The captain kicked back in his leather chair and sunk his teeth into a deep, blood red apple. The cool spray of juice from the apple spread out in the shuttle’s cockpit and came to rest on the polished control console. The captain shifted his mud stained boots and battle-scarred legs, folding them onto each other. Caked on dirt slowly coated the once polished and reflective console into a brown mess. He gazed past the three other empty seats and out the front windshield at the shimmering balls of light that spread out far into the expanse of space. They slowly passed by as the captain let the controls of his ship take the star cruiser and its crew far into the middle rim systems.

            Voices echoed from just beyond the door to the cockpit. The voices were then followed with the door hissing open. The heavy steps of one of the crew and the lighter, slower steps of the other alerted the captain to who was walking into the cockpit. The heavy steps belonged to Ita the latter belonged to Depresija. The two humans were tough men and fighters, two medal of honor recipients from the Universal Armed Forces, both served in at least two hundred deployments.

            “I am telling you that this is important, Depresija! We are likely the first people to have found this damn place!” Ita yelled. The captain could feel Ita’s arms swing through the air along with the spittle that often escaped from his chapped, bloodied lips from incessant biting. War was tough. Ita felt it the worst of the three.

            “It doesn’t matter, Ita. I am telling you this from the bottom of my heart that what you tend to say simply makes me wish I had an elementary school teacher around here to slap the shit out of you for the trash that spews from your sorry excuse for a mouth.”

            Clearly a heated argument that had been going on for far too long, the captain wondered. He whirled around in his seat and took another loud crunch from the apple. “The hell are you two bozos whining about this time?” The captain crossed one leg onto the other and laid back with seemingly little care for his two friends and crew’s bickering.

            “Ita says he found something,” Depresija said, rolling his eyes just out of view of Ita. He tossed a paper forward with no care or intent to where he wished it to land.

            “Something?” Ita yelled at the top of his lungs. The captain glanced at Ita while moving his hand in a repeated up and down motion. Ita followed the sign and spoke in a calmer tone. “There is a gravitational pull the size of the North American States out here in the middle of nowhere. You think the NAS is just takin’ a damn waltz on the town out here?” He slapped the back of his hand against Depresija’s shoulder. He paused for a brief moment to regain his composer. He began in a calmer, more convincing tone, “This is something that we need to check out. A whole seemingly planet worth of gravity has just appeared in previously charted territory, this kind of thing doesn’t happen, Captain.”

            Captain stroked his chin and non-existent beard. The sheets looked legit. Multiple graphs were lain over each other to give an overall reading of gravity charts for the past eight years in this system. Three days prior the graph spiked to an insane amount. Nearly eight billion times more pressure than before.

            “Black hole?” Captain asked.

            “Precisely my point, Captain. You remember that guy Bentu who we heard them stories about? Killed in the outer rim along with his whole crew, but saved one guy. They were killed by a black hole. I don’t fancy driving straight into an endless abyss. If I wanted to do that, I’d sit in silence for five minutes and listen to my thoughts.” Depresija held his arms crossed over his body. His brow was tightly furrowed and curved into a hard glare at the paper.

            “Has it stayed in the same place?” Captain asked rolling over to his control console and pulling up a series of general schematics of the ship and area. He expertly scrolled through the pages of data until he came upon the set of gravitational data he needed. “Swiftspace drive is operational. No black hole.”

            “That easy to tell?” Depresija asked crouching next to the console and looking through the data himself.

            “Yeah, you know the story of Bentu yet you don’t know the fail-safe of swiftspace drives? If there is a gravity well that is too high, i.e. a black hole, the swiftspace drive will shut down so when you make a jump it doesn’t take the blackhole with you,” Ita ranted off. He continued with the minute details about swiftspace and the end of the universe from jumping near a blackhole.

            Captain took a moment to think about the graphs and what his crewmate had given him. “So why don’t we go there? We’re just a few jumpers coming back from a shipment. It’s my business and I say finding a never before seen planet will give us a lot of recognition and,“ Captain turned to face his crewmates and rubbed his right thumb and pointer finger together with a crooked grin on his face, “that my friends seems like a win-win.”

            “And what about the rest of the crew?” Ita asked.

            “They’re jumpers, drop ‘em off at the nearest spaceport with a casino and prostitutes. That’s what quenches my boredom around this barren wasteland.” Captain smirked then plotted a course for the nearest space port.

 

Captain sat back in his control console with his eyes barely open and his thoughts racing about him. The thoughts of becoming a discoverer of a whole new world made the man’s mind run wild. News stations all across the middle rim would be bustling with the news that a previously unknown and undecorated veteran from the Great Reclaiming had found a new planet right under everyone’s noses. It would make him a fortune. A multi-billionaire. He would own a world. Or maybe it wasn’t a planet.

Maybe it was a secret cell of hidden Kaiser troops who had escaped him and the rest of the Universal alliance during the Great Reclaiming. Intimidating as that would be to come across a cell of likely millions of people who were hell bent on destroying those like him who had taken power from them in order to restore justice and peace, he enjoyed the thoughts of slaughtering thousands more Kaiser swine. Captain embellished the thought of dying amongst a mound of desecrated bodies and armor as he rose to the heavens with the soldiers which he had fought with all those years ago.

That was a glory fit for a true man. A true warrior.

Ita’s voice snapped Captain from his daydreams. “We’re coming up on the planet.” Captain turned in his chair to face Ita who was pointing to something outside of the cockpit. The captain followed Ita’s finger and his eyes began to widen the more he studied the large mass of a planet that sat in front of him. His jaw nearly fell to the floor as he stood and stumbled over to the front of the glass and peered out at a large bright green mass that sat in front of him.

Rivers of deep, rich blue snaked along the planet’s surface and fed out into even richer and more inviting looking oceans and seas. The whole planet was a deep yet bright green, it invited eyes to gawk at the sight. There was no distinction between the poles and even out in the vast expanse of space, that was nowhere close to a star, the planet seemed to radiate heat and life. Even from thousands of miles away Captain felt like he could see the surface of the planet forming and moving with every second.

“Holy,” Captain said, running a hand through his thick hair. “You ever see anything like that?”

“Nope.” Ita whispered, his eyes could not remove themselves from the entrancing planet.

Captain’s hand fumbled around the control console behind him as he tried to grab onto the commlink to call Depresija to come see the planet they were closing in on. He held the commlink close to his lips and could not find the words to speak. He regained control and clicked a button on the side.

“Depresija, come to the cockpit. You’ll want to come see this.”

A few moments later the sound of a rubber ball bouncing on the floor and back into a hand came echoing through the door. The metal door slid open with a hiss of air.

“What did y’all need?” Depresija asked. His question was answered as he let the rubber ball drop from his hand and roll into a corner. His eyes widened into pure amazement and his jaw too slid down to his chest. “Guess you were right?” Depresija said after a brief moment of awestruck silence.

“Hell yeah I was right,” Ita said, sitting back in a chair in the corner of the cockpit. “I suggest we strap in and get ready to touch down.”

“I don’t know.” Depresija whispered walking down next to Captain by the cockpit window. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this place.” His arms were crossed over his chest and a frown was set on his lips.

“Why is that?” Ita asked.

“Reminds me of Earth. Before they nuked it at least. Have you ever seen the pictures? Such beauty, exactly like this,” Depresija stepped away from the window and began walking back to the control console. “There’s no way we could have wandered into the Milkyway is there?”

Captain turned around with his hands on his hips. “It’s illegal. We would’ve been tracked by now.”

“I turned off our tracking,” Ita said from the control console. “Everything is off except the essentials. I didn’t want anyone following us out here.” Ita tossed a holopad at Captain who snatched it out of the air. He scrolled through and looked at all of the red blocks that sat next to their only forms of communication.

“So, we’re out here all alone?” Captain said tossing the holopad back across the room.

“All alone with no one to call. No one even knows we’re out here,” Ita said.

“I don’t like that.” Depresija said, leaning on the control console. “No help. No back-up. Just three guys with plasma rifles on an unknown planet with who knows what on it.”

“Better to keep it that way,” Captain said, pacing in front of the planet that grew closer with every passing second. “I don’t want anyone else to know about this place until we’ve claimed it for our own and explored as much of it as we possibly can.”

“I still don’t like it. We’ve got to be careful; we don’t know what’s down there.”

“Suit up,” Captain said, ignoring Depresija’s comment. “I want to be on the ground as fast as we can. It’s new territory boys and a whole lot of money and fame is on the line if we can pull this one off, and I intend to pull it off.” The other two men nodded. Depresija grabbed his ball and slid out the door to the cabin. His soft footsteps disappeared almost instantly. Ita remained in his seat, staring out at the planet.

“I wonder what’s out there. What do you think?” Ita said sliding down in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. Captain spun around to face the planet and thought for a long moment. His gaze blurred as he slipped deeper into thought.

“Riches.”

“What was that?” Ita said leaning forwards and turning his ear more towards Captain.

“Our names,” Captain said, loudly turning around to face Ita.

“I doubt it,” Ita said. He glanced over to Captain for a reaction. The captain simply stared at Ita’s knees.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Captain buried his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes until he saw flashes of white. He stood from the chair and began to walk out of the cockpit.

“Where you going?”

“I’ll set up a drone and send it out to scout the landing area before we touch down. Set the ship in orbit and we’ll wait for the drone to send back enough information.”

“No problem, Captain.”

Captain punched his information into the keypad and slid the door open. He stepped through and began to walk down the hall. The soft hum of the engine echoed throughout the corridors and slightly vibrated the walls and ceiling. The sterile smell of the ship drifted into Captain’s nose as he climbed a flight of stairs and began to walk to the launching bay.

Captain reached the door and clicked on the buttons and grabbed the handle. He stepped through the doorway and was greeted with a mechanical voice and the loud steps of a robot.

“Good evening, sir. What do you need?”

“Ready up the drone, SR-01.”

“As you wish.” The robot stomped over to a rack of drones and grabbed one on the top. He pulled it down and began tapping at a keyboard. He plugged in a wire then pulled open a computer and handed it to Captain.

“We’ll check the air quality, life, and have the drone send it back as soon as possible. I want to be on the ground in no more than an hour. Ready the ship for a landing and get the heavy equipment out in case there are hostiles.”

“As you wish,” SR-01 beeped.

           

            Captain strapped his plasma rifle onto his back as he stepped into the cockpit. He fell into his chair and looked around the cabin. Leaning against the console and staring out at the planet, he watched as the planet slowly passed by while the ship sat in orbit. A warning light popped up on the main console. Captain glanced at it for a second, not thinking anything about it, then scrambled to look at the warning. A red light blinked above the words ‘Drone 1’. It had been destroyed.

            “What the hell?” Captain brushed a hand through his hair and pulled open the file on the droid. He read through the schematics. Everything was fine. Air quality was perfect. The air composition was the perfect amounts of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. The planet was a cool eighty degrees with minimal humidity.  Captain typed into the keyboard and began to scroll through a series of folders. He reached the camera footage and pictures and opened it. Nothing. Captain smacked his palm on the console and swore under his breath.

            He pulled his chair in closer to the console and began typing at the computer. He clicked quickly as he searched for anything in the drone’s memory files. Again, nothing.

            Captain stood from the chair before tapping in a few codes and setting an auto-landing into the ship. The ship’s nose began to point to the planet and the rumble of the jets replaced the calm hum of the engine. The ship picked up speed as Captain exited the cabin. Ita walked from behind a corner and almost ran into Captain.

            “We’re heading down to the ground now. Drone’s dead, no information other than the air is breathable and there are life forms that are roaming around. Probably intelligent if they can take down the drone that easily,” Captain continued to walk with Ita in tow. “I’m getting Depresija right now. Check the equipment, we’re making a landing in less than twenty minutes.”

            “Yes, Captain.”

            From down the hall Captain could hear the sound of a rubber ball hitting the ground, the wall, then flying back into a hand. No light came from Depresija’s room. The only sound was the thud of the ball. Captain pushed open the door. The outline of Depresija sat on the bed, completely drenched in darkness. The window was coated in black paint and the lights in the room were either painted over or had some object wrapping over the light. The thick smell of smoke hung in the air.

            “We’re landing,” Captain said, standing in the doorway.

            Depresija caught the ball and swung his legs out over the side of the bed. He stood and grabbed a plasma rifle that hung over the foot of his bed.

            “Ready,” Depresija said in a raspy voice. He pushed by Captain through the small doorway but was met with Captain’s hand wrapped around his bicep. Depresija continued to look forwards.

“You don’t have to come to the surface.”

“I know,” Depresija said shrugging off Captain’s hand. “But I’m not about to let you two go out there alone.”

Captain nodded and moved out of the doorway.

 

            The unloading ramp slowly dropped down and touched down onto the thin vegetation in a small clearing. The three men walked down the ramp in a triangle. Their plasma rifles rested in their hands with a long strap wrapping around their backs and necks. Their thick armor protected them from the radiation that often flew around the openness of space and was resilient to most plasma fire along with a whole plethora of other potentially dangerous weapons.

            The scent of decaying plants and the oppressive smells of rotting wood and stagnant water sat in the air. As the three left the ramp their boots sunk a few centimeters into the ground likely made up of composted leaves and dead animals. Depresija pulled out a locator device and began tapping at the screen, the blue light shone on his face and glowed against and through the leaves that hung above.

            “Drones a few hundred meters that way.” Depresija pointed far out into the forest. The path was encased with large trees, vines, plants of huge proportions, and an indeterminable amount of danger.

            “Then let’s get moving,” Captain said, taking the lead and unsheathing his machete. A breeze flew through the trees, but the three could not feel it. The ferns and leaves brushed against their legs and arms, but the three could not feel it. They pushed on through the vegetation, hacking and slashing and tearing a path through the dense undergrowth. Mechanical clinking echoed throughout the forest with every connection with a hard tree or plant. Captain felt the vibrations of the handle as the blade connected with the plant stems.

            The locator showed they were closing in on the drone, only tens of meters away. Streaks of light shone through the dense leaves and revealed a path the drone had dropped in from. At the bottom of the drop it had made was a pile of shattered black metal. Captain finally slashed through the last series of vines in front of the clearing and rushed forwards. He knelt beside the broken outline of the drone and began to search through the barely recognizable parts.

            “What’s the damage?” Ita asked. He too knelt beside Captain and glanced through the rubble.

            “Not sure right now.” Captain picked up the main body of the drone and held it towards the light. The wires and small pieces of metal hung from the large dome shaped body. It reflected the light this way and that in the forest. “Fuckin’ torn apart,” Captain said. He lowered it down to waist height and looked into the optical lenses. His mind clicked and he placed the drone on the ground. His hands worked along the shell of the drone and began to pull off the largest of the lenses.

            Depresija walked around the edge of the clearing and looked into the trees. His eyes studied the bark of the trees, they were deep brown with canyons and mountains ingrained into the sides. The military training kicked in. A large black mark on a tree caught Depresija’s attention. He walked over to it and ran his hand along the mark. As he pulled his hand away large chunks of ash followed his gloved finger tips.

            Captain pulled the lens out of the drone and reached his fingers deep inside it. He pulled out a small computer chip then placed it into the locator. A series of words appeared on the screen.

            Audio Recording Found

            “Ita, get over here,” Captain said, clicking on the recording.

            “Guys, we’ve got a problem,” Depresija said, sliding his plasma rifle from his back and shouldering the weapon.

            A series of clicks and other sounds came from the locator then the sound of plasma weapons discharging and metal screeching and the sound of trees crackling with heat broke out in the recording. The clicks seemed to form sentences. The other two men yanked their weapons from their backs and formed a triangle with Depresija and slowly scanned the clearing.

            “Kaiser?” Ita asked. His weapon held steady as he scanned across the plants. Depresija’s barrel shook as he frantically searched the bushes for movement. Captain remained calm and began to turn on modes in his helmet, nothing came up from the infrared or animal sensors.

            “Calm down, nothing is here. Whoever they are, they’re gone now.”

            “If they get too close, I’ll make sure they don’t get anywhere near us.”

            “Guys,” Depresija said.

            “Something is close though; they have to be,” Captain said.

            “Guys!”

            “What?” Ita asked turning towards Depresija.

            “Where the hell is the path?”

            Captain spun on his heels and nervously glanced around the clearing. He jogged to the edge of the clearing and tried to look through the dense forest. His hands swiped at the plants. The other two men ran over and began to look along the edge of the clearing. The forest seemed to have swallowed their only exit. Captain turned around; he saw the vague outlines of a path.

            “There it is,” Captain said. He walked over to the other edge of the clearing and began to walk into the vegetation. A clicking sound broke the silence. The three whirled around and brought their sights onto the source of the click. A group of what appeared to be floating blue orbs of light with a single mechanical eye were bobbing in and out of the trees and bushes.  The voice spoke again and the creatures drew closer. Ita lifted up his weapon and pointed it at them. Captain shot out his hand and pushed Ita’s barrel down.

            “We don’t want trouble.” Captain slowly pulled up his plasma rifle and began to put it on his back. He brought his hands down with open palms. “We were just passing through.”

            The creatures turned to each other and spoke quietly. They turned back and continued to speak at the three men in their incomprehensible language. Then, one moved quickly forwards and started heading for Captain.

            Ita stepped in front of his captain and lifted his weapon. He pulled the trigger and sent plasma bolts slicing through the creature like butter. It drifted down to the ground in a slow hiss of scorched metal and liquid.

            “What the hell?” Captain screamed as he pulled his weapon from his back and began to fire at the creatures. The floating orbs charged up their weapons and scattered in the clearing before returning fire. The three men back peddled into the forest and took cover behind the large trees. Depresija blindly fired around the tree and managed to catch a few of the creatures off guard. The crackle and hiss of burning flesh and plants filled the air then the smoke followed and began to be the only thing the men could smell.

            Captain poked out from the tree and moved from cover to cover. He ducked under bolts as he fired his own back at the creatures. The forest was lit up in a series of glorious reds and blues, the fire intensified. Smoke began to rise in the forest as the creatures dropped into the long grass and bushes. Captain popped out from behind his tree and took a creature in sight then fired off a series of shots. A shot of pain flew through his arm and drifted through his shoulder. Captain rolled onto his back and caught a creature in his sights. He fired off a volley of shots as he landed into the grass. The creature fell in a whirl of smoke.

            The clearing became silent. The three men stood and let out a sigh of relief. Captain dropped down in the middle of the clearing and grasped his arm. He pulled his armor back and looked at the black burns that sat on the outside plates. Captain winced when he saw the deep-seated burns that rested on his arms, the skin was turning black and was already starting to peel all the way up to his lower back. A star of red burns spread out along his back and reached up to the top of his neck.

            Depresija dropped down into a squat and pulled out a foaming gel spray and began to apply it onto the burn.

            “Damn sonofabitch shot the hell out of me,” Captain said, pulling off his helmet and throwing it off to the side in the grass.

            “The hell were those things?” Depresija said looking to Ita. Ita walked over to the first creature he shot and lifted it in his hand. The base of it could fit into his hand. They were no longer the glowing blue and were now a graphite gray. They had one large eye with a smaller hole below that was likely meant for the plasma gun.

            “Drones of their own. Man-made or machine made, they ain’t natural,” Ita said, tossing it into the grass next to Captain.

            Captain stared off down the path that led back to the ship. His mind wandered as Depresija and Ita talked.

            “They stopped me from going down the path,” Captain said. His crew looked at him with puzzled looks. “As soon as I stepped on the path again, they came out at me. Why would they do that? We were heading back to the ship and instead of letting us go they just tried to stop us.”

            “Maybe they just saw an opportunity and took it?” Depresija said standing up and throwing the gel into his bag.

            “I don’t think so. There’s something odd about this place. Something is down there and I’m finding out what it is. You can either come with me or go back to the ship.” Captain stood and pulled his armor back over him. He took his good arm and hefted his plasma rifle against his shoulder with the barrel pointing to the sky. He paused and turned around. “Well, you guys coming?” The two shared a glance then walked down the path behind Captain.

            The path seemed to wind on for more than they had gone down before, the trees seemed to be different and there were no marks along them. They did not think about it and proceeded to walk down the path.

            A branch snapped somewhere off to the group’s right and gained their attention. They dropped to the ground and peered over the bushes. A figure seemed to glide along in the forest, it had long sandy blond hair and the slim figure of a woman. She was dressed in a tight, all white bodysuit. Her head turned towards the group and they dropped down in the bushes. Captain held up three fingers then nodded. The two men nodded back. Captain began to count down, he let his last finger fall then the three men popped out from the bush.

            The woman was gone. Captain turned around and almost fell back in the bush; the woman stood in front of him and was moving closer. Ita spun around on his heels and yanked up the barrel of his rifle. The woman grabbed his barrel before he could fire a shot and twisted it to the side. The gun shattered in Ita’s hand and fell to the ground in large chunks. Depresija stumbled backwards before shouldering his weapon. A branch swung down from a tree and knocked into his face. A vine swung out and cracked against Depresija’s hand and sent his weapon flying off into the grass.

            Captain ran forwards and was able to fire off a shot as the vine hit Depresija’s hand. The woman’s head turned and slid out of the bolt’s path. She stuck out her hand and covered the barrel with her palm. The gun crumbled against her skin then dropped to the ground. Captain took his free arm and unsheathed his machete.  He brought it up into the air and swung it down on her. She grabbed onto his wrist and tossed him back into a tree. Ita swung his fist and connected with the side of the woman’s head. She stumbled backwards then dug her heels into the ground and pulled her fists up. Ita went in for another swing that went low. He pulled back and sent in a high punch. The woman grabbed his fist and twisted his arm around. She threw a punch into his stomach then let him drop into the dirt.

            “Do not struggle.” Her voice was light and soft. A breeze blew through the forest and sent her hair whipping about her face and covering her features. Her hair flowed like silk as the breeze died down. As her hair settled it revealed a soft smirk and a look of absolute confidence. Light, sky blue eyes pierced into the men’s souls and searched through their thoughts. She stepped towards Captain and reached out for his hand. He slapped it away and stood on his own. As he brushed by her he felt her soft, fair skin.

            “Who are you?” Captain said standing.

            “I could ask you the same question. Though I already know the answer, Jonathan Tion. Captain was an odd choice I must say, though was it really?”

            “How do you know who I am?”

            “I have my ways. I’ve studied it all. It’s all up here.” The woman pointed at her head.

            “So, you’re what, a droid?” Ita said, rolling onto his back and propping himself up.

            “No.” Her strongly defined eyebrows furrowed in and she glared in disgust at Ita. “I am no droid. I am so much more, much more than you could ever know.”

            “So, an egotistical maniac?” Depresija said reaching to his back holster.

            “A man of humor, I see,” The woman said. She flicked her wrist and another vine shot out from the trees and wrapped around Depresija’s arm and held it back. “I would highly advise against that.” She flicked her wrist again and the vine released its grip. Depresija rubbed his wrist then walked over to Ita and behind the woman. Her white bodysuit was completely seamless, it looked as if it were her skin.

            “Who are you?” Captain asked again.

            “The Creator, Mizani, maker of this world. For years I have been slowly making this place,” She gestured with an open hand to the whole of the forest. “Each tree, each plant, every single rock has been painstakingly put into place one by one to make this world, my world. Now follow me.” Mizani held a hand out and motioned for the three men to follow her. Depresija grabbed Ita by the forearm and pulled him up to his feet. Captain followed closely behind the Creator with the other two in tow only a few feet back. He snatched up his machete and slid it into a back compartment in his armor.

            Mizani spoke softly with force and began to ramble at the men. “I have lived in this Universe for longer than your great grandparents or even their great grandparents. I watched as the Universe burned under the war of the Kaiser and became a smoldering pile of trash once they won. And I saw from the sidelines as the Universal Armed Forces tore power from a crumbling empire and watched as the people who had known nothing but war were plunged into another. Families were torn apart once again. Whole villages, towns, cities, and countries lost all of their citizens. Men. Women. Children who were not even out of school were forced to dawn the armor of their father’s and march into certain death by that of plasma fire.

            “But I will no longer watch as it happens again. I have been building. Waiting for my time to reveal myself. To send out my machines to free the Universe from the evil of tyrant regimes and those who only talk of peace. I will cleanse it of such terrible violence as everyone becomes free to live on their own. Free to choose where to live. I will send out my souls to the deepest, darkest corners of this network of brains and remove them at the source.” The group drew closer to the clearing where they had come from. Depresija held one hand behind his back on his pistol at the ready. Captain eyed Mizani.

            “That doesn’t sound like freedom to me,” Captain said, slowing his pace. Mizani turned her head slightly. “Sounds like a change of management.” She stopped in her tracks and turned to Captain. They stood the same height and could look each other directly in the eyes. The Creator met the Captain’s cold stare with an even harder glare.

            “And what is freedom to you, Captain? Hm?” Mizani asked holding her ground in the dirt. The forest seemed to come alive more than ever; the trees seemed to fold onto each other and darken the pathway. “Is it flying down to a planet and believing you can claim it for you own? No regard for the native things that may already have lived and claimed this land?” Captain broke eye contact and moved backwards as she spoke. “You didn’t consider the idea of a more capable, intelligent life form standing in the place of what you thought were simply unintelligible machines. Were you not prepared? Not prepared for something bigger than you? Someone ready to do more than you? More than you could do in your life.” The ground began to vibrate under their feet and the trees shook more and more violently with every second. Captain backed up again and nearly walked into his two crew mates. Mizani began to calm and so did the shaking. She turned around and began to walk farther down the path. She brushed her hands against the plants as she passed them and let them glide through her hands.

            The small group began to get closer to the clearing. Depresija slid the pistol out of its holster and pulled his finger around the trigger, it hung heavily from his fingers. The Creator passed through the last set of plants and walked into the clearing. Her eyes fell onto the destroyed body of one of the creatures.

            The men froze as Mizani stepped forwards and looked over the destroyed, soulless body of the machine. She knelt next to the burnt and broken machinery and lifted it into her hands. The creature folded like a dead rabbit in her hands. The men glanced at each other.

            Mizani stood with the creature in her hand. Her shoulders rose and shuddered before settling back down heavily. The ground began to shake again and the trees rumbled and groaned with each shift of the dirt. Captain and his crew stumbled back as the Creator seemingly began to levitate. The grass around her shuddered as if in an intense wind was passing through. Her toes and heels began to lift from the ground.

            “Move!” Ita yelled, grabbing Depresija and Captain by the shoulders and pulling them back. The three began to sprint down the path, hopping over the ferns and vines as they swung out to lash onto the men. Captain saw a glimmer of metal from the corner of his eye and began to sprint towards it. Ita and Depresija followed him as they all ducked under a vine armed with thorns. The spike sliced into Captain’s armor and sent chunks of it flying into the grass.

            A root shot up out of the ground and ensnared Ita in its grasp. Ita let out a cry of pain as his knee was torn apart. Depresija and Captain continued to wind in and out of the forest with the glistening metal of their ship coming into view.

            “Help!” Ita screamed. He waved his arm to Captain and tried to pry his way out of the thick wood. It closed tighter around his ankle and the crackle of bones popped in Captain and Depresija’s ears. Captain pushed through the ferns which had stopped trying to tangle him. He turned his head and saw Depresija frozen in his tracks looking back to Ita.

            “Come on!” Captain yelled at Depresija. “We need to go, let’s move!” Depresija turned his head back around then shook his head. Mizani slowed her pace and began to hover over Ita. Light began to shine on her white bodysuit and reflect outwards, producing god-rays. She reached out a hand that glimmered in the sun. Ita’s face began to drain of fear and his hands relaxed off of the roots. Depresija continued full tilt at the two. He began to fumble with his plasma pistol. Ita slowly and calmly reached out his hand. The tension that once constantly sat in his shoulders and hands seemed to be released as Mizani slid her hand along Ita’s chest. She brought it from his sternum in a straight line all the way up his chest over his neck and stopped at his chin. A blue glow seemed to radiate from his skin as Mizani’s fingers folded into her fist. The blue light followed her fingers and came to rest inside her palm. Ita’s body slowly relaxed against the ground.

            “No!” Depresija yelled. He lifted his plasma pistol and began to fire off a series of shots. They flew wildly into the forest and the ground. Mizani came to rest on the ground, not even taking a glance at Depresija. Her lips moved in a solemn memorial for Ita. Captain turned away and began to sprint to the ship once again. His mind raced as he pulled out his communicator. Captain brought it to his lips and began to yell into it.

            “SR-01! Start the engines!” Captain screamed as he began to pick up the pace. He did not wait for the response. Captain did not notice a root popping out of the ground that sat directly in front of his path. His foot caught under the bottom and he fell forward onto his face. The sound of plasma fire rocked against his ears. Captain rolled onto his back and gripped his ankle that was now twisted to the right. He looked out into the forest where he saw Depresija leaning against a tree, his hands violently shaking as Mizani pushed trees aside looking for the man. His eyes stared at Captain, a deep fear set in his pupils, sweat dripped down his forehead and down to his nose.

            Captain saw Depresija’s shoulders and chest rise. His eyes seemed to calm. He stepped out from behind the tree and lifted the plasma pistol. He fired as the plants began to close in around him. A branch swung down from the right, it slammed into Depresija’s arm as he tried to slide out of the way. Blood flew from his arm and scattered amongst the grass. He seemed unfazed as a large branch came careening towards his face. Mizani lowered herself to the ground and lifted her arms. The trees began to shake and soon lifted off of the ground in a screech of wood cracking and rocks rumbling. Depresija began to run towards Mizani, his cut arm resting limp by his side. A plasma bolt singed the side of Mizani’s hair. Her eyes seemed to glow with heat as she twisted her arms inward and the trees flew down in a V towards Depresija.

            Depresija disappeared in a cloud of dirt and shards of bark. Mizani walked over to the grouping of destroyed trees. A groan sounded from somewhere in the pile of bark and earth. She began to slowly move the debris from around Depresija, she followed the sound of an injured and broken man.

            “I meant to cleanse them, but not you. You gave me reason now to make sure you will not survive as you are. How I wish you could have let me reform your ways, let you exist under me and in check. You are a natural part of the cycle, a broken man fighting for a broken cause that he never wanted to join. You fight for a man with a broken cause and now you are lumped with him.” Mizani pulled out the last piece of a tree and revealed a bloodied body facing her. Parts of white gleamed in the light while deep red shimmered along almost every inch of Depresija’s twisted body. His limbs were twisted at awkward angles that snaked in and out of the remaining debris. “Such potential wasted on meaningless faith.” Mizani moved her hand up. Depresija’s body began to fold up towards the Creator. She placed her hand onto his chest and began to pull upwards along with a blue light that began to shine at his heart. “Where is your captain now?”

            “Right here,” Captain said. He reared back his machete and brought it down, Mizani’s neck in his sights. The blade sliced into her neck and stopped only an inch into her flesh. Mizani stood still, her hand stopped at Depresija’s neck then let the bloodied man fall onto the ground. Depresija hit the ground with a loud thump and remained motionless, the light began to slowly fade.

            Captain staggered backwards as Mizani pulled the machete from her neck without a speck of blood dripping from the wound. A cracked smirk crawled along her face as she folded her hand towards her. The ground rolled under Captain like a ball and pulled him within a foot of Mizani. She shot out her leg and connected with Captain’s knee. A cry of pain escaped through his mouth. His knee jutted outwards while his lower leg remained in the same place. Instinctively, his arms dropped down to the destroyed knee. Mizani shot out a curving punch to Captain’s face and sent him curling down to the ground. His jaw flopped loosely around his face. He spat out blood while trying to say something to Mizani. She knelt beside him and smiled; her hand cradled the side of his face. Her touch was soft and comforting to Captain, he felt as if the touch would put him to sleep.

            “Your resilience is strong, Jonathan, I commend you for that. I am glad you have shown me what a warrior can do. Rest now and realize you have helped me create the cure for this rotten brain.” Mizani stood and backed away from Captain. Her gaze stayed for a minute then drifted away as she turned her back on the captain. He slowly lifted out his arm and hand towards Mizani. It fell softly to the dirt.