War Prize

*PROLOGUE*

     

In the Beginning...

The war began in a broken battle cry, then the galaxy was in ruins. The Balance of the Universe, that had been instilled for thousands of years, was torn apart within a decade of bloodshed.

The political peace the Supreme Court had worked so hard to maintain, crumbled in a matter of minutes. Planets destroyed one another. Brother turned on brother.Women were sold into slavery. Children were killed for who their father was. And fathers killed for speaking out.

The Council of Seven became paranoid and disappeared into oblivion. They have not been seen since. No one was safe from the darkness that took control, not even the people who held power to restore the peace. They were slaughtered by the people they had believed they could trust; leaving the light to die out without its holder. Kings were sent into hiding, and Princes were sent to war.

And hatred reigned supreme over the seven galaxies, as the eighth invaded in a crusade for control.

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2172 LY

Capital of the Avita Galaxy

3.7 Kilos from the Royal Palace

The woman held a small child in her arms as she hid among the ruins of the place she used to call home. The sounds of thunder echoed about her, causing the ground to tremble beneath her feet. But there was no storm. The child squirmed in the woman's arms, struggling against the blank that kept her bound in place, giving a small wail of torment; the loud thundering of exploding bombs was hurting her delicate ears.

The babe was no more than a few hours old, and already put in the midst of the battlefield. It was a small crime compared to the disastrous occurrences that had been going on for years. Ever since the Barsite conquered the Lumituri Galaxy, their thirst for blood and power has only grown. It is that hunger that has lead them to attack Avita in the first place. It has been three months since the first attack, and Avita has grown weak since then too weak to defend itself against this new ongoing warfare the Barsite have taken to waging.

The child let out a small wail in protest. The woman rocked her gently to calm her. Cooing softly as she readjusted the tiny baby to fit more comfortably in her arms. Shani Halvo glanced back in the direction of the place she had fled mere hours ago. She could fairly see the crystal structure, that still contains the royal family of Avita, glowing in the distance. Still intacted. They were awaiting their certain death, at the hands of those bloodthirsty barbarians. Shani glances down at the child in her arms, this mere babe is the last hope for the planet.

"Shh... None of that now. We are almost there. You shall be safe soon, little one." The Shani whispered the lies to the child, with worry etched across her face. There was no doubt in the woman's mind that she would be dead by sun up for the crime she was about to commit. Glancing up at the faint ominous shapes of the enemy warships that hooved just out of reach of the planets plasma guns, she pushes away her worry. Her death will be only one of millions that will occur this night, but at least she was doing something worthy of such a sacrifice in her last hours.

Rising from her crouched position Shani hurriedly makes her way to her final destination, a small clearing, where two small air ships that lay hidden among the rubble awaited her arrival. One ship was a bright silver, while the other was as black as the space that fills the universe.

A tall man, with a babe also clutched in his arms, hurries towards her.

"I was worried you had been caught." He called out quietly. "Have you got the child?" He asked, his silver eyes watching the bundle in her arms pointedly.

The woman nodded and pulled down the blanket to reveal the child's now sleeping face. "And how is my own child?" Shani asked eagerly, staring at the sleeping babe in the man's arms.

"Your child sleeps soundly." He replied, glancing down at the child in his arms. "She is our hero. She shall act as a decoy so that the principessa can get to safety." They exchanged babies, and the man set the small child that the woman had given him in the first airship.

Tears rolled down the woman's cheeks as she stared down at her sleeping child. "Will my child be killed when the barbarians take her into custody?" The woman asked, her voice shaking slightly, as she stroked her baby's soft cheek.

"No. They consider the principessa a war prize. They shall treat her like royalty believing that she has the power to win them the war. No harm shall come to her." He replied settling the baby that the woman had brought him more securely into the black airship. He grabbed a small object from his pocket. A silver necklace with a blue crystal gem hanging from the end. This specific necklace was made of the hardest metal in the galaxy, and can only be removed by the one who owns it. The man clasped the necklace around the baby's neck. Gently holding the pendant that hangs from the end of the chain between two fingers, he stares down at the now sleeping child. "Dear principessa..." He whispers, lightly stroking her cheek, "You shall do great things little one. You shall bring life back into this dying universe."

Shani held her own child close to her chest, whispering words of love and regret. Her child wouldn't be her own after this night, not growing up with the barbarians. She wished to remember every detail about her baby, while her innocence was still intact. While she herself was still alive to do so. She then placed her own child into the second silver airship, and gave her one last kiss goodbye.

The man comforted Shani as they sent the first bright silver ship containing Shani's own child into space. They watched as the barbarian ship snatch it up as soon as it left the atmosphere. The barbarian ship then disappeared, no doubt speeding to their home galaxy, with the wrong child. Shani gave out a small whine of pain as she watched the ship disappear from her sights.

They then watched as the second darker airship shot off into the sky in the opposite direction of the first, carrying the sleeping child, with the power to save the universe, to a new life. It was going to be different life than she would have originally lived, but she would be safe. At least that was the hope.

The man watched as the air ship disappeared, and hoped that the child would continue to live. For his sake and for the sake of the entire universe....