"Steady yourself," Meta Knight said, walking in circles around me. I was perched on the butt of a knife, plunged into the ground, trying to maintain my balance on one leg. I held two swords out, perpendicular to my body, which only straining my core muscles even more. Despite this, I hardly noticed.

Three months had passed since my first week as a soldier. I had grown stronger physically and mentally. As fate would have it, the ninja I saw watching me during the fight those many nights ago was my Sensei, Yamikage. The first training session I had with him, he promoted me to a Senmonka, the class of ninja just below a master. I had only a few weeks left of training before I could graduate that art. The new challenge I was facing was becoming a swordsman. It proved to be the most difficult challenge yet. Again, fate was kind, and the Captain assigned Meta Knight to be my trainer.

"Tell me what Yamikage has told you," Meta Knight ordered.

"To find the power that lies within me, I need to keep internal peace," I repeated, taking a deep breath. I had mastered chi; I could use it in whatever way I needed to. Yamikage helped me learn not only how to use it, but to make it last a very long time. The only consequence was I became exhausted after expending so much energy. Now, the only thing between mastery and me was finding an 'internal power'.

"Good," he said, kicking the knife under my foot. A few months ago I would've fallen and hurt myself, but I merely hopped onto the other and leg continued focusing. He smiled up at me and said, "You've grown a lot since you've been here."

"The student is only as good as her teacher," I replied, grinning. He glanced away and blushed, but did so quickly and nonchalantly I almost didn't notice.

He laughed and said, "I'm not much older than you, you know." As I stepped down off of the knife, his eyes turned pink and then faded into magenta. I had learned with time, and through the help of Jecra and Arthur, what his eye colors meant. Light blue was happy or proud, gray was sad, red was angry, green was deep in thought or serious, orange was surprised, white was shock, and pink was amused. But I had never seen this color before.

"What power did your father possess?" he asked.

"I'm not sure; he never mentioned anything about it," I replied, slashing with my sword at a dummy. We were in one of two training gyms in the central area of the ship. It was large and circular with light blue titanium walls and silver floors. No one was in the gym with us, for it was just after dinner and social hour.

He was silent as he watched me perform jabs and cuts at the dummy, moves that he had painstakingly taught me, before he said, "I think you're ready for a mission."

I stopped hacking the dummy and whipped around to him. Me? A mission?

Meta Knight had been on several missions in the past few months. He had grown to be a fine knight. One might dare say he might one day be the jewel of the army. Despite him being gone much of the time, we had grown to be close friends. We often talked during our training sessions, and the topics ranged anywhere from complaints about training to Chrystal.

He and Chrys were still together, but apparently, they were drifting farther apart. She had been temporarily relocated to a base on a distant planet called Minoa a while ago, and she and Meta Knight used to call each other every night. It worked for a few weeks until slowly the calls became fewer and fewer. Then they stopped altogether.

He had also told me that he would be graduating at the end of this week. He was finally getting knighted, and I was proud of him. But despite this, I couldn't stop a small part of me from feeling sad. I knew that his graduation would mean the end of our training sessions and I would see him less. He would be gone even more once he was an official warrior, and he wouldn't have time to train me or hang out with any of his other friends. Selfishly, I would miss him.

"Do you think I'm ready?" I asked him.

"You've been ready," he assured, and lead me out of the gym. "Now, how about some armor?"

We went to the west wing of the ship and walked down a long, wide hallway. We seemed to walk forever until we halted at a random section of the wall. Meta Knight approached it, put his ear to it, and felt along the middle section. After a few moments of knocking gently, he suddenly rapped loudly in the center. It swiveled inward, revealing a spacious room with rows upon rows of shelves. The shelves were stacked with armor and weapons of every kind.

"The GSA had to start keeping this place a secret several years ago," he explained. "A few recruits, turned to Nightmare's side, raided this place when it was open to everyone. They took all of our best armor and weapons and used them to wipe out most of the warriors on this ship. They were eventually stopped and tried according to  the Star Warrior code."

"What happened to them?" I asked, knowing the Star Warrior code was very strict. After the fight with Rose, she and I both had Xs slashed in our palms by Yamikage. The scars were permanent and still hurt.

"They were found guilty of treason and killed by firing squad," he said, and I shivered a bit. What could make someone go so crazy as to kill fellow brothers and sisters?

He took me deep into the chamber after shutting the door and showed me a display case. It contained a gold tinted breastplate and leggings, trimmed with golden sashes that framed the collar and acted as a ninja belt. On the back were two sheaths holding two twin katanas. Instead of a helmet, it had a golden mouth/jaw guard with jagged edges. Grey iron-lined fabric served as the under armor; something all ninjas wore under their kimonos. All in all, the armor was a mix of a knight's and ninja's.

I couldn't help but drool over the armor. Meta Knight noticed and laughed. "The Captain had this specially made for you," he said, opening the plexiglass door. "He was saving it for this mission. He's had this planned for a while."

"So, if you were instructed to tell me about this, do you know what my mission is?" I wondered.

"Yes. You're joining Chrys on Minoa," he said and handed me the armor. "You leave tomorrow at 0600." He looked away for a moment, then added, "Good luck, and tell Chrys I miss her." His eyes met mine, and they flashed between the magenta and light gray.

...

I could hardly sleep that night. I hadn't shown anyone the new armor yet but was saving it for Garlude to see. She and Amai had become my best friends, and any secrets/surprises I had, they were the first to know about.

I woke up early and glanced at the digital alarm on my dresser. 0500. Close enough. I could grab an early breakfast.

"Garlude!" I whispered urgently, shaking her from her slumber.  

"Nikki? Do you know what time it is?" she yawned and looked at the clock, too. "What do you want?"

"I'm leaving in an hour," I exclaimed and laid the armor out on my bed.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and turned on her lamp. "What are you talking about?" she asked, then she saw the suit.

"Oh my gosh..." she whispered, standing and picking up the mouth guard. In the lamplight, it glimmered and sparkled. The edges looked like fire. "I've seen this armor...I was wondering who would get it. It's one of the best suits. Let's see it on you!!"

I changed into the under armor first, then Garlude helped me slip on the breastplate, leggings, boots, and then fastened the swords. The metal was so light! I slipped on the mouth guard and ran over to the mirror in the corner of the room. I looked older and serious.

"You look beautiful," Garlude said.

"Thanks," I replied, and put on a pair of gloves with the fingers cut off. I felt like a true warrior.

She yawned, then put on her own armor. "You better get going to breakfast," she advised but gave me a hug before I could leave. "You'll be great," she whispered. "Just make sure you come back. I will personally kill you if you don't."

I laughed and said, "I'll miss you too." I walked through the doorway, looking back at her before I left. She rolled her eyes and shooed me out. No matter how long the mission was, I was going to miss having her as a roommate.

Early breakfast was much more bland than regular. We were served oatmeal with no flavoring of any kind and a few bananas. The other soldiers present were all on the same mission as me, so I looked for any familiar faces. I almost didn't recognize him at first because of his armor, but I couldn't mistake his personality. Arthur.

He was clad in golden armor shaped like a star with fancy patterns and emblems on the shoulders and helmet. His green hair was up in a ponytail. Like other soldier's masks, only his eyes were visible. He, too, had grown to be a fine warrior. The Captain had personally invited him on several strategic visits to other planets, kind of like showing Arthur the ropes of leading the GSA, and had taken Arthur as a student not too long ago. Having never been on a mission before either, he sported his new armor proudly. He may not be as good as Meta Knight with a sword, but he was among the greats.

He was seated at a table with Dragato and a few other soldiers I didn't recognize. Dragato wore a silver mask and white shoulder pads and his red hair was still in a ponytail. At first, I was hesitant to join them, but I learned that being shy around fellow warriors is useless. They are like family and will take your hesitation as an opportunity to embarrass you.

"Hey, Arthur," I said, taking a seat next to a tall warrior with a white ponytail and blue metal armor.

"Hey, Nicolette! Nice armor," he welcomed heartily and introduced me to his comrades. "I see you are on this mission as well."

"Yeah," I sighed, swirling my oatmeal around the bowl. It was pretty tasteless, and I didn't have an appetite. "You nervous?"

"Nervous? Ha! You are talking to a Star Warrior, lassie," he chortled. "This is the beginning of an adventure greater than us! We're, for the first time ever, joining a battle!" I laughed and admired his courage. He was not one to back down from a challenge or even mention feeling anything other than brave.

We talked for a few minutes with the other soldiers until an announcement came over the PA. "Attention soldiers," someone said. It definitely wasn't the Captain. "The time is currently 0545. Please make your way to the GSA Opportunity. Departure time is at 0600."

"Let's crash this party!" Arthur whooped and practically ran to the door. Dragato and I followed close behind, laughing at the eccentric warrior.

The ship, Opportunity, was much larger than the Dreamer, being made to hold a couple hundred warriors. It had two massive gun turrets on its top where the bridge was, which was held up by a sloped base. Two engines, which supported two rectangular turbines, were detached from the bridge and from each other by two arcs. The whole thing seemed so massive, and it made me feel so small.

Once inside, we were given individual rooms. There were only a few hundred soldiers assigned this mission, so we could have some privacy. My room was small with a cot built into the wall and a chest for clothing. I didn't have any personal belongings with me, literally having nothing but my armor and weapons, so I sat on the cot. I was so used to having a small room with two beds and a roommate that finally being alone felt so strange. Nervous energy swam through my veins like a cold, slithering snake. Was this mission going to be easy, or was I about to be put in serious danger? Memories of Arkiva and the final stand I tried to make resurfaced in my brain, and a horrible feeling of remorse and guilt made me sick. Taking a deep breath, I lay down on the thin, hard cot and closed my eyes. We were told that we wouldn't arrive at Minoa for eight hours, so cleared my mind of all my anxieties and tried to make up for a poor night's sleep.

I had been sleeping for about five hours when a large blast rocked the ship. I fell out of my cot and rolled across the floor, smacking into the wall. Sirens blared outside in the hallway. I shakily got to my feet, feeling my mouth. I chipped a tooth. Suddenly, the ship rocked the opposite way, sending me flailing back into my cot. I caught myself before my head smashed into the berth and fought my way out of my room into the hall. Soldiers scurried up and down, shouting orders and running in blind panic. The red light of the sirens hurt my unprepared eyes, and I couldn't hear the orders coming over the loudspeaker because of the blares and screams.

Screams? No soldier running past me was screaming, yet I heard screams. It wasn't several people's screams, but one male's. It was constant and rang in my ears. As he ran past me, I caught the tall warrior with the white hair I had sat with that morning at breakfast and asked if he heard anyone screaming.

"Are you crazy? No one is - ugh, forget it, we have to move! We've been called to the north end of the ship!" he retorted, then ran away. But the screaming wasn't coming from the north end. It was coming from the west. Instead of following him, I followed the noise as it grew fainter with each passing second. Whoever was in danger was running out of time. I ran through the halls, not knowing where I was but somehow knowing where I was going. Left, then right, then hard right... Then I heard the person talk.

"Help! Somebody, please! Help!" the man yelled, and I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. His voice sounded very familiar.

"I'm on my way!" I yelled back. I passed a few straggling soldiers in the halls, each watching me. One stopped me as I flew past him.

"Where are you going?" he demanded, holding my arm.

"Someone is calling for help!" I screamed, fighting him. He was stronger than me and held on tight.

"No one is yelling!" the soldier said, pulling me away.

"Please...help..." the victim begged, his voice trailing.

"He's in trouble! Let...me...GO!" I roared, and broke free, tearing down the hall. The soldier didn't care enough to follow me. Why didn't anyone else hear the screams? They were so loud and the pleas so desperate. Could it all be in my head?

I reached the end of the long corridor and turned left, approaching the door of the right turbine room. The scream had turned to a whisper as I dragon kicked the door apart.

There, holding a bleeding chest wound and trying to fend off a huge spider beast, was Arthur.