"I'm not sure," I replied in answer to her first question. "So much has changed that I can hardly believe it the same universe. I recognize nothing, not even the language we are speaking. Your words are alien, yet I understand them; I reply by translating and transmitting my thoughts to your communications device." Again, I might have sighed, but without breath, that was impossible. "Nothing is as it was . . . "

Her second question made me a little suspicious of her motivations, but I pushed that aside. I did not ignore my misgivings, merely noted them and filed them away. The remains of my pod were all I had in this universe, still I had little reason to lie or withhold information.

"My pod was like nothing known to Drakken science. It resembled nothing so much as a great crystalline egg which cracked open when I awoke. I did not examine it carefully, but I do not remember any circuitry or electricity, yet I know it sustained me for quite some time and could have done so for a very long time to come. But you can see for yourself; it is just up ahead . . . " I paused, for something had changed in my absence.

"I do not remember this cave," I stated, bewildered. "And my pod is gone!" My mind leapt to thoughts of treachery, but it made no sense. Destiny had been quite a ways away and I do not think her companion could have circled around and taken the pod. Plus the mysterious cave . . . I was sure it had not been there before.

"Here is where it sat, cradled in this depression," I noted, kneeling by the spot. "And here are the first marks I made with my claws as I climbed out." I pointed to some faint scratches on the barren ground. "But the pod is gone."

I stood and looked into the cave. It seemed a straight tunnel bored perfectly into the rock. It was conveniently (and suspiciously) Drakken sized, as though it had been made with me in mind. "Perhaps it is within."

She paused at hearing that turning towards him. “Really?” Scorch was surprised if Galactic Basic seemed so alien then he had to be well away from his home. Maybe even a different galaxy. Was that possible? Krisna was from a different time so Scorch had realized that there were all sorts of strange possibilities and she had even been to an alternate dimension once herself though she did not enjoy that experience.

“Perhaps you're a lot further from home than you realize.”

Draaken … she was not familiar with the species though this pod made little sense to her. Krisna knew all the weird sciences and had access to things that she would even term as science fiction, they were so beyond the sciences others possessed. For a full analysis of the pod it would have been useful for her to be here, she knew the value of art objects, things with a monetary worth she could estimate though it was simple curiosity that drove her forth though as he mentioned not remembering this cave her blaster game up and she was already scanning the area for danger seeing little more than the dangerous steam vents.

“Gone?” They were the only two on the planet as far as Scorch realized though she had missed his presence so could have missed others too.

She too checked the ground but could only see the marks he made earlier. There had been none that she had noticed that went to the cave from her and these here were signs that he had traveled from that region.

She was just as baffled by this. “Perhaps.” She looked at him not seeing any weapons she removed her plasma pistol handing it to him. “Here. Just in case, something seems off here. Let's take it slowly.”

She would advance towards the cave with caution using the blasts from those vents to add concealment as she moved towards that entrance just encase ...

I regarded the tiny weapon dubiously. Though of obviously alien make, it resembled something like the target pistols I had trained with in my youth. The pistol was dwarfed by my hand and I doubted I could really fire it properly. Had another Drakken offered me such a weapon, it would have been a great insult, but I alowed for the uniqueness of the situation and the nature of the offering party. As soon as I touched the pistol, I instanly knew everything about its specifications. Underpowered by Drakken standards, it was still servicable, and fully loaded.

Wordlessly, I took the gun and nodded, falling in behind the little female as she advanced carefully. As we neared the cave opening, I could see it was staight as an arrow and led deep into the mountain. It was neither natural, nor worked with any tools that I knew of, having been formed as though the rock itself was simply reshaped to suit the tunnelers' purpose. I began to suspect who or what had created this pathway and that our weapons and caution were neither adequate . . . nor necessary.

When I passed the threshhold, I suddenly felt my lungs fill with fresh air. Unlike the thin, sulfurous atmosphere outside, the cave contained an oxygen rich mixture. Strangely I knew the exact composition - 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 1% trace gases. It was a little off by Drakken standards, but breathable. I suspected it was actually for Destiny, though, as I had demonstrated a need not to breathe.

"I think you can take your helmet off," I said aloud for the first time, my rich bass voice reverberating through the cave. "And I think we are in no danger - at least none we could deal with at any rate."

Scorch faced the cavern with a degree of caution, rifle at the ready. If the planet had no atmosphere the pistol would not have fired but she knew that it was just unbreathable by humans and should function fine. The plasma pistol adapted to various atmospheres to cause a spark within it. It was downright suicidal to use it in a methane rich environment though which neither of them had to worry about.

But there was air here, or so he said there was. She hesitated before using the HUD in her helmet to get a sensor reading of her immediate area. She loved this armor for it's various applications and saw that it was breathable. The sensors of the armor were fairly limited to just a meter or two and tracked only atmospheres as well as having a targeting computer that weapons could be linked to though normally she would have linked up her rifle she was not expecting trouble on a barren world and did not bother.

Cracking the seal on her helmet she shook out her auburn tresses and took a deep breath.

“It's a little stale but definitely breathable.” She clipped her helmet onto her belt and tried to figure out this place. It was as if the air had not circulated, as if someone switched on a light that was powered by an energy saver and thus it would take a few minutes to fire up to full capacity.

She had wondered if someone was here, if someone was planning to address her. She'd need stronger sensors to figure out how the environment had been contained as she did not pass through any obvious force fields that contained the environment unless one sprang up after her passing trapping her here.

“Any idea what this place is?” She lowered the rifle again, it would probably do her no good any way as whoever was behind this had superior tech it seemed. Yup, Krissy would have had a field day with this stuff, may be even would have seen it as old fashioned she never got a sense as to how far from the future she was only that there were a lot of things that she could not speak of.

I was a little suprised that the air seemed stale to my companion, but even as she spoke, there came a gentle breeze from deeper within the tunnel. It wafted pure, balmy air past us and out the cave entrance. Somehow, I doubted it actually left the tunnel, though. It likely just stopped at the threshhold. If they were behind this, I doubted anything as simple as force fields or atmospheric scrubbers were at play.

"I'm not sure exactly," I replied. It was good to breathe again!. "But I have some suspicions as to who or what has created this place." I handed Destiny's pistol back to her. I sensed no danger here, and the primitive weapon wouldn't have been very helpful in any case. "It seems I won't be needing this after all."

I was taken aback as I beheld Destiny's uncovered countenance. It was the first time I had beheld a human being and nothing in my experience prepared me for it. The only aliens I had ever known before were Nemesis, and even those I had never seen in the flesh. Further, there had never been any mammalian primates on any of the worlds in the Drakken empire, so I didn't even have anything to compare her to. She was as strange to me as I, undoubtedly, was to her. Though not unshapely, her face was flat by Drakken standards with no muzzle to speak of. Her skin seemed smooth and soft, devoid of scales.

But what really caught my attention was her hair. Some Drakken had frills that hung down from their crowns, but nothing like the cascade of dark red silken strands that Destiny sported. It was a remarkable sight unparalleled in my experience. And strangely attractive. I felt a desire to reach out and touch that flowing mane, but I resisted.

Slightly embarassed, I turned and looked further down the passage. It was lit with a gentle white light with no apparent source. The illumination seemed famliar to me, though the last time I had seen it, it had been blinding. More evidence that my suspicions were correct. At this point, we had a choice: continue on, or turn back, I, for one, had no intention of leaving at this point - I had nowhere else to go.

"I suggest we proceed," I said, gesturing down the passage. I could see that it opened up into some sort of chamber 50 meters further in. "Though I doubt we would be prevented from leaving, answers lie in that direction. Plus, I'll bet the chamber ahead matches the cooridinates gleaned from your map, though I doubt the Hel'Corians placed any treasure there."

I started down the passage, keeping to a pace that would allow my companion to keep up if she so wished. The mysterious light grew brighter as I approached the chamber, but never grew to the intensity I remembered. So much the better. The passage was devoid of the gas jest that plagued the surface outside and remained a constant even temperature.

Upon entering the room, I found it to be a perfect hemisphere with a radius of 10 meters. The large space was starkly empty save for two things. One was a crystal monolith placed in the exact center of the chamber. Nearly five meters high, it was fully a meter across where it emerger from the ground. It rose straight as an arrow save for the last half meter, where it tapered quickly to a point. The whole of it glowed and pulsed from within, displaying ever changing dendritic patterns across its faceted sides.

Sitting near that grand edifice was a giant violet crystal 'egg' studded with precious and semi-precious gems: My pod, made whole and uncracked as though I had never emerged from it - or even been in it in the first place.

She took the pistol from him holstering it again. She turned her attention down the corridor after noting his stare reminding herself that he had probably never seen a human before. At least she had not picked up any lustful stares though she was no stranger to having been with aliens before being thrown into the Arena in fixed fights or otherwise on the behalf of her sister … well, Vespira had her now.

Whatever had been generating the air kicked in telling he that her assumption that the air had to begin to cycle had been right. No sense in having it turned on before she had got here given the fact that he seemed to either breath this atmosphere or not at all. Scorch nearly asked him what he had been looking at though she sensed no malice, simple curiosity perhaps.

Traveling down the passage there had been no signs of anyone else present though when they came to that room she beheld the spire briefly.

It was probably the energy source of this place and she had no idea about it. Maybe she would take Krissy out here at one point to analyze this. She liked this sort of thing though she gasped at seeing the pod and couldn't help but approach.

This was probably the place the Hel'Corians indicated though none of this was Hel'Corian make as far as she could tell. “This is your pod?”

The gemstones had been something she had not understood, were they vital in some way though it was clear that the pod was worth a small fortune as she made a quick count of the stones and pecked inside the pod to see if the interior had been as extravagant.

Clearly she had been impressed by it as she circled it as she counted up those stones by type though there were a few she had not identified as well. The violet pod near the edifice struck her fancy.

“I don't even have to double check, the coordinates were marking this place, I'm sure of it but how did the Hel'Corians learn of it and why had they not tried to remove it?” She spoke aloud to herself as she worked through the various possible answers to her own questions.

More and more, I felt my suspicions were correct. Though I had not actually witnessed any of the Makers' technology before awakening, the construction of my pod made me feel they had an affinity for crystals. It seemed obvious to me that they had set up this chamber for both me and my companion. If that was true, then they had to have known Destiny was coming here. And it seemed my pod had been designed to appeal to her.

"Yes," I responded to her first query while moving to join her. "That is my pod, though it was cracked open when last I saw-" I cut off suddenly as there was a bright flash from the central crystal. When the light faded, evrything had changed. The walls of the chamber were gone, the ceiling was gone, even the floor. It was as though we had been transported into space, standing on nothing yet still surrounded by a comfortable atmosphere. The crystal obelisk and my pod rested where they had in the chamber, but there was no ground to hold them.

Yet we were not alone in this space. All about us a scene played out. Thousands of ships filled the sky above an austerely beautiful mountainous world. Bulbous flame-winged Drakken cruisers fought bravely against a force ten times their number. The elongated egg-shaped Nemesis destroyers swarmed among them, each only half the size of their opponents. It was a scene I knew well.

"This was my last battle . . . " I murmurred. Yet my voice was clearly audible as the ballet of death around us was silent. It played out completely unaware of our presence, yet flowed around us as though we were a rock in a stream. Still, somehow I felt it was not some holographic image we saw , more like veiwing the past from inside a bubble in space and time.

Suddenly, our bubble was moving, rushing throught the massive battle. We zipped along in a straight line that seemed to just happen to coincide with gaps in the deadly lattice of ships and fire. Despite the magnitude of our apparent velocity, there was no feeling of inertia neither when we accelerated nor when we stopped.

"There is my cruiser," I explained as we neared a large ship under siege by a dozen of the smaller Nemesis marauders. "We were under heavy fire . . . " The ship shuddered under the withering assault, pulse wave blasts like ripples in space bypassing its shields to slam against the hull.

"Any second now . . . " The great ship cracked open, decompressing explosively. Amid the freezing atmosphere and debris, hundreds of Drakken tumbled into space. A particularly mangled specimen floated by close to us, and though it was unrecognizable, I knew it was me. A second later the battered corpse disappeared in a flash of light; 'saved' by the Makers.

I glanced toward Destiny and was surprised to see that her armor and gear as well as whatever clothing she had worn beneath were gone - vanished, as though they had never been. A quick glance downward confirmed that my codpiece was gone as well. What hung between my thighs seemed more natural than the rest of me, but I had no time to ponder either of these developments.

A bright flash, indeed several, jerked my attention back to the space around us. Brimstarre's five great suns had all exploded at once. It must have happened several minutes ago and would be several minutes yet before the blastwave hit. Still I stared in shock as I knew what had happened. I had heard rumors, but had never thought it was possible.

"The final solution . . . " I whispered and, to my surprise actually shed a tear. I hadn't thouught that possible either. I could only stare out at the chaos, all other thoughts driven from my mind. Most of the ships seemed unaware of the danger as yet, but soon enough the expanding walls of fire loomed outward, converging on my doomed homeworld. Just before the blasts would have obliterated everything, I noticed the teltalle flash of a ship entering hyperspace - the Nemesis Flagship. Then the scene shifted.

Now we stood in another grand chamber, domed and circular. three-quarters of the outside wall featured open air windows through which the magnificent mountains of Brimstarre, my home, could be seen. The center of the room was bare stone, but soft multicolored cushions lined the outer rim. The crystal obelisk and pod were gone now as well. However, I barely noticed these things, still seeing the end of my world and that one fleeing ship. Could they actually have escaped? Had our leaders destroyed our world for nothing?

“What the -” her eyes blinked with the flare up of those lights and when they cleared she was standing their in space as if she were the main exhibit in a planetarium. There was still gravity, still atmosphere though and it was obvious that they had not gone anywhere at all.

It was amazing to say the least. But that was not all. It was as if the advanced aliens wished to show her something, a space battle with ships whose configurations she had not known though in short order she could see who was on who's side. The smaller craft were fighters of some sort and with the way a bunch of ships had been lump together to provide a better defensive front rather then getting picked apart she could determine the sides and that one was severely overwhelmed by the other to the point that she understood a few things.

These were mortal enemies or ones that took no prisoners, why else fight such a hopeless battle? Perhaps the other ships were stalling for time or charged with defending a particular space lane. She could not say though her money had been on mortal enemies or at the least an invading force of some kind. Scorch watched the battle play out though it was far more likely they were the last defenders of that world and thus fighting to the last in this desperate battle.

She nodded at his words as she watched the last battle. Was this a memory? A holographic image? Soon it felt as if they were moving to get a better look weaving in and out of the fray … a memory but not his, that thought pressed into her mind as it was clear that it could have been the thoughts of something else.

As if on cue the cruiser cracked open. Those shots bypassing the shields and it was tough to say if there were some sort of advanced weapon at work or the shield generators had been overloaded by the intense attack, probably the later given what she saw of the battle thus far with the other ships.

There was a body then it was gone. It was close as if this alien entity plucked it out of existence and she had been so entranced in what was going on that she had not noticed her nakedness. The five suns went off as one …

A weapon? Ritual suicide rather than defeat? Was defeat that bad given what the enemy would do to them? She could not say seeing how she didn't know the species involved though it seemed to hint at the case.

That answered that, a final solution though a ship did manage to flee the scene. Was it quick enough or did the wave of intense energy distort the readings of the ship destroying it in hyperspace as a pocket in space time had been opened up around them some of that energy could have been sucked in along with the ship itself.

It was amazing though as the scene shifted once more she noticed that she was now naked. Staring at an arm though making no move to cover herself. Millions had seen her in the Arena after all and having so many eyes upon her had been something she had grown accustom to. She did wonder about her state of undress and blinked.

Apparently these aliens were curious about other things as well. She look towards him, confused at her state of being, her mind still processing what she saw. She had wanted to apologize about his home, it was obvious that that was his home or at least the home of his species, though this sudden nakedness sprang to mind.

“What's going on? What are they doing?”

Destiny's questions echoed in my ears as my mind struggle to process what I have seen. Slowly I became aware of the shift in our surroundings. It was another place I knew well. What were they doing, in deed?

"I'm not sure why they showed you all that," I said. "I was present for all but the last . . ." I stared out a window for a moment, seeing the end of my world again even as I beheld its majestic mountains. The juxtaposition of images made my head spin, but I pulled myself together. I was Drakken and I would not let even something so terrible break my spirit.

I turned toward the human woman and was taken aback again by her nudity. I had almost forgotten due to the spectacle we had witnessed. Despite her alienness, I found her quite pleasing to look at. She had a similar overall shape as a Drakken female, though noticeably smaller and lacking a tail. Beside that, the most stiking difference was the fleshy mounds on her chest. A Drakken woman's chest was a smooth as my own. Yet even this oddity was pleasant, even alluring. Much like the cascade of silken red strands falling from her head, I wondered what what they would feel like. As I appraised the woman's figure, I began to feel a familiar sensation - a kind of fullness in my testacles. It seemed the Makers had kept at least part of my anatomy intact.

Suddenly, the cushioned lined chamber and our nudity made a sort of bizarre sense. They wanted to know if we were compatible. Or maybe wanted to show us we were compatible. And from what I could see, it certainly looked like we might be. Still it was strange that I found this alien being so appealing. Had they made me this way, or had I always been a deviant?

"I think I know why we're nude in this chamber, though." I did my best to keep my eyes on hers. "This is a K'theshiss," I paused as I searched for a compatible word in her tongue. "A mating chamber."

She was uncertain as to why these aliens would show her what she had witnessed. The last moments of a planet, as far as she knew it was chalk full of these aliens though from the looks of it their resources had either dwindled down in size, had been thinned out by prior engagements or the other forces were just that much larger.

As a human she could only see so much of the space battle though it could have been that there were just an overwhelming number of enemy ships now that she had thought about it a bit. If these enemies were involved in an extermination of their enemies or proved to be conquerors then perhaps it had been in the design plan all along.

She got an answer as to why though as he made his observation of this place. “A what!?” A species obviously that advanced and yet curious … perhaps they hailed from the same region of deep space as he and thus had never encountered a human before.

Were those images meant to illicit sympathy? An understanding of a sort? She did not know as she processed it. More importantly though she had no equipment and would perish outside of this artificial chamber even if she managed to escape. The fact that these creatures could do these things so easily meant that they would get their way and there was nothing she could do about it.

She had to process this. She was angry but not at him, as far as she could tell he had no foreknowledge of this matter. “So, we are being watched by … whomever saved you? And what if I do not wish to play along with whatever they intend?” Basic questions of course, her mind was still analyzing this matter but it did not seem that there was any way out of this for her.

I started to struggle with a growing sense of need. Who knew how long it had been since I purged my excess? True, much of that time had been in a sort of stasis, but who knew where in my cycle the Makers had placed me? I suppose they knew, but they weren't talking.

"I know them as the Makers," I tried to remain detached as I attempted to explain, but being in the k'theshiss and my physiological state were taking a toll. I began to feel the pleasurable pre-pressure as my member readied to harden. I didn't know how long I could control it.

"I'm not sure if any are present or if this is all automated," I continued, avoiding looking directly at her. It became more and more difficult as my need grew. It was almost like the Maker's had just jump-started the system . . . Was that why they had arranged all this? Simply to give me a compatible partner? From what I knew of them, she should have had a choice, but maybe she had already made it without knowing exactly what it was. Perhaps her decision to follow the map they undoubtedly placed for her was enough for their alien thought processes. Still, why had they bothered to reconstuct this particular part of my anatomy? Unless it had still been intact after my 'death' . . .

I shook my head to clear my whirling thoughts, but that only served to renew the problem at hand. I needed to purge and was growing aroused. A potentially compatible and attractive female was nearby. The conclusion was almost inevitable.

"And I don't think either of our wishes are going to matter much longer." I looked directly at her again, by glowing green eyes taking in her luscious form. I couldn't control it anymore. I roared the familiar challenge, one that a Drakken female would know meant to defend herself from my advances (lust kept me from considering that Destiny might not understard, however). Then I rushed her. Her small stature made me overconfident and reckless. I moved for a straightforward grapple, attempting to overwhelm her with my sheer size.

“The Makers,” she repeated the word as she continued to think this over and considered what to do. In a way she was a fish in an aquarium. Should she escape as daunting as that was, first realizing she was trapped which she had figured out readily she would suffocate and die so she was stuck.

She did not even have someone to reason with. If they went through all this trouble then there mind was already made up. He was not looking at her now but his roar caught her off guard as she leapt, blue eyes wide.

He was rushing in and the setting was much like the Arenas that she had been in save that the audience wasn't live or might not have existed at all.

“SHIT!” She exclaimed, flame produced in both hands as she hurled a sphere of flame at him going for his legs rather then targeting anything that looked lethal. She leapt back as she flung the first generating a replacement once she tossed it. The second she charged up with greater heat, while her flames could burn with the intensity of plasma she had to charge up the intensity on her flames and thus worked best at least out at mid range. Her prized pistol ensured that she could snap off shots without having to charge up her attacks if at close range though or if concentration became an issue as it took a ton of focus to conjure up the Psionic flames.

It was clear that Destiny's reaction was quick, yet I felt as if I was acting on a whole different plane. It wasn't that things seemed slower but that I was percieveing and processing things more quickly than I was used to. Not that I had ever been any sort of slouch. In fact, I'm sure I could have dodged her attack completely if I hadn't been so reckless. As it was, I sidestepped most of the flaming blast but took a hit on my lower left leg.

As a Drakken, heat meant little to me and my new body seemed to be impervious to normal fire. The attack barely even registered as a sting, yet it was enough to temper my lust-crazed rush. Three thousand years of military training went into effect, focusing the rising blaze of my desire into a fusion lance. In a split second, I reassessed the situation. Several things stood out: first, she had attacked to hamper or disable, not to kill; second, she had fallen back after her first volley; and third, she seemed to be concentrating intently - presumably on the fire she was generating.

All this meant that her first attack had been a delaying tactic to give her time to prepare a more powerful one. As spectacular as her ability to conjure fire from thin air was, I doubted it could really hurt me severely, but there was always that chance. My best course of action was to press my assault - close the gap and try to interrupt her preparations.

It took no more time than that of a slight stagger for me to come to that conclusion. Then my rush continued but less recklessly and more focused than before. I ran low to avoid a high attack, while ready to leap over another low one. Once in position, but long before I was within arms' reach, I slid sideways into a spinning tail sweep, ready to use my momentum to twist back to my feet if I missed. A successful attack would leave us both prone, but I was fairly certain I could recover more quickly than my opponent.

She too could assess much though her mind had not been trained on military matters. Often when she was a pirate she had to plan out daring raids against highly armed targets. Often it was against lightly armed vessels that her Iron Vultures targeted though on occasion she had the need to target stronger or better prepared adversaries so she and her crew could procure whatever she had been after.

Scorch had some combat experience from the arena though he had far more. She was certain that her attack did less damage then she would have liked. First, she did not have the time to charge up the attack nor was she fighting to kill him either. Heat did not seem to phase him much though that could be because it wasn't too hot as much as because he had a resistance or immunity. The Hel'Corians had a resistance to energy attacks. She had two as members of her crew after all.

He went low and she went high this time targeting his shoulder instead of his leg with quick frequent attacks from her right hand though he was closing much too quickly to charge them effectively. When he neared though she side stepped as if he were another human, that tail lashing out at her, reminding her that it was present.

In that instant at such a close range she flung the sphere in her left hand directly into his face, he had seemed resistant at least and she doubted it would kill him, perhaps blind him temporarily, give her a moment to recover but there was that tail slap that connected a split second later dispelling the flames she had conjured up as air was driven from her lungs as she was driven back and down he following suit. She could hear him though she was a bit dazed where her body would not respond to her commands though she screamed at herself to get up all she could do was lay there for the moment and try to capture her breath again.