The shootout between The Andar and The Hilgreen Gang lasted approximately seventy seconds, or one minute and ten seconds. Each man's aim true, and meant to kill, neither side was long for this world.

  The Hartshorns, cunning and treacherous as they were, were among the few that had managed to survive. They stumbled through the cloud of dust, Jack having suffered a glazed bullet to his side.

  "Ah!", Jack moaned, holding a hand to his side which was increasingly drenched in crimson. With his other hand, he took a radio to his mouth.

  "Lazy Wolf, this is Jack. Meet us at these coordinates, um...Jack, what are the-"

  "I knew it", croaked the raspy voice of Ishmael through the dust. "Snakes, the lot of you."

  "Get down!", Hal shouted, grabbing Jack and leaping for the ground.

  Several shots rang out, bullets whizzing by overhead.

  "Goddamn vermin, come out where I can see you. Or are you all pussy? Good for a keyboard, and nothing else."

  A bullet rang by Ishamel, nicking him in the neck. He fell to the ground, before he met it, firing a bullet in the direction of the shot. After he hit the dirt, a yell was heard. About a dozen feet away, Jack, himself bleeding from the side, held a gored Hal, his cheek blown apart.

  "Gods above!", Jack spat. "Hal, your face-"

  "It's okay", Hal said with a groan, easing himself out of Jacks hold.

  "Our beauty was always in our brain."

  He brought Jack close to him, so close his lips brushed his earlobe.

  "Move. Now. And be silent. We don't know who else the dust conceals."

  Hal moved his face back from Jacks, blinking several times in changing rhythm. The coordinates of the ship. Jack blinked back, which translated was-

  Let me send them to Mozzie.

  ***

  Mozzie had punched Steven not twelve, not fiteeen, but twenty-nine times, Steven bleeding and writhing on the dirt as he tried to repel Mozzie's thirtieth strike.

  "You're going to kill him!", Peter pleaded from the side. "Stop!"

  "Murderer!", Mozzie shouted, removing Steven's grip and punching him for the thirtieth time. "Selfish killer! Coward!"

  "C-cun-", Steven began to yell, before Mozzie punched him the face for the thirty-first time.

  "I'll kill you!", Mozzie screamed. "I'll bash your head in, till it's like mush, or mud, then I'll stick my hand in the meat and yank out your spine."

  "Go ahead", Steven gasped, staring at Mozzie with bloodshot eyes. "You'll probably die soon afterwards anyways."

  Mozzie's brows furrowed more than they already were, wrapping her hands around Steven's neck, his veins bulging.

  "Mozzie! Stop!", Peter screamed.

  Mozzie's radio beeped, Mozzie removing her left hand from Steven's neck and looking at the monitor.

  "The Hartshorns...they've sent us the coordinates to a ship."

  Mozzie got up, walking towards the cliff end as she looked back between the plains and screen.

  "There...towards the north east."

  Peter approached the cliff end, looking out at the storming horizon.

  "Well", Peter said, turning to Mozzie. "What are we waiting for?"

  Mozzie turned for her bike, stopping halfway to turn to Steven.

  "Come on, we don't have all day."

  Steven rose up from the ground, wiping his split and bleeding lips with the back of his hand. The Lazy Wolf, now three, got on their bikes and rode down the mesa, beyond that stretches of jagged and blistering land.

  ***

  Barron stumbled, hand to his profusely bleeding stomach as he almost tripped over a stone. About several feet ahead of him, a little to the left and slumped against a large rock, Hermes, his midsection so shot up he might as well be in two. He turned his head somewhat, seeing Barron approaching. Hermes opened his mouth, but only a sputter and pool of blood came out. Barron sat beside him.

  The Hefty Beetle let a shriek like a wraith, a low and constant rumble following. The canon hummed, the sound growing til it became a fever pitch, a maroon beam shooting outwards the sun. Hermes weakly raised his left pointer finger towards the scene.

  "...aaa", he could only say.

  Barron Dongal nodded.

  "Ah indeed. Few men will witness such a sight as us."

  And so Hermes and Baron watched as the beam traveled towards Jen-ghar.

  ***

  The Lazy Wolf rode across the crimson Arctic, looking up almost in unison as the beam shot above.

  "What do you think that is?", Peter yelled.

  "I don't know, and I don't want to stick around long enough to find out. Cmon, we're almost at the coordinates."

  They continued riding, in the distance a dilapidated farmhouse. Once closer, they saw a figure moving towards the back. They lowered the sounds of their engines, creeping up behind a gathering of derelict and rotten trees. At the back of the house, a burgundy ship that funny enough looked like a flying saucer. Jack, who was approaching the craft with two large suitcases, suddenly dropped them, drawing this pistols and turning around.

  "Bloody hell", Jack said, putting his pistols back. "Could've honked or something. Maybe a hello."

  "Hello", Mozzie said, getting off her bike and approaching Jack. "Is this our ride?"

  "Yeah", Jack replied, turning around and giving a gander at the ship. "We just need to load a few more things into it, and then we'll be off-"

  "Yeah, well, let's hurry it up a little", Mozzie replied. She pointed up. "I'm not sure if you realized it, but there's a giant fucking beam in the sky."

  Jack picked back up his suitcases, looking at the beam.

  "Yeah, we've noticed that. Based on its trajectory, I'd wager its destination is Jen-ghar."

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  "What?", Mozzie replied.

  "The sun", Jack replied, proceeding towards the ship.

  "W-why would they do that? That's psychotic, even by mercenary standards."

  "Yeah well", Jack replied. "Who knows why people do what they do."

  Jack's face sunk in secret, and he continued towards the ship.

  Hal removed two, large aluminum tubes from the ship, which were connected to a generator that sat nearby, a hiss emitting when they were unsealed.

  "Alright, we're good to go", Hal said.

  "Roger that", Jack replied, entering in through the ramp and setting down the suitcases next to a corner that held a neatly organized pile of containers, suitcases and boxes. The group proceeded into the craft, six seats filling it.

  "Alright, everyone take a seat and buckle up", Hal said. "We don't wanna be around when the sun blows up."

  The crew sat and buckled, Mozzie looking at the empty sixth chair and felt a pit began to grow in her stomach, forcing it down and away.

  "Up up and away", Jack said, pulling the levers and the thrusters igniting, the craft levitating up into the air a moment before shooting off into the sky.

  ***

  The Hefty Beetle still levitated in the air, though noticeably lowered now. The antigravity mechanism required extensive power, still, Glaxel always thought its beauty was best seen in the air.

  The embryo chamber was quiet, which Glaxel always appreciated. It was just him, his thoughts and the hum of the circuitry, the gentle ebbs and flows of power within the cords providing pleasant conversation. They spoke of things true, like the transfer of energy, the decrease of it, as well as the increase. Glaxel didn't believe androids had souls, but he didn't really believe anything did. Still though, he found some solace in the knowledge that his energy would still continue, albeit in a none-conscious form. Still though, he could be wrong, but as his consciousness began to fade, being directed to the beam, he realized it didn't matter as he would see for himself shortly.

  A heavy sigh departed Glaxel's gored and agape chest, the heave of the lungs causing an uptick in the stream of blood that dripped. Much like the storm raging outside the ship, Glaxel found his mind a tempest of racing thoughts. He shook his head, as if the physical act could banish his thoughts out. Glaxel breathed in, gathering the remainder of his energy. He outstretched his pointer finger, eyes closed.

  "Bang."

  ***

  The Osiris, also know as the little green devil, both due to its dark green scale covering and resilient nature, its species having survived the bombings of Vindal during the war, had since began to thrive a little under twenty-five years ago. Adept diggers, they spent most of the day underground in complex tunnel systems, coming out only to hunt or scout the land.

  We come across a not very successful male. His last mate, or almost mate, was swooped by a neighboring male who lived a little aways in a much bigger tunnel, with much better findings from the day. Still, there was always hope. A female had recently approached him, and after bringing her a Fergy mouse and Snapple beetle, the female had taken the Fergy Mouse and quickly devoured it. So, the male little green devil had decided to search exclusively for more Fergy mouses.

  This was his first venture from his tunnel today, the outside enveloped in violent weather. After leaving his bachelor den, he made his way quickly but stealthy across desert sand. Not too long into his venture, he spotted a Fergy Mouse positioned at a nearby shrub. He made his way speedily across the sand, before the mouse could make sense of what hit him, snapping his neck.

  Success. Surely the female would find this a pleasing offer-

  The male Little Devil looked up, something, in his short life thus far, that he had never seen before. Little did he knew that few living things had, or ever would. Something like a wave, or tsunami, except larger than both could ever conceivably be, of white crawled across the great ebony of the outer. It grew larger, and larger, spreading out like a spill. The white grew brighter, turning into a blinding assault as the little devil was ignited into flame.

  ***

  The flying saucer weaved its way through the asteroid belt, the explosion of the sun visible behind them.

  "Jesus", Steven said, eyes wide as he looked back, though the explosion quite a distance away, beads of sweat dripping down his pale forehead.

  "Who?", Peter said.

  "Forget it", Steven replied. "It's just...this is crazy. I've...I've never seen anything like this."

  "He said in awe", Mozzie scoffed.

  "No", Steven said. "Not like that...well, maybe that, but it's just...destruction on this scale. It's...it's unreal. Biblical."

  "What's that?", Peter inquired again.

  "Nothing", Steven said, returning his gaze forward. "Just...shut up."

  "Not my fault you're always spewing strange words", Peter muttered to himself.

  The crew, if they could be called that, continued on in silence. A shake was reverberated, and Jack let out a fuck that didn't sound too good.

  "What was that?", Mozzie asked.

  "W-we may have, slightly, grazed a piece of debris. Luckily, the damage to the ship shouldn't be that-"

  Alarms began to blare, the room encompassed in flashing red.

  "Fuck", Jack said again.

  "Left", Hal said, pulling back the levers.

  "It's clearly a gentle center-right", Jack replied.

  "Oh My God", Mozzie said, leaning forward, her hazel eyes wide. "You guys can't fly."

  "Yes we can", Hal spat. "We're doing it right now."

  Another slight collision, the ship shaking and another set of alarms going off, this time blue.

  "That's it", Mozzie said, undoing her buckle and getting up. "I'm piloting."

  "No", Steven suddenly said. He likewise unbuckled and stood up. "I'll pilot."

  Mozzie looked at Steven then grinned.

  "You? Why?"

  "Because...because Ric told me to. Before he died."

  Mozzie's face soured and a scowl overtook her lips.

  "What? No he didn't. I don't believe you."

  "Well, believe what you want. But I'm piloting. Because he ordered me to."

  "Why? In this fantastical exchange, why would he order that?"

  "...I told him how I've always wanted to pilot. A-about how my dad was a pilot. And he said to pilot."

  Mozzie stared at Steven with cruelty, her lip eventually beginning to quiver then a stream of tears following.

  "W-was that it? What else did he say?"

  "It won't matter if we don't escape the exploding sun. In that case, you can just ask him yourself."

  Steven stepped slowly towards Mozzie. He outstretched his hand, Mozzie steeping back an inch, but Steven continuing. He placed his palm on her cold, armored shoulder.

  "He loved you, Mozzie. A lot."

  Mozzie fell to her knees and wept. After a moment, Steven lifted her up and brought her back to her seat.

  "Sit. I'll pilot."

  Mozzie nodded, still in tears, and Steven approached the front deck of the ship.

  "One of you, get up."

  Jack and Hal both exchanged glances, and without words, Jack got up.

  "Better not kill us", he said, brushing past Steven. Steven sat down, buckling himself and grabbing the levers.

  "Ease left with me", Steven said.

  Hal nodded, and eased the levers left. They evaded a large asteroid that rolled. After, they collided into a small-ish piece of debris, the floor and three walls of a metal bedroom, the metal bedframe still attached to the floor. Steven's brows furrowed.

  "From one of the mining colonies probably", Hal said without looking over at Steven. "To make commute easier, they had the workers come from apartments that lay a little outside orbit, instead of being forced to take a shuttle everyday."

  "Work commutes seem to be a pain everywhere it seems", Steven replied, lowering the ship below an oncoming string of debris and rock.

  "I'm starting to get hot", Peter said with panic.

  "We're approaching the Fen-Har portal bomb", Hal said. "You should see it on your screen."

  "Yeah, I see it", Steven replied, coordinates displayed on the monitor. "Veering about...nine degrees northwest."

  "You're good", Hal said, pulling the lever down at an angle, his eyes not removed from the outside.

  "Thanks", Steven replied, beads of sweat now pouring down the back of his neck.

  The expanding white behind them suddenly gained in velocity, consuming a moon that lay behind them.

  "Jesus", Peter said, eyes on a sweat covered face wide as he stared back. Steven almost started to turn back, but decided against it, keeping his eyes focused forward.

  "I thought you didn't know who that was", he said.

  "I don't", Peter replied, the burning white reflecting in his pupils which were mostly concealed by his metal helmet. "But by the way you said it, I assume it means something that inspires awe."

  Steven felt strange unpleasantness stir in his stomach, then broke out into a grin.

  "Yeah, I guess you're right", he replied. "Easing eleven degrees south."

  They evaded another large boulder, ahead of them a fishnet of rocks and debris.

  "Fuck", Steven spat.

  "Ripple effect from the exploding sun no doubt", Hal said. "This entire vicinity was supposed to be clear. Well, clearer than this."

  Steven strained at the controls, turning the craft sideways as they slid through two rocks.

  "We're nearing the portal bomb", Hal said. "We just have to make it through this web."

  "Does this ship have a jump mechanism?", Mozzie inquired.

  "...yes, but...I see your reasoning, but with a field like this-"

  "Steven", Mozzie interrupted, sweat pouring down her face. "You think you can find a clear path, for at least a second?"

  "To the portal bomb?", Steven replied, the heat of the craft now rising exponentially.

  "Yes."

  "Mm..maybe. What does that matter though-"

  "You'll push a button and the thrusters will go into overdrive, almost faster than light. It only lasts a couple seconds, and if you calculate your path wrong you might as well be fucked and dead."

  "Jesus", Peter said again, now just as an excuse to utilize his new vocabulary.

  "I can do it", Steven replied as if fact, flint in his voice.

  "Then do it", Mozzie replied.

  Steven looked down at the controls.

  "Where's the button?"

  Hal opened his mouth, pausing a moment before words departed and he pointed.

  "There", he said. "The small, triangular green one."

  Steven nodded, grimacing as he pulled the levers again, narrowly avoiding a circle of debris. His eyes lay focused outside in front of him, as if nothing else existed or ever did.

  "We're twelve kilometers out from the portal bomb", Hal said.

  "Steven, I-I'm burning up", Peter said, a whimpering voice escaping his large, rectangular metal suit.

  "Shut up", Steven spat. After a moment, he slightly and quickly turned his face towards Peter.

  "Just hold on."

  A groan then a sputter was heard, the craft shaking.

  "The engines are overheating", Jack said. "We gotta go - fast."

  "Just a moment", Steven said with winced teeth, sweat dripping down his face like shower water as the vicinity was washed in an almost golden light. "I almost see it."

  "Left", Steven said, him and Hal quickly steering the ship.

  "It has to be soon-", Hal began to say, Steven cutting him off.

  "Activate the portal bomb."

  Hal looked at Steven, then nodded. He pushed a series of buttons on his gauntlet.

  "It's on, which means this has to be now-"

  "Hold on everybody", Steven said, rocks, golden light and obsidian all reflecting in his eyes like film reel, face drenched as if from baptism. He pushed the green button. The flying saucer shot forward like lightning, the crew (mostly Mozzie, Peter and though he's never admit it, Jack) screaming as they propelled through a maze of death. At the end, a circle of crackling blue energy. The heat reached its zenith, Steven and Hal now completely drenched in sweat from head to toe, yanked their hands from the levers which had begun to sizzle. The rushing wave of white behind them devoured, no, annihilated the ocean of rock and debris behind them, almost touching the back of the now melting craft as they disappeared through the portal.