Kozantei, Fourth Quarter, Andromeda Galaxy.

Zogan scanned the feeding room and paused as his eyes rested on two huddled forms sitting so close together that it seemed they were fused. Ravanna and Yavik. He smirked, internally patting himself on the back for his match-making skills. Mya would be immensely proud of him.

He went to the kitchen command system and entered his order, the systems whirred to life. His horn ached, planning a war was no easy task. The fact that they'd retrieved the Tyrhung had made things immensely easier, but there was still the task of getting the weapon into the Ajal's world and planting it successfully. It would then be activated and cause the extinction of the entire scourge. He and his council were working extensively with the elders - strategizing, arguing, and trying to come up with a feasible plan. They were making progress, but slowly, too slowly for Zogan's liking, he wanted this done. His people and their allies had suffered too much at the hands of those wretched cowards. And then there was Aini, she'd somehow managed to get away from Azazel who was still livid about her escape.

Zogan wasn't surprised when he felt small arms wrap around him, stretching to envelope him but failing...Mya. She looked stunning as usual. His family crest emblazoned on her left chest; woven into the combat suit she wore. All warriors were training hard, and she was no exception. There was still a war to finish. He motioned her to look across the room with a flick of his head, and her gaze followed his. Her full lips split into a wide grin.

"Ooo, Yavik is moving swift!" She made a clapping motion with her hand.

She punched in her order into the machine and tried to peer at the couple inconspicuously. She was not successful, Zogan looked down at her obvious antics and scoffed.

"You are a terrible spy."

She flicked her hands at him in a go away motion and he laughed softly, swatting her behind. She yelped and mock glared at him. The system chimed and she collected her food. Zogan eyed her dish warily, "If you keep eating so much squashi you're going to become purple."

Mya gasped, eyes growing round, "Is that really a thing?"

She looked down at her dish apprehensively, there was a long pause as Zogan bit his lip trying to hold back his smile. Her frizzy hair had escaped the band that was supposed to be holding it back from her face, he liked her hair in this natural state. Wild and primal.

He nodded to answer her question, trying to remain serious. She really needed to expand her palate, there was a lot for her to discover.

Mya bit her lip - his gaze followed the action, "Then it's a risk I'm willing to take... I love me some squashi."

Zogan groaned and followed her as she practically skipped across the room. They passed by other workers and warriors who were eating their lunches, all engrossed in conversations, they were completely accustomed to Mya's antics by now.

She dropped her dish onto the table and whipped her finger up at him, "Nice try!"

He groaned louder.

Yavik and Ravanna looked over at them as they sat and Zogan noticed the deep pink color staining Yavik's cheeks. His fimbriae were also noticeably perky. He was happy for them both, truly. He hoped Yavik could teach Ravanna a thing or two about life outside of war and death, he needed it.

Ravanna had had a hard life, growing up on a slavers world with his mother who'd been kidnapped during her travels when she had been pregnant. He'd fought tooth and nail to get off of that planet and had murdered half of the slavers for the terrible things they'd done to his mother. He barely spoke of it, but Zogan knew it had made him into the lethal but quiet male that he was today.

Mya cleared her throat and her mouth popped open, "Sooooooo, what's going on over here?"

Zogan pressed his lips together, catching Ravanna's eye and shook his head with sympathy, they were about to be questioned by his mate. He pitied them.

Zogan dug into his waiting meal, his stomach rumbling now that he'd fixed his attentions on the baski fruit and meats that filled his plate. He barely listened as Mya peppered Yavik and Ravanna with questions. Threatening the latter over his treatment of her best friend Yavik. Ravanna looked flabbergasted at the whole exchange and Yavik's eyes were wide, his fimbriae twitched nervously.

Ahh, my esaie, always knows just what to say and do to make others uncomfortable. He made sure to remind her a few times during her lectures to eat her rapidly cooling squashi, she still managed to talk between shoveling the food into her mouth.

The ground shook beneath their feet, and Mya's conversation paused, they all looked at each other. There was a loud rumble again. BOOM! The sound from the explosion filled the room. The light fixtures above swayed, some dust falling onto Mya's unfinished food. Zogan and Ravanna sprang up and sprinted through the doors, into the hallways as the floors shook from more concussive booms. They skid to a stop through one of the open exits and looked into the sky.

There were ships everywhere. So numerous and meticulous in their swarming formation they looked like bugs ready to attack their next victim. Zon. The Zon were attacking his home world. Ravanna growled and Zogan ran to a control panel that had been disguised in the hall. He pushed in the emergency sequence and a loud blaring alarm sounded through the palace and the cities below. It would begin the safety protocol that all had been trained for from youth.

"What the hell is happening?" said Mya, she and Yavik ran up behind them.

"The Zon, they've come to retaliate." Ravanna's voice cold and calculating. His gift already beginning to descend over him.

They ran full speed to the weapons room while Yavik veered off stating that he would help get citizens to safety quarters located throughout the city. Azazel, Mara, and countless other warriors filled the space, hastily grabbing weapons and suits pulling them on, his father and mother among them. Mya put on her power suit and her armor disc in the center of her chest.

"How did they get through our shields?" his mother asked, her fangs lengthened.

Zogan did not respond, he had no answer, they would think on it later. He did know that he wanted everyone of them dead. He'd reached into his gift steadily since he'd viewed the pests that dared to invade his home world.

"Stay with my mother, protect those within the castle and any that come to seek sanctuary." Zogan ordered, he pressed his forehead to his mate's, breathing deeply and then sprinted out into the hallway leaving them behind.

They remaining warriors ran outside once more to see the Zon dropping from the skies, some of them shooting out of their vessels like falling stars. They were met with severe violence from the assembled Kozan warriors waiting below.

Mya turned to her mother-in-law and said, "I know how we can help them."

She led them down the corridor, both Mya and the Queen directing guards on where to lead those that came for sanctuary. Mya quickly informed the queen of her intentions and left her, sprinting through the pathways that led deep into the underbelly of the palace.

When she entered the underground cavern, she was met with a flurry of activity. The room was large and filled with Inter-Atmosphere warships, IAWs. Warriors climbed into their units and took off in formation down the airways that led into the outside. Beneath the ground Mya felt the explosions shaking the ground above their heads. She hoped everyone was safely tucked away by now.

Anger burned through her at the Zon and their gall to attack their planet. She spotted Nezerra and ran to her, she was busy speaking with a general from the looks of the insignia on his battle suit.

"Mya! Where's mother?" she asked, she patted the general warrior on his shoulder and walked briskly through the docked warships with Mya jogging to keep up with her.

"She's upstairs helping them find the safe rooms, I came to help." Mya offered; she scanned the room looking for one of the golden colored warships that she'd been trained on. They were the fastest and built especially for air warfare.

Nezerra nodded and suddenly grabbed her pressing their foreheads together, "Be safe."

Mya hastily nodded, "You too."

Nezerra hopped into her bulkier black warship, designed for rescues and some live fire, and began to buckle herself in. Mya sprinted towards her section and flashed her chipped hand against the door of the warship before her.

It glinted gold, its sides painted with the coat of arms of Kozantei, a roaring Kyeet locked into a battle with the same Nynsar beast that lined Mya's and every other sanctioned warrior's arm. Around them were lush vegetation representing the beautiful forests that covered Kozantei, the sky space littered with seven glowing moons. The warship had smaller fin-like wings along its sides and two larger ones protruding vertically around an eye shaped opening at its back that housed a powerful engine.

The door slid back with a soft whoosh and Mya had to jump to grab onto the handle above the door. Using the steps that had descended from the side of the ship, she hopped up and into her seat. These smaller warships were designed for one pilot and were packed with weaponry, there was no space for rescues like Nezerra's.

The seatbelts strapped around her, adjusting to her small frame and Mya flicked up the switches necessary to start the engines. The ship hummed to life with a loud purr. The controls vibrated beneath her hands as she pulled them up. The ship rose steadily from the ground and started forward through the winding tunnels. Mya took a deep breath and tightened her grip. She was going to kill as much of those fuckers as possible.

*****************************************************

The suns blazed in the sky and the ship's screens adjusted to lessen the effects of the blinding rays, holograms popping to life to Mya's left as it registered the threats zooming through the sky. Her ship shot upwards into the battle, the skies were filled with Kozan firing rapidly and swerving and diving to avoid the answering shots from the enemy ships.

"Threats have been detected, engage weapons system?" asked the ship, a robotic female voice filling the cabin.

"Yes!" said Mya pulling the controls causing the ship to flip forward, narrowly missing a shot from the Zon that pursued her.

From her height she could see the Kozan warriors below engaging with the Zon that had landed, Zogan was among them. She sent out a thought to him, 'Be safe, my love.'

She fired, dipping and diving around her fellow warriors, sending the enemy down to the warriors waiting below or blasting them into smithereens. They moved into formation and Mya gritted her teeth, trying to lock onto the evasive Zon's smaller ships. She pursued and they weaved away, only to double back and fire off shots against them. She gave chase, trying to follow their flying patterns – their twists and turns. She aimed; its engine was in her sight. Boom!

Two ships fell from the sky; smoke billowed from them as they careened wildly, crashing into the ground below. She heard celebratory whoops though her comm piece that she'd jammed into her ear and grinned. She whooped along with them. Other Zon ships fell to the ground in waves as other warriors had done the same. Easy-peasy. she thought as she pulled back and returned to the large flying formation of the warriors. More and more of their warships joined the fleet. As one they dived, bearing down on the remaining enemy warships littering the air.

The Zon fired clipping three or more ships within their formation, they wheeled away and fell to the ground below. The formation broke, allowing the Zon to enter into the midst of them. They thought they'd found an advantage; but there was no worse place to be than in the center of a Kozan warship formation. They were within perfect firing range. Mya shot forward firing on ships that moved too slowly, three more went down under her lasers.

A sharp beeping started in her ear. A warning. Her eyes shot towards the holograms in the cabin. A large plasma missile was headed straight for her, she jerked the control back and the ship did a tailspin. The missile still struck her, but not the way it had been meant too. If it had, she would have been dead, blown to pieces in the explosion. The hologram flashed red.

"Warning! Hull has been compromised." The ship vocalized. It repeated the sentence over and over while the beeping intensified.

The ship's engine whirred loudly, and Mya swore, three enemy ships surrounded her trying to corner her to fire the killing shot. She pushed up the controls and pressed her seatbelt release button, they retracted violently, the ship beginning to lose some of its programming.

Hopping up from her seat, Mya held on as the ship groaned. It tilted forward, still flying through the air unsteadily set on evading its pursuers no matter the cost – still carrying out its programming. The three Zon ships chased after her. The skies were lit with explosions, each rocked Mya's ship. She managed to press in a final command on the holograms before her. She looked up and smashed the compartment above her, reaching up to grab the small bag inside.

Sprinting to the small back compartment of the vessel she shrugged on her bag. A new urgent wailing started up in the cabin behind her. She saw the smoking hull above her as she sprinted through the stacked ammunition, she cursed again, "Fuck-Fuck- Fuck!" She bore down on a large black knob labelled "EMERGENCY" and a small hatch door opened before her. The sharp wind whipped her hair about her. She gulped. She had to do it; this was what she'd been training for. She ran forward and leaped, the ship heaving her upward right as she jumped forward adding an extra boost to her movements.

The wind lashed at her, and her eyes watered. She stretched out her arms and legs into a star formation, letting the wind take her where it would, falling through the air like a stone. Above her the air sucked in, changing her trajectory and with a great force blasted outward, green, and blue flames erupting behind her. Her knapsack chimed as its force field activated, protecting her from shards of her airship that were now flying through the sky. Hopefully the Zon pursuing her had been taken down too. She pressed the button on her backpack and a large air-filled compartment billowed out behind her slowing her fall. Her blood rushed in her ears. The ground rose to meet her, and she met it with a groan, rolling to absorb as much of the impact as possible.