"What is love?" I suddenly asked the 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 Dos Equis 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 under his long hair.
"I told you that a bow-tie would have been more comfortable." I said, ignoring his questioned 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 as a mule." 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, then 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, but apparently not such an amazing foot soldier." He replied.
"Watch it, if you're not careful she'll haunt you for that." I chortled and took another swig, "It's odd how lucky and successful she was all the time... Until she just wasn't." I sighed, "I shouldn't have let her do this alone. I should have been there to at least check her weapons..." I said gritted my teeth to fight the tears.
"Hey, it's not your fault. She was gone before you even knew about her mission." He retorted in an attempt to make me feel better.
"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 for 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 large exhale as I turned the knob and light flooded into the dimly 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. But again, I knew better. Her eyes said that she was bored out of her mind.
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, but 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. This was neither the time nor the place. "I believe her friends, teammates, and fellow soldiers would love to speak a few words."
"Teammates and fellow soldiers mean the same thing." My friend muttered so lowly that only I could hear it, making me smile halfheartedly 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 but turned to face the crowd regardless.
"Charlie is... was an amazing woman, and 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 ignorant 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 keep the kid busy while my friend made his way behind him.
"She killed who she had to. To ensure the safety of you and every other citizen of Earth." 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 at this point, and the stars seemed to sparkle in the black night sky, making it shimmer with an untold beauty. I had a gut feeling that, on one of those stars, Charlie was smiling back at me. Then a flash of cyan 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 a flash of cyan from outside that mixed with a brighter orange. The heat inside the crashed vehicle became intense right before it exploded.
Careful what you wish for, huh?
~~~
Far above the Terran homeworld, 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 sight 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 green, 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 Purification 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 because of the technology put into it. Which combined both Void Ray and Carrier. It's might was measured by the broken and twisted husks of Terran Battlecruisers littering the space around it.
"Tal'darim Void Ray 203 reporting. There is Zerg activity on the planet." The Void Ray's pilot said through a crystalline communicator.
"Understood." Prepare for the purification 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! You really mean to-" Void Ray 203 was cut off by the fury filled voice of the High Archon.
"Yes! We must enact our revenge on that ignorant Raynor! They must be purified, if not for the Zerg infestation, then for the Terran one." The voice spoke with finality.
"Yes, Executor." The Void Ray's pilot spoke before descending into the atmosphere with a shuttle carrying one Dragoon, a fallen comrade of his.
"Talandar, are you prepared for what you must do?"
"As ever, old friend." The robotic Dragoon chuckled, "Three times now. I wonder if this should be my last." The Void Ray pilot let that line the heavy silence. He began to track one of the natives vehicles, but his camouflage wavered. Due to its almost instantaneous return, he dismissed it as a fault in his crystals.
The shuttle dropped the Dragoon behind the vehicle. The Void Ray began to charge it's cyan obliteration crystals, but quickly decided that, since he scanned no Zerg lifeforms aboard, his true mission was safe to proceed. So he switched to the orange 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 wretched 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 rusty orange energy beam the same time that Talandar released his 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, (but not literally, due to his lack of a mouth) happy that the High Archon had not caught onto his plan.
"Careful what you say, Void Ray 203. Statements such as that 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, locking onto the coordinates of the native's he had just teleported.
"Good. Now, make your way back to the Carrier so we may purify this planet." The voice said with satisfaction.
"Yes, Executor." The Void Ray pilot said, then flipped a few switches, zapping Talandar onto his own ship and setting it on a course for the planet the Chosen were sent to.
"Executor." The pilot said.
"What?" He demanded.
"My burdens weigh heavily upon me." He said and initiated warp drive. His Void Ray blasted past the massive Carrier and to the location of the people who's lives he had saved. They had appeared on a planet with the name Equis.
Good, The prelate thought, Everything is going according to plan. He activated his ice crystals for systematic cryo sleep and laid back, for it was to be a long travel.
=======================
"A fool." The High Archon's voice scoffed.
"Do we proceed after him?" One of his subordinates asked.
"No. He shall walk 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 and Templars, lend me your power to Purify this planet of the vile Terran and Zerg infestation!" 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 Purifying.
"This power... It's... It's.... Overwhelming!" He said, being the first time he has had the pleasure of Purifying 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 not even ash. He sat back down in his arm chair in the center room, looking rather winded.
"Earth. The first planet that I, High Archon Dejunda, Purified 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.