Chapter 5

The woods surrounding the City of Volun were dense and lush. The green canopy prevented any sunlight from reaching the ground in most places, creating a pine needle floor. It was unusual for a Terran core planet to feature such lush vegetation, as in most other planets are stripped cleaned not long after colonization. The woods themselves were never used in any sort of construction or lumber mill practices. Much of the planet itself had been preserved to save as much of the natural vegetation as possible. Rumors of Eco-terrorist groups had always been prevalent in Brontes and in the Confederation, but nothing was ever confirmed or attributed to any such group. In fact, many of the initial colonists of Brontes initially decided to settle away from the resource hotspots such as mass forests and mineral fields. Most colonial supplies had been brought in from other planets, such as Mar Sara and Chau Sara. As a result, most of Brontes has remained untouched from Terran greed. Alex thought of this as he and Paige walked through the dark woods. Rain poured down through the leafy ceiling above them, causing Alex to blink repeatedly as the droplets spattered on his face. Paige walked ahead of him, her pace quick in the increasingly common puddles on the path that they walked. The scent of pine was light in the cool rain, relieving Alex of the headache he had been nursing since waking up in the prison cell. He breathed deeply, taking in the fresh air he hadn't experienced in a long time. Paige's hair was matted down on her head, only releasing as she swung her head back and forth to check her surroundings. The canopy above them protected them from much of the rainfall but the pair were still soaked to the bone. Paige's pilot's jacket was only slightly waterproof and Alex's marshal uniform was already ripped to shreds. A dark brown dripped off of Alex as he walked, the dirt from his uniform finally being cleaned off by nature's shower.

The woods had become dark as the woods crept inwards towards them, the thick underbrush becoming impeding on the path. The haze of the sun behind dark clouds now was completely blotted out by the dense canopy of leaves. The forest was always foreign to Alex. He had spent much of his adult life in major cities on the planets he visited. He never felt comfortable in the wilderness. Tom had always been a nature enthusiast. A boy had gone missing from their station on Mar Sara a number of years ago. Alex organized a search party of all the available men to look for him, but after a 12-hour search, their daylight had been spent and their men had tired. Alex wanted to pick it back up the next day but Tom refused to quit. Mar Sara was not a safe place to be at night. Packs of feral dogs, even the occasional Rhynadon posed a grave threat to anyone unlucky enough to stumble upon them. Alex and the men went back to town while Tom stayed out that night looking for the boy. The next morning, Alex found Tom outside of town, surrounded by a small wall of stones, and the bodies of four large dogs. The boy was sleeping soundly next to his protector. Alex wished Tom was there right now. As confident and competent a survivor as he was, Alex knew that Tom was always the stronger man. Alex looked at Paige as they walked. She had a fire about her that Alex hadn't seen in a young woman before. She walked with dignity and confidence, almost like a predator. They walked for a while longer before Paige suddenly stopped. She looked around, scanning the dark woods around them.

"We need to get off the trail," she said sharply. Alex was alarmed by her sudden aggressiveness after the silent hike. Alex nodded in agreement. Paige looked around and gestured towards a small gap in the trees. The pair hid under a large bush next to a massive tree. The bush rattled and further soaked Alex, barely noticing as his adrenaline pumped through his body. He wasn't sure why there was a sudden change in Paige's attitude. He also wasn't sure why he was blindly following her. Something compelled him to follow. Alex looked over at Paige, her sharp eyes watching the path they had just left. Her breathing was calm and controlled. Alex opened his mouth to speak but Paige brought her finger up to her lips without looking at Alex. Alex looked back at the path and watched. A shimmer appeared in the rain, negative space of water pacing down the trail. It reminded Alex of the first time he met Stro, the invisible Protoss forming from nothingness. The shimmer took the form of a slender man with a large optical device on his face. A large rifle hung on his back, and a red laser skimmed across the wet leaves of the underbrush. The man made Alex uncomfortable as he skulked up and down the path, silently wading through the air. Paige didn't look away from the man. Alex held his breath as he walked closer and closer to the two of them. The man held his hand up to his ear and bent slightly, covering his other ear with his whole hand.

"One-Two here, no sign," he said in a gravelly voice. His breath was visible in the ever chilling air. Alex was shivering slightly. He looked over at Paige, but she had disappeared. Panic grasped at Alex. He looked around frantically. His panic soon became worse as the man stopped moving and stared at Alex.

"What do we have here?" The man said as he crept towards Alex, walking with a strange strut as if his legs were too long for his body. The man raised his gun, a single beam pointing right at Alex's forehead. Rain dripped onto the barrel of the gun with a metallic ring. Alex closed his eyes and waited. The shot never came. A gurgle spurted out and a loud splash of water echoed through the woods. Alex opened his eyes and looked up. The man was on the ground, a thick lash across his throat. The rain dropped in the pooling blood, small islands of clear liquid in the deep crimson puddle. Paige stood above him, a knife in her right hand, covered in the strange man's blood. She was breathing deeply and staring at the body. Alex stood slowly and walked towards Paige. He could tell she was shaking slightly, though he doubted it was from the chill in the air.

"Paige," Alex said softly. She didn't look up at him, her eyes locked on the dead body. Alex placed his hand on her shoulder. Her gaze met his, a bright blue light emanated from her irises. It was gone quickly as her eyes returned to the normal green. Paige shook her head and buckled, Alex, catching her before hitting the ground. Alex helped her away from the body. She sat down in the mud and struggled to catch her breath. A small device beeped on the man's belt but Alex paid it little mind.

"What happened?" Paige asked. Alex looked at her sympathetically. Paige looked back down at her bloodstained hands as tears welled in her eyes. "What did I do?" The notion confused Alex. He wasn't sure how to respond to her. She didn't seem herself, almost possessed. A snap in the distance broke his thought process. Alex could hear heavy footsteps through the rain.

"Paige, we gotta go," Alex said urgently. He picked her up by the arms and started down the trail. Alex had meant to grab the man's weapon but forgot to in his haste. Paige wiped the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath. She straightened her shoulders and broke out into a run, Alex following behind her. She got over that quick, Alex thought to himself. It could've been her military training, but it took a lot more to kill a man with a knife than it did from the cockpit of a wraith. Alex juggled the thoughts in his head. The forest whipped by them in a greenish grey blur. Paige controlled her breathing as she ran. Her head swirled with what had just transpired. She wasn't sure what had come over her, a sudden instinct to kill. She shook the thought away as she heard the footsteps behind them grow louder. They ran for a while longer until they broke out into a clearing, matted grass, and mud carpeting the treeless landscape. On the other side was a sheer cliff over a valley. Distant rolling hills that mirrored the dark clouds above them. The rain drummed the bare ground with small streams forming in the cracks of the earth. Behind them, the pounding of footsteps grew louder. Paige and Alex looked at each other and turned towards their pursuers. Out into the clearing stepped 4 marines in combat armor, thick blue metal suits that encased their entire bodies. Three of the men wore their visors down over their faces with the exception of the marine in front. He was bald from what Alex could tell and had a large gap in his front teeth. The men were much taller than Alex, a size much helped by their large suits. Alex recognized their weapons as standard Confederate issue. It seems the Confederation caught up with them already. They held the guns pointed at Paige and Alex.

"Hell, that was easier 'n I thought, right on," the marine in front said with a heavy draw. Most marines were taken from border backwater planets where most laws were loose at best and the upbringings were hard. Alex imagined that these men's backgrounds were no different. A thunderclap echoed through the clearing as the marine in front raised his hand to his head.

"Command, we got em' ready for evac," he said. The marine held his gun pointed at Paige. "You shoulda known better girl." The marine spit on the ground. A large wad floated in a small puddle forming at their feet. Paige looked at the marine in disgust. He smiled back and grunted, shifting his armor around and leaned on his back foot. A hum reverberated throughout the clearing, and above them, a dropship came barreling through the storm clouds. It splashed the clearing as it landed hard on in the clearing as the Marines pushed Alex and Paige forward. They approached the dropship just as the rear ramp lowered to the ground. A gangly man walked down the ramp and stood on the incline. He wore an officer's uniform, though the suit seemed large on him. He was uncleanly shaven and had a slight knock in his jaw as he popped his hip. He crossed his arms and looked at Alex and Paige up and down. He motioned for the marines to bring them aboard. The marines shoved Alex and Paige up into the dropship. Alex didn't fight back. He knew better to start a fight with 4 heavily armed men. This was not his battleground, for now. Paige looked disheartened. The rain had begun to let up but water still streamed down her face. They walked up the ramp and sat down on opposite benches. The marines cuffed them to their seats. The officer walked the marines down the ramp.

"Don't worry, another ship will be by to pick you boys up in a jiffy, I'm taking these ones to a prison ship," the officer said in a strangely high voice. He sounded almost childlike, hardly what Alex thought to be a hardened Confederate officer. The men saluted the officer and walked out of the dropship. The ramp closed and the man walked back to Paige and Alex. Paige had lifted her head and looked at the man with fire in her eyes. Alex could feel her rage from his seat.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, we've got about 30 seconds before shit hits the fan so buckle up," the officer said enthusiastically. He threw Alex a key and ran back to the cockpit of the ship. Paige and Alex threw each other confused looks before Alex frantically unlocked his cuffs and worked on Paige's. Alex looked out the window towards the marines on the ground. They stood in a small group talking to themselves when one pressed his hand to his ear. A look of horror covered his faced as he looked up and the dropship. He yelled something to the other men as they raised their weapons and fired at the ship. Bullets rang off the hull as the officer lifted them higher and higher into the sky. The ship lurched forward into the sky, away from the battlecruiser in orbit. Paige walked towards the cockpit but was met by the officer in the doorway.

"Hello beautiful, ya must be Paige Scott," the officer said as he took off his hat and grabbed Paige's hand. She ripped it back and took a step back from the man. The man now had a heavy highlander accent, one he must have been hiding when talking to the marines. He had red hair not dissimilar to Paige's, though his was mixed with a blondish hue. Paige noticed that the man had a large scar on his cheek in the shape of a star.

"How do you know my name, what are you doing?" Paige asked frantically. The man laughed slightly.

"The names Ian, thanks for askin," the man said. Ian raised his arm and leaned again the threshold of the cockpit. Paige looked at Ian with a confused look on her face.

"I suppose it is a bit of a rushed meetin in all, but ya did get yerself in a wee bit of trouble there," Ian said with a laugh. He cracked his neck and took off the officer's uniform. Underneath, a ragged shirt stained with filth hung loosely on his thin frame. Suspenders held up his pants.

"Are you…?" Alex said. Ian cut him off before he could finish.

"Your Korhal contact, that'd be I," he said cheerfully. The ship lurched to the side hard, forcing everyone to stumble slightly. Ian picked himself up and quickly dived into the pilot's seat. He clicked off the autopilot button and jammed the controls down. He brought the ship up in a large loop. Another knock on the side of the ship crunched the hull with the sickening sound of bending metal.

"Damn feds are using flak artillery, trying to force us down," Ian yelled. Paige leaped into the co-pilots seat and looked over the controls.

"When we get out of this, I want some answers," Paige said, looking hard at the strange man. Ian laughed heartily and pulled the ship straight up out of the clouds. The daylight blinded them as they pierced the cloud cover, its bright yellow light creating a strange look of the storm clouds beneath them. Alex covered his eyes as the sunlight shown through the viewport. Ian kept the ship speeding straight up until the clouds beneath them looked more like the faraway ground of the planet. The battlecruiser was partially obscured by the clouds, lightning rolling around the hull, illuminating the gun grey metal of the ship. Red lights glanced off of the clouds as alarms were triggered aboard. Ian pulled the ship out of the atmosphere and pushed it towards empty space. Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Paige unbuckled herself and stood up. Ian kept his eyes on the radar in front of him, only glancing up occasionally at the viewport. Paige walked past Alex and gestured for him to follow.

"I don't trust him," Paige whispered. She threw Ian angry glances.

"What, why?" Alex responded. "Isn't this guy your contact?"

"No, my contact was a woman named Sarah, I don't know who this is," Paige hissed. She held her hand on her pistol and stroked the handle.

"Maybe she sent him," Alex offered. He knew Paige wouldn't buy it. She was fiery at the very least and demanded definite answers.

"Ya know, instead of whisperin tales of me back there, ya could always talk ta me," Ian yelled back without looking. He followed it up with a laugh and clicked a few things on the control panel. He stood up and walked back to the two and put his hands on his hips.

"Well, what would you like to know?" Ian said with a smile.