The Gates Open

"Thing one, are we ready to begin the annexation of the Brane*?" asked The All Father of Dragons.

"Soon we need to finish buffering your mind so you aren't lost in the random data and can subdue it," replied Thing one

"Loaded and ready we just need to alter the strings* and find the point in time before the macro atom* exploded," Thing two said.

"Excellent now I need to begin an e- shift*. This may take a few," stated The All Father.

The All Father draws energy into his being casing his entire body to become plasma then to become pure energy The energy was then gathered into a cylinder designed to hold his being and travel through the void. The cylinder black as midnight was then place on a modified launcher. The Launcher was designed for one thing power. A huge barrel of carbon grids* attached to a rotating platform. A lone wire connected the monstrosity to the main computer in the Things lab. This computer controlled hundreds of beacons that would invert a string so it would loop back on its self.

"The beacons are ready, the cannon locked and The Father is secure," Said Thing one.

"The system is hot firing!" replied Thing two

Above Terra,* the sky twisted. It became a spiral of stars surrounding the world. Everything spun counter clock-wise. At the heart was single silver light. That was the target the cannon fired. The cylinder rocketed toward it as it neared its target The Father left it and flew head first towards it. As he neared it the Temporal Constance Barrier* (TCB) activated and sent a surge of radiation at The Father. He countered by absorbing it into him self making himself stronger but unstable. He crossed the TCB to emerge at the start of time as we know it. He wrapped himself in his power to prepare for his merger with the macro atom.

1

He gazed around at this empty world only two lights himself a dark light that defied nature by its existence for it should not be possible for the something darker then the void to exist. The other the macro atom's silver shapeless mass. Here The Father could insure his people would never be harmed by any force artificial or natural. My people's insurance policy. The Father mused. The two lights orbited each other in the void then the darkness lunged at the silver mass. The Darkness was engulfed, but the silver light was tainted by the darkness. The Father was now being bombarded random noise, color, shapes, even memories. The light also tried to overpower The Father tried to neutralize him, but he was ready after a fraction of a second he regained him self and pushed back. He began to engulf time, gravity, matter, energy, and whatever else that has and will exist.

It all became him. I am whole my children my family now I can insure they will thrive and spread. Now I must disrupt the balance that exists inside the atom or should I say me? With this act I open the Brane to new realities and possibilities eternity belongs to the Draconians*! The All Father thought. Creation began with the natural forces of the Brane destabilizing and cascading out of control expanding the brane. The All father mused. Within the macro atom those exact forces were being pushed out of balance. Creation started with a bang. The macro atom exploded creating so much heat and released so much energy that Exotic Physics* occurred. The sight was nearly indescribable the Macro atom exploded in a mass conflagration of color that would blind the dim and stun the bright. The blast would have been the All Fathers end, but he wrapped himself in the strings creating a pocket dimension*. He wove the strings into a platinum colored sphere. The brane cooled and matter formed in clouds of dust. From his vantage point The All Father watched this, but He was drained to watch creation and save himself. he almost lost himself. Sleep....I must sleep this act has almost killed me I must rest before my mind is sheered apart by the strain of creation, Mooned The All Father.

The sphere drifted through the void with the new master of the brane inside it.

"Think it worked or did he fail? He should have inverted a string and come home," said Thing one 2

"He could have failed and been nullified by the Brane we would not be effected by it. He also could have gotten lost in the brane or we could have sent him to the wrong on,."

said thing two.

"Well, whatever happened he have to call the Mistress, Sam, Reaver, Tevy, and the council* tell them what happened and hope we live through it. We also need an excuse for letting him do this," Said Thing two

Thing one and two pondered the possibilities The Father must be "alive" because they still exist and the strings intact. He could have been absorbed by the Brane.

"It's agreed call it if we live we live, if we die, shit! You know that Sam will want our heads and the Mistress will want whats left," Said Thing one

"ya," sighed Thing two.

The Things called the council and the Forerunners* telling them an emergency meeting would be held in the tree of life. The Things called the Nexala* for pick up then directed it to pick up the council members.

The Forerunners would ride their Mara-Drakes. The tree of life*, the source of dragon wood*, was The All Father's creation. The tree's trunk is two miles wide and a mile tall. The leaves covering the canopy were tear dropped shaped. They never fell for they were as big as a Mara-Drake and about as heavy. The bark was like an aspens . The roots were as large as a house and where able to support the tree by digging them selves so deep they reached the mantel. Their was only one tree per-world, for no planet could support more then one. The wood itself could be made to take on any color or texture. The wood is ever-living* it can not burn the tree can't be removed. Any object made from it will retain its shape for all time if broken after shaping. The item could be broken in half the halves set near each other and they will fuse back together. The tree has a special function it gathers heavy metals and lined its self with it to make in immune to radiation and most conventional arms. The tree could hold over one third of Terra's people.

3

The Forerunners left their colonies through-out Terra. All roads in Terra fell into one of two categories the grid* or the dragon's road*. The dragon's road was only accessible to people with Mara-Drakes. Today the Honor Guard of the forerunners occupied it. The road is made of stone that was mined from the native areas, for Tevy she followed the blood road for her colony was built on an iron rich area giving the stone a dry blood color. Reaver followed the white road for his home was built on deposits of granite. The Mistress and Sam followed the purple and green. Sam Left his mountain home following the purple. The Mistress left her valley on the green serpentine road.

The Mara-Drake is a hybridization of the komado, Megalaina, horse, and dog. the gene code is patched together by the Draconian retro-virus*. This created a creature that could run 120mph in full regalia (weight one ton). The creature could keep this up for five hours. The creature has four legs that exemplify power. The Mara-drake usually has twelve feet of ground clearance, and stands up to twenty feet. When they rear up on two legs their height is up to thirty feet. The muscles are so dense and uniform that a bullet would bounce off them or be reflected. The body was made to house four lungs, three hearts, two livers, one plyactria, and two of every support organ also stem cell and memory cell containers. The neck is as thick as the legs to support the drakes head. The face of a drake varies from drake to drake to show their individuality. The main recurring traits are their vertical pupils and dark spots that actually are e- pits that could detect a dead watch battery from a mile away. Some drakes have tails that also vary from drake to drake. The reason faces and tail of the drakes vary is so they can have their own identities also the variation don't compromise anything. The scales that are omnipresent in Draconian design come in variation of these bases.

Plate: inter-locking plates of specialized carbon that reduce mobility and speed but make the drake almost indestructible.

Mail: less dense non-interlocking scales that provide more mobility and a degree of protection.

Silk or seconed skin: these small tear drop scales offer almost no protection but their uniform design makes the super motility and fast. 4

The forerunners converged on the tree of life Reaver atop Shredder a purple and black plate Mara-drake. He is a simple Mara-drake. He lives to fight and eat. Tevy arrived from Cosmos* on her drake Cosmos. Tevy marveled at Cosmos. When her people arrived on Terra this was a nuclear wasteland. The All Father had changed that and now native life thrived and construction of draconian homes began. Cosmos is different from other cities. It has skyscrapers and other buildings. Cosmos did things their way while draconians tend to mold nature into their homes these were defying it. This made cosmos stand out as a place where different life styles existed. Cosmos is female silk type with pigment altering cells in her scales. Today she was in a blue mood. Cosmos has a little quirk where she likes to seduce and embarrass her kind for her own enjoyment. The Mistress was atop her mail type Sovereign who was made by the father to protect his mate. Sovereign was know for being overzealous but no one was allowed to chastise him for it. Sam never rode atop a drake he had The All Father modify his being to allow him to be a runner at the cost of a large chunk of his physical strength.

The councilors* and the Things arrived on the Nexala (violent death on leathery wings) the flag ship of the fleets and the largest ship to ever exist as far as any draconian knew. The Nexala came into geosynchronous orbit over Terra's one land mass Pangaea*. The councilors and Things were ready for a hard drop* so they would not be late. The groups were loaded into jumper pods* and fired a half mile from the tree of life.

Sam and the Mistress waited at the main gate to the tree to greet their friends and peers. The gate is a large mass of assimilated stone turned into living rock*. Sam and The Mistress passed true draconian homes on their way to the tree. The homes are stone and plants that have been raised. The area near the tree was serpentine rich. The homes had been shaped by wind and rain held together by the same cells that make up the great tree. Flowers and trees line the mounds and spires. The dwelling are one with the planet native life uses them as foundations and habitats. Draconians don't fear wild life they live symbiotic with it. Some dwelling are homes too large predators and others to their prey. This is a place where one can go to see what is means to be draconian. The forerunners and council rode in two abreast and then split into their rooms that were assigned when the tree was grown. 5

The meeting would start in a few hours so they groups would wash of the filth of travel and put on their ceremonial regalia*. The meeting would take place in the core in Life's Apexis were. The Apexis is a hemisphere with a round table in its center. Half the room was blood wood. This is the councilors side. The other is ebony. The the forerunners' side seating went thusly The All Father, The Mistress, Sam, Tevy, Reaver, The Things. The councilors went in order of districts one - eight. Each person had an entrance to the Apexis that was opposite their seat. The first to enter the Apexis was The Mistress. Her body is The All Father's finest work. Though The Mistress made the virus The Father molded it. The feet were the a typical mammalian base with a homo-sapien toes mounted with medium sized claws with a sixth claw on the heel. Her legs are sculpted for grace and elegance. They flowed like water but could be hard as stone. Her torso is a perfect hourglass, a tight core and ample bosom and a bottom that still made the forerunners drool. Her arms mirrored her legs except she has large poison glands in her shoulders. The glands give her powerful looking shoulders. Her and was sapien based but her fingers were plated with razor sharp claws. Her face personified reptilian charm her eyes could change color with thought and her vertical pupils seemed fathomless. Her e- pits were hidden by the dark colors she chose to wear today. No draconian has sapien ears but membranes that channel sound into the ear. Sam marched in next. He is a Draconian at then genetic level but at the physical he would appear to the casual observer as a huge werewolf. The is some what true but under his ebon coat are e- pits and hidden gills* also retractable claws. This lupus creature was know as the brother of The All Father for two reasons. One is that The All Father referred to Sam as "my brother" the other is that Sam is the only man that The All Father loves. The two take their places Next to enter is Tevy she used the mistresses body as a rough for her own. She of course had The Father review it but the final call was hers. The only real changes she made are the hands and feet that are reptilian based as well as a smaller bosom and bottom. She also has a tail with a recurved blade on the end. The blade is hollow and can pump necromantic poison into the victim.

6

Reaver entered he took the assault design (bozak*)and strapped an extra ton of muscles to it. He has a squat muzzle and no wings or tail the best way to physically describe him is as a mountain of muscle. The Things entered next. They are twins that can almost never be told apart they do their best to change their scale designs and demeanor but some how the alway end up looking alike. They are Arclaw* variants they have no claws, poison, wings pigment cells or any extra part not devoted to brain power. They have scaled sapien bodies and squat muzzles.

The meeting begins as it always has and will with the oath. "we are the forerunners we preserve the draconian tradition and spirit. We keep impart the lessons of the past to those who come after us," the forerunners chanted.

"we the council take these lesson and bring them to the present we insure the futures promise and the ensure a content present," responded the council.

The All Father wakes as he always did was he asleep for and hour, a day, a life time? He couldn't say. He discovered that thinking was a hazard in his new form. He thought of people he had met at one point in time only to find the person in his cage unable to breath in the pocket dimension. He once tried to flex his arm to find it was apart of a spiral galaxy. He was close to being able to leave his cage but he found he couldn't control the power he had gained. He need to master himself to grasp these truths. The biggest is that he is all that will be and has been, yet he is independent of it. The next is how to use the power with out disrupting the branes nature order. He knew he had to leave his shrinking cage. The universe was contraction in on its self. If he did not leave soon and return to Terra he would be lost. The strings would not be able to be inverted if the universe became the macro atom again.

"Mistress, forerunners, councilors The All Father attempted to merge with the brane. We explained the risks after he contacted us. We owed him as everyone in this room owes him. We all have asked favors that we wanted kept quiet at one point in time and he has never turned down an unrealistic request. The Father has not been heard from since the attempt," Thing one declared. 7

"You let him merge with the brane with out council approval or forerunner consent. You two could have destroyed the brane. We all know he has wanted to do this since the draconian were first born. We remember how he would stare into the void muttering about the unknown. He feared one day we would face a threat we may not be able to handle. He wanted to be the shield and sword of the draconian people!" The Mistress yelled.

"We owed him, you owe him to!" the Things yelled back.

" No excuse we turn a blind eye to some of you more dangerous experiments but not this time. You are putting creation on the line!" The councilors proclaimed.

The meeting fell into chaos the councilors wanted the Things put on trial. Reaver never spoke but was contemplating smashing in the Things heads. Sam stared at them lost in memory of how his brother made him and the times they had run with the pack* in Terra's pole. Tevy called her consorts for advice and to have the Things Banned from cosmos. The Mistress had withdrawn into her self. She had lost her mate her other half. The two were to part on one being though they did not speak so much in words then in sound and energy. They had sired the draconian created the forerunner designed the council. They knew each others weakness and strength. She remembered their days exploring deuterium seas and flights through gas giants. Her nursing the father when his disorder flared causing the negative aspects of his being came to the forward. She had tried many methods to cure the episodes sedatives, induced torpor, nothing worked except ambrosia*.

She snapped she wanted the Things dead. She wanted them erased from existence like they had done to her mate. True he had forced them into it but like the Things said they owed him. But, she thought they still should have called her. The Mistress lunged from her seat at the Things extending her hidden arm blades. The blades were made of bone they could not kill a Bozak but an Arclaw would be gutted like a fish. She sliced at Thing one he brought his arm to attempt to block the blow only to have it sliced off and have a part of his face cut open. As the arm fell his blood rocketed out then stopped but the damage was done that blow would not kill a draconian but could send then in to torpor from blood loss. The Mistress turned to Thing 2 and pointed her bloody blades right at his plyactia. 8

No one moved to stop The Mistress or assist the Thing they watched. The councilors thought this would be better then trial The Mistress would have her vengeance and the population would be happy with these results. Reaver didn't care we wanted them dead anyway. Tevy was recording the event on her camera to show to the people of cosmos. Sam was pissed he didn't leap first but this will do he knew better then get in the Mistress's way. The Thing grabbed his chair and tried to use it to fend of the berserk Mistress. Her blades were reflected by the dragon wood chair but she did not stop. The thing knew she was not fighting with her head or she would have killed him. She slashes had no form she was berserking. When she cooled off she would pull out his plyactria and bleed him dry. He thought of escape but knew their was none he was going to die. The Mistress kicked the chair from his hands pined him and pulled back her arm. She was about to finish him when a strange light started creeping through the Father's entrance. It was like looking at a new level of darkness. From that light came the All Father. He stood before his entrance. Here is the most powerful being to ever exist. The world seemed drawn towards him. Looking at his body the draconian felt power, a power so vast it took up all the space in the Apexis yet it all came from one draconian. He walked forward to his mate. She gazed at him he was as she remembered the tallest draconian his midnight wings that were so large he could wrap the two of them in it. His arm thick at a dragon wood limbs and muscles carved by years of trial and error gene mods. Legs that with one kick could fell a Bozak. His epic chest and face. The scales that were a mixture of shadow and platinum. "My mate please get off the Thing. He only did what I asked and even then because I called in his debt," the All father stated evenly.

For a second The Mistress was in shock in the blink of an eye she retracted her blades and slugged the All Father in the jaw knocking him off his feet. "Why the FUCK did you try merging with the brane without are consent! If you failed none of this would exist! I don't care what reasons you have but this crosses the line! The Mistress yelled.

"I know I was stupid but I did it," the All Father said.

9

The councilors and forerunners heard this and the reality of what the All Father had become hit home, He is the Brane. He is everything. " Let us not bicker over what has happened we have all the time in the world. For what is time to ones such as we? For now let me explain what happened and help the Thing up and bring him here," the All Father Said.

The All Father laid his hand on the Thing's flash. The Things arm was reattached and the blood that he lost was replaced.

"This is but a fraction of my new power. This was to the councilors and forerunner. "Thing it worked," The All Father stated.

"I AM HOME!!"

yelled the All Father.