it was impossible to tell how much time had gone since Voshtek K'Or and Jason Scharn had been stranded in the dangerous forests of Vidar. Small specks of daylight always seemed visible through the cave entrance. It seemed that either a day cycle was lengthy or the two suns in Alpha Centauri took turns to provide light on this part of the satellite.

Small amounts of movement had become slightly easier for Jason but the damage to his shoulder kept him confined to his makeshift bed, the straightest rock that Voshtek could find in the cave. His stomach rumbled uncomfortably which instantly triggered his suit to pump some liquids into his bloodstream. As the feeling of hunger subsided, Jason couldn't help but desire real food which he could hold and place in his mouth. The actual action to eat and drink had become one of his greatest desires despite knowing his suit would keep him alive for around a couple of weeks.

Voshtek didn't seem to eat much, but when he wasn't painting a picture with words of his beautiful homeworld and culture, he was meditating. When his meditation broke, he still seemed full of life and energy, but Jason knew that Voshtek could only keep it going for so long.

Jason couldn't help but admire his fellow survivor. As they talked about various subjects, despite their obvious differences, they also contained a lot of similarities. If there wasn't a war going on, were they to meet, building a friendship would not be out of the question.

But there was a war and how it all began was a niggling feeling that Jason could not ignore.

Jason wiggled on the rock uncomfortably and squinted angrily towards a purple moss type plant he had been eyeballing for a few hours. If he wasn't irritated by its many shades of purple, his conversations with Voshtek had become the main focus of his thoughts.

Was Voshtek telling lies, creating some sort of sick perverted propaganda to gain Jason's trust? It wouldn't achieve much and Voshtek was more than capable of killing Jason at any time.

Was Voshtek telling the truth? That someone in the USM or Human Confederate committed major war crimes which in itself started an intergalactic war?

The moss glowed slightly as a ray of light hit it making Jason sigh in frustration. He really wanted to rip it off the cave wall but instead, he tried to focus on the many strands of information he had accumulated with Jacqueline over the past few months.

Operation Rebirth was this black hole that people investigated, either directly or indirectly, and then, almost instantly, disappeared, killed or removed from service. Operation Rebirth could be this chemical attack, it would explain why it was so dangerous to even know about it, but it was currently all conjecture. Nothing connected the dots.

If Operation Rebirth caused the war, then it would have meant that someone had used a significant amount of resources to reach the Tau Ceti system, done a bit of reconnaissance, and launched chemical weapons. There had to be evidence to the fact.

The moss started to flicker as various rays of light bounced into the cave. Jason turned away knowing it was starting to make his blood boil. He had been in this cave for far too long.

As his anger rose, so did his memory of General Richard von Striken. This man took delight at the removal of his father from office, then made it abundantly clear his dislike for Jason. He had also been involved in investigations into Jason's godfather, General Vladimir Proviski, all of which were currently inconclusive. His arrogance, his aloof personality, his narcissistic tendencies, everything about him would really wind up Jason the wrong way.

However, removing his emotional feelings for the man, could it be possible that he was involved somehow? He always seemed to appear when something bad had gone down.

Jason turned his head towards Voshtek, deep in meditation once again. Despite all the meditation Jason had learned through his martial arts training, it never seemed to give Jason the same level of peace that Voshtek appeared to achieve.

"Sorry to disturb you?" Jason interrupted.

Voshtek didn't seem to stir but calmly responded "No disturbance for Jason Scharn. always listening."

'He must be one of the most polite characters I've ever met. And deadliest!' Jason thought to himself.

"Those men you captured?" Jason asked, "Did you learn anything from them?"

"Classified, " Voshtek responded "Even Voshtek not know"

'Figures.' Jason thought to himself. If the roles were reversed it would be unlikely that Jason would have access to that information too.

"Jason Scharn believes Voshtek K'Or?" Voshtek responded, noticing the silence from Jason.

"Let's just say that investigations that I have been involved with appear to point to something out of the ordinary. No disrespect to you but I can not take your word alone on this matter." Jason responded.

"Voshtek K'Or understands."

"I also can not disregard what you are saying. There are a lot of questions in which there are currently no explanations, and anyone who explores these questions promptly disappears. If what you say is true it will have both a massive impact on the Human Confederate and the war."

Jason looked towards the hanging moss once more which had now turned a rich shade of magenta. He frowned wondering if the isolation and abandonment were now playing havoc on his mind.

"This conversation is all for nothing if we can not leave this cave." he eventually commented.

Voshtek K'Or nodded casually with a hint of sadness in his eyes. "If you die, truth dies too."

Jason couldn't respond knowing the truth of Voshtek's word. Because of Voshtek's position in the Ceti's military, his words could not be ignored. It would be months or years before another target of his value would become available, months or years of war continuing with no closure and no obvious winner. If Jason died, this conversation would be forgotten and the next person to who Voshtek may speak would not likely be as sympathetic to his words.

That's if anyone was still even looking for them.

He looked around to see if anything was close by for him to throw at the moss but realised he didn't have the strength to do so. No one would be looking for them after forty-eight hours, his thoughts were a waste of time. He, Voshtek and the truth of war would likely be dead in a few days.

As Voshtek closed his eyes to slip back into a state of meditation, Jason did the same in the hope to rest and take his mind off the conversation. While his thoughts of the conversation dwindled, the picture of the hanging moss remained. He was about to find sleep hard to come by.

some hours had passed since the eye-opening conversation between Jason and Voshtek had taken place. As Jason continued to stare at the moss in the corner, watching its various shades of purple, he realised that he had not spoken since then and it was feeling that his mind was starting to close in on himself.

Since neither of them had spoken or even moved it was becoming apparent that perhaps hunger and thirst would not kill them, they would simply lose their minds first. At that point, two natural born killers both bordering on insanity would be left to their base instincts.

Something, however, seemed to stir Voshtek out of his slumber. First, his eyes opened and focused instantly on the cave entrance like an eagle focusing on its prey. Then he burst to life, stretching his arm out and activating his sceptre as if it was merely an extension to his arm.

As Jason focused his senses he could hear the faint rustle of something moving in the nearby forest, scrap that, it was several unknowns converging on their position. Hopefully, it wasn't more Vorporin, there was no way Jason could assist in defending them off.

What if they were Ceti's? Would they be as forgiving as Voshtek, or was he just a unique individual? What if they were human? There was no way to tell where their loyalty lay. With the information that Voshtek possessed, he must be handed to Vladimir Proviski, as he would be the only one that could guarantee Voshtek's safety.

It was the least Jason could do for the protection Voshtek had given him.

As the rustling grew louder, Voshtek's stance had become more aggressive, as USM soldiers stormed into the cave, Voshtek was twirling his sceptre and preparing for a fight.

"DROP YOUR WEAPON!" the first soldier shouted with his rifle held high, shouts echoed from the other six soldiers who accompanied him.

Voshtek started strafing sideways with sceptre at the ready. The shouting from the USM soldiers continued, each strafing along with him desperate to keep distance between them and the aggressive Ceti. The space was so tight within the cave that the situation was escalating quickly.

With all the soldiers itching to squeeze the trigger it just needed one for them to feel the full force of an angry, skilled and desperate Ceti. Despite the numbers, the limited space and exceptional skills of the Ceti meant Jason knew that the situation was very much in Voshtek's favour.

"DROP YOUR WEAPON!!"

As the room became tenser another soldier walked in, one in full Blue Raven armour. As Jason spotted them he knew things would go one of two ways. Either they were a friend and things could settle down or they were an enemy and they would endeavour to subdue Voshtek. A result that would undoubtedly be fateful for some, if not all.

With the shouting continuing, the Blue Raven edged their way over to Jason. "Jason? Are you ok?"

Despite the chaos around and the continuous pain that Jason was enduring it was a voice from heaven. "Jacqueline! Get your men to stand down!"

"What?" she responded, not expecting that comment.

"Stand them down, trust me on this." Jason replied with what little energy he had left.

Just as Voshtek was about to raise his sceptre to launch an attack, Donnelly gave the order "All units, stand down!"

Instantly each of the soldiers lowered their weapons and placed their finger to the side of the trigger. As a response, Voshtek lowered his sceptre and relaxed his stance. With a glance towards Jason, he deactivated his sceptre and placed it back on his hip.

"Can the people here be trusted?" Jason asked Donnelly.

"Hand picked by your friend Pendergast. This is not exactly a sanctioned mission." Donnelly responded.

Jason smiled knowing that Aurora had his back and Donnelly had likely risked a court marshall to come and find him. He held her hand and squeezed it with what little energy he had just to confirm in his mind that this situation was real.

"It's absolutely imperative that Voshtek K'Or is delivered to General Proviski and to no one else. The information he holds could be a massive piece of the puzzle we've been trying to put together."

Donnelly looked up towards Voshtek and then back to Jason. "You mean?"

Jason nodded as enthusiastically as he could muster.

"You have my word." she responded. Jason couldn't see her face through the helmet but he could hear in her voice the happiness and relief that she had finally found him.

"Could you do me one more favour?" Jason asked.

"Anything!"

Looking directly towards the moss, Jason sighed, "Could you destroy that damn moss, it's been driving me stir crazy!"

Donnelly laughed and then turned to the soldiers. "Let's get them out of here and prepare them for debrief."