One of them was surely dead. Both of them, Scorpius and Solaris, were sprawled on the floor, and neither one was moving.

Jace cried out as soon as he regained his ability to breath, and skidded to her side, cradling her in his arms, "Lara? Lara! Please, wake up!" He shook her left to right, but still she did not awaken. "Lara! LARA! Dammit!" Holding his newfound friend, Jace held her close, "Lara, please... wake up...."

As if by magic, a low, hardly audible moan escaped her lips, "Wow...... that.....was..... a.... trip....." She groaned, "Scorpy...... is....... he...... dead?"

For the first time, Kohen actually looked at his fallen former high officer, and recoiled at the sight. He was gutted from the outside in, a hole the side of a basketball burned in his abdomen, and his entire face a horrid shade of charred, black flesh. His suit was burned off him, leaving patches of revealed, seared skin, and the entire body sizzled and burned still, wafting steam into the air.

There was no doubt about it: Scorpius was dead.

"Yes, he's deceased, Lara."

She sighed heavily, "Now comes..... the fun..... part. Get the....... transmodulator......... and help me.... up...... I have..... to pilot.... my Prowler....."

Jace shook his head, "Not in your condition. You can't even stand on your own, let alone pilot a Prowler. Let me do it; it's what I was trained to do."

"No, not..... my Prowler... It's keyed into... only two..... people. Me..... and my mother....." She rasped out, and coughed, "If you try..... to pilot...... it will...... self-destruct.... It's the... same as..... my Dad's..... module."

"Then let's get you to your Prowler," he amended, and started to help her stand, "Come on, we need to get you out of here."

"The.... transmodulator."

"I've got it." He snatched the heavy object from the table with one arm, and supported her with the other, "Let's go." However, instead of walking towards the chamber door, Jace strode towards the back of the room, "Let's see if this passageway still works..."

"How.... do you..... know about....... this passageway?" Solaris muttered, watching him pulling a few things on the back chamber wall, including the sconces.

"You forget, I was..... born.... here," he replied, and smiled grimly when a secret door slid to the left, "I know every single secret passageway, maintenance terminal, and air duct on this entire Command Carrier, and I knew that even Scorpius had to have a second way out if he was ever trapped in here."

"Smart....... thinking.... I'm happy...... I took.... you as....... a hostage," she teased breathlessly, and hacked out blood, "That.... last energy.... blast really... drained me... It's taking..... me.... longer to....... get it back......"

"Here," Surprised and too weak to protest, Solarie let Jace shove the transmodulator into her hands and scoop her up, carrying her through the threshold of the secret passageway, "This is faster." Confidently, he started walking as fast as he could down the dank and dark metallic corridor, and to the docking bay once again, "This passageway leads right where we want to be......" And sure enough, there was a private elevator shaft right in front of them, ready to be in use, "Here we go."

Alarms were going off left and right, their piercing wail accompanying the two companions all the way down to the docking bay, where they met with a few soldiers of opposition, "Come on, Lara, you have to make it to your Prowler." Picking up the specific modifications that Solaris had made over the years, Jace hand no problem spotting it, and made it a point to pop the cockpit door open, place her inside it, and jam the headset on her head, "Come on, Lara, you have to stay awake."

"Voice identification required," intoned a monotonous voice, devoid of emotion as the Computer recognized two passengers.

"This is........ Solaris Sun-Crichton..... daughter of.... Commander John Robert Crichton Junior....... and Officer Aeryn Sun...... of the Icarion Company...... Pleisar Regiment."

"DNA identification required." A small, black area of the main flight panel slid back its tiny doors, and revealed a puncturing needle. Sighing as to why she put that in there, but knowing it served a purpose, she quickly stuck herself on the sharp object, drawing blood on her right thumb. Immediately after he had removed her thumb, the openings closed yet again, and the same voice replied, "Identity acknowledged. Welcome back, Solaris Sun-Crichton." Instantly, the ship started to reboot its systems and power, up, leaving her in control of the vessel as long as she could stay awake to use it.

She moaned, "About....... time."

Jace looked curious, "Was all of that really necessary?"

"Yes..... because this Prowler........ detects..... my mother's...... DNA in...... my blood. It's....... keyed in to... those specific..... chromosomes, so...... only my.... mother and I...... can fly it."

"Is this the same technology used in your father's module?"

"Similar."

"Let's hope you have enough strength to—"His words were cut off by blasts to the hull of the ship, its body rocking on its landing gear. "Solaris, now would be a good time to take off."

"Don't....... have the..... access to..... open the... blast doors..."

"Yes, but I do," He leaned over her and asked, "Where's the data entry panel?"

"Right....... there," she acknowledged, pointing to a square of coordinate keys to her immediate left, "Type it....... in there."

Quickly, he did just that, and miraculously, the doors of the docking bay started to open up. But the Peacekeepers outside the ship continued to fire wave after wave of ammo in their wake.

"Lara, GO!"

"Computer....... full throttle....... full thrust, we're..... getting out...... of here."

"Affirmative," it replied; instantly the engines fired up, the roaring echoing in the space, and the Prowler started moving forward towards the opening doors.

"Lara, you're going through them too fast..."

"No... I'm not....."

"Yes you are! You're going to clip the wings of the Prowler, SLOW DOWN!"

"No... I won't....."

"SOLARIS!!!!" Jace screamed in disbelief, right before the wings scraped slightly on the open gates of the Command Carrier, and leaving behind trails of black smoke from each wing, as well as pulse fire blasts in the hull. But all of it was profitable, as the Prowler took off for space flight, even though the damaged wings caused turbulence in the vaccumed span of space.

Warning lights when off, and the computer again informed them of their situation, "Warning! Hull breach is inevitable! Warning, hull breach is inevitable! Wing span operating at sixty-two percent! Wing span operating at sixty-two percent!"

"That..... was close..." Solaris gasped, and saw to the operation systems as best she could, "Computer.......... find Moya, and...... use the.... shortest possible.... trajectory to..... go to her."

"Affirmative."

Jace looked amazed, "This entire Prowler operates itself?"

"Mostly. It...... needs voice commands.... from me....... or Mother, but...... yeah."

"Remarkable."

"Not... really. Wait..... until you.... see the.... modifications.... on my Dad's........ module...." Speeding away as fast as it could go, another warning light came on, and Solaris looked at it and despaired, "We've got..... company. Prowlers at...... ten o'clock."

"How many?"

"I counted..... over 20."

Ex-Officer Kohen could feel the opposing ships open fire upon them, shaking the cockpit and them along with it, "Is there anything I can do?"

"Pray." He nodded, and started chanting something he had remembered in Delvian. Recognition lit up his companion's mind, and she questioned, "Where did....... you hear that?"

"I knew a Pa'u priest on one of my first missions as a cadet. He chanted this same prayer to bless our passage."

"Really? What..... mission were........ you on?"

"It was considered a normal perimeter check in the Uncharted Territories, but our true mission was to destroy a Sebacean/Nebari resistance colony on the planet Chalak. The Delvian we met was our associate, and therefore, allowed us to regain control of the planet. Why do you ask?"

"Because...... it's the...... same thing that... Zhaan used.... to pray."

"Zhaan?"

Flashes of her memory played before her eyes, and she cried out in despair, weaker than she was before, "P'au......Zotoh...... Zhaan.... P'au....... of....... the........ Tenth... Level......" She moaned, and shuttered, "I......... hate...... these........ memory... flashes....."

More pulse fire blazed on the cockpit, and more warnings went off, "Warning! Hull breach is inevitable! Hull is down to thirty-four percent! Warning! Hull breach is inevitable! Hull down to thirty-four percent!"

Jace could feel death upon them, "We are not going to make it, are we?"

"No...."

"Lara?"

"......Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"....For.........what.....?"

"For everything," he replied, and then he did something even he was astonished at. He leaned over to her and kissed her softly on the lips, then pulled away just as quickly.

What was more surprising though, was that fact that he didn't just kiss her. She kissed him back.

Yeah, kinda a sappy ending, but one I had to have in there. It's one of those "We're going to die so might as well have some fun" type of things. Going to write more, hopefully I will have this entire fiction done within hours. Happy reading, and I hope you all like the ending I will tell.....

Also, My internet is currently on the fritz, which means that until it's up, I have to update my FF at school (which I only have a few more days of....) So folks, this might be the last chapter in awhile until the Net cable people get their services back up and running. Don't worry though, I'll get to update somehow.