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CHAPTER 25 Super Nova: Part 4

Alpha's words provoked a great sense of fear upon us, for this encounter could threaten our very lives. We were confused; we never imagined ourselves in front of another intelligent race of this kind. We realized how much there was that we Evos ignored about other life forms in the Universe. We definitely wouldn't be the same after this.

As we walked outside the building, the sunlight blinded us for a second. It all happened so fast that we couldn't react.

There was a lot of disturbance all around us. As my vision got clearer, I noticed how we were surrounded by more of these aggressive beings. All of them carried weapons and pointed them at us. They threatened us and we were obligated to drop our E.M.P guns and Lanthracit Sabers.

Soon after, we heard the steps of the being that spoke with us not a second ago as he approached. He sighed, letting an eerie chuckle after.

"Look. I'm tired of this... we all are." He said as he walked to the front of the group. "Two of my men tried to open one of your ships, but it's been proven impossible." He got close to Zonda with an evil look in his eyes. "You're the leader, right? I can tell. You have that dominant look on your eyes." Zonda barely reached his chest, but he never showed any signs of weakness, even if the weight of the being was probably twice as his.

"I told you. You can't have our ships." Zonda replied assertively.

The being laughed, but not of happiness.

"You see that?" The being pointed at our east. Over the mountain, the sun shined like it did before, but for some reason it looked larger. "Let me tell you what we found out about the inhabitants of this planet... We found an underground facility that held detailed information on what these creatures did throughout their lives. The creatures that inhabited this planet depleted their energy sources faster than they could multiply. They experimented ways of creating perpetual energy for their massive cities that once lied in the now dark face of this planet. They even managed to land on a comet that orbits this solar system and harvest a strange rock that was suppose to create a long lasting source of energy. And they did well... Unfortunately, they had experimented with other means of obtaining energy before. They intentionally created solar storms by altering the order of the sun's fusion cycle; not sure how they did it, but it worked. When the sun reacted, they gathered the energy that was product of these solar flares." The words of this being were confusing, but somehow we realized how alarming his confession was.

"They not only ruined the magnetic field of this planet due to the constant solar flares hitting it." He continued. "They also provoked the planet to stop its rotation. But that's not the worst... They accelerated the degradation process of that sun. It is dying..." He said, smiling and making all sorts of erratic gestures. "I suppose that eventually a really massive solar flare hit the planet so hard that they were poisoned by its radiation. The surviving ones had no choice but to leave. Who knows what happened to them... and to be honest, who cares."

"You are space scavengers. I know your type." Zonda confronted him. "You landed in this planet to rob whoever lived here to get supplies, but you found nothing but a dead planet."

"Our ship lost power and we needed fuel for it. Unfortunately, as you say, this planet was dead. We've been living out of nothing but plants and small fruits that these trees drop every once in a while. After what we learned about the inhabitants' experiments, we knew that we needed to find a way out of here. And that's when you suddenly appeared. What a perfect coincidence, don't you think?" He grinned maliciously.

We knew that we were in deep trouble. It was not only those beings that threatened our lives now, but the sun that once gave life to this planet. We didn't know for how long the sun had been in process of dying, but we knew that we probably had arrived at the worst time possible.

Back in R105, things were out of control now. They were now aware of the massive threat that not only could destroy half of the solar system, but also R105 and Canis Major.

"Bring them back!" Yelled Silver.

"I can't get to them! There's too much interference!" Titan yelled back at her.

"We need to go get them. Bo, inform the hangar. I need a ship now!"

"Silver, there is no time..." Cobalt interrupted. She was there also, crying of pure desperation as she tried to convince Silver to proceed with an immediate retreat from that solar system. "You will never make it in time." She knew what was going on... The reality was worst than they could imagine. "The expansion process is happening at an abnormally fast pace. If our team flies to that planet, the sun will reach them first... There is no stopping this now. I have no way to explain why a process that takes thousands, if not million of years, is occurring this fast. The sun is now going Supernova. For the sake of the majority, we have to leave."

Silver fell on her knees. She was now aware of her deadly mistake and she had finally collapsed powerless. There was nothing they could do now, but hope for us to get out alive from that planet.

"Cobalt..." Titan said, now gaining control as he saw his sister motionless in the floor. "Go to highest alert. Bo, inform Canis Major that we are doing an emergency jump in five minutes. I'll open a wormhole."

"No. We are leaving them?" Bo cried desperately.

"Zonda and Alpha will know what to do. By now they should know that there is something wrong. They should be leaving the planet now. I will leave an open frequency to let them know of our coordinates. Hopefully when they make it out of the planet, they will receive the message and fly into the wormhole."

"Titan, don't you think they would've been here by now?" Bo confronted him.

"DO IT NOW, BO!" He yelled.

They had no option but to do what was best for the majority. It was the logic thing to do.

How did we let this happen? Titan thought to himself as he saw his sister kneeling motionless on the floor.

Back in the planet, things were getting worst. The heat was now at 110 Degrees and raising fast. It wouldn't be to long until the heat would become deadly. The patience of the violent being was depleting. Our options were limited.

"So, how are we going to do this vermin? Should I start shooting your friends one by one until you unlock the large ship?" The leader of the aggressive beings spoke. I just felt how Hasky pressed against Fx and I with her arms, somehow putting herself between the evil being and us.

"If you hurt them, we will all die here!" Zonda yelled firmly. "You are intelligent enough to know that we might have only a couple of minutes until we all burn to death."

The being's eyes opened widely. He felt Zonda's bold approach to be somewhat insulting to him.

"I know your type, human..." Zonda continued. "You are afraid of death... most of you are like that; that's one of the many reasons that sets us apart from your kind. We don't mind dying here as we've had righteous, logic, and peaceful lives. And that's something you will never understand. You in the other hand..." Zonda smirked at the being and he never took his gaze from his eyes.

"You miserable rat... How dare you?!" The being replied enraged. He immediately took his weapon and with the stock he stroke Zonda brutally in his face. The heat was starting to affect our reflexes so Zonda couldn't react to the swift attack. The Retcan fell to the ground violently.

I felt something that I never felt in my life as I watched Zonda fell into the ground after such brutal attack. It was a rage that burned me in the inside. I never felt so furious... For the first time I felt the desire to sink my claws and fangs, and rip apart another living being...

"Zonda!" Alpha yelled. He reacted like a lightning bolt jumping and hitting the being with a tremendous kick right in the face. The small Retcan knew how to channel all his force in one blow, making the much larger creature loose balance and fall back.

The reaction of the red eyed Retcan induced more violence within the group of the other four beings who charged at us.

"Let's rip these animals apart!" One yelled.

"Leave on alive! We must know how to open those ships!" Another one answered.

One of them approached where Fx, Hasky and I were. He looked at me and placed his hand in my shoulder while he prepared to hit me with his large weapon. "I think I like the fur on this one. I should turn it into a cloak." He said. We've never experienced someone saying such a horrible thing to us. It made me feel fear at once, but that unknown rage suddenly invaded my body again. I was about to defend myself when someone grabbed the being's arm and sunk its claws in its flesh.

"Touch him, and I promise you will loose your limb..." Next to me, Hasky stood. The fur on her neck was all spiked up and the whites on her eyes were blood shot. Her pearl white fangs shinned. I've never seen such aggressiveness coming from one of my kind.

"Stupid animal, I'll show you!" The being yanked his arm to free himself from the forceful grip that Hasky had on him and prepared to strike back. For some reason they were using their weapons as nothing more than melee objects. The movements of the large being were slow and uncoordinated. We were able to dodge every single one of their attacks almost as if they were moving in slow motion. Something in us had activated, we didn't know if it was the training that the Retcans gave us, our instinct, or both.

"Get away from my sister!" Zulu yelled furiously. From behind, he jumped on top of one of the beings that had a strong grip around Kala's neck. Zulu bit the being's ear so hard that it simply came off. At the same time he ripped through the beings face with the metallic claws that our armors come equipped with. The being screamed in furry as he finally let Kala loose. He then grabbed Zulu and threw him to the ground with a huge force. Zulu let out a cry from the strong impact. The being took a knife of some sort and got ready to strike Zulu. "I'll kill you! You dirty beast!!"

A large body suddenly stood next to him and surprisingly stopped the attack. "Zulu, Kala! Stand up!" It was Anubis. He was almost the same size than the being and held him completely immobile. I never imagined how strong our friend could be. Anubis looked back at the being and said; "I don't know what you were planning to do with my friends, but you will pay for your intentions." Anubis' eyes expressed how enraged he was at that moment after seeing his two dingo friends being abused that way. The being looked intimidated for a second at the large Evocani's strength. Despite having a larger mass, he wasn't able to move a muscle while Anubis held his arms immobile in a strange but effective move that was taught to us by the Retcans. In a swift movement, he disarmed the being; hit him with his elbow right in the nose, then lifting the being in the air for a second he then smashed him on the ground head first. The impact was so strong that a loud thud could not only be heard but felt on the ground. The being was knocked out of his senses.

Surprisingly, we were being able to stand against the larger beings. The fact that they were less then us also made it easier. But no one expected what happened next.

A strange thunderous noise could be heard in the distance. The noise shook us to our very souls. It was a noise and vibration that overwhelmed the planet itself.

With horror, we noticed how the sky started to turn red, and looking at the sun, there was a massive purple halo that surrounded it. Not only that, but we could notice how this strange wave made itself bigger as it approached the planet's sky.

For that second that all of us, including the humans were staring at that disturbingly beautiful but deadly astronomical event, we heard several loud bangs coming from the group. I could feel a sharp pain in my chest that made me fell to the ground.

"Enough with this shit!" One of the beings said. He held Hemi with one arm and pointed a smaller weapon to his head. The weapon was smoking as it was the source of the loud bangs. I noticed that some of us had fallen into the ground like me, but not only us, but the majority of the other beings, except for the leader who was now recovering from Alpha's attack.

"What are you doing?! You still had ammunition you goddamn traitor!!" The leader yelled.

The other being that held Hemi pointed at the leader and a large bang was again heard. A flash came out of the weapon followed by the leader falling to the ground. A large hole exploded from behind his head, ending his life in a puddle of his own blood and grey matter.

"Now listen to me very carefully." He said. He once again pointed at Hemi's head. K9 was hurt after he got shot by that apparently ballistic weapon. Most of us were. The armors protected us well against the attack but the impact was hard enough to disable us for a second.

"Hemi!" K9 yelled anxiously. "Let go of him!" He furiously tried to get back on his hind paws and run to the being to protect his son.

"No Kalem!" Alpha yelled, grabbing the arm of the being who now pointed at K9. He avoided K9 being shot, but he then got hit instead. Alpha fell on the ground; thankfully only stunned by the impact.

"Please! Calm down!!" Yelled Zonda. He stopped K9 from continuing so he could avoid more getting hurt. Zonda was now recovering from the blow that he got from the now dead leader. His muzzle bled profusely though a large open wound that the attack had provoked. "We will give you our ship. But please let him go."

"Tell me the code or whatever is needed to open that ship!" The being had lost it completely due to the fear he felt. "I'm going to count until three, and if not, I'll blow this animal's head off! Obey and you'll get to spend your last minutes alive with him."

Hemi was shaking from fear. He was not physically strong as some of us were, and he was less fitted for close quarters combat. Hemi had always been a very tender Evocanis; almost fragile. He could do nothing against that violent monster. That image of him being held by that being broke my heart and made me feel furious at the same time. I couldn't imagine what K9 was going through.

"Let's make a deal." Zonda said. "You let him go, and I will take you to the ship. You have much to loose and nothing to gain if you kill him. The more we stay here, the more chances are that you won't make it alive out of here. Please be reasonable!!"

The being knew that Zonda was right. There was no time for discussions.

"I will give the orders here." The being yelled. "Take me to the ship. But try something reckless and I'll kill him."

"I understand that."

Zonda guided the being to the ship not before signaling us to follow them carefully at a safe distance. We did.

"Please don't hurt me." Hemi cried.

"Shut up!" The being yelled at him. He then gripped him harder.

"Don't hurt him. You'll get out of here alive, I promise. For once in your life have mercy." Zonda insisted to the monster.

The ships weren't that far so it took only a couple of minutes to arrive. The conditions of the planet were now extreme. If it wasn't for our armors, I knew that our skin would start to burn because of the heat. It was difficult to breathe and keep our eyes open now.

"Open the large one!" The being yelled.

"Calm down." Zonda yelled back at him and immediately opened Pioneer001.

The being threw Hemi to the ground and pushed Zonda inside of the ship. We were close and K9 ran to Hemi as fast as he could. He was finally reunited with his son. Hemi was nerved wrecked.

"Tell me how to operate this thing!" The being yelled nervously. His aggressive voice was now invaded by fear.

"This ship has very basic controls. This lever controls the power, this is your directional controls and rudder control pedals." Zonda indicated him as quickly as he could. He powered on the ship and immediately the being kicked him forcibly out of it.

We watched hopeless as Pioneer001 slowly lifted from the ground and got away in the distance.

We were all alive from that ambush, still recovering from the trauma. But that sense of relief didn't last long. The air in the planet was now burning the parts of our body that were unprotected.

"Regroup!" Zonda yelled. A strange wail that invaded the entire planet made it hard to hear him. We got close to him and he immediately activated the Magnetic field of his ship. Alpha did the same and at that instant a blue glare surrounded the area, protecting us from not only the heat, but the possible radiation that had already hit our bodies.

"The Nanobots will absorb the radiation that you've already received and will be disposed naturally. We will be safe under the Magnetic field enough time to board the ships and leave." He said.

Immediately we knew we had a problem. There were ten of us and only five single pilot ships. We immediately came to a realization and that was that half of us wouldn't make it.

"How are we getting out of here?" Fx asked as Hasky and I helped him stay on his paws after he received a shot that made it almost impossible for him to walk.

"Fx is right. There aren't enough ships." Hasky replied.

Zonda and Alpha looked confused. They had to think fast.

"Open the ships." Zonda ordered. "The ships are small, but we can somehow squeeze two in each."

I didn't think that would work. The Wolf500 and the S Series are too confined inside due to their instrument panel that snugs tightly against the pilots' body. I looked at my partners and saw in their eyes that they had come to this realization too.

"Take off the hard parts of your armors. Quick Evos!!" Zonda yelled.

We obeyed. But there was still a feel that things wouldn't end well for us that day.

"Fx, Husky." Hasky directed to us. "Get in one of the ships." She ordered us.

"No!" I confronted her. The look on her eyes... I will never forget it. It was like she was prepared to accept a grim fate. "We are all getting out of here!"

"We have no time to discuss." Alpha asserted. "You two, in this ship NOW!" He ordered Zulu and Kala. Both dingoes were reluctant to leave us behind, but they were almost forced violently into the ship. They barely fit inside the ship that struggled to seal tightly. K9 quickly programmed the ship to take off and head to R105 after Zonda told him.

"You two, NOW!" Alpha ordered us. Fx and I fought harder not to board the ship. We had reasons not to do so. I immediately turned to our friend Anubis and realized that there was no way that he could fit inside a ship with someone else. Andy looked at me at the eyes and smiled like if he was grateful with that day that we met for the first time.

You must be Husky... Those words crossed my mind at that moment and I remembered that day that I was surprised by that tall but incredibly gentle Evo. ...Are you kidding? We've been waiting for you, my friend...! I would never forget that first warm hug that he then gave me...

"I won't leave! I won't if Andy stays!" I yelled.

"Husky... Please board the ship with your brother. Do it for me, my friend." Andy said.

"What about you?!" Fx cried at him. "You won't fit with someone else!"

"It's my fault for being big. I rather stay and have the two of you survive."

"No, that won't happen!" K9 suddenly jumped in. "If something happens to you Andy, Lucas won't forgive me. He needs you and you know it. Get in a ship Anubis! We will figure it out."

"No, Captain, I can't obey..." He replied.

Suddenly, I noticed how Hasky looked at Zonda. She told him something without saying a word. Immediately, I saw how Zonda approached Andy from the back and placed his hand-paws around his head. Andy fell unconscious like if he was shocked by something. Zonda fell on his knees too because of what he had just done.

"Get him in a ship." He ordered, panting in exhaustion. A hunting mechanism that the Retcans' ancestors had was still functional in some of them if properly trained. An extra lobe on their brain is filled with Electroplax cells that can produce a powerful shock, and helped their ancestors to stun their prey.

Alpha and Hasky helped each other to put Andy inside the ship. K9 sent the ship to its destiny. Our friend was given a second chance.

But our ordeal wasn't over yet...

I instantly knew what Hasky's plans were.

"We don't have much time..." Alpha said as he walked towards Hemi. K9 looked away and permitted the Retcan to approach his son.

"I am sorry, Hemi. Your father has made his decision." Alpha told him. He quickly placed his hand-paws in his head and Hemi fell on the ground motionless. Alpha was also stunned by the huge strain that this once method of defense caused to the now evolved Retcans.

"Don't worry, K9. He will be fine... Put him in the ship." Alpha ordered. He lied on the ground trying to recover himself from the effort.

K9 gently picked up his son and placed him on one of the last three ships.

"I'm sorry, baby. It's my fault. I got all of you in this mess and I must pay for it. Jake will need you from now on. Please stay by his side and embrace him as your own father. I am sorry that I couldn't hold our promise of staying together for ever... I love you Hemi." K9 hugged his son briefly and licked him gently. He closed the ships' hatch and the ship got lost in the distance after a few seconds.

"I know what you are trying to do..." I said furiously. "I will stay here and die with you! DID YOU HEAR ME?!" I yelled at Hasky.

"We will stay with you, whether you like it or not!" Fx joined me.

Hasky just looked at us while stepping away from us. "I can't let that happen. I made a promise to your real parents, Fx. I also made a promise to Chuksha, Husky. That is I would protect you no matter what. And if that means I would give my life for you, then so be it. I can't leave Zonda and Alpha alone, after what their race has done for us. Be strong and understand that.

"Hasky, take the last ship." K9 said. He didn't face us. He sounded hollow, like if his spark had abandoned him. "I got you into this. I'm the Captain of the D.E1 cruiser and it's my responsibility that all of my crew makes it safe no matter the circumstances."

"I won't leave you here, K9. It's decided."

There were two ships left. It was obvious that at least two of us would stay. By the looks of both Retcans, I could tell that they've already made the choice to sacrifice themselves to save us all. But somehow, Hasky was right. We owed the Retcans our lives, and the least we could do is to be with Zonda and Alpha in their last moments. We would stay with them until our lives would be extinguished by that planet; Evocanis and Retcans would meet their end together as one race.

"You are noble, Evos. Braver than I could ever imagine possible..." Zonda said. I never imagined the powerful Zonda having his voice breaking on him. "I have to admit I'm afraid right now... but being together with you... having the honor of being with you, Evos... that takes away that fear and makes me feel in peace. Thank you greatly. Whatever happens after this, I just hope that our races never separate from each other."

I suddenly felt Zonda behind Fx and I... Before I could react, I felt a shock that rendered my mobility useless. I don't know how unconscious I was at that moment, but I certainly could feel that I was being dragged inside a ship, alongside with my brother. I tried to yell and fight back, but my body didn't respond at that time.

Everything was in silence... I could barely see Hasky outside the ship as she and K9 held to each other smiling at us... They became smaller and smaller as our ship quickly gained distance from the ground.

I could feel our ship shaking and making all sorts of horrible noises as it left the planet. All I wanted was to go back and be with Hasky...

The planet now was below us as we quickly got away from it...

Soon the shields went to emergency mode and we were now being sucked by a wormhole. Still fighting with myself not to loose consciousness, I had a glance of the planet being engulfed by a huge ball of fire... The planet was now part of the dying sun...

K9, Alpha and Zonda were gone... And the Evo that once gave me life had also disappeared in that massive ball of fire.

The pain was unbearable. I cried her name as I finally lost consciousness. Our Hasky was gone... our world was gone. All we could do was remember them as pioneers of our race. Not only that; but heroes, that as sign of appreciation and respect, they decided to share a horrible fate together with two warriors that once risked it all for us.

We would never forget that day...