Burning Bright Eyes

Five

        Acxa wasn't showing it, but she was incredibly nervous.

        Haggar had instructed the crew to head to the Patrulian Zone right in front of a white hole that could easily melt the entire ship under its radiation. And the woman still hasn't told her, Ezor, Zethrid, or anyone in the crew about why they're here. The blue-skinned Galra hybrid was terrified for the well-being of herself and her comrades. The aimless spacecraft boneyard surrounding the cruiser only made it worse for her nerves. The overwhelming heat and light radiating from the white hole wasn't any help either. Ayiko would despise this place more than all of us; the polar opposite to her home planet.

        Acxa caught herself at the thought. She hadn't given much thought about the Miero hybrid since after she vanished. Lotor always had the sneaking suspicion Narti was tied into it, since she was the last one to see her before it happened. Unfortunately, it wasn't like they could ask the blind, mute general and expect an answer. It's almost too coincidental that Lotor had to go and slit her throat hardly a deca-phoeb after the searching was called off. Maybe the thought of Narti being the reason for Ayiko's abduction and the discovery of the Sincline ships was the last straw for Lotor.

        It did make sense, after all.

        "Acxa," Haggar hissed, calling the general from her thoughts. "Direct the crew to fly the ship into the vortex."

        Acxa's eyes widened. Into the vortex? Was this witch insane?! They could all die if they went in there! If not by the radiation, than by the debris flying everywhere.

        "Don't disobey me," the witch snarled. "I know what hides inside the energy within. I know that I am worthy to enter into it."

        Acxa bit her lip before bowing her head in relent. "Of course." She turned and went to the deck above the flight crew. "The High Priestess wishes to fly the ship into the white hole. Do not question her orders and fly as carefully as possible." She used her order-reciting voice that she practiced from being with Lotor. After giving the orders, she went out into the corridor to be met with Ezor materializing in front of her.

        "Did you seriously just say that, Acxa?" the pink-skinned general asked, her voice hushed but demanding. "You know we can't survive being in that thing for long. What happens if we die out here?"

        Acxa sighed and started walking away, "We have no choice, Ezor. We can only obey Haggar's orders or else she'll see to our slow, painful demise."

        Ezor rolled her eyes with a groan as she started following her fellow general. "You told us that a hundred times, Acxa. Look, I've checked the maps; we're only a few dozen light-years away from Mierome. If Ayiko is there, since investigating the Druids' projects was a total bust, she could one way or another help bring us back to Lotor without any trouble. Think about it; things'll go back to the way they should be. Don't try to deny it, you miss those times as much as Zethrid and I do."

        Acxa was going to open her mouth to reply when the ship suddenly jerked backwards, throwing them both against the wall and floor as the alarm started going off. After getting up, the two ran to the main deck, seeing the nearing center of the white hole. A face of a lion appeared, opening its mouth as an orb of sheer energy began to form. Before there was any time to react, the lion fired a beam at the ship, sending it back out of the vortex. A thin black beam showed Haggar attempting to repel the attack, but it broke through and overloaded all the ship's systems.

        Fearing the worst, Acxa rushed to get her helmet. Ezor ran after to do the same, and judging by the heavy footsteps behind them and the enormous Galra hybrid catching up with them, so was Zethrid. After getting their helmets and putting them on, the girls turned to head to the escape pods and get away with some semblance of their lives.