(Throne Room, Aurum Throni, Terran Orbit)
The psychic pressure of the Empress’s uncontrolled powers got more and more intense as I approached the throne, where she was held aloft by the sheer force of the power that had been thrust upon her. As I approached, I considered the best way to try and help her regain control. I would need to contact her, mind to mind, that much was obvious. But how to force the connection? I doubted very much that she would just let me into her head, even if she were in control.
The first way, the simplest, was to basically ‘shoot’ my will at her, with enough force that it could penetrate the whirlwind of psychic energy surrounding her, and then crack through her defenses. But at the moment, I did not know if I could even break through her power, much less penetrate her mind from this distance. And if I failed, she might react to the assault instinctively, without thinking, and I’d be lucky to just get sent to respawn.
The second way was no less difficult, and, indeed, carried far more certain risks, but it was more likely to be effective. I would have to get close to the Empress, grapple her, and force my will through her defenses. The energy required would be far less, and I would be able to have a bit more finesse than simply shooting myself out of a metaphorical cannon at her mind. But any attacks that came from her would be at point blank range, and there was no way I’d be able to avoid them.
Nothing for it. I took a breath, and looked at Lucio and Sheila. “Stay back by the door. I’ll try and maintain your shields, but things are going to get wild. She’s going to resist me, even if it is only on an instinctive level. But knee-jerk reactions with this much power behind them can be lethal.” They nodded, and stayed next to the door guards.
Turning back to the Empress, I began pressing forward. There was no wind in the room, and yet every step felt like I was walking into the teeth of a hurricane, such was the force of the Empress’s unconscious will. I took a breath, cleared my mind. No distractions. I would never reach her if I didn’t focus. One foot in front of the other. Again. And again. Each step bending forward, leaning against the pressure, forcing my way into the heart of the psychic storm.
Five steps. Four steps. Three. Two. I gathered my strength, and readied for the last step. The Empress hung in the air in front of me, floating a mere five feet above the ground. A burst of my own psychic power accompanied me as I kicked off, jumping into the air.
Contact. I wrapped my arms around the Empress like I was a safety tackling a wide receiver on the football field. I felt the energy of psychic lightning lash around me, tearing at my defenses. But there was something I had not expected. The energy was hesitant to come too close. Not to me, or even her own body. No, that instinctive, primal part of her that held sway over her unchecked powers was wary of harming the children. A mother’s instinct might just let me live through this.
I held the Empress close, my cheek touching hers. My mind slipped forward, trying to penetrate her mind. Getting in was not the issue. What defenses she had, taught to her as part of the Imperial royal family and an officer in the Imperial Navy, had been blown away by the onrushing power. Those defenses had been mundane, but were designed to slow down an intruder, give her time to discover them and respond.
Fortunately, they had survived about as well as a bunker when a nuke goes off inside it. Instead, her defenses now were like a giant instinctively flailing. If I had rushed in at full power, her mind could have responded, that power brought to bear in an instant, wiping me out. But if I kept quiet, moved slow, didn’t make too much noise…
My sight faded, as my mind slipped into the Empress’s mental realm. I was no longer in the throne room of the Inner Throne of the Aurum Throni, orbiting Terra in the Sol System. Instead, I was just inside the airlock of an Imperial warship. I looked around, and saw a plaque with the image of an Imperial destroyer-class vessel. INS Purity Blade.
Why had the Empress’s mind created this place? Wait. That name. That was important somehow. Of course! The Purity Blade was not her first ship, but it was her first command, before she’d earned her place on the Triumphant, before the Civil War. That had to be significant. Had she, in the chaos and feeling of being out of control, retreated to a time when she was truly mistress over her domain? That sounded likely.
I stretched out with my senses. Things worked differently in a person’s mental landscape. I felt the Empress’s core. Not far from where I was. A small twist, and I was there, where she was.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
The Empress was dressed in the uniform of a Captain. All around her, the bridge was in an air of well-organized chaos. Imperial Navy officers manned their stations, even as the ship rocked and rolled with turbulence great enough to feel, despite inertial dampeners. Captain and crew looked harried, holding on to their stations with white knuckles to keep from getting thrown about.
“Captain, the disturbances are continuing! Sensors are still overwhelmed!”
“Turbulence increasing! Whatever hit us is interfering with the shields! Attempting to compensate!”
“Hyperdrive running at maximum, but position remaining static, Captain! Engineering reports that they cannot keep this up much longer without damaging the engines!”
“All communications nonfunctional, Captain! There’s too much interference from the energy field!”
Listening to the conversation, it became clear what was happening. The Empress had been overwhelmed by the psychic wave and the powers that had awakened in her. Trying to retain her sanity amongst the onslaught, she had retreated inwards, her mind conjuring her old ship and crew from her memories. The power she now had was being interpreted as an astronomical phenomenon of some kind, an anomaly that had suddenly enveloped her ship, and was threatening to destroy it.
Another twist, and I made myself visible, made myself ‘real’ upon the deck of her mental ship. Well, mostly. I had no interest in being tossed about by the turbulence. To them, however, one moment there was just the viewscreen, showing a roiling nebula of chaotic energy, and the next I was standing there, hands clasped behind my back. “Captain Vaughn, if I might have a moment of your time?”
The bridge went silent for a moment, as Captain and crew looked on in shock at my sudden appearance. The Marine stationed on the bridge brought his pulse rifle up, and fired. I raised a hand, and the ball of plasma froze in mid-air. I would never have been able to do that in real life. But here, now, in her mind? I was lacking in power compared to her, but I had far more practice at mental combat than she did. Especially since she did not realize she was engaged in mental combat right now. Her mind conjured the weapon, with its real-world abilities and real-world limitations. I was fully aware that it was not a real gun, firing a real bolt of plasma. I simply told the plasma to ‘stop’, and the Empress did not know enough to tell it not to. That would only last so long as she didn’t get angry, and throw raw power into things, to overcome the gap in skill.
“Who the FUCK are you, and what the hell are you doing on my ship?”
Merida recovered quickly from the shock of my appearance, and the way I stopped her ‘Marine’ from attacking me. So far, so good. But the next part was tricky. I couldn’t tell her the exact truth, without risking her going insane or simply retreating into denial. And I couldn’t lie to her, not touching minds with her like this. She might not be able to dig into my memories, but telling truth or lies would be child’s play for her. And lies would undermine everything.
“I am Mirikon Mollen, Admiral in the Black Star Navy. The Chief of Staff to the Imperial Throne asked me, as a favor, to come to you and help you through this turbulent time. My apologies for the unconventional method of getting to you, but it was decided that reaching you in time was more important than using more… conventional methods to get in contact.”
Captain Vaughn brought herself to her full height (impressive given the shaking of the ship), and looked at me with distrust. I could see the thoughts running through her mind. She was wondering how I got here, how I stopped the Marine’s attack, how I wasn’t getting thrown about by the ship’s movement. All the questions unanswered, but all going back to the same conclusion: she was out of her depth. She took a deep breath, and said, “Very well, Admiral. It seems you have me at something of a disadvantage. What is it that the Emperor wishes of me? Although, I’m afraid the current conditions are somewhat limiting my ability to respond to Imperial decrees.”
I nodded, simply. “Indeed. First, I think it would be best for everyone if this ship didn’t tear itself apart at the seams. Would you allow me to help you get clear of this phenomenon?”
The Captain blinked. “You know what is happening? We’ve been fighting against this distortion for days now, with no effect other than draining our ship’s power banks. I don’t know how much more we can do.”
“Naturally. Unfortunately, doing everything you can think of is part of the problem. The Purity Blade is currently caught in a distortion that is more psychic than physical. And the energy you throw at it is feeding the distortion, making it more powerful, and keeping you trapped here.”
“All right. Assume for a moment that I believe you. What would you have me do? I cannot simply sit back and allow the distortion to destroy the Purity Blade. I will not sacrifice all these people on a whim, or the word of someone I have not met before.”
“And you would not be the person you are if you would. But sitting back is exactly what you need to do. The power from the sensors, the shields, the engines, the communications array, all of it is feeding the distortion, amplifying it. If you want to escape, then you need to starve the distortion, allowing it to die out.”
“Impossible! The ship will be destroyed if we do that! She’s barely holding together as is!”
“Captain, if you do not trust in me, then trust in your ship and your crew. If this continues, you’ll be destroyed. You have to do something, and you’ve tried everything you know. None of it has worked. Why not try the inconceivable, and hope for the impossible?”
Captain Vaughn grimaced, but nodded, slowly. She was, after all, running out of options. Her ship and crew were in danger, and my words were the only lifeline she had. “And what would you suggest, then?”
“Shut everything down. Everything except life support and structural integrity. Yes, the ship will get tossed around a bit, but the turbulence will die quickly enough, once it is no longer being fed.”
The Captain considered my words, and then nodded. “All right, then.” She took a breath, and addressed her crew. “Ensign Mallory, sound alarms throughout the ship. Brace for impact. Lieutenant Castor, prepare to cut all systems besides life support and structural integrity on my mark.” She took another breath. “Mark.”
The ship shook violently, crew members getting thrown about. Five seconds. Fifteen. The turbulence began to ebb. Thirty. The ship came to rest. All around the bridge, people began picking themselves up off the ground, where they had been thrown without inertial dampeners to steady them. Only I remained standing.
I nodded slowly, as emergency power came online, lighting the bridge in dim light. The Captain stood up, staring at me with wonder. Wonder turned to confusion, and then recognition. “Mollen? What in the hell is going on?”