hands; and yet, here he was, doing just that. While the task sounded daunting, he was also excited about it for a reason he couldn't name.

Lance met the king's gaze. "I do, your majesty, if you believe I'm the right man for the task."

The king smiled slightly then, nodding his head once. "I know you are. You have devoted your life to Galaluna, Lance. I've known this since your early days at the academy. Yes, you didn't have a great reputation in your teen years, but I've seen your growth and maturity since then. You may not know it yet, but you have a natural ability to lead; I've seen it on many occasions. You plan widely, and you think , not many know as much as you do about both the history of the Galalunian military and its members, both past and present. If anyone can do this, it's you."

Lance smiled in return, appreciating the kind compliments that were coming from the man he'd increasingly looked upon as a father-figure these past few years. With his own father still on earth, and with how closely he already worked with the royal family, it was only inevitable, he supposed, that he would begin to view the king as sort of a second father. "Okay, then, your majesty. I accept the commission."

The king nodded. "Very good. Now that that's settled, I just have one more order of immediate business to attend to: Major General Lance, I hereby promote you to General of the Galalunian Military. This is the highest rank that can be achieved, only one person may hold it, and it may only be acquired during times of war. The last time it was implemented was 200 years ago, during the war between Galaluna and Masaad. We'll discuss further details later, but right now I would like you to begin formulating some strategies on how best to proceed, and begin organizing your military units."

Lance nodded and bowed as the king turned to Baron next. "Colonel Baron, I hereby promote you to Lieutenant General, effective immediately. You are our second most competent fighter and strategist, if we don't include Octus, so I believe you will be a valuable asset to our senior cabinet of officers."

Baron bowed to the king as he thanked him.

Satisfied, the king rose from his chair, and began to make his way toward the door. "I'm afraid I have another appointment, so I must take my leave. Lance, please begin formulating your advisory cabinets, and sorting out the chain of command. We will begin planning further strategies from there.

Every officer present bowed as the king opened the door to the conference room, and proceeded across the threshold.

Once he was gone, all eyes immediately turned back toward Lance, who couldn't help thinking to himself, 'What have I just gotten myself into...?'

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From the time the meeting had ended to 11:00 that night, Lance had been busier than he thought was humanly possible.

His first act as General of the Galalunian Military had been to put together several advisory groups, with divisions including: strategy, diplomatic relations and foreign affairs, specialized military skills, technological development, digital hacking and infiltration, and so on. These groups would act as his sounding board and idea pool when planning any major undertakings, and they were all to collaborate together during any situation where one or more designated group's area of expertise might overlap with another/others.

Next, Lance had called several of the Generals together, so they could aid him in organizing new regiments, choose which Colonels to place in charge of those regiments, and compile specialized units within the military for specific functions and purposes. During the time, they organized various small groups for specialized missions, such as: assassinations, reconnaissance, infiltration, etc.

After all of that had been seen to, Lance had a private meeting with the king to inform him of all that he had done for that day, and get the king's approval.

The king had approved without any questions, and Lance was finally at liberty to retire for the night...at least, for the time being.

By the end of the day, he'd felt like the walking dead. 'Man, I can't wait to just curl up in bed with Ilana, and conk out.' he thought as he made his way to her balcony.

Climbing up the vine growing on the side of the palace wall, and not paying much attention, Lance flung himself over the railing on her balcony, landing softly on the marble.

He almost fell backwards over the railing again when he immediately came face-to-face with his fiancé.

Ilana proceeded to throw her arms around his neck, and give him the biggest hug she could manage.

Lance, recovering from his shock, returned her hug as he heard her whisper in his ear: "Congratulations, babe. I'm so proud of you."

Lance gave her a big squeeze before leaning back to face her, and steal a quick kiss.

Despite their current circumstances, Ilana couldn't help the smile that was forming on her face; she was so proud of him.

Releasing her, Lance stripped out of his t-shirt and pants, threw on his pair of sweatpants that he'd kept hidden under her hope chest, and crawled into bed; Ilana joining him after locking her door and slider, and drawing the curtains.

Feeling Ilana cuddle into his side, Lance let himself relax for the first time that day as he wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer, letting out a contented sigh.

"So, how was your day, General of the Galalunian Military?" Ilana asked, the teasing tone in her voice bringing a smile to Lance's tired face.

"Crazier than I thought was possible, but good, I think. I've got all the brain trusts organized, so I'll have advisors for every type of decision I'll need to make in the near future. Plus, we've gotten a start on re-organizing the different factions of the military. So far, it's looking promising. I think we'll be in a good spot when it comes time to deploy troops."

Ilana gave a nod in reply. "Good. I'm glad you've gotten your advisors together. Trust me, they'll be invaluable to you later down the line."

Lance nodded. "Yeah, you're definitely right about that. So, how did your day go? You saw off all your party guests this morning, right?"

Ilana nodded once again. "Yeah, we got them all safely on their way. My father pulled a few aside to share our situation with them. They've been long-time allies of Galaluna, and they offered their aid, should we need it."

Lance was relieved to hear that. It was reassuring to know that they could call in reinforcements if the need arose.

"The only troublesome thing is..." Ilana paused, glancing quickly up at her fiancé's face; Lance raising a questioning eyebrow in response.

Ilana took the queue, and continued. "...they all have sons around my age. I have a feeling that their desire to help doesn't solely concern the welfare of Galaluna."

Lance merely rolled his eyes; he figured there was an angle somewhere. "Figures. Will you be able to get around that, or am I gonna have to try and not be territorial on occasion?" he asked, a smirk adorning his face.

Ilana merely chuckled. "I'm not sure yet, but you don't need to worry about anything. I'm already promised to someone." She said, an affectionate smile adorning her face.

Lance returned her smile with one of his own; kissing her forehead, and holding her tighter. "He's an incredibly lucky man. You're one of a kind, my princess."

Ilana reached up, kissing him lightly on the lips. "I'm lucky to have him, too. He's the best man I've ever known. Definitely the most complicated, too." She said, the teasing tone in her voice clearly evident.

Lance smirked, a mischievous glint in his eye. Suddenly flipping her over, he proceeded to target what he knew was her most ticklish spot: her armpits.

Ilana squealed, laughed, and wriggled underneath him, trying and failing to escape her tickle assailant; Lance chuckling triumphantly above her.

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After a little while, Lance had decided to end his playful tickle assault on his fiancé, and they had settled down for the night.

They talked for a while longer, until Ilana slowly drifted off to sleep while Lance told her about his ideas for specialized units, and who might go where.

When Lance asked her a question, and got no reply, he looked down to see the love of his life breathing evenly in his arms; the peaceful look of sleep on her face.

Lance watched her for a while; lost in his own thoughts, and wondering how he ended up where he was. Six years ago, he never would have predicted that he would be the General of the Galalunian military, preparing his kingdom's soldiers for potential war. He also wouldn't have predicted that he would fall in love with, and be in a secret relationship with, his own kingdom's princess. He thought this kind of stuff only happened in tv shows; yet, here he was...and he was happier than he'd ever been.

Yes, there was enormous risk involved with basically everything in his life now, but it was all worth it to him.

He was determined to keep his kingdom safe, as well as the woman he loved.

Focusing on Ilana's sleeping face, his thoughts drifted fully to her. He knew he wasn't worthy of her; she had always seemed like a dream too far out of his reach when he was younger. The fact that he had her now continued to amaze him.

Whatever trouble came their way, he knew he was never letting her go; consequences be damned.

With that final thought, he carefully maneuvered Ilana in the bed, so he was spooning her. Snuggling in closer to her, he placed gentle kisses on her neck and shoulder as he settled in for the night.

"I love you, Ilana. I promise, I'll keep everyone safe." Lance whispered, before drifting off to sleep himself.

He fell asleep feeling ready to handle any situation that could be thrown at him...little did he know exactly what was in store for them both in the near future.