AN: Hey there people. I am so, so sorry for the extreme lack of updates in my stories. I kinda hit a hard writer's block for the past several months. That, and college is now starting, so i'll be even more busy. However, i've been writing another story hopefully to get the creative juices flowing. This is an OC centric story, and i hope you guys will still like it. Oh, and the OCs featured and mentioned in this chapter belonged to DNAzimuth, and used with her permission.

First Encounters: Kyra

High above the atmosphere of the planet of Fastoon in the Polaris galaxy, a lone entity hovered. In a sleek, jet-black space craft with silver highlights on its wings, a young pilot stared out at the desolate wasteland. The pilot's hazels eyes were filled with grief and sadness as her gloved palm pressed against the cool surface of the glass. She gave a small sigh underneath her breath, her heart aching for the land below she once called home. It wasn't fair—she had planned out her whole life when she was a cub, before the attack. She wanted to live a peaceful life, maybe find a mate and settle down when she had enough excitement in her life. But the blackened craters that were once prosperous cities, the gashes dug into the ground that scarred the planet, and irradiated continents that are now inhospitable told her otherwise.

Her brooding was soon interrupted as her console beeped. "Madam Kyra?" a male, accented voice spoke through her com-system. "I am terribly sorry to interrupt…but we can't linger here. Tachyon's forces are still out there, they might find you…and you know what happens if they find a Lombax here…"

Kyra, a female Lombax and an ace pilot in the Praetorian Guard Air Corps, sniffed through her nose and wiped a few stray tears from her eyes. She had very light blonde-fur; almost platinum blonde from her father's and mother's mixed genes. Her strawberry blonde hair was tied into a single, braded ponytail that reached the middle of her back. Kyra inherited her father's red facial markings that outline her eyes and the red striped patches of fur on her body. "I know Sirius…I know…" Kyra replied to her AI companion. Her voice was soft, smooth with a hint of an accent in her voice from her mother's side of the family. "It's just…I just need to see it one more time, that's all…"

She then again stared back at the desert planet. It was one of the few things that she held dear. Her ship that Sirius hosts is one of them, an inheritance she got from her father. The craft had another specialty it had in its hull. Inside was a prototype of the Dimensionater 2.0. Similar to its predecessor, it creates a portal that allows the user to slip in between dimensions and planetary locations. However, instead of forcing and tearing a rift, this version of the Dimensionator surgically opens a wormhole, but in exchange for the ability to go to anywhere at will, the user must input the coordinates of the dimension or planet. In the back of the ship was a double-ended wrench that belonged to her deceased grandmother and at one of the open ends was a green crystal of unknown origins. However, Kyra knew of its powers; the gem granted the owner the ability to heal all wounds on herself or on anyone she chooses, but at the cost of her strength. Finally, her last possession was a locket that hung around her neck. It was small, and designed as that of a pocket watch. Inside was a photo of her mother and father, before the Great War.

"Him…" she murmured, not trying to hide the bitterness in her voice. It was his fault that she and her entire race are banished from their homes. It was his fault that so many from her race died from the surprise blitzkrieg. It was—

She clenched her hand into a tight fist and her jaw scrunched from the painful memories. "It's not fair Sirius…why did this happen? Because of him, I lost everything…I can't use my real name in public and I'm constantly on the run…I have no one to go back to…" Kyra sniffed again and turned away from blast shield of her cockpit.

"Madam Kyra…" Sirius murmured, his voice laced with concern to his pilot. "You know that isn't true…you still have your sister Kylie, AMIA, and your friend Talon…you still have friends and family to return to….and who knows? You might find the perfect mate out there; you just have to keep up hope." Kyra didn't respond right away, but the small, real smile on her face gave away her answer. "There's my Kyra…"

"Thanks, Sirius….for being a loyal friend. Now…let's get out— " However, she didn't finish her sentence, as an explosion rocked through the ship and she slammed into the side. "What the fething hell was that?" she screamed as she assessed the damage on her ship via the monitors. There was no damage to the hull or interior electronics, but the shield integrity has dropped dramatically to 50%.

"Madam, six unidentified fighters are approaching, portside!"

She took a look at the scanner and true to Sirius' words were six blips on the screen. They were red colored, meaning they had no IFF tags on them but had attacked her ship. Kyra growled as she retook controls of the ship, her combat instincts kicking in. She activated her afterburners and tried to outrun her attackers. Unfortunately, they persisted and fired torpedo after torpedo at her craft. The Lombax evaded most of the attacks, but one lucky torpedo racked through the ship. She growled heavily in her throat as she saw her shields dropped down to 25%.

"Madam, we can't take another hit like that or else we're dust!"

"I know, I know! But these bastards are relentless!"

Kyra then decided it was time to turn the tables on her attackers. She immediately decelerated her ship and pulled with all her might on the steering yoke to the right. Her craft made a sharp turn to the right and looped to rear of her attackers. She targeted the closest enemy craft and grinned sardonically. She squeezed the trigger and launched a stream of slugs from her wings' plasma cannons. The plasma bolts peppered the target, its hull trailing smoke and embers of fire. Kyra's grin only became wider as she immediately pressed a button that launched a laser-targeted missile. The ordinance followed its target till it struck true. The enemy craft was soon lost in a brief ball of flame, pieces of metal and electronics fragmenting and spreading throughout space.

"Yeah! Take that you fething—!" Once again, she didn't finish her statement as a piece of scrap metal flew by her cockpit. The metal was matte-black, and on it was an emblem she immediately recognized. It was white, and shaped as a vertical eye. Her hazel eyes soon widen in fear as the name of the race behind of the symbol bored through her mind. "Dethratii…" she murmured.

Dethratii were a race that all other species in the known universe feared. They were death incarnates; hunters, killers, assassins, they preyed on any individual that are destined to die in a horrible, painful end. Practically, they are the "grim reapers". Very scarce reports on the beings were available, since there are rarely any survivors. They normally do not appear unless…

"The D-Deth…they're after me…" Kyra murmured her voice thick with emotion. I guess I won't live long enough to see that future… She immediately shook her heads to rid of the somber thoughts. Soon after, she gazed at the incoming Dethratii fighters, who turned around to retaliate for the loss of their comrade. Her eyes were steeled with resolve, a faint growl emanating from her throat. Anger and rage overcame rational thought. "No…I won't go out like this. But if I'm going down…"

She armed all of her weapon systems and activated her after burners, heading straight for them.

"I'm gonna take you down with me!"

She armed her cluster missiles and locked onto a few of the Dethratii fighters. She barrel rolled between the Dethratii at high speeds, but also launched a volley of cluster missiles at the targeted fighters. She spun past them, with her missiles hitting two of the fighters, both consumed in a fiery explosion.

Three left!

Two of the remaining Dethratii were soon on her tail and firing plasma slugs at her thrusters. Kyra tried to evade their attacks, weaving in and out between the shots, but some of the slugs peppered her shields, bringing it down to 15%. She growled deeply as she continued to evade the shots. She pulled up on the yoke as far as she could while applying the brakes. Her ship slowed down and the front of the craft rose up to an angle of 80 degrees. Her acceleration decreased dramatically, and the two pursuing fighters flew past her. Kyra brought her craft back to level and pursued the enemies. Since they were too close for any torpedoes or missiles, Kyra resorted to using her plasma cannons. Once the closest target was in range, she squeezed the trigger and released a hailstorm of bolts. The Dethratii tried to evade the attack, but Kyra continued to hunt it. Eventually, the Dethratii's fighter couldn't take it anymore and exploded into pieces after taking too much damage.

Two to go!

Kyra was about to switch targets and chase after the second one, but the other surviving Dethratii trailed from behind. Her monitor began to screech an alarm as a red warning light flashed from the console. On the screen in Lombax was a warning that said: "Missile lock!" Kyra swore in fluent Lombax under her breath and tried to evade. Unfortunately, her evasion was all for naught as the Dethratii fighter fired a volley of guided missiles at her craft.

"Sirius, launch the countermeasures, now!" Kyra ordered to her AI.

"Yes, Madam!"

Sirius opened one of the hatches at the belly of their ship and launched out the countermeasures. The brightly luminescent and super-heated flares were shot out behind her craft and misguided the missiles. The enemy explosives detonated once they hit the flares, leaving Kyra unscathed from the attack. She pulled up on the control yoke and decelerated, causing her craft to loop above the pursuing Dethratii. When the nose of her craft was perpendicular to the cockpit of the enemy craft, she squeezed the trigger and fired cannon rounds at the Dethratii. The rounds punctured through a majority of the craft's body and shredded vital systems of the vehicle. Eventually, the rounds pieced through the glass cockpit and soon the craft spiraled out of control and was soon lost in oblivion. She assumed she killed the pilot with that maneuver as she leveled her craft again.

One left! Now where is that bastard?

Her eyes darted between the darkness of space, trying to locate the last Dehtratii fighter. If she could eliminate the last one, she could get to live for another day. She could go home, maybe live out that future of hers, and maybe find her significant other. Eventually, she saw the last craft, heading straight towards her. There were no signs of it changing paths or slowing down; the Dethratii was determined to kill her. Growling deep in her throat, Kyra decided to end this and headed straight for the remaining enemy combatant.

"Let's see if this thing plays chicken…" Kyra growled as her thumb rested over the missile button.

The two fighters were heading towards each other, head on. Neither one dared to move from the course; the slightest hesitance would cause the death of either one. The distance between them was quickly shortened until…

Piiing! Locked on!

Kyra immediately pressed the firing button on her control yoke as she grinned sadistically. However, at the same time she fired her missiles, the remaining Dethratii also launched its own pair of missiles. The Lombax's eyes widened, and at the very last second, she performed a barrel roll, hoping that the missiles would miss. Fortunately, the missiles barely grazed her wings and flew passed her, detonating without causing harm. However, the remaining Dethratii fighter performed the same maneuver, and all of Kyra's missiles missed their target. But the Dethratii was not done yet; after its barrel roll maneuver, the fighter craft launched another pair of its payload.

Kyra's heart skipped a beat as the missiles drew ever closer. Her ship ran out of counter measures, and her chances of evading the head-on impact with the missiles were slim. Time seemed to slow down as the missiles grew closer, her heart beating heavily in her ears.

She knew it was the end.

Sirius, however, would not let Kyra die like this. His reaction times were far beyond any organic being because of his processing power. He began to run calculations: the velocity of the torpedoes clocked at about 1,235 km/hr, the distance between the ship and them was about 632 meters. The amount of force to change the velocity of the craft was astronomical—the sheer power was lethal to Kyra and it would rip the ship apart. Sirius instead began to siphon power from non-critical systems, such as inertia dampeners, lights, the quantum-entanglement communicator, and more to harden the shields. He diverted all remaining shields to the front of the ship, just as the missiles made contact. The whole ship wracked from the explosion, warning klaxons blared as systems failed. Kyra snapped out of her stupor as her Praetorian helmet materialized instantly as cracks began to form on the cockpit window. She flinched as sparks flared off from the dashboard and the surrounding instruments.

"W-Warning: multiple system failures. Ca-ca-catastrophic failure i-i-imminent." The distorted AI screeched.

Kyra instinctively protected her face with her arm as another piece of equipment exploded in the cockpit. "Dammit!" she swore. The Lombax hastily typed in coordinates for the Lombax's new refuge on the monitor. "Sirius, activate the Dimensionator! Get us the fuck out of here!"

"A-Affirmative. Activating Dimensionator."

Unbeknownst to both the AI and Lombax, an electrical spike surged through the console. The energy lashed out from the dashboard, prompting Kyra to flinch away and shriek out a bit. The monitor blinked sporadically into and out of static, a warning klaxon blaring to life. Electronics screeched as the screen blinked from static, showing a set of unknown coordinates.

Kyra's eyes widened as she saw the new set of coordinates. They were not Cordova's or any known part of space the Lombax race catalogued. "Sirius! Stop the device!" she screamed.

"T-Too late, Madam. Dimensionator a-a-activated."

The ship was soon engulfed in a white flash as the Dimensionator 2.0 opened a wormhole. Kyra brought up her arm instinctively to protect her from the blinding light, even though her helmet's anti-glare visor kicked in. Her mind raced with so many scenarios; if she was not heading towards Cordova, where was she heading? A planet occupied by the enemy? The heart of a Supernova? When she removed her arm, what she saw was not one of those options. It was—

"Trees!?" Kyra screamed as she pulled up on the yoke. The front of the craft sliced through the tops of pine trees. She felt every painful jolt as she plowed through tree top to tree top. Soon, her spacecraft flew over the top of the last tree as the engines died and was on a collision course into a clearing below. Kyra's hands gripped tightly onto the railings as the ground grew closer.

She had no time to scream as there was a deafening crash and everything fell to black.

The first thing Kyra noticed was the searing pain that wracked through her body. She coughed up harshly as her mind began to regain consciousness, even which created new surges of pain. Immediately she felt the damp ground and grass under her broken frame; the impact of the crash caused her to jettison out of the cockpit. Throughout her body she felt large, warm patches of blood oozing out from her wounds. Her visor was cracked, the Heads-Up-Display in the screen flickering from multiple failures. She quickly ran a self-medical diagnostics with a murmur of a command. A flickering silhouette of a Lombax body appeared in the top-left corner, various limbs and areas of the torso were highlighted in red. Along with the numerous cuts and gashes, Kyra suffered a broken right arm, fractured ribs, dislocated right shoulder, and her left leg was bent in an awkward angle at the knee. She tried to prop herself with her elbows, but immediately fell back to the ground with a cry as pain inflamed her arms. Forcing her eyes to open, Kyra saw that her vision was muddled and blurry from the shock of the crash and the blood that oozed from a gash on her forehead. Then, she saw the outline of her Praetorian Guard pack lying nearby in front of her. Her Nanotech and other survival gear were in it, and she'll need them to make it out of this alive. Drawing a deep breath, the Lombax crawled through the grass with her good arm. Pain flamed through her veins; every pull felt like salt poured over her wounds. She choked down cries of pain as she reached towards her pack with her good arm.

SNAP!

Her reach stopped abruptly as something behind her stepped on a twig. Slowly, she painfully turned her head behind to see who was there. Her vision was still muddled and obscured from the blood, but she saw the silhouette of a large being behind her. In its hands was something pointed at her; in her mind she knew it was a rifle. Kyra slammed her eyes shut and could not stop the whine that escaped her throat as she waited for her death. Seconds passed, but nothing happened. Confused, Kyra opened her eyes and stared at the being.

It seemed…hesitant? The gun lowered ever so slightly.

Kyra could feel the adrenaline leave her as all of her surroundings faded in and out of darkness. She had one last plan before she lose herself in darkness once more. She only prayed that the being could understand Galactic Basic.

"P-Please…d-don't…" She murmured before darkness embraced her.

AN: I hope you guys enjoy it. And please, leave reviews and/or constructive criticism. I'll get more motivation to write if i know people enjoy this.