

Star Raiders

And The Lost Expedition

M. Shaunessy

Copyright © 2008 M. Shaunessy

Cover Graphics by M. Shaunessy

All rights reserved

Smashwords Edition

ISBN: 1438230192

To order more copies, please visit:

http://mshaunessybooks.xtreemhost.com/

"The beginning of knowledge is the discovery

of something we do not understand."

-Frank Herbert

US science fiction novelist (1920 - 1986)
Preface

December 21st, 2012, most humans will not forget that date. The Earth changed the day. Most people believed it was the end of the world, some knew it was a beginning of a new world. Scientists of that day knew that the Earth would align itself with the center of the galaxy. Nobody knew what would happen. The human race saw the sun for the last time that day. The atmosphere changed. It grew colder as huge blizzards covered the planet and the second ice age began. More than seventy percent of the human population did not survive the harsh cold, but most of them, scientists, did survive. Living in underground bunkers, to protect themselves, they needed to study what was going on outside. Ten long years has passed as the storms finally calmed, the scientists resurfaced only to see a new world.

They explored the icy world they once knew, to see if they could find other survivors, but they found something they did not expect. However, something different also happened on that day. The animals, they began to evolve. The Scientists were astonished that they look almost human-like. They figured it must have happened on December 21st ten years ago. They concluded that there was a strong energy force. It must have emitted from the center of the Milky Way that affected the animals. When they first met them, most of them did not understand our language. The scientists then classified them as Animuns. When the Ice and snow finally melted, it was then, that they must work with the Animuns to rebuild what Mother Nature has destroyed.

The Animuns and the humans began to live with each other for decades to come. The Owl Avitons, a highly genius race from the Animuns, helped NASA to create a spacecraft to fly at light speeds. They have also discovered Hyper Flight from this. According to the top Avitons scientist, Hyper Flight consisted of magnetization pull from and to a center of a star. They discovered a new crystal called Neoxite that was on Saturn. Its properties multiplied the magnetization ten times its power. It had seems that the entire planet was made from it. The Avitons also designed a force shield so powerful that cannot crush the hull. That way ships can now enter the dense atmosphere of Saturn and create a mining colony. Once they introduced, Hyper Flight, colonization had begun throughout the Solar System and the Milky Way.

Prologue Part One

A hundred a fifty years has passed since the second ice age had began and a Lizzian explorer, Uno Pu'do, climbed into his one manned star ship, The Magellan II, to begin his historic journey into the center of the Galaxy. Jonathan Tippin, his colleague theorized, that there must be significant unlimited energy there to power a planet for generations to come. Energy that was powerful enough to evolve the animal kingdom, especially when energy supply on earth was critically low at that time.

Uno piloted his ship at the right angle, held his breath as a voice entered his ear.

"Good luck Uno," he said, "And god speed"

"I will John. And I will say the same to you and your wife," Uno replied, "I hope your baby will be healthy and smart as you."

John laughed, "Thanks I will, talk to you in four days. That should be enough time for you get to that energy force."

"Right." Uno said.

He then pressed the Hyper Flight button and his ship disappeared, headed towards the center of the galaxy.

Just as John predicted, Uno came out of Hyper Flight only to have his scanning instruments malfunctioning. Alarm bells rang throughout the little ship as Uno tried to find out what was causing it. He pressed numerous buttons, but nothing worked. He then started his audio transmission to Earth.

"Attention, Columbia. Something is interfering with my instruments and I do not know how long I will be able to transmit this message, but, what the...." He paused as he saw something amazing in his port window. Then the ship's light started to flicker as he continued. "This expedition has failed, the energy it's draining my ship's power. Whatever it is, its heaven and hell, and..."

That was last anyone has heard from him. The WSA (World Space Association, formally NASA) has sent rescue ships, but never returned. It was then, decided by the WSA Counsel to ban space travel through the center of the galaxy.

Prologue Part Two

The energy source that first emitted from the center of the Milky Way, and continued to emit outside our galaxy only to find another was interested in it. Hundreds of space station was designated throughout the galaxy to help probe unknown regions. One station in particular, near the edge of the galaxy outside of the Zeta Aquilae System, named Discovery Station 812, the scientist's there had a job to probe the infinite space beyond the Milky Way, but one Earth day, a signal was sent back.

Four personals were on hand that day doing routine work. Two humans; a man and a woman, and two Animuns; a female Fawnis, and a male Orcian were surveying the outer rim. They have been sending out probes to find, more planets or life, but what they got was something else. It appeared on Janis's screen, the Fawnis, but before she could react and tell her colleagues the station was no more. Something destroyed it, atomized into tiny pieces as it scattered everywhere. There floated by five enormous ships shrouded in darkness.

At the communication and scanning center located on the small planet Pluto, they have been trying to reach Discovery Station 812 for a daily update, but they were unsuccessful. This bothered them, and it was unusual. They usually do hear from them from time to time and they always keep their communication line open. Something was wrong, one of the employee in charge thought. That was until scanning personnel picked up something huge. It was five unidentified ships. At first, they thought that they were a new life form, from the unknown region of the galaxy. They have tried to communicate with them through DR a.k.a. Digital Radio, but the Alien ships did not respond. They did not even stop. They kept on moving. It seemed that their primary target was somewhere in the center of the Solar System. They have continued to communicate them throughout all channels, they even warned them, but they did not stop instead a group of tiny fighters ships emerged from one of the huge star cruiser and attacked the planet-based station. The station did not have time to react as in minuets it was gone.

Five years, since he last heard from his friend Uno, Jonathan continued to find unlimited energy source. He had a theory back in college to use Hydrogen and heated thermal coils. He had sent this theory to WSA and it was instantly accepted. Now he walked down the halls of the new WSA research lab at the Bush Center in Illinois. As he was walking towards the cafeteria, his Vidphone beeped. He knew it could be only one person, Samantha, his wife. They have been married for a several years now and have a little Five-year-old son, Michael.

He answered it and grinned, "Hello?"

"Hi hon.," the image pop up and he saw her beautiful blond wife smiling at him.

"Hey babe, what's up?" He said blissfully.

She replied with the same tone, "Not much I was wondering when you would be home for dinner?"

"I don't know, probably around six or so, depending if," just before he could finish his sentence, a green-scaled Lizzian scientist ran up to him.

"John, John!" He cried worriedly, "You must come, the coils are overheating again!"

Jonathan looked to his Lizzian friend and said to him disappointedly covering the screen on the Vidphone, "Not again, look just shut down the coils and I'll be there as soon as possible." The Lizzian nodded and hurried back to work as John looked back to the screen again, "I could be a little late. If I am not home by seven, just leave the plate by the solar heater."

She sighed and said, "Alright, you know you could spend more time with us than that uh whatchamacalit?"

"Hydro Helium Coils, and I am sorry," He replied, "Look I'll tell you what, as sooner as I am done perfecting it, we will go to New Jersey and visit Mars Park or something, just the three of us."

"Promise?" She asked hopefully.

"Yes, cross my heart and hope do die."

"Ok," she said and Jonathan saw her smile through the screen.

"Alright Hun, let me get back to work. I love you."

"I love you too."

He switched off the Vidphone and quickly headed to the experimental research lab. He knew that she would understand and that is one of the reasons that he loved her. When he first met her, they were both in college. Sam majored in psychology as he was in physics. He remembered what happened. It was cold winter morn and he was late for class, until he accidentally bumped in to her. At that time, she was a beautiful slender blonde-haired person about a few inches shorter than John was. He immediately had fallen in love with her. Once he gotten to the huge room he saw the humongous coil immersing in a bright red. He hurried over to the controls as the buzzing alarm filled the room.

"Ganu quick, open the liquid nitrogen chamber," he said to his Lizzian colleague, "But do it slowly, we don't want to break the coil."

Ganu acknowledged. He turned a knob on the panel. John pressed a few buttons trying to reduce the temperature but it was no use. It seemed that it was stuck at a temperature of 1200 degrees. He then heard a hissing sound as the liquid nitrogen poured on the intense coil. He then saw steam rise from the top of it and hoped that it will not break.

"A little more," he said as Ganu tuned the knob just slightly, maybe a decimal or two. The nitrogen continued to sizzle on the coil as John saw that the temperature was finally was dropping. They waited for a few more minutes as John saw on the computer screen the meter dropped to the yellow zone and they knew that they were safe. They waited five minutes more, and then the meter dropped again to green. They both sighed in relief. If that coil broke, it would have destroyed the entire room, engulfing them in flames.

"I am sorry that it didn't work as the way you planned," Ganu said as he walked over to him.

John replied, "It's ok Ganu, even Thomas Edison tried over a hundred times before he perfected the light bulb."

"Who?"

"Edison, he was an inventor, just like us."

"Oh."

Suddenly another human rushed in. John knew him as Dr, Daryl Jones. He was a taller man than John was and a little darker. Ganu and John looked at him as they saw a scarce expression on his face and knew it was not good news.

"Have you guys heard?" He said.

John replied cocking a brow, "Heard what?"

Daryl hurried over to the computer screen, tapped in a few buttons and they were immediately watching a local news channel. They saw a blond newscaster sitting behind a desk reading from a teleprompter.

"...To bring you up to speed, Mars has been invaded by an unknown alien force. As you can see," The picture changed and they saw at least two space cruisers. To John they looked like giant pinecones coated in metal. Its spikes shot out like deadly randomized positioned porcupine quills. It was nothing John had ever seen. "There are two space cruisers out of five floating around the red planet. Their demands are unknown as they speak in alien language we cannot understand. What you are about to see may shock you. This is the message we got." The picture changed again, this time to a fearful nose less alien. It had three liquid black eyes, his rust-colored skin was wet, reptilian-like, but he had a human-like figure. When he talked, he had razor sharp teeth that would cut steel. His dialogue was a mix of Arabic, Japanese, German, and Spanish. It was nothing of the three men had heard before. The alien spoke for no more than a few minutes. The picture then froze it was pulled back in a mini box next to the newscaster. "The top dialect and language professors try to decipher the strange tongue, but they had no luck," he paused for a moment, "We had just received that the alien force has taken a young human man as hostage. And we are being," The screen began to scramble and flicker as the alien returned. This time he was holding the young human man with its hand gripping on his head. The young man seemed unconscious as the alien twisted and snapped his head.

The three gasped as John's Vidphone rang again. He answered it, as it was his wife on the other end one more time.

"John, are watching the broadcast?" She said sacredly.

"Yeah," he just answered still stunned.

"What's going on?"

"I don't," the alien interrupted him as he began to talk this time in complete English.

"People of Earth, I am Mi'Tuk, Emperor of the Xatu galaxy and of this one," he started, "You will kneel before me as your new master or die a horrible death. You have seen what I have done to the people of Mars. I have spared their planet, but will I spare yours? That is up to your loyalty, if your leader does not respond with proper respect that is. You have twenty-four earth hours. Xata!"

Mi'Tuk had taken the human and absorbed his memories. That is how he knew the English language and that planet was Earth and everything else the human knew. The screen went back to the newscaster at the news desk. Like him, everyone around the world was in shock. They could not believe that this was the day, an alien force known as the Xatu threatened the entire Earth that day.

"John? John you there?" His wife called.

John replied looking back at the screen, "Uh, yeah I'm here."

"John I'm really scared," she said fearfully, "Come home, please, I need you."

"Yeah, I'll be home as soon as I can," he replied still shocked, "Don't worry ok? I love you."

"I love you too," she said as the screen went black.

He looked to his two colleagues and said, "I have to go you guys."

"What about, the..." Ganu started to wonder.

John interrupted him as he headed for the door, "Shut everything down, I'm going home to my family, you guys better do the same. We'll resume when this threat is over."

At the New United Nations building, now located Baltimore Maryland, after a group of terrorists destroyed the one in New York, during the Terrorist Wars, the group of nations was arguing on how to deal with this new menace. They only had less than twenty-three hours left to give Mi'Tuk an answer.

A tall African-American woman stood up and faced the other leaders, "Ladies and gentleman, please settle down." The entire group stopped talking and looked towards her. Everyone knew her as Pauline Jones, the recently elected President of the United States. The threat took them by surprise. "Now as acting council leader, I propose that we do not take steps upon his threats. If he thinks that we will be followers, then he has not seen what we are capable of."

"Then what do you propose we do?" The Japan emperor inquired.

Then the Arabic president replied, "If he threatens our freedom then we must go to war!"

"That'll be the last thing we need to do," Pauline said, "I suggest we negotiate with him. I mean he is a leader, and I hope a respectable one at that and not some dictating bully."

"And if he does not cooperate?"

"Then we will have to go to war."

However, she was wrong. Once she made contact with Mi'Tuk, the only thing he wanted is their sworn loyalty to the Xatu Empire. She did not like the idea the she would be reduce to a peasant to this new Emperor. The United Nations voted and declared war. Even though they did not have enough time to prepare a defense against the alien army, they must fight for their freedom.
Prologue Part Three

Two of the five Xatu space cruisers finally reached Earth and started the attack. Ten of thousands of crescent shaped ships emerged from the two ships like a swarm of mosquitoes and flocked dawn to the green planet. The war had begun. They first attacked major cities around the globe. The human's defense was not even enough to fight back. The Xatu technology was far beyond what they expected. They were using lasers blasts, as the humans were still using bullets and missiles, not even enough to break through their shield technology. The defense researchers, was working around the clock before the alien invasion trying to develop new types of weaponry. The first design was a heated laser gun, but it design was only specially for the star ships to fight their fleet. Since the Xatu destroyed their lab, they did not have enough time to complete it.

"The Xatu has landed! The Xatu has landed!" Some cried as everyone in the Lincoln area scrambled to the local airport/spaceport. They had to get on one of the transportation ships, but the Xatu had started to either kill or take them as hostage. John, Samantha and Michael were stuck in an insane crowed trying to reach their ship. Panic was all around them as local authorities tried to calm the crowd.

"John we'll never make it in time!" Sam cried as she held Michael's arm.

John was holding a few black carrier bags as he replied harshly, "Don't worry, we will."

They pushed and pushed through the crowd until they finally got to their gate. There was a male Leopard Felinis guard at the gate. He was checking I.D.s and to see if they were cleared to pass.

The Felinis looked up at John and said, "Identification?"

John swiftly dug in his pocket and withdrew his wallet. He then flipped it open to his driver's license as the Felinis looked at it. He saw that he worked for the WSA research facility and knew that he cannot board.

"I am sorry sir, I cannot allow you board," the guard said.

John could not understand as he wondered, "What? Why?"

"You work for the government, and I have orders to not allow government officials to board at this time," he replied.

John did not understand it he looked to the guard and asked, "What? I don't believe it! You have to let me aboard, if not then let my wife and son go."

The Felinis looked at Samantha and to Michael and saw that they were confused and terrified. He then nodded to John and allowed them to go ahead, but Samantha did not want to separate from her husband.

"No John, I am not leaving you!" She protested.

John held her and replied, "I don't want to leave you either, but you have too. I promise you I will catch up to you two later ok?"

"Well, what if you don't and? I'm just scared that I might lose you," she said scarcely.

"You won't," he said bravely, and then he kissed her ever so deeply. Then he looked to his son and knelt down to meet his eyes.

"You commin' wit us daddy?" Michael asked.

"Yes, but I will see you later, daddy has to do last minute errands. Here I want you to take this," John quickly dug through his coat, withdrew a flash sick, and handed it to his son, "When the time is right, use it in your computer ok?" Michael did not understand, but nodded as John hugged him. He then realized that he had never going to see him again. "And remember, this, energy is in the heart. I love you son."

Michael looked back to his father as water filled his eyes, "I wuv you too daddy."

John hugged him tightly, as if he would never see him gain. Suddenly, Sam noticed two humans shoving their way through the huge crowd. It did not bother her at first, but suddenly as they were inching their way. One of them spoke in gibberish she could not understand. They then drew their alien like guns. The crowd panicked and ducked as they aimed it at John. Sam eyes widened and saw in horror.

"John! Look out!" She cried fearfully.

John spun his head quickly to see the two men, but before he could say or do anything, they shot the guardsman and he went down. He noticed that the blast that came from the gun was not truly lethal, as the Felinis did not bleed, but then again, he was not truly educational on Xatu weaponry.

He turned to his beloved wife and cried, "Take Mikey and get out of here!"

"No! I won't leave you," She shot back, but before John could say something back, she heard a strange electronic buzzing noise, and her husband fell down. Sam's eyes widened and cried, "John!"

Michael looked at his father in shock and cried frightfully. "Daddy!"

The two men ripped their faces off to reveal that they were Xatu soldiers. At the same moment that the guard and John was hit, Ganu and other awaiting passengers down at the end of the gate, heard the commotion and looked. Ganu saw that his human friend was in trouble he started to run down the gate and saw that he fell down.

Sam looked at her son and said to her, "Go Michael," she looked at the end of the gate and saw Ganu. She looked back to her son and said franticly, "Run to Ganu baby, I'll be right behind you."

"I don't wanna leave you," Mike said to her scarcely.

Sam was on the verge of tears, but said again, "Just do what mommy said ok?" She saw that the two aliens were close by maybe several feet, she could not truly guess. She then said to her son franticly, "I'll be fine, just run!"

Michael nodded, looked towards Ganu and simply ran down the gate as fast as he could. He heard the same noise stopped, turned and saw his mother lying down next to his father. Fear froze him, as he could not move. One of the aliens looked up at him as Ganu grab Michael and scooped him up in his scaly arms. Michael squirmed to get free but Ganu held him tight. Ganu frowned as he listened to Michael's cries. The Lizzian ran back down to the gate as fast as he could. Michael was crying out to his mom and dad but it was too late. The Xatu army had besieged the space/air port and dragged Michael's parents away. The two Xatu soldiers continued to fire at Ganu but he barely slipped under the security blast shield as it slid down deflecting the laser blasts.

Ganu and Michael raced towards their departure ship called Mayflower 18. The ship was huge, maybe four times bigger than the space shuttle that they used back in the last century. The design however did not change. As they boarded, Ganu saw in the sky tiny bursts of explosion and frowned, as he knew that the war was never going to end.

High above the Earth's atmosphere, one of the spikes underneath the Xatu star cruiser, opened up like blossoming flower. It emitted a bright yellow glow, and then a laser beam shot down on the planet. As the Mayflower 18 took off, Ganu looked out the window and saw horridly the beam hit somewhere out in Midwest. Ganu figured that the beam must have been two hundred miles wide in radius. It was big enough to destroy one city, but it did not move. It puzzled Ganu as the ship ascended into space, and then he realized that beam was cutting into the Earth's surface. The Xatu was targeting the core. If that beam reaches it he thought, it would oh no, destroy the planet entirely. They had to get safe distance if they were going to survive the explosion, but they are not out of the woods yet. The Mayflower 18 must get past the two star cruisers.

A fleet of crescent winged Xatu ships called B'tars, changed its course as the leader saw the transport ship departing. They flew behind it at incredible speeds firing its pulsar bolts at it trying to damage it. The pilots inside the Mayflower 18 could not shake them. The navigator was trying to plot a course to the planet of Cian, but the pilot was too busy avoiding hits by the Xatu fleet. The pilot told the navigator that they must enter Hyper Flight to escape, but the navigator said that the ship must be in the right position. The pilot did not care. They needed to leave before Empire sliced their ship into Swiss cheese, so he then pressed the Hyper Flight button on his control panel and the Mayflower 18 disappeared. It was at that moment the Earth began to break and crack as thousands of volcanoes erupted all over the surface. Then it happened. The Earth, destroyed in a violent gigantic explosion. The shock destroyed all of the Xatu fleet, but the star cruiser sustained minimal damage because of its strong force shield.

It was gone. They were gone. Michael could not believe that Ganu let them die. Ganu had told them that he would he would see them again, but Mike did not believe him. He hated him. Ganu placed him in his bed on the ship and frowned. He felt so guilty and wanted to do something. He would adopt him but it was against Lizzian law to take in a human boy. Michael just lay in his bed, his face buried in the pillow crying his eyes out. When Ganu closed the door, he made a decision to put him in an orphanage once they reached Cian. Then at least he would have a home and be safe as Cian was unknown to most of the galaxy. It was more of a safe house for others who were trying to hide from the rest of society.

Chapter 1

The Jewel of Na'Tuka

As a boy, Mike Tippen had always admired archeology, the study of history, he had wrote a paper on Uno Pu'Do's last expedition to the center of the galaxy. After he wrote it, he and his best friend Justin Jobbs entered the world of amateur archeology also known as treasure hunting. They took odd jobs looking for rare and valuable objects.

A tall brown-haired man in his late twenties, stood with-in the dense rainforest wearing long cargo pants and his favorite blue shirt. His friend Justin Jobbs, a few inches shorter than he was, walked behind him as a prickly branch barely combed his blond hair. They had a job on the jungle moon of Mota witch orbited the red gaseous planet Trigal in the Regor system. An ancient alien tribe called Entians inhabited the moon-like planet. They knew that probes discovered the moon shortly after the Xatu invaded the galaxy, but the Xatu were unaware of its existence, which was good for Mike and Justin. The Entians, unlike the Animuns, were a unique alien race. Just like Earth mythology, Dryads, A tree like creature of magic times, seemed real, as the Entians were wood like aliens. Their society advanced to the likes of tribal people. Simple, peaceful, but easily agitated.

Their client told Mike and Justin that Mota held a precious jewel, the jewel that the Entians called Na'Tuka. Legend has it that the jewel contains magical properties of fire, wind, earth and water which help created the Entians' civilization. Mike and Justin did not believe any of that, they only wanted the jewel for their client. What he did with it was his own business. The two adventures found an ancient temple deep within the bulky jungle. They had to land their ship in an open area as the map they had took them in the dense jungle. They walked for thirty minutes until they came upon, what it looked like huge dying tree trunk that spanned five stories tall. As they came closer, Mike noticed strange carvings on the tree. Pictographs. He then knew that this must be the temple. The map that a Giber gave them showed them how to pass the traps that awaited the two.

The two entered the dark shrine as Mike turned on his Illumnistick, it glowed bright blue. Inside, they were in a small wood-like foyer with an opening in front of them and strange alien writing carved above it. The room also contained a stage like area to the left of the door. On the far wall hung a large circular ornament made out of bronze. More pictographs and symbols covered the ornament. It was the same as on the map as Mike looked at both. There was a faint smell of dead rotten carcasses but it did not bother them.

"Well? What does it say?" Justin asked as Mike tried to interpret the writings.

He had taken alien language in school, but it was a very hard subject even for a human. He gotten out is digital language pad and read from both trying to convert it.

Mike pondered and answered, "Only, tribe," he looked down to the pad then back up as Justin adjusted his lucky ratty looking old Yankee's hat, "Tribe members, enter, others," he looked back down then to the warning over the door, "Will.."

"Will what?" His friend wondered looking at him impatiently as he leaned against a stone brick wall.

"Death, dead, Die! That's it," he finally answered.

"You're kidding me right?" Justin asked worriedly, raising his brow.

Mike looked to him and replied, "What's wrong? Scared?"

"No," he said unsurely, "I'm not scared of an old out dated warning. You?"

"Not until when we pay off Mama'Halb I'm not," he said.

Mike when through first as Justin crept up from behind. Something in his gut told him that this was a bad idea from the start. Suddenly Justin heard his friend scream horribly and panicked.

"Mike!" He screamed, as he was frightened.

He thought a trap had killed or even worse. Justin did not know what to do if he had ever lost his best friend. Ever since they were kids growing up in an orphanage, Justin and Mike had to look out for each other.

Mike popped his head out and said jokingly, "Gotcha."

"Aw, man," he said as he tried to get his heat to start beating again. Mike chuckled, "Don't ever do that! You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Where's your sense of humor? Come on," Mike said as Justin shook his head in disbelief and followed him.

They entered a square room where they saw an entanglement of vines attached to the walls and ceiling. There were tiny holes about the size of a small baseball drilled in the walls. There was another door on the other side of the room, but it seemed that someone sealed it off with no handles or any other way to open it. In the middle of the room, Mike noticed a small model of an old style windmill made out of carved stone, and wood that sat upon a tall square pedestal. Worn out cloth draped on the wood like sails on an old water ship, were on its blades as it lied motionlessly. It looked just as big as they were coming up to their neck. Michael knew that the Entians were primitive aliens, but they started to develop ways to increase their food supply ever since explorers discovered the moon. He did not realize that they had windmills now. Justin walked over wondering what it was. He placed his hand on the sweep, a set of clothed fans that circled the main windmill part, and try to move it, but it did not move.

"Hey, don't touch that," Mike warned as Justin quickly withdrew his hand, "It could be bobby trapped."

"Ok, so what does this thing do?" He asked.

"Let me check the map," Mike said as he glanced down on the map, "Ah-hah,"

"Ah-hah what?" Justin wondered as he went over to his friend.

"It says here. Wind must flow to the gods," Mike translated, "I get it, It seems that they're four rooms in this temple dedicated to the four main elements, you know air, water, earth, and fire."

"All right," Justin complied, "So how do we open the door?"

Mike thought long and hard, repeating the translation in his head and out loud. He knew of the Entians' history and culture and remembered that their wind god Chepois lived in the east, past the vast Blue Mountains. He did not really believe in gods like that. He took out his digital compass that brought last year and tried to find east. Surprisingly enough it pointed to the sealed door. He smiled and looked at the windmill once more. There were two handles just below of the model. Mike faced it and grabbed the handles, but which way to turn it he thought. He looked at the fins of the wheel and saw that they slanted so the wind caught them on Mike's left. He then got it. With all his might, he turned the rusty, heavy, plinth slowly counter-clockwise.

"I Hope you know what you are doing," Justin said unsurely.

"So do I," he replied as finished the rotation.

At first, they heard a clicking sound, followed by a rumbling sound. Suddenly wind dust and vine debris enter the room form the west wall. The hurricane-like wind was strong enough to blow Mike and Justin against the other wall. They coughed from the dust and debris that they did not noticed that the tiny windmill was working. It twirled wildly on its axel and at the same time, the sealed door started to slide up in to its groove. Once the door was completely open, the wind finally died down.

"Open sesame," Mike coughed a bit more trying to catch his breath.

Justin nodded and commented, "Those Entians have a strange way to protect their things."

They got themselves together and preceded on though the next room. Mike heard something up ahead as they walk towards it. Justin heard it too, as it was sound of rushing water, or maybe a waterfall. They got to the other room and before them; they saw a pool of water and three waterfalls, one in front of them and two on either side of them not more than five feet away. The water was coming out of a mouth what it looked like tree trunk with eyes. They walked out onto a peninsula, surrounded by bubbling water.

The water was to dark to see as Justin wondered, "You think these are hot springs?"

"Don't know," replied Mike looking at it, "I don't see any steam."

Justin crouched down to the water and placed his index finger in the water. It was cold, not a hot spring that he thought, and suddenly something under the water bit him as he screamed.

"Eeow!" He exclaimed as he quickly removed his finger from the pool. His finger was bleeding as he sucked on it.

"What!? You ok?" Mike wondered worriedly as he looked to his friend.

"Something bit me!" He said as Mike looked to the water. He saw some weird looking fish swimming the cool water. He could not really identify it because of the mucky texture of the pool.

"The pool must be swarming with meat eating fish," Mike said to him.

"Meat eating fish? Ok, that's it!" He exclaimed, "I'm out of here!" He turned to leave the room.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Mike asked stopping him as Justin turned his head.

"I'm not going to risk my life for a stupid jewel," He replied.

"Stupid?" Mike argued," Justin, this jewel could help us pay off Mama'Halb in full, and I'm gonna need your help to get it. So will you stop acting like a baby and give me a hand?"

Justin thought for a moment and wondered. "What if we get killed?"

"Will you stop worrying?" Mike requested, "If we do get killed then all of our problems will be solved, but I don't like that option, so we're going to get this jewel. Remember, in our business there's going to be life threatening risks and great rewards. Frankly, I like the rewards part."

"I don't know how you talked me in to this business in the first place," Justin said as Mike smiled to him.

Mike did not really con him. At first, when they began their business, Justin though it was great idea. That was until their first job. Justin did not like the idea of people was out to kill him, but in the end he has knew that Mike had good instincts and agreed to stay with him. They both looked around the room figuring how to go on. Mike looked to the map again, but this time it did not say much except nonsense gibberish.

"Don't speak and you will proceed," Mike translated.

"What the hell does that mean?" Justin pondered looking to his friend.

"Don't know," he replied looking at the wooden statue heads. Each of them had different characteristics, "I am guessing it has to have something to do with these Entians' heads. Don't speak and you will proceed," he repeated.

"Shut up," Justin said as Mike looked to him quizzically.

"What?" Mike wondered to his friend thinking that he insulted him.

Justin looked to him and repeated, "Shut up. If you don't speak you shut up. Right?"

Justin may have something there as he looked to the heads. Justin was never was much as problem solver but some days inspiration hits him like a truck. He wondered if the mouths would close it. It would shut off the water, but how to do it Mike wondered. Mike looked around on the floor, walls, and ceiling as his friend help to looked too. There were no levers in the room or any switches. Justin then saw three weird square tiles on the floor. Each had more weird symbols of an ancient Entian heads. They were indirect line of the falls.

"Mike!" He called, "I think I found something, look," He pointed to the tiles.

Mike smiled to him as he looked and commented, "You see, I knew you'd come in handy." Justin smiled and nodded to him rhetorically. He looked at the map and at the symbols. "Togetherness," he mumbled, "Alright, we have to step on all of them."

"At the same time?" Justin asked.

"Yeah," Mike replied, "One foot though. You get that one," Mike pointed to the tile on his left, "I'll take these two." He then pointed, "On three. One, two, three!"

Justin placed his right foot on the tile as Mike placed both of his feet on the others. The tiles sank a bit and they heard a clicking sound. Soon they heard a loud grinding noise as the water pressure from the statues dimmed as their mouths closed shut. All of a sudden, the statue in front of them fell like a drawbridge as it splashed on to the water. It was safe to proceed. Mike gestured his friend to go ahead, but Justin was hesitant to wait for Mike to go first. Mike got on and crossed the newly built bridge into the next room as Justin followed.

They walked for about a quarter mile down hill though a long twisted dirt-like corridor until they got to a huge looking room filled with four big oak trees. A dim light was shining down on them from the small gaps in the ceiling. All of them were leafless and bare and stood about twenty to forty feet from floor to ceiling. Mike looked down and saw they were standing on cold sand. He took the illumniskick and shown it on the map and wondered.

"These Entians are getting far too weird for me," said Justin.

"Water and air grows," Mike translated.

"Grows?" Justin inquired, "Grows what?"

"Good question," Mike replied looking at the trees. There were something a bit odd to him as he examined the trees. He thought how these trees would even grow in here. It would be impossible. He then thought of something as he looked back to the entrance then back to the dead trees, "Wait a minute, wait a minute."

"What, what?"

Mike looked to his friend and replied, "The last two rooms were air and water right?"

"Yeah so?"

"If we could incorporate them in here," Mike said as he paused a little, "Maybe it would do something," He looked to the trees and noticed that they were bare, "Like grow leaves. Or open another door."

Justin look towards his friend's gaze and asked, "Ok, and how do we suppose to do that?"

Mike thought for a long time looking about the room. He noticed the faint paintings on the trunk-like walls of the Entian gods. One was pouring water from its mouth onto the ground. Another was either picking or placing leaves on a tree and the wall on the far side of the room had two gods, which seemingly was holding a door.

"I got it," Mike said taking off his small backpack and placing it on the floor as his friend looked at him wondering what he was doing. Mike got out four empty cans they were using when they ate last night and handed them Justin. "Go back to the other room and fill these up," he instructed.

"What for?"

"Just do it."

"What about those piranha things? One of them almost bit my hand off."

Mike looked at him in disbelief and replied, "Then just be a bit more careful."

Justin nodded and agreed with him. Moments later he returned with the four cans filled with the water and handed two of them to Mike. He then instructed Justin to help him pour the water in front of the trees. Justin went over to the tree on the left side and poured the water. Michael did the same on the other side. Once they finished pouring the water, nothing happened.

"Ok, now what?" Justin asked as they felt a rumble, like a mini earthquake beneath them.

Mike looked up at the trees and they began to grow golden leaves at an exceedingly rapid rate. They did not believe what they were seeing. This was impossible. Was this some kind of trick? The rumbling died down and they were beside themselves. Justin looked at Mike, but his friend was in awe by what had happened. Mike heard legends about trees like this in his mythology class. He never realized that they would be real.

"Do you think they're real gold?" Justin asked, but before Mike could answer, a rush of cold wind blew through the entranceway and blew off all the leaves. They floated down on the sand and before Justin could pick one up, they disintegrated in the sand.

"I guess we'll never know," Mike said as he looked ahead and saw that there was an opening where the wall was, "Let's go," Justin looked up and followed Mike through to the last room.

"I just don't believe what I just saw," Justin said doubly, "I mean trees that were growing golden leaves at that rate. It's scientifically impossible."

"There are a lot of things in this universe that might be impossible that turned to be possible," Mike replied as they walked down another corridor, "It's called discovery. Too bad I did not have that that on video. Could've been worth something."

The last room, the fire room as Mike said it, was narrow and long room almost like a hallway. Unlike the other rooms, the Entians made this one out of stone. Natured made, Mike concluded. On the other side of the room sat four multicolored jewels. Each sat in their own manmade stone cubbyholes. Both of them were in awe as they gazed upon them. Mike glanced down at the map again trying to read it.

"Ok, this says something about a not stepping on the fire god," Mike replied.

"I thought you took ancient alien language?" His friend wondered.

He looked to Justin, "I'm a little rusty, sue me."

He looked back to the map trying to make heads or tails out of it and then to the room. He noticed that there were faint symbols or writings on the wall witch made it more difficult to read to decide what to do. He looked ahead and cautiously took a step forward. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a blast of fire burned the map to ashes as they both gasp on horror as the quickly stepped back. Mike looked down and noticed weird tiles on the floor. Some of them had the same symbol that was on the map. It was the fire symbol. There were also tiles that had other symbols of the other elements. He then realized what the map meant by not stepping on the fire god.

"Stay here," he warned his friend as he cautiously stepped on the non-fire tiles.

He carefully made his way across the room and it was standing before him, the crystals, but which one is the jewel of Na'Tuka? They all looked the same. Blue with red swirls surrounded the gemstone. He then noticed that each of them bared an elemental symbol. He looked to his friend who did not know either. He turned back to the jewels and thought that only if they had the map. It would have showed them the right one. He thought long and hard remembering what the map said as he tried to read it last night. His friend looked to him wondering what was taking him so long.

"What's wrong?" Justin asked.

"They all look the same," Mike replied frustrated.

"Well just pick one and let's get the hell out of here," he said to him impatiently, "This place gives me the creeps."

"Keep your shirt on," Mike shot back as he thought. Blue and red, the colors must represent the elements of fire and water. "Oh hell with it," he took the Fire and water jewel and placed them in his pocket, but as soon as he obtained, them another earthquake arose. Another trap he thought. This one was stronger as the non-fire tiles started to give away.

"COME ON!" Justin shouted as Mike darted across.

Fire blasts shot up from behind as he reached his friend. They both ran back to the Earth Room as the giant limbs snapped and the sand started to swallow the tree like quicksand. They ran as fast as they could, but were slowed a bit as they across and up the long ramp. The quake didn't stop as the roof of the hall caved in from behind, but luckily, they made to the Water Room. The two of statue's head ripped open as gallons of water filled the room rapidly. Mike ran across the mini bridge, but before Justin could cross, snapped in two and sank. Mike ran to the other side as Justin stopped.

"Mike!" He shouted scarcely as his friend turned to him.

"Just jump over it and let's go!" Mike shouted back.

The water flooded the peninsula as Justin stepped back, ran and jumped over the water gap. He splashed down on the floor, and almost slipped in the water. Mike turned and grabbed Justin's shirt and pulled him on a dry floor.

They both ran to the first room when wind rushed at them. It was hard running against it, but that was far from their problem when wooden spikes slid out from the left and right walls, but worse more spikes appeared from the ceiling as well, slowly descending upon them.

"You gotta be kidding me?!" Justin shouted rhetorically as he looked up.

"Just keep going!" Mike shouted other the loud wind as they slow inched their way towards the opening.

The door ahead was sliding from its groove downwards as Mike reached it, ducked and got out. The entrance was closing halfway as Justin dove and tumbled into his friend. They both fell back in the main hall as Mike helped his friend up they saw two semi circular doors, with the elemental symbols carved in to it, were closing to make a complete circle and enclosing the outside entrance. They did not hesitate as they dashed outside. The door sealed the temple once more.

They landed and fell on a grassy slope as Justin looked up and saw hundreds of wood like creatures arming themselves with a shock spears in their branch-hands. Mike looked at them. They could not be more than four feet tall. They were all different shades of brown with leaves as hair on top of their heads. Mike's eyes then gazed over to a beautiful blond haired human woman walking over. She was wearing blue jeans and a sleek brown leather jacket that almost hugged on her perfect-like body. Mike instantly recognized her.

"Julia," he said frowning.

She was Mike's ex-girlfriend as she knelt down and held out her slender hand. He then remembered why he left her. She stabbed his back and betrayed him. It was no more than a couple of months ago were when they were on the planet Crystala. The entire planet was made out of crystals, but there were a rumor that a diamond depository was somewhere hidden in the caves. Mike and Julia went to explore them until two days later they had finally found them. It was beautiful beyond their expiations. That night as they made camp in the cave, Julia took their share and started a cave-in using her cutter. She then left him for dead. Fortunately, Mike communicated with Justin and he rescued him. He then realized that she was playing him like a fool.

"The jewel Mike," she said.

Justin looked to him as he looked back knowing Justin's expression. Mike sighed and dove in to his pocket he remembered that he had two of them, but witch one to take, as both were identical. He had to trust fate, took one out, and handed it to her.

"Here," he said and then wondered, "Is this how our relationship's going to be, you stealing from me all the time?"

She gasped and replied sarcastically, "Michael! I'm hurt," she then smiled a bit, "But then again, you stole this gem from their temple."

Mike looked angrily at her as she stood up and turned. While she had her back on the two, Justin promptly touched a couple of buttons on his remote wrist panel. Julia took out a whistle-like device that had a micro QWERTY type keyboard on its side. Mike recognized it as a soundlator. She used it to translate different types of sound into language. She typed a command into the soundlator then blew onto it like a whistle. They heard a creaking sound. Mike knew it was the Entian's language. The Entians drew closer with their deadly spears ready to strike.

"I don't think that means let them go," Justin mumbled to his friend.

"Julia!" Mike cried nervously as she turned around.

"I'm sorry Michael," she apologized smiling, "But in this business, its kill or be killed."

She then heard a vacuuming sound of a ship's engines, turned back round, and saw a golden ship. The Golden Condor looks as it says. This yellow-chromed four-seated spacecraft hovered above the small tribe. The wing tips gleamed in the sun as hit blinded Julia and the Entians. The Condor opened fired on the wooden tribe as they all scattered panicky back in to the jungle. Julia typed and blew quickly to get them back, but it was too late as Mike got up pushed Julia on the ground. They both bolted towards the ship's ramp.

"God I hate her!" Mike cried.

Julia quickly got up, grabbed her gun from her thigh and started to fire at them, but they already climbed aboard. Julia screamed as a laser bolt hit her abdomen and fell on the ground, apparently dead. The Entians came back and fired their shock bolts on to the ship, but it was already too late as the Condor flew into the sky.

"Damn!" Justin shouted angrily as he took of his hat and threw on the consol. They then sat in the cockpit as Justin continued irritably, "We were so close. And you had to give that bitch our jewel."

"Did I?" Mike replied slyly as pulled out the other jewel.

Justin's eyes widened and said to him, "How the hell did you?"

Mike grinned at his friend, gave it to him and asked, "Here, analyze it and make sure it it's the right one. I hate going back there and retrieve the other one from those jackals."

Justin took the jewel and placed it on a transparent tray. He pressed a few buttons as it started to analyze the gem. He prayed that the computer could correctly identify it as they waited for the results.

"Too bad for Julia, huh?" Justin said while they were waiting for the results.

"Well, like she said," Mike said not liking what has happened to her, "Kill or be killed."

The computer dinged a couple of times as it was finished. Justin read the computer screen's results and smiled.

"It's real alright, one hundred percent Bimend."

"Good," Mike replied, "Let's get back to Sadr."

Justin plotted the course and the Condor disappeared in the depth of space. They hoped to collect their reward and pay off Mama'Halb before dinnertime.

Chapter 2

Tyger Trap

On the other side of the known galaxy, the Xatu Empire has taken over several planets around the Deneb System except Felinoron, the fifth planet around Denebola, the system's sun that astologists found on the tail constellation of Leo. On the planet, lives cat-like Animuns called Felinis. The Felinis are also Colonists like the rest of the free planets of the galaxy. Three days have gone by with laser blasts firing, and ships exploding, it was a battle like no other. The Felinis did not want the Xatu Turn their planet into into a slave colony as they saw what the Empire did with the other planets they knew.

It did not look good for the Felinis that was until a warrior out from the dark came to claim his spot in this battle of hope. Its sleek silvery design, the Thunder Claw streaked into the battle. Like most of the Tiger Claws, the Felinis star craft was a two-seated ship, one for the pilot and a co-pilot who monitors weapon status. Only this ship had one of the best well-trained pilots the Felinis had. Prince Xman Tyger was his name, a tiger looking Felinis. His helmet concealed his long orange hair as his muscular arms took control of his flight stick. He was coming back from his earlier missions when he saw Xatu ships tormenting his planet. His eyes burned in rage like furnace.

"No!" he shouted in rage.

He growled angrily as he took a better grip on his flight stick, pushed the thruster control to the max, and joined the battle, firing at the Empire's ships consisting dark crescent shaped ships called B'tars, and Jun'tars, were a slower, but heavily armed ship. He steered his ship in and out of explosions from his fallen allies, trying to avoid their fire. He got a B'tar in his sights and launched his last two space homing rockets. The B'tar could not escape as it blew into a million pieces.

"No one takes my planet and lives!" He shouted angrily, firing his red neon lasers like crazy. He made several more bull's-eye hits as his laser blast annihilating his enemy.

In the middle of the battlefield, orbiting the planet stood a massive command ship called The Hades. Like other Xatu warships, this one has its curvy alien shape, as it was dark and evil. Inside, the commander of the ship Captain Tah, a Xatu, was in charge. He saw and identified the Thunder Claw flying by firing on a B'tar. He then, by his commander, wanted that ship and its pilot undamaged. Tah did not understand at first, but he was under orders.

"I want that ship in captive," he ordered to the ensign. "Engage the tractor beam."

"Aye sir," the crewmember replied.

"Must apologize to Drax," he said to himself, "I did not think that selfless prince would come back."

Suddenly Xman ship stopped moving. At first he could not figure out why, all of the systems were functioning properly. He did not like it as he was like dead in the water. Any enemy ships could easily destroy him, but they did not. Now he knew he did not like it.

"What the?" He questioned as he franticly started to push buttons on his console to get his ship moving again.

He pressed the green then the red, then finally an orange button, but nothing still. He felt the full thrusters activated, but he did not go anywhere. He double checked his sensors on the console and noticed something odd.

Then all of a sudden, the Thunder Claw started to move, but in reverse. Xman could not figure out what he did to get it moving. He then checked the system controls again and figured out what was happening.

"No!" He said to himself, "I'm trapped in a god dam tractor beam."

His fist reaction was to transmit for help, but to his dismay, all of the frequencies were dead. Jammed he thought. He pushed a couple more buttons on his control panel, then the engine engaged in hyperactive thrust, but the beam was too strong and it pulled him slowly in into the ship. There was no way out, he shut the engines off, in case he needed to save its fuel for later. Xman knew that once inside the command ship, he should be ready, but why did they pull him in as if he was a fish? Why didn't the Empire destroy his ship? He will soon know the answers. The Felinis was puzzled as the Empire started to retreat. Why, the Empire was winning? This did not make any sense.

One inside the Xatu hanger, he saw an army of troops surrounding the Thunder Claw armed with their blasters aiming at the cockpit. Xman grabbed his gun and thought that he had to act quickly once he opened the canopy. He pressed a button on the console and at the same time as the canopy slip open he drew his weapon, but that proved fatal as several stun bolts shot him. Xman blacked out.

In the war room of the Felinoron castle, King Rymu, a Tiger Felinis dressed in royal purple attire, was sitting in his chair that was part of other chairs surrounding an oval table. Holographic screens were lit up around them show the latest schematics of their battle with the Xatu empire. They were slightly relieved that the Empire did not destroy their planet, but they there more confuse instead. Rymu listened to commander Sommanar's report of what they have lost.

Sommanar was a leopard Felinis dressed in yellow fatigues. He looked like we was in his mid thirties, slightly athletic with short yellow spotted hair.

"Almost half out fleet has been destroyed my king, and one was captured," he reported.

Rymu raised his brow and asked, "Captured? Who?"

"We don't know," he replied cautiously, "We believe it could be your son returning from an earlier mission."

His eyes widened, as he could not believe his ears. The Empire took his son, but why, he wondered. Then his memory flooded back to a horrid memory when they had taken his wife. He was on a diplomatic mission to Uuk'Ticab to meet with the Serpian ambassador, but things went out of control when the Empire decided to attack the Colonials and kidnap his wife. Days later, his wife, Sharla, was dead, killed by a Xatu commander. He knew what he had to do.

"Assemble all the troops, we are getting him back," Rymu commanded.

Sommanar looked to him and said, "Sir you can't be serious? What if the Empire decides to return and use their plasma drill? We cannot survive another attack like that. Heck, we wouldn't have enough men to protect the planet, let alone to go after your son." As much as he did not like it, he had to think of the Felinises and continued disappointedly, "Besides, I am truly sorry your highness, but he could be good as gone."

King Rymu looked at him angrily, "I don't care! He is my son, and," He then realized what Sommanar was telling him and he was right. Xman was probably the only reason why their planet is still standing. "You are right."

"Right?!" A female voice cried unbelievably.

Rymu's only daughter burst in having to listen what they had said. Rymu looked over to and saw a slim attractive Tigress Felinis standing in the doorway. He thought she was a spitting image of her mother when she was in her young age of twenty.

"What are you talking about father?" She said bravely, "He is my brother, and your son. You can't just leave him to the Xatu Empire, like mother."

"Tygla, I thought I told you to stay outside," her father said to her harshly, "This is a private meeting."

"I don't care!" She cried, "We are going to get him out!"

"We are not going to do anything," Rymu said to her, "Sommanar is right, we must protect our planet, from another attack. And we need all the Felinis soldiers we can get."

"Then I'm going to get him back, with or without your help," she turned and stormed out.

"Tygla Wait!" Rymu said going after her. He caught her out in the hall and held her arm, "Tygla please, I am sorry, but I cannot allow you to do this."

Tygla shot back as she released herself from her father's grip, "You can't tell me what to do. I am not a cub anymore father. I'm old enough to make my own decisions."

"Tygla, don't fight with me please," he said sternly, "It's too dangerous out there." He paused slightly as he chose it his next words carefully. "I'm sorry, but I am restricting you inside the castle grounds until further notice."

Tygla was astonished to her father's decisions. How could he not care of his own son she thought. She then was about to say something, but that would make things worse. She pouted and ran to her room almost crying. Rymu sighed and frowned. He did not like what he had to do, but it was best for her. He felt a touch on his should her and it was Sommanar.

"You made the right decision," he said as Rymu sighed.

"Did I?" Rymu wondered, "Then why do I feel guilty?"

On the far side of the Milky Way galaxy, an important strategic meeting took place. Cian was the Colonial military capital of the galaxy. Not too many people know of the planet since a small nebula surrounded it called The Ghost Nebula in the constellation Ophiuchus, which was a perfect hidden secret location. It has the same atmosphere as Earth's but all the citied resided near huge forest of red wood trees. Only four major cities were on the planet, Phlan, Arcos, Washington, and Egal. The council met in the secluded city of Egal talking about the Empire's last threat on Felinoron. The meeting room was once a sports arena when they used to play galatical sports like Spaceball locally. Now it was a meeting hall for the struggling colonials. All of them were different races of all kinds. They all sat and started the meeting that would decide the fate of their freedom.

An old humanoid male stood up. He was wearing blue a robe with a gold trim and his short grey hair came down to his ears. His square-jawed face was rugged with a few wrinkles near his dark brown eyes. He was Ambassador Naku, head of the United Colonial Council of Planets. Once he calmed the noise down the meeting began.

"I just heard from General Smithson that Felinoron as miraculously survived an attack from one of the Xatu battleships. And for some odd reason, they did not use their power drill to destroy the planet which is irregular for them."

Vissal, a brown-scaled Lizzian ambassador from the planet Hurclion, turned to Naku and said, "Do we have any information on why?"

Naku shook his head, "No Vissal, General Smithson is still looking into that as we speak. In the meantime, Felinoron needs our support like no other. I understand that Senator Ismal will gladly donate his robotic construction crew to help rebuild the main city." He shook his head thinking of the battle, "Either the Empire is getting very careless or very shrewdness we must be on high alert. Now, I know for a reason that the Empire has been attacking our supply plants near the Crab Nebula. The last one almost cost all of our fleet. They are getting stronger and we need to find their weakness and fast, any ideas?"

The council of ten looked and talked to each other, but it seems that no one had an answer.

Naku sighed and continued, "Well, perhaps what we need is more time to think about it. I suppose the next order of business is an alignment agreement with Caninion ambassador, Fulge. Now I know his planet is on the verge of siding with the Xatu Empire. Something we do not want to happen. Tomorrow I will travel to Caninion and speak with him. Senator Shaka has agreed to come with me as she has dealt with them before. Finally, on the agenda, one of our Avian scientists has been mysteriously disappeared. He was going on an expedition on the far side of the galaxy when it happened, if anyone has any information, now the time to share."

Skyla, a female Falconia Avian, spoke, "I wouldn't be surprised if the Xatu are involved. They have been trying to abduct our scientists since the beginning of this war and frankly it's getting out of hand."

"I agree," Shaka the zebra-like Stalian concurred. "But our militant despot is very low to assemble an investigation team to find him." She turned to Skyla, "I am truly sorry."

Skyla frowned and replied "It's is not your fault, but I suggest we put together a Secret Security Agency for the Colonials to handle these types of situations."

"That is a good idea Skyla," Naku said, "All in favor?"

The vote was unanimous and the meeting ended. The council departed as Naku left to his chambers, a young blond male human met him there.

Naku turned to him, "I am going to put General Smithson in charge of the Secret Security Agency."

The man nodded and said, "King Rymu has called and said that his son may have been abducted by the renegade humanoid Lord Drax."

Naku frowned as he sat in his chair thinking of that name, "Drax." He sighed and said worriedly, "I really wish I could help my old friend, Maas, but Shaka was right, the Xatu has cut us down to a stump. We must somehow find a way to penetrate their defense shields." He looked up to his assistant Maas and asked, "I don't suppose you have any ideas?"

"Sorry sir," Maas said, "But it seems that we have more of a recruitment problem instead."

Naku agreed, "I know, it wasn't like this twenty years ago. It seems like the rest of the free galaxy has lost faith in us. Most of them are either privateers or bounty hunters."

On the other side of the galaxy, sits a half desert half-watery planet called Sadr in the Cigni system. The planet surface is sometimes ninety percent humid and hot as today was one of those days. Like Cian, Xatu empire has not conquered yet it. The Xatu thought Sadr was a waste of their time, so it was perfect sanctuary for those who were hiding.

Furttle, a city near the hot steamy calm ocean contains the most hideous scum, wickedness, and revolting smugglers this side of the galaxy. Mike and Justin entered an air-conditioned tavern called the Seball. One of their good friends Digan, who unfortunately was not there at the time, owned the Saball. The Earthian rocking-tuned music filled the air from a holo band near the back of the tavern, as they passed the Animun and alien type patrons. They sat at their regular table on the far side of the bar and ordered their drinks from a cute Faunis server.

"Well I hope this baby is worth what we went through," said Mike holding up the blue and red swirled crystal jewel. Justin did not like Mike holding it up in public, especially in a bar like this.

Justin replied, "I just hope it'll be enough to pay off Mama'Halb."

"Well we'll find out when our dealer get here," Mike said.

Just then, a full size goblin-like alien entered the bar. Its gray-green skin and two long sharp lower-jawed tusks were fierce. It almost made you think it was a bounty hunter looking to kill Mike and Justin, but it wasn't, it was an alien Giber, he strolled around and went to the human bar keep. The bar keeper then pointed towards Mike and Justin and the Giber nodded.

"Looks like he's here," commented Justin as he looked up. The Giber walked towards them and stood above as Mike smiled friendly.

"Want to sit down?" Mike asked gesturing a seat to the alien.

The Giber replied, "No, thanks. Where's the jewel?"

"Where's the money?" Justin asked.

The Giber replied, "You'll get the money. I want to see the jewel?"

He asked again. This time more aggressively.

"It's right here," replied Mike as he put the blue shiny jewel on the table.

The Giber's eyes widened and said, "Ah, the Na'Tuka Jewel." he picked it up to examine it and continued, "I don't know how you did it but, I'll pay you the five thousand."

"Five thousand!" Exclaimed Mike, "Come on, do you know what we had to go through for that thing? I'm sure it's worth more."

The Giber snorted laughing and said, "You two are good bargainers. Alright, I'll give you eight thousand and no more."

"Fine," Mike said in defeat, "The money?"

"Of course, here, eight thousand in cash," the Giber replied as he handed a wad of translucent like money, "You humans are truly scum," Mike handed the jewel to him as he held it up admiring the Bimend. He laughed as put it in his pocket and walked away.

"Well, here's your share," said Mike handing his friend his divided the money.

Justin replied anxiously, "Good let's get hell out of here."

"Relax. Can I finish my drink first?" Mike said as he took a sip of his drink and looked at him.

Justin was nervous. He knew that Mama'Halb would send another of her goons after them and she knew where to find them.

"Well, I just don't like staying in here when Mama'Halb is a bit pissed at us." Justin said to him "And she knows where we hang out Mike."

Justin made good point, "Fine," Mike replied as he placed a tip on the table.

They both got up and headed for the entrance until a real bounty hunter named Tuskin, a walrus-like Animun Warlian, cut their path with a blaster aimed at Mike's stomach. Mike looked at him and did not realize who it was until he looked up at his ugly face.

"Where do you think you're going Tippin?" He asked icily as he snarled.

Mike replied slyly, "Ah, Tuskin, what a surprise. We were about to see Mamma'Halb. Weren't we Justin?"

"Yeah," his friend replied nervously.

"Yeah, sure," Tuskin said backing them up a little, "She wants the money now. Fifty thousand. Pay up."

"Well, you tell her we only got twenty five hundred and will get rest later," replied Mike.

Tuskin then said, "Don't insult me with your pitiful worthless coins. She wants the whole amount. If you don't pay, she authorized me to kill you both. Here and now!" He then smiled at that thought.

"Why don't we all go outside so we don't kill anybody in here, huh?" Justin suggested. "That and I don't like the thought that all of us could be spending eternally in the Neptune Correctional Facility."

Tuskin thought then replied, "Good point, why don't we? But no tricks!"

They all started to head outdoors. Justin, hoping he could get a quick and unnoticeable shot at Tuskin, he quietly took out his blaster, turned then said to him, "Aw wait a minute, it's too hot out there to play. Besides," he then shot Tuskin in the leg, "I hate playing with a cheat like you."

Tuskin cried in pain as he fell to the ground. The two ran outside like scared rabbits into the busy dust like street. Mike did not know that Justin was going to do that to him, but Mike smiled, as he never thought of a better friend then Justin.

"Head for the ship!" Mike ordered to his companion as he took out his own blaster.

The Warlin limped out of the tavern. They both ran down the street as laser blasts were shooting at them from Tuskin. Merchants and buyers screamed and took cover as their laser blasts illuminated the scene. Mike and Justin took a quick left turn into a rustic open-roofed garage, as he quickly shot back at Tuskin missing him. Justin pushed a button as the door slid closed. He then ran towards the ship's ramp following Mike. Once they gotten to the cockpit, they quickly started her up and took off as the garage door slid open. Tuskin started to shoot at the ship, but it was all ready too late. The ship blasted into the blue sky.

"I will find you," Tuskin said to himself, "Then you will be dead!"

"Man," commented Justin trying to catch his breath, "That was close."

"Yeah, too close," replied Mike calming down.

Justin then asked, "What now desert fox?"

"Well, we need to find another safe hidden port," Mike replied as he checked the map quadrants. "Somewhere that Mama'Halb does not know about."

Justin asked, "Where? The Empire conquered most of the galaxy. It's not like we can waltz in and say 'hey can we crash here for a while?' And besides we still don't have enough money."

"I know. Hold on," Mike replied pointing at his screen, "Well, we can always got back to Cian."

"Cian?" Justin replied, "The last time we were there, they turned the planet to a colonial military base."

"That's right," said Mike as he explained, "And Mama'Halb is not that stupid to send any of her bounty hunting friends there to shoot up the place."

Justin said uncertainly, "Mike, they're not gonna set us up with anything except military positions, you know that. And even if they did, do you think we'll be interested?"

"Don't worry, I think Digan is stationed there," replied Mike.

Justin said, "How do you know? He hasn't contacted you in months."

"Well, the last transmission he sent was from Cian. I just hope he's still there."

Justin looked at his friend wondering if he was right. He hoped that his idea would pay off. Mike then set the coordinates and the Golden Condor rocketed into space towards their home world, Cian.

At end of the Deneb System sat the monumental star ship Hades. Like most star ships, Hades was different. Xatu wanted a starship that the colonials would fear. The outer hull had a skeletal look to it with probe spikes shooting out everywhere. The first time that Naku saw this ship, he knew that they were doomed. Inside, the commander Lord Drax sat in his little throne room planning.

"Captain," he said into his visual transmitter, "Bring in the Felinis prisoner."

Alexander Drax was once human. He was once a slave to the Xatu Empire until one day they were looking for a human that knows secrets of the Earthian race. They offered money, power, and freedom and as greedy as Drax was, he did not hesitate join them. He began to serve as a solder in their army, until a couple of years ago when he was in a terrible accident that left his skin turn into a bluish color, but the accident also left him a strange gift, an ability to morph his body to anything he wanted. The Emperor heard this and instantly promoted him to a powerful lord in his army.

The captain nodded to Drax, a few moments later the door slid opened, and guards dressed in red armor pushed in the Felinis Prince. Xman was hand cuffed and chained to the guard like some slave. He looked up to him and instantly recognized the commander. Drax's blue skin, white hair, and evil red eyes have some of the men in his ship tremble when they are near him, but Xman was not trembling. He knew him all too well. His face grew angry and growled like a hungry wolf.

"Ah, Xman," Drax said icily, "Long time no see."

"Drax," Xman replied unhappily, "How long has it been?"

"Too long I'm afraid," he replied as he looked to his two-crew members, "Guards, leave us."

They chained Xman onto the floor as a grapple forced him to kneel down and the guards left them. Xman did not know why this was happening to him. All he did know that he wanted to rip Drax's heart out of his blue skinned body.

"Do you know why my fleet didn't destroy you and I dragged you in like a cod fish, so you could live?" Drax asked.

Xman looked up at Drax in despite of him and finally replied sarcastically, "Not really. Why don't you tell me?"

"I spared your planet because my master wanted to enslave your people. You Felinis are strong good workers. Perhaps your father is willing to trade his people's freedom for his loving son."

Xman looked at him in disgust and said, "My father is not that stupid Drax. I rather die for my planet than have it turn to a slave pit."

Drax frowned at that little remark and said, "What a pity, but then again, if you want to die, it won't matter to me." Drax then smiled at that thought and had an evil idea. He then pressed a button on his visual communicator once again. "Guards, take him to the Security Cells."

The guards came in, unhooked Xman, and took him back into the prison center deep inside the ship.

Moments later in another part of the galaxy, the Golden Condor finally landed on Cian after waiting hours for clearance. They found a landing pad in the city of Phlan. Phlan was small city, about ten thousand inhabitance work and play here. Mike remembered when he was kid, playing Spaceball with Justin in the same streets. He missed those times, but now the streets were cover with soldiers of all kinds.

Mike and Justin found out where Digan was working from one of the fighter pilots. They entered a very tall spiraling like building to find their old friend Digan. They arrived on the 10th floor and walked down the hall to the offices of the Colonial Personnel Dept. Digan was a humanoid from the planet Cian. Like most humanoids, Digan did posses a unique gift, the power to see in dark places, not as if he was nocturnal, he still can see well in the daylight. He was older than the Mike or Justin about ten years older. They knew that he colonials redrafted Digan as a paper pusher about a month ago while he was managing his bar back on Sadr. Before that, he was best space pilot during the assault on Earth until he crashed landed his ship on a nearby station breaking his leg and several rib bones. He then considered himself retired.

"Hey Digan," Mike said entering his little office, "What's happening?"

Digan looked up and smiled as he recognized his old friends. "Hey, Mike Justin, long time," He replied as he got up. He shook both of their hands and sat back behind his desk, "What can I do for you my old friends."

"Listen we need a job that will pay fifty thousand Galatical dollars and fast." Mike replied as he and Justin sat down across from Digan.

"Fifty thousand?" Digan laughed thinking that was joke, "Jeez, you got to knock over a bank for that kind of money."

"Yeah we know that, but I got pay off a couple debts." Mike replied.

Digan then said, "Mama'Halb eh," Mike nodded, "Listen, things here are a bit tight with the war and all. I can't promise you any big jobs like I did back in the day. I've been up to my armpits with this trade route problem the Colonials have, so don't expect anything anytime soon. So here my suggestion, you guys just hang around here, and if something comes up I'll give you a call all right? You still got that old Condor ship of yours?" They nodded sadly. "Good. Hey, don't worry something bound to come up. Just hang in there."

"Thanks buddy," said Mike.

Digan smiled and replied, "No problem. Now if you excuse me I gotta get back to work."

Digan felt sorry for them and wished that he could give them the money now. He knows how Mama'Halb can be when she doesn't get what she wanted. Digan greeted them out and he went back to his work. Mike and Justin sighed, not knowing what to do. They knew it would not be any time soon that Mama'Halb would find them with another bounty hunter on their scent, and they could not stay there too long. What they needed was a miracle.

Meanwhile in another area, Tygla was waiting in line wearing cargo pants an old T-shirt and a brown leather jacket. She did not want anyone to know who she was, as it might prove dangerous. Unfortunately, Tygla had everyone staring at her immense beauty, but that day she was not looking for a mate. She was angry at the war that was going on and even worse, somebody reported that her brother has been missing in action. She had nowhere else to turn too. She hoped that the Colonials could give her some answers or better yet, some help to find him. The man behind the desk called to her and explained her story to him. The clerk did not seem interested though.

"Listen," she exclaimed, "My brother has been kidnapped by the Empire and all you can say is that you can't do a damn thing about it?"

"I'm sorry, but we don't have any solders to spare with the war going on," the clerk replied, "My best bet for you young lady is to hire a bounty hunter or something. Next."

She growled at the clerk touchily, "Do you know who you are talking to?"

The clerk look at her, "Yes an irritating cat, now please, I have other customers to tend to. Next!"

She did not want to deal with the low paying clerk as she might tear him a new mouth. She just stormed out of there trying to hold back her tears and anger. She then looked at Mike and Justin, and wondered if they were someone she might use.

"So what do we do know? We need money and fast," said Justin informed his friend.

Just then Mike was tapped from behind they turned around and it was the Felinis. Mike mouth dropped to as he thought he died and went to heaven as he laid his eyes on her slim athletic body. She had short orange wavy hair that burned with passion, and her dark brownish stripes wrapping around her exposed body. Mike immediately fell for this striking creature.

"Excuse me," she said in a calm voice, "I couldn't help over hearing, but uh, my name is Tygla and I heard you need a job?"

"Y-yeah," Mike replied admiring her lovely yellow cat eyes, "You got one for us?"

"Well yes," she said politely, "How much you need?"

"About fifty thousand," Justin replied.

Tygla then said, "Fifty thousand? Well, that should not be a problem."

"Great," Mike said as he and his friend smiled. He did not believe it. Some miracle he thought. "My name's Mike Tippin and this is my friend Justin Jobbs."

"Hi," Justin said friendly.

Mike continued, "So, what's the job?"

"A rescue operation," she replied, "My brother Xman has been kidnapped by the Empire and I need you to help me get him back."

"Whoa, hold it sister," Mike said stopping her with his hands, "The Empire is way out of our league. The last thing we need is entanglements with the Xatu. Couldn't the Colonial army help you?"

"No," Tygla replied sadly, "They said that their militia was low and could not spare anyone."

Mike felt sorry for her. Something inside him told him that this was woman was unusual. After he dumped Julia, he vowed not to be taken by another woman again, but he thought that Tygla could be different. He looked upon her sad face and frowned a bit, but then this could be another deception. He glanced to his friend and he knew as well as Justin knew that they need the money badly, but go against the Empire, he would not take the risk with his friend. He had heard stories from Digan about the Empire, kidnapping humans and turning them to mindless slaves.

He thought his feelings over and finally said, "Look, I'm sorry, but the Empire isn't our thing. We could get killed. If your brother was kidnapped by a greedy Slugton maybe you got a shot."

"Mike," Justin said, "Can I speak with you for a minute?" Justin pulling his ear brining him to a conclusive spot where they can speak to each other, "What the hell are you doing? We can pay off Mama'Halb for this one job and you said yourself that in this business there's going to be life threatening risks and great rewards, well fifty thousand is a great reward, and facing the Empire for that money? Heck, I'll do it."

"I know, I know," Mike replied, "Look," he paused for a minute glancing over to Tygla. She was thinking that this was going nowhere and frowned even more. He did not like her frowning and could sense that she was about to cry. Mike then said, "Alright let's do it."

They turned back to Tygla and Mike said, "Ok we've discussed it and we'll take the job."

"Great," she said gracefully, "Thank you very much."

"No problem," Mike smiled.

Tygla smiled back to him, "I have to get my stuff and tell you everything what happened. Oh by the way, where should I meet you?"

"Port 23," Mike replied.

Tygla said, "Thanks again." She shook their hands and a glimpse of hope rekindled in her heart.

"Again, no problem, oh except for one thing," Mike said, "You will be paying us in full after the job, right?"

"Of course," she replied, "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, we had a lot of cheating clients in the past," Mike replied looking in her eyes again, "But I think we can trust you."

Tygla smiled, turned and left to get her things while Mike examined her slim attractive body. He was hypnotized the way her long tail slithered like a snake. He did not know if he was still alive or died and went to heaven. Was Mike in love with this beautiful creature?

"Don't even think about it," Justin said breaking Mike's thought as he was looking to his friend then to Tygla, "She a Felinis."

"So?" Mike questioned.

Justin replied, "Do you know what Felinis do to humans when they fall in love with them? I heard stories that they kill them in their sleep."

Mike retorted turning to him. "Na, that just an old wives tale, come on, she can be all that bad."

"You're walking on thin ice Mike," Justin warned.

"Now you can't tell me that she didn't turn you on?" Justin just looked at him as Mike sighed in defeat of the argument "Let's get back to the ship."

Justin was a bit concerned with his friend. He knew Tygla was beautiful, even if she was human, she still could be dangerous.

Chapter 3

Promise for a Tyger

Standing in the transmission room on the Hades, Drax and Hiss, Drax's Jungle green-scaled snake Serpian stood before a giant seventy-two inch screen that showed a live video feed of King Rymu.

"You know I have your son," Drax stated, "Now know this, the people of Felinis will work for the Xatu Empire in the mines of Jupiter or your son will share the same fate as your wife."

Rymu was furious and replied, "You will release him immediately you traitor!"

"Now, now your majesty, you are lucky that I haven't kidnapped your daughter, but that could be a matter of time. So I wouldn't make that same mistake twice." Drax saw Rymu sighed in defeat.

Rymu knew he was right, but he did not want to answer too harshly as he knew that there had to be another way. He closed his eyes remembering why he had become king. He had the people to protect, even if it meant to sacrifice his own son. Besides, he knew his son is more resourceful, his only hope was that Xman could escape that ship on his own.

He opened his eyes to meet Drax's and replied, "No. My people will fight for their freedom. And as for my son, you better pray that he does not break free from your grasp Drax."

Drax frowned at that answer.

"A pity, you will soon learn the fate of those who do not cooperate with the Xatu Empire." Drax said as he switched the vidcom off. He turned to Hiss and commanded, "Bring Xman to me."

"Yesss my lord right away," Hiss replies as his slithered out the door.

Hiss has become very obeying to Drax and the empire during his service with them. His race was easily persuasive to join the Xatu as the Serpitans loved power and money. Hiss however, wanted to follow Drax in hoping he too could once lead an entire Xatu fleet to victory.

Moments later Hiss and a few guards brought Xman back in Drax's office once more. Drax smiled upon him as Xman looked up to Drax's red eyes in disgust.

"Congratulations, you father decided to have me terminate your life," Drax started. Xman's eyes surprisingly widened. "It seems that he does not care for you anymore."

"My father would rather save my people than have you control them," Xman said proudly.

"Well I am not a barbaric man Xman," Drax said, "so I will give you a fighting chance. Do you remember what you did to me on Jorda two years ago?"

Just then, his mind created a vision. Jorda was a fueling station in the Hyder System. Xman remembered that his father assigned him there by to guard it, but the Empire invaded the planet. Xman then knew what has happened next.

"Yeah I remember," Xman replied, "I also remembered that you invaded that planet."

Then Drax said, "Isn't it interesting, I was a corporal and you were a captain. Well, it looks like the tides have turned around. Now I am the higher rank officer. Funny, that vat of chemicals you threw me in gave a new lease on life." He held up his hand and suddenly it morphed into a sharp wielding weapon. Xman's eyes widened in astonishment then to resentment. "Now, with this new power I have, I can do much about anything, including terminating you. Maybe you can tell me if you remember why we attacked that chemical plant in the first place." Xman looked at him, confused. Drax smiled back at him and reminded him, "My primary orders were to locate information about a great energy source that was rumored to be somewhere in this galaxy. We had information that someone there knew of this. Perhaps you?"

"I don't know what you are talking about. We were there to protect that fueling plant from you. Whatever information you got must have been bogus. Because by the time you gotten there all of the scientists were gone. You were stupid enough to fall in our little ambush."

Drax frowned at that last remark and said, "Well if you won't tell me, perhaps your rebellious friends will. Tell me Xman, where are your colonial friends hiding?"

"I rather die than to tell you."

"That could be arranged Xman," Drax said as he motioned his gauds to take Xman back to his cell once more.

Xman then realized what Drax was going to do to him and faintly smiled. He could not wait to get another shot to finish what they had started. For a moment, he thought of his family back on Felinoron, but he had to do what he felt was right to protect them.

Back on Cian, the doors on Port 23 opened and Tygla entered. She saw Mike near the ship's entrance ramp and smiled to him. She was in awe of the beauty of the Condor and knew that she would have her brother home in no time. She walked towards him with her grey bag over her shoulder.

"Are we ready?" Tygla asked.

Mike turned around to Tygla and replied, "Uh, yeah, get on board and we'll take off."

Tygla smiled and Mike followed her onto the ship, The Golden Condor. The bay door then closed. Inside, the two pilots entered the cockpit as their passenger settled in. She looked at the small lounge area and wondered how these two manage to live here. As she stowed her bag in the compartment above the lounge, she joined Mike and Justin.

"Are we all set?" Mike asked checking ship's system.

Justin replied flipping a few switches, "Yep let's rock."

Mike entered the starter code on the key pad and the ship's thrusters fired as the Condor lifted itself up off the ground. Tygla entered the cockpit and sat down behind Mike as he piloted the ship into outer space. Once they made into orbit, Mike needed to know where the Xatu were hiding Tygla's brother.

"Ok Tygla," Mike said turning to her, "Where too?"

"Well," she started, "First we need to head to Felinoron to get more information on where the Empire is holding my brother. Then we need to plan some sort of break out."

"All right, that makes sense," Mike nodded, "Justin, set course to Felinoron."

"Already on it," said Justin, "Course set to 1149.36.1434.19"

Mike then pressed the Hyper Flight controller on the console and the next thing they knew the ship disappeared into the farthest star. A few moments later in the ship, Tygla retired to the ship's lounge, which was pretty small. She saw a small two-seated couch on one side and a small vinyl cloth chair that someone folded into the hull. She also noticed a small washroom next to the chair. She looked up, saw another chair on the ceiling, and wondered what that was for. She lay down on the tiny sofa feeling tired and relieved, and then Mike entered the room.

She looked up at him and asked, "How is up front?"

"Just fine," Mike said as he unfolded the vinyl chair and sat down, "We'll be at our destination in a couple of hours."

Then Tygla nodded and lifted her head and put her hand under it for support. She was curious about her new found friends and wanted to know them more especially, Michael.

"So how did a guy like you get in to a business like this?" She asked curiously trying to kill time.

Mike smiled and like telling his fascination with archeology, "I always like finding things. Ever since I was a boy, I found archeology fascinating. I took a couple of courses in it at the Cian University majoring in archeology. I think it was Uno Pu'Do that made me interested in it. You know the famous archeologist who was lost in the forbidden zone."

"You mean the one who tried to reach the center of the galaxy and never returned?" Tygla inquired.

Mike nodded, "Yup that's the one. One day, probably when we retire, I want to follow his footsteps and find out what's really in the center of our galaxy."

"Yeah right," Justin said sarcastically entering the lounge, "Mike no one ever came back from that place. That's why the council banned anyone to going there, it's cursed."

Tygla looked to Justin and wondered, "What do you think is in the center?"

"Personally?" Justin answered as Tygla nodded, "I think it's just a giant black hole."

She looked to Mike for an answer and replied, "I think it was the same as Uno thought when he sent back his last transmission, Heaven and Hell."

Tygla nodded again, "So how did you two meet, at the University?"

"No, we first met at the Cian orphanage," Mike said as he started to frown, thinking of the terrible past, "We were the last survivors of Earth, before it was destroyed by the Xatu Empire. I was about 4 years old when it happened. They took my parents and killed them. I was taken by one of my dad's friend and was transported to the Cian orphanage."

Tygla frowned as the story saddened her, "I'm so sorry."

"It's ok. Sometimes I do miss them," Mike replied as Justin just stood in the doorway, "So how about you Tygla, what's your story?"

"Well," she started trying to find the words to tell them, "I lived on Felinoron all my life, trying to defend our planet from the Empire. My father raised me and my brother with help from our servants," she started.

"Servants?" Mike thought interrupting her, wondering what she was talking about.

"Yes," she replied, "My father is, a king."

"King!?" the crew exclaimed.

"Hold on, you mean you're a princess?" Justin asked.

"Yes, I suppose so," she replied.

Justin did not believe what he heard, "No wonder why you were offering us a lot of money."

"Well I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Tygla said, "But I had my reasons, if I had told you would you still take the job?"

"Well," Justin thought.

"Of course not," she continued, "You would think I was way beyond your expectations, just like those jerks back at Cian."

"No, we'll take any job from anyone, 'cept from the Xatus." Mike said not caring about the Xatu part, "So it's ok."

Tygla smiled at him, she knew in her heart that Mike was kind and understanding. She liked that in men.

"Thank you," she said warmly.

"Wait a minute," Justin interrupted, "If you're a princess then why do you need us? Don't you have soldiers of your own or something?"

"I wish," Tygla replied looking at Justin, "Father thinks because of this stupid war, it's unnecessary to waste soldiers to rescue my brother. He thinks I am not capable of commanding a squadron to help set free my brother, so I have to show my father that I can gather a rescue party and get him back myself. The Empire has kidnapped my brother and no one on my planet can help me, not even my father. I can just think what horrible things they are doing to him. The Xatu, there're just a bunch of....bearcats!"

Mike nodded to that last comment. "So what does he look like?" Mike asked.

Tygla dug into her small bag and brought out a small device that looked like a Palm Pilot Mike read in technical history class. She turned it on and the screen showed a thumbnail of pictures. She tapped on one and it enlarged showing her brother and herself in bathing suits standing on a beach. Mike smiled at Tygla in the picture, as she was more stunning than ever. He then looked to her brother who was holding her. He had the same complexion as Tygla's, but taller and more muscular. She sighed looked at it and realized that she missed him so much.

"Xman, I miss him so much," she said sadly.

Mike replied, "Don't worry, we'll help you get your brother out Tygla, I promise."

"Thanks," she replied, "I'm sorry. I'm just a little cranky."

"Get some rest," Mike said, "You'll feel better when we arrive."

Tygla smiled to him, she closed her eyes and lay down again as Mike got up. Both pilots left her alone and headed back in the cockpit. They both sat back down in their seats as Justin looked at his companion's face as Mike smiled. He knew that it was the face of love and Justin did not like it. He had seen what love did with him when Mike was dating Julia. Moreover, Justin made a promise to himself that he would not let his friend go through that again.

"No," said Justin.

Mike questioned looking to his friend, "What?"

"You got the hots for her, don't you?" Justin replied.

Mike exclaimed looking to his friend, "What? No way, well all right, she is cute and I do like her."

"Mike you got to remember two things man," Justin started, "One, she's a Felinis, and two, she's a princess and can never happen."

"I know, I know," Mike sighed looking down on the controls, "But something in her struck my heart. I don't know, maybe I'm crazy."

"Yeah, crazy in love," said Justin, "Look Mike, you just can't fall in love with every woman you meet. Remember what Julia did to you?"

"But this is one different," Mike replied looking back up to him, "I don't know. Somehow she seems special."

"No one's special," said Justin, "Not in this galaxy anymore."

Mike argued, "But she is Justin, she is. I just have a funny feeling that she might be the one. And for once I like to share my fortune other than a great friend like you."

Justin shook his head not believing what he is hearing, "I don't know about this one though. All I know is that you're heading in deep waters with her."

Mike did not care what Justin said. He took a quick glance at Tygla and saw her sleeping. She looked so cute just lying here, Mike thought. Maybe one day, could it be possible and Mike did not care about Julia anymore, but then again Justin was right. When he first met Julia, she was so nice and he liked her. That was until she backstabbed him and broke his heart, but what if Tygla was not like Julia, Mike thought. He just wanted to fall in love again and he wanted someone to adore.

Meanwhile on Hades, in the detention center, "Get in there," ordered the armored guard, as he shoved Xman in his cell. Xman just looked at him with a grim expression. He did not like empire's lackeys treating him this way. Even though, he was a warrior, he was also a prince.

"I will kill you," Xman warned.

The guard laughed and replied, "Yeah right."

The guard closed and locked the door, before Xman could react. He needed to escape and look for help, but then that was only a pipe dream. The walls were made of the strongest metal the Empire could find. There a few air vents, but they were excessively small for him to crawl though. Xman hated the Xatu Empire, ever since they killed his mother. That is why he joined the colonial army. He knew that escape was impossible and decided to sit and mentally prepare for his battle against Drax if he gets out.

He remembered the last time he fought him. He had thought that Drax was dead. After he was thrown in to the vat the entire place was about to explode from the battle and he had to get out of there quickly as possible leaving Drax's dead body. That was until he had seen him today. It was not possible, he thought. Drax was dead. He saw him die, but what now, what has he become, some kind of mutant freak? He did not care, all that Xman new that he had to finish off what they had started.

"It's not promising, is it?" A voice said in the cell next to him through a small air vent atop near the ceiling.

Xman questioned looking around, "What? Who's there?"

"The name's CRAIG," he replied in the next cell over, "I'm a Cybernetic Robotics Advanced Intelligence Generator."

"That's a mouthful," said Xman looking towards the vent, "So, what are you in for?"

"I was once lord Drax's assistant, until he got disappointed with my programming, so he'd gotten Hiss, then Drax decided to put me into this cell," he replied.

"If you're an android, why didn't they disassemble you or something?" Xman asked.

"Drax thought it would be amusing if I was locked up like a human animal," CRAIG replied. "I just don't understand humans sometimes. You are Prince Xman are you not?"

"Yeah," He replied unsurely to his cellmate, "How'd you know?"

"My wireless news network informed me that you were here."

"Well, if you're really an android why don't you escape or something?" Xman thought.

"I was ordered to stay in this cell until I rusted," CRAIG replied, "So as Drax says and I must obey. It is part of my programming."

"Well, what if I asked you to forcefully open the door?"

"Well, it is my program to obey any living person," The android replied. "But these walls and door are made out of a Xatu metal called Xrylium, an unbreakable metal. Even I cannot break them. So it seems that we will be in here for a very long time."

Xman then said, "Well, don't worry. We won't be here that long."

"How do you mean?" The android wondered.

Xman replied, "I got friends in the Colonials who I think right now they are planning to get me out of this hell hole."

Meantime the Golden Condor finally arrived at its destination, Felinoron. It became a dismal planet after the Empire's latest hit. Smoke bellowed from the remains of the buildings. They saw some Felinis scurrying around trying to put out the fires and rebuild what the Empire destroyed. Tygla frowned and sighed at this sight and wished it never happened. They landed on the royal launch pad in the capital city. The palace was the only building that the empire did not hit too badly. When Mike and Justin first looked at it, they thought they took a wrong turn and ended up in the 'Emerald City in Oz.'

"Jeez," Justin exclaimed as they got down from the bay doors. He looked at the ruined city and said, "It does look like the Empire has been here."

The port was empty as no one greeted them. Then suddenly a door on the far side of the pad opened and four Felinis guards entered the area with their laser rifles aimed at the new arrivals. Mike, Justin and Tygla were alarmed and confused. When they noticed Tygla, they lowered their guns. One of them mumbled something in his MiniCom. The doors opened once more and an older tiger looking Felinis entered the pad.

"Tygla?" He called to her.

Tygla turned towards the door and replied, "Father?" She knew that she was in trouble disobeying her father, but maybe he had forgotten as she ran towards her with open arms.

Her father hugged Tygla and said joyously, "Tygla my daughter. When I learned that you disappeared, I-I was so worried," he then looked at her with a stern look. Tygla's heart leaped in fear. "I thought I told you to stay in the castle walls."

Tygla frowned and said softly, "I'm sorry father. I had to go and find help."

King Rymu looked at the two human pilots and their ship wondering what kind of help Tygla got. He did not like strangers escorting his daughter throughout the galaxy without him knowing.

She looked at her new friends and said, "Oh, I'm rudely sorry father, let me introduce you two. Mike, Justin. This is my father, King Rymu."

"Hi," Mike replied holding out his hand for a handshake.

King Rymu shook his hand in good gesture as he did the same to Justin. Tygla's father was an older version Xman, but he was a bit shorter and had a grown a furry mane around his chin. Mike thought that he did not look like a king at all, just some father.

Tygla continued, "Father this is Mike Tippin and Justin Jobbs. They're my, uh, new private guards."

"Say what?!" Justin exclaimed not believing what she said as Mike calmed him down with a hand gesture.

Tygla concluded, "They'll be staying here for a couple of days, if that's okay with you?"

"Well," he pondered looking at them. He did not know why Tygla had picked them to be private guards, but he was sure that she had her reasons. And even now they desperately needed more guards and soldiers he made his decision, "All right, but let me inform you this, it's been rough for us all, most of the common rooms have been severely damaged, so you'll be staying in the main castle," he proclaimed.

Tygla said happily, "Oh, thank you daddy," she kissed him on the cheek, but her father tried to smile, but he was too disappointed in Tygla's actions.

"But I want to talk to you young lady. Alone"

Tygla sighed and replied grimly, "Yes father."

King Rymu, Tygla and the guards left the launch pad through the door. Mike and Justin got their things and followed them.

Inside it was something that Mike and Justin had never seen in their lives before. Even though that the Empire had destroyed most of the city, the palace seemed that it was never touched. Mike inquired about that and Rymu explained that they had a shield generator turned on round their home. Tygla said after the battle she snuck away in a public transport ship and arrived at Cian. They walked down the hall and Mike noticed all the fancy paintings around. He then saw Tygla's painting and she told him that it was painted during her coronation when she was eighteen. He then knew that he could never be good for her. Justin was right she was way out of her league.

She escorted the two to their room and Tygla told them that she was going to her room to clean herself up and would see them later. They both entered and saw the room. Justin never thought that he would see the day that he would be sleeping in a luxurious room such as the one Tygla pick out. It was big, so big in fact; you could put the Condor in the room. It had a full size bathroom, entertainment center, and more. Justin and Mike was very impressed and started to unpack. A half an hour later, once Mike and Justin finished unpacking, there was a tone at the door. Mike went over and opened it and their stood Tygla in her proper royal gown. She was in a white long silk dress with a v-neck line in front. Her hair was done and braided she glimmered in the sun like a white diamond.

"Wow, your beautiful," Mike remarked astonishingly. "Just like a true princess."

Tygla blushed entering the room, "Why thank you Mike."

"OK," Justin said sitting on his bed, "Why did you lie to your dad back on the pad?"

"If my father ever found out that you were bounty hunters, he'd kill me," Tygla replied, "He doesn't like the idea of ruffians living in the castle. Besides, you promised me."

"Yes we did," Mike commented, "But one clear thing, we're not bounty hunters, we're adventures. So what's the plan for getting your brother?"

"Well, we have to access the control room, when no one's around, so we have to do this after hours. Therefore, I convinced my father that you'd be my special guest for dinner tonight. After dinner, we'll all meet in the control room. I am sure no one will be there at that hour. We'll then plan for his rescue," Tygla informed.

Justin said, "I thought we were you private guards?"

"You are," she replied, "But for now, you're my guests, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," said Justin, "We'll play it your way for now."

"Good," she said, "Dinner's at six. And don't be late."

"Anything else my love, I mean Tygla?" Mike asked quickly correcting himself.

Tygla replied and she thought he said 'her love', but ignored it, "Yes, I hope you have something better to wear than what you have on now. When we have guests for dinner, it's kind of formal."

"Don't worry," said Mike, "We won't embarrass you."

"I hope not," she said flirting to Mike as she left the room.

"You're getting too cute for her, Mike," Justin warned.

"I think she likes me," Mike replied dreamily as he leaned against the door.

"Get real," Justin ended, "Say, do we even have formalwear?"

Later that night in the dining room, everybody entered. Mike and Justin had to borrow a couple of suits, as they were handsomely dressed, with their black tuxedos and jacket. King Rymu however was in his royal purple king's attire complete with robe. Mike noticed that the room had to be large enough for the long banquet to fit in. He saw more paintings on the wall. Some he recognized from his old earth history book. They must be replicas he thought.

"I'm sorry for all the mess that's around here, but some of my servants had to seek safe refuge from the last battle we had with the Xatu," remarked Rymu.

Everybody sat down expect Tygla. She picked up her glass and said, "I like to propose a toast," then everybody picked up his or her glasses and Tygla continued, "To my brother, I hope he is here, with us, in spirit. And I also wish he will return home safely."

"A beautiful speech Tygla," commented Mike as she sat down next to him.

"Can we have the first course?" The King asked.

One of the servants who decided to stay came in with a cart. On top of the cart sat a silver tray with a dome lid. The servant removed the top and the delicious smell filled the room. Another servant entered caring two bowls. One of them was salad, and the other was some mixed vegetables. He placed it on the table and began serving the others.

Mike sniffed the savory odor and asked, "What is it?"

The king turned towards Mike and replied, "It's a unique old Earth delicatessen you might like, Beef Wellington."

"Beef Wellington?" Mike questioned.

The king replied, "What? You thought it was some erotic Felinis dish?" He laughed and continued, "Eat up."

The Felinis servants served the divine dish and everybody enjoyed it. Mike could not help think what Tygla said in her toast. He wanted to help her, but he also wanted to get some advice.

"Your majesty," Mike started as Rymu looked to him after sipping his wine, "I know that your son has been kidnapped and I want to help in any way to get him back for you."

"That is a very considerate of you," replied Rymu "But I'm afraid you cannot help. I don't have enough soldiers to guard the castle let alone for a rescue mission. I'm sure you understand. Besides, I need someone to guard my only daughter. That is why she chose you, right?"

Mike was distraught and agreed with him, "Right, but if we had enough people to spare, I'm sure you would find a way." Tylga looked at Mike and did not like where this was leading. "So speaking hypothetically, any idea how we'd spring him out, if we had too?"

"My boy, you do not know the Empire's ships as we do. It's impossible to break in their defenses and 'spring' my son out," the King announced.

Mike could not believe his ears, "So you're gonna just leave him there for the Empire's doing?"

"I don't like it more than you do Mr. Tippin, but it is the best safest way to ensure my people's freedom. Now can we change the subject?"

"Our people's freedom?" Tygla inquired, "What are you talking about?"

Rymu frowned a bit, afraid to tell her what he had done knowingly that it would upset her.

"I had to act like a king Tygla, to ensure our people's lives and freedom. One day when you are queen, you will know what I am talking about."

"You traded Xman for your people's freedom, didn't you?" Mike said as Rymu nodded slowly.

Tygla did not believe what she was hearing.

"How could you do that?!" Tygla said in disbelief as tears start to form in her eyes.

"It was a decision I did not want to make, but it was for best interest to our home. You must understand this Tygla," Rymu replied.

"I-I hate you," Tygla said softly, got up and ordered her private guards moodily, "Mike, Justin. I like to be escorted to my room, now."

Mike and Justin both got up. Mike noticed that Tygla's mood has changed and he did not like it. He then thought he probably went overboard asking her father about Xman's imprisonment.

"That beef Wellington was delicious your highness," said Mike trying to make Tygla's mood better.

Justin added, "Yeah, the dinner was great."

Then they followed the princess out the door and into the hall. She then turned towards and snapped at Mike with an unpleasing look on her face. She did not like the way Mike was wondering about her brother. She was so mad at her father she took it on her new friends.

"Look, I know that you're upset," Mike said calmly.

"Upset?!" Tygla snapped, "You have any Idea what you did back there?"

"Do what?" He replied.

Tygla said arrogantly, "Offered my father your assistance. I told you he wouldn't help, didn't I?" Mike was then speechless as she continued down the corridor feeling so mad at him right now. Mike realized that he screwed up and wanted to apologize to her somehow. Once they gotten to Tygla's room she suddenly snapped at them again, "And if you ever talk to my father like that again, I'll, I'll, I don't know what I'll do, just...Arrrg!" She then stormed into her room and closed the door.

"Nice going Casanova," remarked Justin.

Mike replied, "What did I say?" He sighed awfully and continued, "I better go talk to her."

Justin nodded, "Good idea, I'll give Digan a call to see if he got another job, just in case this one doesn't work out."

Mike nodded back as Justin when to their room. Mike wanted to find out what he did to upset her. Maybe he can apologize and make her feel better. He pushed a button next to the door and a soft tone rang.

"Go away," she cried. She did not want anything to do with Mike anymore. He then realized how much he upset her. Then the door slid open as Mike walked in. He saw her lying on her luxurious lace canopy bed crying in her pink satin pillow. Her room was the same size of Mike's, but it has a sense of feminine décor only a princess had. "I told you to go away," she said sobbingly.

Mike said gently, "Listen Tygla, I'm sorry what I said to your father at dinner," Tygla looked up at him in a confused face. He saw her tears and frowned, "I just wanted him to know what we were doing, so he won't worry."

"Worry?! Michael, he practically sent my brother to his death," Tygla replied unhappily. "He doesn't care about us anymore. All he cares about is his kingdom and his people. I don't know who he is anymore."

Mike sat next to her and said, "Hey, he's a father, at least that's what I saw on the landing pad. He's also a leader. I bet it was hard for him to decide between the two. Just like my dad did when we got separated. They love us, so don't say he doesn't care for you, because he does."

She just looked at him then hugged him tightly as she cried some more. Mike rubber her back trying to calm her down. She then sniffed her nose trying to stop as she realized he was right, "I suppose you are right. Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm just mad at my father for what he did, trading my brother's freedom for my planet. But, I-I suppose it was wise for him. I-I just love him so, you must understand that."

What they did not know was King Rymu stopped outside her door. He frowned, knowing this hurt her so. If he had the manpower, he would go after the Xatu that kidnapped his son.

"I know you do," he said trying to comfort her, "But uh you know, I just realized something," Mike continued, "We've never done a rescue mission before I don't think."

"What?!" Exclaimed Tygla as he looked to him sniffling.

Mike wiped her tears away from her soft face, "Well we're treasure hunters. Not rescuers."

"That's why you tried to get advice from my father. So why did you take the job?" She asked looking sternly in his eyes.

"We're desperate for money and back on Cian you seem desperate for anybody to help you. Therefore, I rather figured we'd help each other out. Hey, it's first time for anything."

Smiled a bit and said calmly, "I suppose." Her expression changed to sadness as she gazed down to the bed sheet, "But what the use now, for all I know, he could be...dead by now."

"Don't say that," Mike said lifting her chin, "You got to have hope."

She nodded to him looking into his blue eyes.

"You know you're right, my father does love me," she said as she calmed down, "I've just been a selfish cub. Maybe I should apologize to him."

Rymu smiled and at that remark, at first he did not know what Mike was until now, a caring person. He was a bit surprised that Tygla lied to him, saying that Mike was a personal guard, but he guessed that she had a good reason. Tygla could not pick out a better guard. He decided to leave them alone and went to bed.

Tygla paused for a moment, looked at Mike more obsessively than before, and said softly, "You know, the first time I saw you, something inside me said you were the right one, for me." She then kissed him tenderly on the lips. A spark ignited between them. Tygla never fell in love with a human before, but Mike was somehow different, "Thanks," she said softly. "And for some reason, you are right about my brother. I could feel that he still out there and alive, and he needs our help. Meet me in the control room in ten minutes," Tygla said.

"Aright," Mike said.

He was still dazed from the kiss and hesitated for moment before getting up. He wanted to stay longer but he knew she needed her privacy.

Once he left, Tygla just realized what she did. She kissed a human. The law forbade a Felinis to fall in love with one. Ever since Earth probes discovered and colonized Felinorin, a short civil war broke out when Tygla's great-great aunt fell in love with a human. Her great-great aunt's father disapproved and declared war on the humans. Their successors did not like this and banned inter racial relationships, but Tygla did not care. That was from the old days, before the Xatu. Mike was not like the other humans or male Felinis. He was different. He was someone that she could express her feelings to without him turning his head away, uncaring about her. She did not want any snobby royal duke or prince like that. She wanted someone who led an exciting life, like Mike. It was a little stupid at first, but Tygla thought that she was falling for him. Even though her father and brother would be furious if they knew that she loved him, she had to keep this her little secret.

She then closed her eyes, feeling a bit scared, but she sighed shaking the feeling away. She looked in her mirror admiring her beauty and wondered if he felt the same as she did. She changed in her pink satin pajamas and met Mike and Justin in the Control Room.

The door opened in the darkened control room. As Tygla hushed them to be quiet, she turned on the lights. Technicians filled the entire room with computers and comport screens.

"If your father finds out we're in here, he'll kill us," said Justin.

Tygla replied, "Don't worry, the electrical security devices was damaged in the battle." She turned on one of the working equipment, an Electric Graph Grid as the two looked around. "Besides, by father wouldn't hurt a fly. He's gentle as a cub."

"Look at all this stuff," Justin fantasized.

Tygla had better equipment then they did on the Condor. He saw an Advanced Weapons Console in the corner, a modified shield generator panel next to it. He also saw a Crylon Crystal Generator controller on the other side.

Tygla replied, "Most of this stuff has been damaged from the battle," she typed in her password and continued, "Except for this."

"Can you get in?" Mike wondered

"It's not problem for me," she replied trying to impress them. Especially Mike, "I have complete access to all the computer networks."

A holographic screen appeared in front of them showing a menu:

* RECALL

FIND

LIST

SPECIAL

She jogged down to SPECIAL and hit the return key, and then another screen appeared. She typed in HADES and said, "These are stolen structural plans for the star ship Hades. A few weeks ago before the battle we had one of our spies retrieve them for us." She frowned of what happened, "He didn't quite make it back from Mars, so he transmitted some of its data. What we got wasn't enough to find a weakness or anything, but it was enough to find out what we were dealing with." The screen then changed into a complex map formation. She scrolled around the screen until she found what she was looking for. "Our specialist examined the plans for any outer defense weakness, but they were unsuccessful. My brother should be held here," Tygla pointed and continued, "At Prison Center #5. My plan was to go through the air ducks and surprise the guards. My only problem is getting into the ship. As far as I know the ship's impregnable."

"That's where we come in huh?" Mike said.

Tygla replied, "Yes, any ideas?"

"Hmmm, well this is not the temple on Mota but," He paused a bit thinking, "The problem is not getting in the ship, but getting near it. I am sure that ship got a long-range scanner. Say Justin, did you ever get that Ghost Shield of yours working yet?" Mike asked.

"It still has few bugs in it," he replied, "But I suppose I can work on it before we leave."

"Good," Mike said as he looked back at the screen.

"Ghost Shield?" Tygla inquired.

"It's a new cloaking program that works on scanning systems. Now, what's that?" Mike asked pointing a small rectangular door at rear of the ship.

Tygla looked and answered, "Why that's a garbage chute. You're not thinking of entering through there, are you? That's crazy, the only time that door is open is when they go into Hyper Flight."

"Well then, we got to be quick, don't we," Mike replied.

Tygla added, "If we gonna be quick, then we should find a safe place to hide."

"Where's the ship now?" asked Justin.

Tygla exited the program and brought up a space grid map showing Hades moving upward besides a large asteroid field. "It's a good thing one of our best pilots placed that homing signal on it before it departed. It looks like it's still in the outer reign of the Deneb System, near a Xatu space station," she said.

Mike started, "Justin, remember that time we were being chased by Tuskin in that asteroid field in the Solar System a few weeks ago?'

"Yeah," Justin replied, "What about it?"

"Do you remember what happened?" He asked.

Justin answered, "Yeah, we hid in one of the asteroids and waited for him to leave. You're not thinking what I think you're thinking?"

Mike replied, "Yeah, we'll just hide and have them come to us."

"And when they do," Tygla added excitedly, "We enter with no one knowing it. Oh Mike, it's brilliant. Okay," she turned off the Electronic Graph Grid and continued, "We'll leave tomorrow morning at o'six hundred hours," she got up and they left the command room as Tygla turned out the lights she said, "You better get a good night's sleep, because we a got long day ahead."

"Hey? What's this we stuff?" Mike said, "I thought you were grounded."

"I am," she replied, "You don't think I actually listen to my father do you?"

"Well I...I don't want you to get into any more trouble that's all." Mike said awkwardly.

Tygla replied confidently, "Mike, I will be with my private guards, and I am sure my new private guards will protect me from harm?"

"Of course," Mike replied.

"Good," she said as they looked into each other's eyes for a moment. "Now goodnight you two." She trotted off to her room smiling.

"Sweet dreams my princess," Mike said dreamily.

Chapter 4

The Rescue

Early that morning, Justin and Mike were already on board the Golden Condor and Tygla just walked up the ship's ramp that led the small area that adjoined two other small rooms, the cargo bay and the lounge. She could not wait to see her brother again. She barely got sleep last night thinking about it and about Mike. She thought how wonderful to go out on a date with him, if he asked. She wondered where they would go and what they would do. Probably something exciting, but her brother must come first. She wondered about Xman, what the Xatu must be doing to him. She thought that they must pay dearly for taking him away from her, just as they did with their mother.

"Morning," she said nicely.

Mike and Justin was in the cockpit, turned to her voice and replied, "Morning."

"I like to thank you two for being here, fifteen minutes early," Tygla remarked.

Justin replied, "No problem, I had to finish this stupid shielding system before we leave," he then attended to his controls trying to debug the Ghost Shield.

Mike then noticed her baggy eyes and said, "Didn't get any sleep?"

"No," she replied sadly, "I kept thinking about my brother. I miss him."

"I know you do," said Mike admiring her cat eyes. He never knew that Felinis' eyes were ever more beautiful and exotic than human's eyes.

Justin turned his head towards them and said, "Ahem, can we get this bird flying now?"

Mike, not looking at him asked, "Is the Ghost Shield working?"

"I'll get it working before we get there, don't worry," Justin replied.

Mike and Tygla made their way back into the cockpit and got to their seats, but just before they took off a panther-like Felinis royal guard came running out. He hoped to catch the princess, but it was too late.

"Princess, princess!" he shouted. The ship lifted off the ground turned to the cloudy sky and took off. The guard sighed and mumbled, "King Rymu is not going to like this."

He turned around and went back inside to tell Rymu. Rymu did not like the idea that Tygla could leave whenever she likes to, especially when he had grounded her. He was afraid that she might lose her just like his son and his wife. When the guard told him what happened he was in shock. He wanted someone to go after them, but he did not have many soldiers to spare at that time. He had just hoped that her new guards were the best.

Meanwhile Xman could not sleep either. His thoughts were more on Drax than his family. What in the galaxy, did Drax have in mind he thought, as he sat in the prison center on Hades? Then, Xman's cell door suddenly opened and two guards entered harshly.

"Get up you slime," the guard ordered as grabbed Xman's arm pulling him up.

Xman awoke, looked at the guard unpleasantly and replied, "Couldn't you just knock first?"

Xman kicked one of the guards in the gut as he fell back. The other guard used his stun stick and prodded Xman in the shoulder. Xman cried slightly, and then his body went limped. They then dragged him out of his cell. A portable screen hovered in front of him, and then Drax's face appeared. Xman slowly raided his head and saw his enemy. He narrowed his eyes at him. He knew that what he was going to say was not pleasant.

"I will give you one last chance, Where is the colonials' secret base?" Drax said. Xman did not say a word, but stared at him like hungry wolf. Drax continued, "Well, if that how it's going to be, Guards, prepare him."

"For what?" Xman inquired.

Drax replied, "Don't worry my friend. I have special plans for you. We're going to continue where we left off two years ago. That's right a battle, a battle of strength, wit, and fate to the death. Just you and me alone, Mono è mono."

"Ok Drax," said Xman, "What's the deal?"

"Deal?" he replied, "If I wanted to kill you I would of done it a long time ago. No, if you win, I let you go, and if you lose," Drax heckled and continued, "Well, you know the answer to that."

CRAIG peek out of is tiny cell window, witnessing the scene and said to himself, "No."

The screen vanished as it moved aside. Hiss stood behind it grinning like a Cheshire cat. Even though Drax told him that he must be at his best, he did not say he could have some fun with him first.

"We musst prep you up for the sshowdown Xman," Hiss remarked. Xman growled at him and struggled again trying to regain his strength from the stun stick. Hiss then ordered to the guards, "Take him to the chamber."

Meanwhile, back on the Golden Condor still in Hyper Flight, the three space adventures waited to arrive to their destination. Justin was still fiddling with their new equipment. Tygla however, was a bit anxious to rescue her brother.

"Can this thing go any faster?" Tygla remarked impatiently.

"What's your hurry princess?" Justin asked as an electric spark shocked his hand "Ow!"

"I have this gut feeling he's in big trouble," she replied nibbling on her fingernail.

Justin said, "Don't worry. You're looking at the fastest ship on this side of the galaxy."

She just wished that she were with him right now. The Empire captured him for some reason and she wanted to know why. She looked out towards the streaming stars and wished on one of them. Mike looked at her and felt so sorry for her, but he promised that he would get him back for her even if it were going to get them killed.

On the Hades, The guards forced Xman in to a circular room. There was a coffin like chamber in the middle, made of metal. Xman did not know what that was, probably some kind of torturing device. Something he already did not like.

"Get in there," ordered the guard, as he pushed Xman in the chamber.

The door then slid closed as Hiss attended the controls. It was pitch back inside and could not see a thing. It was as if he was blind. He pounded on the dark black walls, but it did not help him at all.

"I know you'll get a charge out of thisss," Hiss remarked as he chuckled.

Just then, he heard a hissing sound. No, it was not Commander Hiss, but something else. Gas poured in the chamber, shocking Xman as he saw flashes of light flickered all about him.

"Noron gas!" He cried painfully.

Tygla suddenly woke up from her daydreaming as Mike turned to her and asked worriedly, "What is it Tygla?"

Tygla replied unsurely, "I don't know. I-I thought I felt a sharp, shocking, pain down my side," she then relieved herself and asked, "Are there yet?"

"In just a couple of minutes we will," replied Justin.

Mike then said to Tygla, "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes," she replied, "I'm just...Never mind. I really appreciate what you guys are doing. This means a lot to me and my home planet."

Mike placed his hand on hers and said, "Don't fret about it. It's our job."

She smiled to him as if suddenly all of her worries were gone. She never felt like this to another man before. She had other relationships, but they did not turn out what she wanted. Some of her past boyfriends were either boring or just after her family's money. All she wanted was someone who knows how she feels. Michael might be that man.

The two guards took Xman to the ship's arena, and then threw him to the ground as the door to the arena closed. He looked about and saw that the room had empty seats. The arena itself was oval shaped, and there was wall-to-wall grey tarmac on the floor that reached the bleachers. He then got up, but before he got his thoughts together, a giant large bat swooped down trying to claw at him. Xman ducked quickly as he wondering what that was. It could not be Drax, he thought. It then landed on the ground and transformed its body in to the figure of Drax.

"Welcome my old friend," Drax said evilly, "Let the battle begin."

He then morphed in to a spider like creature with sharp metal legs as he attacked Xman. Fortunately, he rolled out the way as Drax's razor sharp tarsus landed near him, as he did not believe what he was seeing. How could this be Xman thought? He then remembered of the vat he had through him into. That vat must have given Drax morphing powers.

"You know this is not fair to me!" Xman shouted as he quickly got up, "You have enhanced human power."

Drax turned around and looked to him and he morphed back to human form and replied, "Fair? I was human once! Normal! And you. You were stronger and bigger than I was. No, I think the playing field has been leveled."

Drax's lower half has morphed in to a snake like form. He then quickly wrapped his slithery tail around Xman and squeezed his body, crushing every bone in Xman as Drax chucked at his pain. Xman struggled and grunted, as with his tiger humanoid strength, finally broke free of Drax's hold. Xman fell to the ground tired as ever, but he had to continue. Drax, hoping that his enemy was out of action, whipped his snake like tail at him, but Xman saw this, grabbed the tail, and started to swing Drax like the hammer throw event, with all his might. The gravitational pull threw Drax from Xman's hand as he flew in the air and crashed in to the empty seats. Xman panted and was still weak from the Noron gas treatment as he looked at his nemesis. Drax then changed in to a bear like creature, charged, and pounced on Xman. Xman grabbed Drax's paws as he fell on his back.

The prince kicked with all of his might and forced Drax from his grip and he fell on the ground. He turned into a hungry mean wolf and lunged at Xman. They both fell down again while Xman grabbed the wolf's paws and threw him off once more as the wolf tumbled.

Drax then turned in to a tiger and remarked icily, "I hope this shape will makes you more comfortable."

"Nothing makes me comfortable with you around," Xman replied puffing.

His scars were shown all over his body, but he was not ready to give up yet. Even though Drax was stronger than he was, Xman was more cunning. He had to catch him off guard somehow.

However, before Drax attacked again one of his guards informed him over the intercom, "Sir," he said as Drax turned to speaker, "You have a transmission call from the Emperor himself. He said it is important."

Nothing is more important than this he thought, but he did not want to ignore the Emperor's request and submit himself to his torture. He then morphed back into himself and looked at the speaker.

"Tell him I will be there in a few minutes," He replied.

This was it, Xman ran, then leapt in to the air with his foot up front. Xman kicked him hard in the chest as Drax fell down. Drax slowly got up, quickly shaped his hand into a metallic hammer-like shape and slapped Xman as he fell to the ground unconsciously. He glared at his opponent. He hated to be interrupted, and someone was going to pay for it.

The guards came in as Drax ordered, "Take him back to his cell. We will continue this later Xman. Right now, I have more important matters to deal with."

Drax then left to his office to receive the Emperor's call as the two guards dragged Xman back to his cell. Once in his office he turned on the VidCom screen and saw Mi'Tuk waiting impatiently.

"Sorry M'Lord, I had to attend to some unfinished business," Drax apologized.

"You were supposed to take control of Felinoron, not play with them," he started sternly, "Now I hear the king is still alive!"

"I-I am sorry my lord," Drax replied, "I- AAAARGG!" Drax's mind was suddenly in pain as he shrieked madly. It felt like he was being stabbed with a cold sharp knife through the ear.

"You are a fool Drax," the emperor said. Drax didn't realize that the emperor's mind-bending power could reach across the galaxy. "I should've sent Hur'Sjo instead. At least he follows orders."

"Please M'Lord," Drax pleaded, "I-I have, have everything under c-control."

"You have disobeyed me Drax, so I am reassigning you to another mission I have in mind, but don't worry. We will deal with the Felinis in time. I have another task for you instead." Drax glanced up to him wondering what he wanted him to do. "A more important task. You remember why I have come to your galaxy Drax. Power, ultimate power.

"Twenty years ago my soldiers had captured a human who had been searching for the ultimate power. I had tried to extract information from him, but he had resisted my power somehow. He only carried a few pieces of information that I sought.

"Years now I had you going to different science facility to retrieve any information leading to this power, now after years of waiting. My spies have told me an old Lizzian explorer named Uno Pu'Do, led a one-man expedition to find this power. His last known location was somewhere in the Norma System.

"I want you to go there and extract any information concerning his expedition. Then when and if you find this power you will bring it to me."

"But sir," Drax argued, "I m a military commander not a...AHHHHH," his head was in pain again as Mi'Tuk said to him

"You will do as you are told Drax. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes My lord," he answered as the pain subsided, "But what do I do with Prince Xman? I am sure his people will be looking for him."

"Xman?" The Emperor thought a sly smile covered his face. "He can be a valuable slave for us. As soon as you find this power, bring Xman to me. As for his rescuers, his people will not be foolish enough to attempt to cross us, but be on alert, just in case." Drax nodded, "And Drax, don't fail me again. Xata!"

Drax nodded once more, as the screen blacked out. He did not understand why the Emperor was so interested in an old failed expedition that happened thirty years ago, but he must obey him. He went to his COM and ordered Hiss to prepare a jump to into Hyper Flight.

At that same moment, the Condor trembled violently as Justin questioned, "What the?!"

"A couple of minutes eh?" Mike said as he quickly slowed down the ship out of Hyper Flight.

"Sorry," Justin apologized.

Enormous asteroids were pelting them as Justin and Mike tried to avoid the huge space rocks. The Golden Condor flew through the small asteroid field like a twisting roller coaster car as the two pilots decide a place for their concealment.

"How about there?" Mike asked as he pointed towards a large asteroid, the size of ten football arenas, floating by. It has holes as big as the Condor a perfect fit Mike thought.

Justin replied, "Looks good to me."

The ship then gradually hid in to one of the holes behind the huge rock and waited. Mike turned everything off except life support and flight controls. He did not want to activate the Condor's force shields afraid that the Xatu might detect it prematurely. Justin finally worked the bugs out of the Ghost Shield and turned it on, hoping that it did not burn out or something. Tygla's heart was beating fast as she was so nervous. Just then, the giant ship Hades emerged out of nowhere.

"There it is," Mike said cautiously.

Justin added, "That thing is huge."

As the ship passed, the team tried to look for the garbage disposal chute.

"It's got to be around..." Tygla paused and saw it, "Look," she pointed toward the back of the ship near the engines.

The door then slid opened slowly, "This is it, let roll," said Mike.

"And prey that your anti-detection system doesn't give us away," Tygla pointed out as the ship thrust quietly towards the opening.

Tons of garbage debris poured out from the chute as the Condor tried to avoid the scraps left and right. The cockpit shook a bit as a small pieces of metal hit the ship. Then suddenly the engines stopped responding.

"Crap!" Justin cursed said as he tried to move his flight stick. "The controls won't respond."

Mike quickly attended the computer trying to figure out what went wrong. Then Tygla saw that the door was closing.

"Mike! Look! The door is closing," she pointed fearfully a Mike looked up.

It was too late as the chute was sealed. Mike frowned not knowing what to do, but what made it worse was they heard the Hades' engines rev up and in a second, it was gone. Tygla could not believe it, she have may lost her brother forever. She looked to Justin disapprovingly as so did Mike.

Justin looked back at them and said defensively, "This wasn't my fault. I didn't know something would clog up the engines. I'm sorry."

"My brother could be dying right now and all you can say 'I'm sorry?!'" Tygla said aggressively, "How could you? I thought you guys were good!"

"Settle down Tygla," Mike assured her as she looked to him.

"Settle down?" She said agitatedly, "Mike, you promised me you can save him, and now this!"

"I know, don't worry," he said to her calmly "We'll find him and that ship and try again."

"You seem you have a lot of confidence. Don't you?" She wondered, as she was calming down.

He nodded and said, "We still have that homing signal remember? All I have to do is patch it up in the computer and trace it."

He pressed a few button on the key pad and a map of the galaxy appeared on a small monitor in front of him. He saw a small line getting bigger as he knew that was the Hades. It seemed that they were heading towards the center of the galaxy. Then abruptly the line stopped growing.

"Hmm, that's odd." Mike thought.

Justin asked, "What?"

"They stopped in the right between," he paused and saw that the beacon disappeared.

"Right between where?" Tygla asked impatiently.

"The Crux and the Norma System," he said disappointedly, "I lost the beacon."

Tygla could not believe it. She frowned and started to sob. Mike looked to her not know knowing what to say. He just leaned over and hugged her.

"It's going to be ok," He softly comforted to her, "We'll find him. That's what we do."

She looked up to him. Tygla thought that he is the sweetest person in the galaxy. She was about to kiss him when Justin cleared his throat. The both looked at him and broke their embrace.

"So how are we going to find that ship?" Justin asked.

Mike replied as he turned to his controls, "Well, we're going to their last position before the beacon stopped transmitting. Maybe we'll find answers when we arrive."

He entered the coordinates in the Hyper Flight system. Mike knew that the Hyper Flight engines must have been still working than the regular engines. The ship automatically repositioned itself, as Mike pulled the lever on the control panel. They were glad as the ship disappeared in the blackness of space.
Chapter 5

Showdown at Space Port 88

It was not long before the Hyper Flight system brought them to their destination where they lost the Hades. The area was dark and empty besides the faint of sparkling stars far away. Mike checked the computer and scanned the area for any sign of that ship and the beacon. At first he thought that the beacon must have malfunctioned and fell off. The computer stood in silence for a few minutes until it beeped. Mike zeroed in the signal and saw an object not too far from its scopes.

"You found something?" Justin asked him.

Tygla wondered hopefully, "Is it the Hades?"

"No," Mike replied trying to figure out what the object is, "It too small to be the Hades." He checked the star charts for reference and said, "It's a space port," Mike sighed in disappointment.

"Maybe they know where the Hades went to?" Justin Suggested.

Mike looked him, "That not a bad idea. Space ports can track ships in Hyper Fight for their data bases."

Mike took control and guided their ship towards the signal's direction. Even though the garbage clogged the main engines, he did not apply the air break thrusters as they glided smoothly towards their destination. Ahead they saw what appeared to be a large asteroid type rock that bared metal areas and showing tiny windows that lit up like a Christmas tree. There was also a tall steel tower on its pole that was shoved into the rock. On top of the tower held a large radar beacon that it safely light blinked every five seconds. As they got closer, Mike saw four bay hangers near its lower pole and adjusted the ship towards there.

The radio then came alive as a female voice announced dryly, "Welcome to Space Port 88, please give me your ship name, cargo number, and destination please."

Mike answered her, "This is the Golden Condor, Captain Mike Tippin speaking. Uh, we are not a commercial ship, but we have some engine trouble. If you can let us land, so we can repair it that'll be fine."

"Please give me the ship's coding number please," she said as Justin and Mike looked at each other.

Justin asked, "Do we even have a coding number for this ship?"

"Yeah," Mike replied unsurely, "Somewhere around here." He opened a storage box near him that contained valuable hardcopy documents on the Condor. Mike scanned though them and found the codes. "Got 'em. You still there miss?"

"Yes," she replied tiredly.

"33-290-6613," he informed her

"Thank you, our tractor beam will safely guide you to hanger bay two."

"No thank you," Mike said as the beam guided the Condor towards the second hanger on the right.

Tygla never have been to a spaceport before. She saw two other older type ships in the hanger, a Borney Cargo ship and a small one seated cruiser. She also noticed some old model androids walking about attending to them. Once they docked, Mike advised Justin to secure the ship, as they did not trust anyone here, including the androids, but they did want them to unclog the engines. Once they as they exited the ramp, Justin asked a free android worker to help them out. He agreed as he went to work. The trio made their way deeper inside the station. They had do find someone was in charge, so they can obtain the flight schematics of the Hades. The station was more like mall, dirty and not kept. The deserted walkway had few Animuns and a couple of humans strolled through it. There were tiny shops and services strewn out, as peddlers were desperately trying to sell their wares. Justin even saw a Bar and Grill down a ways and suggested that they stop their first.

"How can you think of food in a time like this?" Tygla wondered.

"Hey you ever heard the expression, food for your thoughts you highness?" Justin shot back.

Tygla then suggested, "There has to be an InfoComp in this place we can use."

"Justin's right," Mike agreed, as Tygla looking to him, not believing his words, "Bartenders know more than InfoComps, trust me. And besides I don't think they are working in a place like this."

As they entered the bar and grill called 'Zumbee's', they saw a medium crowd with a few tables that were unoccupied. Laughter and hip rock like music filled the air. Then, a Felinis Wilden took noticed to Tygla and the two adventurers as he wandered over to them. His wild red and white fur looked raggedy as if he did not brush them in a long time. When he smiled, his teeth looked yellowish and his fangs looked dented.

"Hey babe," he said to her as Tygla cringed in disgust as she smelled his fowl ale breath, "The name's Morng, I'm the fastest gunslinger is these parts. Why don't you lose these two humans and be with a real Felinis?"

She replied unbelievably, "Are you kidding? I'd rather be with a Slugton than with you."

"Ohh, spunky, I like that," he said smiling.

Mike then interrupted, "Sorry pal, she's with me."

"Oh yeah? Human," he said annoyingly, looking to Mike, "I don't see your name on her." He then turned his gaze back to Tygla and grabbed her arm. "Come on babe, I'll show you around."

She tugged as his grip got tighter then Mike helped freed her. Morng's face changed to a nasty expression.

"She said no," said Mike sternly.

"You got a lot of balls human," the Felinis Wilden proclaimed.

Mike replied not liking his tone, "Yeah? I don't think you have any balls fur face."

Morng growled as three of his friends stood up behind him, a hawk Avian, A Raccoonion and a Weaselin. It did not bother the trio at first, but Tygla got little nervous. Justin glanced over to a table and saw a bat-like Animun Vrampian took great interest in their situation. It did not bother him at first, but he knew that he could be working for Mama'Halb, so they had to be extra careful.

"You can talk trash, human," he said sizing up to him, "Let's see how fast you are with a blaster."

Tygla looked to him then said to Mike, "We don't have time for this Michael."

"You're right," he said looking straight into Morng's cat eyes, "Why don't we take this outside?"

Morng smiled slyly, "My pleasure." He and his gang passed Mike and his friends as Mike hesitated.

Tygla, did not believe this. She thought Mike was the kind of person who did not fight bullies. She continued to stare at Mike and said, "You don't have to do this Mike. Really. I don't need you to impress me."

Mike turned to her and said, "I already impressed you Hon," he looked up at the door as his opponent walked out, "This time it's personal."

She did not know what he meant by that. She hoped to ask him later, if he survives. They all left the bar and Tygla was afraid that her new love might get hurt or even worse. Mike and Morng were standing about twenty feet from each other as the crowd gathered around them in the walkway. Tygla and Justin were standing behind Mike as he just stared at his opponent. Morng stared back grinning, waiting to begin.

"Mike please," Tygla pleaded again, as fear crept inside her, "Don't do this I don't want you getting hurt or worse."

Justin added, "She right Mike, he's not worth it."

Mike ignored them as he started at the Wilden Felinis. Then the Hawk Avian stepped between the, eying them down and announce, "All right. The rules are simple. When I say draw...Draw." He then stepped out of the way.

Both contestants were eying each other trying to sense what was inside each other's mind. Mike had seen gunslingers do a showdown when he was at the orphanage by watching old Earth Westerns. He studied them wondering if he can be fast as they were.

Tygla whispered to Justin, "Has Mike ever done this before?"

"With a real gun?" Justin wondered and replied unsurely, "No. Not really."

"Oh my god," Tygla prayed as her heart started to race.

The Hawk Avian then asked them, "Ready?"

Mike and Morng moved their trigger hand slowly down to their guns. Mike gradually touched a button on the hilt as Morng thought he had taken the safety off his blaster. Both hands were steady as seconds became hours to Mike. He saw Morng twitched one of his fingers. Mike was starting to get nervous as sweat started to appear on his forehead and then...

"Draw!"

In an instant, it seemed to Mike that time had slowed to a crawl. Both men drew their guns and pulled the trigger, but who pulled it first? A laser pulse shot out from the gun as Mike's bluish bolt hit Morng on the chest first. Morng's shot averted from his target and hit Mike's shoulder instead. Mike cried in pain as Morgon stumbled back and fell to the ground.

"Mike!" Tygla and Justin cried fearfully together as they grabbed Mike.

Suddenly, they heard two more shot as the crowd panicked and scattered. Morng's goons also took off as Tygla looked up to see whom it was. She saw a tall lean man walk over. He was dressed in a very loose grey and tan jumpsuit wielding Winchester laser Rifle. He was also wearing an old dusty cowboy hat and brown leather jacket that has a star looking badge on it. His face was old looking as he had grown a gray mustache growing on it.

"All right! Break it up!" He announced as Tygla noticed his southern western accent, "What in tar nation is going on 'ere?"

He looked at the gunslingers as two big and strong male androids came with him. His two friends were attending Mike as Morng groaned a bit and moved his body. Tygla could not believe that Morng was still alive. She thought Mike had surly killed him.

"Who are you?" Mike asked as he winced in pain. Tygla took a cloth from her hip bag and put pressure on the wound as Mike winced even more.

"Sorry," she said as they looked to the gun wielding man.

The man looked to him and answered, "I'm sheriff in this station, stranger," he looked to Morng as he ordered his Android deputies to help him up and asked, "Now, who started all this commotion?" Mike, Tygla, and Justin pointed at Morng as Morng did the same, "Well, it seems that I have to arrest the both of ya."

"What for?" Justin asked.

"For shooting illegal firearms in my station," he replied.

"But sir," Tygla protested, "We didn't start it."

"Maybe we should discuss this in my office then." He suggested.

Chapter 6

The Stolen Condor

The sheriff led them to a little modern jail quarters down the shopping strip at the end of the walkway. Tygla wondered how Morng survived the shot, and Mike told her that he had his gun set on stun mode. He also told her while the sheriff escorted then, that he did not like to kill people for a stupid gestures like that. He just wanted to have Morng to learn a lesson. She was surprised and relived to learn that Mike was not a ruthless killer and this really impressed her.

"What did you mean when you said it was personal?" Tygla asked quietly, "Do you know him?"

"No," Mike said as he held the cloth, "I just hate racism."

Then Tygla knew that he was different. She smiled to him and knew that she has found the perfect man. Inside, the two android deputies forced Morng in a little cell on the far wall and activated the energy bars. Each of the two cells only had a cot to sleep in and a tiny sink securely attached to the wall.

"I wanna talk to my Lawyer!" Morng protested,

The sheriff looked at him as the androids left the small office and said, "You don't have a lawyer Morng. Now shut up."

Tygla pointed out, "My friend needs medial aid."

Sheriff grabbed a box that was hanging on the wall and threw the kit at Justin. Justin handed the kit to Tygla as she opened the box and grabbed some slave and a roll of bandages. Tygla then patched up Mike's shoulder and kissed it to make it feel better as Mike smiled a bit, but Justin did not like that cute motion and frowned a bit. The sheriff then gestured Mike to the other cell next to it. Mike did not argue and stepped inside. Tygla frowned and did not like what she saw as another set of laser beams draped down in front of him. The office was small, but it had enough room for at least ten people to fill it. Tygla looked at the sheriff's steel desk and noticed a nameplate that had the name Sheriff Dan Morgan on it. Tygla and Justin sat in leathered seated steel chairs as Sheriff Morgan sat in his.

He looked at the two and asked, "Now, can somebody explain to me what is goin' on in my station?"

Tygla and Justin looked at each other trying to find the right words to explain all of this. Tygla then looked at the Sherriff, sighed, and replied, "My name is Princess Tygla Tyger of the Felinoron kingdom and these are my friends Justin Jobbs and Mike Tippin. We were on our way to rescue my brother from the Xatu Empire when we lost their homing signal."

Justin continued, "Yeah, we had to track them down here when we found your little station."

"Right," Mike added, "Then we decided to get a bite to eat when this hair ball over there stared to make trouble with my Tygla."

Morng frowned and argued, as he tried to grab the blue electric bar, "That's not true! EEEow!" He got zapped and flew back in his cot.

Sheriff Morgan laughed hardily, "You? A princess? Ha ha ha, that's a good one, I guess you guys are her knights huh? Ha ha ha ha."

"Private guards actually," Justin, corrected him.

"I heard some cocker spaniel stories in my life, but this one takes the cake," The sheriff said as he looked at Mike and Morng. "Maybe a night in the cell will calm you two down."

"But it's true!" Tygla said sorrowfully as her eyes started to water. "And now," she then started to weep, "I will never get my see my brother again thanks to him."

She cried once more as Mike frowned sadly. Justin patted her shoulder for comfort. Sheriff Morgan frowned too and felt a bit sorry for her as he had soft spot for the women he served.

"Now don't cry little lady," Morgan said as he hand her a tissue. Tygla took it and wiped her tears. "I-"

Just before he could finish his sentence, an alarm started to ring. Tygla and Justin looked up to the sound. Sheriff Morgan recognized it, as he knew it was a burglar alarm.

"What the blazes is it this time?" He wondered.

They then heard two laser shot as he got up, grabbed his Laser Winchester, and quickly proceeded to the door. He saw his two mechanical deputies lying on the floor, as someone shot them in the head. He looked up and saw a male black tabby Felinis running pass him and the down the walkway with a small sack in one hand and a laser gun in the other.

"Son of a bitch," he mumbled as he raised his rifle, but the Felinis shot it out of his hand.

Tygla and Justin ran out when a young woman ran down to the sheriff screaming "Sheriff Morgan! The jewelry store been robbed!"

"Hey! What about me?" Mike said trying to get their attention, but it failed and they were gone.

Justin had to do something. He figured that if helped catch the cat burglar, the sheriff might let Mike go free. He drew his gun and ran like wind down the walkway, chasing the Felinis through the crowd.

"Justin wait!" Tygla shouted, but it was too late.

Tygla then ran after him as so did Sheriff Morgan. The cat burglar kept shooting at Justin as he ran, but Justin avoided each shot. He saw the tabby Felinis head towards the hanger, but he just kept shooting at him. The burglar stop short blasted the door controls and looked for a getaway ship. Justin ran like the devil as the doors began to close slowly. He had to pass through them before they closed. He jumped and tumbled between them when the door was sealed.

He saw the tabby get in to the Condor as he cursed to himself. He got up and ran towards his ship before the ramp was retracting back into the hull. Then he heard the heard the engines rev up as it lifted off the ground and take off out of the bay and into deep space. He did not believe it. That Felinis thief had stolen The Condor, right in front of his eyes. No, Justin thought, not the Condor, anything but the Condor. He was so pissed off that he cursed aloud and threw his gun on the floor in anger. A shot rang out from the gun. Meanwhile, Tygla and Sherriff Morgan had gotten to the sealed door.

"Can you open it?" Tygla asked quickly.

Morgan went to the control panel, fiddled around and replied, "Give me a minute here or two."

The door then finally opened half way as Tygla squeezed through and saw Justin cursing at himself.

She ran over to him and asked, "What happened?"

"He took the Condor!" Justin yelled angrily at her.

He looked to him with a worried and confused expression, "What do you mean he took it? I thought Michael told you to secure it. Didn't you lock it up or something?"

"I did," He replied defensively, "He must have some kind illegal remote code key or something."

"What are we going to do?" She asked as the sheriff joined them. She turned to his and said, "You have get your ship and go after him."

He sighed as he took off his hat and scratched his head, "Sorry Ma'am, that's out of my jurist diction. That and I don't fly."

"So what are you going to do to get my ship back?" Justin wondered angrily.

"Now both of you calm down," the sheriff said, "I just need to call the local Imperial guards and report this."

"The Imperial guard?" Tygla wondered worriedly.

"Not a good Idea," Justin said, "If you report it, they'll impound my ship and I'll never see it again."

Tygla agreed, "He's right, and we need a ship to rescue my brother."

Morgan sighed not knowing what to do. He looked at them wondering if he should believe their story and trust them. He did not like the Empire as well, but he must report it to the authorities.

She looked at him and said, "Listen, my people are at war with the Xatu Empire, and they have my brother. We need him to help us fight this war. Please don't call them. You have to help us."

Tygla frowned at him and Morgan felt sorry, "Well, it's against station policy, but, oh heck, I can't say no to a pretty lady like you."

Tygla smiled brightly, "Oh thank you! What about Mike, can you let him free so he can help us?"

"Oh no," Justin commented when he picked up his weapon and holstered it. His heart dropped, knowing his friend was not going to like this. He then said worried fully, "What am I going to tell Mike?"

"Well, since you are new around here," The sheriff said, "And he didn't kill Morng, I suppose I can let him off with a warnin'."

"Oh thank you," Tygla repeated as she hugged him.

By the time, they returned to the jail, the alarms silenced and they found a short male Lizzian standing in the office and he was furious.

"Sheriff, did you catch the thief?" He said as Morgan looked to him.

"Not yet Hazu, but I'm on the case," the sheriff replied.

"On the case?" Hazu wondered, "How long before you can catch him and get my inventory back?"

He went over by Mike's cell pressed several keys on the lock pad that was near it and the energy beams disappeared, as Mike did not quite understand.

"You're free ta go," Morgan said to him as Tygla smiled, ran over, hugged and kissed him. He looked back to Hazu and replied, "Come back tomorrow, I should have few answers for ya till then."

Justin frowned as he saw their embrace and he knew he had lost him again. The Lizzian turned to the door and departed to his shop as he grumbled in his language about the lazy sheriff.

"Free?" Mike asked confusedly.

Tygla nodded to him and replied, "I convinced him to set you free."

"I just couldn't see the poor girl cry again," Morgan said to them, "I guess I got soft spot for ladies."

They smiled as Mike said to Morgan, "Great, now if we can get the track data for the Hades, we can be on our way." Justin and Tygla frowned knowing that the Condor is gone. Mike looked at their expression in confusion and wondered, "What?"

"Mike," Tygla started regretfully, "I don't know how to tell you this, but, remember that thief the Lizzian told you about?"

"Yeah," he replied unsurely.

Justin then concluded hesitantly as he sighed, "Well, he sort of took, the Condor."

Mike could not believe what he was hearing. Mike grew angrily at his best friend, "He what?!"

"I'm, I'm sorry," Justin apologized as Mike advanced on him.

Mike was now furious asked, "You're sorry?! How the hell did he steal the Condor? I thought you said you secured it?"

"I did!" He shot back agitated, "As I told your 'new girlfriend' he must of had an illegal remote key code or something. You know, I knew something like this was going to happen when you dragged her in to it!"

"Don't bring Tygla in to this. She had nothing to do with this!" He argued as Tygla frowned. She did not like them fighting like this, and over her.

"She had everything to do with this!" Justin retorted, "If you had said 'no we don't do this kind of work'. We could still be at Cian, sippin' a couple of beers, with our ship, but no you had to fall in love with her."

Mike shot back, "Hey, I'm not the one who insisted my best friend to take the job."

"Oh yeah?" He stammered as he struggled to make a comeback but said, "You know what? I had it! I have had it with you and your stupid adventures Mike. You can take your new girlfriend, and rescue the prince without me. I'm gonna find the asshole who stole my ship and get it back." He then stormed out of the office.

"Our ship," Mike corrected him, but he disappeared into the mall. He closed his eyes in disbelief and sighed. He lost his best friend and it was his fault.

"Touchy fellow ain't he?" Morgan commented

"Mike, I'm sorry," Tygla apologized softly as she started to get emotional. "I didn't know I would break your friendship with him."

Mike looked to her and replied calmly, "It's not your fault."

"But it is, If I had listened my father in the first place, none of this would ever happened," she said as water filled her eyes.

"But your brother would still be in the hands of the Empire," he said as he glanced to the door, "Justin's just..."

"Jealous?" Tygla said to him.

"I was going to say protective of me, but you're right too," he shook his head in resentfulness and said quietly, "I should've listened to him."

Morgan looked to them, "It's ain't any of your fault. If I had been quick on the trigger, you would still have your ship, and, since it's my fault, I think it is my responsibly to make it up to you. Anything you want, it's yours."

"Thank you," Mike said shaking his hand. He looked to Tygla and said, "I better go talk to him."

Mike found Justin at 'Zumbee's'. He was at the bar with a full glass of beer in his hand. He remembered the good times they had and already he misses them. He walked over and sat in the next stool.

"What do you want traitor?" Justin wondered irritably and drank his alcohol, "You and Tygla couldn't find a ship?"

Mike disregarded that comment and replied calmly, "No, I just came to say that, I'm sorry." Justin eyes' gazed to him as Mike continued, "You were right. I've should never got involved, with this."

"And what about Tygla?" Justin asked, "You still love her don't you?"

"Of course."

"Mike, she a princess," he explained, "And only a prince or, or a knight or something can be with her, plus she's a different race than you. I told you all this. Remember what we agreed after Julia betrayed you?"

"Don't mix business with pleasure," they both said together.

"Right, I thought we made pact," Justin said disappointedly.

"But she is nothing like Julia." Mile told him, "Tygla is different, she's sweet, considerate, and loves to help out her family when they are in trouble. Now will Julia do that? No, not in a million years. I made a mistake with Julia, but not with Tygla. I love her Justin. Maybe when you get a girlfriend you'd understand that too. Now I don't know what your problem is with her but I want to know right now."

Justin sighed, "When you were with Julia, you dissed me. Now I didn't say anything to you before because I saw that you were actually happy with her, but you hurt me. I mean. I felt like an outsider, and that you never paid any attention to me anymore. That upset me. I thought I was losing my friend."

Mike frowned a bit and said sorrowfully, "Look I didn't know I would hurt you like that and I'm sorry. I guess when I was having a great time with Julia I forgotten that I had great friend as well, but that's not going too happened again. I'm not going to put a woman between us, ever. I guess we gotta learn to live with it, but if you wanna go and leave me? Ok, I can't control your life. It's been fun adventuring with you Justin and I'm gonna miss it."

Mike frowned, got up, and started to leave. Mike was right Justin thought, but he did not want to be left out again, but what if Mike said was true? He liked Mike too much to have his friendship to be destroyed, and now he lost his only friend in the universe because his selfishness.

Justin turned to him and said aloud before Mike made it the door, "Hey!" Mike stopped and looked at him, "We did have some great times right?"

Mike nodded and replied, "The best."

Mike exited the bar as Justin looked at his drink. Ok, Julia was bitch, Justin thought, but Mike was right, Tygla was never like her. Maybe it could work out. I mean, I do not know her that much to judge her. He had to give her a second chance at least.

"Oh what the hell," Justin said to himself as he finished his drink and placed a translucent dollar bill on the bar. He got up and walked quickly to find his friend, "Mike! Wait up!"

He saw him walking back to Morgan's office. He jogged down and caught up to him.

"Mike!" he called to him again.

Mike stopped and turned to him wondering what he wanted.

"Look, you're right," Justin said apologetically, "I've been acting like a selfish jerk, and I can tell you that, Tygla's not that bad. But when you learn that you cannot be with her...I'll be there for you."

He placed his hand on Mike's shoulder and cocked a small smile. Mike smiled to him, knowing that Justin made a good call. They both hugged, as they now knew what true friendship really meant.

"Now let's go rescue her brother," Mike decided.

"What about our ship?"

"We'll find the Condor one way or another. Right now, I think our priorities are to rescue Tygla's brother. Besides you got that remote right?"

He was about to argue about finding the Condor first, but then his did not want to have another fight. "Yeah, but it's only for short wave."

"Well don't you have a long range homing system on that?" Mike asked as he pointed to Justin's wristband.

"Yeah, but the radar system's on the Condor, unless we-." Justin stopped and had an idea, "Unless we can reverse the polarity of the signal. I just need another radar system attached to it and then reprogram the system." Then he had a second thought as they continued to walk, "Eh, He's probability a million light years away by now, and Tygla's brother is... I suppose he's more important than the ship."

Mike smiled at his friend's comment and said, "Right."

Justin nodded as they approached the door to the jail office, and asked, "So how are we going to rescue him without a ship?"

"I think our new friend was going to help us on that part," Mike replied as he opened the door.

Justin wondered what new friend they acquired. As they reentered, they saw Tygla still sitting in the chair patiently waiting. She turned her head and smiled to see that Mike and Justin had made up. She would know that their friendship was too powerful for it to fall apart.
Chapter 7

The Great Escape

While the situation stranded Mike and Justin on the spaceport, things seemed grim as Xman slept in his cell. He suddenly awoke to find out that the engines had stopped. He wondered what Drax was up to, and whatever it was, it was not good. He also wondered why no one had attempted to rescue him. Maybe it is because this Xatu battleship was too much for Xman's fleet to handle. He saw what happened at the battle he witnessed. It was then up to him to escape.

"Hey!" He said to his cellmate, "What's goin on? I heard the engines stop."

"It seems that we're at a destination that Drax had set," CRAIG replied. "I have been monitoring our movement with my internal motion sensor and it seems that he brought us close to the center of the galaxy."

The center of the galaxy, Xman thought, but why what did he-. Then remember that Drax's prior duty was looking for a great power. He also remembered from his teachings at home of an old expedition involved with the center of the galaxy and pure energy. He knew the laws forbade anyone to go there, and that its one explorer never returned from it.

Drax must be crazy to duplicate where Uno had failed, but if Drax did find that energy, the Xatu Empire would be unstoppable. He had to escape and get help, but first he had to get out of his cell. He remembered what CRAIG told him about the material was used in the cell, so had to think. He looked down at the foot of the door and saw the food passage slot. Currently the Xatu guards closed it, but every time they served him disgusting slop, the guard had to push it through and that gave him Idea.

"Guard!" He shouted hopping to grab his attention, "I'm starving, how about some breakfast over here?"

Three Xatu guards were at the prison's command post talking to each other when they heard Xman's request. The high officer nodded to one of the other guards to permission to feed Xman. One guard walked over to the food preparation station on the nearest wall. He pressed a hexagonal button and a square tray that had a bowl attached on top dropped down on a counter that embedded to the wall. He waited a couple of seconds when grey lumpy substance poured down into the bowl. He grabbed a utility spoon and took the tray over to Xman's cell. He placed the food on the floor, pressed another button that was next to the cell door and the food slot opened.

Xman saw the slot slid open and got ready. The guard then crouched down and pushed the tray into the cell. Xman waited until the tray was halfway in, then he quickly reached through, grabbed the guard's hand and pulled it towards him. The guard irked as Xman slammed his body into the door and pulled him through the tiny slot.

"Open this door, or I'll rip your arm out!" Xman ordered.

The other two guards took notice as high officer told the other one to help him. The second guard took out his stun rod, opened the cell door, but before he could use it, Xman pulled the first guard towards him, grabbed his head and twisted it killing him instantly. Xman, in all in one motion, swiftly grabbed his gun while he kicked the dead guard on the second officer and fired his gun at him, killing him too. The high-ranking officer saw this, drew his gun and rang the alarm.

Xman looked down the corridor and saw the officer coming over to shoot him. Xman raised, aimed and shot the Xatu officer in the chest as he screeched and fell lifelessly. Xman had to act quickly as he knew that more guards would arrive. He went over and took one of the dead Xatu guard's key card. He then inserted in a slot next to his cell. The door opened and Xman saw the blond android just sitting there.

"Come on, we're getting out of here," Xman ordered.

CRAIG replied "But I must stay here to serve the rest of my sentence."

"I don't have time, but I need your help, and you're the only one who knows this ship inside and out."

He then heard the elevator slide door open then eight more soldiers filled the main control room. They saw him out of his cell and fired their blasters. Xman promptly covered his body by moving in between CRAIG cell door's thick archway and shot back killing one guard. CRAIG, now alarmed stood up. Xman was an excellent sharpshooter as he ranked high on his home planet. He was one with his weapon, even though it was a Xatu gun that he despised, he had to make do. As a bolt whizzed by Xman's arm, he pulled it back and they knew that the Xatu trapped them like rats. Xman cursed at himself but he did not want lose control of the situation.

"Is there any other way out of here?" He asked CRAIG.

"I am sorry," CRAIG replied, "But the elevator is the only exit."

"Perfect," Xman mumbled disappointedly as shot another soldier down.

He looked around quickly as laser shots flew by and saw an air duct up on the ceiling. It must be connected to the cells he thought, but he wondered if the covering could be destroyed as the cells were made of Xryolite. He had to find out. He aimed at the covering and blasted it open.

'Great' he thought, now they had to get up there.

The ceiling was about ten feet high and it was out in the open. Xman had to kill all the guards and get to the vent. It did not bode too well as he was out gunned. He saw the other dead guard lying on the far wall across the corridor and quickly went over. While shooting more shots at the barricade down the hall, he grabbed the other gun and tossed it over to CRAIG.

"CRAIG, Cover me!" He said, as the android looked at him puzzled.

"I'm and sorry sir, but my programming restricts me to..."

"Just shoot them!" Xman yelled as he hit another soldier in the neck.

CRAIG walked out a bit when a laser bold missed his abdomen. He stopped turned to see the six remaining guards. It was against his program to kill any living creature, but as he monitored the situation, he noticed a control box near the archway into the control room. He aimed his weapon and fire upon it, destroying the panel. Suddenly a safety force shield appeared between the Xatu troops and the two innocent fugitives. The guard was stunned and immediately went to the other control box on their side. Xman was surprised to see CRAIG's action.

"As I was saying your highness, I cannot kill any living creature whether it be Xatu or otherwise." CRAIG said to him.

The android went under the air duct, looked up, and then positioned his body, so his can give Xman a boost up. Xman grinned slyly and placed his foot on CRAIG's cuffed hands. He looked at the troops for a moment as they were still trying to hot wire the controls to the safety shield. The android with his bionic strength boosted the warrior prince up into the ducts. Xman climbed in and looked to his android friend.

"Come on!" he said to him.

CRAIG looked up and replied, "You go on, I must stay here."

"Are you crazy? Your master abandon you, you're a free android." Xman said to him. Xman was right, he had no master, and according to his program, he must have a master. He look up to Xman and his logical sensors told him that he was new master. Xman looked again down the hall and saw that he shield flickered. "We don't have to time to philosophize," Xman said to CRAIG as he extended his hand to him.

"All right," He replied, "Remove your hand your highness."

At that moment, with one leap, he jumped and grabbed on the ledge and climbed in with his new friend. The shield was finally down as Xman told CRAIG to lead on. The Xatu troops ran over blasting the ceiling, hopping that made a lucky shot, but it was too late they were gone.

In the office of Lord Drax, Hiss was in there with him planning the next move when the Hades arrived at their destination. Hiss told him that one of his spies he hired a Vrampian, found Tygla and she was with two rouges, Mike Tippin and Justin Jobbs at Space Port 88. He researched their names and told Drax that they were some sort of freelancers called 'Star Raiders Inc.' He also told him that they might be in pursuit to recue Xman. Drax then told him to let them come. Soon he will have both Tygers and two more slaves for the Emperor.

Suddenly Drax noticed the faint alarms go off and did not like it. Then the door slid open as a young female human officer entered. She was one of the first female officers to command the security department in the Hades. In the old days of Earth navel history as Drax remembered from his school days. It was bad luck to have a female on board a ship, but times have changed, and even the Xatu Law once forbade having a human woman to become of a solider of the Xatu army.

Drax looked up at her. She was young, thin, but athletic. She had tied her short brunette hair in the back due to military regulations. She walked in and greeted herself.

"Lieutenant Tila, you better have explanation for the alarms," Drax told her sternly.

Tila did not flinch, even though she was tad nervous as she replied, "I am sorry my lord, but the Felinis you captured has escaped."

"What!" Drax exclaimed.

Hiss said, "I told you it wasss a missskate to capture him."

"Oh shut up," Drax warned him then looked to her, "Alert all posts, I want him brought back, alive."

"But sir, he also took your old android servant and they were last seen in the air ducts," Tila informed him.

Drax frowned realizing his mistake and ordered, "Seal off all air ducts," He then though that if Xman had his old servant CRAIG, they would easily break through them, "No on second thought, release the security bots."

"Alright my lord," Tila replied, "But to let you know, he has a blaster."

Drax frowned as things could not get worse that is when Hiss said "My lord," He began, "I may have a better idea sssss."

Xman and CRAIG found themselves crawling in the ducts in the upper decks of the ship. CRAIG informed him that the hanger that his ship was on was down eight levels. As they crawled, CRAIG stopped abruptly when a gate closed on them, trapping them. Xman frowned and looked behind as another gate sealed shut. He did not like this, it started to feel like was in that dark torture chamber. This did not worry CRAIG, as he punched the gate with so much force, it bent like tinfoil. Xman smiled and commented something about how lucky he had him as a friend.

They made their way through and got to a vertical shaft. CRAIG looked down and estimated that it was a 50ft drop. He climbed out as small razor sharp spikes emerged from his fingers. He then started his decent gripping the walls with the spikes. Xman got to the edge and looked down. See saw CRAIG descend and though that could to the same. He remembered from his military training that he could scale shafts like this one, by using his palms. Once they both reach the bottom, they had to crawl a few more ducts.

"We are almost there, the exit is just up ahead," CRAIG informed when they started to hear a crackling sound, like some electric discharge or something.

Xman heard it as well and suddenly it appeared from another corridor. It was dodec shaped robot with eight tentacles waving all about. Sparks flew all about as Xman looked at it sternly.

"Duck!" He said as pulled the blaster from his belt.

CRAIG lowered his body as Xman aimed and destroyed it. They heard the same noise again, except it was coming from behind. Xman looked back and saw another Octobot emerging. Xman blasted at that one too.

"Keep moving," he said to CRAIG as he pushed the Octobot debris and continued.

They finally got to a grating, as CRAIG quietly pushed and bent it open. They were in a large corridor. Xman saw that the interior of the ship looked a little organic as if they were inside a burrowed log except that the material the Xatu used was iron and steel. CRAIG informed him that the hanger was a hundred yards to the left. Xman and CRAIG cautiously edged their way down when more guards spotted them from behind.

"There they are!" One of them shouted.

Xman looked back, shot one guard and they ran down to the hanger. Xman stopped briefly as he noticed another panel that look like the one in the Prison center.

"Keep running," he said arrogantly as he blasted the panel.

The door automatically activated another shield. He smiled in satisfaction and sprinted to meet CRAIG. They found his ship in one of the hangers, but more Xatu troops guarded it heavily. They were so close of escaping, now this. CRAIG wondered how they were going to get into the ship. They both ducked behind some steel cargo boxes and assessed the problem. They looked about and saw four Xatu guards and the Thunder Claw in the middle of the hanger. They also noticed that the hanger controller closed the huge bay doors. Then it slowly started to open as a crescent moon like the one ship docked in. The force shield that protected the hanger was still up, as three B'tars passed through it. Xman thought for a moment.

"Any ideas how we are supposed get on board?" CRAIG asked.

Xman he kept thinking as he touched the wrist. He felt something on it as he looked down and saw that he still had on his control watch.

Xman smiled and replied, "My remote control. They forgot to take it. It'll program the ship's weaponry. The lower guns should distract them while we make our run. Let's just hope it still works."

He then programmed guns as the guns then came alive and fired continuously. The guards scrambled as CRAIG and Xman made their move onto the ship.

Once they got to the cockpit, Xman started the engine as CRAIG remarked, "The door is closing your highness."

"I see it, hold on!" he replied.

He grabbed the flight stick and turned the ship around. He then pushed the throttle to full as the ship's engines propelled them out into space. When Tila, Hiss, Drax and some troops arrived, it was too late they were gone.

"I hope your plan works Hiss," Drax commented.

"Don't worry my lord. Sssssss," Hiss assured him, "You will have both sssiblingsss."

Tila smiled to that idea. A princess slave, she thought slyly. It has been too long that she had a female companion.

The Thunder Claw was small. It just had enough room for an extra passenger and some small cargo. CRAIG sat behind him in the co-pilot seat looking outside the canopy. Xman sighed in relief, as he could not believe that they escaped Hades. All of a sudden, the shipped beeped as CRAIG looked down over Xman's shoulder and saw his radar screen.

"Sir, it seems that we are being pursued." CRAIG informed him.

Xman looked down and saw over ten B'tars coming toward them in high speed. He growled and took control, as he was getting ready to fight them.

"Sir, you are not going to attack them?" CRAIG warned as he turned the ship about.

"You ever seen a Felinis fight?" he asked as he flipped a switch on his console marked weapons when he noticed that nothing happen, "Crap!"

"What?" the android asked.

"Weapon's malfunction," he replied, "Well, I think I can out run then. Can you set the NavComp for Felinoron?"

"It should not be a problem," he said as he was already entering the coordinates in the computer.

"Good, I'll try to out maneuver them without being blasted."

Xman took his flight stick again, yawed it to the right, and increased his thrusters. The B'tars got in range and started to fire its laser guns at them. Xman did his best to avoid them. He tilted the Thunder Claw left and right. CRAIG told him that the coordinates were set and locked in as all Xman had to do, was position the Claw and line it up on HUD.

"Got it!" he said as he pulled the leaver.

The Thunder Claw sped in to Hyper Flight. Xman sighed once more, this time he was relaxed. He thought of his father and his sister and could not wait to see them again. Five minutes had passed when the ships alarm rang. Xman opened his eyes and franticly looked about to see what was wrong.

"What going on?" CRAIG wondered.

Suddenly they heard a small explosion coming from the ship. The shipped slowed gradually as they exited Hyper Flight. Xman studied the controls. They heard a hiss as Xman knew that the computer activated the cooling systems to eliminate any fire that was onboard.

"Damn, the Neoxite crystal over heated and blew," he replied as he cut down the power. Xman then explained, "Can't go in to Hyper Flight without it. Gotta replace it though, but first we gotta find out where we are."

CRAIG was on the computer's navigation system and replied, "Sir, it seems that we are between the Norma and Crux System."

"Great," he said, "Out in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I can radio some help." He pressed a button that had the initials LDRT (Long Digital Radio Frequency) and entered a frequency number he knew. Static only came back. He frowned wondering what would be next. Unexpectedly the radio came alive over the Short Digital Radio Frequency and a bored female voice boomed.

"Welcome to Space Port 88, please give me your ship name, cargo number, and destination please."
Chapter 8

The Star Hawk Returns

Sheriff Morgan showed Mike and the others the flight pattern that the Hades traveled to. It struck oddly to Mike that the battleship was heading deeper towards the center of the galaxy. Why would they go there? Then Mike remembered Uno's expedition and wondered what the Empire was up to. Whatever it was, it was not good. He thanked Morgan and asked about getting another ship. Morgan told the trio that he did have a ship that they could borrow, if they would return it. They entered an old service elevator, probably there when the station was in construction, and descended. They arrived at the bottom of the shaft, but Morgan paused before opening the door.

"Now, before I open this door, let me warn ya a couple of things," he started as they listened, "She gets crappy fuel mileage, weapons don't work right, and the Hyper Flight system is shot, but she's all I got."

He finally opened the door and they saw it. It looked like an old rustic ship gathering dust inside the service area. The large room like any other garage you might find in a local service station except for its huge size. Tools were hanging on the walls, engine parts strewn bout and some dismantled wings, from old ships hung from the ceiling. There were also a torn old leathery couch by the wall and an old working digital Entertable with two iron chairs next to it. Justin did not believe it, but Mike's eyes widened in awe at the ship as Tygla looked at curiously. Mike knew that it looked like an earlier version of the Condor, but it was smaller in size. The ship had a wingspan of fifty feet across and it had and extra tail on the back instead of one. He also noticed that cockpit was slimmer almost as a fighter jet that Mike saw in his history book.

"There she is," Morgan said, "The X50 Star Hawk. Beauty ain't she?"

"Sheriff this better be a joke," Justin commented sarcastically.

"Joke my butt, Justin," said Mike admiring a rusty space ship in the middle of the room, "This is a classic 2030 X50 Star Hawk. This thing has Hyper Flight level 2, dual laser capability, deflector shields, a cloaking device, this thing had it all."

"Well, not all the trinkets work on it, but she can fly," Morgan said as they walked towards it. "I know because I flew in it."

Tygla looked the sheriff in confusion and said, "I thought you said you don't fly?"

"I don't, she flew," He replied as he nodded to the ship, "It has one extra feature on it that the other Hawks didn't have, an Automatic piloting system." He looked to them and slightly frowned curiously, "Now don't tell anyone about this. People around here will be down on my back faster than a mongoose on fire if they knew I had this ship."

"If it had automatic piloting system, why didn't you use it to go after that Felinis?" Tygla asked.

Morgan looked at her and replied, "I'm not flyer. Don't like flying, never did. Had this ship when I was in the Great War, back on Earth," they then all looked at him confused by his words, "I was mechanic in the motor pool on a military space port. I was workin' on her, when the Xatu decided to attack the port. Everyone scrambled everywhere, as it was a surprise attack. Their B'tars destroyed most of the ships, with the pilot still inside. I then saw a giant beam like laser hit the earth from the sky far into the distant. It must have been their plasma drill and their B'tars flew off. I didn't know why they were going, but my instincts told me I had to get out of there. So I just quickly got into the cockpit, turned her on her engines, and she did the rest.

"I'll never forget what happen after that. The ship got into orbit as a thousand Xatu crafts surrounded me. The APS has an emergency program and it rocked us passed them as laser bolts flew every which way. They got a couple of hit on us and damaged the weapons systems. Then I heard the loudest explosion I ever heard, just before I went into Hyper Flight. I knew then, that I lost my home."

Tygla said unhappily, "That is so sad."

He nodded briefly and continued, "That is when the Star Hawk brought me here. It must have had a preprogrammed flight pattern. When I arrived, I thought that this thing saved my life, so I kept it for nostalgic reasons. Brought it down here to work on it from time to time with little I got, due to being sheriff an all."

They were in awe of the story. Mike turned to Justin as he caressed the hull of the ship and asked, "Well, what do you think Justin?"

Justin remarked calmly as he looked at his friend, "You're not seriously considering going against the Empire in this thing, are you? Mike, this thing is a junk heap. It couldn't do mach 4 without breaking up."

"Whelp, I better get back and finish up some paper work," Morgan said as he started for the elevator, "If ya'll need help, you know where to find me."

"Will do," Mike said wavering, "And thank you sheriff for everything."

"My pleasure," he replied as he tipped his cowboy hat, "Oh," he dug in his inside pocket and handed Mike a piece of paper, "One more thing. I made a parts list a long time ago. Didn't have the money or time to get them before, so there ya go."

Mike thanked him again as the sheriff headed towards the elevator, closed the door and ascended back to the mall.

Mike Turned to his friend, back hand him on his shoulder lightly and said, "What wrong with you? Insulting him like that. He's a veteran. Show some respect."

Justin frowned and apologized, "Sorry, but come on Mike. It isn't too late to find a transport back to Felinoron or Cian and get a much better ship than this."

"Justin, A we don't have the time, and B this thing is a beauty, besides you Tygla," Mike said as Tygla blushed, "Besides, the Condor was like this when we first brought it, remember?"

"Yeah I was against buying it then," Justin shot back.

"Right, but you loved it when we restored it. It'll be just like old times. And, if we restore it fully, we can run rings around Drax and his Empire."

"Or have them die laughing when they see it," Justin Commented as Mike frowned in disappointment.

"That's the beauty of it," Mike told him, "They will never expect it. Come on buddy," Justin just looked at him, "Ok, so it's not like the Condor, but it's the next best thing. Come on don't you wanna see Morgan's face when he see it fully restored?"

Justin looked at the old ship and sighed. Mike was right. Justin did respect the sheriff, and said dejectedly, "All right." Mike and Tygla smiled at him as he said unsurely, "But this had better work."

"It'll be better," Mike replied confidently padding on his shoulder. He looked at the ship and asked, "How long do you think we can get it fully working?"

Justin looked at it and he knew that it did need a lot of work and answered, "I don't know, eight maybe ten hours."

"Ok good, you start working on it," Mike told him, "Tygla and I will start searching for parts. There's gotta be a ship repair shop in this port."

Few moments later Mike and Tygla were back in the mall. After they gotten the parts list from Morgan, they started to walk around. They had come up to the jewelry stall where they saw Hazu.

"Mike look," Tygla pointed out, "There's Hazu," They went over to him and introduced themselves, as Tygla said to him, "Hello Hazu, remember us?"

Hazu looked up from his pad. The store looked like a mess as they saw glass and a few jewelry pieces scattered everywhere. Hazu saw them standing here holding hands.

"Yeah I remember," he replied. "You were in Sheriff Morgan's office, weren't ya? And you," he pointed to Mike, "You were in jail. How did you get out?"

"It's a long story," Mike said, "But it's ok, I'm legit."

"That's right, he was innocent," she said, "Look, we are so sorry what happened to you. If it will make you feel better, we'll help clean up this mess for you."

They bent down and started to pick up stuff. Mike carefully picked up a piece of sharp glass as Tygla found a beautiful pendant. It was a raindrop shaped, pendant with a red incrusted jewel in the middle of it. She looked at it admirably.

"Don't touch anything," Hazu said as he swiped the pendant from Tygla as she jumped in surprised, "I am still trying to assess the damage."

"What is that?" Tygla inquired pointing at the ornament in Hazu's hand.

Hazu replied, "This is the Pendant of Pocen, or least a genuine reproduction of it. It is said that the original pendant gave its user courage and strength." They both stood back up. He looked at it for moment then said, "Then again, it was just a myth."

"How much?" Mike asked curiously.

"For you, five hundred Galatical dollars," He replied.

He saw that Tygla admired the pendant wanted to buy it for her, but when Mike and Justin got in trouble with their former boss Mama'Halb, they decided not to waste money on frivolous things until they paid her back. On the other hand, he wanted to do something to make things right for Hazu. He felt so sorry about what happened to him.

"Ok, we'll take it," he said as he dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He took out a few translucent bills and handed it to him. "Here's a thousand."

Tygla eyes widened as she saw the money. She did not know he had that much on him. She was more impressed that he brought the pendant for her.

"Ok I'll get your change." Hazu said smiling as he started his way to the cash register.

"No, keep it. It's that least I can do as after what happened. For damages."

The shopkeeper eyes widened and said surprisingly, "Why thank you, but if really want to make it up. You can find that stupid Felinis." He looked to Tygla, "No offence miss."

"None taken," she said

Hazu continued, "And return the rest of my inventory. Some of that stuff is worth thousands and I don't have insurance to replace it. Didn't need it 'caus I thought that so-called sheriff said he would stop thieves like that. Hah, sheriff, he couldn't stop a Slugton if he tried."

"Hey that not nice to say about man who was in the Great War," Mike replied.

"Sorry," Hazu said calming down, "I'm just ticked about what happened."

"It's ok," Mike said.

"Yes," Tygla said, "and don't worry, we'll get your jewelry back."

The Lizzian nodded and replied, "Thank you."

Hazu handed the pendant to Mike. Mike looked to Tygla ever so lovingly, "Here," he said kindly as he placed the jewelry around her neck. Her heart leapt and she blushed. "For your courage for putting up with us." Tygla chuckled as he paused. He admired at Tygla with the pendant around her neckline and said tenderly, "You look very stunning with it." Tygla blushed again as her face turned a reddish wine color. She looked at the pendant then to Mike not knowing what to say.

To Tygla, it was a Felinis custom that, any male who presents a gift to a female instantly means that they were taken. She smiled, warmly at him and replied affectionately, "I-I don't know what to say?"

Mike came closer to her and suggested softly, "How about 'I Love you'?"

She wrapped her arms around Mike and kissed him ever so passionately as Hazu looked at Mike and smiled warmly. He never had seen a happier couple in his life before. Mike never experienced a kiss like this before. It was more exotic than he ever known. He wanted to have this moment to last forever, but Mike knew it could never last. He broke the kiss and looked deeply in her cat like eyes.

"You know," Mike said, "of all the women I knew, you're probably the most concerning person I ever met. I mean you're beautiful, compassionate, and smart. And I don't care what Justin says I think I'm falling in love with you."

"What has he been saying?" She inquired cutely looking back in his blue eyes.

"Oh, he said that since your part of royalty and I'm not. And that we should not even be together," Mike replied.

Tygla Smiled, "Forget about what Justin said, he doesn't know anything. And, I love you too." They both kissed again, but an angry voice broke their kiss.

"TYGLA!"

She recognized it and looked over to see her brother walking from the hanger area. Her eyes widen, as she could not believe what she was seeing. It was her brother.

"Xman?" She called curiously. She smiled knowing it was he and said happily, "It is you!"

She ran over to hug him as Mike looked at him. Xman looked big, bigger than he was. Mike did not know, but he wanted to know, how he escaped. The siblings hugged, but Xman broke the hug and looked at her sternly.

"How did you escape?" She asked him.

"Never mind that now," he said as his voice grew angrily, "What were you doing with that human?" Xman asked harshly.

Already an unknown force was destroying their love. Mike already knew it could never happen. Justin was right, but he still did not care, he loved Tygla so much, but how can he love someone who has over protective racist brother telling her what to do.

Her heart paced nervously as she did not know what to say, and then replied, "Nothing."

"You were kissing him, weren't you?" He asked sternly.

She looked to Mike briefly then back to her brother and replied in an unpleasant tone, "Maybe, so what?"

"So what?! He's a human Tygla and you're a Felinis, a royal one at that. Don't make a mistake like this. You know it's forbidden in our law. As a matter of fact, I suggest you don't even go near him," he replied irritably.

Tygla was surprised on what he said, and argued, "I don't care! And you can't run my life! I'm not a cub anymore!"

"Tygla I do care for you," said Xman calming down, "I don't want your feelings hurt like last time you fell in love with that male tiger Felinis."

"But this is different," she replied desperately trying to defend Mike, "He is different and I love him."

"Felinis and humans don't mix together Tygla. Especially one who's not of royalty," He repeated sternly as he glanced over to Mike.

"What do you know? You never even met him," She argued as tears started to form in her eyes.

Xman warned, "I don't think you want father to know about this do you?"

"You wouldn't?" She dared.

He leaned over to her closely and replied, "Try me." He then looked at Mike, "As for you..." he went other to him, grabbed him by his throat, and lifted him off the ground.

Tygla panicked as tears rolled down her face, "Xman No! Put him down!"

She went over and grabbed Xman shoulder, trying unsuccessfully to release her love. Hazu saw this and pressed the alarm button one more time.

Xman ignored her request and said, "If you ever come within fifty yards of my sister, I'll rip your heart out! You understand?"

"Crystal," Mike tried to say as he struggled. He would never imagine Xman's great strength.

"Xman please!" Tygla pleaded, "He's the one who was going to help me rescue you. Let him go!"

Just then, they heard a rifle click as a long Winchester barrel was pointing at Xman's head.

"You better do what the lady says mister." Morgan told him. "That's my deputy you got your hand on. Now release him, or spend night in my jail."

Deputy? Mike thought, not knowing what he meant by that. Xman glanced at him and noticed his badge, knowing that he did not want to get in trouble with the law. He released his grip and Mike fell to the ground. Tygla went over to help him up.

"You ok Mike?" She asked him.

Mike rubbed his throat trying to get the blood flowing again and replied dryly, "Peachy."

"Now that's a lot better," the sheriff said still holding his gun at Xman, "Now back away." Xman did not like people ordering him about and just stood there. "I said 'back off!" He said more eagerly as he readjusted his rifle.

Tygla begged to Morgan, "Sheriff lower your gun please, he's my brother. He didn't mean to hurt anyone."

He looked at Tygla then realized that this was more of a domestic dispute. He figured that they could talk it out like civilized people. Morgan slowly lowered his gun. Then Xman backed up a little. Tygla was a bit hysterical, but for once in her life, she must up against her only brother.

"Tygla," Xman started, "As soon as my ship is ready, I'm taking you back home. We'll finish this discussion later."

He stared to go back when Tygla sternly said, "No."

Xman stopped and looked back at her and ask unbelievably, "What?"

"I'm staying here with Mike," she replied boldly. She did not know where this courage came from, but it did not matter with her as she continued, "And I don't care what you say. If you come near Mike again, I'll, I'll, I'll do something so horrible to you that you'd wish you never had touched him!"

Xman did not know where this was coming from, but he like it. "Is that so?" Xman said irritably as Tygla nodded.

He then grabbed her arm and started to drag her across the walkway down to the hanger. Mike wanted to do something, stop him, but after what he did to him, he doubt he will go any here near him. In addition, if he did stand up to him or hurt Xman, Tygla would think he was a bully and hate him forever. He never knew what sibling rivalry was about as he was an only child and did not want to make things worse for Tygla.

Tygla shouted and screamed like a little kid, "Let me go!"

Before Morgan reacted, Xman pulled his Xatu gun, pointed at the sheriff, and said, "Don't even think about."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Morgan asked moodily.

Xman replied harshly, "I am Prince Xman Tyger of the royal and of the colonial guard. And I'm taking my sister back home, if you don't mind."

Morgan lowered his gun now knowing that he is a Colonial. Xman continued to pull her down further until she freed herself from the grip. They started to argue again. Mike could not hear them, but he knew that his heart was broken in to two and now he could not see her anymore. Maybe Justin was right, it was not meant to be, but he felt so sorry for her as he frowned and sulked back to the service hanger.

"Now aren't you going to ge-" Morgan looked back to Mike, but he was gone. He sighed and commented, "Sometimes I wished I should've stayed in bed."

Mike flopped in the sofa as Justin walked down the small ramp. His life was over. At that moment on, he did not feel like going on more adventures. He looked at Mike and noticed that Tygla was not with him, which worried himself.

He walked over and asked, "You got the parts?"

Mike frowned and miserably replied, "No."

Something was wrong as Justin asked, "Where's Tygla?"

Mike looked to him and replied, "You would not believe it if I told you."

Justin sat down next to him, "Hey, I'm your best friend, I'll believe you."

"Ok, guess who came walking through the hanger door?"

Justin thought hard and replied, "The tabby Felinis?"

"Close, it was Xman," Mike answered.

"Tygla's brother?" Justin wondered as Mike nodded, "You right, I don't believe you."

"Told you."

"So he escaped? How?"

"He didn't say."

"So where is Tygla?" Justin asked worriedly.

Mike told him, "Xman took her back to Felinoron."

Justin frowned and apologized, "Mike, I'm sorry."

"You were right," he said sadly, "We were both from different worlds," Mike closed his eyes and sighed, "Now I'll never see her again."

Mike curled up in the couch and lay there dejectedly. Mike thought that Tygla would be the perfect one, well almost perfect. No matter whom he meets, there is always a flaw. All he wanted was a girl that would understand him. Justin never felt so bad in his life. He wished that never said those words to him. He did not want him to be heartbroken again. Not after what Julia did to him. If Xman thinks he could hurt his best friend like this, then he was wrong. Justin had to do something

"Where is Xman?" Justin asked seriously.

Mike turned away from him and replied, "What difference does it make?"

"Caus I'm going to kill him," Justin stood up as Mike look at him as if he was crazy, "No one hurts my friends and gets away with this."

"Justin wait!" Mike said trying to stop him, "You don't know what this guy can-."

Just then, the elevator door opened and Tygla rushed in crying in tears, "Oh Michael!"

"Tygla?" He questioned curiously. He got up and went over and hugged Tygla lovingly, "You ok, what happened?"

Tygla sniffled and looked up him and said sorrowfully, "It's Xman. He's, he's oh." She continued to crying his chest as Mike hushed her town.

"Shh, shhh, it's going to be ok, just calm down and tell me what happened," he said as he held her tenderly. She continued to cry, then Mike lead to the couch and sat down.

She calmed as Justin gave her clean tissue from his pocket. "Thank you," she said quietly. She then looked at Mike and said softly, "It's Xman. We had a huge fight, and he threatened to tell father about us, but I said 'go ahead'. Then, then, he said that'll I'd be disowned from my family and I'd become an outcast. Oh Mike what have I done?" She wept in to the tissue. "I don't wanna be an outcast."

He hugged her again as Justin asked being angered, "Where is he now?"

She looked up to him and replied, "I don't know, I think he's in the hanger with his ship, getting ready to take off," she sniffled, "He said was going to find the Hades." She lowered and shook her head in disbelief, "He said something about Drax finding a power in the center of the galaxy and that he had to stop it. I told him that it was dangerous to go alone. He didn't care."

That is all Justin needed to know as he dart toward the elevator. This time Xman had to pay for putting his friends in misery. Mike and Tygla got up, but it was too late. Justin was already ascending back up.

"Justin!" Mike called to him, but it was too late. He grabbed Tygla's hand and escorted her to the emergency staircase that was next to the lift. "Come on, we gotta stop him."

Chapter 9

Shootout in the Hanger

Justin entered the hanger and looked around to see the only ship left was the Thunder Claw. He frowned as he saw the large tiger felines attending his ship's engines with CRAIG. He recognized him from the VidPad Tygla had shown them. He saw that he was bigger in person that on the screen, but he did not care how big Xman was. He had to pay what he had done. He gathered all his strength and walked over.

He tapped Xman's large shoulder blade and said irritably, "Xman?"

The warrior prince turned to see who it was, and Justin threw a strong punch to the nose. Xman drew his gun, but Justin already got there first.

"Don't even think of it," Justin said to him firmly.

"Who the hell are you?" Xman asked angrily.

"I'm one of Tygla's friends. And no one hurts my friends." Xman looked at him curiously as he continued, "You know we risked our lives to save your butt, and this is how you pay us?"

"You have a big mouth human," Xman said harshly.

"And you got a stupid one," he shot back.

Xman growled, "Do you know who you are talking too?"

"Yeah, a very selfish prince," Justin informed him.

"I could kill you for that remark," Xman said.

Justin replied, "Try it."

He was about to fire when Mike and Tygla finally arrived and saw the situation. Mike could not believe it, his friend was about to kill his girlfriend's brother. He did not want that. Tygla however did not want Xman dead.

"Justin!" They cried franticly and at that same moment, CRAIG, with his supersonic speed, grabbed Justin's gun out of his hand. He then threw the weapon way.

"What the?!" Justin exclaimed. He looked down at his empty hand and saw the gun was gone, but how?

Xman lowered his gun, as he grinned. He growled as he pulled his shoulder back and swiftly punched Justin in the face. Justin fell down on his butt as his nose started to bleed. He cursed himself.

"That was highly irregular Prince Xman," CRAIG told him.

Xman just said slyly, "But it felt good."

Justin then swiftly got back and lurched at Xman, but Mike and Tygla foiled him as they held their friend back.

"You son of a bitch!" Justin exclaim as Mike held him with his good arm. "Let me go!"

"Settle down Justin!" Mike said to him.

Xman walked towards him still grinning slyly, but Tygla stepped in front raised her hand up to him. Xman stopped.

"No Xman!" Tygla said to him courageously, "He's my friend!"

"Out of my way sis!" Xman ordered her, "He needs to learn a lesson in proper etiquette."

"No!" Tygla said again as she paused, "Look at us. If our father found out we were fighting each other like this, he'd be furious. This is not how our family behaves and you know it."

Xman knew she was right but argued, "Well he started it."

"That's bull!" Justin disagreed, "If you hadn't-."

Tygla shouted furiously, "Enough, both of you!" She then calmed herself down, turned to Xman, and said, "Xman, I love Michael, and nothing is going change that, but if you just get to know him. You'd find out that you might like him. Just give him a chance please."

"But he's a human," Xman argued. "It s forbid-."

"I don't care if he's a Slugton, I'll still love him," she pointed out to him, "Maybe not now, but soon our people will realize it's not what we look like on the outside, but who we are, inside that makes us special. Maybe when I become queen, I'll change all that, but right now I'd rather be cast off the planet and be with the man I love, than spend the rest of my life with the feeling of emptiness in my soul."

For once Tygla was right, Xman thought. He could see that she love him that much to sacrifice her royal status. He really did not want to see her disowned from her family or be cast off the planet. He loved her too much for that to happen.

"Is this what you really want?" Xman asked calmly.

She nodded slowly, "Yes."

Before Xman could speak, a cold authoritative voice suddenly boomed throughout the hanger, "Prince Xman Tyger! This is the Xatu Imperial Guard. Come out with your weapon down and your hands up."

Xman did not realize that the Xatu were still following him until now. He would knew, that they would catch up to him eventually and this time he was ready. Tygla's heart leapt once she heard the voice. The last thing she wanted was the Xatu army bringing her brother back to their imprisonment. They drew their guns immediately upon hearing the Xatu guard and edged their way to the nose of the ship just enough to see where they were.

Xman saw two armed Xatu soldiers standing in front of a B'tar ship about five yards away from them. One had a weird small shaped megaphone in one hand and a blaster in the other. He also saw a third in the cockpit. He noticed that the entire B'tar cockpit was visible because it had pivoted at an angle. He saw this before when they were escaping. He saw them exited the cockpits that way as they landed. He did hear a ship dock before when he was quarrelling with Justin, but disregarded it as he thought it was another cargo ship passing through.

"Prince Xman, you have about ten seconds to comply," the Xatu guard told them.

"What do we do brother?" Tygla inquired.

Mike glanced to Xman and answered, "I say we kick their asses."

Xman smiled at him and commented, "I'm beginning to like you hu-." Tygla gave him a mean look that said 'you better reword that mister'. Xman corrected himself quickly, "Michael."

Mike smiled at him. He and Justin made their way to the rear of the Thunder Claw as Tygla CRAIG and Xman stayed at the front. Justin looked about for his gun and saw it near the Xatu guard. The guard noticed it and picked it up. Justin cursed at himself, wondering what he will do without any firearms. He then noticed that his nose was bleeding badly as Mike advised him to get out his one of his tissues and put pressure on it and he did.

"Time's up Xman," the Guard announced.

He then nodded to his partner as they started advancing to the Thunder Claw. Xman touched his wrist remote as the force shield surrounded them. He then aimed his gun at one of the guards and fired. The bolt hit him dead on. The Xatu fell down dead as the other one alerted the pilot and started firing upon them with their guns. Mike fired his gun a few times missing the Xatu guard by inches as he ducked behind some cargo boxes. The Xatu guard fired back as the shield deflected the bolts. The pilot however using the ship's guns as a weapon, the Thunder Claw's shield absorbed the firepower. The Thunder Claw vibrated as the battle continued. Tygla with her small gun drawn kept firing at the concealed Xatu, when he peeked out. She aimed and finally shot him in the head.

"Good shot sis!" Xman commented.

CRAIG then informed them that the pilot was increasing B'tar's guns to full power as the cockpit started to ascend to in to take off position. His ship also started to lift from the ground at the same time as Mike aimed and fired. The bolt shot the pilot dead just before the cockpit area closed shut. The lifeless pilot lurched forward on to his flight stick and the B'tar was out of control.

"Get down!" Xman warned, as the B'tar turned clockwise and trusted into the hanger wall. The ship exploded and ruptured the hanger. Xman and his friends flew back from the force of the shockwave as pieces of the B'tar flew everywhere. Some bounced off the Thunder Claw protecting them as they fell on the ground a bit shaken up.

"What in tar nation was that?" Sheriff Morgan wondered as he heard the explosion in his office. He looked at the monitor on his desk, saw that there was fire, and smoke inside hanger two. He grabbed his Winchester once more and took off. "I'm getting too old for this."

Mike stirred and looked about.

"Is everyone ok?" He asked.

Justin nodded as he slowly pushed himself up, "Yeah,"

He looked to Tygla, who was by the hanger door and saw she did not move. He was scared and hurried over to her.

"Tygla!" Mike called. Once he reached her, she moaned and moved her head. Mike crouched down to Tygla and smiled in relief as he held her. "Thank god you're ok," he said as she smiled back to Mike and they both kissed lovingly.

"I'm fine love," she replied reassuringly.

Xman finally stirred, realizing that Tygla may be hurt, looked over and saw Mike with her. He then understood why Tygla loved him. He saw that Mike was checking her to see if she was hurt and that showed Xman that Mike might be worthy to love her, even though the law forbade it, Xman thought screw the law, but what would their father think? He had to wait until they cross that bridge. The last thing Xman wanted to see was Tygla miserable for the rest of her life. He looked at the damaged briefly, then got up and joined them.

"You're a good fighter," Xman said as Mike looked to him.

He saw that Xman had his hand out. Mike took it with his uninjured arm and they shook in good gesture.

"Thanks," Mike replied friendly as he smiled to him, "You're not so bad you're self."

They then heard Sheriff Morgan come in as he looked as the damage. He looked at Mike and asked, "There's better be a good explanation for all his mess?"

Mike looked back to Morgan then to his new friend Xman and they all chuckled. Justin got up, still holding his nose with his tissue and walked over. Xman looked to him and Justin stopped abruptly seeing if he would attack him again. Xman walked over and extended his hand to him as well.

"You got a mean right hook there," Xman said to him as Justin looked at his gesture.

Justin knew that Xman finally came to his senses and shook his hand, "You too. No hard feelings?"

"No hard feelings," Xman repeated as he pulled his arm, "But uh, if you ever hit me again, you won't see the day of light, ever again, got me?"

Justin smiled falsely and replied, "No problem."

Suddenly the cooling system came on line as Sherriff Morgan advised them to leave the area. Xman introduced CRAIG to them, while they exited the hanger and told him his tale on how they escaped. He also told them about where the Hades was and his instincts told him that Drax was up to no good. Mike agreed as decided that they should work as a team. Tygla then told her bother how they were going to rescue him and said that she had failed.

"Tygla, don't be sorry." Xman said bodly, as she looked him with his finger touching her check softly, "At least you tried." He then looked to Mike and Justin, "I just want to say, thank you, both of you for trying to save me. I don't know why father rejected to send the entire fleet out for me. I kind of figured he had good reasons not too." He looked to Morgan, "You got a long rage transmitter 'round here?"

Morgan replied, "There's a VidCom in the bar ya could use."

"Good," Xman stated.

Tygla stopped him before he left, "You're not going to tell father about me being here, are you?"

Xman looked at her and questioned, "Why? Are you in trouble with father?"

She sulked and replied, "Well, I sort of snuck out when I'm supposed to be grounded."

Xman frowned disappointedly, "Tygla, I thought I knew you better."

She frowned and said regretfully, "I'm sorry, but when I heard father say, that he traded your life with our freedom, I-I lost it. I figured if daddy wasn't going rescue you it would be up to me."

Xman sighed the said to her "Tygla, I can't lie to father, besides. You're a brave little sister, but sometimes, you got to be braver and take the punishment you are dealt with. But I'm sure father would understand that you traveled all the way here to find me, killed a Xatu guard, and faced my wrath." Tygla frowned even more as Xman saw misery her eyes. He could not bear to see her in this way and said, "It'll be ok. I'll, I'll come up with something."

Looked to him and brightly smiled. She hugged him tightly and said, "Oh thank you Xman."

"You're welcome, but uh, you owe me, big." He said firmly.

She nodded in understanding, "I know."

Xman disappeared into the bar and Mike turned to them, "Look, it's not gonna take the Xatu too long before they send more troops. So I suggest we finish putting the Star Hawk to together quickly and get the hell out of here."

"Then what? We go find the Condor?" Justin hoped.

Mike replied, "No, we gotta stop the Empire."

"Uh, stop the Empire, from what?" Justin wondered. "Getting their hands on that energy that Xman talked about? Mike, we don't know that even exits. And besides, we're adventures, not freedom fighters."

Tygla then said to Justin, "Justin, if the Xatu get to that energy they'll unstoppable. They'll destroy my home world and dozen others."

"And that includes Sadr and Cian. Look, I know you don't like fighting the Empire no more that I do, but if they find this power you can kiss 'Star Raiders Inc.' good bye. Because once they wipe out the rest of the colonials, who do you think they'll go after next? Every opposed humans left in the galaxy and that includes us."

Mike was right Justin thought and replied, "Alright, but if we do survive this. I think we deserve something. Maybe half what you were going pay us Tygla? I mean we almost rescued Xman,"

"How can you think of money at a time like this?" Tygla wondered astonishingly.

"Easy, I just do," Justin replied.

"Justin, we'll find another job, after this," Mike said to him.

"But Mike, we got a huge payment to make," Justin reminded him.

"What huge payment?" Tygla inquired.

Mike looked to Tygla, "It's complicated, I'll tell you later." He looked to Justin, "Look, maybe Digan has something for us. You did talk to him right?"

"Yeah,"

"And?"

Justin sighed and frowned, "Nada."

Mike sighed as Tygla felt a bit sorry, "Look," she started, "I am sorry that I couldn't pay you guys, but if you need money badly, I'll gladly give my weeks allowance, just to tie you over."

"No Tygla, don't," Mike said, "We didn't fill our end of the bargain, but don't feel sorry for us. We'll survive." He turned to Justin, "Right?"

Justin said sorrowfully, "Yeah I guess you right, well if we going to get out of here fast I'm going to need an extra hand."

"Don't worry partner," Morgan said as he patted on Justin's back, "I know that ship inside and out."

Mike said, "Ok, while Xman talks to his father, you and Sheriff Morgan get to work on the Star Hawk, while Tygla, CRAIG, and I get the parts."
Chapter 10

Uno Po'Du's Discovery

"They What?!" Tila said angrily at the officers in her quarters in the Hades.

They bowed their head to her and reported, "I'm sorry Lieutenant, we lost contact with their ship, that is when our Vrampian spy contacted us, and said...That Xman killed the crew and destroyed a B'tar ship."

She frowned, not liking what she heard. She ordered them to get out, before she kills them for this news. The officers bowed again left her alone. She did not know what to say to Drax. She got up and decided to face their punishment. She was used to that.

Ever since she was very little, her father comes home drunk and beats her a lot. It started to happen when her parents had gotten a divorce just a year after the destruction of Earth. A freak accident killed her mother as the Xatu suddenly captured their family and placed them in to the nuke pits on the moon of Andorna as slaves. Their job was to help cipher the nuclear liquid from its pits. A dangerous job, even for the Xatu, that was until Tila's mother accidentally fell into one of the pits and died. Then, someone told her that her father had pushed her mother in. Tila had to tell the Xatu authorities the truth after the third night of the beatings. They executed her father for treason and the empire released her from slavery and placed her in a Xatu school. Tila began to like the Xatu ways and she became more loyal to the Empire. That is where she entered in military school and became a lieutenant of the Hades security unit.

As she entered Drax's office, he was alone as he gazed at the stars. His eyes were particularly set on a lone planet far away.

"Lieutenant?" Drax said.

"Sorry for disturbing you my lord, but, I have bad news to report," she said, "Hiss' plan has failed. Xman and his sister are still at the port."

Drax frowned at this then remembered what the Emperor said. He turned to her and said, "I knew that it would. Do not be concerned about their failures. I will deal with Hiss in time. Come here Lieutenant, I like to show you something." She walked over to him wondering what she wanted. He nodded towards to the small green dot ahead of them, "There it is Lieutenant, our destination, the Uno System. Do you know that we are first ones since Uno Pu'Do to rediscover it? My science officer informs that there is a great significant of pure negative energy."

"Negative?" Tila wondered.

"Yes, that's what I wondered," he replied as Hiss entered, "Hiss, you have disappointed me for the last time."

Hiss gasps and he wondered what he was talking about, "Why? Sssss."

"You're plan has failed," He looked to him and his eyes glowed redder at him, "Xman is still there."

Hiss now afraid as he back away, "Failed? Do not b-blame me sssir. It wassss the offisser who carried it out. They are the onesss who failed."

"But it was your plan," Drax argued.

"How would I know thissss would happen?"

He turned to Tila and asked, "How many were sent?"

She hesitated before she answered, "Only one my lord."

"Ssssee itsss her fault, Ssshe'sss the one who sssend the oederssss," Hiss snitched as he pointed his chrome finger at her.

Drax looked to her frowning and asked, "I hope you have a good explanation for that lieutenant?"

Her mouth opened not knowing what to say as she stumbled fearfully, "I'm, I'm," Tila closed her eyes and lowered her head in grief as she answered, "I'm sorry my lord, I must have underestimated Prince Xman. I am ready for my punishment."

Drax looked at her, and then realized it was not really her fault. He should have told her of what Xman was capable of. He looked back to the planet.

"Lieutenant, don't look like a fool," Drax said as Tila looked up curiously, "You are still young. Still learning. Just don't let it happen again."

Hiss was surprised at his. He was sure that Drax would hit her or something. It did not seem fair to him.

"Thank you my lord," Tila said a bit surprised.

"Where was I?" Drax asked

Tila answered, "I think you were talking about Uno Pu'Do, sir."

"Oh yes," said Drax, "Hiss, I want you to tell Captain Tah, to move closer to the planet."

"Ssir?" Hiss started, "Issn't that dangerousss? I heard that Uno didn't quite make it back."

"Those are just rumors Hiss," Drax remarked, "Legends, to scare the weak minded like yourself. Now don't make me repeat myself."

"Yessss my lord," he nodded as he slithered over to the intercom. He pressed a couple of buttons as Tah answered, "Captain, Lord Draxsss, wantsss you to move the sship clossser to the planet."

"Move forward?" Tah asked.

"Yes Tah," Drax answered loudly from across the room, "Move the ship forward."

"Aye Aye sir," Tah replied.

On the bridge, Tah ordered his helmsman to proceed ahead one quarter of power. The ship moved and not more than a minute, the ship trembled and everybody on the bridge shook with it. The lights went out in Drax's Office and the sound went dead for a moment. Suddenly, Drax just felt the pureness of the energy and liked it. He wanted more of it. Energy like that, think of the possibility Drax pondered. Hiss though, had different opinions. On the bridge, the crew started to talk amongst themselves wondering what to do.

"Report," Tah ordered.

The Xatu lieutenant acknowledged, "Sir, all of our systems went down for a moment. It'll take a few minutes to reboot."

The ship quaked in the office again as Hiss spoke, "You we're ssaying my Lord."

"Maybe I shouldn't underestimate Uno," Drax retorted.

"Thiss plasse is curssed," Hiss said.

"Don't be a fool," Drax commented.

All was then silent. They waited for a few minutes for the computers to be up again, but nothing happened as if something drained their power. Tah, on the bridge, ordered the ship to back away. The auxiliary engines suddenly kicked in and the crew did as Tah ordered. Interesting, Drax thought, as he pondered in his office, this planet drains all energy if anyone comes close. Once the ship was out of range the power and lights came back on. He decided to take precaution just as the Emperor told him. He needed more info on the planet and the energy source before he could start an expedition.

"Hiss," Drax started, "Tell your science officers to start scanning more of the planet. Then report to me if you have anything interesting."

"Yess sssir," His replied as he slithered out the door.

"Lieutenant, you are dismissed," Drax ordered.

Tila nodded to him, "Thank you my lord. What should I do with Xman?"

"Don't worry. He will soon come to us."

"Sir?" she wondered

"He has too much ego and pride," he proclaimed, "That is a mistake in war. Now I like to be in peace."

As soon as she left, Drax was alone. He sat in his chair thinking. With this new power, he could have his revenge on Xman and his friends. No one could stop him not even the Emperor himself. He could destroy Mi'Tuk and the Xatu Empire and rule the galaxy for himself. He smiled and chuckled at that evil thought.

As the elevator opened Mike, CRAIG, and Tygla entered the old hanger carrying plastic white bags. CRAIG however was caring five pieces of heavy engine parts. They walked over and placed the bags on the Entertable. Mike told CRAIG to set the parts on the floor by the ship. Everything was working as planned.

"Justin! We're back!" Mike called out.

Justin was busy in the engine compartment of the ship patching some wires as the sheriff was in the cockpit trying to get the onboard computer systems to work.

"Did you get the Neoxite?" Justin asked loudly.

"Yeah," Mike replied. Then Justin walked down the ramp and over to them. "It wasn't cheap. As a matter of fact, I didn't have any money left over to pay for it."

Justin cocked an eyebrow wondering why and asked, "So how did you get it?"

"Tygla had to pay for it from her allowance," Mike replied.

Justin looked to her and said, "Thanks."

"You're welcome Justin. It was the least I could do," she said smiling to him as Justin took a bag and went back to work. They both sat down on the couch tired from shopping. She looked to Mike and smiled then she saw his injury and said, "Let me check your wound."

"I'm fine," Mike said friendly, looking to her as he moved his shoulder away when she tried to touch it.

She looked at him unsurely and said, "I might have to change your bandage hon."

"I said I was fine!" He repeated irately.

"Is this what is going to be when we get married?" She asked.

"Married?"

"Yes, I do wanna get married," she said hopefully, "And I hope it'd be to you."

He looked at her deeply and asked, "What about your dad?"

"He'll understand. As I said before," she replied as she came closer to his face. He could just smell her faint flowery perfume as she said softly, "He's a gentle as a cub."

Her black lips was about to touch his when they heard an 'ahem'. They jumped and turned to see that Xman has returned. As much as he mined Tygla falling in love with Mike, he did not like to see them kiss in front of him.

"Xman," she said uncomfortably. Tygla got up, walked over to her brother, and asked him, "What did father say?"

"He said he was a bit disappointed in you as was I," Xman replied as Tygla frowned. She did not like what was coming next. "He said was going to ground you for a month."

"A month?!" She cried rejecting his statement, "That's not fair!"

"Let me finish," he said calmly, "but I convinced him about your bravery for trying to save me, he said he'll reduce it for two days after the battle."

"Battle?" She wondered.

"Battle? What battle?" Mike inquired too.

"When father learned that I had escaped safely with Drax's android", he said as he gestured to CRIAG, "He'd knew that they may have a chance to destroy the Hades. So he's organizing every trooper he could spare and they're coming here to pick us up, so we can plan for a battle against Drax's starship."

"How long will that take?" Mike asked.

"A day and a half," Xman answered.

Mike said, "They'll be too late. I was planning to leave tomorrow morning."

"Why don't you do that," Xman suggested. "Scout them out and report back us."

Mike nodded knowing that was a good idea. Xman looked towards the old Star Hawk and started laughed heartily. Justin peeked down the ramp and saw Xman laughing.

He looked to Mike and said, "Told ya!"

"I don't believe it," Xman said smiling, "Is this an old Star Hawk? Where in the galaxy did you get it? I thought they were all destroyed during the Great War."

Morgan came down the ramp after he told Justin to finish repairing the Hyper Flight system. He walked over to Xman wiping his hands on an old rag.

"Ya like it?" He said as he turned to admire the craft. "I had her here since the war. Buet ain't she?" Xman nodded, "Let me show ya around."

He guided Xman closer to the ship, as Xman was enjoying the tour. Tygla turned back to Mike as he was still sitting on the couch. She walked back over and sat next to him. She looked at him lovingly and placed her gentle hand on his rugged face.

"Now, where were we?" Tygla asked gently.

Mike came close to her face once more and replied, "I think we were about here."

He kissed her extensively, as she fell deeper in love with him, and so did he. They broke their kiss and gazed at each other for a bit, holding hands. Tygla then remembered her love's wound and wanted to make sure it wasn't infected.

"Let me check your wound ok?" Tygla asked once more.

Mike nodded to her smiling and replied, "Sure, why not."

As she unwrap his bandage, she inquired about what Drax was doing. Mike thought about Uno, than about his father. Energy is in the heart. Once she took the bandage off, they saw that the slave worked. The skin has healed, but he still felt a bruise.

"Well, I think this has to do about Uno Pu'Do's expedition." Mike replied, "Too bad the Condor is gone I could of gotten more information from my report I did."

She frowned slightly feeling sorry for him, about the stolen Condor. He then remembered that Flash Stick his father gave him just before he left. He dug through his pocket and took it out. He wondered if his father put something on the Flash Stick that would help. Then he remembered what he said and wondered if it pertain whatever was on the memory stick.

"What's that?" Tygla inquired.

"Something my dad gave me before he died," Mike replied. "He said 'when the time is right, use it. Energy is in the heart.' For a long time I thought he meant it as metaphor, as if you have to be good to your heart and your soul. I didn't realize it until now that he was trying to tell me that there might be an energy source in the center of our galaxy." He sighed and continued, "I didn't' really know what my dad did back on Earth. An old friend of the family's told me he was a science engineer that worked for NASA. God I miss them."

"I'm so sorry Michael, I didn't know," Tygla said looking deep in his eyes.

Mike looked back and replied, "It's ok. I did find another family, yours and Justin."

Tygla blushed somewhat as Mike kissed her tenderly. They said nothing for a moment then Tygla said, "So what's on that stick?"

"I don't know really, I never had the heart to find out," Mike replied.

He looked at the memory stick for a moment the he decided to find out. He got up and walked over to the Entertable as Tygla followed. He placed the stick in the USB slot as he and Tygla sat down next to him, not knowing what would happen. Then suddenly a video file started to run. He saw his father face on the screen, as he was perplexed.

"Hello son, if you are viewing this then I am dead, and you are old enough now to understand this file." For twenty years, he never realized that it was his father on that stick and wished that he opened the file earlier. His father continued, "On this video I will try to explain to you my life's work. For about fifteen years, I have been trying to find a permanent energy source that will not diminish. One of our deep space probes finally returned from the center of the galaxy, reporting that there was an immense energy surge. NASA approved a one-man expedition to discover origin of the energy source, he never returned. On this stick, you will find the information you need to rediscover the origin of this energy source. I am hoping that one day you will find it before the Xatu does. It may bring peace to this endless war. Remember Michael no matter where you are, I'm always with you. In here." He tapped his chest. "I love you son."

"I love you too dad," Mike said softly as tear rolled down his cheek.

"This is the end of my transmission. Good luck my boy, I'm counting on you." Mike realized now that his father made that video just before the Xatu attacked the Earth. The screen went black and schematics of the expedition appeared.

"What's this?" Tygla inquired.

"I'm not sure, but I think this is Uno's flight plan." Mike replied as he wiped the tear off his face.

"Your father seems like nice man Mike. I wish I could have met him."

"I know," he said softly.

Tygla held him in comfort then asked, "Mike, I was wondering, how do you think my father is going to destroy the Hades? That ship is indestructible to any fire power."

CRAIG was listing to their conversation and wandered over to them, "You are right your highness," CRAIG said, "The ship's hull as made entirely out of Xrylium the hardest Substance known to human or Animun kind."

"Then why the force shield?" Mike asked as Xman came back out and joined them.

CRAIG replied, "The only thing that might destroy it is melting it in a temperature of thirty thousand degrees Fahrenheit."

"Or equal to very powerful nuclear explosion," Mike added. "Like when use their super plasma drill to destroy a planet."

"Precisely," said CRAIG.

Xman then asked, "Is there any way to destroy it from the inside?"

"Well, there two possible ways your highness," CRAIG explained.

Xman nodded and said, "Well why don't you save it until the Rebirth arrives?"

"Rebirth?" Mike inquired.

Tygla replied "Father's command ship."

Mike nodded. Mike could not believe that he was going to war with the Colonials. When they notified him first was about joining the colonial army a long time ago, he disregarded it. He did not think that it was right for him. Of course, the Xatu Empire killed his parents, but he did not like the idea of revenge. He hated them, but he also disliked war, now he was going in battle soon.

Hours passed and it was getting late as Justin just finished adding the Ghost Shield device on the Star Hawk. Morgan was very impressed on his skills and knowledge of star ship repairs. He had told him that he would be a shoe-in on the Colonial motor pool position.

Mike looked at his chronowatch, yawned, and suggested, "We better get some rest."

Xman asked, "What are the sleeping arrangements?"

"There couple of extra airbeds in the storage closet over thar," Morgan informed them as he pointed to a door near the elevator. "Whelp I'm gonna hit the hay m'self. Night y'all."

"Night sheriff," Mike said as they waved to him good-bye, "And thanks for everything." He waved back and left the room by elevator. Mike looked to Xman and said, "Ok Tygla and I will take the airbeds, you can take the couch and Justin, I'm sure there is a fold out cot on the Hawk, right?"

"Hold on," Xman said sternly, "I don't like that arrangement, and since I am older and higher in rank than all of you, I think I'll make the decisions for now on. Tygla takes the Cot on the ship, and you and Justin get the air beds." Mike was a bit uncomfortable as Xman eyed him. "Does that seem better?"

"Yeah, ok," he said uneasily, "That does seem better."

Xman nodded in agreement, "Good, now let's hit beds ladies."

"Ladies?" Justin questioned as Xman went to his bag to get his nightclothes.

"Don't mind him," Tygla said, "He's in one of his military moods." She then whispered in Mike's ear, "Come to my cot when everyone's asleep."

Mike looked to her not knowing why, but she just smiled cunningly.

Late that night, while everyone was asleep, Mike got out of his airbed and quietly crept over to the Star Hawk. He then slowly walked up the ramp. It was a bit dark inside and Mike could not see. That was until Tygla lit a glow lamp. The lamp was dim so it would not disturb anyone outside. Inside, Mike found Tygla lying on the small bed, looking affectionately up at him. She had taken off her pants and shirt as Mike partially saw her in her underwear with a cotton blanket wrapped around her body. He walked over and sat with her on the small cot.

"You wanted to see me?" Mike asked quietly.

"I just wanted for us to be alone," Tylga replied softly, "I didn't want anybody disturb us, especially my brother."

"Yeah, he's kind of over protective of you isn't he?"

She nodded, "That's just his nature. I think he and Justin have a lot in common."

Mike looked deeply in her eyes and asked, "Is it true what Justin said about your kind?"

She was confused of what he meant and asked, "What do you mean? What did Justin say?"

He looked away slightly not knowing how to word his question "That you, kill the person that you mate with?"

Tygla did not believe what she heard. She then thought Justin is a dummy, but then she remembered her last boy friend and frowned faintly. She looked in his eyes and replied, "No. Whatever Justin said is not true. I love you and will never harm you."

Mike smiled and reminded himself to kick Justin in the butt later. She put her arms around him and kissed him lovingly.

"You know, my last girlfriend wasn't as half as sweet and beautiful as you are," Mike commented.

"You're so sweet," she said as she hugged him.

She then looked deep in his eyes, smiled and romantically kissed him again. Passion engulfed between them. It was like that, there were the only two people in the galaxy.

"I love you," Tygla said softly as she pulled him down on the small cot and they kissed even more. It was like that they fit perfect on it and they looked like they were as one. Mike adjusted his position as Tygla was now lying on top of him. Mike stared to caress her smooth fur-like thighs as she purred a bit. Her tail swiveled playfully as Tygla kissed him tenderly. It seemed to Mike that she loved it and continued to please her even more. Mike always wanted to know what it was to make love with a Felinis, now he knows. It was beautiful and passionate, just as he imagined. Just then, after several kisses Tygla stopped him.

"What is it?" Mike wondered.

She looked at him with a concerned look in her eyes and replied, "Mike, I don't want to go any further tonight. Not until we get married, that is. We are going to get married right?" She placed a sly grin in her smile.

Mike smiled warmly back at her, "Maybe, someday." Then his smile faded, "When and if I become a prince, or a knight or something."

"You my knight, in shining armor," Tygla said smiling and they kissed once more.

"But what about your father, what if he doesn't approve? I hate to see you devastated."

"My father will understand. You don't know him the way I do." Tygla answered, "And besides, you trust me right?"

"Yes of course I do."

"Then trust my father," she said.

He caressed her smooth cheek, then kissed her gently and said, "I will."

She snuggled closer to Mike as she laid her head on his chest and wondered, "So what's she's like?"

"Who?"

"Your ex-girlfriend," she replied looking at him. Mike did not want to talk about Julia as it might ruin the mood. "Come on, tell me. I wanna know."

"Why you wanna know?" Mike inquired.

"Because I'm curious," Tygla replied, "I'll tell you my last boyfriend," she begged cutely.

He thought about it, it would help to get it out in the open. Maybe it would help in their relationship. He told her how they had met. It was by accident actually. Julia, being another treasurer hunter like Mike, was after the lost treasure of Thees. Thees was an ancient god of the Primaions. Mike and Justin were also looking to the lost treasure when they bumped into each other, literarily. They instantly fell in love, but what Mike did not know was that she was playing him for a fool.

"So, what happened to her?" Tygla asked

He did not want to tell her that she got kill by them so he elaborated, "Well, didn't work out, so I pretty much shot her out of my life."

She looked to him wondering what he meant, and then she thought it was a figure of speech. She then told him of her last boyfriend. Then they spent the rest of the waking night talking, trying to get to know each other more. They kissed and cuddled as they both fell asleep in each other's arms.
Chapter 11

The New Expedition

"MICHAEL!" A fuming voice shouted, as Mike and Tygla awoke violently as Mike fell of the cot.

They looked up to see Justin chuckling. Tygla heart leapt when she heard him shout. She thought it was her bother again. She did not want him seeing that they had slept together. Mike also was scared out of his wits thinking it was Xman too ready to tear him to bits.

"Justin!" Mike cried angrily, "What the hell?"

Justin laughed, "Now we're even."

Mike did not know what he meant by that then he remember on Mota when he scared Justin like that.

"That was not funny Justin," Tygla said furiously.

Justin grinned, "Sorry Tygla, was really aiming at Mike. How did you like my Xman impression? Pretty good huh?"

Mike got up slowly and asked Tygla, "Can I kill him?"

"Be my guest," she said sarcastically.

Mike was not really going to kill him, well at least hurt him. Justin ran out of the ship as Mike began to chase him, but then Tygla stopped him.

"Mike don't," she said as she got up a bit agitated and cranky. "I'll take care of him, just as soon as I get dressed."

"Eh. Forget it. I deserved it," Mike replied as Tygla looked at him curiously. Mike looked back and smiled, "I'll let you get dressed in private."

He turned and walked down the ramp as Tygla said, "Mike?" he turned once more, "Thanks for the wonderful night."

"Anytime princess," Mike smiled.

Once Tygla got dressed they met at the elevator, Tygla noticed that Xman and CRAIG was not around. Justin informed her that they took off earlier to meet the Rebirth to strategize a battle plan against the Hades. Xman also told Justin to inform Tygla that she should stay here until he would return, but Tygla protested, "What? You guys need me, and besides he said should, not have to."

Mike did not like the idea of Tygla coming along. He did not want her to get hurt, or worse. Tygla then reminded them that she could take care of herself. Mike lost the short argument and agreed to let her come.

"Oh, one more thing Mike," Justin said, "He also told me to tell you, if you let her come with us, and if anything bad happens to her, he'll rip you lungs out."

Mike looked to Tygla as they entered the shaft and said, "See, another reason you should not come."

She looked at him not liking the sarcasm. The door closed and they ascended. They were going to Zumbee's for a quick breakfast as Tygla said, "Oh Mike, he's my brother he didn't mean it."

"Oh hey, when Xman awoke this morning, didn't he get suspicions where I was?" Mike asked Justin.

His friend replied, "Don't worry about that, I told him you were in the bathroom."

Mike looked to him and smiled, "Thanks."

"What are best friends for?" Justin smiled back.

It was not long before they ate breakfast that they were in their new ship, the Star Hawk. Mike and Justin sat in the cockpit as Justin pressed a blue arrow button. The ceiling door opened slowly and at the same, a large lift propelled them upwards. The lift brought them to Hanger 1. Justin turned on the systems to make sure that they were working.

Tygla finally got up to the cockpit, looked, noticed something, and said, "Just two seats?"

Mike replied looking to her, "Sorry about that Tygla. I guess this ship wasn't meant for extra passengers. Why don't you sit on that crate over there?"

Tygla brought the light metal box over behind Mike and sat as he started the engines up. It was a faltering start, but the crew finally got the Star Hawk off the ground. It flew out of the bay and into the depth of space. Mike told Justin the coordinates from his father's memory stick as he tacked it in the computer. Justin placed his hands on the Hyper Flight control, heisted and said, "Here goes nothing."

He pulled the controls down and waited. There were some whopping sounds and suddenly the stars became streaks of light as they disappeared.

Moments later, Tygla found Mike in the small lounge like area. She saw him with a portable data pad that he had found in the compartments on the ship. She sat down next to him and asked, "Whatcha reading?"

"I'm reviewing flight statistics again from my father memory stick." Mike replied.

Tygla held him then asked, "Mike, I know that the Ghost Shield can get us pass Drax's ship, but what are we going to do when we get there? Just sit and wait?"

"No," Mike assured her.

"So what is the plan?"

"Look at this," Mike said as she looked on the pad, "According to Uno's scanner, while they were being transmitted, it detected a small moonlike green planet almost the size of Mars, right before it died. Now my guess is that's where the power Xman was talking about. All we gotta do is land on that planet and find the power before the Xatu does. How hard can it be?"

"But what if something goes wrong?" Tygla wondered, "I mean, if Uno did not survive, what makes you think we would?"

"You let me worry about that, ok sweetheart," Mike assured her as he touched Tygla's chin, gave her a peck on the lips and smiled.

"I'm just worried of what might happen if we don't make it back," she said awkwardly.

"Tygla, I've been doing this kind of stuff when Justin and I left the orphanage," said Mike, "I know what I'm doing. Hey, you trust me right?"

"Yes," she replied smiling remembering last night when she asked that same question.

"Then trust my instincts, they are never wrong," Mike assured her.

Maybe Mike is right Tygla thought. What could go wrong? Before they kissed again Justin entered and interrupted them, "Well, we got three hours before we get there. Mike, are you sure about this?"

"Are you having second thoughts too?" Mike questioned looking to him.

"No," Justin replied, "I'm just thinking if this junk pile will protect us from the Empire's attacks, if they attack. And you promised Morgan that you return the Star Hawk in one piece, remember?"

"Don't worry, if you and Morgan fixed this bird correctly we should be fine," Mike assured him, "You did fix everything before we left, right?"

"Of course, I just wish CRAIG was here," Justin thought.

"Well, you know there's only room in here for three," Mike replied, "But don't fret, he's with Xman." Justin and Tygla gave a worried look on their faces as Mike added, "Trust me, if we don't make it back, we still have the Thunder Claw and the Rebirth to dig us out, so we're covered."

It may reassure Tygla and Justin, but not himself. Something was not right, he did not know what, but he had a gut feeling that Drax had something up his sleeve. He did not know Drax personally, but he knew that was a devious humanoid. Justin looked at the screen on Mikes pad and asked, "What's that?"

"Uno's flight plan," Mike replied. "I got it off of my dad's memory stick."

Justin smiled, "You finally decided to take look at that thing huh?"

"Yeah, and I think it will help us on this mission," Mike said.

Back on Hades, Drax was growing impatiently. He needed to know what that power was and where it was coming from. From what Hiss told him, the negative energy was more powerful than three black holes put together. It was something that he wanted.

"Commander Hiss," the scanning officer spoke, "We have found something."

Hiss, after receiving the information, he and Lieutenant Tila hurried into Drax's quarters and reported, "My lord, the sscanning officcer hass finally found sssomething intressting."

"What?" Drax inquired.

"The scanners have found some old ruins in the tropical section of the planet," Tila responded.

"Interesting," Drax remarked. This could be what he was waiting for, "Very interesting. Assemble a recon team. We're going down."

"On the planet?!" Hiss exclaimed, "Issn't that dangerouss? You sssaw what happened when we got clossse."

Drax replied, "Then we better find a way to use that negative energy to power our ships."

"I'll have the engineersss come up with sssomething," Hiss replied.

"Good"

"Your team will be ready asss sssoon asss you're ssset," Hiss told him. Drax nodded.

"Do you mind if I joined the party?" Tila asked.

Drax smiled to her and answered, "Not at all my dear." Hiss and Tila then went back to the bridge. Drax has heard of ruins on Earth that summoned great power. If this ruin can do the same, he thought of the possibilities.

The Star Hawk finally arrived at their destination. They were in micro sights of the planet, as the crew got set. Mike placed his hands over the cloning bar and push it slowly up as he remarked, "Here we go."

Justin checked his computer and said, "Nothing happened."

"Say what?!" Mike exclaimed as he and Tylga looked over. He then tried again and still it did not work. He was getting worried, so was everyone else. He looked to his friend, "I thought you said you fixed everything?"

"Mike what happened?" Tygla asked.

"I did!" Justin replied as he started to get up, "There must be loose wire I'll get it."

Mike blocked him with his hand and said friendly, "No I'll get."

He got up and as Justin wondered, "You sure?"

"What are friends for, come on Tygla, I might need your help," he said as they left the cockpit.

They went down to the lower level into the engine room and went over to a box on the wall where the cloaking device was. He opened up a panel and looked inside. He have found the problem, a wire did come loose while they took off. "Can you hand me that soldering gun over there?"

Tygla went over to the tool chest and not knowing what tools are which, she grabbed something quickly and gave it to Mike.

"Uh, this is a screwdriver sweetheart," Mike acknowledged, "I asked for a soldering gun. Its right next to pliers, it looks like a laser."

"Sorry," Tygla said embarrassingly, as she handed him the gun, "I'm new to all this."

"It's ok, you'll learn," Mike said as she smiled.

Mike then took the disabled wired carefully without shocking himself in one hand and he held the soldering gun in his other. He asked Tygla to hold the solder material as he melted it on the wires. Sweat began to drip from his forehead, but whipped it off as he was done.

"It was just a loose wire. TRY IT NOW JUSTIN!" he yelled.

Justin pushed the bar up then they heard wobbling sound and he check the display, he acknowledged, "We got it!" Mike and Tygla raced back into the cockpit and Justin said, "Just like my favorite burger, it disappears faster than the eye."

Mike snickered at his comment and thrust the ship forward to full speed. They saw a green and dismal planet before them. They also saw the huge star behind it. Justin looked at his scopes and saw the star was a super red giant class. He added that they were a few thousand miles away from it. As it got bigger, Mike saw the Hades just to the right of it. He held his breath and wished that his plan would work.

"I hope the Empire doesn't find us out," Justin remarked.

"Well, just keep on jamming their frequency with your Ghost Shield," Mike retorted, "and we'll be fine."

Meanwhile on the bridge of the Hades, the scanning officer noticed something weird on his display. For a second he thought he saw another ship in the scopes, but the blip disappeared.

"Captain?" The officer said curiously, "Our long range sensors just picked up a small space craft, and then all of a sudden it disappeared."

Captain Tah, wonder if that was Xman returning just as Drax predicted. He walked over and asked, "Hyper Flight?"

"No sir, no energy trail was detected," the scanning officer replied.

"Check the readings, including life signs," Tah commanded, "He will not hide when I am around."

The officer looked to his screen and typed a few hexagonal keys. The readings came back as little to zero percent.

"Nothing sir," he said to Tah.

Tah did not like this. What game was Xman playing this time? He then thought what it if he had new anti-scanning system in his ship.

"Check any energy discharge," he ordered.

The officer nodded and went back to work, he pressed a few more buttons on his console and saw that there were some energy partial discharged. He told Tah and he was pleased. No one can pull the wool over his eyes, he thought.

"Arm all weapons and fire on that partial discharge," Tah commanded.

The Star Hawk was just passing the huge menace battleship quietly hoping that all goes well. They saw another ship, a Xatu shuttle actually. It departed the hull and headed to the planet. Mike commented that it was probably was Drax and they did have not much time left. Suddenly, without warning, the Hades' gunners started to fire on the rustic ship as it headed for the planet below. One the laser bolts hit the back of the ship damaging the engines a bit. The Star Hawk was going out of control. Suddenly, the lights and power suddenly turned off. Justin tried pushing buttons and switches like a maniac, but the controls were dead. Mike tried to maneuver the ship, but his flight stick would not cooperate with him. It was as if someone turned the power off on the entire ship.

"Where's our power!" Justin exclaimed.

"I don't know! Just brace your selves for emergency landing! Tygla hold on to something honey!" Mike warned as Tygla grabbed the back of Mike's chair and screamed franticly.

The ship fell like a shooting star in the sky as it was on fire. It laid a trail of smoke longer than the planet's equator. Mike pulled the flight control bar to manual analog drive. He had to maneuver the ship so it would not melt them and destroy the ship. He pulled the flight stick back as far as it went with all of his strength. The hull rattled and started to heat up. Mike tried, but they crashed landed in a heavily dense forest, and then it skimmed across a large swampy pond where it sat and sizzled. Fortunately, the crew in side was alive. Mike was impressive that hull didn't crack. Mike moved a bit but he was going unconscious.
Chapter 12

Meeting Uno Pu'Do

On the planet's surface, the crew of the Star Hawk got their senses together. Mike opened his eyes again and saw that Justin was wiggling to get out of his chair.

"Trust me eh?" Justin remarked as we was trying to get up.

Mike looked around and asked, "Is everyone ok?" Justin nodded as Mike saw Tygla still unconscious and blood trickling from her forehead. He quickly unbuckled he seat belt, got out of the chair and aided her. "Oh my god, Tygla!" Mike said fearfully. He was wishing that she were still alive. Mike could not live with himself if anything happened to her. Xman would be furious as well as her father, if she had died. He grabbed a clean white cloth that was on the floor and whipped some of the blood off, then put pressure on it. Mike checked her pulse and concluded, "Thank god, she's still alive. Help me with her." Mike was then relieved.

Justin grabbed her legs as Mike lifted her shoulders. They got Tygla out of the ship and placed her down on the soft grassy knoll. Mike took the first aid cloth again that he got from the Star Hawk and placed it on her forehead.

She then finally opened her eyes and commented weakly, "Did we make it?"

Mike smiled, nodded, and kissed her tenderly, "For a minute there I thought I lost you."

She smiled back and inquired dazedly, "I'm still here aren't I?"

Justin looked at the ship. It was sinking in the shallow swamp water as he commented unpleasantly, "Yeah, but now we're stuck here. Sheriff Morgan is gonna kill us. How could the ship's power go off like that?"

"I don't know. See if you can get it back on line, and don't worry about the sheriff, he'll understand. "

"And what about my brother," Tygla added in holding the cloth on her forehead, "You said you would call him if anything came up."

"Right," Mike returned.

"I think this a perfect time to call him," Justin said as he headed toward the ship. He checked the digital radio and ship's power, but for them, unfortunately it was dead. He walked back out and reported to Mike and Tygla, "Guys, we got a problem. I tried to reroute the power systems, nothing. It's like someone drained the ship's power. Even the fuel cells are drained. We're stuck here."

"Maybe not, remember that ship that departed from Hades," Mike said.

"The one that was heading down here too?" Justin questioned.

"Yep," Mike answered.

"You're not suggesting that we hitch a ride with the Empire?" Justin commented unsurely.

"I don't think we have a choice?" Mike said.

"Well, what if their power system failed too?" Justin wondered, "Hey do you think this why Uno never made it back?"

Mike answered, "It's a possibility. All right first things first. Let's just unload the supplies we have and find that other ship."

What was worse they had little supply to survive. They did not even know where they were. Mike attended to Tygla's wound, while Justin tried to get their bearings. They looked around and saw that the planet's vegetation was almost jungle like, but more dense. The air they breathed smelled much richer than any other planet, almost pure. They heard squawks of birds as they looked up. They now know that the planet was habitable, but what kind of animals.

If the pilot had not miscalculated on trying to land the shuttle in the right position, Drax would have taken the power by now. He was not happy that he had to land in a dark mucky swamp. The Xatu engineers tried their best to reconvert the negative energy, but it did not go smoothly as Drax had planned. He and Tila as well as few soldiers trudged through the mucky waters.

"Tila, remind me to execute the ship's engineers once we get off this retched planet," Drax commented.

"Yes my lord," She replied smiling to herself about Drax's comment.

"Sergeant?"

"Yes my lord?" the Xatu soldier replied.

"How far are we from the site?" Drax asked.

"It's hard to tell sir."

"Hard?"

"The scanning equipment is not working," He hesitated. He did not like telling bad news to Drax. "I'm afraid that we may be lost."

Drax growled at that thought then said, "Well then, I am sure you Xatu are prepared at wilderness survival training?"

"Yes sir, don't worry, we'll find that temple."

"I hope you do for your sake," Drax said as the sergeant scouted ahead.

After Xman made contact with the Rebirth and told them their situation, Xman tried to contact Mike, but it was no use, as they did not respond. Xman did not like this, as his father instructed him to go and find Mike, Justin and Tygla. It was not before too long the Thunder Claw finally reached the system. They found it by the Star Hawk's Hyper Flight trail. CRAIG checked his scopes, but could not find any trace of the Star Hawk. Not that he did not trust Mike, but after what happened to Uno, he did not want to take any chances that they were was floating out there in space or worse. On the far end of the Uno System Xman and CRAIG was waiting in his ship. Mike said that they would contact them when they were ready. They noticed that the Hades was orbiting at a safe distance. CRAIG scanned the area and did not locate the Star Hawk on the scope. This worried Xman.

"Where are they?" Xman asked worryingly.

CRAIG replied, "I don't know, they are not on the scopes. They must have cloaked themselves."

He did not like that. Xman wanted to know what was going on. He decided to call them on his secured COM once more, "Mike..." No one answered he called, "Mike, this is Xman, do read me?" Still no response. He frowned and said uneasily, "Something's wrong."

"Maybe it's a glitch in their auditory system," CRAIG suggested.

"I doubt it," Xman returned. "I think it's time to go in."

"Go In? Our orders were to stay until Mike responds." CRAIG informed Xman, "Besides, do you know our chances of surviving a whole armada imperial fleet by ourselves?"

"I don't care," Xman shot back as he thrust his engines, "Mike's in trouble. I think he needs us now."

Hiss was now the temporary commander for Hades. When he had gotten reports of a cloaked ship passing their sensors, he was furious. He told them that they were lucky that Drax was not there to hear this, as he would have them killed. He tried to call him on the radio, but he did not receive anything. It was dead. He then got worried. What if he died in that crash he saw before? Just then, an officer who was monitoring the radar screen saw another ship coming in from the southeast below the y-axis. He had to be on the bridge as he relived Captain Tah form his duties.

"Commander Hiss," an officer reported, "There's another ship approaching."

"What it'ss classs?"

"A Felinoron fighter ship."

"How many?" Tah asked.

"Just one sir."

"Jussst One?" Hiss wondered as they looked at the officer. Why would the Felinoron send a single fighter ship, not unless he was not alone? It could be a trick, but this time he was ready. He smiled and ordered, "Battle sstationss."

The Thunder Claw raced in firing its lasers on the ship's hull, but it no damage to it. Then, a dozen of B'tars appeared out of nowhere and flanked towards the Thunder Claw. They started to fire their lasers as Xman maneuvered the ship to avoid them.

"This is insane Xman," CRAIG remarked.

"Oh pipe down and enjoy the ride," Xman replied as he started to fire upon the small fleet. Xman had to keep them busy as CRAIG tried to find his lost friends on his screen. It did not bode too well as the scanner still showed nothing. He looked at Xman but could not tell him.

Meanwhile, the crew of the Star Hawk started to trek into the planet's weird jungle forest. Mike was leading, Tygla followed and Justin was behind. The forest had a murky smell and the trees looked huge but something to them did not seem right. They heard weird bird-like call coming from above, as they looked above. It was not something that they never heard before, but it was strange. They were glad that there were some life forms on this planet.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Justin criticized uneasily.

"Will you stop complaining," Mike shot back. "We're still alive, right?"

"Yeah," Justin replied. "I'm sorry." Suddenly Tygla stopped as Justin asked her, "What is it?"

Mike turned and looked as Tygla sniffed the air and finally spoke, "Something's wrong. Someone's watching us."

"How can you tell?" Justin questioned.

"Her cat instincts," Mike replied.

"Duck," Tygla turned her head, looked upwards and shouted as a creature flew from one of the trees.

It looked like a leathery bird but it had arm-like claws as well as feet. Mike quickly took out his gun and fired, but no laser bolt shot out. Mike could not explain it, but he was sure that it was loaded. Then he realized that the something drained the gun's power.

"Run!" Mike shouted and the other bolted into the swampy forest.

Unexpectedly they heard screeching sounds like hundreds of bats, they turned around and a batch of more gargoyles-like creatures attacked them. They ran for their lives into the depth of the woods. They dashed until they came to a slanted cliff, Tygla tried to stop, but unable to and she slid down. Mike and Justin stopped too, looked down and decided to join Tygla. Once they gotten to the bottom, they were all up to their ankles in some deep slimy water. Mike and Tygla looked up and saw that the gargoyles sat on the ledge looking down at then like vultures.

"What are they waiting for?" Justin inquired as he tried to catch his breath.

They then heard another unfriendly low toned sound, it almost sound like a giant frog. They all turned around, gasped, and saw a hideous creature rising from the swamp water. Slime covered the bog creature as its fly-like eyes glimmered like diamonds in the sun's light. The team did not know what it was going to do. It then lashed its long green tongue up at one of the gargoyles like a frog and ate him completely as the other gargoyles flew off. They all scrambled towards the cliff, but it was no use as the frog-like creature flagellated at Tygla, she screamed while she was being pull down.

"Tygla!" Mike shouted fearfully as he went back down to save her.

Then suddenly Mike heard thwipping noises and the creature bellowed in pain. Mike saw that the creature had three primitive arrows in its eye. The Frog creature let go of Tygla as Mike grabbed her hand and pulled her in to a hug. The creature dove back in the bog as they sighed in relief, but who fired those arrows? He and Tygla then looked up and saw that the gargoyles flew off and a gray-scaled Lizzian in tattered clothes armed with a bow and a quill of arrows stood at the edge. He stepped forward, and crouched down as he looked at the trio. Mike did not know if he was a hostile native or not.

"You three need a hand getting out of there?" he said.

The small team looked at each other amazingly. Who is this guy they thought? A native, and important question should they trust him? Mike saw that the Lizzian extended his hand to him. Mike grabbed it and soon all of them where standing next to the stranger.

"Uh, thank you," Mike said.

The Lizzian replied, "Ah don't mention it."

"Who are you?" Tygla asked.

"Ah, a friend," He replied.

Mike then recognized him but could not believe it, "No, you can't be. Uno Pu'Do?" The Lizzian just smiled at him and Mike knew that he was right. "You are Uno Pu'Do! But you can't be, you have to be-"

"Over ninety earth years old, yes. But Lizzians can live up to a hundred and fifty."

"It's a great honor sir," Mike said as he held out his hand to him. Uno just looked at it.

"Do you know how many people tried to rescue me and died trying?" The trio looked at each other unable to answer that question. They did not know what to expect from Uno. He then answered, "So many that they didn't bother any more, until now."

Mike looked at him unsure what to say, "Uh, I don't know what to tell you Mr. Pu'Do, but we are not here to rescue you."

Uno cocked his head to the side and replied, "No? Then who are you?"

"I'm Mike Tippin this is Justin Jobbs, and that's Princess Tygla Tyger."

"Tippin? You would not have a father named John Tippin would you?" The old explorer asked curiously.

Mike cock his brow wondering how he knew his father's name and replied, "Yes, how did you know?"

"Ah, I knew it!" He said a bit excitedly, "You have your mother's eyes."

"How do you know my father?"

Uno nodded in satisfaction, "I met him a few times in the past. He told me that he was working in the WSA research center," suddenly they heard a screeching noise as they looked up wards in the trees, "It is not safe here, come. I have made a safe camp not too far away."

They walked through the swampy area as Uno continued, "As I was saying Michael, your father was working on a new energy solution. He had started to look on other planets for more resources until his deep space probe found this one. Although he was perplexed on the reverse energy it was emitting, he knew what ever was on this planet, could help generate enough power to eliminate the power crisis that Earth was having. Then he met me, he had told me of the planet and granted me a fund to explore it. When he told me the location, I was astounded. I would be the first person to reach the center of our galaxy. I have spent months to prepare for the expedition. I had to go alone, but I took two robots for help.

"When I got close to the planet my scanning system went crazy, then computer systems and power failed. I could not explain it, and I then realized it wasn't the planet draining the power, but its sun. The star has a negative polarization effect that was taking all electrical energy, harnessing it, like a black hole. I fear it may turn into one. The question is when. That is when I knew that I would not return. Luckily, before I was marooned on this cursed planet I sent a digital message to anyone, not to come to get me. I started to get the idea that this would be my permanent home...and grave."

"You said others tried to rescue you?" Tygla inquired, "What happened to them?"

"Some have crash landed, but did not survive, other have come close to the planet then turned away. Probably thought I was dead already," Uno replied as they trekked through the deep woods. Then he suddenly stopped and looked to them, "If you are not here to rescue me, then why have you come?"

"It's a long story," Mike replied.

"We'll be here even longer," Uno said as he started to walk again.

"We landed here," Mike replied, "Actually we crash landed avoiding the..." He then realized that Uno have not heard of Earth's demise and the Xatu Empire.

"Avoiding who?" Uno pondered looking back to them.

They stopped again. Mike thought of what to tell him. Uno has been cut off from the outside world. Mike wondered what his reactions would be.

"You have been lost for over fifty years Uno, things uh, changed," Mike said carefully.

Uno cocked his leathery brow and asked cautiously, "Changed? How much?"

The four finally arrived at Uno's campsite. The place looked like a refugee camp for the homeless. Mike saw that Uno had built a home from scraps of his old ship's hull. He gathered scraps from the other ships too and used them to his survival. He saw Uno's house on the far side of the camp. In front of the house was a funnel shape furnace that Uno used as an oven to cook his meals. He said that the only energy source that does not die out is fire. He also mentioned that the planet does not have a winter season that explained the heavy vegetation. Uno then said that the planet has a very short day span that only lasts ten hours. Mike concluded that Uno had done a full exploration on the planet.

"Please sit, may I get you all something?" Uno asked as the three sat down on metal bench that was from another ship. It was comfortable as Tygla noticed that the brown animal fur covered the seat.

"Uh, no," Mike replied politely.

Uno nodded and wondered, "So, what news have you brought from Earth?"

Mike had told him that shortly after Uno's disappearance. An alien empire called Xatu, has seized Mars and destroyed Earth, and for about fifty years, the Xatu Empire has conquered most of the galaxy. Uno could not believe his hearing.

"Earth is gone, but how?"

Mike told him that the Xatu has a power weapon that can drill through a planet's crust and eventually reached the core. Then the planet in a massive eruption of quakes and volcanic activities, it exploded violently.

"Oh my, and your father?" Uno wondered.

Mike sighed and Uno knew that he did not want to relive that day again. Tygla reassured him and Mike replied sorrowfully, "They killed them. The Xatu killed them right in front of my eyes."

"I'm so sorry Michael. I never realized," said Uno looking at him mournfully.

"It's ok." Mike replied, "That was a long time ago."
Chapter 13

Uno's Temple

For a while, they did not say anything as Uno was in mourning for the planet Earth he then thought of his family.

"Well, then is my brother still alive? Ganu?" He asked.

"Ganu?" Mike said as Tygla and Justin looked to him in interest, "I haven't talk to him in years." For the first time in fifteen years, he thought about Ganu. At first, he really hated him for what he did, and then realized it was not really his fault. "I suppose he's ok."

Uno smiled, "Well at least some of my family survived."

Mike smiled a bit then looked back to Uno. He realized that they must get off the planet and stop Drax.

"There must be a way to escape," he said hopefully.

Uno then chuckled lightly, "Well, there are sometimes, when there rainstorms that block the sun, I do get some electric energy from my batteries but I only get about two volts from them. Barely enough to light a florescent lamp.

"Anyways, I have surveyed the entire planet and found an astonishing discovery. Not too far away, I found some ancient ruins. My finding shows that there was a civilization there a long, long time ago. I estimate it about a million earth years."

"A million earth years? What happened to them?" Tygla inquired.

Uno replied shrugging, "Just like Mayans, they vanished into thin air. They did leave some hieroglyphics that I've tried to decipher, but it's nearly impossible. Their language is something I never has seen before."

"Hieroglyphics, as in Egyptian hieroglyphics?" Mike wondered.

"You think? Do you recall something called the Rosetta stone? You know that ancient Earth tablet that supposed to decipher hieroglyphics to Hebrew to Chinese. It is the same in that temple except it's more complicated."

"How so?" Mike asked

Uno replied, "It looks like its jumbled. I couldn't make heads or tails out of it."

Mike then wondered and he was curious to explore the temple, "Can you take us there?"

Uno thought for a moment then replied, "I suppose we could do that, but I don't know what you'll find there. As a professional archeologist myself, I could not find much. Maybe on how they lived, but that's about it. Why?"

"I don't know but, I've just have a feeling that temple could be our ticket off this planet," Mike replied.

Uno laughed, "Good luck. I don't how though, so forget it. You are stuck here with me."

The three looked at each other not believing his words, and then back to Uno and Tylga said, "You can't be serious? I don't know about you, but I got family too you know, that's waiting for me. We have to try."

"Try?" Uno started as he stood, "Miss, I have been trying for five years, and believe me it's useless."

He then turned and started to walk to his tent when Mike said to him, "So, you given up? I thought archeologists look for every possible solution, even though the problem is impossible to solve. Some explorer you are." Uno sighed at that remark knowing he was right, "You know, my father gave me information of your flight plan before he died." He took out the memory stick as Uno turned to see it. "It showed some schematics that I could not understand. Maybe the missing piece to this puzzle is in here, unfortunately its encrypted."

"A lot that going do us here," Uno replied, "But I am sure that there is more on that stick then my flight plan. Keep it. You know, your father loved you so much. I am not surprised that he would get you to come to this planet. It's funny huh? My employer's son is now stuck here with me.

He then came back and continued, "The government officials of that time thought your dad was insane when he brought up the expedition idea, and they suggested locking him up. Your father was smart, brave and companionate about his projects, you should be proud of him. He died to save your life."

Mike looked at the memory stick and realized that he was right. He was proud of him and though one day he could be as great as he was.

"I'll tell you what," Uno said, "I'll take you to the ruins, and if you find something I have over looked, that might help us get off this planet, take me with you."

Mike and his friend smiled.

It has been three hours and twenty miles and Drax's patients were growing thin. His team led him through endless terrain of woods. Tila was getting tired and begged Drax to make camp. Drax however did not want to rest, but he did not want his men to grow restless. They found a small opening large enough to set up camp. The Xatu soldiers and Tila sat down on log stumps and fallen trunks while Drax stood looking about. He wanted to continue. He wasted all this time walking aimlessly through the deep forest. He could not wait to get to the temple and feel the pure energy force again.

"Sir, why don't you sit down, you look tired," Tila suggested.

Drax glanced at her for a moment then replied, "I will not rest until we get to that energy source."

"The temple? How do you know that's the true energy source? And if it is, how do we even know how to siphon it?"

"Instincts lieutenant," He just said, "Instincts."

Tila looked at him. She wondered if he was going mad, but then she never question authority, especially Lord Drax. She admired him as an idol and would, one day, be just like him. Drax how ever appreciate her loyalty, but her patients need work.

"Instincts, what kind of instincts?" Tila inquired.

He did not look at her, but replied, "When you work ten years in the service lieutenant you will learn what kind of instincts I am talking about." For a moment he did not speak, and then he said commandingly, "Your break is over, let's keep on moving."

Tila and the others sighed, stood and followed Drax back in the thickness. They did not know what Drax is leading then even though his sergeant was, suppose to scout ahead. Drax already knew where he was going.

Since the planet had drained all of their weapons of power, Uno had made primitive weapons out of sticks, vines, and sharp stone. It reminded Mike the kind of weapons Earth cave men had in the Stone Age that he read in his books. Uno gave the trio spears, bow and arrows, and slings. Tygla was not completely comfortable using the spear, but she no choice. Uno told them that the beasts they had encountered before are babies compared to the real monsters that are out there.

"How far are away is this temple?" Mike asked Uno.

"About two hours. So, this Xatu Empire is here also?" Mike nodded, as Uno said, "and they think this planet has unlimited power?" He then laughed, "Come on, we got a long trek."

"So there no unlimited energy here?" Tygla asked?

"I have looked on this entire planet, and found the only source of energy is fire." He then looked at a weird twisting tree and said, "Except the wood I've been burning for warmth lasts extremely longer than the ones on any other planet. Must be the soil."

Uno led them back in to the woods. He led them along a leaf made path that headed northwards. Uno had with him an old compass that that John had given him before he had left and strangely enough, it still worked on this planet. Uno pointed out the strange plant life that he had discovered and gave them all names. They passed another weird tall twisted tree that had purple like flowers grown all over them. Tygla was about to touch it when Uno grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"Don't. They're poisonous. I once tried to touch it and was sick for two weeks."

"Oh, My!" She said frightfully.

"Come on we have long walk."

They walked for two hours until they came to a man made Rope Bridge. It extended over a long and deep trench that fell over a mile. They looked down and they saw nothing but dense fog covering the valley below. Mike wondered who would make something like this. It seemed old but sturdy. Uno said a previous civilization made the bridge. The rope they used came from the bark of a grey tree. He said the bark is a strong as steel rope, but he cautioned to them that the rope is about hundred thousand of years old and did not know if the rope kept its strength for that period of time. He warned them to cross one at a time. He did not know how much weight the bridge could take. The Lizzian explorer started to cross first. Justin went second, as Mike and Tygla looked on. The bridge creaked a bit and Tygla was worried if it would hold. When he got on the other side, Mike asked Tygla to go next. She looked at the structure a bit and hesitated.

"It's ok hon., I'm sure it's safe," Mike said surely.

Tygla shrugged, "I don't know, it just, my feline senses is warning me of danger," she turned to him, "I'm afraid that something might happen."

"Alright, would you feel better if I went first then?" Mike asked her.

"No I'll go," she said bravely.

She took her first step on the wooden plank and gripped the rope. She walked very slowly. She was not afraid of heights. So looking down to the fog and wondered how deep it was as did not bother her. She was halfway across when she heard a faint moaning sound. She did not know what that was as she paused for a moment. She did not want to stop, but it scared her a bit. Her instincts grew true and then she just darted across. The bridge swayed from side to side. Some of the boards gave away and fell. Mike then knew that it was not safe to cross. He looked at the other side as his friends got worried and wondered if he will make it. Mike sighed and knew that he had to cross it very carefully. Like Tygla, he took small baby like steps. The bridge creaked like old stairs that you find in a haunted house.

Suddenly Mike's friends saw a large long slimy tentacle rise up from the fog. It wrapped itself around the middle of the bridge and pulled it down as the bridge snapped in to two. Mike instantly tried to grasp one of the planks as the torn bridge collided with side of the cliff.

"Michael! No!" Tygla shouted frightfully.

Justin's heart as well as Tygla's jumped through their throat and stopped. Justin ran over to the cliff's edge. He could only see the bridge's boards form a ladder leading down the cliff into the fog.

"Mike!" He shouted nervously, "Mike, can you hear me? You alright?"

He hoped that his friend would be still alive hanging on one of the boards and not falling to his death. As he looked over more, he saw Mike's hand climbing out from the fog onto the next plank. Tygla started to laugh in relief to see her boyfriend holding on for dear life. They then saw his head pop out.

Mike looked up to them and said, "Could use a little help here."

Justin dropped a rope down to him and both he and Tygla pulled was about to pull him up to safety, but they heard the moaning sound as the fog got inhaled by a ferocious giant cephalopod creature with sharp razor like teeth ready to eat Mike. Tygla gasped as it saw its sharp man-eating mouth. It grabbed Mike once more on his leg and pulled him down. It was a tug of war as Justin and Uno pulled with all of their strength. Tygla frowned not liking this. She took her spear, aimed it at the creature's mouth and threw it. The sharp spear impaled deep within the monster's mouth and screamed wildly as it let go of Mike. It descended back down into the dense fog. Once Mike got to solid ground Tygla hugged him and kissed him affectionately. She was never so happy to see him, alive and all right. Mike expressed the same and told her that he will never ignore her instincts ever again.

"Now you know why we must be cautious," Uno said.

The trio continued on. They then came to a small opening, which was previous cut. Mike saw over grown vines and giant jungle leaves on the forest's floor. As they passed the opening, Mike then saw a huge stone-like temple covered in vines. It reminded him of Aztecs temples of old Earth he had read in his history books, but this one had a more of a pyramid-like form to it. He thought it was like the Egypt's pyramids, but then it may also look like Mayans too, especially at different angles. Mike counted and it had ten large levels. He also looked around the temple and saw old remains of stone buildings of the old civilization crumbling away from time.

This was it. Uno discovered this temple. Uno lead them around as he pointed out some of the things he discovered. He told them that the alien civilization was not different from ours. They had an adequate food storage system, buildings where they kept old books or scrolls, but as Uno lectured, Mike did not notice any barracks he asked him about it, but Uno did not know as well.

"What do you think happened to them?" Tygla asked Uno.

Uno turned to her and replied, "I wish I knew. My best guess is, that there was must have been a time when the winters came, sort of like the ice age we had on Earth. They must have frozen to death, and then thousand of year of erosion buried them. Then again it's the only logical explanation I have."

"I thought you said there were no winters here," Tygla said.

"Well, not while I was here. My theory is that the sun is a huge super giant, and this planet's orbit it not truly elliptical. I am sure at one time there was an ice age here on this planet long ago, maybe eons."

Their interest then turned to the temple, as they entered, with their torches lit destroying the darkness and illuminating their way, they proceeded. They went down a long corridor until they stumbled to a hall that split left and right. Uno led the way and turned left down the hall. They then went around a corner and entered a huge ceremonial hall of some kind. Mike noted that they could be in the center of the ancient temple. A light shown down from a skylight above and it was bright enough that they did not need their torches.

"Well, this is it," Uno said.

Mike saw that in the middle of the large room was a stone altar with faint carving on it that resembles the animals that they had encountered. Tygla looked around and saw six pillars, three on each side. All of them had weird alien carvings written all over. Justin saw the same writings on the walls and one pictograph. The drawing was of an alien that was somewhat familiar to him. Their bodies where skinnier and their heads was egg shaped, their eyes were big and black.

Roswell, Justin thought, "Hey guys take a look at this."

The others went over to Justin and stared at the wall paining of the alien.

Uno nodded, "The alien civilization I told you about. When I saw this painting, I had another theory about them. But involves flying saucers, and to my search, these people did not have any advanced technology."

Mike took a closer look on the writings around the figure and Uno was right. It was some sort of combined languages of old Earth. The writings looked like they were randomly smashed on top of each other. It looked like garbled symbols. He would wish he knew how to read it. The stories that would tell fascinated Mike. Justin was not impressed, he just wanted to get off this planet, but he was not the only one.

Somewhere in the thick jungle, a band of small commandoes led by Lord Drax himself, search desperately then one of the Xatu soldiers named Ackdik knelt down and found several foot prints embedded on a patch of soft dirt.

"Sir, I found some tracks."

Drax's mood then changed for his better end as he went over to see what his officer has found. He knelt down and examined them.

"A group of four it seems," he said, "And they go that way," he pointed a northeastern area. "It looks like we are not the only ones here. Follow me."

Meanwhile, the light in the temple was growing dim as Uno suggested to either head back or camp for the night. Mike wanted to stay. As a kid, he always loved solving puzzles. He remembered one time in class at the orphanage he had to solve a word-coding problem. He did it less than thirty seconds, which impress his teacher. She said that Mike possessed a unique skill and said that it could be useful in his future career. Years later, he was obsessed with word puzzles such as cryptograms and logic puzzles. Then it hit him. He stepped back to get a better view of the writings. He studied them more, now that he got a better perspective. It was nothing more than a huge cryptogram puzzle. He saw some symbols repeating itself then he smiled.

"I think I could solve it," he said.

"What do you mean you can solve it?" Justin wondered glancing at Mike then to the carvings.

"It's like a cryptogram puzzle," Mike replied.

Tygla then said with a bit of excitement, "Oh I love doing those."

Mike looked at her with astonishment as she looked back and smiled at him. Mike smiled gracefully at her as if she was the perfect woman for him. She loved his interests in archeology. For a moment he thought what his life would be if he had married her. Waking up every morning to see her beautiful face gave Mike a warmth feeling. That did it. As soon as they were off this planet, he will ask her hand in marriage. He did not care of the rules of royalty. He loved her more than any kingdom in the known galaxy.

"Good, cause I'm gonna need some help," Mike said to her, "Anybody bring some paper and a something to write on?"

"I did," Uno replied as he rambled through his bag. He took out a notebook and an old ratted chewed pencil and handed it to Mike.

She turned to him, "You know, this is kind of fun. I can see why you enjoy doing it."

"Thanks," Mike said smiling at her.

Justin walked over to Mike and said, "Mike, correct me if I'm wrong, but this isn't like temple on Mota. These writings are completely different, they're not even written in any language we know. How are you going to translate it?"

"Because, I believe these people were once like us." Mike replied, "These writings are combined languages of old Earth. Right Uno?"

"Yes, and you could be right." Uno said. "The oldest language on Earth was sand script. And these symbols here," Uno pointed to three squiggly lines that were on a slanted angle and arrows point downward on top of it, "Has to mean a hunting area. I know because they look like the same as the hieroglyphics and Sioux Indian symbols. Michael could be on the right track."

Mike nodded proudly and started to work. He sat down on some steps as Tygla sat next to him. Mike and Tygla studied it more and found that it was not letters but words, which made it tougher for Mike."

He tapped the pencil on the blank sheet as Tygla wondered, "What's wrong?"

"I was just wondering if these people had a schooling or maybe or some type of alphabet. Something we can use to help us. Uno, you said you found a building that held books or scrolls. Are there any in there?"

Uno shook his head, "No, only tiny bits of paper. Not enough to find out if it was a some sort of library." He looked at them and replied, "You know, before there were schools, it was the priest's job to do the teachings. They even used temples like this to house the schools. Maybe the building I discovered was a storage area."

Justin added, "Hey, maybe this alphabet is still here. I mean if they knew that their civilization wasn't going to make it they had to leave something behind."

"I'm not too sure about that Justin." Uno said unsurely, "I have searched every wall, and have found nothing."

An hour has passed and Justin gathered some wood, twigs and stones from outside as he and Uno lit a fire inside the temple. Mike continued to stare at the wall only to fill in a few words. He sighed and knew that this was I bit harder than he realized. Tygla felt tired and laid back, gazing at the ceiling. It was first time that she actually looked at it, and her eyes widened a bit at the beauty as the glow from the fire danced along the colorful paintings. It was the stars on one side and the blue sky and clouds on the other. The only thing that separated them was the circle skylight opening. The aliens panted the edging like the sun's rays and there was a symbol that continued to circle around the painting. The symbol was a small pictograph of a human, but it was not. It had three faces of a bird, a human, and a monster. It was something Tygla never saw before.

"Hon?" Tygla started.

"Yeah Tygla?"

"Come look at this with me," she replied as Mike looked at her. He then followed her gaze the ceiling. Mike guessed he could use the break. He lay down next to Tygla and looked up. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Yeah I guess," he replied.

Tygla glanced to him knowing that he was not impressed, but perhaps he will be once she pointed the symbols she found. "Look, by the skylight. I bet that symbol means sun or something."

Mike looked at the creature and suddenly realized that all three faces were of ancient gods of Earth. Recognize one of them as, "Ra."

"What?" Tygla asked.

"That face that looks like a bird," he said as he pointed, "I bet you fifty thousand that Ra's face."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, Ra was an old sun god of the Egyptians, but why would he be in a face with two other gods, unless?"

Uno walked over gazing upwards at the ceiling to and smiled, "Ah I see you found the Gods' sun, three Earth gods, Ra, Brahms and Tepeu. It's amazing, that this planet's civilization is not different from Earths. I mean this pyramid-like temple, has the same design as the Hindu, Mayans and the Egyptians all put together. Amazing isn't it?"

"Wait a minute," Mike said pondering, "There all combined...Hidden in the symbols."

"What are you talking about?" Tygla asked curiously.

Mike sat back up, grabbed his pad and pencil and started to write. Uno and Tygla looked at each other confused then they looked at Mike. Justin peeked over wondering what was going on as Mike explained.

"This planet must have been the central point to all of Earth's civilizations, The Hindus, the Mayans, The Egyptians, and maybe the Babylonians. All these symbols are mixed. Latin, Hieroglyphics, and even sand script they are all together all the same. We may be standing in the origin of our planet. All I got to do is to separate and retranslate." Mike looked to Uno, "I'm surprised you didn't see that."

Uno took a closer look and said surprisingly, "My gods, you are right," he then looked to Mike, "You are like your father. You can discover the most difficult aspects of life's mysteries."

Mike smiled at that thought, "I wish he was here to see this."

"He would've been proud," Uno stated.

"He would be prouder if we could finish translating this, and maybe find a way to get off this planet," Mike said.
Chapter 14

The Sacrifice

Drax, Tila and the 2 Xatu soldiers continued to follow the track that led them through the thick jungle. He almost killed Ackdik for losing the trail. It was close to nighttime and without a moon high above them, they were force to make camp. Drax did not want to camp, but Ackdik told him that he still got their tracks. Drax wondered who these people were. Ackdik also told him that these people were from of modern times. He also deuced that one of them was female. Drax pondered this and wondered even more. He thought, if these were the Star Raiders he heard so much about, and the female was probably Princess Tygla. His thoughts turned from grim to devious, as he would finally capture them.

"Lieutenant," Drax finally said, "Is all of our weapons operational?"

She looked to him and said, "I just finished recalibrating them," she tossed her gun to him.

Drax looked at it like, as if it was his first gun he had ever owned. He aimed it at a tree trunk and pulled the trigger. The gun did not emit anything out of it, but he heard a reverse laser sound, and in seconds, the trunk had a huge hole in it. The tree itself could not hold the weight, so it cracked and fell over away from them.

Drax smiled and said, "Excellent."

The night passed very quickly and the party did not get a full night's rest. It amazed Drax that the days are shorter than he expected. The next morning as the dim sun tried to beam down its rays, but it blocked them by an over cast of clouds. The dew spread over the dead leaves that surrounded a deserted camp as Drax and his men continued the pursuit.

As the fire dimmed down, only Tygla, Justin and Uno had been tired and slept through the short night while Mike continued to translate the writings. He only gotten to half of their alphabet and realized that it was the language of all ancient civilizations. Tired as he was, he was too excited to sleep. He looked down on his pad, and read the partly message to himself that was hiding for thousands of years. As far as he gotten to, Mike discovered that their civilization was called Q'Et'Orans. The Q'Et'Orans were a simple peaceful race. Like any other ancient civilizations, they believe and served one, unnamed god, called The Creator.

Before Mike could finish the page, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He did not jump as much. Instead, he turned to see Tygla.

"You should get some sleep sweetie," she said quietly. "You got bags under your eyes," she smiled at him as she repeated what Mike commented to her before.

"I think I figured it out."

"Oh? You figured how we can get back home?" She said hopefully.

"Not really, but the story on why there is no civilization could be helpful," Mike replied. Tygla looked at him strangely and interested as she sat down to listen. "I think Uno's theory of the Ice age is true, about ten thousand years ago, the Q'Et'Orans' had a problem. A long winter came, killing their crops. Their creator, an unnamed god, gave them a date that their world is dying, Like the Mayan calendar on Earth. The Q'Et'Orans needed help, so they ask their god for it. It answered back."

"Answered back? How?" Tylga asked unsurely.

"Through a ritual I think. Unfortunately there was catch, two must stay behind and sacrificed themselves."

"That's horrible," Tygla said frowning, "Why would they do that?"

"That last wall down there explains it," Mike said, as he pointed to the corner, Tygla saw the strange writings as Mike continued the story, "Well the Creator told them that he would open up a...magical portal of some kind to another world, perhaps Earth."

Tygla looked at him skeptically and said, "Magical portal? Do you actually think I can believe that?"

"Hey, I'm just reading how it is." Mike replied as he continued, "Look, Justin and I have seen a lot of crazy stuff in our lives Hon, and believe me some of it are just unexplainable. Anyhow the last two Q'Et'Orans that stayed, well, in order to fulfill The Creator's request one killed the other, and I suppose the other died in his old age. Probably the one who has written this last part."

Tygla then wondered, "So why is the planet not a frozen wasteland?"

Mike shrugged, "Just like Uno said, this planetary orbit is not elliptical."

She nodded understanding that, but another question arose in her mind and asked, "Then why is the planet emitting negative energy, draining our weapons?"

"I don't know maybe Uno was right. Maybe the sun's magnetic energy did something our electronics."

"So how do we get them back to working order?"

"I don't know," he said unsurely.

"I thought you knew all this stuff?" She asked.

Mike replied desperately, "I'm doing my best."

Tygla smiled, "I know you are love." She then kissed him making him feel better.

"That's a good interoperation Michael," Uno said as he and Justin finally got up, "It seems that you finally translated it all. You know I was great archeologist in my day, but you are the best I have seen."

"Well if he's so great, maybe he can reverse that power and get us out off this planet," Justin said.

"Yes, Mr. Tippin is it?" A voice boomed from the entrance. The four turned their head to see in shock the face of Drax, Tila, and two armed Xatu soldiers all aiming their weapons at them. "Please tell us how to reverse The Creator's power."

"And if I refuse?" Mike said as Tygla wrapped her arms around his waist as for protection.

Tila looked at Tygla, smiled at her and winked. Tygla looked at her, and wondered why she did that. She then got an uncomfortable and hugged Mike.

"Then I will kill one of your friends," Drax replied aiming his modified blaster at them.

"Do you think we were born yesterday Drax?" Mike said, "That weapon useless here."

"Is it?" Drax said as he aimed at Uno and fired at him.

A hole the size of a baseball appeared where his abdomen was. Blood spilt on the floor. Everyone screamed in horror as Uno Pu'Do, the greatest archeologist that ever lived, fell on the floor. Everyone ran on over to see if he was all right, but sadly it was too late. Uno could barely lift his head, but Mike placed his hand under it for support.

"Mike," Uno said barely.

"Don't try to talk," Mike replied fearfully.

"Mike, Your father, he- always loved you. He told me that the center is- the energy." Uno closed his eyes as his Lizzian heart had beaten for the last time.

"No," Mike spoke softly as he closed his eyes.

He could not believe it, his mentor dead in his hands. He thought of what he had said. 'The center is the energy'. That is what his father had said, but he did not understand what he meant until now. It all fits, the planet's sun, which was the energy his dad was talking about, not the planet. He looked to Drax unpleased of what he done.

Drax sneered at then, "Don't be unhappy, Mr. Tippin. Your friend's death was only a warning."

He looked to him heatedly and said, "My friend you killed was Uno Pu'Do."

"Really?" He said proudly. He had heard of him that he was the lost explorer, a Lizzian lost in time.

Then Justin wondered, "Hey, how did you get your weapons to work?"

"We modified them Captain Jobbs" Tila replied. "We figured that if this planet drains energy all we had to do is –."

"Enough lieutenant," Drax interrupted cutting her off, "Now Mr. Tippin, finish translating the scriptures, or I'll make my next target more vulnerable to your pride."

He then aimed his gun at Tygla. Tila frowned, as she didn't want Drax to kill her. She was starting to like Tygla. Mike didn't want to endanger her life. He loved her too much and so he had to do what Drax asked him, or he'll kill her. He had no choice.

The two guards surrounded Justin and Tygla as prisoners, grabbing their wrists. Justin struggled a bit but he too knew that it was no use to fight them. Tila went over, stood next to Tygla, and flirted. Tygla turned her head away and looked to Mike. Justin noticed this and wondered if Tila was bi-sexual or something. He looked to Mike and wondered what he would do. Mike looked at Uno's body and frowned. He did not want his friends to end up like Uno.

"All right I will, just don't hurt them," Mike replied.

"Excellent," Drax said pleasingly as Mike looked to the last tile, "Continue on."

Tila placed her hand on Tygla's shoulder and started to caress it. Tygla jerked her head to Tila as she whispered in her quietly so no one could hear, "I could set you free and let you live, if you will be mine. I just love Tigresses, especially a princess one."

"Go to hell," Tygla scowled softly.

Tila frowned, "Your choice. Too bad though. We could've has some good times together."

Mike turned to the wall and thought, Drax would not know what these runes say. He then had an idea as he read, "Well, according to this, we must ask The Creator for the power, but in order to make contact, a ritual must be performed. Someone with a pure minded heart must drip his own blood on to the altar. Peripherally a priest must perform it. And since we do not have one here amongst us, we can't do it."

Drax frowned at that thought then he looked to Tygla and thought, why not use the Felinis they are pure blooded? He then went over, grabbed her hand and brought Tygla over to the altar. Tila gasped at what Drax did. She begged with her eyes, but that failed. Mike was alert, as Tygla screamed. She kicked him in the shin, but the guard restrained her. She is spunky, Tila thought.

"No! What are you doing?" Mike cried worriedly, as he tried to advance to them, but Tila raised her gun at him and he stopped.

"I do not like to waste time," he replied as his hand suddenly morphed into a razor sharp knife. He then quickly sliced her palm as Mike heard her scream in pain.

"No you bastard!" Mike cried angrily.

Tila now pissed, clicked her safety off and said to him, touchily, "Don't even tempt me Colonial."

Red blood dripped from her hand and Mike saw her crying. He could not believe what was happening. He frowned in anger and wished he could do something. Drax then placed her bloody hand on to the altar. At once, nothing happened, Drax frowned, then he glanced to Tila to give her the command to kill him, but suddenly a small gust of wind entered the room. Leaves and vines whapped on the walls and pillars. They heard a clap of thunder from outside the temple. The wind made the leaves fly around like a tornado pattern. The little dust devil came towards Tygla as if it had a mind of its own. It moved like a belly dancer, and then without warning, it forced Drax to let go of her. He staggered back against the wall wondering what was going on. Mike thought the same as Tygla's eyes closed as the wind became stronger. It was strong enough to lift her two to three feet in the air like a balloon.

Next, a bright yellow light shined down on her from the opening above. To Mike she was more beautiful like a true angel. He did not believe what he was seeing. Mike only thought that something like only happens in Myths, but not right in front of their eyes. Another moment had passed as she finally opened her eyes, but this time her pupils were gone and Mike gotten worried. Tygla then spoke in some type of alien language that neither of them could understand. It sounded like three different languages all together almost like the Xatu language. Her voice sounded like there were four people in her.

"Excuse me?" Mike said worriedly as he walked towards her, "Tygla? You ok Hun?"

She did not respond immediately. She tilted her head towards him then said in English, "You speak an interesting tongue. You are not a Q'Et'Oran. Who are you?"

"It's me Tygla, its Mike? Don't you remember?" Mike said wondering what was wrong with her.

"This Tygla? She cannot speak now. Only I, The Creator, can speak. You have called upon me Non- Q'Et'Oran, what is your request?"

Drax smiled and stepped forward, "Yes, oh mighty one of creation, give us your infinite power so we can escape this planet."

"It has been eons since my last appearance," The creator said, "My power is for only for those who are a true servant to me. You are not."

Drax grew angry, "What? I only serve one and it is not you." He then raised his weapon to her, "You will serve me and the Xatu Empire. You will give me that power. Now!"

"Do you dare to anger me Xatu?" She said. "You will then witness my wrath!"

With that, she gazed on Drax and blast of yellow light flew out of them, hitting the blue humanoid. Drax fell on the floor when the two Xatu guards aimed their blasters to Tygla, but Drax ordered them to stand down. They lowered their guns. Tila did not understand, but Drax got up and kneeled to Tygla.

"That is better Xatu," she said, "I will give you the power to leave my domain. Do you have a puritan sacrifice for me?"

"Puritan?" Drax wondered and looked to Mike for an answer.

"I think she means a virgin," Mike replied.

"Yes. Do you have one prepared?" The Creator said.

Drax glanced to Mike and grinned. Mike did not like Drax's thoughts.

"Oh no," Mike said, "Don't even think about it. I haven't been one since I was eighteen. And I know Justin is not a virgin so forget it." Drax frowned the he looked to Tygla floating in mid air, but Mike said, "You can't sacrifice someone who is incarcerated, especially if she is a god."

"Since you know so much perhaps you can choose the victim," Drax said with remorse.

Mike looked at the remaining people. The two Xatu soldiers looked like they had sexual actions in their life, then he glanced to Tila. He wondered if she was a virgin. Justin next to her, nodded. Mike smiled a bit. Then everyone was looking at her, as if she was some animal at a zoo.

"No, don't you even think about it," she said raising her gun at him in defense. Drax narrowed his eyes a bit, "No man will ever kill or sacrifice me. I rather stay on this planet then you to even touch me."

"Lieutenant, your services to the Empire will be graceful," Drax said to her as she looked at him.

"Are you mad? Have you betrayed us?" She said uncertainly.

"Guards prepare her," Drax ordered.

Tila could not believe her ears, "You are mad!" She raised her gun at him and fired, but Drax was fast and more agile that he barely got hit. The invisible blast however struck a nearby pillar, damaging it. "Traitor!" The one of the guards then grabbed her and took her weapon.

"For that action you should be executed," Drax said as the soldier brought her to the altar. Tila kicked and screamed like a brat child that she was. She tried in all of her training as a solder to escape but it was hopeless. Mike and Justin just stood there in awe. They did not know what to do as Tygla's body still floated above them waiting.

Tygla's body continued to hover over them, watching as they have found a puritan. The Xatu solder laid Tila on the altar and held her down as she kept on squirming. She then stopped as Drax stooped over her. His hand formed a sharp blade again and looked towards Tygla.

"Oh great Creator I hope this will satisfy you."

"Indeed Xatu, proceed."

Drax looked down and asked, "Do you have any last words my dear?"

Tila spat at him and replied angrily, "Go to hell you male pig!"

Drax frowned, wiped the saliva from his face, and said, "Your services will be remembered." He then plunged his sharp knife like blade deep in her chest. Tila screamed in pain then silence as blood splattered everywhere. She was dead. Her blood began to drip from the altar.

"You wish has been granted," The Creator said.

She then used Tygla's mouth, smiled, and laughed as if she won. The glow around Tygla faded and she fell to the ground. Mike rushed over to see if she was all right. Tygla was unconscious, but still alive which made Mike feel better.

Suddenly the ground began to tremble. To Mike, it seemed like a small earthquake. Bits and pieces fell from the ceiling and he knew that the building was not safe to stay as the damaged pillar gave away, but that was only the beginning, when the quake started a high intensive golden ray shot up from the altar and it beamed through the sky light and into the sky itself. The altar itself disintegrated with the body of Tila and started to grow larger by the minute.

Mike picked up Tygla and said to the others, "This place is not safe, I suggest we all we all get out of here."

Drax nodded in agreement, "I will radio my flagship to pick us up."

Mike was unsure about that idea, but then the debris got larger, walls and pillars began to fall. Justin helped Mike as the group quickly exited the altar room. They heard a large rumbling noise behind them as the wall crushed the two soldiers in the rubble. Drax stopped briefly to see what has happed then continued more swiftly. He urged the trio to move faster until they finally got out into the daylight.
Chapter 15

A New Star

Just outside of Uno's planetary system where Xman and CRAIG were battling it out alone with the Xatu's space force, Xman was suddenly overwhelmed with the odds the Empire was dishing out. Usually he liked those odds, but he never knew that Empire would send out so many ships for just one fighter. Ship upon ship exploded as Xman fired strategically trying not to get killed. CRAIG looked at his instruments on the ship behind Xman. There were a couple of screens, but the one he was interested was ships status. He was concerned about the shield condition as it plunged down to 87%. He warned Xman, but he did not care to react with worry in his mind.

"You know there are too many ships," CRAIG started, "I knew we should've waited."

Xman did not quickly reply as he was dodging laser bolts. Once he got a minute's thought, he knew CRAIG was right. He opened the mouth to reply when a hailing beep sounded. CRAIG looked back to the other screen and saw that there was another ship entering the system. CRAIG pressed a couple of buttons to enlarge the image, but to his surprise, which was illogical to his computerized brain. The ship resembled the Golden Condor.

"Sir, you will not believe this but, I think we've got some help," CRAIG informed him.

Xman replied, "Good we are going to need it. Who is it? The Rebirth?"

"It's-," CRAIG said, but a voiced interrupted him.

It boomed through the cockpit of the Thunder Claw, "Prince Xman?"

"Yeah? Who is this?" Xman said destroying a B'tar.

"Digan Brund, A friend of Mike Tippin" he answered. "You know where I can find him?"

Xman was perplexed on how he knew his name. It seems that while Mike and Justin were on Felinorn, Justin called he is old friend to see if there was another job. He told him of Tygla's situation with Xman, and all he could do is laugh gracefully. Digan reminded Justin about female felinises and to tell Mike to watch it.

A couple of flashes of blasts surrounded the Thunder Claw and replied, "He's on the planet below. Listen, I could another hand with these space scums. Then maybe we can get him together."

"That sound like good idea," Digan replied, "Hold on."

Xman did not even want to wonder how it was possible. As long as there was another fighter in the battle, he did not care. The Condor blazed through space firing its laser bolts. It missed a few time but then the pilot has not flown into battle since the Great War. The two colonial ships crisscrossed firing wildly. The Xatu army was in greater numbers, but it was diminishing slowly as the Thunder Claw and the Golden Condor was destroying them one by one. Digan finally got in to the rhythm. He and Xman were in fighting in unison.

"Xman," CRAIG said, "This is interesting, the energy on the planet. It has now a positive reading on it."

Xman responded, "You mean we can actually contact them, maybe even pick them up?"

"I believe so," the android replied, "But the energy source could be too high and dangerous to even land."

Digan then replied though the DR, "I'll get them, just give me some coverage."

"You got it," Xman said grimly.

On Hades, the tension was harsh as commander Hiss was overseeing the battle that was going on. He sent over almost sixty B'tars to attack one ship that was until he got reports that another ship entered the quadrant. The scanning officer informed him that it was the Golden Condor, Tippin's ship, and this worried him. He wondered if Mike and his friends were on the planet surface, who was flying the ship? He thought that if that ship had found him other colonial ships would soon come and could not take that chance.

"Lieutenant, hail all nearby imperial ssshipsss. Tell them to ssstand by for immediate asssissstatnsse," he ordered as he turned to the first mate, "Increassse the radar ssscan. I want to know if any more colonial ssshipsss are in a five light-year range."

The officers acknowledged and went to work. A couple of minutes have passed as Hiss was observing the holo-map. The holo-map showed him a close progress of the battle. He knew that they were losing and this enraged him. Until-.

"Sir, I am getting a radio transmission from the planet below, its Lord Drax sir," the communications officer told him.

Hiss looked up in disbelief and said, "Put it on the ssspeakersss."

The communication was weak and it was breaking up, he could hear him as Drax said, "Hiss, sen...trans...hip...dow...pick...up"

"My lord, you are breaking up, can you repeat that?" but nothing was repeated or spoken, he turned to the window where the planet reside and something was happening. The planet itself was breaking up. Hiss saw beams of light shooting out, like a proctor sphere that they used in planetariums. This did not look good. He then ordered to ready a transport ship to pick up Lord Drax.

"I'll get one ready in ten minutes," a Xatu officer replied.

Hiss' eyes narrowed and said, "You'll get one out now! Ssss."

The officer trembled in fear inside and said, "A-As you wish s-sir." He then hurried off.

The planet was breaking up as the doomed world trapped the four explorers. As soon as Tygla awoke, and saw what happened as Mike carried her. He looked down at her and knew she was all right. He was about to kiss her when a deafening sound blasted all around them.

"Can you run?" he asked her as she nodded.

"What happened?" She asked weakly.

Mike said to her as he put her down, "I'll explain later, right now just run!"

They fled into the wilderness, running like rabbits avoiding fire as chunks of the earth exploded all round and beams of light shot up into the sky. Mike thought that they enter a war zone as thousands of creatures sounds screeched in horror. They took the path that led them to temple, as it was a safer trail to follow. Suddenly they stopped short as the trail before them exploded and another beam of light blasted skyward. The beam was too bright that they had to cover their eyes with their hands. Mike pulled them off the trail and in to the woods.

"What in blazes is going on Tippin?" Drax demanded.

While they ran, Mike tried to explain, "It's your wish Drax. You wanted The Creator to release the planet's power, well it's doing it."

"I did not mean by destroying it!" Drax said furiously.

"Don't you see?!" Mike said as they were avoiding the lethal beams, "This planet is like second cog in a bigger machine! Its Sun. One aligned, the sun's powerful rays, collide with the planet, magnifying it hundred times."

The group kept running until they found themselves by the deep cliff. Mike looked from one side to the other and saw there was no way to cross. What made matters worse, the earthquake violently and Tygla lost her footing and fell down in the crevasse. Mike reacted quickly and caught her hand before it was too late. They saw her dangling on the side, as Mike was trying to pull her up. Justin looked down the ways and saw the beams of light was making its way towards them like a huge wave rushing down the cliff for the first time.

Drax just stood there watching them. He did not care to help them. He would rather see the intense light swallow up the princess. Mike then pulled her up just as soon as the wave of light rushed past them. The force was so strong that it knocked them off their feet causing them to land twenty feet from where they were. The landing knocked them out in the land of unconsciousness.

Just moments after the huge blast, Digan finally found them after he was scanning the area. He picked up a group four life forms scurrying towards a large cliff. Digan did not believe what he was witnessing. Beams of light exploded everywhere. It was as if he was in a dream. He flew in closer caustically avoiding the beams. Digan then saw Mike, and the others lying down as if they were asleep. He prayed that they were not dead. He landed, lowered the ramp and hurried out. He picked up Tygla first, then Justin and finally Mike. He then looked at Drax. Angrily as he was, he would rather leave him here. Besides, he was sure that his crewmembers would pick him up if it were not too late, and at that moment of thought he had a notion that he would seen another ship in the sky. The ground shook violently and he could not take any chances. Digan hurried into the ship, carrying Mike like a baby. He set him down on the small bed in the lounge area and hurried himself to the cockpit. He sat down and quickly took off.

At that moment, the land shook again and he heard an earth-shattering explosion. A beam of light shot up like the others, but this one hit the Condor, showering it in rays of luminosity as soared towards the stratosphere. To Digan's surprise, the power increased ten times more powerful than before. This confused him, but it did not matter. He increased the thrust and the ship flew faster than ever into space.

The planet finally broke down and it seemed to explode in a brilliant display of a supernova. Every piece of earth that was once Uno's planet now gone and the only thing that was left was a new star. Mike finally awoke to the noise. When he opened his eyes, he thought that they died because the first thing he saw was the lounge area inside the Golden Condor. This was impossible he thought. He looked around to see if Tygla and Justin were ok. He saw Tygla lying on the small couch and went over. When he touched her face, she awoke to see Mike and smiled lightly. He then kissed gently her as she looked about.

"Where are-," she started then realized where she was. She then looked at Mike confusingly, "What's going on? Are we dead?"

"I don't think so," Mike replied puzzled. He took her hand, helped her up, and then they made their way to the cockpit. He wondered who was sitting in the pilot seat, but before he could ask, he heard CRAIG's voice on the intercom.

"It is good that you got them, but as I suggested to Xman we must evacuate from this system."

"Why?" the man in the pilot seat replied, and from that one word Mike immediately knew who it was.

CRAIG went on, "My calculations tell me that the newly acquired star that was once Uno's planet will go into supernova within minutes."

Justin finally awoke and could not believe what he saw as well, "Mike, where the hell are we?"

The pilot seat swiveled and Justin and Mike saw a familiar face. It was Digan. He smiled at them as Mike had more questions than answers. Before Mike could say the first question, the internal alarms went off. Digan looked back to the screen as Mike and the other sat down to see what made the alarms go off. It seemed that the Xatu Empire was not done battling. Justin, still dazed, his first reactions was pressing a button as a chair dropped from the ceiling. He sat in the proton gun chair and fire upon several Xatu B'tars ships.

Cleaver, Tygla thought.

She then finally figured out what that was. Mike sat in the copilot seat as he pushed a few buttons. Tygla sat behind Mike wondering what she can to do help. Digan maneuvered the Condor as far away from the new star as it started to grow bigger by the second.

The new star blinded Hiss' look. He cringed as he ordered to have the window ports adjusted to the intense light that shined through. The alarms rang though the entire ship. The temperature kept rising every second and Hiss could not wait any longer for Drax. He knew that the planet would explode, as one of the Xatu science officers told him that the star would.

"Raisss Ssshieldsss and get usss out of here!"

"But what about Lord Drax?" the Xatu Lieutenant wondered.

"He will be missssed," Hiss replied, "Inform all B'tarsss to report back immediately."

"Sir, the rescue shuttle has returned," an officer reported.

"I don't care," hiss replied franticly, "Full power now! Sssss."

Justin saw on the digital screen of the gun chair, that the group of B'tars fled back to the command ship. He also witness that the star kept growing at a geometric rate. He was not an expert in astronomy, but he knew if they do not get out of the system, they would be vaporized to nothingness. The Golden Condor's hull was getting hotter every minute and its passengers were getting nervous, but Mike assured them that the ship's internal thermal cooling system would stabilize the temperature the best it can without overheating the computer's circuitry. The Condor joined Xman's Thunder Claw and both of them raced for edge of the system, but at the same time, in an instant flash. The star went into super nova. It exploded violently leaving a ring of radiation expanding at an underestimated length. The explosion caught both ships were in the supernova and were hurled deeper into space. Once it was a planet that was in the middle of the galaxy, that held the secrets of the universe, is now gone.
Chapter 16

The Assault on Hades

Digan and Mike tried to control the ship until its movement died down. They did not know where they were now until Mike noticed that the Hades was on their scanner. The computer's gyro system was off the scale and he could not get the Nav computer to work. He looked at his ship and could not believe it. He had thought that he would go search the entire galaxy to find it again. He was still confused as to what has happened. Mike still wanted to know how Digan found the Condor and brought it back to them.

"I just want to know how?" Mike asked him. "Justin said it was stolen."

Digan chuckled a bit and replied, "Well, he wasn't too far off. Ya see after my weekend leave. I headed to Sadr for some R&R, when I just happen to see your ship in one of the docking bays. I didn't strike odd to me, except I saw a black Tabby Felinis go in. I followed him, inquired where you guys were. He said he never heard of you. That is when I got suspicious, and clubbed him on the back of his head with the butt of my gun while he wasn't looking. I dragged him out and called the cops."

Mike was impressed, but he had one more question, "So, how did you find us?"

"Are you kidding?" Digan said as he pointed to Justin's wristband, "You got long range homing beacon on that thing." Justin nodded knowing he was right. "It led me straight to ya." He looked to Tygla and said, "So you must be Princess Tygla? Justin was right you are, 'Hot' as he put it."

"He did?" As she look to him skeptically.

"A little hot." Justin replied as they chuckled.

"So how did the thief get in the ship?" Mike asked.

Digan answered, "He had an illegal universal remote control key. Must have built it himself."

Justin then said, "I told you!"

The radio boomed as Xman's voice filled the cockpit, "Digan, how are they?"

"They're fine, including your sister."

"Tygla?" Xman wondered. "I thought I told you stay on that space port Tygla."

"You said should, brother," Tygla argued playfully, "But don't worry my knights protected me." She smiled to Mike and Justin.

"Mike if she is-," Xman warned, but was interrupted by Mike.

"She's fine."

Then another voice boomed in, "This is Commander Sommenar Haras of the Rebirth, is everyone Ok?" The crews acknowledged that they were well, "Good, get on board. We need you in our tactics meeting. It seems that the Hades survived the super nova as well."

As the Golden Condor flew in the directions of Rebirth Tygla was still dazed on what happened. Justin told her that she became a god that floated above that altar. She did not believe him until Mike concurred it was true.

"So I was god?" She wondered.

Mike looked to her, "Well, I think you were, are a goddess to me."

She smiled and blushed, "I'm serious now."

"You don't really remember do you?" Mike asked her.

She shook her head and replied, "No, that last thing I remembered was Drax cutting my hand and-," She looked down for the first time and was astonished. She saw that there was no cut, bleeding, nor a scar on her palm. "It's gone. I was sure there'd be some sort of a scar there."

Mike took her hand to examine it. She was right there was no scar. They looked at each other confused, then Mike said, "I suppose when The Creator entered your body, it heal your wounds."

She nodded, "You could be right. There are some things cannot be explained."

Hiss finally sat in the command chair that was once belonged to Drax. He waited a long time for this chance. He still mourned for his former lord. For a long as he knew him, nothing nor no one had ever killed Drax. He remember one time on a raid in the Draco System, Drax was shot five times but he still fought and lived.

"What are you doing in my chair?" A voice boomed for the other side of the room. Hiss jumped wondering who was questioning him. He swiveled around and saw a ghost. It was Drax, standing in front of the doorway in tattered clothes. "I will not ask again Hiss."

Hiss was so scared, as he had just seen a ghost. He was confused as he replied shockingly, "Ssss-ssssir! Y-you're alive!"

Drax walked up to Hiss as if to attack or punish him, but his just said coldly, "No thanks to you."

Hiss got out as fast as he could as Drax approached him. Hiss knew that Drax was in the worst of moods and he did not want to be in the same room.

"My lord, we thought that you were dead," Hiss retorted.

Hiss could see Drax's darkened eyes as he replied, "So is that why you left me for?"

"N-no that isss not true my lord," Hiss answered cowardly as Drax immediately went for his throat as to strangle him to death. He morphed his hand to a metal substance. Hiss was then lifted in the air, "I-I tried to get...a...resscue ssship...to you...The exsssplotion propelled the sssship away...It isssn't my fault."

"Isn't it? You failed me for the last time Hiss. I should kill you now." He squeezed harder.

"Pleessse. Ack, blame the felinisssss," he pleaded.

A small grin appeared in Drax's lips as he had a devious thought. It was the Felinis' fault. He then let his companion down as Hiss massaged his throat with his artificial hands. Drax relieved Hiss of his duties as he sat down in his chair. Drax continued to contemplate to his thoughts as Hiss left the room. He called Captain Tah for damage report. Tah told him for some strange reason the damage was minimal and the ship's power level was off the scale. This puzzled Drax. Drax swiveled his chair to face the window of stars trying to relocate the planet that he was once on. He wondered why it exploded the way it did. Did The Creator really release the ultimate power and transfer it to their ship? Ultimate power, he thought as he grinned widely.

"Sir," the com boomed as Captain Tah, now back in command reported, "The Felinoron battleship the Rebirth has entered on our scopes."

"Really?" Drax smiled knowing he can finally finish what he had started now that he has the ultimate power. Nothing can stop him. "Alert all commands. Prepare to engage the enemy."

"Yes sir."

Now, to test the power they have, Drax thought.

They all gathered in the ship's briefing room ready to plan on how to destroy the deadly Hades. The Felinis scanner had informed them that the Hades was just in their RADAR and approaching fast. King Rymu, Sommanar, and Xman had informed Mike and his crew that CRAIG knew how to destroy the Hades, but they needed their help in doing so.

"Yes, as I said before," CRAIG started, "There are a couple of ways to destroy it, from the inside. Option one is you can disrupt the flux drive engines with an electric spark which will immediately destroy the ship."

Mike did not like that option and asked, "And the other way?"

"The Xatu are very cautious of their ships getting into the wrong hands so they added one last defense, a self destruction program that will overload the ship's power and destroy it completely. There is however a problem, deep inside the ship the lies a secret room where the computer that controls the program rests. The room is heavily guarded and surveillance twenty-four hours, if you do enter that room, and defeated the guards, you then must provide three things. A pass code that only the captain or commander of the ship have, his handprint and a security card from one of the guards."

"And how are we suppose to get all that stuff," Justin asked.

The King looked at Justin and replied, "That is what you must figure that out once you are inside. Since you three were going in to that ship in the first place, it will be your job to find that computer room, the pass code, hand print and the security cards."

"And how are we supposed get in?" Justin inquired again. "They don't actually leave the back door open for us."

Mike looked to him, "Justin, remember what we tried to do before?" Justin nodded "All we got to do is open the back door for them."

"But they only open that chute when they go into Hyper Flight, not into battle," Justin pointed out.

"That is not entirely true," CRAIG said, "Most of the refuse chutes are not made of Xrylium and can be cut by high powered pulsar beam."

"Like our proton cannon," Mike thought.

"Precisely," CRAIG said.

"Well you three better get going," King Rymu told them, "I am sure the Hades is heading our way, armed."

"I am going with them as well," Tygla pronounced.

"Sorry Tygla, it is too dangerous, I will not allow it," Rymu said firmly.

"But father, please I have been waiting all my life for a chance to help the Colonials. I want to help them," she said pleadingly, "Daddy, I know it is hard for you, but I have changed since I was a little girl. You must realize that that your little girl has grown up and I am not afraid to fight them."

"Now Tygla, I know I have taught you well, in diplomatic actions, but this is more militant than anything else. I just don't think you are up to it."

"You're wrong," Tygla frowned a bit and said, "I have been keeping something from you for a long time, father. I have been learning military strategy and actions in secret, fearing you disapprove. I'm sorry daddy."

He sighed, and then nodded knowing that his little girl has grown, "You are the cunning one Tygla." He smiled. "I should've seen it in you. All right, you may go with them, but be very careful. The Xatu are a ruthless race and I hate to lose you like I lost your mother."

"Don't worry daddy," she replied, "I will," she hugged and kissed him on the cheek and turn to her squad. "Ok troops, let's kick some butt."

"Oh, there is one other thing," Rymu told them, "They may use their plasma dill during this battle to destroy the Rebirth, and so if you can, disable it before they can use it," they nodded, "Your Android would have detailed information." As they left, the king stopped Mike, but he told his team he would catch up to them.

"Yes your highness?" Mike asked

"I hear you have taken a great interest of my daughter. Now the only reason I am letting her go with you is because I know you can protect her. She lost her mother to the Xatu. I do not want to lose her as well."

Mike nodded understanding Rymu and said, "Don't worry, I promise I will bring her back unharmed."

The king smiled, "Good. Now may the gods be with you."

"Same to you," Mike replied as he smiled back.

As they walked down the hall they were discussing on how they would het the items they needed, then Justin asked, "Alright I know we can get the pass code and security card, but how the hell we going to get a handprint? I mean it's not like we can got up to Drax and ask him if can borrow his hand."

"Don't worry Justin," Tygla assured him, "We'll get that handprint one way or another."

"How?"

"You know Justin. You don't have a lot of faith in things," Tygla said.

Mike raced to meet his friends and added, "Tell me about it."

Tylga continued her thought, "CRAIG said that the captain handprint is also acceptable. We'll just have to find him and drag him to that room."

CRAIG then said, "That would prove fatal your highness. Captain Tah is constantly on the bridge of the ship. He is also surrounded by the best Xatu guards in the fleet."

"Well that's out," Mike said. "Are you sure there isn't another way? Maybe can we hack in to their computer and change the access program."

CRAIG thought about it a bit, "Well that could work, except it would take a hacker about three days to crack into that system."

"A human hacker would, but not android," Mike said.

"But it is against my programming to hack in another computer especially that I do not possess a 'hacking program' to begin with."

"Justin, you think can upload one of your hacking programs into CRAIG?" Mike asked his friend.

Justin thought a moment and replied, "Yeah that should not be a problem."

"Good"

The team met Digan in the hanger as Mike told him their plans. At first, he thought that they were crazy, and then he realized he was talking to the person who escaped the endless dungeons on Turas 3. Mike had Digan join the team as he had had a special mission himself, guarding the Condor while they were in Hades.

Xman had about forty star ships in the huge hanger ready to fight the huge battleship. He could not believe it. He was about to attack and destroy Drax and his stupid ship. He grinned at that thought and switched on his engines. The other pilots scrambled to their ships, climbed in their cockpits and engaged their engines. The crescent shaped fighters flew out of the hanger one by one. Once they were in space, they got into position ready for the ultimate battle for freedom.

The door opened and Drax entered the bridge. He stood over with Capitan Tah and Commander Hiss, waiting for the Colonials to attack. He could not wait to use their new power to destroy the Felinis Colonials.

"Sir, we have something big on our scopes coming in at 50.80.5," the officer reported.

Captain Tah turned towards the window as he saw thousand of ships appearing out of nowhere. Drax sat down on his command chair as he observed the battle. Once he saw the ships, he knew what the outcome was. Those Colonials will now face their doom, he though as a grim smile drawn on his face.

"Raise shields, and go to red alert," Drax ordered, "Hiss, get the pilots to their ships."

Hiss said nothing and nodded nervously, as soon as he left the bridge, Captain Tah announced, "You heard him. Battle stations everyone!"

Xman eyed Hades and ordered his squadron to open fire. Soon every ship took evasive action as each hit pounded the ship's hull. Xman then growled, as they did not make a dent.

"Their shield must be up," he said, "All units regroup."

However, it was too late as Xatu ships emerged from the battleship. They then started to attack the Tiger Claws. Laser blasts emerged all about, as it was some laser light show, but the Colonials were not enjoying it. Their ships scrambled all around as Xman hit a few ships, one on the wing, and two dead on. He looked ahead and smiled a bit, as he saw the Golden Condor make its way near Hades. He knew that their plan was working and he hope he knew what Mike was doing.

"Ok boys and girls. Let's give these alien scums the run for their money!"

Meanwhile, the Golden Condor gracefully flew over towards the Garbage Disposal Unit trying to doge laser fire. Justin in the gunner chair aimed towards the door and fired, but that did not work as the red-like beam stopped short.

"Mike!" Justin called, "We got a problem!"

"Their shield must be up." Craig informed him.

Mike cursed to himself and then was worried, but he conjured up something in his head. A high frequency sound could jam the force shield. He tried this once trying to escape an old abandon fortress on the planet Juno a while back. They were there to find some important documents, but it was nothing more than a trap sprung by the Empire. The Xatu had trapped them there by a force shield. The Xatu just left them there for a day or two until Justin was playing his digital Walkman music player. Mike then had a thought. The Xatu force shields are controlled by impulse waves and the only flaw to it was high frequency sound. He grabbed his friend's music player, turned it high and moved over to the shield. He was right, the shield weakened a bit, but it was not enough. Soon after he and Justin, had a plan. They got some speakers and hooked the Walkman to it. Mike then turned up the volume and boom the shield was gone.

"I got it," said Mike as he was fooling around on his controls, "We just have to find the right frequency."

Suddenly Mike hit the wrong button accidentally and an electric guitar solo from their favorite band started playing. Justin and Digan, looked at Mike even Tygla. She have heard of Earth music before and wondered if this was the kind of music Mike listens to.

"What the hell is that?" Digan asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing just part of a cool live song," Justin replied from the other room.

CRAIG was just about to change it, but Mike stopped him and said, "No wait, Turn it up."

"What?" Tygla wondered.

Mike replied, "The high pitch of the guitar solo might jam the shield's frequency."

Mike turned on the outside speakers as the music blared. Even though the sound was null in space, the high vibrant wave, might be enough to do break the shielding. Justin smiled knowing what Mike was doing as he remembered the same thought.

Inside, the crew of the Hades began to feel some type of vibration. On the bridge Drax felt the vibration and wonder what kind of tactic this was.

"Where is that vibration coming from?" Captain Tah asked.

The officer replied, "I don't know sir, but it's lowering the shield frequency around the garbage chute."

The garbage chute, Drax though, no it couldn't be. Tah knew it must have been the same crew who tried to pass them earlier. He informed Drax of it. It must be Tippin and his friends, Drax thought. He stood and ordered Hiss and his men to follow as Drax exited the bridge. He told Hiss to get some soldiers and surround that section. They will take them by surprise he thought. Drax took some men of his own and returned to his quarters.

"The shield is weakening," CRAIG told him, "But it is not enough to break it."

Mike then continued to raise the volume to the max. Digan, Tygla and Justin covered their ears as the pitch irritated their hearing. Soon after, CRAIG reported that the shield was gone. Mike's friends were so pleased that his plan worked. Justin fired once more and the chute's door blew open. He turned off the loud music and entered a long shaft that was connected to a main refuse storage room.

Meanwhile, the battle raged on as more enemy fighters flew out of their hangers. Sommanar looked from the bridge and knew that they were not going to win. He wondered if this plan was a good idea from the start. One of his crewmembers looked at his sensors and told them that it detected that the force shield around Hades was gone and hope reemerged.

"This is Thunder Claw to Lion King," Xman said, "Their shield is down, but they sent out more of their fleet. More than we can handle father. We can't hold them off for long."

"But we must," Rymu replied, "Michael is counting on it. Focus all firepower back on the ship. It is our only hope."

"Yes father," Xman replied, "Attention all ships, redirect your fire back on Hades at full power."

The vacuum of the haul was sucking the air out faster than biggest black hole as the Condor barely got in and a safety shield resealed the opening. As soon as everybody got out, Mike checked the door, locked he thought. Digan ordered them to take cover as he fired the proton beam on it. The door exploded and once the smoke cleared, they saw about ten dead Xatu guards lying on the floor.

"Well what do ya know," Justin commented as he smiled.

Once they got in the inner halls Mike said, "Ok, Tygla, CRAIG, you go find the room where the self-destruction system is while Justin and I try to disable their plasma drill. We'll all meet back here got it?"

They all nodded as Tygla gave him a kiss, "Good luck and be careful hon."

Mike smiled and replied, "You too."

CRAIG asked, "Now Michael, in order to get there, you must take that passage." CRAIG pointed to the extending hallway on the left of them, "About fifty yards. Then there should be a door on the left in Xatu marked 'Drill Room'. Be careful that area should be heavily monitored."

"No problem, thanks," Mike replied looking at him.

The team then split up as Tygla and CRAIG entered an elevator lift that was down the hall. Mike and Justin made the turn down a long hallway. Several guards spotted them and took them by surprise.

"Jeez, CRAIG wasn't kidding," commented Justin as they took covered and fired at them.

Mike fired his gun at them and knew that this was wasting their time. He opened his waist pack and took out what it looked like a miniature flying saucer about the size of his palm, but Mike knew that it was his wall bombs. They used them for excavations in caves. He armed it, threw it down the hall like a Frisbee, and took cover. The bomb exploded and the sound of their blasters had stopped.

"How many wall bombs you got left?" Justin asked.

Mike replied as they continued, "About four."

"Good, cause we might need them for that plasma drill."

Lucky the elevator did not make any stops. If it did, they would be in big trouble. The lift slowed a bit as Tygla got her gun ready. She was a bit nervous when the door open, but luckily the hallway was empty.

Once Tygla and the android got out of the elevator, CRAIG said, "This way your highness."

"Are you sure you know where this room is?" She said glancing about for Xatus.

"I do, all of the ship's statistics are in my data banks."

When they entered another hall, three patrolling Xatu guards spotted them from behind. Tygla instantly saw them and started to fire upon them. She and CRAIG ran for their lives as the guards took cover then chased after them. Tygla kept shooting as she killed one of the guards. The other three kept firing back, but they missed due to Tygla agility. Tygla shot twice and killed another Xatu Guard. The battle was swift but they had to lose their chasers. As they passed an archway, CRAIG accessed the safety shield and told Tygla to hurry. The princess ran through at laser bolt missed her by inches. They were safe as the computer automatically activated the shield. Tygla then destroyed the control panel so they the guards could not follow them.

They made their way into to the highly secured area. Unfortunately, four heavily armed guards stood in front of the door just as CRAIG had said. Tygla and CRAIG kept out of sight wondering how to deal with them.

"How are we going to get past them?" The android inquired.

Tygla replied, "The old fashion way."

She then opened fire on one of them, instantly killing the guard. The others looked, and fired back. One of them pressed the alarm button and pinned Tygla and CRAIG down. CRAIG did not carry any firearms as it was against his programming to kill any living organism, and Tygla did not like that. Once Tygla managed to kill the rest of the guards, she entered the small Self-destruction Security Room. She thanked herself for practicing her sharp shooting with a video game her bother got her for her seventeenth birthday. She first quickly disabled the alarm and looked around. They saw a panel on the far wall as CRAIG opened it with a touch of a button the keypad. When it slid opened, he saw a screen appeared.

"PLACE HAND ON THE SCREEN FOR IDENTIFICATION," the computer informed.

CRAIG stuck his input finger into a slot near the terminal and started to access the hacking program that Justin upload into his system. What took only three days, took a few minutes as Tygla paced waiting for her android friend.

"Can you hurry up," she said, "Who knows how many more guards will come."

"Patients Princess Tygla," the android told her.

"COMPUTER ACCESS ACCEPTED, PLEASE ENTER A LOCK OUT TIMER," the computer finally announced.

CRAIG thought about this and replied,

"Ten minutes, start now."

"SELF DESTRUCTION OF BATTLESTAR SHIP HADES ALREADY IN PROGRESS," it replied.

Tylga then said, "Let's get the hell out of here."

Tygla turned and gasped to see Drax, Hiss and four other soldiers blocked their way. She wondered how he would know where they were. Then she remembered the brief alarm that went off. It was amazing that they responded swiftly.

"Going somewhere my dear?" Drax asked, "Hiss, stop the detonation sequence."

"Yesss my lord," Hiss replied as when got the panel.

CRAIG Then said, "But you can't, it is irreversible."

"Is it now?" Drax said, "Then it is a good thing I added a failsafe device since your last upload." The computer stopped its countdown as Drax looked to Tygla as she frowned. She knew that it was all over for them, "Nice try my dear." He looked to one of the guards, "Take her to my office. Make her comfortable as possible. Like her brother. As for the android, terminate him."

"No!" Tygla shouted as the other guards shot CRAIG in the abdomen.

She frowned in sadness as her friend slumped to the ground. The guards handcuffed Tygla and left the room leaving CRAIG there. He twitched as he was still functioning. He had to contact Mike through his wireless audio network even though the blast damaged his voice transmitter; he had to try.

On the bridge of the Hades, Tah saw the Rebirth coming closer. He ordered to activate and arm the giant plasma drill. Soon Xman took notice that the front of the ship started to open as a large alien like gun barrel seeped out. The barrel of the drill glowed yellow, as the ship slowly got into position.

"Oh no, father," Xman mumbled to himself worriedly.

He then heard Sommanar's voice, "All Claws, concentrate all your fire on that plasma drill."

The Thunder Claw did an amazing U-turn and rolled as the ship trusted towards the laser drill avoiding Xatu ships along the way. Xman fired his lasers upon it, but it was no use Xman and his crew could not even dent it with their proton missiles. That only meant that the shield around it was still up. Xman wished that Mike would hurry up.

They finally got to the door but three Xatu soldiers heavily guarded it. The soldiers saw them and started to fire. Mike and Justin shot two of them as the third shot Justin in the leg. Mike hated that and fired his blaster at the Xatu's head.

"You ok buddy?" Mike said as he went over.

Justin cringed, holding his burnt shin as he replied, "I'm fine. It's just a scratch. Just get to that drill room!"

Mike nodded, as Justin was right, it was up to him. He darted to the lock door and frowned, but he knew that he had the right key. He took out a wall bomb, stuck it on the door, and armed it.

"Fire in the hole!" Mike shouted to his friend.

The door exploded and Mike entered the control room. The Xatu computer workers were either injured or dead. Inside he saw a large controller panel and a window that peered in the working room where the huge drill was, but it was too late they had the gun locked and loaded. Mike had to act quickly. He fired at the pane as it shattered in a million pieces. He then took out the rest of the wall bombs, armed them, and threw the bombs at the drill itself before the safety shield activated. He ran out of the room to meet Justin when a huge blast ruptured the hallway. The yellow glow dimmed as Xman heard a cry of relief from the other pilots. Mike helped his friend up as they hobbled back down the hallway.

"M-m-m-icael," A voice called as Michael instantly recognized it.

It was coming from Mike's MicroCom. He took out a slim small cell phone-like device and replied, "Mike here, something wrong CRAIG?"

CRAIG tried to talk, but all Mike got out was Drax taking Tygla. Mike frowned not liking this. That means that Drax stopped the detonation sequence and has Tygla in his grasp. He had to find her now.

He looked to his friend and said, "Can you walk on your own?"

"Yeah, no problem," he replied as he limped wincing to the pain.

He helped Justin once more as they walked down the long passage back to the ship together. They heard constant laser blasts coming from the Condor and knew that Digan was in trouble. They got to the corridor and saw that they were right. Ten Xatu soldiers barricade the area. They frowned not knowing what to do Justin smiled as he had one wall bomb. He armed and threw it down the hall towards the barricade. Moments later the barricade was clear from the violent blast.

"Get to the ship and get out of here," Mike said. "I'm going to find Tygla. And blow this thing up."

"What? No Mike," Justin argued, "I'm coming with you."

"Justin you don't have a choice, soon they'll have this entire area covered with more Xatu guards," Mike pointed out.

Justin asked, "Then how are you going get off?"

"I'll think of something," Mike replied.

Justin worriedly said, "Mike."

"I'll be ok, just get out of here."

Justin smiled and hugged him, "Good luck bro."

"Yeah thanks," Mike replied hugging back.
Chapter 17

The Destruction of Hades

When the guards brought her in, they chained Tygla down like her brother before her, and left the room. She looked around and noticed a large windowpane on her left giving her a great view the battle that was going on. She thought of her brother and wished he were here as well as Mike and her friends. She also saw a few alien-like potted plants carefully placed around the room. On Tygla's right she saw a large comfortable bench, sitting against the wall with a huge portrait of the emperor Mi'Tuk hanging above, she despised it. She also noticed two old ornamental Xatu blades hanging on the far wall above Drax's desk. Other than that there was nobody else in the room, she was alone. She had to get out, but when she struggled, an electrical surge entered her body and she cried in pain. It was no use; she was a prisoner for good. She frowned and sobbed as she missed Michael. Deep inside of her, she knew if Mike noticed that she and CRAIG did not return to the ship. He would come for her. Suddenly the door open, but her demised Drax walked in.

He crouched in front of her and said, "Comfy my dear?"

She grew angrily as Drax noticed her tears and replied, "Screw you, you monster."

"I'm a monster?" He said as snickered, "I think you should look in the mirror my dear. You Animuns are the monsters. You know, perhaps I will keep you as a pet. Just like my last commander kept your mother as one."

Tygla frowned at that remark and said crossly, "You bastard!"

"Now I'm a bastard? You got such fowl language for a princess. I think when we return to Mars, I should teach you some respect and obedience."

She cowered at that remarked. She did not want to go to Mars and become a slave to these beasts, but she was in a useless situation. All she hoped that Mike would come soon and rescue her.

At that moment, Drax's MicroCom came alive, "Lord Drax? Captain Tah here. We have a problem. Someone disabled our plasma drill."

"What?!" Drax exclaimed. Tygla looked up to him smiling with a satisfaction on her face. Drax turned to her. If she was here then that means Michael Tippin was in the Hades as well. He said to Tah, "Captain, inform Hiss to have him search the entire ship. We may have two more saboteurs on board, and when you find them, kill them."

Tygla's smile faded and had a horrid look on her face as Tah replied, "Yes my lord."

At that moment, two extra guards stayed in the self-destruction device room one of them told the other to drag CRAIG to the garbage holding area. The android just lay there, but when the guards started to drag him face up, he came back to life. CRAIG flipped the guard over him knocking the other Xatu against the wall. He knocked both of them out of conscience.

"Don't bother," said CRAIG as he got up, "After I am done here I will show myself there."

He plugged his finger back into the computer and continued his mission. It seems to CRAIG, that it might take him a bit much longer to hack back in the system. When Hiss deactivated it, some of the coded had changed and so CRAIG has to decode the different sequences once more.

Mike now had to be cautious. He had to find where Drax is keeping Tygla. He remembered the schematics of the ship from the hologram. There were two possibilities were she can be found, one was the prison area. He knew now that might be tricky. The other was going to find CRAIG first. Perhaps his android friend knew more of where Drax is keeping Tygla. He started to head toward the elevator lift, and then stopped as it opened. He moved to an alcove nearby as two guards walked out. That was not going to work. He might be spotted. He saw a door next to it with 'Stairs' in Xatu written on it. Better than being spotted and caught, he thought. He darted over and entered the stairwell. Luckily, it was deserted. Perhaps they only use this for emergencies only. He looked up and started his ascent.

Mike knew that it was on the first level. It took him six flights of stair to get to Level 1. Once there, he got his gun was ready, pressed the open button, and the door slid open. Right in front to him a Xatu guard stood his back to him. His eyes widened in surprise and quickly hit the back of his neck with the butt of his gun, knocking him out. He then got brilliant idea. He dragged the guard in, undressed him and then put the guard's uniform on himself. Mike then was a Xatu guard, temporally, as he now can wander the ship unnoticed. He put on the helmet that they wear, so no one can recognize him. He walked down the bark-shaped grey hall as a few Xatu soldiers walked by. His heart raced a bit hoping that would not notice him with his helmet on. He stopped and faced a nameless door pretending to access it. He looked to see if they passed him and they did. All of a sudden, he heard a grunting noise beyond the door followed by a crash. Mike opened the door and entered curiosity.

He saw CRAIG standing by the Self Destruction panel with his input finger in the computer slot. The android looked up to him. He thought Mike was another guard and in a blur, he grabbed the dead guard's weapon and aimed it at Mike.

"Hey, hey whoa!" Mike said as he took his helmet off to reveal himself, "It's me CRAIG. It's Mike!" CRAIG cocked his head in confusion and lowered his gun, "I thought it was against your programming to kill?"

"I was hoping to frighten you in submission," CRAIG replied.

Mike said, "It worked. Now where is Tygla?"

"Drax has taken her to his office quarters," CRAIG replied as he keyed in buttons on a control panel. On a separate screen a map of the Hades appeared. It zoomed in on the first level. Mike saw a line leading from the self-destruction control room to Drax's office. It showed Mike that there were some twist and turns in the path of the diagram, but Mike got the idea. "Right there," CRAIG Pointed.

"Great," Mike said in satisfaction, "I thought you were damaged?"

"My internal repair system activated while I was in hibernation mode," CRAIG replied.

"Good, how long before you can reactivate the sequence?"

CRAIG looked to the screen and replied, "Three point five minutes."

"Ok, once that's activated get the hell out of here any way you can," Mike ordered, "I'm gonna get Tygla and find an escape pod or something." Mike put the helmet back on.

"Good luck Mr. Tippin," CRAIG said.

"You too," Mike replied as he exited the room.

Mike made his way towards Drax's Office. He saw two guards standing there. He wondered how to get in, and then he had another idea. He can get one of them to leave, but the other once, might be tricky.

He walked over and said to one of them in Xatu, "Captain wants to see you. I'll cover you until you return."

He looked to him and nodded. The guard walked down the hall as Mike took his place. The other guard just stood there like a statue. As soon as the first one was out of sight, Mike turned to the remaining guard.

"Did you see the game last night?" Mike said in English.

The guard turned his head in confusion and in a swift move, he kicked him so hard in the gut, the Xatu fell forward. Mike then knocked him out with his gun again. He then pushed a button on the side and the door slid open. He was hoping Drax was not there, but he kept his gun out, just in case. He crossed the threshold and saw Drax sitting behind his desk holding Tygla's chain leash. Tygla was on the floor next to him. She looked like one of Mama'Halb slaves to Mike. Something he did not want to see.

Mike withdrew his helmet to reveal his face, aimed his gun at Drax's dark heart and commanded angrily, "Hands up Drax."

Drax just smiled at him as if he was expecting Mike. Tygla looked and smiled to him gracefully, "Mike!"

Drax then commented, "Well done, Mr. Tippin. I must congratulate you. It's not every day a pathetic Colonial like yourself can, thwart my plans, break into my ship, disable my plasma drill, and make your way in my office, all in one day in fact. It's too bad you didn't become part of the Xatu Empire. You have excellent thieving skills."

"Release Tygla, or I'll blow this ship up," Mike warned.

Tygla looked at him and wondered just like Drax if he was bluffing, as they knew that Drax stopped the self-destruction sequence.

"You muck be joking," Drax commented.

Then suddenly the ship's alarm went off as Drax and Tygla looked about. A female voice informed them that the ship would detonate in ten minutes. Mike hoped that would be enough time to escape.

"I don't Joke," Mike said and ordered again more persistently, "Now release her."

"I don't know what you have done, but I assure you, you will not leave this ship alive," Drax warned.

Tygla then saw a shadowy figure behind him. She then warned, "Mike behind you!"

Surprisingly, Mike heard another voice behind him, "Drop that weapon Colonial ssss."

It was Commander Hiss aiming his blaster at Mike's back. Mike tried glance behind to see the Serpitian but only felt the barrel of Hiss's gun to his spine urging him to drop the weapon. Mike frowned, knowing he had lost. He lowered his gun as Drax kept smiling. Then, Mike heard another clicking sound and a familiar voice.

"Drop it scale face," Mike and Tygla instantly recognized it.

It was Justin standing in the door and he was holding his gun at Hiss's head. Mike turned his head to make sure it was his best friend. Then suddenly Tygla cried his name as a warning, but before he could turn back to her, a large puma tackled him. They both fell on the floor as the force knocked Mike's gun out of his hands as it fell under the couch. At the same moment, Hiss rapidly turned around, knocked Justin's gun out of his hands, wrapped his slithery body around him, and started to squeeze tightly. He used his mechanical arms to strangle Justin's neck.

Mike wondered where the puma came from. He then realized it must Drax.

Unbelievable, he had morphing powers, Mike thought.

Drax, with his razor sharp claws tried to swipe Mike's face, but he caught it with his free hand. Now Tygla could have helped them, but Drax attached the chain leash to the immobile chair before he morphed. She tried to release herself but it was impossible. The metallic leash will not budge. She was lucky that there was no electric shock like last time. She frowned and knew she was helpless.

Mike got both of his feet free and kicked Drax with all of his might as flew on to the far wall. One of the swords fell to the ground as Tygla saw it, just inches from her. If she just could reach it, but her hands her were bounded behind her back.

Meanwhile, Justin struggled with Hiss as they fell to the ground. He saw his gun just in arm's reach. He wiggled his arm out of Hiss's grasp, grabbed the barrel of the gun, and hit continuously on the commander's eye. Hiss cried in pain as finally released him. Justin fell on the floor weakly.

Mike wearily got up only to see a large black grizzly bear stand on its feet. He growled and pounced on Mike once again. Drax slashed his face as Mike shrieked in pain.

Tygla shouted fearfully, "No!"

She looked to her pendant for a moment and remembered why Mike had given it to her. That was it. With Tygla's catlike agility, she sat down and slid the cuffs over her tail, down her buttocks, thighs and around her feet. She then can now grab the sword, but she was too far away to use it.

"Hun, catch!" She said as he tossed the blade to him.

Mike caught the butt of the sword with his free hand, thanked her, and stabbed Drax in the shoulder. The bear bawled in pain as he morphed back into Drax. He then kicked him off another time. Drax staggered back holding his shoulder with his other arm. He then grinned evilly as his arms became sword-wielding weapons. Mike's eyes widen, not believing this.

As the fleet battled Xatu Empire on the outside of the hull, Xman had gotten word from CRAIG that he Hades self-destruction sequence had begun. He asked if Mike and the rest gotten to their ship yet.

"Not yet your highness." CRAIG replied.

This worried him as he continued to blast more B'tars. He did not want to leave his friends stranded on a doomed battle ship, but he only had ten minutes to fly away safely before it blew.

"THIS SHIP WILL SELF DESTRUCT LESS IN FIVE MINUTES," The computer reminded them.

"Thiss my cue to ssscramble," Hiss said cowardly as he slithered away as fast as he could to nearest escape hatch.

Justin was trying to get his breath back when he saw Mike and Drax engaged in a sword fight. Drax advanced on Mike slashing his morphed blades on him side to side. Mike did his best to block his deadly blows as their swords clashed together. Tygla saw in horror but she cheered on Mike the best she could. Then Drax found an opening and stabbed Mike in the shoulder.

Mike screamed as Tygla and Justin shouted, "NO!"

Justin slowly aimed at Drax, but could not get a clear shot. Tygla however took the other sword from the wall and threw it sideways at Drax. The sword's blade sliced his back as he growled in pain. It fell near Justin as, this gave Mike the opportunity and pierced Drax's abs. Drax grunted as Mike kicked him off. He fell on the ground apparently dead as Justin limped over to Mike.

"I thought I told you to get the Condor and get out of here!" Mike argued.

"And leave my best friend here to die?" Justin shot back, "Not likely."

Mike smiled briefly to him and said, "Go unchain Tygla." He glanced over to where Drax was, but he was gone. He wondered where he went, but it did not matter as they only gotten less than four minutes left.

Justin hobbled over to her told her to move and he blasted the links off. Tygla got up, ran over, placed her bounded arms around Mike, and kissed him ever so gracefully.

"Thank you Justin, oh you're welcome Tygla," Justin said to himself wittedly.

"THIS SHIP WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN THREE MINUTES," the computer voice warned.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Justin said as he and Tygla helped Mike. They exited the office, and Justin said pulling Tygla's arm, "This way."

Mike looked down to his friend's injured leg and asked, "How's your leg holding up?"

"You know a little salve goes a long way," Justin replied as his friends smiled.

Justin led them down the hall as they looked around and saw people scrambling around as if it was the end of the universe or something. It took them two minutes of wandering until Justin knew where he was going. They have gotten to a large area that it looked like a viewing room or a lounge area. Before them was a huge thick pane glass window that showed the deepness of space. Justin closed and blasted the door's controls. Mike and Tygla wondered what he was up to.

"THIS SHIP WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN ONE MINUTE AND COUNTING. T-60, 59...." The computer reminded them.

"Here put these on," Justin ordered as he handed them a couple of Oxymasks from his mini pack. They looked at them curiously then Justin said in his MicroCom, "Ok Digan, we're ready."

Out of nowhere, the Golden Condor floated up behind the glass window while it opened the bay ramp. Justin aimed at the huge window. Mike and Tygla thought Justin was out of his mind.

"Justin! Are you crazy?!" They cried but Justin fired at the window, but nothing happened, the bolt ricocheted and hit a picture of Mi'Tuk. He frowned, increased its power to maximum, and fired two more times. The windowed cracked as Mike and Tygla eyes widened and quickly slipped the oxymask over their faces.

"THIS SHIP WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN 30 SECONDS, 29, 28..." The loud speaker informed.

Justin told them to hold on each other, then with the pressure of the vacuum outside the window shattered in a million pieces. They screamed in terror as all of them flew out towards the ship's opened bay ramp. They tumbled through the ship's air shield and into the ship's mini cargo bay as the mesh net caught them.

"THIS SHIP WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN 10 SECONDS."

"Get us out of her Digan!" Justin shouted as he slowly got up.

The Condor closed its ramp, backed away, turned and rocked in towards the Rebirth. The Condor and the Thunder Claw joined the rest of the fleet as they made it to a safe distant. Tygla helped Mike down on the couch and attended his wounds.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1", the speaker finally spoke.

Suddenly the whole ship violently exploded. Millions of pieces shot out as a brilliant combustion roared through the known area. It was over. The Felinis was finally free from Xatu's grasp, but for how long. Mike recalled a familiar phrase, they may have won the battle, but the war was far from over. Perhaps it was finally to time enlist into the Colonial army he thought, but then again, who knows.

Moments later in the lounge, Mike unlocked Tygla's bounds, and then Tygla immediately applied some slave on his wound, from the first aid kit she found. She inquired of CRAIG, as she was worried of him. With that said, the android peered his head from the cockpit, wondering what they needed. They smiled knowing that they did not lose a friend. It seemed that he used his super speed to run down to the Condor before Digan took off.

Mike looked at Tygla and just kissed her lovingly. He knew that only her love could dull his pain and make it better. Justin entered the lounge holding a bag he found in the hold as he was organizing the area. He saw Tygla finishing up with Mike's bandages she got from the first-aid kit that was on board. They both looked up to him and noticed the bag.

"What's that?" Mike asked.

"I don't know," replied Justin, "I found it in the cargo hold." He opened it and inside held pearl necklaces, diamond earrings, rings and bracelets, Justin eyes widened and said shockingly, "Holy, there must be at least fifty thousand galatical dollars worth of jewelry in here."

Tygla then said, "That bag belongs to Mr. Hazu. You're not considering of keeping it."

"Why not?" Justin asked.

"Cause that's Mr. Hazu's jewelry," she answered.

"She's right," said Mike, "We got to bring it back to him."

"Aw come on," Justin protested.

"Digan?!" Mike shouted.

"Yeah," he cried back.

"Take up to space port 88" He said.
Chapter 18

Grand Celebration

They told the rest of the Felinoron fleet to meet them back home after they had to make a stop. In an half an hour, Justin and Digan docked the Condor in the hanger bay back on the spaceport, which they departed from. Mike asked Justin to go with him, he agreed. Mike grabbed the bag and walked down the ramp when Tygla stopped them.

"I'm coming too," Tygla said.

Mike replied, "It's ok Hun, this only take a minute."

"But," she started, but Mike placed his index finger to her soft black lips.

"We'll be right back, I promise," Mike said as they kissed. "Why don't you lie down? You look like you need some sleep."

She sighed knowing Mike was right. After what happened today, she was exhausted. He let the boys go in to the mall by themselves as she turned and walked back up ramp. Tygla wondered, as she lay on the couch, why Mike did not wanted her come along. Then she figured it out, her lover was going with his best friend without her to a jewelry store. She smiled and knew why.

As they approached the store, Mike saw most of the mess cleaned from the last time he was there. Hazu was coming from the enclosed area of his shop when he saw Mike and Justin. Mike presented the bag to him.

"Here you go Mr. Hazu," he said as he opened the bag showing him the contents.

Hazu gasped as his eyes widened, "Oh, thank you Mr. Tippin! Thank you very much!"

"You're welcome," Mike replied smiling.

"What happened to the Tabby Felinis?" he asked

Mike assured him, "Don't worry the local authorities of Sadr got him."

"Oh thank the gods. What do I owe you?" The Lizzian asked curiously.

"Fifty Thousand galactic dollars?" Justin inquired curiously.

Mike slapped his friend's jacket as Justin said, "Ow, hey?!"

"Don't mind him," Mike said. "He's got always got money on the brains. Look we brought you're jewelry back, you don't have give us anything."

Justin looked at him as if he went crazy.

Hazu looked at him curiously, "No, I must give you something. Take anything in the store, free of charge."

Justin then smiled looked in the case in front of them, and asked, "Really? What worth fifty thousand?"

Mike turned to him and asked, "What's with you and money these days?"

Justin looked to his friend replied, "One word, Mama'Halb. Or did you forget we still owe her that money."

"I didn't forget, but don't worry Justin, we'll find that money for her."

"Gentleman please," Hazu said, "In my planet we Lizzians have a custom to offer a gift to those who did a great service for us."

He looked to Hazu and said, "You know, you're right. It would be insulting for us not to take your gift." Mike looked around and saw an encrusted Bimend ring in the display case. He really wanted to present Tygla something before he asked her hand in marriage. "How about that ring?"

Justin looked to him wondering why he would-. Then he knew when Mike smiled to him.

"You know Mike you only known her for a couple of days," Justin said as Hazu took the ring out and placed it in a box.

"I know. But our love grew so strong in the last couple of days Justin," Mike replied, "You don't mind do you?"

Justin frowned, "Not really. I mean this is total commitment Mike. I mean think about our business. Are you gonna have time for it?"

Mike looked to him not believing his words and replied, "Of course I will Justin. Our business will continue, that I promise you. Remember what I said before? I'm not going to let my love for Tygla ruining what we have. Who knows, maybe she can come with us on some jobs?"

"He's right," Hazu said handing Mike the small black velvet box. "My wife and I started this business over ten years ago, and we're still going strong."

"Where is she?" Justin asked.

Hazu replied, "At home sick."

Mike looked to his friend, "So what do you say?"

Justin thought about it. Why would Mike break this friendship, He though. He then wondered if having a Felinis on the team could be useful, but then she is royalty and he doubt that she will have time to romp around the galaxy helping them, but what if? To Justin, she did not seem like a princess type; she seemed like another adventure. Maybe this could work out as Mike and Hazu said.

"Well only if I get the same cut," he grinned as Mike smiled back.

They then heard a clicking sown and a slight chuckle. They did not know who it was, but when they turned around they saw an old acquaintance, Tuskin. He had his modified laser gun aimed at Mike's face as he said evilly, "And what about Mama'Halb's cut?"

Mike and Justin were taken surprised as they both raised their hands. Mike did not know what to do. He and Justin completely forgot about Tuskin.

Tuskin continued, "You know it wasn't easy tracking you down, Tippin. That was until a friend of mine called me, informing that you were here. I waited, figured you be back. Now I can kill you both, compliments of Mama'Halb."

"Hey wait!" Justin said franticly, "We didn't desert her. We had the money, but we got side tracked, right Mike?"

"Yeah, and besides, I wouldn't wave that gun around here if I were you Tuskin," Mike warned.

Tusking wondered, "And why not?"

They heard another clicking sound and behind Tuskin stood Sheriff Morgan as he aimed his rifle at the Warlian's head.

"My rifle's reason, Warlian," Morgan said as he warned, "Now drop it!"

Tuskin smiled and all in one swift move, he turned his head, and kicked Morgan in the stomach. The sheriff fell back as his rifle went off. Mike, surprised at this, grabbed Tuskin's gun. Justin remembered that he blasted Tuskin's right foot when that left Sadr. He then kicked his injured leg as Tusking shrieked in pain. Mike side kicked the Warlian so hard that Tusking fell on the ground out cold. Mike and Justin went off to Morgan and helped him up.

"You ok Morgan?" Mike asked.

Morgan replied, "I'll be fine, lookout!" Morgan readied his gun as he saw Tuskin was ready to blast Mike, but his attempt failed when Morgan shot him dead on in the chest. Tuskin laid down, now dead.

"Thanks," Mike said astonished.

"Anytime," Morgan said then asked, "A friends of yours?"

Mike and Justin looked at Tuskin, as Mike said, "Not anymore."

"It's a good thing, Hazu beeped me again, or you two would be six feet underground by now."

"Yeah," Justin said as he looked to Hazu, "Thanks."

Hazu nodded to him.

"Well, I hope you're mission was a success?" Morgan asked as he went over to Tuskin's body.

"Yes it was Sheriff," Mike said, and he then remembered of his ship. He didn't know how to tell him though.

"And my ship?" he wondered as he check his belonging for any additional identifications.

"Yeah, about that," Mike started trying to find the right words, "It...it didn't make it." Morgan looked to him slightly and frowned. He then took out an ID card from Tuskin's coat, "We're very sorry. We'll make it up to you."

"Na, it's alright," Morgan said, standing up, "As long as she got to fly one last time against the Empire. Besides I was getting tired of the dust that was on her," he looked at the card and read it out load, "Tuskin Krun, freelance bounty hunter."

"Yeah, he worked for a client of ours, Mama'Halb." Mike informed him.

Morgan said, "Mama'Halb, the gangster Slugton?"

"Yeah that's her," Justin said.

"Well I wouldn't worry about Mr. Krun anymore, and as for Mama'Halb, I'm sure she'll send more of her goons after ya. So if anyone around here asks for you two," Morgan said, "I never heard of ya."

"Thanks, well we gotta get going," said Mike shaking his hands. "Thanks for everything sheriff."

"It was pleasure, Michael," Morgan said gracefully, "And if you in this area again, you're always welcome here."

Mike and Justin thanked him once last time as they said their goodbyes. They walked down the mall towards the hanger. Mike realized Morgan was right. If Mama'Halb found out Tuskin was dead. She will send another bounty hunter after them. This did not bother Mike as he realized he had great friends protecting him.

Later that day, as the sun fell, they were back in the castle on Felinoron. Everyone gathered in the grand hall. King Rymu was so proud of his children that he has forgiven them. Maybe he thought they were not cubs that he once knew, but now they are full responsible adults. Even though he knew Mike and Justin were nothing more than treasure hunters and not colonial fighters, he gave them honorary metals for their bravery and knighted them. Justin however, declined the offer. He thought he rather be a treasure hunter than knight, it was much more fun. Rymu smiled to him understanding his modesty. He then turned to the crowd.

"Today's battle was first step towards our freedom against the Xatu Empire." The crowd cheered then hushed as Rymu continued, "But we far from winning our freedom. As we speak, the Colonials are still struggling to gain more allies to help up in our cause. Together we can overpower these evil aliens once and for all!" The crowd cheered once more and they heard explosions outside as fireworks shot into the night sky as the royal orchestra started to play celebrated melody.

Mike looked at Tygla in her satin mauve royal gown, and smiled as she walked over, to him. She looked around for her father, but he and Xman were talking with Sommanar about today's battle. She smiled slyly to Mike and guided him to a secluded balcony so they can watch the fireworks alone.

As the sun fell behind the horizon, stars started to appear. The celebration continued of the Colonial's first victory. The night sky finally filled with stars and blazing pyrotechnics that continued to paint it like a canvas. Xman stepped out on to the balcony and found Mike holding Tygla in her arms as she rested her head on his shoulder enjoying the fireworks celebration. Xman now realized that she truly loves him dearly and he cannot change that.

"Ahem," Mike and Tygla jumped a little as they heard Xman, "Sorry, I Just wanted to say, uh, Michael," he said to him uneasily, "I know you are in love with my sister, and I know you'd be true her and everything. What I am trying to say is, if you do ask her hand in marriage, I suppose I'm ok with that. Just don't displease her. Cause if you do," Tygla looked at him wondering if he'll threaten Mike like he did before, "Well, let's just say, don't ok?"

Mike smiled at him, "Don't worry, your sister is in the best hands anyone could have." Xman nodded to him.

"You didn't tell father about us, did you?" Tygla inquired.

Xman looked down and replied disappointedly, "Na, I didn't have the heart."

Just then King Rymu found them as he stepped out and said, "Ah, so this is where you all are. You know they have just brought the cake out. You better get some before it's all gone."

Tygla smiled, "We will father." Xman looked at her sister, she looked back, and she knew what she had to do, "Daddy?"

"Yes Tygla?" Rymu wondered.

"I want you to know that." She started as her father looked at her. She then looked to Mike lovingly. She gathered her courage and said "Mike and I are in love."

"I know that Tygla," Rymu replied as Xman and Tygla looked at him surprisingly.

"You have?" She wondered.

"Yes," The king said, "I knew it the first time you two were together," He smiled and added, "You two do make a nice couple."

"Then you approve?" Xman asked not believing his ears. "What about the forbidden law?"

King Rymu looked to his son, "Xman, when you become king you must learn that love comes in many forms. I cannot judge ones race over love, but how much care one has for another race. In this time of war, we need all the love we can get whether be humans or Felinis. One day, you will see that Xman, and besides, I think it is time to lift that ban. It was an old silly law anyways. Now come, before all the cake is gone."

Xman understood as he and his father left Mike and Tygla alone. They both looked in each other's eyes for a few moments held close to each other and kissed lovingly. Mike broke the kiss and looked deeper in her eyes. It was her dream come true. Now she can be with man she truly loves without any 'silly law' as her father puts it, in the way.

"Hey uh, I was just um, was in that jewelry store back on spaceport 88 and uh. Guess what I found?" Mike asked nervously.

"Surprise me," she replied smiling as she already knew what he found.

Mike took out a small black valet box and Tygla gasped placing her hand over heart as he opened it, she saw the most beautiful ring she ever found. It was a red and blue Bimond, just like the jewel he found on Mota.

"You know before Justin and I met you, I thought my life was full," Mike said as he snickered, "Boy was I wrong." He knelt to her and asked, "Will you?"

She looked at Mike's eyes and continued, "Yes, yes I will marry you." He placed the ring over her finger. She admired it slightly then Mike stood, hugged and kissed her new fiancée passionately. "Mike, I so happy," Tygla said as her eyes started to water.

"I knew you would be," he remarked. He smiled lovingly to her as he wiped her tears of joy from her face. He was about to kisses her once more when they heard another voice.

"Oh, here ya guys are." Justin said as he surprised them.

Mike said to Tygla, "We gotta find a better spot," Tygla giggled.

Justin then did understand but said, "Guess what Mike, Digan got us another job."

"Justin, that can wait," Mike said.

"But he said it was-." he stopped and noticed the ring on Tygla finger. He smiled at them both, "I see. Congrats Tygla."

"Thank you Justin," Tygla replied grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"I'll tell Digan to hold that job for us," Justin said as he left them alone.

Mike held Tygla as they looked out upon the city, when she asked, "Darling? What did you do that you had your former client mad at you?"

He did not want to upset her or make her worry, but he replied, "I don't wanna talk about right now. It was something...Let's just say we goofed on, but I'm not going to worry about her anymore. Besides, we have found some great new friends."

She turned to him and said, "No, you found a great new family."

Mike smiled warmly at her and the first time since his parent's death, he now has new family. They kissed deeply once more, and a brilliant flash of colors appeared as the fireworks continued.

Even though the city was still in ruins, the robot builders worked day and night to rebuild, this time stronger and more beautiful than before. The Empire can destroy a city, a planet or even a whole system, but they cannot destroy the hope and love that the Colonials have for freedom. Justin then finally realized what Mike meant before. This adventure had life threatening risks and great rewards. Mike found his reward perhaps Justin will find his. 
Epilogue

Somewhere in the deepest space, a space pod floats aimlessly. Inside Hiss was trying desperately to regain control, but it was no use. The engines must have failed during the jettison. He was trapped inside the ship. He sighed and wished that his master Drax were still alive to help him. That was until he heard a clanking noise in the empty seat behind him. He jumped slightly not knowing what it was. He knew that he was alone. Maybe it was the engines kicking in.

"You may want to try the auxiliary engines," A voice said to him.

Hiss must have jumped out of his seat and turned to the empty seat behind to see his commander, Lord Drax, filled it. His eyes widened, as he was shocked to see him there. He wondered how he survived.

"My Lord!" Hiss stated, "You're alive!"

"Yes Hiss, no thanks to you," Drax replied weakly, "Now, try rerouting the system's engines."

"I have tried," Hiss said turning back to his controls, "They do not ressspond. Ssssir, may I asssk how you essscaped?"

"Not now, Hiss, I am weary and I require rest," Lord Drax said as he reprogrammed the pod's controls. He was also an excellent pilot, but he was also a natural when it came to technology. Minutes later, the engines were active. Drax told him to plot a course to the nearest Xatu military station. He knew that the Emperor would not be pleased and would do unspeakable things to him, even worse than death, but he knew that one day he would have his revenge.
Read other books by M. Shaunessy.

Star Raiders and the Pirates of the Black Hole

Knights of the Burning Candle

The Gallows Pole

More books can be found on: http://mshaunessybooks.xtreemhost.com/
