PARADISE

BY: TYLER CONRAD

COPYRIGHT 2007

Prologue

It happened long ago in the year 2550 in a disturbed galaxy closely resembling our own.  On the singular  continent of Killua something catastrophic was about to come to pass. A young scientist was anxiously mounting  an authoritative laser to obliterate an asteroid that was approaching the planet at a distressing rate. They  helplessly waited as a colossal mass of rock and ice a thousand miles in diameter hurled toward them. The explosion  would be substantial enough to completely eradicate the entire planet.
Three, two, one, the computer droned as it fired the laser directly at the asteroid. The resulting blast was  cataclysmic, vaporizing the asteroid to dust.  Not a soul could foresee what was to come. The laser penetrated  deep into space, growing larger as it hurled into the abyss.
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Bob awoke to the resonance of a siren wailing in the distance.  Examining the clock on his dresser Bob saw  that it was midnight. “What’s going on?” Bob asked himself as he clamored out of bed and got dressed. Just as Bob had finished slipping his shirt on a loud thump reverberated throughout the house. Bob ran to  the window, carefully pushing aside the blind.  Peering down he witnessed several heavily armed soldiers ramming the  door.  The soldiers arched back to give the door one last heave.  Although there were far stronger materials to  build a house from, Bobs' parents seemed to prefer the ancient ways.  He was living a twenty-first century lifestyle in the twenty- sixth century.  The house shook violently as the door splintered off its hinges and crashed to the floor. “Hello?” a deep voice boomed, “is anyone here?” Bob crept silently to the door opening it ever so tenderly, careful not to make a sound. He stalked down  the hallway, holding his breath as he went. It was all he could do to not scream.  He was home alone, his family on  a vacation at the far side of the solar system. Bob took the gravity lift down to the main floor.  No sounds came  from anywhere in the house.  This scared him more than the sight of the soldiers.  Silent as the grave he slipped  along the wall until he found the closet.  His father kept a small armourment in that closet.  It was one of the few  pieces of modern technology in the house. He reached inside feeling for the ion cannon. At that precise moment two  massive soldiers took hold of him and dragged him into the street. “What the hell! –Let me go!” Bob shouted as he was shoved into the back of a truck gorged with all his neighbors. “What’s going on?” Bob asked, “Where are they taking us?” “To a bomb shelter” the response came. Bob thought it was such an unpleasant, hostile remark coming from a girl  that young. “What do you mean?” Bob questioned him at a complete loss. “A strange object fell from the sky a couple days ago.  It knocked out everything electrical.” “How old are you?” Bob inquired noticing the dreadfulness in her eyes. “Thirteen” She sobbed, tears surging down her cheek. “Really” Bob mused, “I’m fourteen what’s your name?”  “Sara” the girl replied. “Well hello Sara” Bob whispered as he took her hand in his “my name is Bob.” “Bob” Sara whispered sleepily as she leaned into Bobs’ embrace and quickly dozed off. Bob yawned deeply and as he put his arm around her.  The enchanting aroma of Sara’s perfume lulled him  dead to the world within seconds.  Bob groaned as he slowly regained consciousness.  Every muscle in his body ached and it hurt when he  moved his arm to scrape the crud from his eyes. Scanning his surroundings, he found himself in a cavernous room.  Noticing the awkward position of his body and the strange, yet passionately inviting, feeling surrounding him.  Bob  soon realized that he was spooning this sex kitten.  This was obviously why he wasn't cold in such a large place and why she had been so friendly.  He looked  underneath the singular cotton sheet only to discover they both were completely naked. ‘She is so beautiful’ Bob thought to himself. “Uh” she moaned as she regained conciseness, “where are we?” At precisely that second, a terror-stricken soldier frantically ran through the door and wrenched Bob and  Sara out of bed handing them their clothes. “Hurry up and put these on” the soldier panted wearily, “we have to get out of here A.S.A.P.” “Where are we?” Sara asked. “No time for that” the soldier snapped, “they’re here, they’re in the building!” No sooner had the soldier finished his warning did they hear a mixed volley of erratic gunfire  and slow agonized screams. “What’s going on?” Bob questioned, the dread he was feeling now obvious in his voice. “NO TIME!” shouted the soldier “we have to go NOW!” And with that he dragged the now loosely dressed couple to the door of the clean room.  Cautiously the  soldier cracked open the door and peeked out into the hallway. Withdrawing a Magnum from his side holster he  pushed the two down the hall. “Oh my God!” both Bob and Sara shrieked in horrified union. The soldier pushed them down the hallway again. The last they saw of the soldier, he was unloading his clip  into the ravenous flesh-eating horde.
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Standing guard by the door Major Joe Johnson noticed something bizarre off in the distance.  He motioned  to a private to bring him a pair of night-vision goggles. After strapping them on his head he scanned the landscape.  Fear swept over him as a pack of undead creatures spilled out onto the street. They numbered in the millions.  All  rotten, all decaying. And yet they were nothing like the monsters he'd seen in the movies.  No, these abominations  looked as though they had been augmented. They emanated an eerie radioactive glow, bright violet against the night. “Oh shit,” Joe cursed like a drunken sailor opening fire on the unholy mob, “we’re surrounded!” “Fuck!” he shouted indescrupiously as his magazine ran dry. Discarding his now useless assault riffle Joe fled inside warning his platoon along the way. The safety of the  two civilians in the clean room was the only thing on his mind. After all, they where healthy and of breeding age.  When it was explained to him, the guard at the front desk  scrambled to lock down the base. But it was already too  late, as the ancient door came screeching down hundreds managed to make it into the compound. Joe  ran to the clean room where he knew that the boy and girl, who were the only civilians to have survived the ambush,  lay sleeping.  They had been attacked so suddenly, overwhelmed really.  Quickly grabbing their garments, which had  yet to be searched and decontaminated, Joe burst through the door to the clean room. “Hurry up and put these on” Joe panted wearily, “we have to get out of here A.S.A.P.” “Where are we?” the girl asked exhausted. “No time for that” Joe snapped, “they’re here, they’re in the building!” No sooner had Joe finished his warning did a mixed volley of frantic, erratic gunfire and slow agonized  screams emanate from the hall outside.  “What’s going on?” Bob questioned, many fears now obvious in his voice. “NO TIME!” Joe shouted, “We have to go NOW!” And with that he dragged the now loosely dressed couple out into the hallway while simultaneously withdrawing a  Magnum from his side holster. “Oh my God!” the two teens shrieked in horrified union.  Joe pushed them down the hallway and turned, unloading a clip from his pistol.  When there were no more  rounds left Joe ducked into the nearest door. As soon as the lock clicked shut, the door buckled it as the creatures pounded it from the other side. The door threatened to give way just as Joe pushed a desk against it.  He felt along the wall for the light switch and found it.  What he saw as he looked around slowed his heart beat and replaced his fear with a sense of security. He  was in his office, HIS office.  That meant only one thing; he could access the armory through a vent in the base of the wall. Joes’ office was the only one in the compound with that kind of access.  Grabbing a screwdriver  from his filing cabinet, Joe quickly removed the vent cover and crawled inside. He made sure to replace the covering behind  him.  Reaching the armory in less than a minute Joe stood up, trying not to make a sound.  He resisted the urge to  curse as he heard the sound of his door surrendering to the onslaught. Joe punched a code into a keypad on the wall and stood back.  A hidden panel swung away  to reveal his custom-made assault riffle. After loading the ammo pack to the A.R. he loaded himself down with extra ammo, just in case. Running  outside Joe was confronted by a wall of the abominations upon which he opened fire from the nozzle of the flamethrower.  He stopped in horror at what he saw next.  The entire base was overrun with them, including the transport hangar.  Joe checked the fuel gauge on the napalm canister. 'It's low' he thought, 'but it just might be enough to make a direct run.' With controlled bursts he cleared a small path in front him.  And then he ran, bursting flames as he went.  Joe nearly gagged on his bile at the smell of burning flesh.   He was about ten feet away when the canister ran dry.  Using the flamethrower as a club Joe fought the last ten feet. The crowd pressed in on him.  He climbed into the driver seat of  a heavily armored Hummer.  He could feel it rocking with the force of so many bodies on him.  Frantically he searches for the keys, everywhere he could think to look.  No luck.  Just then an idea struck him, he ripped open the passenger seat and found it.  They always kept a spare in one of the seats.  Joe slid the key into the ignition and fumbled with the key for a few seconds. "Come on you asshole" he seethed, "start fucker, start!" Harshly he turned the key and the engine roared to life.  Smashing his foot on the accelerator he pushed  his way through the millions now overrunning the compound.  Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the antimatter cannons fire their last shots.  That was when he realized, he was the only one who  made it out.  Everywhere he looked, the base was in ruins, flames engulfed everything. No matter how he tried to block it out, he could still hear his friends' dying screams.  The hundreds of men he came to love as family, and the one he came to love even more, were gone.  Accelerating toward the out skirts of town, Joe almost cried as he looked around him.  His beloved hometown lay in flaming ruins.  Feeling that something was wrong Joe looked up in the sky.  He stared in disbelief as he  witnessed Helios’ ten, once whole, moons lie in splintered shards.  He smashed the brakes to avoid hitting a group of cars that had turned the corner.  He was about to climb out and check them when a small light fell from the sky.  He woke up and spluttered because he couldn't breath at all.  The air bag had deployed and was ironically cutting off his air supply.  He fixed this with a sharp poke from his suits’ wrist knife.  Joe jumped back in his seat at the sight of a detached head on his windshield. “Come and get me bitches!” Joe screamed in a fiery rage and, turning on the windshield wiper, pushed through the crowd.
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'Three, two, one' the computer droned down ‘ignition.’ Now at full speed the prongs of the cannon began to glow an electric gold light.  Storing a growing ball of  pure energy. After awhile the cannon finally released its load, poring into the experimental super weapon.  'Increase power' the computer commanded, 'level 10 engaged.'  There was a small crackle as the gold beam split and  became braided with streams of red and violet energy.  'More power' retorted the machine.  'Rerouting critical systems' the computer responded, ‘level 12 engaged.  The beam now surged forward in brilliant pulses, feeding the machine. The engine thundered to life as the  machine lit up the ship like a miniature nova.  The weapon was now complete. A ship so powerful it could finally end  the war with the Beasts.  The Beasts had plagued them for many centuries.  The uncontrollable result of a batched experiment.   Abominations their ancestors had unleashed unto the universe. The Beasts were highly intelligent and learned quickly.   This was why they had not been wiped out entirely. But with the construction of the Atlantis superweapon, things  were going to change.
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They never looked back. Bob and Sara fled down the hall as expeditious as they possibly could. He realized it immediately when he heard her cry.  Bob turned to see Sara laying face first on the ground.  Running wildly back Bob picked Sara up on  his back and carried her through a door on his right. “Where are we?” Sara pondered as he set her down. “This must be where they keep the heavy artillery” Bob replied; numerous RPGs’ hung from the walls and a tank column lay before them. “Sara, I think we’re going to be O.K.” Bob said as he meandered over to where  Sara stood. “What do you mean?” Sara questioned puzzled. “I mean, we have a tank at our disposal” Bob answered. A glimpse of relief came to her face as she realized what this fact meant.  It meant that now they had a chance of getting out of this hell-hole. Jumping  forward with inhuman agility, Sara kissed Bob on the cheek and hugged him close to her. “Sara, I know we’ve only known each other a short while but I’ve grown rather fond of you” Bob whispered to her. “What are you trying to say?” a confused Sara asked. “What I’m trying to say is I want, I mean I'd like to . . . ” he explained. “On one condition” Sara teased, “I get to be fond of you.” Bob carefully picked her up as she slumped fast asleep in his arms.  Slowly he walked over to the nearest  tank and opened the hatch.  Bob gently lowered Sara and eventually himself into the tank. Positioning Sara carefully in  the rear of the tank Bob folded his shirt into a pillow and placed it beneath her head. Quickly flipping through the  tanks’ operations manual Bob found the right controls.  He fiercely blasted through the bulkhead doors, hearing only a faint BOOM through the armor.  Gliding  toward the street, they disappeared into the darkness.
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Peering down at the speedometer Joe could hardly believe he was going a hundred miles an hour. He plowed into the host of flesh-eating ghouls and gagged as he heard the sickening gnaw of bodies.  They shattered against the front bumper, splattering blood everywhere. It saturated the windshield, and choked the  engine within seconds.  The engine spluttered and cut out just as  he was clearing the horde and the hummer coasted to a stop a mile or so out of town. Retrieving his A.R. from the rear of the vehicle, Joe clamored out of the now useless machine.  As fast as he could run, he fled into the night.  After what seemed like hours, he collapsed from exhaustion.  Joe spied a mysterious, foreign-looking object glinting in the distance. Straining his eyes to see against the  dim light Joe could just make out the Killua insignia inscribed on the side. With renewed hope and vigor Joe  rushed off to flag down the tank, now visible against the night sky.
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“I love you too,” Amy cooed over the line hanging up on her girlfriend. “I can’t wait!” Amy said excitedly as she sat in her living room anticipating the arrival of her lover. Opening the door on the first knock, Amy swept Angel into her arms and kissed her tenderly. “Did you bring the movie?” Amy asked as Angel pulled a disk from her bag. Taking the disk Amy popped it into the player and a selection screen came up. “You want some popcorn?” Amy asked as she was heading into the kitchen. “Sure” Angel called, “Can you mix some marshmallows into that?” “Sure thing honey” Amy called back. “Baby” Amy called again, “can you give me a hand in here?” “Coming sweeties” Angel responded walking into the kitchen. “Can you get the marshmallows while I pop the popcorn?” Amy asked. “Thank you baby” Amy said kissing Angel.  Angel handed the bag of marshmallows over, which Amy  than began to melt into the popcorn.  Following her back into the living room, Amy handed Angel the bowl, sat down and, putting her arm around  Angel and leaning her head against Angels shoulder, started the movie. Just as the movie began to play, all the power  went out. “Oh Amy” Angel gasped frightened. Grabbing her hand Amy pulled Angel outside to see what was going on. A sudden flash of bright light lit up  the darkness, completely eclipsing the moons. Amy and Angel watched in stunned horror as a ball of pure energy exploded on the ground and started to ooze a neon-violet gas. “Get back in the house” Amy whispered. She gently pushed Angel back through the doorway and ran to activate the shields.  The emergency lights had come on by the time Amy re-entered the house. “Oh my” Amy started to say choking back tears, “Angel!” Angel was lying still on the floor not breathing.  With all the excitement she had passed out.  Remembering her classes, Amy began performing CPR to no affect.  Scared, she retreated  to the cellar as she saw the mysterious gas seep through the crack under the door.  The sheilds could stop solids, but not the gas.  No sooner had she locked the  cellar hatch, did she hear a scraping sound above her.  It sounded like nails on a chalkboard and she knew in her heart what it was. Opening the hatch, Angel pulled her  bodily out and tried to bite her.  Amy could not believe what was happening.  This was not the Angel she knew.  No, this was a monster, not a person.  Knowing in her heart that this was not her Angel, Amy grabbed a knife off the table  and rammed it into Angels’ head. “Goodbye my love” Amy sobbed as she gave Angel one last kiss and fled into the night.
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Glancing through the manual once more, Bob found the button he was searching for.  A concise, unsophisticated search yielded the button on the control panel.  As he pushed the button the screen flashed brightly and entered into night-vision mode.  He searched the monitor and, to his horror, witnessed the devastation around them. Buildings lay in smoldering ruins shrouded in the same violet fog Amy had mentioned. Cars were scattered as though they were nothing but leaves in a maelstrom.  Hardly an hour had passed when Bob had to take a piss  . . . badly.  Backing into what appeared to be a deserted alley he quickly exited the tank.  Ripping down his pants he let loose into a nearby sewer drain. The clanging of trash cans tipping off to his right startled him. “Who’s there?” a frightened voice cried out. “Bob?” the voice called. “Who wants to know?” Bob answered hoisting his pants. “Don’t you recognize me?” a woman wailed as she climbed over mountains of garbage. “Amy?” Bob mused, “Amy is that you?” “Oh Bob, it’s so good to see you again!” she wept as she ran over and gave her best friend and former companion a  big hug, “After the missiles fell, I thought you were gone forever.”
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“So what’s her name?” Amy asked from underneath the blanket covering both her and Sara. “That’s Sara” Bob replied. “Oh really – So when did you two get together?” Amy inquired. “Some couple hours before we picked you up which was about three days ago.” Bob answered, “Any idea what happened?” “Before daddy shipped out, he called and told me that it was an invasion.” Amy responded coldly, wet tears forming in her eyes. “Do you want to try to meet up with him in Dante?” Bob asked placing an arm around her shoulders, “I think that  would be where they’d go.” “Yes” was all Amy could manage to say. “Morning” Sara yawned sleepily, “Where are we?” “Somewhere near Stonehiem” a female voice responded. “Who are you?” Sara asked. “Amy” Amy replied, “Amy Bucksworth.” “I’m a friend of Bobs’,” she added. “Nice to meet you Amy, my name’s . . . ” Sara started to say. “Sara, I know” Amy concluded. “Amy?” Sara asked, “Where’s Bob?” “He’s outside taking a bath in the stream” Amy answered. “Is he all right?” Sara asked. “Go take a look yourself” Amy giggled. Sara opened the tanks’ hatch and started off in the direction the stream seemed to come from.  She stopped when she heard the sound of leaves rustling. Sara peeked around a tree just as a nude Bob jumped into the gurgling water.  ‘He should have hung his clothes up!’ Sara thought giggling to herself as the splash drenched his clothes. Satisfied to see that he wasn't hurt Sara returned to the tank. “Do you have any extra clothes?” Sara asked noticing that Amy was around the same build as Bob. “Yeah, what do you need?” she asked. “I have a good feeling Bob will need something dry to wear.” Sara giggled as Bob walked over to them covering  himself with a water-soaked T-shirt. “Let me see what I’ve got” Amy chuckled. Amy returned a few minutes later carrying a pair of jeans and a shirt she had grabbed from a bag she had with  her. “Here” she said tossing him the outfit, “put these on.” Bob dressed quickly ignoring the fact that he was temporarily naked. “I can’t believe these fit!” he  exclaimed. “They were the largest I had” Amy told him, “I want my shirt back!” “But Hello Kitty’s my idol” Bob droned mockingly. “Oh shut up!” Amy retorted playfully smacking him upside the head.  “So Amy” Bob questioned, “If this is an invasion, what’s with the zombies?” “Remember that object I told you about?” Amy asked rhetorically, “that was one of their weapons, I saw it hit.  It landed just a few blocks away and started to spew a neon-violet gas. That was when it all changed.” “So have you kissed her yet?” Amy said changing the subject. “No, not yet” Bob answered, “I mean I want to, but it's just never felt like the right time.” “Well how about now?” Sara asked behind him. Turning, Bob walked over to Sara and, pulling her close, kissed her long and hard. “WOW!” Sara exclaimed exasperated when he’d finally pulled away. “How romantic” Amy remarked, “I never thought you’d find someone after our break up.” “You two dated?” Sara probed. “Yeah, for about four years” Bob responded. “That is so cool that you can still be friends” Sara gawked. “Best friends” both Bob and Amy said at the same time. Bob occasionally looked in on the girls as he kept watch. He fell asleep at first light at around 2:30 AM  when the seven suns of Helios peeked over the horizon. “Huh?” Bob spluttered into conciseness, “who’s there?” “There’s a convoy on the road up the hill” Amy whispered helping Bob to his feet. Bob went to wake Sara and told her everything Amy had just told him. “I think we should join them,” Sara proposed. “Well hurry up then,” Amy said rushing to warm up the tank. Bob and Sara quickly joined her and headed off to rendezvous with the convoy.
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“Hey Serge” Joe asked, “How long has it been since they came?” “We're not to sure how long” Serge responded, a hopeless tinge in his voice, “God, what did we do to provoke this?”  “I just don’t know, but . . . ” Joe breathed as he spotted a tank crest the hill about a mile or so away. Joe aimed his A.R. at it, ready to vaporize it in a hailstorm of molten plasma, as soon as it came into range. “Who’s in charge?” a voice asked from the turret deck of the incoming war machine. “Well I’ll be damned” Joe exclaimed finally realizing who it was, “it’s that boy from Hokkaido.” “Hey kid, remember me?” he shouted to Bob. Amy steered the tank over the hill they were approaching as Bob manned the turret. Just about to fall a  sleep, Bob quickly awoke when he saw the soldiers not far off in the distance. “Who’s in charge?” Bob shouted to the soldiers. “Hey kid, remember me?” came the response. Bob laughed, “Hey major, how-the-hell have you been?” As Amy slowed the tank, Bob and Sara climbed out to greet Joe and thank him for saving their lives.“Glad to see you two made it,” said Joe extending his hand, “Major Joe Johnson at your service!” “I’m Bob” Bob replied, “and this is my girlfriend, Sara” “Pleased to meet you” Joe said in a slight bow, “by that mark am I correct to assume that you are a sage?”Bob saw the sun mark on the side of Ceras neck that Joe was referring to.  He thought it strange that he  had never noticed this before. The longer he stared at it, the more he began to think it didn’t look any sage marks he had ever seen before.  And he knew quite a lot of sages. “Thank you so much Joe” Sara squealed hugging the Major tightly. “I can’t breathe,” Joe spluttered feeling his chest hurt. Sara let go and walked back over to Bob.  Putting her arm around his waist, she leaned into his embrace. “Bob, Sara, everything all right out there?” Amy called from the tank.  “It’s O.K. Amy this guy saved our lives” Sara called from where she stood, shivering, with Bob. Parking the tank, Amy climbed out and hurried over to Bob and Sara. “Name’s Amy” Amy said shaking Jones hand. “So where are you guys headed?” Bob asked. “We where just on our way to regroup in Dante” Joe informed him pointing in the direction Bob, Sara, and Amy  had just come from. “Mind if we join you” Amy asked. “Hell, I don’t mind” Serge said motioning to the tank. “Then it’s settled” Joe laughed, “fall in men, move out!” Climbing back into the tank, Bob and the girls headed out with the convoy toward Dante. “Where is it?” Sara asked as they approached the city, “shouldn’t it be here?” “What are you talking?” Bob began to say as he gazed upon the dark swirling vortex, which now occupied the area  where the city used to stand. “Looks to me like a black hole” Joe said walking up between the two. No sooner had he finished this sentence than the ground began to shake, giving way to the now rapidly  growing abyss.  Even the wind as it howled and hissed could not escape the gravity of the vortex.  The cliff on  which Bob, Sara, Joe, and now Amy, stood crumbled away without warning.  The four of them plummeted deeper into  the darkness until finally not even the rays of the Seven Suns could find them.“Think they’re dead?” Serge voiced aloud as the very fabric of the world began to deteriorate around them.  “They’re bout as dead as we are” a soldier voiced back. And with that the world as it was once known no longer existed, the Wraiths had won . . . in this time.  
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‘Are we dead?’ Sara asked herself, her thoughts echoing in the dark. The light that had erupted from her a few weeks earlier shown from her again, just as she was about to give up all  hope.  Brighter and brighter it grew until she could see everyone and everything around her.  She had landed in a  small box-shaped room, seemingly unscathed from the fall, she noted patting herself over.  She looked around her  now searching for others who had simply disappeared. “Where are we?” Sara pondered aloud. “Let’s find out,” Sara breathed as she hurried over to a frozen door immersed in a corona of fire.  Grasping the handle slowly, Sara gently turned and carefully nudged open the door.  As she did so a soft  light entered into the room and illuminated a vast cavern behind them.  Swinging the door fully ajar, Sara entered  into what appeared as the bottom of a ravine.  Soon after Bob, Joe, and Amy emerged from the cave. “Where do you suppose we are?” Amy pondered aloud. “Wherever it is, it’s nothing like home” Bob responded gazing at the one massive, white sun. A thunderous sound like that of a violent eruption echoed throughout the ravine.  Gargantuan stone sentinels  broke loose from their posts and cascaded to the bottom. “Well wherever we are I don’t like the sound of that” Joe pronounced raising his A.R.. “What do you suppose it is?” asked the frightened girls clutching each other tightly. “Only one way to find out” stated Bob bluntly. And with that he began his ascension to the top of the chasm.  Mounting the cliff Bob crawled his way over  to a boulder sitting near the edge.  Peering over the top of the great rock, he was amazed at the sight that befell  him.  No matter where they looked, in all directions they could only see soldiers, an endless sea of muscles and  metal.  Soldiers unlike anything he had ever seen before, wielding staffs, swords, and axes with pure plasma blades.  “What’s so interesting?” whispered Sara as her and the others crawled over to where he crouched. “Take a look” Bob answered. One by one they looked and one by one their jaws dropped in awe. “There must be millions of them!” Joe exclaimed in disbelief. “Over here!” a voice cried “Spies!” “Oh crap!” the four breathed simultaneously. Spears flew at them through the air landing inches from them.  Bob peeked around just in time to see a  colossal detachment of infantry march toward them.  Assault Rifle in hand, Joe burst out from behind the rock and fired  relentlessly into the crowd.  With every explosion came the death cries of ten thousand souls.  Joe fired until his  weapon over heated, burning his left hand.  Despite his best efforts, the seemingly never ending army kept coming. “Run!” the order came. And so they ran.  As fast and as far as their soar, weary limbs could take them.  They could not escape it,  a wall of flesh and weaponry on one side, and a chasm on the other.  All of them weak and helpless against the infinite  hordes, they were soon surrounded.  Without fear a relatively small group approached Bob and his crew. “What right did you have been killing my men?”  Demanded a stout individual, this was clearly the general of this sea of  men. “They attacked us” Sara professed “we where defending ourselves.” “That may well be” taunted the General “still, you are strangers in this land. Why should I believe you?” “Because we’re telling, the truth” Amy pleaded. “Are we now?” the General pondered, “then no harm should befall you.” “Guards!” he screamed, “Grab her!” Amy  screamed as she was seized by three muscular guards. “Don’t touch her!” Bob roared. But to no avail instead of his friend, he received a swift blow to sternum. He turned back in  time to see Joe and Sara grabbed by yet more guards.  Amy, Sara, and Joe were swallowed into the teeming mass,  leaving Bob whimpering on his knees.  He remained like that for hours.  The wind howled and danced around him.   The only sound he could hear now was his gallows being built.  High above the thunder and lightning cracked.  The  wind whipped up great vortexes that ravaged the land and drew the clouds from the sky.  Bob stood up, grasped by  two masked men, and was led solemnly to what would be his end.  As soon as one of the guards released him to secure the rope, Bob violently wrenched the plasma axe from  the guard still holding him.  With increasing inertia he swung the axe at the other guard cleaving his head in two.   Stripping the larger guard of his armor, Bob outfitted himself in armor that fit like a glove.  The feeling was amazing, like the suit was alive.  It conformed to every curve of his body like a second skin.  Battle armor adorned he hijack an idling aero cycle.  Following the torch light of the receding army,  he sped away in pursuit of Amy.
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  Sara and Joe regained consciousness just as the sun was rising.  Lifting her head, Sara saw that they were  in a grand city.  The city gleamed brightly and she saw it was constructed from pure gold. “Joe” she whispered, “Joe wake up!” “Nghh” Joe spluttered into the world, "Where are we?" "I don't know, but by the looks of it we're in some sort of capital city." "Judging by the solid gold buildings I'd say it's an imperial city" he responded. They were no longer being carried but rather dragged along in a simple cage. The city in itself was titanic,  the smallest buildings nearly disappearing into the sky, the tallest probably hitting the stratosphere.  Everywhere humanoid beings hustled and bustled about their business. They acted as though there where not two off worlders  being pulled through their teeming masses.  Unexpectedly there came a massive, lusty roar from a hovering dome-like structure. Obviously some sort of arena.  Thankful, Joe and Sara were headed in the opposite direction, though it didn’t look too much friendlier.  It  was a grand building, solid gold like the rest of the city, but crusted everywhere with gems of all different shapes  and sizes.  That wasn't what worried them, no it rather awed them.  It was the thousands of foot soldiers and archers  on constant march around what Sara accurately surmised was a palace. "I think that's where we are headed to" Sara nodded at the royal center. "Who do you think rules this place?" Joe asked. "Definitely an Emperor" she replied, "Just look at the place." "Well obviously he's compensating for something" Joe chuckled. Joe fell silent as the hilt of a spear struck the base of his neck.  Sara quieted as well, fearful of what the  guards might do next. "We've captured two of the assassins" the lead guard informed the palace elite. "This one" the elite pointed at an unconscious Joe, “he's the one who slaughtered our soldiers?" "Yes" the guard replied, "he is the one." "We will take him from here, take her to the stockade" the elite commanded. The guard detail parted as their captain walked toward the cage.  With a quiet 'whiff' the bars flung out and  so did Sara. "Grab her!" ordered the elite. It was too late. In the confusion caused by an angry market goer, she had escaped.  The frustrated elite savagely picked up Joe and rushed his way into the palace, anxious to debrief the emperor.
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The wind howled viciously as the night grew steadily cooler.  The stars in the sky looked so  unreal, so alien.  Many small moons crowned the planet in an eerie reddish blue glow.  He had lost  sight of the  torch lights hours ago.  The only thing to guide him was the flash of the most curious moon.  Unlike all the others,  this moon pulsed bright red as though it were on fire.  It looked as though another planet was forming close to this one.  That was the direction the  troops had marched and so that was the direction Bob rode.  It was nearing dawn when he first saw it.  He had just crested a hill and gazed down to see the outskirts  of a massive city.  In the distance innumerous structures reached up beyond sight. 'That must be where they took  her' Bob thought. He backed away from the edge and revved the engine.  There was a small pop as the cycle  rocketed off the cliff and glided noiselessly to the ground.  He seemed to be on a makeshift road of brick and gravel.  He followed the road until it bent steeply to the right behind a row of golden bushes.  Carefully, Bob  pulled the cycle over to the side of the road.  As quietly as he could, he slipped his ride into the bushes and began creeping through to the other side.  These bushes, or whatever they were, were thick.  After what seemed an eternity Bob made it through to the other side.  The branckes that had broken against his armor left a person-shaped hole at least thirty feet thick.  'This is one strange planet' he thought to himself.  His attention snapped back to where he was when he relized that he was now walking down a path.  Bob stopped and looked back to the bushes.  'A path that leads to a dead end' he pondered 'odd, very odd.'  The only thing that path lead to was the entrance he had just made.   He decided to ignore the fact that the path lead nowhere on one end and starting walking back the way he'd been going.  In the darkness he couldn't really tell just how far went.  The only thought in his mind was that it could lead him to Amy.  It made no difference what he did, nothing could get the thought of her out of his head.  They had been seperated for quite some time, but deep down, he was still in love with her.  She was his best friend and to him worth more than any thing in the world, this one included.  He began to run now, rows of dark colored trees lined either side of the path.  Strange looking fruits hung from the branches, at least he hoped they where fruits.  As the trees began to thin, the path inclined.  He ran even harder now trying to block the thought of hunger from his mind.  At the top of the hill he decided to stop and see what he could see.  Nothing but tall grass covered an endless plain.  Panting hard he climbed to the top of a nearby boulder to get a better view.  This seemed to do the trick.  He could see a small clearing in the sea of grass and what looked like a house.  Next to that a small fire burned, revieling the sillouette of a tent.  Bob traced a line from the house to the sky and fixed a star to the spot.  He climbed down from the boulder slowly, careful not to slip.  It was just starting to rain as he began his decent.  The ground grew dark and muddy at the base of the hill.  Thunder cracked high above sending down blankets of rain.  Bob plunged straight from the slope of the hill right into a wall of grass.  'Shouldn't this stuff be flatened by the rain?' he wondered, fighting the wettening mass.  The further he went the more he started to realize, this wasn't a field of grass, this was a grove of trees.  The forming lower branches bore the same fruits as the other trees which looked like watermelon-sized pineapples.  He almost ate one, then decided he didn't know if they were edible.  The smell was incredible; a flood of perfumes washed over him.  More importantly the smell of meat and fresh bread.  He was starving now and very cold.  Bob squeezed through the last row of trees into the opening ahead.  He was so hungry now his legs could no longer support him.  He collapsed to the ground with a few staggering steps and blacked out entirely.  "Where do you think he's from?" a voice asked.   "I don't know" a second female voice answered "Maybe he's runaway."  "Well he's lucky, that's for sure" said the first.  "I know, when I found him he was barely alive.  He has a huge bruise on his chest.  What do you think happened to him?" the girl asked.  "Ran into one of Imhoteps' patrols no doubt" the older, deeper first voice answered.  This one belonged to a man, most likely the girls' father.  "That emperor's brought us nothing but trouble" the girl complained "Why doesn't somebody do something?!"  "Because there's nothing we can do" her father replied, "No one can defeat the emperor, he's just too powerful."  "Uhhhh" Bob moaned blinking open his eyes.  "Shhh" the father warned "he's waking up"  "Where am I?" Bob asked.  "Shhh, don't try to talk" the girl whispered hurrying over to his bedside "here drink this."  She pressed a laddle to his lips and he drank.  The juice was so sweet and so good he could feel every part of himself light up.  Whatever this stuff was it completely supercharged his entire body.  Bob sat up, grabbing her wrist as he did, and tipped the laddle further.  "Whoa, slow down there." the girl giggled "My name's Kitty, you can call me Kit."  "Name's Bob" Bob said gripping the hand she'd offered.  She was beautiful, cropped curly black hair, about 5' 5", with a perfectly healthy frame.  She had the warmest smile on her face that made you feel safe just looking at her.  "And I'm her father, Kalel" Kalel prosed offering his hand which Bob shook as well.  "So Kit" Bob turned to her again "how long was I out?" "About a day" Kalel spoke "Just where are you from?"  "A place called Earth" Bob answered "But I'm guessing I'm not in Kansas anymore."  "Kansas?" Kit asked "What's Kansas?"  "Never mind that" he answered peeking under the sheets "more importantly, where are my clothes?"  "I'm sorry we had to throw them away" Kit told him "but you won't be needing them, people here only wear clothes for warmth at night."  Bob noticed that it did get rather cold very quickly.  He pulled the covers around his shoulders to keep from freezing.  "Now get some rest" she told him.  "But" Bob protested.  "Sleep" Kalel ordered "We'll talk in the morning."  Now that he thought about it, he was still pretty tired.  He figured that it couldn't hurt to spend one more night here.  While he was falling asleep one thought kept running through his mind, 'people here only wear clothes . . . at night."  Sam noticed that it did get rather cold very quickly.  He pulled the covers around his shoulders to keep from freezing.  "Now get some rest" she told him.  "But" Sam protested.  "Sleep" Kalel ordered "We'll talk in the morning."  Now that he thought about it, he was still pretty tired.  He figured that it couldn't hurt to spend one more night here.
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There was a small whiff as the pneaumatic doors pulled open.  The Atlantis lifted effortlessly out of the construction bay and into orbit.  The admiral of the new vessel coasted slowly toward the docking complex on the far side of the station.  A class 5 war cruiser pulled along side the Atlantis to act as an escort.  The cruiser was massive in itself and yet absolutely dwarfed by Atlantis.  'Initiating docking proceedure' the Atlantis computer informed.  A narrow beam of pure energy formed between the Cruiser and the Atlantis.  The Cruiser began spewing out Wraiths, emptying itself into the Atlantis.  The ship hadn't reached the docking complex just yet.  First the security team had to establish itself on board before any infantry or equipment was brought on board.  "I want patrols on every level in every sector." the Admiral ordered "Two guards and two sentinel turrets at every door.  Double security for all yellow access areas and triple security for all red flagged access areas."  "Yes sir!" came the collective answer.  The whole rest of the way to the docking complex was filled with the hustle and bustle of the security personel mounting turrets and setting security codes on restricted doors.  There must have been at least a thousand personel on board and still the ship seemed abandonded.