Many years later......

The war against the Skaylors raged on and on.  Millions upon millions of people were dead.  Years had passed and the soldiers from different factions had learned that they must work together and fight hard in order to survive.  There were no half measures - you had to be fully engaged 100% all the time.  Any lapse of concentration, laziness or weakness would mean certain death.  The children of soldiers that died fighting the Gen 2 Skaylors would endure the same horrors and struggles - and yet worse against the Gen 3.  Space City had fallen, Clone City had fallen and most of the Red Star settlements were in ruins.  There were no more rallies, no disco music - no sports and no fun.  The Blue Falcons had channelled their efforts into building fleets of ships for the armies.  They were working at full capacity and struggling to supply enough ships.  The ships were getting destroyed very quickly.  For the Black Hawks it was an opportunity for looting, but they were careful not to get close to the battle.

The Golden Eagles losses were catastrophic, but the Clones situation was even worse.  Their entire race had almost been wiped out.  They would have been totally extinct if it wasn't for the FSG protecting their Cloning Facility.  People of other races were fighting with each other to try and get inside the shield where they would be safe from attack.  They would drag Clones out from the shield so that they could get inside.  But even those that were fortunate enough to be inside the shield had little to eat or drink.  Occasionally they would receive shipments of supplies - if the armies were able to provide them.  Many had sacrificed their own lives to get supplies to the people in the Cloning Facility.

There had been panic and confusion.  Some people had been forced to become selfish - just to stay alive.  Desperate people were fleeing in all directions and food and supplies were scarce.  The Skaylors hunted and mopped them up as they scoured the land and patrolled in their Deployment ships, Interceptors and AT-ATs.

Everyone was exhausted and pretty much everyone had lost hope that they could ever defeat the Skaylors.  As the people hid, starving, they shared tales of bravery.  There was one man who had become legendary - The Vigilante.  There were many accounts of Vigilante coming to the rescue of people on the battlefield and how he had smashed many Skaylors, infiltrated their outposts and destroyed them.  Some of the stories were fabrications and others were true.  In these desperate times, everyone needed a hero to believe in.  The one named 'The Vigilante' had become that for them.  Years earlier, they believed that there were several or maybe many members within 'Vigilante', but over time - when all the different witnesses accounts had been gathered - it seemed to be a man fitting the same description every time.

The Skaylor armies continued fighting relentlessly.  Their armies grew larger and their technology being constantly upgraded and improved.  Then the tall bots arrived - Gen 4 Skaylors.  That was it - everyone was doomed.  Some blind, deaf people had managed to escape, but they were unable to fend for themselves and didn't survive long.

For days, The Vigilante Snow Tank powered across the snowy wasteland of the Red Star territories.  Vigilante went to the turret and squinted to the horizon - everything was white... apart from a tiny dot of red.  Maybe he was hallucinating.  He drove the tank in the direction of the red dot and could see that it was a person running.  As he got closer he could see something else behind the red dot - several Gen 3 Skaylors were gaining fast.  His reactions had become razor sharp.  He fired at the Skaylors and hit most of the targets.  Some of the Skaylors were able to dive out of the way of his shots.  As the red figure got closer he could see it was a girl.  Tears were running down her dirty face and she was breathing rapidly.

'Quick - climb up onto the tank!' he shouted.  'Get inside!'.

The girl climbed down into the lower area of the tank.  There was a bed in the back.  She lay on it, shaking uncontrollably and crying.  Her trembling was caused by a combination of hunger, fear and cold.  She could hear more gun fire going on outside the tank and feared that the owner of this tank may have been killed.  After a while though, the man climbed down into the main area of the tank to check on her.

'You don't have to be afraid now - You are safe' he said reassuringly.  His voice was softer now.  He had barked at her at first and she wondered what kind of brutal man he might be.  She couldn't speak.  He went to the front of the tank and brought her some bread.  'Here - eat this' he said.  She rammed the bread into her mouth like a wild animal.  Vigilante reached toward her... she backed off.  He smiled at her revealing crows feet at the corners of his eyes.  He had a deep scar on one cheek and his skin was rough.  He had aged since the days he built the FSG dishes for the Clones.  The climate in the Red Stars territories was not easy on the human body.  This time she let him wipe a tear from her cheek.  She tried to ask him 'Who?  who are you?'

'Sshhhh' he said.  'Get some rest now.'  He went to the front of the tank and started driving.  The motion and quiet drone of the tank soon sent her off to sleep.