The running became monotonous. Nothing changed in the swirling, misty emptiness. The mist continued to hide anything more than a hundred meters away, and the patterns and swirls continued to defy any wind or even my passing. Eventually, I stopped. The running was obviously not working. I needed to think about trying something different.
Since there were no features, I just stopped. It was weird, I knew I had run more than a marathon at close to sprinting speeds, yet I was not even breaking a sweat. In the mist, It didn't matter if I was running, sitting or standing. Everything was the same.
I relaxed again, sitting on my chair and started going over everything that had happened since the explosion. I worried about Luke and Mike. They would not know what had happened to me. Luke would not take my disappearance well, and Mike would probably be a mess. He wore his heart on his sleeve. As much as Luke and I were a kind of item, I am unsure how he would react. I know he would be upset, but I had no idea how long I had been here. I knew time dilation was a thing so that I could have been gone a day, a month or years. I secretly hoped that Luke would move heaven and hell to find me, but realistically, I knew I had to make my own way out. Dance had said as much in his rambles.
Luke could be scared when he let his emotions run wild, and I had seen him go off when Amy was threatened. Solace had sent a message through Dance, but I had no idea if that would work or even get through or again when it would get through.
Then there was interference from my phone, and with Dance thinking, it sounded like a trap, not necessarily for me, so Solace and I needed to be cautious. It also sounded like some people needed help, which Dance confirmed.
It was frustrating, my recollections of Dance were vague, not our conversations or anything, just I could not recall what he looked or sounded like. It was bizarre as if my thoughts could not associate anything with what I had seen. I could remember his clothes and no socks, but not his eye colour or his face. I did remember he was wearing Crocs and socks. I hated those plastic shoes, and anyone who wore them should burn in fashion hell.
I reviewed the last piece of advice: not to trust anyone and that you can make reality what you want.
Those stuck out to me in all the other nonsense he had spoken. I had no idea what that meant. I even tried concentrating on making something appear. Dance had wanted a chair, so I focused. Nothing. I started with simple things, a brick; nothing, an apple; nothing. I tried visualising them. I tried imagining them. I was getting frustrated. Moving didn't seem to be working, and thinking wasn't working. I was missing something simple.
Solace: Have you tried to channel mana or energy into things? Remember, we are slightly out of phase, so try to connect your mana to something.
I'll try anything at this stage.
I channelled mana into my hands, just concentrating on bringing it there, like casting a spell without the System's guide to holding and releasing it. Something clicked. It was as if my hand had become incorporeal and transparent, and I could feel air movement and heat from the surrounding areas. I stopped channelling.
Solace: I am just running a quick simulation. Yes, this is one of the possible scenarios I planned on investigating. I was still working on simulating the possibility of our entire being...
Less science, Einstein, and focus less on what you were going to do and more on this scenario, Sol.
Solace sounded like she was having a bit of a huff.
Solace: OK, Miss Owens. Even though we are in a different energy realm, we are saturated with mana and energy. My nanites, your nanites and biological or organic components are supercharged with mana, making us part of the mana realm. Remember, this is hypothetical, not fact. We are gathering facts and can make an informed decision soon.
So what did my channelling mana have to do with my hand disappearing?
Solace: I imagine that your hand appeared on the physical part of this plane or realm. We are in the mana and energy dimension connected to a realm. We are out of phase here as well. Phase shifted. Maybe this is really closer to something like the border ethereal realm I was talking about. Theoretically, you should be able to channel your mana through your entire body. In a manner of speaking, that would equalise it, then adjust the frequency of your channelling to match that of the realm — to enable you to transfer through the boundary or veil. If you had enough power and a signature for Earth, you could do the same and punch through there. However, the energy requirements would be astronomical. Remember the act of war-grade energy expenditure that got you here. The first thing is to move to the physical reality here, become in phase with this plane, and then we can work on moving off this plane.
Let's try.
I started with my head and slowly worked my way down. Concentrating with my eyes closed was more manageable, but I knew something was working when I began to feel the breeze and hear sounds. It took a long, yet unknown, time, and the concentration required was significant. I am sure it was easier with my Willpower score cranking in at 747. My thoughts felt laser-sharp, and I knew what to do and exactly how to do it. Eventually, I felt my feet touching the ground as normal gravity weighed me down. Dance's words about reality being what I wanted started to connect to my experiences.
After so long in a lonely, barren existence, I spent several seconds breathing deeply and feeling the wind and the sunlight on me. I had used nearly all of my mana and could feel the beginnings of a mana-induced headache. It was pretty exhausting, but it felt so good. Part of me was worried about the euphoria of using mana. It left me smiling. I loved that rush as my mana was used and cycled through me. It would be nice to keep channelling to keep that feeling. Just before I bottomed out, I slowed the channelling down.
I slipped into my breathing cycle, in .. out .. in .. out. I could feel my cores deep inside resonating with my breath.
Solace: Focus, listen.
Sorry.
I had shut out the sounds of distant thuds, bangs, clashes and noises that I knew were the sounds of battle, even though I had never heard one before. The noises were faint and coming from the direction of the arrow in my HUD. I opened my eyes, looking clearly. The area I was in was an open, rolling, hilly area. Distant mountains were in front of me, covered in clouds and snow. The landscape was relatively barren and rocky, with stunted vegetation that seemed to just be clinging to life. Lichens and some dry, scabby mosses covered much of the rocks. The sky was pale blue, almost white. Now and then, I could see a gnarled tree that struggled to reach the sky.
The sun was warm but distant and seemed to descend towards the mountains. It offered a tremendous warmth that did nothing to dispel the bone-chilling wind. The hills were massive boulders with patchy grass and gnarled trees growing along the tops. There were no paths and no signs of civilisation.
Local System:(Decrypted) Empire Emergency Beacon:
Message (repeat): Legion Forces need assistance; position under siege, all assistance required. Shield Condition: Stable.
Priority: Alpha Alpha.
Solace: I relayed the broadcast so you could see it. It is on an ancient Empire encrypted band. Encodings are outdated but valid. But the message itself is impossible.
Why?
Solace: Priority Alpha is reserved for the Imperial Family. Not the extended family, direct family. This message means that there are two members of the Imperial Family present. Not one, two. There are no living members of the Imperial Family. No one alive can set that priority and encode it! IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.
Did I feel anxiety and fear? Coming from Solace.
We have a pseudo-quest to investigate, and they need help. I'm sure Dance knew more than he let on, and this is bigger than us just trying to get home. Let's see what we can do now.
Leaf of Broken Season: Battle Robes.
I needed to be ready, and this also equipped the Staff of the Battlemagus: Fire and the Belt of Infinite Spells. I used some time to think about how to approach different situations. I was a little embarrassed about being ambushed so quickly in the tutorial, so I developed some strategies to help in various situations.
Stealth first.
Can't see me I am invisible.
Then Mage Armour.
Mage Armour:
Passive: -5 from mana total * level
Active: Mana: 5*damage absorbed / Energy: 5 * damage absorbed.
Current Rank Uncommon, Upgradeable, Trainable.
Cast Time: Instant.
Passive: reduces incoming damage based on level.
Absorbs damage, draining mana pool and energy.
Rank up to reduce mana costs.
Rank up to increase damage absorbed per mana point spent.
My current mana regeneration should more than makeup for the slight mana drain. I then cast Fly. This was one spell that I had that I was hanging out to try. It was up there with teleport for utility, but I think it was more fun.
Class Spell: Fly / Flight
Active: 100 mana then Mana: 5 mana / sec
Current Rank Uncommon, Upgradeable, Trainable.
Cast Time: Instant.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Active: The user gains the ability to fly.
Training is recommended. Make sure you stow your gear. Have fun
Passive: Tier 4 and above, gain the ability to cast for base cost only.
It wasn't wrong to say training is recommended. After an embarrassing start, I did get the hang of it quickly. High Agility, Wisdom and Endurance helped me keep upright and my lunch down. If I had lower stats, I am sure I would have needed hours of training. Now, I was zipping around within minutes. It was easier once I swapped out of my robes and into something with less drag.
Leaf of Broken Season: Biker Ride.
The battle robes were also not that modest from beneath, and I kept scooping them up to reduce drag and stop flashing my under-armour.
Sol, I was hoping you could remind me to get some goggles and cool flying gear next time I go shopping! I'll have a go at making something. Don't say anything. I am sure I learned my lesson. Can you ensure I get some mana manipulation training when I get to the Mages Guild?
Solace: Noted.
She was still a bit frosty.
Within minutes, I was soaring through the air. At first, I was in the Superman pose to fly because why not? Then I stopped that and travelled just as fast in an upright position. It was a magical flight; there were no thrust vectors, lift, or anything, just thought control. It was weird initially, but I was just standing and motoring along in the air. I had mental control over height, direction, and speed. If I stopped concentrating, then I just hovered. It was not a stable position, I'd struggle to push against something without momentum, but it was sturdy enough to cast spells.
After some brief practice, to avoid embarrassing myself, I took off towards the sounds of battle and where the arrow was pointing in my HUD. With my mind stat high enough, I could easily concentrate on flying, invisibility, and stealth.
I got high enough to see where and what we were heading into.
It was a small-pitched battle. Suppose a few hundred combatants can be considered small. From the sounds of it, I had expected to see vast hordes of creatures running and charging at each other. It was a valley, or wide depression, surrounded by several more prominent rocky hills. There was a fortification that I could not quite make out, having to squint against the wind. On top of the closest hill, I could see what I had imagined when Luke described the incursion stone or obelisk. The stone seemed to radiate a sense of doom, with a visible fog of evil-looking energy seeping out. I could feel the wrongness even at quite a distance. Surrounding the stone on the hilltop was a series of tents, and there were groups of humanoids milling about.
Further around the hilltop, I could see indistinct but large animal-like creatures, all prodded and shoved by the humanoids. They were being herded into pens while others were being goaded down the hill towards the fortification. I could see other humanoids standing at the wall of the besieged fort, firing beam weapons and casting spells into the horde of beasts running at the walls. None of the animals made it to the walls, as an energy shield flared up about fifty meters in front of the wall, stopping them but letting the spells and the beams strike through. Now and then, the shield would darken, and I could hear the crack of a breach and some creatures would get through, closer to the walls.
Some defenders would leap down from the twenty-foot-high wall and dispatch the animals fighting hand to hand. The shield breach would not last long, seeming to be self-repairing and fading. Eventually, the horde was thinned out and destroyed. It looked like a few hours before the attackers could marshal enough force to send against the walls again.
From my position, I could see that all four walls faced similar situations from similar fortresses on the top of all the surrounding hills. I counted 5 of these stones and besieging encampments. I was not sure what I was looking at.
Solace: That is a Legion fort. An ancient design. Those are Incursion Stones on the hills. From my analysis, it seems that the humanoids are using incursions to pin the defenders. They are not pressing to destroy the fort. There appears to be little or no coordination between the Incursions. They would overrun the fort quickly if they worked together.
We watched for a moment longer to gather more information.
Solace: I can breach their shields without them detecting us. I have the sally and retreat codes for this shield. Again, it is an old decommissioned Legion code. I can also broadcast to contact them, but I cannot guarantee that it will not give our position away. They will know as soon as we breach their shields. Even though they are Empire, they are running ancient protocols, so we do not know their status or intent. I would approach with caution. We are within their energy sphere so that I can connect to their systems.
Any suggestions? I'd say we make contact and offer help. I am not sure what we can do. If Luke could close an Incursion, maybe we could do that individually and help them. We need more information.
Solace: Their AI is odd.
Odd?
Solace: Sarah, you must save them. He is here.
Who?
Solace: The Emperor. Raxemius Janar.
Crap. Even I know who Raxemius was. What do we do?
Solace: His daughter is here too. Imperial Princess Raechina Avidan Janar. That was the Alpha Alpha encoding. You must do something to save them. We need to be careful. This is a trap, but not for us.
I could hear the reverence in her tone, and I could feel the pressure to comply. I watched for a while, forming a plan.
OK, Solace, I'll go high. We breach the shield from the top, land in the middle, and then you contact the ranking officer and let them know, see what we can do to help. I am sure the rations I have may not be enough, and I have some healing canisters and injectors, not much, but they will help. Also, I am sure we can add our firepower. I want to be able to cut loose with my wand and spells. However, I am not sure what difference one soldier can make. Crap, they have been here a long time.
Solace: If you approach from above and fly to the compound's centre, I will contact the ranking officer.
OK.
That was a lot more confident than I felt.
I flew high. It may have been my imagination, but I was sure I was being watched and expected an attack at any second. From above, the fort looked similar to the layout of Roman forts I had seen when I studied ancient history in high school. I was unfamiliar with the buildings, so I asked Solace if she could add labels to my HUD. She was too good to me, and soon I had colour-coded names, the Roman-sounding ones that I would skip even trying to say and the modern English equivalent. It was funny how ideas were translated. I would have expected more modern military themes. I did like Ancient Roman history, even if I was a little rusty. The System tried to use context to give the closest approximations.
The fort was a large square, roughly one hundred and fifty meters on each side, with an eight-meter-high wall surrounding it. The wall had a ditch on the outside and a shallower one on the inside. Internally, I could see two large barracks, from my point of view, the left and right, with a workshop, storage and parade ground below me. Behind the parade ground was a command building. Along the wall behind me were more warehouses, a hospital, and a training ground. There were between ten to fifteen people on each wall. All up, I counted 53 soldiers.
I was glad for the invisibility as I hovered above the dome. Thanks, Luke, for the suggestion. Solace could highlight the shield in my HUD, and I could hover over it without touching it. At the same time, she engaged the retreat protocols to open a minor, contained breach. I quickly descended and landed inside the fortification, settling onto the parade ground.
Solace: It would be best if you released your invisibility. I have notified the AI. There is something very odd going on here.
I faded into view and was soon surrounded by eight soldiers. They had rushed out of the barracks. All were dressed in combat gear similar to what I had imagined the Australian Special Forces, the Commandos, would wear in active combat. They were all pointing short powered spears at me that looked like they had power packs attached to them via coiled cables.
Solace: They are Legion Power Spears. They can shoot condensed light or plasma or be disconnected and used hand to hand. They are deadly. Although you could probably survive a round or two with your current stats, it would be painful and not an experiment I would recommend. We can test this later. It would be handy to know your limitations and baselines against different weapons.
Sol, let me concentrate. There is something odd about them.
They had not moved. It was unnerving.
One spoke, almost robotic, like an early digital assistant on my old phone, "State your business. You claim to come to assist. What proof do you have? You are not of the Empire!"
Solace: Oh my. We may be in a spot of bother. You have not sworn to the Empire and came in using old empire codes. Be calm and accommodating. You would appear as, at best, neutral or, at worse, a hostile agent to them.
Sol, these soldiers are not alive, they are not breathing, and they are not blinking.
Solace: The AI is controlling them. I have confirmed they are reusing the soldiers' organic patterns and being run by the commanding AI, overwriting the original soldier’s engrams. No wonder he was odd. I am communicating with him, and we have a small window. Soon, the walls will not be attacked, and he will have more capacity.
"My friend Solace is negotiating; can we do this somewhere more comfortable."
The same soldier's eyes went unfocused for a second, "Follow."
In perfect yet slightly off marching, the soldiers formed around us and led us to the command post. As we entered, I felt the most vital sense of justice, righteousness and might descend upon me, an aura so intense that I nearly buckled at the knees.
I saw him.
The Emperor.
He was the source of the aura. It was a pure command.
I didn't get a chance to look closely as the man beside him bellowed, "On your knees!"
I felt the compulsion to do that, but it slid easily off, and I ignored it.
One of the soldiers beside me roughly shoved the spear into the back of my knees. Again, I could ignore it. It was a common attack that was meaningless to me at the moment.
"Bow before …" the figure started beside the Emperor began.
The Emperor turned his attention to me. "Now, Primus, let us not be so hasty to our first guests in quite some time ", he nodded, "but it is customary to bow before the Emperor if you are unsure of your etiquette. I may forgive you this once, but do not allow it to happen again."
I felt a chill. The command and assurance in that one sentence. There was zero room for negotiation or confusion.
Solace: Bow idiot. I would have thought it was common sense.
I go on my knee.
"Primus here is very protective of my person and my ego. It can be a bit stifling sometimes, but it is necessary."
I felt the gravity of the word necessary. It had a significance that I could not quite grasp.
Sorry, Mum, it's not like I had ever met a galactic emperor before or even heard of one. We don't even have royalty in Australia. Well, we do borrow the Brits, but we have a stupid prime minister. One of our most famous ones is only remembered because he could scull a beer.
The tension I didn't realise was building released a bit when I kneeled.
I finally got a look at the room. It was spartan and looked like a combination command post, hospital and living quarters. Some contraptions at the back of the room hummed and had a familiar energy glow. Beautiful blue system energy, with pipes, wires, dials, and screens with green, red, and blue lights. Behind the Emperor were two military-style cots. On one was a large coffin-like box. The other looked like it had been used but was tidy and made. A large table with several uncomfortable chairs surrounded it with a digital-looking map projected onto the table's surface.
The Emperor smiled. "Sarah Owens. How lucky for me. Maybe unlucky for you in some respects. Before the next attack, I have some duties to take care of, but I will let Primus fill you in, and then we can have dinner. I have an idea to discuss with you, and I don't think old Primus here will like it." Primus scowled a bit as he continued," But desperate times and all that! Dinner with me, and we shall see what happens."
It was a command and a dismissal.
Primus looked unhappy, but he pointed to the table to sit. The Emperor moved the machines at the back, pulled some cables out and plugged a flexible hose into the back of his neck.
"I'll speak, which is slow, but I have told your AI most of this. I am not used to organics other than His Imperial Majesty."
Solace: I think that was an apology. This is the primary AI. It would be the equivalent of you going brain-dead and me taking control.
Could you do that?
Solace: Possibly. It would be disturbing, but it would work for the short term.
"Thank you for your consideration."
"If you haven't guessed, I am what is left of the Emperor's AI hosted in the organic matrix of the Primus. His engrams have been integrated into my AI consciousness."
If Solace had not told me, I would probably have guessed eventually.
I nodded.
"We have been trapped here for quite some time." he paused, "Sorry, your AI is helping me. Context is needed, you are not Empire, and you are new. Over five thousand years, I could be precise, but you organics seem to live for imprecision."
As he spoke, I could hear the eternity that came with the time frame.
One thing I took away from his story was that he had gone insane.