Samuel Morrison, Tak’eye Vo’tion.... 
                         Leader for the Shivans 2: Beyond the Vega Jump Node 
                                                       By James Moores 

 
“I want sensor scans of this entire area, I don’t want this thing coming back in our face.” The GTD Thermopile passed silently through the remains of a Cain class cruiser, a relic from a battle fought long ago. An officer turned around and handed a piece of paper to the Admiral, he read it over and then looked at the officer. The officer smiled and spoke up. 
                   “There hasn’t been a Shivan attack in this system for over a year. Scanners show an unusually thin subspace barrier in this region, due to all the traffic of course.” The Admiral nodded. 
                   “How long, going at present speed, till complete degradation of the subspace barrier?” He asked. The officer smiled. 
                   “Over a hundred thousand years sir.” The Admiral rolled his eyes. 
                   “Get your head out of old Star Trek episodes Brian.” The Captain said behind him. He was a brash young man, but he had a warm smile. The crew started to laugh. The Admiral threw the paper at him with a boyish grin on his face. The Captain caught the paper and set it on a table. “All right people pull it together. We’re still on patrol.” The Captain said pacing the bridge. A lieutenant turned in her chair. 
                     “Sir, why are we out here chasing ghosts?” The Admiral shook his head. “Could it be something with the Leader for the Shivans?” The Admiral grew stern. The bridge slowly turned to look at the Admiral. The Captain sat down in a chair at an unused station. 
                     “Let’s just say that the GTI is afraid that Captain Morrison will cause some problems.” Another lieutenant spoke up. 
“Sir is it true that Captain Morrison killed a Shivan with only a sword?” The Captain spoke up before the Admiral Said a word. The Captain stood as he said it. 
                     “Yes it is, Captain Morrison fought a Shivan, and defeated it, as we will defeat any cruiser that comes our way.” He walked up next to the Admiral. He spoke quietly to the Admiral. “Give them something to believe in.” The Admiral turned to him. 
                      “Do you actually believe that? That this lowly Captain defeated a Shivan?” The Captain nodded. The Admiral turned back to the bridge crew.  “What I am about to tell you is classified, but you have a right to know. GTI believes that the Shivans are rebuilding their fleet in this sector, and we have been instructed to get Captain Morrison to that fleet.” He scanned the bridge. “Now is this a day party?” The crew suddenly jumped back to their station. The Captain spoke to the Admiral Again. 
                      “A lie?” The Captain asked. The Admiral shook his head. 
                      “Not a lie, a belief.” The Captain nodded. “A belief that I too wish I could believe in.” 

                       Captain Samuel Morrison and Captain Tak’eye Vo’tion sat at the bar. They were off duty. Sam turned to Vo’tion, he held an Altary Punch. “So are you gonna tell me this story or not.” Vo’tion took a sip of his drink, and smoothed down his cloak. Then he looked up at Sam. 
                        “All right.” David ran up, he grabbed a set and shoved it into the ground next too the two of them. Sam smiled, and David shrugged. “Me and Sa’toon were flying along in the Ribos system minding our own business, when Sa’toon puts on this Terran music, something by the Rolling Stones I believe. I freak, I start spinning my Seth around firing in all directions, yelling at Sa’toon to locate the new Terran fighter.” He took a sip of his drink, and then turned back. “Sa’toon starts laughing, and then all Ma’nan breaks loose. A GTD Orion warps in, followed by a whole wing of fighters. Sa’toon shuts off the music, and all we can hear is these Terrans singing the song back at us.” Sam began to laugh. “Well me and Sa’toon got out of there in a few seconds.” They all erupted in laughter. Another Captain walked up. 
                        “Were you one of the pilots of the singing Seths?” He asked. “Captain Richard Davidson, that cruiser was the Saratoga.” Vot’ion nodded. “Well from the crew of the Saratoga, and the 15th fighter wing squadron, thanks. That was the best battle we’ve ever fought.” Vo’tion smiled. Davidson raised his glass, “To the singing Seths, and death to the Shivans.” Everyone smiled and yelled cheers, everyone drank in unison. Davidson slapped Vo’tion on the back. “I’m on duty, catch you two legends later.” Davidson left. 
                        “Legends?” David asked, he began to laugh. “Did we really win back then?” Sam took a drink and shook his head. 
                        “It’s been one year since we’ve heard from Triton Dynamics.” Vo’tion nodded. 
                       “The myth has been satisfied, from here on we are just normal pilots.” Vo’tion took a drink. Sam raised his glass. 
                       “To being normal,” they clashed their glasses together and all spoke in unison. “To being normal.” Life was slowly returning to normal. 

                        A Few Hours Later..... 

                     “15th Fighter wing squadron, this is Thermopile, return to ship, your watch is over.” The Lieutenant waited for the reply. Then it came. 
                    “Thermopile, this is the 15th, acknowledged, returning home.” The Valkuries spun around and headed towards the Orion destroyer. They entered the mighty ship. The Lieutenant made one last scan of the sky. She noticed the large blue light in the distance. She turned. 
                    “Are we expecting another ship?” The officer shook his head. A demon class destroyer emerged from the jump node. “All hands to battle station, all hands battle stations. Demon class destroyer off the port bow.” The Admiral rushed unto the bridge, his jacket was half off, and his white shirt underneath was showing. 
                    “What the hell is going on?” he asked. The Lieutenant pointed. 
                     “Demon class destroyer at o-5-5-9, hull is at thirty five percent.” The admiral nodded. 
                   “Call the docking bay, take that thing out of my sky.” The Lieutenant nodded. She suddenly turned back. 
                   “Sir, Docking bay reports no fighters prepped for launch.” He nodded. 
                   “Tell them to send the 15th back out.” The Admiral said easing the rest of his jacket on. The Lieutenant turned back. “Sir, loaders jammed, docking bay reports that non of the 15th can leave. Docking bay says we’ll have to take this one out ourselves.” The Admiral nodded. 
                    “How’s our hull?” The Admiral asked. Another lieutenant spoke, but didn’t move. 
                    “Were at one hundred sir.” The Admiral nodded. 
                    “Give me a shockwave projection.” The Admiral yelled sitting down in his chair. 
                    “Shockwave will do twenty points of damage.” The Admiral nodded. 
                    “Increase speed to twenty ms’.” Someone repeated the order and the speed of the ship slowly increased. “Set course o-5-5-o bring us along side.” Someone yelled back the order. Someone spun around. 
                     “Sir, that Demon has set course for that star.” The Admiral furrowed his brow. 
                     “There’s no star anywhere close to here.” The Admiral said coming out of his chair. “Give me a picture.” a small screen next to the large window displayed the new sun. It shone brightly, but was very small. “Give me a projection, what will happen to this part of the system if that ship hits the star.” There was nothing, then someone spoke up. 
                     “Subspace and True Space will mix with each other, destroying everything in this system.” The Admiral nodded. 
                      “Can we get away?” he asked. The officer shook her head. “Then we sure as hell better get that thing before it reaches the star. The Thermopile moved in close to the Demon. The two ships began to open fire, all guns turning to aim at each other. It looked like an ancient, eighteenth century ship war. The Thermopile was doing worse then she had thought she would do. 
                       “Sir, hull dropping to fifty percent.” There was an explosion behind them. “Sir, Damage to the engine core.” The Admiral spun around. 
                      “Send extra crews to engineering, we’ve got to take out that cruiser.” He turned in his chair. “Gunners, keep firing.” The Admiral wiped the sweat off his head. 

                         Sam and Vo’tion ran down the half black hallways of the Thermopile. There was a shake, and they were thrown against the bulkhead. “Come on, David said he needed us in engineering.” Vo’tion pushed himself up and helped Sam to his feet, and then they began running again. 
                         They turned a corner and the door slid open to reveal the engineering bay. A few engineers lay dead about the floor. “They called us pilots’ in to help?” David nodded, Sam pointed at an empty console, half covered with blood. “Vo’tion, help me stabilise the core.” Vo’tion nodded and they ran across the room. “Give me a secondary energy boost.” An officer punched in a code and Sam’s screen lit up. Vo’tion was trying to pump extra fluid into the cooling systems. The console in front of the officer exploded, sending him flying to the floor. “Shit.” Sam said, Vo’tion ran over to the panel. 
                          “Shifting power to secondary systems.” Sam’s console lit up again. He started feeding in new power rods. One of them was cracked and lights started to blink. Sam yelled, David ran over. “Get these people out of here, then come back, I think we can still stabilise the core.” David nodded. He gave a loud whistle. 
                        “All right everyone, let’s move it out, go, go, go.” The last few engineers ran out of the room. A ceiling beam exploded and came tumbling down onto the com system and door. The blast doors closed and David was trapped outside. Sam looked over. 
                         “Damn it. David, David.” David was stuck outside. Sam had no time to help David back in. “Pulling the rod out.” There was another explosion. “Putting another in.” He hit a few keys, there was no explosion. Vo’tion yelled from across the room. 
                        “Power is stabilising.” he said. The ship was rocked, and one of the computers exploded, pieces of it rained down unto the room. Sam and Vo’tion covered their heads. 

                         “Sir, hull down to Thirty percent, we can’t survive much more of this.” The Admiral paced the bridge. He might have to give the order, but not yet. 
                         “Keep firing, if we don’t stop that ship it won’t matter if any of us survive this.” They kept pounding, and then the Demon’s hull dropped to zero. It lost structural integrity and exploded. The blast ripped through the Orion. The Thermopiles hull dropped to ten percent, the metal screeched. The bridge erupted in an explosion of joy and happiness. The Admiral quieted them down. 
                          “All hands, this is a good ship, but she’s tumbling towards the new-born star. Our engines are dead, our ship will cause no harm to the star, the hull will be torn apart by the stars corona. All hands, abandon ship, all hands abandon ship.” Lights flickered, and crews jumped to their pods. David ran unto the bridge. 
                         “Admiral, Captain Morrison and Captain Vo’tion are trapped in Engineering, we have to get them out.” The Admiral shook his head slowly. “Why not?” David asked. 
                         “There’s no time, now get to your escape pod.” David shook his head. 
                         “Not until they’re out.” David said, the Admiral balled a fist and punched David, he fell to the ground, unconscious. The Captain picked David up and draped one of David’s arms across his own captain’s shoulders. He started to the escape pod but noticed that the Admiral wasn’t moving. 
                         “Get on the escape pod Sir.” The Captain said. The Admiral sat down, the Captain dragged David around. 
                         “An Admiral should go down with his ship.” he said. The Captain stood up tall. 
                         “Then under section 4-2-5 I relieve you of your command. Now I order you to get on the escape pod.” The Admiral shook his head. The Captain whiped out his sidearm. “This is your final warning.” The Admiral gave a small laugh. 
                         “You plan to kill me with that thing.” The Admiral stood. “Put away the gun, let’s get off this tub.” He stopped, he reached around his neck and took off his chain, he laid it in the chair. “I have to leave something behind.” They walked onto the escape pod. The large door slowly closed, and they were shot away from the Thermopile. They joined the hundreds of other escape pods out in the darkness of space. 
                         The Admiral worked his way up through to the officers to the cockpit. “Spin us around.” He said, the ship slowly turned and watched the Thermopile falling into the star. A jump node opened, and a Lilith class cruiser emerged followed by a leviathan, the Mycinay. 
                          “Shit, that Lilith is heading right for that star.” The Admiral gasped. 
                           “My god.” He turned around. “Brace yourselves.” He looked back out the window. The Mycinay was loosing ground, the Lilith crashed into the star, white light draped all the ships. Then that light turned green as a massive green jump node exploded out. Green fire bit into the Mycinay, the small cruiser was ripped to shreds in seconds. “Holy mother of god...” The Admiral gasped. “What is that?” The pilot shook his head. 
                            “I’ve never seen anything like it.” The thermopile was headed straight for the centre of it. It disappeared into the centre of the glowing green mass. “Where do you suppose....” The Admiral shook his head. 
                            “I don’t know.” The green blasts bounced around space, it struck an escape pod, it was torn to shreds. The blasts missed all the others. The green flares stopped, and the green jump node closed, and was gone. The star had disappeared, and so was the Thermopile. A GTD Orion cruiser warped into the system. It was the Saratoga. The Admiral turned on the com unit. “GTD Saratoga, this is the crew of the Thermopile, please assist.” There was nothing, and then a reply. 
                           “This is the Saratoga, GTD Thermopile crew, we read no debrey, where is the rest of your vessel?” The Admiral shook his head. 
                           “I wish we knew....” 
 
“Re-routing power, through primary resonance chamber.” Sam stepped away from the console. Vo’tion stepped away from the panel. 
                           “That’s that Vo’tion.” Vot’ion turned to the door. 
                           “Yes, but how do we get out of here.” The blast doors had closed tight. “There is no way through there.” They looked upwards. “The coolant system is too high.” Sam’s eyes trailed around the room. “There is no way out through the core.” Sam called from around a wall. 
                            “Vo’tion, I could use some of that Vasudan strength of yours.” Vo’tion walked around the corner and saw Sam in the escape pod bay. He was inside one of the escape pods. The way they were set up, is that there was a large bay on the side of the ship, the bay held the escape pods, once an escape pod was shot the door closed the bay, helping the structural intensity. Sam was obviously hoping to pry open the side hatch and crawl out into the bay, and then to hop from the top of each pod until they reached the maintenance hatch. 
                           Vo’tion grabbed onto the wheel and began to turn. Between both of them they pulled it open. The door gave way and the door swung out. Vo’tion let go but Sam fell out with it. He dangled from the door. Vo’tion grabbed him, and pulled Sam back inside the ship. Together they looked out at a totally empty bay. 
                           “They left.” Sam gasped. Vo’tion frowned. 
                           “But why?” he asked, “if the ship is still in one piece then why abandon it?” Sam shook his head, he climbed up the door and grabbed unto the ladder. 
                            “I don’t know, but were sure as hell going to find out. Come on, let’s get to the bridge.” Vo’tion swung out, and they started down the ladder. At the bottom they forced open the service hatch, and crawled into the ship. They looked down the hallway, and started for the bridge. The entire ship was empty. The lifts were working, they stepped inside one and followed it up to the bridge. Stepping out, they looked down at one of the computer screens. It read that the integrity was only ten percent. 
                            “If we’re not dead now, we will be soon.” Vo’tion fumbled with the blast shields. He hit a button and the door slowly lowered. The bright light shone in on them. They winced, but when Sam got his eyes open he gasped. 
                              “Where are we?” Vo’tion asked. Sam didn’t say anything. It looked like a jump node tunnel, but this was green. 
                          “It looks like a jump node, but it’s green.” Vo’tion turned. “The Demon must have struck the star, but what is this?” Sam asked. “And where are we going.” Sam looked over at the navigation computer, it was destroyed. “Damn.” he said slowly. 
                          “Sam.” Vo’tion said slowly. “We’re about to find out where we’re headed. Sam looked down at the computer, and then looked up. 
                           “Were not going to survive exit.” Sam said. Vo’tion headed for the door. 
                           “We need to get to our fighters, when the ship breaks up we will be thrown clear.” Sam nodded, they ran through the ship, they had almost reached the docking bay when red lights started to ignite. A computer voice came over the speakers. 
                          “WARNING STRUCTURAL FAILURE IMINENT.” Sam and Vo’tion pressed on. They reached their fighters. Sam’s Ulysses was still in its clamps. The two hurried into their flight suits. Vo’tion tossed his cloak behind his chair, and fitted on his bulky flight suit. They sat in their fighters. They looked out the open hanger door, out into the green swirling mess. The ship started to bend and turn. Sam initiated his shielding system, Vo’tion did the same. Their ships were held above the exploding deck. As the massive destroyer emerged from the jump node it was ripped to shreds. They were thrown into space, Sam was pushed forward in his seat as the ship exploded. The swirling green mass disappeared behind Sam. He breathed a long sigh of relief. Sam checked his navigation system. He opened his Com and contacted Vo’tion. 
                          “Vo’tion, you there?” he asked, he saw the blip on his screen, but he heard nothing. “Vo’tion.” Sam said again. Nothing. “Vo’tion!” Sam yelled. Vo’tion’s Horus flew up in front of Sam. Sam fell back into his seat. Vo’tion raised his hands and made the familiar gestures, it told Sam that his com unit was damaged, and it would be a little while before the self repair fixed it. Sam looked up at the Star, and slowly the light was cut out, first Sam thought it was an Orion, but when his eyes adjusted, that was no Orion. He checked his computer. It told him that he was still in Vega. He pointed at the craft. 
                          “What is it?” Vo’tion asked. Sam just kept pointing. “What?” Vo’tion hit the manoeuvring thrusters and flew around. He gasped, and swore something in Vasudan. Then he thought, Vo’tion drew his ship back. “No, no, it is impossible...” Sam strained to see where Vo’tion's ship went. “Sam we must get out of here.” Sam spun his ship around. “We must get out of here.” Vo’tion was cool, but his words were hysterical. It wasn’t just the barker. 
                         “Vo’tion, what the Hell is that ship? Do you recognise it?” Vo’tion nodded vigorously. 
                          “It is a ship of the Ti’ka’an.” Sam furrowed his brow. Vo’tion replied as cool as ice. “Better known as ‘the Ancients’” Sam spun his ship around. The mighty vessel was slowly turning towards them. It was a brownish colour, and had bits of grey all through it. It looked like a spinning top, with the large handle as the engine. It was slowly turning to meet them. A hazy fog filled Sam’s face. His shields suddenly activated as he passed through it. 
                          “Vo’tion, what the hell is going on?” Sam asked, Vo’tion came back. 
                          “I do not know, this is not mentioned in any myth.” Sam watched his shields fail, then each of his systems died. His engines died, and he fell unconscious. He reached for the com unit, but he fell before reaching it. 
                           Outside the Ancients ship opened up a massive docking bay door, and two blue beams shot down, grabbing onto the two ships. They were brought inside the mighty vessel, and disappeared from sight. The spinning top slowly closed its docking bay, it turned back, and ignited its jump node drives. It was headed for a familiar blue light... Sol. 

                            Sam woke in a small room. Vo’tion was lying across the room. His flight suit had been removed and he was back in his cloak. Sam didn’t think that Vo’tion knew that, that had been done. If these really were Ancients, as Vo’tion believed, then were there still Ancients alive? Or had something else happened to Sam and Vo’tion. What was with that green jump node? And what else was coming their way? There were too many questions, and Sam wanted some answers. Sam nudged Vo’tion, the mighty Vasudan woke up, looked around the room, and then down at his cloak. Sam shook his head. 
                            “Don’t ask, because I don’t have a clue either.” Vo’tion stood, Sam gazed around the room, his eyes finally coming to a rest on the large grey door. “This looks like a holding area.” Vo’tion checked out the door. 
                            “Or a prison.” he stepped away. “You do realise that our shields are based on Shivan technology.” Sam nodded. 
                            “But remember, none of the Ancients’ technology worked on any Shivan ship, that slight difference must be the reason how we could be captured, and why we’re still alive.” Vo’tion nodded. “They obviously recognised you as a Vasudan.” Vo’tion nodded. The door slid quickly open, in walked two green creatures. They were similar to Vo’tion, but their eyes were more hidden, and the face appeared lifeless. They wore the same kinds of cloaks Vo’tion did, except theirs did not have the same writing down them. 
                              Vo’tion was first stunned and amazed. At first Sam thought that Vo’tion was about to fall to the floor in prayer, which was what these creatures were probably expecting. At second glance Sam noticed that Vo’tion was filling with hatred. His hand was beginning to shake. Suddenly Vo’tion rushed up and grabbed the Ancient around the neck with one hand. The second Ancient reached for a small weapon, but the other one waved him down. Vo’tion began to yell at the Ancient. 
                              “You are the Ti’ka’an? The teachers from the sky?” The Ancient said something. The burning anger increased in Vo’tion. “Where were you when the Sa’ka’an came?” he yelled. Sam could hardly hear the barker over Vo’tion’s screams. “Where were you when the destroyers came and killed our world?” Vo’tion pushed the Ancient into a wall, the Ancient grabbed at Vo’tion’s arm. “Why did you leave us to die alone?” The Ancient replied to each yell. “You left us for dead.” He shook the ancient. “Where were you when the Destroyers returned? Why didn’t you come.” The Ancient said something, Vo’tion kept asking it why. Sam spoke quietly to himself. 
                               “Why don’t they know.” Sam asked himself. Then he looked up, the Demon was headed for the star, when it hit, it must have sent them through subspace to an earlier time. “Vo’tion.” Sam said. “Vo’tion.” Vo’tion stopped yelling and dropped the Ancient. 
                              “What is it?” he asked. 
                              “They don’t know. We’ve travelled back in time to just before the destruction of the Ancients.” Vo’tion looked over at the Ancient. 
                              “This one says that this is the last Ti’ka’an vessel left.” Vo’tion suddenly furrowed his brow. “Time Travel.” Vo’tion said slowly. “But every physicist known to our races has said that time travel is impossible.” Sam nodded, but then he thought of a lecture that he had heard once. 
                                “But what if we aren’t here, I mean in the true sense of the word.” Vo’tion frowned. “Just listen. We are still in the year 2337 but our essence, our identities have been sent back in time to this earlier time.” Vo’tion began to nod slowly. 
                                 “Then we are trapped in a limbo state inside that green thing, then this is like a dream.” Sam nodded. “There must be air in this limbo, but we will eventually starve to death.” Sam nodded. 
                                  “Yes, but it will take longer then normal, this limbo also slows down our metabolism. But what if....” Sam trailed off. Vo’tion picked up where Sam left off. 
                                  “We are the prophets.” They both looked at each other Vo’tion shook his head. But Sam continued. 
                                  “It’s the only way to explain how those prophecies can be so correct. They came true with a vengeance, even the two tablets.” Vo’tion stepped away, but then came back. 
                                  “But that would mean an apparadox, and that is impossible.” Sam shook his head. 
                                 “Only if we affect this time in such a way that it prevents us from getting here in the first place.” Vo’tion understood. “You will still get assigned to the project, I would still find out about Triton Dynamics, the Hammer of Light would be created out of resentment to humans, most of your people forget the legend anyway, the Shivans don’t even care.” Something suddenly shot into Sam’s mind. “And if we don’t do it someone else will.” The words felt awkward in Sam’s mouth, as if they were never his. Vo’tion came close. 
                                “What do you mean?” Vo’tion asked. Sam shook his head. 
                                “I don’t know.” There it was again, “whatever happens we have to do this, but we will die here and we’ve got to do this.” Sam didn’t know what was going on. Vo’tion nodded. 
                               “You are right, let me adjust the barker to pick up Vasuran.” he fiddled with the small black box, and then looked up again. The first Ancient walked forward. 
                              “I am Ma’kran’da, leader of the Hi’mo’shima.” The other Ancient walked forward. 
                              “And I am Ma’ti’ran, first Co’rad of the Hi’mo’shima. We are the last Ti’ka’an ship left. Who are you?” Vo’tion stepped forward. 
                              “I am Tak’eye of house Vo’tion. Captain on the Galactic Terran Destroyer Thermopile. Black Sparrows fighter wing.” Sam stepped forward. 
                              “I am Samuel Morrison, Captain on the Galactic Terran Destroyer Thermopile. Black Sparrows fighter wing.” Sam continued. “When is it?” The two Ancients looked at each other. Sam rephrased the question. “What have you last done.” The two suddenly perked up. 
                               “We have left a message on a planet telling future races how to destroy the Sa’ka’an, we are currently being chased by several Sa’ka’an cruisers, and are heading for a small system with one inhabited world. We hope to find shelter and hide on this world. Its primitive race should treat us as....” Sam cracked half a smile as the two Ancients jumped back. They suddenly realised what Sam was. 
                                 “Yes I am Terran, from Sol, one of that race. You cannot go there, but it does not matter, the Shivan...” Sam corrected himself. “The Sa’ka’an fleet will reach you before you make it.” Sam told the story, the time passed and they made a few more jumps through subspace. 
 
                                  Sam and Vo’tion were given quarters on the mighty vessel, they were small and barly fit two people. Sam hoped that the Ancients had believed them. The Shivan fleet was gaining, and there was nothing they could do. Sam paced the large room, back and forth he went. Vo’tion was stretched out on his cot. He had his arms stretched out behind his head. 
                             “There is no sense being nervous, the Ancients will come to a decision soon.” Sam looked at Vo’tion. 
                              “Just a few minutes ago you were ready to rip one of their heads off.” Vo’tion nodded slowly. 
                              “When the Shivans attacked Vasuda Prime the Ancients ran, they left us to die, they had given us the knowledge to survive, but when the destroyers came did they stand up for us? No, they ran, and for that I can never forgive them.” Sam knew that there was nothing he could say to change Vo’tion’s mind. Sam stopped pacing and sat down on his cot. A few minutes later Ma’ti’ran walked in. 
                             “We have accepted your story. Please come up top.” Sam glanced at Vo’tion, then the two of them stood and they began to walk down the corridor. Sam was the first to speak. 
                             “So are we prisoners here?” Sam asked. Ma’ti’ran didn’t look at Sam. 
                             “No.” he said. “You are free to come and go as you wish.” Sam thought up his next question. 
                             “Our ships?” Sam asked. 
                             “They are still intact.” Ma’ti’ran replied. Sam nodded. Sam was reluctant to ask his next question. 
                            “Why are the Sa’ka’an following you?” Ma’ti’ran suddenly stopped in his footsteps. He turned and looked down at Sam. Sam could see the fear, and the anger brewing in the green face. 
                             “Because of what we did, in our gluttonous search for power we destroyed countless civilisations. We believed that by helping the Vasudans to grow and develop, then we would be absolved of our past sins. But it was no use, the Sa’ka’an came crashing down. We need to die.” Sam talked next, he knew they were all dead so it didn’t matter. 
                              “We call them Shivan, and we’ve defeated them.” Ma’ti’ran was shocked. “We combined our forces with the Vasudans, and together we defeated the Shivans.” Ma’ti’ran began to walk again. “What you left on Altair will help future races.” Ma’ti’ran smiled. 
                              “We will be jumping to Sol in a few hours.” They had adopted the Terran name for the system. That much was a relief. They walked into the docking bay. Sam turned to Vo’tion. 
                                “The Shivans will not be looking for a single Horus, hell, they don’t even know what a Horus is, go on.” Vo’tion walked into the bay, a few minutes later he emerged from a door in his full flight gear. He walked up to Sam with his cloak in hand. He held it out in front of Sam, gripping the thread that told his name, he pulled down, ripping it off. He handed it to Sam. Sam took it. 
                                “Sam, you have been a good friend to me, you have brought me back, and you have shown me what to see. I will never forget you.” Sam nodded. Vo’tion put out his hand. “I believe that this is the standard Terran greeting.” Sam almost laughed, he grabbed the Vasudans hand. “Never did any of my race believe that we could call a Terran friend. But I am glad to call you mine.” For a single solitary moment, the two stood looking at each other, then Sam spoke. 
                                “Go on, get out of here Tak’eye.” Vo’tion stepped back smiling. 
                               “I will Morrison. Goodbye, my friend.” Sam nodded. 
                               “Goodbye,” he paused, “My friend.” Vo’tion turned, he started to walk towards his Horus, Vo’tion took a new cloak from one of the Ancients. Vo’tion waved one last goodbye, Sam raised his hand in silent sorrow. The cockpit closed and the Horus began to lift off the ground. Sam looked down at the ribbon. He tied it around his forehead. “Fly fast my friend, save your race.” The Horus flew out the bay, and out into Space. The doors closed slowly, Sam waited there until the doors had closed. Sam turned to Ma’ti’ran. “Bring me three tablets, we have work to do.” Ma’ti’ran nodded. 

                                 Sam eased the three tablets into the ejection hatch, they would be jetescined as they fell down through Mars’ atmosphere. They hadn’t discovered a third tablet, but that feeling inside of him told him that he had to write a third. Ma’ti’ran escorted Sam to the bridge, they would reach Mars soon. The Shivan fleet was directly on their tails. Sam and Ma’ti’ran walked down the hall. Suddenly red lights blinked and sirens yelled. Sam made sure that his barker was still activated. 
                                 “Let’s get to the bridge.” Ma’ti’ran nodded, they began to run towards the bridge. The ship shook and threw them from wall to wall. They ran through the ship, countless damage control teams rushed past. They ship lurched and crashed with the hits. They piled out of the door and landed on the bridge. Ma’kran’da yelled at a few officers as they ran around the bridge. He turned to Sam. 
                                “Captain, take your ship and leave us, there is no reason why you should share our fate.” Sam shook his head. 
                                “I have to stay, it’s my destiny.” Sam looked around the room, “how much longer can we survive?” Ma’ti’ran left Sam’s side and went for a computer. He checked it. 
                                “Not much longer.” Sam looked out at the planets. He saw Mars, spinning there in all its glory. Sam pointed at it. 
                                “Set course for that planet.” Ma’kran’da looked around, and then gave the order. The mighty vessel shook as another shot crashed into her hull. An officer suddenly turned in his chair. 
                               “Leader, we have lost all fighters, major damage reported on all decks. We’re falling in towards the planet.” Sam turned to Ma’kran’da. 
                               “Patch me into their lead vessel, voice only. I’ll patch my Barker into your system.” The Leader frowned. 
                               “But none have ever been able to contact the Sa’ka’an.” Sam nodded. 
                               “They may not speak, but they do listen.” The Leader nodded, he hit a few keys. Sam sat down in the large chair and plugged the device in. It didn’t match perfectly but at least it worked. The bridge was quiet, like a ghost ship, the explosions all around. Sam clicked on the unit. He began. “We may be about to die, but someday, from a race which you are destroying will come a man from that race who will begin the end of you. A man with two faces, he will defeat the devil, and wielding the blade of the dawn he will defeat you. And he shall be called the Leader for the Shivans.” Sam cut the transmission, he looked back at the Leader, who fell down into his chair, they looked out into the planet, their ship exploding behind them. They crashed down into the soil, burning, the ship sunk into the ground. The Shivans didn’t look at the blue world spinning slowly in the distance, they never knew that they would be coming back. 
                                      2337 on the Bastion... 

                                     David was sitting on a chair in the bar. He eyed the new pins in his hand. He took a sip of his drink and reached up to his neck. He pulled off the two Captain’s pins. The room was dark, and the only other figure was the bartender, who was silently cleaning glasses with a towel. The door opened, bathing the room with light. Stonefox walked in. He sat down in the chair and signalled to the bartender, who began to pour him an Altary punch. 
                                    “Sam is dead?” Stonefox asked. “And Vo’tion too?” David nodded, then took another drink. He contemplated the glass for a moment then spoke. 
                                   “They never found his body, and we aren’t going to launch a rescue operation.” He took another sip. “Damn it.” he slammed the glass down on the table. It almost shattered. “That bastered Admiral wouldn’t go back for Sam.” Stonefox put a flat folder down on the bar and slid it over to David. 
                                   “What’s this?” David asked. He opened it up, and there were the faces of Sam and Vo’tion. 
                                   “I intercepted this today. GTI has wiped their logs, it’s as if they never existed. GTI may try, but they’ll never be able to silence everything Sam and Vo’tion will live on in the pilots.” David nodded, he flipped slowly through the document. He stopped on a page with the GTD Thermopile report. “It says here that the Thermopile was attacked and destroyed in the Ikeya system, my god, we were in Vega.” Stonefox nodded. 
                                    “They’re burying all of it. GTI doesn’t want any of us to remember Sam and Vo’tion, they don’t want us to know how far they went for all of us.” Stonefox said tossing his drink over his shoulder. It smashed somewhere behind him. “But the pilots remember, they can’t silence all of us.” David tossed his glass behind him and signalled to the bartender. He walked over. 
                                     “One Altary Punch, and one Vasuda Lime.” The Bartender nodded and then reached for the glasses, he pulled two down and began to pour the Altary Punch, he paused for a moment while pouring the Vasuda Lime. He passed the two drinks to David, and then brought down three other glasses. David closed the file. He poured a bit of the Altary punch into all three of the glasses, and then into the same ones he poured the Vasuda Lime. All three glasses had a bit of both drinks. They all picked up a glass. “Altary Punch was Sam’s favourite drink, and Vasuda Lime was the only thing Vo’tion liked. This is how we should remember them, together. Log this drink, the Singing Seth.” Stonefox frowned. “A story Vo’tion told the day he died.” They all drank it, it tasted terrible. 
                                    “Were they really that bad together.” David smiled. The bartender reached for his pad and began to write, he looked at the two. 
                                    “Always drink this before a battle,” he said, the bartender turned and left. David finished off the drink and placed the glass down on the bar. He walked over to the window, he never bothered to put his hand on the glass. Stonefox walked over to stand next to him. 
                                   “I hear you’ve accepted a position as an Admiral.” David nodded. “What ship are you planning to take?” David looked out into space. 
                                   “The Dunwitch Hill.” Stonefox nodded. 
                                   “A station, out in the middle of nowhere.” David continued to stare out the window. 
                                    “Sam was my wingman, we went to the academy together, we flew together against the Vasudans, we became test pilots together, and now that Sam is gone I can never fly a fighter again.” Stonefox nodded, he turned and walked out of the room. David continued to look out the window, in the distance he saw the small bright star of Vasuda Prime. 

                                    Vasuda Prime, just after the first Shivan invasion of Vasuda Prime..... 

                                    The Sand dunes of Vasuda Prime shifted and turned. On the ground a few ancient Vasudans lifted food and supplies onto a cart. One of them looked up unto the shifting sands. He pointed at a tall Vasudan standing high on one of the cliffs. His cloak fluttering quietly in the breeze. He stepped off the sand dune and rushed down the steep sand cliff. The Vasudan walked to the camp and the Ancient Vasudans rushed out to greet him. 
                                     The Vasudan smiled at his ancient brethren. A young Vasudan tugged at his sleeve, he gazed down at the child, the young Vasudan ran to her fellow Vasudans. The Vasudan looked up into the sky, he shielded his eyes from the Sun. A tall Vasudan walked out to meet the newcomer: the child on his shoulder. The newcomer turned and smiled at the man. The newcomer started. “I am Ma’tang Cho’rono and I have something to tell you.....” The Ancient Vasudans beckoned in the newcomer. The newcomer stopped before entering the camp, he turned and looked up into the sun, and for one solitary moment, he thought that he could see Sam, his friend, smiling in the radiant beams. Vo’tion smiled back, turning he walked into the camp..... 
 
                                                               THE  BEGINNING