Possible Plot X3: Terran Conflict chapter 1

[totallydude]

I've posted the first chapter before, but it was in parts. Here's chapter 1 in one big piece. Enjoy!!!
A new hope

‘Ok, I think it’s time for me to return and take a peek at what is going on there’ Julian Brennan says to himself. ‘I’ve got my traders up and running, making me a nice bit of money. My Ore factory is netting me quite nicely as well. I’ll go and take a quick peek. I’ll be out of there before anyone notices.’ He takes his Buster, the old trusty friend in which he has gone through a lot the last few days. Slowly, his eyes slide over his control panel, locking his sight on the nav map. ‘Ah, a beautiful sector, I love being in Argon Prime.’ He mutters. With a flick on a switch, he engages his jump drive, enters the coordination’s, and jumps to the South gate of Heretics End. He can’t believe what he is seeing, a lot of ships, apparently M3, M4, M5, M2 and M1 class ships are flying around inside the sector, but he doesn’t know what kind of ships they are. He flies a bit further into the sector, after a couple of km’s, he notices he’s being hailed. After pressing the comm. button, he immediately sees a person, looking a lot like a member of the Argon Federation, commanding: ‘This is closed Terran Space. You have 5 seconds to turn around and leave, or we will open fire.’
‘What.. ‘he replies, confused ‘But I…’
‘This is your final warning. Withdraw now, or we will open fire.’
‘But I..’
Right after that moment shots are fired. Julian strafes to the right, evading laser beams, that will have hit him with no doubt. He pulls on the throttle, firing back at were the lasers were coming from. He hits an enemy ship multiple times, and watches the explosion that follows. Suddenly the board computer says: ‘Warning, incoming unknown object’. He listens to the beeps that follow. Right after the moment the beeps become one beep, he quickly turns his ship around, avoiding what was coming after him. He notices three more ships firing at him. Julian barely avoids these lasers. When he looks up again, he notices that 30 ships are in front of him, armed to the teeth. He turns around and notices that more ships are waiting for him to make a move, carrying heavy arms as well. Then Julian decides to toss in the towel. He hails the captain of an M2 that’s waiting, just 5km away.
‘I’m here to negotiate…’ Julian begins, but immediately gets disrupted.
‘Normally we don’t negotiate with people who cannot listen’ the captain replies calmly. Holding his face invisible.
‘I’ll surrender, please, Just listen to me for a sizura okay?’ Julian replies, with growing fear in his voice.
‘Now… why would I want to do that?’
‘It’s because of my father’
---
‘Going through the south gate, towards Argon Prime. Everything is going smoothly.’ Julian made the announcement. The ship went through the gate, and a split second after that, the familiar blue and white light blaze was all around them. After a mizura or two, we went back to normal space. ‘Julian, something is following us.' He just nodded and went on.
‘I think they are pirates.’
‘Could be’ he answered.
Suddenly two red blips appeared. Moments after that an unknown ship appeared and starts shooting at them. Just a few seconds after that, both pirate ships blew up, and Julian tries to hail the unknown ship, but he doesn’t get a response. He flies on to Home of Light, where he docks at the TerraCorp HQ, bringing Saya and Mi Ton to safety.
‘Ms Saya Kho, are you all right?’ her assistant asks her.
‘Yes I’m fine, just a bit tired I guess’ she replies, distant. ‘I’m going off to sleep now, I’ve just been through a lot you know’
‘Yes I know Ms Kho, I’ve heard all about it. Must have been an amazing battle’
‘It was indeed, but many have died, just too many’
‘I know Ms Kho. But you know, the universe was in a lot of trouble. No doubt we would’ve all died if you didn’t save the entire universe!’
‘Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m off to bed now.’
‘Okay ma’am. Good night’
‘Good night’
Saya takes one last look at her assistant. She’s a pretty looking woman. Young, with brown hair an oval shaped face and bright blue eyes. She walks elegantly, as though she walks on air. Saya moves through the room, steps into her bed and falls asleep, just moment after she’s in.
---
Julian is being transported on board of the unknown M2, to which he was talking to the captain. The moment he gets in, he notices several men pointing weapons at him. He sees a strange man standing on, what appears to be, the bridge.
‘You are under arrest’ he says, calmly. ‘Guards, escort him to the brig.
‘Aye sir’ two of the men surrounding him reply. Immediately after that, he feels the weapons being poked in his back. Julian starts to walk. His thoughts are spinning wildly. What kind of trouble have I gotten myself into? Who are these people? Where is my father? He doesn’t know the answer for these questions. The walk seems endlessly, when suddenly the two men orders him to stop. He looks to his right. He sees a small door being opened. He gets another push in his back, harder now, causing him to fall into this small room. The guards are laughing at him. He looks up to them.
‘Guess no-one will be seeing you any more, eh?’ one of the guards asked him, sonically.
‘I wouldn’t count on that’ Julian smirked at him.
‘Why you little Argon pest!’ The guard wanted to throw his fist at Julian, but the other one held him back.
‘If you do that Konai, we both get into trouble’
‘I know Sonai’ Konai turns his face to Julian. ‘You’re lucky, damn lucky’ he said, suppressing anger.
Julian grins at him. The moment Konai sees it, Sonai pressed a button, closing the door. Now Julian is alone. One thought still runs through his mind. How did I ever end up in this place?
---
Ban is sitting in his chair, looking out of a windows of the ‘Argon One’. This powerful ship is the pride of the Argon Federation. He’s looking out with a sense of justified pride. His mind is in deep thought.
There’s finally peace in the universe. The trouble we had with the Khaak were caused by the Paranid. I do hope the Xaar knows what he did, and no longer keeps going on with what he did in his stubborn way. Now the only real problem we have are the Pirates. They just keep robbing our Transports everywhere in the universe.. I do have an idea.. a bold idea. But I guess it just won’t work. A smile appears on his face. A laser tower near every gate in our sectors? That would look quite repelling, even for the other races. No, we need more patrols in every sector. He walks to his desk, grabs a comm. Device, and starts to make a call. After two rings, the phone gets picked up.
‘Seldon here’
‘Ah Seldon, Danna here, how are you?’
‘Fine thank you. Why did you comm. me?
‘You see Seldon. Pirate activity has always been a problem, as you might know. But recently, Pirate activity has gone up again, mainly due to the low percentage of the Argon Military Force.’
‘Yes sir, that’s right.’
‘We need to be able to guarantee the safety of all the Argons throughout our sectors. That can only be done if the Argon Military Forces are adequately up to the task.’
‘Of course, you are right’
‘I want you to recheck all the fleets ships and make an inventory. From there check if the purchase of ships are needed and what ships can still last for a while’
‘Yes sir, I’ll be on my way’
‘Thank you Seldon’
Danna presses a button, closing the comm. All I need to do now, is make a call with Julian. He picks up the comm. device, presses the button to call Julian, but no response. He waits, without success. Hmm.. that’s weird. Normally he can be found either inside a station trading, or inside his ship, flying around trying to get a good deal. The comm. rings another 2 – 3 times, then Dan decides to hang up again. He comms Saya, to find out if she might have an idea of where he could be. After a few rings, Saya picks the phone up.
‘Saya here’ she says, only half awake.
‘This is Ban. Do you have an idea of where Julian might be?’ he asks, calmer than he really is.
‘Well yeah, he was sleeping on the couch right here in my room, he went out to pick up a breakfast in a fly-through’ she answered sarcastically
‘Please, it’s no time for jokes, I tried to comm. him, but he didn’t pick up. I think he’s in trouble. Could you go and find out where he is?’
‘Oh sure, I’ll go and babysit him too’
‘Saya please, I’m worried about him’
‘Okay, I’ll see what I can do.’
‘Thank you.’
---
Saya closes the comm. line, walks to the closet and gets herself dressed. She moves fast to the elevator leading to the hangar bay of the TerraCorp HQ. She can’t waste any time, 'Julian is making me miss out on all the fun. Probably killing a lot of Pirates on his own’ she thinks. After pressing the button she has to wait several seconds before the elevator reaches her level. After the elevator doors open, she sees her mother.
‘Saya, where are you going so late?’ Elena asks surprised.
‘Saya looks at her mother. They look a lot alike, accept for the face. Saya is younger, and has brown eyes, instead of green ones.
‘I’m off to find Julian mom, he’s been off drifting about again’ she replies.
‘Ah okay. Just be careful. There’s a lot of pirate activity lately’
‘Don’t worry about me, worry about the pirates’ she grins.
Elena smiles back at her. ‘I know. That’s exactly why I was warning you’
‘I know mom, I know’
A bleeping sound notifies Elena Kho about her arrival at her floor. She steps out of the elevator, and then turns around.
‘Do you need any fighter assistance?’
‘No mom, I’ll be okay’
‘Okay. See you soon’
‘Yeah. See you’
Elena moves on, busy as she is. A couple of minutes later she get’s notified she has reached her floor. Quickly, but certainly, she moves to her ship, and get’s in. After starting it, she asks for permission to fly out to flight control. Her request is confirmed. A couple of seconds after that, see flies off into outer space.
---
A couple of hours have passed since Julian has been thrown in the brig. The door of his cell opens, just to receive some food and water, and then closes again. His mind keeps rattled in thought, not realizing that there’s food and water waiting for him. How could it be that these people, who in being are equal to us, are so hostile? It’s something I just can’t understand. They’re human, I’m human, I just can’t see any difference. But maybe they think they’re better cause they’re from Earth. I hope for hem that’s not the case. Why hasn’t anyone spoken to me yet? How much time has actually gone by? Earth, It seemed like a dream, the Terrans look like a nightmare, that’s one thing I’m quite certain of. Yet again, the cell door opens. The captain, a tall man, scarred by fights he used to get into looks at him.
‘Time to go with me’ he commands Julian.
Julian gets up, and walks towards him. Hand coughs are placed around his wrists by Konai.
‘Let’s go. I want to have a little chat with you’ the captain continued. ‘And it’d be wise you’d tell me everything I need to know’
Julian doesn’t respond to his words. He moves on. Again, the walk seems endless. Then, finally, they halt in front of a door, with a window to the right of it. Konai opens the door. Julian and the captain both get inside, leaving Konai behind. The captain removes Julian’s hand coughs, then waves his hand at a seat.
‘Here have a seat’ the captain says, kindly.
‘Thank you’ Julian replies, coldly.
Julian and the captain take a seat. The captain stares at him for a couple of minutes. Then he asks:
‘Who are you?’
‘My name is Julian Brennan, I’m an Argon citizen, based in Argon Prime’ Julian answers, on a flat tone.
‘Hmm.. okay. Why were you here?’
‘I just wanted to know what was going on around here. Do a little bit of flying around. Have a little peak’
‘Right… just a little peak’ the captain repeats slowly. ‘Just a little peak.. You sure you didn’t want to do anything “else”?’
‘No, absolutely not’
‘You mentioned your father. Who is your father?’
‘I think you ought to know him’
‘Now I don’t know him. Tell me, who is he?’
‘Apparently, for someone who tries to lock this sector up so tight, you don’t even know who’s going in and out? That’s pretty bad’ Julian replies with sarcasm.
‘WHO IS YOUR FATHER?!?’ the captain now shouts at him.
‘My father’s name is Kyle Brennan’
‘WHAT?!?’
‘Can you contact him?’ Julian asked him.
‘I’ll see what I can do, we’ll have to confirm this one’
‘Be my guest’
‘Oh I will, don’t you worry about that’ the captain told him, hatred running through his veins.
‘Captain, tell me, why do you hate my father?’ Julian replied to his last reaction, calmer then he’d expected.
‘You’ll find out soon enough, soon enough’
---
Saya reaches one of Julian’s trading vessels in Empire’s Edge. She flies up to that ship, and then hails the pilot.
‘Yes, what do you want?’ a voice asked her.
‘I’d like to come aboard, I have a few things to check. Then, I’ll be on my way’ she replies.
‘Sorry, but I can’t do that. This ship belongs to Julian Brennan. Any damages done goes off of my paycheck’
‘Don’t worry. I just need a little bit of info.’ She tries to persuade him.
‘I’m really sorry, I can’t do that’ he persists.
‘Listen, do you want me to start shooting at you. The shield you have is gone in no time, and then I’ll be damaging your hull just big enough so the ship won’t explode. Any fighter droids you’ve got in there, are gone in no time. It’ll cost you a fortune to repair it’ she says.
‘No please, don’t do that, I’ll… I’ll lower my shields, so you can board.’
‘Thank you'
Says activates the transporter device. After a flash Saya is inside the Transporter. She moves towards the control panel.
'What do you need?' the pilot asks her.
'I just need to take a small peak on the nav map, nothing big, It'll just take a second, then I'll be out of here again.'
'Ehm... okay' the pilot responds, with hesitation.
Saya sits down on the seat where normally the pilot flies. She presses a button, showing the univers nav map. She scrolls through the list of sectors, noticing that one of Julian's ships is in Heritics End.
'Hmm.. that's weird' she mutters.
'What's weird?' the pilot asks her.
'Oh nothing' she lies.
'Oh well... okay then'
'Thanks for the help. That's all I need. Now, I'll go back to my own ship'
'Okay.' the pilot replies, slightly confused.
'See ya'. She presses a button, transporting her back to her own ship, the Nikkonofune. Just a second after she's in her own ship, she presses the comm button to contact the pilot of the transporter.
'Yes, what is it?' the pilot asks.
'I almost forgot, the next time we meet, you'll do just what I ask you'
'Ehh.. okay ma'am'
'Good'
She closes the comm line, and immediatly comms Ban Danna.
'Ban we got a problem'
---
Julian has been sent back to his cell. He's waiting, not knowing what will happen to him. 'I wonder what the captian is doing right now. Is he calling my father, or is he going to leave me alone to rot in here? What is going on?' He doesn't get any answers, and time is slowly passing by. The waiting is driving him crazy. After a couple of minutes, which seems like ages. The door opens again. Sonai is standing in the door.
'Come' he tells Julian.
Julian stands up, and they walk to the bridge. Suddenly, Julian sees his father standing there, talking to the captain. They're in a fight.
'I invented the jumpdrive with a team of scientists in order to make interstellar travel easier!' his father, Kyle, shouted to the captain.
'Your jumpdrive technology made things worse for all of us! You just saw what's going on!'
'It's not my fault! You know it! I can't help it that people want to abuse jumpdrive technology!'
Julian steps forward. 'Dad' he says, slowly, trying to hide any nerves. 'What's going on?'
'Nothing Julian, nothing.' he replies.
'Nothing he calls it' the captain murmers, just hard enough for Kyle and Julian to hear it.
Kyle and Julian ignore him. The captain steps forward.
'I need the two of you for interrogation.'
'What?' Kyle replies with anger.
'Why?'
The captain pulls a nasty grin on his face.
'There are some thing unanswered. I want that straightened out first.'
---
Ban hears an incoming comm line. He presses the button to answer the incoming comm.
'Ban here'
'Ban, we got a problem'
'What is it Saya?'
'I think Julian is in Heretics End'
'I thought that the Terrans have locked Heretics End'
'They did. That's probably why Julian's in trouble'
'Oh.. that's not good. The Terrans have a powerful force out there. I want you to go inside, but not alone. If you go in alone, you won't make it. You'll need a military force with at least 100 M3 class ships, to stand a chance of surviving in there'
'Okay. I'll comm my mother to ask her for help.'\
'I'll send in some of the fleet too.'
'Thanks.'
Ban closes the comm. line. Immediatly he calls Lieutenant Seldon.
'Seldon here'
'Seldon. I want you to prepare as much M3 Nova's and as much of the new ships, the Eclipse, as you can. Also prepare 2 Colussus' as well. After you're done, send them to Heretics End right away.'
'Yes sir'
How's the inventory going?'
I'm almost done.'
'Good, leave that for now. This is urgent.'
'Right sir, I'm on it'
'Good'
‘Seldon out'
The comm line closes. Ban sits down again, and thinks only one thing.
'Julian, what have you gotten yourselves into?'
---
Julian, Kyle and the captain walk towards the interrogation room. They enter the room, and all three of them sit down.
'Now tell me, what is goin on down there?' the captain asks Kyle.\
'When I first got here, there was a war going on with the Terraformers.
'TerraFormers?' Julian asks.
'Also known as Xenon.' Kyle answers. 'I was looking to get some answers on how it could happen, but so far, I didn't get any answers.'
'The Terraformers? You're not that smart are you?' the captain asks, sonnically.
'What are you talking about?' Kyle answers.
'The TerraFormers have received an update from us. But then things turned wrong. Now tell me, what were we fighting just a while back?'
'Those were the Khaak.'
'The Khaak?'
'Yes, the Khaak. They're a race who look like insects. The war started after the Paranid started mining for Nividium.'
The captain looks at both of them, confused.
'Go on' he tells Kyle.
'The Khaak use Nividium to make homes. After the Paranid started to mine the Khaak lost there homes in a rapid pace. They got upset, but could not find out which race was responsible for it. So, they decided to attack all the races, since they all trade Nividium.
'But why did these Paranid guys have such a need for Nividium anyway?'
I didn't know, untill recently. The Paranid were trying to create more gates, so they could trade, or fight with the other races. Luckily, we managed to stop the Paranid, but they are not happy about it.'
'And how do you know about this?'
'I crashed onto an asteroid, which contained a lot of Nividium, and that way, I met the first Khaak. Somehow, they communicate using telepathy. I could here what they were saying in my thoughts. After a while, I learned how to talk to them, and they explained everything to me. I decided to help them as much as I could'
'You gave them information about the other races?'
'Yes. And eventually all events led us to being here'
'Right'
'If I may' Julian intrudes, 'The Khaak launched a full scale attack on President's End, killing thousands of people. That was the cause of the war against the Khaak. We didn't even know how to communicate with the Khaak, until you', he looks at his father for a brief moment, then turns his eyes back at the captain, 'came along, and eventually we learned about they way the Khaak communicate.'
Suddenly an alarm goes off. A voice is heard on the intercom.
'Captain, please report at the bridge. We have a problem. Please report at the bridge.'
'I'm going to the bridge. Follow me.' he commands Julian and Kyle.
They walk back to the bridge.
‘What's the problem there Konai?'
'Sir, there's a huge fleet inside our space'
---
Saya watches the ships fly one by one through the North gate in the sector Circle of Labor.
'Things are going smoothly.' she mutters. 'Now it's time for me to fly through.'
She pulls on the gas of her ship, slowly increasing speed. She flies through, seeing the familiar white-blue haze. After a couple of seconds, she returns to normal space. Around her she sees the fleet Ban Danna sent her. The captain of "The Margonium", a powerful Argon M2 class ship, hails her.
'Saya here' she answers the call.
'Captain here. What should we do next?'
'We wait 'till the Terrans make a move.'
'Aye ma'am.'
Saya orders the other ships to wait. And so they wait. A couple of minutes pass by, when suddenly Saya get's hailed again.
'Saya here'
'This is the captain again ma'am. The captain of the Terrans wishes to speak with you.'
'Pass him through.'
She waits for a couple of seconds, until the face of the captain appears.
'What are you all doing here?' he asks her, furious.
'Where here to get Julian back.' she responds aggrevated.
'Well... You can have him. I'm done talking to him.'
'What?...' she mutters. She get's the hold of herself back. 'Okay. When will he appear again?'
Suddenly Julian's face appears on the comm.
'Hey there Saya.'
'Well, if it isn't Mr. I-Like-To-Get-In-Trouble Julian'
'Very funny Saya. I'm free, I'll board my ship as soon as I can. Then I'll explain everything to you.'
'Fine. How long is it going to take?'
'Just a couple of mizura's I guess.'
'Okay. Meet me back at Argon Prime.'
The captain appears again.
'What's with all the ships? Are you trying to start a war?' he asks her angrily.
'No of course not, but I thought it was best, for my own safety. I DO want to make it out of here alive.'
The captain sighs. 'Of course, I understand that. But don't do something like this again. You scared the hell out of us'
'My apoligies for that. I'll retreat with the fleet immediatly.'
'Good. Just for the record, I'm watching you Argon lady.'
'Fine, you just do that' she replies, filled with sarcasm
'Oh, you know I will, you know I will.'
The comm line closes before she can respond.
I think this'll have some consequences. I see trouble she thinks.
Suddenly she sees red blips appearing on her radar. She presses a button to find out who it is. Totally flabergasted she calls Julian, who just boarded his ship.
'What is it Saya?'
'We've got a major problem.'
'What problem?'
'The Paranid'
---
Ban sits in his office, feeling at a weird unease. He takes a brief look at his comm unit, but no calls are incoming. Slowly, his eyes slide past his desk, past some windows, and he halts at the door. He knows Seldon should be going through that door any minute, telling him everything is allright. But instead nothing happens. He walks around in his office, his mind spinning, but no answers are coming up.
If the Terrans had declared war on us, then he would've contacted me Jazura's ago. If everything ran smoothly, he also should've contacted me Jazura's ago by now. But instead, I don't get any reaction, nor any reading from him. Why hasn’t he contacted me yet? Ban decides that the best thing he can do is call Lieutenant Seldon, and ask about the progress of the mission. He sits down, and presses a button to call Seldon. After 2 rings, the call gets answered.
'Seldon here sir'
'You sound panicked. Is everything allright down there?'
'No sir, things are going for the worst down here.'
'What are you talking about?' Banna asks Seldon, aggrivated and nervous.
'The Paranid are attacking us full force in Heretics End sir.'
Banna slowly sits down in his chair. Panick strikes him.
'Hold them off for as long as you can'
'We can't sir, even with the Terrans helping us, we've lost 50 percent of our fleet in just a couple of minutes.'
'What?!?' Banna says, more to himself then to Seldon. 'Keep in fighting, divide and rule. Spread the Paranid, and hit them from the rear.
'Sir, yes sir.'
Seldon moves his arm to close the comm line, but Danna says one more thing to him, just before the line closes.
'Oh, eh Seldon...' Seldon stops, and looks at Ban.
'Yes sir?'
'Use all the missiles you've got.'
'Sir yes sir'
'Danna out' Danna ends the conversation, and immediatly calls Elena Kho.
'Kho here'
'How long does it take for your fleet to prepare?'
'They're ready, but Saya told me they weren't necessary.'
'They are now. Send them to Heretics End immediatly. The best thing, let them jump through the south gate of Heretics End.
'Why?' Elena asks Ban, sounding nervous.'
'The Paranid are attacking that sector full force.
'Oh my god, Saya, Julian.' she sighs. 'I'll go with you' her voice sounds strong.
'You can't Elena. Saya and Julian will make it. I've never seen anyone fight any better then these two. Trust me, they'll make it.' Ban responds, with a power in his voice Elena has rarely heard
'Well... okay, I'll stay. But keep me posted.'
'Don't worry about that. I will.' he replies quickly.
The comm line closes. From a sattelite, the sees a lot of TerraCorp ship appear from the headquarters in Home of Light. 4 M1's, 5 M2's, several hundred’s of M3's and M4's and a couple of hundred M5's. Just a moment later, he notices the ships jump away because of the light that looks as though it's moving from the front to the rear of the ships. A beautiful sight he thinks. Then walks back and sits down in his chair. He calls the captain of his ship 'The Argon One'
'Yes sir' the captain responds.
'Use the jumpdrive to Heretics End' Ban replies'
'Sir yes sir'
The Argon One jumps to Heretics End,
'I can't believe this.'Ban mumbles.
---
Julian and Saya fly in the Earth system. The take a breathless look around, but then Saya realizes they need to get some help. Julian comms her.
'Yes JB?
'We need to do something, I mean, How did the Paranid succeed?'
'Hmm.. she stops to think for a moment. 'Maybe because they have everything locked down so tightly.'
'It can't be the only thing'
They stop to think for a moment.'Maybe because one of your employees is a Paranid?'
'What do you mean?'
'Every Paranid must obey the Xaar. If they don't, they get killed. ' Julian pauses to think for a moment. 'Oh yeah, I got Komankosisonic III on my payroll. He's a Paranid in heart and blood.'
'There we have the problem.'
They fly past a planet transport service vessel. Julian and Say request permission to dock. They're granted to dock. They dock, and soon they land on Earth for the first time.
---
The fleet Ban has sent out arrives just minutes after the battle. They fly in, to see the wreckage left behind by the Paranid. The captain of the fleet comms Ban immediatlly after flying in.
'Sir, the Paranid have destroyed every single ship out here.'
'What?' Ban responds, anger slightly noticeable in his voice.
'Yes sir, I see no ships at all, and where flying allready for 15 km in the sector.
'Hmmm... thanks. I'll call the Xaar. Withdraw to your sectors'
'Aye sir.'
The fleet withdraws immediatly after the comm line has closed, not knowing someone is watching them silently.
---
Julian and Saya head to a military outpost in a nation formerly known as the United States. As they walk in, they notice the buildings capture a lot of light. Vehicles float by, and people are all very relaxed. They walk inside a tall building, which seems to be made completely of glass. The moment they walk in, they see a commander greeting them.
'Welcome Julian, and ehm...'
'Saya' Saya responds polite.
'Saya...' the commander repeats. 'Allright. Please follow me.'
They walk through a huge room, into an elevator. The commander slides a card past a reader, and immediatly the elevator slides to the 15th floor. They step out and turn left down the hall. The hall looks bright. The walls are made of metal, but with all different colors. Only the doors on the sides of the hall can be recognized as made of metal, since it has that distinct metal color. They walk for about 10 metres, then go through a door, which slides open automatically. As they enter the room, Julian and Saya take a look around. The other side of the room is completely covered in glass. On the left and right side of the room, they see bookshelves from ceiling to floor, filled with books. A small round table with lounge chairs is standing, just to their right. Red carpet is filling the floor. On the other side of the room, they see a desk. The captain walks on, and takes a seat behind the desk.
'Please, take a seat' he requests them, friendly.
Saya and Julian both take a seat, and they look at the man, a bit confused.
'You were both at the battle in Heretics End?' he asks them.
'Yes, we were' Saya answers, just before Julian can open his mouth.
'Hmm... allright. Now explain me, what could be the reason the Paranid were there?'
'It probably was because of me' Julian replies. 'I was the main cause the plan of the Paranid have failed in their plan. They seek revenge, and' he turns his eyes to Saya for a moment. Saya looks at him, and by the way he looks, she closes her mouth, swallowing the words she wanted to say. Julian turns his eyes back at the commander. 'they want you're people out of there as well'
'I see. I have one question though. Why...' the commander turns his eyes to Saya 'did you have to come with an entire fleet?'
'It was for my own safety. Since I am the daughter of the vice-president of thé main company in the universe, the Argon Federation wanted to make sure I'd return safe and sound.
'Right. Sounds obvious. It seems we share a mutual enemy here. I think we should help each other out for now.'
'I guess you're right' Saya replies. 'How do you think on helping each other out? Not only are our relations still very fragile' The commander looks at her with a questioning frown on his face. 'I'm sorry, hardly existant, so it will be a bit uneasy on that front. We still have somee trouble with the Xenon and the Khaak.'
'Xenon?' the commander asks, confused.
'Terraformers' Julian corrects Saya.
'These two races are still giving trouble from time to time. And now we have the Paranid up our roofs, trying to smack us down. This Paranid love to fight. Every ship they build can carry heavy arms, which will cause trouble. And the Split'll help the Paranid out in each and every way possible, even in war. Together, they are very powerful.'
'Hmm... I see. All right. I'll talk to your commander about the entire situation. And, if necessary, we'll do what we can.' Julian and Saya take a look at each other for a brief moment, then their eyes turn back at the commander.
'Thank you commander. We await the news' Saya replies, with suppressed joy.
'Not a problem at all. Now, think it's best for you to return to your home sector immediatly.'
Julian and Saya greet the commander, and then head back to their ships. After just a few minutes, they head back into outer space. They activate their jumpdrives. Coordinate sector: Argon Prime.
---
Ban Danna stares out the windows of the Argon One, when suddenly the phone rings. He walks to his desk, and after only 2 rings, he answers nervously.
‘Danna here’
‘Hey, it’s me’ Julian replies, with fatigue running through his voice.
‘It’s really nice to see you’re still alive Julian.’
‘I know. But the fleet you sent didn’t make it.’
‘The Paranid appear more powerful then we could’ve imagined.’
‘Apparently they are.’
‘What can we do about them? And what are they up to?’ Saya asked commander Danna.
‘Right now we can’t to a thing about it. First off, they’re after your blood Julian.’ He takes a brief look at Julian for a moment, then turns his face back at Saya. ‘If they can’t get him, then they’ll destroy everything.’
‘Does this mean we’re at war with them?’
‘I’m afraid so. This really is bad timing. We’re still recovering from the war against the Khaak.’
Julian sighs. ‘Yea it’s the worst timing there ever could be.’
‘To make matters even worse. The Xenon have been getting more active lately. At this moment we have a lot of luck, since they’re taking out the Pirate ships that are flying through our space’
‘But it won’t be long before they start attacking us’ Julian finishes Ban’s sentence.
‘Right. Now then, you got any news for me, exept for the battle we lost?’
‘The Terrans are willing to help us fight the Paranid. It was pretty easy to reach Earth, especially after all the trouble Julian got himself into first’ Saya replies sonically.
Danna smiles and opens his mouth for an answer, but gets interrupted by an incoming call.
‘I have to pick this up, I’ll hail you after this conversation ends. It’s probably the commander of the Terrans. I’ll meet up with you. I have to go now. See you two soon.’
Ban ends the conversation. Julian hails Saya.
‘So, what’s next?’ he asks her.
‘Time for you to meet up with that Paranid friend of yours. You ought to know where he is, since he’s flying one of your ships’
‘You’re right. What are you going to do?’
‘Probably head back home, to catch up on work that needs to be done.’
‘All right. I’ll meet up with you later’
‘Yeah. See ya’
The both fly off in different directions. Saya heads towards the sector Home of Light, while Julian head towards the sector Herrans’ Nebula.
---
Julian takes a look at the log of owned ships. He notices that the ship Komankosisonic III is flying in, is stationed in Paranid Prime. ‘That’s going to be tough. Right now, he’s in safety. If I even try to go near him, I’ll get killed. Maybe if I try to hail him, he’ll respond. Not if that’s something I would do if I were in the same situation’ he thinks. He decides to wait, his eyes locked on the position of the ship. Minutes pass by, and nothing happens. The minutes slowly turn into an hour. He almost finds himself falling asleep, while all of a sudden he notices Komankosisonic III’s ship moving. Suddenly, the ship jumped out of the sector. He switches to the list of owned properties and sees that the ship is now in Argon Prime. He decides to hail the pilot.
‘This is Julian Brennan speaking’
‘Komankosisonic III. What do you want?’ he replies on the grumpy tone a Paranid normally has.
‘I want some answers, and I want them from you’
‘I’m just a trader, why you ask me?’
‘A large fleet of Paranid ships were attacking Heretic’s End. All ships were destroyed. It seemed like they knew I was there.’
‘How could that be?’ Komankosisonic III answered, nerve running through his voice now.
‘I think you know the answer, right?’
‘Paranid know nothing’ he answers, panic running through his voice now.
‘I think you know something. Something you really need to tell me. NOW!!!’
Komankosisonic III’s eyes widen as he sees Julian approach him. He tries to flee, but it ‘s in vain. His ship is way too slow. Julian is approaching him with rapid speed. Lasers are being shot at Komankosisonic III’s hip. The shields are down. In return, Komankosisonic III launches the fighter drones he has bought to his aid, but they don’t respond to his command.
‘You really think that sending my fighter drones to kill me will help? Surrender now, and I will spare your life’
‘You don’t understand, I… Aaarghhh!!!’
Julian watches his ship get blown up, then takes a look around to find out who was responsible for it, but can’t find anything.
That’s strange. All the other ships were out of range when it got destroyed. I didn’t see anything. He takes a look around him. Suddenly he notices a vague shimmer of an unknown ship . Just as sudden as he has seen it, the shimmer disappears again.
‘What the… it’s that ship again. But why is it here?’ he mutters to himself. ‘But now, I’ve got another set of problems on my hand. Finding out what the Paranid are up to, for instance.’
Suddenly he receives a call from Ban.
‘Julian here, what is it?’
‘Julian, our problems have just gotten a lot worse.’