𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 when he thought he could remember a glimpse of peace... It turns out that dreams lie just like people. As Zaksolx slowly opened his eyes and dragged his head across the pillow to check the time, he released a tired sigh before rising to his feet. His body walked through the motions of his morning routine while his mind drifted away back to the disillusions of another time: a time before the war.

If he was honest with himself, the war was all he'd ever known: Kree versus Skrull. He stopped in front of his mirror and traced his finger along the bags drooping beneath his eyelids. He was tired of fighting to survive. He wanted a chance to live. He didn't realize that she was the answer to his unfulfilled desire for freedom, but whether he was truly ready or not, she'd show him the way to discovering himself.

He took a deep breath, shifting back and forth between two forms which neither really felt like him. The green pointed features highly contrasted the soft pink flesh that revealed his tainted bloodline that earned him the nickname "mongrel" in his earlier youth. It was probably one of the main reasons that his uncle had practically hidden him away in the engineering labs to conceal his controversial parentage. For a brief moment, he allowed the mirror to split his identity straight down the center: one half Kree, the other Skrull. Neither side looked truly happy, and he still couldn't recognize himself.

However, he ignored his own self-dissatisfaction and put on the uniform that had been delivered outside his door earlier that morning. It looked like his uncle had found exactly what he was searching for on Torfa. His calm expression faltered though as he entered the room and finally saw her, hooked up to one of the crude machines developed by the science department while they invaded her mind.

"Let's open her up." His uncle gestured for the science department to proceed according to his designated plan. Zaksolx approached with concern, but he was immediately ignored as his uncle, the general, had more important things to focus on. General Talos's brow knit together in confusion as he watched the sporadic memories flash across the screen in disorganized bursts. "Where are we?"

"Stand by," one of the scientists noted, clearly controlling the projects and directing the others assisting.

Zaksolx watched as the blonde's closed eyes twitched while her memories were manipulated in a way he certainly believed would be painful. The scientists assured the process was safe as she was contained, but that wasn't where his concerns lied. He took a step closer while leaning up beside his uncle to speak in a hushed whisper. "Is she Kree?"

"Does it matter?" Talos asked. His tone was cold as if he didn't really want to discuss the matter nor grow distracted from his mission. The memory shifted again to reveal the blonde with one of her flight partners preparing for take-off. Only growing more frustrated, Talos shook his head. "This can't be right... Go back even further."

The scientist complied to his instruction, manipulating the divisions of her brain to show another memory. This time, a much younger version of the same girl drove around a go-kart track at a fair, not that any of them understood the Terran culture enough to recognize the event. As the young girl was taunted by the male figures in her life, she slammed her foot against the pedal, kicking the kart into high-gear. The speed proved to be too much for the function of the kart as it slid out of control and crashed against the hay border outlining the track.

"Who is this person?" Talos questioned, his face growing a darker shade of green. "Are we in the right—"

"I think we went back too far," the scientist sheepishly admitted while interrupting the general. "Let me try something."

The memory changed again. The blonde's knuckles had turned white from the pressure of clinging to the rope. Several cadets below mocked her. Those watching from her perspective could see her focus block out the distractions and hone in on the next rope in front of her. She took a deep breath as she swung, leaping when the moment was right. Her fingers brushed the rope for a second before she lost her grip and fell. As she hit the ground, snickering and taunting could be heard from behind.

Talos pinched the bridge of his nose then turned to look at his science department as he snapped at them. "Am I the only one who's confused here?"

< This isn't right. >

His inner voice told him that something needed to be done. Unfortunately, that's all the guidance it actually provided. So, Zaksolx uncomfortably watched as her memories changed again. She sat in a bar beside the pilot beforehand; however, another pilot joined their conversation with a sneer. The memory grew hazy as her focus shifted to the pool table behind the pilot and the pair of players that had started a new game. As the balls hit the edges of the table, a glimpse of blue light flashed across the screen and changed the memory as the scientist continued their search. The young girl returned, lying beside her brother in the grass while staring up at the sky.

"Huge rumble throughout the cosmos shook the moon and the sun and the stars in the sky." Her brother spoke in a soft tone. "And so, little Alouette flew up throughout the night."

"Did you see her?" The girl asked as she pointed at the passing shooting star. "It's Alouette."

A soft smile briefly graced Zaksolx's face as he tilted his head while watching the memory. There was a look of hope that reflected in the light of the girl's eyes. It was as if she'd found a sense of belonging while still remaining an outcast. It was something he was desperate for, but the memory changed far too soon for his own liking. He was tempted to request replaying the memory, but refrained while holding his tongue. The pattern continued with little success until she met with her mentor.

"Wait, wait, wait." Talos quickly instructed his scientists to slow down and rewind. "That's her. Get her back."

"Stand by."

The memory replayed but Talos again missed the exact moment he needed. "What's that on her shirt? I couldn't read it."

"Sound familiar?" The scene repeated itself for the third time. "Wonderful view isn't it?"

"I prefer the view from up there."

"You'll get there soon enough..."

"Focus," Talos instructed, losing whatever patience he had left. "Focus... Pegasus, Dr. Wendy Lawson. That's her."

Zaksolx physically felt himself growing sick the longer they played around and messed with components of her mind. His conscience was screaming at him that everything about the situation was wrong and his body agreed as he involuntarily found himself approaching the Kree warrior. His mind was too preoccupied making bad decisions to eavesdrop on the conversation ongoing behind him, so he quickly lost track of his uncle's progress extracting his desired piece of information while he examined the cuffs that contained her.

Suddenly, the warrior's eyes flashed open. Zaksolx jumped back in surprise, tripping over his own two feet as he stumbled to the ground. Her eyes shifted back and forth, noting the machine that connected the charge of electricity to her temples. Although it looked as if she was still dazed, her clarity was slowly returning as she tried to turn her head to orient herself right-side up. The restraints clicked as she tried to turn opposite of her upside-down position.

"Get her back," Talos shouted, "Get her back now!"

"This doesn't make any sense," his lead scientist tried to defend themself as they rechecked their calculations.

"Do we have any information we can act on?" Talos asked impatiently as he briefly stopped pacing.

"Just that Lawson was somewhere on the Planet C-53. We're on our way."

"Then dig, dig, dig, deeper," Talos instructed. "Lawson is our link to that lightspeed engine! And everything we're after..."

The scientist nodded and turned to approach the Kree prisoner, forcing Zaksolx to quickly return to his feet as she closed her eyes to conceal her consciousness. The scientist tapped the center of her forehead and the image on the screen twitched.

"Oh. That did something." The excitement of Talos's voice rose. "Try that again."

The scientist tapped on her forehead twice more before noticing that the metal restraints around her wrists had begun to glow orange. "Oh-uh."

As the heating metal broke, the warrior freed herself from the rest of her restraints and started to fight back against her captors. As one of the Skrull guards raised their weapon, Talos lowered it. "Not yet!"

The warrior didn't hesitate to take out the last of the guards before charging toward Talos. She forced him up against the nearest table and held one of the glowing orange restraints against his head. "What did you do to me?"

Talos winced uncomfortably. "We're just after a little information."

"What did you put in my head?" she asked again with less patience, her teeth gritting closer together with every spoken syllable.

"Nothing that wasn't already there."

She frowned while continuing to speak through gritted teeth, "But those aren't my memories."

"Yeah, it's like a bad trip in there. I'm not surprised you can't keep it straight." Talos tapped his own temple for effect. "They really did a number on you."

The restraint glowed brighter as she shoved it closer to his face. "Enough of your mind games! What do you want?"

Talos grimaced in pain. "We're looking for the location of a Doctor Lawson and her light speed engine."

Her eyes narrowed. "I don't know any Doctor Lawson."

"Really?" Talos asked unconvinced. "Then why is she in your head?"

The conversation provided enough time for several more guards to enter while offering a distraction that allowed Zaksolx to leave. He wasn't a fighter, and he knew where his strengths lay. He was handy with a few tools and knew his way around an engine room, but holding a blaster was foreign territory that he wasn't willing to experiment with. He shuffled past the troops that rushed toward the control room to restrain the Kree warrior. She was fierce with determination though and he could easily see that she had no intentions of backing down from the fight. Another excellent reason to leave.

He closed the door behind him as he finally reached the safety of his own quarters. However, he was unable to release the tension that had built up in his chest. Slowly, he entered his bathroom and stood in front of the mirror that he'd felt ashamed to stand before earlier. His fingers slowly drifted up to his face and felt along the ridges of his angular green features. His face contorted with displeasure as he threw on the knob to his faucet. He quickly splashed water onto his face and as he lifted his head to once more check his reflection, he looked at the delicate pink features different than he had before.

He sort of looked like her in a way: Kree. His hands brushed over his face again, but this time he didn't pull away, repulsed by the appearance that the others looked down upon. For a brief moment, he saw that same look in his own eyes that he'd seen in the memories of the little girl. A feeling of what he almost mistook for pride swelled up in his chest, exhibited by slight puffing as he looked himself over, pleased with what he saw.

He strutted back toward the entrance of his room and opened the door, hardly checking the direction of traffic. He should've looked harder because the second he stepped foot over the threshold, he was rammed into the ground. One hand clutched his head that had started to throb while the other held his ribs that had immediately felt like they'd bruised. He blinked a couple of times to clear his mind before realizing that it had been the Kree warrior herself who had run into him.

The two scrambled backward across the ground, distrust for one another on their faces while they maintained eye contact. Her eyes narrowed as she slowly rose to her feet, looking at him as if she either recognized him or didn't understand him.

Subconsciously, his hands drifted toward his ears wondering if his shifting had finally failed and revealed his "deformed" appearance. Feeling the soft cartilage of his ears, he subtlety sighed with relief.

"Ze-Los?"

"P—pardon?" Zaksolx stuttered in confusion. She had completely lowered her defensive stance with her question as if she no longer saw him as a threat.

"I recognize your face." She spoke slowly and her tone was still full of distrust as if remembering that she'd been captured and trapped aboard a Skrull vessel. "It was included in the report with Soh-Larr... a Kree spy compromised on a mission several months ago..."

He quickly realized that there were only two ways to play the situation: telling the truth or lying to her. The issue was he couldn't hesitate to make a decision either or whatever he said next wouldn't be believable. He quickly nodded his head, agreeing with everything she said. "I am Ze-Los."

She took a step back. He'd waited too long. She didn't believe him and that was clear as she raised the glowing orange cuffs as an attempt to defend herself. "This is just another Skrull trick. Reveal yourself Skrull scum."

"I am Ze-Los." Zaksolx cowered back a step rather than moving closer. The way he stuttered almost made his lies believable. "They—They did something to my mind... I—I don't remember how I got here or how long I've been here... please... I... I need help."

The was something genuine about those last three words. Her gaze softened as she no longer saw a potential Skrull, but a broken ally. A man who didn't know anything about who he was aside from a name. It was a weakness for herself as her hand drifted toward the broken dog tags usually kept around her neck. His eyes had drifted toward the ground in submission while her gaze shifted back and forth to ensure the coast was clear. Slowly, as if she might regret her decision, she sighed and motioned with her head for him to move closer. "Let's go."

His eyes widened and he looked up in surprise. "Go?"

"Yes." She nodded her head with less patience. "We can't stay here."

Zaksolx slowly nodded his head in agreement as he thought up a plan to free her. "You can use the escape pods."

"We."

He concealed the gulp caught in his throat as he asked for further clarification. "We?"

"I was sent on a rescue mission and you d'ast-well better believe I'm rescuing someone's ass today," she retorted with hostility. "There's no way I was captured for nothing... I won't be played the fool."

His confidence shattered into a thousand insignificant shards as hers was fortified. As if she knew where she was going, she strode forward down the next corridor, fighting the group of guards that had attempted to block her path. He watched in awe as she easily overpowered all that opposed her. She only stopped when surrounded by two separate parties of Skrulls. Her confidence never dropped though. She lifted the restraints into the air. "You wouldn't know how these things come off would ya? No? Fine."

She continued the fight while restrained, urging Zaksolx to follow from behind as the next set of guards tried to catch up. The restraints glowed a brighter hue of orange as the warrior placed more effort in igniting her own personal power. However, the room shook with instability in the process. As the restraint snapped the cuffs, the blast perforated an enormous hole in the wall, sucking everything into the vacuum of space. Zaksolx swore under his breath and sprinted toward the doors but the force of the air sucked him back. A hand reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him to safety. He panted with relief and exhaustion, looking up with gratitude toward his warrior savior. She simply offered a nod of acknowledgment in return.

From there, it was fairly simple to reach the pods. However, just as the final preparations were made to leave, a blast was fired into the pod, frying some of the wiring of the controls. The damage went unnoticed though as Talos stepped forward with a taunting grin. "Leaving so soon? We're just getting to know each other."

In a spout of frustration, the warrior shot a blast of energy from her fist directly as his head. He managed to duck beneath the blow, but Zaksolx remained concerned for the safety of his uncle. The warrior paid him no more attention as she pressed the ejection button and the pod was fired out from the ship.

Unprepared, Zaksolx was thrown forward to the ground while the warrior comfortably strapped in as if preparing for the worst. His voice vibrated with the turbulence and tickled his throat as he tried to speak. "What now?"

"I find someplace to contact my Starforce squad," she replied, but the answer was short and without much additional explanation. Many of the alarms and warning signals started to flash on the screen, revealing that most of the escape pod's operations had malfunctioned. She swore under her breath as she tried to fix the most important ones, but no actual progress was made. She groaned in frustration, brushing her hair from her face before turning toward him with a cocky expression as if everything was perfectly fine. "I'm Vers."

Zaksolx's eyes widened in horror as he looked out through the pane of glass barely protecting them from the heat of entering C-53's atmosphere. He could feel the fear welling up inside his chest while his eyes threatened to roll up inside of his head; instead of instantly panicking, he visibly paled and muttered under his breath. "Flark... we are going to die."

She didn't disagree which was all the more concerning as the pod actually exploded into dozens of fractured pieces, throwing them from the remains to crash down into the Blockbuster store on the planet's surface.