CHAPTER 18 – QUESTIONING THE WAY

"When you have no strength, no wits, no will,

When you are small of stature, dark of mind, weak of spirit,

What are you to do?

Remember, you are Light.

Your soul is vaster than any illusion before your eyes."

– Ver Lumineo, "A Journey To The Sun"

The Present, somewhere within the "Hot Zone", Terra Para

Airo fired a shot over his shoulder, running toward the grav-shaft, when another Revenant burst from the wall ahead and barred his way.

Brandishing his katana in one hand and the veronite blaster in the other, Airo slashed at the apparition using his momentum. The Revenant raised a spectral appendage and parried the blow. The action caught Airo off-guard, making him reel. He nearly kicked by reflex, yet remembered the horrific nature of his opponent and shot the Revenant with the blaster instead, the power armor assisting to make the awkward attack work. The projectile hit home, and the Revenant dissipated in a cloud of brilliant energy.

Airo saw motion in the corner of his eye and turned rapidly, falling on one knee. He fired at the pursuing Revenant, their deadly energy beams missing him by mere inches. Taking them out, he quickly jumped backward, entering the grav-shaft's field. Ascending upward, he took a second to catch his breath. That Revenant had parried the strange crystal blade of his katana. Without an active resonance field in the vicinity. This was trouble.

The skyship's nolreck was eerily calm. There were no explosions or alarms, only a disquieting chime coming from the PA system. The cyan-purple interior lighting pulsed in rhythm with the sound. The attack had come at the worst possible time – while Airo was sleeping. Stimulants or no, his body was already pushed long ago to its limits, and he couldn't rest in standing position anymore by locking the power armor's joints. As for rest at all, he needed it – however fleetingly – otherwise his performance dropped beyond the critical threshold: that of the absolute peak.

And now entropy had finally taken its toll.

Airo left the grav-shaft, arriving before the bridge. A dozen Radiant Knights were fighting a furious battle at the bridge doors, as Revenant poured from every possible angle. Airo dashed into the fray, firing the veronite blaster and slashing with the katana left and right. Fortunately, the Knights were all carrying resonance fields with them, the whole area simmering faintly as the exotic creatures equalized the scales, reducing the effectiveness of the Revenant's attacks significantly. Yet the enemy had overwhelming numbers, with more and more Revenant appearing as the Knights cut them down with their own weapons made of light or shot them with heavy particle bolters. Airo fought his way to the bridge, and entered without slowing down as the doors opened to admit him into the nerve center of the skyship.

Inside, the situation was even more critical. The bridge had turned into a battlezone. Crew stations were blasted or destroyed. Revenant were everywhere, relentlessly engaging the defenders. The bridge's observation window was shattered, cold wind howling inward as a blizzard raged outside.

"Cloud! Status report!" Airo shouted, and staggered as a Revenant beam hit him. He dived for cover behind the CIC mainframe, returning fire.

"We are surrounded, Commander," the SAI responded at once, tone completely matter-of-fact. "Sensors indicate no less than fourteen hundred enemy combatants. The skyship has sustained moderate damage, mainly to its weapon systems. The bridge helm is critically damaged, and four of the five manual control sets are currently inoperational."

"What about our forces!" Airo shouted, shooting tenaciously in every direction. The blaster beeped empty, and he swiftly ejected the battery slot, slapping a fresh MEM-cell, continuing the fusillade.

"All dragon units are deployed and engaged with priority targets. Auxiliary combat teams are fighting to repel boarders. Piloting crew is mixed status. Commander, I have registered multiple KIAs."

"Bloody stars, get us out of here then!" The sounds of battle were everywhere, with screams and bellowed orders filling the commlink.

"Unable to comply, Commander. I'm currently under a cyber-Æther attack. If my current resources don't remain committed for counter-intrusion tasks, I shall be erased from the system."

"Void it, I will do it myself!" Airo yelled, and sprinted across the bridge, relying on his power armor to keep him alive. Energy beams lanced into him from several directions, making the armor's shields flare up. A Revenant glided to bar his way, but Airo bowled into the apparition, driving it away, the serefi-facilitated contact feeling strange and plainly wrong.

"You two, cover me!" he shouted to the nearest Radiant Knights, and the shaken red-gold armored warriors quickly drew to his side.

Putting away his weapons, Airo reached the helm. He checked his HUD to see which was the still-working control set and took its place, the two Knights guarding his back. Outside, beyond the broken observation window, the bleak sky was an arena of another brutal clash, dragons flying and fighting hundreds of humanoid and several draconic Revenant.

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Airo worked the helm controls, recalling how they functioned, and flared the powerful engines to maximum thrust. He disabled the inertial stabilizers, and everyone fell on the floor, while the Revenant, with their momentum-ignoring natures, trailed behind rapidly as Vorzii accelerated forward.

The skyship gained speed, and escaped from the initial ambush ring. This heartened the defenders both outside and inside, and tipped the scales in their favor. Airo kept his hand pressed on the throttle HHI touchpad, monitoring the battlefield in VR. He issued multiple orders across the mindscape, once again impressed at the discipline and swiftness with which the Knights responded. Somebody finally regained control of the weapon systems, andVorzii spewed massive barrages at the deadly draconic Revenant, tearing great holes in their immaterial golden bodies. The colossal apparitions retreated, surprised as the tides turned, and disappeared into the storm clouds of the blizzard.

Given this window of opportunity, the dragon Knights regrouped, driving away the rest of the pursuing Revenant horde. Using the enormous jetpacks strapped to their backs, the dragons reached the skyship, taking shelter within its large hangar bays.

It was a close call, yet the ambush was broken.

Airo double-checked if everyone was on board sans casualties, then re-enabled the inertial stabilizers and spaced out with all haste.

***

Ilsorin, the Radiant Knights' hidden base, Terra Para

"And next time, you will call me to the bridge exactly when I specify," Airo said. "You are not the one to determine whether or not I need 'five more minutes of rest'. Is that clear, Knight?"

"Yes sir," Stamat replied, eyes cast downward, crestfallen.

"Now, report on Knight Mina's co... soulkin. Is his status still MIA?"

"No, sir. We, uh... witnesses were interviewed. Knight Hywel did a suicidal charge against the enemy once... once Mina fell. The data streams confirm it. He's dead, sir. In truth, sir... his sacrifice gave the rest of us enough time to regroup."

"What about the settlement? Were any colonists evacuated?"

"All dead, sir. The Revenant used them as live decoy to lure us. They struck just as we were launching the transport shuttles." Stamat's voice was barely above a whisper.

"I see. Remember this lesson well, Knight. This is what mistakes cost in a war." Airo cut the commlink.

Seven Knights were dead. Eight now, counting Mina's soulkin. And of course, the dragon herself, making the total casualties nine. Thirteen more were injured, kept alive thanks to the resonance fields and the Order's advanced regimen and technologies. This was too close. In one brutal strike, the Revenant had nearly decimated the Radiant Knights, who were already stretched too thin as it was. It was by far the most concentrated attack Ferrtau's monstrosities had ever done, to Vorzii or to anything else, and all signs pointed to this being a deliberate action.

The Revenant were out to get them.

Airo made his way to Ilsorin's medical level. The stronghold's hallways seemed subdued and bleak, although the amount of hubbub was the same. The refugees still hadn't caught on what had happened. There were no Radiant Knights around; all of them had gone to attend the funeral ceremony, and now Airo sought out to summon the two people who weren't informed of the events: Veralla and Kiana.

Three people, if he counted the sick dragonet. Yet he doubted she was going anywhere – except heavenward.

Ilsorin's medbay was the most advanced facility Airo had ever seen. It was so advanced, in fact, that at first it failed to make proper impression upon him. Most of the machinery was practically invisible, their presence detectable only as pointed edges of various projectors, or arcing bands of silvery emitters, like the ones in Airo's cryoprison. The medical level was equipped with holding tanks full of revitalizing liquids, their size fitted to accommodate humans, while immense pools with the same setup were provided for dragons. Some areas were sectioned off for non-intensive care, where patients could rest in comfort, and those areas could be further redesigned in different room configurations by variform walls and floors. Like everywhere else in Ilsorin, the place was decorated in silvery-golden style, with lots of abstract crystal sculptures which doubled up as illumination sources, casting a comfortable amber glow.

Airo went to one of the recovery rooms. Inside, the temperature was sweltering. One wall was seamlessly converted into a picture-perfect window, showing the cloudy twilight outside. A large nanofabricator was installed in the corner. Next to the wall perpendicular to the wall-window, a miniature version of the healing pools was placed, and inside, half-floating, half-lying, was Nightsong.

The dragonet was still deathly pale and very weak, moaning softly every few moments. Veralla and Kiana both were beside the healing pool. Veralla carried an expression of deep worry, her tail twitching as she sat restlessly on all fours. Kiana, by contrast, looked almost as sorry as her charge. Her hair and clothes were damp with sweat, and she hadn't slept for some time, evidenced by the dark spots beneath her eyes and her slumped posture. She was kneeling besides the pool, and spoke quiet encouragements to Nightsong, holding the dragonet's tiny claw in her hand, and a plate with small meat chunks in the other.

"Must I eat now?... I feel so tired... and cold..." Nightsong said plaintively. She wasn't stammering anymore, yet her frail body now shivered without pause.

"No, you don't have to if you don't feel like it," Kiana said, putting the plate down and squeezing lightly Nightsong's claw. "Rest now. Just tell me when you're hungry, okay?"

"Okay..."

Airo watched silently for a minute, his presence completely unnoticed. Veralla seemed torn between Nightsong's condition and the plate with meat lying besides Kiana. The Conduit, for her part, was focused entirely on the sick dragonet, her lavender eyes bright with compassion and determination despite her fatigue. Nightsong closed her eyes, seemingly drifting into stupor, though she continued to moan and shiver.

"How is she?" Airo asked quietly at last.

"Airo!" Veralla hrrr–ed softly, turning her head to see him.

Kiana glanced at him with a weary expression. "Barely holding," she said. "Cloud's doing everything possible, and I'm pouring my own life essence to keep her alive." She smiled wanly. "You're never one to inquire after others, Commander. What's the reason for your visit?"

He gave a brief report of the mission, and then told the grievous news.

"No! No! It cannot be!" Veralla rawr–ed in horror. "Not Mina! No..." She coiled upon herself, sobbing, her slit-pupiled eyes filling with tears.

"Great Cosmos..." Kiana muttered, and looked down at the fitful Nightsong. "Fuck this war... Fuck the Lightbringer. People always've been such selfish bastards... I'd fucking cry now if I wasn't so dried up..." Despite her words, her gaze glistened.

"The last rites will be performed shortly," Airo said. "The Knights are already gathering. I came to ask if you would come."

Veralla spoke with effort, voice shaking. "Yes. Yes, I will come."

"Pardon me, Commander," Kiana said softly. Her gentle grasp didn't let go Nightsong's claw even for an instant. "I shall honor the dead in due time. They can wait. For now... I must stay with Nightsong."

"I understand," he nodded. "Let us go, Veralla."