[}{]

Captain Aurellian "Ollie" Van Graff

August 18th, 2552

25:47PM

New Alexandria

[}{]

Banshees could be heard, now. They were striking the spaceport already raining their plasmatic terror from the skies. Ollie stood watching the engagements as James loaded up their gear. It was only a duffel bag or so, but he felt as though Ollie and Valette needed some space.

James had seen that sense of loss in his own face, and he let the pair have a quiet moment for their friends aboard the Savannah before calling out to them from his seat in the cockpit. Tuk wished them all well as they boarded and Valette conversed with him at the weapons station as Ollie turned on the ignition and began his pre-flight checks.

"All systems are good. Say what you will about ONI but they build mighty fine ships." he said, before checking the engines.

"Nav is online." James said.

"Guns are locked and loaded" Valette added, purring at the controls.

"Okay, thrusters on. Let's get our girl out of this storm drain."

The Winter rose like a siren song, it was the most glorious feeling Ollie had ever experienced. He had been worried that because she was so advanced, the Winter would practically fly herself. Luckily for Ollie, that just wasn't so. She floated up into the sky, dodging between a building as she hid from banshee fliers and skipped into the cloud layer with nary a tremor in her bulkheads.

"Don't know why they didn't send this thing to pick up Jai and the others," Ollie said, chewing on his lip.

Valette shrugged, "probably other more important things to do."

"more important than picking up deep space operatives? Than recovering SPARTANs?"

James laughed, "that kind of speculation will drive you insane. Trust me. ONI do what they want, when they want, and how they want. You can be damn sure there's thirty different angles to it as well."

"It wasn't all bad," Valette said, "I met you, Ollie. Then we met Captain Harper, Mei and Brit and…"

James didn't want the pair to spiral, so he tried to change the subject. "What's the academy like?" He asked, "Maddie came back from there quite different."

"We only had a year at the academy, everyone of us were ex cons, expendables and-"

"basket cases," Valette laughed, pointing to her temple.

"or a mixture of them, if you're me" Ollie said, grinning.

"We didn't really know Maddie or Katya but their cohort was legendary among the officer corps. It wasn't like that for us, it was all very specific." Valettes face was washed with a sense of conspiracy.

"Seems like ONI played a role in that place." James sighed, confirming what he already knew.

"Professor Akron seemed to think so, didn't he, Ollie?"

Ollie laughed and did a voice that sounded all too familiar to James.

"Percival Akron?"

"yeah!" Valette said, "you know him?"

"I do. Well, I should say I did. Akron was a private security chief. He cut a deal with ONI to open a vault with an ancient spy probe in it. Maddie was dragged along for the ride by Agent Drake, and went inside. When she emerged, she came out babbling nonsense about our heritage. Akron was disgusted by the whole thing and wanted to do right by his employer but ONI threatened his family, probably still are now."

As the atmosphere receded for the blue and whisky hues of the Epsilon Eridani system, the cold black of space seemed to encroach on the cabin as they speared into the heavens.

"our first conversation." Tuk said, appearing on his dashboard perch.

"So cool." Valette said, "certainly explains why the Viper is so intense."

"I'll say," Ollie added, "I met her in a bar once, she's a slick one. I'll give her that."

"She was sixteen when I knew her."

"So you were there? For the Skopje incident?"

"uh huh. Right after we were extracted, her Falcon went down over the city. I watched her fall right out of the sky and onto a roof."

"Was it all true? The story ONI spun?"

"The details about ARC DREAM were covered up, and anything involving Me, Jack, Drake and the SPARTAN who was with us."

"Even the bits about killing a prophet? About being captured and escaping a covenant camp?" Valette was ravenous for details, Ollie was content to listen as he stared into the black of space before him.

"When she came back she was… well it was a nasty thing to see. I was stuck with that asshole Drake for nearly a month. He pushed us too hard and I couldn't handle it, me and my friend got a trooper killed because of it."

"Nasty?" Ollie asked, lacking the tact that Valette had to leave that comment be.

James swallowed. "It's hard to explain. You know how that Mikaela is, with the singing and the long discussions on alien cultures?"

Valette nodded.

"Maddie was like that. She was good with a gun but she was normal. She was cracking with a computer, fascinated by history, and curious about everything around her. Just this young bundle of potential. The girl I saw return from captivity had none of it. Her body was beaten and broken, her eyes stared into space when she thought no one was looking… I watched a child die and come back as a ghost. When she reappeared as my platoon leader on Meridian, it was like watching Drake strut around in a woman's body."

"We always wondered what might push a girl to go so far at the academy. Guess now we know why."

"She's changed again," Tuk stated, patching feeds of the chaos below into the intel screens around the bridge.

"I hope so," James said, looking at the destruction, "means I can too"

On the screen, the first Brutes were hitting the population centers.

[}{]

Captain Alex Harper

August 20th, 2552

08:39AM

Epsilon Eridani Fleet

[}{]

Alex woke to a feeling of completeness. His crew were on a holding pattern, which meant that he had a little time for some R . First he had spent it in the officer's lounge, then, in Mei's bed.

There was no daylight in space, obviously, but he felt as he had on the first night of his old trips to the lake district back on Skopje. He felt a glow, as though the sun had woken him by shining brightly on his face. He smiled.

Mei stirred, her hair a tangled mess.

It hadn't taken much. The pair knew of their mutual interest and had finally let the inevitable happen in one explosive masterpiece.

Alex had wanted it but decorum and military discipline had been his whole life. It wasn't until his grandfather made it clear that the end might come soon that he had relented. In the last months of this war, the stories of military dalliance were becoming all too common as military order and morale gave way to something more basic.

The way that they had shared each other's company had reflected that, and Alex smiled, all too proud of himself.

"Morning Captain" Mei said, still wrapped in his dress blazer.

"Looks like that's what I should be calling you, Liang."

"Call me whatever you like when we're alone, I'll let you know if I like it."

In spite of all the evidence that he needn't worry, Alex still felt nervous asking what followed.

"You want to do this again, then? Was it just-"

She kissed him passionately as she sat up. You're an idiot, it seemed to say.

"I want something serious, if that's alright with you."

"It's what I was hoping for." He said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Funny, isn't it? We've faced down death so many times from the bridge of this ship and yet its the battle of hearts that make us so nervous."

Alex kissed her again, lifting her off his bunk and spinning her around the cabin. she was right about that, her approval had meant more to him than the outcome of any battle.

"They say that love is the death of duty"

"We've fought for duty a long time, maybe it's time for a new approach."

Later, the pair stood on the bridge as the UNSC Winter began its final approach. James Davenport cut a striking figure as the guiding light illuminated him, anchored to the Winter by a set of Mjolnir-grade engineering boots. The guideline he held lead all the way to the remains of Deck One, still carved asunder on the belly of his ship. Mei was coordinating the operation, which gave Alex time to make his way down to meet them.

It had been too long since he had seen Valette, and he always enjoyed Ollie's company. Today was going to be a good day.

The trip down was short with the elevator so close to the bridge and he saw the ashen faces of his comrades as the lift descended slowly throughout the ship. His cheeriness seemed to elevate them and he privately smiled to himself about that pun. He knew he shouldn't be so chipper, not following the annihilation of his battlegroup but the Fall of Reach was as close to the end times as things had ever been and Alex refused to let go of this little triumph.

No, not a day for despair.

He pulled on a vac suit and stepped out into the remains of deck one. Tapping his foot as he waited for the airlock to cycle. Valette and Ollie greeted him, saluting him with a sense of irony that the class of '52 often had. James followed soon after with a small briefcase.

"Maddie sends her regards, Cap." Ollie said as they hooked up a comm wire between their helmets. It was simple old school physics that hid them from any ONI listening devices aboard the Aegis Fate.

"Does she, now? What's with all the secrecy, then?"

"Maddie has, uh, we have made a decision regarding ARC DREAM."

"Oh dear."

"Now, now, hear me out, Cap. We ain't asking for much, just that you be at the other end of this commlink. He took the small briefcase and held it towards his friend. "Your brother is on a hit list, Alex. So's the girl we picked up from the hydro plant. ONI will have Maddie on there before too long because we ain't handing over ARC DREAM."

"My God, you guys are…" Alex wouldn't finish the sentence just in case.

As the fleet passed by in the distance, Alex realized that there was no act too safe in the war that was about to begin.

Especially when you're taking on ONI.

[}{]

Madeleine "The Viper" Harper

August 23rd, 2552

09:00AM

New Alexandria, One click from the Spaceport

[}{]

Katya was out front, flanked by Jack and with Preston in tow. At the back, Mikaela trotted alongside Maddie, with a BR in her arms.

"It's quiet," she said, "Where is everyone?"

"Gone, dead, or watching…"

Maddie knew that the woman's hair would be standing on end, now.

"Just keep breathing, Mikaela, I'll get you through this."

The woman nodded firmly, relaxing her grip on the weapon. They were walking along the promenade towards the spaceport, the streets were littered with dead. Each body was covered in the familiar spiked rounds of the Jiralhanae. Maddie barely noticed it until the smell made Preston wretch. She hadn't teased him about it, she understood.

The sounds of battle could be seen ahead as they crept under the canopies of seafront shops and restaurants. A UNSC checkpoint was being hounded by snipers, grunts, and a nasty looking brute.

Katya had them stop.

"Jack, take Mikaela up to that balcony On the right, try and get to the roof. Take out those snipers then give me some cover while I head out to the left and pin the grunts to the wall."

"and the brute?" Mikaela asked, her eyes fixed to the beast as he stood with his arms crossed, watching the grunts pick at the refugees and army troopers at the checkpoint.

"Those are Maddie's specialty. We go on her signal."

Maddie nodded and holstered her DMR. She drew her silenced magnum and her axe. She waited patiently, moving up to within 15 feet of the brute and waited for the others to affirm that they were ready on her helmet's HUD.

It took a minute or two but soon she could see Mikaela watching intently, and Katya hiding under a bench near the seafront. She gave Maddie a curt nod, go!

Maddie stepped out, a grunt turned and she raised the pistol. It fired once. Another turned, 13 feet to go. She fired again. The grunt slumped over. The brute looked left, seeing the grunt fall. He turned. Maddie took a run up, she saw he target.

"Open fire!"

Chaos exploded around her. Maddie was ten feet away as the axe left her hand, flying through the air as the brutes chest swivelled to meet it. Immediately, her hand moved to the knife strapped to her thigh. She tugged it free as the brute howled, the axe lodged deep in his chest. He moved for his hammer. Maddie shot the hand and dipped under a swipe as the brute flailed. She drew the knife back and slammed it downwards. It split the jugular with a crunch and Maddie finished the job with several shots to the back of his skull.

Rarrrg!

Another Brute emerged from an alley, dripping with blood. Fire raged around her but Maddie barely noticed as the Brute took his battle stance. Maddie pulled the axe free, twirling it in her hand.

The Brute snarled, and feinted left. Maddie dodged forwards, feeling plasma streak by her shoulder as she slipped inside his guard. Crunch. The axe lodged in its abdominal muscle. The creature roared and jabbed the hammer's pommel at her gut, knocking her back. SHe gripped her pistol as it charged her. She rolled in the direction of the corpse, snatching at the knife still stuck in its throat and scrambled to her feet as the hammer crashed down again. She rested her pistol on her wrist and shot three times at its chest, advancing as she did so. The brute stumbled. She kept shooting.

Finally in range, Maddie jabbed the knife at the other side of his gut. Kicked at his stomach and luaunched herself at the staggered Brute, straddling it as he fell backwards. She jammed the barrel in his throat. In one last gasp it yanked at her arm, ripping the sleeve of her black ONI BDU as she pulled the trigged and sprayed his brains over the pavement.

Like clockwork, the grunts panicked, the snipers had fallen silent, and a squad of troopers had jogged up the road to push the enemy back.

Packs of civilians began to stream from the sidestreets, catching some of the grunts and tearing the things to pieces in the street. Maddie had never seen that before. She retrieved her weapons and cut away her sleeves, evening them out for a more mercenary look.

"Captain Harper?" the lead trooper asked, stopping just short of her.

"Hm? Do I know you?" Maddie asked, slipping the axe into its sheath.

"No, I'm Lieutenant Feldman. I didn't know you were on Reach."

Maddie cocked her head, "How do you know me"

He pointed to the Viper tattoo on her arm.

"Everyone knows, Ma'am." he held out his hand, "makes us feel better knowing that that officer who saved Ballast is here."

Saved.

Maddie was about to speak when Mikaela ran up beside her.

"Oh my GOD. You're insane! That was-"

Maddie smiled, still standing over the creature's corpse. "Practiced. It was practiced. Don't try it at home."

"Me? I could never, almost hit you a few times in that scrap."

"Scrap?" the Lieutenant exclaimed, "It's only going to get worse, I suppose. That will look like a bar fight before the day's out. Where are you headed Captain?"

"We need to get to the otherside of the spaceport." Katya said, her eyes bold as ever.

"And the wolf!" he scratched his chin, "It's gonna be a fight to get there, we have a SPARTAN making his way over to the AA guns on the other side of the river. We lost them about an hour ago and no one can leave until they're gone."

"We have our own mission, Captain. I'm sure your SPARTAN can help. If there's anything you need this side of the river and in the direction we're heading, then we're happy to help."

"Hmm, for that you would need to speak to Colonel Cross. She's on the other side of the Spaceport, although she'll probably need evac by the time you get there."

Katya nodded and thanked the trooper as they made their way through the checkpoint. It was a makeshift barricade made from sandbags, scrounged metals, and UNSC prefab fortifications.

"Got a rep, huh." Mikaela said, walking alongside Maddie.

"Just a bit." Maddie replied, sharing a knowing look with Katya, "the Office loves a story."

"They do." Katya agreed, "keeps the public off their tail."

"Lies upon lies" Mikaela shrugged, "still, might just be the best thing they do. It gives people hope."

"Maybe," Katya shrugged, "it is what they are always hiding that is the problem. Look, transport hog. We will take that."

Katya wandered off, leaving Maddie to note the disapproving look on her brother's face. He was tense and his eyes shifted between Mikeala and Maddie.

As Katya commandeer the team their transport, Maddie turned to her brother.

"Are you okay?"

He frowned. "Well," he gestured vaguely around him as the civilians began to stream through the checkpoint.

Maddie understood and smiled, "you're still wary of me, aren't you?"

Preston sighed, "it's been a long time since we'd seen each other Maddie. I just thought you would be the one who would never change."

He climbed into the warthog as it slowed to a halt and offered her a hand. She took it and did the same for Mikaela, who sat gingerly next Maddie and looked out over the city.

"I don't think I did change, Preston. I was always looking for something to satisfy my curiosity. That was used against me… and there was no way I was turning down the chance to uncover the truth about Tuk."

"You always did like causing trouble."

"Exactly." She replied, "ONI is about to find out just how much."

"You really think we can get away with it?" Mikaela asked, her attention still fixed on the blobs of plasma that had begin to arc through the sky.

The back of the Hog was silent for a moment. Save for the chattering of Katya and Jack and the humble thrum of the engine as it cruised alongside the streams of refugees.

"The last days of a world is…" she couldn't quite find the words. "It's the only situation where ONI is truly vulnerable. When everything breaks down, when resistance turns to survival, that is when ONI slip up."

"I don't know, Mads. ONI just feels too big" said Preston.

"Which is why they spend too long covering their tracks and not enough time doing anything else. When I met Drake on Skopje, he sacrificed half the Naval assets in the system to deploy a SPARTAN whose only job was to get the information for ARC DREAM off the planet. The kind of chaos left in the wake of that is where someone with bad intentions can thrive."

"How do you figure that?"

"Because it's never an insider that causes them trouble." Maddie said, grinning.

[}{]

Captain Alex Harper

August 23rd, 2552

09:10AM

Epsilon Eridani Fleet, tethered to the UNSC Aegis Fate

[}{]

A lone moray mine. That was all Alex could offer them. The Winter wasn't designed to fight but it was in dire need of a little firepower. The engagements since Winter Contingency was declared had exacted a toll on the crafts supplies. Most of which, owing to the fact that the Aegis had lost a lot of view and an entire deck, she had to spare. Ammunition was another matter.

"A third of your missiles, and half your MAC rounds left, you sure you can afford to hand that over?" Ollie asked, referring to the ominous mine that James and Valette were floating through vacuum.

"Not much to be done, now. All the spares are going to the cruisers and carriers."

"Just keep your head down, Cap. Don't wanna see you end up with the fat birds at the turkey shoot. Nothing escaping this system that ain't playing things clever or too big to let slip."

"Preaching to the choir, Ollie. Preaching to the choir."

Ollie put his hand to his ear piece. Alex couldn't see the frown beneath his visor but he did see his old friend stiffen.

"Shit, Cap. Tuk just picked up an ONI prowler, we Gotta bounce."

Alex's throat tightened, this wasn't good. It never was when ONI were on your doorstep. He bounced his foot as the airlock cycled and, as he entered the bridge, he found Mei stalling the ship as it approached them.

"This is the ship of Captain Alex Harper, Sir. I don't know where the other one is." She said, eyeing Alex conspiratorially as he approached her. "The Captain is here, now sir. I'll let you speak to him."

"You're awfully busy, eh lad?" The Accent was familiar.

"Captain Drake?"

"Of the UNSC Tierra Del Mundo."

"Formally deceased Commander of the Ballast System Defence Group." Alex folded his arms.

Beside them was a screen that showed the Winter as it silently prepared to slip away.

"Indeed, Captain. My death wasn't too stressful I hope."

"ONI does what it wants." Alex said, walking to the helmsman and keying in a location a few hundred thousand clicks from the fleet. "I'm assuming you wish to board?"

"Correct."

Alex fired up the engines and had the ensign begin to move the ship. The Winter would have maybe a minute to slip away in the drive plume before Drake would demand they stop. If he did, the chances were that he was here for Maddie.

"No need to rendezvous outside the fleet. Its not standard protocol but this isn't a social visit. Kill the engines, Captain."

Alex swallowed and gave the order. He checked the nav screen.

The Winter was gone.

Alex Sighed and returned his attention to the operative approaching his ship.

Thirty minutes later Alex stood on the deck as Drake's Prowler touched down. He watched as the agent, a man covered in scars and years of war, stepped gingerly down the boarding ramp of his ship. He looked around, scanning as though all he saw was his.

"So if this is not a social visit, what is it Captain?"

"Your team is missing on the surface of Reach and you haven't reported it."

"Beta-7 isn't my team." Alex said, not bothering to dance around the question, "but if I hear from them, I can let you know."

"Parangosky is worried about agent Belloc. He's not confirmed whether the Grafton enacted the Cole Protocol." Drake drew a large breath and raised his quizitive brow. "Your sister hasn't been heard from either.".

"Probably for the best. She thinks you're dead."

"You don't seem worried about her being dead."

Alex tightened his lip. "You don't seem worried that she'll find out you're alive."

A quietness hung between them, the pair sized each other up as the subtle thrum of the Aegis' engines fluttered in the infinite blackness of space.

"We must all do our part, Captain. Now, show me where she was last seen."

[}{]

Captain Aurellian 'Ollie' Van Graff

August 23rd, 2552

09:34AM

Epsilon Eridani Fleet, floating near the UNSC Aegis Fate

[}{]

"It's good." Tuk said, watching the Aegis Fate float ahead of them.

"If you say so," replied James, who yawned as the frigate spurred it's engines.

"I wish it was as simple as you say," Valette shrugged, "ONI has never felt like it was on our side."

Tukmen'tukhan was flippant. Ollie watched his avatar yawn on the dashboard.

"During the human-forerunner war, we used tactics similar to ONI. By all accounts, we would have won the war had we not been fighting the flood simultaneously. "

"Sure, that's all good. When you're faced with what those tactics do to common folk, though… it can change a man's perspective." Ollie offered his opinion, hoping it wouldn't kill the conversation dead.

"Fuckin' A" said James.

"It is not the job of the spymaster to worry about that; many of my peers held the same view as you, though. It's encouraging that humanity has not given up on morality in the face of this onslaught."

James and Ollie watched on the video feed as the ONI prowler docked with the Aegis, which flipped on its heel and burned towards the rest of the Epsilon Eridani Fleet in the opposite direction.

"You speak very highly of us" Valette said, powering down the weapon systems and rerouting the power to the stealth drives. "I'm surprised that you don't think we're weak"

Tukmen'tukhan scratched his chin, pausing for effect. "You have been dealt a poor hand and yet, here you are, 25 years into the greatest war fought in a hundred thousand years. By all rights, given the technological gulf, you should have lost emphatically by now. Earth still spins, people still love…"

The humans watched the icon seem to drift off in thought and shared a glance with each other. A.I thought at the speed of light, an emotional pause for them was unnoticeable to organic life.

"There was a festival of love on my home planet. It was a time of joy and defiance against the forerunners and the flood. As you celebrate Christmas in your trenches, my family hosted its parties, dying during a siege for the chance to live that sacred event. No, being dealt a bad hand does not make you worthy of my hatred, not when there is still ARC DREAM."

"It's a shame ONI don't see the world so beautifully" James said, an errant wistfulness in his voice.

"The individuals might. ONI may be our enemy but I understand why they do what they do. They are much of the reason you have lasted so long."

Ollie checked the sensors and tracked Katya and the others as they drove through the spaceport.

[}{]

Madeleine "The Viper" Harper

August 23rd, 2552

14:00PM

New Alexandria, Admiral Cole Spaceport

[}{]

The Hog swung out, violently, narrowly dodging a panicked transport of supplies bound for the Spaceport. It screeched, vying for a driving line as a ghost screamed towards them, narrowly missing the rear as Maddie and the others gripped their handholds for dear life.

"Is it coming after us?" Jack yelled.

"Don't think so, Maddie replied, "We're heading right for their vanguard, they know we will hit them eventually."

"So why are we still heading in the same direction?!" Mikaela asked, her knuckles were white as they clutched the frame of the Hog.

"Not for long" Katya said, before taking the exit ramp down towards the service entrance for New Alexandria's flood relief tunnels.

Darkness enveloped them and the Hog was forced to slow, its engine purring like a cat as they trundled onwards. The sounds of war could be heard overhead as Maddie and her four friends listened to the sounds of a dying world from inside their concrete tomb.

The tunnel was narrowing and soon, Katya pulled on the handbrake and switched off the engine, landing on the smooth wet surface of the tunnel floor with a gingerly squelch.

"Here, it's down this access hatch." She said, pulling her weapon from its mounting on the truck and approaching the mossy wall of a nearby side-passage.

Maddie felt a sense of deja-vu as she followed Katya and the others down the passage. Mikaela was talking quietly with Preston and Jack trudged along beside Maddie.

"You doing alright, Maddie?" He whispered, checking over his shoulder.

Maddie shrugged. "This place reminds me of somewhere I went with Drake"

"Just before we met?"

Maddie nodded.

The bowels of the city of Orestis had been a grueling challenge to navigate. At the time, Maddie was reeling from seeing her friend brutalised by a Jiralhanae. Strangely, though, it wasn't the mission with Drake she was thinking about.

It was the mall. It was the sunny afternoons spent reading her book beside the escalators in the atrium. Maddie dreamed of a warm day, the sun of her system melting the bitingly cold iced coffee that sat beside her as she delved into the histories of great societies.

She closed her eyes and remembered the sound of joyous laughter, ignorant bliss, and casual conversation. She longed to hear the sound again and dared to dream how it might sound if there wasn't even a war on. How did Grandpa Joey spend his youth in the mall? How might she have?

It was a sobering thought, one that threatened to ruin her focus until Jack placed a hand on her shoulder. "We don't get to change the past, kid. We can build something better, though."

"And we can make the bastards who toyed with our choices pay, too."

Jack nodded, "yeah, we will. Just in the right way."

Maddie didn't think there was a right way to take revenge. Whatever was left of her innocence screamed that saying the word in earnest was wrong and her head spiralled with thoughts of what could have been. As the trappings of a hidden ONI escape tunnel began to surround her and her friends, Maddie thought about what she should be doing in a world that was fair.

If life was fair, she would be reuniting with Nicola, and her friends. They would have been to university and begun their careers or taken time to see the stars. No one under the age of thirty earth years could remember a time when space was free and fewer still could remember a time when total annihilation wasn't an omnipresent facet of the human experience.

In her head, Maddie could almost hear the raucous taverns, filled with laughter and glee, sky bars filled with romance and intrigue, and fields filled with lovers and poets. Maddie knew that there was so much beauty in this galaxy, and yet all she had seen was the fires of war and the engines of destruction that rained plasma from the sky.

Preston laughed at something Mikaela said, and Maddie smiled. The war couldn't take the little, human moments away, and it was high time that she made a note to remember them. The future didn't belong to the damned, it belonged to those who hoped for more.

Together, the descended deep into the bowels of the city.


Okay, so I'm loving my return to the story. Maddie's final adventure is being planned out fully now and I really can't wait to share it. As for me, I've thought alot about what to do next.

I think that 'The Spook' is great, I'm really proud of it. That being said, I need an outlet to write the things that will help me author my first book, which means I need practice.

So, here's a snippet of whats in store on my page. Its unedited and NOT finalised but... someday, I'll be seeing you in a 'Galaxy Far Far Away'


《¤》

They clashed, the sky spun, sparks flared. The figure laughed, her eyes glistening as they flashed in the night.

"Nothing about the girl is mundane. She's a warrior and with our help, she'll become a God."

Eden roared and the swords clattered, sparking and barking and biting and whining as Eden was toyed with. Ezra knew they were done for but he chose to make his stand. Here, with the woman he loved and the daughter he never had… even as he felled the last of the figures' entourage, he looked on with dread as the figure spun from Eden and her hood fell away from her face.

Her features were sharp and brutal, her eyes narrow and focused, lit like two dark sun's and burning with that ever iconic corruption.

"You would have her mewling like the others, wouldn't you? Have her play pretend, grow up, find a partner? Boring. This path made her so much more. She will rule galaxies, not hide in them."

"What she decides is what will pass, Faed. She's my child. I decide what happens to her"

"You and I both know you can't take care of her, that's why you came to us in the first place. Cash in hand for your own baby. People like you are why you could never protect her. She'll grow up weak and vulnerable." She said, as Ezra backed away, his blaster trained on Faed.

"She'll know a mothers love." Eden said, her voice firm.

"Love? What is love when I can do this!" She yelled, firing lighting towards Eden. Ezra tried to bolt but he found himself pinned back.

Eden?! He thought, tumbling backwards towards Cass.

Eden was racked with blue lighting, screaming in pain, a single tear running down her face. She looked slowly to Ezra, her eyes bright and piercing.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, then, roaring into a crescendo, began to purify the lighting that coursed through her. Faed screamed as her blue hues were replaced, fought back by the piercing white lightning that bolted from Eden .

There was a bright flash, a burst of pure energy and Ezra ducked again, hiding behind the tree as a massive wave of energy smashed into it, cracking it open like an egg. He clung to Cass for dear life holding her tight as the world exploded around them.

Then?

Silence.

《¤》


If you want more snippets, let me know in a review. I'm a sucker for kind words and earnest criticism.