Fate ReWritten

The Zodians had no idea what was coming for them… but I did.

I had lived through losing Jimmy, and the ensuing war with the Zodians enemy the Zildians and then the great war with the Presatoris that we were currently fighting in my time.

I swore to find a way around it, to give these poor refugees a chance….a fighting chance.

I needed to save my Jimmy, and Johannes and all the others that I thought of as family even though they were from a world far, far away from my own. After many years and much loss, I had come up with a plan that would possibly give us a fighting chance to get ahead of the Presatoris, time travel. We couldn't shift major events, we couldn't affect the timeline outside of certain patches, but we could make changes. It was our Hail Mary in a losing game.

I had convinced the council that if I could go back and start our fighting force earlier, gather allies earlier, and give myself a heads up on the Presatoris and the threat that they represented, we could have a fighting chance. A pinch of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Ultimately, they had said yes out of practicality. Saving the Zodian refugees was just one part of my plan, and I had a lot more work ahead of me, but this was the most heart wrenching part of my plan.

The Zodians had come to my world seeking safe harbor and help from an enemy that had wiped out their worlds, the Zildians, a cybernetic reptilian race. They were obsessed with being better then strictly organic beings and had found instead a planet that needed their protection. The Zodians couldn't even land to replenish themselves as the Zildians followed them all along their decades long journey to find us.

I sat in my borrowed fighter looking at their small fleet of mismatched starships, patched and worn, and wished that there was another way, wished that I didn't have to do this. I knew it was either this or the end for them, and so I pushed onwards.

Our operatives had already planted the cryostasis chemicals throughout the fleet's ventilation systems, all that was needed was a bit of theater and then pouf! They would all be frozen in a deep sleep for the time it would take to help my younger self start building a celestial empire to be reckoned with. I had already built it and was in the process of giving my younger self a small leg up on the grueling process, especially who not to trust this time around.

My team and I had borrowed some Zildian fighters for the theater, once the chemicals were ignited the cryogenic process would take roughly 35 minutes to completely stabilize. Our teams were already in place aboard all the ships to check on the crews and families to ensure there were no hiccups. Then we would tow them to the dark side of the Jovian moons to wait out the next few decades until my younger self could bring about Excalibur Inc's rise to power.

They would be safe and would go unnoticed there for the time it took to build a fighting force that stood a chance against the Zildians. Security drones and a few dedicated soldiers would stay behind to guard them. Then the automatic timer would kick in to wake them, slowly in pairs.

It would seem like a regular attack, once they awakened all traces of the chemicals would be gone as well as any trace of our presence. Our operatives would blend in back on earth and be re-upped with the company.

"Good to go Commander"

"Right then ''

I clicked the go signal and my team did a showy fiery flyby on all of the ships.

I smiled and shook my head as the screams from the Zodian ships crews rang through my comms, bunch of over dramatic wuss’s. Wait till they get a load of the next war; this will look like a cake walk. Wow, I had really gotten cynical in the past 30 years.

—

I boarded the flagship, the Andromedan, after the stasis had taken effect for the first time in 45 years. My heart lurched a little. I headed toward Jimmy’s lab before I knew where my feet were taking me. Honestly, could I really be headed anywhere else. All along the halls people were frozen in place where they stood when the stasis chemicals had taken effect, it looked for all intents and purposes like a wintry statue garden.

I threaded my way through carefully but expeditiously.

—-

I stood in Jimmy's work lab and gazed at him. He was barely 14 years old, and he was set to die in 13 hours….he and all his people. I couldn't help the wave of painful nostalgia that swept me up at that point. I hadn't seen his face in decades, it hurt so much to see him like this.

He sat in his chair, eyes closed, his white brows furrowed in concentration. His titanium white hair hung shaggily to his shoulders. Jimmy had been deemed a cerebral prodigy amongst his people and had been elected as their chief advisor and strategist at 7 years old. It was an incredible responsibility, but he bore it as though it rested on him naturally.

Many had difficulty with his age, but none could deny his record of accuracy.

Everyone had seen him as cold, logical, efficient and unyielding in his endeavors. He did it all to save people who were not his own biologically, yet he still got flack.

Some of the military decided he was nothing more than a snot nosed brat who his adoptive father, and the commander of their fleet, Johannes Strider used as a puppet to get his initiatives and agendas pushed through.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Johannes had been a caring grandfatherly figure to Jimmy. Jimmy was by nature had a cold demeanor, but that didn't mean that he loved Hannes and the Zodians any less.

I felt the tears that trickled behind my eyes slide out and slipped down my lashes to fall on my cheeks. Jimmy and I had met during a mission gone wrong when he had been badly injured. I had kept him safe and after much deliberation had used my psychic abilities to heal him.

Once he woke, I had made sure to be gone, but he never forgot my presence and began surreptitiously searching for me.

When he eventually found me, he had me brought up to the main ship and asked me what I wanted as a reward. I expressed a desire to learn about the Zodians and their culture.

I remember having shocked the room with that one. Fleet commander Ct. Johannes Strider hadn't been very keen on a scruffy little orphaned earth girl anywhere near his ward, he had adopted Jimmy or Zavrius (Jimmy preferred my nickname for him and insisted on it, he said he liked the simplicity of it.) when he was found floating in space alone in a strange alien escape pod as an infant, but he was a practical man. I had done something good for them and that deserved a good turn in exchange.

He was suspicious that a child from my background didn't want more. He didn't realize that wanting more from others always led to disappointment for me anyway.

Besides, Knowledge was priceless and how many times in my life was I going to meet a sentient alien race (Ok, I was greatly surprised by the answer to that in the years that followed)

It was the coolest thing ever to me, at the time. All I had wanted was to learn about them and their world. So, Jimmy decided that it would be best if I just stayed on board the command ship with him so he could teach me everything(I should have known that he had ulterior motives, when he pulled that move).

Johannes was very unhappy, but Jimmy didn't waiver.

In the end, and after two hours of debate, Jimmy won out and I was awarded my own quarters aboard the flagship. They were right next to his for convenience, he had originally wanted me to stay in his quarters and room with him so as I could adjust easier(Jimmy even had his quarters modified floor plans at the discussion), Strider adamantly vetoed that. I had learned a lot about Jimmy and his people and their plight in that first month.

Strider made sure that I was in my quarters every night. At 10 years old, I didn't understand his concerns, it wasn't like I was going to rob them. After I got older, I understood more. Once I learned a lot more about Zodian customs in the years that followed, I understood why Strider had about had a heart attack when Jimmy gave me a green ring the day that I we had met when we were both conscious, the ring that I still wore on a chain around my neck.

I pulled it from beneath my shirt and ran my fingers over it. Apple green in color and carved from the Karsius stone, it possessed a slight internal luminescence. It was also what the Zodians considered a wedding ring.

Jimmy had literally asked me to marry him the day I was brought on board the Andromedan, and I had said yes…albeit unwittingly. Now, normally the age of consent in the fleet had been lowered to 15 years old,10 was unheard of, but Jimmy was a special case.

I knew at the time that the way he worded it had been weird but had chalked it up to language gaps. Strider had apparently vetoed the wedding until the age of consent. I appreciated him for that. I just thought that I had found a buddy who I had an overwhelming connection with, apparently Jimmy felt a little stronger about me. It didn't matter, I fell in love with him over the next four years anyway and I looked forward to the day that we were married once I realized what had happened…and why all the other boys aboard the ships gave me such a wide berth. I just thought it was because I was from earth.

I learned all about the Zodians from Jimmy and the crew. The Zodians centuries long war that ended in tragedy, their journey to any sentient species they could find, them getting a tip about us on earth, their crushing disappointment that we were so far behind them technologically. All of it. It broke my heart for these people. They were running on fumes and had so many more miles to go before they slept.

They had some very basic experience with psychic abilities, though not quite like mine, so Jimmy set up a lab to test my gifts. It gave them quite a bit of insight as to how my gifts worked and why. There was only one successful experiment to replicate my healing gifts.

It produced Dr. Vincent Aurelius. He became the chief of medical staff for the fleet due to his training and healing gifts. I thought back to my first year aboard the ship.

Gradually, as the year wore on, I realized that Jimmy and I were a lot closer than just friends, we had a psychic connection, and it grew exponentially over those first few months of close proximity to each other. Studying and developing our psychic bond for use in other fleet members would mean a whole new age of communication. There was no way for their enemy to track a telepathic message, which would open a lot of doors for the Zodians.

My second year saw me gaining responsibilities and advising the Zodians on basic earth customs and etiquette to blend in with the people as they began preparing to leave a mid-sized colony of civilians on earth while the rest of the fleet sought to be a decoy for their enemy.

My third year on board the ship was when I discovered that I was not blood related to either my mother or my father and had me start my search for my biological parents. It was also when I learned the full extent of Jimmy’s intentions toward me and for us.

We began dating in earnest, which really didn't change much about our relationship. It did allow us to be more straightforward and make solid plans for the future. Through Jimmy's tutoring and the Zodians advanced education system, I began to excel in my schooling at an exaggerated rate.

My fourth year aboard the Andromedan saw me graduating to full time work aboard the fleet ships, engineering-research and development…I would have become a tech and then graduated to my own lab in two years. Jimmy and I were to be wed once we turned 15, with the blessing of Strider- he eventually warmed up to me enough to think of me as a bit of a granddaughter-ish figure. He also realized that Jimmy’s love for me was not unrequited as he had first assumed.

Jimmy had been adjusting his duties to stay on earth with me, as the lead advisor for the Zodian earth colony; then it all went pear shaped.

The Zildians came knocking at their front door and they had had to leave in a hurry. Jimmy wanted me to come with them, but there weren't enough resources, and he was desperately needed where he was. He promised he would return within a year, once they had misdirected their enemy.

They were all slaughtered within two months. I had felt the jolt that ran through our shared mind connection. It had driven me to build the interstellar empire that ended up saving earth from being annihilated years later.

My thoughts wound themselves on to the painful memory of finding the fleet.My face felt wet and cold, I swiped the back of my hand across my eyes and brushed away the gathered droplets. The tears had stopped to be replaced by the heavy sadness that had been my constant companion since the day that I had felt him die.

I remembered once I got out into space again, finding the broken remnants of their fleet ships floating uselessly among our asteroid-belt. Jimmy's body was found just as it was now, sitting at his station ….no doubt working till his death. I remembered his deep brown eyes were frozen open back then, his mouth opened in a silent scream, as though he were trying to call out something. I shuddered and withdrew the hand that had raised unbidden to stroke the side of his face.

I knew it had hurt him so deeply to leave me. I had always hoped that we would reunite one day.

Now we would have the chance to meet again, granted the age gap would be less than ideal, but I didn't care if we never ended up together so long as I didn't have to lose him again.

We had always been first and foremost friends, love was not my goal. Relieving this grief was my aim if I was to be honest. These people had taken me in and treated me as family, I counted my best friend & the love of my life among them.

It had broken something inside of me last time, but it fueled my drive to save him and his people. It made me push forward, build an empire, fight for my world with a ruthlessness that shocked everyone….I was so far from the girl he had known.

This version of me though, had the ability to save him & his people. Maybe it was all for the best in the end.

I stood there across from him and thanked every star in the sky for this second chance, for all the things that went right to make this possible. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his “I love you. I will see you soon.” I brushed my cheek against his and whispered in his ear “Dream well, love” My comm crackled “Ok, they are all asleep commander, we are ready for phase 2”

“Good, let's get these people moved to black site. I will meet you on the flight deck.” I tapped my com off, with a last look I left Jimmy's work lab and headed to my fighter. We needed to secure the fleet which would mean landing them on the 3rd largest Jovian moon, Io.

We needed an out of the way place to park the refugees for the next couple of decades, and Io was not of interest to anyone, therefore it was perfect for the job. I stopped by the Andromedans bridge to find Strider frozen mid walk through his command center. It was lit for battle stations; they had been frozen on attack alert. Thankfully our techs had shut off the alarms, those things were insanity inducing. He had a command chair but had never been the sitting type.

I admired the man, and I cared about him. Everyone that met Johannes Strider couldn't help but respect him. I smiled; he was in for a heck of a wakeup. I left the bridge with my heart lighter than before. I hadn't realized how much I had been doubting if my plan would work until I saw Strider.

It would be good to have him helping with our current war, he wouldn't turn the tide, but he would be invaluable on our side. Hell, the man had kept a fleet of refugees from dying as they withstood attack after attack from an enemy that had them outmanned and outgunned for the better part of five decades, the man qualified as a legend. He kept the Zodians moving through plague, famine, fear, grief, tragedy after tragedy, and constant threat. I hoped he would be promoted to admiral once he woke up.

I made it to the flight deck and climbed the built-in rungs on my fighter, I caught my reflection in the mirrored emergency oxygen case windows and frowned. I barely recognized what I saw there.

Black hair pulled back in a severe French braid with streaks of white at either side, my face bore the scars I had gathered from the war, Dark circles ringed Dead brown eyes that looked back at me harboring a menace strong enough to make me cringe. My matte black uniform was like a second skin, my hands when not gloved to blunt any psychic impressions from those around me, were a mess of scars and regrowth marks.

People often asked why the head honcho of Excalibur Inc was on the front lines in a fighter. I asked, “Where the hell should I be?” We needed every able-bodied person in this fight, even then I wasn't sure that we could win this. If we lost, all life in this universe would be wiped out by the Presatoris…they had promised us that. My frown deepened.

It was a horrifying sight, and I sorely missed the girl that I had been when I had lived on this ship, among these people, but she died a long time ago.

I then climbed in my fighter and prepped for launch.