In Nova City, General Maxim fumed as he read the reports. A massive crater remains where Fortress Loknar should be. Most troubling is the report of the total loss of task force one and two as well as their celestial and cuirassier auxiliaries.

All units lost in an unsanctioned, unapproved and unjustified military invasion of a sovereign nation. It was rushed and launched with little to no Intel. The only reason given for such an offensive was the pre-emptive elimination of a direct threat to Nova City.

He frowned as he sat at his desk in the Martian command centre at the base of the celestial command tower. All around him the various officers and their aides were hard at work. He had made it the army's mission to investigate what had happened after communications were lost with the exhibition.

He growled as some skulduggery had clearly triggered the battle. As many worrying aspects have been revealed to him. He felt like he was losing control of his own army. Some thief is trying to sideline him from the shadows and he had his suspicions on which it was.

The next day he made his way up the celestial command tower to meet the prince. He walked around the round reception table and walked into the command centre itself. There he found a single celestial.

The celestial was floating in the air monitoring the various pieces of equipment that flew around him like swarming flies. With tendrils of golden energy flickering about he operated dozens of them at once. Just one celestial fulfilled the role of an entire command and control unit, dozens strong.

"Welcome General, you wish to meet with the prince do you not?" He said suddenly.

"Yes, I do." Lucas replied.

"He will arrive soon."

It was not long before the ceiling opened up and Arvarius flew in and gently touched down. As he did his servant left through the same opening as it closed.

"What brings you here General?"

"The attack on the fortress. You bypassed UF Protocol didn't you?"

"Indeed. One of my scouts spotted a horde of enemies reaching critical mass. An eventuality I had prepared for since the... Terrans as they call themselves are proven to be hostile. It was in my liberty to end a crisis before it began."

"And now hundreds of troops are dead! Do you not understand the chaos you reap?"

"I comprehend the situation quite well dear general. This is a new world with new possibilities. There was no way to anticipate the use of devastation level weapons on their own people."

The General paused unable to argue with his point.

"Perhaps if we used diplomacy we might not have lost so many lives." He growled.

"Have you no idea how to deal with a monarch general? A show of force is necessary to even get their attention."

"Perhaps."

The General turned about to leave with his suspicions confirmed. Arvarius wants total control badly but is clever enough not to show it or his motives. He needed answers but had a hunch that they would come from the most unlikely source.

Alice gasped for air and sat up in a coughing fit and opened her eyes. Her eyes widened as she found herself in the snow amidst a blizzard. She found her rifle at her side and took it in hand as she groaned in pain as she rose to her feet.

She checked her weapon, which seemed unharmed and operational so she slung over her shoulder and allowed the magnetic clamps to take hold of it. She raised her hand to shelter her visor from the gushing torrent of wind and snow and preserve what little vision she had left. She squinted, barely able to see more than a few meters ahead she struggled as she footslogged ever onward.

Eventually, the blizzard settled down and the way ahead of Alice cleared. Then she froze as she spotted a humanoid body in the distance. Surprised, she rushed to it and found a small girl laid out in the snow.

Naked and comatose, she seemed strangely at peace amidst the chaos of the storm. The young girl, seemingly no more than twelve years old appeared to sleep away her time as the snow slowly buried her. Alice knelt down to shake the youth awake to no avail.

Unable to help much Alice thought of leaving the mutant here to freeze but pity stayed her hand. She thought of the family she found in the Loknar Fortress and thought crossed her mind.

'Is there humanity in such creatures?'

She pondered on the question for a moment before she sighed as she resigned to pick up the mutant. Weighed down by the burden of this child every step grew more difficult. As time went Alice grew exhausted as minutes grew into hours and the unrelenting torrent of wind and snow battered at her side. Soon her knees despite being augmented by the exoskeleton gave in to exhaustion.

Alice panted and squirmed in pain as she felt the exhaustion in her muscles. In her mind lingered the question that had brewed within it for so long. After all, she was utterly lost and isolated with not even so much as a supply crate to support her. She despaired as she anticipated her death in this frozen wasteland.

She gazed at the girl in her arms, watched as the youth twitched and murmured as if she were stuck in a dream. She watched the child's long albino hair dangle in the wind and her smooth, pale white skin radiate with warmth enough to preserve them both from the intense cold. She pondered on as she asked questions she didn't have the answers to.

'Where did she come from? Who is she? What is she?'

These questions plagued her mind as she rested and studied the girl. She just couldn't let her be like this and as the wind died down the sun reveal a cliff face. She picked herself up with the girl in hand and with her waning strength she pulled herself onward one step at a time.

Bit by bit she edged towards the cliff until eventually, she leant against it. This snow, the cold, hunger and half a day's march all sapped her strength away as she struggled against the elements. Following the cliff face eastward she continued for another hour before the rock at her side gave revealed a cave. She sighed with relief as she made her way inside.

Once inside she laid the girl on the floor and reached into a pocket in her hip and drew a glow stick a bent it to make it glow. Its light revealed a tunnel that led on to a dead end. It was strange to find the cave all by its lonesome out here. Alice assumed it was an ancient tunnel built with some forgotten purpose in mind.

It seemed to have collapsed some time ago but what mattered is that for the time being she was safe. At least that was how she felt in this place; here it was calm and silent, a far cry from the roaring wind and open fields outside. Here she collapsed with the last of her energy spent.

When she came to she found the girl staring into her eyes with purple eyes of her own. She gasped and shot to her feet when she found the girl, clothed, awake and staring at her. She stood up, on guard with one hand reaching back for her gun but she froze as the girl watched her. The girl calmly walked up to her but she didn't see to walk in the way that a human would.

Instead, she seemed ethereal, with every footfall she appeared to glide weightlessly the air. Even her white silk dress seemed to flow unnaturally through the air. Then she stopped in front of Alice and the two stared at each other while Alice froze in her place. Soon Alice's panic subsided and she took her hand off of her rifle.

"Who are you? Can you speak?" Alice asked calmly.

The girl merely turned her head sideways in curiosity. Alice sighed yet again and shook her head.

"Of course you can't. You speak your own language don't you?" Alice continued.

The curious girl reached out to touch Alice's visor and Alice stood still and allowed her to wipe her fingers over the smooth surface of its glass. Then they glowed white as they fell through the solid glass.

Alice's eyes widened in horror as she felt their warm touch in her own cheeks. Alice pulled back in a panic, tripped and fell. Drawing her gun she squirmed to the wall and aimed it at the girl. She watched the girl let her hand fall and hang naturally at her side as she stared into the sunlit entrance.

The girl's eyes rolled back in her head as she tensed up and shivered for a few frightening moments. Alice gritted her teeth in alarm and questions flooded her mind once more. Too anxious to move she sharpened her guard as the questions blared in her aching mind.

"Celestial?" The word slipped from Alice's lip in a gentle whisper.

It was then that the child loosened up and looked right into Alice's eyes and smiled.

"Do not fret. I am no creature you fear Alice Cromwell." The child declared.

Hours passed and the two discussed many things. Alice learned about this new girl she came across in the wild. Thus she came to a frightening conclusion.

"So you don't even know who or what you are? Yet have the knowledge and wisdom of seemingly endless thousands?" Alice asked.

"I am afraid so. Even this language I speak is merely a reflection of your own memories. I have many and yet none to call my own... Not even a name. How this is known only by my creators, the gorgons." Answered the girl.

"I see." Responded Alice

The two sat in their cave talking and getting to understand one another. The girl, in particular, was glad to live after the level of paranoia that was exercised by Alice. Still, though this cave fascinated her. She had never been alive before today yet carried so much knowledge of the world she lived in. In actuality getting out there and getting to know all of these sights, sounds and feels that so many loved and so many hated for herself seemed like a dream worth chasing. She got up while Alice seemed to ponder some unknown topic.

She touched the cold smooth surface rock of the cave wall and ran her hand over as she turned to walk along it. Every inch fascinated her, it was called a stone, it pushes the earth to new heights and it is quarried, cut and sculpted into shape to be utilised in innumerable endeavours. She loved the overwhelming information that flooded her mind when she thought of it. She even smiled sweetly as her powerful mind processed it all and put it back in its place. She reached the entrance and took in a deep breath as she welcomed the sunlight and fresh air. This became yet another learning experience as every sight and every sound brought up a new set of information.

"Minerva!" Alice said abruptly.

"What?" the girl asked as she turned to Alice.

Alice got up and approached her.

"Is it okay if I call you Minerva?" Alice asked.

Alice's knowledge of the name appeared within the girl's mind and she found it fitting. With a smile, she answered.

"Minerva? Yes, it is... I do accept that name."

Alice smiled from within her visor. Even though Minerva saw only glass tinted black when she looked up to Alice's face she still got the feeling that she had made the Venusian a happy woman. She couldn't help but let out a little giggle and smile all the more. It was a good thing to have a name she thought.

Alice stepped outside and looked around.

"We better get going. I doubt there'd be any civilisation for miles around."

The knowledge flashed in Minerva's mind.

"No!"

Alice turned to Minerva as she followed after her.

"There's a small community in the fertile tundra several miles east of here. I do think that the people there are accustomed to having strangers visit their village." Minerva explained.

Alice could help but be enamoured of the little girl so attentive in help full.

"Well then... Lead the way, Minerva."