As Seraph and his allies rush to stop the threat of the swarm, Dolorous streaks towards the only possible source of the evil and Chaos that threatens to consume life itself; scars left upon space and time from a war faught in a different realm than our own, one that made our conflicts appear as nothing more than a childish skirmish. These rifts left over from that ancient time periodically open to spawn great evil, the very thing that the Praetors were sent to combat. He knew his duty, he felt his resolve, and he heard his masters at last, welcoming him home... As he jumped into the correct system, he realized that this is what he was looking for. What appeared to be the beginning of a black hole was spewing out thousands, even millions of these forms known as the swarm. He knew immediately what he had to do... Durandal, hand me the rampant AI. I have a mission for you. teleport it into the hive mind of their ships on my mark, and then when it infects them, open fire and obliterate their remaining crafts. Don't expect to see me again. And when you're finished... head back to Seraph's home system. There might be a new master waiting for you. We'll see... And with that, he slipped into his drop pod, taking his last glimpse of the bridge. With the small sound of depressurization, he was gone. Hurtling across the void, heading towards the black hole. The swarm began to take notice and pursue him, but covering fire from the CMD assured his passage to his destination. Deeper and deeper he went, becoming almost lost to the depth and darkness that resided in that God-forsaken hole. And then, seemingly out of nothing, in the very center of the vortex, a glimpse of light escaped; gone in a fraction of a second, but piercingly bright. For a moment, the light was lost, but it returned again, this time with renewed force, expanding, consuming the nothingness of the hole. Further and further it reached until it shone like a star, eating all in it's path. When it at last reached the outermost portion of the abyss, it contracted back to indeed form a brilliant star, somewhere between a white dwarf and a yellow... the colors of it constantly shifted back and forth, showing sometimes a tinge of blue within it's orb. While it was still stabilizing, forming into a natural sphere, the CMD initiated it's plan to destroy the rest of the swarm forces. The rampant AI was injected into the swarm consciousness, driving it into confusion while the CMD's weaponry finished the job that it's allies had begun. When all lay dim and cold once more, nothing was left moving in the system, save the CMD and the newly formed star... it would forever be remembered as a tribute to it's creator, changing from flame to a tinge of ice in color, as his eyes once did... A few months later, after the rejoicing had abated among the allies, the girl Seraph had given the orb to woke from an uneasy dream to find it by her bedside, glowing in the moonlight with a gleam of it's own... almost a flame beneath a myriad of dark waves. The inner fire seems to form words that she can almost make out, before vanishing beneath the surface once more... The end is written. I will return. [Edited on 8/9/2004 10:11:03 PM]