• We’ve always known that we weren’t alone. The signs were there and our exploration into space had reached its turning point, discovery of an intelligent species on another world. The painful truth was that the first encounter wasn’t on the friendliest of terms. It was all an accident really. A lost explorer had entered a part of space that none of us would have ever dared to go. It was littered spacial dust, debris and suns that seemed incapable to support life, least much our own. Apparently we were wrong, very wrong. What the ship had found changed our world and theirs forever.

    Most of the Zenion crew never saw the world of the Necrons. They had caught the orbit of one of the planet’s moons when they had fallen out of subspace and were immediately boarded. I can imagine the first encounter, time frozen as each race stared at each other in total bewilderment. Their breaths were probably caught in their throats as the air tensed up in uncertainty. No one knows for sure who moved first but we all know what happened in the end. Only one was left alive, the messenger. Their logic, why have more than one person to tell the tale. When the battered man was rescued from the capsule that had brought him back, he only said two words before dying shortly afterward, “They’re here.” And indeed they were; only this time, they needed us.

    It wasn’t long before the world of the Necrons had split into two from our arrival. Those who thought of us as a threat and those who wanted peace fought in a civil war that drove their planet to the brink of destruction. Their solution was to send the ones who wanted cooperation between the two species to our planet, hoping that we would wipe each other out in tactless battles from the first bloody meeting on their moon. Fortunately, it never happened. Putting aside the Zenion incident, the world leaders of Earth accepted the friendlier Necrons and welcomed them to society as refuges until their integration. It wasn’t long afterward that the thought of a blending of the species was plausible until its defeat through experimentation. Still, the thought and possibility existed. Maybe this was why They came back. Perhaps this was why Earth was destined to be destroyed…

    My father waited until the last minute to leave. Being a high general, it was his duty to wait until the last second to give up. If only I had convinced him sooner. I stood across from him at the space port office, bag in hand as he gently turned off the communications line, “It’s time.” In a flash he was practically dragging me through the back hallways to the last shuttle off of Earth, “Don’t worry, we’ll make it.” But there was something in his grey eyes that worried me, something that I couldn’t foresee yet that he couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me. The last shuttle came to view as a small line of people clamored inside of the large craft. My father had purposely guided me to the Necron pilot and whispered something into his ear before turning to me, “I’m sorry sweetheart but you must take my seat.” Immediately I gasped and clung to my father’s blue uniform, pleading with him, “No! You must come with me! Why? WHY?!” He merely nodded at the pilot who struggled to pull me back from him, “I love you baby girl, but it’s for the best, you must survive. Cael, you must live!” I kicked and cursed at the pilot as he pulled me into the craft, “No! Get your hands off me! DAD!” I couldn’t hear him over my shouting but I saw his lips move one last time before the outer doors closed tightly, “I love you.” My heart stopped and all breathing ceased as time froze and my eyes locked onto the door. It was only a fraction of a second but it seemed like a lifetime until the pilot moved me to the weapons command chair and strapped me in, which pulled me from my catatonic trance. I didn’t even glance back at the other passengers as the Necron pilot and his human second in command took to their positions and started up the engine with haste, whispering to each other the protocols for liftoff. It was quiet. No one was talking or even moving except for them but through the eerie silence, a small gasp escaped from a female’s lips, “Do you see that?!”

    Everyone froze as they looked toward the west windows and saw a glowing light from the horizon like the sun was coming up again. I watched as the pilot glanced to the opposite and then furiously jump started the engine. I could barely hear the Second’s growl, “What are you doing? We haven’t finished the inspections!” The pilot pointed to the west sky that was now glowing brighter and brighter by the second, “Do you see that?! That’s not the sun! It’s Them! Now help me get this craft off of this forsaken planet!” The realization of their impending doom from the wave of fire and hate kicked both Necrons into high gear as the craft leaned back for its lifting stage and fired it’s engines. Someone screamed. The smoke and flames could be seen in the far distance and were closing fast. The craft shook and groaned as it struggled to climb into the air. I held my breath and looked out of the window, thinking of what end was to come to the millions that had been left behind. Was it quick? Was it painful? Could anyone survive? Why did my father….

    Two sudden raptures from the craft told us that we had broken through the atmosphere, shaking everyone back to the reality that we were facing now. Earth was gone. Our home was turned into a fiery hell, uninhabitable for no one and now, what fate do we have? How many of us made it out alive?

    The pilot sighed and turned to his Second, patting him on the shoulder before getting up from his chair and facing the rest of us, “We’re not out of danger yet. We still have to get by the base ship without them detecting us. So I want everyone to stay calm and not move around. We’re going to go stealth and rendezvous with other ships behind the moon.”

    “Did others… make it?” My voice cracked through my throat like someone had been tightening around it making it barely audible. It didn’t matter though; the Necrons would’ve heard me no matter how quiet I was. His eyes lowered to me but couldn’t give me an answer. Even he didn’t know from the com-silence order and no one was going to voice out over communications in fear of Them hearing us. I sighed and with a heavy heart, stared out of the window to again reflect the last minutes that I had with my father. The Necon then started talking about the procedures that were going to happen to the soldiers aboard but his voice began to slip away as my head leaned against the cool leather seat and the world faded slowly to blackness. I wanted to sleep, to escape and possibly wake up on Earth again from this horrible dream. To see the sun, lay on the grass and even…

    It wasn’t cold. I touched the snow like substance that had covered every single thing around me and watched as it disintegrated to dust in my hand. It was ash. The buildings were still there, even the trees and people, only time seemed frozen for them. I walked down the street, noticing how quiet and gray it was. The dust scattered into the air like a billowing smoke screen of death as my feet sunk into the fallen ‘snow’ with each step. Funny, it didn’t seem to affect my breathing. Shadows up ahead made my heart jump as they moved closer. People! I started to run towards them and got as far as a block before seeing the details of the ‘people’. True Necrons. Their blackened ragged platting was clearly visible, even with the gray snow falling from above. One in particular noticed my presence and turned towards me, his cloak billowing like the dust around him. I started walking back as his strides brought him closer to me and then whipped around to run. I didn’t get far as I slowed to a halt, I was surrounded. Other Necros came seemingly out of nowhere from the alleys and buildings. No doubt the cloaked one sounded the alarm with his thoughts. One stepped beside what seemed to be an ash covered human in mid run and cut through its mid section with his gauntlet laden hand. The form crumbled into dust, leaving little trace of what seemed to be there. I stared at the Necron in horror, breathing heavily as panic set into me when the sudden feeling of hands on my shoulders made me scream.

    A sharp slap to the face suddenly cut off my voice as my eyes opened up to the waking world. It was the pilot who had been holding me down with a slightly worried but quizzical expression on his face, “What did you see?” I glanced over at his Second who seemed more confused than anything but was forced back to the Necron’s green eyes, “What did you see! Tell me!”

    “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about!” His hands gripped tighter, threatening to dig their claws into my clothing, “Just tell me.” His voice gritted on the edge of calm and menacing as he stared me down. His eyes shifted, what was he looking for? “Unhand me.” He obeyed but only after giving a sigh and shaking his head, “You really are his daughter.” I took a deep breath and tried to calm my racing heart. I didn’t want any of the Necrons to see me as distressed. They were an extraordinary race; heightened senses, powerful feats of strength and even cases of telepathy. Things the human race could only dream of but never were able to achieve. Their flaw, compassion. It was duly noted in the back of my mind that most Necrons, friendly or not, lacked the one thing that made us human but I didn’t hold it against them. It was, unfortunately, their nature.

    He stood up and motioned with his hand, “We’re on the moon. You can get up and move around if you want, Miss Caelest.” Ah, the joys of being a high ranking daughter… or was. “Is anyone else here with us?” The Second spoke up with a hopefully tone, “Seven other ships, one science craft and three battle cruisers from the Southern Hemis. The other three are civilian crafts that survived from-” The Pilot gave him a stern look before turning to me, “Torin, go and escort our ‘passengers’ to the Phoenix 7.” The Second nodded as he rounded up the soldiers and officials that were still sitting silent in their seats. A few were Necrons but it didn’t matter, we were all now fighting for survival. I moved to go with them but a forcing hand blocked my way, “You’re not going anywhere for the moment, we need to talk.” He nodded over to those that were leaving and turned back to me, “Alone.”

    We waited until every human and necronian had been transported to the battle cruiser in silence. I didn't dare to look up at him for something told me that this wasn't your everyday exchange with an arrogant Necron male. I wasn't worried though, they lived by a moral code for us 'petty humans' and I knew how far to push it. Silence, oh how it was killing me. "You're lucky the others didn't feel it." I gave him my best glare, "Feel what?" Again, those searching eyes, I hope they never found whatever they desperately looked for. "It was no dream. You were Connected with an enemy Necron." I huffed, "I don't know what you're talking about."

    "Yes you do!"

    By the gods! The pressure from the mental intrusion was excruciating! I collapsed to my knees, holding the sides of my head as if to try to relive the sudden pain, "Get out!" Images from the dream flooded my senses as I struggled to get back in control, "You ******** b*****d! Argh!" I lunged up but failed pathetically as he let go of my thoughts, leaving me drained and fighting to just stand. "Who the hell are you to do that!" I cursed him in both languages for breaking the Mortem Code while wearily hitting his chest plate with my fist. He didn't move as I went back down on my knees, wishing that I had the strength to slap him. "I believe the question is, who are you? No human is capable of doing that and your lucky that I was able to pull you out of it." He then knelt slightly and pulled my arm over him, literally dragging me back to the leather chair, "You could have seriously endangered us all which is why I am going to be your personal body guard. If you have the capabilities of us, then you may not be able to control them without me." For the first time since we've left Earth the tears fell from my eyes, blurring my vision of the cursed Necron. I couldn't speak but I didn't have to for he asked the question for me, "How? How does a human like you have the mental qualities of a Necron? Unless..." I watched him shake his head, his deep brown hair messed around his face as he chuckled. That wasn't be good, Necons very rarely laugh. "If I'm right, your father might have damned us all." He leaned on the chair, almost coming nose to nose with mine. Such odd ways of a Necron, I wondered if he was trying to see into my soul through my eyes or perhaps picking up my stray crazed thoughts. That tickled me inside. It was a bit uncomfortable for him as he shifted his footing and tilted his head to the side, "You wear eye lens?" It took me back, that was what all of the fuss was about? My contacts?! I nodded briefly, "Not for sight though, they're like sunglasses. Why are you so curious about them?" He studied me more with that same quizzical face that he had earlier but merely muttered, "Nothing." I laughed, "Wait, are you trying to suggest that I'm part Necron?" I was giggling a bit more like a madwoman at the moment, thinking back to my father and the mother that I never knew, "My mother was human, no one in my family was necronian so you can just toss that little idea out of your head because there is no possibility of it being true." I was still chuckling even as he pushed off of the chair in frustration. Ah, the more emotional side of a Necron, anger. "Now, if you excuse me, I wish to go to my quarters and be alone for a while." I stood and searched for my bag but he had already grabbed it, "I'm sorry but you won't be able to be alone anymore. Not with your 'condition'." I growled in annoyance but with what little that I knew of this Necron, I had doubts that I would have been able to overturn his standings. In any case, I was desperate to sleep again, "So, if you're going to be my bodyguard, shouldn't I know your name?" He took my elbow and directed me to the transport as he calibrated the settings, "My name is Kavell."

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