PEGASUS (FARSIDE SAGA: BOOK TWO)

Amongst a small asteroid field, a rip in the fabric of time and space began to open. The force of the rainbow-colored wormhole moved the floating debris slightly off to the side, clearing an area for a large yellow and black ship to emerge. The wormhole closed as the ship sat stationary with the drifting rocks. The yellow circuitry lines all disappeared leaving the ship a jet black, almost disappearing into the background. The captain, Vanessa, the four Velcronians, and Danny stared at the viewscreen in complete wonderment. Past the floating asteroids, they saw all colors of lights streaking across the starry background, some ending in small fires. Recognizing it as a battle zone, the captain brought up the star chart on his chair's holo-console. Surprisingly, there was not only a map of the system, but also a route outlined on how to get back to Earth. The captain was slightly taken when he read the distance they had traveled in only twenty minutes time. A black and yellow pool of liquid dropped from the ceiling on to the floor, catching everyone's attention. The pool began to form into a six-foot humanoid circuit board as it moved to the front of the bridge.

"Welcome to Farside," it said in it's harmonized deep tone. "This particular area is where you will start. Forgive me for bringing you here like this, but they are in desperate need of your help. There is a galactic war taking place. I have witnessed your capabilities, and I believe you may be the only ones who can stop it." It said as it studied the captain and his crew. It ended its gaze on the four Velcronians. A slight twitch and the four's armor lit up. Quickly the Kregorian raised its hands in a sign of surrender.

"Do not be alarmed my four friends..."

"Oh so nooow we're friends." Pelik interrupted. "First you invade our home planet and almost destroyed it, then steal our codec, and to top it off, you tried to assimilate the rest of us. And you expect us to trust you? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't send you down to the Ender's pit." He finished as he disconnected his plasma rifle off his back, aiming it at the Kregorian as the charge reached full power. Thinking of his parents, and now his brother, his rage was on full.

"You won't survive without me." It said as it lowered its hands.

"Not good enough." Pelik said, but just before the last amount of required pressure was used, the captain stood up.

"Wait," he said as he walked around to the Kregorian. Mentally he asked Bianca to be ready just in case. Pelik slightly lowered his weapon.

"What exactly is going on here?" He asked the Kregorian.

"There is a war going on." It said as it turned its head towards the viewscreen.

"Yeah, you mentioned that." The captain said. The Kregorian stared at the display of laser fire beyond the asteroids for a brief moment before speaking.

"This war, it has no reason. It just sprung up out of nowhere. Now, whole systems are falling. The Peacekeepers are all but extinct. The few remaining are scattered." It said as if in sorrow. It turned to the Velcronians. "This is your sister planet Armonia. The last of the Velcronian stronghold. Once it falls, your race will be homeless, but you may have the potential to stop it." It said, almost pleading with them. The captain nodded his head and the viewscreen zoomed in on the distant planet in the background. At this range, they could make out some of the larger ships. The aqua greenish planet slowly rotated behind the multicolored laser show.

"And just how are we going to stop an entire galaxy from fighting each other?" Vira asked as she stepped up beside Pelik.

"That is what you will have to find out." It answered as it started walking back to where it was.

"Ok, I have a lot more questions I wanna ask but something tells me I'm just gonna get the same answer too, so, just this one. Who are you, exactly?" The captain asked. It made it to its spot then turned and looked at them.

"My name...is Maylar." He said. Maylar liquified himself as he stretched to the ceiling and disappeared. After a few seconds, they saw a smaller black and yellow version of the Impala shoot off towards the planet.

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Placing the ship in Battle Mode, Danny sat in the captain's seat as he watched the jump ship Titan launch from the ship's hangar bay. The sliding doors closed under the Titan as it angled towards the planet and accelerated. The Titan, which is a very smaller version of the Impala without the tailfins and front set of wings, engaged it's nanite shielding as it streaked towards the closest ship. The brown and tan fishhook-shaped alien ship had small fighter crafts flying around it protecting it. The Titan loomed just outside of sensor range as it opened a channel.

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"No answer yet captain." The communications officer said. Having received a translator from Udar, the officer listened intently for any signs of feedback. Just then, the receive icon lit up on the holo-console. Pushing the button, the speakers came to life.

"State your intentions." The voice said, breathing heavily. The captain stood up, tugging on his shirt as he addressed the speakers.

"This is Captain Jason Dodge of the NSA Impala. Our intention is...for the moment...observational, and to know the cause of this battle." He said. Suddenly the voice laughed heavily for a brief second before responding.

"Either you're new to this galaxy...or you've been hiding under a Proterian all your life. Wait," it said as it got serious. The alien ship turned and moved closer to the Titan.

"Captain we're being scanned." Vanessa said as she looked at her screen.

"Ha ha ha!!," The voice returned. "You ARE new..." Suddenly the viewscreen flickered to a large faced tree-like creature staring at them. "And humans at that. I thought your species were extinct, but to see you now, and in the company of Velcronian Peacekeepers...woow!! Today is really an honor. Are you here to help us put an end to these Gulorian vagamon? Forgive my manners. I am Captain Altar...and this is the Kelixar." Altar said proudly, as his face moved back from the screen. A soft ping and Bianca's voice cut in.

"He is an Ordinite. They're a plant-based species from Ordin. Gentle but temperamental race. A scan of their ship's weapons system shows they are not combatible to us. In fact, so far none of the ship's I've scanned have any real competition against us. The jump ship yes, but the Impala...no." she said.

Feeling his head get a little bigger, Jason let wisdom fill in the extra room as he assessed his situation.

"In a manner of speaking, yes...we are here to stop the battle, but not just for one side. We came to stop all fighting, but we're going to need your help." Jason said. Mentally..."Ok Bianca, now is the time I need to know all the information you have on any and all aliens you know about." He requested. "That will take two of your lifespans to show you, but there is another way...you may not like it tho." She responded. She explained the details and Jason told her to give him a second.

"And just how do you plan on stopping an entire galaxy from fighting each other...humm!!" Captain Altar said as he brought his face in close to the screen. Vira almost burst out laughing but caught herself as she had just asked that very same question.

"Don't you worry about that..." Jason said with a smirk. "Once I'm done, I just need you to spread the word, then let me know which places you stopped at." He finished.

"It will be an honor to assist you and your Peacekeeper friends captain. Humm... with such a small ship, this will be interesting, but to work alongside the Peacekeepers...HA! This is truly a grand day." Altar said as he spun around in his seat. His crew behind him in cheers.

"I'll let you know when I'm ready, and Captain...I suggest you pull your ships out. This could get a little dicey." Jason said with an even bigger smile.

"Hahaaa!! Grand day indeed!!" Altar shouted as he disappeared off the screen. The Titan and Kelixar pulled away from each other. The alien ship and seven others like his, along with a swarm of small fighters flew outside the battle zone and waited as the Titan streaked back to the Impala.

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"Set the main cannon to an EMP pulse. Let see if we can get their attention." The captain ordered as he sat in his chair on the Impala's bridge. The two twin Arc generator turbines spun into an imperceptible whine, igniting the spacial thrusters. All seven individual pieces of the Impala slowly started moving forward through the edge of the asteroid field emerging into open space. The main thrusters ignited and the Impala shot forward at sublight speeds. Looking like a rubber band returning to its normal size, the Impala arrived just outside the battle zone with its main cannon's turbine spinning.

"Open a comm wave to all ships, let's see who responds." He ordered. The ping of the wave sounded over the speakers as everyone listened for a response. After a few minutes, an insectoid looking creature popped up on the screen.

"Candorian." came Bianca's voice, reminding him of their unfinished business.

As soon as the alien spotted the humans, it's mandibles started twitching rapidly.

"Humans...in this galaxy? Impossible!!" It said.

"Seems our reputation preceeds us." Jason said as looked at his crew. He faced the screen as he stood up.

"I am Captain Jason Dodge of the NSA Impala. I was here originally on a mission of discovery, but I was informed by my Peacekeeper friends here that there is a war going on and asked for our assistance. Now I would like to know the cause of this and for it to cease now." He said with a stern face.

Dripping with confidence, but not underestimating his opponent, Jason stood solid as he looked the Candorian in it's four round black eyes. The alien looked at the Peacekeepers, then back at Jason and laughed.

"Do you think one lone ship can defeat the might of an entire Candorian Fleet? Ha! This is going to be good." It said as it disappeared off the screen.

"Okay, that could've went a little better." Danny said.

"If it makes you feel any better, he was gonna challenge you anyway. They always like to test themselves against new opponents, peacekeepers especially." Kurie said. Jason slightly chuckled.

"Ok then, if it's a show of might they want, then what a show it'll be." He said as he gripped the railing above the operations tier, staring out the viewscreen. In the midst of the battle zone, twelve different bug like ship's of different sizes headed towards the Impala. That caused a chain reaction of ships to follow until suddenly the Impala was faced with almost half the Waring vessels.

"Ummm, what did we just walk into?" Danny asked, leaning over to the captain.

"On earth, we have this holiday called Independence Day..." Jason started as he turned to the Velcronians. The mass of ships all getting closer. "...and on this day, we celebrate our freedom from the rule of England. We have cookouts, parties, fairs are set up almost everywhere, but the fun part, is when it gets dark...." Jason said as he threw a finger in the air and turned towards the viewscreen. Danny, finally catching on, stood ready. The Velcronians, confused, looked back and forth between the captain and the viewscreen as the ships got closer still. "We have these things called fireworks. They go up in the air and explode in all sorts of colors and shapes. Some are very loud. Makes a helluva light show. Very entertaining too. So...." He said as he dropped his finger, pointing at Danny. Danny loaded the main cannon and fired. "...in the spirit of Earthly traditions... let's light em up!!" The captain said as everyone stared out the viewscreen. The blue plasma ball slowly floated towards the massing crowd, detonating once it reached the center. Everyone in it's immediate vicinity was lit up in electrical discharges arching from ship to ship, disabling some of them, others exploding. The few that didn't get caught scattered and returned to the battle zone. One lone bug like ship, not even half the size of the Impala approached and opened a channel.

"A true warrior indeed." The Candorian said, recognizing the Impala's hidden strength. "You too show acts of kindness."

"We are not a merciless race. We simply wish for the fighting to stop." Jason said.

"Ah, I see. My name is Plax. I am the third gen in the House of Plax, and this is the Caarmethian." Plax said as he addressed his ship. Suddenly turning serious, he leaned in a little closer to the screen. "I do not mind helping you in this endeavor, but there is one down there that you may have to persuade. We know not where he comes from, but he calls himself Shadow Walker." He finished.