Journey to a new land

##### Prologue 1:

Jasper flexed his wings, trying to decide if he should fly after Alluxie or not. He looked behind him just as a jet of fire was blasted at him, trying to dodge it only to have his side and some of the feathers on his wing got burned. Jasper decided that he’d rather follow Alluxie and try to save her from foolishly getting herself killed than stay here where he would surely die. He took flight, flying almost as fast as he could. He couldn’t see Alluxie, only able to assume which way she had continued. He caught a glimpse of blue and yellow fur and feathers. He flew towards it, hoping that it was Alluxie. He caught up to Alluxie as she landed, who was clearly tired out by the long flight. He landed next to her. “We have to go… this land is going to be destroyed. We have to leave this land, else we be taken down with it.” Alluxie looked at Jasper with a cold expression. “You expect me to just leave the others helpless? To leave them to die?” Jasper sighed. “Do you want to die, or leave a dying race to… well, die?” Alluxie hissed, seeming annoyed. “We have to at least try and save them.” Jasper scoffed. “Fine, it’s your life being ended. There is no longer a ‘we’ in this. If you want to let yourself die, then be my guest. I’m not going with you... and besides, pretty much everyone else is already on the ships. They're all ready to leave this damned planet.” Alluxie ran off. Jasper rolled his eyes, and continued onto the ship which he was assigned to board. Alluxie ran off to where she had left her robot, named J7-08H2... or J7 for short. “There you are.” She said softly, as to not alert the Zondari that had been invading her home planet and murdering her species at this exact moment. J7 made a series of beeping, chirping, and whistling noises. “Yeah, I know.” Alluxie said. “Are there any others left?” J7 beeped and chirped. “Oh… good to know. We have to get to a ship, or else we’ll die here.” J7 beeped and whistled, following Alluxie as she walked towards the ships that were now no longer boarding. She ran, with J7 following behind. Somehow, the two of them made it onto a ship. Alluxie panted and looked around, checking to make sure J7 had made it. Jasper walked over to her, “Glad you could make it.” He said, somewhat jokingly. “Yeah, yeah.” She looked at him, noticing bandages wrapped around his side. He must have seen where she was looking. “Don’t worry about me, they’ve got me patched up pretty good.” Alluxie nodded. “I’m glad you’re safe.” Jasper smiled a bit. “I could say the same about you.” Jasper looked at Alluxie for a moment before saying, “You should get some sleep. It’s going to be a long time until we reach Ysseria. I’ll lead you to the dormitories if you want.” Alluxie seemed a bit surprised, “Wait a minute… Ysseria? As in the volcanic planet full of hostile animals?” Jasper shook his head, “You're thinking of Mefteria. Ysseria is a safe place for us to go, obviously. Otherwise we’d be going somewhere completely different.” Alluxie sighed, showing a bit of her relief. “Lead the way.” She said.

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Alluxie woke up to the sounds of alarms blaring... and a battle of some kind. She practically leapt out of the cot in which she had been sleeping. She stopped at a small rod that was likely once a part of something, breaking it free to use as an improvised weapon. She rushed off to where the battle was, before smacking an odd alien in the back of the head with the rod. It hissed and leapt at her, slamming her into the ground. Her head hit the floor with a sickening cracking noise... And everything went black.

##### Chapter 1:

“Awaken…” A voice called to Alluxie. “Awaken!” Alluxie’s eyes flew open. She was in what seemed to be a medical room. What happened? She wondered. She looked around there was no body in sight… Excluding the corpses on the floor. they were fresh, maybe a few days old. She stood, the room spun for a moment. She shook her head and caught a glimpse of herself in a window.. She was in her underwear with bloodied bandages around her head and side. She was in her human form currently. She sighed and decided to try and find some clothes. Where is Jasper, she wondered, and what happened to J7? She wandered into a side room that appeared to be storage for medical supplies. She found a small surgical knife and picked it up to use as a weapon if it came to that. Alluxie continued down the hallway, to was eerily silent. What happened here? There were corpses scattered across the floor. She eventually found the administration level of this outpost.  She saw a room that seemed to have some sort of translucent field over the door. She  cautiously touched it. It sent an electric current up her arm, causing her to pull her arm back. She sensed a living creature beyond the door. Maybe it was a human or better… A Braskian, like herself. She slammed her fist into the field. Nothing happened to it but she got burned a bit. She saw a nearby terminal and went over to it. She worked for a while and managed to override the system. The door opened and the field powdered down. Alluxie walked into the room, seeing a filled holding cell. There was a male human there,  looking bored. He slowly looked up and when he caught sight of Alluxie his eyes widened. “Damn, did the miners change the outfit protocol while I’ve been locked up?” Alluxie tilted her head slightly, “Miners? So that’s what they were…” She said quietly. “Who are you?” She asked. “The name’s Zephyr Kilian. Sorry I’m not greeting you with a handshake or something… this field only causes minor electrical burns.” Aluxie nodded, “Im Alluxie Melendez, so… Why are you locked up?” Zephyr shrugged, “They locked me up for violating some trumped-up safety protocol…Wait… You’re that Braskians they picked up, huh… And a member of the First Order, I see.” Alluxie met his gaze. “So what happened here.” Zephyr thought for a moment, “You mean before or after the Braskians showed up?” Alluxie thought for a moment, “Both?” Zephyr sighed, “It’s a long story but here goes… you want me to sum it up for you?” She nodded.

##### Chapter 2:

Zephyr started, “As you probably know this is Arian. It’s one of the main planets used for mining and exporting and making fuel.” Alluxie nodded, listening. “My job was bot maintenance and modifications. So everything was going as planned, you know the usual, you know working and pretty much nothing else. But then suddenly the bots… mysteriously started acting up and turned on us. And a lot of people were killed. During that time, a ship crash landed in our territory. It was full of Braskians though most of thme were dead. There was only one known survivor. And some people in the medical unit brought her in and took care of her. After that I was locked up, being accused of making the bots kill the miners. And then you showed up in your underwear and things got a lot better.” Zephyr continued, “So why don’t you let me out. I can be quite useful. You’re trying to get off this rotting garbage. Right?” Alluxie frowned, “How do I know you can be trusted.” Zephyr smiled, “Trust doesn’t have to be immediate… Besides who could prove me guilty? I’m the only survivor, everyone else is dead. Plus, I’m an excellent engineer and a pretty crack pilot if I do say so myself.” Alluxie sighed, “I’ll let you out but if you try to run… I’ll kill you in your tracks.” Zephyr nodded, “Fair enough.” Alluxie cut the power to the field, freeing him. “Stay in front of me and don’t make any sudden moves.” She said. They approached the door to the docking bay. Zephyr tried opening it with the code that he knew would work. Unfortunately it was voice-locked, meaning while the code did work… It had to be spoken by someone specifically or opened from the other side. They walked to the main control room. “I’ll see if I can contact anyone, regarding the busted door. That is if anyone is alive in this place. “Zephyr said. “Maybe after that we can get whoever has survived this and leave this hunk of junk that’s floating around in space. Maybe we can board that ship the Braskians came in.” Alluxie nodded. Zephyr tried a few things on the communication console before stopping, seeming frustrated. “Damn it! I can reach anyone.” Alluxie walked over to the console, “Let me try.” Zephyr shrugged. “Fine, be my guest. But I warn you, the thing’s busted. It’s likely not worth your time.”Alluxie punched in a code, hoping it would work. To her surprise, it did. She pressed a button, unsure of what it did. She heard a series of beeping and whistling. “I’m glad to se you too, J7.” The door to the docking bay is closed, can you help to open it up?” J7 beeped and whisked. “Ok, see you then.” She stopped the communication link. Zephyr looked at her, “How can you understand those noises?” Alluxie shrugged, “I’ve been around him enough to understand what it means when there are different beeps and whiles. I suppose” Zephyr nodded, “I guess that makes sense.”After a while of silence, Zephyr spoke. “So, it must be hard being a member of the First Order, You know… No husband.. no family… and now no one left that’s part of your Order, yet alone your species…” Alluxie rolled her eyes, “Not any harder than enduring your false sympathies while you’re staring at my chest.” Zephyr seemed slightly offended, “I wasn’t trying to-.” Just then the door to the navigation room opened up. “Hey what do you know, turns out that rusty. Storage unit is pretty reliable after all.” Alluxie nodded, “Yeah, but it’s weird that it hasn’t contacted us in a while.” Zephyr, “Sure… I heard an explosion but it’s  probably fine. Come on, we need to go.” Alluxie shook her head, “I’m going down to check on J7.” Zephyr shook his head, “You can’t seriously be considering going down there. That’s suicide!” Alluxie shrugged, “If it’s so dangerous then you go down there.”Zephyr shook his head, “There’s no way that I’m doing that! You’re the member of the First Order here. Aren’t you guys supposed to fight and bring world peace and stuff.” Alluxie nodded, “Then it’s decided, we’ll go together.” Zephyr shook his head again, “I’m not going down there.” Alluxie said, “I prefer walking my path alone anyways.” Zephyr looked at her, “You’re either really brave or really stupid… or both… Anyways, I’ll keep the tele-link open, contact me through there.” He handed her a small ear piece.

##### Chapter 3:

Alluxie took a lift down to the docking level, where J7 had seemingly disappeared from. She found a partly ajar container and searched through the contents, finding some mining gear and a mining outfit. Finally, she thought gladly, real clothes. Zephyr spoke through her ear piece, “Do you… me” Alluxie said, “Yes for a minute there I thought I was hearing your thoughts from all the way down here.” Zephyr spoke, “What did… signal  is …  static. Probably … material …  explosion… its… my…”  Alluxie spoke, “I didn’t catch that, there is some interference down here.” Zephyr spoke, “There, I think I fixed it. Do you read me?” Alluxie nodded, though she felt somewhat stupid afterwards for Zephyr couldn’t see her. “Yeah, I hear you though there is a lot of static.” Zephyr spoke, “As I said before, that’s likely due to the explosion. Or the material down there. Possibly both… So uh… Did you find anything in the emergency supplies?” Alluxie said, “Yeah. I found some clothed and mining gear.” Zephyr said, “Damnit… Uh I mean that’s great. There’s no sense in you running around here half naked… It’s distracting. Uh- for the bots… anyways the sensors indicate you’re sharing those mining tunnels with a hell of a lot of mines… and bots… Be careful down there, not that I care about you or anything. I just don’t want my way out of here to die so soon.” Alluxie smirked a bit, “Your concern is noted, I’ll be careful.” Zephyr spoke, “There should be a main control computer down there. Maybe you can figure out where it’s located. But try to avoid talking to any of the bots that get in your way, they don’t like people. Besides they may be responsible for setting off the explosion, so watch out for them. And if they become hostile, which is likely to happen just bash them with a melee weapon. They prefer to shoot at you from a distance. The guy with a  sword always has the advantage over the guy with the gun. Alluxie spoke, “Understood. Alluxie Melendez out.” Alluxie continued down the mining tunnels. Where was this bot at? She froze when she saw a bot. It was crab-like in appearance. She held her breath as is scurried closer to her. It ignored her and continued down the hall. She gave a small sigh of relief and walked past it. Then another bot of the same model pounced on her. She shoved it off and it shot at her. She scooped up a heavy rock and smacked it in the face. The rock seemed to have no effect on it. It backed up a bit, shooting at her some more. She gritted her teeth and half leapt, half dove onto it. It struggled, attempting to throw her off as she bashed it repeatedly until it collapsed, its head smashed in.

##### Chapter 4:

Alluxie panted, holding her injured arm. She removed her hand from it and looked at it. Blood was smeared across the palm of her hand. She wiped it on her pants and continued forwards, blood trickling down her arm.  She sighed, continuing down the tunnel. She felt something squish a bit and crunch under her foot. She looked down, finding that she had stepped on a corpse’s head. She gave a disgusted look and continued onward. Alluxie slowed down to a walk, making sure she wouldn’t fall on the bodies that were scattered about. She nearly walked straight into a mine. She stepped backwards, she continued forwards down the tunnel, carefully avoiding setting off mines and tripping over broken bots and corpses. She heard a mechanical whir, indicating that a bot was nearby. She ducked down and turned around, continuing forward. Alluxie ignored what Zephyr said about the control console and walked to the fuel depot. She listened, hearing a slight buzzing noise. She opened a door that she guessed led to it. She found that it was a machine shop with the severed head of a man on a cutting machine. She closed the door behind her. There was a busted bot in a corner. Sparks flew from a broken wire in its neck. She tilted her head slightly, scooping up a rifle that lay in a corpse’s dead grip. She steadied it and looked around. She heard an alarm, faintly. She had made it to the fuel depot. There was a dark blue metal door that led into a room with a little access pathway to the catwalk leading to the dormitories. She cautiously walked along the access pathway. She scanned her surroundings, nothing in site but powered down bots.  She entered the starboard dormitories. It was filled with a thick green tinted smoke. When she breathed it in, it made her lungs burn and her eyes watered. She coughed, feeling a bit dizzy the more she stayed in this room. She saw a lit up sign above a door. She pushed it open, hearing a faint moaning coming from within. She moved into the room, gasping for breath. Her eyes adjusted to the room. It was a dimly lit storage unit. There was an injured man laying on the ground, blood pooled under him. He appeared to be human. Alluxie knelt near him, attempting to tend to his wounds. He coughed, weakly attempting to push himself into a sitting position. Alluxie helped him. He mumbled something and pointed to a nearby storage container. She tilted her head slightly, “Do you want me to look in there.” He nodded slightly before falling unconscious. She walked over to the conatainer then looked in it. She found to Naymorian style masks. They are masks designed to filter out the air, even from airborne acid. She pulled one on herself and gently put one on the man. His eyes fluttered open and he gasped. “Are you well enough to stand?” He shook his head. “Well do you need anything?” He coughed then spoke, “Water.” He rasped. Alluxie nodded and looked around for a barrel of water. She found one and found a small empty bowl and filled it, bringing it to the man. He gratefully took it and drank, sighing a bit. “Thank you.” He said. Alluxie nodded, “Are there any other survivors?” He shook his head, “Not that I know of.” Alluxie thought for a moment. “Stay here, I’ll be back to get you out.” He nodded, closing his eyes once more. She continued onward, eventually finding a very battered J7 in need of repairs.  She powered him on. “Come with me if you are able to.” He chirped and followed Alluxie. Alluxie boarded a lift up to the docking bay. “So you found the hunk of junk, let’s get off this rotting rock before it blows up.” Zephyr said. Alluxie shook her head, “I need to go back down there, you should probably follow me.” Zephyr shook his head, “I’m not getting killed down there.” Alluxie met his gaze with a fierce look. “Then I can leave you to die here.” She spat, “Or you can come with me.” Zephyr sighed, following her.

##### Chapter 5:

They returned to the storage unit to the man. He looked at her, then to Zephyr. He attempted to scoot away when he saw Zephyr. His eyes wide with fear. “Y-you! How did you get out?!” Zephyr glared at him and said nothing. Alluxie tried to pick the man up, “Zephyr can you help please?” Zephyr nodded and reluctantly took one half of the man. The three of them went up to the docking bay where J7 was waiting for them. The ground beneath them shook, a wave of heat seeming to slap them in the face. Alluxie dragged the man onto the ship while Zephyr got J7 on board. She placed the man on a cot in the medical room, tending to his wounds. There were many but all were minor compared to his leg. It was badly broken, bone poking through the skin. She attempted to set it. He gritted his teeth, clearly resisting the urge to scream in pain. Alluxie put it in a makeshift cast. He shook his head a bit before giving a small sigh of relief. “Thank you for saving me, Ma’am.” Alluxie nodded, “I couldn’t just let you die.” He smiled a bit, “You're a brave young lady.” Alluxie looked him in the eye, trying to decide if he truly meant it or he was just trying to make her feel better. “Thanks… By the way, my name is Alluxie.” The man nodded, “I’m General Riian, but please just call me Halden.” She nodded, “So… Do you want to keep traveling with us or do you want us to stop somewhere and drop you off?” He thought for a moment. “If it’s alright, I’ll stay.” She nodded, “You’re more than welcome to.”

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Alluxie looked around. She wandered around for a bit, making repairs to the ship here and there, letting the major repairs wait. She nearly jumped backwards as a humanoid being appeared from the shadows, “It’s good to see you again. My apprentice.” The old woman spoke. Alluxie thought for a moment, “Mistress Liana?” She asked. The woman nodded. Alluxie stepped forwards, “I thought you were dead.” Liana spoke, “I was… but I also was not.” Alluxie tilted her head slightly, “And you have me confused again.” Liana thought for a bit, “That young man you accepted as your pilot… his thoughts are troubled... I feel his guilt entangled with self-loathing… even from here.” Alluxie nodded, “I don’t completely trust him if I’m being honest.” Liana nodded, “You are right to, there are thing within his mind that even I cannot reach.”

##### Chapter 6:

Alluxie thought for a moment, “Maybe I could try.” Liana nodded, “Remember my teachings, young one.” Alluxie nodded, attempting to single out Zephyr’s thoughts. She eventually could not. ‘Now how does this thing work… it’s not like anything I’ve piloted before. It seems simple enough though.’ His thoughts rang in her head. She focused on the root of his thoughts, making her way into his mind. It was like a complex labyrinth within it. She continued onwards until she felt as if his mind was hers. She saw what he saw, felt what he felt, thought what he thought. She had never been able to do this with others before, at least not at this level. This was odd, maybe this meant they shared a greater connection than she had realized at first. He suddenly seemed aware of her in his mind, or it at least felt that way. She realized that she was lost, her grip on his mind fading. She felt like she was falling endlessly. And then her eyes flew open, she was back with Liana. “Did you have a good trip?” She asked. Alluxie thought for a moment. “It was odd… it was almost like… me and him were the same person for a moment.” Liana nodded, not seeming at all surprised. “That is interesting… but it is quite common for our people. Though it normally happens with other Braskians, though why it happened with a human for you, I do not know.” Alluxie nodded.

##### Chapter 7:

Alluxie went into the cockpit of the ship, turning to the navigation board to see where they were going. It read ‘Alernoda’ if she remembered correctly it was nothing but an arid desert. She wondered why Zephyr was taking them there. She shrugged, figuring that it would be explained or possibly plain obvious when they arrived.

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As she stepped out of the ship, Alluxie was slapped in the face with the dry desert heat. She stepped onto the hot red sand and looked around, squinting in the bright sunlight. She was soon joined by Zephyr who was sporting a fresh pair of sunglasses. He offered her a pair, “they are specifically designed to resist the desert sun.” Alluxie nodded, taking the pair and putting them on, “So is there any specific reason that you took us here?” Zephyr nodded, “Well this is where I’m from. I know of a village nearby, there’s a market place where we could get some supplies.” Alluxie tilted her head slightly, “And you wanted to see your family again, right?” Zephyr looked at her for a moment, “How did you… Oh right, that’s common knowledge. Braskians can read minds, right?” Alluxie nodded, “Most of us can but your mind is… difficult.” He nodded, “Right. Just please stay out of my mind.” Alluxie heard his thoughts say, ‘You don’t want to know the secrets I have.’ Alluxie nodded, “I’ll try to.” Even she knew that was a bald faced lie. Alluxie followed Zephyr as he walked to the village. The sun beat down on the two. She saw the village walls looming not too far ahead. As they approached, Alluxie noticed a few people milling about. She saw them carrying goods, haggling over them, and she could hear the occasional conversation as well. The people were dressed in all sorts of clothing, most of them designed to resist the heat of the day in the desert and the frigid cold of the nights. There was a strange variety of creatures milling about most of which Alluxie had never seen before. Some of them were tall, spindly beasts, some looked like lizard people, and she saw one or two that were winged. Zephyr led the two of them through the town, it appeared to be bustling with people as they walked further. Shortly after, a small child ran towards Zephyr. She tackled him in a hug. “You’re back!” Zephyr smiled as the girl let go, He then crouched to her level. “How have you been, Lily?” Alluxie thought for a moment. Based on their chemistry, they were either siblings or… That was Zephyr’s daughter. The second option, Alluxie doubted. He was too young to have a child that age.

Zephyr stood and turned to Alluxie, “This is my little sister, Lily. And Lily, this is my… er friend? Alluxie.” Alluxie nodded, “Hey kiddo.” Lily giggled, “Come on big brother! Mom and dad are waiting.” Alluxie smiled as Lily tugged on her big brother’s hand. Zephyr looked back at her, as if asking if it was ok for him to go. She waved him off, “I’ll get supplies, you go talk to your family.” She said. Zephyr frowned slightly, “I was actually going to ask if you wanted to come with me.” Alluxie nodded, “Sure. I mean, we have plenty of time to spare.”

##### Chapter 8:

They arrived at a large building, it was made of dark colored stone and was heavily built, as if to resist heavy fire and possible attacks. Lily ran ahead of the two. Alluxie followed Zephyr inside. An older woman approached Zephyr, pinching his cheek lightly, “Now where have you been?” She hugged him, “I’ve been at Arian.” Zephyr said. The older woman let go, “For that long?” Zephyr seemed slightly uncomfortable, “I uh… got held up.” The older woman looked at him suspiciously, then turned to Alluxie, her gaze softening, though Alluxie still felt like she was being sized up. The older woman then looked at her again, as if trying to figure out something, but not being able to. “Who might you be?” Alluxie thought for a moment, “I’m Zephyr’s friend.” She said, though she wasn’t sure if that was how to explain what little relationship they had developed. The woman turned to Zephyr before saying, “She’s not to bad looking you may be able to find a wife in her.” Zephyr seemed taken aback by this statement, his face flushed red. “No ma, it’s not like that!”Alluxie nodded, feeling her own face heat up, not that anyone could see it under the mask she wore. Zephyr shook his head and looked away, as if trying to clear his thoughts. The woman smiled, “you must be hungry. We just fixed lunch. Want to join us?” Alluxie nodded, Zephyr was still a bit flustered but also nodded. They sat down and ate, and shortly afterwards Zephyr stood, seeming somewhat anxious. Alluxie noticed, standing. She walked a bit closer to him, “Hey… are you ok?” He nodded, but she could tell that wasn't the case. He had been acting like this ever since they left the ship. Something was clearly bothering him.She placed a hand on his shoulder, making him look her in the eyes. “Is it about whatever happened on Arian before you were… preoccupied.” She asked, deciding not to mention the fact that he had been in prison around his family. He looked away and nodded, a bit hesitantly. Alluxie looked at him for a moment, before wrapping her arms around him in a hug. She didn’t know what was wrong, but she felt it would help. “Maybe you can tell me what happened after this, ok?” She said softly. He seemed to relax a bit, “Yeah, I’ll do that.” Zephyr walked out of the building, Alluxie following him. Alluxie heard soft footsteps behind them. Lily approached Zephyr, hugging his leg tightly. “Don’t go, please!” She said, tears in her eyes. Zephyr looked at her, and then at Alluxie. Alluxie gave a small nod, walking back inside. Zephyr sighed, picking his sister up. He looked her in the eye, smiling sadly. “I have to but I promise I’ll write and visit when I can.” He said, setting her down. Lily clung to him. She started crying as Zephyr began walking away. Zephyr glanced back, his expression becoming even sadder. As they boarded the ship, Zephyr looked down. J7 approached him, beeping. Alluxie walked over to them. She placed a hand on Zephyr's shoulder, making him jump. He looked at her and then turned away, looking more upset than he had before. She thought for a moment, "We can talk once we leave." Zephyr nodded, “I’ll have the old woman pilot us this time.” He said quietly. Alluxie nodded. Once they had left the atmosphere, Alluxie sat on a chair in the navigation room. Zephyr paced around, looking as if he were thinking hard about something. Alluxie tried to read his thoughts but they were difficult to navigate through. She focused, attempting to find his emotions. She felt guilt and fear. But the feelings were so strong and tangled that she couldn't find the source. He sighed and sat next to her. He ran his hand through his hair, "I'm sorry, you probably don't want to know my story.” He said. “You’d hate me if I told you the full truth on how I ended up in that holding cell.” Alluxie thought for a bit. She looked at him, "If you don't want to say, then I won't force you. But you can trust me, ok? You're a good person, I doubt you'd do anything to warrant a sentence in prison." Zephyr thought for a moment before saying, “you’d be surprised at how much you don’t know about me.” Alluxie nodded, letting silence fill the air for a while. Zephyr broke the silence, speaking, "I... was the one who was responsible for the accident." Alluxie looked at him, tilting her head slightly. Zephyr continued, “well it wasn’t really an accident but you have to understand. The miners… they were planning on giving you to the Trade.” Alluxie frowned slightly. She was confused, though she had heard the word used before, she wasn't quite sure what it meant. Zephyr explained, "The trade is a group that collects different species and sells them to rich people, mainly collectors and such. They are looking for Braskians since they are very rare right now. So I programmed the bots to mine organic matter. I purposely got caught so that I would be safe in the holding room.” Alluxie tilted her head, "But why did you do it?" Zephyr sighed, "I was going to leave you there but then I changed my mind. It wouldn't be right, letting you be taken. Letting you be turned into a slave, or put on display.” Alluxie thought for a moment before sighing, "I guess I can see your reasoning. But don't think that it makes everything ok, I'm still pretty angry." She said.

##### Chapter 9:

She stood and left, going down the stairs to the main area of the ship. J7 beeped. Alluxie shook her head, “I’m fine I just need to clear my head.” J7 chirped and beeped, following her. Alluxie sighed and stopped, looking at him, "If I promise not to kill him, will you leave me alone." J7 beeped and whisked, nodding slightly. She entered the medical bay, Riian looked up at her. “Is something wrong?” He asked. Alluxie sat in the cot next to his, facing him. She explained the situation. “That’s why I reacted the way I did… listen when he went on his little killing spree that he conveniently left out. He wasn’t himself… I don’t know how to explain it but it was like he changed. Like some pure evil entity took over. He was a merciless killing machine with bits to aid him. Then suddenly he was back, as if nothing happened. He doesn't remember doing any of it but he knows that he did." Riian tilted his head, "And he told you this?" Alluxie nodded, "It doesn't make me hate him any less.” Riian chuckled, “I could say the same thing… and to think that we used to be friends.” Alluxie raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry?" She said, her tone implying a question. He shrugged, "Well, you know. Me and him." She frowned, "How did you two know each other?" Riian yawned, “it’s a long story maybe I’ll tell you later.” Alluxie sighed, watching him fall asleep. She got up, returning to the cockpit. She saw Zephyr looking at the stars, deep in thought. She looked at him. Zephyr sighed, turning to her. “Let me guess, you came to tell me how crappy of a person I am for trying to protect you. Am I right?” Alluxie frowned and shook her head. She crossed her arms. "You are a crappy person. But I know that it wasn't your fault. Well not completely. What happened on Arian wasn't exactly right."Zephyr nodded, “I assume the general told you about what he saw then.” Alluxie nodded, “did you see what happened or were you unaware of it?” Zephyr’s expression darkened a bit, “it was like watching myself through a window. I wasn’t able to do anything to stop my body from killing.” He said, his voice shaking slightly. Alluxie sighed and approached him, she took his hands in hers, making him look at her. "I won't tell you that it will be ok, or that it will be fine because we both know that's not the case. However, I will tell you that the past should be left there. We are meant to adapt and grow. Not to dwell on the past and wallow in self pity and self hatred.”