Revelations

"I've asked the other Librarians for help but they don't want to get involved, not even when it's about the Archives. I must say I'm not exactly gaining popularity by what I'm doing." Isaac said.

We had been up all night preparing for a possible attack. The Archives were a very secure place, but far from impenetrable. Luckily the Archives held a vast collection of artefacts. Most of them were useless to us, but there were some that could prove useful, like a prototype shield generator. Isaac deployed more security automata to guard the area and reached out to the many friends he had made because of his work. Unfortunately, the attack came sooner than we expected and help was too far away. We were on our own.

A loud explosion followed by gunfire set of every single alarm in the Archives. 

"They're already here, we're not ready."

"Calm down Isaac, there's only five of them." 

Then Alysia came running in. She was in total panic.

"What was that? Is that gunfire I'm hearing?"

"We need to get her out of here. All is lost without her." I said.

"What do you mean all is lost without me?" Alysia looked very confused.

"Honey, there's something you need to know..." Isaac wanted to explain everything but I interrupted him.

"Not now Isaac! We need to move."

"You're right. Now that her identity has been revealed, she won't be save anywhere. The people that brought her to me, they can help! I just have to go to the vaults. I stored their transmitter there."

"What are you guys talking about?" Alysia said more confused than ever.

Luckily the vault were close by. We quickly made our way over there and tried to get a message out.

SOS! The princess is in danger. Starship Damocles, do you read?

No one answered. Isaac tried a few more times but there was nothing but static on the other side. Finally, he gave up.

"It should work," he said, "they personally gave me this transmitter. A direct line to contact them whenever Alysia was in grave danger."

"The problem must me on their side. Maybe they are no longer alive." I said It became clear to us that no one was coming. We were on our own.

Another explosion sounded. The enemy had made it past the defenses in the courtyard and were now proceeding into the Archives. 

"I demand answers!" Alysia screamed. "Both of you act like you know exactly what's happening."

"Honey, you might want to sit down. What do you know about the Empire? About late emperor Astor Bellèc?"

"I know the Empire was a wonderful place to live until Bellrose became emperor. I know that Astor and his wife lost their lives on the imperial flagship Artorian."

"Do you know where they were going?"

"The Belugian Hub, centre of the imperial media."

"Do you know why?"

"No."

"They were going to introduce their newly born daughter to galaxy. The Artorian's navigation system failed and they were dropped out of hyperspace to close to the Ernisian star. The ship had been sabotaged, presumably by Bellrose. I don't know how, but somehow they got a message out. One of the crew was in possession of a transmitter like the one I have. He reached out to the Titans, supersoldiers. They arrived too late. They salvaged data from the ship and confirmed the deaths of the imperial family. They came across a recording made by Astor, they past it on to me.

"We are running out of air... the crew is dead... they sacrificed themselves for me... I...I'm afraid this is the end.... Dorian has told me about you, Titans.... you are my last hope.... we have roughly two minutes of oxygen left... Dorian is redirecting the oxygen supply one more time.... Titans.... the Artorian was sabotaged, that much is clear to me... there is only one man that could have done this... senator Bellrose... my old friend... beware Titans, all he sees is war... he will likely become the next emperor... he is power hungry... I fear there are dark times ahead.."

"I'm ready, sir."

"Titans, I hope you will arrive soon. I'm buying my daughter some time... please look after her for me... she will be needed in the upcoming war... do it Dorian."

"The Titans managed to rescue the daughter. She was barely breathing but alive. They took her here, asked for her to be protected by the Librarians. I took her in and raised her as my own."

"Wh..what? Is this a joke? A dream?"

"No, it's true. Right no there are imperials fighting their way over here to take you down. You are a threat to Bellrose, he wants you gone." 

She fell down on her knees and started crying. She was in shock, but deep down she knew that something hadn't been alright all her life.

"So you're not my real father?"

"I am, just not biological." Isaac tried to comfort her.

"What happens now?"

We weren't sure. We were alone, no one was coming to help us. We needed a way out of the Archives, a way of this world.

"If I'm the heir to the imperial throne, shouldn't I have some kind of rebellion behind me?"

"I wouldn't count on it. Most believe you are dead. Though a resistance might me forming in the invaded systems. Or maybe a rebellion within the Empire. But even if they wanted to help us, we have no way of reaching them." I stated.

Time was running short. With every moment we waited I could here the gunfire closing in. We would soon have to fight.

"I've got it!" Alysia shouted. "Thomas can help us. He's the best pilot I know, I'm sure he can get us away from Earth."

Thomas Riley, a street racer. Orphaned at a young age. He never had anyone he cared about or that cared about him, except for Alysia. He was useful. Loyal to Alysia, so trustworthy. On top of that, he was rich. One of the best street racers and he's got his bank account to show for it. He could get us the funds required to travel unnoticed. 

"Where can we find him?" I asked.

"He's probably in the garage right now, not far from here."

"He's our best chance then."

Our best chance indeed, but we still had to get out of the Archives first. We thought hard on it and we eventually got a plan. Not a very good one, but the best we could come up with. Isaac had switched the old cameras on. We now had more information about our enemy's position. Isaac had told us about a secret door in the maintenance area, which would lead us to the tourist area. We hoped to blend in with the tourists and disappear.

"Alright, sounds good. Let's go." Alysia said.

"I'll cover you from here while you make your way to maintenance. Once you're in the tourist area, make your way to Thomas."

"What are you talking about dad? You're coming with us, right?"

"I'm a Librarian, Alysia. I am already too involved. I need to step aside. I've done my part in your journey, it's time someone else took over. Mister Endar can protect you and guide you, I'm sure of it. Please be careful and know that you'll always have a place here in the Archives, with me."

Alysia started crying again. It was hard for her to say goodbye. Who could blame her? Her live just completely changes and now she was to leave the man that raised her behind. After they were finished I said my goodbyes to Isaac as well, he made me promise to keep Alysia save. I intended to keep that progress as we made our way to maintenance.

"I'm activating two security automatons near you, don't shoot 'em." Isaac said.

The way forward was clear, it almost seemed too easy. But then the man with the scar showed up and opened fire on us. I quickly jumped in front of Alysia and created an energy shield. A bright red light was now lighting up the hallway. Two other imperials showed up behind us. Alysia pulled me into an alcove. We were boxed in but we had some cover. Alysia looked straight into my eyes. "You're a Prime." She said, barely holding it together. 

"I am." I said. "The fact that you refer to me as Prime instead of mutant tells me that you approve." 

"I have never come across a Prime before. I've heard stories about what you do, but I don't really believe them."

"Unfortunately the stories are true, but I'm trying to undo the damage we've done."

The three men were closing in and had almost reached us. I had to do something, fast. I performed a risky move. I sprinted out of the alcove against the wall to get behind the man with the scar. All three were surprised of what they saw. I managed to overpower the man with the scar and used his gun to kill the other two. Then I knocked him down.

"Kill me now, mutant. Why'd you even bother to save this wannabe princess? She should've died with her stinking parents on that damned ship. YOU HEAR ME! YOU SHOULD'VE....."

I used my energy to stop his howling, to stop his heart.

"You killed them." Alysia said.

"It was us or them, they didn't suffer. Come on, we need to keep moving."

We kept moving. I heard more gunfire, but it was pretty far out. It seemed like Isaac was doing a good job on stalling the remaining two enemies. Once we had reached maintenance, we quickly found the secret door with guidance of Isaac. We followed the secret hallway which led us to the tourist area. It was like nothing ever happened. There we're hundreds of tourists that had no idea what was going on inside the Archives. We kept close to each other and managed to get out unnoticed. When I looked over my shoulder I saw no sign of the remaining two imperials. I asked Alysia how far away the garage where Thomas presumably was, was. She told me it was only a five minute walk.

When we reached the garage, Thomas was busy working on a Hawk 13, one of the fastest racers out there. He wasn't alone, three guys were there as well. Tough guys, the kind you don't want to mess with.

"Ali!" He shouted. "What brings you here on this beautiful day?"

As he got closer he whispered: "Help me out here, Ali, these guys are trouble."

"Gentlemen! I'm not sure what you want, but I'm pretty sure mister Riley here won't be of much use to you. He's not that much use to anyone, really." Alysia spoke with confidence and the men buggered off.

"Thanks, you're a real lifesaver. Who's your friend?"

"I'm Nathan Endar."

"He's a Prime." Alysia added.

"A Prime! Wow, I heard those guys are nothing but terrorists."

"Well, you heard wrong. He has saved my life. Thomas... I need your help. I need you to get us off world. I'm not save here."

Thomas' facial expressions suddenly changed from cheerful to dead serious. Alysia explained everything to him. He had a hard time believing it, but eventually he was convinced. Alysia and Thomas went way back, they'd been best friends almost since birth. 

"Alright, get in the Hawk. I need to get out of here myself before those guys return anyway. Do we have a destination?"

"Anywhere but here." Alysia said.

We just up and left, took nothing with us. We had no idea where to go or what to do, but we had each other. And at the moment that was enough.

Author's Note

Please ignore any spellinggrammar mistakes, English is not my native language.