Fate's Beginning

       By Okibi (Seiru_Okibi@hotmail.com)

Prologue-part II

All original characters created by me may not be used without my permission. If you are so desperate to use one of them, e-mail me and I'll see if we can work something out.

I'm really sorry for the huge delay in this chapter...look forward to regular updates soon though, I swear!

....May...maybe.....

* IMPORTANT- I'm also looking for a beta reader to help me with this fic. If anyone is seriously interested, give me an e-mail (or better yet, an Instant Message if you have AIM). *

----------------------Chapter 2-Shoulder-------------------

            As I glanced around the large docking bay of the Soja, my mind reeled. The huge room really was an impressive sight. Alien vessels of all shapes, sizes, and colors stretched as far as the eye could see. Kagato was a collector of many things, one of them being ships.

My ship is my only possession. It has a unique form, resembling a five meter long crystal with two large forward-pointing fins on each side. Kagato designed it of course, but it still makes me glad to think that it is mine. Since the ship was designed with me in mind, there is no physical door. To enter, I merely phase through the bulkhead. The interior has only the necessities. Two main control panels, which contain everything I need to operate it, and a 180° panoramic viewing screen, perfect for in-space battling. I normally look upon my ship with happiness. Today I look upon it with dread.

Kagato's orders were strict and specific. He would do a quick fly-by of the planet, at which point I would un-dock from the Soja and make my way to a point about 15 kilometers from the Royal Science Academy colony's boundary. After the mission was over, I was to meet him at a station about 50 light years into Jurain space. He doesn't usually leave me to do missions on my own, but I suppose he had more pressing matters at hand.
            After waiting at the crystal hull of my ship for about 10 minutes, I heard Kagato speak to me telepathically.

"Time to go, Seiru"

Following his orders, I phased into the ship, and sensing my presence, the sub-dimensional computer starting prepping itself for launch.

I have learned that space is viewed with awe by most people….their opinion of it is that it's impossibly enormous, and extremely hard to comprehend. Having lived in it for most of my life, I don't really understand this opinion, nor do I understand the people who have it. Most of my information on living beings (other than Kagato) is either from my missions, or Kagato's "lessons". In these lessons, he has taught me that most sentient beings should be regarded as "lesser" life forms. Their bodies, their minds, their emotions...everything about them is inferior to "us", and thus they should be disposed of like trash. I was surprised when Kagato first told this to me...not because of his hatred towards life (I already knew of that), but because he put me on the same level as himself. "Us". I guess he does have some respect for me after all....

As I detached from the main docking bay, the Soja roared above me, adjusting its heading for wherever Kagato was going. With a flash the ship started its main drive system, and then it was gone.

But there was no relief at the fact that Kagato was moving further and further away...our psychic bond could be maintained over vast distances. I still felt him, right there over my shoulder.

There was no time to waste.

Infiltrating the Science Academy's security web was easy with the enhancements Kagato gave my ship. As I quietly slipped through the atmosphere, I made my way to the dark side of the planet. The pre-determined landing site blipped on my navigational screen with a soft green light.  The ship swept through the air, like a silent raptor, stalking its prey...clouds swept by my view screen, highlighting the dark sky. In the distance I saw what looked to be a huge compound...it seemed to fill the entire horizon with different colored lights and shapes.  I began to lower my altitude and look for a place to land.

The complex was huge. Due to complicated security measures, I couldn't just take a straight route to my target...going up seemed to make me go down...going down seemed to make be go up.  Even the directions which Kagato had given me didn't seem to help much. It was an endless labyrinth of corridors, each looking exactly the same, except for different numbers on the doors. The building I was in currently was dark, closed down for the night...the only reason I could see was because there was a soft blue light, which seemed to emanate out of the very walls. After about three hours, I was making some progress. There was #210....#211....#212....

As I turned the corner, there it was. Lab #213. The door was different from the other labs. This one was made entirely out of some sort of yellow tinted metal...and it hummed very softly.

"Extra security measures, my boy...don't touch anything except for your target, not even the....the floor"

Kagato's voice echoed in my brain...but something was different. He seemed...out of breath.

There was no time to waste.

I phase through the door, hovering a few feet off the ground. The room wasn't that big. Several seemingly important specimens lined the wall. I started searching their labels.

About halfway down the wall, I found it. "RSA-SPECIMEN 7623009-'MASS-2'". It was contained in a plain metal cylinder...I couldn't see what was inside. I tucked it inside my cloak, and turned to leave-

Pain.

Searing pain.

I momentarily blacked out...pain filled all my senses, clouded my mind. It was unlike anything I'd ever felt before. At that moment, I felt closer to Kagato than I'd ever felt before.

"You've won, boy..."

When I opened my eyes, I was laying on the floor...there was something different though. I didn't...I didn't feel anything. I didn't feel anything other than my own mind, and for some reason, my shoulder was considerably warmer...

Kagato. He was gone. He was no longer in my head, I couldn't feel his presence anymore. What was...what was going on?

Danger. Flashes. Sounds. What was that noise?  Couldn't make it out...

"Alert, alert. Security breach, building 7, section 3. All security personnel report immediately."

A voice...but whose?

All of the sudden I remembered where I was. Jolted out of my tranced state, I glanced around me. Red alarm lights which had seemed to pop out of nowhere were shining all around me.

The sound of lasers being fired. Danger.

I instinctively went out of phase, and reappeared just in time to see three burning holes, smoking in the ground where I just stood. For the first time, I noticed there were armed guards all around me.

There was no time to waste.


            I ran. Or flew to be more exact. I didn't care about where exactly I was going, or Kagato's complex directions anymore, I just ran. Phasing out, phasing in, phasing out, phasing in...through wall after wall after wall. Phasing out...

*ZZIPP*

I was thrown backward with such a force that my head snapped back, and I became dizzy. A bright light shown before me, like a shimmering curtain of light.

Force field.

I would need to go around it...and I began to fly down the corridors once again. Turret fire began to shoot out of the walls, setting the hallway ablaze...literally, and figuratively.  A couple shots streaked my back, opening wounds and cauterizing them at the same time. I could afford shots like that...but I couldn't mess up any more.

At the end of the hallway, five Royal Science Academy droids jumped out, blocking the way, and firing at me at the same time. I took a hard left through another passage, dodging their fire. As the shots struck the end of the hallway where I'd just been, the whole building shook, and groaned.

The exit. It was there, a small air duct which I'd used to come in. I blew open the hatch with a blast of blue energy, and flew as fast as I could through the small compact passage.

Once I was outside, and a couple yards from the air duct, I looked back. The building I was just in, which looked perfectly quiet a few hours earlier, was now alive with flashing lights, alarms, and several plumes of smoke rising from a several charred holes on the side.

I made my way to the ship.

It went undetected through this entire ordeal, that is, until I was about 100 meters off the ground...

Light. Several spotlights were now focused on my ship, and the alarms were ringing louder than ever. I was receiving a transmission from the surface.

"Unidentified ship, you are trespassing on Royal Science Academy grounds, surrender your ship, or you will be treated as a threat to the sanctity of RSA."

I fired up my engines, and flew up through the atmosphere like a comet. Alerts rang on my console. I was being locked on to. A quick adjustment...three balls of white energy flew past my ship. Several more were on their way. I dodged two...four...six....*CRASH*

A large explosion rocked my hull, as one of the shots hit. Some systems were down...tracking, navigation, sensors. Red, flashing messages filled my field of vision.

I broke through the atmosphere...I was in open space.

Forgetting about destroying the planet, I set my course for nowhere in particular, fired up the main drive, and zipped out of range of the remaining shots. I was home free.

As the ships operating system beeped loudly in my ear, and blood ran down my back, everything began to slow down...I was vaguely aware of a message telling me that life support was failing, but I didn't care...my eyes started to close...

And the world turned black.