he Calling
Mission Objective: Totally Eliminate Eteris from Huntress. Spare no one.
Lex Kelvin stared at the screen of his Mad Cat. He could not believe what
he just read. He blinked and read it over again. It was still there. His
mission was to murder and destroy the whole village. Who the hell thinks
this up? Why? That was a question that he would like to answer. He looked
around him as the members of the mercenary unit moved out into the
village. How could they kill all those innocent people? How could they
trade money for lives? How greedy can you get?
He closed his eyes and a horror from 10 years ago played over in his head.
It was a beautiful night in the Ice Hellion village of Tella. The stars
were shining so bright as he took his sweet Calista home. They shared a
kiss under the moonlight. When the silence was broken...10 BattleMechs
plauged the village, destroying everything in sight. Some of them never
woke up from thier slumber. The others ran out in frenzy as the huge
killers trampled on them, shooting them and blasting them to pieces.
Calista was lost from him in the chaos. He called out to her, but there
was another voice that called out to him. He whirled around to see his
mother,bleeding begging him to free her from under a huge slab of stone.
His father, Star Col. Slade Kelvin, lay motionless a few meters away from
her. He quickly went to her and tried to pry her out, but before he can
budge the rock, his mother let out a last cry and then all life went away
from his body.
He ran madly towards the hangar where they kept a Battlemech for
emergency. He was only a rookie pilot then, but he had to do what he can.
He boarded the Chimera and quickly headed out to where the murderers were.
He blasted the nearest one as it was firing gause rifles at the people who
were running around it. It turned towards him and blasted his mech with a
large ER Laser. The impact was too much for him. His head hit the wall of
his cockpit and he blacked out. When he came to, they were gone. He
quickly went down from the Chimera and looked around his village.-- a few
paces away from him, Calista's head caught his eye. He screamed and vowed
vengeance.
From then on, he wandered around the planets, training, and acquiring
skills and alliances, looking for clues to who or what devilish mind
ordered the murder of these people. He joined up with mercenaries and
assassins, merciless killers who kill for money or vengeance. He didnt
care about money-- what he needs was the latter. He built up clues that
led up to the Grand Kurultai, but cannot pinpoint the mastermind. He knows
that the other clans and houses fear the Ice Hellions, who were by far,
one of the best clans in and out of the Inner Sphere. They were advanced
in technology, their people were trained the best, and their Touman was
well prepared for any battle. They cannot strike the Touman ( fighting arm
of the clan), so they struck the Hellions where it hurt them the most.
They struck them at the heart. They struck the villages, wiping out each
and every Ice Hellion Village from the maps. Then, the Clans will turn
against the Ice Hellions and finish them off.
He opened his eyes in realization. Eteris was the last of the Ice Hellion
Villages. If they do this, it will be the end of all the Ice Hellions. He
cannot murder his own people-- but he has a chance to save them. He turned
up the speed of his Osiris and ran ahead of the pack. He has to get there
before everyone else. He has to get to Khan Asa Taney.
"Whoa there horsey!" Orion Jackar's voice called out to Lex as he passed
his Raven. "You wanna kick ass this early in the morning? Whatcha up to
Buddy?"
"Do you know what village Eteris is?" Lex asked his friend as he slowed
down. Orion was one of the only survivors from Tella. He had known him
since he was born. Lex found him hiding behind a rock that night as he
searched for survivors.
"No, but if you'd tell me , I'd know!" Orion's cheerful voice chuckled. "
I havent even read the mission, what are we doing in Eteris?"
"Eteris is another Ice Hellion village, genius," Lex said in an
exasperated voice. "Remember what happened to Tella?"
"Are we going to ----?" Orion's voice cracked. It was a memory he had
long wanted to forget, but cant.
" I'm going there to warn them and get everyone out before these guys tear
them apart," Lex told him as he speeded up. "Are you coming with me?"
" I'm not about to let the Ice Hellions die out. Lead the way, Lex," Orion
said as he pushed the throttle to full speed.
Navpoint Delta reached.
The Raven and the Mad Cat approached the high walls of Eteris. It was
beautiful with white walls on the snow. It looks like a village in heaven.
It was unusually silent for such a busy, Mech-producing village. There
were no sounds of machinery, no music nor laughter. It seems that the city
was asleep. They entered the gates. Their eyes grew wide when they saw
what was inside. The city was not asleep. It was dead. They were too late.
"Lex, they didnt send any advanced parties here, did they?" Orion asked as
he drew out his mini pulse laser gun.
"I think they did," Lex sighed as he looked around. "Lets split up and
look for any survivors. call me when you find anything."
"Roger that," Orion said as he headed westward and Lex turned right.
Lex sighed. This is what he feared. The last of the major Ice Hellion
Villages was gone. What was the Khan doing? Why is he allowing for such
murder? Why doesnt he send his men to protect him. Then a thought crossed
his mind. The Khan must be dead. The Keshik must all be dead.
Meanwhile, Orion was thoroughly searching the western region of the
village. He remembered the horror of what happened to his home. He spied
on a man who died sleeping in his bed with his wife. "Sweet dreams," he
whispered to them. A child's body lay mangled in the middle of the road.
'Just like Tella,' he thought. Why would they want the Ice hellions gone?
what did these innocent people do to them? His mind was racing. He shook
his head to clear it of the thoughts. He has to keep a clear eye on anyone
who was alive.
Just then, his eyes focused on a man walking around a broken down
ShadowCat. The man was wearing an Ice Hellion uniform. He immediately
contacted Lex.
"I found someone alive," He said into the microphone as he shut down his
mech.
"That's not gonna work," Viktor mumbled as he poked around his ShadowCat.
"I wonder if..." He had to get his mech repaired before anyone of those
mercenaries come back. Besides, he has to get the word out to the Keshik
that Eteris is down. His home was gone.
Suddenly he heard the distinct sound of a moving mech. He looked up and
saw a Raven in front of him. "Uh-- oh..." He closed his eyes and started
to pray. He felt like a rabbit in a lion's den. There was no escape now.
He knew that he was in for it. But the Mech shut down, and the pilot came
down slowly.
"Oh, he wants to rumble, eh? I can do that," Viktor said as he went into a
fighting stance. "What do you want?" He called out to the pilot.
"Hail," the pilot greeted him. "I come in peace."
"Sure, that's what they all said. You must mean that you've come to tear
me in pieces," Viktor narrowed his eyes at the pilot. "Come on, lets see
what you got."
The pilot raised his eyebrows at him. "I dont want to fight you."
Viktor relaxed. " You dont?"
The pilot shook his head.
"What do you want then?"
"I need to know what happened here," Orion walked towards him. " My name
is Orion Jackar. I came from Tella."
"Wow, did you? I thought no one survived that attack!" Viktor looked him
up and down. "My name is Viktor."
Before Orion could even mutter a reply, Viktor grabbed him by the collar
and threw him to the side. "WATCH OUT!" He shouted as he ducked for
cover behind the Mad Cat.
Orion looked up. It was Lex. He shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"Relax, Dude. I know him."
Viktor sighed in relief as he watched the Mad Cat stop and the brown maned
pilot climbed down of the mech. He straightened up as the man approached.
" Hail, I am Lex Kelvin."
Viktor nodded. "Viktor," he introduced himself. "They attacked at 1300
hours. We touched base and communicated with Central Command Center up on
Huntress, but it looked like they also had their hands full. As we were
being ambushed here, they are fighting off invaders from Clan Nova Cats.
Our Command Center was the first to go down then they took everything out.
It was a whole army, about 50 Mercs terrorized everyone. Destroying
everything they lay their sights on. It was terrible."'
He paused for breath. "The civilians were led to jumpships, one of them
was destroyed before they can even take off. The others, I hope will make
it to Londerholm. Last I heard, they brought the Princess there too. Damn
Mercs! They caught us off guard! We were all busy getting everything ready
to deliver the Mechs that the Khan needed on the Battlefield up north,
that was the last we heard from the Khan. I dont know, but it does seem
kinda fishy the way they attacked all Ice Hellion Camps at once."
"What else did you hear from the North?" Orion asked.
"I dont know, nothing more, but I'm guessing that they survived," Viktor
looked at them hopefully.
"Well.. there is only one way to find out," Lex said.
Orion nodded." Already ahead of you, mate!" He said to Lex then turned to
Viktor. "You need a lift, Buddy?"
On the Northside of Huntress, Matthew was turned on the dropship's
extended radar and tried once more to contact any Ice Hellion that might
still be out there. Suddenly, he heard a blip from the computer. "What
the?!" He looked more closely at the screen. There was a Mad Cat and a
Raven coming towards them from 1000 meters. He turned around to call Shin
Kell and Jaxon who were busy trying to repair the Daishi.
"Guys, someone's coming," He called out to them.
"NOT AGAIN!" Jaxon groaned. "We dont have any more ammo."
Suddenly, the Comm crackled. Shin pushed Matthew to talk on the
microphone. "Is anyone out there?" Matthew said slowly.
"Command Center, this is Point 5 Viktor from Eteris requesting permission
to enter Huntress Base. Password: Elise," The man from the Raven said. His
face showed up on the screen. He was wearing a torn Ice Hellion uniform.
Matthew looked up at Jaxon with a quizzical look. Jaxon nodded.
"Permission granted." Matthew said on the microphone as they quickly
hurried down.
After a few minutes, the Raven and the Mad Cat were docked in front of the
Dropship. They approached Shin, Jaxon and Matthew who were waiting for
them.
"Hail," Lex Kelvin greeted them.
"Hail," Jaxon replied as they shook hands. "I am Nova Commander Jaxon Cage
of the 7th Attack Cluster. This is 1st Mechwarrior Matthew Rood and that
is Shin Kell. Welcome to Huntress."
"I am Lex Kelvin, formerly from Tella and this is Orion Jackar also from
Tella. That over there, is Viktor the only survivor from Eteris," Lex
replied as they all greeted each other.
"We are here to report the status of Eteris to the Khan. Do you know where
we can find him?" Viktor asked.
Jaxon shook his head sadly. "The Khan has been taken down on the
Battlefield. We are all that is left of that battle." He said as he
produced the necklace from his pocket.
"And so are we," Orion said. His hazel eyes narrowed. "So they attacked
both villages the same time. Cowards! Why cant they just leave the
civilians alone and leave the fighting to the Touman? Tella and Babylon
went first at the same time. Then Hector, and Barcella. Now Eteris and
Huntress are done for too. How about Londerholm? Have you contacted anyone
else?"
"You were the only ones to respond," Matthew told them. "We were about to
take off and set off to Londerholm to check if anyone else made it out
there. You are welcome to come with us. My sister recorded her last
report on this Diary when we found her."
Matthew let them listen to Lilith's recording. Fury was building in their
eyes as they listened to the sounds of their people in pain.
Lex looked away from them. He couldnt bear it anymore. "Lets start off to
Londerholm." He said as all of them nodded in agreement and hurried to
prepare.
"Any word from my father?" Cassandra Elise Taney demanded as she barged in
the doors of the Command Center.
"Princess, what are you doing here? You-- should be---" a young man who
was manning the comm looked up to her startled.
"Where else should I be, private?" She demanded. The young man lowered his
head.
"There is no sign of his life meter, me lady. Nowhere on Huntress. I also
recieved word that Lore Master Cage is dead and there are more evacuees
that are coming from Eteris. Seems like they were attacked the same time
as we were," the young blonde pilot reported to her.
"Thank you, ummm..."
"Kristov" the young pilot smiled weakly.
"Thank You Kristov, keep on it, " She smiled back at the pilot then turned
to another pilot. " You, tell the nurses down at the barracks that the
people from Eteris are coming. Ask them how the Canisters are and give me
the status of our rations. I dont want our people to starve." She said as
she collapsed on the Major's chair.
At once, Sarafina, her Nanny rushed up to her. " You should be resting,
Cassandra. You are still weak. We can handle this."
"Who will handle this Sarafina?" she asked the elderly lady. "The Keshik
are all dead. LoreMaster Cage is gone. None of the officers are here--
what I have are Rookie pilots who didnt even finish training. I have a
duty to the Hellions."
Sarafina nodded. "I understand. " She said as she stroked the young
woman's perfect black hair.
Cassandra leaned against the older woman. "Nana, I'm scared."
"I know," Sarafina replied. "I know."
Cassandra's tears fell as she clasped the Hellion pendant close to her
heart. Her father had given it to her before they left for battle a week
before. "Daddy, come home..." She whispered as she rested her head.
"My Lady?" A male voice broke into her thoughts.
Cassandra quickly wiped her tears away and turned to face the young man.
It was Kristov. "Yes Kristov?"
"I intercepted an Ice Hellion Dropship around 354,000 Miles away from us.
They had a friendly signal and they were trying to contact base," The
young pilot blushed as he spoke.
"Good work, Kristov," she smiled and patted the young man's hand. "Put
them through"
"At once my princess," he replied as he projected a blurry image on the
video Screen in front of her.
"Hail," Cassandra greeted them.
"Hail, Princess Cassandra," Jaxon Cage's image and voice talked back at
her. He was one of her father's favorite Nova Commanders. Tears sprang to
her eyes.
"Jaxon! How is my father?" she stood up.
"Cassandra, you better sit down." Jaxon said as he fumbled with his front
pocket. He showed her the Khan's pendant.
"NO!" Cassandra screamed as she recognized her father's necklace. "Jaxon,
tell me that--"
"I'm sorry," Jaxon shook his head. Tears sprang out from his eyes.
Cassandra sobbed silently. "Hurry here, Jaxon." She said as she motioned
Kristov to turn off the Comm.
"Cassandra? Cassandra! Damn that girl" Jaxon said as the girl turned off
the Comm. He turned to Viktor who looked up at him. " You heard what she
said. Lets move it!"
"Aye-aye Cap'n!" Viktor saluted and then turned on the throttle full speed
ahead.
Mission Objective: Totally Eliminate Eteris from Huntress. Spare no one.
Lex Kelvin stared at the screen of his Mad Cat. He could not believe what
he just read. He blinked and read it over again. It was still there. His
mission was to murder and destroy the whole village. Who the hell thinks
this up? Why? That was a question that he would like to answer. He looked
around him as the members of the mercenary unit moved out into the
village. How could they kill all those innocent people? How could they
trade money for lives? How greedy can you get?
He closed his eyes and a horror from 10 years ago played over in his head.
It was a beautiful night in the Ice Hellion village of Tella. The stars
were shining so bright as he took his sweet Calista home. They shared a
kiss under the moonlight. When the silence was broken...10 BattleMechs
plauged the village, destroying everything in sight. Some of them never
woke up from thier slumber. The others ran out in frenzy as the huge
killers trampled on them, shooting them and blasting them to pieces.
Calista was lost from him in the chaos. He called out to her, but there
was another voice that called out to him. He whirled around to see his
mother,bleeding begging him to free her from under a huge slab of stone.
His father, Star Col. Slade Kelvin, lay motionless a few meters away from
her. He quickly went to her and tried to pry her out, but before he can
budge the rock, his mother let out a last cry and then all life went away
from his body.
He ran madly towards the hangar where they kept a Battlemech for
emergency. He was only a rookie pilot then, but he had to do what he can.
He boarded the Chimera and quickly headed out to where the murderers were.
He blasted the nearest one as it was firing gause rifles at the people who
were running around it. It turned towards him and blasted his mech with a
large ER Laser. The impact was too much for him. His head hit the wall of
his cockpit and he blacked out. When he came to, they were gone. He
quickly went down from the Chimera and looked around his village.-- a few
paces away from him, Calista's head caught his eye. He screamed and vowed
vengeance.
From then on, he wandered around the planets, training, and acquiring
skills and alliances, looking for clues to who or what devilish mind
ordered the murder of these people. He joined up with mercenaries and
assassins, merciless killers who kill for money or vengeance. He didnt
care about money-- what he needs was the latter. He built up clues that
led up to the Grand Kurultai, but cannot pinpoint the mastermind. He knows
that the other clans and houses fear the Ice Hellions, who were by far,
one of the best clans in and out of the Inner Sphere. They were advanced
in technology, their people were trained the best, and their Touman was
well prepared for any battle. They cannot strike the Touman ( fighting arm
of the clan), so they struck the Hellions where it hurt them the most.
They struck them at the heart. They struck the villages, wiping out each
and every Ice Hellion Village from the maps. Then, the Clans will turn
against the Ice Hellions and finish them off.
He opened his eyes in realization. Eteris was the last of the Ice Hellion
Villages. If they do this, it will be the end of all the Ice Hellions. He
cannot murder his own people-- but he has a chance to save them. He turned
up the speed of his Osiris and ran ahead of the pack. He has to get there
before everyone else. He has to get to Khan Asa Taney.
"Whoa there horsey!" Orion Jackar's voice called out to Lex as he passed
his Raven. "You wanna kick ass this early in the morning? Whatcha up to
Buddy?"
"Do you know what village Eteris is?" Lex asked his friend as he slowed
down. Orion was one of the only survivors from Tella. He had known him
since he was born. Lex found him hiding behind a rock that night as he
searched for survivors.
"No, but if you'd tell me , I'd know!" Orion's cheerful voice chuckled. "
I havent even read the mission, what are we doing in Eteris?"
"Eteris is another Ice Hellion village, genius," Lex said in an
exasperated voice. "Remember what happened to Tella?"
"Are we going to ----?" Orion's voice cracked. It was a memory he had
long wanted to forget, but cant.
" I'm going there to warn them and get everyone out before these guys tear
them apart," Lex told him as he speeded up. "Are you coming with me?"
" I'm not about to let the Ice Hellions die out. Lead the way, Lex," Orion
said as he pushed the throttle to full speed.
Navpoint Delta reached.
The Raven and the Mad Cat approached the high walls of Eteris. It was
beautiful with white walls on the snow. It looks like a village in heaven.
It was unusually silent for such a busy, Mech-producing village. There
were no sounds of machinery, no music nor laughter. It seems that the city
was asleep. They entered the gates. Their eyes grew wide when they saw
what was inside. The city was not asleep. It was dead. They were too late.
"Lex, they didnt send any advanced parties here, did they?" Orion asked as
he drew out his mini pulse laser gun.
"I think they did," Lex sighed as he looked around. "Lets split up and
look for any survivors. call me when you find anything."
"Roger that," Orion said as he headed westward and Lex turned right.
Lex sighed. This is what he feared. The last of the major Ice Hellion
Villages was gone. What was the Khan doing? Why is he allowing for such
murder? Why doesnt he send his men to protect him. Then a thought crossed
his mind. The Khan must be dead. The Keshik must all be dead.
Meanwhile, Orion was thoroughly searching the western region of the
village. He remembered the horror of what happened to his home. He spied
on a man who died sleeping in his bed with his wife. "Sweet dreams," he
whispered to them. A child's body lay mangled in the middle of the road.
'Just like Tella,' he thought. Why would they want the Ice hellions gone?
what did these innocent people do to them? His mind was racing. He shook
his head to clear it of the thoughts. He has to keep a clear eye on anyone
who was alive.
Just then, his eyes focused on a man walking around a broken down
ShadowCat. The man was wearing an Ice Hellion uniform. He immediately
contacted Lex.
"I found someone alive," He said into the microphone as he shut down his
mech.
"That's not gonna work," Viktor mumbled as he poked around his ShadowCat.
"I wonder if..." He had to get his mech repaired before anyone of those
mercenaries come back. Besides, he has to get the word out to the Keshik
that Eteris is down. His home was gone.
Suddenly he heard the distinct sound of a moving mech. He looked up and
saw a Raven in front of him. "Uh-- oh..." He closed his eyes and started
to pray. He felt like a rabbit in a lion's den. There was no escape now.
He knew that he was in for it. But the Mech shut down, and the pilot came
down slowly.
"Oh, he wants to rumble, eh? I can do that," Viktor said as he went into a
fighting stance. "What do you want?" He called out to the pilot.
"Hail," the pilot greeted him. "I come in peace."
"Sure, that's what they all said. You must mean that you've come to tear
me in pieces," Viktor narrowed his eyes at the pilot. "Come on, lets see
what you got."
The pilot raised his eyebrows at him. "I dont want to fight you."
Viktor relaxed. " You dont?"
The pilot shook his head.
"What do you want then?"
"I need to know what happened here," Orion walked towards him. " My name
is Orion Jackar. I came from Tella."
"Wow, did you? I thought no one survived that attack!" Viktor looked him
up and down. "My name is Viktor."
Before Orion could even mutter a reply, Viktor grabbed him by the collar
and threw him to the side. "WATCH OUT!" He shouted as he ducked for
cover behind the Mad Cat.
Orion looked up. It was Lex. He shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"Relax, Dude. I know him."
Viktor sighed in relief as he watched the Mad Cat stop and the brown maned
pilot climbed down of the mech. He straightened up as the man approached.
" Hail, I am Lex Kelvin."
Viktor nodded. "Viktor," he introduced himself. "They attacked at 1300
hours. We touched base and communicated with Central Command Center up on
Huntress, but it looked like they also had their hands full. As we were
being ambushed here, they are fighting off invaders from Clan Nova Cats.
Our Command Center was the first to go down then they took everything out.
It was a whole army, about 50 Mercs terrorized everyone. Destroying
everything they lay their sights on. It was terrible."'
He paused for breath. "The civilians were led to jumpships, one of them
was destroyed before they can even take off. The others, I hope will make
it to Londerholm. Last I heard, they brought the Princess there too. Damn
Mercs! They caught us off guard! We were all busy getting everything ready
to deliver the Mechs that the Khan needed on the Battlefield up north,
that was the last we heard from the Khan. I dont know, but it does seem
kinda fishy the way they attacked all Ice Hellion Camps at once."
"What else did you hear from the North?" Orion asked.
"I dont know, nothing more, but I'm guessing that they survived," Viktor
looked at them hopefully.
"Well.. there is only one way to find out," Lex said.
Orion nodded." Already ahead of you, mate!" He said to Lex then turned to
Viktor. "You need a lift, Buddy?"
On the Northside of Huntress, Matthew was turned on the dropship's
extended radar and tried once more to contact any Ice Hellion that might
still be out there. Suddenly, he heard a blip from the computer. "What
the?!" He looked more closely at the screen. There was a Mad Cat and a
Raven coming towards them from 1000 meters. He turned around to call Shin
Kell and Jaxon who were busy trying to repair the Daishi.
"Guys, someone's coming," He called out to them.
"NOT AGAIN!" Jaxon groaned. "We dont have any more ammo."
Suddenly, the Comm crackled. Shin pushed Matthew to talk on the
microphone. "Is anyone out there?" Matthew said slowly.
"Command Center, this is Point 5 Viktor from Eteris requesting permission
to enter Huntress Base. Password: Elise," The man from the Raven said. His
face showed up on the screen. He was wearing a torn Ice Hellion uniform.
Matthew looked up at Jaxon with a quizzical look. Jaxon nodded.
"Permission granted." Matthew said on the microphone as they quickly
hurried down.
After a few minutes, the Raven and the Mad Cat were docked in front of the
Dropship. They approached Shin, Jaxon and Matthew who were waiting for
them.
"Hail," Lex Kelvin greeted them.
"Hail," Jaxon replied as they shook hands. "I am Nova Commander Jaxon Cage
of the 7th Attack Cluster. This is 1st Mechwarrior Matthew Rood and that
is Shin Kell. Welcome to Huntress."
"I am Lex Kelvin, formerly from Tella and this is Orion Jackar also from
Tella. That over there, is Viktor the only survivor from Eteris," Lex
replied as they all greeted each other.
"We are here to report the status of Eteris to the Khan. Do you know where
we can find him?" Viktor asked.
Jaxon shook his head sadly. "The Khan has been taken down on the
Battlefield. We are all that is left of that battle." He said as he
produced the necklace from his pocket.
"And so are we," Orion said. His hazel eyes narrowed. "So they attacked
both villages the same time. Cowards! Why cant they just leave the
civilians alone and leave the fighting to the Touman? Tella and Babylon
went first at the same time. Then Hector, and Barcella. Now Eteris and
Huntress are done for too. How about Londerholm? Have you contacted anyone
else?"
"You were the only ones to respond," Matthew told them. "We were about to
take off and set off to Londerholm to check if anyone else made it out
there. You are welcome to come with us. My sister recorded her last
report on this Diary when we found her."
Matthew let them listen to Lilith's recording. Fury was building in their
eyes as they listened to the sounds of their people in pain.
Lex looked away from them. He couldnt bear it anymore. "Lets start off to
Londerholm." He said as all of them nodded in agreement and hurried to
prepare.
"Any word from my father?" Cassandra Elise Taney demanded as she barged in
the doors of the Command Center.
"Princess, what are you doing here? You-- should be---" a young man who
was manning the comm looked up to her startled.
"Where else should I be, private?" She demanded. The young man lowered his
head.
"There is no sign of his life meter, me lady. Nowhere on Huntress. I also
recieved word that Lore Master Cage is dead and there are more evacuees
that are coming from Eteris. Seems like they were attacked the same time
as we were," the young blonde pilot reported to her.
"Thank you, ummm..."
"Kristov" the young pilot smiled weakly.
"Thank You Kristov, keep on it, " She smiled back at the pilot then turned
to another pilot. " You, tell the nurses down at the barracks that the
people from Eteris are coming. Ask them how the Canisters are and give me
the status of our rations. I dont want our people to starve." She said as
she collapsed on the Major's chair.
At once, Sarafina, her Nanny rushed up to her. " You should be resting,
Cassandra. You are still weak. We can handle this."
"Who will handle this Sarafina?" she asked the elderly lady. "The Keshik
are all dead. LoreMaster Cage is gone. None of the officers are here--
what I have are Rookie pilots who didnt even finish training. I have a
duty to the Hellions."
Sarafina nodded. "I understand. " She said as she stroked the young
woman's perfect black hair.
Cassandra leaned against the older woman. "Nana, I'm scared."
"I know," Sarafina replied. "I know."
Cassandra's tears fell as she clasped the Hellion pendant close to her
heart. Her father had given it to her before they left for battle a week
before. "Daddy, come home..." She whispered as she rested her head.
"My Lady?" A male voice broke into her thoughts.
Cassandra quickly wiped her tears away and turned to face the young man.
It was Kristov. "Yes Kristov?"
"I intercepted an Ice Hellion Dropship around 354,000 Miles away from us.
They had a friendly signal and they were trying to contact base," The
young pilot blushed as he spoke.
"Good work, Kristov," she smiled and patted the young man's hand. "Put
them through"
"At once my princess," he replied as he projected a blurry image on the
video Screen in front of her.
"Hail," Cassandra greeted them.
"Hail, Princess Cassandra," Jaxon Cage's image and voice talked back at
her. He was one of her father's favorite Nova Commanders. Tears sprang to
her eyes.
"Jaxon! How is my father?" she stood up.
"Cassandra, you better sit down." Jaxon said as he fumbled with his front
pocket. He showed her the Khan's pendant.
"NO!" Cassandra screamed as she recognized her father's necklace. "Jaxon,
tell me that--"
"I'm sorry," Jaxon shook his head. Tears sprang out from his eyes.
Cassandra sobbed silently. "Hurry here, Jaxon." She said as she motioned
Kristov to turn off the Comm.
"Cassandra? Cassandra! Damn that girl" Jaxon said as the girl turned off
the Comm. He turned to Viktor who looked up at him. " You heard what she
said. Lets move it!"
"Aye-aye Cap'n!" Viktor saluted and then turned on the throttle full speed
ahead.