Chapter 2
~Encounters~
The barrier between titanium plating and burning sand vanished in a blast of searing heat as the aft loading
door opened. A deep sound akin to the roaring of a demon accompanied the severe change of temperature, as if
some infernal monster were welcoming you to an eternity of scorching solitude. Slim tendrils of a burning breeze
lapped at Nerissa as she departed, but they dared not touch her. Incubated sand whipped through the air like the
demon whips of the taskmasters of hell, but they dared not harm her. The planet itself trembled in fear at her
presence.
Water smites the mightiest of flames.
These were the wastelands, the part of Titania that faced the sun eternally. Because of the rotation of
Uranus and how Titania spun around it, one side of the planet was covered in eternal daylight, the other in frozen
darkness. Nyason and Titania Hold were both located on the thin belt of inhabitable land between the day and night
sides. Because the moon twisted a little along its axis in relation to the sun, it gave the impression of night and day.
But out here, in the wastelands, time was nonexistent. Out here, nothing changed. While it wasn't very hot or bright in
the cities, the ground itself seethed and writhed in the wastelands of the dayside. The hellish furnace was a place only
the most foolish of fools even dared to venture.
It was into this place that Nerissa went, alone.
Her hair whipped about her pale face as the huge cruiser lifted off once more, and she managed to keep her
footing as the huge blast from the engines threw it away at incredible speed. There she stood, watching it fly farther
and farther away, and in a twinkle of sunlight, it vanished from her view. Still, she stared, until the dust settled, and she
made sure that no one was nearby. Only then did she begin to walk.
The wastelands swallowed her into their endless expanses. Her face read nothing, her expression blank.
Her footsteps were methodical. Her breathing was regular. It was as if she was moving not of her own will. It was the
final leg of a journey long in the making.
Indeed, her objective was far from trivial.
Her footsteps would have trailed for miles…but the hellion waves of the wasteland winds washed them away
in the instant that they left their mark on the desert floor. As if she never had come this way. As if she hadn't existed in
the first place.
*From what sort of world did this woman come, to be deeply saddened and so much in pain?*
*I know not, my friend, but the fates have said this: The gods should be wary of echoes of flame.*
Other thoughts quietly escaped her lips, thoughts of sorrow, thoughts of regret, thoughts of despair. Bright
pangs of happier times forced their way through at points, but their shines were drowned amidst her own evils.
And still, Nerissa continued her journey, through the burning sands of the enemy's maw. An island of color in
a world of beige.
Up and down, over dunes and valleys. Every step brought her closer to her goal. And every step brought
forth another regret.
*Does He send this boy to pierce me upon my cross of fate…?*
And as the last of an avalanche of thoughts assailed her mind, a trail of tears began to fall in her wake.
The shining drops ran into the burning wastes and dry sands, a greater distance than any mortal could hope
to walk. The currents of heat brooded in their impotence, the barrier they inexorably formed now pierced by an
invincible intruder. The unforgiving desert was forced to support her feet as she traversed the untamed wilds.
In the inhospitable wastelands of this moon, nothing lived, nothing came, and nothing went.
Except for Nerissa.
"We'll be over the canyon in ten seconds."
Air was torn to ribbons as the bow of a United Earth Federation picket cruiser knifed through the sky. While
the atmosphere blew by at incredible velocity, the mood within was mysteriously calm. It was as if time was ticking
down in some unknown way, and they were powerless to stop it…
Alex carefully guided the propulsion control matrix, using a gentle touch that he really wasn't accustomed to
using at this time of the morning. An idle thought of bliss crossed his mind as he reminded himself of the coffee
shortage, and the fact that he was fortunate enough to grab some. The beans required for the drink were grown as a
priority crop inside the garrison, along with potatoes and wheat. Of those three, it was a given that the coffee beans
would be saved first in case of an accident. *Heaven forbid we not have our daily wake-up drink.* A red light blinked
on his holomap, and he frowned, carefully urging the matrix back to the left. The light winked out, and he checked the
rest of the display for any aberrations that might be present. The instruments on the cruiser provided him with a radar
scan, and that data was then compiled and translated into a three-dimensional map, beamed directly into his optic
nerve.
"Make sure you keep an eye out, Alex…that map data isn't exactly one-hundred percent accurate, you
know," Kyle chided.
The map he was using was based on data compiled during an early survey expedition into the Titanian
wastelands. Even the military had no purpose for coming out this far; there was nothing of use, save a few
unremarkable mineral deposits. An eternity of barren deserts, as far as the eye could see. And now, they were racing
toward a place almost directly on line with the radiation coming from the center of the Solar System. The piercing
sunlight was so intense in the thin atmosphere that temperatures often reached one hundred and seventy degrees
above zero. The mapping expedition that had once dared to come to this place was a legend in of itself. NSM-X1,
Commander Ian Clarke presiding, had departed from Nyason with the intent to chart the entire moon and create a
navigation map. The map that was now being used by the militia.
The mission ended in disaster. They were poorly equipped for the rigors of the day side. Three of their
number perished from heat exhaustion. When the four survivors limped back to civilization, they would not speak of
the days they spent alone amidst the burning sands.
And now, here they were. The vast expanses of the Titanian wastelands stretched to the horizon, with the
occasional exception of a small mountain or two, and the remains of massive impact craters, which sped by beneath
their feet. Alex's map showed the research expedition's findings in green, but the actual readings taken by the
instruments on board the cruiser often told him differently, superimposing the present-day landmarks in yellow.
"This map is really out of date…there could be a giant crevasse here, and we wouldn't even spot it until we
were right on top of it, Kyle," Alex remarked, leaning his head to the side.
"It can't be helped, we don't really have time to play junior cartographers." Kyle glanced at his own readouts,
and the console gave a few beeps of alarm back at him.
Kyle sighed, and Cassy narrowed her eyebrows.
"There it is."
In a few more seconds, the ground itself vanished, and gave way to a cavernous abyss. The largest
landmark on the entire planetoid, and a place only a handful of individuals had ever dared to go, Sirtar Canyon. Since
Titania didn't have an atmosphere until recently, it was subject to the bombardment of angry groups of asteroids, space
dust, and radiation storms. Some horrible catastrophe had caused this massive gorge, and it would exist until the
moon itself was destroyed, no doubt. A meaningless feature on a map, amid hundreds and hundreds of names.
Why Nerissa would tell them to go to Sirtar Canyon, Kyle did not know.
"Can we take the cruiser into the canyon?" Kyle walked to the starboard viewport, and eyed the land below.
Cassy turned to her right and checked one of her monitors.
"The temperature at the bottom is seventy-plus degrees…we can go in, but I wouldn't suggest going outside
for a tan."
"Well, I wouldn't worry. I don't plan on staying here any longer than we have to. Alex, you picking up
anything strange on the EM spectrum?" Turning his chair around to face a small console, Alex switched his headset
interface over, and glanced at the readings now being displayed.
"Sensors suggest that there's a…well, a something down there." He leant backwards and crossed his arms,
still looking.
"Was that another one of your jokes?" Kyle asked, rather annoyed.
"No, not at all…whatever this thing is, it wasn't here when the cartographers mapped this place twelve years
ago," Alex explained, placing a hand on his chin in thought. He reached out to tap a few keys on the equipment
console, and looked over the new displays. "This thing is putting off all sorts of energy…radio, x-ray, microwave,
gamma…I'm surprised it doesn't have its own holonet channel."
Kyle looked down into the canyon, but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Cassy, take us toward
whatever this thing is…I want a closer look."
"Right…pulse drives powering down. Alex, make sure the engines don't overheat, it's going to get real hot
down there." Cassy watched her screen with intent. Alex nodded an affirmative, and switched back over to his piloting
station.
Adjusting his weight as the cruiser made its descent into the canyon, Kyle wiped a bead of sweat from his
brow, and blinked in confusion. He was sure that the temperature was rising. The air was starting to get a bit muggy,
and he noticed that the metal handrails were starting to sweat from condensation. Wiping some moisture off his
intercom panel, he keyed in the code for main engineering.
"Hey Williams, what's with environmental control? It's worse than the barracks in here!" Resting his weight
on the panel, he looked around, and rubbed moisture off more of the instruments.
"What environmental control? It broke three weeks ago," Williams' voice came back through the grated
speaker. "And don't you whine to me, you've got it easy compared to us back by the damn core."
"Tch…alright," Kyle replied, flipping off his intercom. "It looks like we're not going to be staying long, it's
going to get way too hot in here."
"Well, from what I'm seeing, we were hot already," Alex said, staring at Cassy.
"Don't make me slap you again," Cassy threatened.
"Whatever you say, sugar."
Kyle lightly chuckled. The bottom of the canyon was coming up fast now, and the wind outside was
becoming visible from all the sand it picked up. Soft metallic clinking noises began to frequent themselves as tiny
rocks and pebbles slammed against the hull.
"That's good, set us down," He said, before flipping his intercom once more. "Break out five heat suits, along
with weapons rigged for weathering."
"Just what do you think you're doing?" Alex asked, turning around in his seat and removing his headset.
"I'm going out there." Kyle flicked off his intercom and headed for the bridge door.
"Not without me you aren't."
"Nah, you can stay here and play with Miss Laurens."
"Really?" Alex asked, with interest.
"Why don't you just leave me alone?" Cassy asked, giving Alex a look that clearly stated that she'd rather
stab herself with a rusty nail.
"Oh, come now, I thought there was supposed to be some kind of bond between the people that are in the
military. Y'know, like war buds," He explained, patronizing Cassy relentlessly.
"Don't get all buddy-buddy with me, bucko." Standing up in her best military fashion, she faced Kyle. "Sir, I
request permission to join the disembarkation maneuvers."
"Denied." Kyle managed to rattle that off without even thinking, and jumped into the lift before he could be
yelled at.
Dropping her shoulders in defeat, Cassy glanced over to the equipment locker, where Alex was making a
busybody of himself. "What are you doing, anyway?"
Turning around with a smile, he chuckled, and then went right back to rummaging. "I'm finding some
romantic music. Can't very well have a romantic dinner without matching atmosphere."
Resigning herself to her fate, Cassy fell into the command chair, and sighed.
"I hate the military."
Incredible blasts of heated air writhed about the cruiser as it descended to the canyon floor. Upon
touchdown, the engines kicked up so much sand that the entire section they had set down upon was concealed by a
thick cloud of whirling dust. As the sand drifted in clouds around the shining picket cruiser and then settled, five forms
silently emerged, and stepped across the soft canyon floor with weapons ready. The silence was overwhelming at
times, until something that the cartographers liked to call the Tunnel Effect happened. The only thing that ever
reached down this far was an occasional gust of wind that came tearing down the steep walls of the valley and
screaming through the enclosed rock walls. The sheer force was enough to shatter boulders to rubble, and the noise it
made was akin to the screeching of a bird of prey magnified several times. The suits they wore provided a semblence
of protection, at least from the wind itself. No one could doubt that they wouldn't do much against an avalanche.
Understandably, Kyle wanted to get this overwith quickly.
The singular piece of scanning equipment they could find that was heat-resistant was a G7-series EM
scanner, a little short-range thing that was built at least ten years ago. It softly beeped in intervals, the length of time
between the tones an indication of how close they were. Kyle and his party slowly fanned out in a V shape as they
followed the guidance of their only tool. Holding his weapon in one hand and reading the instrument's output with the
other, he glanced about in curiosity.
"What are we looking for?" A crewman by the name of Vance asked from the right flank. "We've got to be
able to see this thing if it's giving off as much radiation as Alex says it is..."
"Your guess is as good as mine," Kyle responded. "The fact that we CAN'T see it has me worried, though."
"That doesn't help much."
"What, you think I know what we're out here for or something?" He turned his head a bit to face Vance.
"Well, you were sitting around with that Nerissa woman for awhile. Didn't she tell you anything?"
"No." Kyle wasn't paying much attention anymore.
"That doesn't help much either."
The sensor unexpectedly decided to undergo a system restart mid-stride, so Kyle turned it off and on again
to recalibrate it. Sweeping the sensor in a wide arc several times, he noted where the beeping was strongest, then
confirmed it on the small readout screen.
"Whatever this thing is, we're not going to miss it. I'd have to walk straight up to throw this sensor off."
Looking up ahead, Kyle raised his rifle to point toward a formation of rocks. The other men glanced in the
same direction, and nodded. The group continued on.
The claustrophobia of his heat suit was starting to get at Kyle. He breathed heavily, and tried to get a bit
more oxygen. The special material he wore was designed to be totally impervious to heat, which carried the minor side
effect of trapping all your body heat inside. It was like living in a wet plastic bag, not comfortable at all.
"How're we doing out there?"
Alex's voice came through a bit grainy over his suit intercom. Kyle sucked in a deep breath and scanned his
surroundings.
"No sign of the source of the readings yet. It's hot as hell in these things, though."
"Aw, tough it out. It builds character."
"I wonder if you'd say the same thing if you were actually in one," He retorted, smirking a bit.
"Hey, you decided that I wasn't coming. Besides, I think I'd rather have stayed here anyway."
"I hope you're having a good time with Miss Laurens, Alex."
Some disgusted laughter was heard in the background.
"Oh, she's just fine. Apparently she has no opinion on the validity of human courtship rituals." His voice
became distant for a moment as he shouted a few things away from the transmitter. "And she doesn't take a joke too
well, either. So rude."
Kyle chuckled. "We'll keep you posted."
"Right. Cruiser out."
As they continued on, Williams started paying more and more attention to the cliff faces. Adams, who was
on the left flank next to him, followed suit and tried to make sense of what was so interesting.
"The cliff walls are made of sandstone, that's why the bottom is so soft." Williams took a few steps out of
formation to drag his hand across the face of the rock. "It's kind of strange, though...this looks like water erosion."
"It's sandstone alright...but water erosion? I don't think so. Take a look, this rock is stained red under the
'waterline'. I doubt water did this."
Adams had always been a bit of a geology nut. He stopped for a moment to examine the cliff face in more
detail. Kyle, Vance, and McGinnis went ahead at a slow pace.
"I'd say this was something a bit thicker than water...and more corrosive, too. Look at how the rock is eaten
away in these indentations..." He pointed with his free hand at some cuts and pits in the wall. "This is more akin to
acid, or some kind of liquid coolant...either way, you'd have to go up or down the pH scale to do this. From the red
color, I'd say it was some sort of high-test machine fuel..."
"You're talking about the iron residue on the rocks...I get you. I bet it was left by the mapping expedition."
Williams rested his free hand on his hip, and stared at the area in question. "I don't remember the report saying they
had any fuel leaks, though..."
"They probably didn't think it was significant enough to report," Adams added. "After all, it's just a little bit of
gas..."
Glancing around, Williams took on a cynical tone. "...I think we're wrong. These marks are all over the
canyon."
As the two of them analyzed the situation, Kyle and the others had stopped about fifty feet away. He was
checking the scanner readings for anything abnormal in the energy spectrum. McGinnis decided to get a bit curious,
set aside his rifle, and peeked over his commander's shoulder.
"Get past the high score on that game yet?" Kyle generally ignored him, but then knitted his brow and tapped
two keys on the scanner.
"This is really odd...I'm detecting radio waves, infrared, ultraviolet, microwaves, x-rays, and even gamma
radiation...but I don't think this thing is giving off anything in the visible spectrum to speak of." Training the scanner in
the direction he thought the readings were originating from, Kyle narrowed the bandwidth to Infrared/Ultraviolet and
turned up the power. "...Just as I thought. There's an abrupt cut in the readings from red to violet."
"What are you saying..." Vance chimed in. "...we're not gonna be able to see this thing?"
"No, nothing of the sort. It's not like it's invisible or anything." The scanner powered down with a low-pitched
hum, and then was silent. "It's just not going to be blinding us with bursts of light. I wouldn't get too close, though...this
thing is radioactive. The gamma rays aren't that bad, but don't take this thing home with you."
"I wouldn't worry about that," McGinnis replied, feeding power through his pulse rifle with a supersonic whine.
"Whatever we find, I'm sure it won't be going much of anywhere."
Suddenly, the whine of McGinnis' pulse rifle powering up became a distant roaring noise. The men glanced
around with confused expressions, wondering what was causing it...
"Well, that's certainly not your pulse rifle," Vance joked.
The noise began to get louder. Laughter was quickly replaced with an air of tension. Williams and Adams
walked back over while scanning the surroundings. McGinnis looked to Kyle, who had his gaze locked on the other
end of the canyon.
"Alright, stay close. Get your weapons ready. I don't know what that is, but if it's unfriendly, it's not going to
live very long. Adams, take point. McGinnis, Vance, take the rear. Stay sharp." Pointing a finger to the positions he
wanted them in, Kyle fed the power through his weapon, and breathed heavily to get some oxygen. It was getting even
hotter than before.
They silently complied, and not another word was said. In a tight formation, they continued along the canyon
floor. The roaring was becoming even louder. Kyle couldn't help but glance around nervously.
*Left...no, right...back that way... Where is it coming from...?*
Inhale...exhale... It was getting kind of tough to breathe with all the moisture in his suit. The roar was like a
freight train.
*Why is it getting so hot...?*
Searching for an answer, he froze dead in his tracks. "When the volume of a gas is held constant,
temperature varies directly with pressure..."
Williams caught on a second later and looked upward just in time to see a titanic wall of sand falling down
upon them like a demonic horde.
"Get down! Stay on top of the sand!"
Kyle's warning came almost too late. As soon as they had dropped to the canyon floor, the massive
sandstorm landed right on top of them, and began to surge through the confined walls of the gorge. The noise became
overwhelming as huge amounts of burning sand began to fall upon their prone forms. The storm itself seemed to
begin to speak, as the noises changed in pitch and tone from reflecting off the walls. Horrifying, guttural roars that
brought forth images of creatures with horns and nightmares, alone in the dark. Their screaming was soon silenced as
the five men were completely swallowed by the canyon floor and the storm itself. First legs and bodies, then
heads...and finally their grasping hands. Fingertips wiggled in terror as they were quickly absorbed by the howling
inferno.
Two minutes...three minutes...seven minutes. Slowly, the winds died down, and the remaining grains of
sand fell to the ground like a soft, sparkling rain.
When the winds had ceased, and all was silent, there was no sign that men had ever been to this place.
In the middle of the desert wastelands of Titania, there are rocks. There is also a large quantity of sand, and
various unremarkable minerals. If you're lucky, you might find a particularly hardy plant in a shaded outcropping.
And there is a small house.
There shouldn't be a house, but there is.
Would you build a house in the middle of a desert, with no water and no way to escape to civilization? Of
course you wouldn't. It's just not very intellegent.
That is, it's not very intellegent if you intend on continuing your life.
In the scorching heat of Titania's day side, the only object you can find that was made by the hands of
humans is a glass dome, filled with grass, flowers, and a small structure.
It was here that Michiru stopped.
Slowly, she approached the glass dome. Just five steps, and she halted again.
The glassy material reflected her sad face as she stood before it, her likeness slightly warped by the convex
surface. It continued down to the sandy ground, forming a hemisphere of isolation. Directly on the other side, there
was grass. Wonderful, forest-green grass that rippled gently in an intangible cool breeze.
And there were flowers. Large, earthen pots of flowers, bubbling over with colorful petals and stems. They
were overgrown with whitish roots, which snaked downward until they reached the rich topsoil.
And there was a house.
Michiru watched her reflection in the glassy surface for a moment, watched tears stream down her face like
streams of silver. The pain and suffering in her eyes was so great, it chilled her heart to see herself.
*The gods should be wary of echoes of flame...*
The facade of a reflection that she saw should have changed her feelings in this moment...but she felt
nothing. Her heart was empty.
This, at long last, was her release.
She had experienced far worse indeed. The loss of Kyle and his shipmates shouldn't have even bothered
her. But it did, and so she cried. The smiling faces of hundreds of people all wished her good day, and she did not
flinch.
The goddess of the sea could not hold back her tears.
Slowly, she raised her hand up toward the glass, the reflective surface mirroring her every movement. She
spread her fingers apart, watched them in the glass. Her hand turned both ways, and she observed the light polish on
her nails. When she could no longer stand the pain of her existence, Michiru pushed her hand toward the glass.
And it passed right through.
o/' ...Umi ga hirogaru... o/'
o/' ...Kaze ga yuretekuru... o/'
o/' ...Sukoshi samui kedo... o/'
o/' ...Hashiridashite... o/'
"What IS that music?"
"Oh, calm down, it's just something I'm fond of." Alex was certainly appeared relaxed, as he kicked both feet
up on top of his console, and stuck both hands behind his head. "Romantic, isn't it?"
*Damn, he's irritating…* Cassy thanked whatever higher power existed that her thoughts were quieter than
the song being played. *Why can't he just leave me alone? I'm going to kill Kyle for doing this…*
She tried to take her mind off Alex, but the only other topic that filled her mind was Nerissa. Sittuations like
this always seemed to pop up whenever she had a short fuse.
*Just my luck that I'd end up with two troublemakers in the same day...* Why did that woman give her such a
hard time in the first place?
Her thoughts flashed back to her argument in front of her unit. *You're insubordinate.* That's what Nerissa
had intended to get across.
*Tch...I didn't want to make a bad first impression, and all she did was jump right on top of me! I don't need
any more enemies…*
Her hand lightly tapped the comm switch on her panel, and she spoke in a soft, steady voice.
"Commander, this is the cruiser, respond...Disembarkation party, report..."
"There's no point. He's probably ignoring us," Alex said, from his reclined position. "Why don't you relax?
He'll be back in a little to rescue you from the terrible, terrible army man."
The habitual smirk on his face rubbed against some sore deep within the part of her mind that controlled
frustration. It wasn't what she needed right then, as she continued to think about her conduct earlier. *I can do
this...she's just trying to test me...and this guy...I have no idea what's wrong with him...*
It was an interesting first day so far, she thought. She had just come out of training, replacing a marine that
had just finished his term of service. Her decision to join the military was based on her father's wish to continue familiy
tradition... *Well, no point in thinking of the past this early in the morning.* She always thought that her family was
depending on a son...and they had ended up with her. Due to the overpopulation problems, her family was limited to
only two children, and her older sister shot any other hopes that a son could be had. It was all her fault, she knew
that...
Still, for some reason, no matter how hard she hit herself for not meeting her family's expectations, Cassy
tried to hold onto her femininity. It hurt her to know that she was unwanted, that she wasn't really her father's idea of a
child. However, she joined the military on his suggestion, just to prove to him that she could be as good as a son while
still being who she was.
*I can do this...I can win...*
Her wrist chronometer beeped twice. Glancing at it as her train of thought was abruptly derailed, she blinked
in confusion.
"It's been an hour already, and he hasn't checked in...don't you think we should do something?"
Alex had his eyes shut.
"Tch, how can you sleep at a time like this?" Cassy clenched a fist, and turned back to her station in anger.
"Relax, those suits have enough filtering power to last at least six hours in this heat. He has an emergency
beacon with him. They're moving together, so it's impossible that all of them would be incapacitated at once. And
don't forget that we're here. If the sensors picked up any change in readings, we'd know something was going on."
Alex opened one eye. "Besides, I think he's doing you a favor leaving you alone with me."
She sighed in annoyance. "So you weren't sleeping. Figures you'd pull something cute like pretending to do
so."
"Oh, ya think I'm cute," Alex added with a smile.
"Don't you ever give up? You know that I don't have any interest in you."
"I know that. Not that I'll listen or anything...but I know. Don't worry, you'll come around soon enough,
angel."
Cassy smartly turned her chair back to the piloting console, and depressurized the hydraulic system in the
crusier's port landing strut. With an explosion of compressed air and a crash of metal, the port side of the ship dropped
about twenty feet, leaving the floor tilted at a forty-five degree angle. Alex fell out of his chair in a perfect roll, tumbling
down the deck platings until he hit the bulkhead with a satisfying thud. Holding onto her chair with one hand, Cassy
tapped the hydraulic control again, righting the vessel. Groaning more in defeat than in pain, Alex didn't move from his
spot on the floor.
"Oops." Cassy chuckled under her breath.
"Hey, what the hell is going on up there?" The angry voice of crewman Stevenson was pretty clear to both of
the bridge officers. "I've got a bruise on my head that's the same color as what your face is gonna look like after I get
through with you! Goddamn you Alex..."
WIth a click, his voice ceased. Alex held a look of disbelief on his face, and he stretched both arms toward
the ceiling.
"What's up with that? Why is it automatically MY fault?"
"You should be more restrained with your pranks," Cassy reprimanded, crossing her arms.
"I'm gonna make you pay for that," Alex said, rubbing his head with one hand and pointing at a finger at his
assailant with the other.
She smiled lightly. It was a temporary victory, but it felt like she just won the war.
Beyond that, she didn't have time to do much other than widen her eyes in terror as the cruiser's proximity
alarm went off, and the bridge exploded into flame.
Inside the small house, inside the small bubble, there lived one person.
This person obviously had little contact with anyone, considering the isolation of their home. That having
been said, the choice of location was perfect for someone who didn't want to be disturbed. It took resources and
special equipment to even survive out here. To make it all the way to this place, that was something you had to
specially plan. There were no accidents that allowed people to find this house. There hadn't even been a person in
this remote area for at least a year.
And now, the silent form of a god passed through this place.
Michiru walked slowly across the soft grass, the cool air around her just like a spring day. It radiated peace,
calm, serenity…
The man-made concept of time ceased to exist, in this place. It seemed like someone had taken a piece of
eternity and sown it deep beaneath the surface, where it blossomed into a tiny speck of peace amid chaos.
Gently, her feet fell atop the grass, and her motion stopped. From within the house, there came a voice. A
proud, powerful voice...yet, it spoke in infinite kindness.
"I watch the flowers every day. Little by little, they overgrow their basins. I can't even tell where you planted
them anymore...but I won't touch them."
She nearly fell apart, at the sound of that voice.
"If I touched them...it wouldn't remind me of you any longer."
Michiru fell forward in a shower of tears, but she was caught and embraced in love and warmth a moment
later.
"I was afraid I would never see you again…"
She cried into the strong arms of the other, but gentle fingers ran through her hair in soothing motions.
"Shh...it's alright...it's alright now..."
"More people are going to die…young people…people with beautiful dreams," said she.
For a moment only, immeasurable power coursed through the other's veins...but it vanished as quickly as it
appeared.
"After all this time...after so much sorrow..."
Even as the other reiterated what she had come to found out, she was silent...
"At long last, He comes to finish us..."
"I don't care," she interjected. "I don't care about any of it! I'm never going back...never!"
The other looked back at her with surprise.
"I won't fight anymore...I *can't* fight anymore," said she. "The faces...I see the faces of every innocent we
ever sacrificed upon the faces of every person still alive... I see nothing but evil within myself whenever I am warmly
embraced by humanity... I've lost whatever semblence of a woman I used to be..."
The other listened with silent eyes.
"I've become...a monster..."
Her sorrows went on in sounds that defied words, and the other held her gently for what seemed like hours...
Hours were all they had left.
"Such a word doesn't suit someone as beautiful as you," said the other. "Nothing...*nothing* in this universe
could ever make you anything except an angel of light..."
Still, she cried, because she knew their fate. The thoughts entered her head just as forceful as before...just
as horrible...
"How can that ever come to pass, if we never leave this place? Why would I *ever* want to become a
destroyer of worlds, when I could stay here forever with you?"
She blinked upward at the other, her sense of reality wiped away. Her tears were brushed away by a
trembling hand.
"They'll save the galaxy…they always have."
She answered with a nod.
And they kissed.
Inhaling sharply, Kyle regained consciousness.
It was pitch black. The air inside his suit was burning hot; it hurt his lungs. He had to breathe deeply to get
enough oxygen.
"Ugh...can't...move..." He pushed as hard as he could with his arms in both directions, but they were locked
in an upward position. When he thought about it, he really couldn't tell what position his body was in. *I've got to be
buried under the sand...this isn't good...* Tapping his communications system inside his glove, he keyed it to group
band.
"Dammit, if any of you are still alive, respond!"
No one answered. Kyle cursed under his breath. He probably didn't have much air left.
"I am NOT going out like this," he shouted, and pushed against the sand with his arms as hard as he could.
As long as his suit wasn't punctured, he couldn't actually suffocate until he ran out of oxygen. Since he wasn't dead
already, he figured that he hadn't been hit by any large rocks and such. Now, if only he could get to the surface...but
he had no idea how deeply he was buried.
"Come on, damn you! Move!" The more he struggled, the more it seemed to press against him. It was like
being wrapped in lead blankets. Kyle gritted his teeth, and tapped his com system again.
"Look, I know that not ALL of you are dead, because otherwise, I'd have to get *REALLY* mad, so wake up
and talk to me before I dig up your-dead-bodies-and-kick-your-asses-until-you-make-me-stop!" Every other word was
accented by a push against the sand that was slowly suffocating him. He kicked with his legs, struggled with his body,
and jerked his arms as hard as he possibly could.
"Oh GOD my head hurts..."
Kyle stopped struggling for a moment. That wasn't him.
"Who is that?"
"Vance...*SHIT*, we're stuck under a mile of sand, aren't we?" He sounded steamed. Kyle didn't blame him.
"I hope not." Kyle began to struggle once more as he talked. "I'm guessing we have about five minutes of
air left at best. The emergency filters in our suits are pieces of junk."
A very loud, very painful groan was heard over the speaker in Kyle's helmet. He flailed even harder.
"You're not hurt, are you Kyle?"
"That wasn't me."
"Good lord, that felt like getting hit by a maglev train three times over," said Adams. "I'm here, Kyle...my leg
hurts really badly, though..."
"Both of you, try to find your way to the top..." Kyle muttered something about not knowing which way the top
was, but he kept going. His feet were pressing into the bottom of his boots, but it also felt like he was lying backward...
Changing his motions to fit what he thought he knew about his position, he began to make a little leeway. When it
came down to actual progress, however, he guessed that a few inches weren't going to help him if he was six feet
under.
"Kyle...I can't move at all." Adams sounded remarkably calm, but there was some fear behind his voice. "I
can feel blood down at the bottom of my suit, and some sand too..."
"Try not to think about it, just figure out which way is up and do your best, Adams..."
"My display is telling me that there's a containment leak in my suit..."
"I told you not to think about it, just start heading upwards..."
"I'm not going to make it, Kyle."
He froze, having no answer to that at first.
"This is so stupid..." Adams was almost laughing. "I mean, I didn't think I'd die like this..."
"You're not going to die, dammit! Start digging!"
"Don't worry about me, Commander. I'm guessing that I'm buried a lot deeper than you two anyway..."
"You don't know that, and I don't care how deep you're buried, I'm not losing anyone today!"
Kyle twisted his body, and managed to align himself vertically with the surface after a bit of work. Thrusting
upward, he began a slow ascent to the surface, breathing heavily.
"Look...just tell my parents I love them, okay? Tell them I'm sorry I had to leave like this," Adams continued,
with a bit of laughter in his voice. "and tell them that I didn't join the military just to get some attention..."
Kyle gritted his teeth. "If you don't shut up, I really am going to leave you here!"
"You don't even know where I am, and even if you did, you wouldn't have enough strength to get to me."
*Tch...getting hard to breathe...*
Kyle shut his eyes tight, and pushed upward with all his might. "I'll have enough strength to save you all!"
Someone grabbed his hand.
Kyle yelped in surprise and felt someone grab on tight, then start to pull hard. The sand began to flow
around his body like water as he was pulled to the top. Helping his mystery savior as much as he could, the two of
them managed to get his head above the surface, and Kyle stared right into the face of Erich Williams.
"Hey Commander. Sorry I'm late."
"Where the hell were you? And why didn't you say something about it?"
Williams hauled Kyle out of the sand as they spoke, and the latter took a knee from exhaustion. The bright
sun stung his eyes and the fresh air flowing into his suit cooled his lungs. He was glad to be alive.
"My com system was damaged by the storm...I managed to reach the canyon wall and keep on top of the
sand as it rose. Some of those rocks hurt like the dickens, though..."
"Nevermind that...we don't have time to talk...Adams is hurt. We have to dig him up. Vance is somewhere
down there too."
"I found McGinnis, he's unconscious. I think he got hit in the head. Don't really know if he'll be okay."
Raising his head, Kyle looked around. The sand had to have come up by at least seven feet, the only thing
he could recognize was a strange outcropping he had spotted earlier. Sucking a few hard breaths, he managed to
stand up. Something didn't seem right.
"This seems like a lot of sand for just a normal sandstorm..."
"Yeah, I thought so too," Williams said, "and these storms supposedly happen every day."
"Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this is strange. Let's get the hell out of here. Start digging up the
others."
"Right." Williams started looking at the ground, trying to determine where the other two were buried. Kyle
straightened his suit a bit and checked himself, nothing seemed to be injured. Walking quickly over to McGinnis'
unconscious form, he determined that there weren't any signs of external injury, which meant it was either minor or
something internal. Kyle wasn't about to take chances. He set his com channel to wideband and started talking.
"Disembarkation party to anyone who can hear me, this is a Code 1 medical alert - we could have fatalities
on our hands if we don't get these people some help, I want you over here NOW, Alex!"
Three seconds of silence was all Kyle was willing to tolerate after that.
"Goddamn you, I'm not joking about this! Respond!"
Almost as if answering his command, a deep roar suddenly echoed through the canyon, far away and heard
in distant echoes for several moments afterward. Both Williams and Kyle froze. It slowly faded as it continued down
the crevasse, but it certainly set their priorities straight.
"I don't care WHAT that was, we're not waiting for Alex, wherever the hell he is...Let's get those two out of
the sand and run!"
"No objections here..." Reaching down, Williams grabbed one of two pulse rifles he had managed to dig up,
and tossed it to Kyle. The two of them began to dig frantically.
"Vance, Adams, start talking, I'm going to try to figure out where you're buried."
"Can't...breathe...Kyle..." Vance's voice was extremely weak, but the triangulator circuits in their suits told
him where the signal was coming from.
"Go left! He's down at least three feet!"
Williams pushed sand out of the way as fast as he could, but he could only manage a few inches at a time.
Even with Kyle's help, it wasn't going very fast.
"Hold on Vance, we're coming for you...Adams, talk to me..."
There wasn't an answer.
Something in his head kept Kyle digging, even as the consequences of that silence found their way into his
mind. They were running out of time.
Half a world away, Michiru's eyes snapped open from their blissful rest.
"I hear something..."
Explosions began to ring in her ears from two seperate directions.
"Sssh..."
The warm embrace of her companion almost erased the carnage from her mind.
"The settlement..."
Almost.
"..."
Her complex fantasies crumbled so easily...
"...It couldn't be helped, Michiru."
Shrieks of plasma fire and roars of inhuman rage tore the air to ribbons as the deadly struggle played itself
out. It was like a dance, really. One would run foward, carrying another, while two more would remain. Then the
creature would follow, and reach out with deadly limbs to relieve them of their lives. The two would move, just in time,
and the creature would start again...shrugging off the bright shells of aetherized matter and plodding forward.
They had to run.
It was right behind them.
It wanted to kill them, you know.
A hissing noise, a well-aimed laser burst. A howl of pain. One of four fleshy limbs tumbled in slow motion to
the canyon floor. Sent up a tiny cloud of dust where it landed. The pristine dunes were stained in bright reds, and
magentas, and purples...scattered like an artist's paintbrush.
Another hail of energy. The creature staggered, and shrank back. Hastily shouted commands. Running.
Struggling against the sandy surface.
Then the monster would lunge forward, regaining strength...footsteps pounding upon the earth, until it
bellowed in anger and lashed out in force. A boulder shattered into millions of fragments, scattering against the walls
with countless rocky taps. The man had managed to dodge, but now it had him. Already, the large eye blinked and
swiveled in one of two large sockets, pondering how this man would die. But the other two would come to the rescue,
blasting away until their weapons would fire no more. Double clicks, power cells dropped to the ground. Extended
hands, reloading noises. More running.
It was still alive. They were still alive...but...but we had to leave...McGinnis...
Run. It's coming.
How could we leave him...?
Turn. Jump.
How could...could I let this happen...?
*How...how could I let him die...?*
"Heads up, damn you, it's coming again!"
"Aim for the arms!"
The pulse rifles came to life, writhing spheres of electric blue blurring the air around themselves as they
collided with their target. The wounds they made weren't as large as the first ones they had made. The rifles weren't
having as much of an effect.
It wasn't going to stop this time.
Kyle thumbed the dispersal switch on his rifle. It clicked with a sound of internal mechanisms. The power
gauge on his weapon leapt up seventeen bars. Vance and Williams did the same, a hum now filling the air as they
aimed their rifles again.
"Fire!"
The huge lances of ionized air tore through the flesh of the creature, illiciting a primal shriek that chilled their
blood. It toppled in a shower of red, stumbled, hesitated...
Kyle turned his back and ran.
This seems to be a good place to stop.
Let me intercede for a moment. I have something important I should point out.
It's true that I know the outcome of all of this, while you have barely started. It's also true that you will know
as much as I do at the end.
However...the order in which you learn things may differ from what actually happens, chronologically.
...Powerful forces were at work during these times, forces strong enough to give pause to my own power. At
times, things were hidden from me.
At times, things will be hidden from you.
For a while, at least.
They had reached the end.
It had collapsed. The canyon had collapsed at a point, and now they were trapped. A giant rockslide.
And they weren't just being chased by one anymore. Now there were dozens.
"Oh, FUCK this. FUCK all of this." Vance was obviously unhappy. "This is total bullshit! Where did this wall
come from?! There wasn't a goddamn wall here before!"
Their pursuers roared in inexorable malice.
"I think we're going to die."
Oh god, Williams could be so annoying sometimes.
Kyle came in last, slamming his back against one of the largest rocks. Moisture dripped down his face,
trapped by the suffocating shell of his environmental suit. The power cell fell away from his weapon, and he slid
another into place with a click. His last one.
"Any ideas? Because now would be a REALLY GOOD time for some ideas, Kyle!"
"SHUT UP, Vance!" Kyle let the barrel of his weapon fall to the ground in rest. His breath came in ragged
strokes. It was hot. The atmosphere regulators were running out of power. This was a futile retreat. All they were
doing was delaying the inevitable.
He smiled for a moment. *Well, at least we won't be running anymore.*
The first of the creatures was coming around the wide arc of the canyon. The three were going to die much
sooner than they hoped.
At that moment, he came up with a plan.
"Climb!" Kyle shouted. "Climb and don't stop! I'll hold them here!"
"I'd argue with you, but I can't think of anything except old clichés..."
Vance didn't waste any more time, he grabbed Williams by an arm, and they started to fly up the steep side
of the rubble. Having made sure they were off, Kyle turned back to the oncoming horrors with a scowl. His left hand
played over the tiny keypad, engaging the barrel lock and jacking the output up to full. The energy meter leapt to
maximum, and the danger light blinked on. The rifle began to throb in his hand, waiting to be fired. This time, though,
the energy would have nowhere to go.
Counting to three slowly in his head, Kyle pulled the trigger and threw the makeshift bomb at his attackers,
then ran for all he was worth. It still wasn't enough.
The iridium inside the power cell gave the bright magnesium-white explosion a tinge of purple, and the
shockwave slammed him flat against the rock he had been scaling. The facing of his helmet slammed against his
cheek, and he cried out as the thick plastic cracked. Shrapnel whistled through the air and clanged all around him, but
he felt nothing hit. Spots flashed in front of his eyes from the impact, and he tasted wet iron in his mouth. His ribs
were a bit sore, but they didn't feel broken or cracked...his environmental suit had taken a bit of the impact. He
swooned for a moment, and a prickly sensation overcame him.
At the same time, the creatures were, for the most part, very dead. The ones that had lived were making a
noise that Kyle swore was tearing his brain from his skull. He coughed once, then twice...felt a drop of blood slide
down to his chin, then wearily reached up for a handhold and pulled for all he was worth. It was hard to grab on. His
suit felt very cold all of a sudden. Wiliams and Vance were at least fifty feet ahead of him, straight up. He wasn't sure
if he'd have the strength to make it to the top.
Something howled below. Kyle blinked twice, hard. The spots wouldn't move from his eyes. Random
images flew through his mind. His grip loosened, and his vision blurred.
*No...move...come on...*
A sudden spell of exhaustion took him, and his arms fell away. Pulled by gravity, Kyle fell backwards, into
the thirty-foot span he had already climbed. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see more of the creatures coming.
They slowed down...no, he sped up. They moved in slow motion, roared in rage, and stretched their appendages up
toward the offering that now fell into their clutches.
Above him, he heard Vance and Williams, shouting faintly. They were watching. They woudln't be able to do
anything, though...it was already too late.
Everything was so quiet now. His hands felt deathly cold, but warm, in a strange way...
There was a bright flash of light. Kyle managed a smile before he landed on something very hard, and
everything went black.
"KYLE!" Vance screamed in helplessness. His hand flew downward on instinct. Their commander fell from
the rocky incline very slowly. Williams held onto his other hand, tightly.
"Goddammit...!" They couldn't do anything. He was going to die.
There was a horrible roaring sound from below, and a hypersonic whine from above.
The picket cruiser was above them...and something flashed brightly beneath their feet.
"My god, he's going to fall...blow the hell out of those things!" Alex ordered.
"Something's interfering with the power relays...I can't raise the gunnery deck!"
Cassy struggled with her panel, but she was out of time. Kyle began to fall.
Alex began to yell, but a bright light flashed at the bottom of the canyon, and the cruiser toppled from the
skies.
*...It's so cold...*
*......Why can't I see anymore...?*
*...Goodbye...everyone...*
*.........I don't want to......to die...like this...*
It's not time to die yet.
*.......What...?*
You can feel it inside, can't you?
*......?*
Save yourself.
*......How?*
Save yourself. Save them all.
The backlash from the explosion obliterated the remainder of the creatures. It blinded everyone, shining in a
shade of white that went right through your eyelids and burned your mind. The shockwave slammed into the side of
the picket cruiser, and the engines faltered...the correction thrusters activating all at once and spinning it in wide arcs.
The main engines cut out, and it plunged from the air, tumbling like a children's toy until it slammed into the rocky
ground above the canyon, miraculously landing rightside up. The thick sandstone walls cracked and sundered,
splitting with a deafening roar. Rays of light punched through the cracks, and vanished as quickly as they appeared.
Everything fell in on itself in a huge dust cloud.
And when the dust had cleared, Vance and Williams stood in the center...the only place still untouched.
They looked about in confusion and awe at the devastation around them...and then in surprise, as they discovered that
they stood over the unconscious, but unharmed form of Kyle Anson.
*The grass is so soft...I don't remember grass being so soft…*
Michiru lied on the grass, resting on her side. It really was soft...and cool, and smelled with the freshness
that you could only taste on the brightest of spring days.
She had fallen asleep, here in this place.
Arms were wrapped tightly around her. She was enveloped in the energies of the other. It calmed her...it
fought against the horrible things she felt. She had cried, off and on,...not saying anything at all. Escaping from
reality...until she fell asleep, and finally evaded the eyes of life. She let everything she had felt for years now fall off of
her like a heavy burden...and unchained the dark wings that she had hid for so long.
"You always go off into your own little worlds…"
She looked up. Soft grey eyes shone back.
"Don't leave me here alone…"
Michiru ran a few fingers through her companion's unkempt hair...and a smile took her face, at last.
"I'm sorry…I shouldn't be so selfish."
"I like it when you keep me to yourself."
"I love you, silly. I won't let anyone else have you."
"Who's jealous now?"
Michiru laughed, and felt a cool breeze drift over their bodies. She closed her eyes, and pushed her face
against the bosom of her companion. She felt so young, held in that embrace...the hundreds of years seemed like just
a few days.
"How old are we?"
"Does it matter?"
"I guess not..."
There was silence for a moment.
"We're 1,150 this year."
Michiru thought about that, for a moment.
"Don't you ever wonder how that works?"
"I try not to worry, they say it gives you wrinkles."
She laughed. Michiru should have expected that reply.
"It was a mistake...all of this was a mistake."
"It's all right. We did the right thing. It's over now."
"Is it...?"
A hand reached down, and delicately tilted her head upward. Their eyes met, one smiling, one wondering.
A moment later, their gaze had turned elsewhere.
"Did you...?"
"Yes...what was that...?"
Kyle's eyes opened, accompanied by a loud crash of electricity and metal.
They were all there.
Cassy had a welding torch, and was working on something inside a conduit.
Alex was rewiring a panel that had blown.
Williams was working on the engineering interface.
Vance stepped into the empty lift shaft, and climbed down the emergency ladder to the deck below.
He was propped against a wall, sitting upright. His limbs felt cold and prickly.
He was alive. Somehow, he was alive.
"It's him…he survived…"
"Him…?"
"Kyle did it…"
Inside, she smiled. She hoped beyond hope that he could do it, that he could win against the impossible
odds. And he did.
"Kyle? Friend of yours?"
"...Yes..."
"This changes things, doesn't it?" The other asked after a few moments.
Michiru got to her feet, slowly. She brought a commanding gaze upon the horizon, and a stiff breeze
buffetted her figure. Winds raged ouside the bubble, a great maelstrom forming about the island of tranquility. Her
fingers curled slowly into her palms, and clenched into fists. The wind intensified...far beyond what was normal.
Greenish bolts of electricity shone deep within her eyes...an expression that would strike terror into the hearts of
anything in her path.
She turned. Their eyes met once again, and all was silent for a moment.
No, that's inaccurate. It was more than a moment. At times in the life of a person, there comes a moment
where the rest of your life flashes before your eyes. You make a choice.
And so, in that moment, Michiru made a choice. A choice that directly affected the final end of this story, a
choice that will indeed determine the events of every single chapter to come. A choice that would lead to joy, sorrow,
pain, friendship, life, death, anguish, and love.
A choice that would unmake a world, and cast down angels from the heavens.
The spirit of Neptune awoke deep within her, and the suppression seal on her power snapped like a twig
caught in a tropic squall.
"We're going back, Haruka…we're going back to war…"
~Encounters~
The barrier between titanium plating and burning sand vanished in a blast of searing heat as the aft loading
door opened. A deep sound akin to the roaring of a demon accompanied the severe change of temperature, as if
some infernal monster were welcoming you to an eternity of scorching solitude. Slim tendrils of a burning breeze
lapped at Nerissa as she departed, but they dared not touch her. Incubated sand whipped through the air like the
demon whips of the taskmasters of hell, but they dared not harm her. The planet itself trembled in fear at her
presence.
Water smites the mightiest of flames.
These were the wastelands, the part of Titania that faced the sun eternally. Because of the rotation of
Uranus and how Titania spun around it, one side of the planet was covered in eternal daylight, the other in frozen
darkness. Nyason and Titania Hold were both located on the thin belt of inhabitable land between the day and night
sides. Because the moon twisted a little along its axis in relation to the sun, it gave the impression of night and day.
But out here, in the wastelands, time was nonexistent. Out here, nothing changed. While it wasn't very hot or bright in
the cities, the ground itself seethed and writhed in the wastelands of the dayside. The hellish furnace was a place only
the most foolish of fools even dared to venture.
It was into this place that Nerissa went, alone.
Her hair whipped about her pale face as the huge cruiser lifted off once more, and she managed to keep her
footing as the huge blast from the engines threw it away at incredible speed. There she stood, watching it fly farther
and farther away, and in a twinkle of sunlight, it vanished from her view. Still, she stared, until the dust settled, and she
made sure that no one was nearby. Only then did she begin to walk.
The wastelands swallowed her into their endless expanses. Her face read nothing, her expression blank.
Her footsteps were methodical. Her breathing was regular. It was as if she was moving not of her own will. It was the
final leg of a journey long in the making.
Indeed, her objective was far from trivial.
Her footsteps would have trailed for miles…but the hellion waves of the wasteland winds washed them away
in the instant that they left their mark on the desert floor. As if she never had come this way. As if she hadn't existed in
the first place.
*From what sort of world did this woman come, to be deeply saddened and so much in pain?*
*I know not, my friend, but the fates have said this: The gods should be wary of echoes of flame.*
Other thoughts quietly escaped her lips, thoughts of sorrow, thoughts of regret, thoughts of despair. Bright
pangs of happier times forced their way through at points, but their shines were drowned amidst her own evils.
And still, Nerissa continued her journey, through the burning sands of the enemy's maw. An island of color in
a world of beige.
Up and down, over dunes and valleys. Every step brought her closer to her goal. And every step brought
forth another regret.
*Does He send this boy to pierce me upon my cross of fate…?*
And as the last of an avalanche of thoughts assailed her mind, a trail of tears began to fall in her wake.
The shining drops ran into the burning wastes and dry sands, a greater distance than any mortal could hope
to walk. The currents of heat brooded in their impotence, the barrier they inexorably formed now pierced by an
invincible intruder. The unforgiving desert was forced to support her feet as she traversed the untamed wilds.
In the inhospitable wastelands of this moon, nothing lived, nothing came, and nothing went.
Except for Nerissa.
"We'll be over the canyon in ten seconds."
Air was torn to ribbons as the bow of a United Earth Federation picket cruiser knifed through the sky. While
the atmosphere blew by at incredible velocity, the mood within was mysteriously calm. It was as if time was ticking
down in some unknown way, and they were powerless to stop it…
Alex carefully guided the propulsion control matrix, using a gentle touch that he really wasn't accustomed to
using at this time of the morning. An idle thought of bliss crossed his mind as he reminded himself of the coffee
shortage, and the fact that he was fortunate enough to grab some. The beans required for the drink were grown as a
priority crop inside the garrison, along with potatoes and wheat. Of those three, it was a given that the coffee beans
would be saved first in case of an accident. *Heaven forbid we not have our daily wake-up drink.* A red light blinked
on his holomap, and he frowned, carefully urging the matrix back to the left. The light winked out, and he checked the
rest of the display for any aberrations that might be present. The instruments on the cruiser provided him with a radar
scan, and that data was then compiled and translated into a three-dimensional map, beamed directly into his optic
nerve.
"Make sure you keep an eye out, Alex…that map data isn't exactly one-hundred percent accurate, you
know," Kyle chided.
The map he was using was based on data compiled during an early survey expedition into the Titanian
wastelands. Even the military had no purpose for coming out this far; there was nothing of use, save a few
unremarkable mineral deposits. An eternity of barren deserts, as far as the eye could see. And now, they were racing
toward a place almost directly on line with the radiation coming from the center of the Solar System. The piercing
sunlight was so intense in the thin atmosphere that temperatures often reached one hundred and seventy degrees
above zero. The mapping expedition that had once dared to come to this place was a legend in of itself. NSM-X1,
Commander Ian Clarke presiding, had departed from Nyason with the intent to chart the entire moon and create a
navigation map. The map that was now being used by the militia.
The mission ended in disaster. They were poorly equipped for the rigors of the day side. Three of their
number perished from heat exhaustion. When the four survivors limped back to civilization, they would not speak of
the days they spent alone amidst the burning sands.
And now, here they were. The vast expanses of the Titanian wastelands stretched to the horizon, with the
occasional exception of a small mountain or two, and the remains of massive impact craters, which sped by beneath
their feet. Alex's map showed the research expedition's findings in green, but the actual readings taken by the
instruments on board the cruiser often told him differently, superimposing the present-day landmarks in yellow.
"This map is really out of date…there could be a giant crevasse here, and we wouldn't even spot it until we
were right on top of it, Kyle," Alex remarked, leaning his head to the side.
"It can't be helped, we don't really have time to play junior cartographers." Kyle glanced at his own readouts,
and the console gave a few beeps of alarm back at him.
Kyle sighed, and Cassy narrowed her eyebrows.
"There it is."
In a few more seconds, the ground itself vanished, and gave way to a cavernous abyss. The largest
landmark on the entire planetoid, and a place only a handful of individuals had ever dared to go, Sirtar Canyon. Since
Titania didn't have an atmosphere until recently, it was subject to the bombardment of angry groups of asteroids, space
dust, and radiation storms. Some horrible catastrophe had caused this massive gorge, and it would exist until the
moon itself was destroyed, no doubt. A meaningless feature on a map, amid hundreds and hundreds of names.
Why Nerissa would tell them to go to Sirtar Canyon, Kyle did not know.
"Can we take the cruiser into the canyon?" Kyle walked to the starboard viewport, and eyed the land below.
Cassy turned to her right and checked one of her monitors.
"The temperature at the bottom is seventy-plus degrees…we can go in, but I wouldn't suggest going outside
for a tan."
"Well, I wouldn't worry. I don't plan on staying here any longer than we have to. Alex, you picking up
anything strange on the EM spectrum?" Turning his chair around to face a small console, Alex switched his headset
interface over, and glanced at the readings now being displayed.
"Sensors suggest that there's a…well, a something down there." He leant backwards and crossed his arms,
still looking.
"Was that another one of your jokes?" Kyle asked, rather annoyed.
"No, not at all…whatever this thing is, it wasn't here when the cartographers mapped this place twelve years
ago," Alex explained, placing a hand on his chin in thought. He reached out to tap a few keys on the equipment
console, and looked over the new displays. "This thing is putting off all sorts of energy…radio, x-ray, microwave,
gamma…I'm surprised it doesn't have its own holonet channel."
Kyle looked down into the canyon, but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Cassy, take us toward
whatever this thing is…I want a closer look."
"Right…pulse drives powering down. Alex, make sure the engines don't overheat, it's going to get real hot
down there." Cassy watched her screen with intent. Alex nodded an affirmative, and switched back over to his piloting
station.
Adjusting his weight as the cruiser made its descent into the canyon, Kyle wiped a bead of sweat from his
brow, and blinked in confusion. He was sure that the temperature was rising. The air was starting to get a bit muggy,
and he noticed that the metal handrails were starting to sweat from condensation. Wiping some moisture off his
intercom panel, he keyed in the code for main engineering.
"Hey Williams, what's with environmental control? It's worse than the barracks in here!" Resting his weight
on the panel, he looked around, and rubbed moisture off more of the instruments.
"What environmental control? It broke three weeks ago," Williams' voice came back through the grated
speaker. "And don't you whine to me, you've got it easy compared to us back by the damn core."
"Tch…alright," Kyle replied, flipping off his intercom. "It looks like we're not going to be staying long, it's
going to get way too hot in here."
"Well, from what I'm seeing, we were hot already," Alex said, staring at Cassy.
"Don't make me slap you again," Cassy threatened.
"Whatever you say, sugar."
Kyle lightly chuckled. The bottom of the canyon was coming up fast now, and the wind outside was
becoming visible from all the sand it picked up. Soft metallic clinking noises began to frequent themselves as tiny
rocks and pebbles slammed against the hull.
"That's good, set us down," He said, before flipping his intercom once more. "Break out five heat suits, along
with weapons rigged for weathering."
"Just what do you think you're doing?" Alex asked, turning around in his seat and removing his headset.
"I'm going out there." Kyle flicked off his intercom and headed for the bridge door.
"Not without me you aren't."
"Nah, you can stay here and play with Miss Laurens."
"Really?" Alex asked, with interest.
"Why don't you just leave me alone?" Cassy asked, giving Alex a look that clearly stated that she'd rather
stab herself with a rusty nail.
"Oh, come now, I thought there was supposed to be some kind of bond between the people that are in the
military. Y'know, like war buds," He explained, patronizing Cassy relentlessly.
"Don't get all buddy-buddy with me, bucko." Standing up in her best military fashion, she faced Kyle. "Sir, I
request permission to join the disembarkation maneuvers."
"Denied." Kyle managed to rattle that off without even thinking, and jumped into the lift before he could be
yelled at.
Dropping her shoulders in defeat, Cassy glanced over to the equipment locker, where Alex was making a
busybody of himself. "What are you doing, anyway?"
Turning around with a smile, he chuckled, and then went right back to rummaging. "I'm finding some
romantic music. Can't very well have a romantic dinner without matching atmosphere."
Resigning herself to her fate, Cassy fell into the command chair, and sighed.
"I hate the military."
Incredible blasts of heated air writhed about the cruiser as it descended to the canyon floor. Upon
touchdown, the engines kicked up so much sand that the entire section they had set down upon was concealed by a
thick cloud of whirling dust. As the sand drifted in clouds around the shining picket cruiser and then settled, five forms
silently emerged, and stepped across the soft canyon floor with weapons ready. The silence was overwhelming at
times, until something that the cartographers liked to call the Tunnel Effect happened. The only thing that ever
reached down this far was an occasional gust of wind that came tearing down the steep walls of the valley and
screaming through the enclosed rock walls. The sheer force was enough to shatter boulders to rubble, and the noise it
made was akin to the screeching of a bird of prey magnified several times. The suits they wore provided a semblence
of protection, at least from the wind itself. No one could doubt that they wouldn't do much against an avalanche.
Understandably, Kyle wanted to get this overwith quickly.
The singular piece of scanning equipment they could find that was heat-resistant was a G7-series EM
scanner, a little short-range thing that was built at least ten years ago. It softly beeped in intervals, the length of time
between the tones an indication of how close they were. Kyle and his party slowly fanned out in a V shape as they
followed the guidance of their only tool. Holding his weapon in one hand and reading the instrument's output with the
other, he glanced about in curiosity.
"What are we looking for?" A crewman by the name of Vance asked from the right flank. "We've got to be
able to see this thing if it's giving off as much radiation as Alex says it is..."
"Your guess is as good as mine," Kyle responded. "The fact that we CAN'T see it has me worried, though."
"That doesn't help much."
"What, you think I know what we're out here for or something?" He turned his head a bit to face Vance.
"Well, you were sitting around with that Nerissa woman for awhile. Didn't she tell you anything?"
"No." Kyle wasn't paying much attention anymore.
"That doesn't help much either."
The sensor unexpectedly decided to undergo a system restart mid-stride, so Kyle turned it off and on again
to recalibrate it. Sweeping the sensor in a wide arc several times, he noted where the beeping was strongest, then
confirmed it on the small readout screen.
"Whatever this thing is, we're not going to miss it. I'd have to walk straight up to throw this sensor off."
Looking up ahead, Kyle raised his rifle to point toward a formation of rocks. The other men glanced in the
same direction, and nodded. The group continued on.
The claustrophobia of his heat suit was starting to get at Kyle. He breathed heavily, and tried to get a bit
more oxygen. The special material he wore was designed to be totally impervious to heat, which carried the minor side
effect of trapping all your body heat inside. It was like living in a wet plastic bag, not comfortable at all.
"How're we doing out there?"
Alex's voice came through a bit grainy over his suit intercom. Kyle sucked in a deep breath and scanned his
surroundings.
"No sign of the source of the readings yet. It's hot as hell in these things, though."
"Aw, tough it out. It builds character."
"I wonder if you'd say the same thing if you were actually in one," He retorted, smirking a bit.
"Hey, you decided that I wasn't coming. Besides, I think I'd rather have stayed here anyway."
"I hope you're having a good time with Miss Laurens, Alex."
Some disgusted laughter was heard in the background.
"Oh, she's just fine. Apparently she has no opinion on the validity of human courtship rituals." His voice
became distant for a moment as he shouted a few things away from the transmitter. "And she doesn't take a joke too
well, either. So rude."
Kyle chuckled. "We'll keep you posted."
"Right. Cruiser out."
As they continued on, Williams started paying more and more attention to the cliff faces. Adams, who was
on the left flank next to him, followed suit and tried to make sense of what was so interesting.
"The cliff walls are made of sandstone, that's why the bottom is so soft." Williams took a few steps out of
formation to drag his hand across the face of the rock. "It's kind of strange, though...this looks like water erosion."
"It's sandstone alright...but water erosion? I don't think so. Take a look, this rock is stained red under the
'waterline'. I doubt water did this."
Adams had always been a bit of a geology nut. He stopped for a moment to examine the cliff face in more
detail. Kyle, Vance, and McGinnis went ahead at a slow pace.
"I'd say this was something a bit thicker than water...and more corrosive, too. Look at how the rock is eaten
away in these indentations..." He pointed with his free hand at some cuts and pits in the wall. "This is more akin to
acid, or some kind of liquid coolant...either way, you'd have to go up or down the pH scale to do this. From the red
color, I'd say it was some sort of high-test machine fuel..."
"You're talking about the iron residue on the rocks...I get you. I bet it was left by the mapping expedition."
Williams rested his free hand on his hip, and stared at the area in question. "I don't remember the report saying they
had any fuel leaks, though..."
"They probably didn't think it was significant enough to report," Adams added. "After all, it's just a little bit of
gas..."
Glancing around, Williams took on a cynical tone. "...I think we're wrong. These marks are all over the
canyon."
As the two of them analyzed the situation, Kyle and the others had stopped about fifty feet away. He was
checking the scanner readings for anything abnormal in the energy spectrum. McGinnis decided to get a bit curious,
set aside his rifle, and peeked over his commander's shoulder.
"Get past the high score on that game yet?" Kyle generally ignored him, but then knitted his brow and tapped
two keys on the scanner.
"This is really odd...I'm detecting radio waves, infrared, ultraviolet, microwaves, x-rays, and even gamma
radiation...but I don't think this thing is giving off anything in the visible spectrum to speak of." Training the scanner in
the direction he thought the readings were originating from, Kyle narrowed the bandwidth to Infrared/Ultraviolet and
turned up the power. "...Just as I thought. There's an abrupt cut in the readings from red to violet."
"What are you saying..." Vance chimed in. "...we're not gonna be able to see this thing?"
"No, nothing of the sort. It's not like it's invisible or anything." The scanner powered down with a low-pitched
hum, and then was silent. "It's just not going to be blinding us with bursts of light. I wouldn't get too close, though...this
thing is radioactive. The gamma rays aren't that bad, but don't take this thing home with you."
"I wouldn't worry about that," McGinnis replied, feeding power through his pulse rifle with a supersonic whine.
"Whatever we find, I'm sure it won't be going much of anywhere."
Suddenly, the whine of McGinnis' pulse rifle powering up became a distant roaring noise. The men glanced
around with confused expressions, wondering what was causing it...
"Well, that's certainly not your pulse rifle," Vance joked.
The noise began to get louder. Laughter was quickly replaced with an air of tension. Williams and Adams
walked back over while scanning the surroundings. McGinnis looked to Kyle, who had his gaze locked on the other
end of the canyon.
"Alright, stay close. Get your weapons ready. I don't know what that is, but if it's unfriendly, it's not going to
live very long. Adams, take point. McGinnis, Vance, take the rear. Stay sharp." Pointing a finger to the positions he
wanted them in, Kyle fed the power through his weapon, and breathed heavily to get some oxygen. It was getting even
hotter than before.
They silently complied, and not another word was said. In a tight formation, they continued along the canyon
floor. The roaring was becoming even louder. Kyle couldn't help but glance around nervously.
*Left...no, right...back that way... Where is it coming from...?*
Inhale...exhale... It was getting kind of tough to breathe with all the moisture in his suit. The roar was like a
freight train.
*Why is it getting so hot...?*
Searching for an answer, he froze dead in his tracks. "When the volume of a gas is held constant,
temperature varies directly with pressure..."
Williams caught on a second later and looked upward just in time to see a titanic wall of sand falling down
upon them like a demonic horde.
"Get down! Stay on top of the sand!"
Kyle's warning came almost too late. As soon as they had dropped to the canyon floor, the massive
sandstorm landed right on top of them, and began to surge through the confined walls of the gorge. The noise became
overwhelming as huge amounts of burning sand began to fall upon their prone forms. The storm itself seemed to
begin to speak, as the noises changed in pitch and tone from reflecting off the walls. Horrifying, guttural roars that
brought forth images of creatures with horns and nightmares, alone in the dark. Their screaming was soon silenced as
the five men were completely swallowed by the canyon floor and the storm itself. First legs and bodies, then
heads...and finally their grasping hands. Fingertips wiggled in terror as they were quickly absorbed by the howling
inferno.
Two minutes...three minutes...seven minutes. Slowly, the winds died down, and the remaining grains of
sand fell to the ground like a soft, sparkling rain.
When the winds had ceased, and all was silent, there was no sign that men had ever been to this place.
In the middle of the desert wastelands of Titania, there are rocks. There is also a large quantity of sand, and
various unremarkable minerals. If you're lucky, you might find a particularly hardy plant in a shaded outcropping.
And there is a small house.
There shouldn't be a house, but there is.
Would you build a house in the middle of a desert, with no water and no way to escape to civilization? Of
course you wouldn't. It's just not very intellegent.
That is, it's not very intellegent if you intend on continuing your life.
In the scorching heat of Titania's day side, the only object you can find that was made by the hands of
humans is a glass dome, filled with grass, flowers, and a small structure.
It was here that Michiru stopped.
Slowly, she approached the glass dome. Just five steps, and she halted again.
The glassy material reflected her sad face as she stood before it, her likeness slightly warped by the convex
surface. It continued down to the sandy ground, forming a hemisphere of isolation. Directly on the other side, there
was grass. Wonderful, forest-green grass that rippled gently in an intangible cool breeze.
And there were flowers. Large, earthen pots of flowers, bubbling over with colorful petals and stems. They
were overgrown with whitish roots, which snaked downward until they reached the rich topsoil.
And there was a house.
Michiru watched her reflection in the glassy surface for a moment, watched tears stream down her face like
streams of silver. The pain and suffering in her eyes was so great, it chilled her heart to see herself.
*The gods should be wary of echoes of flame...*
The facade of a reflection that she saw should have changed her feelings in this moment...but she felt
nothing. Her heart was empty.
This, at long last, was her release.
She had experienced far worse indeed. The loss of Kyle and his shipmates shouldn't have even bothered
her. But it did, and so she cried. The smiling faces of hundreds of people all wished her good day, and she did not
flinch.
The goddess of the sea could not hold back her tears.
Slowly, she raised her hand up toward the glass, the reflective surface mirroring her every movement. She
spread her fingers apart, watched them in the glass. Her hand turned both ways, and she observed the light polish on
her nails. When she could no longer stand the pain of her existence, Michiru pushed her hand toward the glass.
And it passed right through.
o/' ...Umi ga hirogaru... o/'
o/' ...Kaze ga yuretekuru... o/'
o/' ...Sukoshi samui kedo... o/'
o/' ...Hashiridashite... o/'
"What IS that music?"
"Oh, calm down, it's just something I'm fond of." Alex was certainly appeared relaxed, as he kicked both feet
up on top of his console, and stuck both hands behind his head. "Romantic, isn't it?"
*Damn, he's irritating…* Cassy thanked whatever higher power existed that her thoughts were quieter than
the song being played. *Why can't he just leave me alone? I'm going to kill Kyle for doing this…*
She tried to take her mind off Alex, but the only other topic that filled her mind was Nerissa. Sittuations like
this always seemed to pop up whenever she had a short fuse.
*Just my luck that I'd end up with two troublemakers in the same day...* Why did that woman give her such a
hard time in the first place?
Her thoughts flashed back to her argument in front of her unit. *You're insubordinate.* That's what Nerissa
had intended to get across.
*Tch...I didn't want to make a bad first impression, and all she did was jump right on top of me! I don't need
any more enemies…*
Her hand lightly tapped the comm switch on her panel, and she spoke in a soft, steady voice.
"Commander, this is the cruiser, respond...Disembarkation party, report..."
"There's no point. He's probably ignoring us," Alex said, from his reclined position. "Why don't you relax?
He'll be back in a little to rescue you from the terrible, terrible army man."
The habitual smirk on his face rubbed against some sore deep within the part of her mind that controlled
frustration. It wasn't what she needed right then, as she continued to think about her conduct earlier. *I can do
this...she's just trying to test me...and this guy...I have no idea what's wrong with him...*
It was an interesting first day so far, she thought. She had just come out of training, replacing a marine that
had just finished his term of service. Her decision to join the military was based on her father's wish to continue familiy
tradition... *Well, no point in thinking of the past this early in the morning.* She always thought that her family was
depending on a son...and they had ended up with her. Due to the overpopulation problems, her family was limited to
only two children, and her older sister shot any other hopes that a son could be had. It was all her fault, she knew
that...
Still, for some reason, no matter how hard she hit herself for not meeting her family's expectations, Cassy
tried to hold onto her femininity. It hurt her to know that she was unwanted, that she wasn't really her father's idea of a
child. However, she joined the military on his suggestion, just to prove to him that she could be as good as a son while
still being who she was.
*I can do this...I can win...*
Her wrist chronometer beeped twice. Glancing at it as her train of thought was abruptly derailed, she blinked
in confusion.
"It's been an hour already, and he hasn't checked in...don't you think we should do something?"
Alex had his eyes shut.
"Tch, how can you sleep at a time like this?" Cassy clenched a fist, and turned back to her station in anger.
"Relax, those suits have enough filtering power to last at least six hours in this heat. He has an emergency
beacon with him. They're moving together, so it's impossible that all of them would be incapacitated at once. And
don't forget that we're here. If the sensors picked up any change in readings, we'd know something was going on."
Alex opened one eye. "Besides, I think he's doing you a favor leaving you alone with me."
She sighed in annoyance. "So you weren't sleeping. Figures you'd pull something cute like pretending to do
so."
"Oh, ya think I'm cute," Alex added with a smile.
"Don't you ever give up? You know that I don't have any interest in you."
"I know that. Not that I'll listen or anything...but I know. Don't worry, you'll come around soon enough,
angel."
Cassy smartly turned her chair back to the piloting console, and depressurized the hydraulic system in the
crusier's port landing strut. With an explosion of compressed air and a crash of metal, the port side of the ship dropped
about twenty feet, leaving the floor tilted at a forty-five degree angle. Alex fell out of his chair in a perfect roll, tumbling
down the deck platings until he hit the bulkhead with a satisfying thud. Holding onto her chair with one hand, Cassy
tapped the hydraulic control again, righting the vessel. Groaning more in defeat than in pain, Alex didn't move from his
spot on the floor.
"Oops." Cassy chuckled under her breath.
"Hey, what the hell is going on up there?" The angry voice of crewman Stevenson was pretty clear to both of
the bridge officers. "I've got a bruise on my head that's the same color as what your face is gonna look like after I get
through with you! Goddamn you Alex..."
WIth a click, his voice ceased. Alex held a look of disbelief on his face, and he stretched both arms toward
the ceiling.
"What's up with that? Why is it automatically MY fault?"
"You should be more restrained with your pranks," Cassy reprimanded, crossing her arms.
"I'm gonna make you pay for that," Alex said, rubbing his head with one hand and pointing at a finger at his
assailant with the other.
She smiled lightly. It was a temporary victory, but it felt like she just won the war.
Beyond that, she didn't have time to do much other than widen her eyes in terror as the cruiser's proximity
alarm went off, and the bridge exploded into flame.
Inside the small house, inside the small bubble, there lived one person.
This person obviously had little contact with anyone, considering the isolation of their home. That having
been said, the choice of location was perfect for someone who didn't want to be disturbed. It took resources and
special equipment to even survive out here. To make it all the way to this place, that was something you had to
specially plan. There were no accidents that allowed people to find this house. There hadn't even been a person in
this remote area for at least a year.
And now, the silent form of a god passed through this place.
Michiru walked slowly across the soft grass, the cool air around her just like a spring day. It radiated peace,
calm, serenity…
The man-made concept of time ceased to exist, in this place. It seemed like someone had taken a piece of
eternity and sown it deep beaneath the surface, where it blossomed into a tiny speck of peace amid chaos.
Gently, her feet fell atop the grass, and her motion stopped. From within the house, there came a voice. A
proud, powerful voice...yet, it spoke in infinite kindness.
"I watch the flowers every day. Little by little, they overgrow their basins. I can't even tell where you planted
them anymore...but I won't touch them."
She nearly fell apart, at the sound of that voice.
"If I touched them...it wouldn't remind me of you any longer."
Michiru fell forward in a shower of tears, but she was caught and embraced in love and warmth a moment
later.
"I was afraid I would never see you again…"
She cried into the strong arms of the other, but gentle fingers ran through her hair in soothing motions.
"Shh...it's alright...it's alright now..."
"More people are going to die…young people…people with beautiful dreams," said she.
For a moment only, immeasurable power coursed through the other's veins...but it vanished as quickly as it
appeared.
"After all this time...after so much sorrow..."
Even as the other reiterated what she had come to found out, she was silent...
"At long last, He comes to finish us..."
"I don't care," she interjected. "I don't care about any of it! I'm never going back...never!"
The other looked back at her with surprise.
"I won't fight anymore...I *can't* fight anymore," said she. "The faces...I see the faces of every innocent we
ever sacrificed upon the faces of every person still alive... I see nothing but evil within myself whenever I am warmly
embraced by humanity... I've lost whatever semblence of a woman I used to be..."
The other listened with silent eyes.
"I've become...a monster..."
Her sorrows went on in sounds that defied words, and the other held her gently for what seemed like hours...
Hours were all they had left.
"Such a word doesn't suit someone as beautiful as you," said the other. "Nothing...*nothing* in this universe
could ever make you anything except an angel of light..."
Still, she cried, because she knew their fate. The thoughts entered her head just as forceful as before...just
as horrible...
"How can that ever come to pass, if we never leave this place? Why would I *ever* want to become a
destroyer of worlds, when I could stay here forever with you?"
She blinked upward at the other, her sense of reality wiped away. Her tears were brushed away by a
trembling hand.
"They'll save the galaxy…they always have."
She answered with a nod.
And they kissed.
Inhaling sharply, Kyle regained consciousness.
It was pitch black. The air inside his suit was burning hot; it hurt his lungs. He had to breathe deeply to get
enough oxygen.
"Ugh...can't...move..." He pushed as hard as he could with his arms in both directions, but they were locked
in an upward position. When he thought about it, he really couldn't tell what position his body was in. *I've got to be
buried under the sand...this isn't good...* Tapping his communications system inside his glove, he keyed it to group
band.
"Dammit, if any of you are still alive, respond!"
No one answered. Kyle cursed under his breath. He probably didn't have much air left.
"I am NOT going out like this," he shouted, and pushed against the sand with his arms as hard as he could.
As long as his suit wasn't punctured, he couldn't actually suffocate until he ran out of oxygen. Since he wasn't dead
already, he figured that he hadn't been hit by any large rocks and such. Now, if only he could get to the surface...but
he had no idea how deeply he was buried.
"Come on, damn you! Move!" The more he struggled, the more it seemed to press against him. It was like
being wrapped in lead blankets. Kyle gritted his teeth, and tapped his com system again.
"Look, I know that not ALL of you are dead, because otherwise, I'd have to get *REALLY* mad, so wake up
and talk to me before I dig up your-dead-bodies-and-kick-your-asses-until-you-make-me-stop!" Every other word was
accented by a push against the sand that was slowly suffocating him. He kicked with his legs, struggled with his body,
and jerked his arms as hard as he possibly could.
"Oh GOD my head hurts..."
Kyle stopped struggling for a moment. That wasn't him.
"Who is that?"
"Vance...*SHIT*, we're stuck under a mile of sand, aren't we?" He sounded steamed. Kyle didn't blame him.
"I hope not." Kyle began to struggle once more as he talked. "I'm guessing we have about five minutes of
air left at best. The emergency filters in our suits are pieces of junk."
A very loud, very painful groan was heard over the speaker in Kyle's helmet. He flailed even harder.
"You're not hurt, are you Kyle?"
"That wasn't me."
"Good lord, that felt like getting hit by a maglev train three times over," said Adams. "I'm here, Kyle...my leg
hurts really badly, though..."
"Both of you, try to find your way to the top..." Kyle muttered something about not knowing which way the top
was, but he kept going. His feet were pressing into the bottom of his boots, but it also felt like he was lying backward...
Changing his motions to fit what he thought he knew about his position, he began to make a little leeway. When it
came down to actual progress, however, he guessed that a few inches weren't going to help him if he was six feet
under.
"Kyle...I can't move at all." Adams sounded remarkably calm, but there was some fear behind his voice. "I
can feel blood down at the bottom of my suit, and some sand too..."
"Try not to think about it, just figure out which way is up and do your best, Adams..."
"My display is telling me that there's a containment leak in my suit..."
"I told you not to think about it, just start heading upwards..."
"I'm not going to make it, Kyle."
He froze, having no answer to that at first.
"This is so stupid..." Adams was almost laughing. "I mean, I didn't think I'd die like this..."
"You're not going to die, dammit! Start digging!"
"Don't worry about me, Commander. I'm guessing that I'm buried a lot deeper than you two anyway..."
"You don't know that, and I don't care how deep you're buried, I'm not losing anyone today!"
Kyle twisted his body, and managed to align himself vertically with the surface after a bit of work. Thrusting
upward, he began a slow ascent to the surface, breathing heavily.
"Look...just tell my parents I love them, okay? Tell them I'm sorry I had to leave like this," Adams continued,
with a bit of laughter in his voice. "and tell them that I didn't join the military just to get some attention..."
Kyle gritted his teeth. "If you don't shut up, I really am going to leave you here!"
"You don't even know where I am, and even if you did, you wouldn't have enough strength to get to me."
*Tch...getting hard to breathe...*
Kyle shut his eyes tight, and pushed upward with all his might. "I'll have enough strength to save you all!"
Someone grabbed his hand.
Kyle yelped in surprise and felt someone grab on tight, then start to pull hard. The sand began to flow
around his body like water as he was pulled to the top. Helping his mystery savior as much as he could, the two of
them managed to get his head above the surface, and Kyle stared right into the face of Erich Williams.
"Hey Commander. Sorry I'm late."
"Where the hell were you? And why didn't you say something about it?"
Williams hauled Kyle out of the sand as they spoke, and the latter took a knee from exhaustion. The bright
sun stung his eyes and the fresh air flowing into his suit cooled his lungs. He was glad to be alive.
"My com system was damaged by the storm...I managed to reach the canyon wall and keep on top of the
sand as it rose. Some of those rocks hurt like the dickens, though..."
"Nevermind that...we don't have time to talk...Adams is hurt. We have to dig him up. Vance is somewhere
down there too."
"I found McGinnis, he's unconscious. I think he got hit in the head. Don't really know if he'll be okay."
Raising his head, Kyle looked around. The sand had to have come up by at least seven feet, the only thing
he could recognize was a strange outcropping he had spotted earlier. Sucking a few hard breaths, he managed to
stand up. Something didn't seem right.
"This seems like a lot of sand for just a normal sandstorm..."
"Yeah, I thought so too," Williams said, "and these storms supposedly happen every day."
"Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this is strange. Let's get the hell out of here. Start digging up the
others."
"Right." Williams started looking at the ground, trying to determine where the other two were buried. Kyle
straightened his suit a bit and checked himself, nothing seemed to be injured. Walking quickly over to McGinnis'
unconscious form, he determined that there weren't any signs of external injury, which meant it was either minor or
something internal. Kyle wasn't about to take chances. He set his com channel to wideband and started talking.
"Disembarkation party to anyone who can hear me, this is a Code 1 medical alert - we could have fatalities
on our hands if we don't get these people some help, I want you over here NOW, Alex!"
Three seconds of silence was all Kyle was willing to tolerate after that.
"Goddamn you, I'm not joking about this! Respond!"
Almost as if answering his command, a deep roar suddenly echoed through the canyon, far away and heard
in distant echoes for several moments afterward. Both Williams and Kyle froze. It slowly faded as it continued down
the crevasse, but it certainly set their priorities straight.
"I don't care WHAT that was, we're not waiting for Alex, wherever the hell he is...Let's get those two out of
the sand and run!"
"No objections here..." Reaching down, Williams grabbed one of two pulse rifles he had managed to dig up,
and tossed it to Kyle. The two of them began to dig frantically.
"Vance, Adams, start talking, I'm going to try to figure out where you're buried."
"Can't...breathe...Kyle..." Vance's voice was extremely weak, but the triangulator circuits in their suits told
him where the signal was coming from.
"Go left! He's down at least three feet!"
Williams pushed sand out of the way as fast as he could, but he could only manage a few inches at a time.
Even with Kyle's help, it wasn't going very fast.
"Hold on Vance, we're coming for you...Adams, talk to me..."
There wasn't an answer.
Something in his head kept Kyle digging, even as the consequences of that silence found their way into his
mind. They were running out of time.
Half a world away, Michiru's eyes snapped open from their blissful rest.
"I hear something..."
Explosions began to ring in her ears from two seperate directions.
"Sssh..."
The warm embrace of her companion almost erased the carnage from her mind.
"The settlement..."
Almost.
"..."
Her complex fantasies crumbled so easily...
"...It couldn't be helped, Michiru."
Shrieks of plasma fire and roars of inhuman rage tore the air to ribbons as the deadly struggle played itself
out. It was like a dance, really. One would run foward, carrying another, while two more would remain. Then the
creature would follow, and reach out with deadly limbs to relieve them of their lives. The two would move, just in time,
and the creature would start again...shrugging off the bright shells of aetherized matter and plodding forward.
They had to run.
It was right behind them.
It wanted to kill them, you know.
A hissing noise, a well-aimed laser burst. A howl of pain. One of four fleshy limbs tumbled in slow motion to
the canyon floor. Sent up a tiny cloud of dust where it landed. The pristine dunes were stained in bright reds, and
magentas, and purples...scattered like an artist's paintbrush.
Another hail of energy. The creature staggered, and shrank back. Hastily shouted commands. Running.
Struggling against the sandy surface.
Then the monster would lunge forward, regaining strength...footsteps pounding upon the earth, until it
bellowed in anger and lashed out in force. A boulder shattered into millions of fragments, scattering against the walls
with countless rocky taps. The man had managed to dodge, but now it had him. Already, the large eye blinked and
swiveled in one of two large sockets, pondering how this man would die. But the other two would come to the rescue,
blasting away until their weapons would fire no more. Double clicks, power cells dropped to the ground. Extended
hands, reloading noises. More running.
It was still alive. They were still alive...but...but we had to leave...McGinnis...
Run. It's coming.
How could we leave him...?
Turn. Jump.
How could...could I let this happen...?
*How...how could I let him die...?*
"Heads up, damn you, it's coming again!"
"Aim for the arms!"
The pulse rifles came to life, writhing spheres of electric blue blurring the air around themselves as they
collided with their target. The wounds they made weren't as large as the first ones they had made. The rifles weren't
having as much of an effect.
It wasn't going to stop this time.
Kyle thumbed the dispersal switch on his rifle. It clicked with a sound of internal mechanisms. The power
gauge on his weapon leapt up seventeen bars. Vance and Williams did the same, a hum now filling the air as they
aimed their rifles again.
"Fire!"
The huge lances of ionized air tore through the flesh of the creature, illiciting a primal shriek that chilled their
blood. It toppled in a shower of red, stumbled, hesitated...
Kyle turned his back and ran.
This seems to be a good place to stop.
Let me intercede for a moment. I have something important I should point out.
It's true that I know the outcome of all of this, while you have barely started. It's also true that you will know
as much as I do at the end.
However...the order in which you learn things may differ from what actually happens, chronologically.
...Powerful forces were at work during these times, forces strong enough to give pause to my own power. At
times, things were hidden from me.
At times, things will be hidden from you.
For a while, at least.
They had reached the end.
It had collapsed. The canyon had collapsed at a point, and now they were trapped. A giant rockslide.
And they weren't just being chased by one anymore. Now there were dozens.
"Oh, FUCK this. FUCK all of this." Vance was obviously unhappy. "This is total bullshit! Where did this wall
come from?! There wasn't a goddamn wall here before!"
Their pursuers roared in inexorable malice.
"I think we're going to die."
Oh god, Williams could be so annoying sometimes.
Kyle came in last, slamming his back against one of the largest rocks. Moisture dripped down his face,
trapped by the suffocating shell of his environmental suit. The power cell fell away from his weapon, and he slid
another into place with a click. His last one.
"Any ideas? Because now would be a REALLY GOOD time for some ideas, Kyle!"
"SHUT UP, Vance!" Kyle let the barrel of his weapon fall to the ground in rest. His breath came in ragged
strokes. It was hot. The atmosphere regulators were running out of power. This was a futile retreat. All they were
doing was delaying the inevitable.
He smiled for a moment. *Well, at least we won't be running anymore.*
The first of the creatures was coming around the wide arc of the canyon. The three were going to die much
sooner than they hoped.
At that moment, he came up with a plan.
"Climb!" Kyle shouted. "Climb and don't stop! I'll hold them here!"
"I'd argue with you, but I can't think of anything except old clichés..."
Vance didn't waste any more time, he grabbed Williams by an arm, and they started to fly up the steep side
of the rubble. Having made sure they were off, Kyle turned back to the oncoming horrors with a scowl. His left hand
played over the tiny keypad, engaging the barrel lock and jacking the output up to full. The energy meter leapt to
maximum, and the danger light blinked on. The rifle began to throb in his hand, waiting to be fired. This time, though,
the energy would have nowhere to go.
Counting to three slowly in his head, Kyle pulled the trigger and threw the makeshift bomb at his attackers,
then ran for all he was worth. It still wasn't enough.
The iridium inside the power cell gave the bright magnesium-white explosion a tinge of purple, and the
shockwave slammed him flat against the rock he had been scaling. The facing of his helmet slammed against his
cheek, and he cried out as the thick plastic cracked. Shrapnel whistled through the air and clanged all around him, but
he felt nothing hit. Spots flashed in front of his eyes from the impact, and he tasted wet iron in his mouth. His ribs
were a bit sore, but they didn't feel broken or cracked...his environmental suit had taken a bit of the impact. He
swooned for a moment, and a prickly sensation overcame him.
At the same time, the creatures were, for the most part, very dead. The ones that had lived were making a
noise that Kyle swore was tearing his brain from his skull. He coughed once, then twice...felt a drop of blood slide
down to his chin, then wearily reached up for a handhold and pulled for all he was worth. It was hard to grab on. His
suit felt very cold all of a sudden. Wiliams and Vance were at least fifty feet ahead of him, straight up. He wasn't sure
if he'd have the strength to make it to the top.
Something howled below. Kyle blinked twice, hard. The spots wouldn't move from his eyes. Random
images flew through his mind. His grip loosened, and his vision blurred.
*No...move...come on...*
A sudden spell of exhaustion took him, and his arms fell away. Pulled by gravity, Kyle fell backwards, into
the thirty-foot span he had already climbed. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see more of the creatures coming.
They slowed down...no, he sped up. They moved in slow motion, roared in rage, and stretched their appendages up
toward the offering that now fell into their clutches.
Above him, he heard Vance and Williams, shouting faintly. They were watching. They woudln't be able to do
anything, though...it was already too late.
Everything was so quiet now. His hands felt deathly cold, but warm, in a strange way...
There was a bright flash of light. Kyle managed a smile before he landed on something very hard, and
everything went black.
"KYLE!" Vance screamed in helplessness. His hand flew downward on instinct. Their commander fell from
the rocky incline very slowly. Williams held onto his other hand, tightly.
"Goddammit...!" They couldn't do anything. He was going to die.
There was a horrible roaring sound from below, and a hypersonic whine from above.
The picket cruiser was above them...and something flashed brightly beneath their feet.
"My god, he's going to fall...blow the hell out of those things!" Alex ordered.
"Something's interfering with the power relays...I can't raise the gunnery deck!"
Cassy struggled with her panel, but she was out of time. Kyle began to fall.
Alex began to yell, but a bright light flashed at the bottom of the canyon, and the cruiser toppled from the
skies.
*...It's so cold...*
*......Why can't I see anymore...?*
*...Goodbye...everyone...*
*.........I don't want to......to die...like this...*
It's not time to die yet.
*.......What...?*
You can feel it inside, can't you?
*......?*
Save yourself.
*......How?*
Save yourself. Save them all.
The backlash from the explosion obliterated the remainder of the creatures. It blinded everyone, shining in a
shade of white that went right through your eyelids and burned your mind. The shockwave slammed into the side of
the picket cruiser, and the engines faltered...the correction thrusters activating all at once and spinning it in wide arcs.
The main engines cut out, and it plunged from the air, tumbling like a children's toy until it slammed into the rocky
ground above the canyon, miraculously landing rightside up. The thick sandstone walls cracked and sundered,
splitting with a deafening roar. Rays of light punched through the cracks, and vanished as quickly as they appeared.
Everything fell in on itself in a huge dust cloud.
And when the dust had cleared, Vance and Williams stood in the center...the only place still untouched.
They looked about in confusion and awe at the devastation around them...and then in surprise, as they discovered that
they stood over the unconscious, but unharmed form of Kyle Anson.
*The grass is so soft...I don't remember grass being so soft…*
Michiru lied on the grass, resting on her side. It really was soft...and cool, and smelled with the freshness
that you could only taste on the brightest of spring days.
She had fallen asleep, here in this place.
Arms were wrapped tightly around her. She was enveloped in the energies of the other. It calmed her...it
fought against the horrible things she felt. She had cried, off and on,...not saying anything at all. Escaping from
reality...until she fell asleep, and finally evaded the eyes of life. She let everything she had felt for years now fall off of
her like a heavy burden...and unchained the dark wings that she had hid for so long.
"You always go off into your own little worlds…"
She looked up. Soft grey eyes shone back.
"Don't leave me here alone…"
Michiru ran a few fingers through her companion's unkempt hair...and a smile took her face, at last.
"I'm sorry…I shouldn't be so selfish."
"I like it when you keep me to yourself."
"I love you, silly. I won't let anyone else have you."
"Who's jealous now?"
Michiru laughed, and felt a cool breeze drift over their bodies. She closed her eyes, and pushed her face
against the bosom of her companion. She felt so young, held in that embrace...the hundreds of years seemed like just
a few days.
"How old are we?"
"Does it matter?"
"I guess not..."
There was silence for a moment.
"We're 1,150 this year."
Michiru thought about that, for a moment.
"Don't you ever wonder how that works?"
"I try not to worry, they say it gives you wrinkles."
She laughed. Michiru should have expected that reply.
"It was a mistake...all of this was a mistake."
"It's all right. We did the right thing. It's over now."
"Is it...?"
A hand reached down, and delicately tilted her head upward. Their eyes met, one smiling, one wondering.
A moment later, their gaze had turned elsewhere.
"Did you...?"
"Yes...what was that...?"
Kyle's eyes opened, accompanied by a loud crash of electricity and metal.
They were all there.
Cassy had a welding torch, and was working on something inside a conduit.
Alex was rewiring a panel that had blown.
Williams was working on the engineering interface.
Vance stepped into the empty lift shaft, and climbed down the emergency ladder to the deck below.
He was propped against a wall, sitting upright. His limbs felt cold and prickly.
He was alive. Somehow, he was alive.
"It's him…he survived…"
"Him…?"
"Kyle did it…"
Inside, she smiled. She hoped beyond hope that he could do it, that he could win against the impossible
odds. And he did.
"Kyle? Friend of yours?"
"...Yes..."
"This changes things, doesn't it?" The other asked after a few moments.
Michiru got to her feet, slowly. She brought a commanding gaze upon the horizon, and a stiff breeze
buffetted her figure. Winds raged ouside the bubble, a great maelstrom forming about the island of tranquility. Her
fingers curled slowly into her palms, and clenched into fists. The wind intensified...far beyond what was normal.
Greenish bolts of electricity shone deep within her eyes...an expression that would strike terror into the hearts of
anything in her path.
She turned. Their eyes met once again, and all was silent for a moment.
No, that's inaccurate. It was more than a moment. At times in the life of a person, there comes a moment
where the rest of your life flashes before your eyes. You make a choice.
And so, in that moment, Michiru made a choice. A choice that directly affected the final end of this story, a
choice that will indeed determine the events of every single chapter to come. A choice that would lead to joy, sorrow,
pain, friendship, life, death, anguish, and love.
A choice that would unmake a world, and cast down angels from the heavens.
The spirit of Neptune awoke deep within her, and the suppression seal on her power snapped like a twig
caught in a tropic squall.
"We're going back, Haruka…we're going back to war…"
