Direct pursuit of the black dragon was impossible; its flight path took it
straight through the most vicious battles of the Empire-Mechania war,
intentional, no doubt. So as a result we took a longer route through the
jungles of the north.
	Soaring through the dense foliation at a near-suicidal speed, dodging trees
and thick vines, it took me a moment to realize we were not alone.
	Glancing to my side I saw a flitter dodging and weaving alongside us. For a
moment I stared at its hull, and my breath caught as I spied what looked
like a red claw mark. It was the emblem of the Empire.
	Despite the similarities in capital ships, Empire and Mechanian
fightercraft were of somewhat different design. Whereas Mechanian flitters
bore great resemblance to angular dragonflies, Empire flitters were like
four-winged double-barrel cannons in a white shell. Mechanian flitters were
much more agile, but Empire craft could pack quite a punch.
	As this one had apparently decided to demonstrate.
	Firing a steady stream of orange pulses, the Empire flitter turned into us
and shot past overhead. All its shots missed, but I was unable to get a bead
of the little fighter. Despite being more sluggish than its Mechanian
counterpart, it was still a nimble little craft.
	I thought I had it locked up and fired my cannon, laser blasts Ripping into
the trees and vines where the flitter once was. It zoomed overhead again,
strafing us and darting back into the cover of the trees once more.
	We were moving at a fairly good clip now, trees and underbrush whizzing by
us at a blinding pace. I could spy the flitter up ahead, and a rather risky
plan occured to me. Before really thinking about it I used it, firing my
cannon. The flitter dodged, thinking the blasts were meant for it, but they
weren't. Blue-white fire tore into a clump of trees, blasting them apart.
Just as I had planned, three of the trees fell directly into the flitter's
flight path, colliding with it and sending it careening into another large
tree. Unfortunately, I had not anticipated the fourth tree falling into
*our* flight path, nor had I forseen the pain that would ensue after hitting
a falling tree at over seventy kilometers per hour.
	I went soaring through the air in a world of hurt. If it hadn't been for my
armour I'd most likely be dead. I'd probably still die if I connected with
one of those trees I was flying by, this time without the aid of a dragon,
but whoever controlled the fate of fools was kind to me that day, for I
instead landed rather ignominiously in a bog, sending up a small wave of mud
as I hit.
	My dragon, who hadn't even been nicked by the falling tree, circled around
me as I slowly got to my feet. I was bruised all over but there didn't seem
to be any broken bones or serious cuts. Hauling myself out of the mud, I
thought I heard what sounded like some form of laughter coming from my
so-called friend...

	Still limping from my intimate encounter with high-velocity plant life, I
hobbled over to our little camp, some relatively dry firewood in my arms.
Piling it in the center of a ring of rocks, I dipped my finger in the small
Feska essence sac I carried with me, smearing the greenish goo onto the
logs. Thoroughly wiping my finger clean, I then started the fire with sparks
I created by striking two rocks together. Using my laser cannon to start the
fire would've been overkill; it would've blasted the logs to shrapnel.
	This hot, humid jungle brought a new nuisance that I had never encountered
in the desert: insects. Not the Vind-sized ones, but microscopic bugs which
although lacking the Vind's size, shared their taste for human flesh. As a
result I got little sleep, and just as I was about to nod off, a rampaging
Marlack nearly bowled me over.
	I leapt into a rather thorny bush as the huge creature jumped into our
midst, cursing my luck with the plants of this jungle. My dragon had already
taken off, circling us loosely. I spied my laser cannon and armour resting
underneath the Marlack and cursed again; if it found me, I was dead.
	The Marlack resembled a white flat-topped cone with a pair of powerful
incisors at its base. It moved around on four spider-like legs, each also
protected by a sturdy shell. Marlack shell was incredibly tough; most
armour, including ours, was made from it.
	I tried to stay as quiet as possible as the Marlack scouted our campsite,
seemingly unaffected by the campfire it was perched directly over. My heart
stopped as its foot came within centimeters of smashing my armour and laser
cannon. After a moment of inspection - and after eating the wild boar I had
shot for supper - it moved off to find more interesting things and I
breathed a sigh of relief. Gingerly dislodging myself from the pointed vines
I had unthinkingly dived into, I managed to get free in time to see my
dragon land, emitting the same chortling sound it had when I was stuck in
the mud.
	Deciding I couldn't spend another minute in this homicidal forest I donned
my armour and mounted my dragon, and together we took off into the night...

	I yawned tiredly as we skimmed the treeteops, hoping we'd soon be clear of
the jungle and into the rocky highlands I saw in the distance so I could get
some sleep. Looking up into the sky I regarded the three moons that rested
there; the looming silver one partially blotted out by the tiny dot of one
of the two smaller ones. Taking in the expansive starfield, I thought back
to my vision of that airship that soared between the stars, and wondered
what it would be like... to visit... another... star...

	I woke up some hours later still perched atop my dragon, who had landed on
a rock outcropping on the outskirts of the jungle. I had fallen asleep in
the air? I must've been tired. It would've been embarrassing - and
potentially fatal - if I had fallen off, though...
	I shook my head. It hadn't happened, so why worry about it? Glancing at the
sun, I guessed it to be about mid-morning and stretched, yawning. It had
been quite the night.
	After gorging myself on a breakfast of popperberries and refilling my
canteen at a nearby brook, we once more took off in pursuit of the black
dragon...

	Three days later we had crossed the Northern Sea and come upon the rocky
island of Sasalee. The Northern Sea was infinitely smaller than the Western
one, and crossing it had actually only taken a few hours.
	Sasalee was an island belonging to the Empire, and so when I sensed two
destroyers hovering over its main city, I assumed them to be Empire
airships. I was wrong.
	Cannon shot after cannon shot rained down on the hapless city from the two
Mechanian airships, light gun emplacements strafing the fleeing civilians.
On the outskirts of the city I could make out two burning hulks of what were
once airships, and assumed they had been Sasalee's defenders.
	As I saw a young family fall to the indiscriminate fire of the Mechanians,
I made my decision. Diving at the first destroyer from a great height, we
blew its flight hull to pieces before it really knew what was happening. As
the second airship pivoted to attack us, we got several free shots into its
hull, damaging it. Easily dodging its clumsy cannon shots, we returned fire
with steady laser pulses and arcing beams, disintegrating the lower hull and
demolishing the ship. The crewless flight hull just hovered there as the
main hull broke apart and plummeted to the sea.
	The fight had been a short one, but I was still breathing heavily. I was
*furious* at those Mechanians, and had *enjoyed* destroying them. There had
been people aboard those airships. Murderers, yes, but people nonetheless.
Was I becoming the type of cold-blooded killer I had just destroyed?
Shuddering at the thought and forcing it from my mind, I sat my dragon down
on one of the city streets, and was shortly thereafter confronted with an
officious-looking man and several armed guards. Wary, I prepared for a fast
takeoff should we get the same reception here as we had in Thuth.
	"Greetings, friend!" the finely-garbed man bellowed. "As Precis of the
glorious Empire state of Sasalee, I salute your courage and valor in
fighting off the evil and vile Mechanian horde!"
	"Uhh... thank you." I replied uncertainly.
	"Such a magnificent mount!" he exulted, looking my dragon over. "Truly a
marvelous specimen."
	"You... don't believe dragons to be creatures of evil?" I asked, still
cautious of these Imperials.
	"You mean the Prophecies? Bah," the man waved dismissively. "No
self-respecting citizen of the Empire believes such rubbish. So tell me
young man, how goes the war against Mechania? How far are we from victory?"
	I stopped, realizing the conclusion he had jumped to. "I'm not a citzen of
the Empire, Precis. I am a neutral from Thuth."
	The man's expression soured visibly. "Neutral, eh? Why did you aid us, then?"
	"You needed assistance, so... I gave it to you." I answered, wondering if
it had been wise to correct them.
	"Yes, well, we *appreciate* your help, although we had the situation well
in hand," he said, frowning. "From Thuth, you say? I'm surprised anyone made
it out of there..."
	My heart stopped. "What?"
	"Didn't you hear? A Mechanian flotilla levelled that place just over a week
ago..."

	I was absolutely furious, driving my dragon to greater and greater speeds,
trying to outrun the pain and hurt of my village's destruction... of my
parents' deaths... The coastline of the mainland blurred by underneath us as
we shot northwest at over two hundred kilometers per hour. The wind was
ferocious, driving my tears straight back along my face...

	Two days later I was still sullen and depressed; not even vaporizing a
score of Empire flitters that had tried to attack us had lifted my mood. As
we kept moving north I vaguely wondered when we'd catch the black dragon,
and what an ally of Mechania was doing so deep in Empire territory.
	Crossing a massive mountain range, I was dully aware of the frigid arctic
winds coming off the snow-covered peaks, but it didn't really bother me. We
were skirting the outer edges of the Empire's domain; to the north were
primitive settlements that neither faction had yet bothered to conquer. That
we had yet to find the black dragon concerned me; if it hadn't gone north to
attack Empire cities, what was it here for?
	Two days later I got my answer...

	Upon detecting the first destroyer I felt my mood lighten somewhat; perhaps
a little combat would rouse me from my dark thoughts. Urging my dragon
forward, I soon realized that that destroyer wasn't alone. Ten minutes later
I had detected no few than fifteen destroyers and three battleships, along
with scores of flitters.
	A fleet...
	Somewhat worried, I half expected my dragon to go around these ships or at
least change altitude, but instead we kept driving towards them, even
accelerating slightly. As I mentally prepared for battle, I hoped my dragon
knew what it was doing.
	It didn't take long for me to realize that the fleet was attacking
something on the ground. A village, as it turned out. I was shocked to
discover that these were Empire ships; annihlating villages was a Mechanian
tactic.
	We didn't remain undetected for long, and soon scores of Empire flitters
were executing long sweeping passes on us, strafing us with their dual
cannons as some of their destroyers broke off to intercept. By the time the
first destroyer had arrived, we had blown two-thirds of the Empire's
fightercraft out of the sky while the rest struggled to regroup. Bombarding
the first destroyer with a vicious amount of firepower, we downed it before
it even managed to get a single shot off at us.
	Two more destroyers tried to flank us, but we dove under the starboard one,
laser blasts Ripping into its hull and sending it on a slow descent to the
desert floor. Dodging close-range cannon shots, we once again used the smoke
emanating from the burning destroyer to mount a surprise attack on its
counterpart, raking the other ship's hull with blue-white fire before they
knew what hit them.
	Accelerating away from the crippled destroyer, we swooped down on the
village where Empire landcrawlers were firing freely into the stone houses.
Dodging blasts from above and below, we strafed a column of crawlers,
blowing most of them high into the air. Pulling up as we cleared the village
wall, we briefly attacked one of the battleships, killing one of its flight
towers.
	It was then that I spotted it. The black dragon, flying in amongst the
battleships, raining energy blasts down on the hapless village below.
	Feeling none of the fear of our earlier encounter, only a grim
determination, I fired steadily at the grotesque creature. I smiled slightly
as it shrieked with pain and dove out of formation. We were forced to do the
same as the concentrated fire of three battleships and a handful of
destroyers became too much.
	As we soared away into open sky, I looked around frantically for the black
dragon.

	And found it.

	A furious stream of yellow energy rays ripped through the air towards us,
followed by several red laser blasts which seemed to change direction and
home in one our position. Diving once more, we cut into an adjacent valley
in an attempt to shake the black dragon, but were only partially successful
as rocks and snow rained down on us from several near-misses. Using the
stirred-up snow as a screen, we looped around the mountain and charged at
the black dragon once more, blasting away at its thick hide. We shot by,
only meters away from its lengthy tail, turning from the hunted to the
hunters to the hunted again in a matter of seconds.
	Swooping up through the narrow gap between two of the battleships, taking
out three flight towers on our way up, we pierced the cloud cover as angry
red energy blasts shot past us. Rolling and juking, we avoided the worst of
it and looped up, diving back down at the black dragon.
	We were rocketing towards each other at a suicidal speed, firing crazily at
one another. It was only a matter of time before one of us struck home.
	One moment I was sitting on my dragon's back, holding my laser cannon's
trigger down and gritting my teeth. A split second later I was freefalling,
blown clear of my dragon by a well-placed energy bolt. Another split second
later and I was enveloped in angry red fire. I felt a searing, burning
sensation, and then, oblivion...

	I bolted up, snapping my eyes open and looking around. I seemed to be
sitting on a hard white floor, possibly marble. Looking around I saw that
this ivory plain stretched as far as the eye could see. The sky was
pitch-black... just like in my vision...
	A voice echoed in my head. 'Yara... Yara...'
	"Wh... what do you want?" I called out. "Who are you?!" As I voiced the
question, an image appeared in my mind; the blue dragon. "Wh... what is
going on here?!"
	'Only in your current state can we communicate like this, Yara. I mus...'
	"Am I dead?" I whispered, dreading the answer.
	'No, Yara. You are in a coma, near death to be sure, but not dead,' I
breathed a sigh of relief. 'Yara, there is much you need to know before we
can defeat the black dragon. I had hoped that much of this knowledge could
be taught to you by the inhabitants of this village; they were great
thinkers, who knew many, many things about the past, but they are all dead
now. Yara, in our world exist several places of power. That ruined airship
was one of them, the only one we have access to, so we must return there.'
	"For what purpose?!" I cried out, greatly confused.
	'To make you aware of the past... weapons alone cannot defeat the black
dragon this time... it is too powerful, with too many allies. We must return
to the airship, perhaps it will hold a clue...'
	"Why did you attack the skeleton of the red dragon? There is so much I
don't understand!" I yelled out in frustration.
	'That is how in must be, I'm afraid. Our time grows short... from this
point on our link will be forever strengthened, but I do not believe we will
ever communicate like this again. Good luck, my little friend...'

	Once more I opened my eyes, this time to the real world. I knew it wasn't a
vision, because visions didn't hurt this much.
	It seemed every muscle in my body had been strained almost to the point of
tearing. My head was pounding with the worst migraine I had ever had in my
life, and I was freezing and bone-tired. Slowly I became aware of the fact
that I was slumped over my dragon's back and that we were hidden deep in
some cavern. I dully registered the fact that I had somehow hung on to my
laser cannon, but that gave me little solace.
	My little psychic conversation with the Kouriheat came back to me; if I
didn't trust the blue dragon implicitly - and if I didn't owe him my life -
I would've been sorely tempted to throw my hands up on this whole confusing
mess and just walk away. What did the past have to do with any of this? Why
had the blue dragon avoided my question about the red dragon? And a
community of 'great thinkers', that pathetic little village in the middle of
nowhere? Soon, however, my weariness overcame my confusion and I lapsed into
unconciousness once more...

									- MW
  /---------------------------------------------------------------------\
 /"The secret sits: we dance around in a ring and suppose, but the secret\ 
|            sits in the middle and knows." - Robert Frost               |
 \=---===---===---Co-Moderator of the Robotech Cantina---===---===---===/
  \---===The Robotech Cantina <cantina@paulm.chemistry.uq.edu.au>---===/