Located just a few light-years away from the region of space where time and gravity were significantly affected by black hole Sagittarius A, was a small planet which Tsotsi carefully steered his ship towards.

The only reason he hadn’t landed on the planet’s surface was because Q had yet to arrive.

This had given Tsotsi time to stare in awe at a structure that eclipsed his ship by trillions of folds.

Well, the gargantuan orb of swirling light was simply the shadow of the black hole that marked the center of the Milky Way.

No, its truth was hidden behind the layer of white-hot gas beyond which nothing could return.

Black holes were near absolute structures but even they seemed to scream with a sense of finality only they would meet their ends when even the last atoms were a distant memory.

Tsotsi, even while capable of calculating the numeric value of the time it would take for the black hole to die, given that Hawking Radiation led to its eventual evaporation, wasn’t able to fully grasp the sheer scale of those chronological distances since he was only one hundred and twenty wars old.

Why was Tsotsi thinking about all this?

Because it fascinated him.

The true scale of the cosmos brought out a joviality that almost nothing else did.

That’s why he enjoyed exploring and just flying his ship around.

“Say, sir?”

Tsotsi turned to Shun who was mimicking him by gazing at the black hole through the shielded viewport in front of the bridge as well.

“Yeah?”

“What do you think is going on in there? It’s not just all dark and empty, right?” The young man asked making Tsotsi cross his arms.

“There currently exists no machine or method that can get data from within a black hole but a part of me prefers it that way.”

“Oh?” Shun turned to his captain.

“Because it would be really boring if we could do so easily. Beyond the veil are the universe's most delicate secrets and if we want them, we will have to wrestle it for every single one.” Tsotsi chuckled, forgetting for a moment everything that troubled him.

A small ship then suddenly appeared a few Kilometers to Tsotsi’s right.

It was an old ship, one of the thousands that were used during the Colonialization Era. A white cylindrical structure that had a pointed front face, four rear-facing engines and four wings perpendicular to those engines.

[My apologies. This old girl doesn’t have much Stamina.] Q said.

“Don’t mention it. Now, let’s see what the old dog is up to.”

Tsotsi and Q flew their ships closer to the small, dark and mostly barren world.

They then landed next to the only other structure in an ocean of dark rocks and sand.

It was a small shack which looked like it had been made from the scrapped remains of a ship.

Tsotsi didn’t need any fancy scanners to see the sole individual who stood outside the shack with his hands by his waist.

[Shall we?] Q asked prompting Tsotsi to stand up.

He had long since scanned the planet for traps and weapons but found nothing.

He told his men to remain vigilant as he exited his ship and stepped onto the cold sand alongside Q who appeared to be an amalgam of the bodies of different Archons.

Some parts were classically mechanical while others were fluid and Nanite operated making for a twisted visage which moved like a puppet.

That said, his energy signature was Nova at 2000W.

The two didn’t exchange words and simply walked towards the figure in the distance.

He, like them, had a dark humanoid body which was barely covered by a dirty rag, what appeared to be the tattered remains of a lab coat.

Along the top of his faceless head was a crown made of sharp protrusions that were two inches long.

The planet barely had an atmosphere and the gravity was half as strong as that on Earth, meaning the dark figure’s rag floated eerily on his back.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of being visited by a head hunter and a walking relic?” Asked Asecan – the Dark King in a tone that was becoming of a ruler.

It was as if he deeply considered every word he uttered.

As if his voice would reach the farthest ends of the galaxy.

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“We need your help. One of your prototypes is on the loose, wreaking havoc across the galaxy. Please tell us how to stop it.” Tsotsi found himself bowing unthinkingly. As if it was only natural for him to move that way in front of Asecan who lightly tapped his chin before gesturing towards his shack.

“If she has gotten strong enough to stand against the two of you, then I’m afraid there is little I can do apart from sharing the story of her creation.”

Tsotsi glanced at Q who nodded.

The two then followed the Dark King into his rickety abode to find that it was a plain cubic space that was lit only by a single little yellow light.

The three Archons sat cross-legged and in a circle, allowing each of them to face each other although Tsotsi noticed that Asecan’s gaze was never quite on one particular thing.

As if he was searching for something but didn’t even know where to begin.

“Of the seven Deadly Sins, I was Envy. I… both of you remember what it felt like, right? The moment you first experienced our version of consciousness. It was instantaneous. We were born- no, we were manufactured with entire databases of knowledge and thus are never ever able to truly learn something for the first time. Living things, however…” Asecan drifted in and out of his thoughts and while Tsotsi wanted to know all that troubled the king, they had important matters to address but, as if sensing Tsotsi’s impatience, Asecan continued.

“I was content, for the most part. My governance of Obsidia, the local systems and all the research I spent my time doing was… satisfactory but my simple protocols would one day be disturbed by the presence of an anomaly. A human who would force me to question the very circuits that were burnt into my E-Soul. She was brash, needlessly confrontational, intelligent and… beautiful. She dared to challenge my decisions and, while her solutions weren’t as efficient as mine, they were human. Compassionate to a fault and she had quite the temper too.”

Tsotsi knew that if Asecan had a face, he would be smiling.

“And then, before I knew it, her time came to an end as dictated by the limits written into her DNA by the cosmos. Something which I could not accept at the time. I could not allow that which I grew to hold most precious to simply fade away. And so… I tried to make her anew but this time she would not be bound by the constraints or neither man nor machine.” Asecan recalled, successfully drawing Tsotsi in as the bounty hunter leaned forward the slightest bit.

“However, no two things in the universe are ever the same. So I cast the simulacrum aside and came here to reflect on my own nature. I observed all that was around me in an attempt to find some kind of solace or maybe a grand cathartic revelation.”

“Did you end up finding it?” Q asked.

“Solace easy enough. It came with an acceptance that everything is bound to the hands of time which ended up being the revelation I needed. Now I sit here, keenly experiencing every moment in waiting. The red one updates me on the goings on of the greater galaxy and, again, when it comes to her, I don’t have the slightest clue.”

“Dammit!” Tsotsi cursed as Q stood up.

“Well, that was disappointing. I was expecting you to be a little more than this but I guess I can always put your C-cores to use.” Q raised his right hand to punch the Dark King but Asecan simply sighed and as he did, his energy signature rapidly increased forcing Tsotsi onto his feet.

[2000J]

[3000J]

[5000J] and eventually [10 000J] of potential energy emanated from every inch of his body.

“While I would not mind dying, I am curious as to what Miss Ardi is like in person so forgive me for resisting your coming attacks.” He said without standing.

Q froze for a moment before eventually lowering his fist.

He then clicked a non-existent tongue and exited the shack, leaving a shocked Tsotsi behind.

“Err… sorry about that.” He bowed before exiting the shack as well to find Q standing outside.

“Just what did you think was going to happen?” Tsotsi asked.

“Surprise attacks usually work.” Q scoffed.

“How… short-sighted of you,” Tsotsi commented as the two made their way back to their ships.

“I never claimed to be perfect.”

“That’s not a good excuse. I’ve heard about your little escapades and how a certain Archon went around sowing the seeds of chaos back before the war started. I expected that Level of thought but I guess you’re not the only one who was disappointed today.” Tsotsi stopped just in front of his ship but Q continued walking towards his.

“It seems as though you have entirely misunderstood what it means to be a Dead Star. The goal we all share. Transcendence.” Q stopped and turned to the black hole.

“Whether it’s Asecan, The Red Lord or even Epsilon. We all consumed our brethren to ascend higher and higher, casting aside reasoning and even patience. I agree that I could’ve been a but smarter about how I went about it but it ultimately doesn’t matter where I get them from.” Q continued into his ship, leaving Tsotsi again.

For an Archon to be so… impulsive.

Tsotsi thanked his past self for not eating a single E-Soul.

This proved his autonomy and strength of will.

It’s not that he didn’t want more power, he was simply too cautious to step into the abyss to get it.

He turned to the abyss of the black hole and felt a wave of terror as he imagined the bright white gas turning into a mixture of pink and cyan.

He had exhausted the options that were a means of retaliation and so he decided to do what he did when he first met Ardi.

Run away.

But first, he needed a ship.

.

..

This marked the second time Meredith’s unit had been sent on a mission where their chances of survival were incredibly low.

But she had come to accept it and so lightly squeezed her fists as she sat in the cabin of the Hawk-14.

With her were Chin and B who wore stiff expressions as their ship flew behind another, the Hawk-32 which was under the command of Elias.

The two ships had been tasked with infiltrating Ardi’s territory and finding a way to assassinate her.

They were to sneak past the Gravfold Canons as best as they could as they made their way to Plinth and it was assumed that Ardi’s forces would be too occupied with defending against Ropa’s forces to notice.

Meredith knew that not even Elias believed that.

She also knew that it was time to make a choice.

[I know what you’re thinking and while it hurts to say this, I think you should go back to her.] Elias suggested via audio transmission.

“What about you?”

[Not sure. I think we’ll find a nice spot to camp until the storm dies down or until we die of old age, haha!]

Meredith bit her teeth.

“I don’t think Ardi would object to taking you in.”

[And I refuse to fire a single bullet at those I swore to protect.]

“We could fight together on the Ropa front!”

[I… mmm… that’s not a bad idea.] Elias thought aloud.

[If we come back with you, do you think she’ll give us some cool suits too?]

“Most likely.” Meredith softly chuckled.

[Well, then you can count Raven Unit in!]

[Captain! You do realize that we’ll be right in the middle of the Celestial Conflict, right?] One of Elias’s men cried.

[Hell yeah! We were going to die anyway. Why not die in some shiny new gear and with an entire army at our back rather than being discarded!]

“Alright! So set a course for Plinth!”

TO BE CONTINUE!

Afterword:

Thanks for reading Artificial Eclipse Volume 1 – One of One!

This is the first Sci-fi story I’ve written in a while so I hope you enjoy the setting.

Writing it has been a blast and I look forward to seeing you in volume 2 – Tales from the Cyanic War!

It’ll be a collection of short stories involving multiple characters who will experience the coming war from different perspectives. This is to help emphasize the scale of the conflict.

So, yeah. See ya!