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”I want to hear you say it.” Hope looked at Envy with a smug face and a wide smile.
Envy groaned in annoyance. “Fiiine. You were right. This was a good idea. Happy?”
“Very.” Hope turned back towards the tiny being in front of her. There were dozens of beings that seemed almost like combinations of plants and animals in the immediate vicinity, and she could sense thousands more in the area. The one leading them was tiny, barely larger than Hope’s fist. It looked like a mix of some sort of canine and a plant. It had six legs and instead of fur it had grass all over its body, and instead of a tail, it had a pair of long, thin, and flexible branches with leaves growing on it. She sent a mental message to the being, confirming that this group of beings known as Shinzen had indeed come to this universe in the company of the two individuals they had been looking for.
The tiny being nodded in excitement. The beings were capable of speech but greatly disliked speaking. To them, it was too inefficient. They much preferred mental communication, where you could send entire concepts and thoughts to each other. Such telepathic communication didn't leave room for error the same way speech did, and it was much faster, especially when it came to conveying complex concepts. It also made lying all but impossible.
Hope had approached the beings in the form of mental communication as a simple hunch. Part of it had been because she didn’t think the beings actually had the correct vocal cords for speech. The beings most certainly were intelligent, proven by their actions, but their biological makeup was complicated, to say the least. That decision had been the correct one as the beings had been eager to work with her as soon as she'd done so. The beings were apparently eager to learn. About everything. And they were not shy about sharing information. For some reason, Hope got the feeling that lessons that were not accompanied by violence seemed worth less to these beings, but that was just a slight impression she got.
Notably, the beings all seemed naturally psionic. Or to be more precise, the beings among them classified as Queens were. There were roughly a dozen such individuals among the Shinzen, and all of them were quite powerful psions. The Shinzen worked like hive species, and most of the beings scuttling around in their surroundings were either drones or warriors of some sort. They were working on building a base of power in addition to unearthing the ship that had crashed with the planet. The drones and warriors seemed relatively intelligent as well, but had very limited autonomy, if any at all. The presence of so many Queens defied the normal classification of a hive, though for some reason only one of them was breeding. Weird division of labor.
“Can you ask them where our targets are then?” Envy prodded. Unlike Hope, she was feeling less blasé about these beings. She had never bothered to learn how to communicate telepathically, magical or psionic. She’d been a psion a few times and could steal the ability from one of the beings around her if she wanted, but chose not to.
"Roughly," Hope replied. "They aren't entirely sure either, as they got separated not too long ago. Hence the crash. A large contingent of powerful creatures of the Underworld ambushed them. Even with all the forces at their disposal, and apparently they have quite a bit, the attack managed to scatter them. The Shinzen assume the Great Teacher, which is their name for one of the two we’re looking, is still gathering those that were scattered, while the other one is sticking around to fight off the enemy. They have a rough idea where to find at least one of our targets, but not an exact location. Because of that, they were planning on hunkering down and waiting until found.”
“Can they at least give us some information on our targets?” Envy questioned a little impatiently.
“Yes and no. They can give information on the Great Teacher, but I’m getting the impression that the information is…heavily colored by the Shinzen view on things. They have very little interest in the other one at the moment. They gave any information they had on the other one without even asking. It's not negative per se, but it is…disinterested. Apparently, the Shinzen were not able to learn as much from that being as they had wished." Hope tried to parse through the images and impressions. The mind of a Shinzen worked very differently from most species. They were extremely focused as a species, and things that didn't pertain to that focus just seemed to fade away from their minds.
“This rough idea about the two we’re looking for. That location is inside the scourge-controlled territory, right? Otherwise, the Underworld wouldn’t have managed an ambush like that.” Envy asked, focusing on the real topic.
Hope looked toward the puppy-like being and it seemed like something passed between them, before she turned back. "Rather deep inside the scourge territory at that. They'd been fighting the three scourges quite actively for a while before getting scattered. Apparently, the Shinzen and the two strong ones quite enjoyed the constant battle, which is why they didn't make much of a move to reach more civilized space.” She confirmed.
“Sounds like we should head back to inform Wrath and Valor. I think we might end up needing their help. I’m confident in dealing with any random scourge we run into, but dealing with an entire army’s worth, while on a vessel with a tower spirit that is being uncooperative at best, doesn't sound like the best plan ever.” Envy suggested. “With the four of us we have a better chance. Besides, Ysendra mentioned that they were looking for Wrath. Might make negotiations easier if she’s with us.”
The puppy-sized Shinzen Queen pawed at Hope's leg and seemed to communicate something again. "The Shinzen want to come along. They've pretty much finished digging out their ship, and they’ve only stuck around so far in case the Great Teacher comes looking for them.”
“Fine. Sure. Let the plant puppy and others come along. I don’t care.” Envy decided to just give up the point, as it wasn’t worth arguing about.
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“You did what?!” Envy asked with a loud shout.
"We enlisted in the Host," Karna repeated. She and Valor had reported things on their end first.
“Why would…you know what, never mind. It makes a certain amount of sense now that I think about it. Still, you could’ve consulted with us beforehand.” Envy grumbled.
Hope just shook her head, having expected something like this to happen. The odds of Wrath not getting into any trouble in the time they had been separated were slim to none. “We brought along some friends.” She added.
"You did? What kind? And where are they?" Valor asked curiously. He was also a little suspicious as this seemed like a setup for one of those 'they were here all along' -kinds of jokes.
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“We left them with Zuellni. We didn’t think Khaine would appreciate us bringing in Outsiders to her realm.” Hope explained. In truth, she wasn’t entirely sure what the reaction would be, as the realm could consider the Shinzen to be invaders.
“You found the targets?” Karna asked eagerly.
"Not quite. We found a clue though. I think you should meet the Shinzen. They're interesting." Hope liked the eager creatures. Even the Queens that were larger in size seemed somehow childlike in their innocence.
'Shinzen. That sounds vaguely familiar.' Karna thought to herself. Maybe she'd run into their kind in one of her previous lives. "Well, let's go to them then." Khaine had granted the four relatively free access to leave and enter from a more remote corner of her realm. The realms of the gods could be accessed from places other than the golden bridge, but only if the owner allowed it.
A single thought brought them outside the realm, and they found themselves inside Karna's tower. "Now let's see. What's gotten you so int-“ Karna’s voice disappeared as she saw the ship floating next to her tower. The other three looked at her with surprise at her sudden silence, which lasted for several seconds.
“That’s a Dhar ship.” She finally continued. “What’s a Dhar ship doing here.”
"Dhar? As in the element of the true dark?" Envy asked with a frown.
Karna just shook her head. “No. The same name though just a different meaning. The race known as Dhar had no concept of the magical element, as they had no concept of magic in the first place. They were all natural psions. The entire universe had no magic.”
“Were?” Valor seized on the word.
“Well, there are members of the species in other universes, though their kind is relatively rare and usually go by different names, but the ones that made ships exactly like that died out. Many, many lifetimes ago. And when I say lifetimes, in this context I mean the lifetimes of an average reincarnator, not just mine.”
“You seem quite familiar with them. Lived a life as one?” Envy realized.
“Yes, a long time ago. Theirs wasn’t called the Eternal Empire for nothing.” She had a small nostalgic smile dancing on her lips. “Even by our standards, they ruled that universe for a very long time. It was the most technologically advanced species I’ve been a part of as well. I’m not sure what happened to them, but when I returned to that universe out of curiosity, they were gone. Seeing one of their ships here and now is…odd. Yet, it’s rather unlikely some other species would build ships using the same shape and materials.”
“Maybe the Shinzen aboard can provide an explanation.” Hope suggested gently. They all had lives they had fonder memories of than others. Sometimes it felt great remembering those lives, while at other times it was painful to remember.
Boarding the ship was a little eerie for Karna. She’d been on several ships like this one, although there were signs that the Dhar had made advances since she was one. No doubt as a result of the Great Song they all participated in. That had been one of the weirdest concepts she’d seen in the lives she’d lived. A combined song of an entire people dictated by the universe itself, granting various benefits to the participants. It was one of the reasons the Dhar had become such a huge power in the first place.
The crystalline structure of the psionically enhanced walls was nostalgic, to say the least as she ran her hand along the wall. It had been a relatively long life by her standards. Even if she wasn't a psion in this life, she could almost sense the systems of the ship reaching out to her in what was akin to recognition. Another feature of the species made entirely of psions was that all the systems were controlled mentally. Even without psionic energy she could duplicate the connection and allowing the connection was like turning a key inside a lock. Suddenly she could feel everything inside the ship. With a mental command, their group was warped to where the Shinzen were located. Warping had been one of the most important technologies of the Eternal Empire, allowing a single mental command to bring you across galaxies from one side of the empire to the other.
The Shinzen in the ship were truly varied in their appearance. Most of them had plant-like features, though their frames were anything from a small puppy to what looked like a giant gorilla made of plants. There were some that had an appearance that was less plant-like, with one looking very insectoid, while another looked almost humanoid with white skin and elongated limbs. The odd thing was that they were all bowing down to her.
The explanation came quickly in a rush of emotions and images. To these creatures, appearances were almost inconsequential. The psionic beings could sense her soul and recognized it. The species had a genetic memory to go along with their hivemind, and her soul was prominent in those memories. Apparently, she'd been part of a group of Dhar that subjugated the Shinzen far in the past. To the Shinzen, that had been a lesson they'd never forgotten. To her, it had been just another day that she didn't even remember. Dhar were benevolent masters most of the time, but they were a warrior people.
“Ok, why are the creepy plants bowing at you Wrath?” Envy asked.
“Ah. Apparently, their ancestors got a bit uppity in the past. I was part of a group of Dhar that cracked down on that attitude. Dhar fought a lot of battles.” She shrugged in response.
Instead of focusing on the past, she inquired where the Shinzen had gotten the ship, and the beings were more than happy to oblige. Apparently, there was a live Dhar the Shinzen called the Great Teacher that had brought one of the Dhar Arkships here, along with the accompanying fleet. The crew was decidedly non-Dhar though. The Shinzen were part of that crew, in their own way. Those same Shinzen had been aboard this ship when it had gotten separated from the main fleet.
“I see. There’s a Keeper alive. I didn’t expect that. This could get a little interesting.” She muttered mostly to herself.
“What’s a Keeper?” Hope was quick to ask.
"Among the Dhar, Keepers were the most powerful and respected psions. They stored the memories, skills, and fractions of the personalities of the most important and skilled individuals among the species in their own minds. You could call them walking libraries of the accumulated knowledge, skills, and technologies of the Eternal Empire. It makes sense one of them eventually became a Nakshatra. Though, I’m still no closer to finding out what happened to the Dhar, as these Shinzen cannot provide an answer.” She explained.
"Umm, considering what a Keeper stores, and the fact that you lived a life as a Dhar, does this being have you stored as well?" Envy asked in slight worry.
Karna chuckled. “No, luckily not. The Keepers didn’t store everyone, and I made sure I was excluded for reasons you can imagine. There’s one thing the Shinzen did manage to tell though. If we want to get to our targets, we’ll need to be careful. The presence from the Underworld is extremely heavy, and our targets might just shoot at us before we get the chance to say anything, as the abominations of the Underworld are fond of using misdirection and tricks.”
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“Weren’t they supposed to rely on misdirection and tricks!” Envy complained as the tower was forced to move out of the path of another enormous beam of magical energy. The defensive systems of the tower were already working overtime with the smaller bursts of death coming their way, and they were just a collateral target.
In front of them, an enormous battle was unfolding. At the center of the battle was a giant ship that looked like a domed city, with a long spire coming out from the bottom. It was constructed of the same crystalline material the earlier Dhar vessel had been made of, looking like liquid mercury. The city-sized ship was flanked on all sides by ships similar to the one the Shinzen had used, and they were currently engaged in a battle with seemingly endless hordes of the Underworld.
The abominations of the Underworld were hard to describe as many of them were nothing more than amalgamations of flesh, tentacles, eyes, and teeth. The creatures ranged from tiny to grotesquely huge monstrosities almost as large as the city-ship they were attacking. The monsters most often attacked by sending streams of arcane energy from their multiple eyes, though some of the monstrosities were attempting to bite down on the crystalline ships, with very limited success. It seemed the ships were holding their own with relative ease, though some of the vessels seemed to have taken some damage. Those damaged vessels quickly disappeared and appeared close to the city-ship for repairs and support, while any ship that really got in trouble was quickly rescued by the powerful weapons of the largest vessel.
“Huh. A large portion of the enemies are actually either illusions or gathered energy from the Underworld. Throwaway troops and mirages. Yet, the ships either don't seem to care or are ignoring that fact on purpose." Valor commented.
“Surely a powerful psion should be able to tell the difference?” Envy suggested. Her experience with psionics was relatively limited as that had never been her thing.
“Yeah, sure, a really powerful one. I doubt the crews of all those ships are that powerful though. Besides, a large chunk of those creatures are effectively mindless, so telling them apart from illusions is rather difficult. And it might be just me, but doesn’t this look like the ships are treating this almost like a training exercise?” Karna suggested.
“Now that you mention it…” Valor also noticed what Karna had seen. The movements of the ships were a little unnatural, almost as if they were prolonging the fight on purpose.
“I guess that explains why the really powerful soul in the large vessel hasn’t just wiped them all out.” Envy added.
"Master, the AI of the ships is contacting us," Zuellni reported.
“Alright. Put on your diplomatic hat everyone. This is it.” Karna called out and nodded to Zuellni.
“This is Nox calling for the unidentified vessel. You’ve arrived in the company of one of our missing ships. Report your intentions.” The clear voice of the AI could be heard. The AI had used the language most commonly used in the Divine Plane, which was clear proof they had been in contact with beings from this universe long enough to learn the language.
Surprising the AI, Karna responded in the official language of the Eternal Empire of the Dhar, and specifically the language used by the Dhar and not their client races. “We are here on friendly business. You can call me Karna. I must admit that it is a surprise to see an Arkship of the Eternal Empire in this universe. I’m sure we’ll have a very illuminating conversation.” The bait was set, and they wouldn’t have to wait long for a bite.
“You’re invited to board. Instructions will be provided to your…tower spirit?”