Shards of Memories

[Rogue Fox]

I decided to split the Shard story in half Rather that keep it together.

I will be continuing saga I was working on shortly, but first I wanted to create this as a back story.

This part chronicles the events leading to the present time which is just before the Aparoid invasion.

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Part 1: A true friend

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Shard lay on the bed looking up at the metallic celing. As he stared blankly off into space, one question kept repeating in his mind: "How did I get here," he thought as he looked back on his life trying to piece together fragments of his past in order to make some sense of what happened.

He thought back to his earliest memories with his parents on Cerenia. He remembered one time when he was little there was a violent thunderstorm which frightened him somuch he could not sleep. His parents came into his room and told him, "We will always be there for you, even if you do not see us." Shard then said to himself, "If only that were true. But now you're gone and there is nothing I can do to see you again."

He then remembered meeting his best friend Krystal for the first time. It was on the school playground. Shard was 11 and Krystal was 10 and they were both in the fourth grade but in different classrooms. At one time she tried to break up a fight between two kids on the playground structure. One kid was short, third grader while the other was a tall fifth grader with a reputation for being a bully. Shard pondered for a moment why recesses were mixed grades, but dismissed this as unimportant. He remembered Krystal getting punched in the nose by the fifth grader and her crying as streams of red blood rolled down the side of her face.

Then something snapped inside of Shard. Shard always wondered why this happened. Was it because he did not like seeing girls hit, or was it something else? Whatever the reason Shard grabbed the fifth grader and threw himoff the side of the playground structure. The structure was only about three feet off the ground, but nevertheless the bully still ran away crying from the shock of the fall. He then helped Krystal to her feet. He then took her to the nurse and explained everything that happened, omitting the fact that he tossed the bully off the playground equipment.

The next day Krystal with a bandage over her nose walked up to Shard sitting on a swing in the playground. She without a moment of hesitation gave Shard a kiss on the cheek. For a moment Shard sat there there speechless, but then Krystal said with a big smile, "Thank you for helping me yesterday." Shard then recovered from the shock and said, "Are you ok?" "I'm fine," Krystal replied, "The doctor said it was just a deep cut. Nothing broken. So, do you want to play on the slide?" "Sure," Shard replied and the two walked together.

The years went on by and Shard and Krystal became best friends. Shard was surprised that Krystal shared many common interests. He at first thought Krystal would only be interested in girl things, but he learned that Krystal liked the same video games, food, music, and other common interests. And as luck would have it, Shard seemed to be in the same classes as Krystal. Even when Shard and Krystal began to date, and acquire new friends, they never let their friendship waver.

Shard then thought back to two important memories with Krystal. One day Shard saw Krystal crying next to her locker. "What's wrong," Shard asked. "My boyfriend broke up with me," she sobbed. Shard felt shocked. Not only did the boyfriend did so two days before the junior/ seinor prom, but Shard why someone would break up with such a beautiful, intelligent, and friendly girl as Krystal. "Now I won't have a date to the prom," Krystal said as she buried her face in her hands trying to not let Shard see her cry. "Krystal, I don't have a date to the prom either. Do you want to go with me," Shard said. Immediately Krystal's eyes lit up and she said, "Oh Shard! I would love to go with you!"

Shard remembered waiting for Krystal outside her house in his black tuxedo. He rememberd the way Krystal looked in her shiny silver prom dress that seemed to glow in the moonlight. "Well, how do I look," Krystal asked. "You look... perfect," Shard said. Then they went to the prom and had a wonderful time together. Many of their fellow classmates remarked at how they seemed to be the perfect couple. In fact they were voted the prom king and queen which made the event even more memorable to Shard.

The other memory Shard had was after graduation. Krystal told him to go to their secret spot, a big rock that jutted out over a lake at midnight. Shard met Krystal there. "Shard, I want you to promise me something," Krystal said. "What,Krystal?" "I want you no matter what you choose to do to never forget me, ok," said Krystal. "Krystal, you are the best thing that ever happened to me. Of course I won't forget you. Ever." Krystal then reached behind her and unclasped the necklace she was wearing. It was a round silver locket with a fancy letter "K" on it that hung on a silver chain. Krystal unclasped the locket revealing a picture of her. She then said, "I want you to have it. So that you may never forget me and keep me in your heart wherever you may go and whatever you may do." Shard felt tears of joy roll down his face as she placed the locket and chain around his neck. Shard then took off his class ring. It was silver with a blue stone and had engraved on the inside his name and the year he graduated. "And I want you to have this Krystal, so that you remember me." The two then hugged and kissed each other and watched the sun rise.

Shard breathed a long sigh as he looked at Krystal's picture while in his cabin. If he knew what was to happen, he would have said things differently. Who would have thought that their dreams would soon be shattered and their lives torn apart.

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To Be Continued with Part 2: Shattered Dreams

[Blaz3]

I'm really enjoying this story so far. Please write mor and post it here. My only criticism is that sometimes your speech quotes can be a bit confusing. When you do speech, make a new line when a new person starts to talk, and before my next point, I want you to know that your speech is my only criticism, my next point is simply because I find that when I write, I have lots of little bits that I perhaps wrote too fast and when I go back, I change them to make it sound and read better. Keep going though, this is great!!!

[Rogue Fox]

Part 2: Shattered Dreams

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Shard stared at the picture and let his mind drift back to the last year on Cerenia.

After graduation, Shard, now 19, entered into the Cerenian Defense League to learn how to be a fighter pilot. The Cerenian Defense League was created to defend the planet from any attacks, foreign and domestic. Shard trained hard learning martials arts, weapon training, and his favorite part, flying. Shard moved so rapidly throught the training that he even ranked among some of his trainers. Soon Shard started teaching his own classes.

He even began training on a special top secret ship. This bullet shaped ship was special because it could be controlled by thoughts, which are faster than any movement of the body. He immediately fell in love with the ship and named it the Blue Blitz.

Even in his busy schedule training and teaching, he found time to be with Krystal who was 18 and also in the Cerenian Defense League. The two even taught classes together. It seemed like the two would eventually get married, start a family, and live happily together forever.

Fate as it seems it not as optimistic.

As Shard and Krystal continued training and teaching, there was a person who spoke to the upper generals of the CDL. He said he was a scientist and wanted Cerenia to be better prepared for any threats. And his name was Andross. He proposed building masssive factories to create bioweapons to attack planets before they could attack Cerenia. The generals refused Andross's claim. Cerenia was always peaceful. Even the CDL was used only for defensive measures, not offensive. So they rejected his claim. Andross smiled and said, "Then I wish your planet success, in however long a future it may have." Then he left the planet.

The next day, Shard called Krystal from the CDL."I'll meet you as soon as I can," Shard said, "I have a surprise for you when I come to your apartment." Shard then took out of his desk a small box. He opened it. It was a white gold diamond engagement ring that he would ask her hand in marriage with. He closed it and continued working on finishing the papers. When he finished, he walked out of the office area with the ring box in his pocket.

As Shard walked out of the building, the ground began to collapse. Buildings and trees toppled as the ground shifted below them.

Whole cities began to be swallowed up by the ground. Then the voice of Andross boomed over the planet's Emergency Brodcast Network.

"Your leaders refused to let me reshape this planet in my own image. Now I must destroy it. Soon your planet's core will become so unstable that it will explode. Farewell."

Then the voice vanished as the screams of the Cerenians were heard.

Shard quickly ran down the road to Krystal's apartment. He dodged falling trees, exploding gas lines, and people trying to escape the chaos. He opened the door to Krystal's apartment and called out, "Krystal! Are you here?" He frantically searched the apartment looking for her. Then the apartment started falling apart. Shard dashed out the door just as the building imploded. Shard then realized that he had to flee the planet. Perhaps Krystal was thinking about fleeing, too. Shard only hoped. Hoped that she was not injured, or worse, dead. He quickly ran back to the CDL.

By now the planet looked like a war zone. Very few buildings remained. The oceans were boiling. Jets of magma consumed anything not touched by the earthquakes. Almost all space crafts that could evacuate the Cerenians fell into the earth consumed by the fires below. Almost all the Cerenians were dead, and those who weren't would die soon. It was only a matter of time before the planet would explode.

Shard ran past the fallen buildings of the CDL. He ran into the ruined hangar where the Blue Blitz was. Somehow the ship survived when everything else was destroyed. Shard wasted no time. He jumped into the ship and started it. The ship recoginzed Shard's brain patterns and immediately activated. He took off, crashing through steel debris of the building. He looked below to see every bit of land disintegrating as magma erupted from underground fissures and consumed the earth.

Shard flew into space. He refused to look back. He refused seeing his planet, his home being destroyed. The very sight would kill him. He hoped Krystal was safe. Then behind him Cerenia, now resembling a small blazing sun rather than a once green and prosperous planet, exploded in a blinding flash of light. It was like a a fire cracker erupting in a shower of red, orange, yellow, and white. Then the colors disappeared as they disintegrated into nothing.

Shard saw none of this. He only thought about the billions of Cerenians gone. About the beautiful cities gone. About his friends gone. About Krystal...

Shard paused. Was she still alive? Did she escape? Shard could only hope. But now he was alone with no home and no body to help him. If he was to find Krystal he had to do it himself. He then flew away into the unknown.

As Shard remembered these events, he wondered why he survived. Why he lived when so many others died. Shard then cast it out of his mind as he sat in his cabin. The point was he did survive and now must face the future and whatever surprises it may have.

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To Be Continued with Part 3: Search and Rescue

[salmon45]

I have read the first part so far. I like it. I think that it could use some more detials such as thing about Shard. There are also some spelling mistakes. Otherwise it is not bad at all.

[ARWINGCOMMANDER 3987]

Cool fic Rogue Fox. I wonder how this will affect Fox and Krystal's relationship.