ISSUE 5: A CRY IN THE DARK

The Swarm threw themselves against the planetary shielding. In far more numerous numbers than ever seen. They darkened the sky. The moons bled. The stars disappeared. Yet light remained.—C’tar

The Fleets mobilized. Our ships were of comparable tech to the Humans. But we had a different advantage. Ours were built with Light Sages in mind. That aspect thrilled the Terran officers. –O’rioh

The Lord of Chains didn’t show himself that day. Whatever my sister and brothers did inside that temple kept him at bay. I didn’t find out until later why that was. Looks like I wasn’t the only one with a roundabout time travel quest or three.—Sleeping in Starlight, a memoir of the 23rd century (vol 2)

In Orbit Above Whitehome

Terran Alliance Flag Vessel Demeter

Captain Marshall targeted the advancing swarm.

The R&D teams promising quite the surprise. They had expanded outward from the O’Neil Cylinder, constructing additional defenses in their time here with the lost Typherians. They were refreshing. Not as above it all as some within the House conclaves. Wild in a way the Commons were not. Not primitive. Primal. Most Light Shamans experienced a sense of familiarity with their Sage counterparts. Marshall highlighted the growing red markers filling the screen. His bushy handlebar blonde mustache bristling as he barked, “Get those forward batteries online.”

His wolfish grin widening. “That’s it.”

*****

Unit Matrix 00 stirred. It had no name. Not one it could recall.

In the old language, it perceived the command.

Activate Shroud Program. For the Light Guides Us.

It would follow the last mandate of its masters. It had observed this Lord of Chains for countless cycles. Waiting.

The scales of fate would shift.

The Three had been reborn.

*****

The Lord of Chains drummed his fingers on the terrace. The stark white lunar landscape muddled through the shield wall of his command center. The Swarm pods could be rejuvenated once he this place. They had taken as many women as they could from Whitehome and its sister planets over the eons. His white owls as the Humans called them. The Typherian’s knew his subjects by other names. His favorite was Husk. So many of their sages lost to Unity’s yoke. He would escape. Taking this moon with him.

Ironic that the women ended up being more powerful in their sagecraft yet more susceptible to corruption. His gray sash tightened about his waist. Set deserved his fate. The Lord would not fail his master. C’alain’s meager bloodline would wither under him. The Black had yet to show himself. But with White active, it was only a matter of time.

*****

Gwen gripped my arm.

Stalling me from launching into the air. She pitched her voice low, “Clear out the Swarm. The temple told us how to handle the Lord of Chains.” The three of them looked like they had aged centuries. It was the eyes. That knowledge. I didn’t argue. I squeezed her shoulder, taking care to clear the area. My muscles bunching in my legs as I launched heavenward. The sky lighting up with Bardaxian, Markav, Terran and Typherian ordinance.

The Swarm was thick. I turned. Creating a vortex. Bringing them closer.

Sparks flew as endless mechanical hulls crashed together. Black oily tendrils burning up in the planet’s atmosphere. Various protective wards flaring to life as they attacked the corruption in the very essence of the Swarm. I didn’t flinch. These things had no souls. No living aura to flow through me. White could sense Life. These weren’t even a parody of it.

I exploded from the heart of the swarm. Another set of sweats ruined.

My dark matter sight lanced through the remaining Swarm. I flew towards the combined Terran/Typherian combat platform. Trusting my siblings to hold up whatever bargain they had made.

*****

The Lord slammed his fist through the cables connecting the moon to the subsystems of Whitehome. They would find some threads but not all. The chains hanging from his body could become physical if he wished. Their usual ethereal presence made for pulling souls from people’s bodies. He had to feed after all. The stark expanse of space reminded him of a tomb. He snorted. How poetic. With one wave of his arm, he disconnected the final cables. Let those fools find this handiwork. It was unfortunate he wouldn’t be able to relish White’s pain of this discovery.

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The moon sprouted tendrils. Much like the swarm.

Soon the temporal cloak around this system would fail.

He wondered if The All-Father had any soul left to him.

*****

Jace, under the auspices of Lazurus, unsheathed Tyre. Judgment beside him. They saw the moon. Its white exterior sprouting horrid tendrils. He motioned to his father, <>

Judgment's golden helm glinted. A purple aura surrounded him.

He replied, <>

The moon vanished. INet updates poured in. For the rest of Edenverse, it had only been two weeks. For Whitehome and its sister planets? Years. Judgment stored the information for later. Bright blue pinpricks entered the system. Additional Union forces. He dived into the oblong structure with his son. Steeling himself. It wasn’t enough.

The form of Lazurus dissipated as Jace ran to the closest waste disposal.

Upon stone slabs. Connected to wires and god knew what else, were rows and rows of women. The vats around them are dark. Yet shapes moved within. Nothing humanoid. This was the Lord of Chains version of a Brood Mother facility. A soprano feminine voice rang out, <>

Lorain Lanis, wreathed in yellow energy, sank to her knees. These weren’t just women. These were the missing wifes, sisters, and daughters of Whitehome, B’alis, and Evander. Those within the deepest part of the circle were near death. Doc could sense it. Nearly converted to White Owls. Those wicked creatures of pale skin, warped grins. Black eyes. This was beyond her healing capabilities. She didn’t even know where to start. Eliza entered the rotating cylinder. White howled, “I will not stand for this!” Waves of brilliance echoed outward. The women within the outer levels opened their eyes. Their bodies rejuvenated immediately.

O’rioh came in next. Racing towards a woman. “Li’rah!”

Her golden hair was shorn short. Green eyes hollow. “Brother?”

She fell into his arms, “The…gray beings. Dead eyes. They took us.”

*****

The world was awash in red. White’s rage lashing out at the vats. Whatever had been gestating in there was gone. Cleansed. It had no soul. I shouted, “Rage will not save these other women!” The inner circle. There had been endless rows. A perversion of what you’d see in a cryo facility. I ripped out the guts of wiring. Only White’s power could save them now. It was beyond Lorain. This was a fight for their souls. One was half mutated. Near White Owl status. I reached for her first. Pouring what I could into her. Her misty eyes opened a crack.

Parched lips caked with blood, “Kill me. Please. End it. Mother of All.”

Jace raced over. His expression was ill, yet his voice firmed, “We can add them to this necklace. The body is done but the soul exists. Dexter can help them pass the Veil.”

The lump in my throat grew, “Is there no way to give them a new body?”

My brother’s eyes grew despondent, “I know not. I am sorry.”

That was better than no. We might yet save these women.

I pressed my hand into the woman. It phased through with little resistance. I added this inner circle of women to Jace’s necklace. It was the very same O’rioh said contained his old teacher. The souls of 300 more women joined her.

As the closest vessels came in to take the women away, the majority of them blocked out the memories. O’rioh’s sister remained with us. Her eyes flinty. Her body tensed. “He is an old enemy of your House. C’alain’s blood protects us.”

I asked, “I know Thoth hates us. So does the All-Father. What’s this Lord’s reason?”

She shuddered, “Because he hungers for his father even more. The Lord is an Urraden. Hextor. Who walked upon the Path of the Ancients and was destroyed by it.”

*****

Hextor’s moon re-materialized. The green, brown, and gray mass of the industrial planet of Tarkanan. Its emerald fires creating a barrier between it and its foes. The Lord grinned savagely, “I’m back father. Just in time to eat the rest of your soul.”

His laugh was a twisted thing. Warbling on the edge of madness.

He had seen too much. Beyond what most mortals could handle.

Knowledge only meant for the Weave.

*****

The All-Father turned.

Nothing was within the hall with him. Just the low hum of his machines and drones. Yet a feeling of unease washed over him. A predicament that was nearly foreign to him. His wife remarked, >>Does a ghost trod upon your marker site?<<

His lip curled, >>It is nothing. Let us gather allies. Watch for their knives.<<

Yet a shiver ran up his spine.

Medusa’s Ship

Zygotic Expanse

December 6th, 2115

Renenutet smirked.

Parading herself about the cabins nearly naked. Medusa had to admit: The old mummy had done amazing work. You really couldn’t tell. She was the mirror image of that Lanis doctor. She could break herself off into threes as well. The other two versions of her were extremely young. With the final looking nearly as ancient as her mummy self.

Medusa asked, “So what’s the occasion?”

Renenutet smiled, “I have a union mate to take care of.”

Medusa smirked, “What will we do with the real one?”

The former ruler of the Egyptian Solaris League held up a finger.

“Let’s test my ploy first. I still need more data if I am to pull this off!”

*****

At’lan let off a series of subcommands. Put there by a time-traveling UR-Eliza so long ago. He wondered at this grand chess game. They would have to win. Yet the path was filled with peril. He could end up like so many of his counterparts within Unity-invested universes. He watched as Sul and the others brought in more materials from the Terran Alliance. With one great shock, a Tarvelian battle cruiser. It was listed as a Terran Alliance R&D Scout. But At’lan made more scans. The bioforms within weren’t human. He noted that he was on the clearance list for this.

With the added Markav Collective defenses within his mainframe, humanity had decided to let him know certain things. For the coming battle. He was first and foremost an entity of learning. Yet he knew they placed great faith in him.

He would not let them down.

Eliza had seen to that as well.

The stars would be theirs. To hand off to the next generation.