"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present."

Bil Keane

Plans and Schemes

It's been roughly a week since the Measured Tread left Demacia and despite the trip towards the Ionian border was made in less than 24 hours the problem was not the distance, but the approach. As soon as they got here Garen ordered scout probes out in preparation for the arrival of the battlestation, not long after they arrived, the station did as well. The hidden probes began relaying information of the station and its fleets movements and during this week, Garen had been looking into their defenses, patterns, supply runs trying to learn their schedules and find a way in.

It didn't take a military genius to know a head on assault was plain suicide albeit probably a few councilmen back home will be expecting that, they should have known better. "Still nothing brother?" an almost tweety voice called him from behind, the muscular Demacian turned his gaze to Lux, even though he smiled for her it was quite noticeable he hadn't been sleeping much "Not yet, their security is tight, so far I know they constructed a relay point in the moon they orbit" Garen said as his finger pressed a button on the console, showing Lux the relay station "The battlestation is almost completely offline, save for the vital systems, its curious not even the engines are on, but it's not drifting away".

Lux analysed the image "That relay station on the ground, its emitting waves, energy or anything like that?" Garen nodded "It is, but we can't classify what it is, aside the normal communications traffic" Lux walked towards her brother, leaning on his shoulder, she kissed his head "Go to sleep brother, I'll find us a way in if you promise to rest" Garen sighed "It's not your job, it's mine" he replied, unwilling to leave his task at hand "Out of the two of us, who is an infiltration specialist and who doesn't?" Garen raised, letting go a slight laugh there was not a way to argue with her, of the two she was the smartest "Fine, but I'll take care of the strategy once you find a way in" after playfully making Lux hair a mess, he walked out of the room leaving Lux to her business.

After getting a snack in the mess hall, Garen headed for the starport observation deck where he sat and contemplated the outside, gazing upon a planet that served as their shield against the enemy sensors, he didn't told Lux, but there was another reason why he wasn't sleeping, his dreams started to become clearer and he began to feel them more real, he saw suffering and pain across the dreams, but with every moment he spend sleeping he saw glimpses of a world he never knew, or epochs he never heard of.

And yet again, he falls sleep the dreams came back with new additions, this time the new addition was painful first he watched his own hands full of blood, his strength fading as his limbs went numb, the pain on his chest was excruciating, he could barely breath his senses began to fade and darkness clouded his vision, the last thing he saw were female hands holding him, a veil of red hair in front his eyes for a moment, then darkness and a voice calling him "Garen!, don't give in please I need you!" the voice cried it was obvious the female was crying, her broken voice told him so "Garen! I love you don't leave me please! Please! Garen!"

"Garen!"

He heard as he woke up, startled, sweating cold, quickly Garen looked as his hands as Lux keep calling him "Garen! Are you ok?" she called again as he felt confused checking his chest to see if there was wounds but there was none "Garen?" Lux said again kneeling before his brother "Are you ok?" Garen simply nodded as his hands covered his eyes, leaning forward he tried to recover "I thought you were on your quarters, it's been hours!" the worries on Lux expression was evident.

"I probably felt sleep… hours you say?" he inquired surprised he did feel a little more rested "Yes brother and while your sleepy head relaxed I found something" Lux replied excited more relaxed seen he was fine, but something in her told Lux that Garen was hiding something "So tell me, what did you find sister?" he interrupted before Lux could ask anything "The relay station is actually a tractor beam, it emits a gravitational force field that keeps the station in orbit, if we tweak a bit with this little ray…"

"We can pull the station into the moon and made it crash land in the surface…" The idea was in fact brilliant, getting inside the station was like getting into an ant nest, but instead of ants you have Noxian soldiers, however getting into the relay and altering its potency was paussible "You are a genius Luxana!" he said raising taking Lux in his arms "Can you do it remotely?" he inquired but he knew the answer beforehand "Of course not, besides I'm not letting you get all the fun, I'm coming with you and there is no way you convince me out of that!"

Parting Gift

For Katarina, the day was getting gloomier by the hour, the progress on the station was slower than what was expected, mostly because of the necessary change of location, adding the arrival of a full detachment of the Raedsel Guard to help with any "security issues" had the red head in quite the foul mood, ignorant that a small infiltration Demacian platoon landed on the moon she spend the day sparring planetside with a few of the Raedsel Guards, at least they proved something more of a challenge than the regular Noxian soldier.

"Is this the best you can do? You are supposedly the pride of Noxus!" she said while kicking the face of one of the guard, leaving him on the ground bleeding "Next!" she said twirling the training blades turning to face the next guard meeting her blades with his, blocking the first impact following with a kick to the shin a step back and finishing with a roundhouse kick right to the jaw.

Minutes later, she finished the "training" sessions, which was little less than a excuse to release her anger on Swain's minions. She walked alone back to the relay station, the moon was lush with life, almost completely covered in green, its atmosphere allowed for breathing and even life, but the region where the Noxians settled was already devastated by their operations, cut down tress dotted the landscape as well as ashen remains of the hill burned down to place the station, deep in her she regretted this, the moon reminded Katarina of the homeworld quite a bit, she sat on one of the cut trees, looking up her eyes gazing on the powerful ray forcing the almost inactive station in orbit.

"It makes you wonder" Talon said behind her, appearing out God knows where "Why does he send his guards, it seems obvious to do so, but still…" Katarina knew the next words, but simply shrugged the though "He wouldn't dare" she replied, simply looking at the guards walking back towards the station "Besides, is not like any of those could beat me in single combat"

Talon sighed, she was a little to prideful for her own sake "In single combat no, never, but if they all swarm you…" Katarina again simply dismissed him "Then why are you still here?" she inquired raising from the remains of the tree "If he is indeed trying to put an end to my life, you should be at Cassie's side, protecting her from harm" Knowing well that possible outcomes of her game and how hard the against her she was playing the plot and scheme games with Swain, she had a backup plan to at least make sure her sister will be fine "I will depart in the morning as you commanded, try to stay safe without me" Talon turned and vanished from sight again "As If I have ever need you or anybody" the red head retorted, half truth, half lie.

Hours passed in an uneasy calm, while the Demacian commandos approached the station, led by Garen and Lux, Katarina remained in silent sleep at her quarters in the orbiting battlestation, until the time came for Talon's departure, she raised and took a normal breakfast, a little earlier than most soldiers, allowing her to eat completely alone with her thoughts, it felt somehow like a last meal, somehow she knew something was going to happen, a sort of 6th sense every female seem to have, this intuition was tingling like a red dot, her skin feel the uneasiness, the eerie feeling crawled her spine with the anticipation of the unknown. Her mind clear after a brief moments brought back memories more than 900 years old…

It's a winter night, but it seems like summer, the heat is intense but is not natural; her skin seems to feel it as if it was yesterday, even though this skin was never there, but the memory seems fresh as new, vivid and real. She runs, hearing her own heels come down by the metallic ladder, the building is in flames, ashes cover her military uniform slightly, but the medals and ribbons are not Noxian in nature, not even the insignias on the shoulder, the only Noxian symbol she can recognize is the early design of the current Noxian coat of arms, but not tailored in the uniform but on a red armband. "Father!" she yells as her feet carry her lower into the bowels of the building basement, war had ravaged the world, plans are carried by the upper echelons of her faction to evacuate the planet as she searches for her father, she had lost too much already, she could lost more, she couldn't afford it, her mind couldn't afford it.

Finally she reached the reinforced steel doors her fingers hastily type the credentials needed to grant access, the screen shows her name and rank DuCouteau, Katarina, Col. and a picture of her wearing the same uniform, yet in better days. The doors slowly open, sliding to the sides as much as the damaged mechanism allows it stopping before they should, but she doesn't care the red head woman slips in between the opening and enters the falling laboratory "Father!" she screams again as she looks for her father, General Marcus DuCouteau who laid now under a cryostasis tube, face up, holding a small container on his hand "Father!" she yells in horror reaching for the man as fast as she can, kneeling close trying to lift the tube to no avail "Is hopeless Kat…I'm done for" he mutters, his eyes closed "Who would have though… he bested me in the… end" Katarina's fist slammed the tube in anger, cracking the crystal of the cover "It's not over! I won't let you give up, not you! I've lost too much already!" she said resuming her effort to free Marcus "Have you… really?" he says showing the double sided container to Katarina who looks at it in disbelief, recognizing the name tag marking the small contraption "Father…did you... why?".

Marcus coughs, blood comes from his mouth as he gazes upon his daughter confusion "I may not have liked him, but I'm…" coughs interrupts his speech as he struggles to steal a few more seconds of life "Sure… he will protect you…, is… your sister safe?" he inquired, opening his eyes, the pupils starting to grow "Yes father, Cassie is safe, Talon is with her, their evacuation ship will be leaving shortly" She couldn't avoid a tear going down her scarred cheek "Don't cry… my daughter" Marcus said reaching her cheek with his hand, Katarina felt the cold of the tube, but the warm of her father hand "This is… my parting gift, farewell.. Katarina"

The images fades as she sees herself screaming silenced in her mind, a new tear rolls down her cheek "900 years and I still cry… such a wimp" cleaning her face and raising she leaves the mess hall, heading towards the hangar where Talon awaits. Her hands play with something, a double sided tube with a name engraved on it, but one of the sides is now empty.

Into the crow nest

Talon boards the private transport that will take him back to Noxus, before getting inside he spares a final look to Katarina who stands at a safe distance from the transport engines blast, he can't avoid to feel something in the deep of his stomach, something telling him it will be the last time they see each other, impassive as always he nods to Katarina and enters the transport, for the first time hoping his instncts are wrong.

The red headed female turns away as the transport takes off and in a blast exits the hangar bay, moving into warp speed moments later, disappearing from the sector heading towards Noxus shortly after. Katarina resumes her normal and boring schedule, heading for the bridge, hours will go by with nothing to report.

But in the moon, things started to move, the Demacian commandos arrived at their destination, a group of barely 20 soldiers plus Garen and Lux, Garen looked at the Noxian camp, pulling out the modified binoculars to zoom in and examine the situation "I see around 20 guards patrolling, there has to be more" he says as he hand sign two soldiers to move for the flank "How close you need to get?" he inquires Lux smirks, a gesture quite uncommon on her "Guess brother" Garen simply curses as he order the small company to advance, the green camoflauge armors protect them from casual sight, but getting close enough the Noxians will without a doubt spot them "Night is about to fall, we wait until then and get in".

The night came, and with it, the Demacian forces began its approach, their commando power armors protected them from the thermal vision scanners with built in cooling systems, Garen was the first to approach, followed closely by Lux and two others "I hate this things" Lux said whispering to Garen "Well sister, they are ugly looking, but they keep us safe" he replied moving forward taking cover behind a crate the HUD on his protective lens marked his soldiers positioning, Lux followed again as the other two soldiers split to another crate nearby "Is not that!" the blonde said "I'm freezing my a…rear" she said, hushing the last word "Watch the language Luxanna" he scolded her as he peeked around the corner, spotting an approaching Noxian, signalling Lux to be quiet with a finger on his mouth Garen waits a few seconds as the Noxian pass by, with a single coordinate movement Garen grabs the Noxian and pulls him back behind the crate with such strength that he Noxian neck snapped, looking back he makes a quick light signal, the rest of the platoon moves in, another Noxian falls as the other 2 soldiers got him, in quick sucession and coordinated stealth assault, the Dauntless Vanguard commandos take down the first guards, passing undetected reaching the small relay station doors "5 stay here and watch, rest with me and Lux, move!" he whispers as Lux hacks the door entrance with ease and undetected "Hold!" she says placing a hand in Garen's chest "Wait, I'm doing something" she says not caring about Garen hurry to get inside "We have no time, if we remain too long in here they will discover us Lux!" the blonde types a few commands on her holopad almost ignoring her older brother "1 second… there, go!" she says as the door opens and they pour in "What exactly you did?" he inquires as they pull out weapons and start moving throught the hallways "Jammed their CC network, now they will see a continual feed of the same images" Garen could only marvel at his sister genius.

It wasn't long for them to arrive to their destination, the beam control room, without effort Garen and his soldiers subjugated the few Noxian officers and Lux began her work, hacking the Noxian's computers while uploading a virus just in case they tried to counter her little coding, Garen followed her progress on the screen as he keep constant check with the men outside.

Back in orbit Katarina was sitting bored, a watchwoman with nothing to do, a guard of a prison without mutinies, she wished something happened, but apparently it was going to be another boring day. She raised from the chair ready to call it a day, but as she walked outside she looked casually into one of the CC network screens seen a sort of indigenous rat from the moon pass by the hallway "Hmmp… I'll call pest control in the morning" she said, a sarcastic smile drawing on her face, but then she saw another one passing, sparking her curiosity "We may have a real pest in here…" the third one called her attention powerfully, making her realize it was the same rat.

Without thinking it twice she ran towards the screen, pushing the officer in charge out of the way "Fuck damn it!" she yelled calling the attention of everybody around "Somebody is cycling our CC network! Get me the men on the station!" the communication officer obliged but got no response from the ground, Garen men by now had eliminated most resistance and jammed communications "I want a full descent of troopers NOW!" she yelled as she ran towards the hangar bay, getting there in record time she found that the teams started to assemble, but it will take a little more time than what she wanted to, the only men ready were the Raedsel Guard Detachment

"They will have to do…" the assassin beauty said, not sure if this was any wiser than whatever the persons down there were trying.

Back on the ground Lux finished the code, sending the virus up to eliminate any possible firewall or electronic defense they may have "Done brother!, we better get out of here!" Garen couldn't agree more, the soldier ran outside, his men already took care of most of the base resistances that could bar them from leaving "Pilot, bring the transport, we are leaving" he commanded as they moved away from the room, seconds later, as a precaution measure, the room exploded, another safety lock to keep the Noxians from reacting.

The commandos left the installation, heading quickly back into the cover of the woods as the massive space station moved downwards, causing chaos inside and slowing the Noxians reaction even more, the massive tractor beam power output increased as it began to pull the station down, slowly but surely the station was getting suck into the planet atmosphere, pieces of the station broke away as the slow descent began, Katarina now in the Raedsel's ship cursed but there was nothing she could do, it was up to the guys in the station command room, but she knew the truth, the station was lost.

The transport passed over the fleeing Demacians, landing behind them as they ran, the sound of another set of engines was heard, the Demacian transport approached, but she didn't care, what she saw, what captured her mind was the man last on the Demacian platoon, the last of them running away, the only man who she knew will always be the first to enter a battlefield and the last to leave.

Garen Crownguard.