Flying south, we soon traded the arctic blasts of the mountains for the
searing heat of the desert as we traversed the Northern Sea, known of course
as the Southern Sea to the inhabitants of this continent, and headed for
more familiar landscapes.
	I still ached from our duel with the black dragon, and the throbbing in my
head had not completely died down. I was lucky to be alive, to be sure, but
our defeat had only made me more depressed.
	Almost a week after our encounter with the black dragon we returned to the
crash site. Little had changed except for the sand which now covered the
wrecks of the four Mechanian airships. We landed inside the widened hole in
the dorsal hull, touching down on one of the innermost decks, now completely
exposed to the elements. If the airship was unsalvagable before, it was
doubly so now. Thinking about that for a moment, I wondered if that hadn't
actually been the blue dragon's intention. Shrugging it off, I turned my
attention to our surroundings.
	Everything here had either been destroyed or overturned. Huge ruined
passageways bisected the deck at regular intervals. Hopping off into one of
those passageways, we flew down it, heading for the bow of the airship.
	I marvelled once more at the sheer size of the ship, impressive even in its
devastated condition. It was then I noticed what appeared to be laser burns
along the walls of the passageway, and what appeared to be several blown-out
gun mounts and missile racks. The farther we got towards the bow, the more
convulted and ruined the corridor became. Several times we had to backtrack
and take an adjoining passage because of cave-ins. Finally, when we could
proceed no further, we ducked into a hull breach and landed on a slightly
warped deck. Feska illumination still ran here, as the self-sufficient
panels shone forth, emitting a dim light into the eeriely quiet ship.
	Sliding off my dragon and walking about the hold, I was about to ask what
it expected to find here when the floor panel I stood on gave way.
	I crashed through no fewer than four decks, finally hitting solid flooring
with a loud 'crack' as my armour absorbed the impact. Picking myself up off
the deck, I looked up at the hole I had created and found my dragon staring
down at me.
	"Thanks for the warning." I said dryly. It merely barked indignantly,
shaking its head slightly. Pulling off a section of armour, I massaged my
sore back as I looked around the small hold I found myself in. I quickly
came to the startling conclusion that everything here was made of the rarest
of substances, *metal*, not the shell-wood-shell layering of the other
decks. This place could be worth a fortune!
	A thick layer of dust coated everything. Now that I looked around, this
room didn't seem to have any entrances or exits, save for the one I have
just unwittingly created, and seemed like it hadn't been used for many, many
years. The air was extremely musty, and the only light was an odd blue-green
glow coming from a panel of some sort.
	Wiping the dust off a sort of angled table fastened to the wall, I saw
several buttons and switches with unintelligible markings. One of them was a
large green button that almost begged to be pushed. Wondering if it would
open up a treasure vault or blow us all to tiny pieces, I pressed it.
	I jumped back as the entire room came to life. Lights winked on, machines
began making noises... I almost turned and fled, but a voice calling out to
me made me stay. Gaping at the wall, I saw the image of a *man* speaking in
some unintelligible voice... and the image was *moving*.
	Suddenly I felt a surge in the psychic link between myself and the blue
dragon, even though we weren't physically touching. Then, just like that, I
could understand what the man was saying.
	"...ou can hear me, then you have found one of our caches. I am President
Yurai Hepanya, speaking to you from the capital city of Pacano, on the eve
of the darkest age humanity has faced since we first became civilized."
	I looked around uncertainly, fear of the power demonstrated here urging me
to flee, but my fascination forcing me to stay. Perhaps my tendency to be
overawed at some things would get me killed some day...
	"If you are not aware of the events which led to this tragedy, if they have
somehow become lost in the mists of times, allow me to enlighten you.
	"In the year 2796, humanity had spread to several of the near stars. We had
made first contact with a host of other sentient species, and become members
of the multispecies Free Worlds Consortium, a mighty alliance of many
diverse and powerful races. Mammoth starships used an effect known as the
Killktree Effect to travel between the stars. Without these ships our planet
would be forever cut off from other human colonies and Consortium
settlements; the nearest colony would be several hundred years travel at
sublight speeds. It was a golden age for humankind, one of prosperity in
economics, science, and the arts until a great disaster struck."
	I watched, enthralled, as a ship identical to the one I had seen in my
vision so long ago soared into the night sky. An odd rainbow ring appeared
before the ship, and then the entire sky flared, yellow light flooding out
the screen.
	"That event has come to be known as 'the Ripping.' All our starships who
were tunneling at that moment simply ceased to be. We tried sending one
starship off, then another, but they too were never heard from again. Our
only means of travelling between the stars had deserted us. Humanity seemed
doomed.
	"Allow me to explain; over the course of the few centuries prior to the
Ripping, our solar system and our planet have been mined to the point of
exhaustion. In our hurried attempt to leave our cradle, we never considered
the ramifications for our homeworld, this world, Earth.
	"And so, suddenly cut off from vital mineral convoys from distant stars,
our supply of raw material to manufacture basic necessities and to power our
cities began to die out. We enforced strict recycling policies, to be sure,
but no recycling scheme is perfect; there is always *some* waste, and that
waste began to eat away at our stores. Mining the other planets of our solar
system aided us for a time, as did the pillaging of of the Cerberus starport
and Gulfer manufacturing satellite, but our supply of fuel for
interplanetary travel was soon exhausted. We converted a few ships to the
ancient ion drive, but over the centuries they were either lost or
malfunctioned.
	"The year is now 3414. Our last great hope, a project using nanites to
theoretically give us limitless resources, has failed. Pacano is days, or
perhaps even hours away from our last power source, an antiquated nuclear
reactor, dying out. Most of the planet is already in darkness, some areas
for several decades now. Attempts at communication with the other colonies
of Earth and the Consortium have also met with no results, even though by
now we should have recieved a reply, especially with our laser
communications array. What this means I do not know; speculation runs the
gamut from a space-time distortion caused by the Ripping to an alien invasion.
	"Earth is crumbling all around us. Human civilization seems doomed; I
cannot help but weep when I think of the efforts of our ancestors, and how
it was all for naught. We have, however, endeavoured to ensure our life
without electricity or modern amenities will be as comfortable as possible
by utilizing the one scientific field in which Earth is well off: genetic
engineering.
	"All over the globe, we have planted countless trees, genetically altered
specimens from Theressa IV," A picture of a K'saa tree appeared on the
screen. "The sap of these trees, when processed, has certain
antigravitational properties. Also, we have planted large numbers of
fireflowers from Ceressca VII," The image of a Feska flower appeared. "The
essence of this flower burns slowly, hotly, and steadily. It can also be
used for everything from a source of heat to a form of laser.
	"In addition to these and several other types of genetically engineered
flora, we have placed a nearly equal number of fauna on Earth's surface.
Radically altered insects from Tvid III," The picture of a stingerless Vind
appeared, "have been nested in every village. Once savage meateaters, these
specimens now gather fruit and vegetables. Any settlement with a Tvid nest
in it is almost guaranteed a bountiful harvest with little or no effort. We
have also populated the planet with hard-shelled Morroc," A Marlack
appeared, "for easy hunting and its hard shell. A plethora of other species
have also been introduced, all benign and completely harmless."
	I snorted in disdain. They certainly weren't all harmless any more, one
only had to ask my dead Yuffa.
	"Also, we have set up several places like the one you now stand in wherein
examples of all our technology and knowledge is stored. These places still
have reserve power, and should this crisis come to pass, can be used to
rebuild our world. One the only starship to have survived the Ripping, as it
was in spacedock at the time. Another is a tower near Trinidad in the
Pacific Ocean where much of our technology has been stored. Several other
places exist, and their location is outlined in attached files.
	"But humanity does not face this crisis alone. Also on-planet are a number
of members of the only race we know of that is unaffacted by our atmosphere.
They are our staunch allies in the Free Worlds Consortium who helped us fend
off the U'ryktuk invasion of Earth in 2652, they are the Kouriheat..."
	I looked up at my dragon in shock. It returned my gaze soberly as if saying
'Now you know...'
	"The Kouriheat representative has pledged that his people will use all
their unique mental and physical powers to aid humanity in our darkest hour,
and for that we are eternally grateful..."
	My attention was drawn away from the monitor as a muffled explosion rocked
the downed airship slightly. My dragon screeched at me, and I wondered what
kind of force was necessary to affect a ship of this size. Another explosion
could be heard, and the ship shook more violently this time. The screen
where the man had been speaking went dark, as did most of the lights in the
hold. Staring one last time at the blackened screen, I began climbing up the
wreckage to where my dragon sat.

	Soaring out of the dead airship, I despaired to see the remnants of the
fleet we had encountered to the north. Frantically looking around, I failed
to spot the black dragon and concluded it had not come with the fleet. It
was obvious that the black dragon was allied both with Mechania and the
Empire, each side believing that it worked for them alone, and so flying
with an Empire fleet through Mechanian territory could bode poorly for its
alliance with Mechania if it was spotted.
	The fleet was bombarding the massive airship with shot after shot, but
shifted focus when we emerged, laser blasts and flaming cannonballs slamming
into the desert around us.
	Rolling left and climbing, we took out one of the remaining nine destroyers
as we gained alititude. Zipping between two more destroyers, I smiled as the
port one took some friendly fire from Empire gunners who hadn't realized
what we were doing and were too slow to cease firing in time.
	We broke off as heavy fire from the three damaged battleships filled the
air in front of us, diving to the canyon floor. Two destroyers broke
formation in pursuit, and we led them on a merry chase through the narrow
ravine. Blasting a rock outcropping as we shot underneath it, I managed to
nail one of the destroyers and bring the other one up short. Looping around,
I fired through the dust cloud at where I thought the second airship was,
and was rewarded with a large explosion as I nailed its flight hull.
	We shot along the lip of the canyon, shooting at the enemy fleet above and
killing one destroyer while crippling another. Pulling up to an almost
vertical climb, we actually *increased* velocity as beam after beam slammed
into the first battleship's port-side flight towers. Blowing them apart one
by one, we looped backwards and dove as the ship lurched violently, listing
heavily to port and beginning a slow, circling descent.
	Shooting wildly over my shoulder as we dove, I managed to get our two
pursuers to break off. Several minutes later we had knocked out all but one
battleship and two destroyers, and all three ships were leaking smoke and
firing erratically. Not wanting to press our luck we headed northeast,
landing on a rock outcropping once we had put some distance between
ourselves and the enemy.

	Leaping off my dragon, I spun harshly to face it. "What did that mean?!" I
shouted. "I still don't under..." I stopped as my mind was seized by the
Kouriheat. Once more I found myself in another place, another time, this
time millennia ago and across a gulf of stars...

	I looked around frantically at my new location; it certainly wasn't the
deserts of the S'rah region. Odd purplish plant life abounded, and a heavy
grey mist seemed to settle about everything. The mist cleared somewhat, and
I could see... my breath caught... I saw a whole village, a whole *city*
comprised of primarily adult Kouriheat! Many were wingless, but some soared
through the air. The scene shifted slightly, and I watched a tall building
seemingly assemble itself as several Kouriheat stood or hovered nearby, the
odd marking on their throats glowing brightly.
	Suddenly the scene shifted again. I watched a fragile-looking starship -
crystalline and black, and much larger than the human starship I had seen
earlier - leave the Kouriheatan planet and vanish into the night.
	I watched the Kouriheatan starship confront a smaller, more primative human
starship.
	The scene shifted dramatically to several decades, or even centuries later.
Kouriheat and humans settled many worlds together, and often visited each
other's home planets. Another scene shift, and I watched several Kouriheatan
and human ships exchanging fire with a mammoth alien fleet. I started as one
of the Kouriheatan ships suddenly exploded, victim of a concentrated barrage
from the grey alien ships.
	The images ended, and I found myself hovering over a purple-white plain as
I had before. "How does this help me defeat the black dragon?!" I shouted.
An image appeared before me; the black dragon... aboard a Kouriheatan ship?
It had lived that long ago?
	I gasped as a surge of endorphins washed through my body; obviously that
had been a right answer.
	Another image appeared; the black dragon in the same room with the man I
had seen on the moving screen. The black dragon had been the Kouriheatan
representative he had talked about? Their leader?
	Another surge of endorphins; I had to admit, this was quite an incentive to
make correct guesses.
	I shook my head. This was milennia ago! Kouriheat couldn't be immortal...
my own father had killed the black dragon! How could it simply ressurect itself?
	An image came into my mind; I watched a Kouriheat die, and then be reborn
as an infant. After seeing this several times over, I surmized that the
Kouriheat were capable of reincarnation. I got confirmation, and then the
images changed. The Kouriheat died, and was not reborn.
	"The Kouriheat... what... cannot reincarnate forever?" I asked out loud. I
frowned as I felt a twinge of pain in my left cheek. "OK, that was wrong...
They... they can *choose* whether or not to be reborn?" I ventured. I felt
one last surge of endorphins.
	"So," I said, trying to get all the facts together, "the black dragon was
your leader on this planet a long time ago, but... something went wrong.
What happened?"
	I watched the black dragon die and be reborn several times. I *lived* part
of the black dragon's life, experienced the weariness he felt but also his
determination not to rest until his people's survival was guaranteed. I saw
humanity as the black dragon came to see it after centuries of dealing with
them; a backwards species that restricted the Kouriheat and refused to
recognize them as their betters...
	I watched the black dragon rise to the leadership of the Kouriheat several
times, and I felt him growing more and more impatient with humanity.
Finally, he simply snapped, declaring that the Kouriheat would not rest
until humanity bowed down to them or died. The other Kouriheat denounced
this and ousted the black dragon as leader, but relations between the
Kouriheat and humans were forever cooled. Millennia went by and the black
dragon still refused to die. Then the peoples of the Tantuk sent a strike
force and killed the black dragon to 'end the threat' as they put it. The
black dragon was reborn, however, and annihilated the Tantuk in a mad rage,
and killed several Kouriheat who had tried to stop him...
	I sighed as the vision came to an end; the black dragon was not evil
incarnate, just a tired Kouriheat jaded by living so long. Immortality could
be a curse, which was why the option to not be reincarnated was such a
blessing to the Kouriheat. I also felt greatly saddened by the actions of my
fellow man; had the Tantuk not attacked the black dragon, it would probably
simply be sitting in a cave, fuming but not willing to turn on its own kind
who still protected the humans. I was also saddened to know that we today
hunted for sport a people who had once been our most loyal allies, who had
died for us. That we did not know of these events was of no solace to me; we
had done the Kouriheat a great wrong, and part of me wondered if what the
black dragon was doing wasn't the justice we deserved...
	I felt a sharp jabbing pain in my gut. "Will you stop that?!" I snapped,
not appreciating the blue dragon's messing with my body. "And I still don't
see how this is supposed to help us."
	A final series of images came to me, and I concluded that the blue dragon
thought the only way to truly defeat the black dragon was to reason with it,
to convince it to lets itself die and not be reborn. I felt a part of the
blue dragon still respected the black dragon for its millennia of
leadership, but at the same time it felt the black dragon had lived too many
lives, and it was time for it to rest.
	"Reason with the black dragon?" I replied disbelievingly as the link ended.
"Why not try and convince sandworms to do birthday parties while we're at
it...?"

	As we flew northwest, I began to grow increasingly edgy as we approached
the front lines of the Empire-Mechania war, headed straight for the heart of
Empire territory. A Mechanian task force of four destroyers passed by us but
thankfully didn't spot us as they headed east. Three days of leisurely
flying later, we could see the violent explosions and streamers of light on
the horizon, telltale signs of large-scale conflict. The entire western sky
seemed filled with fire day and night as airships, battleships, and ground
troops slugged it out, niether side seemingly able to get the upper hand.
The Empire had infinitely better supply lines and numbers, but the
Mechanians were veteran soldiers fighting for their homeland. I suppose if I
had to root for either side I'd cheer for the Empire, but I'd much rather
see them both destroy each other so we wouldn't have to put up with their
respective vices any more.
	I half expected everyone on the battlefield to stop shooting at each other
and turn their guns on us as we shot through the thick of things, and while
a few did, most were embroiled in mortal combat and took little notice of
us. We attracted fewer than three dozens shots as we passed by, and I was
cautiously optimistic that we'd weathered the worst of it.

	That feeling dropped like a rock twenty minutes later as we encountered the
Empire's reinforcements.

	*Hundreds* of Empire airships filled the western sky, and we had the good
fortune of being the only hostile target in the area.
	I believe my exact words at that point were "Oh.... shit...."

									- 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>---===/