Through the Eyes of an Interloper

By Matthew Belicek

A gripping tale filled with adventure, suspense, and deep space! 

 

When Bamed sets out to complete his training as the guardians known as the Interlopers, an unexpected turn of fate sets him into a course not even he could have predicted. 
 

As he set out on that small bit of fate into the universe he has to be strong for not only him but for the rest of his crew! A good leader sets great example that leads to the best crews! With an Earthling in their crosshairs and countless star systems and epic encounters ahead of them and time escaping them, Bamed has one question to ask himself...

 

Will they make it in time... can they get ahead of the evil menace that hangs over them! 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Matthew Belicek
• Release date: Feb 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393771364

Book preview

1.1 The Vacant Room

The air was stagnant as I stood there with my parents both explaining to me to take a deep breath. Look, it may seem scary but just know that once you start, it’ll be over before you know it, my father says.

Once it happens it’s not that hard to forget that feeling and it’ll be easy after that. It’s difficult to understand how it will feel the first time alone, my mother utters as she tucks her blonde hair behind her ear, Just breathe and know that we’ll be right down there waiting for you.

I take a deep breath in trying to calm my nerves. The air is warm and has a distinct musty odor, almost that of an old computer that has been running for an extended period of time. My father walks towards me and leans forward putting one hand on my shoulder and the other on his knee. We get eye level as I look into his blue eyes. He brushes some of my hair out of my eyes so I can focus on him and him alone. He noticed my chapped lips and quickened breathing and nods. He reaches in his pocket and takes out a sheet of paper that is long and narrow. He always keeps it in his pocket and takes it out to read to me and my mother to distract us from stressful times. He looks down at it, and with a serious face looks deep into my eyes rests his hands on my shoulder and says, the wanderer who wonders will only wonder who will wonder of him and his wandering thoughts while they themselves will wander.

We stand there in silence for a moment, my face befuddled and my mother trying to process what was just said. Then an abrupt laughter fills the cabin as me and my mother register his drollery. Trying to keep his composure, fighting his laughter my father joins us in laughing.  You see, even I have to finally cave into the fun times...looping is not that hard I promise you. Like your mother said, once you do it, it gets easier, my father explains as he tries to fight the laughter to get a complete sentence out.

After a few moments of guffawing, we all know what is needed to get done. The time has come to get back to focusing.  He grabs a hold of my hand and puts my orb in it. We both look down as the orb begins filling up with cloudy smoke.  He and I both took a deep invigorating breath together and I snicker as the thoughts of my father's words fill my head. As I am exhaling, my father describes to me how the orb works. The orb has to match along with the lines on your hand. You will see a series of colors trying to locate these lines. Once those are aligned at the bottom of your hand, the ports will start to show.

I am nodding as if this is the first time I’ve heard this. However, truth be told, I have done this for the 114 millionth time it seems. I have never looped on my own before until now is the only difference. He goes on, the ports on your hand will start to appear. That is when you have to line them up on your hand. The ports on the orb will glow white as the smoke within the orb will diminish. At that point, you will be looped to the planet below away from people and any other obstructions to a safe clearing.

Or I will be transported back to the ship once again...if on the planet needing to get back, of course, free of obstruction and in our designated areas, I add to further my father along with his speech.

He smiles knowing that his words don't go unheard. I know all of this forwards backwards and all around the words keep going in my head one last time as I wipe sweat away from my brow and rub it on my gray oversized cardigan as I start to fake hyperventilate. I’m not afraid by any means I’m just nervous because this will be the first time I have to loop alone and to a planet in front of my parents. My father walks next to my mother and grabs ahold of her hand both looking into each other's eyes as I see them reach into their pockets on their belt and grab their orbs. I look down at mine as it is still a swirling smoke scene from a volcano. They both grab their orbs without even looking at it as if I can see from that distance what is happening in the orb. My mother winks at me and smirks, raising her beauty mark and says, I will see you shortly when you finally make it down to us. Take all the time you need but we will not come back up for you so don't make us wait too long.

I wink back at her and try to muster up the words see you soon mother out of my mouth, but I mumbled everything together to one big goopy mess. Just as the words did not leave my mouth they had faded into the mists of the dust on the ship. Colors fading off their cloaks and shirts as what appears to be fragments of them breaking off is the only way to describe it. The eyes are the last things to go. My parents' baby blues were looking at me as I saw the smile in their eyes fade and break off into nothing.

Now let me tell you how looping is really like; It feels like someone is sucking the air out of your lungs then the heat comes over your body as your limbs are usually the first to go. It's such a surreal feeling that it’s so hard to describe you’d have to be the one looping to understand. We can loop people with us; it's just not highly recommended though. Most of the time they tend to pass out or freak out upon arrival and that is not a sight to see, nothing dangerous or terrifying I promise.

This is the last test for us Interlopers making sure that we can do it. Making sure that we can loop with little to no supervision. With my parents already on the planet within a blink of an eye and I look right at the orb expecting it to magically loop that quick. Not that I don't mind being on a quiet ship, I just don't like the quietness of being alone. Rolling the orb in my hands trying to align the lines to get the clouds appearing in the orb, nothing was happening at first. Frustrated and upset I wiped the sweat from my brow as I began to calm my breathing.  Trying to overcome whatever it is that is keeping me from doing this I keep rolling it around my hand in different positions, nothing still. I need to keep the confidence that I have with my parents with me, when they were here I had no problem getting the smoke to start up.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I got the smoke starting. Rotating between every color there is on the rainbow I try to line up the lines on my hands with that of the orb. Moving my hand in every which way, I start swearing up a storm getting frustrated and pissed off that I can’t do it as quick as them. I have to calm myself down in order to give the full concentration I need to make it happen. Finally, the lines light up to a bright blinding white light that illuminates the room of our ship.

The ports on my hand start to appear as it is searching for the ports on the orb. I finally move my hand and as I grasp it in the ports light up the smoke disappears in the orb. I take a deep breath as I feel the looping begin to happen. Seeing the brightness of the lights from the orb as I see pieces of my body break off I take a deep breath. I close my eyes as I let the looping happen and focus on my breathing. I managed to finally make it to the planet below.

I exhale as I open my eyes into a dark room of a building only lit by windows, seeing the dust fly in the orange light coming from the outside. I look around the room to try to recognize anything at all; a couch, a table, stoves anything just to know what kind of room I'm in. I need to know all of this, what room I'm in, what is around me, to know what I need to do to run in case there is danger or grab anything to defend myself.  All Interlopers tend to have a weapon, a unique one only built according to their studies in the art of skills they have been taught. My family has been using a mace for generations. I've only been using my father’s till tomorrow, that's when I will be having my own made. I look around and all I see is the hardwood floor and the walls have absolutely nothing on them. Outlines of where picture frames or clocks were but sadly nothing on them. There's nothing on the floor either, so they were taken, not knocked off.

The area where the table and couches should be are vacant. There's absolutely nothing in this room except dust and a lonely Interloper. I don't want to draw attention to myself in case someone or something is in this dwelling.  I can't give my parents or my positions away, especially mine since I have no way of defending myself. I peek around a corner and notice that it is yet... another vacant room with the dust filling the air as I tiptoe around. It appears to be what a dining room should be but there’s absolutely nothing here.  You can see the outline of what used to be a rug protecting the floor where a dining room table probably was.  Wonder who lived here before it became vacant?  Better yet, why is it vacant?

The floor creaks below me with every step as I tiptoe around as if I’m trying to escape prison. The dust swirls around my feet with each step I take as the wind comes from my body. I stop and wonder, why did my orb send me to a vacant building instead of where my parents orbs were?  The orb does work in mysterious ways and does sometimes have a mind of its own but usually it tends to steer us clear of danger, walls, people, etc. just so we don’t loop where a person is standing, and we end up killing them.  The orb tends to take us in an opening in a field or it takes us to the center of a room. 

I begin to panic and start to frantically go from room to room with only dust in the corners and silhouettes of where furniture used to be on the floor and pictures used to be on the walls trying to find my parents.  Freaking out that something happened to them but also in the back of my mind, I may be stuck either here or on the ship. I whisper, father... mother...

Nothing responded back. Since my father is the head of my family and the ship is his, the ship turns on and moves only when his orb is on the ship. I panic even more. I pick up my orb with hopes that something could show me the location of them. I hold it firmly thinking that somehow the grasp will make the blips of their orbs appear... nothing. The wood creaks under my feet as I frantically walk around the rooms. I turn a corner in what probably was a bedroom and I see an orange blip appear on my orb.

I pause and damn near drop my orb. I swallow hard and shake it thinking there's a problem because I only see one and I drop down to my knees quickly as if someone were attacking me from behind. I crawl around on my hands and knees and start to make my way toward the blip. The dust collects on my pants as I make my way slowly.  I begin to smell smoke as I slowly get closer toward a door. Curiouser and curiouser, my mind tends to run, where is the smoke coming from? Where are my parents? I managed to make my way to the window next to the door and I hoisted myself up to just peek over the sill and I witnessed my father fall to his knees with his hands up pleading and begging. This is no ordinary planet that I had landed on.

The trees were on fire in the front yard... of whatever building I’m in, and the surrounding area as far as I can see. The sound of crackling from the burning can be heard through the, wait was it the building on fire or was it the surrounding trees that were making that sound? I can only imagine that the floors above me, if there are any, are on fire. Am I going to be inside as the floors above me collapse but I can't go out there because I’d more than likely be next to my father?

I immediately dropped my whole body back down in hopes that nobody had witnessed a lonely Interlopers head in a vacant building's window. I freak out, start to lose it and begin to crawl toward the window in the living room to just peek my eye around the corner. To get a better view to just catch a glimpse as to who or what was demanding my father to get to his knees. I frantically look around to find my mother, maybe she's in here with me in the building.  Maybe she escaped and it's only my father.  A tear shot out of my eye and ran down my face instantly.  My mother's body lay lifeless next to him; her orb was crushed as she lay there in a pool of her blood. Her hand was outreached for her orb as if she were trying to use it or get to it. 

The planet, as described by my parents, was supposed to be in an oasis of pure blissfulness rolling meadows of grass as the wind makes them look like waves of water. The trees sway and you could swear you could hear an orchestra playing the many colors in the sky right before the sunsets in the infinite number of stars in the sky It could almost blind you. There were only herders on this planet that wanted a new life for them and their families. Unfortunately, the planet that I landed on has been overrun and taken by these... these...creatures. Were they waiting for us? Did they do all of this before we got here in hopes to just destroy a life for someone?  I stop letting my mind get the best of me and peek my eyes above the windowsill and start to try to remember every detail about them. If I have a chance to make it back to The Wasp, I will make it back to our planet and must describe who these people or what these creatures were.  My eyes got to the size of my head as I remembered I needed my father's orb to make the ship move to turn on anything!!

As they lean forward to my father‘s face they grab the back of his hair and force their faceless head in front of his forcing him to look at them. My father resists trying to look away but only to have another two robotic hands come to hold his head steady. To the untrained ear they seem to be speaking in beeps and boops but to me and every other Interloper they’re speaking a chorus of slanderous words toward my kind. Unfortunately, the Interlopers are not liked by many and it just so happens these robots got a hold of two possibly three if I can’t escape them. The robots are forcing my father to apologize for everything that the Interlopers have ever done to their kind. The robot screamed in his native beeps and boops using his hands and sword to show what was going to happen.

My father screams out without showing fear, the falling of my blood won’t change a single solitary thing for your kind. The reapers have fallen before in the past, and it will fall again soon, especially yours.

Now where have I heard that name before, as I dip my head from the sill still in hopes no one has noticed me. That was the first time I heard that name in about twenty years. The name has been around far longer than that though.

In my mind I run through all the different types of reapers as I peak my head up once again to get a glimpse of what they look like again. Faceless giant robotic type being that has nothing but hatred and strength going through its bodies. They have different looks for certain ones that have certain jobs or purposes, still haven’t heard of anyone talk of them in so long. History class basically was it and that was forever ago. From that class I could remember was that the Interlopers defeated all of them and the terror and fear they spread across the millions of species in our universe with the help from the S.K.U.L.L.

I slumped back down and hid out of sight away from any windows so nobody could see me. The smell of burning is still in the air and is stinging my nose. Still so scared to think that the building is burning above me.  I managed to crawl my way to the front door trying to see how I could get to my father's orb. You see since this was my last test, me getting a hold of his orb is crucial. It is what releases the only orb that controls the ship to me since one day it will be mine to control when he stops his missions. I keep reminding myself that making sure I get a move on to be successful in this journey.

I stealthily make it to the front door and peek around the corner watching my father kneeled as the wind blowing his hair sternly looking into the reaper’s eyes, or where they would be if he had any, and say, I apologize for nothing, I did what I did, and I’ll do it again when I get the chance.

The lights on the faceless face blinked red and for some reason you could tell it struck a nerve with them. The reaper, in his language, angrily screamed and dug the dagger in my father’s cheek inflicting pain drawing blood.

I sat there just watching focusing on them as the other reapers were surrounding him jeering and screaming at him. It wouldn’t be a fair fight even if my father were up on his feet, weapons drawn and all. Too much hardware, too little power behind his hit wouldn’t mesh well.  The power of a few Interlopers would make it a fair fight but sadly we don’t have that luxury! My father looked down at the ground as if his head were being forced down. With blood dripping onto his shirt, I could still hear him scream to them, smug? You think I’m smug? I’m just confident in knowing history at this point. I probably won’t see the fall of you and your kind, but I do know that you guys are an abomination to this universe. You infect every planet you encounter and just kill because you can, and the universe doesn’t need that. My ancestors, who destroyed your kind, should've been the last. I don’t know how you survived or where you came from but mark my word, your race will be wiped from every history book from everybody’s memory when we are through with you.

The faceless screen of the reaper got redder if that’s possible. Smoke should be steaming with how pissed he really was. He raised his sword and screamed in his ferocious language causing my father to wince as the sword came crashing down, splitting my father's skull in two. My father didn’t have a chance to even breathe, react or anything.

I had to put my hand over my mouth to cover for the screams that wanted to come out. I looked around the empty room trying to find anything to fight with but unfortunately nothing was there except the red I saw. Screaming into my hands I had to stifle them in case anything heard me. I peeked over the sill once again because I’m stuck here till I can get to.... oh no did they crush the orb just as they had done my mother’s? I looked at my father’s belt. He had his weapon tucked behind his cloak that he had on but there was no sign of the orb. When he fell to his chest the weapon went between his legs and I could see the bulge of his belt where his orb was. I needed to get to both the orb and that mace so I can get to my ship and to get home to explain to my people what happened.

There were about 20 to 30 reapers in the front of the building, but I couldn't tell you how many were nearby. I couldn’t tell you how many were on this planet either, but from the looks of how bad the destruction was and how quick they destroyed everything we are looking in the tens of thousands.

The ticking is the thing that gives them away; it is the heart that they have. So, you can only imagine what it is like to have thousands of them going off. The few that were close to me off in the near distance was so deafening it started to make me go mad. I calm my breathing down by the open front door waiting to hear the ticks somewhat fade away into the distance so I can get to my father. To get to the orb but most of all to take a piece of him with me so that I can have something of his. Not like a finger or anything but those little pieces of paper in his pocket. The ones that he would always take out to make an awkward situation funny to make us forget why it was awkward to begin with. I want just one of those to always remember him by. He always had one on him no matter what. 

As I hear the ticking grow more and more faint, I muster up the courage to at least stand up for once and peek around the corner thinking how I’m going to get there fast enough to get the orb to see if I can loop my mother and fathers’ bodies to our ship. Also, I need a means of defending myself, I mean I've only been training my entire life with a mace like my fathers, why would I let a damn reaper take what's mine? As I peek around the corner the smoke from the fires laid low like an ominous fog that was creeping in after a chilly night in the summer. The crackling from the burning trees and the very faint ticking is all that I can hear. I look at my father and I look around seeing if I see any reapers nearby. Knowing how my mind works, I probably am overthinking this. I just wish there were a way my father's lifeless body can give me guidance.

Listening straining with my ears trying to hear a tick or a tock from their heart. Nothing I hear is out of the sort except my own heartbeat through my ears and that maddening faint ticking off in the distance. His weapon is not attached that well to his belt so that will be an easy grab. The piece of paper I need in his pockets and the orb are the only two I’m mostly concerned about. As I take a step toward the open doorway, I scare myself as the creaking of the door frame beneath my feet I stop, take a deep breath, collect myself and I make a mad dash toward my father's body. I take two steps out of this building and the heat from the fires grow more and more intense with each step I take. The crackling is even louder without the walls acting like a buffer. The heat though is intense, I can’t tell if it’s from the fires or if it’s my adrenaline pumping me up to make it. As I ran, I could hear a slight tick in the back of my head. I turn around to look in hopes it was my imagination and there were six reapers inside the building I was in. How the hell did I not hear their ticking?  I trip over my own feet as they startle me.

As I fall, I hear the screeching from their mechanics like nails on a chalkboard as they jump off the third floor with a loud thud as they hit the ground. The loud footsteps approaching me faster than I was anticipating. Didn’t know they could move that fast. I slid into my father's body, a happy and sad feeling overcame me as I didn’t know if I had a chance to get him off this planet as I heard more reapers joining in the hunt for me. I scramble for the mace and I slide it off the hook and stand up tall and proud and I hold it up as I am just waiting for them to lunge towards me and try to take my life just as I had just done my parents.

They slowed down their speed as they made their way towards me making fun of my people. You get used to it after years of ridicule for who you are, but these beings just killed my parents, I have absolutely no choice but to do what my father would have done; made them understand that the Interlopers aren’t one to be messed with. I can’t take them all on, but I can still take a few out to clear a path for me to loop to my ship. Shit the orb, grab the orb idiot or else you won’t be clearing a path for anyone. 

Reaching down I feel for the orb on my father's belt, my eyes not leaving the reapers’ faceless face, I start to panic when I don't feel it. Had they destroyed it when I was hiding my cries? Searching like a mad man, I finally found it and put it in my back pocket. I slide his cloak out of the way to try to get into his pocket to try and get one of those white sheets. More and more ticking I hear from all sides of me. Reaching into his pocket my hands get caught up but after a few tries one of the sheets comes loose and out. In my peripheral view I notice there are three more reapers walking towards me, so I cram the sheet into my pocket to focus my attention now on them.

Their walk turns into a jog as I stand up, they are expecting me to run because I am so young, but what they don’t realize is I have rage and anger on my side. I hold the mace in my hand as I focus my anger toward the 3 coming toward me. As I started jogging towards them and screaming, they slowed up a bit, not expecting me to stand up and fight back. I don’t pause, I don’t blink as I take a leap into the air lifting the mace high above my head and bringing it down with a crashing hit to the first one’s head putting his head into his body killing him upon impact. I kick the other in the side knocking him down taking the mace to the other one next to him crashing his face. A screech comes from his gaping wound on his glass face as I lay another deadly blow to kill him. I put my foot on his neck as I pry the mace from his head, and it’s stuck. I struggle as the other reaper is slowly getting up. They’re machines, how are they winded? It finally comes free just in time as the mace meets his chin knocking his head damn near off. Fluids are spewing about as well as their screams are slowly going away.

The other six start running towards me at full speed seeing their fallen comrades lie dead at my feet. More ticks coming from all sides start to get louder and louder. With the mace in my hand, I push the button on the side to let out the chain that makes it a ball of flying spikes. I take a few steps aside, getting momentum of the chain to make the spikes fly. Getting my mace in full action I take a swing and hit the right one making the three collide. The other three are still running at me as I push the button to retract the ball.

Grabbing the handle on both ends, without touching the spikes, I put it up to block the blow from the reaper that made it to me. I drive the butt of the handle into the screen of his face and push his body into the other one knocking him over. I swing the mace around as I attempt to tee off on his head in hopes to end this fight so I can get to my ship with my parents. He blocked it and jabbed me in my side. I keel over as I hear more slanderous remarks toward me. He raises his leg and kicks me in my face, and I go down for the count.

I scramble to get back up, dazed and confused trying to catch my breath trying to look at the remaining few that are getting up with one thing on their mind; kill me!!  I walk towards them and I start speaking in their language so they can understand me, freak them out a little bit while I’m at it, make them understand why I’ve killed five of them. You’ve killed the only family I have you wouldn’t understand what that’s like since NO ONE will mourn your death and you care for nothing but hellbent destruction and no mercy killings, I screamed at them in hopes they back off a bit while I let the much-needed air back in my lungs.

I hear more ticking of the hearts headed my way and more clinking of the metal to the planet hit with each clogging step they take in my direction. As if a kill order has been made the five start running towards me with no stopping in their stride. I release the ball of spikes with a loud thud as the ball hits the ground. I step on the fallen dead reaper's arm that releases his grip on his sword as it flings the sword up into the air somewhat distracting two of them, I swing the ball of spikes into one of theirs heads. Killing him on impact the other falls to the ground as the sword, that was flipping through the air, penetrates his exposed neck killing him.

Pushing the button, I retract the ball to batter one of the remaining reapers in the head dropping him to the ground. His body hits the ground hard as he dies before he hits it. I swoop around and take out the other one's legs, knocking him down as I reach over and grab the sword sticking out of the dead reaper's neck, slashing his hydraulic line letting him bleed out. Only one more to go, I’ve got this. 

I smile thinking I actually have a chance to make it back to the ship with my parent’s bodies. Not being nice or anything but I decided to let the one stay alive so they can tell their brethren what had happened. With a swift strike I swing and take out the remaining one's legs, knocking him down to the ground. A screech lets out as I stand over him, he tries to take a swing at me with his sword. Almost made contact but I blocked it, knocking it out of his hand. I raise my mace above my head dripping with the oil of the fallen reapers I bash his one arm another screech as he tries to fight me with his one good limb. I reach up again to bash the second arm as I look over at the fallen reapers. Smoke starts to rise up, thinking it’s them on fire I bash it in. I scream at him, send a message to you master your king or whatever the hell you have that the end time is near for all reapers.

He screamed back at me in his gibberish beeps and boops writhing in pain.

I scream back at him making sure I’m in his sight so he won’t forget me, I will make it off this planet and I will live. Trust me you’ll get what’s coming to you for what you’ve done to my parents, but you’ll never take me! I promise that to YOU!

I stand up and just let him speak his nonsense. I’d give anything to just bash his face in, but I want them all to know what had happened. The smoke started to swirl above each of the fallen reapers and started to take form. What in the hell is this? The top of the smoke starts to take the form of a reapers head then the mechanical body starts to form. Is this really happening, are the reapers really having ghosts now? Apparently, life after death is true to our enemies also. I needed some proof to bring to my people to show them what had happened. What happened to my parents needed justification just so I can get a whole horde of loopers to back me up. 

I grab the handle of the sword sticking out of the reaper and push down in hopes of cutting the head off in one swoop to get to my parents quicker so we can go home. Working the metal in hopes to have an easy cut was cut short when I had to start sawing through. I finally made it through countless hoses and gears I Had to chop a few and twist it off it. Holding the head by the hoses, I started walking towards my parents in hopes to get them back on the ship bringing us back home. 

I lick my lips and I taste blood from the kick to the face. I mutter dumb friggin metal gear piece of... before I could finish my sentence, I look up there are hundreds of reapers making their way towards me!! Swords out screeches blaring ticking deafening everything nightmares are made of. I tried to run toward my parents but the mists that we’re rising out of the reapers dead bodies were there preventing me from going any further. Ghosts of the reapers this is something new. Never in my life had I been so pissed can’t fight off a mob of them and I sure as shit can’t fight ghosts of them, what else to do. My parents need a better burial than this, I can’t get to them though. 

I raise my mace in hopes to just go right through the ghosts of the reapers but sadly I struck metal as my mace seemed to have just bounced off the ‘metal’ shell of them. Shit... I can’t do this alone. A tear dropped down as I couldn't help my parents. I backed up feeling completely helpless, I set a beacon for my location so I can come back for them, at least some part of them.

I reached into my back pocket and grabbed my orb in hopes to almost instantly make it up to the ship. I hold my orb in my hand as the smoke starts to fill it and the lights are connecting perfectly to my hand creases. A blinding white light appears as my port on my hand tries to find the port on the orb. Tears fell down my face, bye mother... bye father...

The ports connect and I start to fade into looping as the ticking of all the reapers grow louder. The mists trying to knock the orb out of hands outstretched trying to make contact fail as my lower half has already broken up. The rest of my body breaks up as my eyes are the last to go, silently whimper as I see the horde of countless reapers coming my way. I blink and I’m back on the ship.

1.2 The Stowaway

As life catches up to me and comes to reality the whirring of computers and the engine starting, they begin to rumble as everything turns on. I let out a sigh of relief that the orb was still doing its job. Just as I’m about ready to head out and away from the planet, I have a small breakdown as everything finally caught up with me realizing that I had just lost both of my parents, and I had to leave them there on the burning planet. A combination I wasn't comfortable with because I couldn't give them a proper burial nor could I say goodbye!

Uncontrollable sobbing takes over as I try to focus on the task at hand and get home away from this planet. With the planet in my windshield, I begin to see ships and random metal pieces leaving the planet and heading straight towards me. With the smoke in the background filling the atmosphere, it makes for an interesting and terrifying picture to have stuck in my mind! Apparently, I have stayed too long, and I needed to leave, and I needed to leave fast. I wiped my eyes, attempted to muster up the little sanity I have and put my hands on the controls... it’s time to go home. I look over to my right side and see the seat that used to be my mother's chair, I smile with all the filled memories we had. The countless journeys we did together and knowing I’m all alone from this point on is hitting me hard! 

Even though I have flown the ship countless times but looking down at the controls and it all seems so foreign to me. My father flew us around, always but I sat in his seat and it still feels so empty. I run my hands on the controls regaining knowledge of how to work the ship. I had to get out of here the pieces of metal had begun to take form the closer they got. My eyes were finally focusing on, wait, What the hell, I murmured to myself.

The reapers were literally jumping towards me and leaving the burning planet behind them. Looking at my seat that I used to sit at, with the reaper head sitting there looking at me, I spit at it. Expecting it to do something but it just sat there. I hate them!

I got the ship up to speed to outrun the reapers, a little speed turbulence never hurt anyone. As the speed picks up and as I pass one of the planet's moons, I take a moment to myself realizing what a beautiful moon the planet has. It’s a bloody shame that once the reapers pass it trying to get to me, they will probably burn it too. I can see the giant flying creatures in formation as I pass close enough to the planet dipping ever so slightly into the atmosphere. One gets startled and flies away from the group, but the others don’t care. The bottom of my ship grazes the leaves of the tallest trees sending waves of wind blowing through all the trees it touched. I push forward on the controls to pick up speed.

I double around the moon in hopes to gain a push from the moon's gravity. I’ve seen my father do this before only once when we were negotiating the slave trades on the planet Hazothea. It helps get us from point a to point b in half the time. One time around should do it. As I begin to pick up speed and exit the atmosphere of the moon, I buckle my seat belt cause the force against my face will be almost unbearable. With the last little bit, I push the controls as forward as they can go at full speed in this setting should do the trick. The engine sputters even though full speed is the only way to make it work.

I pray to whoever’s listening to allow it to work, I need to get out of here. I can almost smell the oil. I look at the reapers head and laugh, no it’s not from you.

Finally, the engine catches as I can feel the full speed catching up to me and in the blink of an eye I am gone. The planet, the moon, all of it out of sight out of mind now just the pure clean vastness of space with the next stop being home. I take a step back from the controls to let the ship get us there. Shouldn’t take too long with this speed so I have a little bit to go without interaction, so I will read or try my best to keep my mind occupied with some sort of activities to learn anything at this point. I already know countless languages, I know how to take this whole ship apart and put it back together in theory of course, never done it, and I know basic techniques with other weapons, perhaps I can learn more with that last one, weapons. I mean I already love to learn new things so why not.

I sit there and sigh, the stale air has gotten into my nose again and I turn to look where I last talked with my parents. I tear up again until I realize I had something of my fathers. Aside from the orb, I have a sheet of his paper from his pocket in my pocket now. I frantically stand up and damn near rip my pocket off just to get to it. I remember our last laugh we all had. I just hope I got one of his funny one just to remember small moments that we shared. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the sheet of paper and closed my eyes hoping to open them back up to see nothing but comedy on it. I open my eyes and nothing... hmm it must be on the back. I flip it over nothing. What the hell?

Dumbfounded I looked at the sheet over and tried to remember if I felt anymore in his pocket as I was frantically trying to not die. It hit me hard when I realized that it was a blank sheet of paper, not random ones just the only one. I shake my head when apparently all this time he has said random stuff just to get a laugh out of us was basically just him talking.

I smile as more tears drip down my face shaking my head, I say to myself, good one father.

I let out a good laugh that just keeps getting louder and louder as if my father were standing right here ‘reading’ from the sheet. Still can’t believe he’s actually gone. I glance over at the reapers head as if I were expecting it to talk back but I’m rather happy it isn’t. My words wouldn’t come out; it would only be fists and my mace doing all the talking. Shit, the mace... I remembered I needed to clean that thing before the oil messed with it. Not taking that chance since it is my weapon now. It is rather strange to be on the ship that is normally filled with conversation, in-depth discussions, and practicing languages from across the universe to be in pure silence. I can only hear my heart beating and my breathing and it seems like it is deafening. Well, I am talking out loud to hear words properly as I tend to practice languages while I do other things.

I catch myself staring off aimlessly in no particular direction feeling my body just be. We are trained to meditate to refocus ourselves and with no time either, you never know when you’ll need a restart up. I needed one back there, but I had to fly off the seat of my pants. The smooth ride is what lulls me back to center and find myself again. No jerking, no jostling, virtually no movement except forward, the most luxurious ride you can be on in the universe. Getting lost in my mind made me think what’s going to happen now since unfortunately the only two people in my life are gone. Will I be looked at differently? Will people only be nice to me because they feel bad for me?

My eyes regain focus as a nearby planet comes into view. Sadly, it’s not mine but I do have to veer off away to not get caught in the gravitational pull. I'm making good time and don't want to mess that up. Soon I will be able to contact my home planet. Man, I am so thankful those damn reapers didn’t break my father's orb, I think to myself as I hold it in my hand looking at it before I put it away to steer the ship.

As I grab the controls to veer off right, I notice something. A glimpse of the planet a twinkle sticks out high above the planet coming my way. Is it something new from the S.K.U.L.L.? I begin the slow down process so I can completely turn around to see what the twinkle is. I tap on the hologram star map to try to zoom in to see what it is. It’s not natural so it’s built so that eliminates a moon. I start to make my way toward it so I can get a little bit closer to see. I squint trying to damn near look through it. As I do my blood runs cold realizing that one ship had followed me with the symbol of the reapers on it. The reapers are on my tail. Why do they want me dead this bad? Did I do something personal to them or did my family do something to them?

I sat up straighter in the seat and grabbed a hold of the controls, I need to lose them because if they find out where I am from it will be the end of Interlopers in this quadrant as we know it. I turned the ship in hopes that I can straighten out before they get to me. I straighten out and I aim directly towards them. They may collide with me and I'm just fine with that because if it kills me it kills them too so at least my species is saved. They start firing at me and I pull my right hand down to raise my left side up to avoid the shot. I dodge every shot they throw at me with just adjusting each handle.  Never have I felt more intune with an inanimate object like a ship before. With each adjustment I make the slower my ship comes and the faster it seems that they are coming.

Since I’ve never fired a cannon nor would I know how to even line up a shot, but this is life or death and I’m not going down without a fight. I feel around the controls trying to find the trigger to open fire. I start to feel a sweat come down my brow as I finally find the cannon controls and begin opening fire. Pulling back on the trigger I felt a smile on my face come over me as I let a dozen or so shots. Nothing... I hit dead space but at least I figured out how to start shooting. Hand to hand combat is where my species thrives but in space fights, we don’t really do that well unfortunately. We may have the technology, we may have the ships that can take us around the universe with no moving parts or fuel, but we have very minimal firepower. I swear when this is all over and done with and I finally make it back home, I will make sure that this will be added to the training and to add extra firepower for fighting. 

We both veer off to the right almost hitting one another, I pull the controls to the outside to stop me dead in my tracks. I pull the left control up and the right control down to do a 180 to start heading towards them with guns blazing trying my absolute best to blow them up. I jostled from left to right to cover more ground trying to fan out the shots in hopes that they are stupid enough to miscalculate my shooting. Unfortunately, my cannons did not catch him, and he started firing towards me and by the looks of it, he's a much better shot than I. I don’t stand a chance against them, and I must take evasive movement in order to not die. I know I said that I would rather die than to allow him to get to my people, but I think if I can lead him on a chase far away from here, I can steer him clear of my people. I slowed up to an almost complete stop, put the controls to a 45-degree angle and I started plummeting myself ‘down’ and opened my speed to try to lose them.

I may not have the dog fighting in me but I do have technology and speed on my side so I open up and push my controls forward as hard as it can go. The seat belt is doing the best it can to hold my body to the seat. I look at my hologram screen looking back seeing how far he is away from me and he kept right on me. Somehow his ship was capable of keeping up with mine, we are superior beings, how in the hell is his ship...

I looked down and realized I'm not fully open with my engines. I dropped a little bit lower after I released my seat belt a bit and I pushed as hard as I could and soon, he turned into a starlight twinkle. My heart is racing, and I know I must contact my home base letting them know what had happened.

Everything from the death of my parents to the shootout I just had with the random lone reaper they need to know send help my way. I may be ready to take on my position as a full time Interloper, but not like this, my mind is still very fragile with the deaths of my parents fresh in there. I looked at the hologram screen on the tablet on my desk in front of me, pulled up the tab of contacts and found my home base and hit the contact button. It wasn’t allowing me to, I couldn't contact home. The icon wasn’t lit up, so communications were down. What the hell?

Frustrated and tired I ran my hands across my face leading to my blonde hair exhaling as I ran my hands completely through my hair. I collect my thoughts and I look down at the tab and it's allowing a home call. Was I off course before? Was the reaper that had been tailing me set a comblock on my ship? I don’t want to slow down but I know I must keep this contact open with them, I need to slow down a little bit in case I lose it again. I check all points of my sites to see if anybody or anything is coming towards me. Looking into the camera screens at all points of the hidden parts of the ship I see nothing out of the ordinary. I see no movement, nor do I see no random twinkle, so I slow down and try to reach home.

I call out to the emptiness in my ship, computer call moonbase 1!

I pull my controls out and I come to a complete stop and I regulate my ship and level off so I’m not hanging by my seatbelt anymore. I sit there waiting to hear back in hopes that somebody heard me. The moonbase always has a radio tuned into all our ships so it should be a matter of moments before somebody answers me back, but it seems like they should have picked up by now. It was really a matter of moments, but it seemed like an eternity since anybody should have responded back so I shouted into my ship this time, COMPUTER CALL MOONBASE 1!!!

I paused and I just listened as a crackling came over the radio and they finally responded, this is Moonbase 1, Wasp, how can I help?

I frantically started talking gibberish and spilled out jumbled nonsense to whomever is listening. I know it makes no sense to them but to me I understand everything. Since so much has happened and no one to talk with for a bit it all just came out at once. I’m not used to all of this being on the spot either, so I had to gather my composure and take a few deep breaths and I try to calm my nerves down enough to start to explain what happened. Ok let’s try this again, sorry still somewhat new to this but my location is, shit I don’t know the location, give me a moment but in the meantime my ship is The Wasp and I’m in need of some backup guardians something, anything.

The hologram video comes on the screen with whom I’m speaking with and I can tell they are stumped why it is me calling and not my father. I’m sorry but who is this? I have The Wasp, but the commander of that vessel is, he rifles through various screens as I see it projecting on his face.

I know you are looking for my father, Amed, but unfortunately the planet that we were testing my last testing looping session was under attack, I explained to them with a slight quiver in my voice, these horrible beings killed both my parents for being who they were.

He paused a bit and he looked to his right and nodded, we are so deeply sorry for your loss and are so thankful that you had a chance to get your father's orb. We know that he was over the planet Naphus, but that doesn't make any sense because that planet is a peaceful docile planet under the protection of the S.K.U.L.L.

He took a deep breath and with a perplexed look on his face he asked, did you see who did this, did you see any life forms, ships, anything on that planet indicating who it was that was there?

I wiped the tears from my eyes as I looked into his with my hands on my cheeks and I slowly replied, yes, I paused for a moment remembering all I had done, I saw them. As a matter of fact, I had to kill a few of them, hell I even had a conversation with one of them before I had to make a fast escape and it was a name I haven't heard since history class, the reapers did this.

The radio went silent for a moment. The stone-cold face with the blood leaving his body apparently gave me the impression he was just as terrified as I was. He stammered and looked at me with a lost look of what to say... finally the words left his mouth, the reapers haven’t existed in our quadrant in over 1000 years if not more.

I know this, why in the hell is he telling me this? Telling him that it was the reapers should indicate that I know who the hell they were. I didn't need someone far off from me to tell me that. He then followed up that ‘smart’ response, The rest of the universe had killed them all off and we were one of the last ones to follow suit.

He was accompanied by a fellow friend that showed up with a book to show me the year and everything there is to know about the reapers. Above all else they were calming me down and making sure that I was ok. Making sure that I cleaned my weapon and making sure that none of the oil got on my skin was their next little bit of new information they told me. I looked down at my hands and realized I haven't really gotten it all off me. They were also trying to make me understand that now they had to contact the S.K.U.L.L. in order to make a report about them existing and that they will be right back.

I hurry to the bathroom to clean off the oil. My skin was turning slightly red as I washed the oil away.  Not taking any chances I scrub harder just in case. I pause and I look in the sink and somehow there’s more oil than I had previously thought. Has it gotten into my skin deeper than I can reach? Washing still I hear them come back on the tablet, Bamed, you still with me? he asks.

I can only imagine where he would think I would go out in the middle of nowhere. Drying my hands on my cloak, I run toward the seat to the hologram screen yelling, I’m here, I'm here just had to... er... use the bathroom.

Not taking any chances on them keeping me from getting home in case something was wrong with me. They say in an almost angelic way, the S.K.U.L.L. are on their way, as they hold to take a deeper breath, so just keep on your course for home and they should be there shortly, keep your other lines freed up.

The S.K.U.L.L.s are the police of the universe and there are over 712 trillion of them and they police the galaxies, star systems, and the universe. They always move in packs of 20 and not one of them looks the same. Even though we may