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Imperial Forum → Roleplay → Space: The Third Story.
Jeodan was left with one of the mothers whom he interrogated. As best he could or dared.
Time passed. People grew older. Some, like General Stephen Clarke, passed away from old age. Aboard the Unification, the remains of the UEF underwent a command change; as General Samantha Clarke rose to command of the fleet, James Bridgetown became the commanding officer of the mighty carrier, being the most qualified flag officer on board to captain the gigantic vessel.
The C. Allen Riley III barely escaped total destruction, jumping away from Blacken at the last moment after the deserted human colony below fell to the Seraphim advance. Her escort was lost with all hands, but the carrier itself survived, limping out of the galaxy like the other survivors. Parts of the Blacken Colonial Command survived aboard this ship, including General Camore, who would go on to assume command of the new colony years later.
The Morningstar and its fleet were headed in another direction. The Sajji galaxy, the Unification's final destination, was located 'upward' out of the galactic disk. The Morningstar was headed toward the Orion galaxy; if 'north' were a line drawn from the core through the Blacken star system, the Orion galaxy was northwest and slightly downward. Of the three UEF carriers, the Morningstar had the largest complement of civilians aboard, and for most of their journey through the stars, they were able to live almost normal existences.
The civilians from Blacken were picked up from the planet they were sent to by two passing battlegroups led by Robert Baines, commander of the Blacken Space Force. They left the galaxy in another direction altogether. Months later, like the others, they would establish a new colony, hidden from everything, in which they would rebuild their lives.
The Reddington family, minus Carl, lived a comfortable existence near the galaxy's edge. With the Terranova's extensive database of UEF technical knowledge, as well as almost unlimited resources at their disposal, they could build anything they wanted. They aimed small, though - better not to be seen. So, they constructed a house in the side of a mountain from which they would quietly and patiently search the skies, waiting for the day when they would find humanity again.
As for Carl...?
He was waiting patiently too, waiting for the day when he would be able to join his people again.
Garrus looked out on the planet. Ships, platforms and service stations floated helter skelter in its orbit. It had taken long then he had projected, to find a safe place. This place, however, was not technically part of the Milky Way at all. It was outside the Galactic disk, but close enough to it that it was held in relative place by the gravity of the Milky Way. Officially, it couldn
Garrus was close to dozing off, as was typical of late. Boredom had allowed more than ample time to catch up on some of the sleep he's be due for the past 20 some years. He was just about to slip off into sleep when he noticed from the corner of his eye,in a case, behind his study where he was about to doze off, a blue light blinked.
Garrus didn't quite know what to make of it at first. Somewhat still in a sleepy daze, he sat up, adjusted his reading glasses, and slid off the blanket.
He shuffled through the various peices of memorabilia in the case til at last he found what was creating the light. It was the old Icharys gauntlet, the one that controlled the Ichari all those years ago. He'd thought it to be useless now, since two had been destoryed in combat with the Kallum and darkones many years back. And Chistov, the last one, had been his personal personal escort so many years ago, had died, having already been of significant age for an Ichari when he had been assigned to Jeodan and Garrus back all those years ago.
He took it out of the case, and set it on the table before him, and just starred at it. A blue light signaling for a communication request.
After a long few minutes, he sat back, took off the glasses. Sighed, and walked over by the chair he's be relaxing up til a few brief minutes before and fumbled around for his communicator. He scrolled through a few names, and placed it to his ear.
"Hi Richard... Yes, I'm fine, just sort of waking up, I was trying to take a nap... I dunno.. No, I am still expecting you and your wife for dinner next Thursday.. Oh, that's tommorrow, yes that will be fine.. It's just, well.. no, nothings wrong, well that I know of.. yeah, that's why called you.. Not exactly, no. But it seems someone else is trying to get ahold of us... Richard, it's the gauntlet."
"Dropping out of jump space, sir."
James let out a sigh of relief. "About time, too." They had been in transit for about a year. Everyone had known for weeks that they were getting closer to their final destination, owing to the presence of stars once again, but to finally leave jump space was quite something.
"Sir, unidentified target to starboard!"
James nearly jumped out of his seat. Targets? Here? "Scan that vessel."
"It's a human vessel, corvette-sized, registry unknown... the hull markings say 'Soul Finder'."
"Hail them."
An image formed on screen of a middle-aged, bearded, delusional man. "Who ARE you people? Are you human?"
James stood up and introduced himself. "I am Brigadier General James Alaitoc Bridgetown, commanding officer of the UES Unification. We come in peace. And yes, we are human."
The Soul Finder's captain stared in shock. After a few moments, he said, "For many years I have searched for Humanity... I never expected it would find me. I am Captain Zulu of the Soul Finder. I wish to join your people."
"Come aboard, then," James replied earnestly. "We will transmit you docking instructions."
Terra Prime, they called it.
A planet of evergreen forests, it felt like a frontier. Resources were abundant, the air was clean - perfect for setting up a colony.
Construction crews landed on the planetary surface and started clearing land, building living and administration structures for the population. In orbit, the Unification leveraged its massive engineering resources and, with the assistance of a few construction ships, started building a permanent starbase in orbit.
Terra Prime would become the seat of the UEF - what was left of it, anyway - for years to come.
The C. Allen Riley entered the New Blacken system, terribly beaten up, but still alive. Out of the few functioning fighter bays, and the one intact ship bay, a flood of cargo vessels launched and touched down on the surface of the third planet, a water world, and immediately started building a floating city to house the few survivors, numbering less than seventy thousand.
Inspired by the setting, General Camore came up with the perfect name for the new world and the new city: "Atlantis".
The Morningstar left jump space near the old Orion colony, long abandoned, with ruins from the previous human settlement as well as from three different species of alien invaders still visible on the surface of the fourth planet from the local star, a dusty red world.
As colonizers salvaged the ruins and rebuilt the colony, setting up living quarters, hydroponic farms, power stations, commercial hubs, and industrial blocks, the Morningstar's commander, General Watson, tried to come up with the perfect name.
After trying a bunch of potential names, though, he finally decided that it might be best to stick to good old Orion.
Admiral Baines looked over the report of the Eden star system. Two worlds were in the habitable zone of this star, both green fertile planets ready for the taking.
Within hours, the inner of the two planets, Eden Alpha, was ready for colonists to start moving in. Eden Beta, the outer of the two planets, would take a little while longer, as mineral resources would have to be gathered to finish building the structures for the outer colony.
Blacken's former citizens settled in, ready to begin a new life from scratch...
Garrus stared at the gauntlet for a few moments, then made another call on his communicator.
"Good evening, My Liege. By the time you receive this message, I'll probably on my way out of the system, so no hard feelings. I would like to make my final orders: Vice Admiral Keernaz will be my obvious replacement, as he is the most senior Fleet Officer. I also wish that Commander Fazion be given his own ship to command, he has earned it. Now, I hereby resign from Fleet Command. Since I have no heir or living relative, I wish for all of my pension, estates and personal affects to be given to Fazion Thresher, whose father was a dear friend. The one thing I will take, however, is my personal corvette, with which I will be exiting the system. Good bye, old friend."
Garrus had his things and was already on a shuttle to his personal corvette when his communicator buzzed. It was Richard.
"Richard? How can I help you."
"You can tell me where you're planning to go! You can't just resign, leave everything to the youngest Officer in the Talisian Navy, and run off without telling someone!" Richard said tiredly, it was very early in the morning on Menar, the colony of the Talus Dominion.
"I don't honestly know. Obviously the Scion survived their fight with the Dark Ones, or they wouldn't be able to communicate with me. Or they did lose, and it's a trap to draw us back for a slaughter. Either way, it'll be interesting."
"But we've only been here for three months! You'd be in transit of a year, which would be practically two years out here!" Richard said, exasperated.
"That's if I was heading back to Kalnoky. And if the Scion wanted to wait a full year for me, they probably will join me in-transit and whisp me off to where they want me. Or the Dark Ones will pop up and have a snack. Either way, as I said, it'll be interesting." Garrus said, cheerfully.
"So... You don't mean to return, then?"
"Probably not. My name will be forever stained in our history books. I gave my life in servitude to our people, tried to protect them and restore them to the greatness of old, when the clans were united. I failed at the second, but this is my chance to succeed at the first. It's up to the next generation to open the minds of our people. Fazion is more like his father then any one could've thought, almost like a younger clone." Garrus said and sighed.
"Garrus, you've never forgiven yourself for leaving him behind. Maybe it's time to leave the past behind." Richard said solemnly.
"He was the best of us. Septimus and me knew it. He was smarter, quicker, but humbler. He trained Septimus and Draeg, plus the Emperor of the New Empire. I was more ambitious, more aggressive and it got him killed. I can't take it back, Richard, but I wish we could've traded places."
"He couldn't have done anything you haven't. He would've done the same as you have, maybe a few minor differences, but the end product would've been the same."
"No. He wouldn't have sparked a Civil War that crippled our people. He would've done something subtler, something cleverer. And we would've been in much better shape. He probably could've avoided the fighting on Blacken as well, even if 'Lance Baker' was behind it. No. I can't change the past, but I can try and change the future. And so, Richard, I leave you with this: If you ever see Jeodan again, tell him eh was right. There are only lulls between battles, for us."
Garrus turned off the communicator, waved to the pilot and watched the shuttle disembark. The ship's Artificial Intelligence greeted him.
"Hello Garrus, welcome aboard."
"Hello Thresher, let's get underway." Garrus said, striding down the corridor, to his quarters/command bridge. He pulled out the Scion Gauntlet, which still glowed, and set it down on a table. The ship began to accelerate, it's stealth and cloaking systems powered up and soon it was among the bright stars.
As soon as they reached a certain number the Mother jumped them together into hyperspace. With them were countless ships of unknown origin. But she assured Jeodan they were old and older Cy
Richard knew Garrus wouldn't come back. He received a notification of what happened from Draeg, but deleted it. He knew more then Draeg did. Then came the message of the immediate meeting of the House of Lords, who would have to make a formal acceptance of Commander, now Duke of Ilima, Fazion into their ranks. He sighed, headed into his kitchen and started to make a cup of Sigwa Juice, whose taste he surprisingly enjoyed.
Garrus had been in transit a little over a week now. He'd made a couple alternations into his course, stopping and making secondary jumps to decrease the likelyhood that the Emporer or Richard would not accept his resignation.
For one he knew Richards wife would not let him off so easily. She had grown fond of him and always said that Garrus had a fine pallet for choosing the best wines. Being on the surface a socialite that pretty much fueled much of the polictical carreer of Richards at home, deep underneath all that glitz and glamor, lay a shrewd women, who was cunning, wise and socratic. She'd nag Richard to know end to ensure Garrus' welfare.. so he had to at least give Richard an out, by making a few "misdirection jumps". Aw poor Richard, his wife Michelle was the true brains of that relationship, he was glad to have know Richard. She must have too seen the quality in him Garrus had.
Garrus was in the wardroom, again, trying to take a nap. It had been pretty quite, and he was fairly certain that his last couple of misdirection jumps would have been more then enough to a seasoned military scout that he's been serious enough to get the "Hell outta Dodge". He only knew a few scouts still in service that would be able to anticipate where to go next, and since most of em had been personally indoctrinated and trained by Garrus, they would know he was trying to go deep cover and know better than to keep tracking him, and wait for him to resurface whereever.
So, there is sat, on the table in the wardroom. It had been slightly over a week, since Garrus had seen that blue light blinking out of the corner of his eye. On the table, the incoming communication display still blinking. It was just about the time when Garrus was once again on the verge of slipping off into sleep when the bracer made a sound. This one was the proximity alert.
So much for Garrus trying to take a nap. Bah.. "damn scions" he muttered, "what the blazes is it now."
Garrus hurried to the bridge. He quickly with his trained skill reviewed all the science stations sensors and saw that there was nothing registering. Still, he thought, maybe it was a good time to make another diversion jump. So he quickly dropped out of hyperspace, prepared his next jump and dropped a few decoys who all basically starting making random jumps, in the mix of when Garrus jumped. His eyes all the while on the horizon for anything folding into normal space.
After a few minutes of his jump, fairly certain that whatever it was, would have to take some time to figure out which way he really went. Garrus watched the video monitor of the wardroom that was fixed on the gauntlet. The proximity sensor made on last audiable sound, and the sensor stopped flashing. Now again, just the blue light, for a communication quarry flashed. So after a few more minutes he waited in the bridge for any further signs or signals of Scion, Seraphim or the Darkones with nothing showing on his sensors.
So, Garrus went back to the wardroom, now definately ready for a nap, and after about another half hour, he was once again ready to slip back into his nap.
The nights became weeks and the fights became sieges. A year already they fought against the Seraphin. Defeat after victory after defeat they suffered losses. The entire galaxy suffered such a loss of life. It became bleak and grimdark as the Seraphim stopped their blitz attack, a crushing defeat had them on their toes. Reluctantly they build provisional bases on their elongated string of planets. And the Cy
There were two main cities on Terra Prime. The main city, Clarkesburg, housed somewhere close to two million people. The secondary city fifty miles south, Ares, was home to about five hundred thousand. Below the cities' defense shields, life went back to normal. Workers went to work, children went to school, and life went on.
It almost gave James shudders how ghostly it all seemed, how quickly life could become normal again even after the Seraphim destroyed almost everything they had.
There was no rest nowadays for the military, though, even though the Seraphim were out of contact. Already, General Samantha Clarke had her eyes set on expansion; additionally, everyone had to be vigilant in case the Seraphim appeared at the front door.
They had no way of knowing the Cy'tan were keeping the Seraphim busy with a hell of a fight; the eerie quiet made everyone edgy and nervous, half-expecting a surprise fleet to materialize at any moment. Deep-space scanners and jump-space scanners were operating constantly, and jump-space inhibitors prevented any incoming jumps within most of the star system.
The Unification's fighters were almost completely robotic now; fighter pilots, when needed, controlled fighters from the safety of the ship instead of putting themselves out at risk. There were always a few exceptions, of course, but they were the exception, never the rule. Additionally, advances in battlefield networking allowed entire ships up to cruiser size to be crewed and serviced entirely by robots, and severely reduced the crew requirements of larger ships; this capability essentially gave the UEF an almost unlimited warfleet, restricted only by availability of resources.
The Unification stayed in orbit of Terra Prime, not needed yet on the front. Also in orbit was Starbase Terra Prime, a massive facility able to service multiple battlecruiser-size ships at once as well as hold its own without fleet support against serious threats.
It was spooky, preparing for an enemy one hoped would never come, but it kept people employed, and it kept the military happy. For General Clarke, it was the only existence she knew. For James?
It gave him a reason to stay at the helm.
Commander Fazion left his Destroyer, the TDS Basilisk, as the Executive Officer. He returned as the Commanding Officer, dubbed Captain. He looked out of the cutter's windows at the great hulks of metal floating in space. The only Dreadnaughts that had been serviceable when the Fleet had returned to normal space now made up the two eight-ship Dreadnaughts Squadrons, as the main guardians of Nexus, the home world of the Talus Dominion. It's only city, New Gerudo, was clearly visible from space at night, as a dot of light in the darkness. He looked back at the metal beneath his feet.
It had been a long journey, between the political in-fighting, the separatists scattering among the other four habitable planets, and the fact that there had been no contact with life outside the system since the first separatists left, only three days after they arrived.
He glanced back up at the partially lit silver hulls. He smiled to himself, looking at the smaller ships around them, a few of the similar sized Carriers, a handful of the Battlecruisers still in service. And then, of course, the dozens of smaller ships like his own Destroyer. His Destroyer. What an odd thought. He had been a Commander for only the duration of their journey, before that a Tactical Officer for about a year. He had risen through the ranks fast, which he resented because it showed that the favoritism game was doing more for him then his abilities were.
He sighed as his view was cut of and the cutter rested down onto the bay deck of his new ship. He felt a pang of regret for the former Captain, who had been re-assigned instead of being promoted as well. And with that, he left his world of following other's orders and into the world of calling the shots. Even if it was only for one ship and it's crew
Garrus again, as was his routine now, was in the wardroom settlings in for his nap. Things had been very quiet since the proximity alarms sounded. The past couple days he's been on edge, but, nothing since that had seemed an issue. He had been making excellent time though, and the series of waypoint jumps had been seemingly occurring faster than he anticipated. The last one was a whole day before he expected.
"Must be the new Tallusian refit on them Engines" he kept muttering.
He had slipped into a nice snooze when the alert for the next jump came up. He was puzzled for a brief moment. He wiped the sleep off himself and got up, once again pausingto look at the bracer, it's blue light still flashed. He continued then on to the bridge, where he reviewed the plans for the next starjump. But something was off.. It was puzzling, so he pulled up the computer display, and went to work on reverifiying the location. The computer was taking an awful long time to compute this.
So he expanded the search parameters of his location. Then did so again, each time he expanded, the longer it took to calculate. "Well damn.. Guess I did want I wanted to.. I'm totally lost" he muttered. So he began scanning the local systems to see if he could find a place to set down. Within a few minutes he had id'd a planet with reasonal gravity, water, and some sort of life to it. Didn't really see any sign of technology, and figured it would be a good place to go. It was a good 20 to 30 minutes inbound so he just admired the view as he approached.
The system had 3 large gas giants at the perifery. That was a good sign, as it mean much of the planetary derbris would mean the internal planets would be free of meteor storms and the like. Also explained why there was life on this planet. It seemed fairly typical system in that regards. There was also a triple ring asteroid field which seperated the outter planets from the inner planet he was after. It had a very high ferrus iron content. Which he liked, as it would do a good job of scattereing most long ranged sensors and he made a few notes there was really no presence of anything closer. Frankly, after reviewing the magnetic field, he surmised his position when he came outta star jump was nearly deadon the only way he could have located this inner planet.
Which he now was approaching. It was a vivid blue green planet. Rich white clouds encircled in typical normal fashion. He could see snow in the north, and south poles. It seemed to have varying season. Scanning he saw a very developed life cycle. Nearly 99.9% of the planet had some bearing form of life. There appeared plant and other forums of lifes, which was all, strangely comforting, considering the solitude he's be in the past several months. He located a nice bay, along the coast near a central ithmus, it had a river flowing along out into the sea. Which has a minor salt content, was was for the most part fresh potable water, and easy to drink.
The weather was very comfortable. He took up a energy rifle, and a scanner, and then set out to see what could be edible. It seemed a tropical paradise. Over the next few days he had not seen anything that would be a risk to him, so he set up the ship for low power mode, and prepared to start making a shelter on the planet. And over the next few weeks, settled in. He's found the game life easy to hunt. They did not seem to know what to make of Garrus, until too late. He ate hearty, and well.
Weeks again had past, and Garrus once again, was ready to rest. Still, the bracer with him, blinked with it's blue light.
The hunt this day had gone well. He had landed a few aquatic sorts of fish. They looked like a cross between a turtle and a fish all that then crossed up a small mix of squid. They were succulent when mixxed up with some herbs he'd come up with of a plant with some orange flowers. The aroma was intense, as was the flavor. It reminded him of a lemon pepper salmon he'd tastes back on the human world of Blackken.
The small fire he'd made for the meal was slowly simmering down, and it was again time for a nap. The pots and pans still hung with the glimmer of the rinse up in the sun. He checked on the perimeter sensors, and all was well. On the table, below the tent, the gauntley still sat. It's blink a sad reminder of a life Garrus did not think of every day anymore. The simpleness of life on this planet, the need to hunt and gather food, more and more the pressing matter of the day.
So, again, Garrus found himself snoozing. He was suddenly awakened by a crowd of about 10 being standing there, with spears drawn on him. The one pressing his neck was particularly uncomfortable. He was amazed they caught him. Bewildered mostly. How could a simple group of tribesmen have been so effective so as to bypass his sentry alarms.
The pulled him, spears still overing him, and whoever they were were strong indeed. One of them solidly and easily lifted him to his feet, and pushed for him to move off in towards the sunset. Others in the group began to scavange his camp. They held is energy carbine, and pots and pans, and his looked at the table, and saw one with dread grab the gauntlet. The leader of this group apparently saw Garrus's reaction and without any audible word, the one that had the gaunlet acted surprised as if startled, and brought over the gauntlet.
The one Garrus identified as the groups leader took a look at the guantlet, then looked at Garrus. His eyes took a good luck at Garrus, then as if shocked looked at the guantlet. He waved a motion quickly, and instantly the entire band drew their weapons on Garrus, and began to move out.
They quickly covered ground. They pushed on further West than Garrus had travelled during is last couple of weeks of exploring. They made a pass through the western mountain range, which, was richly covered with thick plant growth. They slowly continued til they began to start encounterin trails along these high up mountains. It took them serveral days to make their travel. the further west they travelled, they began to encounter small villages. The inhabitants of each village, coming out to see the strange creature in that they had bounded and collared.. After a few days longer, they finally came to what would be a city, high up in the mountains. And though it was a good 7 or 8 thousand feet up, the tempreature was warm and comfortable. They tribesmen who had captured Garrus had taken good care of him. They had ensured he was well fed and had water as they travelled, though he saw them rarely stop and eat themselves.
That is when they walked through the gates to a large city. It had high walls, and a massive defensive wall. For such a city to exist, was amazing. He's seem ancient ruins of such cities before on planets, but had never been into one with it's inhabitants still alive.
When he had came to this world he was amazed that so close to where he put down there would exist such a massive city, but he had not searched the mountains, as it didn't seem to be the place to find such a civilization. During his trek with the tribesmen, he had alot of time to think. He'd even tried to communicate with them several times, such as when he needed to use the restroom, each time, though there was no response, they seemed to understand what he meant, though the few times he just wanted to see if he could get them to stop, they didn't even pay him attention.
Once through the gates of the city, and even outside the city as they approached, small crowds gathered. They came out, and all watched the strange creature being led through the city. Others came up to touch him, to feel his skin, to make contact. The young tribal children would run up and sort of giggle then run back the their friends. Others just hid from view peering out from their domiciles.
They walked through this city for three days. Six times, they passed through great defensive walls. The walls looked ancient, some seemed to be apart of the mountains themselves. Others, he marveled at the techinical prowness to construct. It was about this time, that garrus' strength was waning. He was tired. He had been collared and bound the entire voyage. The tribesmen still walked on with the same strength as they day they found him.
They led him into a central citadel, after passing through a 7th gate. This one the most ancient and magnificent of them all. It was covered in a shimmering bronze and gold hue'd metal. It was beautiful. This was when the lead tribesmen saw the look on Garrus' face as he viewed it in wonder. He finally spoke a word a single word, "Orricculum" and he pointed at the wall. He waved to the sentries that had walked with Garrus for all these days, and moved into a circle around him, and began to undue his bindings. Others offerred him food, and water.
Garrus, rubbed his wrist. They were sore, but not rubbed raw. More or less sore from not being able to move out of the position they had been in. The lead tribesmen, again spoke, "Rest, all who enter are free. You must choose to enter of your own free will". He motioned to the other guards, who brought over the energy carbine and other belongings.
Garrus looked in disbelief. How could this tribesmen speak Tallusian, and with perfect fluenency. The tribesmen laughed, "Messenger, we know all about you." At which point, Garrus' ship flew overhead, and proceeded to land into a large hangar in the central citadel. The hangar revelled to Garrus he was amoung a people who had capabilities beyond his perception. The tribesmen laughed again. Not at Garrus, but with him. "Yes Messenger, there is much more to us you have yet to learn." After a few minutes of wonder, and Garrus definately feeling uncomfortable that they now had his ship. Though agitated, he was curious about what was before him.
"Come now messenger, it is time for you to deliever your message." Garrus was confused. He didn't quite know what it was he was to say.
"You keep calling me messenger, but I don't know what message you expect out of me." The tribesman looked at Garrus puzzled, but then seemed to show a comprehension of the situation. But the tribesmen led him in. Garrus held onto the gauntlet. It's light still blinking.
"Well then, messenger, very soon, you will know."
"I'm tired, so tired I can't help but close my eyes, even during battle I am tired. It never goes away, I can never dispel it. So tired."
Jedoan still sits in his semi organic chair as he always has but all he feels is defeat all he thinks is nihilistic. "Should've retired and died as a civilian. At least I would have peace," Jeodan tried to rest his mind but was unable, "peace...."
In the past his mind would have gone to anger but he has none left in him, once comparable to a still pond now a polluted ditch. Most of the time he was just sad, he saw what he had forged to be destroyed, cities he helped plan blown out of existence.
Once a man with vision now an empty shell commanding a ship that has become like himself, worn out and hardly functioning.
Fazion gazed out at the asteroid belt which ran slightly deeper into the system then Nexus did. It had been a little over a month since Garrus left, and since Fazion and the TDNS Basilisk had been deployed to one of the mining stations in the belt. Well, not a full month of watching the massive rocks tumble lazily through space.
The first week of his 'deployment' was spent completely de-casting his ship. Laws had been passed that had started the change in society that Garrus had striven for, but the NAvy still massivley segregated its officer corps and personnel by their family honor and caste status. Funn,y Fazion thought, that once Garrus leaves, his dream is finally realized. Parliament had passed laws making it illegal to withhold promotions or hirings of people of lower castes. They couldn't out-right get rid of teh caste system, but they _could_ strip it of all its perks, which would effectively kill it off within a few generations.
And so, Fazion had made a long list of allies in his ranks, as well with those who supported the de-casting of the Military, but made a far longer list of enemies and potenial enemies by the same deed. But then his train of thought was disrupted when his Human communications officer, Second Lieutenant Doug Grigsby, called out to him.
"Captain, request for video link with you from Admiral Keernaz, Sir!" The dark-skinned Human said in his deep baritone voice.
"Put him through, Lieutenant." Fazion replied and turned towards his command chair's primary console screen. The face of an older Talisian appeared before him. He saluted and recieved a nod, foreshadowing a rather low-key discussion. "Admiral. How can I be of assistance?"
"Greetings, Captain. We've recieved word that there might be some, uh, 'criminal' activity occuring on Gaston. The Gaston Security Council has requested the aid of a ship or two. Now, due to the circumstances, the Emperor is requesting we dispatch at least one ship, as to keep our ties with them and their relatively small commerce, pleasent. And so, Captain, being our newest addition to the Command List, you are being re-deployed to Gaston. From there, you will invetigate what is actually happening and report back to us as often as needed, but no less then once every three days. You also have the regular responsibilities of guarding all of our commercial traffic in the area, although it will be light, Gaston doesn't have the built-in infrastructure we do thanks to the service stations being de-assembled."
"Understood, Sir. Thank you, Admiral. When are these orders effective?" Fazion replied after a second to process all the information.
"They are effective immediately, we already have a ship enroute to fill your place in that sector of the belt. Godspeed, Captain. Keernaz out." Fazion hated that about the Admiral, his un-dieing ability to simply leave things open-ended and then expect optimum results. Fazion turned to the helmsman, who nodded and plotted the course. Fazion felt the ship being to accelerate, then the inertial compensators kicked in and it felt as though the ship was sitting still. Fazion sighed and decided it was about time for lunch and left the bridge.
Garrus took up his gear, hoisted on his shoulder and back and started walking with the tribesmen. Into the last of the great walls of this incredible citadel.
Inside, there were many pillars. They sent a shudder down his spine. They were Scion, but not. They seemed even more ancient than the one he'd seen on Blacken. Not like the ones the Dreamweavers had placed for Logan.
He could see on each of them the gold glow as the script was being written. The scipt tho was so small, lines of text were nearly out of perception. Above the first key was a written prose;
Now, O kings, understand,
take warning, rulers of the earth;
serve the Lord with awe
and trembling, pay him your homage
lest he be angry and you perish;
for suddenly his anger will blaze.
Blessed are they who put their trust in God.
As he walked under the arch with the inscription, a flash of light eminated out from the arch. The tribesmen all stopped looked at each other, as if nervous, and gathering their composure, continued to lead Garrus.
They walked for an hour, pillar after pillar they went past. There were thousands of them.
Again they came to another Arch. It read about it:
How many are my foes, O Lord!
How many are rising up against me!
How many are saying about me:
"There is no help for him in God."
But you, Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, who lift up my head.
I cry aloud to the Lord.
He answers from his holy mountain.
Again, when Garrus walked through the Arch, the light burst out. Again, the tribesmen stopped, almost fearful now they acted. It was obvious to Garrus, that the light had some meaning to them. Garrus looked at the one that called him "The Messenger". "What does that flash mean?"
The tribesmen look at Garrus, then his eyes went down, and softly he spoke "That is He, who speaks. His words are being written to your soul, Garrus. You know those words now, as if they were your own". Garrus searched down within himself and he felt the words living within him. It was stirring, warm and comforting.
"We have one more Arch, then you will be where you are to go Garrus."
The pillars continued, and it became night. Each pillar's light now showed as if by flame the path which they now walked. They reached a plaze which was tiled with a dark blue ice like surface. It appeared as if on fire below the, but it was cool and refreshing to the touch. There were thousands of pillars that encompassed this plaza. There were a great number of tribesmen here. It seemed as if the center of a central government. Garrus knew the smell of beuarcracy.
The tribesmen walked up to another tribesmen. He had on a great headress, and seemed that of a chief. This chieftain wore a blue series of feathers, much like that of the brids he'd seen by the beach, but he seemed undingushed, but familiar to some degree. He turned around though despite this presence, but the plaza was incredible. He stood there taking it in. It was magnificent.
The tribesmen, came over from the chieftain. "You must go, there.." pointing to a path. The path had no more pillars, and was only lit by the light of the stars above. "Go there, and recieve the word."
He reached out and touched Garrus on the chest. There was another flash. This one much different than the others. Garrus was shocked and slowly lost conscienciousness. When he awoke, he was in the plaza, but it no longer was one he was in. It was old, and full of ruins. The pillars that once were ablaze with writing, were crumbling. Looking out from the height of the plaza, he could look out and see the ruins of the seven walls. It was surreal what he had experienced.
Turning around now, he could see the path. The one that led up. And he began his march up the path. The walk went slow. The old walls around the path had rocks that had crumbled, and the they were sizeable. It seemed he spent more time walking over rubble, than he did the path. It took him about 4 hours, and he began arrived at a great arch. This must have been the one that he had been told about by the tribesmen in his "dream".
He stood before this arch, but there was nothing on it. No writing, not like the other ones he'd seen. It was then, Garrus realized, he fell to his knees. He reached into his carrying bag. He pulled out the guantlet..
He saw the communications light on the guantlet. It was still blinking blue.
At long last. Garrus on his knees. Pushed the button to receive the incoming message.
As hard as he tried he could not kill himself. Every time a piece of his body would blow away, either an explosion or one on one fighting it would grow back. Each time faster until he reached a point where he could regrow an arm in a matter of minutes.
The Dreamweaver had blessed and cursed him at the same time. Weary he left his station in the midst of a battle. They were fighting off another intrusion into sector 7, named so because the Seraphim had their second major defeat in this area and sector 7 links with a lot of poorly defended planets still undergoing fortifications. It was the lucky system: Hold it and you deny them their prize, lose it and they win.
A 'white' planet used to inhabit this system: It's surface completely covered in miles of thick ice, underneath this natural barrier lies a rich sea world booming with life. First tries of colonisation were met with initial resistance by some 'green' activists, but these were easily persuaded with several small bribes to politicians and scientists. But now it was a barren rock riddled with bones and dead ships.
But right now he lusted for eternal rest. He tugged his suit on, the rough material catching on his skin underneath. The whine of the servos tightening around the joints was a sound that was much too familiar. After which grabbed as many oxygen containers as he could carry between his arms.
As he walked through the halls, the combined echo between the canisters, the floor and his feet was dull and dead. He made his way to one of the airlocks used to eject waste. Override the safeties as he did before and then waited for the biep.
Diiiiiinngngng
"Why does this one go 'ding' instead of 'biep'."
Suddenly he was yanked violantly into space along with small bits and pieces as the doors slithered open. Though from the inside and outside it was barely visible, this ship was still organic at it's core.
The sky of what remained of Blacken was a dark red. Most of the planet was covered in dust and debris that were thrown up from the bombs previous. A constant gale blew around the planet picking up the thin red dust and carrying it around the planet, never stopping.
It was bitterly cold and the days passed unknowingly into night as the dust in the atmosphere blocked all sight from the sun. The oceans had mostly evaporated and what remained had frozen solid. What was left of nature after the battle had died and nothing was left to show that the planet was indeed a green planet.
At ground zero, the sight of the bombings, the ground was flat and only small crumbled ruins broke the horizon.
Here a man walked, appearing from a small vortex of white light. Seemingly unaffected by the lack of oxygen and the cold he walked on.
Overhead, the dust clouds parted slightly to let the first rays of sun seen in so long grace the ground. Able to see forward he gasped and fell to his knees, eyes searching around in horror at his former home.
"I was too late." He cried to himself.
There he wept openly at the loss as his mind filled with the thoughts of all the people who died here. He rose to his feet with tears still flowing. In his mind he could see the spaceport and the magnificent city that surrounded it.
He lunged forward as he thought he saw movement, but the image in his mind vanished and he was left in complete darkness as the dust clouds blocked the sun light.
He looked up and shouted into the darkness and as though his voice was a hurricane it cleared the clouds and let sunlight pour into the scoured land.
The man looked down and saw the landscape and cried out in agony.
What had done this? He thought.
He stumbled around the arid desert looking for something he didn't know. As he neared the biggest pile of rubble in sight, he began to feel something in his mind. It was the presence of something he had known for what felt like a long time. It was burning in his mind and he finally realised what it was although he didn't believe it.
He was in the building as it was hit, he thought, there was no way anyone could have gotten away in time to clear the blast radius.
He took a few steps and he was blasted with hundreds of images of a past he knew he had but couldn't remember: That of a magnificent ship, the name he couldn't remember, always flying next to a smaller ship, A giant of a man clad in metal walking flanked by two men, a massive void in space tearing apart a planet, the feeling of joy at being reunited with loved ones in a distant place, being seated in a place with the same metal clad man. He tried to shake his head but they just burned themselves clearer in his head.
He felt the love of a daughter as she kissed a man, he felt the hatred for an enemy that was relentless and cruel, the feeling of horror from an entity that almost consumed tha galaxy, the sadness of losing comrades in a mission that only barely succeded, he felt the crushing coldness as life left his body in one final moment of selflessness. As he felt that cold every moment flooded his memory of the battle and his life played out in rewind from that moment. He learnt his name and his family and his friends. He doubled over in what seemed like pain for hours as his life and his memory came back.
He finally stood and he felt the presence again.
"My old friend, how did you survive?" He asked himself as he began to search.
Time passed. James had spent the last year training his soon-to-be successor, Brigadier General Matthias Bloodmoon, in the ways of commanding the Unification, the massive carrier that had been his home for what seemed now like forever. Now, it was time for Matt to take the helm, and he did so with pride. Leaving the special operations field behind, Matt now sought a life of stability, so he could provide for his family: Katherine Bloodmoon, his wife, and their firstborn child David.
With James's rotation out of active duty came an opportunity.
Less than a month later, James and Amanda were married. It would be another year before their own daughter, Ellen, was born.
Everything seemed so perfect. James had everything he had ever wanted, and Matt, on top of having Katherine back, was now one of the most powerful humans in the galaxy. It seemed they could want nothing else.
Unfortunately, as it so often happens, when there is peace, something comes along to shatter it.
It would come from two directions. One was a cube 3036 meters on a side. The other was a fleet of triangles.
Looking back on the whole incident years later, Matt would tell his son David, "We would have been lost had it not been for that miracle."
"What miracle, Daddy?" David would ask.
Matt would smile and say, "Carl came back to us..."
As he shot through the vastness of space explosions around him rocked him from side to side. Ships would ripple like water before disintegrating, sending shockwaves blasting through space as well as debris. This is where the oxygen tanks came in handy they allowed him to aim himself towards a Seraphim ship, he used his initial inertia and thrusts against large chunks of debris too far off to push against with his feet.
Fazion looked down on the planet of Gaston. It wasn't the prettiest of planets, but the vast marshes and swamps which covered much of it's surface did hold some valuable and usable minerals deep beneath them. He turned back to his Communications Officer and then rested back in his command chair, looking at his console screen. An old Talisian face met him, a member of the Gaston Security Council.
"Welcome, Captain! The Gaston Security Council is most pleased at your hasty arrival."
"Of course, The Talisian Dominion is determined to help out its neighbors in their time of need." Fazion said, keeping things pleasant.
"Well, the situation on Gaston is dire. I fear one ship may not be enough."
"We shall see. What, exactly, is the problem, Sir?" Fazion asked, cutting through formalities. The man seemed a little shocked at the bluntness of the request, but quickly collected himself.
"Not too long ago, a small group of Gaston's citizens decided to form a new political party to run in the elections. When their party lost, they broke into a series of violent protests. We tried to stop the protest from turning worse, but a riot exploded in the streets. Our small policing force was unable to stop it, and the citizens caused widespread destruction in Gaston's capital city. Now they have left the city, to live in the wilderness and have declared war on the Gaston Security Council and it's subjects. They have even used home-made explosives to level the newest refinement center in the Asgard Mountain range, one of our key locations for mineral mining." The Council member said.
"And have you attempted to find them, or engage in negotiations?" Fazion asked, scratching his chin thoughtfully.
"We sent a small force to attempt to find them after the bombing. We found and raided one of their camps, but they had military-grade weapons, we believe from Zanzibar. We don't know how to reach them otherwise, we attempted another expedition shortly after we sent a message to the Dominion."
"Very well. If you wouldn't mind, I believe I'll be visiting Gaston City with some of my senior Officers tonight, to meet the Council and assess the situation more thoroughly." Fazion said.
"Oh, uh, of course!" The Council member said, faking a smile. The connection ended. Fazion met eyes with his Marine Commanding Officer, Major Thorn.
"The 'rebels' aren't being supplied by Zanzibar." Thorn said abruptly.
"I know. But we can't prove Gaston lied when they signed the agreement of non-aggression with the rest of the system. That will probably make Zanzibar and Hurin quite upset, not to mention the Emperor." Fazion replied. "Thorn, I want you on the ground with a team of Marines, you'll scout out the city and maybe plant an officer or two planet side for a few days. We can sneak them up and down through 'supply' transports between us and the surface. Since obviously a warship doesn't carry enough supplies for it's crew." Fazion added with a smirk.
It was a very, very weird feeling to be sitting in the command chair of the Unification; it was an opportunity Matt had never dreamed he would take. He had spent all of his days in jobs where he never relied on more than a few people; after all, he had done a lot of his work out of the reach of any sort of support. To be at the nerve center of one of the largest ships in the Fleet was a very new experience, and he knew that he wouldn't have been chosen for this job had it not been for James.
At the same time, it was an exhilarating feeling. The crew having been cycled two weeks ago, he had taken the ship and its new crew on a shakedown cruise. To be able to control so much firepower almost effortlessly, to be able to guide tens of thousands of mostly automated drones as they tore targets apart with sheer numbers, to be able to watch as they returned and filed neatly by the thousands into the Unification's fighter bays - being at the controls felt like wielding the hand of God.
Most of the time, the Unification was stationed in orbit around Terra Prime. Its firepower, enough to level a small planet even without its fighter escort, was simply unnecessary for day-to-day operations. Even when a civil uprising required the 45-kilometer-long carrier's presence, its mere appearance in orbit was enough to silence any rational-minded population.
Today had been a regular day. The Unification sat quietly in orbit, its weapons lowered, its fighter bays closed, just like every other day before it. Its scanners discreetly swept the area, tracking the few anomalies, which invariably turned out to be nothing more than space dust. It looked like another day of smooth sailing.
For the first time in years, the Unification's proximity alert flared to life.
"What the hell?" Matt yelled, snapping out of his reverie.
"General..." one of the science officers said uncertainly. "Unidentified contact to starboard!"
"Get me a visual," Matt ordered.
The viewscreen blinked to a view of what looked like a living cube of metal, about three kilometers on a side, glowing with a sinister green light.
"They are hailing us," another bridge officer informed Matt.
Matt barely heard the hail. "...assimilated... ...will adapt... ...futile..." was all he caught. His mind was a blur - he was so surprised.
His discipline took over, though.
"General quarters!" he shouted. "All hands to battle stations!"
Fazion stepped off the drop ship with his executive officer, Commander Darnow, and his chief of staff, First Lieutenant Vizner. He saluted the Gaston guards before him, as a small group of his Marines followed them down the ramp.
Major Thorn watched the trio of Officers and their escort heading away before he knocked on the cockpit door. The ramp closed and the drop ship rose, before heading off towards the downtown area. Thorn checked his pistol, his small pack of gear and then nodded to one of his men. The soldier twisted and pulled up sharply on a small circle in the center of the compartment. Air rushed inside and the ship shook for a few moments.
Time flowed in a curious fashion on Blacken. Days would roll into years then seem to slow to mere minutes before speeding up again. No-one would know how long had passed on the surface save one man.
Logan stood waiting in the darkness for the planet to spin in its orbit enough to allow sun light to grace the land once more. It was getting annoying; time was speeding up far longer than it had been recently and the amount of light he had was quickly passing into darkness.
Something was wrong with this sick planet, he knew. There was nothing within his vast memory that could stop the time flow and anything that might help he didn't have the resources.
In the horizon the sun rose, much quicker than a normal one. It was still unnerving to see the bright yellow orb speed up the sky. He only had a few minutes of sunlight he firgured so he went to work straight away.
Around him were mounds of dust and dirt; he was digging a hole and had been for a while. He hoped that even some of the under ground tunnel system had survived but he had no choice. He was stuck on the dying planet unless he found a way to get off.
The shadow his body made from the sun was moving swiftly across the ground and all to soon the sun was set. He stood waiting again and was suprised when the sun rose on the other side of the planet. It passed over head and set within three seconds. The stars visible in the night sky flew by and again the sun rose and set, slowly getting faster. The sight of the sky spinning so fast made him slightly sick so he closed his eyes. He could still see the light from the sun through his eye lids and he could tell that it was getting faster and faster untill it was a flashing getting faster.
Through his closed eyes he saw that the flashing seemed to blend into one continuous beam of light. Curious, he opened his eyes. The sight he saw was breathtaking.
The planet was spinning so fast that the sun was one long beam. There was no flashing, just a stripe of yellow against a very dark red sky. His shadow wasn't present because then sun was everywhere at once.
He took the oppertunity and began the digging again.
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