Chapter 1

The room is dark and the only light is coming from the open door at the end of the corridor at the left. She pulls down the goggles on her head and scans the room. As she does she sees six assassins sitting in various locations in the room. She also notices what the assassins did not. There were a dozen or so phantoms hovering near the roof. "I know you are all here to try and kill me..." she reached back into her pack and pulled a flare, lit it and held it above her head. "However you may want to look up, there are much bigger fish to fry than me." With her goggles back on top of her head and light from the flare she could see all six looking up. They were all men, she always hoped there would be another female assassin around, but she has never found one. Her eyes went back to the roof and saw the phantoms starting to spread. They were beginning their attack.

She pulled her sword and backed until she felt the wall behind her. The phantoms had moved down to the center of the room, they were analyzing their prey. She saw all the other assassins moving to clear areas and most were moving closer to her. The only one that was not moving toward her was the smallest of the group. He still had his mask on and seemed to be looking directly at her. His watching her made her nervous plus it made the hair on her neck stand.

The flare died and she pulled the goggles back down. When she looked across from her she didn't see the small one anymore, she scanned the room and still could not find him. A hand was on her shoulder, when she looked it was the small one she had been looking for. This one moved very fast if he was able to go from one side of the room to the other in the time it took her to lower her goggles. He pointed toward the other side and she saw one of the phantoms already had a victim. The victim was still struggling, his hand was grabbing for a gun and it was just out of his reach.

"Alric shoot that fucking thing now!" The smallest assassin was a woman that was why it was smaller than all the others. The phantoms grip was tight around his neck and it was clearly moving in for the kill, it looked hungry, and he did look like the biggest of the group. "Alric that was an order..." Everyone was now fighting their own phantoms except for her; she was watching the one called Alric and waiting for him to signal that he needed help.

Her sign came when he passed out. She ran toward the phantom and sliced the hand that was holding Alric. The phantom shrieked and swung at her head. She pulled Alric to the side of the room and went back to the phantom. All the other fighters had guns and were soon done killing the phantoms that had chosen them for a meal. She on the other hand only had her sword and used her skills to kill all her phantoms. The phantom swung at her and she leapt, she needed a clear shot to its heart. She moved back and forth dodging and blocking attacks. Her shot finally came and she lunged at the phantom. The blade found it's target and the phantom hit the ground with a dull thud.

She wiped the sweat from her brow and looked at the group of assigns now standing together watching her. "Ok, shall we begin then?" she looked to the small one with her blade lifted in an attack stance. "We are not here to fight or kill you." The small one advanced with her hand out "my name is Reanna, and we are here to recruit you." She looked at Reanna and shook her hand, when she did her psychic ability kicked in and she read the woman's mind, she was being honest, they were here as friends.

"I'm Elana." She smiled and let go of the woman's hand. "We should get out of here sir" one of the men looked to Reanna and spoke again "the sensors are working again and there is a large group of them coming in and coming in hot." Reanna nodded to him and looked to Alric. "I'll get him." Elana looked at the still unconscious Alric and grinned. "He'll be no trouble." Reanna and the rest of the men shook their heads and tried to protest. "No, I will get him, it's no big thing." She walked over put his two arms around her shoulders, tied his hands together and ran for the open corridor.

Once outside Elana uncloaked her hover-cycle and hoped on. "Wait, you still have Alric" Reanna ran after them. "So take off for your base and I'll follow you" Elana could see the non-trust and took Reanna's hand. She wove her fingers into Reanna's and held her there "I swear to you he will be alive and we will land shortly after you." Reanna nodded then sprinted for her ship. Elana took off before the transport ship Reanna and her men were in, she knew if she didn't raise her shield before the cloud of smoke overwhelmed them she would have dust floating around all the way there. The transport rose and headed toward the west into the now rising moons.

The base Elana saw ahead was not attached to the planet. It was a hovering military outpost in space. She had heard about places like these. This was one of the secret bases that the military denies knowing about. They were about 600 kilometers out when Alric awoke. "Where are we and who the..." he saw the base and recognized her. "How did I end up here?" he untied his hands and wrapped his arms around her middle to keep from falling off. "I killed the phantom before it could eat you and loaded you up. And be careful where you put those hands." she gave him a warning look over her shoulder and he moved his hands to her sides.

They landed on the platform a few moments after the carrier and were greeted with guns being pointed at them. "At ease men, she is with us" Reanna shoved some of the men aside and put her hand out for Elana to take. "Welcome to the U.F.S.B. Socrates" Reanna removed her helmet and facemask Elana was a little surprised by the beauty that the young woman possessed. Elana wasn't expecting something so beautiful to crawl out of such a uniform. "If you'll follow me I can show you a place to freshen up before you meet with our top brass."

"Umm... I only see one stall." Elana looked slightly worried as Reanna was undressing. "Well you make two," Reanna smiled and started to unbutton Elana's jacket "I'm the only other female on board, hope you don't mind showering with me." Elana took Reanna's hand away from her jacket and her expression went from worry to pain. "I don't have any problems with it," she re-buttoned what had been undone and looked at the floor "You might, I'm gay and have many scars, so I'm not very attractive." Reanna pulled Elana's face to look into her own and smiled "I'm gay too, how do you think I've survived so long?" She began to unbutton the jacket again "and any scars you have merely give you stories to tell, they don't detract from who you are." Reanna kissed Elana on the forehead and grinned. Elana hugged her and pulled off the rest of her clothes.

After the long stories about the scars and the tattoos the ladies were dressed and standing in front of the 'Top Brass'. "I understand you rescued one of our men today..." one of the older ones was looking down on Elana "twice if I heard correctly." He looked to where Alric was standing. "Yes sir twice," he stepped forward and shook Elana's hand "I owe this young lady quiet a lot sir." Elana shook her head "No you owe me nothing Alric," Elana looked up to the old man "I simply helped someone who needed help." Alric stepped back and one of the younger men sitting next to the older one spoke. "Elana, we know your history with the military," he looked down at her with an expression of compassion, "however we want to change that and we need your help."

"These are a new breed of phantom..." the stout man was named Klieg and he was the advisor to the empress. He was explaining why she was needed to everyone. The team she had found out was named A.R.E.S., Air, Recovery, Extraction, Seals. "They are mutated by the left over radiation in the ancient war zones." He looked to the floor; he was partially to blame for the mutation. "We were hoping it would kill them, when in reality it has made them stronger than we can handle." He looked to older man of the brass members his name was Horace. "Correct, now we need your skills to defeat them." His hand was resting on her shoulder. She moved away from him and placed her hand on her sword, "don't touch me please," she looked at him then to the other brass members "But why me? You have this amazing force behind me." Reanna stepped forward and spoke before anyone else could. "Because we can't kill them," she looked into Elana's eyes "but you can, we found a vid of you killing one and we started looking for you."

"These are our quarters," Reanna looked nervous now "hope you can deal with only one bed." Elana looked around the room then gave Reanna a questioning look. "This looks like more than a mere soldier's bunk." Reanna blushed a little then smiled "I'm not a mere soldier," she moved toward Elana "I'm the empress." Elana was on one keen with her face to the floor before she realized it. "Damn it get up now." Reanna stood above her, grabbed her by the shoulder and made her stand eye level with her. "Don't pull any of that crap with me," she pulled Elana's face to look into her own "you and I are the same and we both know it." With that she threw Elana on the bed and went to the panel on the far wall. "Odin, I need Fadin down here to draw up a new uniform and send down Tolin while you're at it." She grinned to Elana who was still in shock. "These two are going to clean you up and clear up some of those scars you hate so much."

"My lady why are you doing this?" Elana was on her stomach and Tolin was using a laser to remove the scar tissue of some rather ugly scars. "Because you hate them plus you are going to train all of us and I can't have you hating your body." She put a grape in Elana's mouth with a grin. "Did you know your name means stunning in my native tongue?" Elana winced as the laser wondered over her flesh; here eyes were transfixed on the empress. She was stunning, beautiful and intelligent. 'Bet it drives the guys nuts that she won't have one of them' her thoughts were best kept to herself she decided. "Yes, I know." Her face went from a grin to a heartbroken and painful one "my mother was from your tribe, she died shortly after I was born." Elana wanted to hold the visibly hurt empress, but she was held back by the laser, she also knew it would be wrong for her to do so.

They were up late swapping stories about this war and that mission. "So what is the name of your bike?" Reanna pushed a bowl of grapes toward her. "What makes you think it has a name?" Elana gave a glance out of the corner of her eye. "Because you seem to love it and if you love something so dearly you name it." Reanna grinned as she popped a grape into her mouth. "Rosie" Elana continued to eat her grapes and moved her foot to the beat of the techno that was playing. "Rosie, that's pretty." Elana threw a grape at the pillow Reanna now held up as a shield. "Pretty?" Elana looked at the pillow, "Pretty?! She's beautiful, but like all beautiful things she has her thorns" she ended her comment by throwing another grape at Reanna after she came out from her weak defenses.

"Are you going to be able to sleep here?" Reanna sunk down into her blankets "being next to me that is." Elana was a little uncomfortable, but it wasn't too bad. "I think so," she slid down in the bed about a foot away from Reanna "if I feel too weird I'll sleep on the couch." Reanna made a little pouty face then smiled, "It's up to you, and you are more than welcome here." They turned in opposite directions and drifted off to sleep. Elana woke up because she was too hot; when she tried to roll over she found she could not because Reanna's arm was draped over her. 'Ok, this is too much, I can't do this.' She got up and curled up on the couch.

"Felt too weird last night huh?" Reanna was getting dressed while Elana was eating the breakfast that had been brought in facing the other direction. "Would you hand me some of that fruit?" she was pulling her pants up still sitting on the bed. Elana picked some of it up, walked backwards as to avoid looking at the still topless empress. "What's wrong?" Reanna took the fruit along with Elana's hand and forced Elana to look at her. "It isn't right for me to look at you while you're... umm... nude." She blushed then looked back to the table of food. "You've seen me naked before," Reanna ate as she buttoned her uniform jacket "why is it different now?" Her eyes still on the food Elana walked back to the couch and sat "Because now I know you're the empress," she laced up her boots then took an apple and began to eat "it would be disrespectful." Reanna stopped her buttoning and stared at the back of Elana's head. "Why do you say that?" she walked to the couch and plopped onto it directly next to Elana. "Because you are a wonderful young lady and to watch an empress undress and walk around naked shows no respect for your stature or you in general."

"Alright, here we go." Reanna was looking over the room full of her soldiers "This is your instructor Elana Angel. Treat her with the same respect you show me or you'll hurt, trust me." She stepped down and moved aside so Elana could stand on the step in front of them all. "I'm going to give you all an assignment before I teach you anything..." she looked over the crowd then held up her sword "All of you must find a sword you can fight with. You don't want it too heavy or too light." As all the men filed out they each held her sword to decide if one of that weight was too light for them.

"I can't believe such a little girl carries such a heavy sword." Odin, who was the empress's youngest brother, was bathing before the transport left. "She is much stronger than she looks." She had saved Alric he knew her strength. "You all need to show her more respect than you do. She is quiet the young lady. She saved my life; one day she might do the same for you. You don't want to make an enemy of her." He wrapped a towel around himself and wondered out to get dressed. "She can't be all bad guys," Argus, Alric's older twin brother chimed in "she is helping us and she saved him without even knowing who he was. She thought he was an assassin sent to kill her and she saved him." He hit Alric on the back the way males do when talking about them. "The transport to Crystal View will be leaving in 5 minutes, I repeat 5 minutes." The computer's lifeless voice informed the crew. "Come on guys, they are going to leave without us." Alric pulled on his boots and sprinted for the door. The rest of the men pulled on their pants then grabbed the rest of their clothes, it was a very long walk to the transport bay, and they would have to run to make it in time.

"Didn't think you boys were going to make it." Reanna grinned at the panting men. "And you even cleaned up; too bad you aren't going to be getting any huh?" Elana looked at Reanna with a questioning look. "They cleaned up thinking they would be allowed free time to get laid," she grinned again "They were mistaken." Elana looked over to the men; they all had a forlorned look on their face. "You boys should not have worn your uniforms," she looked out the window, they were almost there "where we are going uniforms will get you killed." Reanna pointed to the back of the transport where there were piles of clothes for each of the men. "Change," she looked to the pilot, he nodded to her "And make it fast, were nearly there." Elana blushed when the men stripped down and started to change into the clothes. "What's wrong?" Reanna watched Elana's face go from a light pink to a deep red. "Never... never mind." She looked to the pilot then walked up behind him "soon they are going to ask you for your landing code. Just let me talk to them."

"Landing authorization code?" the woman on the other end of the line sounded irritated. "Hey is this Serine?" Elana knew this lady, 'this will be easier than I thought.' "Yes this is she. Is that Elana?" the voice was slightly happier. "Yes it is. How are you girl?" they went way back, old friends and old lovers. "I'm ok. What are you in? It's a hell of a lot bigger than your bike." The voice was stern again. "I got a group of buddies and we stole a military transport. We were hoping to do some partying." She pointed at Reanna and she started yelling and made a motion for the men to start making lots of noise. "Sounds like a blast. Your code still 402698?" the voice was much nicer now. "Yep, it sure is. I don't think we'll be here more than a few hours." Elana grinned and handed the microphone back to the pilot then sat down next to Reanna. All the men stopped yelling and continued to dress themselves.

"So why did you blush earlier?" the two women were walking off the transport next to each other. As she asked the question Reanna slipped her arm under Elana's to keep her where she could pester her. "I've never seen so many males nude before, kind of odd." She blushed slightly then grabbed Reanna's hand. "Pretend to be my lover or she'll ask questions." Reanna gave a questioning look gripping Elana's hand. "She is my ex and if she thinks we are together she won't hassle us." Right as 'us' came out of her mouth a short skinny woman appeared in the airlock in front of them. "Hey!" her expression went from joy to jealousy "oh, sorry. Hope you all have a great time." She turned and walked away.

"Here's the deal," all of them were sitting around a table in a bar, none were allowed to drink any alcohol, all were looking at Elana. "This place is very bad. Don't tell anyone who you are. Who you work for, why you are here or that you came from a military base. They will kill you." She drank the rest of her Alice then rose from the table and nodded to the man behind the bar. He looked slightly worried until she nodded. "I advise you travel in twos or threes" she looked around the table then sat back down. "Or would you all rather travel with me?" All shook their heads in agreement. "Alright, but don't crowd around me. The people here are very paranoid." Reanna took her hand, "am I allowed to crowd you?" she grinned evilly as Elana nodded.

"Where are we going sir?" Alric was close on Elana's heals. 'You get any closer I'm going to hit you.' Elana walked a little faster but he kept the same pace he was starting to bother her. "I don't know you'll have to ask her." Reanna was looking around at all the people and the city itself. 'These people are in poverty and are suffering.' She looked around as tears started to well up in her eyes. 'These people need help, why are they refusing our help?' "Your highness..." Elana was looking directly at her "what's wrong?" Reanna looked to the group; they were all looking at her "nothing, I just can not believe the condition of this place. Why won't they let us help them?" Elana pulled the black hair out of Reanna's face and tucked it behind her ear. "Because your father exiled them here and they do not trust you."

Inside the sword shop the men fanned out and started to look at all the different swords. "May I..." the shop owner stopped when he saw Elana. "Elana Marie Angel!" the man jumped over the counter, wrapped his arms around her rear and lifted her into the air. All the men pointed their guns at the man holding her. He let go of her then hid behind her. "Who is he?" Reanna was the only one who still had a gun on him; her gun was pointed at the back of his head. "He is my father. Please don't kill him I love him dearly. And I haven't seen him for nearly 7 years." Elana grabbed Reanna's gun and moved it away from her father's head. "We are sorry sir," Reanna held her hand out for him to shake which he did. "It's alright; glad to see someone is looking out for her." He looked at Elana with pride "The name's Olaf, so what can I do for all of you?" Elana took over and told her father of the mutation and the military recruiting her and now they all needed swords because the bullets didn't work. "Ok Hun. How many did you need?" he pulled out a writing pad and started to make an order. "What do you think Rea?" Elana looked over and discovered Reanna had found her own sword. It was modeled after an ancient katana, it was curved and a slight design was engraved on the blade. "Oh I'm sorry. Well, with us there are 24. The rest of the field is about 50." Olaf's jaw dropped. "You want 74 swords?" he looked nervous "All individualized?" Elana laughed a little, "No way dad, I wouldn't have brought them in here if that was the case." She hugged her father and her green eyes sparkled like emeralds.

"Hair: Red. Eyes: Green. Height: 5'11". Weight: 160 lbs. Sex: Female. Donor: Yes. Voter: Yes. Age: 20. Birth Date: October 31, 2516. Identification Number: 102-869-4321." She laughed when Elana snatched her newly made I.D. out of her hand. "Don't read that. It's not yours." She stuck her tongue out at Reanna as they continued to walk down the hall to their quarters. "You read mine," she gave an evil grin, Reanna held up her I.D. and Elana started reading it. "Hair: Black. Eyes: Blue. Height: 5'5". Weight: 135 lbs. Sex: Female. Donor: Yes. Voter: No. Age: 22. Birth Date: April 21, 2514. Identification Number: 100-000-0001." She was slightly confused "You have an odd I.D. number. And they don't let you vote because you are the empress." Reanna nodded in agreement. "My I.D. is the first one to be assigned, and I have the same number as my father had. It's the curse of being the empress."

"What is that?" Elana was staring at the bed, there was a dress lying out on the bed. "It's a dress," Reanna shoved her into the room and closed the door behind herself. "For you to wear to the ball tonight." She ducked thinking something would be thrown at her. "Why do I have to go?" Elana picked up the dress and looked it over. It was a nice dress. 'It would look better on Rea. Whoa, where did that come from?' she shook her head attempting to remove the thought from her head. "Because I don't want to go by myself." Reanna touched Elana's hand "all the men are going there will only be a handful of women. Plus you are a very good friend; I want you around to joke with." Elana saw the pleading in Reanna's eyes and consented to go.

"You look very nice Elana." Reanna knew she was uncomfortable "I promise we won't stay long." Elana wasn't really listening. 'She looks really good in that dress. Wait. Stop that. She is your commanding officer, you can't fall for her.' "We can stay as long as you want," she saw disbelief on Reanna's face "I mean it, I'll be fine." The doors opened to expose the entire hall. Elana's expression went form one of unwilling consent to terror. The hall was huge and was filled with people. "Oh my god, you have to be kidding." Elana was white as a ghost. "What's wrong Elana?" Reanna took her hand and jerked her up to the throne. "I'm not comfortable around large groups of people." She put her hand on her forehead slowly trying to regain her breathing. "I'll be fine, let's have fun."

Over the next 6 months Elana taught all the men how to take care of their swords. She taught them how to fight correctly. She taught them how to cause the most damage with using the least amount of energy. She taught everyday for 8 hours straight. Reanna was taught along with the men, she was treated no different. At night the two of them would stay up and tell stories or just watch a movie. Soon Reanna realized she had fallen for the young woman. Elana had gotten comfortable sleeping in the same bed so they slept. Most nights Reanna would stay up and watch Elana as she slept. She would move the short curls of hair out of Elana's face and hold her when she was having a nightmare. One night she was unable to sleep when she opened her eyes she saw Elana looking at her.

"What's wrong?" Reanna sat up rubbing her eyes, which were burning "what's happening?" Elana smiled and touched the side of her face. "Nothing is wrong. I just couldn't sleep. Are you doing ok?" Reanna knew better, 'you could sleep through a gun battle. Something's up.' "I'm fine. What ar..." she didn't have time to finish her question. Elana's lips were on hers. Out of nowhere Elana had kissed her. Elana drew away "I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking." Reanna put her finger on the other side of Elana's face and drew Elana's eyes to hers. "Did I say I did not enjoy that?" she smiled warmly then turned and snuggled into Elana. She wrapped her arms around the woman and settled down to sleep.

"Elana?" Reanna rolled over and Elana was gone. "Yes?" she appeared from the hallway carrying some food. "What's this?" Reanna looked over the tray Elana had brought. "I figured we should discuss what happened last night and get it out of our system... So it doesn't happen again." Reanna looked hurt and confused. "Why shouldn't it happen again?" she held Elana's hand in her own. "Because you are an empress and after I teach your men I'm going to leave." Elana took her hand from Reanna's and sat on the end of the bed facing away from her. Reanna put her arm around Elana's shoulders and rested her head on her other shoulder. "I don't want you to leave," she whispered into Elana's ear. "I want you to stay as my personal bodyguard." She hugged Elana then went on "I was going to surprise you on your birthday." Elana looked at her from the corner of her eye. "Are you serious?" she turned to look at her. "Yes." Reanna leaned in and kissed her "I want you around I love your company. Plus you know me better than anyone."

"I commend you and your actions." Reanna was speaking to a group of new recruits who had just finished their training and their first mission. "I happily induct you to the A.R.E.S. program." Elana stood by her comrades who were the elite members of A.R.E.S. "Now I am going to announce who my new personal bodyguard will be." She looked to the rather old man standing by her side. He moved forward and lowered his head. "You have served my family well, I will not forget you." She hugged him then turned to the elites. "One of you has proven yourself to be a fine warrior and true ally." All the men looked to Alric. They all thought she was talking about him. He had rescued her many times. He had fallen in love with her many years ago. 'One day soon I will ask for her hand.' He puffed out his chest trying to look impressive. "Elana," Reanna smiled then took her sword from its sheath. "Please come here." Elana did as she was ordered and knelt before the empress. "I dub thee," Reanna's smile was from ear to ear "Lady Elana, personal guard of the royal family."

"This is bullshit!" Alric threw his uniform jacket across the room. "I have been on this force for 5 years. I have been here for her Everyday of those 5 years. And I've worked my ass off to try and make something of myself here." He sat on a bench in front of his locker running his fingers through his hair. "I'll challenge her." He looked up to his brother, "if I beat Elana the council will make Reanna change her guard." He jumped up and hugged his brother. "Wait," his brother took him by the arm and forced him to sit. "If she beats you, you might be kicked out of the unit." Alric's expression was of disbelief "why would they do that?" He started to undress for his shower while his brother explained. "If she beats you Reanna could ask for you to be removed, or they might take that as a sign that you are not going to protect the empress as you should." Argus looked down to his brother with a worried look. "If she beats you Reanna could ask for you to be removed, or they might take that as a sign that you would not protect the empress as you should." Argus looked down to his brother with a worried look. "You really need to think if this is really worth it or not." Alric looked up at his brother with a look of disdain. "I don't care," he looked to his untied boots he was still wearing, "I love Reanna and I don't want 'her' in my spot." Argus put his hand on his brother's shoulder, "if it's any consolation I've fallen for Elana." Alric smiled a little "So what are we going to do?" Argus simply smiled then put his arm around his brother's shoulder "we are going to kill them with kindness."

"Rea?" Elana looked up and down the hallway. "Rea?!" Reanna came around the corner from the locker room they shared. "What is it Hun?" she saw the odd expression on Elana's face. "Did you leave these?" she held up a vase full of blood red roses, there was a tag hanging off the vase with 'to the stunning and powerful Elana' written on it. "No." Reanna looked at the vase with a little bit of jealousy "looks like you have an admirer." Elana laughed uncomfortably "go me."

"What's wrong babe?" Reanna put the vase on the table on front of the couch; she could see Elana was a little shaken up. "I've never had a good run-in with males." She ran her hands up her forearms hugging herself "I was raped a few years ago and men have never treated me very well." Reanna hugged her and gently rocked her until she had stopped shaking. "None of these men would do that. They all have far too much respect for you." Elana looked up with a 'yeah right' look on her face.

"Good morning lady Elana." Alric saluted her as she walked by on her way to the mess hall. "Don't do that," she looked angry "I know you're mad at..." He put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head "no, I'm not. I was then Argus brought me to my senses. You've worked just as hard as I have and have clearly proven yourself to be a fine solider."