"What is love?" I suddenly asked the long, black haired individual at my side. I was expecting a smart ass answer, or something like 'baby, don't hurt me'. But instead, I got one simple word that pretty much summed it up.
"Strange." He retorted after stroking his goatee for a minute.
"I can toast to that one." I said and clinked the rim of my beer bottle against his before taking another, rather large, swig.
"What brought that on?" He asked while trying, and failing, to adjust his choking tie to a comfortable position.
"I told you that a bow-tie would have been more comfortable. "I said, ignoring his question intentionally. I gave a light smirk, "Besides, bow-ties are cool." I said as he wrestled with it for a second before finally getting frustrated and yanking it off of his neck.
"Yeah. But hey, you know me, stubborn to no end." He said, clearly wanting to drag out the small talk as much as possible. "And you also know that I prefer the classics." He smirked.
"Yeah, I know you a little too well." I said and rummaged around my tuxedo's pocket until my fingers grasped the object of my search. "Here." I said and held out the small bow-tie. "I brought a spare for this exact reason." He reached out and grabbed it, then moved it towards his neck.
"Thanks" He said and fixed it to his tuxedo. Luckily, I had brought along a clip on, so it was low maintenance, but still looked fancy enough for the occasion. He adjusted it until he thought it to be as comfortable as possible, and sighed in relief.
"Now that is better." He said with satisfaction.
"I bet." I said, then let out a nostalgic chuckle before changing the subject. "Who would've thought it, eh?" I asked, turning my head towards my average set friend, "Charlie, of all people." I said and crossed my arms while staring back off into space.
"I know. She was an amazing pilot. Her weapons just jammed when she tried to fight off whatever attacked her." He replied.
"It's odd how successful, lucky, and awesome she was, but one fuck up did her in." I sighed, "I shouldn't have let her do this alone. I should have been there to check her weapons... Tell her to get ones that wouldn't jam..." I said sadly.
"Hey, it's not your fault. She was gone before you even knew about her mission." He retorted, trying to make me feel better. It worked. Slightly.
"Yeah..." There was a moment of tense silence before a light knock shattered it like fragile glass.
"Yeah?" I answered instantly with accidental edge to my voice, but the person on the other side of the door ignored it.
"It's time fore the visitations." The lightly distant voice said. Both my best friend and I downed the last of our drinks and sighed deeply. Our resistant bodies and minds were overpowered by our will to see our friend off. We got up from the strangely comfortable wooden seats at the back of the church and ambled to the door that would let into us the main room. I let out a rather large exhale and turned the knob and having light flood into the lightly lit room.
People lined the rows and rows of cushioned, red benches, filling the church with quiet murmurs and soft sniffles. The rows lead all the way up to the closed coffin in the center of the stage. Next to it, a picture of a teenage girl sat. She looked about fifteen, but I knew better. This picture was taken when she was eighteen. Her hair was about shoulder length, almost entirely black, save for the parts where she dyed it red, and was extremely curly. A cute smile adorned average sized lips and she appeared to be having fun with a girl about a year younger than her. Her sister. Ann. Whom I spotted in the crowd sobbing lightly.
Below, on the front bench, there were two empty seats next the the space between rows that were clearly meant for the only two people not seated. Us. Not because we were family members, because we were two of the pall-bearers. We made our way to the empty seats and planted ourselves on the cushions. A tall, lanky, middle aged man clad in black robes with a small, white square resting in front of his neck stepped onto the stage next to the coffin, clearing his throat before beginning his speech.
"Charlie was a brave soul filled with kindness, virtue, and spirit. There is no doubt in my mind that she is with God now." I felt skepticism rise in me, but I held my tongue tightly. I didn't feel like pissing people off today. "I believe her friends, teammates, and fellow soldiers would love to speak a few words." He said. My friend and I forced ourselves up from the red cushions.
"Teammates and fellow soldiers mean the same thing, dipshit." My friend muttered so lowly that only I could hear it, making me stifle a laugh as we approached the stage. We climbed up the stairs and stood in front of the coffin as well as the fifty or more people dressed in black.
"He said most of what I got. Have fun, Tommy." My friend said my nickname with a teasing smirk and hopped off of the stage. I silently cursed him with my glare of daggers, but turned to face the crowd regardless.
"Charlie was... Is an amazing woman along everything the preacher said. Best one I ever knew. She was a wonderful pilot who saved many people-" I started my final words for Charlie, but was interrupted when a young man about the age of seventeen with a neon sign kicked in the door.
"But how many did she murder?" He asked venomously. My heart dropped. Not for the ruining of Charlie's funeral, nor the ignorance of the young man, but for the man himself. I hoped that this wouldn't happen. That the police and our fellow soldiers could hold back all of the bastards. That it wouldn't come to this. I saw my friend sneaking around behind him. I knew what was about to happen, so I decided to stall by keeping the kid busy.
"She killed who she had to. To ensure the safety of you and every other American." I said. My friend was right behind him now. The protester opened his mouth to combat my logic, but in a flash of silver, he was on the ground. The entire room gasped, save for me. I sighed in relief. Because instead of hearing the tell tale sound of a knife slitting flesh open, my ears met with the sound of dull steel against a skull. My friend spat on the back of the offending kids' head and sheathed his knife.
"Disgusting." He said and walked back over to the wall and leaned back on it. Everyone clapped lightly, realizing that he had only knocked the kid out cold. It brought a smile to my face.
"Thanks, Ty." I said, just glad that he didn't kill the ignorant kid. He merely nodded. We finished up the funeral and, a few hours later, I was driving Ty and myself home. It was dark now, and the stars seemed to sparkle in the black night sky, making it shimmer with untold beauty. I had a gut feeling that, on one of those stars, Charlie was smiling back at me. It brought a smile to my own face. Then a flash of blue and silver caught my eyes, causing me to get my friends attention with a tap.
"What?" He asked. I pointed to the light. Right as it blinked out of existence. My luck. "What?" He repeated with a little more irritation.
"There was a strange light. It disappeared about the same time you looked up." I said, still staring at where the flash had occurred.
"It was probably just a shooting star." He said and looked over at me with a light smirk. "Make a wish." He joked, inciting a small chuckle from me.
"I wish we could see Charlie again." I sighed.
"Agreed." Ty said and looked back to the road, then his eyes widened as he jumped at the wheel. I cried out and slammed the brakes as he turned sharply. It was the worst thing we could have done. But hey, we were panicking. It sent us flipping into the offending object on the road, causing a splatter of blood that seemed to be lighter than human and an unearthly cry of anguish. There was another flash of silvery blue from outside the car that mixed with a brighter cyan flash. The heat inside the crashed vehicle became intense right before it exploded.
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Far above the newly found planet, the massive Carrier dubbed 'Ulrezaj's Reverence' hovered. It's extreme size made it slow, but able to store up to thirty fast moving interceptors. It's large size was not the only stunning site about it, for it was built to the design of the greatest minds of the Tal'darim.
It had two massive crescents on either side, encompassing the large hanger bay that glowed a deep red, like the rest of the lights on the ship. It's body pointed outward and eventually converged on a single point, the three horizontal breaks in the hull allowed the Protoss High Archon, captian of the ship, to merge his power with that of the other Templars and Archons, resulting in a massive cleansing beam that could wipe a planet away without a trace. Complete obliteration.
It was the capital ship of the Tal'darim fleet as well as the prized gem of their conclave.
"Tal'darim Void Ray 203 reporting. There is a definite Zerg activity on the planet." The Void Ray's pilot said through a crystalline communicator.
"Understood." Prepare for the cleansing of the planets life forms." Ulrezaj's Reverence's captains voice came back through the crystal. There was a slight pause on the other side of the crystal.
"By Adun! They appear to be Terran, but lack their advancements." Void Ray 203 finally responded after a closer examination of the inhabitants of the planet. Now it was the High Archons turn to pause.
"It matters not. Zerg adorn the planet. They must be cleansed." The voice spoke with finality.
"Yes, Executor." The Void Ray's pilot spoke before descending into the atmosphere with a shuttle carrying one Dragoon. He began to track on of the natives vehicles, but his camouflage wavered. Due to its almost instantaneous return, he dismissed it as a fault in his crystals that he could repair later.
The shuttle dropped the Dragoon behind the vehicle. The Void Ray began to charge it's obliteration crystals, but quickly decided that, since he scanned no Zerg lifeforms aboard, he had a heart and switched to the teleportation crystals. A Zergling came running out in front of the vehicle, causing it to swerve, flip, and crash into the vicious creature, sending the bright red blood everywhere. It's horrid cry filled the air as it's horrid life came to a halt. The Void Ray's readings told the pilot that the creatures inside the vehicle were far from dead. he charged his teleportation crystals and unleashed a silvery blue energy beam the same time that the Dragoon released its own cyan photon blast.
The two forces clashed into each other above their target, causing a large explosion. Though there was nothing left but a massive crater, the Void Ray's pilot smiled in satisfaction, for his Void Ray still detected their life signals.
"Void Ray 203. What was that?" The High Archons voice came through his crystalline communicator.
"Just having... What do the Terran's call it... Fun? Yes. Fun." The pilot smirked to himself, happy that the High Archon had not caught onto his plan.
"Careful what you say, Void Ray 203. Statements as such can get you executed. Do not forget, you are still a Dark Prelate. " The High Archon warned.
"Yes, Executor." The pilot instantly replied and geared in his warp drive with a frown, locking onto the coordinates of the native's he had just teleported.
"Good. Now, make your way back to the Carrier so we may cleanse this planet." The voice said with satisfaction.
"Executor." The pilot said.
"What?" He demanded.
"My name isn't Void Ray 203." He said with a smirk and initiated his warp drive. "It's Zuradj." His Void Ray blasted past the massive Carrier and to the location of the people who's lives he had saved. They appeared to be on a planet with the name... Equis. He activated his ice crystals for systematic cryo sleep and kicked back, for it was to be a long fly.
=======================
"A fool." The High Archons voice said.
"Do we proceed after him?" One of his subordinates asked.
"No. The fool will pave his own path of destruction. We have more pressing matters to attend to." He said and began to course his already flowing energies into the main cannon. "Fellow Archons, lend me your power to cleanse this planet of the vile Zerg!" He commanded. More power surged through him and into the main cannon. A massive red ball began to form at the tip of the Carrier. Energy swirled its way down the barrel, feeding the already massive ball until it was the size of the planet they were 'Cleansing'.
"This power... It's... It's.... Overwhelming!" He said, being the first time he has had the pleasure of cleansing a planet. He threw all of the massive energy forward, sending the ball into a beam that crashed through, and quickly incinerated the planet. Leaving nothing but ash. He sat back down in his arm chair in the center room.
"Tell me, what is the name of the planet we just cleansed?" He asked one of his High Templars
"I believe it was named Earth, High Archon Dejunda." The Templar answered, causing the High Archon to lightly chuckle.
"Earth. The first planet that I cleansed aboard the Ulrezaj's Reverence." He said, "Today is a day to remember." He added and locked the moment in his brain, hoping to never forget.
