Editor's Note: The following is the first chapter of a serial story.

By James Chapin

“The pieces have scattered,

a flower plucked of petals,

I am picking up its pieces,

to retain those lost memories of you…”

Chapter One

A battle left undone…

A man strutted down the streets, his black shoes slapping against the pavement as his coat danced around the backs of his legs. The coat shone white under the yellow sun, black sharp edges surrounded that white, showing where the fabric ended and began. The man kept his coat open, revealing his black t-shirt and black jean pants. He stopped at an abandoned building, turning towards a closed, beaten door. The man brushed his long, white hair out of the way as he tapped the nodes placed above his ears. His hair cast a messy shadow, as if he had just rolled out of bed.
"Gestalt." The man spoke in a commanding voice before opening the door.
"Welcome aboard captain!" A young male voice called from the downward corridor, welcoming the captain as he stepped into the threshold.
"How're the repairs coming, Mouse?" the captain asked.
A small sixteen-year-old boy crawled out from the air ducts connected to the ground. His dark red hair was spotted with soot and he was wearing a tight maroon t-shirt and blue jeans. He sat up.
"Gestalt will be moving again in a couple of days. We need to let the engines cool down, you really shouldn't have tried to enter warp on an airship you know..." Mouse shook his head.
"If only warp were possible,” the captain sighed.
Mouse shook his head. "Snipes are vicious fighter ships. You didn’t have another choice, did you?" he mumbled to himself before turning back to the air duct. "I need to tighten the power cell’s clamps, crew meeting's at seven central, right?" Mouse asked, climbing back into the duct.
"Yeah." The captain nodded, venturing down the corridor towards a brightly lit room.

"Good afternoon Lancy!" A twenty-one year old man with dark brown hair waved from the metallic table next to a large plate glass window that overlooked the clouds. The light from the sun spilled into the room.
"Afternoon Monty." Lance nodded, tossing his coat onto the nearby chair. "How're the wolves?"
"Molly's doing fine, but the new one has yet to be named…" Montegro replied, looking back out the window.

A red light spilled into the room, as the alarms sounded blared. "Lance, Montegro, Sie, report to the teleport room immediately for departure," a commanding female voice boomed over the loudspeaker system.

Lance and Montegro jumped from their seats, stumbling into a sprint down the corridor. Turning a sharp left, Lance bounced his back off the metal paneling to perfect the corner. Montegro slammed his shoulder attempting the same maneuver as he followed, regretting his mistake. Lance burst down into the command room, red painting the walls in alert.
"Good afternoon." The ship’s female commander hopped out of the captain’s chair in salute.
"What’s the alert?" Lance asked, gasping for air as Montegro stopped behind him, gripping his arm in pain. The female commander flipped her long, light brown hair, turning to the window and pointing outside. In the midst of a large group of golden puffy clouds were a smaller group of black ones. "A storm?" Lance’s voice squeaked as he brushed off the emergency.

A woman wearing a light red jacket spun around in a station chair by the window, a headset in her ear. Her brown hair was dyed red by the alarm lights. "Look again, sir." The ensign pointed to the clouds, the glass window zooming in on the area she had pointed to. A small, dark metal craft could barely be made out in the dark clouds, slowly making its way across the sea of air.
"Did Midnight betray us!?!" Montegro exclaimed in disbelief. The ship’s design was much like Gestalt’s, only tinted a shadowy iron color and emitting storm clouds.
"Looks pretty grim," Lance replied calmly, "Who spotted this ship?"
"Ensign Sie did, captain," the commander replied.
"Thank you, Kriss, and Ensign, thank you." Lance nodded, leaving the command room, turning his head as he made his way out. "Montegro, Kriss, you're with me. Ensign, you have the bridge," he commanded, followed quickly by Montegro and Kriss.
"Lancy?" Montegro asked.
"Not now..." Lance turned right at the end of the corridor. Before long, the group arrived at the hangar of Gestalt.

Lance turned to the two top members of his crew. "We're going for a polite political visit, please refrain from using the high setting on Speed and Blast," he commanded, pulling Accuracy out of his belt, opening its side panel and tapping buttons as he walked down the steps into the bay. Montegro and Kriss did the same with their weapons, following him carefully. "Shadow Gestalt..." Lance mumbled.
"Sounds pretty cool," Montegro smiled.
"Got that right!" Lance laughed, hopping into the side of a drop ship and taking the controls. Kriss looked confused.
"How can you two stay so calm and playful when we’re about to face a crew that may be far better then us?" She asked, grabbing a pole beside Montegro.
Lance focused on the screens that came to life as he hit ignition. "Please, Kriss. We are and forever shall be Midnight’s greatest squad." He grinned, opening bay doors.
"Yeah," Montegro agreed. "What other crew is made of twenty-year-olds and teenagers?" He added sarcastically, swinging his hips at Kriss, who scoffed in response.
"Not even in your sick little fantasies." She winked, contradictory to her words.

Lance flew the drop ship close to the second Gestalt. When he entered the dark clouds, a signal filled their computer system; the screens that once glowed blue flickered out, and returned with a full color picture. A tall boy about Lance’s age appeared. They looked almost the same, except the hair of the second captain was gray instead of white, and his jacket was a reversed copy of Lance’s, with white lining and black base.
"Hello, Lance, long time no see." The second captain smiled.
"Cicil..." Lance noted in shock, covering it up with a smile. "How long has it been?" He retained his laid back image, putting his feet up on the console.
"About two years. Sarah is now the leader of the Warship Twilight Devastation, you know," Cicil commented.
"Before me?" Lance asked in mock surprise.
"That’s right." Cicil flipped his head in response. "But I aim to take her out..."
"Already to your plot? You don't waste much time." Lance sat up. "And we have to stop you, right?"
"Generally, that’s the idea. However you could either join us, or we could take you out," Cicil presented his options.
"First, what happened to Fredrik? I thought he commanded Twilight's warship."
"Lets just say he’s taking a nap." Cicil motioned to his ensign, who flipped the video feed to a holding cell. An emperor penguin lay with his back straight against a wall, knocked unconscious and bleeding horribly. Lance sat in shock, unable to cover the look on his face. Whatever Cicil was saying didn't matter, nor did he care to hear it.
"War it is..." Lance stood up and poked a button, interrupting Cicil mid-sentence. Lance stood in silence before walking to the middle of the standing area of the drop ship.
"Captain?" Kriss asked after a minute or two.
"High power settings on all weaponry," Lance commanded, looking at Montegro. "Fly us to their docking bay before their weapons come back online."
"But the systems-" Montegro was interrupted by the bright blue glow of the screens as they hummed back to life.
"Fly us there. Now," Lance gave him one last chance to fly the ship.

“The pile I’ve made of those petals of you,

The memories have scattered,

Like petals caught in the wind,

A world without you is too painful to bear.”