"Might I ask that we suspend this conversation for the time being? The show is about to begin." The Scholar was more formal than his previous interactions with Diana now. Clearly he was on duty. "Captain, the star is about exit the Verdant stage. I suspect it will begin its final struggle shortly."
"The final struggle?" Diana was curious at the use of the phrase, evidently there was something special about it.
"When a star's power drops below a certain level in relation to where it was when it first became hostile, it enters a state similar to the death throws of an animal. The power of each individual attack at this stage is not really more powerful than any other, but it expends a great deal of energy to unleash a wave of them."
"Are we in danger?"
"If we were in any other ship, maybe." The Captain reassured Donovan they could handle the situation. "The Oberlux is purpose built for this sort of thing, and it is being crewed by the most capable people available. I will still need to issue orders, so we will have to postpone our conversation, but I encourage you to stay and watch."
"It is a beautiful sight isn't it?" The Scholar turned to the golden green globe, noticeably larger than when they had arrived on the bridge. "This will be a once in a lifetime experience for you two, and it will symbolize the end of your era. You would do well to make a memory out of it."
"Alright Scholar, that will do. Return to your post." The Scholar nodded his head and returned to his spot. "Helmsman, give us a slight spin and begin to move away from the star, slowly."
"Yes sir!"
"Are all of you ready for a light show?"
""Yes sir!""
"Then all hands to battle stations for the final time."
There was an immediate burst of activity. Clearly they had not been working at their full capacity earlier. The Captain took note of where Donovan's attention was drifting...
"As much as you might want to take note of how we do things Donovan, I think you will find that the Oberlux does not fight like a traditional warship. The tactics we use will be of no assistance in a fight against actual people, they are designed for a fight against a star. Keep your focus on it."
"Okay." He said that, but Donovan was still going to sneak glances.
To make sure that he would definitely not miss anything, he pulled out a tablet. This wasn't to record the event, this small device was not equipped with a camera, but to inform ARC to focus on the star.
Perhaps some useful information could be gleaned.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Five minutes.
Nothing was happening.
At least nothing that hadn't been happening for the past few days.
"Is it something we just can't see?" Diana asked the Captain, worried that they might be lacking some sensory organ.
"No, stay focused. It should start right about now..."
There was a sudden burst of light, a flood of rainbow colors stemming directly from the now dark yellow star.
They were beams, much like the ones that came before, but they were in a massive wave.
No, a wave was not an apt description.
They were like a wall of color, dots turning to lines the further they were from the center.
Diana and a few of the younger crew members had a moment of panic. This wasn't anything like their experienced seniors had described.
With the exception of Diana, this panic faded after the first impact. The force these voluminous yet small beams might be great if they were to all be focused, but spread over the massive surface area the Oberlux had they were not that impressive.
The motion that came as a result was less of a crash and more like the gentle rocking of a boat on waves.
Don recognized fairly quickly the reason for the spinning as well. The Oberlux did not have a rotationally symmetrical front profile, so if they were still, the helmsman would have to constantly contest with the Oberlux wanting to be turned in some way.
A gentle spin, maybe only a full rotation every two minutes, was enough to make it so that force pretty much evened itself out over time with only small adjustments needing to be made.
The second wave was a similar story, as was the third and fourth.
On the fifth wave, however, something the pair could only describe as magical started to happen.
The tiny branches blocking the beams at the limits started to sparkle and glow.
It wasn't a red hot glow that Don would have expected. These branches were outlining themselves, glowing two colors. A pure white surrounded by a perfect black.
When this shade scheme was applied to the most of the time all but invisible branches, they seemed to pop out of the background. An encapsulating net of black and white lines, with breaks in places revealing the colorful chaos that lay beyond.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
These were the death throws of a star? How could such a destructive force create such beauty?
Donovan did not fancy himself a connoisseur of such things as art and elegance, but even he believed that this image should belong in a museum.
How could he have ever thought of missing this?
Even as he thought to chastise himself for his over eagerness, the scene evolved again.
Flashes, sparks, sparkles, spirals of color sprang from the branches. A discharge of stored energy, creating little circular pulses, each of a unique color between red and purple.
Now, on top of the dot and dash pattern existing outside and the irregular web of light and dark, there was another random assortment of colored circles constantly expanding and fading away.
Diana was certain that if she was ever going to have a seizure, now would be the time. She found herself thankful for not having such a weakness.
Was this what it was like on drugs?
Eventually, as all good things do, the light show came to an end, revealing a greatly expanded star of a blood red hue.
"...a red giant..." Donovan was the one to mutter the thought aloud, though both had the same idea.
"Red Giant? Does that mean something important to you?" The Captain was the only one close enough to hear them over the assortment of cheers. There was still the occasional beam headed their way, but nowhere near as frequent as before. The hard jobs were over.
"The term Red Giant applies to a star which is close to the end of its life-cycle in our understanding of the universe." Diana elaborated. At the moment, she was overcome with emotion. It was symbolic in a way.
Despite the changes to the universe, the uncertainty of the future, the loss she experienced, and would no doubt continue to look back on, in the end their star would end up dying looking the same as they had expected, but for completely different reasons.
She was almost smug about it.
In spite of all the changes, all of the things they were missing, every field of research they simply did not have access to, they were right about something in the end.
"You know how stars die?"
"Knew," Don corrected him, "we haven't the slightest clue how it works now."
Even Don could not emotionally detach himself from this. He could not deny it any longer, this was the end of something he couldn't quite put his finger on. He might not have been sad, but there was a definite feeling of loss and emptiness staring at the aimlessly attacking orb.
It was finally sinking in just how 'gone' everything actually was.
"Do you think we'll actually be able to make it?" He turned to Diana for the answer to his question.
"At this point, only time will tell. We will have to work like slaves to ensure our future."
"Ha, dammit." He managed to let out a short laugh, "Here I was thinking that, finally, I might get some down time."
As some of the excess crew celebrated their way out, Don and Diana watched on at what little remained.
From what ARC could tell, there weren't even dust clouds where the planets should be.
"So Captain, I take it you aren't quite done yet?" Donovan pulled himself out of his slump to ask the question.
"No, we still need to fire a few more shots to finish it off."
Don took a deep breath. Diana might punch him for what he was about to say.
"Any chance you could let me be the one to deliver the coup de grace? The one to end this slugfest?"
There was no semblance of ego or enthusiasm behind this request. He didn't want any honors or adrenaline, he wanted closure.
He didn't understand much about Split, or about how humanity ended up dead, but he personally attributed the total loss of humanity's work and identity to the Sun. He blamed the very thing that gave them life for their death.
On the behalf of those living and dead, he wanted to be the one to settle the score.
"I don't see a reason why not. Follow me." The Captain turned his attention to Diana. "Would you also like to participate in this?"
He was met with red eyes and a runny nose.
"I... yes... I won't press the button, but I will hold his hand." Slowly, she stood up from her seat. Gone was that element of elegance she had before, replaced by gloom and lethargy.
She followed close behind them, down into one of the pits. Waiting there were the Scholar and a choice few crew left on the bridge, the majority of the seats being empty. A burly man made way for them, giving his position to Donovan.
There was no seat here, clearly a standing and commanding spot, where a panel sporting a series of levers and wheels was stationed.
"They are all adjusted and calibrated sir, ready to fire when the signal is given." The man's voice was of a higher pitch, a stark contrast to his size.
Neither of the pair were in any mood to marvel at this oddity.
"Thank you, First Officer. Donovan, when I tell you to, pull that large lever in the center all the way down as fast as you can. It will fire all weapons, which at this stage will guarantee that it collapses."
"I understand."
From their position, stood front and center of the pit, Diana could only just see the Sun out of it.
Holding Don's left with her right, placing her own left hand on his elbow, she gave him a nod. She was ready.
"You may fire when ready."
A deep breath.
click
A small vibration was the only indication they felt as proof the lever had done anything. The stream of yellows, greens, and blues heading in the direction of the massive red ball would seal its fate.
Billions of years of natural history, wiped from the slate.
With a flash, the red menace on the perfectly black background began to shrink and fade away.
It was over, the beginning at least. Though whether that beginning was for a story of prosperity or a lifetime of despair was beyond their ability to know.
Much like her grandfather before her, Diana looked at the depressingly beautiful sight and shed tears. Unlike her grandfather, Diana had a chest to cry into and a shoulder to lean on.
Donovan, however, stared intensely at the collapse. Something inside him wanted it to go Supernova, just to end this all before it got out of hand, but that obviously wouldn't happen.
The dull ball shrank to a size he could not make out within a few minutes.
"I think it best if we returned to our ship for now, Captain. Could we ask to have someone guide us back?" Diana wasn't completely broken down, but she was certainly not in a state to make major decisions.
"I will have the Courier escort you. He should meet you at the bottom of the stairwell."
Going down was far easier than the climb up, at least on Don's aching body, but there was a degree of difficulty invoked when there was a distressed damsel clinging to his arm.
The Courier caught up with them before they even reached the bottom, the return trip being far faster as a result of its guidance. Don could have sworn it waved as they ascended atop the elevator.