The Phoenix blade.

Nathan rose from his slumber and started making rounds on the ship first checking on the Shi'ar passengers, ensuring they had not left the hold they were placed in. Then making his way over to Warpath and Nightcrawler. They seemed to be in the middle of conversation, so Nathan left them be. On his last stop were Rachel and Xavier. Though when he entered to check on them, he heard something that caught his attention.

" There's the thing that death squad put on my back. The phoenix brand."

Rachel said to the man.

" What about it?"

Charles asked.

" For the last two days, I can feel it getting hot beneath my skin. They know I'm in their territory, professor. The Shi'ar ministry do... And they are tracking me."

Rachel explained apparently scared of the empire.

" Then I'll protect you from them, Rachel. Just like I do for every one else."

Nathan said to the woman making his presence known.

" Captain."

Xavier greeted the man.

" Xavier. If the Shi'ar are foolish enough to come after you, I will keep you safe. That I promise."

Nathan said to the woman.

" Security Breach! Docking bay!"

The ship suddenly alerted the passengers onboard as an enemy ship boarded.

" You two stay close to me."

Nathan said to the two as he powered up.

" I must get to the control room. You two go help the others!"

Xavier said to the man.

Nathan nodded and he and Rachel took off towards the loading bay arriving in time to see Their attacker fell the rest of the team.

" Whoever you are I give you the same warning I gave the others. Leave now. I only want the girl."

Korvus said to the Nathan.

" Captain Atom is my name. And you're crazy if you think I'll let you hurt anyone else on this ship."

Nathan said to the man.

" Captain or not I will not be stopped by the likes of you."

Korvus said to the man as he raised his sword. Korvus rushed Nathan and brought the edge of the sword down on top of the man's head attempting to cut him cleanly in half.

There was a small explosion from the collison, but as the dust cleared Nathan appeared holding the blade of the phoenix in his hand seemingly unfazed by Korvus's attack.

" But how?"

Korvus asked in shock.

" You severely overestimated this blade."

Atom said to the man as he crushed the blade in his hand.

Korvus looked on in shock as his ancestral blade was destroyed easily.

Atom raised his hand and blasted Korvus in the face with the might of a nuke. Knocking the man down. When Atom looked down on the man he noticed an implant.

" I see. A slave of the empire. Then you are not my enemy."

Atom exclaimed. He leaned down and deactivated the man's implant saving his life and freeing him of his slavery.

" I... I came to kill one of yours... And yet you saved me?"

Korvus asked in shock and confusion.

" The Starjammers do not wish to kill all Shi'ar. We only wish to free it from the oppression it is facing. You were a slave. Not an enemy. As such I freed you."

Atom explained to the man.

" Rachel are you okay?"

Nathan asked the woman.

When suddenly another alarm went off.

" Jump Ship Leaving bay."

The ship alerted.

" My Ship!"

Korvus yelled.

" My ship is taking off!"

Korvus yelled.

" How? Those two Shi'ar bastards! I knew I should have killed them. Rachel, can you find Xavier?"

Nathan asked the woman.

" I'm trying... Oh no. oh no no no."

Rachel panicked

" What is it Rachel?"

Nathan asked.

" The professor... He's gone. Charles is gone."

Rachel exclaimed in a panic.

" Damn! We need to rendezvous with the Starjammer as soon as possible."

Nathan stated.

A few hours later.

" Alright Atom, we'll try our best. But things have been kicked into high gear since you've been gone."

Corsair said to the ma.

" Yes sir. Until then I'll try to get us their in piece. Atom out."

Nathan said to Corsair before ending the call.

Nathan hung his head and took a deep breath before walking out of the room and into the command deck.

" Alright, I got in touch with the others. But we're still in hot waters the stargates have been destroyed. And the only way we're going to be able to reach Xavier and Darwin is to create a stargate on our own."

Nathan said to the group.

" And how do we do that?"

Kurt asked.

" If you two are what Rachel has told me you are then we may have a chance."

Nathan said as he pointed to Lorna and Alex.

" And you as well Korvus, that blade can be used to help us."

Nathan said to the man.

" What can Lorna and I do?"

Alex asked.

" Like I said we create our own Stargate. The Shi'ar used cruisers like this all the time before the stargates were built. They made their own jumps. We only need to bring the jump engines back on line... But they'll need a power source. And that's what we will be. Havok, Rachel, Korvus, and I will feed the engines, and Polaris will control them."

Nathan explained.

" What do I do?"

Lorna asked.

" You will need to keep the drive from tearing itself apart. It wasn't made for our energies so you can see why that is dangerous."

Nathan explained to the woman.

" But first the engine will need repairs. Korvus I'm sure you can handle that. The rest of you rest for you will need to be at your best when we attempt this."

Nathan explained to the group before walking away.

Korvus along with warpath and Nightcrawler went to the engine room to see to repairs. Alex joined Lorna in hopes to quell the woman's nerves. Rachel slept in her room. And Nathan rested in his.

' This is such a shit show. I can't think of how things could get... You know what I'm actually not going to say that. Is there anything good going on? I guess Rachel is pretty cute. But that's all I can think of everything else is just hell.'

Nathan thought painfully.

" Ah I need a drink. Let's see what they got."

Nathan said to himself as he got up from his bed. he walked over to the cabinet and pulled out the first bottle he saw.

" Rynkor, this stuff is supposed to be pretty damn strong."

Nathan said to himself before taking a swig from the bottle.

" Ah that'll put hair on your chest."

Nathan said to himself.

Nathan continued drinking alone thinking about everything that has happened recently when the door to his room opened and Rachel stepped in wearing a new and more revealing outfit.

" You need a drink too?"

Nathan asked the woman.

" I can't get you out of my head."

Rachel said to the man.

" Well, you're the telepath can't you just shut it off?"

Nathan asked the woman.

" It's more than that. When you broke the blade. Energy from the phoenix flowed into my body along with some of your memories."

Rachel explained to the man.

" Yeah see anything interesting?"

Nathan asked the woman curiously.

" I saw you're first fight and how corsair kicked your ass. I saw your first love and hos she died tragically. I saw many things."

Rachel said to the man.

" Yeah? Guess the phoenix blade isn't completely useless afterall."

Nathan stated as he took another swig of his drink.

" Mind if I try some of that?"

Rachel asked as she pointed at the man's bottle.

" Knock yourself out."

Nathan said to the woman as he held the bottle out for her to take.

Rachel grabbed the bottle and took a big swig from the bottle gulping it down sensually.

" Ah that'll put hair on your chest."

Rachel exclaimed after putting the bottle down.

" Damn girl. Rynkor is some serious stuff. I've only seen a handful of men and women drink it like that."

Nathan exclaimed amusedly.

" Well, you aren't the only one full of surprises."

Rachel said to the man with a smirk on her face.

" So, what's up?"

Nathan asked.

" I want you to tell me about the phoenix blade."

Rachel explained.

" Straight to the point. I like it. But why don't you ask Korvus?"

Nathan wondered.

" Because I don't like him very much and you seem to know more about it than he does."

Rachel stated.

" Alright, sit. "

Nathan gestured for the chair next to him.

Rachel nodded and pulled out the chair and sat in it.

" Well, the phoenix blade. Guess I'll start at the beginning then. Hundreds of years ago Rook'Shir was possessed by the Phal 'Kon or as you know it the phoenix. He was where the shi'ar legends of the phoenix truly originated. The story they keep quiet."

Nathan explained to the woman.

Rachel nodded and listened to the man closely.

" They knew long ago that the energy could join with those it chose."

Nathan continued explaining.

" But I thought Jean grey was the first person the phoenix bonded with?'

Rachel asked.

" I heard a lot about Jean. She was certainly the perfect host for the phoenix. But she was not the first. There were two others, each ending in disaster. Rook'Shir had the Phal 'Kon for only days and yet he killed many. And somehow when they finally killed him a small piece of the phoenix's power flowed into the blade. But it was not the true phoenix."

Nathan explained.

" No, it's more like a faded blue shadow or an echo of it."

Rachel stated.

" Which isn't a bad thing... It's a lot less power, but it is easier to control."

Rachel explained as she her soft hands-on Nathan's rough and calloused hand.

Nathan took a deep breath and sighed before standing up.

" It's too easy, the blade teaches you how to use it. How to fight, or at least it did."

Nathan explained.

" Even a shadow of the phoenix wants to be used."

Rachel stood up and exclaimed.

Nathan turned and looked softly into the woman's eyes.

" Stop looking at me like that."

Rachel said to the man.

" Like what?"

Nathan asked.

" Like you know me."

Rachel replied.

" In way, I do know you, Rachel. I shouldn't but I do. It's weird ever since you allowed me into your mind I've felt a connection with you."

Nathan explained to the woman as he placed his hand softly over her cheek.

" But what does this connection mean?"

Rachel asked.

" We'll find that out together."

Nathan replied.

The two stared at each other silently for minutes before Rachel spoke up again.

" So, I'm cute huh?"

Rachel asked with a sly grin on her face.

" You like me Huh?"

Nathan asked reminding Rachel of why she chose to come to him over Korvus.

Rachel smiled and allowed Nathan to pull her into his arms and kiss her passionately on her lips. Rachel brought her hand up and rubbed it through Nathan's hair as Nathan did the same. after a few seconds the two finally separated.

" Oh god... We really are in trouble now."

Rachel said to the man.

" Rachel, I've known nothing but trouble all my life. Trust me we'll survive."

Nathan said to the woman before kissing her again.