Fengili was an old world with soft hills rather than mountains and calm lakes rather than stormy oceans. Much of the world was covered by grassy plains, forests were concentrated on a long continent in the Southern Hemisphere and there was no deserts. The weather was generally mild, storms and heatwaves were very rare and snow was unheard of. Naturally, this type of world was turned over to farming. Fields of vegetables, grain and rice only accounted for a small part of the landscape however and all this produce would be exported to other worlds in the Alliance.
So no one thought much when the cargo ship landed on the hardstanding of the docking port south of the main town. The cargo master was idly playing with his small daughter when it arrived unscheduled, so he asked one of the port workers to keep an eye on her while he checked the ship's paperwork.
Two men exited the ship, their demeanours somewhat ice cold and oppressive. The cargo master glanced at their expressionless faces with a shudder, but fixed a smile upon his face as he approached them. "Welcome to Fengili. We were not expecting any ships this week. Could you state the reasons for your visit?"
The men did not answer. Instead came a loud chittering noise and the cargo master looked in horror and disbelief as their ship disintegrated into billions of small pieces, which then spread across the ground as if a dark silvery liquid. This 'liquid' rushed towards him and the port and it was then that the cargo master realised it was made up of tiny creatures no bigger than a coin. His panic did not freeze his limbs nor make him instinctively flee, instead he ran towards his small daughter hoping to save her life even if he could not save his own.
But the strange swarm of creatures caught him first, enveloping him in darkness so that the last thing he was able to see was one of the two men approach his daughter. He screamed out her name in his heart.
Sometime later, the two men stood side by side, the landscape was quiet as if the small creatures had not invaded it. Besides their feet was the quietly sleeping corpse of the small three year old child. Clutched in her hand was a metallic bracelet which did not shine in the light of the sun. One man looked questioningly at her form.
The other responded passively; "The body was incompatible." The first nodded then turned away to glance at the many fallen men in the port, who slowly rose to their feet. There was no panic nor fear upon the faces of the men, who had so desperately tried to flee not so long ago. In fact their faces were as expressionless as the two men who had first arrived. All turned away from the corpse of the child.
Deep down, there was an ache in the heart of Guran Vi Du, who silently apologised to the child he had just killed, sparing her the true nightmare of what had happened.
*****
"Bored," Law complained. He and his twin had been locked within their room as the ship made port on a bustling planet in Imperial space. They were now sixteen, but the Captain still refused to let them wander free. Of course, the brothers could free themselves if they truly wished too, but it was too much of a hassle.
Rumour of their existence had long since spread through black market channels, so there were several elite monstrosities out there seeking them for novelty purposes; both men and women! It also seemed as if their birth family might be looking for them. Law had no interest in seeking out this family of theirs and therefore neither did Luck. Plus being on the Sabine meant it was easier for them to use the hidden network as an extra resource for their investigation... not that that was going to well either.
"The galaxy seems to have stabilised," Luck had mentioned when they had last hacked into the networks available to them. "It's been over a year since any planet vanished."
Law had nodded in acknowledgment. They had noticed many planets disappearing over the years, Piliri 7 was the last of these. And then nothing. "What do you think has happened?" Law had asked. Luck had shrugged. He didn't know what had caused the destabilisation in the first place, let alone what had seemed to fix it.
Law now gazed over the Alliance network's news channels, trying to find something to amuse him. But apart from a few people disappearing then suddenly reappearing some days later, there was just the usual planetary disasters that had been predicted and avoided... an underground smuggling ring that had been broken... government funds were being channelled into excavation and exploration of a world called RS3 that had revealed something great for scientific development...
He yawned and turned off his personal terminal. Luck was sleeping on his bed and Law was catching glimpses of his dreams, distracting him. The dreams were not all that interesting; they currently involved the crew plundering a freighter filled with various cakes that Luck and Zee were indulging themselves in trying. Law felt drool beginning to spill from his lips and had to wipe it away quickly.
He wondered what Zee was actually doing right then. The Captain had sent Swab and Zee to do something for him, but he wasn't sure what and that had been a couple of days ago. Law yawned again and decided to curl up and catch up on his own sleep.
*****
Inside her dark nest of wires and metals, the woman swam about, gravity not hindering her movements. Once, she could have been considered the epitome of beauty, but now her body was too strange to be considered lovely. Her hair was inorganic, swirling about like strands of thick wire. Her eyes were yellow, with red pupils. Her skin had a noticeably metallic lustre and kite shapes of metal lined her cheekbone and temples. Her body was covered in these same shapes, though they were a gleaming silver compared to the iron caste of her facial ornaments.
A scowl appeared upon her face as she looked over the infinite little scenes that flashed before her eyes. One solidified into a screen and flashed a few words across it.
*That face is most unbecoming*
"What does that have to do with anything?" She voiced crossly, the sound strange, even to her. It sounded digitised and the inflections of a normal woman's tone seemed suppressed.
*Merely an observation*
The scowl became more pronounced. "We have conquered fifteen worlds so far," she commented. "But not one has my King."
*Patience. We will find the one you seek. It is only a matter of time.*
"We have already waited several eons," the woman pointed out. "The loneliness is already unbearable. He must be delivered soon! Only then may this ache be appeased."
*What of the other?*
"We will capture that one as well and make him watch as we claim our King!" The woman purred as she curled her languid form about the screen. In this life, she now had the resources to bind her beloved and that other to her will. "Our destiny will no longer be denied."
There were no more words appearing on the small screen, so the woman returned to her surveillance. Where are you, my husband?
Author's note; Slightly shorter chapter this time as I wanted to save the next portion for an extra as it is irrelevant to the main plot developing and then I've had to add another small time skip. The plot had sort of run off on its own making it necessary!