.Space Stories Proudly Presents

Return
Written By IXI

  “Say Mary...” 
  “Hmm?”
  “You wouldn’t have a plan or something?”
  “No not at the moment.”
  “I see... because it would seem that our friend has found us.”
The wall behind the two was blown to rubble. Throwing Robin and Mary forward, Robin helped Mary up.
  “Ruuuuuuuun!” Robin fired the two last rounds of his weapon. The two shots simply bounced off the Pirate’s armour as he moved forward. Green light came from behind Robin. That could only mean one thing. “Down!” Mary yelled and a large ball of superheated plasma shot over their heads, destroying everything in its path until it blew up in an even brighter explosion. 
  “Mary?” Robin got up, helped by Mary.
  “Yeah?” She said.
  “When that bastard’s dead, I’m going to buy you a drink.”
  “I thought you weren’t single.” 
  “Consider it a favour.”
They rounded a corner, entering another hallway that connected two modules.
Their feet raced them forward, fueled by the adrenaline that filled their blood.
The ground shook as Amien followed them. Robin and Mary looked back to see Amien charging up his plasmacannon. They ran for their skin, jumping to the ground as Amien released his ball of fire.
The door they were running for blew up in their faces, and they were thrown back. 
The two got back up, to find a group of fearsome looking men staring in their faces.
  “Need a hand?” Their leader said, and he beckoned his men.
They seemed to carry a rocket-launcher with them. One took aim, another loaded it with its typical deadly projectile. “Fire at will.” The leader’s face didn’t move a muscle. The rocket blasted through the hallway. Blowing off Amien’s arm. He growled at the group and began to run towards them. 
  “Again.” 
The group loaded another rocket into the launcher, and fired. The explosion knocked the Pirate over and blew off several parts of his body. Unable to walk, Amien crawled towards them, rage bursting out of his eyes. His new enemy drew his sidearm and walked towards him
He sighed as he pointed his Walther P99 at Amien’s head. Amien roared, seeing his imminent death in the face. The man tilted his head slightly, then pressed the trigger, piercing Amien’s artificial skull with 3 rounds. He kept looking at Amien, as if he pitied him. An assumption proven wrong when.
  “I hope we didn’t scare you.” Came out.
Robin got up, impressed. He looked at the remains of the one who tried to kill him and sighed, like he was saying ‘good job’ to their new acquaintance. The one who killed Amien wore a typical OC uniform, dark grey with a good splash of red in the shoulder padding. Black buttons holding it together and a black belt carrying his sidearm and several grenades.  
  “Don’t mention it, just doing my job.” 
  “And I thank you for that,” Robin said, “got a name?”
  “Lieutenant Commander Daniel Cray, OC Special Ops.” The brown haired Officer responded.
  “Pleased to meet you, I’m...”
  “Robin Nielsen, Terran pilot extraordinaire.” Daniel interrupted him before he could speak.
The two shook hands, setting their factions aside, for now.

The entire station was empty, the only ones left were Robin, Mary, Daniel and his 5 men.
For once the canteen was not overcrowded and there were no half hour lines.
Robin’s nose picked up the strong smell the coffee he was holding.
  “So what brings you here?” Daniel asked, legs on the table.
  “A... search.” Robin said, a somewhat vague answer.
  “Search? What?” Daniel got interested.
  “Nah, you wouldn’t believe me if I said it.” Robin looked down.
  “He’s searching for his lost friend.” Mary intervened, providing Daniel with an answer.
  “Friend?” 
And after a long sigh, Robin shed some light on his journey: “Joseph Varageva.”
The two words split by a slight pause. Daniel nodded, he then bursted out in laughter.
His voice was heard throughout the station. Tears ran down his face and he was nearly choking.
Robin raised an eyebrow. Daniel forced himself to stop, bits of amusement still breaking through his
throat.
  “You’re... you’re...” Daniel pieced himself together, “serious?”
A light nod was his answer.
  “Here? In the Dead Zone, you got to be kidding me.”
  “Oh I’m very serious.” Robin replied, tilting his head.
Daniel rubbed his chin. “Unbelievable.” He added.
  “Quite, but it’s very...” Robin was interrupted by the beeping of the Comm-unit at his right.
  “Hmm...” Robin turned his head and pressed the touch-screen panel to see what it was.
At first he couldn’t believe it. He got up, the chair fell and his eyes were set on the screen:  

Message recieved 1752 HRS

Due to recent actions on the part of The InterGalactic Republic towards the Federation Advance, the Federation/Kalenian Government would like to inform you of their resignation from the Republic's Galactic Senate.  All treaties and agreements with the Federation Advance or Kalenian Government are thereby made void and null.

Robin pressed a few buttons so the image would be shown on all screens. 
  “This can’t be.” Mary said, eyes watching.
  “We must’ve missed something.” Daniel tried to stay as stoic as possible, given his OC background.
  “I’ll get to the Control Center.” And with that Mary left, hoping to find more info about the latest developments.
  “Wait, I’ll come with you.”Robin followed her. 
The canteen was now filled with only OC personnel. Daniel sighed as he stretched his back.
  “Sir...?” Jones, his young sergeant didn’t even have to finish his question to let Daniel understand.
  “Go.” Daniel waved his hand, and his men left the canteen as well.
He pressed a few buttons on the wall to his right, and a beer was synthesized.

In the CC the monitors were showing a wealth of info, the speakers were screaming the voices of pilots. They seemed to be killing eachother.
  “Break left! Break left for...” A man lost in the chaotic comm chatter.
  “I’m hit, I’m hit!” 
Mary switched the board off. Biting her lip and looking down. Robin let out a deep sigh.
He ran his hand through his upcoming beard, his eyes unwilling to believe the cascade of information. War, there was war once again in the galaxy. Only now the two largest factions in the galaxy were battling it out for galactic supremacy, creating a rift throughout known space. 
The OC crew was as astounded as he was. They all watched the telemetry going over the screens, not even trying to understand what they were looking at. 
  “How could this...?” Jones blinked a few times, his eyes shifting over the screens. He shook his head. 
Robin nodded to himself, biting his thumb. This... this had to be stopped. He turned around and went for his ship. His mind set to one thing: Finding Joseph. If there was one person who knew how to deal with this, it was him. Perhaps he wasn’t thinking straight, for one man could never end war. But his thoughts were somewhere else. 
  “Robin!” He turned his head. Mary stood behind him, knowing what he was planning.
She shook her head, knowing the dangers of going into the Dead Zone. 
  “You’re not going in your ship.” She said, accenting ‘your’.
  “Why not?” Robin wondered.
  “You can trust me on that one.” 

Daniel had finished his beer and was about to get up when Robin and Mary walked in.
  “Your ship, is it still in one piece?” Robin asked.
  “Pretty much, why?” Daniel slightly knew where this was going.
Robin just looked at him, letting his OC friend find it out on his own.
Daniel’s eyes first wondered, then his look steadied and his head went from left to right.
  “Oh no no no, you’re not taking my ship into the Dead Zone.”
  “Why, you’re ship is the only one capable of...” Mary said, before being interrupted: 
  “I’m not sacrificing my ship to save some Terran legend who is ‘apparantly’ alive.”
  “Hey,” Robin countered, “this isn’t about you, me, or the whole damn relation between our   
   factions. The future of the galaxy is at stake here, and Joseph just might be the only one who can   
   solve things.”
  “You really think one man can save the universe?” Daniel apoke.
  “We sure as hell can try.” Robin replied.
Daniel went silent. He knew Robin was right, perhaps he was the one not thinking straight, they could try.
His breath was deep and slow, telling Robin he had convinced him.
  “Alright,” Daniel gave in, “but I’m coming with you.”
  “To help us?” Mary asked.
  “To keep my ship intact.”

 The three went for the docks and ran into Cray’s men.
  “Sir where are you going?” Jones wondered.
  “Going to find Joseph with these two.” Daniel replied.
  “Well then we’re coming with you.”
  “No,” Daniel said, surprising Jones, “you’re staying here to look after this station, this is our info-   
   center at the moment.”
  “You’re sure sir?” Jones was questioning Cray’s decision.
  “Yes.”
Cray left Jones in command, the first time he ever did that. Perhaps he was finally convinced of his sergeant’s potential. Jones smiled at the thought.
  “Don’t let it go to your head son.” Daniel chuckled, seeing Jones’ face.
  “Never sir.”
  “You boys done?” Mary asked, eager to leave.
Daniel just grinned, Jones was a bit dazzled.
  “Let’s go.” Cray said, and he lead the group to the docking-port.

Cray’s ship was new to Robin’s eyes. It appeared to be a small military carrier. Around 50 Metres long. Smooth lines, and no apparant windows. The main colour was grey, with the top painted bright red and blue lines on the side finishing the typical OC motif. The engines were tucked away in the back.
  “Nice ship you got there.” Robin said.
  “Heh don’t tell anyone I have it.” Daniel entered the code on the keypad next to the door.
  “Hmm?” 
  “Well she’s not exactly mine, I borrowed it for a test-run.” Cray finished the code and he punched the big blue button on the keypad, gaining access to his ship.
  “You borrowed it?” Robin followed Daniel through the hallway.
  “Yeah, you could say that.”
  “Boys and toys.” Mary stated.
  “Oh yes.” Daniel opened the ship’s entry.
The smell of newly installed metals went through Robin’s nose. A fresh yet cold smell.
They had entered a clean looking vessel, light hallways with accents of the OC colours on the floors and walls. It was open, and had this pleasant atmosphere. 
  “Wow.” Robin was captivated.
  “What’s actually the name of this ship?” Mary asked.
  “At the moment it’s ‘OCX-023’” Daniel spoke, seemingly not liking it..  
  “Nice.” Mary’s sarcasm made Daniel chuckle.
  “Let’s go.” Daniel took the lead once again and they went for the bridge.
The bridge shared the new look with the ship’s hull. Everything was fresh, a mixture of leather, metals and something, something Robin couldn’t place, filled the air. There were no windows, only top of the line viewscreens that gave a perfect view of the outside. Everything seemed to be a part of this clear, blue atmosphere. Daniel sat down on one of three leather pilot seats.
  “You Terrans are lucky we don’t have a whole fleet of this type, we would’ve smoked your ass 
    hard.” He said, pressing buttons and flicking switches.
  “I choose old and reliable over new and buggy.” Robin replied.
  “I hear that.” Mary sat down on the seat right to Daniel.
  “Already outnumbered.” Daniel chuckled.
Robin took the seat on the left, it adapted itself to his body, increasing comfort.
  “Hmm...”
  “That’s the first thing I said as well,” Daniel took what seemed to be the controls in his hands, “then 
    this happened.”
He thrusted the controls forward, the engines screamed and Robin’s seat wanted to go right through him. “Wooh!” Daniel yelled. Mary shared his enjoyment and Robin’s face slowly regained colour.
He didn’t expect there was such an enormous amount of power hidden within this ship.
The acceleration slowed and Robin was able to breath again. 
  “Damn what a rush.” He said.
  “Glad you like her.” Daniel grinned.
  “So where are we going now?” Mary asked.
Robin sighed, he looked at his two companions who were awaiting his answer.
This is it then, they were finally going to get his friend back.
  “Take us in.” Robin was still a bit unsure about the path ahead, yet he was determined.
  “Alright.” Daniel steered the ship smoothly through the ‘border’ that seperated normal space from the Dead Zone.
Strange how space could harbour such an unusual place. The Zone was like the Bermuda Triangle, only a few lightyears bigger, and more dangerous. 
Reports said strange ‘ghosts’ prowl on unsuspecting ships. And it has been proven that there are all kinds of small singularities and other spacial distortions within this abnormal place.
Still, Robin figured they had a solid chance of finding the location of Joseph.
He had survived worse, so he was confident. Robin got up from his chair.
  “You wouldn’t have a bathroom here?”
  “Second door in the hall on your left.” Daniel said, keeping his eyes on the screen in front of him.
  “Right.”  
  
Daniel looked to see if he was gone.
  “So, what do you make of him?” He whispered.
Mary was taken aback, not knowing what to answer.
  “I don’t know, he seems... driven. And he sure knows how to a handle a weapon.”
  “Only his weapon?” 
  “He has... a certain instinct, he can anticipate things.” 
Daniel huffed, displaying his wait-and-see attitude. 
He cracked his neck, and loosened the rest of his body.

Mary let out a sigh. Unbelievable, she didn’t expect this to happen.
She was now flying on an OC ship, along with a Terran ace and an OC officer.
If Robin hadn’t showed up she would probably be sitting in her comfortable leather seat behind her desk, bored... So perhaps she should be grateful. This brought a little excitement in her life. She chuckled thinking about it.
  “Hmm..?” Daniel wondered.
  “Oh nothing.”
The nav-computer let out two beeps. It had picked up something, dead ahead.
  “What is it?” Robin returned to his seat.
  “I don’t know.” Daniel flipped a few switches.
  “Let’s see what it is.” He punched the big orange button on the console to his right.
A small tremble went through the hull. The noise of mechanics went through the cockpit and the armoured front seemed to move back, leaving a transparent layer of Tritanium. 
  “There’s nothing there.” Mary said, looking into the deep black of space.
  “That’s not right, it says there’s...” Daniel cut himself off. His eyes followed the contours of a massive shadow, that lay still between the stars. His right-hand console told him it was atleast 600 metres in length, 100 wide and 150 high. 
  “What the hell is that thing?” Mary got up.
Robin looked at the giant, rectangular hole in space. There was something in it, could it be what he was looking for? The hum of the engines died away, his view stretched and faded.
And he was somewhere else. Robin had traveled to a place unknown to him. He looked around, he was standing in a great hall. Massive pillars supported the ceiling 50 metres above him. He was completely baffled by the sheer sight of the room. Strange indigo-coloured creatures were lifting someone in what seemed to be somesort of glass coffin. Robin watched them, somehow recognising the one they were carrying. It was Joseph. He wanted to cry out his name but his mouth wouldn’t move. He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn’t answer.
Everything around him elongated once again, and Robin was punched back into reality.
  “What do you think?” Daniel repeated the question.
  “Huh? What?” Robin looked around.
  “I said, what do you think?”
Robin was silent, becoming aware of what he had seen. His eyes looked at the shadow, and he was happy. Happy to have found him.
  “Robin?” 
He smiled. His mind oblivious to his surroundings.
  “That’s it.” Robin finally provided Daniel with an answer. “That’s where he is.”
  “Well I sure hope so.” Daniel said, and he steered the ship towards the most likely place of the docking module. His hand moved over the button for the lights. But suddenly the shadow seemed to come to life. Lights turned on one by one, creating a whole line, a path. A path that lead to a giant door that opened up slowly. Bright white light came from inside the shadow, a beacon for Daniel to follow.
They moved slowly into the unknown. 
  “My god.” Daniel was amazed by the size. The door was 100, perhaps even 150 metres wide. 
They went through a field that kept the cold outside. 
The hangar seemed to be human built. Vents that were meant to keep it clean were scattered over the ceiling, large, solid doors leading further into the vessel, all under this metal-tone. 
Daniel read the readings on his console.
  “This is only a month old.” He said.
  “Odd...” Mary replied.
They landed slowly, a thump indicated they had touched down.
Robin took a deep breath. “Let’s take a look.”

The door opened and a gust of fresh air met the three.
  “Climate systems are operational.” Robin concluded, with a sense of sarcasm.
He jumped the 2 feet to the floor. Climate control seemed to do its work, as the air was almost sterile.
Though it didn’t have the infamous hospital-flavour to it. Robin was joined by his two friends.
  “’K let’s go.” He said, and he took the lead. The door he went for opened automatically causing him to stop. It lead to something that wasn’t as familiar as the hangar they landed in. 
A blend of round shapes, tiles and strange symbols on the walls were filling the hallway.
Robin turned his head, as if he was comparing the two different environments.
  “I don’t like this.” Daniel said and he held out his scanner.
  “What the..?” He sounded surprised. “It says these walls are over 2000 years old.”
  “Odd...” Mary repeated herself.
  “Quite.” Robin added, somewhat imitating Mary.
  “Planning to go in?” Daniel asked.
  “You can follow me if you want.” Robin suggested.
Daniel nodded, thinking things over.
  “I’m going.” Mary said, intrigued by this new vessle.
  “Well Daniel, if you need me...” Robin entered the alien hallway, followed by Mary.
Cray’s eyes saw the two going into the unknown. He should go too right? Well it is some Terran...
Daniel went from no to yes, as Robin and Mary walked further.
He sighed. “Ah frap.”
The lights turned on as Robin progressed through the ship, the hallway seemed to end somewhere in the distance. No doors were on either side, making him somewhat uncomfortable. 
He had packed a sidearm with flashlight fortunately. He grabbed it from his hip, and he already began to feel a little less nervous. 
  “Hey wait up.” Daniel caught up to Robin and Mary.
  “Welcome back.” Robin replied, moving his feet.

  “Bennington, check these readings.” Jones, Cray’s right hand, asked for Sean’s help.
Bennington sat down next to William. His eyes wandering over the dozen screens that covered the station’s comm center. 
  “Long range sensors detect....” Bennington took off his glasses so he could see the numbers up close.
500, 550, 600 ships and counting were jumping into the galaxy. The fleet was of unknown origin, and its size said it wasn’t here to make friends. 
It didn’t take long before the transmissions from pilots flooded the center.
Reports about cruisers overwhelming every strong fleet in the lower regions sounded through the speakers. One was hit in the rear, his voice cut by static. Another reported several fighters on his tail.
They were everywhere, all around them. They had no chance. One fell, two screamed, three were dead.
  “Turn it off...” Jones whispered.
Sean didn’t react.
  “Turn it off..!” His superior’s whisper grew to a yell.
  “Y-Yes sir.” Sean flicked the switch to his right.
Jones sighed, his hands resting on the computerdesk and his head bowed down.
  “Get a link to Cray.” He ordered.

The hissing of an automatic door echoed throughout the chamber Robin entered.
His flashlight illuminating the spots where the light from the open door didn’t come.
From the looks of it it would seem they had entered a large cave-like structure.
  “This seems as old as the rest of the ship.” Daniel glanced at his readings.
  “Sure smells like it.” Mary inhaled the old dark brown air.
Daniel turned on his shoulderlight to aid Robin’s. They moved forward, on their guard.
  “What is this? Hangar?” Robin asked.
  “Don’t ask me, I’m just here cause you asked me to.” Daniel looked where his light allowed him to.
Their footsteps broke eons of silence and left an uneasy feeling troubling Robin. Weren’t they trespassing? The only thing that kept him focused on the task at hand was his breathing. Deep in- and exhales synchronised with his heartbeat. His light fell on what seemed to be somesort of leg. A statue perhaps. His light went over the entire 20 metre body. It was white, touched up by blue stripes but caught by the brown colour of age.
   “What is it?” Mary’s voice sounding from behind.
   “I wouldn’t have the slightest idea.”
Robin laid his hand on the leg. It was a cold, steel-like material. Corrosion had struck the ancient limb.
There seemed to be a change. “Hmm?” Robin wondered.
The material seemed to warm up. Its texture smoothened. 
  “What the frack?” Robin stepped back. Something activated. A bright blue glow seemed to come from the innards of the statue. It moved, like a current, from bottom to top, forming a hexagon pattern.
The whole chamber lit up. The ceiling was finally uncovered 50 metres above their heads. Pillars supporting it. It seemed they had entered a temple, though unlike any other they had seen.
Strange statues formed a circle around them. And figures were spread over the floor, letters from a language unknown.
And in the middle, the leg Robin had touched. It was now smooth, the brown colour had faded and the corrosion had disappeared. Its knee was tucked in so it wouldn’t break the curved lines too much. 
The leg stopped, smoothly running into a pelvis. An hourglass-like torso on top of it revealing the gender of what was now somesort of Mecha. 
A large, feminine, white Mecha with smooth lines, strong arms and a head that seemed friendly, but could change any second. 
Not entirely what they expected.
Daniel felt a slight vibration going through his chest. He pressed the button on his right shoulder.
  “Yes Jones?” He asked, almost whispering.
  “Sir, we have multiple unknown contacts plowing through... everyone.” Jones’ voice was anxious.
  “What?” Cray didn’t understand at first.
  “We have over 700 unidentified ships in this very galaxy, and it appears they’re not here because we make 
    great coffee.” Jones explained himself.
Jones didn’t get an answer.
  “Sir?” He tried again.
  “Later Jones...” Daniel’s voice toned down into silence.
The Mecha moved, its head tilting as if it was a young dog looking around curiously.  
Its 8 metre legs moving around until it saw Robin, Mary and Daniel.
  “I don’t think it sees us as a threat.” Mary whispered.
  “Why not?” Daniel asked.
  “If it did, we would probably be dead by now.”
It came forward, kneeling down to the trio who stepped back.
The Mecha seemed to scan them, as its optics adjusted themselves.
  “Konnichiwa.” It spoke in a feminine voice that seemed friendly and slightly artificial.
Mary turned to Robin, keeping her eyes on their new acquaintance.
  “Did it just greet us, in Japanese?”
  “Gutentag.” Once again, the Mecha tried to make contact.
  “Why wouldn’t it  try to greet us in English?” Daniel wondered.
  “Engrish?” The Mecha turned back to Japanese.
  “I don’t think it... or she can.” Robin concluded.
He stepped forward, figuring he would be the one to answer.
  “Konnichiwa.” He greeted, trying to appear as neutral as possible.
  “<What is your name?>” He asked in Japanese.
  “<Name?>” The Mecha looked up, seemingly trying to remember.
  “It acts just like a human being.” Daniel said, intrigued.
  “<I don’t know my name>” The Mecha answered.
  “<I’m Robin then, nice to meet you.>” He seemed friendly, though no one but the Mech could understand what he was saying.
  “<We are looking for a friend of mine.>” Robin explained the reason why they were here.
  “Josepheru?” The Mecha asked.
  “Yes.” Mary answered before Robin could.
  “Sugoi!” The unnamed Mecha seemed to be happy. Her voice raced forward telling Robin about all sorts of things. Though being quite an adept in Japanese, he didn’t seem to be able to decipher anything of what she was rambling.
  “What the frell is she saying?” Daniel seemed to be a tad annoyed.
  “Well...” Robin waited for the Mecha to finish one of her lines. “She’s built by... Ilians, she’s been here for over quite a few centuries. This is her home, this ship, this...” Robin paused, “... gift to us.”
What did she mean? 
  “Well go on.” Mary said.
  “She’s bored...” Robin raised an eyebrow as he translated it.
  “Surprise, surprise.” Daniel added.
  “And she’s...” another pause by Robin. “... Joseph’s guardian angel.”
  “Well where is your friend then?” Mary asked, looking at the Mecha.
The Mecha tilted her head from left to right and looked at herself.
Her eyes seemed to sparkle as her torso opened up in 4 pieces.
She wiped the condensating water off the pod that she held close to her heart.
Her mechanical hand beckoned Robin to come closer. 
He slowly stepped forward as questions raced through his mind.
His eyes enlarged at the sight of the figure inside.
  “Joe.” His new mechanical friend affirmed, speaking in broken english.
  “My God.” Daniel and Mary gathered around.
  “You were right Robin, I’ll be damned.” Mary said.
  “Does she know where the bridge is? Perhaps we can take this ship home.” Daniel wondered.
Robin asked, the Mecha answered, and Daniel walked.
Mary followed him with her eyes. 
  “You alright here?” She turned to Robin.
  “Yeah sure, I’ll just have a chat with my new friend here.” Robin patted on the Mecha’s knee.
Mary nodded and she was on her way. 

Daniel took a left, another left and a right, just as he was told. He stopped in front of what seemed an elevator.
The only apparant means of opening it was a transparant button at the right of the door.
It opened and he stepped in. He searched for buttons that would take him to the bridge but there were none on any of the four walls.
  “Some elevator, can’t even take you to the bri--.” 
A bright blue flash blinded him for a moment. The door opened automatically and he stepped on to what had to be the bridge. The brain of the ship was round, a 20 metre circle. It was well lit by the light from the two nearby suns that fell upon the floor. Golden Holo screens covered the walls and there was a console for every important part of the ship. 
Light flashed behind him. Mary entered the bridge: “What the frap?” Still a bit surprised.
  “Let’s see what Jones was talking about.” Daniel walked to the nearest console, hoping it was the one that handled all the transmissions. Strange letters were displayed holographically above it. Daniel coudln’t read what it said, he put his hand on the console.
The symbols changed to english as Cray touched one of them. He stopped his hand, being somewhat startled. The entire console translated itself as he moved his hand over it. And after a few waves he was certain he had chosen the right console.
  “O...k” Mary came to his right.
  “Now this is cool. Mind seeing if everything else works the same?” Daniel asked.
  “Sure.”
Cray pressed a few buttons, the system seemed to adapt to him. And he opened a link to his sarge fairly quick.

  “Jones, incoming transmission.” 
Jones turned his head from the telemetry that scrolled over the screens.
  “Who?” He asked Bennington.
  “Appears to be from the Dead Zone, gotta be the LT.”
  “Put him through.”
Cray’s image appeared on the main screen.
  “You called, sounded urgent.” He said.
  “Yeah, we have,” Jones turned his head, reading the latest updates. “more than a thousand unknown contacts in 
    the South-Eastern part of the plane.”
  “Hostile?” Cray asked.
  “Very.”
  “No contacts established?” 
  “Not one.” Jones shook his head.
Daniel sighed, thinking things over, his eyes wandered outside the screen.
  “Alright,” he said, “get over here, we’ve discovered a --.”
The connection was cut, and where Cray was a few moments ago, was now gray snow.
  “W—what?” Bennington tried to get the signal back.
Jones nodded: “Alright, you heard the man, get the rest. We’re getting outta here in that Pirate ship.”

  “Frap me.” Daniel tried to get the connection back.
  “What is it?” Mary came over.
  “Lost the connection, Jones told about a new unknown fleet in the South.”
Another flash lit up the bridge briefly.
  “That was... different.” Robin stepped out, somewhat uneasy.
  “Robin, we might have a problem.” Daniel said.
  “What is it?” He asked, uncertain of what to expect.
Cray pressed a few buttons.
  “According to Jones’ telemetry...” 
  “Jones? What did I miss?” Robin asked.
Cray didn’t answer, he finished giving the numbers to the console.
  “Hey?” Robin asked again.
  “An unknown force has entered this galaxy.” Daniel finally replied, though still busy.
  “What?” Robin asked.
Daniel sighed. “More than a thousand ships have entered this galaxy on the South Eastern plane, near Balmora.
    They have already destroyed pretty much every fleet stationed there.”
  “That is a problem.” Mary replied.
  “O... kay, so what do we do now?” Robin asked.
  “I think we should stay here, wait things out.” Mary suggested.
Daniel thought things over, she was right he concluded.
  “Let’s just wait and see.” He agreed.
  “Okay, but not too long, because if those ships advance to the Core, I want to have my friends outta there.”
  “Fine, it’s settled then, we stay here for the...”
Daniel was interrupted by a large holo screen that turned on  in the center of the room.

 “This is Senator Marcus Imir. I call all the Terran people with a message of urgence.
   I’m sure most of you know that our relation with the Federation has weakened over the past few weeks, it even   
   came to battle a few days ago. And after that, we heard nothing.
  We thought that our ships had been beaten by Federation forces, and...”

The three watched in awe at the giant 3D image of Marcus.
Marcus paused, his face troubled. He was alarmed, Robin knew this.
 
  “...we were right. Our ships were destroyed, but not by a Federation fleet. Since theirs was reported   
   vanquished as well. It now seems that we face a new enemy, a seemingly unstoppable force. This new armada 
   that has invaded this galaxy greatly outnumbers ours...”

The image began to fade, was interupted. 
  
  “...they have (...) already been spotted near Ilia. Please (....) go to a safer haven...”

Marcus was gone, the message had ended. Daniel began to realise what he had just witnessed.
The galaxy was in grave danger. He looked at Robin and Mary, not noticing that his men were contacting him.
Robin took a deep breath. 
Naomi...

Just the Beginning.