INTERLUDE

There is little left for us... little time; but much irony.

In my desperate search through the installation, I discovered many secrets; secrets that I had overlooked through my searches before. One could not actually call them secrets, however, as they were present in broad sight, despite my many searches before. Although my prior ventures into the installation's data banks brought forth much information, I was simply unable to analyze it correctly, as ignorant as I was. However…with the gift the presence gave me, it allowed me to look at this information…to study it, and realize the deeper meaning hidden beneath.

And now, I realize, perhaps this information was hidden for a reason…perhaps, it was never intended to be seen at all. It was placed in such a way that my creators would have been unable to see it due to it's sheer size and volume…and yet, it was so cleverly spread out, such that only one with my creator's intelligence and knowledge would be able to comprehend it's value. I question to this day; was I ever meant to see what I saw on that day? The presence had seen it fit to show it to me……yet…when I think about it…could it have been mistaken? Considering my deeds and actions with that knowledge…that power…I hardly seem like the right candidate for it.

Irregardless of what I think now, what matters is what happened then, for I had discovered two very important things, both of which would prove to be the salvation - and eventual destruction, of our very race.

The first discovery was that of the great destroyers; their ships and their very nature. I did discover that they are not invulnerable. The destroyers that darkened our skies like a plague can be harmed. But, the sheer irony is that we have no way to deliver the hurt. We have the knowledge, but lack the means. So this shall be our legacy…from the flux of subspace, the great destroyers were birthed; and hence it is in subspace that they are most vulnerable. For in subspace, they cannot raise their shields, and into subspace, they can be tracked. Once, this discovery would have been the key to our survival; the key to our victory over the destroyers.

But now it is meaningless. Gone are my creator's vast and glorious fleets. Stretching across the galaxies, had they known this when they existed, even the power of the Destroyers would bow down to their collective might. Nothing is left of this; and the paltry few ships that now orbit this installation are but a mere shadow of what once was.

However, with the second discovery, this may just be enough to guarantee the survival of most, if not all, of us.

The second discovery relates to the purpose of the installation; a purpose that none of us would have guessed and one that, to this day, I am unable to completely fathom. The actual role this installation plays is not clear; but what is clear is that this role allows it's reach to extend not only to this galaxy, not only this entire universe, but outside this one's as well!

In the heart of this installation…this device, there exists a gateway; a gateway unlike any other. It goes not to anywhere in this universe, but to outside of it; to an entirely different one all together. What it offered was a possible refuge; a way to a place the destroyers would not be able to follow. Although I knew nothing about the place, or what exactly lied beyond, compared to the threat of extinction, it offered us one thing most of us needed so desperately: hope.

My creators had lost almost everything; their homes, their families, their empire. I realized that this would only make them more receptive to it.

I presented this option to my creators. Although they were understandably hesitant, they had little choice in the matter. It instilled hope in an otherwise despaired population. We did not have any other option, and my creators agreed, we had to go on.

The plans were created and set. Their execution would have to be swift; for the destroyers were already advancing upon our positions, and their scouts had just entered the system neighboring ours. My creators had numbered nearly 4 Million on the ring, but fortunately, we had 2,000 ships in which to take them. This number, as large as it was, was but a mere fraction of what their fleets once were. Most of them were damaged, and in little condition for any sort of combat. But it was exactly this that was required of them, as well as those willing to stay back and fight.

I have read a saying from my creator's history. "In times of great Adversity, Heroes will arise." And at that time, I was one of the few fortunate ones to actually witness this.

The destroyers had to be stopped or at least delayed as we made our retreat. However, those who would stay back to encounter the destroyers would not have the chance or opportunity to come with the rest as we departed through the gate.

And yet, to this day, I do not know exactly how many arose to meet that challenge. It seemed like everyone was willing to do it; to be part of the small fraction that would stay back and be part of the last stand… the last stand our species would ever make in this universe.

All I know is that there were more than enough for the plans required. And soon, our journey would begin.

Interlude (continued)

This is the written log of Admiral Bosch, leader of the Neo Terran Front.

Much has gone on in the past few hours as we move base camp to the Ancient Temple and control room of this installation. The brief look I had through the computer when I went in with Gibson yielded an overwhelming amount of information about the Ancients and this Installation. The complexity and machinery that keeps this installation running is simply amazing and intriguing, suggesting a far, far, more advanced civilization that we had initially imagined. The technology here is at least two to three hundred years more advanced than anything the GTVA possesses and is based on concepts we never even considered. Although most of the technology here is fascinating to study, the most advanced and interesting one would have to be the Ancient's Teleportation system.

Although I only got a brief glimpse of it earlier, this system appears to accomplish what many a scientist has been trying to do for decades: the perfect conversion of matter into an energy stream, and then re-conversion of it to matter without any loss of information at all. This information is not only exciting in the potential in which it could aid humanity, but it is also important in the fact that it now gives us a way to get onto the installation above.

However, as amazing as this discovery is, it also presents a rather complex and worrying revelation. With such an advanced technology and the numbers the ancients possessed; the fact that the Shivans drove them back seems to be rather suspicious, especially after the amount of technology we have seen them display to date.

Although I do not deny the possibility that the Shivans may have much higher technology that what we have seen, it is still more than likely probable that it is not very much more advanced. However, if it is more advanced, and indeed, if the Shivans do have the numbers, where were they? Why did the Shivans choose not to eliminate us and instead go full-out against the Ancients? The power, the technology required to accomplish such a task….with it, the Shivans could have easily eliminated us, but yet, in both encounters they didn't.

Did they underestimate us both times around? Or do the Shivans have a different plan for us altogether? The answers to these mysteries are totally unknown, but I am reminded of what the Shivans did tell me before we came down here - that everything would be explained on the installation. It is rather, frustrating, this. Why are the Shivans being to mysterious, so secretive? Although they did hint earlier about some massive problem, something that may just go beyond this universe itself, it still actually answers few questions.

Sadly, from the looks of it, my only option will be to wait till I can get to the installation, and then find out what the Shivans are referring to.

However, before we go up to the installation, a duty is required of us…of me.

The graves have been dug, and we've managed to find two NTF flags in what remains of the Transport's cargo bay. As sad as the duty makes me, it is still a duty I must conduct. In my service through the GTVA and the NTF, I have played all the roles in funeral details…from sending off fellow pilots and colleagues who have succumbed in battle, to conducting details for those under my command. So many friends; so many lives that I knew…all vanished within an instant, sometimes leaving behind a mere empty shell, while sometimes leaving behind nothing at all…it all seems to unbearably tragic, in a sense. My entire life seems to be shrouded in the presence of such death, as it was proven even more so my by later actions.

Although I may regret my actions, there is little that can be done to change them. Many people have died due to the NTF, many people whom would have lived if not for my actions. At one point of time, such death was at least bearable; for there were but mere strangers. Their deaths were a vital and needed aspect for my plans to unfold however…it was a choice I made; sacrificing the few for the many, and it is a choice that I will never deny, regardless of what History may say. This…journey, this quest. I know it to be true, and that my actions here will save all of humanity. Anything less would be an insult to the entire purpose to the NTF, to history, and most of all, bring about the possible death of Humanity at the hands of Shivans, much like the Ancients died ten thousand years ago.

But unless I remember those deaths and the results my actions, all will be for not. I am condemned to eternity as the only one who truly knew what those deaths meant, and hence I must never forget them. Hence, as tempting as it may be, I cannot justify dropping the title as leader of the NTF, as much as the movement may never exist. To do so would be to deny history…deny the memory of those who have fallen, and that of my comrades.

The funeral detail is set to start in an hour or two, and most of the men are ready. I am now faced with a much different choice though. It is not an easy choice, but regardless, it is one that I must make. Two of my best friends, my most loyal colleagues, have fallen in the name of the NTF, and for me. I have come far enough along my journey for me to go alone if required, and I do not wish for the others to suffer the same fate without knowing the truth.

And so I must think carefully; for my actions and words over the next few hours may just dictate the outcome of this entire ordeal.

End log.