Eternal

Apocalypse

“Fold now Tim!” screamed Lady Nora, the Archon from the higher realms, as the beams shot down from the sun. Fiery hot beams shot down from the sun as the crystal blue ice erupted. Scorching the earth, one of the few areas to survive was the lake county area. The Ragnarok hovered over it, and the beams slammed down into the hull. The screeching of metal could be heard as the searing hot flames began to burn the outer hull.

Nora looked at Tim, and she could see his skin starting to turn red, and then blistering. “Tim! Fold now before you kill us all!” she screamed. As he was concentrating, feeling the intensely hot burning sensation upon his body, his mind screamed to him to fold. The orbs under his hands light up as bright as the sun’s beams had been, and suddenly everything became distorted in their eyes. Tim’s skin blistered, and then turned black, as the burns became deeper.

The light of day disappeared, and suddenly they were all gone. Disappeared into thin air, like nothing was ever there. The damage had been dealt to the earth, and everything was destroyed. Only a few hundred thousand people remained, scattered in shelters, and unable to come out due to the atmosphere being sucked dry of all oxygen. Devastation was complete, and reconstruction was now more important than ever…

3 years later

In the deep of space, a brilliant flash exploded outwards from the emptiness, and a ship reformed out of nowhere. The darkened red hull burst out of the fold point, a glowing sphere of blue energy, and began to move forwards. Damage that was dealt could easily be seen. Melted sections could be seen on the surface of the once beautiful dragonship. Its quadruple engines were all but destroyed, and the fold cortex was severely damaged.

The pilot, Tim, was picked up out of the control seat by Lady Nora, and rushed through the hallways towards the medical lab. Quickly strapping him into the stasis tube, she closed the door, and started it up. The bluish liquid surged upwards in the tube, surrounding the injured pilot. Mike moved up next to Lady Nora, and watched it surround Tim. “It will take time for him to heal… we best not do anything till then…” she said, allowing her eyes to shift over towards where Mike was standing. “I agree…” he replied, and then went about his normal business.

Nora looked towards Tim, and then thought for a moment, her eyes scanning the medical lab. Sighing a bit, she turned around, and then departed, heading back towards the bridge. We need to figure out where exactly we are! she thought, and as she walked, her white gown, a bit wrinkled and dirty trailed behind her wings. Moving ever so slowly and gently thought the halls, knowing there was no need for haste, she looked around. There was no need for haste, as they would have to wait to do anything till Tim was ready. Deciding on a place to go, she headed to the triple story cafeteria in the central area of the ship.

Taking a seat, she looked through the huge glass panels, which somehow had remained undamaged, by grace of the wings that shielded it, and watched the nano-drones working as fast as Tim’s body was healing. Closing her eyes, she sought out the many memories that had brought her to the Ragnarok, her great grandson, and the mission he would face in the future. She didn’t know the outcome of the battle in the flesh fortress, but knew for a fact her great grandson was still alive.

Entering a little bit behind her, was Cerberus. The three headed dog made its way towards her, and then sat down on its hind legs. Lady Nora… we are dead in the water out here… what do you propose we do? it asked, curious as to hear a response from the woman cloaked in white. “We wait until Tim is fully healed,” she replied, opening her gentle eyes once more to gaze upon the three headed dog. I’m sure the demonships are out looking for us right now… we must get going as quickly as possible my lady…

Lifting his middle head to look at her, he then asked, Do you have a destination in mind? Smiling a serene smile, she lifted a hand, and caressed the dog’s central head. “We will head towards the planet Solar, where the High Solar Peter resides…” she said, thinking once of the planet that shined in a brilliant golden light for many a cosmos to see. It was the most evolved system in the universe, at least to their knowledge. All creatures in the Evolution of Sin, were born anew there, and made extinct in the very same instant. The only thing that stayed constant was the Angelic race.

Letting her hair fall down a bit, from its current position, she looked out the window once more, to see the wing that was blackened and damaged was starting to regain some of the brilliant red it had before. It was almost a surreal moment as the color was regaining its beauty. The dragon’s sure were good in their aesthetics, she thought, and then stood up. Cerberus stood up with her, and she looked down towards him. “Don’t you have something else to do, rather than follow me around?” She could almost hear a telepathic sigh as he turned tail, and went in the opposite direction.

Her way with words certainly allowed her to command beings such as him to leave her alone. Sad to say, he may never regain his angelic form, after his fall from Solar, but perhaps when they arrived there, he could be granted a pardon for his part in the plot of freeing the third holy dragon. Making her way towards the sleeping quarters, she would enter one of them, and then lay her head upon the pillows, and let the darkness take her to the world of dreams that all creatures endured in their slumber.

Time passed slowly and when the Lady Nora awoke, a dark figure was standing over her. Not saying a word, she allowed her body to suddenly give off a radiant glow, temporarily blinding anyone near her. But as the light was shed forth, a figure of a human could be seen. He wasn’t necessarily a human, but he was engineered by dragons, and given the form of a human. “Tim, what in Solar’s name are you doing in my room?!” she bellowed. The young man cowered a bit, and then stood up. “I… I just wanted to see where you wanted us to go… I’m all healed now… so, where’s our destination?” he asked, almost able to anticipate where she would have them go. “We are heading to Solar, are the structural formations correct now? Is everything in order? Fold cortex, quads?” Yawning a bit, almost as if he had been asleep, during the healing process and not unconscious, he said, “Sure thing mam, just give us a few days, and I’ll get us there.

Annoyed at the prospect of it taking a few days, she looked at him, and then said, “Make it a day, if you can…” Standing up, she then looked towards him, and said, “Do you mind? I would like to change every once in awhile.” Tim nodded, and then took his leave of the woman who would move history along as needed. Nora closed her eyes, and then when she opened them, looking in the mirror, a new white gown was adorned upon her, showing the purity of her love for people, and her truth that would bring all to light.

Stepping out of the room, she then made her way over to the Command center, forward in the ship’s structure. The Ragnarok was now a magnificent red creature, its huge red wings spanned at least two miles, whereas its body was over five miles long now. It had grown as Tim had healed, and turned into one of the most powerful ships in the universe, or so most people had that perception. Lighting up the darkness in space behind them, the huge quadruple engines began to glow slowly, but then more exuberantly. The wings began to glow, and folded back towards the hull of the ship, as it surged forwards, at a remarkable speed for its size.

Nora smiled as she stood next to Tim, placing a hand upon his shoulder, as his own gripped the orbs that hovered under them. “Take us to Solar” she said. “We must speak with the High Solar Peter about the dilemma of the Demons, and the dragons that are said to defeat the Dark One.” Tim nodded, and moved the orbs forwards. As he did this, the wings folded back even more, to reveal two huge boosters on either side of the ship. The new engines that were there lit up the sky as the previous quads had, and increased their speed even more.

“With the fold system semi-operational, I don’t want to risk damaging it further… sad to say, it is the one part of the ship the Dragon’s decided not to connect to my body, seeing as how it would post a greater risk upon me…” said Tim. Nora nodded, and then said, “And correct you are Tim. Give me an ETA…”

Turning his head briefly, Tim looked at her, and said, “One day, two hours, seventeen minutes, thirty six seconds and counting down…” A smirk crossed the Archon’s façade, and she replied, “Always right you are…” Looking towards the monitors, she then went over, and took her seat behind and to the left of Tim. “Let us go then…” she said finally. Moving the orbs even farther forwards, Tim let the energy from the engines move to its maximum, pushing the ship further into the dark.

“You might be interested to know that in doing that fold so quickly before… we’ve jumped three years into the future…” he said to her, reading one of the monitors, but showing almost no emotions. “What?!” exclaimed Lady Nora, confused and bewildered at the fact that they were that far into the future. “Tell me Solar is still there…” Tim nodded, and she sighed, a bit of relief crossed her brow in this time of turmoil.

As the time went on through the day, Tim controlled the dragonship without any difficulties, considering he was just severely injured the prior day. Uneventful, the trip was, and Lady Nora fell asleep once more, awaiting their arrival at Solar, the planet of the Solars.

“We are nearing the defense network,” Tim said, and turned to Lady Nora. “Would you like to tell them we’re not against them? Or should I try convincing those defense orbs?” His skepticism was amazing, as well as his sarcasm, and unfortunately Lady Nora knew he was entirely correct in what needed to be done. Taking the mic from the consul in front of her, she punched up a channel on the tacnet, and then said, “This is Lady Nora, Archon of Voice, aboard the Dragonship, code name Ragnarok, requesting permission to enter the Defense Network…”

The orbs in front of the huge dragonship didn’t even come close to the size of the dragonship. This creature would easily be able to breach the defense network, now that Tim has awoken. “Lady Nora?! Is that you!? This is Gandon, Archon of Time, it’s a battle zone down here, Don’t even try to get through the defense network. Gabriel’s here, and with a vengeance!” called Gandon, one of the five Archons. Nora gasped, and then looked towards Tim. He immediately punched up a screen of the surface, and indeed they could see the storm that was unleashing itself upon Solar.

Thousands of troops of Fallen Angels had breached the planet’s defense network, on the opposite side of the planet, but they had managed to get about half way around. “They can’t hold out for long….” said Lady Nora. “We go in, prepare the Ragnarok for combat Tim.” As she said this, the command center door slid open, and Cerberus was standing outside of it, unable to fit through. Lady Nora, this isn’t a good idea, we’re outnumbered! I thought Sir Alan had killed Gabriel? he spoke, his telepathy clear and perfect for everyone in the command center to hear. “It’s a chance we must take. Tim, are you able to transform into you’re warrior mode in this form? Or is this just a good defensive form?” she asked the pilot of the dragonship.

“We can transform, but our mobility will be extremely reduced… this is the dragonship’s juggernaught form. It can take a great deal of damage, and has excellent weaponry, but its mobility sucks.” He replied to her, and then began moving the huge lumbering dragonship into the defense network as Lady Nora had previously instructed him to.

The huge ship began to move through space once more, its wings folded out in front of it, creating a barrier, and opening up the shields on the frontal hull to prepare for defensive maneuvers. In between the wings, one huge cannon extended outwards, but countless others came out of the hundreds of slits that opened up on the wings. Its engines roared a bit, and then compensated for the planet’s gravitational field so as to make the ride down to the surface a hopefully smooth one.

Silver orbs, not even coming close to a hundredth of the size of the Ragnarok began firing at it. The white beams lanced off the frontal shields as if they were mere mosquito bites. Tim sat in the cockpit thinking that their decent wouldn’t be much of a problem, as the shields of Juggernaught Ragnarok could take almost any number of hits, even one from a Longinus class beam weapon. Moving the orbs forwards in his hands, Tim closed his eyes, and in his mind saw his hundreds of silver orb targets, very easy to spot, and much easier to dispose of.

The beams shot forth from all of the smaller turrets, slashing through the hundreds of defense orbs he had targeted. Holes bore right through them, and their explosions rocked the atmospheres, and signaled the coming of something the fallen angels on the ground would not want to face. ‘Raising heat shields’ said the computer monitor above Tim. ‘Preparing for atmospheric descent, in 10… 9… 8… 7…’ As the computer was counting down, more of the orbs replaced the destroyed ones, still sending their single and twin beams forth to the oblivion that was the wings of the Ragnarok. ‘3… 2… 1… Entering atmosphere, Crew is advised to prepare for descent. Crew is advised to prepare for descent…’

After the computer had finished its warnings, it became silent, waiting for its pilot’s instructions. The heat shields went up on the Ragnarok, and if one was looking up from the ground, it would look as though a huge meteor was heading straight for them. But that was not the case, for as soon as the Ragnarok broke through the atmospheric tension, its wings folded back from its front, and expanded the shields to reach all around the ship.

Down on the ground, things were a mess. Tim opened up the viewport, and they could see the destruction that had hit the golden planet. Half of the gold was now blackened, through battle after battle, under the strain of fighting against Gabriel. They could see Angels fighting Fallen Angels, and vice versa. Swords flashed, as did lasers, slashing through black and white wings alike. The tower which the fallen angels were surrounding was no doubt the Archen of Time’s last resort. He hadn’t enough power within him to reverse or forward time as it was right now, and would not even attempt it.

Gazing out the viewport of the large rectangular tower, he looked onwards, and then turned to a man looking much older, wiser, and more powerful than him. He had three halos surrounding him, one upon his head, and two on his shoulders. Bowing to his knees, he then said, “Your eminence, the final tower is lost… even with the Dragonship’s power before us, it will not be enough to stop the waves of enemies Gabriel has brought… We must leave now…”

The High Solar Peter looked down upon the Archen of time, moving forwards, and placing a hand upon his shoulder. “Rise Gandon, I shall stay here… you take a battalion of angels, and head for the dragonship… ride with them, and protect them… This is my final command to you,” he said, and then turned around, making his way back to the chair he would sit in for his ending moments.

Gandon couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but did what he was told. Turning, he then said to the angels within the room, “Come now, we make haste for the Ragnarok…” Turning his head to gaze at his leader once more, he said, “It was a pleasure serving your Eminence…” Once more the bearded Archen turned, and led his angels out of the room. Making their way to the lower floors of the tower, he then pulled out a comlink, and radioed Lady Nora. “Lady Nora, Orders have come down from his Eminence, we are to leave the tower, and join you in the Ragnarok,” he said, then opening the port he led his battalion of angels out onto the platforms.

The huge ship loomed over them, as it descended, and extended its walkway. “Hurry! Into the Ragnarok!” yelled Gandon over the loud roars of the engines. The twenty angels that had accompanied him made their way into the ship, and he followed them on, the gates closing behind him. Looking back towards the tower he had once defended, he felt the ship move upwards, and make its way through the atmosphere, green beams lancing from its turrets, destroying any obstacles in their way.

Back in the tower, Peter sat upon his chair, a plain wooden chair, one that he had learned to cherish throughout the ages. He could hear the rumbling beneath him, and the angels below screaming as they were overrun by the Fallen Angels that invaded his tower. Sighing, he waited, ever so patiently, for he knew he had to go down with the ship, or tower in this instance. Time seemed to pass so slowly, but then he heard the metal door slide open. In through the door came a Fallen Angel, but not just any, it was Gabriel himself, whom has been resurrected into a Fallen Archangel. “Resurrected once more to serve him… I guess that foolish holy dragon lost his life for no reason… Just like you shall lose yours…” he said, the air cooling around him, and a crisp wisp of air flowing from his mouth as he spoke.

Peter stood up, and looked towards Gabriel. “Alan was but a holy dragon, I am the High Solar… you shall not have this planet!” he exclaimed. With his words, a grand light began to fill the room, and Gabriel almost started to shun away from it. “I think it’s time you learned your place amongst these angels… Without your six wings!” he said as he lunged forwards towards the High Solar.

The light grew brighter, but this time, it didn’t faze Gabriel. He was much more powerful than on earth, and as he wrapped his large black feathered wings around Peter, he smiled, bringing his gaunt face close to Peter’s. “Don’t worry, it shall be quick and painless…” he whispered in his ear, and then grabbed the top two wings of Peter, and ripped downwards, grabbing the other two sets as he made his way down. Screaming in agony as his two should halos dimmed, and the red blood poured from what was once his beautiful wings, he fell to his knees.

Lifting his head up to look at Gabriel once more, he gasped, as the Fallen Archangel kissed his cheek, then grabbed his throat, and pushed inwards with his thumbs, crushing the High Solar’s larynx, asphyxiating him. Attempting to breath, the Solar had been reduced to a mere mortal, and when the final blow came to kill him, he prayed deep down inside that the Ragnarok would succeed. His head fell to the ground, and Gabriel cleaned the blood from his scimitar. “Job complete…” he said, smiling, and then turning to exit the room, having killed the High Solar Peter.

Back on the Ragnarok, things were shaky, but they managed to make it out of Solar’s atmosphere, with minimal damage inflicted. Lady Nora stood there, watching the darkness of space out of the viewport, and then placed a hand upon Tim’s shoulder. “Good job getting us out of there…” she said, but her congratulations were short lived. An alarm began blaring, and Tim looked at a monitor, pulling up a screen on the viewport. “We have three Demonships on our tail. I’m going to have to restructure us for the mobility mode…” he said.

Concentrating on the orbs, the five mile long Juggernaught Ragnarok began to shrink, its wings almost dissolving. It because a smaller ship than it had been, cutting its size to about a tenth of what it was. As it did this, the head became more shaped like the normal dragonship’s cockpit, looking like the head of a dragon. The wings became smaller, but more defined, splitting into three parts on either side. The quadruple engines shrunk as well, but became longer, and move versatile and powerful. Two large clawed arms extended outwards, and the brilliant red color of the Ragnarok became brighter.

“We are now transforming, everyone strap yourselves into something, I can’t guarantee your safety…” Tim broadcasted to the entire ship. Gandon opened the door to the Command center, and Nora looked at him. “Take a seat, lest you might find yourself smashed in a small corner of the room,” she said. Quickly following her instructions, he took a seat, making sure to strap himself tightly into it.

As the Demonships came on approach, one came up directly behind the newly transformed Ragnarok. The other two began to pull up on either flank. The armor of the ship seemed to rip open like flesh, and cannons began to line the sides of the Demonships. Tim smiled, as he concentrated on the orbs, which began to glow a deep hue of blue. As this happened, the Ragnarok began yet another transformation. The clawed arms extended outwards, and the ship began to roll over from its current position. As it did, the quadruple engines split apart, the upper two moved up on the ship’s backside, to give it a better amount of mobility, and the other two shut down, clawed feet extending from their sides, to form the legs of the dragon ship. The wings spread out, and began to glow, upgrading the speed of the Ragnarok as they would provide it with a motion booster on each wing. The cockpit extended outwards, and forwards, forming the head of the Dragonship, and as the arms finished their extension, it would complete the final transformation to Warrior Ragnarok.

“Heat readings coming from the Demonships on the sides,” announced the computer. It would take split second timing, and as experienced of a pilot Tim was, he was unsure if he could pull the maneuvers required to defeat, or outrun three demonships. Two might have been possible, but without the Solaris with him, he would have a much more difficult time. Eyes glowing a bright red as did the orbs under his hands, the force put on the crew was about to be momentous. Bright red blazes of energy flowed forth from the Demonships, and just as they were about to hit the Ragnarok, it’s engines lit up, creating and upwards force that allowed the beams to strike directly under it, but continuing on to slash into the sides of either of the two demonships.

Moving upwards, the Ragnarok’s main cannon opened up, and began to warm up. It would only take a few seconds before the green beam sliced forwards to slam into the demonship on its right side. An explosion flowed out into space, and the direct hit severely damaged the ship. As it began to veer off course from the Ragnarok, another volley of red beams flew forwards to strike at the Ragnarok. Placing its claws in front of it, the shield raised up, blocking all but one beam, which hit one of the wings, taking a better portion of it out, and reducing the mobility booster to ashes. Spinning up and around, the Ragnarok aimed its main cannon at the second demonship, letting loose another blast, but having it be deflected by the demonship’s frontal shield. The demonship that was behind the Ragnarok began to move forwards, and opened its frontal bay. Out of it, ten demon fighters emerged, all powered by the souls of the dead.

As they began to swarm around the Ragnarok, Tim pushed the orbs forwards a little, increasing the engine output, and attempting to compensate for the loss of one of six mobility boosters. As good as the dragon’s had developed these ships, they did have the intelligence, or perhaps in this case, the stupidity to put in a limit breaker. “I might have to turn off the limit breaker,” yelled Tim. Nora knew what this meant, as did most people. Usually with the limit breaker off, the only one that can survive within the ship was the pilot, for their bodies were designed specifically to do that. “We need to evacuate the ship, so that you can take care of these, or can you fold out?” she yelled over the screeching sound of the explosions around them. “It will be nearly impossible to fold out, I need at least ten or so minutes of concentration to pinpoint an exact route, otherwise we might travel through space and time to an unknown destination again!” he yelled back. Nora frowned, and felt the ship lurch as it was hit by one of the demon fighter’s beams. “Give me a break!” Tim said, and then a thought occurred to him.

“I’m going to use the call, and see if I can’t trace another dragonship in the vicinity… they won’t be able to resist coming to help,” he said. “The chances of that are slim to none Tim!” yelled Gandon. “The only two known dragonship’s in commission are the Ragnarok and the Solaris!” Tim grunted and they could see bruises starting to form on his body from the damage the demon fighters were doing. The Ragnarok moved in an upward direction, its side cannons managing to slice away two of the demon fighters, and lay another hit on the second demonship. “I can’t fold, I can’t handle all of these guys by myself, I need help!” he screamed outwards, and suddenly, the saw his arm snap in two, the bone breaking out of the skin, the blood flowing forth, and the Ragnarok’s left arm explode as a blade sliced right through it.

Tim began to concentrate as hard as he could, ignoring the pain that was being inflicted on him, as he had been created to do. The orbs under his hands began to glow orange, and the Ragnarok’s wings began to glow a bright yellow color. They sent out a way that would stretch for five parsecs, calling any operational dragonships in the area to his aid. He didn’t know if it would work, and suddenly there was a sharp pain in his stomach, as a direct hit slammed into the hull of the Dragonship. Him, and the ship were starting to die. They would not last much longer.

As everything began to fade from Tim’s sight, he could hear Nora shouting, “Stay awake Tim, you need to get us out of here!” He was almost floating in his mind, and then suddenly he heard the call back. “Dragonship Ragnarok, this is the Eternal, Pilot Caleb ready to assist, what is your situation?” His luck couldn’t have gotten any better. “Three demonships, one heavily damaged, One lightly damaged, one unharmed, seven demon fighters…” he said, and then added, “I am running at about 34 percent capacity, need assistance immediately”

A bright glow began to form in the space in front of the Ragnarok, and a second dragonship exited the fold orb. As it did, they could see it was about the same size as the Ragnarok, and same configuration. It’s hull was an aquamarine color, and it lit up its rear thrusters, moving towards the combat zone. As it did, it’s main cannon aimed towards the second demonship’s weak point, and laid out a blaze of energy into it. The green beam sliced through the second demonship. Of all the dragonships, the Eternal was one of the elite, for its pilot was one of the newest created, and most genetically advanced. The man in the pilot seat of the Eternal was a bit under six feet tall, an had dark brown hair, his eyes a mixture of green with a lighter green towards the pupils. As he moved his slim fingers around the orbs that lifted up from their seats, the Eternal moved forwards with one intent, the destruction of those harming his fellow comrade.

The second demonship began to cut off its chase, knowing it was too damaged to continue, which left the Eternal with one last demonship to take care of. It’s six wings began to glow brightly, and it flew downwards towards the last demonship. As it did, it came perpendicular with the center of its hull, two laser blades expanding outwards from its claws, slicing into the Demonship’s hull. It tore open a better part of the hull, and then aimed its main cannon downwards towards the ship’s reactor core, the heart of the demonship. A flash of green light, and the Eternal put its engines to maximum thrust, lifting it off of the demonship as the reactor exploded, and the demonship was torn from the inside out.

Nora watched on the viewport as the Eternal then quickly dispatched the demon fighters, they came up alongside the Ragnarok. “Eternal to Ragnarok, Are you okay? The damage to your hull looks pretty severe!” Caleb exclaimed. Tim was only able to grunt, and then fell over. “Life support systems kicking in,” the computers announced. Nora quickly got up, and went over to Tim, lifting him out of his seat once more as she had done before they had gone to Solar. “You just can’t stop getting beat up,” she whispered, and then took him to the Med lab once more, with Gandon following. “We shouldn’t have stayed to fight,” said Gandon. Nora looked at him as she allowed Mike to take care of Tim, an place him in the containment tank so as to start the repair process of his body, and the ship.

“We had no choice. I’m sure Tim worked out every other option before engaging the demonships,” she said. “Well, we are extremely lucky that of all the dragonships, the Eternal was still in commission… who is his pilot anyways? I’ve never even heard of him…” asked Gandon. “Caleb Kronick, one of the most advanced Pilots, also, I believe one of the first pilots to have any form of emotions placed in his genetic code… although, I think Tim and Sean have developed emotions as well, out of the random genetic variances…” she replied, and then began to head back to the command center, entering and picking up the comlink to radio over to the Eternal. “Pilot Caleb, can you hear us?” she asked.

“I read you loud and clear… is that Lady Nora? Archen of Voice?” he asked, curious as to if it really was, or if his sensors were playing tricks upon him. “Yes it is, good job on dispatching those demonships, but don’t let it get to your head, remember, Pride is a luxury we cannot afford anymore. Where the hell have you been anyways? The Eternal disappeared from our radar quite some time ago, and now you only return at the price of the call? You could have helped us out earlier if you were aware of the situation…”

“I was not aware of the situation at hand, as a matter of fact, I was sleeping when that weakling used the call. Was having pretty good dreams too, and I am allowed to be as proud as I want when I’m able to take on three demonships without needing assistance!” he shot back over the radio to her. Taken back a bit at his response Nora punched open a view screen to be able to see the pilot of the Eternal. “Now listen here young man, I don’t care if you can take on fifty demonships at once, you will not use that tone with me!” she yelled back. “Fine, however you want it, I helped you guys out, now I’m going to go do things worth my time, rather than sit here and watch your ship repair itself. Is that okay with you?” he asked, a grimace on his face showing he was indeed unhappy about having been awaken at such an early hour.

“Go do what you want, thanks for the help,” she said, a cross look on her face showing him that she did not approve of his actions, even though he did save them. A smirk crossed the young pilot’s face. “You can’t get rid of me that easily… You owe me now,” he said. “Oh hogwash, we don’t owe you anything but thanks, you were called by a fellow dragonship pilot, to help, it’s in your basic genetic code, there is NO way we owe you anything…” she replied, getting irritated. “No wonder you were thought to be decommissioned or dead, no one obviously wanted to deal with your sarcasm and cynicism.” Caleb looked at her through the screen, and then said, “Well, I can be back now if you want me to be, I’d obviously be of some use in whatever you’re trying to accomplish, and I think I’ve had enough sleep for now…”

Nora looked at him, and then sighed. “So long as you cut it out with the sarcasm.” Caleb’s grin broadened, and he then said, “Well, it’s nice to be a part of the team, where are we off to?” Nora replied, “You could at least wait till Tim is fully healed, and the ship is fully repaired… Or, I think you can track down my great grandson, his name is Bob… he is one of the holy dragon triumvirate. If you can manage to find out where he is, we would be more than thankful. Try checking the planet earth first… we also need any information you can give us as to what happened there… Last we knew, the sun exploded, and probably destroyed a better portion of the planet…”

“Sounds boring…” he said, and then looking down towards the orbs his hands were on and then back up again, debating on his next words as a response. “But I’ll do it, for the sake of you asking. Is there anything else you want me to do in the mean time?” he asked, wondering if the old crone had any other jobs for him to do. “Oh yes, and by the way, what am I getting out of this?” Lady Nora sighed and then looked up at him. “You get to be in my good graces,” she said, extremely bluntly. “That should be good enough for now.”

“Fine, I’ll be off then…” he said, and closed the channel. Looking through the viewport in front of him, he began to relax his mind, and focus upon the fold cortex, and activating it, placing in the exact destination that he would be heading towards. As the orbs under his hands began to glow a bright white, everything began to get hazy around him. It was about ten minutes, and then on the outside of the Eternal, a large bluish orb formed, concealing the ship. It then shrunk down to nothing, and the Eternal disappeared from sight.

Nora watched as it happened, and then sighed. My lady, what are we going to do until Tim heals? asked Cerberus, whom had opened the door, and snuck one head in. Turning towards him, she said, “All we can do is wait, and hope that Caleb is able to get the information I sent him for, and return before the demonships do…” Yawning a bit, she then walked out of the command center, and then headed towards the living quarters. Entering her room, she sat upon the bed, and sighed. So much turmoil around us… Will we ever be able to live in peace? She thought as she laid her head on the pillow, eyes closing to fall into a slumber once again...