Heres a mystrey story I wrote, its based 50 to 100 years in the future. Since I just copied and pasted this from Microsoft word and since its so long, and I'm too lazy, there may be mistakes in terms of how it paragraphs it, also this is just a first draft. :-)
Ice to Fire
By Danny C. Merritt (Thats my real name)

Part 1: Briefing
The cold wind of the underworld struck Declorn Soline’s long, oval face with a
vengeance as he made his way toward the large, black building that housed his criminal
guild. He was now one of the oldest members of his criminal guild, at 39 years of age,
although his heavy, muscular structure kept anyone from bringing that up. The twin doors
leading into the giant tower were stained red, and the doorhandles were made out of the
flesh of the guilds opponents(Who it was considered a disgrace to) and greatest
heroes(Who it was considered an honor to). Even after all these years, Declorn still
shivered as he opened the doors. For one of the handles was made partly of his father’s
skin, as his father had been shot in front of the rest of the guild’s eyes by a mysterious
assassin. No one knew who this person could have been, as he escaped after killing two
other prominent guild members. This left Rick Venana, a young and eager commander, in
command of the guild. Declorn had never liked Rick, although he didn’t know why. In
fact, only eight years later, Rick was murdered by a similar assassin, but no action was
taken against him as he left. This left Rick’s son, Dan Verana, in command of the guild.
He had been only 15 years old then, but within a year he had destabilized and assimilated
two rival guilds. Astounded members of the guild awarded him the “greatest leader of all
time” award. Now, Dan was 29, and he was even more capable than always.
And now Declorn was here to see him for a assignment. Declorn, hesitating only a
second more, stepped inside. Paintings of ice-colored hands adorned the walls, for this
building was the headquarters of Dan Verana’s “Chill of the Touch” criminal guild.
Declorn slowly walked to the elevator, getting a few stares from passing operatives.
Stepping into the elevator, he punched the button for the eighteenth floor, the top of the
building. With these dark times on Earth, eighteen stories was a giant building, and with
this buildings large floors, it was considered a marvel of modern engineering. Not that it
had always belonged to the “Chill of the Touch” criminal guild. In a bloody battle that
Declorn’s father had told him about, the building was wrested away from the police
themselves.
But Declorn had no time to ponder further as the elevator let out a high-pitched
chime and stopped. Declorn stepped out the door even as it opened, and Dan spun around
to face him. “Well, Declorn. I’m glad to see someone is here. I haven’t seen anyone report
here yet, so I guess the assignment is yours. You see, we’ve found out that the captain of
the starliner “Queen’s Dream” owns a priceless gem that theoretically gives his ship good
luck. It could give us all the money we need to destroy our opponents and then make a
united front against the government. Report to armorer Zezeni, he will give you
equipment for the mission if you give him the password “Smokefinger”. Understood?”
“Yes.” Declorn responded as he stepped back into the elevator. He punched the
fifteenth floor button, and within seconds the elevator had stopped. Declorn stepped out,
looking around for Zezeni. Declorn found him sorting through a pile of new acquisitions.
“Hey, Zezeni, this is Declorn, password Smokefinger.” Zereni jumped up, staring at
Declorn.
“Well then, here’s what you need.” Zereni responded, slipping a DNA detector, an
automatic pistol, and a lock picking device into Declorn’s hands. “Also, I have a full
envelop cloak for you. I wasn’t authorized too, but I don’t care, it will help you.” he
added, then slipped off before Declorn could even whisper a word of thanks. His small
personal computer, a device that fit into your palm and could display information or
messages, chimed. Declorn turned it on and found that Dan had sent him a message.
Declorn opened it up with interest. Declorn, you must go to Flarefire spaceport. There
you will be able to board the Queen’s Dream. You will have to sneak onboard. Get the
gem, and deliver it to our agent in the Mars colony. Do not fail me. -Dan Venana the
message read. Declorn closed his computer, and headed back toward the elevator.
Minutes later, Declorn found himself on board a hover transport, heading for the
spaceport. I hope this works. he thought as he stared up toward the stars. He knew he
would soon be among them, on a two week voyage to Mars.


Part 2: Flarefire

The spaceport was almost a mass of bright lights, a perfect contrast to the dark
underworld Declorn was used too. Luckily, the exotic dress of merchants from the
colonies kept him from standing out, although he did get a few strange looks. The
Spaceport was full of shops, selling overpriced items that really weren’t worth anything.
Several restaurants, snack stands, and even bars could be found lining the halls as well,
although some were tucked back in the corners beyond any reasonable person’s
consideration.
Declorn wasn’t any reasonable person, however, and the shadier occupants of the
spaceport would stick to the shadier places. So, donning his full envelop cloak, he entered
one of the small restaurants stuck in the corner, his cloak flowing behind him. Called the
Leaping Planet, the place was darkly lit, as opposed to the rest of the spaceport. There
were actually several dozen people dining here, but all wore dark red cloaks. Declorn
stepped inside, automatically slipping his right hand down to his automatic pistol. Two of
the red figures rose and approached him. “Who dares to enter the home of the Quick
Grab?” yelled one of them, bringing out a long curved sword that shone with a wicked
light. Declorn backed up a bit, realizing he had just entered one of the dens of his guild’s
major rival, the Quick Grabs. Declorn caught a glimpse of the face of one of the red
figures in the back. It seemed very familiar, yet he couldn’t place his finger on who’s face
it was. But sitting next to him was a easily recognizable figure, Hent Kanna, the master of
the Quick Grabs. Several more of the red figures closed in to arrest Declorn, but he turned
and ran out the door, looking back quickly to see the figures retreat, before slipping
around the corner. He quickly guessed that entering any more shady places wasn’t a good
idea, so he headed for the docking ports.
After several minutes of walking through the remarkably identical hallways,
Declorn finally reached the bustling waiting area for the Queen’s Dream, seeing the
captain himself, standing on the boarding ramp. A glistening green gem was on the
Captain’s hand, no doubt Declorn’s target. Trying to get the gem in such a public place
would be close to impossible, so Declorn had to reluctantly move past to the entrance to
the giant vessel. The ticket collectors were rather lax, so Declorn just had to duck through
the ticket point while the collectors checked the rest of the crowd’s tickets. He paused
briefly at the portal, realizing he might be enjoying one of his last minutes of standing on
Earth, then walked through.
Part 3: Queen’s Dream

The ship was, if it was possible, even more brightly lit than the spaceport. Declorn
thought at first this would pose a problem, but after several hours of wandering, he had
figured out that no one paid any attention to him, so his need for shadows to hide in was
virtually non existant. The ship was made of five decks. The command deck was where the
crew worked, and where the captain and other officers slept. This area was off-limits to
anyone but the crew, so Declorn could not find a way to map out the deck without
attracting suspicion, and possibly a unwelcome trip to the brig.
Then came the two lodging decks, packed full of people’s rooms, and almost
nothing else. Directly below them was the recreation deck, which was where Declorn
spent most of his time. It was comprised of several game areas for various popular
pastimes, as well as a few arcades and even a 0G room. There was also the lounge, where
most of the passengers hung out. Declorn, well normally avoiding highly populated areas,
frequented the lounge because of a secret he had found. A small sideroom of the lounge,
covered in cobwebs, was totally abandoned and never searched. It made a perfect home
for Declorn, to whom it was comfort compared to his home in the underworld. The final
deck was the engineering deck, also off-limits, which contained all the ship’s electronics,
including its engine. Declorn, once he had finished exploring everything he could, which
took several hours considering the size of the vessel, settled down in his “home” and went
into a contented sleep.

After several hours of sleep, Declorn woke to find the ship bustling with activity,
as breakfast was being served in the lounge. Happy to have some decent food for once,
Declorn was willing to part with 6 dollars for extra food and water. It was in this chaos
that he found quite a surprise. Because, as Declorn was sitting down to eat, he noticed
someone dressed in the uniform of the star navy. Declorn quickly recognized her as his
sister, Lisa Soline. She was chatting with a squad of other navy officers, obviously some
companions. Declorn crept up and tapped her on her shoulder, making her spin around.
“Declorn!” she screamed in surprise. Luckily, the surrounding noise was so great no one
heard, but Declorn still looked around nervously and put his finger to his mouth to
indicate quieting it.
“Do you think I just bought a ticket onboard?” Declorn asked in an almost comical
tone of voice.
Lisa laughed, then responded “Knowing you, probably not. What have you been
doing in the past 25 years?”
“Oh, joining a criminal guild, killing 29 people, raking in the money. Nothing
unusual. I’m only here to take that gem the captain has.” Declorn responded in the same
tone. But Lisa didn’t share his humor.
“You have to be kidding me! If your not, get away!” she replied in a more sharp
and pointed tone of voice.
Declorn, a bit annoyed at not getting any help, slipped away, but was stopped in
his tracks by a security officer.
“I’m afraid your under arrest for the murder of Captain Anayan and theft of the
Pluto Gem.” the security officer hissed, obviously not afraid. But its time for him to be.
Thought Declorn as he slowly drew his automatic pistol. The security officer turned
around to look for his backup, leaving his back to Declorn. That turned out to be a fatal
mistake, as Declorn drew his weapon all the way. The sound of a weapon firing filled the
room, then the security officer crumpled to the floor in a mess.

Part 4: Wanted

Declorn had to take a few minutes to take in what had just happened. He hadn’t
killed the captain and the gem wasn’t in his possesion, so the question was, who had?
Declorn had no time to ponder this, as several more security men were now entering the
lobby. Declorn managed to creep into a corner of the lobby, letting the security men
proceed far enough away from the enterance for Declorn to make a leap through the door.
But once he was out of the area where he was being searched for, he still had one
problem: Where to go. He only knew one person on the whole ship, Lisa, and she was not
willing to help. Declorn figured that he needed to find a new place to hide, and someplace
that didn’t require passing through any common areas, for by now almost the entire
passanger compliment had been alerted of the danger. Declorn only understood one thing,
and that was the fact he was being set up. The fact was, absoulutly anyone, ranging from
the captain himself all the way to Lisa, might have killed the captain and stole the gem. So,
Declorn figured, he had to find some way to at least narrow the list. The best source of
this would be DNA traces on the body of the captain, but that would be next to impossible
to get due to the high security. The second best option would be hacking into the ship’s
data records, but that would be very hard as well, for the only computers were on the
command and engineering deck, as well as one in the entertainment room. Declorn finally
decided on a course of action. Having already murdered the security officer, he couldn’t
get into too much more trouble. So, Declorn headed for the engineering deck. There he
could find the data he needed off the computer records. But for that he would have to wait
for the ships “night,” when all the passangers went to sleep.
It was five hours later when Declorn slipped out of the crevice he had been hiding
in, and made his way through the deserted halls. He thought no one could ever spot him,
but he was wrong. Indeed, a small security camera was chipped on his back, and watching
it was a red cloaked figure. This mysterious figure turned around, looking at another
mysterious figure behind him, then spoke in a deep, gravelly voice. “He stands no chance
if we alert engineering.” he said. The second one quickly looked toward the doorway, the
dialed up the number of the new commanding officer. A youthful voice answered, stating
cheerfully what a fine “night” it was to be on the bridge. The figure growled lightly, then
proceeded to alert the bridge to Declorn’s presence.
Declorn quickly slipped down the ladder to engineering, ignoring the restricted
signs. Three locked doors were all that barred his access to the vital electric systems of the
ship. Declorn slipped his small lock picker into the large, complex door locking
mechanism, and the small device began to emit a low-pitched squeal. Declorn slipped into
the shadows as he heard footsteps above. Just as a pair of booted feet stepped onto the
middle rung of the ladder down, the lockpicker beeped, showing it was done. Declorn felt
like screaming at his bad luck, but he carefully withdrew his automatic pistol and hid
behind a small barrel. The feet turned into a full body, that of a security officer, and then a
second pair of feet started to descend. Declorn watched as the second security officer
looked around, not noticing him. Suddenly, the security officer’s eyes darted over to
where Declorn was, revealing his presence. Grimly, Declorn squeezed the trigger on his
pistol, sending six highly destructive bullets slamming into the mans body. The body spun,
twisting into an unnatural position on the ground. Declorn ducked, watching as the other
officer’s pistol fired off a few shots. Luckily, Declorn was behind cover again, but the
barrel was starting to break under the shots. Declorn carefully crawled out, then took aim
at his opponent’s head. Carefully, Declorn squeezed the trigger once more, this time
sending only two shots, figuring it would be enough. Indeed, it was, and the security man
collapsed into a heap on the floor. Declorn carefully stepped over the bodies, reinserting
the lock picking device into the second door.
After another minute, that door slid open, and Declorn opened the third even more
easily. Now, in front of him, was the giant room that contained all the vital systems for the
ship. Declorn was tempted to go down in a blaze of glory by destroying life support, but
he knew he had to find out what had happened first. Declorn carefully booted up one of
the computers, entering the ship’s record. He searched for a bit, finally finding what he
needed: the captain’s logs. Declorn quickly entered the date that the ship had set off, and
as such the last day the captain had lived, and watched as a log entry popped up.

I have been informed by my close buisness accosiate, Lorna Hesan, that a man
named Declorn has snuck abourd my vessel. It appears he is after the Pluto Gem. I have
ordered security to keep a watch out for this man, although I find it unlikely that he will
willingly reveal himself. As for the voyage, no asteroids or other objects have been
detected in our way. This should be a rather smooth voyage. I will write more tomorrow,
sleep needs me.
-Captain Bart Haka

Declorn was shocked. Lorna Hesan was the undercover name used by Dan
Verana, which meant his very own guild leader had set him up. A surge of anger filled
Declorn, as he realized the full implication of what that meant. Dan wanted him dead, and
obviously wasn’t above subtle means. There was, however, one part of the message that
Declorn didn’t understand. Lorna had told the captain, and yet Dan was not in the area,
certainly not onboard the starliner. Suddenly, Declorn pasued, and a single thought
entered his mind: or is he?


Part 5: Questions and Answers

Declorn carefully made his way to the exit of engineering, slipping through the
open doors. He carefully climbed the ladder, staring carefully toward the top to see if
anyone else was watching. Despite the absence of any clues to danger, Declorn felt his
heart beat, and his whole body screamed alert to him. Despite this, Declorn climbed off the
ladder shaft, looking down the empty corridors. Suddenly, five figures rounded the corner
of one of the corridors. Four were armed with large assault rifles, but the final one was
unarmed and wearing a command uniform. The uniformed man stepped out of the
shadows, revealing the ship’s second in command, the man who was now the captain.
Declorn stopped, realizing he was cornered and caught red handed. “Now, we will talk. In
the brig.” said the new captain.
Declorn had no choice and he had to sumbit to being dragged down to the brig by
the security officers. Once there, he was shoved into one of the cells, where he waited for
ten agonizing minutes before the door slid open and the security officers escorted him to
the interrogation room. There, the new captain, who Declorn had heard called Azak,
waited for him. Azak stared at Declorn, a deep, angry gaze that still showed respect for
Declorn’s abilities. He then spoke “Lets not waste time with pleasentries, Declorn. The
fact is, you apparently didn’t kill the captain. We found the assasin earlier this morning. He
had the exact dagger that was rammed through the captain’s chest. There is still the fact
that you have murdered many people and commited more crimes than I can count, but that
can wait. You have been set up, and it is paramount to the safety of this starliner that we
find out who did it.” Declorn wearily nodded, looking for any trace of deception in Azak’s
features. There was none, Azak only showed a determination to find who was behind this.
“Its a deal.” Declorn responded finally, then added “And I know what we have to
do. Bring the assasin in here.” Just as he said that, a shadowy figure stepped from the
darkness.
“But I am here, Declorn. And I have some questions for you two. You had better
answer them too.” the figure said, as he moved forward, revealing a long, curved, bloody
dagger. Declorn reached for his pistol, but it was not there, for Azak had disarmed him.
The assasin moved forward further, but Azak called out “Gaurds!”
“Unfourtunatly, they won’t be serving you any longer.” the assasin stated with a
smile on his face as he proudly showed off the newest blood on his dagger. Azak stared in
hatred and fury at the blade, and drew Declorn’s pistol, which he had been about to give
back to Declorn.
“Don’t make a move, or I’ll shoot.” Azak said calmly, much more than any normal
peacetime captain. A memory suddenly entered Declorn’s head, of a similar looking man
named Asakias who had once been part of the “Chill of the Touch”. He had defected to
the police, but he had helped direct police attention away from the “Chill of the Touch”.
He had also been Horas Soline’s, Declorn’s dead father, best friend. Declorn watched as
the assasin drew his own pistol, aiming it straight at Azak’s head. It was a perfect
standoff, with each side not willing to shoot until they had a few questions answered. Time
to remedy that Declorn thought, moving swifly at the assasin. In his light jumpsuit,
Declorn gracefully jumped through the air, knocking the assasin to the floor and grabbing
the dagger and pistol from his hands. Azak walked up and retrieved the dsicarded
weapons, throwing them away.
“Now you answer our questions.” Azak growled, pointedly placing the barrel of
Declorn’s pistol against the assasin’s head. “Now, I don’t believe I caught your name.”
Azak said sharply, looking more like a wolf over its prey than a Human.
“Mon-n-na-a-ta Z-or-re.” the assasin stuttered, looking terrified as he stared right
into the barrel of Azak’s weapon. Declorn leasurily strolled over and picked up Monata’s
fallen pistol, then pressed it against its owner’s neck.
“Its highly doubtful you’ll be escaping.” Declorn commented, in an almost
uncaring tone. Monata tried to sink further back into the floor, but his back was already
almost breaking with the stress.
“Now, who employed you?” Azak pried, looking almost hungrily toward his
prisoner.
“Dan Verana, Declorn, your friend. He betrayed you. This whole mission was a
betrayel. A set up.” Monata replied with much more confidence. Another memory entered
Declorn’s head, that of the Leaping Planet. The face next to Hent had been Dan’s face!
The two had been working together.
“And Hent Kanna is working with you.” Declorn asserted, promting a nod from
the hesitant Monata. “But the question is, why?” Declorn mused. Monata quickly
answered the murmered question.
“You have something in your blood. You see, your father had a very precious
thing. Something that could bring billions of times for money than the Pluto Gem to come
in. It is called the Centauri Crystal, it is the only thing that was recovered from the ruins of
the failed Centauri flight. Its location is a code in the DNA in your left arm, your thumb. It
was altered by your father using an advanced device.” was the answer Monana gave. The
Centauri flight was a failed attempt to send a probe to Alpha Centauri. The probe was
equipped with a crystal that could be converted into enough power to provide more than
enough power for all the electronics on Earth and the colonies to run for centuries. It was
designed to give enough power to accelerate the probe to the velocity of light. But the
probe exploded while near Saturn, promtping hundreds of rescue missions. Declorn had
heard rumors that his father had retrieved the intact crystal, but he had never suspected it
was true. The realization this was true made Declorn’s mouth fall open. Suddenly, a shot
from a rifle flew through the air, catching Monana in the head. Declorn spun around, to
find only shadows. A small flicker of movement was there for one second, and then gone.
Declorn stared to the equally amazed Azak. “Well, at least we got a lot of answers. I say
we examine the captain’s body. You had a DNA checker with you, we could use that. I
hope that you are all right with dragging an old friend such as me into this.” Azak said
softly. Azak then turned away, staring at the walls.

Part 6: Deadly Games
Azek turned to stare at Declorn, his eyes narrowed in anger. “Whoever that was,
we had better be careful. There might be more people involved in this than we think. I
honestly can’t believe that this was happening right under my nose. We have to find a way
to track down Dan and Hent, but I can’t figure out how for the life of me.” he said in a
tone that pointed his anger around Declorn toward the shadows on the wall.
“Well, that might be easy, how did you know I was in engineering?” Declorn
asked, starting to fit things together.
“I was notified by a strange figure by the radio.” Azak responded, also starting to
see what was happening.
“We have to get to the computer data records. We can trace the communication.”
Declorn asserted. Just as he did so, the door swung open, and Lisa, dirtied and bruised,
limped in. “What happened to YOU?” interrogated Declorn, looking over her miserable
condition.
“Ugh, I was trying to do some mystery solving of my own. I got in a little over my
head, I had concluded Dan and Hent were behind this. I was heading up to the bridge to
see if anyone could help me track them down, and I found them right there, bribing off the
whole crew!” Lisa exclaimed. Declorn’s eyes darted about, then settled on a rack of
security equipment.
“Everyone take one of those assault rifles, someone take a tracer too, and someone
get a hack module.” Declorn ordered, naturally fitting into the command role suddenly.
The three of them grabbed their equipment just as a shuffling of feet could be heard
outside.
“All right, we know your in there, come out with your hands up!” came a voice
that Azak recognized as his chief of security.
“You’ve been bribed by a bunch of tyrants. I honestly can’t believe you! Not even
a trace of loyalty or honesty in the lot of you.” Azak shouted back, spraying a few rifle
rounds outside to keep the men back.
“A man has to do what a man has to do to earn his paycheck... no matter who its
from.” a voice from outside answered. A grin suddenly swept over Declorn’s face, then he
simply walked out, hands raised in surrender. Lisa and Azak exchanged confused looks,
then followed suit.
“We surrender.” Declorn said humbly, his voice soft and honest. The guards came
forward to grab the equipment, when Declorn sprung up, delivering a solid punch to the
chin of the captain of the guard.
“That is, you had better surrender.” Declorn declared, grabbing his assault rifle
again and forcing all the security men behind cover. Lisa and Azak picked up theirs,
covering all the hiding places.
“You two stay here and keep them off my back. I’m going to the bridge to pay
Dan and Hent a little visit.” Declorn commanded, running for the escape passage.
After several full minutes of running, Declorn reached the bridge. There, as he had
suspected, were Hent and Dan, sitting in the captains chair. Hent held a small blood
sample, one that Declorn recognized the container of: It was his blood sample! Taking
advantage of the two’s seemingly unchanging interest in the DNA readings of the blood
sample, Declorn snuck up to behind them. Dan suddenly spun around in his chair. Hent
quickly did likewise. “Well, hello there. It’s nice to finally meet someone with a bit of
intelligence on this fine space-day.” Hent said almost casually.
“Don’t play innocent with me. I know exactly what you’ve done. And all about it.”
Declorn responded.
“Ah, but you don’t. You see, we are only the underlings, the pawns in this
operation. Our master is none other than Zaben “Death Lord” Conan.” Hent remarked
smugly.
“It won’t save your lives in the end. Your just as doomed as him, you fools.”
Declorn replied.
“But it will. Dan’s behind you. All this talking has!” Hent responded, laughing.
Declorn spun around, fist outstretched, catching Dan in the face, sending him spiraling
backwards just as Dan’s knife thrust forward. The knife dropped to the floor, and Declorn
turned to face Kent.
“I’m going to give you two one last chance to save your puny lives. Get up. Get
off of this ship, I don’t care how.”
“No. Not until we reach Mars. Not until I have the Centauri Crystal!” Dan
shouted, jumping up, meeting the muzzle of an assault rifle halfway. Declorn wanted to
fire, to end this little debate right here. He had never felt hesitation at pulling the trigger
before, but now he did. He though of all the good times he had with Dan, and all the
adventures they had gone through together.
“I’m sorry.” Declorn whispered, then pressed down on the trigger, sending a
stream of bullets through Dan’s chest. Still with finger pressed on the trigger, Dan spun
around, hitting Hent with the same stream. Finally, the ammo clip ran dry, and Declorn
threw down the weapon. He had been playing a deadly game with death all his life, but
never as deadly as this. It was about to get deadlier.

Part 7: Ice to Fire

Declorn stared at what was left of his best, and only, friend he had in the “Chill of
the Touch”. He didn’t want to look back, remember things they had done together, but he
did. There were so many times when they had saved each others lives. Even one time
when they had infiltrated the police themselves as Cesar For(Declorn) and Hamat Zerrek
(Dan). Indeed, Declorn couldn’t even remember half of the adventures they had gone
through together, but he didn’t even want to try. Declorn shut out these memories, trying
to forget everything but what had happened to his father. This filled him with rage,
overcoming his guilt and powering him to start to leave the room.
Just as Declorn stepped outside the bridge, the alarms suddenly sprung on, and
Declorn lurched backwards as gravity failed. He tried to grab on to a communications
panel, to signal Lisa and Azak, but the panel just came off of the console, and it further
propelled Declorn straight into the viewport. “Warning. Approaching crash landing on
Mars. Prepare for impact.” the announcement system warned, but it only puzzled Declorn
more. It was only one week into the voyage, the only way the ship could have been to
Mars already was if the Pluto Gem was converted into power for the engines. The thought
struck Declorn as impossible, but then he remembered Hent and Dan just wanted the
Centauri Crystal. Indeed, this would account for what had happened to the ship, but
Declorn had no more time, or ability, to think, as sudden atmospheric entry smashed his
head onto one of the control panels, knocking him thoroughly unconscious.

The Queen’s Dream dived through the atmosphere like a comet, its sleek,
streamlined shape distorted by the fires burning from the engines. Obviously, Dan had sent
the ship to Mars a little too fast. Small sections of the hull flew off in every direction,
bringing the attention of the entire Mars colony to the ship that was just now smashing
into the crust. When the Martian colonists arrived, the ship was buried deep into the earth,
with a full 30 meters separating the stern of the ship from the top of the hole. The entire
front section of the ship had been flattened, and the entire bridge module had been hurled
back toward the engines. It was doubtful if anyone in there could have survived. The
engine had simply come off the ship just as it finished descending, and lay in another
sizable crater nearby. The stunned Martian colonists, led by Brist Forcan, the leader of the
Martian Militia and Lisa’s husband, quickly started to try and dig down to the ship and
rescue survivors.
After 10 minutes of digging, a portal leading into the ship was finally found. Brist
and his team of Militia men stepped inside the hot, humid vessel. Brist drew his small life
detector, scanning for life. In the entire ship, only three life signs were detected. Brist
prayed to the gods that one of them would be Lisa, then started homing in on the closest
lifesign. Surpassingly, this brought him to the bridge, where a dark-dressed man swas
smashed up against the communications panel and viewport. There was already a large
pool of blood below him collecting from the impact. “Brist to medical teams, there’s one
still alive on the bridge, but he won’t last long! Get down here, and now!” Brist called
over his radio. He paused to put a large woundwrap around the man’s main injury, then
quickly motioned for his team to help him find the other two lifesigns. Within a few
minutes they came to the large storage room just outside the brig. Lisa lay there, propped
up against one of the support beams while a man dressed in a command uniform treated to
her. The man had a hole in his coat that obviously came from a bullet wound, and all
around were the lifeless corpses of security officers, killed by weapons fire. “Excuse me
sir, what happened here?” Brist said, slowly drawing his pistol. The man spun around.
“Ack! You startled me! My name is Azak, I’m the second in command of this
vessel. Its a long story of exactly how, but lets just say that some criminals snuck on
board, and they killed the captain and set up another person. I’ll tell you more later... the
person who was being set up, Declorn, was on the bridge. Is he still alive?” Azak asked.
Brist grimly nodded “Yes, but he’s not going to be alive for long if he doesn’t get
some serious medical treatment, and fast. I’d say he’s almost dead, and his chances of
living are very slim.” he then responded.
Azak face turned hard as stone, then he stared toward Lisa. “Can you take care of
her? I’m going to check up on Declorn.” he then questioned.
“Of course I can look after my wife, Azak.” Brist said with a tint of humor, then
took out his portable medical kit as Azak rushed to the bridge.
Declorn woke up two hours later with a burning pain in his head. He found himself
lying in a giant hospital bed, surrounded by concerned doctors. So they had landed on
Mars, and he was alive... although just barely. “Zabet, Death Lord, Conan! Must....
catch.” Declorn softly mumbled.
“He’s awake!” one of the doctors exclaimed, the look of surprise on his face
almost comical.
“Yes. And I need to ask you to do something.” Declorn whispered back.
“Your too sick to do anything, so I guess thats all right. What do you want?” the
doctor replied, examining Declorn further.
“Take the DNA in my thumb. There will be a location coded in that. Tell me where
it is, and let me go there.” Declorn responded.
“The first part I can do, although it sounds weird ,but the second part? I’m not
going to let you go in this condition!” the doctor said, wide eyed at the strange request.
He then backed away a bit, then called out “Hey, can I have that DNA reader?” Soon, one
of his assistants pressed a small, metallic object into the doctor’s hand, and he scanned
Declorn’s thumb. “I guess this guy was right. The location stands out as clear as a gem,
and in fact it is for a gem. The Centauri Crystal to be exact.” The doctor said, shocked.
“Anyway, Declorn, that is your name, isn’t it? The Centauri Crystal is located in the
Martian colony storage center. On the abandoned fourth floor. Thats funny, I thought that
the fourth floor was empty except for some form of Martian Ghost, everyone but one
person who went up there never returned, and the one who did was terrified, and spoke of
terrible ghosts.” The doctor added.
“Let me up and at them.” Declorn said, in a weak voice. He hobbled to his feet and
grabbed his pistol from the top of the Doctor’s desk. “Now, doctor, I will be back once
I’ve found that crystal. Farewell.” Declorn said, then barged out the door, leaving the
doctors with astounded looks on their faces.
“He’s like Ice turned to Fire. Such a burst of energy.” one of them commented.

Part 8: Death Lord

Due to the small size of the Martian Colony, it was easy for Declorn to find the
storage building. It was also easy to convince the guards to let him pass, and then to reach
the fourth floor. Indeed, the huge, sprawling floor was empty. Empty except for white
forms gliding across the walls. Declorn carefully walked up to one, passing his hand right
through it. Just then, Declorn noticed that the side of the ghost was now projected onto
his wrist! These were just illusions after all! “All right, Zabet! You can come out now!”
Declorn called. A man soon stepped out of the shadows.
“So you found your way here my friend. And it looks like you weren’t scared of
my little illusions. Well, now, Declorn, what brings you here? The Crystal? Of course. It is
in my possession right now.” the man snickered, taking out a large shining object.
“You may have the Centauri Crystal, but you haven’t won, Zabet. Your name as
Death Lord is about to be changed to Dead Lord.” Declorn responded cruelly, drawing his
pistol and aiming it at Frestan’s head.
“Thats wildly inaccurate, you know. I have the crystal, and you wouldn’t want to
hit it, would you?” Zabet responded triumphantly.
“I have news for you. I’m not like I once was. All I care about is ending your
menace and turning the crystal in to the proper authorities. If it gets damaged, so what. As
long as your life is at an end.” Declorn replied, then squeezed down on the trigger. His
first few shots did, indeed, hit the giant crystal, damaging it and making it land on the
floor. Zabet drew his own pistol, but it was too late. One of Declorn’s shots hit Zabet in
the shoulder, slamming him against the glass window behind him. Bits of glass tore
through the criminal lord’s face, and his dead body quickly fell twenty meters to the hard
ground below. Declorn bent down and picked up the crystal. He grabbed it in his hands,
and then suddenly, in a last burst of energy, smashed it against the wall, sending tiny
crystal shards all over. The shards tore small, bloody gapes in Declorn. But he didn’t care.
He leisurely picked up what was left of the crystal, and stepped on it. The whole crystal
came apart into tiny pieces as Declorn withdrew his foot. Declorn then looked out the
window, at the Martian Colony. He saw the Martian sun, just starting to set. Indeed, he
thought, it was a sunset for Mars, two criminal guilds, three overly greedy men, and most
of all, Declorn Soline. For now, Declorn took his cloak, pistol, and everything else from
his criminal days, and threw it out the window. It drifted in the breeze, floating off, until it
was out of site. Declorn then turned around, this time with a new identity. A new chance
at redemption.

------------------
-Space Orca
Space Orca's best qoutes:
"The Force is strong in you. The force of my lightsaber coming down!"
"A planet of pokemon? Don't bomb it from orbit. A few might survive. Get the Death Star in here!"
"Hmmmm... It looks like my Lightsaber needs a little repair work. Know of any lightsaber repair shops in town?"
"Luke Skywalker drew his lightsaber... and turned it in to the art teacher"
"Pokemon is spelled S-T-U-P-I-D!"
If you have any more funny quotes, just send them to me.

Why do you hate Pokemon so much?

------------------
-Pengun