The Praxion

A Sabreverse Short

The moon Mimas, drifts in orbit of the gas giant Saturn, along with its eighty six other cousins, it shimmers in the reflective light of the sandy hue brilliance before the ringed planet. A small star ship; Survey 17, sailed over the dust and rock covered moon.

Two figures in envirosuits, standing on the surface of the moon, adjusted a metallic device which was fastened to the ground. While one scrolled his finger across the holo-screen he held, the other hit a button on the side of the device. A powerful thud could be felt in the ground under foot as plums of dust lifted up, the slug from the ground penetrating RADAR fed data to the tablet. The glow of the holo-screen reflecting off of the glass of his envirosuit helmet. “Number one hundred and seventy two. So far, just the usual ore. Sending data up to you for further analysis.” He said with a tone of boredom.

“Keep your chin up Frank, maybe we will strike it big on the next one.” He heard the voice of another man in his ear. The disembodied voice coming from the ship above. “You said that a hundred and seventy times, you know that?” This time a young woman’s voice chimed in. “Come on, at least enjoy the scenery, and who knows, hundreds of years from now, you might have a colony out here named after you.” She slowly moved her open hands apart like parting stage curtains. “Frankville.” He turned to the other suited person. “That’s Dadville to you, and what scenery?” The smaller person pointed up, her smile showing through the glass of her helmet. He followed the finger to the starry sky, seeing the great rings of Saturn above, thick and glittering, arcing over the sky like a cosmic rainbow. Other, larger moons could be seen in the distance simply floating in the blackness of the eternal twilight.

The long tedious journey of punching holes in the moon brought the duo to the edge of what came to be called Herschel crater, a known impact zone; one hundred and thirty kilometres wide and five kilometres deep. The two once again set up their equipment and followed the same routine they have rehearsed day in and day out since they came to this desolate moon of Saturn.

Frank leaned against the vehicle he had been travelling and resting in with his daughter Mia. Somehow she had convinced him to take her along on one of his survey jobs instead of having her sent to collage. Quality daddy daughter time, she called it. The thud of the ground penetrating RADAR could be felt under foot once again and his holo-screen tablet lit up with information he glanced over. The expression on his face changed from boredom to confusion. “Dr. Smith, I’m sending this data to you, can you confirm this?” Mia looked back. “What is it? Did we find something?”

Aboard Survey-7, Dr. Smith poured over the data, and as his eyes darted back and forth his brow started to slowly lift. “Um....you’re not going to believe this, but I think something is buried there.

Back on the surface, Mia looked down to the ground and around her. “What? Here?” Her father bounced passed her in the low gravity, to the edge of the vast Herschel crater and pointed at the epicenter. “No, down there.”

The surface vehicle rolled over the rocky terrain of the moon as it travelled down hill at a steep decline. Mia looked to her father who seemed focused on the destination, never seeing him this animated before on this trip. Their helmets now off, safe inside the vehicle, He had light brown hair and chiselled features; was a tall but gruff looking man. Many years out in space can do that to someone. She shared her father’s hair and eye color but was obviously far more charming to look at in beauty and youth.

Suddenly Dr. Smith chimed in over the radio from the ship above. “You’re not going to believe this.” “Talk to me.” Frank said with eagerness. “I did a spectral analysis on the crater, I’m shocked no one has done this before. There is definitely some alloy buried there. It doesn’t match anything on the periodic table or engineering charts, but I remember seeing it somewhere before, so I look else where.” Frank made a look of annoyance. “Well don’t keep me in suspense doc.” “Frank, it’s neutronium.” Mia lurched forward as her father suddenly hit the breaks bringing the vehicle to a stop. “That’s not possible.” An almost sound of panic crept into his voice. Mia looked perplexed. “What? What does that mean? What is neutrunimum or whatever?” Her father looked at her. “Neutronium is,...or was, a theoretical alloy forged from the molten iron of a neutron star.”

Mia only looked at him, unsure if this was meant to mean something to her. Frank redirected his attention forward. “Smith, are you sure? You do understand the implications of this?” “Son, I’m already prepping an excavation team, I don’t need you getting me panicked. Just meet the drop bots there.”

As the surface vehicle started rolling forward again, Mia started to look flustered. “Can someone tell me what is going on, why are you two acting like the cheerleader captain just walked into the room?” Frank kept his focus forward and frowned. “Honey please, it’s just…” He sighed. “Like any alloy, neutronium is not a naturally occurring thing, once more, no nation of Earth or off world has the ability to manufacture it, that only leaves one possibility.” It was at this, Mia finally clued in on what they were excited about. “Are you telling me, we found aliens?” The surface vehicle drove down hill to the center of Herschel crater as a drop pod descended, jets firing for a comfortable landing.

Two weeks had passed since the dig at begun, robots now walked the surface of Mimas, equipped with various tools to dig and break rocks, to shovel and move large volumes. Already the fruits of their labor were beginning to bare. A large machine was being unearthed or rather, unmimaed, as jack hammers and controlled explosions shattered rock, they crumbled away to reveal the fingers of a titanic hand. Close by, a shelter had been erected with all of the amenities to stay for several months, complete with a lab, bunk rooms, lavatory and kitchen.

Frank and Mia were sharing a meal when Dr. Smith, an older man with white hair came into the room with a holo-screen tablet in hand. “You will not believe this!” Frank leaned back in his chair and smiled. “You keep saying that, but at this point…” Smith sat down. “The robots and I have been trying to map this sucker out. Take a look.” He rested the holo-screen on the table to allow a better view and what they saw, simply shocked them. “It...it looks like a man, but it’s missing an arm!” Mia exclaimed. Smith nodded with a smile. “A mech suit or a robot, I estimate that standing, it’s easily two hundred and forty meters tall, completely dwarfing the Gemini battle suits from Hyper City. Mia frowned. “So it’s one of ours.” Her father shook his head. “No, not out here, not that big and not the alloy.” Dr. Smith nodded. “The rock and ice it’s buried in is millions of years old at least. While our ancestors were contemplating the significance of a thunder storm, this machine was laying right here. I’m still working to get a proper age.”

Doctor Smith started opening a container of food for himself while Frank and Mia looked over the mapping data. “So…” The older man hummed between bites. “…when are we going to inform home about this? The survey company and a dozen universities will send a fleet of ships out here.” Frank frowned for a moment. “The Hyper City government will probably stake a claim, national security or some such. No… I don’t want to tell anyone until we know everything there is to know first.” Mia leaned into her father. “Is that smart? What if we get arrested or something?” Frank leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Something this big, we will be cut out immediately, we’re just surveyors.” He then sat up and smiled at her. “We deserve our time, we found it after all. Besides, it would be a terrible story for your friends back home if it ended here.” Mia smiled at the thought.

Another week had passed and more of the great machine was uncovered, the shape of a bipedal giant took more and more form. The most concerning discovery was the missing arm. It’s left arm and a part of the torso looked as if it had been ripped off. The running theory between Frank and Dr. Smith was it appeared to be battle damage, based on the many scorch marks across the body. While it was evident that the neutronium armor, which Smith figured out was only a micron thick, held out well enough, it bothered the two at what could have done this to their mystery giant.

It was Mia who stumbled upon a door like hatch in the recently dug out lower torso, unfortunately it was sealed shut and no known tools, on them or across the solar system could possibly breach the neutronium alloy. The trio were at a stand still, eager to peer inside the alien machine, buried for untold millions of years but halted by their comparative primitive technology. That is, until one of the robot probes discovered an opening.

Frank, Mia and Dr. Smith stood before a large rip in the torso, where the arm used to be. They shined lights into the dark aperture of the mechanical wound and watched as the small bot flew out. Dr. Smith looked over his holo-screen and nodded. “A man can fit. The insides appear to be made with more conventional materials, composite alloys” Frank looked at the two. “I want you two to return to the shelter and monitor my progress, I’m going in.” Mia clasped their hands together and knocked her helmet against her dad’s. Still not entirely used to the suit. “Are you sure that’s safe?” Frank simply shrugged. “We’re in uncharted territory on this one.”

A mere hour later, the probing mission had begun. Free of their enviro-suits, Mia sat at a computer console while Smith stood over her. “How’s it going in there Frank?” An audible grunt could be heard over the radio with a sudden curse. “Oh just dandy.” Frank squeezed himself between twisted metal, the lights from his suit’s helmet guiding his path while he held a pry tool in one hand and a tool case in the other. He thanked the creator or whoever happened to be listening, that he was not stricken with claustrophobia, feeling the squeeze of the tight space and ignoring the fact that he was inside an unknown and ancient alien giant. After a slow slog through the innards of the great machine, he finally came to a dead end, a metal wall with a bent rip in it. Using the pry tool he went to work, it was easier then he thought it would be, possibility the result of the assumed battle damage, but after a solid hour of work, and frayed nerves from the observation team, he was finally in.

“Oh wow!” Was his ground breaking words of discovery. “What? What do you see?!” Dr. Smith leaned over the console with eager anticipation. “I’m in a stair well, I think this leads to the hatch we discovered before.” Smith leaned in closer. “Describe everything, leave no details out, we are recording everything in addition to your helmet cam.” There was silence over the radio as Frank took the time to look around. “The surfaces look odd. It blisters and grooves, it reminds me of a close up of bone, but it’s definitely alloy, a complex fusion from my guess.” Smith held his chin and nodded. “Ingenious engineering.” “I see no ninety degree angles, everything has a curve to it, even the stairs.” Smith leaned forward again. “The stairs, describe them!” Once again there was a pause on the radio. “The….they’re stairs man, what do you want me to say?” Smith shook his head. “Does it look like they are build for walking on two feet?” “Yeah, they look like our stairs.” Smith placed a hand on Mia’s shoulder and shook her with excitement. “Based on the design of the machine, the size of the hatch we found and now this. It seems that they were a bipedal species similar in size to us!” Mia was forcibly shook in her chair until she slapped him off her. “Alright, alright, calm down.”

Frank’s boots thumped on the strange alloy stairs as he progressed up at an odd angel, the large machine was laying down after all. After a few more minutes of a difficult stair climb, and persistent bugging from Smith over the radio, he finally came to what seemed like the end. To his right was a clearly marked door. “I reached something, whatever this stair way leads too, there is a dark panel of glass or transparent material to the right.”

In the shelter Dr. Smith pondered for a moment then leaned forward to the mic. “Possibly a control panel, likely dark because there is no power to it.”

Frank took a deep breath and dropped the tool bag. “Alright, lets do this.” Jamming the pry bar into what he identified as a seam, it gave way a little for him to start forcing the door open.

Back in the shelter, the two waited with baited breath on what could possibly be on the other side. “Be careful…” Smith called out. “...we want to damage as little as possible.” Mia pushed his face out of the way. “Be more careful, who knows what could be waiting for you.” Frank grunted, continuing to pry at the door. “I’m sure if there was anything left in here, it would have been dead for a long time now. Huuurrrraaaa. That being said, if I get snagged by some weird tentacle monster, tell my ex-wife,...she was a bitch.” Mia looked shocked. “Dad, you’re being recorded.” “Heeerrrraaa...then let it stand for posterity.” Mia rolled her eyes at this.

The door finally gave way and Frank was able to shin his light into the chamber beyond. “Oh….my god.” Is all could be heard over the radio. Smith once again was almost on his toes, barely able to contain himself. “What is it, what do you see!?” The two listened closely for what comes next. “There is… there’s bodies here…” Both Smith and Mia looked at each other, there excitement tempered by shock, not speaking and listening.

“They look mummified, which makes sense if life support failed on them. The room looks like a cockpit of sorts. The room is a large sphere in design. One body looks suspended from a body harness that’s connected to the appex of the sphere. It looks like a full body tracking rig, possibly for controlling the machine. There is a platform behind this system, a console is there, the other body is in a chair, possibility a co-pilot. A platform protrudes from the door then drops off. How the hell did they get over there?” Finally Smith spoke up. “Frank, what….what do they look like?”

Frank worked himself into the sphere shaped room and looked around with his light. “Hard to say, mummified and all. About our size, two legs, two arms, one head. They look like...people,...were people.” He tried to make a controlled slide down the curve of the spherical room but slide fast and yelled out, spooking Mia and Smith. “Frank! Frank! What happened, are you alright?” Frank struggled back up and groaned. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m going for the console.”

Mia and Smith waited, listening to Franks grunts and groans as he navigated the strange chamber. “Everything is covered in a layer of frost and dust, hard to keep a footing.” After another moment he started speaking again. “I made it to the control panel. It’s dead, possibility holographic, like our own. There is a dome like device in the top center of the console.”

Frank ran his suited hand across the surface of the console, a trail left behind from the frost and dust, all while giving the grinning mummy in the chair the side eye. “Yeah, definitely dead.” He reached up to touch the dome and it suddenly moved under his hand. “Oh shit.” He heard Smith’s voice in his ear. “What!? What did you do?” He reached and grabbed the object and dislodged it from the console, it was in fact a sphere, about the size of volley ball. “This thing came out of the console, like it was meant to be removed.”

Smith looked at a readout and frowned. “Alright Frank, start heading back, your air is bottoming out. Take what you can.” Frank gave a look of annoyance. “Yeah, fine.” He hefted the metallic sphere in both hands feeling how light it was, then looked at the mummy in the chair. “Who are you? How did you get here?”

Back at the shelter, Mia looked at the strange sphere on the table, her father had hooked up several wires to it as a nearby machine hummed. “What are you doing to it?” Frank tapped the sphere with a pen. “Running electrical and microwave pulses through it, hopefully to get some sort of understanding what’s inside.” Mia tilted her head and rested on her elbows. “Why not just cut it open?” Frank looked shocked at her. “Are you nuts? We have no idea what’s in this thing, it could be a delicate piece of alien engineering, one of a kind for all we know.” Mia nodded at him and looked back at it. “It could also be a dash ornament and you’re acting like some primitive that just saw fire.” Frank smiled at his daughter’s observation. “This is also possible.”

Smith charged into the room, holo-screen in hand and he looked more flustered then usual. “This is impossible, Frank, this is nuts.” Frank looked at him while maintaining his posture, hunched over the strange sphere. “What is it now?” Smith looked at the sphere for a moment then to him. “The samples you brought back from the mummified remains? Genetically, they are comparable to ours! We’re just different enough to be separate species, but the similarities are unavoidable!” Frank sat up. “How’s that possible?” Smith shook his head, his eyes darting back and forth between Frank and the sphere. “It shouldn’t be, but it’s as if they came from Earth.” Mia clapped her hands once and pointed. “They’re from the past! Earth’s first dominant life form. No no no! They’re from the future! And crash landed in the past!” Smith looked angry at this. “Enough of your childishness Mia!” Frank held up a hand. “Hold on there, her guesses are as good as ours at this point, stop freaking out. I have no doubt in some way this all makes sense.”

Later that night, Mia slept restlessly in the bunk under her father, Dr. Smith was in another rack across the way, buried in his blankets. She slowly rose to a seated position, frustrated with her inability to sleep. The thoughts of this alien machine and the bodies therein was effecting her more then she thought. She was more curious about the people, and less so the giant machine and wondered what they were like, would she have liked them? The thought of this crater being a tomb sent a chill up her back and she slowly got up for a glass of water.

As she sleepily walked into the dining area and looked around the dark room, sudden light caught her attention. An eerie glow came from the lab along with obvious computer noises. She assumed Dr. Smith was working late night, ignoring or forgetting the fact she saw him in bed. She entered the lab and noticed one of the computer holo-screens was flickering rapidly. Pouring over information at an incredible speed, brief images flashed. Of the Solar system, of Earth, History pages, Entertainment, Her school work, novels. Something was sifting through the Survey-7’s logs and data banks.

Just as Mia reached for the light switch, the holo-screen suddenly turned off, leaving her in the dark. A deep seeded panic pushed to her chest and she rushed for the switch, imagining only the most terrible of things racing up behind her. When she got to the switch and turned in on, bathing the lab in light she turned and saw…. nothing. “What the…” She whispered to herself. She moved into the lab deeper and one thing did catch her attention, the strange alien sphere was gone, the suction cup wires left on the table. Did her dad or Dr. Smith move it? She took a couple of steps back from the table only for her head to hit something metallic with a low ding sound. She quickly snapped around and found herself face to face with the alien sphere. It simply floated there, neon lights, shifting in colors filled lines on the sphere that were not seen before.

Suddenly it spoke. “Greetings.” As the sphere spoke in a feminine voice, holographic shapes and waves fluttered, grew and disappeared around it’s body. All Mia could do, in a moment of instinct was let out a shrill scream. The sphere, in turn, screamed with her, the colorful holographics fluttering about as the two harmonized.

Frank rushed into the lab, looking as gruff as ever and caught Mia as she fled into his arms. “What is all the screa...holy shit!” Once again the sphere screamed in a colorful manner prompting Frank to scream with Mia. It was now Dr. Smith who walked in, visibly annoyed. “What the hell is going on in here?” The sphere flew closer to him and screamed at him. Smith, shook by this, turned and face planted into the wall in a poor attempt to flee, only ending on the floor. After the fever pitch of excited screams was over the sphere sunk lower and glowed. “How you greet people is very exhausting and noisy.”

Frank heard this, was shocked to hear the thing speak and bridged his brow. “We do not scream at each other as a form of greeting.” The sphere perked up again floating higher. “Ah! So I was right the first time, it is YOU that is weird.” The sphere projected a line of colorful holographics pointing at Mia. Frank continued to hold his daughter but took a step forward. “I think you just scared….hold on, how are you active, and how the hell do you speak English?”

“Hrm?” The sphere flew over to one of the computers. “I perused your data files on everything you brought with you, I learned what I could. As for my activation, you helped with that. When you hooked me up to your probing machine, it inadvertently charged my cells. At least enough for me to get to a better source elsewhere in the lab.” Suddenly Dr. Smith stood up, a bright red mark on his forehead and nose, he held out his hands, palms out. “We….mean….YOU...no...HARM, No hurt us.” Frank leveled his brow at this clear imitation of first contact scenarios in movies. “I think it can understand you just fine Doctor Smith.”

The sphere flew over to Smith. “That is reassuring to hear, I mean you no harm as well.” Then it flew over to Frank and Mia. “As for “It”. You may call me Blinx, that is what the Makers called me.” “I can see why.” Mia said, captivated by the sphere’s harmonically driven holographics, glowing and pulsating as the AI spoke. Smith interjected while rubbing his forehead. “Makers? You mean the people in the machine we are uncovering?” Frank released Mia, feeling the sense of danger having passed. “Indeed, If you don’t mind, we have many questions.” The sphere floated in silence, had the being been a person, one would might think there was an emotional connection to the aforementioned machine.

Smith pressed on. “What were they like? Where did they come from? Can you explain the genetic similarities between our peoples?” He stopped to wait for an answer which didn’t come. “Are there more?” Mia finally interrupted. “Would you stop, she clearing doesn’t want to talk about it.” The sphere floated closer to the table, as if to take a seat but hovered slightly over the surface. “The Makers came from a planet called Tetra’via, there is no more, the planet was destroyed. The Praxion was their last hope. A hope, not for the living, but a guardian for the next in line.” The three looked at each other, then Frank sat on a chair closest to Blinx. “You said the planet was destroyed, by what?” For a moment Blinx hovered, then in her complex mind she resolved to tell the last story of a people. “The Invaders, a vile species that knows no limit other then there own power. I have seen them in your records, you call them Breeders.” The three looked once again at each other in shock.

“The Makers were a peaceful people, who knew little of conflict. They built great cities, were master engineers and had little hate in their hearts. Several generations after they became an interstellar power, that’s when they appeared, that’s when the Invaders attacked. I need not go over the details of the how and why, as your own people have suffered the same fate. The Makers didn’t understand the creatures, they tried to communicate with them, they worked tirelessly to isolate how they may have offended them. They fled space that was frequented by the Invaders believing they violated their territory, but they kept attacking. Only after entire colonies were lost did they resolve to fight back. They learned through trial and error what it meant to wage war, countless lost in the process. Larger warships, better armor, shields, more and more powerful weapons. After eight centuries of fighting, a once peaceful people turned their entire economy to supporting a war they never had the heart to fight to begin with. The invader’s great swarm had laid siege to the Makers home system, and their ultimate weapon was made, the Praxion was build.”

Another time, another place.

A vast star burned in the void, flames belched and curved from the surface of it’s glittering blue radiant. It’s cool light bathed a fleet of star ships, two hundred in number and reflected the light off of there polished hulls giving them an ethereal glow. The largest of these ships served as the flag ship of the Tetra’via defence force.

In the command Center of the Lexion, alarms blared and people in uniforms ran their hands across holographic displays that took the form of beautiful water falls of light, calling out and tending to their duties. Just over this bustle was a half round balcony for the command staff. A man stood at the railing looking down at the activity, more lost in his thoughts then supervising. His frame was tall and ridged, uniformed like the others, but held the insignia's of the highest command in the fleet. His face was stern and unyielding, short dark hair topped his head, his brow line marked by bumped ridges and his ears flared to blunt points. Typical of his race.

His internal musing were broken when another officer came up beside him holding a sphere projecting a three dimensional image of the star system. “Supreme Commander Sheya, the Invaders have broken past our picket lines, they will be here within the day.” Sheya looked at him and frowned. “Is the trap set?” “It is, Supreme.” He nodded and looked to his left, a large sphere floated by his side, his personal assistant. “Flix, coordinate with the assistants on the other ships and calculate for a slip stream event as soon as we escape this star’s gravity well.” The sphere bobbed up and down and flashed holographic colors and shapes. “Immediately Supreme.” The sphere chimed in a feminine voice.

The silvery fleet of ships started to pull away from the blue star, leaving behind what they hoped would be a nasty surprise for the Invaders, the star system was empty but for debris. Commander Sheya contemplated on these fragments, where they once worlds? If so, how were they destroyed? Was it natural or did his people battle the Invaders in some century past and just forgot about it? The war with the strange creatures had a taxing fatigue on a generational scale, he felt tired for his ancestors.

From his commanding position on the Lexion Supreme Commander Sheya could see on the vast monitor at the fore of the command deck that looked out into space, the shrinking blue star and behind it, a massive nebulous cloud. From where he stood it seemed like any other nebula, of strange colors, purples and greens, yellows and reds, it seemed beautiful to behold, highlighted by the blue star. He knew however, there was only death there, for this beautiful nebula was an Invader swarm, numbering in the millions. Living beings that could survive the near vacuum of space, sizes as small as a combat drone to large capital ships that seemed ancient in their manner, Sheya himself even saw some as large as moons, who could tell how old those being were?

“We are moving too slow, the Invader’s velocity curve is higher then ours!” One of Sheya’s commanders called out, and suddenly. “We are entering maximum engagement range!” Sheya looked forward and at the ever enlarging nebula. Shimmering sparkles flashed in a line across the massive formation like lighting in a heavy rain cloud. “All hands, brace for impact!” He yelled out.

The space between the two forces was suddenly filled with countless plasma bolts that flew like horizontal rain, the balance of these shots missed but those that hit struck the shields of the ships violently, blue colored energy rippling like the rain hitting calm water.

Supreme Commander Sheya threw out an arm. “Open all gun ports and return fire!”

Sections of the silver ships flipped open and revealed focusing lenses, powered by each ship’s reactor, they emitted a concentrated stream of light. Each ship fired long beams that stretched out among the hail of plasma bolts over the vast distances between the two belligerents. Distant explosions flashed among the nebulous swarm that has since covered the blue star, it’s brilliance now hazed as if shrouded behind clouds. The plasma bolts continued like hale, some of the smaller ships’ shields failed under the pressure, taking direct hits and exploding in a mess of fire and silvery debris.

Supreme Commander Sheya looked to his floating assistant. “ETA till slip stream event!?” Flix chimed and bobbed. “A matter of moments Supreme, we must stay ahead of the Invaders lest they deploy their smaller attack creatures en-mass.” The Commander nodded and looked back to his subordinates. “Prepare to send the signal before we enter slip stream.”

As the crossfire of plasma bolts and straight beams filled the void of space, the fighting retreat only intensified as the forces grew closer resulting in more destroyed ships, what destruction they rot on the Invaders didn’t seem to faze their advance. As the fight seemed lost, Flix started to glow and suddenly blurted out with excitement. “Slip stream event position is optimal Supreme!” Sheya jerked his head back and yelled, his composure all but gone. “Now!”

The blue star, left behind, now completely engulf by the massive Invader swarm as millions of giant organic creatures floated in large clusters around the burning ball of fusion. Unbeknownst to them, close to the surface were hundreds of thousands of satellites left behind in a grid pattern around the star. The bait was successful and the trap sprung with the sending of a signal. The satellites charged up from their dormant state and each one, working together in tandem firing a beam to the surface of the star, the beams; strong enough to slice through the active fusion to the very core. The effect was simple yet efficient. A massive and sudden injection of gravitons increased the mass of the core at an accelerated rate. The star broiled violently and started to suck in on itself. The rapid collapse could only mean one thing, a super nova.

As the once mighty blue star reached critical mass a sudden flash of light displaced the star’s own brilliance, followed by an explosion, the most powerful release of energy the universe can produce. The Invaders had been observed to avoid volatile stars, somehow feeling or knowing the danger they can pose, but this artificial super nova caught them completely off guard. The massed millions either vaporized or swept aside in the expanding shock wave of destruction.

The Tetra-viaian ships flipped to face away from the Invader swarm and the encroaching destructive wave. Streams of energy started to converge in front of the fleet like contrails but in reverse, a brilliant ring grew before them with a haunting displacement of space and stars like an intense magnifying glass, a gateway to superluminal velocities that would carry them from here to beyond the reach of the super nova to another reach of the galaxy. The expanding shock wave consumed the nebulous swarm in a fiery blaze and just before it reached the battered fleet, the slipstream lens shot forward and consumed the ships, sharp lances of light darted off to part unknown as the lens dissipated.

Tetra-via, a blue green world orbiting a main sequence star. Debris and ship wrecks drifted in vast fields in the space around the planet. From orbit the planet exhibited deep gashes and craters from centuries long relentless attacks. Much of the planet had be depopulated, the endless war driving this once peaceful people into a state of mass depression that led to a sharp pitfall in birth rates. Among it’s last few cities, the capitol stood alone, commanding it’s own continent, it’s outer suburbs nearly taken back by nature. The Tetra-vian people clustered to the city core, close to defences and shelter, here too was the planetary government building where the high council convened their meetings.

A polished and brilliant room where a collection of men and women in silken robes of the ceremonial kind, sat in hovering thrones in a circle, each person there had a floating sphere assistant at their side. They were all looking to a large holographic map of their solar system among other images and discussing urgent matters.

“The Invader swarm was destroyed, Supreme Commander Sheya was successful.” One said over the hushed din of discussion. Another leaned forward from her Throne and frowned. “Unfortunately, the observatories have brought terrible news to me after we learned of this.” Silence overcame the council and she sighed a sigh of exhaustion. “The swarm that was destroyed, the one on coarse for our home system, was but the vanguard of the true force.” The council sat in silence, all eyes fixed on her. “...how many?” Another said softly. Holographics popped up among the others, but brighter to give them more focus. “Estimates from the observatories say, two parts stars, eight parts black. A mass covering some six point six astronomical units, estimated strength, ten billion.” A near collective murmur started to rise. “That’s nearly a quarter the size of our star system!” One said. “The largest one we have seen yet!” Said another.

The leading council member raised his hands to calm the others. “We are aware now that the Invaders move in swarms, and that some level of division exist as we have seen them fight among themselves over their...erm....resources. Perhaps we can coax another swarm to intercept this one? Clean up the survivors?” They thought on this, then another spoke up. “We know they travel counter to the spin of the galaxy, allowing stars and planets to fall in their path like molac flies in the wind, what of that plan I heard about moving our solar system?” They looked to the engineering councillor as he slumped. “It’s theoretically possible, but currently beyond our means, given the man power shortages.” “Then it’s settled then...” Another spoke up. “...we evacuate the planet.” The head councillor frowned and shook his head. “We don’t have enough ships to evacuate the entire planet, do you want that burden on your shoulders?, and where would we go? We haven’t heard from our colonies in a long while.” “But the one on the galactic rim could...” Another interrupted but was eyed down for it. “...and if not!? Suppose we land on some dead world with not enough people to sustain our species, a voyage of the damned is what you propose.”

All the while the councillors argued on the best coarse of action, urges to call allies for a desperate defence, one councillor sat quietly, fingers tented as he listened. Then he spoke. “Perhaps...” he started, the others silenced by Vorla’s rare contributions. “...we should seriously consider my plan as a last resort.” “Project Seed?” A councillor said form across the way. He nodded. “Its been years since I brought it up so I will go over the refined version for you.” He tapped a button on his floating throne and fresh holographics popped up for all to see.

“I have been working on a plan to seal our genetic coding into a preservation and distribution system so that they may be sent out to a pre-elected planet for a new continuation of our species. I have since last spoke of this, selected such a planet.” The council was silent, looking over the images while listening to Vorla. “The genetic coding has been altered to best evolve an intelligent species on this world, along with other alterations.” Another councillor leaned forward. “What alterations?” Vorla nodded. “Violence and aggression will be more prevalent, along with a stronger libido for population replenishment.” “Monsters! Antithetical to our being!”

Vorla nodded at the outburst. “Indeed, and it was our very being that failed to realize the threat of the Invaders before it was too late, we are weak spirited when faced with such adversity, the depression rates prove this. Our....children, for lack of a better word, will not only match the Invaders with their own level of destruction they will more importantly survive. They will be more savage then us for sure, but imbued with our intelligence they will forge themselves in wars of their own making, totally prepared to encounter the Invaders.”

Any other day Vorla would be called mad, which is why he was often so silent, but today the rest of the council had come to have Vorla’s touch of madness. “This planet you speak of?” A councillor urge him to continue. “A fine world not unlike our own on the other side of the galaxy, more importantly it is not in the path of known large Invader swarms.” Is life there already?” Vorla nodded. “Indeed there is, the seed ships, once deployed, will destroy said life in favour of a new genetic matrix. Probes indicated they are not intelligent, so there’s that.” “Why don’t we just evacuate to this planet?” Vorla shook his head. “We wouldn’t survive there, gravity is greater, atmosphere is slightly off, we wouldn’t be able to go outside and the native animals are extremely dangerous, hence the gene modifications I had to do.”

“So, we send what’s left of the fleet to escort the seed ships and leave ourselves defenceless.” Vorla shook his head. “Unnecessary, we can send our latest weapon, the Prototype defence machine I was also working on can be used to escort the seed ships.” The council talked it out and Vorla fielded more questions but ultimately Project Seed was approved. Other matters were discussed but a larger council meeting would be held later with the defence fleet on any last ditch plans to fight.

Convened, Vorla walked silently, back straight, hands behind him as he thought to himself. It was finally happening, the worst case scenario that he had been planning for since he grasped the gravity of the situation. He suddenly stopped and turned to his spherical assistant who was dutifully floating at his side the entire time. “Blinx, I want you to summon Adama and Eva, the matter for which they were born is at hand.” Blinx bobbed and shined at her master. “Yes Vorla, right away!”

Vorla left the Tetra-via counsel building and made his way to one of many research and development structures that housed the several projects he was over seeing. He walked into a large hanger that was build from a giant pit that went deep into the ground. A crater left behind by an Invader meteor impact long ago. A poetic place for the birth place of a new defence. He strolled across the catwalk and looked up at the face of a massive machine, white in color, the shape of a man standing two hundred and forty meters tall. The catwalk ended at an open door at the base of the machine’s torso, it’s shoulder broad and curved like armored pauldrons, it’s chest broad looking, it’s head sloaped back ending like a plane’s stabilizer, two fins flanked it’s would be mouth jutting outward like mandables while a single giant lens gave the appearance of a cyclops. It’s arms and legs robust and thick with power. Vorla frowned at what would be his people’s greatest creation and sighed. “Praxion.”

Three years had passed since that meeting and the massive Invader swarm came even closer, they were now on the proverbial doorstep of the solar system. The Tetra-via fleet had been sent out to do what it could to buy time. The all consuming swarm was spreading out as if it embrace the entire system in a great hug of dominance and all knew the effort was near pointless. People across the planet prepared for a final battle with the creatures, they knew the terrestrial ones would come down like rain seeking their only desire, food and reproduction. Small private ships took off to the great unknown, looking to take their chances, others stayed out of duty or pride, many chose a more quite end to deprive the beasts of any satisfaction they may get from conquest. Did the Invaders derive satisfaction in their actions? All failed attempts to communicate suggests they were smart but unintelligent. There was even an attempt, lastly with no hope to signal a surrender, in the vain prospect that that would finally coax a word or two from them, nothing. They were a force of nature, and no amount of plea or threat would deter a storm.

In orbit above Tetra-via a large space station drifted, a saucer like structure with a long arm that housed three ships, the seed ships sat side by side while the third larger one was the Praxion’s acceleration vehicle, allowing the escort to keep up with it’s wards.

Looking out a window into space a young Tetra-vian female looked past her refection to the stars. She looked like the rest of her people but more elegant and charming, her short blonde hair plied back across her head that came down to her shoulders. Her yellow eyes flicked to the side as the shape of a sphere floated into view of the reflective surface. She turned. “Blinx.” She said as an acknowledgement. Blinx bobbed and shimmered. “Vorla is waiting, it’s time Eva.” She nodded silently, the entire affair seemed like an execution and she rose to follow the companion sphere.

Eva and her companion Adama were born for this task, in the literal sense, they would not be alive if it wasn’t for the mission. They were not born to fathers or mothers, but produced in exacting lab conditions and trained from birth to pilot the prototype Praxion weapon. Originally they were to be the first of a new line of soldiers and massed produced super weapons to lead the defence of Tetra-via. A logical and scientific solution for a people who dreaded war and dreaded even more sending their children to die in battle. When the project bottomed out due to lack of resources only one Praxion and set of pilots was finished. In a sense, Vorla was like a father to them, or so she felt. He gave them more attention for lack of other subjects but she never truly knew how he felt about them.

Eva walked down a long hall that was lined with windows, her eyes fixated on the great unknown when suddenly her head bumped into something, giving her startle. She looked and standing before her was a tall young man that seemed as fit and perfected as herself. He was wearing the same flight suit as herself and they met eyes. “Eva, I hope you pilot better then you walk.” Adama said with a slight smile and she returned it. “Don’t worry, you’re in the best hands.” She said firmly slapping his arm. “He wants to see us, I think it’s the real thing this time.” He said, his face becoming more serious. She nodded and Adama accompanied her and Blinx to the docking arm of the station.

A large pair of double door opened and Blinx ushered the two into the umbilical antechamber of the Praxion accelerator vehicle. There they found Vorla and others working at control panels of the prep room. Vorla noticed the two and smiled, walking over. Adama, Eva, the Invaders have finally breached deep into the solar system, now is the time, I’m sorry to say.” Adama stiffened repeating what had been drilled into his head. “We are prepared to fulfill our duty sir!” Vorla gave him a soft look and a hand on his shoulder. “I know you will son.” Eva’s throat twitched as she side eyed the untypical affection Vorla was showing.

Vorla then changed his attention to her, placing his hands on her shoulders, their eyes locked. “If I had children, If I could have had children, I would have been very proud if it was you two.” Eva suddenly became flushed with emotions, this really was it, they were leaving and not coming back, this was their final goodbye. She broke all protocol and training and wrapped her arms around him with a squeeze. “Why wont you come with us?” She asked, holding back tears. Vorla placed a hand on her head and smiled. “I’m too old for a such a trip, and you two will have your hands full with the task at hand. Besides, the old world is for the old, the new world is for the new.” Eva didn’t like the answer but she had to accept it. After a tender moment Vorla snapped back into his usual analytical right mind.

“Now then, I have no doubts that you two will complete your mission and I have made arrangements for you as well.” Adama tilted his head. “Arrangements?” Vorla nodded. “I installed habitat equipment on the seed ships, and once they complete their mission, you must retrieve it before the seed ships set a course for the new world’s sun.” Adama looked down, going over the mission in his head. “Right, to eliminate any space faring tech so the Invaders don’t track us.” “Correct. It won’t be easy living, but you will have comfortable and peaceful lives.” Vorla looked at Eva. “You need not worry about being isolated from where you came from. I uploaded everything I possibility could to Blinx here, she will be going with you. She should be able to fill in any skill and knowledge gaps between the two of you.” Blinx bobbed and shimmered. “My duty, my pleasure master.” A scientist walked up and whispered something into Vorla’s ear. He sighed and grief overcame his face. “It’s time, the window to launch is closing. I wish both of you the best of luck.”

That would be the last time they saw their mentor, their father. As they boarded the Praxion and prepared, the space station drifted in a fixed orbit over Tetra-via, beyond the planet a large nebulous cloud could be seen stretch across the horizon plane, so close small sand like particles could be made out. Those bio-ships, living space fairing organisms got closer by the hour.

Adama, Eva and Blinx climbed up the stair well inside the Praxion and turned into the large sphere shaped control center. Eva was the first to step out onto the ledge, a glowing pad materialized under foot and lifted her to her station. She fastened herself into a chair apparatus in the center of the sphere, suspended from the ceiling. Adama followed but he was taken to the co-pilot console directly behind her. Blinx floated up to Adama and found her place, plunging into the console and interfacing with the Praxion computer. The machine around them started to come to life, buttons and console started to glow as they worked together to activate the great mecha. The walls of the great sphere around them flickered and came to life with a direct image of the Praxion’s surroundings, revealing one giant panoramic screen. Icons, charts and data highlighted various objects.

Adama checked his screens and called out. “Anti-matter reactors one and two are hot Eva.” Eva gave an acknowledgement while running fingers across holographic keys at her arm rests, wrists secured to the chair by bracelets. “Decouple from the station and prime the engines, we have to escape the star’s gravity well enough to commence a slip stream event. We will proceed along the rout I have drawn out and try to stay ahead of the Invaders.” She responded as a small map of the solar system popped up, a curved line drawn across it marking the rout. Suddenly a voice called out over the comms. “Praxion, you need to get going, the Invaders are drawing near.” Eva tilted her head back and closed her eyes taking a deep breath, her mind racing with so many things, emotions, ideas, battle plans, the desire to simply not leave her people behind. “Eva!” Adama shouted. Her eyes shot open and focused ahead. “Lunching now!”

The seed ships and the Praxion’s acceleration vehicle detached from the docking arm and drifted to a clear distance. The engines of the ships flared with bright white light as the station started to move away and the stars began to move. As they climbed the scale of the speed of light, relativistic time scales started to separate, time passing faster and faster outside of the travelling vessels.

Adama looked back, watching Tetra-via shrink into the distance and to his horror, the nebulous swarm beyond. The Invaders had unleashed their smaller minions in swarms and they spread out like the hand of some celestial being ready to pluck the planet like an apple. An apocalyptic invasion he knew. He could also see flashes of light and lancing beams. Tetra-via was fighting back, he looked at his instruments and saw weeks have passed since they left, they were putting up a good fight. He looked back again and the planet was gone, shrouded in the nebulous swarm and too small to make out. One month, now two, he was still getting telemetry from behind. Then it stopped, a knot squeezed in his gut and rushed his hands over the holographics to adjust. “I’m....I’m sorry...” Blinx said with a dim tone. “...all life of Tetra-via has ceased.”

Adama’s eyes dilated and his throat shifted, starring at his console but not really at anything. “We...we should have stayed, we could have made a difference!” His voice rising as he spoke. “No...” He looked forward and saw Eva, not looking back but staying focused ahead. “...if we stayed or turned back, we would have join them. That is not our mission, this is our people’s last hope at legacy, HIS last hope at legacy.” Tears running down her cheeks as she stayed the coarse and she continued. “They will be going for the sun next, we have to-”

The cockpit shook violently, they were hit! Another plasma bolt careened across their screen and struck one of the seed ships. An explosion rocked it and it’s flight path altered before it readjusted, it’s shields shaking off the attack. “Where?!” Adama cried out. Fighting at relativistic speeds was difficult to comprehend on the fly, were the Invaders keeping up with them, or was that a well timed shot from days or even weeks ago? Blinx called out. “Enemy contact!”

Eva watched many markers cascade across the panoramic screen surrounding her. “In front of us?” Her heart skipped a beat. More plasma bolts came from the void ahead and explosions rocked all three ships. Blinx confirmed. “It seems they have enveloped this part of the solar system, I don’t know why though.” Eva narrowed her eyes in anger. “They want us, the greedy bastards want us!” “They’re closing in on all sides!” Blinx reported as Adama and Eva looked around them, there were now more of them then there were visible stars, some close enough to be seen in all their frightening glory.

Eva’s face was full of fury, they took everything, their homes, their people, soon the very sun that gave them life and it still wasn’t enough. An uncontrollable fire burned in her chest that drove her to tears. “Disengage the transport now! We’re fighting our way through this, whether they like it or not!” She called out. “I’m with you Eva!” Adama yelled as he hit the appropriate keys, grabbed a handle and gave it a twist with a ~Thunk~

Bolts popped across the hull of the Praxion’s acceleration vehicle, panels peeled off and large sections of the ship started to separate. Second stage explosions fractured the fragments in a burst of gases as the figure of the giant Praxion emerged out into space passing through the plums of gases, correcting itself and clenching it’s great hands. Eva’s chair gave way, straightening her out and loosening up to give her movement, suspended at the center of the sphere shaped cockpit, blue lights lined the control mechanism indicating status. The Praxion’s actions now linked to her movements. “The Praxion is no longer just some super weapon, it...” The image of Vorla crossed her mind, of the people that got them this far. “...it’s the outcry of an entire people, Their will made manifest!”

“Enemy dead ahead, closing in fast!” Adama called out. Eva refocused her attention at the target and saw two plasma bolts coming right at them. “Enough!” She shouted as she reached out. The Praxion caught the bolts like base balls and squeezed it’s hands closed, the explosions bursting from between it’s fingers. Multi-spectral light danced from the Praxion’s shimmering eye lens.

“PRAXION BEAM!” An intense beam lashed out and struck the Invader head on. The beam cut an expanding hole through it’s core as it’s body liquefied and flowered in a splash of organic mass, then an intense explosion consumed the giant creature. Hundreds of thousands of kilometres out, the neutrino-ion beam cut through space, destroying any creature in it’s path, even ones that were too close got swept away. Tens of millions of kilometres away the bright ribbon of energy stretched out across the Invader swarm as clusters of twinkling flashes followed in it’s wake, marking the death of untold.

As the Praxion’s main weapon flickered out, Adama watched his console. “Eva, down below, at five seven eight mark five. It’s those sharp ones, three thousand on a collision vector, they will cut through the seed ships!” Eva directed her attention to the new markers given to her by her co-pilot. The Praxion landed on one of the seed ships. It’s palms opening up revealing giant diamond domes.

“PRISM LASERS!” The Praxion threw out it’s hands and a rain of beams scattered a photonic buckshot of perfect straight lines across space. Their amber glow stretching wide like a net. An expanding field of explosions grew out in the distance as the weapons fire intercepted the kamikaze attackers. The thousands that launched the attack were destroyed as their explosions bubbled up and consumed the seed ships. The ships and the Praxion sailed out of the debris and dense gasses unscathed.

“Proximity alert Adama!” Blinx called out. Adama nodded. “Confirmed, enemy formations converging from all directions, they seek to over whelm us.” Eva looked to the right and left at the new markers as she tapped holographic keys floating at her finger tips. The Praxion stood tall on the seed ship as ports and vents across it’s giant body opened revealing banks of projectile warheads and focusing lenses.

“PRAXION DEATH BLOSSOM!” A cascading stream of missiles shot out in all directions, launched from the torso, arms and legs. An expanding sphere of shimmering lights, seven hundred and twenty degree spread of anti-matter warheads and fixed beams struck down targets in all directions. Giant space monsters engulfed in obliterating flashes of light as Adama and Eva watched the target markers blink out one after the other in rapid succession. The panoramic screens around them filled with more explosions then space.

“They will not stop us...” Eva declared, folding her arms, the great Praxion mimicking her, perched atop the seed ship flying through the field of organic debris. “...the Praxion has the strongest heart in the galaxy, it is the will, the anger, the sorrow, the last gasp of a dead people!” “Eva! Kick off, incoming counterattack twenty...no thirty thousand!” Eva could already see it, tens of thousands of hailing bolts and stretching beams heading right for them.

The Praxion’s engines fired and lifted from the seed ship it was riding. Flat fins on the Praxion’s arms and legs snapped out like wings. “PRAXION SHIELD!” A distortion of space formed around the great machine, gravitons flowed and formed a giant lens of gravity around the Praxion. The projectiles struck with a flash of light but through the sheer force of nature were redirected around and out, harmlessly away from the seed ships like an anti-weapon prism of light. The Invaders suffered friendly fire to the sides and behind the fleeing Tetra-vians. The Praxion hunched and raised it’s great fists as if bracing. “You dare assault us with such a weak attack!” Eva cried out and returned fire with the Praxion’s main weapon. A powerful stream of energy lanced out, she fired again and again. Millions of kilometres away, giant space creatures were helplessly swept away by a spiralling wave of destruction without an answer to the Praxion’s wrath.

Eva panted, sweat collecting on her face. Adama made a look of shock and yelled out. “Massive object approaching, I’ve never seen one this big before!” “Behind!” Blinx added sharply. A deep shadow stretched across the seed ships prompting Eva to look back. Her mouth opened slightly in stark disbelief, it was huge and she had never seen such a thing before. A great space creature the size of a small moon, like a flying wedge coming to a sharp point, colorful fins fanning out and great gills, shifting and flapping with the expelling gases. Under it’s great prow was a multi-jointed mouth with five sharp beaks. What this creature consumes with it, one could only speculate. It’s size betrayed it’s speed, a shiver ran up Eva’s back as the moon sized creature’s massive maw grew to seemingly consume the Praxion.

The Praxion shifted to face the beast only for the great beaks of the creature to close down around the machine. Eva raised her arms and opened her legs allowing the Praxion to get wedged in the closing maw. The beaks slammed down on the Praxion and Eva could feel the resistance in her full body controller as she held the mouth open. Adama looked around him in horror. “It’s trying to eat us!” Blinx lit up and called out. “Structural integrity is red lining!” “But the armor-” “-The joints and internals are not made from neutronium, Adama.” Blinx interrupted.

The great beaks squeezed down hard and started to crack, the fissures spread rapidly and the hard material shattered as the Praxion sank into a cavity, it’s hands breaking into the beak above. Eva lowered her head, straining against the great resistance in her control harness. “Adama…” She struggled out. “...full power to the main weapon, the shield too.” She called out through gritting teeth, sweat dripping from her chin. Adama punched in the commands and prepared to shunt all energy into these two systems. “I shouldn’t have to tell you, the reactors weren't made for that kind of a draw.” Eva let out loud exhale feeling her arms growing numb. “Just do it, it’s now or never!”

The Praxion’s twin anti-matter reactor plant gave off a blinding glow that could only be associated with raw power, as it’s output reached a fever pitch, Eva gasped and looked up with a powerful scream of defiance. The Praxion mimicked her, looking up and unleashed it’s powerful neutrino-ion beam into the titanic creature. Eva could not have known that she melted through the creature and pierced it’s brain, the beam shooting out of the creature like a beacon of hope. The cosmic invader shuttered at the mortal wound while inside it’s giant mouth the space around the Praxion distorted, fragments of the cracked beaks orbiting the great machine. The crushing maw now being pulled into it’s would be meal.

Eva’s war cry impossibly echoed across the void of space as the sharp end of the moon sized creature started to cave in on itself, drawn into the Praxion’s graviton shield. Rips in it’s thick carapace formed from the buckling, sudden decompression ruptured across it’s massive body as the Invader was killed from the inside out. The cascading bursts coalesced into a massive explosion, a deep shock wave thrown out like title waves in a storm. Nearby Invaders seared by the blast, destroying them or warping their form. One massive violent act and then space returned to it’s natural state, but as the gases and organic debris cleared a deep shadow, a silhouette emerged. The gasses thinned revealing the intact Praxion, it’s neutronium armor scuffed and burned, but still active.

Sweat dripped off Eva’s chin as she breathed heavily, her arms and legs finally able to relax. Some of the blue lights lining her control harness faded back and forth from blue and orange, indicating minor damage. Adama examined the holo-screens projected in front of him then relaxed, pushing back into his chair. “They’re….they’re falling back. The Invaders are moving away….they’re scared of us.” He said quietly, more out of disbelief then excitement. It was true the Invaders had never suffered such losses against a single Tetra-vian fighting machine, the Praxion, for lack of a better word, disturbed them.

The Praxion didn’t loose much momentum and was able to re-join the seed ships, grasping one with it’s hand like a docking clamp. What was a mere half hour at relativistic velocities, was actually a solar system spanning battle that raged for six months. The seed ships were escorted through any resistance and engaged their slipstream drives, carrying the Praxion with them.

The seed ships were built in mind to make the long journey, longer and in a shorter time span then any ship from Tetra-via before them. Equipped with the most advance slipstream drives with the most powerful anti-matter reactors that could rival even the power plant at the heart of the Praxion itself. As such the over twenty six thousand light year journey would still only be a one way trip, just enough to get there in a matter of days. Everything was calculated down to the septillionth decimal point for utmost precision, using the most advanced computers to plot a coarse in fuel and time efficiency. Using stars of select sizes, pulsars and black holes, even the galactic core itself to slingshot assist this cosmic level sniper shot.

The journey was a somber one, Eva, now detached from the control harness, free floated, eyes closed in an imitation of sleep. She couldn’t though, her mind kept replaying her whole life leading up to this point. The destruction of a whole world, a whole people. It was unbelievable to her that she maybe one of few beings in the whole universe who could say they witnessed such an event. Adama was more optimistic. Surely, he would mutter to himself fixating on his console, that there must be other survivors. An entire people, gone, was unthinkable, a space fairing people at that. He watched, and listened. The star charts of familiar space receding, replaced by the unknown. He watched and listened as the exploration probes, the furthest representatives of the Tetra-viaian civilization, receded behind them.

Blinx chimed to awakening the sleeping Praxion pilots. Adama leaned forward and rubbed his tired and ragged looking face. “What is it?” Blinx’s colors shimmered. “We are approaching our destination, we will exit slipstream in the inner solar system.” Eva reattached herself to her control harness as it once again lit up, acknowledging her presence. “Why so close to the star?” She snapped the final lock in place. “We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, it’s risky but it’s best. Remember this was planned right down to the last second.” Adama brushed dried food from his console and turned on the holo-screens and controls. “ETA sixteen minutes until target Eva.” He called up to her. “Good.”

Suddenly an explosion rocked one of the seed ships drawing their attention. “What the hell just happened?” Eva called out. She watched more brilliant lights flash by, some missing them while others hit, rocking them at their stations. “Behind us!” Blinx called out. A holo-screen opened in front of Eva showing the rear. It was an Invader. “How the hell did it get there? How long?” Adama furiously worked his fingers over the holographic keys. “It must have been caught in our slipstream wake, hid in our shadow this whole time.” Blinx responded. The pilots shook once again as the lone Invader’s attack continued. “We can’t fight like this, it will destroy us before we make it!” Adama called out. Eva narrowed her eyes, she refused to let these monsters win, this is what she was bred for, this was her purpose. “I’m sorry Adama.” He looked up at Eva’s back, she kept her eyes fixed forward, she seemed calm and he took a breath. “Yeah, me too.”

Eva opened the hand that controlled the Praxion hand locked onto the seed ship. The Praxion released and flew back. The great machine turned to face the attacker and Eva let out a battle cry, the Praxion mimicking her movements, bending knees and raising an arm to close line the giant creature. With no time to evade the sharp point of the Invader pierced the shoulder joint of the Praxion, punching through the massive mechanical body. The cockpit rocked, the impact reverberating through the Praxion’s body, alarms chimed indicating structural integrity failure. The Praxion and the Invader decelerated from the seed ships and were thrown from their slipstream into the void of normal space.

The Praxion drifted silently, a twisted metal wound where it’s left arm used to be, at some point it and the Invader got separated and Eva recovered, adjusting to examine her surroundings. A sandy colored gas giant with many moons dominated their view. “Scanning.” Blinx reported. “Where is it?” Adama helped the helper bot in her task. “We can’t let that thing escape, follow the seed ships or worse, alert the others to this place.” Eva scanned the sphere shaped screen around her. Her control rig that ran down her left arm was glowing solid orange, denoting the missing arm and she could now move it without effecting anything. She suddenly saw a small dark dot quickly fly across one of the gas giant’s moons. “There!”

The Praxion fired it’s engines and flew closer to the gas giant system. “Target detected! It’s circling the moons to the right!” Adama called out. Eva turned and looked seeing it through an enhanced screen. “I have you now!” The Praxion shifted to face target, the twin anti-matter reactors glowed as the main weapon fired from the Praxion’s head. The neutrino-ion beam lanced out and curved as it tracked the moving target. The Invader darted behind the largest moon of the gas giant and the following beam sliced into it like a garrote wire into flesh, bisecting the moon. The sudden disruption of the moon’s core cause the celestial body to fracture and explode.

The Praxion was hit by a wave of dust and rocks which it tried to shield itself with it’s one arm. Plasma bolts came from the dust and struck the machine, the beast flew by in a strafing run, it’s finned sides damaging the Praxion’s thruster engines on it’s back. The Praxion followed and threw its hand out unleashing a web of beams from it’s prism laser system, but once again the Invader ducked behind a moon which was pummeled by the laser attack causing more dust and debris to fly.

“Damn this thing is smart, it knows it can’t win in a head on fight.” Eva called out, trying to regain a lock on target. “We have to funnel it, or catch it and fast. We can’t keep taking hits like this. The armor is compromised with that missing arm!” Adama called back. Eva thought for a split second, her mind engineered for combat made a quick assessment and a rapid fire sequence of decisions. She quickly found the Invader, the creature making a wide arch, turn to return for another attack. Eva used the holo-keys at her fingers to mark targets and range. “Adama, follow my lead, I have a plan.” Adama quickly examined her key commands and deduced her plan of action. “Right.”

The Invader accelerated through space, twenty five, thirty, thirty five percent the speed of light. It clearly aimed to destroy the Praxion, did such a creature have such motivations? Vengeance for it’s fallen brethren. Were these being capable of pure hatred? Just as it got in range, the Praxion’s remaining limbs opened and unleashed a torrent of missiles. The warheads detonated in vast clouds dispersed in a circular pattern. The Invader’s attack run was thrown off and aimed for the hole to escape the waves of destruction.

The Praxion shot up and intercepted the Invader in it’s evasive action and nailed it with a powerful upper cut. The Praxion’s fist ran through the creature like a spear, an explosion burst from it’s top side. Alarms blared inside the cockpit, as damage cascaded across the machine’s internals. The powerful inertia dragging the Praxion along with the beast as they passed another desolate moon. Adama and Eva swore they could hear the great creature cry out in pain, the sound reverberating through the Praxion’s body. “This time, YOU lose!” Eva cried out as the Praxion fired it’s main weapon into the creature. The beam punched through the Invader causing rapid decompression and the creature exploded in the Praxion’s face. At thirty five percent the speed of the light the Praxion shot out, uncontrolled.

Adama shook in his chair, working in a panic. “Thrusters damaged, deceleration curve is seventy six percent below optimal. Eva lost all movement in her mimic control rig and braced against restrains. She said nothing, trying to stay awake. “Object approaching from-”

The Praxion lanced through space and smashed into a dead rock moon of the gas giant. Large splinters of the moon shot out as a massive mushroom cloud of rock and dust burst from the surface, and shot out into space.

Deeper into the solar system the Tetra-viaian seed ships entered normal space, escaping the threat of the Invaders they sailed forth to their target, the new home world of a new species. They sailed passed a crater pocked moon and onto a blue world beyond. Not long later, they settled into orbit, a planet rich with life, a one in a million world, third from a single star. The seed ships rolled and opened their bay doors, readying their payload. The computers synced up and fired as one, two objects shot out and spiraled to the surface of the planet.

The surface of the planet was dominated with thick vegetation and titanic beasts, lizards ruled this world, dumb but powerful animals that existed for one hundred and forty million years. A long reign brought to an end, for the intelligent design of a new species. A herd of great beasts looked to the sky, seeing two shining objects spiraling down from the heavens. A glowing trail forming a double helix impacted the ocean of the coast of one of the planet’s continents. Panic erupted with the cataclysmic explosion, designed to end a world. The massive cloud from the impact reached up to blot out the sun and cover the planet beginning a new time of apocalypse. This was no mere act of destruction however, the very clouds that threaten all life on the planet, carried with it and dispersed the genetic material for a new beginning in the far future.

Two hundred and sixty five million years would pass on the planet that would soon find it’s name as Earth. The remnants of the battle over the gas giant slowly disappeared, the debris from the destroyed moon thinning out and formed the rings of Saturn. A lone ship, survey-17 silently flew over the moon of Mimas.

Frank and Mia stared captivated at the little A.I.’s story and it was Dr. Smith who spoke first. “This… this changes…. Everything.” Frank nodded, grunting as he leaned back in his chair, feeling the pain in his back from leaning forward for so long. “Yeah, it does.” Blinx slowly rose from her spot on the table. “Eva parishes on impact, Adama, not long after, I opted to go into shut down, to avoid being….alone.” Mia’s eyes were wet slightly with tears. “That’s so sad.” Frank walked over to the plexiglass window that over looked the excavation site, the damaged and ancient Praxion still half buried. “A marvel, a weapon and now a tomb.” He muttered to himself.

Dr. Smith joined him by the window and shook his head. “I know what you’re thinking, but no government on Earth is going to leave this place be. They will want to study everything here. You know that.” “What about Blinx? Shes all alone now, we can’t just let some government goons pull her apart.” Mia raised her voice at the older men and Blinx bobbed and shimmered. “Oh my, that doesn’t sound pleasant.”

Frank pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and looked out onto the giant mecha and exhaled. “I maybe bias about this, but the Hyper City government should be told about this…” “Dad!” Mia was about to protest when he turned and looked at her with a smile. “We will take Blinx to HCU, they have that robotics departments, and there will be a lot of scientists and professors who would love to speak to you. They will also stand up for you.” Blinx hovered around Mia, colors shimmering and holographic shapes pulsating. “I exist to serve.” Frank looked back at the Praxion. “As for the bod….Adama and Eva. We will take samples for study and bury the bodies.” Dr. Smith was quick to point out. “The government will comb this entire moon, they will be found.” Frank smiled again. “No, they wont. We are taking them with us.” He looked at Blinx with a look of compassion in his eyes. “We will bury them on Earth. I think after all this time, they deserve to make it….make it home.”

End