James Luck and the Great Galactic War: Part 3 The End of Era

 A Luck Founded .... its only fair a Luck Ended

Prologue

The picture of the Great Galactic War was changing, before the war there was solely two major galactic governing bodies in the Milky way. There was the Guardant Empire, a dictatorial regime lead and controlled by the Guardant peoples who ruled and subjugated hundreds of solar systems and many races.

There was the Federation, a collection of different races working together to stem the expansion of the empire. A group of races and species working cooperatively within a galactic governing council each race having a single representative.

But now at the Height of the war there was now four, one collaborating with the enemy, a Pro Human fascist group of people calling themselves the Coalition. Governing and enforcing law and order on the planets and systems within the Occupied zone, under the Protection of the Invaders. The Coalition had its own laws, economy as well as its own armada of warships and army of trained soldiers.

Then there was the Allies, the Federation and Empire still reeling from the effects of the invasion, both had become restrictive on ordinary citizenry, enforcing corrupted laws, curfews, unfair rationing on their own people.
And Finally was the newest the United Systems Alliance, a centralized governing body of planets and systems that had won a civil war against the Federation and Empire thus earning themselves their Independence.

Now the Alliance had formed, with an elected representation each solar system having a representative in the new Alliance Senate. Heroes James Luck, Komodo Gaul and Lionel Kirsch had become leading military generals each leading a fleet and army group of their own.

The war had changed in the aftermath of the Alliance being recognized as an independent governing body, their military forces have slowly been able to push back. Unlike the Federation and Guardant Imperial forces, the alliance has begun to take back planets not just defend them.
Aiding them was a renewed military organization, the Federation has the Liberators, the Alliance has a completely independent group, formerly a society with the sole purpose of  defending the Maric royal family. Now the Hellerick Guard was a elite military society with the same purpose of defending and protecting the freedoms and liberties of all peoples, no matter what race or species they are.

Chapter 1:Unity

(Sector forces: Information James hadn't just organized a privately own special forces organization he had also pushed for a renewed Resistance aid system. Previously the Allies had only provided aid to the resistances on the most populated worlds, such as Earth. But James put forward for a new idea, instead of just aiding resistances, why not bring a system into place, make a network of communication and assistance not just between the occupied zone resistances and allied forces.

But between the resistances themselves, allowing them to organize for more larger and effective offensives against the Invaders and Collaborators. As well as this he supported creating the Sector forces, these were elite forces and fleets that would work alongside the resistance, but also they would start up a resistance where there was none, I.E if a planet didn't have a system of resistance they would recruit for one of several different types, whether it was a Guerilla insurgency or an intelligence ring.

Along side the Sector forces, were the Sector fleets. These Fleets would work within a specific sector of the occupied zone, these small fleets would provide assistance to the resistance groups within their sector hence the name, the assistance would range from smuggling supplies, ferrying refugees or even providing fighters and bombers for an attack. Each fleet would have different kinds of ships and weapons, they would mainly use guerilla tactics alongside the ground forces as well as in the reaches of space, raiding and attacking collaborator and invader ships and convoys, which in turn made them partially self sufficient.

The plan was quickly put in place and was even quicker in producing results, the different resistance factions began to slowly cooperate, insurgent attacks increased, became bigger, more organized and far more destructive to the enemy.)

Meanwhile high above the world of Eva's Paradise was an immense warship, the Alliance Command Ship Unity, the flagship of the United Systems Alliance fleet. This was a ship unlike any other, unlike other warships across the galaxy, the A.C.S Unity was a mixture of different purposes, it was a battleship, carrier and troop transport all rolled into one. Along the length of the ship were large and small hangar bays for the fighter, bombers, shuttles and drop pods. Next to them were all kinds of weaponry, from the larger anti ship weapons to the smaller anti air cannons, the Unity was a ship unlike any other, built from the remnants from the Invader Mega-ships that the invaders lost during the battle for the planet.

Around the Unity were a series of smaller more recognizable ships, one was of the Felis design another a Raan war-bird, but most were Durk military cruisers. But behind it were two more civilian ships, Colonial ships, craft meant for transporting of Colonists, housing, equipment and supplies to a new world where a colony was being or about to be established.

From the planet came a smaller craft a skull carrier, but a more modern design from the salvaged craft that the old resistance used. It moved fast through the emptiness of space between other craft as they moved back and forth from the planet that was hailed the foundation of the United Systems Alliance. On this transport however was series of new recruits, five in number, they were bearing the tight blacks suits that would be worn underneath the armors in battle. three men and two women all of them human, the men were joking amongst each other, gloating over their scores from training, they were Guardian team Firestorm.

(Alliance records: Guardian team Firestorm

Officer:
William Holt
Rank: Lieutenant
Eye colour: Brown
Hair: Bold
Preferred weapon: N34 assault rifle/ Sawn off Vack pump action shotgun

Second Com:
Jessica Hoi
Rank:Sergeant 
Eye: Green
Hair: Brown, short
Preferred weapon: N34 assault rifle

Comm expert:
Jason Bilk
Rank:Corporal
Eye: Brown
Hair:Brown, cut short, almost bold
Preferred weapon: ARC sniper rifle-Standard/Thermal/Night vision sight

Medical Officer:
Miranda Stoke
Rank: Corporal
Eye: Blue
Hair: Black dyed, long tied back
Preferred Weapon: MC sub machine gun

Engineering expert:
Daniel "Danny" Grayson
Rank: Private First Class
Eye:Green
Hair: military buzz cut, black 
Preferred weapon: Vack pump action shotgun

They kept talking amongst each other until a call came from the cockpit "A.C.S Unity.... this is Skull 229 requesting permission to land". A pause came, "Copy that.... okay back their get ready to unload"

They all heard this and prepared themselves, gathering their packs and gear from under their individual seats and lined up into pairs ready to land and debark onto the A.C.S Unity. The transport began to slow and pivot, then all of a sudden a clang and shock as they all shifted from the landing into the hangar. Slowly the ramp began to lower itself, until with another clang the ramp tapped the solid floor of the hangar the firestorm began to make their way down, and found themselves amazed.

The Hangar bay was abuzz with activity, engineers and pilots moved back and forth, none of them were of the same race, the people here were working together unlike ever before, they could see Guardant and Anubians working together to load munitions into bombers. They turned about and saw many things that took their breath away, the ships themselves were of all kinds, felis fighter craft, Durk craft and dozens of others, they had been on other military ships and they always only had a single type of fighter and bomber specifically from their culture, but here there was a harmony of different cultures working together and fighting together.

As they looked about they were finally brought back into discipline, by a voice. "Firestorm" it went, a feminine voice. They looked about and saw the one speaking to them, from a holo stand was an hologram of a woman, pale skin dark hair and very white clothing.

"Yes ma'am..." Holt answered "Lieutenant William Holt, commander of Guardian team Firestorm"

"Good" the hologram went,"I am KAI, the ships and General Lucks Artificial intelligence.... on the line guardians, someone will come to escort you"   after revealing her identity, she began to fade away until the display went dark. They looked at each other and just shrugged their shoulders until at least they followed the order and got into a single line left to right and waited for their escort to come.

After only a second, the answer came in a woman, also wearing the black skin tight suit for use underneath armors. Holt was quick to respond, as he looked her over, he noticed her pale skin upon her face, her blood red long hair tied back into a small bobble behind her head. She walked with a confidence he had never seen, her hands behind her back in a relaxed manner.

Holt stepped forward, with a crooked almost playboy smile on his face, whilst the face of Jess Stands went straight to disgust, she could not believe that he was going at it again, Holt the officer in charge was infamous in the team for not being able to keep it in his pants, something that constantly got him into trouble.

Finally the woman stood before them, her back straight and her face blank. Holt stepped forward and directly in front of her, "Hellllooo beautiful" he said.

"And you are?" the woman asked looking at him with a look of that was solely questionable.

Holt smiled, believing he had the upper hand, "William Holt.... Ma'am, Commanding officer of Hellerick Guardian team.... codename Firestorm"

Her face went from question to shock, yet almost sarcastically, "Wow.... a whole Guardian Team..... very impressive"

Finally Holt asked the question "And what might be your name?"

Her face suddenly turned and with a single swing of her legs, Holt ended up lying on his back on the hangar floor. "Luck.... Crimson Luck.... I command all the Guardian teams in the Order....." she proudly stated, placing her boot upon Holt's neck, above his choking and gasping for air  "And by the way..... I am Married.... and you don't want to mess with my Husband James Luck...." 

Releasing her force on Holt's neck she gave her first order "Now GET UP AND BACK IN LINE!"she shouted, Holt was slow to rise up from coughing and groaning from being out of breath. Finally he got back in line until finally he stood up straight and saluted "Firestorm... commander on deck" he ordered, they all followed suit, saluting a superior officer.

"Fall out..... you can find you way to the Barracks" She stated, slowly turning away from the squad. They all looked to each other, for none of them knew where the barracks was or how to get there. In the end they all ended up just wandering every inch of the ship, asking for directions or guessing.

Whilst they did this Crimson, who knew the ship like the back of her hand, made her way through the endless corridors and levels, straight to the Command Bridge. This room was like the Hangar, very large, with all kinds of monitors and computer devices, with a large reinforced strength window at the front looking into the depths of space. Near the window was a pair of unique controls, meant for steering the ship and choosing its speed. up a small set of stairs to the monitors and computers was in the center of the room a large holo table, being shown on it was the galaxy, in four different colors, blue representing the Federation held space, Red being the occupied zone, gold being the Guardant empire and finally yellow being the Alliance.

Looking over the table was a face she could always find, her husband James, wearing his commanding uniform, with the mark of the Hellerick Guard and Alliance military on his shoulders. He was looking over the map with great interest, pressing touch pad buttons that ran along the rim of the table, with every press new information would show up from the map, most of it was information from the front.

Crimson made her way over, "No matter what happens on this ship, I can always guess where I can find you?"

James looked up to see the love of his life, the woman who he was ready to spend his life with and obviously the mother of his daughter. "How's Nyssie?" he often called their daughter that, merely as a playful joke they all loved.

Crimson smiled at him, before sitting upon the holotable her hands on the sensitive screen, something that was meant to be frowned on "She misses you..." James knew it to be true, he was here, the planet that was his home, yet he hadn't gone down to it at all, it tore him apart, he wanted to see his daughter, but the mission he was on was important.

(Operation: New World
Task: Colonization of a new world for the Maric peoples
Goal: creation of a new home for the Maras to support their population on Eva's Paradise.)

"I really wish I could see her more" he mumbled, Crim could see his eyes turn away from her and back to the table, the mumble was the truth. "But this colony could change everything for the Maras, even though we're part of the Alliance.... our people struggle, a new world means an entire planet to grow food.... and feed our people"

Crim looked to him, he was telling the truth, the Kingdom of the Maras on Eva's Paradise was all well and good, but it does not have the ability to produce the necessary food to feed all of the people equally. "Well what are you waiting for?" she asked with a crooked smile.

He returned the smile, rising up and standing tall, he turned to the other soldiers and sailors on the bridge "Get us underway....a new world is ready.... lets get these people to their new home".

The fleet rallied, the engines roared and very soon every ship of the fleet military and colonists shot into their sub sonic speed.

Still on the bridge, Crim broke the news, "By the way... the new bloods arrived" she joked "They called themselves Guardians"

James scoffed in a joking manner, "Their Initiates nothing more.... not yet anyway"

"Want me to try 'em out?" She asked, to a simple and single smile as James' reply, "Alright, I'll have them thoroughly checked out, backgrounds, ideals etc.

(Intelligence Report: Hellerick Guard

It seems that General James Luck is more stingy when it comes to recruits of the Hellerick guard. Claiming that all possible recruits have to be highly Dedicated and highly skilled soldiers.

Also demanding numerous tests be performed on all initiates before they are even consider for true entry into the Guard. All of them going through extensive examination in order to determine Political, Physical, Educational, Technical and Mental Suitability, after which they conduct even more rigorous and extreme methods of training, both of which result in a rather surprising high number of initiates failing to meet the quota or dropping out and returning to their regular units.

It appears that the Good General has extensive background checks on the Initiate to ensure none have any possible links to the Coalition, or any other group that would challenge the ideals and beliefs of the Order of the Hellerick Guard.

This has meant that the so called Order, barely has a few hundred true Guardians in their ranks. It seems that General Luck only wants the best of the best of the best from all species in the Guard)

Chapter 2: A surprise

After many hours, the ships finally came out and found the world they were to colonize. But then through the scans of the solar system Kai noticed something, "James!" she stated, "I am reading signals indicating an Invader Presence!"

James suddenly looked up from the holo-table and looked out the window, "Magnify!" he ordered, the view was enhanced and focused in on their destination, No one could believe what they were looking at, Three Coalition ships, Human ships, one Destroyer, a carrier and finally a troop transport. James was startled but also infuriated, "What the hell are they doing here?" he stated. "Get the fleet into position, keep the Colonists back, and launch fighters and bombers squadrons 1 through 4!"

The soldiers heeded the order and ran back and forth orders, began to be shouted into communications. Soon James looked out into the space to see the fighters and bombers supported by the lighter and faster escort class ships, such as the Raan war birds and Felis blockade runners.

Soon the space surrounding their destination was dotted by flashes and explosions, from the allied assault. "Something doesn't feel right.... if this was an Coalition stronghold.... there would be more ships... more defense" James stated.

Crim was quick to agree "Your right... not too mention they would be easily surprised at the arrival of an allied fleet, its as if their not here for us". She paused for a second to gather her thoughts then realized "What the hell are they doing here? we're light years from the front"

"Bring the Unity in closer, have the cruisers Nerean and Menagar hold back and defend the colonists" James orders. And slowly the Unity pushed into the Frey, as it got closer the shouts on the bridge came "Guns ready", "Shields at maximum".

Finally the ship began to push through, the destroyer attempted a defense but was quick to fail in this endeavor. The heavy and light cannons of the Unity tore it apart within seconds, whilst the smaller anti fighter guns, picked off the Coalitions fighters, with them being slowly becoming fewer and fewer the allied air power soon had the upper hand and was making numerous runs at the carrier and troop transport.

Soon both were slowly listing in different directions, flames roaring from the wholes created by the bombers or the guns of the Unity and its supporting ships.

"Kai do a orbital scan of the planet.... I want to know if there are any strongholds there!" James ordered, turning to the Holo table. Soon the readings came.

"James I am detecting a large number of Coalition, Collaborator forces scattered across the planet surface, it seems they are searching for something" Her reply came.

James pressed a few touch pad buttons and focused his sights, "What are they looking for? What could be so important?"

"More critically, what would merit an entire army of men this far behind Allied lines?" Crim quickly interrupted. James scanned with his eyes for a possible answer, using his hands and fingers on the hologram to analyse the images, then with both hands he held them together then spread them.

Zooming in on a specific reading he found something "Crim, get Teams Whisk and Volk ready and bring the newbies, we are going there"

"A large Coalition outpost" Crim stated, "We'll need more than three teams for that"

Kai was rather quick to interrupt however, "Its seems not, it would appear that the only resistance you will face is in the only area secure enough for a landing zone, 2 clicks west from the outpost" she stated "The outpost itself appears abandoned" 

Crim agreed, nodding her head before marching off to prepare herself and the others. Within an hour the teams were set, the shuttles were powered up, escort fighters ready to launch alongside. James finally gave his last standing order "Captain Centerick" he ordered, an officer came up, an Anubian warrior, tall and muscular his dark black skin and Jackal like head "You have the Unity.... Keep her safe" James said these words as he made his way out and down to the Hangar.

(Interview: Caroline Walters
2 years after the end of the war

I remember the Unity like the back of my hand, the ship was so large and long in fact that we had to have a Tram system that ran the length of the ship. The trams were basically cylinder compartments running up and down a tube, we had two kinds I remember, one was for people, the other bigger one was for vehicles and cargo.)

James came walking calmly and steadily through the hangar bay, the royal sword on his back, rifle slug over his shoulder. His armor was unique and specialized, almost surgically grafted to his physic, dark black in colour, excluding the white dragon on his right shoulder.

Ahead of him were the teams of the elite Hellerick Guard and the new Initiates of Holt, Hoi, Bilk, Stoke and Grayson. Standing ready before them was Crimson, the love of his life, she was wearing the same style of Armour, specially made for them, but added on it were her red hood as well as a few additions she enjoyed, such as extra sheaths for daggers, knives and other such blades her favorite weapons.

All true Guardians were wearing a unique armor the same as James and Crim, the armor almost seemed surgically shaped to their individual bodies, each plate that as upon the arms, legs, chest and back were specific to each one of them. Even the helmets almost conform to each of them as individuals, it was something Firestorm had never seen before. The only thing that was uniform for them all was the colour, black excluding a small mark on the right shoulder, being the teams insignia.

Yet Firestorm had the simple military armor, plated, and technological, they were not true Guardians yet.

James held in front of them, "Mount up!" he shouted, the two Guardian teams, moved away and began embarking upon different small troop drop ships. "Firestorm you and Crim are with me", he ordered pushing through them embarking the drop ship taking his seat at the far end closest to the pilots. The Drop ships were not big an impressive ships that the Military often used, these were stealth shuttles, meant to avoid radar and scanners. They were cube like in structure, with the front slanted forward to almost a beak like front rim, underneath were four small thrusters meant to hold the shuttle steady and allow it to hover without any trouble, on the back pointing back were two stronger thrusters meant for to give the ship a good speed. Finally at the front were two different weapons, the smaller being a simple chain gun, the larger acting as a high powered cannon meant to deal a great amount of damage.

From the moment they were all in the doors on the sides slide along closing before and slammed shut, and a series of small yellow lights lit up the space. Then the sudden jolt as the ship shot out of the hangar bay, the members of firestorm fell into their seats rather than took them. As the dropship sped towards the planet James brought up a hologram, showing a map of the outpost they were going to attack, next to that were interlinks between the different drop ships and the different teams.

"This is the outpost we're taking, its imperative that we take it." James ordered "We need to know what the hell those Collaborating bastards are doing here "

Jessica Hoi was quick to make a statement "But sir from the looks of it, the Outpost is completely abandoned"

James was quick to chuckle "Its an old Hunter trick"

They looked to him with bewilderment, but it was Crim that explained "Invader Hunters like to set ambushes." she stated "They make a place look abandoned, then when we move in they ambush us from the inside"

"Because the defenses we would build would focus on the outside not inside" Hoi Finally clicked onto the joke, she was finally understanding what it was they were going into.

James continued his briefing "Now we will be going into the outpost itself, whilst the other teams land further away, where we expect to find more resistance"


Chapter 3: Rebellion?

After a few minutes, the sudden jolt of the atmosphere struck the drop ship. James gave a nod to the pilots, one of them reached up and flicked a switch, turning the Yellow lights to red. "Red light stand by" Crim ordered, standing up and preparing herself for a fight placing a solid helmet over her head, Firestorm quickly took the order, doing the same preparing their weapons, ensuring their armor was set and ready. 

James just simply took up his rifle and helmet, simply tucking the helmet over and onto his head. He then slowly took a few steps forward until he stood at the head of the ramp, Crimson stood behind him, it was something he always insisted on in every engagement.

Finally a bump as the ship touched earth, then the Red became Green, the doors opened and the team stormed out guns blazing, leaving James and Crim standing in bewilderment. James was frustrated, he didn't tell them to charge out with weapons firing. He stormed out and grabbed Holts rifle, whilst it was firing, gripping the barrel and pulling it upwards, "Congratulations all of you!" he shouted, finally stopping them from firing "You've just wasted about five power cells of shots".

Crim then slowly came down tapping him on the shoulder,  he looked to her and she pointed with her right arm at the outpost, He turned and saw something he had never ever seen.

The buildings of the outpost were abandoned yes but the enemy they had expected to meet the Collaborating Coalition troops, supported by Invader creatures. They were all being hung by their hands which had been tied and the knot linked by a hook connected to the pole, bloodied and bruised as if been in a brutal fight, the bodies were being hung from standing poles, that resembled street light poles.

The creatures that James had expected, the hunters were dead too and yet again they were hanging, their hands tied linked to a hook on a pole. Yet he then noticed something, painted in blood onto their bodies, Hunters and Coalition alike was a single word "Puppet" he whispered.

"Who did this?" Crim questioned "A resistance group"

James began to wander about the courtyard of the outpost, looking at the hanging bodies "No" he answered "There is no resistance here, besides we're behind the front line" He looked closer at the word Puppet. He was bewildered, he had heard of resistance groups displaying the bodies, but never like this.

"Bilk right" he pointed to Corporal Jason Bilk of Firestorm.

"Yes sir" Bilk replied

"Get on the radio and check in with the other teams" James ordered "Hoi take Stoke and try and find the commanders hooch" She nodded and they both ended up running in the direction of the buildings, yet James shouted again "HEY!" they paused "Go inside cautiously, there might be more hunters".

They finally understood and made their way more carefully, weapons readied. James was still bewildered though, "Now what is eating you again?" Crim questioned.

James removed his helmet, and looked around again "I was just hoping for a simple job, escort some of our people to a new home, establish the colony and then go home to Nyssie" he paused "Yet now.... now I'm"

"Beginning to wonder if something else in the shadows" she interrupted.

Suddenly a shout "Sir we've found something"

James and Crim, looked and saw Hoi waving them over, they ran over as fast they could, through the doors and into the wrecked remnants of the Commanding officers quarters, the room was large, on the back wall was a large paper based map of the entire planet with pieces of string running across it, linking a series of small pictures pinned onto the map at different points.

"They were looking for something" Hoi stated, "Based on the map and all these papers, it looks like they were trying to track down someone"

James looked over the papers and the map, meticulously, he began to notice a single word in nearly every single document. "Rebels" he whispered, he suddenly understood something, there was another war going on, a battle in the shadows, a rebellion.

Grabbing a single piece of paper with the word Rebel and an insignia upon, he ran out, Crim noticed it and followed quickly. He came to a halt in the courtyard and look on the bodies of the hunters, he saw the same insignia a shuriken in flames with clockwise facing points.

Crim began to question "What the hell is going on James?" 

He tried to catch his breath, before explaining "Now why would the Invaders and Coalition be here, so far behind our line...." Crim just looked at him "Because there is something here, something that they want gone.... not a resistance, but something else"

He looked up at the Coalition and Invader troops "Look, what does it say?, not traitor, not tyrants"

"Puppet" she finally clicked on to what he was trying to explain, "Its not a resistance.... its a Rebellion.... an invader Rebellion" James smiled and offered her the paper "Human/Alien hybrids.... Invader creature DNA, mixed with human genetic material..... but the chips?

"Humans are stubborn.... we don't like being enslavement" He replied "The Invaders made these hybrids, but couldn't control them, so they want to wipe them out...... yet now they've got the attention of someone worse, look at the insignia"

She did so carefully, "A spinning blade?"

"The last time I saw that mark was when I lead 2,000 people to their deaths back home" he answered

"Nouvelle Montreal" she whispered "Whose Mark is it?"

James stepped up to her "I fought him at the Gola system, a battle that left us scarred" looking at his metallic arm "Then again back home, he was the one who destroyed the resistance on Eva's Paradise..... yet I thought he had gone back to recuperate" Placing his hands on her shoulders he then whispered "Lord Magister Krell has come back to finish what he started" 


Chapter 4: The Search

James was intrigued, the possibility of an Invader rebellion, the idea that the enemies own hubris had resulted in a brand new Allie for the free peoples. Yet he needed to find them, when they obviously are very good at remaining hidden and even retaliated against those who were hunting them, then of course there was Lord Magister Krell, he old adversary, the leader of the Invader forces that conquered over a third of the Milky way in a matter of days.

He stood there in the large open space of the old outpost, with the decayed metal buildings covered in plants. He looked around as the different races but all of them Engineers working hard, making additions to the already established outpost where there were walls they reinforced them. Where there were turrets and automatic defenses, they made some refits, so instead of the old fashioned line of sight turrets of the Coalition, they placed newer 360 degree turrets with thermal sensors, so they didn't need to look at the enemy to know they are there.

They had even begun expansion, some more living quarters and other facilities that are needed for a successful colony. Slowly James wandered, carefully and slowly, he walked through the open gates and into the open fields of grass like plants and flowers as far as the eye could see. He liked it, for it reminded him of home, of the endless open grasslands and deserts of Eva's Paradise that he was born to walk.

Yet as he wandered the flowers and plants, which he knew would soon become the crop fields of the first Maric colony. But he suddenly felt a shiver, something he had felt before, back during the days of the resistance, the shiver and intestine disturbance that he got when eyes were watching him.

His skin on his hands became rough and ridged, slowly placing his left hand back to his left hip he grabbed tight the grip of the pistol hooked to his belt. Yet he did not pull it from the holster, no he looked back and forth, slowly turning his head left and right, his eyes doing the same, but quicker, almost darting left and right. Nothing was happening, usually when he got these feelings hunters were approaching, preparing an ambush.

But nothing was going on he just stood there the high cliff valley behind him, leading to the outpost, the wind whistling around the plants beneath his feet. He soon realized who was watching him, it wasn't the enemy, no it was the enemy of his enemy, it was the rebels that were watching him. Bringing his right hand to his ear, "Crim, get Firestorm and bring them out here... we're going to find a potential allie".

Soon Crim, came simply strutting to her husband, firestorm following close behind weapons readied. James waved them to follow, as he walked off in the opposite direction of the outpost, leading them further and further out into the wilderness.

Soon they came to a bone yard, coalition vehicles of all kinds, large tanks turned to broken pieces, turrets in one place the engines in another, Armored personnel carriers with gaping holes in them, scorched skeletons within them, the remains inside were burned into the positions they had died in. Some cowering, hunched over, some arms raised in the praying mantis posture there mouths open as the explosion hit.

Then a sound, a slight crack of rock hitting rock, then another. James thrust his arm left telling them to take cover behind one of the countless wrecks, they ran as quick and quiet as possible, slamming their backs against the cold metal side of the large carrier they were now hiding behind.

James held his hand out, ordering them to wait, he then sneaked out slightly to the corner of the wreck, peaking only ever so slightly. He could see the reason, a Goliath, the massive Invader creature, with its heavy armor plates and high powered cannon and around it were a variety of things, three Invader grunts and even some human Coalition troops, simple plated armor and pulse rifles, simple laser guns.

Then a tap behind him, he looked back and saw the whole of Firestorm moving up weapons readied. He looked them dead in the eye with anger and fury in his eyes, seeing that made them back down, even Crim was angry now she almost made more sound as she pulled each and every one of them back into cover.

But then before she could, a sudden rush of explosions and laser fire, screams of humans and growls of the Invaders. James now gave the signal, pulling the sword from his back he ran out from behind the cover of the carrier, Crim followed behind with Firestorm following her guns readied, itching for a fight.

But then when they got clear, they saw James just standing their, sword clean, and bodies covering the open space between the wrecks. The bodies were everywhere, in all forms of brutality, some were in pieces others were complete but were nearly eviscerated, their inner organs were now their outer organs. They all just stood there looking over the scorched earth, but then a metallic tap, they all looked to see something or someone looting one of the corpses, it was human in shape, but the armor it was wearing was dark black, tactical, militaristic, ammo packs on the front, a large pack on its pack, an assault rifle slug over its shoulder.

The creature looked to them, the helmet was covering its upper face, only the mouth was visible. It was shocked to see them, its yell was more of a screech like those of the Hunters, even its teeth were like that of the Invaders, sharp, dagger like. It stood and darted off at the greatest speed, so fast that James didn't even judge how fast, yet Holt ran after him pulling a shotgun from his back, firing again and again.

"Holt!!" James shouted "Holt stand Down!!" no reply, they just watched as Holt ran off firing his shotgun again and again as he chased the mystery into the wrecks. Extremely frustrated James ran after him, with Crim and the rest of Firestorm running behind him, James followed as best he could, but Holt was determined, chasing this figure through the twists and turns of the wrecks, shouting his head off.

He came around the wreck of a type of wheel based tank, but nothing, the creature he was chasing had suddenly disappeared, he looked left and right through the different passages into the wrecks, in disbelief and stupidity he removed his helmet.

When he did though, a strike hit him from behind. When he opened his eyes, his vision blurred slightly he could see the rest of firestorm kneeling around him. James was the only one though the pull him up. Throwing him against the wreck of the tank, pinning him against it. "What the hell was that!!!!!!" he shouted "You go running off alone.... you remove your helmet in a war zone, And to top it off you attempted to kill one of the people we're here to find" James was pissed was an understatement in this situation. Crim was standing next to him, her arms crossed and face the same as James', she was angry and frustrated, she had expected better.

"You want to be a guardian?" James asked, Holt didn't answer "Do you want to be a Guardian?!" he shouted

"Yes sir" the reply came "We all do sir"

"Then stand by your people.... wars aren't won by stupid actions.....they are won by unity" James released his grip, "Now, you are going to take Firestorm back to the outpost.... Crim and I are going alone".

Holt just stuttered, "Sir... yes sir"


Chapter 5: Rebels

They trudged through the endless wrecks, following what remained of the creatures tracks, clearly human in shape, but the speed in which it was moving was much closer to that of a Hunter. James was having some trouble in keeping track of the trail, there were times he had to use the ancient technique used by the Maras, by using his mind to reenact the movements of the creature via its tracks, to imagine what the creature was doing at certain places and which way it went. 

And he never made a wrong turn, every movement was cautious though, he kept every sense at the ready. Crim was the same, keeping her hands readied close to either her many blades or pistols on her belt, she was both cautious but also terrified, because if the wrecks were all from the rebel attacks, then they must be very violent and extreme. She had heard from James of some of the resistance groups in the occupied are very radical in their methods, so radical that he refuses to support them for indiscriminate attacks that although dealt damage to the occupation it also meant extreme civilian casualties.

Groups like the Insurrection, a radical group that everyone knew. Their exploits were famous across the galaxy for creating chaos for the Coalition and the Invaders, even to the point where they no longer cared for the number of innocents killed in the cross fire of their attacks. James despised them, he believed them to be no better than the invaders, to the point that he threatened to protect the people from them.

Yet here he hoped for something better, for a group that was willing to fight but for the right reasons, not for vengeance, anger, pain. But freedom and hope, the hope that the Galaxy shall be theirs again, he hoped these rebels would be different than what they appeared to be from the bodies of the soldiers in the outpost.

As they moved through the wrecks, James had himself readied, hands to his rifles grip and trigger. He was readied to fight if had too, but he didn't want to fight, he wanted to make an Alliance between them. He paused in an instance, Crim knew something was wrong the very moment he froze in place, James slowly turned and said a single word "Shit". It was then that a strong and powerful strike came upon them, knocking them out from the sheer force of the strikes. 

When James awoke, he looked back and forth, he knew from the look of the room he was in, despite it being dark he could tell it to be a cave of some kind, from the looks of the walls, jagged rocks, not a flat surface amongst them. In front of him was a human shaped shadowed figure, wearing the same armor style and helmet of the creature they had been tracking, the upper face covered by the helmets face plate, with only the mouth clear to see. the only difference of the one before him was that hanging behind the left shoulder down to the back of the knee was a type of cape, long but short in width.

"Where is my wife?" He asked, no reply "the woman I was with.... Where is she?" he shouted, ripping the binds holding his hands together. He stood up and stared the figure in the face, his eyes turning more red with each second.

"You are the one they call James Luck" The Caped figure said, the way he spoke was very distinct, he spoke in a calm and relaxed manner, even the way he spoke the words were as if they were taken directly from the dictionary "Why is it that you seek us?"

James continued to stare at this figure, judging, calculating. "Alliance.... You want to fight your former masters, I want to fight them"

The figure turned away, and began to walk, slowly "You follow, I shall show.... who it is we are"

James followed slowly, ready for a fight, fists clenched. The figure lead him through the caves many tunnels, it what became more and more constructed, it resembled more along the lines of an old mine, the walls straight and perfectly aligned. Every now and again standing guard, frozen like statues, holding firm with rifles held across their chests are the same similar humanoid creatures that they had tracked here. Their black armor almost making them invisible in the dimly lit corridor.

They walked on, through the tight mine corridors. Into a large circular dome like room, with a ramp circularly going up to the up most top of the dome, standing and sitting upon the ramp at different points, they all were almost the exact same in the way they looked, dark black armor and weapons taken from the invaders and coalition troops. Yet there was one key difference between some of them, something that James had not been expecting to find, some of them were female.

There were female invader human hybrids, he looked around the room, turning around to look at the ones above him. He saw creatures he was very familiar with, Hunters, but with war paint dark black stripes along their backs and snouts. He understood they were rebels just like the other humanoid types around him.

Then a whisper "James" he turned to see Crim, the woman he wanted to see, marching straight over to her hugging her and holding her close, the fear he had was gone now he was holding her again.

"I ask again James Luck" the caped rebel stated "Why do you seek us?"

Turning to him, James stood firm "To seek an Alliance..."


Chapter 6: Allies or Adversary

They sat around a great roaring fire, the leader of the Rebels, the caped figure on the one side and James on the other. Slowly the leader reached up and slowly removed the face covering helmet, the face of the being was stranger than the way he spoke. 

His face was human like but bald, no hair of any kind, none atop his pale skinned skull nor upon his face, he had no nose of any kind, just two small diagonal slit in the center of his face. His eyes were very reptilian, white but with elongated vertical pupils.

He sat in a calm manner too, crossing his legs almost as if he was readying himself for meditation, placing his hands upon his knees. "What form of Alliance do you seek?" he asked.

"one for survival!" James' reply came, staring the leader directly in the face. All the rebels began to look to each other, pondering the reply that had come, what did he mean by survival, yet James was not done "The real enemy is the Invaders..... Krell most of all"
This made them all gasp or cower a bit, they all knew the name very well, they almost seemed to fear it, even the leader was shocked to hear the name shouted out so freely. 

James was the first to continue "Now let us focus, on the real matter...."

The leader interrupted the conversation "My people have suffered, from yours just as much as Lord Magister Krells" his words made the rebels rally they gathered around their leader ready to prove his point, Invader creatures of all kinds from the human hybrids to a Goliath with black war paint on it head and face. "Millions of our kind lay dead from your refusal to see that we are slaves"

"I am not asking you to forget those you have lost!" James shouted, he made it impossible for the other leaders to make even a single point against the rebel leader, "And We have suffered just as much" James was quick to reply "How many millions have died from the acts your kind committed"

They were all looking at him with understanding and sadness, every rebel knew he was telling the truth, many of them had committed terrible acts for their Invader masters, yet they preferred to run from them rather than face them. Yet James was no where near finished, standing up and tall, Crim standing beside him "But I am asking everyone here.... to think about their future.... there won't be one if we don't make a stand"

"Lord Magister Krell won't stop.... and I know of something that he is bringing to our galaxy....a Harbinger of Destruction.... A ship that is capable of wiping all life from a planet from existence..... no single faction can stop them.... Alliance.... Guardant.... Federation even your rebels can't stop him..... the only way we can stand a chance is if we stand together..... even then though it might not be enough.... but at least Krell will know we gave him a FUCKING FIGHT!!!".

The rebels began to bicker amongst themselves, in all forms from clicks and grunts to a type of language that neither James or Crim could understand. None gave any true answer, at least until against proper order, the Goliath stepped forward and in a deep and distorted voice said a single word "Luck"

The leader looked about him, seeing all the same thing those who had followed him were now defecting to this outsider. Finally he made his choice "We fight.... we shall stand with your kind" James smiled he was surprised, he hoped for it, but didn't believe that they would join so willingly, but of course there was a catch "For independence.... not yours but ours.... in the spirit of alliance.... we give this"

He pulled his hand up showing a small square chip, something James recognized instantly "An Encrypted data disk!".

Chapter 7: War on many fronts

As James lead the Maras to their new home, battled for the planet that would hold them and searched for the mystery of the rebels. Other battles were being fought all across the galaxy.

On countless worlds there were trenches, on one swamp covered world, Komodo lead the Alliance Marine Corps in a desperate battle unlike any other. Despite everything he had, all the heavy artillery, tanks and infantry he had, a fleet in orbit, nothing was halting the swarming hunters and grunts, overwhelming him.

He ran through the metallic walled trenches feeling and hearing the sound of the squashing mud beneath his feet, hearing every explosion, every scream, every cry. Nothing was ready, with a shotgun in his hand and countless pistols upon his belt and tail, he ran through the trenches leading more troops to the front..

He made the finally turn and saw hell, he saw his marines being overwhelmed, the trench walls had collapsed, hunters tackling and ripping through his troops, grunts mercilessly using their plasma rifles to slaughter those the hunters missed.

"Fucking hell" He shouted "FIRING LINE", the troops behind him formed three lines across the expanse of the trench, those in front kneeled down, whilst those behind remained standing, the second and first line took aim with their rifles, in the third line Anubians and Guardant fighters readied their blades for the order to charge. "Ready!" the order came, the hunters and grunts turned from the bodies of the dead and readied themselves to kill again.

"FIRE!" Komodo screamed firing his pump action shotgun again and again, whilst those around him gave it all they got, every shot, every power cell they had in their packs, with every shot the hunters fell from their scrambling of the high trench walls, the grunts collapsing from the sheer number of laser bolts burning their way into their unprotected bodies.

Elsewhere Lionel fought in a similar world, a world bearing a Felis colony built into the planets immense jungles. For him it was the constant scent of fire and smoke as the invaders burnt every home they found in the jungle trees. Lionel ran along the overlapping branches thick and as wide as the greatest tree trunk, crossbow in hand, leading felis guerillas arc bows in their hands.

They ran through the trees, firing their bows and crossbows through the leaves and branches down upon the invader creatures either climbing the tree trunks or advancing on the jungle floor. Yet Lionel could see through the branches above and below the battle was all but lost, down below he could see behind every tree and through every path in the Jungle, there were thousands of more creatures marching into the fight and high above he heard a great buzzer like horn echo through the tree, making everything almost vibrate. Looking up holding his hand over his face to block the suns raze, he saw what he feared most, an immense invader battleship, a warship that is nearly invincible to the weaponry of the milky way.

Further away, leading a charge against a truly domineering swarm of hunters, Brek severe lead the Broken swords with their blades readied, they smashed into the swarm, the hunters tackled those they could, slashed with their claws or throttled with their immense fangs and jaws. All the swords could do was fight however they could, using their plasma blades, spears and axes, they cut, slashed, thrust and stabbed their way through the swarm, despite their losses, they continued to push forward.

In the federation Alexandro Tomas, life long friend of James, fought to defend a ruined city, from his command center all he could do was watch as the city crumbled from each and every new assault,  with each attack his troops dwindled in number, munitions and morale.
He knew for certain they were losing this battle, even with the Guardant and civilian militias, they could not hold for much longer.

Even the Liberators, the infamous organization hell bent on defending the freedoms and liberties of all peoples, could not hold back the oncoming storm, none of their many fleets were intact. In his quarters Admiral Hirohito looked over the reports, he was nearly gone, the Liberators were barely holding together. What ships he had, were only just able to put up a fight, most of his ships were so severely damaged that those on board were constantly on alert in case they had to abandon ship.

All across the galaxy, the same was occurring, the same result, victories at a high cost, most of them when the allies were defending. None of them attacking or liberating planets from the Coalition or Invader forces, across the galaxy everyone knew one thing, something had to change.


Chapter 8: Our Last chance

James poured through the information, in what would have been the officers quarters at the outpost they had landed in. Now reinforced with the Invader rebels who provided supplies and troops for defense as well as information on local resources such as food and water. 

James sat behind the officers desk, with a computer in front of him, the small chip inserted into the side of it, the holo display showed each piece of information. hundreds of files, dozens reports in each file, so much information, in most cases it would be a treasure trove but....

Most of it was intelligence which by now was worthless, troop deployments which were now clear, such as the battleship now attacking Lionel and his battle-group, the renewed assault on Komodos Marines. 

Then Crim approached him, "You've spent days looking through this" she said "Take a break"

He didn't even look at her, she noticed something in his face, surprise, shock and recognition his mouth so slightly open, his eyes locked in place. She pulled herself around the desk, she leaned in by his right shoulder, leaning upon the desk with her right arm, she saw what had shocked James, it was a report of a prisoner.

(File 226701- transmitted to all bases via Coalition serevers

Prisoner no. 221341246854

Name: Abigail Toni

Last Name: Luck 

Capture: Mars

Intelligence: Elder sister of James Luck-General of United Systems Alliance

Torture: Approved- unsuccessful

Transfer: to custody of Lord Magister Krell- Liberty Islets-Earth)

"Abbie" she said, she then noticed something just at the bottom of the page, she took the controls form James and scrolled down, it was an image of some kind, a prison cell of some kind, but the wall was covered in markings of a type of language, they were strange they were symbols, that Crim didn't recognize and she had recently studied the languages of Earth and the other races in the Galaxy. But she couldn't comprehend the symbols of a cat or birds or even the snake and even the symbols that resembled scratches in the metal.

But then James clicked into the moment and the past, he knew what they were "Hieroglyphics" he whispered. Grasping the controls he focused and zoomed in on the symbols, he then open a second holo display, where he began to type into the search parameters, "Ancient Egyptian text Earth".

Crim was bewildered, "Whats Hieroglyphics?"

"When she was in school, Abbie was fascinated with ancient cultures and the knowledge that the other races interfered with mankind's past" he stated, as he slowly began to identify each symbol and its meaning. "and at one point annoyed at me, for reading her.... Diary" he paused seeing Crims' face at the mention of him reading his sisters diary.

"Anyway... she began to encode her diary to help her studies... and..." he paused again "Bingo... " he shouted clapping his hands "Abbie...you clever... annoying bitch"

Crim was even more surprised at that description, she even laughed at the mere mention of her husband calling his own sister a bitch "So what is it?"

James continued typing away "She didn't let being caught stop her... she knew someone would get this" he pointed to the second display "So she carved into the walls a message.....Krell returned" that was not much a shock they already knew that "He is not himself.... knows who I am.... overheard guards talking about....." he waited for the translator to catch up "hole in universe.... the wormhole she's talking about the worm hole.....wait there's more..... fleet Gathering in orbit of Earth..... must move fast....hole is near to earth... find it machine beyond and destroy it"

Crim and James couldn't believe it, throughout it all they were witnessing Abbie's continued fight against the enemy. Soon the translator brought forth a series of numbers, they both knew straight away what they were... Coordinates, and they both knew that they were going to need everyone for this.

Orders were quickly made, plans set, they were going to the Federal Capital city, they called on everyone, the Leaders of the Federation, Guardant empire, Systems Alliance, even the resistance groups to be present either in person or by holo communicator.

They gave them a single reason, "We have what could be our last chance to win this war"


Chapter 9: Give yourselves a fighting chance

By the weeks end the meeting had been set, despite the resistance of the Federation and Empire, whom were still reeling from the independence of the Alliance. Some of them just unsure of the fact that James was claiming to have the chance to win the war.

The all gathered, via the holo communications their holographic forms standing or sitting, every single leading commander, every resistance leader, the head of the Martian movement, the Lost swords commander even the legendary Gharial rebel leader took part in the meeting through the holograms.

Other members included Admiral Hirohito of the Liberators obviously they had a right to speak at this meeting, also present was the leading Knight of the Guardant Imperial army. Wearing his golden plated armor, his face finally view-able, his battered and scarred face, slightly extended, his eyes were almost black, no pupils visible of any kind, he stood tall and proud, but his eyes watched everyone, most especially one of the Alliance commanders, the man he had previously fought against, Brek Severe.

James stood before the entire Federal council, all their military leaders, he felt a piece of deja vu, for he had once stood here once before at the very beginning of the war, he understood he was here for the same reason, before they were too busy being divided that they couldn't fight now he had to tell them the same thing again.

He stepped out, cautiously into the middle of the circular room that was the council room the hundreds of councilors sitting above him in the numerous rows, raising his head high he began to speech "We have all gathered here, because of me.... I asked you all here either in person or through holo communicators... because.... I have a message"

"It seems you had one before did you not traitor" a shout came from above. Many shouted in agreement

"HEY" a shout came, James looked to see Crim marching out, "HE DIDN'T HAVE TO CALL THIS MEETING, HE DID IT BECAUSE HE CARES........ I DON'T KNOW WHY" she shouted, making all of those present fall silent in shock. "BUT I KNOW HIM.... AND I KNOW THAT WHAT HE IS HERE TO SAY IS TRUE".

This made the speaker of the council far in front of James, stand, not to have her quieten, but to offer his hand to James and Crim, he was giving them the floor.

James once again spoke aloud and as clear as he could, "You all know what is happening..... the Invaders are pushing harder and harder... and we are barely holding on...... the reason for that is who is in command"

He stepped in front of the speaker turned to face the representatives, raising his left hand open, he called on KAI to display the information they had, first was a symbol a circle with sharp points bending clockwise around the circle iteself "The symbol you are seeing... is of the Invader leader.... the one who started the invasion and conquered a third of the Galaxy in a few weeks...... his name..... LORD MAGISTER KRELL"

This made all of them bicker and confer with the military commanders, "Krell has never been defeated in war... his technique is flawless..... he studies his opponents meticulously..... every piece of information he can get his hands on.... political ideals, social understandings... art preferences... military traits.... training... education..... personal history...everything that can help him understand what a person or culture will do even before they do" he paused, allowing KAI to display images of the original invasion and the opening battles. "He permits a few victories so that he can experiment.... he is what poker players call a grinder.... he tests his opponent.... he calls when he wants to test them.... raises to see how they react and when necessary he folds"

Finally he got to the point "Soon he will bring this" he now showed the image from the Ethereal temple on Juggernaut "This ship was what Krell used to destroy the Ethereals'.... their entire fleet... planet.... culture was destroyed in a single shot from this weapon.... and now he plans on bringing it here now"

The councilors, leaders and resistance commanders acted in shock and awe, fearful, some were in just plain denial "That can't be.....its not possible".

Admiral Hirohito stepped in standing up for James "And with everything we have seen of the Invaders.... you really don't think that somewhere they had a super weapon capable of wiping out all life on a world" this swayed many, they understood he was right.

"The Admiral is right... the Invaders are far more powerful than we thought" a shout came down.

Then another from a more scientific mind "It is true... all the ancient texts we have of the Ethereal's speak of a great monstrosity....... something that wiped them out.... this ship is the answer"

But then of course a question "Then why didn't they stay"

Crim gave the answer to that "there was no reason too" she shouted "They had wiped out all advanced life in this galaxy why waste resources staying here when they could be used to conquer another"

"But there might be hope....." James called "Before my sister was captured she discovered the location of how the Invaders entered our galaxy.... a wormhole.... and I sent an elite Guardian team into the Occupied zone..... they sent this image from a dwarf planet not far from the Sol system"

The image was something else entirely, something they could not have imagined, it was some kind of anomaly, it resembled a black hole but was more plain flicks of what look like lightning could be seen around the hole itself. "This worm hole is the key.... on Eva's Paradise we destroyed a relay.... this was how we defeated an entire invader army and fleet in one day.... without the relay they received no commands from the control signal..... so they all died"

The imperial leader stepped up "So by targeting these relays we could wipe them out.... one planet at a time"

James shook his head "Krell doesn't make the same mistake twice.... by now he would have found a way around the relays..... but there is still one point where the signal still need to come from"

They all soon got what he was saying, but he said something else entirely "We need to gather everything we have and make a single all out offensive against Lord Magister Krell and his gathering fleets..... we need to invade Earth"

This was something else completely, they were in favor of going after the wormhole, because they could just send the fleets... but Earth meant armies. "Your asking us to take what our forces out of the free zone..." shouted the imperial leader "You'd leave us completely vulnerable... just like when you started you rebellion"

James shut down his holo display from KAI, marched into the middle of the room and looked the commander dead in his dark eyes "YOUR ALREADY VULNERABLE" he shouted, which shocked everyone, the commander could see James' eyes turn more from brown to a dark blood red. James looked to all in the room "KRELL ISN'T GOING TO STOP..... not until our galaxy falls"

He paused to catch his breath and prepare for the rallying point "so... you can either sit back and wait for that to happen" he said opening his arms in a relaxed and chilled manner as if making a joke "OR!" he raised his right hand with a single finger up pointing to the ceiling.

They waited for a single second for the point other option he was giving "Take the offensive... and give yourselves a fighting chance" he said these words clearest and firmest clenching his right hand into a fist and jutting it ever so slightly back and forth as he spoke.

The speaker rose from his seat, yet before he could call for a vote. 

"The empire shall stand with you" a call came, James turned to see the Imperial commander holding his hand over his heart.

"The Lost swords stand with you" the hologram of the resistance leader went

"I will be honored to fight with you again"  Went the hologram of the Gharian rebel known only as the Blood eye.

they all soon rose and shouted one by one "Aye".


Chapter 10: The Fall

As they left the Council room, James felt something, pausing ever so slightly. Soon they all felt it, a slight rumble, the hallway shook ever so slightly, James knew straight away what was happening when something else hit him. He sniffed the air, smoke.

He charged out of the immense building that was the Council hall, standing upon a balcony, James could only watch as he saw the center of the Federation, the capital city, the capital world in flames. As high above the skyscrapers and high dock moorings, invader battle cruisers rained down fire and destruction upon the planet, fighters and bombers strafed the remaining defenses. 

Down below he could see through his left eyes optics, invader grunts marching through the streets obliterating any resistance from the Federal troops, hunters climbing over the walls and buildings, Goliath's obliterating any significant opposition whether it was infantry or armored vehicles.

James turned around seeing everyone in shock and fear, he could only mutter a single sentence "EVAC NOW!" they all heard it, running around, military leaders shouting through radios ordering the people evacuate the planet immediately.

James grabbed Crim, pulling her to one side "get to the Unity... please.... take Firestorm with you.... they may be rookies but their all we've got"

"What about you?" she asked

"I've got to find my friend" he let her go and ran off, she knew who he was looking for, he oldest friend Alexandro Tomas.

She did as he asked, running in the opposite direction, as she ran she saw Firestorm, the rookie Guardian initiates firing their weapons from the railings of the building down, onto the advancing grunts below. "Firestorm with me" she shouted, they heeded the order and one by one they followed.

Meanwhile James followed the ruined streets, evading battle where he could, yet he couldn't believe it, an attack he couldn't understand, Krell was always some how predictable. But for an entire Invader Battle group to attack the capital of the Federation meant only one thing, there was something James had missed.... something Krell had over him.

Finally in a ruined street, James found him, his oldest friend Tomas hunkered down behind a pile of rubble, rifle in arm, issuing orders to those around "Cover the eastern flank.... get more men up here now"

James fell next to him "We need to go...." Tomas ignored him "You can't hold the city.... you just can't... we need to fall back"

Tomas may hate him these days, but he always knew to trust James' instincts, so he followed through "Fall back....fall back".

The battle was going very, very, very badly... everything was against them, no preparation, no organization, no defenses of any kind. James grabbed his com "Admiral are there any Liberator forces nearby"

The reply came "They all say they can't.... their ships are to badly damaged"

by the time Tomas and James made it to the Unity moored atop the Federal Council building, they could see it surrounded,  on either side of the opened ramp advancing from both sides were waves of grunts. They pushed through, James with his sword, Tomas with his rifle.

They found Crim and Firestorm fighting hard, "READY" James shouted, looking to them all, they each gave a steady nod in between their weapons firing. 

But then Firestorm pushed forward, "Get out of here sir" Holt shouted

James didn't quite understand, "Sir just go... we'll hold them off... we" a bolt hit Hoi's throat, silencing her before she could finish, she fell onto her back, falling dead still.

"Hoi's down" shouted Grayson firing his shotgun, moving forward to get a better chance of achieving a hit, but as he did something came upon him, a hunter tackled him from his left, and before he could act, the creature bit down hard upon his throat.

Now only, Holt, Stoke and Bilk remained, Holt finally gave in ran to James gripping his chest plate hard and throwing him back across the ramp into the Unity. "Just go sir... we'll be alright" Shouted Bilk, but before he could continue his fight a grunts plasma bolt struck him in the leg, forcing him to the floor, raising himself up, legs spread in front of him, he locked another power cell into his sniper rifle and kept fighting.

"Good luck sir!!!" shouted Holt as he turned away from the Unity's ramp as it slowly rose up, with James, Crim, Tomas within.

"Good luck to you Guardians" replied James over the com, he had decided they were worthy of the title of Hellerick Guardian.

The three of them made their way to a shielded window to see, and watched, as the Unity slowly rose up. They could only watch as the three remaining guardians fell one by one, until Holt was all that was left, throwing his weapons away, he pulled explosives from his belt and charged head on. The last they saw of Firestorm was a fireball destroy everything where Firestorm had made their stand.

James grabbed his com again "To all peoples across the Galaxy..... the Federation has fallen..... I repeat the FEDERATION HAS FALLEN"


Chapter 11: the end of an era

James was furious upon the bridge of the Unity, he went through every piece of information, looking for anything he had missed, he wanted to know why it was they had failed, why the Federation had fallen. Then he saw something small, a piece of information that didn't really matter, but when looked into more carefully was critical.

"Get Admiral Hirohito in here" He ordered with the firmest and strongest voice.

The guardians brought him in as if he was under arrest, they watched him carefully, they knew that James was like this, he had smelled treason.

"What is the meaning of this James?" the admiral asked

"You said that the liberators couldn't help..... the ships were badly damaged.... but I've just checked..... they all had completed repairs six days ago" James shouted

The admiral was shocked, he didn't know the reports he had were that repairs were ongoing, he stuttered at first but then he paused, James saw this and pushed his questioning "You didn't know.... but there is something else isn't there" his language was much calmer, more inquisitive.

"Recently there has been talk.... most of the liberators still loyal after the civil war.... well all were human... and some didn't like that we were risking lives for.... and I can't believe this non humans" the admiral admitted

"They were against helping non humans" James asked, the admiral just nodded. "Then perhaps the time has come..... it seems only fair"

The admiral stepped forward "What? Whats it time for? whats fair?"

James looked to all in the room from the Admiral to the woman he loved "The time has come for the Liberators to end" everyone stood in shock, "The liberators have forgotten their purpose admiral.... they have forgotten why my ancestor Jack Luck founded them to do"

The admiral nodded in agreement, he did so begrudgingly, he didn't like it for the liberators had been his life, but he understood that James was right, the Liberators were founded to uphold the freedoms and liberties of ALL peoples and they had failed in this. The liberators were now deciding that Humans were more valuable than non humans.

"The end of an Era has come...the Era of the Liberators.... A Luck Founded them." James Stated "Its only fair a Luck Ended them"


To be Continued