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  After extensively examining the box, they discovered several things. It was a perfect cube, each face was forty centimetres square, ivory in colour, no joints that were visible and strange hieroglyphics on every surface. John then proceeded to perform a spectron analysis.

  "That's strange, Ryan look at this."

  Ryan moved in front of the monitor and examined the data. "The molecular structure is totally alien. Not even the elements coincide with anything on the periodic table. Did Commander Edwards say anything about the origin of the asteroid?"

  "Only that the asteroid had no discernible orbit."

  "We should take a look at that asteroid."

  "Too late, they already atomised it."

  A thunderous sound reverberated throughout the ship as a slender cone shaped craft land next to the Eagle.

  John was the first to react. "It’s here! We can look at this later." He hurried off to the probe with Ryan hot on his tail. First, they examined the probe for damage, but none was found. Then retrieved the data from the memory banks. They brought the memory disks to the control room, down loaded them on to the master computer, and began the long process of analysing the information.

  Early the next day, while John and Ryan had their faces glued to separate monitors, a news flash automatically came up on the imager. The imager displayed a logo with the letters CIN, then showed a woman who was in her early thirties, with blue eyes and long blond hair.

  "Hello, this is Carillia Intergalactic News and I'm Katrina Gates.

  Since one a.m. there has been no reply from Andromeda. Despite the fact that the planet was shielded by the Megaproton Energy Field, there are grave fears that the Capital of the Federation has fallen to the Warrians. Similarly, Dracon and Servia have not responded to our signals, and we fear that they have also fallen. The head of the Carillian Space Force, General Chambers, concluded that the Warrians have some new form of weapon and have utterly destroyed the home of the Federation Council. Our scanners are currently monitoring for any possible survivors.

  It may well be that Carillia is the sole surviving planet, and potentially their next target. The President, Mr. Carl Geofferson has called an emergency meeting with his staff to determine the future action of Carillia. Government sources say an evacuation of the planet may be necessary, possibly within the next few hours.

  C.I.N. will keep you informed on any updates."

  The imager again displayed the C.I.N. logo then went dead.

  Ryan's head drooped in despair. "Delta squadron’s base was on Andromeda. All my friends are now gone.” He said as he attempted to hold back his emotions. He looked up at John, “I should have died with them!"

  “Ryan...” John put his arm around him but Ryan shrugged it off, got up and stormed out of the control room.

  ********************

  Approaching Carillia at twice the speed of light was the entire Warrian Battle Fleet, numbering twenty ships in all. Of those were the Flagship Kron, two battleships, seven cruisers and ten destroyers. Twenty million soldiers in all. This was the largest single force ever to be assembled in Warrian history. The Fleet slowed down from light speed, causing the stars about them to turn from the long white streaks during hyperspace, to their more familiar shape. Before them, Carillia sat peacefully awaiting its own destruction.

  Aboard the Kron, the Warrians were preparing for battle.

  Warlord Zen was one of the few Warrian officers ever to have the privilege of addressing the Emperor. Those whom new Zardon, deeply feared him. He regularly suffered from violent rages that usually resulted in the death of all that were present. Zen was a brilliant tactician and was yet to lose a battle. Zardon held this quality in the highest regard and this preserved the Warlord's life. Zen thrived on a fair battle, but since the Emperor's new found power, his skills had been going to waste. Even though this mysterious power changed the course of the war in their favour, he sometimes wished it had never been discovered.

  Zen entered the Emperor's chambers as he had done many times before, but still felt a chill down his long scaly spine as he sensed the unnatural forces within this dark and forbidding room. He was garbed in his black armoured suit that was impervious to all but a direct hit from a photon pistol, or worse, the Emperor's temper. He bowed then addressed his Lord. "Emperor Zardon, the Fleet awaits your command."

  Zardon’s eyes glowed like the fires of hell in the gloom as sat upon the dais. He

  gracefully levitated from the throne like structure and down to the floor to regard Zen more closely. Despite the mystery as to how the Emperor performed this without any mechanical assistance, Zen was never game to question him. Zen had come to the conclusion that any of Zardon's bizarre abilities had something to do with those bracelets he wore.

  The Emperor leered down at his subordinate. "Before us exists the last of the human race. As you know, this planet is also protected by a Megaproton Energy Field and like Andromeda, it will provide no protection against my might. After the planet is destroyed, you can send in the Fleet to annihilate whatever ships remain. That will be all Warlord Zen."

  As Zen bowed and left the chamber, he felt as if his mind had just been dissected and scrutinised by the Emperor. He had the same feeling every time he was in audience with his Lord, and so dismissed the odd feeling to be a part of his imagination.

  Zardon mysteriously levitated back to the dais and pressed a button on the control panel. A force field immediately came up while the structure moved towards the opening hatch above it. When the structure came to a halt on the outer hull of the Kron, he stood before the lush, blue-green planet and paused for a moment to enjoy the completion of his vengeance. He spoke to the infinite stars about him. "For Karh, my proud concubine, and to Heth and Zet, my severed spawn; you suffered under the hand of these vile creatures. Behold the fruition of the revenge of your deaths." Behold the fruition of the revenge of your deaths."

  Zardon held his arms out wide so his palms faced Carillia, clenched his fists and called upon the magic of the bracelets. The bracelets drew in all the energy from all corners of the universe for him to command causing his muscles to shudder, and his brain to ache in response to the onslaught. His body shone like a sun as it consumed the paramount volume of energy. Then thrusting his bracelet bearing arms together he released the energy that charged his contempt towards the innocent planet. The red beam of hate hit the energy field with a titanic force. The field writhed and twisted in agony then went dead, but Carillia stood unscathed.

  Something counteracted Zardon's beam of destruction. He gazed at the bracelets in amazement, then back at the untouched planet.

  What could possibly thwarted his might?

  "Why have the Bracelets failed to do by bidding?" Zardon said in anger as he questioned the tortured ether about him.

  Piercing the silence that filled his ears was the voice of pure evil. "My Liege, I have no explanation for such a phenomena. Nothing could compete with the power of the Rings of Venal, nothing but the ...."

  "Rings of Karn!" Zardon gasped as he completed his servant's sentence. "Could it be that within the vast expanse of the universe that the Rings of Karn lye right here before me?" Zardon closed his eyes and projected his mind towards the planet. His heart began to race like the charge of a thousand hooves from the excitement. There, in plain view of his mind's eye, rested the second set of bracelets glowing like two beacons.

  The ether surged about Zardon, twisting and contorting violently from the exaltation of the spirit that presided within the Bracelets. "It is what I have sort since the dawn of time. The Rings of Karn! Finally I can fulfil my destiny. Finally I can be free of the chains that confine me within these tiny walls. Free of this vile world. Free to wreak endless ill, and FREE TO MAKE THE ALL MIGHTY CREATOR PAY FOR MY TORMENT!"

  "Aren't you forgetting something Lord Hellion?" Announced Zardon with a tone of mockery. "So called, conqueror of hope. Destroyer of love, annihilator of truth, and so called ruler of the great kingdom of Vena
l. You are my slave! I will never release you from your bonds. You had your chance at wielding the Great Talisman and you failed. Now the only appeasement for your wrath will be the sight of the Great Talisman in my hands. To see the fruition of my destiny. TO SEE THE CREATOR BOW DOWN TO ME!"

  "No, you have to release me. It is what I prophesied." Hellion retorted.

  "Then your prophecy was false. Now be silent!" He activated the com-link and Warlord Zen answered.

  "My Lord, what went wrong, only the shield has been destroyed?"

  "Nothing went wrong!" Zardon snapped. "I have changed my mind. Carillia is the main Federation base for scientific research. It also possesses the entire records of the knowledge of the human race and all its inventions. Such knowledge would be very useful for my future conquest of the galaxy. Only Light bombers are to be deployed. Then I can savour their deaths one by one. You have your orders Warlord Zen."

  "Yes my Lord." Zen replied.

  Zardon watched the Carillian Defence Force launch from the planet to meet the far superior Warrian Fleet. He began to laugh. "This is the way to finish a war. When the last of their kind is exterminated, I will retrieve the Bracelets from the rubble and then you will witness devastation that even your blackened heart could not comprehend.”

  "Yes my Liege." Hellion said remorsefully.

  Zardon sat down and gloated over the massacre before him. “At last I will become a god!”

  ********************

  The control room was flooded with flashing red lights as a siren sounded. Ryan jumped right out of his chair while John was so startled that he bumped his head on a hover shelf. The imager suddenly came to life and displayed a middle aged man who was wearing the uniform of the Carillian President's personal staff. "This is a Red Alert, we have a special announcement from President Geofferson to explain. Mr President..." An elderly man with a grey beard and a menagerie of wrinkles upon his face appeared on the imager. Upon his white uniform was imprinted the presidential seal.

  "About ten minutes ago the entire Warrian Battle Fleet came out of hyperspace and are within photon missile range of Carillia. Somehow, they neutralised the Megaproton Energy Field, which was our main line of defence. We have little chance of successfully defending the planet against such a battle fleet and I have ordered an evacuation of all personnel. Hopefully, our Defence Force can hold off the Warrian Fleet until the transport ships can reach the safety of hyperspace." His expression grew more remorseful, "Good luck, and may God be with you." The imager went dead as the blaring sirens continued.

  They looked at each other in amazement. "How could they neutralise the energy field?" Ryan asked John with a hopeless expression on his face.

  "It's technically impossible, but they've done it. More importantly, we have to get out of here. Go and prepare the Eagle for flight, I ‘ll get some supplies and whatever else we have of value." Ryan stood there still in shock. This was his home, how could he abandon it? John shook him by the shoulders. "Ryan, we have to go now!"

  "Go where? Even in hyperspace they can track us."

  "Have you forgotten the black hole?"

  "We haven't studied all the readouts from the probe yet, who knows what could happen."

  "Ryan, we have nowhere else to go."

  He looked at his father’s face and realised he was serious. Then contemplated the lack of alternatives and concluded that his Father was right. "Okay, but I still think it's a bad idea."

  Ryan walked off towards the Eagle when it all started to sink in, he picked up the pace and began to run. As Ryan entered the Eagle he went to an unusual seat that was positioned on the opposite side of the ship's lab. He never noticed the strange phenomenon in the lab. The small ivory box on the table had transformed into a ball of pulsing blue light and omitted a low mysterious hum. Ryan sat on the seat and pressed a button on a small control panel attached to the side of the seat. The seat rotated to face the wall, then shot up into a hole in the ceiling and continued until it came to a halt in the cockpit.

  The cockpit only housed two seats and a large console full of flight controls. Before Ryan was the windscreen that angled sharply towards the flat nose of the ship. Behind him was a large panel angled the same way, but back towards a small window that viewed another level of the Eagle. Between the two seats was a central console that contained one of three control sticks, while the other two were on the far side of each seat. This was so either the pilot or the co-pilot could use the two control sticks that were necessary for piloting the ship.

  Ryan quickly got to work on the pre-flight procedures. His hands darted over buttons and switches until the ship's engines began to wind up. A low guttural noise came from the engines that slowly changed pitch until it was so high that it almost was out of audible range. Then a thunderous sound started that drowned out the high pitch noise. The whole concert of the engines became deafening and caused the floor to shake. Ryan watched his father return from the Eagle for more provisions when a distant explosion startled him. The bombing had already started and it wouldn't be long before they were hit.

  Time was running short and his father was taking too long with the stores, so he ran out of the ship and across the landing dock to the entry door. The explosions were coming closer and were more frequent. Unsecured items from the upper levels were dislodged by the quakes and toppled off the balcony to crash upon the dock floor.

  As Ryan entered the corridor that led to his father's quarters, a mighty explosion struck the complex. Ryan was tossed to the ground and assaulted by fragments of wall and floor. The roof caved in and the walls exploded shooting deadly projectiles everywhere. Panels and windows shattered risking life and limb while huge structural beams were shot through walls and floors. Whatever got in the way was annihilated. The deafening sounds quickly ceased, and as the dust settled the few fortunate survivors viewed the aftermath.

  Ryan raised his head and wondered why he was still alive. He examining his body for injuries and found they were limited to only a few cuts and bruises, then he surveyed the surrounding damage. What saved his life was the doorway above him. At this point, the strength of the complex was great enough to withstand the shock of the nearby blast. Ryan beheld the corridor before him and was horrified. Two more steps and he would have been crushed by a mountain of rubble. He stood up and looked behind at the landing dock.

  The Eagle was unscathed, however the probe was less fortunate; a girder had impaled its fuselage. The overhead bay doors were badly damaged and jammed in position, fortunately they were open at the time of the explosion. In the distance he could hear the screams and shouts from other personnel as they discovered the fallen.

  Suddenly he realised, DAD?!

  He traversed the rubble before him until he came to his Father's quarters. The room caught the brunt of the explosion, debris and shattered beams were everywhere as some electrical appliances burned illuminating the scene in a sinister orange. He could barely recognised the familiar quarters. Then he saw something move under the rubble. Ryan quickly scurried over to the location of the movement and cleared away the surface debris. There was John trapped under a main beam.

  Red ichor flowed from his temple and oozed his mouth, and his right leg was bent grotesquely at a right angle.

  "Dad, don't move I'll get you out."

  "I'm trapped." His head throbbed as if he were struck by a baseball club, coupled with an excruciating pain was coming from his chest where the beam pressed.

  Ryan got under the beam as best as he could, then with all his strength pulled on the beam. Apart from a groan, the beam didn't budge. He cleaned away the debris where the beam disappeared into and found it went straight through the remains of the floor.

  "Dad, I will have to cut the beam. Hang on, I'll be back in a second."

  "Son...." John struggled to get the words out, "we could be hit again at any moment. Get out of here while you still can."

  "No, I won't leave you here. I'm not going to lose you as well." He scramble
d back towards the Eagle. Ryan got as far as the boarding ramp when another mighty explosion shook the complex. He was thrown to the ground again and knocked unconscious.

  Sometime later, he awoke to a massive headache and blurred vision. He rubbed his eyes and stood up from the ground. His head began to spin and he had to brace himself on one of the hydraulic pistons for the boarding ramp. He reached up to the right side of his head and felt something warm and wet oozing out.

  The complex before him was totally destroyed, nothing could have survived the second blast.

  Ryan cried out, "NO!" The pain of John's death hit him with a flood of emotion. He felt as if the world had turned against him and taken away the last person he'd ever loved. His stomach felt hollow and his head reeled. It was all too much for him. Retrieving the body was hopeless as now his Father was well and truly buried. Anger welled up in his heart and an obsession for revenge took over. He wiped away the coagulating blood from the side of his face and took in a deep breath and shouted to the sky, "You will pay for this. Everyone of your vile race shall pay!"

  Ryan spun on his heels and ran into the Eagle. As he passed by he noticed a pulsing blue light coming from the lab at the far end of the room. With no time to investigate, he dismissed the opportunity and proceeded to the pilot's chair.