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Epilogue
"Trelaina, please, don't be afraid…" rasped Holden Krom. He reached out to his adopted daughter from underneath the ruins of a pillar. The thick cloud of dust and smoke choked him, making his eyes water unmercifully. "Trelaina," he coughed. "I have to tell you something."
"Father…?" the light voice called to him through the fog. "Where are you?"
"I'm over here, Trelaina," he rasped again, "This way." He tried to wave away some of the gray air.
The young woman's face appeared through the shroud of dust, her golden hair dulled by the dirty air.
"Father! You're hurt." She fell to her knees beside his crushed body. "What do I do?" Her fear-filled eyes met his.
"Trelaina." He took her hand. "You must stay calm. If you don't –" An explosion rumbled through the crumbling research center. "The containment field," Holden coughed so hard his lungs ached. "It will fail. This war has taken everything from Telezart. Don't let it take you too, daughter." He groaned as the pillar's weight shifted, forcing him down into a bed of metal shards.
"I won't, but I have to get you out of here." She leaned against the downed pillar, pushing with all her might. It didn't budge.
"No! Please, don't waste your time on me. Go! Go to the castle in the wastelands. You'll be safe there."
"But you're coming with me," Trelaina insisted.
"I can't," Holden said, pulling her hands away from a piece of once-pristine marble. "Telezart's war has had other consequences." He wheezed to catch another breath as the rubble shifted again.
"Other… consequences?" Trelaina shoved a small piece of the column away.
Chunks of rock and marble exploded into the ruined hall, digging into the walls and scraping away pieces of the floor. Trelaina screamed as a granite stake whistled past her head.
A gigantic Cometine tank smashed through the front wall, crushing debris and the bodies of the other fallen Telzarti scientists.
"It's –" Holden coughed hard, "the Cometines! They've come to take what's left."
"They can't have it!" Trelaina's angry outburst sent fear racing through Holden. The young woman stopped struggling with the broken pillar and stood to meet the barbarians.
"No, Trelaina, don't be angry – please – just get to the castle as fast as you can!" Holden pleaded.
From behind the tank a host of soldiers swarmed over the pulverized rock, heading straight for Trelaina and her father, weapons blazing.
"Trelaina, go –"
Trelaina's eyes darted to her father just in time to see the light go out of his eyes, a laser burn smoking at the base of his skull. Tears streamed down her white cheeks.
Molten rage burned in her veins. She knew she should control it – quench the fire rising in her blood, but she didn't want to. The only person who accepted her was dead – because of them.
Trelaina planted herself squarely in the line of the enemy's fire and screamed at them all, "You shall not have what remains of this world!" Her voice boomed through the hall.
The soldiers ignored her. Laser fire peppered the air, sizzling by, scorching her hair. Tank treads crunched through debris, scraping her nerves thin. More soldiers poured through the hole in the wall and another tank squeezed through the entryway.
Trelaina set her jaw and glared at the oncoming horde. Hot tears cleared away the dirt coating her face and she lifted her eyes toward Heaven. She squeezed her eyes shut as the agony of loss washed over her, mingling with the righteous fury flooding her heart.
The tanks ground to a halt and the gunfire ceased.
Blazing light burst into her vision as Trelaina looked to see why the advance stopped so suddenly.
A golden glow crawled up her body. Fear squeezed her throat shut, but the more afraid she was, the faster the light spread and within moments she was covered in a radiant cocoon. The ring on her right hand burned into her skin. An amber haze flowed over her vision, and she saw the Cometines scramble away from her, trampling over one another in their haste to flee.
Then everything exploded.
Disclaimer: Star Blazers, and all non-original characters are copyright Xebec, Inc, or Voyager Entertainment and all rights are reserved to the original creators. No infringing claims are intended. All original characters and situations, however belong to me.