Iya stood at her window watching the bright yellow sun rise on the planet Ren. She admired the scenery of the tall trees and big birds that flew above them. Ren reminded her a little of Sage just with cooler temperatures. They were surrounded by a large forest that seemed to go for miles. The forest animals were larger too with an array of different colors.

She awoke early from a weird and strange dream about her and Cashius. So she got ready early and waited for the day to start. Iya’s room on the war carrier was on the top floor. She had the biggest suite next to Kalvanius and the generals. Every room housed two soldiers at a time. For this voyage however, the Sagen military had to make some adjustments for the group of Third borns who accompanied them. One being Jayce… The only thing that satisfied Iya about Jayce coming along, was him being denied sharing a room with Surra. Iya knew why Jayce had to come, it’s just keeping him out of harm’s way. Jayce and his team were there to replace all ten communication terminals all around Ren.

The elevator in Iya’s suite dinged when the doors opened. She turned around to see who entered her room. It was Kal and he smirked when their eyes met. “They were going send someone up to let you know the Bova brothers are here. Instead I told them I’d handle it. Any time I get alone with you, I’m taken it…” He walked over to her grabbing Iya’s chin and kissed her lips firmly. “Good morning, beautiful. Are you ready for today?”

Iya laid her head on Kal’s chest as he wrapped his arms around her gently. Their armor’s didn’t allow much for hugging and cuddling but they made the best of it. Iya looked up at Kal replying, “Do we have a choice? We don’t know what type of shit storm we’re about to walk into. We have to be ready for anything…”

“No matter how bad everything gets, you know I’m here. I will always be right beside you. We got this Iya, I have faith in us… in you.”

“We’re going to need it… I feel like there’s still a whole lot of smoke and we can’t truly see all the key players yet.” Iya let go of Kal and turned back towards the window. They stood together staring out the window. They were studying the foreign planet Ren. They were in Bova Country as the locals called it. A country filled with large factories and steel mills. Huge iron pumps pulling natural oil from the ground and gigantic lumber mills cut the wood for fires.

Kal sighed in agreement, “I know what you mean about the smoke screen…” He takes Iya’s hand and they walked to the elevator, “Let’s go meet up with the Bovas and see what they know. Jayce is eager to get to these terminals… Sooner we get started, the sooner we can keep moving on to the next planet.”

Iya and Kal walked down the war carrier ramp to the hanger. They were meeting the brothers in a small tavern nearby down the road. There were two small carriages waiting for Iya and her circle the brothers sent for them. Everyone was in attendance, including Jayce. The carriages stopped in front of a large wooden cabin. They saw the Bova brothers were sitting outside. They were sitting in hand crafted wooden chairs playing a board game.

When the carriages stopped in front the brothers didn’t look their way. They continued to play their board as the guest climbed down. Iya and Kal looked at one another as well as Amos and Marcus. Amos and Marcus however started laughing and walked up to the brothers as they finished their game. Marcus walked behind the smaller skinnier younger brother and examined the positions of the board game. “You have him in two moves Cliff.” Cliff smiled as he pushed up his thick glasses on his face.

The older brother, Biff looked up and yelled, “He does not! I have him in one move… I’m just waiting to end this.” Biff slammed his huge fist on the table, making the table shake. Biff was a huge guy, so big he could barely fit in the chair he was sitting in. He had on overalls with no shirt and a huge pot belly. You could definitely tell Biff and Cliff were brothers. They both had tight curly strawberry hair and crème color white skin.

Amos walked behind Biff and studied the board game as well, “No… I think Marcus is right, Cliff has you in two moves.”

Iya, Kal and the rest of the group stood there and watched the four men play a board game. Jayce leaned over and to whisper his complaints, “We don’t have time for board games… should we say something?”

Without looking up, Biff pointed his thick chunky finger directly at Jayce and said, “There’s always time for a lil’ strategy game. It helps you to think and it opens your mind, young Prince Jayce. We’re almost done here, come on Cliff.” Jayce was taken back that he heard him say that. He looked at Iya wondering if that shocked her too but it didn’t. Jayce has always been loud as hell. “We can talk from here… so tell us what the hell is wrong with our terminals. We haven’t been able to communicate with anyone for two months now.”

Iya stepped up, looking down at Biff as he concentrated on his board game. “Our terminals have been sabotaged and we’re here to replace them. We didn’t mean to cause any inconveniences…”

“Inconveniences? There’s been nothing but chaos since those damn terminals went out.” Biff looked up at Iya and Cliff slowly did the same, “We haven’t been able to communicate with anyone. Our business trade partners, our customers, you guys, no body…” Biff complained and Cliff nodded along with him. “See here on Ren, we are a money making planet. Every country here specializes in something different. That’s how we don’t step on each other’s toes… Each family that controls a country, has the chance to make just as much money as the next family.”

Cliff looked up at Biff after making his move on the board game, “I got you in two moves…” He giggled as Biff was speaking to Iya.

Biff cut his eyes at his brother then flicked a piece off the board. “You been had me in two moves Cliff…” Biff got up and stood very tall for a big guy. He was taller than Amos and no one thought that was possible. “Come on y’all… let’s get a drink inside. There’s a lot of shit we have to go over.”

They followed the brothers inside the two story wooden tavern. The place was completely empty besides the small staff working there. The brothers walked over to a long dining room table. Large wooden chairs with long backs and long arms were neatly pushed under the table. By the time everyone sat down, the waiters were bringing out pitchers of ale with large jugs.

Biff and Cliff sat together at one end as Iya and Kal at the other end. The others filled in the middle. Biff gulped down his jug before continuing his story, “Here on the Eastern side is Bova Country, me and my brother run the place. We specialize in machinery and crafting different metals. We have steel mills, mines and the finest blacksmiths that can forge just about anything. The parts for the war carriers sometimes comes from us… or any space carrier really. Also we control most of the lumber…” Biff looked up and around as he admired the craftsmanship of the tavern. “I think you get the picture…”

Iya and everyone else nodded. Marcus and Amos already knew the ends and outs of Ren, it was the rest who needed to hear it. Iya sat down her jug and asked, “And the rest of the countries?”

Cliff turned to Iya and replied, “There are two other families that have control on Ren, the Tre family and Silva family.” Cliff pushed up his glasses off of his nose, “The Tre family control the Northern and Southern countries and they specialize in the finest foods and drinks. We have food here too of course… I mean the finest cuts of meats from unique animals that are only grazed on Tre lands along with exotic sea animals. The finest wines and liquors made from vineyards and orchards the Tre have spent generations perfecting. I mean you want any kind of excellent foods and wines you go there. People and creatures from all over travel to Tre Country just for the foods.”

Biff cut his eyes again at his brother as Cliff was practically drooling on himself. “Are you a Tre or Bova, Cliff? Anyways, the last family is the Silvas over in the Western countries. They have the biggest amount of land along with the biggest family. They specialize in everything else like luxury items, clothes, jewelry etc. They also have quite a few gold and silver mines. They make everything they sell. Let’s put it this way, we Bovas make the war carriers and the Silvas make it how comfortable you want it inside. And the Tre of course, will supply your foods. Together on Ren it all worked together but as soon as that strange message came through, the signal went out. The Tre and Silvas started their family feuds again. This time has been the worse one yet.”

Cliff cut in and continued, “The Tre and Silvas never liked one another. For generations, they’ve always fought over the smallest and stupidest things. We all get a piece of the pie but they always wanted more. The families even married into one another just for a truce and that still didn’t work. By now, they’re practically cousins but still sworn enemies.”

Jayce cut in with his own question, “Biff, you said once the signal went out the feud got worse. What did the message say? We haven’t been able to hear it on our end… It would be very helpful and it might even lead us to who did all this.”

Biff replied, “Of course, we had to shut the damn thing off because that’s all the terminal kept doing. The message replayed over and over again, ‘Every corner of the universe we come together as one.’ Then nothing. Just static… The signal had been out for months now and as soon as the damn thing went out, the Silvas attacked the Tre. The next day they were completely blindsided. It was almost like the Silvas knew the signal jamming was coming…”

A shiver went up Iya’s back as she has heard those same words before. Cashius told her that same quote the night he won the trials to become Star Lord. Iya couldn’t put two and two together yet, but somehow she felt he was connected. Kal noticed Iya’s face scrunch up and laid his hand on her lap under the table. She quickly turned her attention to him and smiled gently. The waiters came with large trays of different sandwiches and salads. Fruit trays and cut up legs of meats.

Jayce grabbed a big sandwich and placed it on his plate. He grabbed the pitcher of ale and poured more into his jug. “How many terminals do Bova Country house? The data on my computer said there was ten terminals here on Ren. I want to get started on them as soon as possible. Especially if this is causing a war…”

“This ain’t cause no war! The Silvas hopped on the first chance they got to completely be off the radars. Your terminals are the main source of communication and taking those out made them invisible. Bovas house three, Silvas house three terminals and Tre house four. Two on each North and South Country.”

Surra jumped in excited to eat, “We’re thankful for your hospitality, Bova brothers… We grew up listening to stories about you two.”

Marcus slammed his jug on the table, “Like the one where those two crazies rode a trading carrier back to Sage. They got off at our stations demanding to speak to the king, your father. You and Jayce were small children then. Your father and half of the Sagen army approached these two, wondering what was going on.” Everyone at the table was laughing.

“Well…” Biff explained, “You all kept getting our trading orders wrong so I had to let the king know. What the result from that encounter was a beautiful friendship and loyal allies. Plus your father allowed others from the outside for the first time to shop for their employers.”

Amos didn’t laugh as much when he recalled the memory. “That bastard, Gerok was our commander then…”

“Gerok?!” Cliff yelled out. “He’s Sagen? That makes a lot of sense now. The darker complexion and the thick hair. He doesn’t have braids like you guys anymore. We never knew he was from Sage.”

Iya stood up from her chair fired up, “You know Gerok? He’s been here? Is he here now?”

“No he hasn’t been here in about three, four months. He came in and bought a new war carrier. Paid for it all in gold pieces too. He doesn’t spend a lot of time here in Bova, we hear he’s always in Silva Country. He spends lots of money on expensive women and children clothing, they say.” Cliff replied.

“You all keep tabs on one another?” Iya asked.

“We keep tabs on our customers…” Biff replied.

Cliff looked over to Iya and Kal then Jayce and Surra. He looked around the table at all her generals and then to his brother. Biff caught on to Cliff stares and nodded. He knew what he was about to say. “There is something else… We reached out and told the other families you were coming so we called for a meeting. Believe it or not they agreed to meet for a ‘potential’ truce. I think knowing the Sagens were coming scared them straight. This is how we fix all of this.”

Everyone around the table slowly moved their heads from Biff and Cliff to Iya. They looked at her for the final approval. What they were saying was true, that would be the best opportunity. She needed to speak to the other leaders from the other countries and it would be convenient. Iya was quiet, she couldn’t shake this eerie feeling she had about Cashius. She sat listening while eating, piecing things together.

Iya looked up and around then nodded to her circle. “Of course we’ll be there. That would be the best opportunity to talk to all the leaders and clear this up. When and where is the meeting?”

Biff stood up and walked around the table, “It’s in two days… there’s a desert called Dusan in between the two rival countries. It’s nothing but open land.”

Iya nodded at the information. “You’re not worried the Silvas or Tre will come after you?”

Biff and Cliff laughed at the thought, “They wouldn’t dare fuck with us, my young commander. We also specialized in weaponry. Who do you think supplied those two idiots with weapons to fight one another? Definitely didn’t think at the time when they were asking for weapons, they were using them against each other. We thought it was for protection from outside customers or Barbarian Clans. All I know is, this meeting better work. We’re tired of all the bullshit between those two. It hurts all of our business and they don’t care to see that.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Iya had one more comment to say, “Biff, Cliff all we know is this was done on purpose. The signal jamming and everything that followed after. We don’t know the extent of Gerok and his partner’s damage on the other planets. No matter what it takes for us to fix the terminals, we will kill whoever stands in our way.”

The brothers nodded and huffed. Biff laughed the loudest, “You are definitely a Sagen! So serious…” His outburst laughter made everyone else laugh, including Iya who shook her head. For the rest of the evening, the brothers shared stories and adventures as their guest continued to dine.

When night fell, Iya and her company traveled back to their war carrier. Kal and Iya hung outside the ramp door leading inside. Kal looked at Iya wishing so bad their relationship didn’t have to be a secret. He wanted to comfort her and be there for her on whatever level. He wanted to kiss on her and hold her hand. Kal wanted every world to know Iya was his love.

Earlier today, he could sense something wasn’t sitting right with her. Kal looked down and asked, “What’s going on? What’s bothering you..? I saw at the dining table earlier, you made a face…”

Iya looked at Kal and smiled. He always was in tuned to her emotions and thoughts. He was her better half, she was the same to him. Iya made a huge sigh before replying, “It’s something about what the message says before the virus comes through. I’ve heard it before… once. Cashius told me the same quote the night he won the trials. We were sitting in the gardens and he told me the quote comes from the Saijerians Colonies. I’m not sure what the connection is but that’s one crazy coincidence…”

Kal immediately got irritated when he heard Cashius’s name. “So what are you thinking though? Usually you’re right about these things.”

“Well… we know Gerok is involved and we know someone on Sage is helping him. We know that the person’s name they’re using is dead and somehow it’s all connected to the Saijerians. Again. It feels like we’re missing one piece…”

“Don’t let this keep you up at night. Everything will come to light in due time, it always does. We were thinking of accompanying Jayce to town tomorrow and do some shopping.” Kal smiled hoping to cheer Iya up. “I wanted to check out the weapons they so called ‘specialize’ in. It could come in handy for the upcoming meeting. Then the day after, we leave to the other countries.” Kal grabbed Iya by the shoulders with both hands.

She grabbed one of his hands, “I wish I could kiss you right now…” They both looked over their shoulders and no one was around.

Kal huffed and added, “I wish we could go up to my room and do more than just kissing.” He was serious… Kal kept looking around, “Do you think they’re notice if we tried to sneak upstairs?”

Just then two people walked down the ramp door right behind Kal and Iya. Both of them jumped back and pretended like they weren’t standing so close to one another. The two soldiers walked by them and didn’t notice a thing. Iya smiled at Kal after the two walked by, “Yea… I think so.” They laughed and walked up the ramp together. They wished each other a goodnight and parted ways.

On the morning of the meeting at the Dusan desert, Iya had gave Surra specific instructions. To look out for the flares. Black flare they were coming back with no problems. Red flare, they were in trouble. Iya and her circle had no idea what they were walking into. Iya ordered Surra to stay behind with the war carrier. If it needed to be, she could get the troops ready to aid Iya and the others. Surra wished Iya, Kal, Amos, Marcus and the Bova brothers luck on getting the truce to happen between the families.

They traveled by boat across a large river that separated the trees line from the desert. The war carrier was about a half mile away from the meeting point, just far enough for Surra to see the flare from the cockpit area. The Dusan desert was vast and very hot, filled with large hills of sand. When Iya and the others arrived to the coordinates of the meeting point, the Tre were already there. They had brought a small militia with them. They were covered in all black despite the heat. Black turbans around their heads and black shiny layered armor covering their torsos. The Tre also covered in weapons, Iya and the others were not surprised.

The leader of the Tre stood in front of the rest of the men. His armor was more detailed and layered then the rest of the militia. He was a young man, maybe a few years younger than Marcus but looked very serious. He stood still resting his hand on his sword that was strapped to his hip. As Iya approached him, the Tre leader didn’t move a muscle. He just followed her with his dark slanted eyes.

Iya stopped after a certain point and waited for Biff and Cliff to catch up. Iya could sense the tension from where she was standing. Biff walked passed Iya and her people to give the Tre leader a hand shake. “Thanks Eric for coming, really I want to get this shit over with.” Biff turned around and extended his hand out towards Iya and Kal. Amos and Marcus was already familiar with the Tre family but not with this leader. So this was something new to them as well.

Moments later, the Silva family and their militia showed up on horseback. They rode in strong and fierce as if they were ready for battle. The Silva leader jumped down off his horse first. Iya could tell he was the leader from his dominant demeanor. He was a smaller man with a bald head and a thick gray beard. His skin was aged and tanned from the sun. He walked up with a sleeveless green shirt, cargo pants and thick black boots. His armor was a bright metallic green that matched the rest of his militia.

Biff watched as the Silva leader approached the group like he was ready to fight. He let out a huge sigh but noticed the Sagens didn’t flinch to Silva’s aggression. Biff waited till the Silvas approached and continued his introductions, “Hello Andre… We are all here now and ready to meet for the truce. As mentioned the Sagens have arrived to fix the communication issues. The issue can quickly and easily be resolved. This is Iya, the Commander of Sage, her captain Kal, and two of her generals Amos and Marcus. They’re here to fix the terminals and everything can go back to normal.”

When Biff mentioned Kal was the Sagen captain, Andre Silva couldn’t take his eyes off of him. One of Silva’s men walked up behind him and whispered in his ear. Andre nodded agreeing to what he told him. It seemed like Andre was fixated completely on Kal. The vibe he was giving off was causing a lot of tension. Eric Tre started yelling and screaming over the Sagens at the Silva militia. They started screaming so much it was getting out of control. Iya and Marcus put their hands up trying to calm the situation. They stood in front of Eric as he screamed at the Silvas. “Fuck the truce! They attacked us first! I told you this was pointless Bova!”

Amos and Kal started veering towards the Silvas, who were standing still calmly. Pushing the Tre family back made a gap in between Iya and Marcus with Amos and Kal behind them. Amos approached Andre slowly with his hands up too. He tried to compromise with him, “Come on man, we’re just trying to get this done. We don’t want any problems.”

Andre stepped back closer to his militia. He slowly drew his sword from his sleeve as Amos was distracted from the yelling behind him. He quietly and slowly replied, “We don’t want any help from the Sagens. We don’t need the help of the Sagens. We want all of Ren… This planet belongs to the Silvas. Gerok gives his regards…” Then Andre yelled out, “Kill the captain! Kill their commander!”

One of Andre’s men ran up to him and shouted, “Gerok said to leave the commander alive!”

Andre shoved the soldier hard, pushing him away, “I don’t care what Gerok said! Kill them all!”

Kal heard everything and yelled out to Amos, “Watch out!” But it was too late. Andre slashed Amos across his chest, cutting him deep. He quickly fell to the ground with his arms spread open and was unconscious. Andre stepped back into his militia as they stepped forward. Before Kal could reach Amos the Silva militia were throwing daggers, hitting him once in the shoulder. He got up and quickly dashed towards Iya screaming out, “It’s a trap! Watch out!”

Kal ran to her as quick as his legs would let him. Daggers flew pass his head and legs making him duck as he ran. Another dagger hit him in the back but bounced off his armor. The gap between them wasn’t that far but it felt like it to Kal. By the time he got to Iya, both she and Marcus were turning around to see what was happening. Kal tackled Iya straight to the ground as more daggers flew straight over them. Marcus jumped out of the way in time. While they were on the ground, a dagger that was headed for Iya went into Eric’s head instead. The Tre leader fell straight to the ground lifeless. Iya yelled out, “No!” As she still was in Kal’s gasp.

Some of the Tre members managed to run away, running back towards the sand hills. The Silvas however, completely retreated. Getting back on horseback and riding back the way they came. Iya pulled from Kal and turned around. She saw the dagger sticking out of his shoulder. He pulled his arm back and said, “I’m fine! We have to get Amos!” Iya quickly stood to her feet and ran over to Amos who laid there covered in his blood. He was coughing and choking up blood from trying to speak. Marcus and the Bova brothers were right behind them. The brothers managed to get out of the way before things got out of hand.

Iya pressed on Amos’s chest trying to slow down the bleeding. Cliff ran up and quickly took off his shirt and threw it to Iya. She pressed the shirt down across the wound as much as possible. The shirt quickly was soaked in blood, it wasn’t enough… Amos kept trying to speak while everyone circled around him. Iya screamed at Amos, “Don’t try to speak! Don’t move!” She looked up at Kal, Marcus and Biff, “Help me get him to the boat! He’s not going to make without it the Medics. Hurry!”

Together they all grabbed a limb and lifted Amos a little off the ground. As soon as they started moving, spears and arrows started whistling pass them. Iya and Cliff turned around and looked over their shoulders. The Silva Army filled the sand hills with hundreds of soldiers. Cliff started panicking when he saw the numbers growing. He ran over to Amos and grabbed his last leg, helping to move along back to the boat.

Iya turned around and faced the Silva Army staring back at Andre. He sat on his horse looking down at his new enemies as his men showered them with spears. Iya was dodging them while keeping her eyes locked on Andre. Her stare made him pull back on his horse, he felt a small chill through his body. Iya screamed out, “Silva!” Then pointed to him as she ran away, getting out of the line of fire.

Iya caught up with Kal and the rest as they were reaching the boats. Biff and Cliff quickly booted up the boat and they were off. The Silva Army was right behind them still throwing spears and shooting arrows. Biff slammed his fist on the steering wheel, pissed off. “This is NOT how this was supposed to go! I didn’t know Andre was going to do this! Amos is gonna make it!” He steered the boat and hauled it as fast as he could. “What are you going to do Commander?”

Iya sat next to Amos helping to hold down bunched up clothes over his wound. She looked up at the beach as the desert sands became smaller in her view. The shoreline was filled with the Silva Army that were chanting and screaming at the escapees. They started carrying boats on to the water to cross the river. Iya kept staring at the Silvas as she replied to Biff, “Let them cross the river… let them come to us. Marcus shoot off the red flare. We need to get our people ready for battle. If a war is what Silva wants, than a war is what he’s going to fucking get…” Marcus ran to the back of the boat and shot the red flare into the sky.

It’s about to go down…