Collin pushed a button, and an honor flare launched into space. By the Planet, he�d miss Culls.

�May it be pleasant for our fallen comrades�� Collin muttered, and pushed another control. The Plasma took the jump, following more closely than they should�ve to the Sol. Behind, even as the hole sealed, he could see the Nova explode in a huge shock wave. The fleet of Zoran ships disintegrated before the heat of the wave, and Collin realized something. Something in the back of his mind that was tingling but he couldn�t quite grasp. Now he understood, now that it was too late. The jump ring was destroyed in the explosion, and suddenly the torn, distorted space that the ring affected suddenly rebounded back into place. The Plasma and the Sol were dropped not in orbit around Tyania, like they�d planned, but into unknown space. Both ships were thrown out of control, pulled toward a huge bluish planet. In his fear and anger, Collin couldn�t help but notice how much it resembled Borr, if not somewhat smaller. The ships were being pulled toward the northern ice cap. And they couldn�t stop.

�Plasma, this is Sol. We�ve regained our thrusters and can set down. Orders?� Collin thought a moment. He pulled up a geographic map of the area below them. He studied it a moment and realized what they would have to do.

�Sol, we can�t stop. The blast wave must have knocked out our main engines. All we have left are the Titans.� Said Collin. The Titans were experimental engines that Collin planned to use on the cruisers to help them get away from the Zorans quicker, but time had prevented him from putting them on any of the cruisers, save the Plasma. They were huge, extremely powerful engines. �There�s a section of soft ice in sector,� he checked his map, �nine, at two-zero-niner point six degrees. We�re going to try a Titan burst through the atmosphere, and hit that section. Maybe we can bury the ship with little damage. If we fall through the atmosphere, we won�t make it to the ground.�

�Affirmative, Plasma. We�ll land in that sector and greet you. Good luck.�

�Negative! Don�t land in that sector!� Collin screamed into the intercom, but the transmission was lost. There was nothing left to do. �This is the captain.� He said over the ship-wide. �This ship is plummeting toward the planet below. We plan to initiate a Titan burst and hit some soft ice in the polar cap. I want everyone�� He looked at his bridge crew, and their eyes decided for him. �Everyone but the bridge crew in an escape pod and jetisoned. You have two minutes. Make �em count. Collin out.�

Collin let the button go, and watched as almost immediately the escape pods were leaving the ship, shooting out to the sides. He looked at Zachary, who nodded and transmitted the landing coordinates of the Sol. He had the tingling again, but he couldn�t place it. Maybe it was someone�s stray psychic call. Collin, Tyrone, and Zachary walked to the Titan control board and spoke into the voice analyzer.

�Activate Titan 1, ten second burst. This is Collin.� He said. The computer recognized the command and his voice, and a red bulb lit up.

�Activate Titan 2, ten second burst. This is Tyrone.� Another bulb, this one green, glowed to life.

�Activate Titan 3, ten second burst. This is Zachary.� The last bulb lit, a blue one.�

�Titan simultaneous burst on my mark,� Said Collin, and each man put his finger on a button the same color as each lit bulb. �Three, two, one, mark.� The men pushed the buttons and bolted for their chair. They strapped themselves in quickly as the Titans all charged up. It took about six seconds. The Plasma shot forward toward the planet. The bridge grew hot as the atmosphere rubbed against the ship. Even inside it was hot. Parts of the ship, and the outer heat shell was lost in seconds. The atmosphere was extremely thick, but Collin had scanned it as breathable. The Plasma quickly cleared the atmosphere. It crashed into the soft ice spread across the land, crushing it. But instead of burying itself, the Plasma bounced and lurched upward again. It landed on its belly, and came apart on impact. The back half flew away in an opposite direction from the front, which went skidding across the snow and ice like a sled. It was hurtling straight for the landed Sol, and the Cetra who had just gotten out ran. They went full speed toward a cave set in a far hill, a sturdy one not more than a sect away. The bridge crew saw it too, and Collin jumped out of his seat. He jumped forward to the helm, hell bent on stopping his ship. Too many had died already. He dove, his arm outstretched, shooting for the retro booster button. He prayed to this new Planet that he could stop it. Collin landed, pushing not only the retro button, but the forwards as well. The retro boosters fired, if only for a moment, before they were knocked out by the forwards, which weren�t operational. He stood, seeing his fate and that of his beloved ships and people. Suddenly, Tyrone was there, hand on his shoulder, watching.

�It�s not your fault.� He muttered.

�Thanks.� He said in a low tone. Then, solemnly, to his whole crew, �Good luck.�

They all nodded and said it back, and the bridge half of the Plasma slammed into the still operational Sol. It all exploded in a huge flaming ball, sending out a solar shock wave over the land. Many of the running Cetra were struck down by the wave or the falling bits of the once-amazing ships. The flame burned long and hard, the pieces of Cryse and steel and plasoil burning along with the bodies of ten more brave Cetra. Collin�s last thought was:
Out of the frying pan�

They were running, every Cetra there, running from their savior ship. They sprinted full speed toward a distant cave about half a sect away. Silon turned, seeing the Cetra from the Sol running in the same direction. They reached the cave not a moment too soon, in time to see the front half of the Plasma smash into the Sol and explode. Many of the Cetra from the Sol were still about three hundred meters away. Silon ran out to a fallen child, hoisting him up and pulling him into the cave. A huge shock wave flamed out, spreading over the land. Zeala saw it taking down the running Cetra, her people they�d worked so long and hard to protect, destroyed by their own efforts to save them. She saw Silon slip and fall, and she ran out to help him into the cave and behind its rock walls as the wave hit it. The whole huge cave, with thousands of Cetra packed into it, rumbled under the energy of the explosion. It was horrid. Cetra were dying all around Silon, pieces of rocks jarred loose and falling, and all those who had still been in the pods, when the doors had stuck and hadn�t been helped out yet. The back half of the Plasma had crushed all the pods. What of those hapless victims? It was almost an hour before the explosions stopped and it was safe to venture from the cave. But not one person dared move. The Planet was reclaiming the fallen, and it would take time�

Chapter 4(not up yet)
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