AUTHOR: Well, here's the third chapter, hope you all will find it liking. But just so you know, exams are about to start in my school so I got no idea when I'll be able to write more.

Also, I just found out couple of days ago that the Mustards brothers are working on this game called Empire, and are helped by that sci-fi author, Scott Card something. At first glance it looks like Mustard has left the Trilogy, but maybe he intends to get money from this Empire game to buy the rights from Majesco, or something like that. Whatever the results, Itruly hope that the Trilogy will be continued and that Mustard will be in charge of it. Anyone else and it just won't feel like an Advent game.

Anyway, heres the chapter, hope you all will enjoy! And please, when you review, feel free to express what you liked and stuff and your thoughts.

How long had they been traveling?

A minute?

A year?

He hadn't noticed, nor cared.

He didn't even blink anymore when the alien smeared more of that green stuff into his wounds.

The alien never left his side. When it wasin't checking his wounds, it held his right hand in its large, three fingered hands while speaking to him. Behind him were the other four of its kind. After they had entered hyperspace, they had hesitandly come closer, and were now on their knees, looking like they were praying.

But Cain didn't notice. His eyes were still on the ceiling, but his mind was far away from everything around him.

...gone...

...everybody just...gone...

...like they never existed...

...gone...

...all gone...

...gone...

The small ship dropped out of hyperspace and started to slow down. As it did that, one of the kneeling aliens stood up and walked deeper into the ship. As the ship itself suddenly lurched like a ship at sea, it came back with what looked like an odd stretcher of some kind. The other three aliens stood up to give more room, as the alien looking over Cain gently lifted him up and placed him on the stretcher. When the ramp opened, one of the aliens started pushing the stretcher, while the other still held Cain's hand and continued talking to him as they made they're way out of the ship.

Cain slowly blinked as the scenery changed. The room they were in was much larger and even though he only saw the ceiling and the alien that was talking to him, he just somehow knew he was aboard a ship. As the ceiling rushed by, loud commotions were heard, severel alien voices talking loudly, while many whispered. More then once, Cain spotted one of the fish aliens pass by, those showing their faces looking at him as if they had never seen a wounded human before.

As Cain's vision slowly became blurred, his heartbeat going weaker, a blurry form of an alien appeared on his left, keeping in pace with them while talking quickly to the other alien on his right, before turning to Cain, whispering something, almost sounding like it was pleading him of something as it placed its hand on his shoulder. The moment the contact came, Cain breathed in sharply as an odd, almost eletric feeling suddenly appeared in his brain. It came for just a split of a second and was gone the next, but it had been there.

Blinking to clear his eyes, he looked at the new alien and saw its skin was violet, wearing something red around its shoulders and something that oddly resembled a long mustache was on its face. And when the alien and the human made eye contact, the alien's face suddenly brightened up, as if it had achieved something and spoke as such to Cain. But the words now sounded slurry to him, as everything started to be blurry again, though this time every color started to turn grey, and keeping his eyes open was becoming more harder then he could handle.

The alien on the right said something sharply and Cain felt it squeeze his hand hard. It wanted him to fight longer, to stay awake, but he just felt so tired, so...God damn tired.

He was barely aware that they had stopped and the alien was now carrying him, and it sounded like it was...wading through water? Aboard a ship? Cain felt something wet splash at the back of his head, hand and neck. Using what little strength remained in him, his eyes focused long enough to see that, yes, the alien had carried him to some kind of a large pool, surrounded by odd looking plants. The purple one stood close by, along with some other figures in the back, but they were too blurry to make out properly. Feeling the alien hands that had been holding him dissappear under him, leaving him floating in the water, Cain looked up at the creature as it placed a hand on his chest, saying something in its language and-

-and gently pressed him underwater.

They...brought me here...to drown me?

He didn't try to fight back. He didn't care what was about to happen. He was just so damn tired. And before going into the water, he had been getting cold, but now, he felt warm. Except for his right hand, which was still in the alien's hands above the surface. He could feel vibrations coming from its hands, which meant it was still talking. To him or the others of its kind, Cain did not know nor care. All that mattered now was the warmth coming from the water.

His mind started to feel...dull...it was difficult to...think...even...breathing...

...so tired...

There was nothing...but the warm darkness...it surrounded him...all but swallowed him...the only part it didn't reach...was his hand...it was still in the cold place...the place where horrible things happen...a place that had no hope...no love...only loneliness...despair...fear...death...so much death...everybody dead...everybody gone...

A small part of his mind that still barely worked, remembered that you were suppose to re-live the life in a flash, but that did not happen.

"Heard the war is going pretty bad."

Instead, voices from the past came. The first were non-importand.

"Cain! Dinner's ready!"

Something out of simple conversations.

"Hello, Mr. Duncan, I'm Xander and I'll be your guitar instructor."

But as time passed, they soon connected to memories. Life defining memories.

"You want to enlist?.! The hell you will!"

Painfull memories...

"Now you listen to me, boy! If you walk through those doors, then NEVER come back!"

Unwanted memories...

"My God, what a sorry bunch of no-good losers have been dropped into my lap! What the hell were those recruiters thinking! No one told me the war was going THIS bad!"

"Are you eye-balling me, boy?.!"

"Get yer ass on the ground and give me twentie!"

"Well I'll be! Looks like one of you jarheads actually know how to shoot straight! Let's see how well you do in the advance course! Double time!"

"Don't get smart with me, dirtbag!"

"Looks like we have ourselves a natural here! What's your name, son? Cain Duncan? Wrong! As of this moment, you're now Deadeye!"

Memories of relief over something difficult being finally over...

"-have been drilled by this school's finest, and on this day, the Federation is proud to receive the new defenders of Edumea."

Only to realise that the worst part was just beginning...

"Alright, marines, settle down! We have been given our first mission."

Some parts got mixed up...

"-assaulting head-on would be suicide-"

"-have caught a lucky break-"

"-old defences-

"-can only be activated by this man-"

"-Private Duncan, since you're the closest thing we have for a sniper-"

...but they all lead to one memory...

"-units in position. Target located at-"

"-are you waiting for, Private? Take the shot!"

"Take it! That's an order!"

Bang

...where a part of the soul was forever lost.

"...good work, Private."

That shot was but the first of many. First kill of many. The voices then get all tangled up, making it difficult to hear what they were saying. It made his head hurt, which was bad since pain meant life, and life was the last thing he wanted now.

"-secondery objective-"

"-too many! Need an evac now!-"

"-primary target neatrulized-"

"-all dead! Repeat, all dead! They-"

"-I saw you take that shot that got General Bulldozer. Not bad, considering-"

"-now, seems like you lied about your age-"

"-could prove grounds for a Court Martial-"

"-are in need of talented people such as-"

"-don't really got much of an option, kid-"

"-welcome to Special Ops-"

"-will be certified sniper, but will still be Private-"

"-don't want to make a bad example, now do we?-"

"H-hello, s-son, how...how are you doing?"

Everything cleared up. There was no noise to distract. It was as clear as it had been the first time he had watched the holo-mail.

"I...I know that, when we last spoke, we...I said some things and...I'm sorry. I just...your mother and I have been worried sick ever since we heard what happened at Gryphon Colony, how so many Federation soldiers were lost and...please, son, just...just be carefull, okay? You do what needs to be done and come home safe, okay? And...write to us...please. Love you."

"-was so releaved to hear from you, my boy, though I had hoped it would be a holo-mail, if only to see you in your uniform. But, I-I am glad to hear from you, and your mother sends her love. She wanted me to tell you that she's sorry for not being here to say hello, a big emergency is going on at the hospital, some kind of mining incidant.-"

"-anyway, we back home just heard that the rebel stronghold in Gryphon Colony fell because a brave pilot managed to take out the defences singlehandedly. Wyeth, something. Eddard Wyeth, I think. And from the sounds of things, he's been busy at the front. Eh, anyway, everybody are all optimistic back home, and talks are that since the last two remaining strongholds are under siege, the war could be over this year! Just...just hang on, son, its almost over. We miss you."

"-are you coming home? The peace talks are all but over. Soldiers are coming back to they're families. I know, not all of you can go home imidiatly, but...its just that we've been waiting for so long to see you, we have so much to talk about. Heh, I think I can give you the motivation. Here, let me show you what I attached to this letter. Yup, that's right, son, I ain't kidding you. The little guy came about a year after you left. We wanted to tell you in person, but...well, maybe this way you'll come home sooner. After all, you now have a little brother who's looking very forward to meet you."

In the darkness, tears came from his closed eyes.

The sounds of birds came. He felt the warmth coming from the sun and smelled the grass. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was standing in the field near they're summer house. It was standing there, on the hill overlooking the sea. He could see two figures standing outside, waving him, beckoning him to come. He started to walk towards the house, feeling the tall grass brush against his hand. It felt good.

As he came closer, the two figures walked inside the house. The summer house itself looked exactly as he remembered it. Peacefull. Still looking freshly build, even when it was build over eight years ago. He walked up the steps and stood in front of the door that lead inside. The door was open, but instead of showing the small hallway that lead to the kitchen, there was nothing but complete darkness.

But he could hear them.

"Come on in, son, we're waiting for you!"

"We have so much to talk about."

They were calling for him.

"Hurry, Cain! Your little brother is taking his first steps!"

"Yes, just walk inside, and we'll all be together again!"

Together again...yes. I'm coming.

A small smile appeared on his lips as he stepped towards the door-

-only to have someone stopping him.

Blinking, he turned around and saw a tall figure, taller then himself by far, but it was all...blurry, distorted, like he was looking at it through water. He could hear something coming from it, but it was barely a whisper and he couldn't make out the words. Behind him, he heard his mom call for him and he turned to go through the door, when he saw the figure was holding his right hand, stopping him from going.

He pulled his hand, trying to break free, but the figure refused to let go. He said something, or at least, he thought he did but he couldn't recall hearing what he had said. As he kept pulling, he heard the calls from his mom and dad slowly fade, and the figure's voice slowly rose, untill it was all he heard.

Then, the blurriness of the figure slowly started to spread, soon obscuring the house, the green fields, the sky, the entire valley.

Blinking once more, Cain regained consciousness.

At first, he saw nothing but a red haze.

But soon, he saw shapes behind it. Odd looking shapes and yet they looked so familiar...

Cain coughed, and to his utmost surprise, watched air bubbles come from his mouth and head towards the shapes. A second later, he realised he was underwater and needed air. Fast.

His right hand was above the surface and he felt something was around it but he couldn't tell what it was. Gribbing it harder, he used it to pull himself up to the surface. The moment his head was out of the water, he gasped for air, but something was stuck in his throat. Retching, water poured out of his mouth and started coughing uncontrolably, gasping for air between coughs. It was difficult to breathe, as his chest hurt, but he toughened it up and ignored it. He opened his eyes and almost closed them again, the sudden bright light almost too much for his eyes.

Blinking, he finally looked around, and almost flinched in surprise at what he saw.

He found himself floating in a large pool, his blood mixed heavily with the water where he was, and severel of the fish aliens stood in the pool, all looking at him. The one in the front, a violet skinned one, wearing some kind of red robes around its shoulders, said something to Cain and made a gesture with its hands, but the meaning was lost on him.

"I..." He cleared his throat a bit more, "I don't understand you," he said, shaking his head and hoping the alien would understand the gesture. It stayed silend, looking like it was trying to think of a way to be understood, when the wall Cain was leaning against suddenly shifted and spoke. Startled, Cain turned and saw his own reflection in a silver white/violet armour. Looking up, a familiar alien face was looking down at him, its left hand reaching into something on its armour that resembled a small pocket, while the right hand was...holding his hand.

Before Cain could think if he was seeing right, the alien's left hand retrieved from its pocket and its long, three-fingered hand was an all too familiar blue glowing ball.

That's about the last thing I wanna see right now, Cain thought sourly, while the purple alien on the other hand, looked quiet surprised and said something to the other, who replied and made a gesture towards Cain. It then handed the ball closer to Cain, as if wanting him to take it. He paused for a second, wondering what was so special about the damn thing, then mentally shrugged and took it. It still looked the same and he still didn't know what it was, but when he looked over at the purple alien, it pointed at the side of its head as if...

My ear? I'm suppose to place this thing in my ear?

His thought was confirmed when the alien pointed at the side of its head again, and for a moment Cain wondered if he should just laugh at what was beeing asked of him. Then again, the aliens had made no threats to him, so why should they want him to place something deadly in his ear when they could easily do it themselves by force?

Silendly cursing himself, Cain placed the damn thing in his ear.

And almost cried out in surprise when he felt it sink into his ear. The sensation was most disturbing, and for a panicked moment he thought he had placed some kind of a mind-control thingy inside his brain, but then the moment was gone and whatever the ball was suppose to do was over.

"The hell was that?" Cain half-mumbled to himself while picking his ear.

"Universal translator, Great One."

Cain froze, then slowly looked at the purple alien, not believing he had heard right, "...what?"

"What you were given serves as a translator and will help us communicate with one another, Human."

"...oh." Cain still couldn't belive he actually now understood an alien language by just placing some shiny thing in his ear.

"I am Kelehm, and I bid you welcome aboard our ship and we all are most reliefed to see that our healing waters were able to save your life. Truly, this proves that Humans are survivors and it strengthens our hope to find more," what most surprised Cain was how the alien spoke to him with such...awe and respect, and Cain saw that it was shared by the rest, the way they looked at him and some even bowed when his gaze fell on them.

Cain suddenly realised he still had his finger in his ear.

"Ah, sir, I am Sergeant Cain Duncan from the Federation's Special Ops and..." And what? What was he suppose to say? Or ask?

Thinking about the Federation reminded him of Edumea and the last thing he had seen of her.

"Sir, my home, what happened to it? Is it-" The alien called Kelehm looked away, his face saddened. The same went with the rest of the aliens. It only confirmed what Cain feared to be true.

"...no..." Cain felt his legs go weak, and would have sank underwater, but the alien next to him had seen it coming and gently supported him. He barely noticed it, his gaze was at the water around him, and through his blood in it, he could almost see Edumea dying again.

Cain blinked and looked back Kelehm, "sir?"

"I said, we are doing our best to find any more survivors, to tell them the Aurelians offer assistance and aid, so not all is lost, Human," maybe, but without those translators they don't have a clue what you're saying. They might even think you're the ones who attacked us in the first place.

"I...I understand, sir," was all what he could think of saying. But when he looked where he had been shot, he suddenly realised how much blood was in his uniform and how much was in the pool, "Uh, s-sir, how..." his voice trailed off when he gently pressed a hand to his stomach. It still hurt like hell, but there was no hole in it anymore.

"Yes?"

"...how were you able to...fix me like this? I had lost so much blood and...the wounds were so serios."

As Kelehm replied, his hands gestured at the entire pool, "Our holy waters have the ability to heal any kinds of physical wounds, regardless of what species. Yes, your wounds were great, Human, and for a time it looked like we had placed you here too late, but our prayers were with you, and it would appear you were not yet meant to leave this life."

...not for the lack of trying, Cain thought, remembering a dark door and hearing his parents call for him on the other side, ...I would be with them now, if it hadn't been for...

Not really thinking, Cain glanced up at the alien that was still supporting him, and seeing his face, he realised who that blurry figure had been that had stopped him. Cain looked away, the soldier in him trying to think of something to do or say, trying to wrap his mind around just what had happened couple of hours ago and not to just curl around himself and have a breakdown, when an immense fatique suddenly overcame him. It did not go unoticed by the Aurelians.

"But it would seem the struggle for life has been most draining. We offer you our hospitalidy, Human, and hope that you will recover."

Cain just nodded, too focused on not to black out. He was dimly aware of the alien next to him say something as it half-led him out of the pool. His uniform felt like it weighted a ton, but he forced himself to endure it. Walking felt awkward and more then once he almost tripped by his own legs as they made they're way out of the large chamber, feeling the gaze from the Aurelians on his back.

"Are you alright, Exaulted One?"

Exaulted One?

"My...legs aren't responding well," the alien nodded and Cain saw that it...he...allowed himself to be just a little closer to him, as if ready to catch him should he fall. Luckily, it didn't happen.

Cain wasin't still out of the large chamber and already he was amazed by the arcitect of the ship, as he slightly paused in front of water that seemed to float on its own, looking like it served as some kind of door. But the alien simply walked through it so Cain figured it must be safe. But that didn't stop him from closing his eyes as he walked through.

The human and the Aurelian slowly made they're way down a long hallway, the human looking around in an undisguised wonder, the memory of his planet forgotten for the moment. They passed by other Aurelians here and there, all of them bowing in respect and Cain honestly didn't know how he was suppose to react to such...action, so he simply just nodded.

Thankfully, they reached their destination quickly. Walking through another water-door, it lead to a room that held severel beds and Cain imidiatly thought it resembled barracks.

"This room shall serve you as your own, Exaulted One. I hope that you will find it suitable," hearing this took Cain by surprise.

"But...what about those who sleep here?"

"They were most honoured to hear that their room had been selected as your own, Exaulted One. It is of no bother."

Again with the "Exaulted One." They're treating me as if I'm royalty or something.

The Aurelian sounded like he meant what he said, but before Cain could do or say anything else, loud commotions were heard outside as severel people rushed by.

"Excuse me, Exaulted One," said the alien and walked through the water door. Even though the other side was all blurry, Cain could see him grab a hold of one passing by and ask him something. A few seconds later he came back, hurrying in as if the news were of most importand, "Exaulted One, most joyfull news! A Human ship has contacted us and is on its way to dock with us."

"A ship..." for couple of seconds Cain didn't move a muscle, then suddenly realised what he had heard and moved quickly. A bit too quickly, as his legs still had trouble to move properly and he fell on his knees. Cursing to himself, he looked up and saw the Aurelian had offered a hand, which Cain accepted.

"You are still weak, Exaulted One. There is no shame in resting after the battle you have just endured," the alien suggested gently, but Cain shook his head.

"No, I need to find out how many...how many survived and...I-I need to know,"

"Very well." Cain tried to take another step but almost fell down again but was caught by the alien.

Clearing his throat, Cain softly asked without looking at the tall alien, "Could...could you maybe..."

"As you wish, Human."

As Cain, leaning on the alien, came closer to the dock, he could hear Kelehm's voice, soon followed by unmistakenly a human voice. And as they passed through the water door, he could see the ship docked was indeed a human ship, though he didn't recognise the configuration. But he did recognise one of the humans standing in front of Kelehm.

"Captain!" Cain let go of the Aurelian and limped down the steps, passing by Kelehm and someone wearing silver armour and stood in front of a very surprised and shocked Captain Gideon Wyeth.

"Wha- how did-"

"Sergeant Cain Duncan from Special Ops, sir," Cain interrupted, saluting.

Captain Wyeth blinked surprised, looking like he was about to ask something, then noticed Cain was still saluting and returned it, "Sergeant, how did-"

"How many, sir?"

"...what?"

"How many ships managed to escape? Where are they?"

"I..." for a moment, the Captain looked down at the floor, then back at Cain with a sad face, "...well, Sergeant, as far as we know, we are the only ones."

"...oh."

Then he fainted.