“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes, they just reported it on the news,” Jessie responded.

“Then, we have to make preparations more quickly than I thought,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Jessie asked.

“I mean, I know what my dreams were all about now. You know how I have been right with my premonitions before. Why don’t you trust them now?” He implored.

"I guess I don't want to give up on the idea of us living in peace in Gwuarden. I thought we could start a new life for ourselves. I don't want to see our lives going back into chaotic situations."

“Jessie, the enemy has only been wounded, not defeated. We should hide out when they try to make their initial strike and then attack them, guerilla style from the jungle,” I said.

“Are you Che Guevara?” Jessie asked, making me laugh for a change.

“No, but I am a person who wants to rid ourselves of the threat of the Sarceastians, once and for all. The first thing we need to do is to call everyone in the community together to tell them about the oncoming threat. Then, we will wait,” I said.

Later that day, a meeting was held in the amphitheater where movies and local productions were put on. There were quite a few of the citizens of the colony there. Many of them had looks of concern on their faces because of the urgent manner of the e-bulletin Yahn sent to their computers and electronic devices.

"Good day, fellow citizens of Gwuarden. I'm sure many of you have been wondering why I've been working so diligently on an underground bunker, and why I called you all to a meeting today. The truth is, sometimes I have dreams that are premonitions of things to come. It is not an uncommon gift amongst my kind. I'm sure that all of you have heard by now that Demarin Goldarn, the Sarceastian military leader has escaped. I'm also sure that many of you know the history that Jessie and I have with Demarin. My dreams tell me that we are going to be attacked. I don't know when but I know it's going to be soon. We have to be ready. I advise that we hunker down and stay in hiding when they initially attack. Then, we pose a counterattack from the jungle," I said, prompting a lot of talk in the crowd. Jessie held my hand and then got behind the microphone.

“My partner, Yahn is right. I have seen predictions of his that have come true. I know what a threat Demarin is. He is likely to come looking for me to carry out his revenge.”

“What are we supposed to do? If this is going to happen soon, how do we have time to prepare?” An older man asked.

“We will have to do the best we can. We can take about two families in our shelter, but that’s all the room we have. If you have storm cellars, stock them up, get inside and lock the doors tight. We want them to find the place deserted when they come. Then when they relax their posture a bit, we will attack them!” I said.

I went around the community helping people to build makeshift shelters and stock up their basements and cellars. It was not a minute too soon. One night when Jessie and I were feeling a little frisky, an alert sounded on our phones. The virtual reality player switched on and we saw an emergency report playing all around us. What it showed was Sarceastian fighter ships approaching Gwuarden. The report stated that the ships seemed to be attempting an attack on the peaceful settlement. It also said that a defense squad from Earth was sent to help Gwuarden mount a defense.

“It is about to start. We have to warn the others and then go to the shelter,” I stated. We walked to the amphitheater in the heart of the community and rang the alarm. It was understood that if someone rang this alarm, it was time for everyone to seek cover. As soon as the alarm rang, I saw several people running home. Once the alarm sounded, I ran back home with Jessie. Just as we entered our house, we heard the sound of an explosion.

“Quickly!” I yelled. We headed to the tunnel and made for the shelter as quickly as we could. We got inside the shelter; I sealed the two sets of doors and guided Jessie to the living room area. Then, I switched on the virtual reality player to see if we could get an update.

“Help!” someone yelled from the outside.

“Let them in,” Jessie shouted.

“I knew there would be some that weren’t prepared,” I said as I began to unlock the doors using the retinal code.

A young human family came in. It was a young man, a woman, and their five-year-old daughter. They could hear the sound of explosions in the distance.

“Get inside quickly!” I urged.

“Thank you so much, the young man said. “My name is Daniel Davis. I began building a shelter, but it is incomplete. If only we had a little more time. This is Jenny and our daughter Rosie,” he said.

“It’s not a problem. I’m actually pleased that we have more people asking to stay here. I have equipped this shelter with plenty of supplies for you and your family. Besides, we don’t have to wait long, I’m afraid before we must fight,” I said. Daniel had large, sad brown eyes. He seemed less than thrilled about this prospect.

“Are you sure we’re going to have to fight?” he asked.

“Would you like to keep Gwaurden from becoming a Sarceastian mining colony?” I implored.

We switched on the virtual reality player. It showed satellite cameras capturing explosions on the surface of the colony. Gwuarden was a small moon of the planet Gelatio and news cameras were now at a safe distance trying to hone in on what was happening.

It seems the Sarceastians are beginning to cease their attack as they are not finding many citizens there. They appear to have vanished. We can only hope that they are in hiding or have escaped altogether. We are hoping to hear back from Captain Thornton soon about the Allied Earth Federation troops that are on their way to the colony on the lush forest moon known as Gwuarden.

“It’s working,” I pointed out. “We must mount our attacks soon. We can’t wait around!” I sent out a message that all able-bodied people who wished to help with the attacks should meet at my shelter. It would be risky getting people to move around, but most of the shelters people had built were some distance away from the main settlement where the Sarceastians had mounted their attack.

The group was so large that it filled the shelter. I wasted no time and got right to the point, “Citizens of Gwuarden, we must attack immediately. Our enemy is puzzled and has ceased their attack to evaluate the situation. This is when we should strike them!”

“Agreed! A muscular young man said.

“Yes, we attack now!” A middle-aged woman said. She was clutching a small laser pistol.

“We will launch a coordinated series of guerilla-style attacks on them until they are persuaded to leave or are completely destroyed,” I stated.

We began our first attack, taking a group of about fifty of us to the edge of the settlement. We saw armed Sarceastian soldiers marching around, but it didn’t appear to be a full army. They had more than likely sent some of their troops off into the jungle to hunt us.

"Now!" I whispered and we came at them with our laser cannons and pistols blazing. Many soldiers were hit and others were in full retreat mode. One of them tried to send a warning to the base, but I shot him with a laser blast just before he was able to get the communication through. Still, it was likely that Demarin would know that a counterattack was taking place soon enough. We retreated quickly back into the jungle and watched as more troops poured out of a Sarceastian cruiser like ants. They were swarming around the area where we had invaded. We attacked them again from the opposite direction, a couple of our people were taken out, but their casualties were much greater in number.

Their survivors began to retreat again. We pulled back into the jungle. Then we went to another position in the forest to carry out our third attack. I knew that this one would be the riskiest because Demarin would be better prepared. This last time, we attacked them from the south, but they shot four of us right away, expecting a third onslaught. Demarin himself made an appearance from well behind several lines of his soldiers. He ended up killing two of the humans and then hastily retreated back to the cruiser. We ended up fighting back and pushing the Sarceastians to a third retreat. There weren’t that many of them left to retreat, so I knew that we had dealt them with a devastating blow.

“Yahn, we have too many wounded. I don’t think we have the strength for a fourth attack,” Daniel said, clutching his bleeding arm.

“That’s alright, Daniel, three may prove to be sufficient. I believe that Demarin came at us with the fullest force he has right now,” I remarked. “You go ahead and lead the others back to safety and ask Dr. Harris to set up a triage for the wounded. I don’t think anyone’s wounds are life-threatening. I want to stick around and keep an eye on what the Sarceastians are planning next,” I instructed.

However, we had made one mistake during our third attack. We did not immediately go back into hiding. Out of nowhere, two Sarceastian soldiers came out of the jungle and took Jessie's weapon. After that, they vanished with her. I desperately searched for them and finally I did catch up with them as they were trying to board the cruiser. I was closing the distance between us very quickly but still I wasn't close enough to be able to hit them with the laser fire.

They boarded the cruiser and took Jessie with them. I was able to climb onto the bottom set of wings as the cruiser was taking off. I managed to crawl to the cargo hold and get inside it as the ship was taking off. It wasn't the place ideal to hide but it was spacious enough that I could sit up or at least stretch out my legs. One thing was for sure. I was going to rescue Jessie from that ship if it was the last thing I ever accomplished. For now, I had to wait patiently for the ship to land. I tried to send Jessie a message to let her know I was there.

Jessie, it's me. I hope this message gets to you. I managed to get on board the ship. I'm in the cargo hold. Wherever they are taking you, I will be there to set you free. I promise you.

Yahn! I'm so glad that you are here, but please be careful. The last thing I want is for Demarin to capture both of us. It would be better if one of us remains free.

We will both soon be free. I will take them by surprise and force them to let you go. Then, we will escape again just like we always do. Nothing in this universe can stop me from getting to you. I love you, Jessie.

I love you too Yahn. I will see you whenever we get to where we’re going. I suppose it’s probably Sarceastium.

I’m sure you’re right about that. Sarceastium is not my idea of a honeymoon destination, I joked.

After several days of surviving on pillaged Sarceastian food in the cargo hold, I could hear that the ship was preparing for a landing.