I woke up to the sun shining brightly into my face and birds chirping outside. I squinted my eyes as they adjusted to the light and looked up at the source of the light. The sun was peeking in from a hole in the ceiling of the lobby in the conference center that had been made during the fight the day before. I looked around the room to find most of the others already up and talking together. Only Drake was still laying down and appeared to be asleep. There was some fresh coffee brewing on a table nearby along with some containers containing what I assumed was breakfast someone had brought by.

I stretched, rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and got up to go get some food. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until just then. I had been so busy the day before handling the aftermath of the attack that I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast the day before. There were eggs, bacon, sausage, and a variety of other breakfast foods all laid out in to-go boxes from a restaurant. I loaded up an assortment of food and, sitting down on my cot, began to eat.

“Good morning.” Troy said. His jaw had was noticeably more swollen than it had been the day before.

“What time is it?” I asked with my mouth full of food, trying not to spit food out as I talked.

“Almost noon.” He replied.

“Have you been up long?”

“Just long enough to get some breakfast. I’m glad you are up; we’ve been discussing what to do in light of the attack from last night.” Troy said slowly, trying not to move his jaw too much as he talked.

“Good!” I said. “I spent a lot of time thinking about the situation last night. I’m certain they must think Tyfoonica knows some information they are trying to get.”

“We believe so as well.” Zorukai said. “We took a huge blow last night, several of The Council members were injured or killed,” he continued, seemingly shifting the focus away from Tyfoonica, “and the news of the attack has spread throughout the galaxy very quickly. There has been cries from many systems throughout the galaxy looking for answers and protection. There are a lot of --”

“What is the plan to get Tyfoonica back?” I interrupted.

“There are a lot of worried people.” Zorukai finished. “Right now our primary focus has to be on the people throughout the galaxy. We cannot allow the galaxy to fall into disarray, that is what the Doomaki want. We need to get together with all the Peacekeepers and decide how we need to attack this situation. The Peacekeepers were already undermanned, and that problem is compounded with the fact that The Council is now in the same situation. There just aren’t enough fighters in the galaxy strong enough to take people at the level the Doomaki are at. And among those few that are, most are either uninterested in being a Peacekeeper, or are otherwise unqualified to be one. This puts us at a huge disadvantage against the Doomaki.”

“I understand all of that,” I said firmly, “But our number one focus has to be getting Tyfoonica back.”

“I don’t think you do understand Tyfoon.” Zorukai said back with an annoyed tone. “We can't just blindly go into a rescue mission with the odds stacked against us the way they are and hope to succeed. We don’t have any intel on the Doomaki besides what we gained last night, which is only that we know there are at least 13 Doomaki; that’s how many attacked us. But there are sure to be even more back at their headquarters. Any rescue attempt at this point would end in a massacre. Tyfoonica would likely end up dead, as well as those trying to rescue him.”

“So what?” I asked, the tone in my voice teetering on the line of disrespect. “We just leave him for dead??” Zorukai hesitated a moment before responding.

“No...but as much as I want to rescue Tyfoonica…we have to wait and form a plan. Right now the most pressing for us to focus on is keeping peace and security in the galaxy. If we allow the galaxy to become disarrayed, wars will break out and factions will develop between frantic planetary and system leaders. This will weaken the order we have fought to keep in the galaxy for so long and it will force us to send The Peacekeepers to the different systems to try and bring order back. This will take our strongest soldiers away from the fight with the Doomaki where they are most needed. If we lose order in the galaxy, countless lives will be lost to wars and government overthrows. That is what the Doomaki wants. Not only will they delight in the lives that will be lost, but it will give them countless areas where they can come and go as they like because planetary and system governments will be too disorganized to catch them, or even know they are among them.” Zorukai took a deep breath. “I cannot stress enough how much damage can be done if we don’t work hard right now to prevent this from happening. It may seem like a stretch, but believe me, this is what the Doomaki want and it is exactly what happened the last time we were at war with them. It has taken most of the past 18 years to restore peace and order in the galaxy because of the aftermath of that war.”

I wanted to respond, but I just couldn’t find any words to adequately express what I was feeling. These were Tyfoonica’s friends; I grew up around them and they had known Tyfoonica many years before I was born. Yet they were going to let the Doomaki have their way with him. That wasn’t what they were saying, but it was reality. By refusing to go to him immediately, they were signing his death certificate, I was sure of it. Sure, they had experience working with the Doomaki, and I didn’t, but this knowledge didn’t matter to me. What mattered to me is that both father figures in my life, my real father and the one who raised me, had been taken by the Doomaki and I wasn’t about to assume that Tyfoonica would be okay while we took our time forming a plan to save him. There was a chance Zorukai was right, but there was a much larger chance he was wrong and Tyfoonica would be dead by the time we got around to finding him. The earlier a rescue attempt was made, the higher the probability he would still be alive by the time we found him.

I knew that Zorukai and the others were looking at the bigger picture. I understood that they had a responsibility over the galaxy as their leaders and they had to put the peace and protection of the people before their commitment to their friend. But knowing that didn’t take away the sting that they weren’t making Tyfoonica their highest priority. It made me sick to my stomach, and it made me feel more helpless than I had ever felt before.

The tension between Zorukai and I was palpable, and everyone was silent. Nothing else could be said. Zorukai spoke for everyone in the room and it was obvious that they had come to this conclusion before I had woken up. I turned from them and walked out. I was so angry I couldn’t stand to remain in their presence.

I walked outside and leaned over a railing to overlook the city. I looked up towards the sky; the sun was shining bright through some clouds that were stretched across the sky. I was burning with frustration and anger. I reached for my necklace, and pulled it out from under my shirt. I rolled the crystal around in between my fingers. It reminded me of my mother. It was the only thing I had to remember her by. I thought of what she might think if she were there. I imagined that maybe she would tell me we should try to rescue Tyfoonica right away. But of course, I had no idea what she would say. Still, just thinking of her helped calm me down and some of the anger I felt subsided.

The city was busy; tons of cars weaved around the buildings and skyscrapers. Life in the large city was going on as it had every other day, unaffected by the incident from the night before. I looked out at the faces of all the people walking on the sidewalks. It was around lunch time and there were scores of people making their way to and from the different restaurants. Some glanced up towards me and their lips moved quickly as they talked to those around them, discussing what might have happened to the conference center, which looked like part of it had been blown up. They were completely clueless to the grim danger that was on the horizon. The news of the attack had spread quickly to the planetary and system leaders, but they hadn’t shared it with their people yet. Their agenda was the same as The Council’s, they didn’t want to throw the people into chaos. But they wouldn’t be able to keep that a secret for long, and Zorukai was right. Once they found out, people would panic. And one thing Tyfoonica taught me is that when you get enough scared people together, terrible things happen.

My mind went back to Tyfoonica. He was kidnapped for a reason. With as badly as he was injured from the initial explosion, they could have killed him, but instead, they took him. It still confused me though...he was so disconnected with the outside world. I went over it again and again in my head, but I couldn’t come up with what he might know that would cause the Doomaki to come out of their hiding. It had to be something that he had known since before I was born, something to do with the first war perhaps. Maybe even why the first war had broken out. And, I was convinced, it had to be the same information they took my father to find out. It was never known for sure if my father had died or been captured, but I had always believed it was the latter. His body had never been found, a fact which allowed me to cling to the hope that he might still be alive. Although, with Tyfoonica getting captured this hope was severely dwindled. If they were seeking to get information from someone other than my father, they had probably given up on him. In reality, this was likely the case anyway given it had been 18 years since he disappeared.

All of this, however, was mere speculation. Nothing was known about my father’s disappearance, nor about Tyfoonica’s kidnapping. The only thing we knew for sure was that this time we knew Tyfoonica was captured, not killed. But that was better than nothing.

“Hey.” Came a voice from behind me. I turned to see Drake walking up to the railing I was at. He leaned over it as well, and looked out into the busy city. “You okay?” He asked.

“Not really. I feel so helpless. I know The Council have a duty to the galaxy and keeping peace and order, as well as protecting the galaxy from the Doomaki. But I can’t help but feel like they are making the wrong move by not making Tyfoonica’s rescue a priority.” It then dawned on me that Drake had been lying in bed during that whole conversation. “Oh, I forgot you were asleep.”

“I was...but I woke up when you and Zorukai started arguing.” He smiled and let out a chuckle. “Couldn’t sleep through that.” I laughed and continued.

“Well,” I began, “I just can’t help but feel like they are making a mistake.”

“Are you sure you aren’t just saying that because you are so close to him?”

“I know it might seem that way, but it really has nothing to do with it. I won’t deny that I want him back because he is like a father to me. But that isn’t the reason I think The Council is wrong. Think about it. Tyfoonica obviously knows something that the Doomaki want to know really badly. After 18 years, they resurface, and it is clear that their objective was one thing: to capture Tyfoonica. They were stronger than us, they could have killed many more people. I suppose they might have wanted to make a statement, but I doubt that was their main purpose.”

“I agree. I think most everyone else is on board with that too, it’s really the only reason they would take him that makes sense.” Drake turned to face me and I continued.

“If he knows something that important, imagine what would happen if the Doomaki was able to get the information out of him?” Drake raised his eyebrows, surprised.

“Do you think they would be able to break Tyfoonica?” He asked in disbelief.

“I don’t know. Tyfoonica is one of the toughest people I’ve ever met, but writing him off because I’m sure he won’t give them any information is foolish. We have to plan for the worst and act accordingly. If the Doomaki do find out what they are after, it could set the Peacekeepers at such a disadvantage that they might not stand a chance. If we have any hope of defeating the Doomaki and securing peace in the galaxy, we have no choice but to rescue Tyfoonica, no matter what the cost.”

“What you’re saying makes sense…” Drake replied, “but Zorukai and the others won’t change their mind. They are stubborn, and they view protecting the galaxy in a more tangible way. They will only take what they know and act on that. They don’t know for certain why Tyfoonica was taken, and they don’t know, even if the Doomaki do probe him for information, they don’t know that the Doomaki will get it. What they do know is that the different planets and systems in the galaxy are going to go crazy if The Council doesn’t do something to reassure them and put some of their fears to rest.”

“Drake?” I turned toward Drake, a serious expression on my face.

“...Yeah?” Drake said with a little concern in his voice.

“If you knew the right thing to do, even if everyone was against you, wouldn’t you feel an obligation to act? Even if you weren’t sure what the outcome would be, if you knew something had to be done, the right thing to do is to take it upon yourself, wouldn’t it?”

“You want to try to rescue Tyfoonica alone?” Drake said in surprise.

“If no one is willing to help me...yes.” I said emphatically. “If something happens to me and I get killed or captured then...well, so be it. There’s nothing useful the Doomaki can get from me. And if I get killed, it won’t be a devastating loss for The Council or The Peacekeepers. But if there is a chance at success, I have to take it.” Drake walked away and began to pace, clearly unsettled by my conclusion.

“You speak as if you are some insignificant nobody. Need I remind you that you are the last living person in the Tyfoon bloodline. A family of people that has been so strong and so valiant that they have been chosen among trillions of people to be the chosen protector of the galaxy for several generations. You shouldn’t think you are as expendable as you are suggesting.” Drake turned to me and I could see the passion in his eyes. His father had served under mine as The Chosen One’s right hand man. It was clear Drake had gained a lot of the duty and respect for my family from Troy.

“I appreciate that Drake, but what good does being a descendant of a noble family line have, even if I possess the same strength and characteristics, if I see something that could bring about the destruction of the galaxy and I do nothing. Tell me, if The Chosen One had the concerns I had, would something be done about it?” Drake rolled his eyes.

“Of course. But you aren’t The Chosen One...not yet anyway.” He replied somberly.

“Even so, I’m sure this is the right thing to do. I’m going to try and rescue Tyfoonica.”

“How? You don’t even know where he is, you have no intel on the Doomaki, you have, well, nothing really.” I turned from Drake to face the city again. I grabbed the railing with both hands and leaned over it. Drake walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Tyfoon, I know you mean well, but this isn’t something you can do alone.” Drake said, a pleading tone in his voice.

“I have to try.” With that, I turned from him and walked away in the direction of my ship. I had walked about 20 feet away when Drake called for me.

“Tyfoon!” He called out. I stopped walking and paused for a moment. I turned around to see him running up to me.

“I told you, you can’t do this alone.” Drake repeated.

“It doesn--” I started to say, but Drake cut me off.

“That’s why I’m coming with you.” I started to object, but reconsidered and didn’t say anything. I looked at Drake. His gaze met mine and I could tell by the fire in his eyes that he was serious. He nodded at me slowly as if to say “yes, I’m sure.” I smiled at him.

“Thank you, Drake. You are a good friend.” Drake’s serious expression broke slightly as he smiled.

“You had better not get me killed, Tyfoon.”