Project Phoenix

I sincerely apologize for taking a year (jeez I can't believe it took that long) to write the seventh installment to this series. I had no motivation or will to write and I abandoned it. However I am proud to say that I worked very hard to produce this next chapter. This chapter just came to me in a flood of inspiration. I am starting to really have the outline for where I want this story to go and how I want it to wrap up. This is going to be one of the last chapters before I say farewell to the world of Project Phoenix. The pace is picking up and I focused more on setting up the climax that's in the next chapters and all the emotional upheavals that are soon to come. If there is any serious editing issues I will correct them, if they are minor please politely disregard. As always I appreciate and value all feedback and suggestions.

YaoiLover21xXx

Mitch was fading in and out as he was being dragged down what looked like the rusted out hull of an emergency landing ship. His boots and those of his captors made loud clanking noises as he walked/ half stumbled down the walk ways. He got glimpses of the vibrant Yolaris jungle through holes and tears in the sides of the ships. Mitch could feel the sting where the paralyzing barb was in his chest every time he took a breath; he longed to pull it out but he had a hard time keeping his eyes open and his legs moving.

"In here," says one of the Exploration and Reconncense of Deep Space Program Team members that had been directing him down corridor after corridor. They were in front of a rusted door with the faded letters on it. The ERDS member punch in a code into a dull keypad next to the door and it slowly raised open and they walked through. The room was an old electro-brig with electro conductive gel cells on the walls that pulsed a sickly green color. The ERDS member turned Mitch around and pushed him up against the wall. Immediately the gel attached itself to the Mitch's skin and held him fast to the wall; Mitch felt a light shock.

Other members of the exploration team of the Prudential including Zimms were there and were hastily stuck to the gel-cells along with Mitch about a foot apart from each other. Little white streaks of electricity shot through the green gel every now and then sending slight shocks to the prisoners and making the hair on their airs stand up. The Captain was not among them. The head of the Deep Space Team came in a stood in the middle of the room.

"We have your head of command, but we want to know what exactly what you are doing on Yolaris since he's not talking." He spoke clearing and without losing that threatening tone.

Mitch spoke first. "We don't know anything." Mitch slowly got out through his drug induced haze. With that the Leader went over to the wall closest to Mitch and pressed a red button and a flash of light shot through the green gel into Mitch's section of the cell wall. Mitch let out a scream as an electric shock pierced through his body. The leader of the Deep Space team let go of the button.

"Lies like the one that this solider just told me will be severely punished. Now I don't want to cause unnessary pain but I will if I have to."

Mitch groaned and his had slumped forward, but his body stayed stuck to the wall. He felt like is pores were on fire. The leader again addressed him this time grabbing him but his hair and spoke to him face to face.

"Now, let's try this one more time. Why did the National Federation send a Starship to Yolaris?"

Mitch spit onto the floor and then tried to focus on the Leaders eyes. "To keep the human race alive."

"Alive, huh? And how is that?"

Mitch didn't answer so the Leader proceeded to press the button again which reward him with another shock from the wall.

"Project Phoenix!" Mitch shouted out. "Fuck" Mitch's face was bright red and his breathing was erratic.

"Go on."

Mitch was blacking out. That paralyzing drug mixed with the shock treatment was too much.

Zimms spoke up, "It's an experiment sanctioned by the National Federation to repopulate the Earth. We're the first wave of human trials. We were supposed to go to Riuss 22 but we had to emergency land on Yolaris. Please stop hurting him!"

"Human trials? Continue."

"A NF representative was going to start administering Chemical Synapse Destructive cells to use to help increase the rate of viable male pregnancies. Our captain and senior staff decided to disobey that order to we landed here. We thought it was quantined, no life.

"Ah but that's one place your wrong. My exploration team was sent here with two missions 10 years ago: to help find a new place to move Earths population." The Leader turns to look at Mitch. "Second to find to native population and inter-breed."

Dex opened his eyes and all he could see was white all around him. "Hello! Anyone there!?" Dex looked all around and every direction he saw just a white expanse.

"Dex," Dex felt a small hand on his should; he spun around.

"Kay!" Dex dropped to his knees. "Kay, where am I? How am I...? Am I...?"

"Shhh." Kay smiled down at Dex as he wrapped his strong arms around her waist and laid his head against her soft stomach. "Your safe, but you cannot stay. I've come to take you back."

"Back where," Dex looked up.

Kay just smiled. "There's someone who needs you now. You have to go back to him." She said as she stroked Dex's hair.

"Kay I'm so sorry for what happened. I love you. I never meant for you to see..... Please forgive me." Dex started to cry softly.

"I know you love me Dex, but Mitch needs your love now more than ever. You two will be faced with a heartbreaking decision and you, Dex will be faced with a horrible choice. But go to him now. Your time will come, but it is not today." Kay kissed Dex's forehead and suddenly Dex was falling.

Sick Bay

Dex woke up on a hover medi-cart in what he assumed as once a sick bay but now one of the walls was completely missing and the rest of them were slowly being taking over by the Yolarian jungle. Vines and planets had crept and woven their way into the interior of the ship and the polymer and steel carriage was being oxidized and rusted out by the heavy acidic Yolarian rain. Dex guessed that the ship had been abandoned in the jungle for over a decade.

Dex looked down. He was in laser cuffs attached to the medi-cart and he was still in his exploration suit though there was a large burn in the side of hit. Dex flexed his chest and felt a slight twinge and felt into the hole in his suit, a laser scar. Someone had patched up a pretty deep wound. Dex sat up and swung his legs over the side of the medi-cart and clutched at his side as it protested against the movement. All that was going through Dex's mind was the safety of his companion and the team he had brought into the jungle with him.

Dex scanned the decrepit sick bay for anything he could use to break free from the laser cuffs. He saw that whoever had helped seal his would had left the laser scalpel on a stack of crates a little away. Dex reached out as far as he could, he whole body straining, his side burning from the position and grabbed the laser scalpel. He set to work burning off the cuffs. Soon he was free, and with the instrument in his hand set off into the dilapidated old starship in search of his companion who needed him, just like Kay said, more than ever.

Brig

"Ahhhhhh!!!" Mitch and the others let out another terrible screams as the white electricity shot through the gel cells and entered their bodies.

"Now I know

you

Mr. Zimms are no Captain, so who is? All of you are only making it worse for yourselves? Why stick to National Federation code of honor? They were going to kill you. Inject you with a dangerous chemical but still you remain silent." The Leader who had introduced himself as Sargent Garret Watts started his head and wiped the sweat from his faces then proceeded in a calm voice. The members of the FSC Prudential moaned and cried silently around him, stuck to the tortuous walls.

"Give up your Captain and your pain will be over. My men will see to it that you fed, clothed and get a good night's rest. Now doesn't that sound nice? And you Mr. Zimms you can't keep thinking of yourself. You have another life to think of now, mmmh? What about your child inside you? This can't be good for it, do you think so?" Watts was walking slowly back and forth talking, looking into the face of every member of the Prudential.

"All one of you has to do is give up your superior officer. He will come to no harm I assure you." Mitch shook his head. He knew that was bullshit. He was in so much pain. Every muscle and tendon in his body hurt and his skin seems to be on fire, but he was not in a million years going to give up Dex, wherever he was. Mitch said a silent prayer that Dex was ok and would make it off the ship and back to the Prudential, because he knew he would die in that cell. Little did Mitch know Dex wasn't going to give up on Mitch either.

Dex had gone down countless corridors silently, removing his boots to walk barefoot. Every now and then he would turn a corner and hear some ERDS guards talking or walking down an adjacent corridor. Dex would drop down low and position himself against the walk, the scalpel in his hand ready to strike, but every one passed by without noticing him. The lights were dim but out in most places which cast the whole ship in shadow. Finally Dex saw a map in a communications room that had a map of the ship and he figured that Mitch and the others were probably being held in the Brig, so he set out to find them.

As he approached the still open door he slid to the side, hiding in the shadow to listen to what the guy in the room was saying.

"End your suffering! Why hold on?" The man seemed to be very frustrated as he paced the floor quickly. Dex crouched down low to the ground and peaked briefly in around the corner. Gel-cells...and Mitch was directly in front of him. He could see Zimms and his demolition specialists as well as one other member of his crew, the others were obscured.

"You know what? Let me finish telling you why I and my men are here." The man pulled a metal chair from somewhere off in a corner and sat down in the middle of the room.

"We were sent here by the Nation Federation to explore Yolaris for possible terra-forming purposes. When my team realized that was possible we radioed back to the NF and they gave up the go ahead to start mapping the planet for Deep Drill Settlement. However it was during preliminary set up that we first came into contact with the indigenous population on Yolaris. I'm sure you seen them, those yellow people. They call themselves Ningini, but we call'em Canaries cause of their skins. Now they weren't hostile, but according to regulations we couldn't proceed with the Deep Drill. So the National Federation, just after the outbreak of EDTS issued a new directive, for us to populate with those canaries!" The man shouted this out in an outrage and stomped his feet.

"Now the problem was the Ningini are only male. Now if the National Federation expected my men to turn into faggots and start playing hid e the sausage with some yellow skinned canaries they thought wrong." He spoke in a menacing tone and spit at it feet.

"So we broke from the NF, used our battleships to destroy the NF fleet that they sent and we've been here ever since. We decided to train the Ningini a little with low powered laser rifles for patrols in case the NF tried to step their foot back on this planet, but so far they've kept away....until you guys showed up."

Dex slowly crept into the room. The man had his back to him and was fixated on the prisoners and telling his story. Dex was going to slit his throat before he got another word out.

"Now since you are here then the NF knows you're here and that's bad for me and my men. So-"

Dex leaped at the Sargent and wrapped a burly arm around his throat. The Sargent brought his left arm up just in time to put some space between Dex's muscular bicep and his own throat while he held Dex's wrist and the scalpel away from this jugular. It was a battle of strength and will until the Sargent kicked his chair back and caused it to hit Dex in the stomach. Dex lost his grip and the Sargent jumped up and ran at Dex. Dex blocked the first punch but the second one landed. The blows kept raining down on Dex like hail. Dex ducked low under a right hand and dropping the scalpel brought his own right up for an uppercut under the Sargent's chin.

The Sargent staggered back, dazed. Dex picked the scalpel back up and advanced back on the Sargent. He placed the scalpel in a pocket in his exploration suit and started working the Sargent's midsection over. Mitch started to come to and saw the fighting he didn't know what was going on. He didn't realize it was Dex fighting until Sargent Watts caught Dex with a left hook and Dex stumbled into him.

"Dex!"

Dex looked up into the eyes of his companion and new life came into him. He had to end this and save them. Dex spun around on the Sargent and caught the Sargent's fist in his hand. He held tight and ducked under his harm and twisted it back and brought the arm around behind the Sargent. Then using all his strength, Dex pulled the scalpel from his pocket and jammed it into the Sargent's shoulder blade with a fire hot sizzle.

The Sargent screamed in pain and collapsed to his knees gripping is shoulder and calling for back up. Dex went to the panel next to the button for the electricity shock was and turned the dial to release a fluid that sprayed from the top of the ceiling and doused the prisoners but released them from the gel-cells.

Dex helped Mitch stand because Mitch had collapsed the second he was set loose.

"Mitch! Mitch! Baby we have to go! "Dex was shaking Mitch trying to get him to come to. Mitch opened his eyes and with the help of Dex rose to his feet and promptly threw up and nearly collapsed again. Mitch's arms were a fiery red from the electro shock, his eyes were glassy, and his skin color was a sickly pale white.

Dex heaved Mitch up and shouted for everyone to start running. The Sargent was starting to move and he had pulled a leave pulling the security alarm. Red flashing lights turned on through the dark ship and a horrible buzzing noise echoed throughout it. Dex and Mitch staged together behind the rest of the crew flowing the arrows for emergency exit routes. They could hear ERDS guards stomping and shouting down corridors and behind them. Dex kept checking behind them to make sure they weren't too close.

Suddenly the whole group kept to a dead stop, Zimms at the lead. Dex removed Mitch's arm from around his neck and leaned him up against the wall. "Will you be ok?" Mitch tried to smile and just nodded. Dex frowned, but kissed him and then went to see what the holdup was.

"What is it Zimms?" Zimms just pointed. In front of them was a 7 foot tall Ningini with a laser gun pointed at them. His skin glowed yellow even in the darkness of the ship and his green eyes were fluorescent and piercing. He had beaded bracelets on each arm that went almost up to his elbow.

Dex walked up slowly to the Ningini with his hands out and slightly up in a sign of peace, showing he was unarmed.

"Please we need to get out. Do you understand me? We need to leave. There are bad people here, we must go. Can you understand?" Dex stood still and watched as the Ningini cocked his head to the side and made a few clicking noises in the back of his thought.

"Understand". The Ningini spoke in a low voice that seemed to echo all around them and through them. Dex realized the Ningini was speaking telepathically to all of them.

"Please let us pass. The people you trust are bad people. They hurt others. We need to leave. Please, we need to get out."

"We do not trust. No choice. Guns are pain. Deal for out." The Ningini wanted to bargain.

"Anything." Dex needed Mitch to be safe and their time was running out.

"Out for my people."

Dex nodded. The Ningini bowed his headed then turned around and stepped through the door. Dex ran back for Mitch and heaved him up again. "Ok everyone let's get the hell out of here."

Yolarian Jungle

The group followed the Ningini through the dense Jungle for almost an hour before they came to a clearing in the woods. Everyone was exhausted, but Mitch was coming the paralysis drug finally wore off and he was walking on his own.

The Ningini was just standing in the middle of the clearing. Dex walked up next to him.

"Where do we go now? We need to get back to my ship. I can only protect my people and yours from there. We need to get to the Prudential." Dex was getting annoyed. Why was the Ningini doing nothing?

The Ningini didn't reply. He just pointed at the setting sun. Suddenly a ray of light flash on a boulder and a brilliant, sparling light started to shine there. Everyone walked over to it but kept their distance, afraid to touch it but too curious to look away. The Ningini picked up the object; a giant diamond rotated it and placed it back in a deep fixture in a large stone wall covered in yellow vines. A rumble was heard and then the boulder slowly started to shift backwards first then to the sides revealing an entrance to a tunnel.

"Those tunnel systems! It must be how they travel throughout the planet. INES picked it up on the scan," proclaimed Zimms. He was no worse for wear but his hand never left his slightly round stomach.

They all followed the Ningini into the tunnel and heard the entrance slam shut just as the sounds of the ERDS guards started to drift towards them.