A universe 350 years in our future.
A tale spanning 1,000 years.
Five teens, lost in space on a living starship.
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Tales of the Antares Rangers
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​​​​   Kel pushed out of his chair and slowly skittered to his chambers in a dark mood.
   I should have killed Silferen. It would have released some of this tension. Kel stretched his back.
   Every inch of Kel's body was throbbing. The muscles attached to his carapace were bursting at the​​ confinement. His internal organs were growing at an exponential rate, and his rigid shell could not keep up with the changes. The strange senses he was learning were also a new and troubling mystery, making it harder and harder for him to concentrate on the smallest of things. It was as though the vision through his compound eyes had tripled, and that frames of time had stuttered and paused as his evolving mind tried to compensate. He flipped open his com to the bridge. "What are they doing?" Kel asked.
   "The Slug squadron is meeting up with their reinforcements. It will take them at least five hours to match our course."
   ​​Kel dragged his depleted body to a darkened corner of his chamber next to four dead bodies of his crew that he had placed there a few days ago. It was nearly impossible to walk now. He grew frustrated when he found his arms barely able to reach the ceiling. He strained higher to reach the distant corner, stretching his arms around the food sacks he would consume. Fibers dribbled out of his mandibles. He gathered in the initial strands and started with the walls. Kel spun his web as quickly as he could.
   The Slugs have given me the perfect opportunity without even knowing, Kel realized. They destroyed the royal family for me, and the time spent between stars now will give me the time I need. How could this be easier? And when I awaken, I will see a new and mighty Wasatti emerge, a race born anew and even more vicious ... and my Nexus will awaken a universe.
   ​​Kel was now totally imersed within his sticky, fibrous, gray cocoon. He pushed against the pliant sides of his clawmade prison and climbed to the top. As he clung to the sides, Kel attached his legs to the mother-strands and turned upside-down, careful to remain close to the bodies of his former crew. Blood rushed to his head in his inverted position, but the biology of his species demanded it. In seven decades, his old, fissured carapace would split open, and a new creature would be born unto the universe, crawling out of the old and into the new. Kel grew sleepy.
   "Status?" Kel asked in a glazed voice.
   "They are pursuing now, General. Contact in two hours."
   ​​​"My time has come. It is time to jump."
   "It is time? General, we should not hazard your life in the next Battle! We should return you to Planet 53469-2."
   ​​"No!" Kel spat. "We have the perfect trap set for them on the other end. The resistance ends now! I will see to it. Besides, sel Chrys is not yet prepared. Her transformation takes much longer. We must also wait for her."
   "As you wish."
   ​​"Proceed, Navigator."
   Kel shut down the connection to his compound eyes and began the dream of kings. The captain of that ship is a worthy adversary. It uses tactics I've not seen from the rest of its nest. It has daring and courage. I shall relish destroying it. It is a Slug that would have made a commendable Warrior. Such a pity that it must be destroyed ....​