System J25 – Brotherhood of Man Colonial Space
In the umbral shadow of a nearby planetoid too small for classification as a planet and too large to be classed as an asteroid, a void portal slashed open reality and spiraled open. The Indra, a corvette gifted to the squad from a benefactor in the Umbral plane, ferried Amara, the reincarnation of the nascent goddess Nemesis. She stood on the ship’s bridge with her arms folded, studying the region. A lone station drifted in the isolated debris belt. If one didn’t know specifically where to look, missing it would be easy.
She pursed her lips, studying the readouts. The station was abandoned and had been for sometime. No sign that anyone had been here in quite some time. She puffed a small sigh and started weaving together fire and mind signs, casting a low rank divination spell. A fiery clock face appeared before her and she scrolled time back slowly at first and then faster and faster. Nothing had set foot in the system for several decades.
“Means no ambush, at least.”
Her shoulders loosened up a little and set herself back down in the command chair. She’d been uncharacteristically tense ever since she stole the Indra. They still had Theferis at least. That was the real weapon. That’s what she told herself for comfort, anyway.
“Tsh, who am I really kidding?” Amara fed the spelldrive some light magic, and the ship thundered forward on raw plasma. Akamori was the better skilled pilot, but she was capable enough to get from point at A to B provided she didn’t need to do anything fancy.
It may not feel right, but this course is necessary. Nemesis said softly.
“Stealing my friend’s ship from them and slinking off into the void hardly feels like a just action.”
Sometimes lines between what is right and wrong blur. There isn’t always a black and white. Sometimes, the reality exists in shades of grey.
“huh.”
What?
“Nothing. You just kind of reminded me of Akamori for a moment.”
Most likely when he is closely embodying his past selves. The Traveler and the many faces he’s worn throughout time have become a pillar of good in a reality that drowns in evil and darkness. Our paths have flowed together many times. It’s expected that there would be some overlap in personality.
“You talk about Akamori a lot like you knew him before he was Akamori?”
I have. He, like you, is this cycle’s embodiment of an old being. A shard of a greater whole. His path has brought him into contact with more shards of his whole self than you have, thus his greater progress. But events to come require we ‘catch up’.
“Something worse than Sauridius is coming?”
A truly cruel and predatory being. Maleficus may have started out with noble aims, but her means became more and more cruel, justifying the ends. The emergence of the Remover is a bad omen. The Remover is notoriously reclusive. He is sneaky and crafty. He often appears in key moments in history before a reality is irrevocably broken. The First has suffered through 5 Cataclysms requiring massive changes to the System to preserve stability.
Amara went cold at the news. That dreadful feeling she’d had around the Remover was more than just him being a powerful demi god. He was a harbinger of the end. But something didn’t mesh.
“Wait, if he’s that bad that every time he pops up, a reality ends. Why is this one still kicking?”
Because it’s the first. The Prime. The Source. The core from which all others were spun off. What you don’t see is the collapse of those other stars.
“How many stars were there?”
20 after the Severance. There are now 15, though 2 of them are in such a weakened state they threaten to collapse anytime now. You may live long enough to see 4 Cataclysms in your lifetime. Longer if we can fend off Maleficus and ascend.
Amara chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. This was beyond heavy. Until now she’d thought that the war with the Sauridius was their biggest problem. But it went so much deeper than that. “Who else knows?”
Everything? Possibly Akamori. It’s difficult to assume how much his soul shards have shared with him but it’s a strong bet he’s aware of much. The complete truth? None of you.
“So why tell me all of this?”
Because the standard ascension path didn’t work last time. You were too slow. You decided that in this cycle, things would need to be accelerated to match the speed of fate.
Another scoff as she brought the Indra into the abandoned station’s hanger bay slowly to land.
What?
“Now I sound like Akamori.”
Why?
“Because he hates the idea, that fate is tugging him along like a puppet.
He has good reason to.
This time it was Amara’s turn to ask why.
Because she has been. Lady Fate has helped the Crystal Mother move heroes around like game pieces on a Darstrix board. Taking territory and locking off advances, the Umbral Titans would otherwise employ.
Amara sighed. The more Nemesis spoke with her, the more hopelessly lost she felt. Thankfully, the gifted intellect she inherited from Lady Fate enabled her to process everything so much more quickly. Once the Indra finished landing procedures, she powered down the spell drive and pushed herself back from the controls.
“Well, I guess I should go get ahead of fate, then.”
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She turned, making her way towards the loading ramp at the rear of the ship. Descending the ramp of the ship, she noted the station still had gravity. Odd, given the power appeared to be off. So if the station had no juice, why did it have gravity? She deployed her helmet and sealed it with a hiss of air as it pressurized.
She strode into the empty hangar feeling like a ghost. Only there were no living or dead here. The place was simply a shell. Whatever life had existed here had long since vacated. She passed through an airlock and studied the corridor for a long beat. Brotherhood of Man. Some kind of military R&D facility. How was she tied to this place?
All will become clear in time.
Nemesis had become more quiet. More pensive. Amara wasn’t sure how to interpret that.
Amara wove a fire sign and cast a small ball of flame. She held it in her left hand like a small star, casting light and long shadows down the corridor. Slowly, she advanced into the station. She studied the posters and charts all over the walls. Much of looked like standard propaganda, but much of it espoused the use of magic within the Brotherhood.
“Magic? They have magic? I thought they were magiphobic?”
Not all, and not always. Small sects have always existed within the Brotherhood’s government. For a time we held sway here.
“We?”
Yes.
She traced a finger along a dusty medical chart. It tracked vitals on a number of young children. Amara’s brows knit. What were they doing with these kids? Curiosity pulled the weaver deeper into the station. She found herself wishing she had the ability that Akamori and Morwen had described. Morwen especially. Being able to see Time and possibility play out before her would be excessively helpful. Unfortunately, the station was too old to channel greater divination spells.
She found her way to an area that looked like a managed quarters area. Only two access points existed, including the one she’d just used to come in through. The other led to a communal latrine. The lay out was circular, with ten beds equally spaced apart. They had no names, only a number stenciled into the bulkhead to show who the bed belonged to. A footlocker at the front of the bed and a small nightstand next to the right side were the only furniture afforded to whomever the room belonged to in the past.
She paused the number 9 bed. Her eyes narrowed. It called to her and she couldn’t put words to how. Wouldn’t know how to even if she tried. It was almost like a whisper. Slowly, she approached the chest and kneeled down, tracing a hand over the footlocker, and lifted the old hinge back to open it. Inside, she found a mesh body suit with woven flexible plates integrated into the material. Like an under armor. Her brows furrowed, and she reached in slowly, pulling it out.
Gauging the size visually, she figured she could fit into it. “Odd.” She mused. “It’s like I left this here for me. But…I was never here?”
That you can recall. Not every generation carries all its memories forward into the next cycle.
Standing tall, she wove the hand sign for mind magic, triggering the armor to go translucent, allowing her to exit. She took off the sweaty pilot under suit she’d been using and put on the black under armored suit. It even had a hood and mask and could be vacuum sealed. Like they made it to enable her to sneak around easier.
Because it is .
“How…how would you know that?”
Because we left this here for you. Your future you when you did this in the past. Put it on. Time is limited, and you won’t have much longer on your own. More than that, I cannot say.
“Right.” Amara slipped the mesh under the suit on and then donned her scout armor again.
She flexed her hands a few times and couldn’t tell the difference. She threw a few swift punches and kicks to stretch out and was surprised at just how quickly her body responded. Even her weaving sped up.
System Info: You found a Soulbound Item. Nemesis Shadow Armor. This item gives a moderate bonus to stealth, speed and weave casting and a slight bonus to your Resolve. +1 Magical Rating for opposed checks.
“Whoah. Did you know about this?”
Yes. We’re not done. Proceed. With haste, please.
Amara nodded, unable to respond and did as she was told. As she did, her vision blurred, and the station warped and changed. She was stood before a young woman who looked kind of like she did when she was younger, but there was something different about her. And similar at the same time.
“Ah. You’re here.” There was a note of disappointment in her tone. “I’d almost hoped you wouldn’t come.”
“Sorry.”
The young woman with the number 9 on her under suit shook her head. The same suit she was wearing now, Amara realized.
“She said you’d come, and here you are. I trust you’ve found the armor?”
“I did. Yes.”
Number Nine turned and picked up a pair of gloves from off a table and held them out to Amara. “These are yours now.” Nine crossed the short distance to Amara and put the gloves into her hands. They were a little heavy. With magic she realized, not material weight.
“Hopefully, they serve you as well as they did me.” Nine’s eyes welled up with tears and Amara wasn’t sure why. Then it occurred to her.
“Wait…are you my mother?”
Nine smiled. “I just found out a few days ago. Your father and I are leaving. We aren’t sure if we’ll make it. The Brotherhood doesn’t like its conscripts leaving early or alive.”
“Shouldn’t you take these, then?”
Nine shook her head emphatically. “Yours in the future, that matters. That’s when the convergences will occur. Mine is to pave the way. Besides part of me lives on in you now. Or will.” Nine shrugged with a mildly confused look and Amara realized it was a habit she’d developed on her own.
“We don’t have much time left. It cost Nemesis a great deal of power to create this moment, and others will notice.” It was Nines’ way of saying hurry with anything big.
Amara felt put on the spot. She hadn’t even known she was going to wind up here. “Tell my father I turned out ok. That I grew up strong. I have lots of friends. And we’re going to fix things.”
Nine smiled and hugged Amara gently. After a short moment, she pushed Amara away softly back to the ripple in the corridor behind her. “Go. We’ll meet again.”
Amara went to take a step back towards her mom but found she lost control of her body again.
NO! She railed inside her mind, but deep down she knew Nine had requested Nemesis do this or she might not go back. Nemesis turned at least, letting her watch as her mother faded into the distortion, and then the absent dark corridor replaced her. Time and reality had returned to normal, leaving Amara alone and back in control of her body to collapse down, wrapping her arms around her knees and sob.