Phantasm 2: In the Shadow of Iniquity (one)

When they reached Pnath they found ruins that had survived the many years since the phantasm occupation. Investigations of the ruins revealed more insights into the identities of the phantasms and soon led to a final stable connection being established between them and the phantasms, allowing them to take form, to communicate and bond with them, to come through Laura who was determined not to enslave them despite what it meant she'd have to do to keep them free.

Laura knew that she had no choice but to escape Pnath. Shamir agreed to help her - not because he shared her belief that the phantasms were being abused, rather because he didn't want to interfere with what she thought was right -, even though he knew it would mean losing her. They managed to hijack a Commonwealth shuttle; James Silverburgh discovered them and Laura was forced to kill him in self-defence.

Finally Laura was free to leave, but her freedom had another final price. Shamir knew that she would become a Rogue. The Chosen would pursue her endlessly and they would use all means at their disposal to find her. They knew they'd had an affair and would take everything he knew of her, all his memories and feelings, and use them to find her. He did not want to betray her and begged Laura to take them from him first so she would be safe. Laura was hesitant but succumbed in the end, removing from Shamir everything within him that knew and loved her. Then she fled Pnath on the shuttle, leaving behind the last ties of her old life, beginning a new one where she would have no peace.

Earth Year 2293.

Twenty years elapsed since Laura fled Pnath. She remained on the run from her enemies for all that time, moving from world to world to elude her pursuers, now including the Shurukian Star Empire as well as the Chosen, never staying in one place long enough to settle or create a serious bond. That was purposeful; to stay in one place increased the chances of her being discovered, and she did not allow herself to become close to anyone, not wishing them to meet the same fate as Shamir. It made life lonely for her. Willow was her only companion, her only true friend, the only person she allowed herself to trust. After a time Laura learnt to stop seeing an image each time she looked at her. The knowledge of what Willow really was always remained and she never truly forgot; rather, more of Willow's personality began to become apparent, more of her character and a part of her ever-elusive soul, and it became easier to see her as an alien more than an image, a friend rather than a graphic.

The war between the Commonwealth and the Shuruk continued throughout the twenty years. It was estimated that close to a hundred million lives had been lost and how many others were destroyed by the conflict was unknown; the numbers of families split apart, the children who would never see their parents again were countless. The Shuruk appeared to be gaining the upper hand despite the best efforts of the Chosen to defeat them. They had captured several worlds bordering Commonwealth territories and had consolidated those gains, making the threat of invasion to Earth and other core-worlds especially serious.

Fighting them was left to the Commonwealth's soldiers and the Chosen, who assumed roles of leadership. The Chosen, however, were proving less effective against the Shuruk than they had in the past. The Shuruk had devised ways to counter their attacks and without their main weapons of war decimating enemy formations, the Commonwealth was beginning to seem fragile, weak. And the Shuruk, boldly, were beginning to hunt Chosen and Rogues as well, attempting to learn more about their abilities and to devise other strategies to bolster or improve their countering methods, incessantly hunting Laura and those like her, those who shared her abilities.

Still, while the worlds of the Commonwealth of Races braced themselves for an inevitable invasion, life went on as it always had. The citizens refused to give in to their fear and continued on with their lives; the cycle of life itself continued. With the shadow of darkness hanging over them all they pretended it did not exist. It was the only way they could survive. All knew that ultimately it would prove to be either their downfall or their salvation. No-one dared say just which.