Antares
I went through the portal last.
Well, I should say second. Even if I'd gone third, it wouldn't do the word last justice. Last implies lower than the three podium positions
Then again, I was only walking through a doorway. A glowing, fancy, magical doorway.
I didn't go third, which would have technically been 'last' in that case (Given that there were three of us), for one reason: Eldernova was not yet feeling himself. His legs were wobbly, his hands slippery (According to him), and apparently it was relatively painful for him to breathe. Eternity was quick to worry about the issue, and I'm sure her brain must've jumped to some kind of horrific conclusion (Such as internal hemhorraging), but after a quick Biokinetic sweep of his body, I concluded that one of his left ribs was cracked - nothing life-threatening, but somewhat movement-impeding. As such, neither Eternity and Eldernova went 'first' or 'second' in order of going through the portal, rather, Eternity supported Eldernova on their way through.
As such, I went second, instead of third, because no one could have gone third.
As I entered the vortex of crystalline light, I could feel the sensation of being in a Throne World - a somewhat odd feeling, as if the brain inherently knew that the place wasn't supposed to exist; wasn't a natural place - departing, like a curtain lifting over a stage. I was only inside the portal's energy swarms for a split-instant - after only a couple of milliseconds, I stepped out onto the sandstone ground of the grotto in which we'd set the Starlit down. Nothing seemed out of place, not anymore - after a couple of glances around the area, I realized that not even the doorway to the Paradise Vault, the entryway to that extradimensional beach, was present any longer. I let my mind extend around me, feeling for the intricately-woven Optokinetic magic that had been infused with the island itself, and came up with nothing.
Daedalus had completely removed any and all traces of the Vault's existence from the area.
Eternity must've been thinking the same, because she said, "Wow. It's... it's gone. The entire Vault. I can't sense anything left of it."
It was really very impressive, but since I was still slightly angry with Daedalus for the completely unfair last stage of the Vault, my pride was not yet ready to acknowledge that. "Yeah," I said, somewhat dismissively. "Let's just get out of here. I'd like to never visit something made by Daedalus again."
. . .
Eldernova
Once we got into the air, events seemed to blur around me. I barely registered it when we arrived back at the Supernova, though once we had gotten back to the bridge, I do remember (Once she gave Arcturus a brief report) Eternity taking me down to a medical bay to have my ribs checked out by the ship's Arkmedic (Whatever 'Arkmedic' meant. I assumed it was similar to chief medical officer, or something like that), who turned out to be Ashara, the young-looking female doctor whom I'd briefly met back on Celestia. Apparently she'd been working in the Palace of Shining Talons while the Supernova was being refueled for its next quest, and now that the ship was back, out among the stars, she'd returned to her post.
After that, I remembered nothing else, except for occasional bits and pieces of Eternity's voice, like whispers in the background of reality, faintly echoing in my ears in comforting tones.
I must have fallen asleep (Or passed out, which seemed far more likely given my experience, brief as it was, as the Nova), because what felt like hours later, I woke up, lying underneath the blankets of my own bed (To be specific, the bed that I was given thanks to my new position as First Seeker). The room was dark, meaning that the 'time of day' aboard the ship was now night - at least past nine in the evening - and I appeared to be the only person inside.
That was, until I started to get up.
Gingerly (I knew I might not yet be fully healed, and I didn't want to risk hurting myself further), I sat up in bed, wincing as a slight twinge of pain went through my chest. It wasn't bad, per say, but it was irritating. Now, this is a fact that anyone who knew me would understand extremely well: I absolutely hate pain. Causing it, feeling it, seeing it in others; any and all instances of pain make me sick to my stomach. When I see other beings with injuries, I... it's hard to describe. Have you ever looked at someone with, say, a large cut on their arm, or a part of their hand that was burned, or some other kind of injury-related disfiguration, and felt a twinge of pain go up your spine, making your hairs stand up on end (Not in a good way)? If you have, then you'll know what I'm talking about. Seeing any source of pain makes my own body feel a small fraction of that pain as well. It's made me come to see pain as... as something wrong, inherently, as if a little piece of the universe was cut out, leaving a red gash in its place.
Like I said, it's hard to describe.
I wasn't thrilled about the state of my rib cage - what sane Human would be? - but I pressed through the pain and managed to get into a sitting position despite it. I coughed (In doing so realizing that my throat was as dry as the Sahara Desert) and cringed as a short jolt of pressure went through my head as I violently expelled the air.
Apparently, I hadn't looked hard enough, because, in the chair that was placed a few feet to the left of the bed up against the wall, a sleepy voice murmured, "Eldernova?"
Eternity Timewind's dark auburn-framed face slowly looked up toward me. Had she been asleep? Asleep... waiting for me to wake up? Had she been...
Had she not left for the bridge while I'd been unconscious? Waiting... waiting for me to...
She... actually cared about me.
Her head finally leveled out, her gaze staring directly into mine. "You're awake," she said, a little bit of relief at her voice's edge.
"H-how long have you been here?" I asked, my voice raspy.
"Since Ashara granted permission for you to leave the medbay," she said, yawning. "I had us teleported up here, to your room, and I set you down on the bed. After that, I just sat down and waited. I guess... I fell asleep at some point. You've been unconscious for five hours. We got back at about four in the afternoon, to give you some context. Well, I say afternoon." she chuckled lightly. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Um... n-not great," I said, clearing my throat in hopes of making vocalizations feel less like sandpaper being rubbed against my tongue. My stammering out of words was partially due to this, but also...
Now that I'd established the extent of my feelings for Eternity, being around her in a social environment made me indescribably nervous. This did not occur in an environment in which we were engaged in combat, primarily because I would be already so terrified that my brain had exceeded its anxious capacities.
It was, though in part because of my throat, also due to this fact that I was basically a nervous, stuttering wreck. "My throat feels pretty b-bad," I went on. "So t-there's that."
Eternity frowned, her eyes puzzled. "You okay?" she asked, picking up on my stuttering and likely wanting to know the cause.
Shit.
"I... um..." I said intelligently.
Eternity got up from her chair, crossed the room, and sat down at the foot of the bed. "You've had a pretty difficult day, all things considered," she told me gently. "And I really need to know: are you okay?"
"I... think," I said. It was kind of hard to think in that moment. The only thing on my mind was the fact that Eternity had stayed with me the entire time that I'd been unconscious, waiting for me to wake up. "Have you really been waiting here... waiting for me to wake up?"
Eternity bobbed her head. "Of course," she said.
"Eternity.... I..."
Suddenly, cutting me off, her voice as soft as a fleece blanket, she said, "Call me Ni."
"Ni?"
She nodded quietly. "Yes. It's... it's my nickname. I haven't let anyone use that name to refer to me since my... since my sister died. It just hurt too much. No one, not even Nocta, knows that I was called that."
And now I did. "Then why..."
She leaned in and placed a kiss on my cheek. "Because, Eldernova Starfall, despite what my inner soldier would have me think and do, I trust you." With a brief, gentle smile, she stood from the bed, opened the door with a wave of her hand, and stepped outside.
And then she was gone.
. . .
Eternity
As soon as I stepped through the door of Eldernova's room and into the darkened hallway beyond, my inner soldier started lecturing me. Seriously, Timewind; what the hells do you think you're doing, even speaking to him? I thought you were supposed to dislike capitalism.
I snarled. I do, I thought back angrily. He's not a capitalist. I thought you were supposed to know about me. Didn't you hear him decry the capitalist system back on Celestia?
Then why was he a CEO? Asked my brain rhetorically. Exactly. Money. That's all that matters to a Human; to one of those glorified apes. And that's all that ever will. Get your head wrapped around that, Cadet.
That cut deeper than I'd expected it to. If Eldernova actually hated the capitalist system, then why had he been a CEO on Earth?
What had he been doing?
I wanted to ask these questions right away, but I knew I couldn't just go back into his room to do so. Nor could I, for that matter, communicate telepathically. That would sound far too much like an interrogation.
I also still needed to ask him what exactly had happened in the Paradise Vault, when he'd been dying; when I'd healed him. I couldn't shake the feeling that something had happened to save him outside of my magic, especially when I recalled his shedding of Hierokinetic and Hemokinetic power during the healing process. Come to think of it, I had absolutely no idea why he'd started dying when I'd used the healing stimulant. That made literally zero sense - he was a Human. He was a biological life form. Why would his body have rejected the healing? Even if he was a demigod, the stimulant still worked on Eternals. The only reason for him to have rejected the stimulant would be...
If he were Immortal. Not mortal, not Eternal, but Immortal.
But how could that be possible? If he were Immortal, then he shouldn't have been able to die in the first place.
It was all very puzzling.
I turned down the hallway and retreated to my room for some long-awaited sleep.
. . .
Antares
My eyes gradually opened to a familiar environment: bright, morning light shining through the window, the two couches sitting a few feet from the north and east edges of the small table, located in the staff lounge aboard the MFS Supernova.
I sat up, careful not to wake Rynn. When Eternity, Eldernova and I had returned to the vessel, we'd gone separate ways once we'd reached the bridge; our group dividing like cells undergoing mitosis. Eternity had helped Eldernova down to the medical bay to see about getting Elder's broken ribs fixed, her brow creased with concern, and Eldernova's eyes had been half-closed. The guy was seriously messed up - though he'd survived massive, inexplicable, body-wide apoptosis, that didn't mean that he would be able to leap head-first back into the action
Meanwhile, I'd said some quick hellos to the rest of the bridge before returning to the room where Rynn and I had been sleeping, planning to speak to Rynn about... what had happened that morning. She'd seemed really angry - unreasonably, completely unnecessarily angry - and I wanted to know why.
Rynn had been... less than forthcoming on the subject.
"I'm sorry," she'd said unhelpfully and infuriatingly simply.
"Rynn, I'm not asking for you to apologize. I just want to know what's going on." I'd brushed a hand against her cheek, tucking a rogue strand of her fiery hair behind her ear. She'd visibly flinched, her eyes growing somewhat more distant. She was pulling away, for a reason I couldn't comprehend. She'd always been open with me; and I, her.
"I... just don't feel like myself," she'd told me. "I feel like my temper is shorter. And it's harder to focus." she'd sighed miserably and plopped down on the couch she'd been sleeping on for the past few days.
My gaze had grown worried, and though I'd wanted to press her further about the situation, I hadn't wanted to risk her getting angry again; that had been catastrophic enough when it'd occured that morning. And so I'd dropped the matter, giving Rynn a comforting, lopsided grin, the kind of carefree, Revan-may-care smile that once so often filled my face, the grin that had all but disappeared when I'd started my rebellion.
I'd then left the room and headed back to the bridge. There, I'd helped to fill the absence of Arcturus (Who was still hard at work with Helix on the Aetherdrive), assisting as much as I could, until Nocta had told me (And I quote), "Just go to sleep, Antares. I'll call you if you're needed. Seriously, do you ever stop working? Gods."
Which lead me to my current situation.
I stood from the 'bed' (It was, as I've mentioned before, really more of a sofa) just as carefully. Rynn, even the Rynn before the new, angrier Rynn, would not respond well to being rudely awakened.
Then, looking over at where I expected her to be, I realized she wasn't even there.
I smacked myself across the forehead. With a sigh, I picked up my uniform (To be fair, it was less a uniform and more of a suit of (very) tattered blue leather armor and cloth held together by a few bandoliers and straps at that point), climbed into it, and grabbed the few possessions I had - my iron fan (Which hung from a small hook at my waist) and my custom black-and-gold Trianguli Aetherpistol (Onyx-black except for the golden-filled carving of the empire's symbol. I hated that it was essentially propaganda for the Emperor, but... it was a reliable weapon, and it was well-made) (Which slid into my holster) - and headed for the bridge.
The dead-white doors hissed open and I stepped inside.
"Antares? Is that you?" came Eternity's voice from in front of the captain's chair, which was turned away from me in a manner that did not allow for me to view the speaker. But then her head craned out of the seat to look back at the doors.
"Yes," I said obviously, which she could've guessed now that I was in view. I noticed Arcturus was back in his Director's seat, so I conjured a chair and an Array (This time with no trouble) and sat down where I'd originally been. Rynn, meanwhile, was sitting in a chair (Likely conjured just as I had) off in a darker corner of the room with her slim arms crossed. I caught her gaze and mouthed, you okay?
She nodded reluctantly, seeming extremely uncomfortable. That didn't exactly give me the feeling of okay.
"Amazing. Now we just need Elder to-"
The doors slid apart behind us and in stepped the very same Human she'd just been speaking about.
"Well, I guess that point is moot now," she laughed as Eldernova circled around the room to sit down in the First Seeker's side of the Shipmind chairs. "Anyhow, Arcturus and I have managed to plug the Paradise Navigator into the navigational systems. Luckily for us, our Aetherdrive has seemed to calm down with the aid of Daedalus's tech, so we shouldn't have any more jumping problems. Of any kind, for that matter - because we've got the coordinates to Scipio now. The means to jump to Scipio, the heart of the Triangulum Empire, the eternally-twilight world of the Iron Throne."
For a moment, there was silence. Scipio's coordinates had been hidden to all but the Emperor and the respective Monarchs of the Royal Houses for the past million years, passed down through their lineages. The number had only decreased as three of the Houses had fallen - the House of the Scorned Tide, the House of the Shattered Blood, and the House of the Solstice Wind. Now, the power to warp to the planet - and indeed, anywhere in the system - had been confined to the wills of six people in the entirety of the Multiverse. There were trace blockers throughout the system, blocking any and all signals that could reveal the coordinates, and whenever transmissions were sent, their sources were masked in a seemingly unbreakable code known only to the Emperor himself.
It went with the motto of the Empire. Worlds without fear, Blades without mercy.
Eternity waved her hand, and on the viewscreen, a starmap of the Scipian system materialized. But instead of the coordinates for each world reading as 'unknown', they listed the numbers that marked the positions of each and every planet. "We already have our systems set for Scipio," Eternity said. "We were only waiting for everyone else to arrive." she paused for a moment, grasping a block of holographic text on her Screen and moving it to the side. "But now that you have... Helix?"
"Ready, Captain," the Araxite said.
"Then let's go," Eternity said. "Punch it."
Helix shoved the lever forward, and in response the engines of the MFS Supernova roared to life, thousands and thousands of megavolts traveling through power lines; floods of Aetheric power rushing forth to condense in the core of the Aetherdrive. The Araxite engineer then flipped the Luminite encasing around the Warp button open and pressed it down with his thumb. "Here goes nothing," he said.
A blue light began to surge from the Paradise Navigator - which I then noticed was hovering above a pedestal near to the center-north part of the room, close to the viewscreen - , its glossy black arcs rotating faster than... well, probably light, the glow in the center blazing like a tiny sun. And with the bellow of a firing Aetherdrive, we were off. Off... for Scipio. Off to visit the everlastingly twilit ball of rock, better known as the Throne of the Iron Scorpion.
. . .
Eldernova
The last time I had Aetherjumped (When Rynn had apparently almost killed us all, by accident), it'd taken more than ten seconds to get where we'd been trying to go. But with the Paradise Navigator installed, our navigational systems suddenly seemed to be saying 'You want to jump several hundred-thousand light-years in about a fucking second? NO PROBLEM, MY DUDE!'
Or something like that, at least.
The Supernova leaped through space-time like a knife through butter, cleaving apart two planes instantaneously and without challenge. After what felt like merely an instant, we dropped out of Aetherjump in a completely new system. Once more I was amazed by the sheer power of the starships present in this Multiverse; if space-time was a tapestry on a loom, then a starship was the needle.
The planet we'd fallen into orbit with was a strange one, to say the least - a thin line glittering with violet lights cut down the center in a ring, and on either side, landscapes (Evidently polar opposites of each other) stretched forth. One was orange and fiery and grey, pitted with what looked like lakes of lava. The other was blue and white, covered with snow and frost. Orbiting the planet were three moons, shimmering with fragments of light as they drifted through space. Two looked similar to Luna, Earth's own natural satellite, while the third appeared to be some sort of jungle world, covered with dense green foliage. As my gaze wandered further, it landed upon the twin blue spheres locked in a spiral around each other: the twin suns of the Scipio system. Of course, that likely was not the system's true name, only what it was called in English-
Wait.
English.
Everything I'd seen - and heard - thus far in the Multiverse had been in English, or at least its alphabet. If all these people that I had met spoke in an alien tongue, the script and speech native to their homeworld - which they logically would - then why was everything I heard in English?
I know the answer! Alaspakta's voice said cheerfully.
O-kay, I replied. What is it?
A long time ago - and by a long time, I mean two and three fourths trillion years ago - Cogitare, Elder God of Sentience, Emotions, and Logic, created - with the help if Scientia, Tempus, and Astrum - an artifact named the Voicestone, Ala began. It had one purpose: the bridging of sapient languages. By that point, multiple of these sentient languages had evolved, and constantly their races waged war against one another. This unending war was for one reason. Can you guess? Suddenly I felt as if I was back in school, when the teacher had selected me to answer a question. A small grin came to quirk my lips as I thought about my answer; now this, I could work with. They didn't understand each other? I reasoned.
Exactly, Alaspakta said, causing a small swell of pride to erupt in my chest. They didn't understand, and so they were afraid. Cogitare realized that, if the dynamic was allowed to continue, the sentient races that he and the other gods had tried so hard to perfect would eventually be lost to blind hate and fear. The Voicestone was his answer. It granted to every sentient life form that existed or would ever exist the ability to understand any form of communication at its most basic level; hearing it as their own. All of a sudden, armies could hear their foes pleas for mercy, their battle cries, their vows to claim revenge. From that point on, only true hatred would be cause for war or killing. It was through this Voicestone that the most fundamental interstellar friendships were forged. Without it... I shudder to think what would have happened to the Multiverse without that one, small, perfect, incredible rock. Sometimes, all it takes is something small, something seemingly so innocent and harmless, to create something amazing.
For a moment I was silent, drinking in this new information.
So then... why did it not work for us Humans? I asked. I'd heard other languages spoken, knew that they, too, existed.
Earth is an anomaly among planets, Alaspakta told me hesitantly. Something about it... it messes with magic. Even the magic of the Elder Gods.
That was weird. Earth was resistant to magic? How? And... why?
No one knows, thought Alaspakta. Look, the important thing is that the Voicestone is reaching you know. No longer do you have to put in so much effort to comprehend the languages of others. Sentience is fickle, it is even detrimental at times, but it is, at least, not discriminating in words now. Just think of how your world could have changed with the Voicestone's help.
I stood their in silence, mental and physical. Earth... was a representation of communication without understanding. That was the root cause of everything bad on our planet. Misunderstanding. Fear of the other. The origin of sexism, of racism, of everything wrong with my race. I felt ashamed for my own species' history. I felt.... I felt extremely small.
A voice - a physical voice, not a Telepathic one - pulled me back to reality.
"Scipio," Eternity breathed. "It's... it's beautiful."
"Never judge a book by its cover," snarled Antares. "That planet... it... I-" he buried his head in his hands and said nothing more.
But Eternity wasn't wrong. It was incredible. I could tell, now, that Scipio was a tidally locked world, with two sides; one hot and one cold. Fire and ice, with a thin line of twilight between them, aglow with the city lights of those who dared to inhabit it.
I'd expected a barren, heartless world, dusty and sad. But Scipio was none of those things; there was no doubt to be had. Scipio was gorgeous.
Antares let go of his face and looked up sharply, his gaze steely and determined. "Alright," he said. "Let's create the plan that brings down the Lord of the Iron Scorpion."
. . .
Eternity
"You alright?" as soon as Antares started to get up, evidently to begin the preparation process, the words left my mouth. It was as if the mere sight of Scipio was enough to send him into a ceaseless rage.
"I-" he paused, taking in a deep inhale. "I'm fine. This... this place makes me remember things. Things I... things I wish never happened. That's all." He didn't say anything more on the matter, and I sure as hells wasn't about to push him for more information. Whatever had happened to him on Scipio was his choice whether or not to share.
Good soldiers can trust each other, my traitorous inner soldier murmured. Good soldiers don't keep secrets. A good commander knows everyone under her command as well as she knows herself. The Cadet cackled. But then, you're not doing so well in that department, either, are you?
I mentally growled at myself, and I could feel drifts of crimson cascading through my ruff. And yet I replied nothing - no use in talking to my own (If but an echo of) self. Or so I told myself, at least. It certainly had nothing to do with my not wanting to be on the receiving end of more piercing points such as that one. Obviously.
"Antares is right," I announced. "We should begin planning. I'd like to begin the assault by sunset tonight, so we've got a lot to do in a small amount of time - being eight hours - so let's get to it." I pulled up my Screen, opened a new document, and rattled out the main objectives of our coming to Scipio (Gods, we really were at Scipio. It was seriously crazy - how had we, of all people, been the ones to find the Paradise Navigator and reach Scipio?). Subsequently, I read them aloud: "Our main priority is the destruction of Saladin's fleet and the defeat - or, if it comes to it, the death - of the man himself. However, the Trianguli are nothing if not paranoid... so, it won't be easy. We'll need the help of our own fleet to beat them - we know that Saladin will deploy the original fleet if the new fails, but the old fleet is something that we'd actually have a chance of beating.
"Why do I get the sense that there's a but incoming?" Eldernova asked.
I smiled. "How'd you know?" I asked teasingly. "But yes, you're absolutely right. Our fleet doesn't have the Paradise Navigator, and even though we can give them the coordinates, the Scipio system is still restricted space that they can't warp into without the power of the Navigator. Before they can come to our aid, we'll need to board and shut down their space station to open our fleet's path to this system."
Antares nodded gravely. "The TES Hive," he murmured. "Orbital defense of Scipio, one of my race's greatest technological masterpieces, second only to the Trinity defense grid, and the second-most well-armed vessel they have. As for the new fleet, it's at Fleetbase Khione inside of Scorpion, the heart of the Empire. You realize this is going to be nearly impossible, right?"
I glanced at him and smirked. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
. . .
Antares
"Then it's agreed," I said. "Halfway, at least. We still need to hammer out the fireteams we'll be sending down. If we're going to attack the Hive, I would recommend a fireteam of three, since there are three points you'll need to deactivate in order to shut down the defenses, called Skywatches. There's Skywatch Alpha, Skywatch Beta, and a final Skywatch that will become accessible once the first two have been shut down: Skywatch Omega."
"You know the Hive better than I would, so I'll defer to you on this subject," Eternity said. "Rynn, you and Antares should lead whatever is left of your rebellion to Khione in order to destroy the new fleet, I think." she paused.
I was slightly confused by this decision. Would it not have made more sense for Rynn and I to assault the Hive? With what Eternity knew of who I was, that should have been the obvious choice. But that it wasn't... did she know who my family was? Did she know why it was that I knew Scorpion's layout so well?
I put the thought from my mind. That was impossible.
"Meanwhile, Arcturus, Eldernova, and I will infiltrate the Hive and shut it down. Antares, anything you'd like to add about that?"
I nodded. "You'll want to disable the first two Skywatches - Alpha and Beta - simultaneously, not one at a time," I told her. "Once you shut one down, the entire station will be alerted to your presence. The thing is named the Hive for a reason - it's absolutely drowning in soldiers. You'll then want to have two of your team hold Alpha and Beta while the third member locates Omega and shuts it down. Once that happens, you'll need to get out, and fast." I frowned. "Eternity, I'm sure you already know this, but you three will have a very high probability of death aboard the Hive. It's a maze, more so than even the Nemesine Vaults. Would it not be safer for Rynn, myself, and our rebellion to take down the Hive?"
Eternity was about to answer when Rynn suddenly spoke up. "Antares, it needs to be us down on Fleetbase Khione. If the MFS is caught down there and captured while we're up on the Hive, it'll give Saladin an excuse to say that our rebellion isn't real, only a plot to destroy the Empire by the Federation."
My jaw dropped. I hadn't even thought about that. "Stars and moons, Rynn," I said. "You're absolutely correct."
She grinned. "I try."
"I'm aware that we have a high chance of death," Eternity said, addressing me and taking the opportunity of the pause in Rynn and I's conversation. "But there's no one I trust more than Arcturus and Eldernova to get us through this. And besides, Rynn's right."
"Eternity, are you sure you want me along?" Eldernova suddenly cut in, though I supposed it wasn't all that sudden - I'd been more or less expecting him to say something along those lines. The boy was absolutely plagued by self-doubt, a kind of self-doubt that was all-consuming in its strength. I honestly felt bad for the guy; I remembered when I'd felt like that. I still felt like that on occasion; I assumed everyone did at one point or another. But Elder... from what I could tell, he felt it constantly, and that kind of constant mental pain was enough to drive anyone made. I wondered how it was that he was still sane. "I nearly died on Ryph. I... what if I..."
"Elder," Eternity glared at him sternly. "You saved me from having my neck snapped in half, by all the gods! Your near-death experience was in no way your fault. If anything, it was mine; I gave you that healing stimulant that caused your body-wide apoptosis."
"B-but I-" stammered the Human, biting his lip. "I... I can't be-"
"Eldernova, you are going to be fine," Eternity said. "You've got to trust me on this."
Elder looked miserable. "I... N-Ni, I-"
Eternity stiffened. "What did you call me?" she asked, her voice low. I looked on with confusion. Ni? Was that Eternity's nickname? If so, it would certainly explain why, in the glimpse of Eternity's past that I'd gotten back at the Paradise Vault, the girl who'd been... possessed?... and drowned had called her that.
Eldernova knit his brows. "Ni. I thought you said to-"
Eternity hadn't made a sound - none of us had - but Elder paused like he'd been cut off. In the same moment, Eternity shot to her feet. Had Eternity told him something telepathically?
"O-oh," Eldernova mumbled. "I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't-"
"Sorry doesn't cut it," Eternity growled. Wheeling, she stalked around the shipmind seats, cleared the steps, and swept out the doors.
. . .
Eldernova
Watching Eternity exit the bridge, I felt as if someone had knocked me down, tore my heart from my chest, and stomped on it as hard as they could.
Well, I thought. Fuck.
That seemed to go well, Alaspakta informed me.
But I wasn't listening to the ever-cynical sword. Rather, my mind was utterly unable to stop hearing the echoes of Eternity's telepathic message, repeated over and over, as if a broken audio clip on YouTube. You don't get to call me that when someone else can hear us, she'd snarled. It's my choice who to allow to speak that name, not yours, Human.
I wished I could have Alaspakta fly around and hit me in the face. But oh, no, wait: I didn't even have the strength to summon Alaspakta to me. Yet more proof of my complete lack of worth and value to anyone. I'd let myself for a second hope that Eternity might reciprocate my feelings for her, and almost immediately I'd screwed it up, and now she hated me just as much as everyone else - including me.
I stood swiftly and walked out the door, retreating back to my room and immediately lying down on the bed and burying my face in the pillows without another word.
Only when the soundproof door had slid closed behind me did I allow myself to cry.
. . .
Eternity
I sat down in the chair to the left of my door and let out a shaky breath. Part of me wanted to stay angry. I'd assumed that, when I'd explained to Eldernova my nickname, it had gone without saying not to use the name around other people who didn't know it. Why by the gods else would I have kept it secret for the past century and a half? It had lived and died with my sister, and pretty much the moment I'd revealed it to someone, I'd gotten burned.
Another part of me wanted to forgive him. He seemed like someone who was highly socially inept; he stammered, wasn't very confident, and seemed extremely insecure, and that part of me wanted to give him a second chance.
And, of course, there was that soldier in me called Cadet Timewind that was immediately triumphant and self-righteous. What did I tell you, Eternity? You can't trust him. You certainly can't be with him. You're over four hundred-fifty years older than he is.
Don't tell me what I can or cannot do, I thought weakly yet still angrily. I was in no condition to counteract the nine thousand stabbing, heart-wrenching points of my inner soldier. I'm my own person. I can be with whomever I wish to be.
Go ahead, muttered the Cadet. Deny it. But you know that I am right.
I asked myself then if I did agree with the soldier. Did I know she was right? I searched deep inside myself, wishing that my ruff could convey more complex emotions like the one I was having at that moment, but it was like my brain could not decide. My thoughts were garbled, spilling over each other aimlessly and without respite.
I let out another trembling breath, conjured a bolt of fire into my hand, and flung it at the large dart-board embedded in the wall of the far right end of my room. Multiple darts turned bright red with heat before dissolving into fiery energies, like molten fireflies swarming into the night. "STARDUST AND STORM CLOUDS!" I shouted furiously. Stupid me, opening myself up to someone. Stupid Prophecy, making my life so damn complicated. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I willed another bolt of flame into my hand and was about to send it flying into the far wall when a PING came from the entrance of my room, informing my that someone was visiting me. For a moment, despite everything that had happened, my heart leaped at the possibility that it might be Eldernova.
"C-come in," I called hesitantly.
The doors slid open, and Antares' head poked into the doorway.
I sighed. "Yes?"
Antares swallowed. "Um, Nocta is wondering whether you're coming back, or if we should keep planning without you, or... something else?" he paused, furrowing his dark blue brow. "What by all the gods did that dart board do to deserve such a fate?"
I sighed and tossed the flame in my hand into the board with a woosh of roaring flames. "It was there," I said. "And I was, and am, angry."
Antares nodded. "Well, good job on your part," he said jokingly. "Those darts will never question your authority again."
"Anyway," I said, waving my hand. "Why are you here again?"
"Nocta's question...?" he prompted.
Right. "I'll... I'll be out in a few minutes. Just... give me some time, okay?"
Antares bobbed his head. He removed his face from the door frame, and with a hiss, the doors slid shut behind him.
Once again alone in my room, I chucked another bolt of fire at the wall.
. . .
Antares
I walked back onto the bridge with a mechanical grinding noise as the doors closed behind me. "She said she'd be back in a few minutes," I announced, and Nocta groaned.
"We really need her here," Nocta said. "Sure, we can go on brainstorming without her, but if she isn't here, we can't progress; can't further develop our ideas. We need her confirmation as Captain."
Though I agreed with all of her points, I didn't say anything about it.
"I... am technically able to provide confirmation to things of that manner, in case you've forgotten, Nocta," Arcturus said. "It's just that Eternity can override me. But until she gets back to the bridge, and in the absence of the First Seeker, I am acting Captain. So... let's discuss."
Seraph nodded. "Antares, if I remember correctly, there are three people left in your rebellion - not counting you - who are still fit to assault a Trianguli war base."
"Correct," I said. "Why do you ask?"
"In that case," Seraph went on. "I'll go with you. I'm sure you could use my accuracy... somehow. Plus, just sitting here on the bridge is driving me absolutely mad."
"Seraph, I appreciate the offer, but... this is meant for my rebellion. It's not that I don't think you're good enough - you're beyond skilled in a firefight - but I started this rebellion. I have to finish it. You're a great fighter, Seraph. But my rebellion - what's left of it, anyway - we have to be the ones to stop Saladin. Our race - my race - needs to know that we are fighting for them - not the MFS. If you're there, and we are captured or killed, people will say that the MFS turned us over to their side. They will say that we're not fighting for the agenda of the Federation, and not for the people of Triangulum. And if I have to walk through hell with only three of my best friends by my side to prove that I fight not for myself but for Triangulum, then by the gods, I will."
From the corner in which she sat, Rynn clapped a few times. "Good speech," she said weakly, and I gave her a grateful smile.
Seraph grinned. "Good luck, then," he said. "Arcturus, that sound okay with you?"
"I'm personally fine with Antares taking whom he wishes," the Android said agreeably. "He is not officially a part of the MFS, so I don't actually have the right to command him, and, as he himself said, it is his rebellion who will have to finish this. The optics of our being their... they would not at all be good."
"Nor would the optics of your assault on the Hive," I pointed out. "I think it would be best if your attack occurred after the Fleetbase is destroyed, with a fifteen or twenty-minute delay in between the two. That way, it seems less coordinated; less like we're helping each other.
Arcturus chuckled lightly. "I think we'll need to wait for the Captain's verdict on that particular stratagem."
I was about to respond when Eternity's voice, sounding more tired and unenergetic than I'd ever heard it, spoke from the doorway. "What stratagem?"
Arcturus, clearly surprised, turned around to face the doorway. "Antares had an... idea," he said noncommittally. "I'll let him explain, since he probably has a better grasp on how he was thinking about it than I do."
I nodded, and we quickly gave Eternity a briefing on what we'd spoken about in her absence. No one mentioned what had happened only a few minutes before; what had happened to drive both the Captain and the First Seeker off the bridge within seconds of each other. This was both out of respect and possibly fear (At least, on my part; I'd seen her lobbing bolts of flame at the dart board on her wall in rage, and I did not want to be on the receiving end of one of those).
"I'm not going to argue with Antares about leading his own people to the Fleetbase," she said. "But Antares, the longer we wait to attack the Hive, the more likely the possibility of our being discovered becomes. I have Helix working on keeping us off the radar now-" she gestured at the Araxite- "-but it's only a matter of time until we're discovered. Pulling something like that is putting us uncomfortably close to discovery." she paused and seemed to be thinking to herself. "But... I do see the strategy behind your plan. If you're certain - and if we're going to do this, then you really need to be - that this has a higher probability of success than any other plan mentioned thus far, I'll give my confirmation for it. But if you aren't certain, tell me know, because I really need to know."
For a moment, I thought about her words. I thought about the gravity of the situation. Eternity Timewind, Star Sentinel of the Multiversal Federation of Stars, trusted me, a Trianguli, enough to go on my plan to defeat Saladin and defend her faction. She was willing to give the green light on my plan to topple the Iron Throne.
And that gave me the courage to say that I was. With two factions counting on me, I could not say no, not when I knew that my plan was our only safe chance of successfully destroying the TES Hive and Fleetbase Khione.
"I am certain."
Eternity nodded, a slow grin creeping across her lips. "Then let's get started."
. . .
Eldernova
I wasn't sure how long I laid there (It felt like at least an hour), quietly sobbing into the mattress, but I must've eventually fallen asleep, because my dreams were... interesting, to say the least (I knew that I would have had to have been asleep for about four hours to have any sort of dream, so I assumed I'd been in my room by the time I woke up for about five hours).
The first was fairly normal for a dream following an experience like the one I'd just had. It consisted primarily of everyone I'd ever met, spearheaded by Celestys in his Human shape (Vulcan), Eternity, and Antares, screaming at me, telling me I was useless; that I couldn't possibly fill the position of Nova; that I had no place in the Multiverse. That kind of dream wasn't pleasant, but it was better than the second of my two dreams, for at the very least I could understand the first.
My second dream consisted of, as I remember it, the following:
Lying on a cold, steel floor, I clambered to my feet and looked around. Shadowy mist covered most of what I could see around me, and a harsh white light cut through in a ring around me with a diameter of about seven or eight feet. At first, I thought I'd awoken, given that the lighting was similar, but as my brain came to terms with the mist that surrounded me at every corner, I quickly dismissed that theory.
This dismissal was further backed up when a raspy, venomously hateful voice came slithering out of the shadows.
"Is it done?" it was rough, grating, like sandpaper being ground against my ears, as if a serpent could speak. Then I realized that I'd already heard a snake speak, back when we'd fought Spetella in the Paradise Vault, and that Spetella's intonations couldn't hold a candle to the fury and malice behind this new speech. It was as if a thousand spiders so thoroughly consumed by Darkness that they were barely even arachnids anymore had suddenly gained the ability to speak. If that were true, their chorus would sound something like the voice of this... thing; whatever it was.
A second voice - gruff, deep, and sounding more corporeal than the first - spoke from my right. I turned my gaze to the source of the vocals and froze. Not five feet from me was man dressed nearly entirely in pitch-black, glossy armor etched with golden symbols. His face was the only thing exposed, and it was colored a strange, deep blue, the color of the depths of the ocean. Sitting upon his head was an onyx-black crown, its claw-like points tipped with gold. His eyes glinted violet in the light. He rested upon a large chair. No... not a chair. A throne. Etched into the backrest, golden and pale, was the likeness of a intricate scorpion, its plates studded with spikes and its stinger wickedly curved, as if a scythe, glinting in the dim light. "Yes. Our spy knows her target better than anyone. She will not fail. The assault on Khione was doomed from the start, and when the bodies of their dead are dragged to stand trial, then, we will crush their little friends hiding far above the clouds."
"Good," the voice mused, though it did not sound sure of this man, whoever he was. "You must not falter, my lord. Your son has failed you. Your mate; dead. You are alone... except for me. Do not hold back, Emperor."
The man in the throne chuckled darkly. "I do not, my shadowy friend," he laughed. "I do not."
"Then what," the voice rasped. "Is this intruder doing here?"
The man's head turned slowly toward me, and I paled. Could the voice see me? In a dream? "Kill it," the 'Emperor' snarled.
"With pleasure," the voice hissed.
With a feeling like the whole world was being wrenched sideways, I was thrown forcefully out of my dream.
I shot upright in bed, my skin covered in cold sweat, and stifled a shriek. "What the hell was that?" I quickly threw the covers off, stumbled out of my bed, and waved my hand to turn the lights on. Immediately, the fluorescent lamps embedded in the ceiling erupted in a tidal wave of white chroma, illuminating the room. No way was I going to be able to fall back asleep.
I thought back to the man on the throne. Now that I was actually able to reflect on it, he certainly seemed to be not of the Human species, though I didn't really expect him to be. The black armor and the crown said otherwise.
His skin had been so blue it was almost black. Could he be Trianguli?
The dream had been strangely vivid, and I'd been in full possession of myself. I'd never once had a dream as real as that one had been. Could it have been more than a dream?
I had an endless number of questions. Who was the man? The voice had called him my lord and Emperor - could that mean that he was Emperor Saladin? And what did he mean 'the assault on Khione (Fleetbase Khione?) was doomed from the start'? Who was this spy that he'd mentioned? He'd referred to them as a 'she'... could they be...
No. Eternity would never.
I hoped.
Had it only been a dream?
No matter how hard I tried to ignore it, something in the back of my mind told me otherwise.
. . .