I am a Siren

...Gaia, alone in the battleroom. Dressed only in a sleek smoky grey CC-Alpha combat suit she stands silently, unmoving, head bowed forward, eyes closed. Her breathing is easy, relaxed as she stands waiting with her hands held slightly away from her body. Her long red hair burnished with gold and umber highlights, glistens in the low light of the massive, empty chamber.

Then the room is filled with noise and motion as a battle rages on all sides. Armored hover tanks rumble across the uneven terrain while Falcon Wing fighters streak through the lavender sky, ruby lasers burning through soft fluffy clouds. In that instant her emerald eyes open, filled with the deadly intent of a jungle cat. A smoky colored panther, she moves low and lithe as she runs through the melee, bent only on her goal of reaching one side to retrieve a beacon then turning round to deliver it to the other. These are the battle exercises she had learned at Enliven re-encoded into the Battleroom\'s holosystem. Her hair flies out behind her, a living flame that dances and chases her in her flight. Nimbly she leaps then tucks and rolls to dart beneath the main turret of an oncoming tank. Turning quickly to she lands on one foot, nimbly spinning on her toes, kicking the combat unit who had risen up behind her square in the chest. Beneath the sound of his muffled grunt was that of cracking bone. He will not rise when he falls. Deftly she moves through the mass of men converging on her, whirling and kicking, punching and dodging as she fights her way to the goal. Yet, in achieving the goal she has only gone halfway.

Leaping to the top of an overturned hopper craft her eyes glow eerily as she focuses on the small crystalline cube resting some few meters away. Once in her line of sight it is hers. It rises into the air and hovers for a moment before streaking through the air. With a hearty smack it thuds against her bare palm and she grips it tight. Then the lights fall low only to return with the room blank and void of all signs of the battle that has just transpired.

The broad-chested man who stands in the open door regards her silently for a moment, then turns and walks away. This is our leader.

I sit watching her from the observation deck. She appears small and slight at first glance. But, it is the compactness of a truly gifted warrior that is concealed in that innocent frame. Delicate and beautiful, I watch as she slips fine black leather gloves over her hands and moves to follow \'the boss\'. Something is afoot for he has summoned her himself, and soon I suspect the rest of us shall be called as well.

...well do these tidings sit with me. It has been long since I have engaged in a battle, tested my mettle against the forces this world can throw at me. I am Furie, warrior of the clan of Van\'eklish Ra, high priestess of the eternal flame. Brought low by a cruel twist of fate this world is my home now, for in the subtle changing of my genetic structure I have become outcast to the very people I served with pride for the better part of my life. Death itself is too high an honor for one who has been defiled as I have by the tainting of my blood. Yet in life there is still honor to be had and on this small, blue green world I shall attempt to find that honor.

I believe it to lie alongside the destiny of the woman I have only just finished watching, her simple workout exercise a deadly challenge in which one wins...or dies. Such is my life now, such is the challenge.

I am an outcast.

I am a warrior.

I am a Siren.