Starbound: A Space Odyssey

As soon as the blinding white light disappeared, John was able to finally see his surrounding.

It was a very beautiful forest all around him, the trees were colored with a kinds of color, from white to black.

John was entranced by the sight in front of him.

"Hey, can you help me?" John heard Lenny's voice coming from beneath him.

John looked downward and saw Lenny sprawled in the ground like a dead body.

He lightly chuckled. "Let me guess, you always hated teleporters." John crouched and helped Lenny stand up.

"You are completely right." Lenny stood up and fixed his hat and scarf. "Teleporters are my worst enemy." He said in a very serious tone.

"Right..." John just threw a side glance at Lenny and then took out his PIPS.

He reached for the inventory and retrieved his two pistol, HEP02 and the Protector Pistol Mk.1 from the inside. He placed them in the holsters that were in his armors. Now he was ready.

He looked at Lenny and saw him doing the same thing.

Lenny realoaded his two revolvers and placed them in the holsters that were in his leather belt. He also reloaded the sniper and put it in his back.

"Ready?" John saw that Lenny had finished preparing so he asked.

"Let's go." Lenny relaxedly said.

Both of them started walk deeper in the forest.

"How are we going to find a Floran colony?" Lenny asked while he was admiring the beauty of the forest.

"I don't know..." John shook his head. "We just need to keep looking."

John and Lenny walked around for the entire day and just stopped when became night.

The two of them sat by a campfire. John was cooking and Lenny was drinking a bottle of wine.

It was at this moment that both of them felt a killing intent locking on them.

John rolled backward and dodged the grayish flash just passed by his head.

Lenny jumped to the side fast enough to evade the green blur that went toward his direction. The moment he dodged he heard the sound of the wind being cut by a extremely sharp object just by his ears.

"Connor!" Lenny looked around while he drew his two revolvers from the holsters.

"I'm fine!" John walked out from the bush that he had just rolled inside while he also drew his pistols.

"Be careful." Lenny said while he scanned everywhere around him. "I can feel we are being watched at this exact moment."

"Yeah..." John also looked at their surrounding.

They stayed with their back turned from each other as they slowly made circular movements that allowed them to see everywhere around them.

"John Connor?" John heard a feminine and familiar voice.

John turned around to face the source of the sound. Suddently a figure emerged from the bush that John was staring.

It was a beautiful Floran with green skin and a colored flower on top her head. It was Peri, the Floran that John met in the entrance of the Iron Fist Arena. The only notable difference was that she was wearing a green Tier 2 Armor made of Tungsten and her whole aura was covered in bloodthirsty and hatred.

"Peri?" He was surprised to see a familiar person on this planet.

Peri stared hard on John, her eyes were very cold and filled with killing intent. "Are you... With them?" She coldly asked while her body entered in fighting stance.

"Them?" John confusedly looked and Peri. "Who?"

Peri and John kept looking at each other until Lenny couldn't help but interrupt the moment. "Hey, lady, we just arrived in this planet. So, please can you low your knife?"

Peri glanced at Lenny. "Oh... The drunkard idiot from before... I remember you."

"*Cough*, *cough*" Lenny awkwardly coughed. "Nice to meet you, lady. And please refer to me by my name, Lenny."

"I'll try." She sweetly smiled as she lowered her knife. "So... What are you two doing here?" She glanced at both of them with questioningly eyes.

"We're looking for a Floran colony." John responded while he sat back by the campfire. Lenny was already downing in his wine.

"Then... I'm afraid you're late..." Peri sadly sighed.

"Why?" John curiously looked at Peri.

"The Floran colony of this planet had been burned to the ground." She said while her voice slightly trembled.

"Burned?"

"Yes, it was those bastards from the Syndicate." She kicked the ground in anger, it was so strong that it created a small crater on where her feet landed.

"Wait..." John than glanced at Peri with eyes filled with pity. "Don't tell me... It was your family?"

"Yes..." Peri sat by the campfire togheter with John and Lenny. "My whole family and tribe was destroyed... Just like that."

"I'm sorry..." John tried to comfort her with some words, but he wasn't good at it.

"Nevermind..." Peri stared at the dancing flame of the campfire. "We Florans are different from almost every other race. Since young we're trained to become warriors with stone hearts, so that we could easily adapt through any situation and move on. While it's true that I'm very saddened about this unfortunate event, it isn't enough to break a heart that had been honed for years." Peri took a piece of meet from the campfire and ate it.

John glanced at her, but he was able to see, the desolate shadow and the sadness in her eyes. She had planned to return to her home tribe, but what greeted her was the sight of a burned tribe. It truly was... Saddening.

John sighed. "Do you want our help? I mean, help to deal with your enemies?"

"No... I can deal with this alone." Peri glanced at John and lightly smiled. "Thanks for your... Worry, but I think I must do this alone."

John was momentarily entranced by the sight of her smile. He shook his head and recovered from the stun.

"I think we can help each other you know." John suddently thought of something.

"Oh?" Peri stopped eating and stared at John.

"I need to find a Floran colony, but I don't which planets have it and neither do I know how to find one when I'm the planet, so..."

"You want my help..." She realized what he wanted to say right away. "And in exchange of this help you are willing to help me, right?"

"Right." John nodded his head.

Peri chuckled. "Alright, alright. I accept your help. It's not like I have somewhere to go after I achieve my revenge anyway."

[Yes!] John cheered inside his mind. A smile slowly creeped out from his mouth.

"Nice work." Lenny poked John with his elbow while he teased him. "You have to take this chance while she is saddened and lost to get some points with her and-"

"Shut up." John said in a low voice while he slapped Lenny away from him.