LiotrentOhey activity! Still lurking!
Ozerath Member
U WOT M8?
Status
User has no status, yet
Bio
User has no bio, yet
Most Recent Posts
@WrongEndoftheRainbow Alrighty, the radio broadcast gives a good starting point. Though I haven't had a chance to read your NS, where is it?
So, anyone want to collab? The Ashtar are sending trade ships around to scout out for dissent and rebellion.
@6slyboy6 I do hope you won't play the empire as completely omniscient/omnipotent all the time eh? That would rather wreck the fun.
Outskirts of Nishir City
Tarin
Armed Mobile Mining Platform Beauty Queen
Ademnon made his way down the AMMP's massive bulk until he reached an outrider platform. A Union APC pulled up alongside, easily matching Beauty Queen's ponderous speed. He easily hopped over the distance between them. The APC's top hatch popped open, expecting him, and he clambered in. The drivers had evidently not seen fit to inform the soldiers in the back to expect visitors, and his arrival caused some surprise before his maskless face registered on them. The Union soldiers lowered their weapons and returned to their seats, eyeing him a little fearfully. They knew the Conks were allies, but many were still wary of them. Ademnon made a mental note to give a little more warning next time he hopped into an APC: a number of the Union soldiers were carrying Concordat graser rifles, and that could well have proved fatal if a jumpy soldier shot him. At the very least, it would have been very, very inconvenient.
"There's a Fed dropship down in no man's land," he announced without preamble. "We're going to round up the survivors." The squad of soldiers looked at their lieutenant, who nodded slightly. Ademnon, after all, was an 'advisor', not their commanding officer. Why he was doing this personally...well, he knew exactly why he was doing this personally, but now was not the time to dwell on the mental implications of his high risk behaviour. He took a seat as the APC sped off towards the downed dropship, a tank breaking off from the formation to escort it. The journey was quick, and before he knew it the soldiers were jostling out of the APC's rear hatch, while one of them manned the vehicle's turret. Ademnon donned his armour's helmet and strode out confidently as the soldiers began to fan out and surround the dropship. The tank circled slowly, it's heavy and light weaponry trained on the wrecked aircraft. Ademnon nodded at the lieutenant, who connected his comm to the APC's loudspeaker.
"This is Lieutenant Ashton, Confederacy of Independant Mining Unions Armed Forces. You're surrounded. Drop your weapons and come on out."
Caris and his men were hunkering down after they lost a man to that sniper, bracing themselves for the inevitable mess to quickly follow, and they were proven vindicated once a shot amount of time had passed, soon they had a squad of CIMU soldiers surround their dropships, although none had dared to step outside, less they they possibly meet the same fate as their fallen brother, they could easily hear the rumbling of a tank fading in and out, no doubt it was cycling around them. "What do we do, Colonel?" One of the soldiers supporting Caris asked.
"Our situation just got worse.." Another soldier said.
"Calm down." Caris spoke up. "No need to escalate things...I don't need more dead today." Caris didn't need time to ponder, he already knew what to do, he'll make damn sure to get these men and women to safety, even if it was in enemy hands. "I'm going out." He said, the two soldiers loosen their grip as he stumbled forward, slowly making his way outside to be met with the Union Soldiers, raising one hand up. "We Surrender!" he shouted as loud as he could, or at least as loud as his breathing mask could permit. "Don't shoot! We got wounded!"
Ademnon breathed a small, satisfied sigh. The Feds had seen reason. His keen eyes noticed the Ishkaan emerging from the dropship had a pronounced limp. He made a gesture at Ashton, and the Union lieutenant caught on after a moment. At his command, two soldiers moved forward to assist the wounded Fed. A second APC pulled up just then, this one disgorging a medical team and a few soldiers. The medics hurried towards the dropship as more Feds began to emerge. Within a few minutes, the Feds had been searched, disarmed, and cuffed, and their wounded were stabilized and loaded into the APCs. Ademnon joined the wounded for the return to the AMMP; he was assuming that the Ishkaan who'd offered surrender was the ranking officer, and he was interested in talking to the man.
The APC was cramped and noisy with the protestations of the wounded. The medics had patched them up, but it was still a bumpy ride back to Beauty Queen. The APC wasn't pressurized, so everyone kept their respirators on. Everyone except Ademnon, who pulled off his armoured helmet and stared pensively at the Ishkaan. "What's your name soldier?" he asked.
Caris' eyes widened in sheer surprise at what the other Ishkaan had just done, he knew all too well what kind of person he was, a Conk, the enemy. Caris maintained his composure, there was no need to cause a scene, but he was now facing off against a soldier of the Federation's enemy. "Caris Vakir,." He calmly replied.
"You're a long way from home, Caris Vakir. I wasn't aware the Federation had declared war on the Confederacy of Independant Mining Unions," Ademnon said with a small smile, a jab at the Federation's increasingly overt involvement on Tarin.
Caris remained straight-faced. "Technically, we're peacekeepers here on the behalf of the Tarin Guilds." He replied in kind. "The CIMU just so happen to be in our way." He paused a moment, and spoke again."I could honestly ask you the same."
Ademnon shrugged. "The Concordat is simply selling the Unions weapons and equipment, and providing a little training. We certainly aren't deploying dropships full of our own soldiers to intervene in the conflict."
"As said, keeping the peace." He blankly replied.
The old Concorded laughed. "If you insist, Caris Vakir."
Before much longer, the APC had returned to Beauty Queen. It swung around behind the AMMP and ran up a boarding ramp to a small vehicle bay. The wounded, Caris included, were taken inside to the medbay, while the other Feds were rounded up and taken to holding cells. Ademnon checked in on a few things in the command center. The Union assault force was approaching Nishir quickly. A little too quickly even; he wanted to get the Fed prisoners airlifted away from the front before the assault began. But there might not be time for that. All the more reason to get started on interrogation.
With that in mind, Ademnon sought Caris out in the medbay. The Federation soldier's mask had been removed now that they were in the AMMP's pressurized interior, and Ademnon suddenly recognized him, and gave a small chuckle.
"You know," he said to Caris as he took a seat beside the man's bed. "I saw you at a bar in Pavliu not long ago.
"Heh, a small world isn't it?" Caris grinned and chuckled. Although laughing it off, Caris had sudden realization that made his stomach sank a bit. "Well shit, if you ended up there.. security's been compromised." Caris was silent for a moment, his eyes turning away before refocusing on the Conk. "I'm quite impressed actually. Security wasn't top-tier, but somewhat tight, yet youy managed to walk in our main base of ground operations with no incident."
"I had a few close calls. You might want to invest in more implant detectors though. Still, not like I'll be walking into Tanis any day soon." Ademnon suddenly looked a little unhappy. "On a related note, I'd hardly be doing my job if I didn't start asking you questions. Questions I'm sure you don't want to answer. I'd really prefer if you answered on your own, but I do have another option," he said ominously.
"Try at it, you may be pleasantly surprised." Caris said. "Or you may get what you expected and be disappointed." Caris braced himself, who knows what terrible lengths this Conk would go too for any sort of valuable intel regarding either the Guilds or the Federation presence here on Tarin.
"Alright, how about we start with the name of that carrier you have in orbit, as well as your verification codes to approach it." Ademnon decided it was worth at least asking before he employed his alternative.
"Going for the grand prize aren't we? Guess you'll be in the latter point." Caris said, his "lips" were quiet sealed at that point. "You'll have to do better then that Conk."
Ademnon shrugged. "Worth a shot." He produced a small syringe full of something metallic looking. "Something new we've developed. I'm sorry to say, but this may hurt. A lot." He quickly jabbed the syringe into Caris' arm. Caris felt a slight pinch...and that was it.
"That was...unexpected." Caris was dumbfounded at what just occurred, the Conk was messing with him. "Haha, very funny." Caris wasn't amused, until once again, the realization sank in and he had to ask. "What did you just inject me with?" Caris was begining to get nervous, thoughts racing in his mind, was it some sort of new bioweapon? Probably was most likey, all the more reason for his heart to race followed by heavy breath, the fear rising.
Ademnon looked confused. "Wait, did that not hurt? They told me it would hurt. Weird...Anyway, don't worry too much. It's pretty neat actually. Basically, a bunch of nanites are going to copy your brain and let me view your memories as data. It shouldn't take too long." Ademnon wasn't actually too sure about that last part. Fed brain conditioning was top notch, but apparently these nanites could get around it. He just wasn't sure how quickly.
Caris let out a loud sigh of relief, it wasn't any sort of horrific bioweapon, but of course, he grew a new sense of fear and anxiety, sure the minds of Fed Officers such as himself were truly a daunting task to crack wide open, no matter the most often unpleasant outcome that usually is to follow. But in this case, he was dealing with Conk technology, a quite unpredictable scenario, because no matter what, those machines will bore into his brain eventually, the possibility of success was quite high, but he'll mentally resist nontheless, he's seen things, things that could turn the tide of the war against the Guilds and the Task Force.
A low rumble shook through the AMMP. Ademnon looked distant for a moment as he tapped into the massive vehicle's systems and figured out what was going on. The battle was starting. "Well, I'd better get up to the command center and do some advising," he said ruefully. "I'll be back later."
Caris sense of relief grew as the Conk made mention of the battle and left the room, this was good, for the most part, the reliability of the Guilds military although was varied, the recent battle from before a good indication of their mixed nature, he previously had the honor of meeting the Commander of the 2nd Nishir Regiment, a human by the name of Argus Bradley, once a leader of a rather infamous mercenary outfit, the Ashen Devils, Argus now serves under the semi-permanent contract of Jasan Armored Solutions, one of the major members other Tarin Guilds. "Heh, they may be breaking under the pressure, but Argus will give ya one hell of a bloody nose before you take the city." Caris mumbled to himself.
Tarin
Armed Mobile Mining Platform Beauty Queen
Ademnon made his way down the AMMP's massive bulk until he reached an outrider platform. A Union APC pulled up alongside, easily matching Beauty Queen's ponderous speed. He easily hopped over the distance between them. The APC's top hatch popped open, expecting him, and he clambered in. The drivers had evidently not seen fit to inform the soldiers in the back to expect visitors, and his arrival caused some surprise before his maskless face registered on them. The Union soldiers lowered their weapons and returned to their seats, eyeing him a little fearfully. They knew the Conks were allies, but many were still wary of them. Ademnon made a mental note to give a little more warning next time he hopped into an APC: a number of the Union soldiers were carrying Concordat graser rifles, and that could well have proved fatal if a jumpy soldier shot him. At the very least, it would have been very, very inconvenient.
"There's a Fed dropship down in no man's land," he announced without preamble. "We're going to round up the survivors." The squad of soldiers looked at their lieutenant, who nodded slightly. Ademnon, after all, was an 'advisor', not their commanding officer. Why he was doing this personally...well, he knew exactly why he was doing this personally, but now was not the time to dwell on the mental implications of his high risk behaviour. He took a seat as the APC sped off towards the downed dropship, a tank breaking off from the formation to escort it. The journey was quick, and before he knew it the soldiers were jostling out of the APC's rear hatch, while one of them manned the vehicle's turret. Ademnon donned his armour's helmet and strode out confidently as the soldiers began to fan out and surround the dropship. The tank circled slowly, it's heavy and light weaponry trained on the wrecked aircraft. Ademnon nodded at the lieutenant, who connected his comm to the APC's loudspeaker.
"This is Lieutenant Ashton, Confederacy of Independant Mining Unions Armed Forces. You're surrounded. Drop your weapons and come on out."
Caris and his men were hunkering down after they lost a man to that sniper, bracing themselves for the inevitable mess to quickly follow, and they were proven vindicated once a shot amount of time had passed, soon they had a squad of CIMU soldiers surround their dropships, although none had dared to step outside, less they they possibly meet the same fate as their fallen brother, they could easily hear the rumbling of a tank fading in and out, no doubt it was cycling around them. "What do we do, Colonel?" One of the soldiers supporting Caris asked.
"Our situation just got worse.." Another soldier said.
"Calm down." Caris spoke up. "No need to escalate things...I don't need more dead today." Caris didn't need time to ponder, he already knew what to do, he'll make damn sure to get these men and women to safety, even if it was in enemy hands. "I'm going out." He said, the two soldiers loosen their grip as he stumbled forward, slowly making his way outside to be met with the Union Soldiers, raising one hand up. "We Surrender!" he shouted as loud as he could, or at least as loud as his breathing mask could permit. "Don't shoot! We got wounded!"
Ademnon breathed a small, satisfied sigh. The Feds had seen reason. His keen eyes noticed the Ishkaan emerging from the dropship had a pronounced limp. He made a gesture at Ashton, and the Union lieutenant caught on after a moment. At his command, two soldiers moved forward to assist the wounded Fed. A second APC pulled up just then, this one disgorging a medical team and a few soldiers. The medics hurried towards the dropship as more Feds began to emerge. Within a few minutes, the Feds had been searched, disarmed, and cuffed, and their wounded were stabilized and loaded into the APCs. Ademnon joined the wounded for the return to the AMMP; he was assuming that the Ishkaan who'd offered surrender was the ranking officer, and he was interested in talking to the man.
The APC was cramped and noisy with the protestations of the wounded. The medics had patched them up, but it was still a bumpy ride back to Beauty Queen. The APC wasn't pressurized, so everyone kept their respirators on. Everyone except Ademnon, who pulled off his armoured helmet and stared pensively at the Ishkaan. "What's your name soldier?" he asked.
Caris' eyes widened in sheer surprise at what the other Ishkaan had just done, he knew all too well what kind of person he was, a Conk, the enemy. Caris maintained his composure, there was no need to cause a scene, but he was now facing off against a soldier of the Federation's enemy. "Caris Vakir,." He calmly replied.
"You're a long way from home, Caris Vakir. I wasn't aware the Federation had declared war on the Confederacy of Independant Mining Unions," Ademnon said with a small smile, a jab at the Federation's increasingly overt involvement on Tarin.
Caris remained straight-faced. "Technically, we're peacekeepers here on the behalf of the Tarin Guilds." He replied in kind. "The CIMU just so happen to be in our way." He paused a moment, and spoke again."I could honestly ask you the same."
Ademnon shrugged. "The Concordat is simply selling the Unions weapons and equipment, and providing a little training. We certainly aren't deploying dropships full of our own soldiers to intervene in the conflict."
"As said, keeping the peace." He blankly replied.
The old Concorded laughed. "If you insist, Caris Vakir."
Before much longer, the APC had returned to Beauty Queen. It swung around behind the AMMP and ran up a boarding ramp to a small vehicle bay. The wounded, Caris included, were taken inside to the medbay, while the other Feds were rounded up and taken to holding cells. Ademnon checked in on a few things in the command center. The Union assault force was approaching Nishir quickly. A little too quickly even; he wanted to get the Fed prisoners airlifted away from the front before the assault began. But there might not be time for that. All the more reason to get started on interrogation.
With that in mind, Ademnon sought Caris out in the medbay. The Federation soldier's mask had been removed now that they were in the AMMP's pressurized interior, and Ademnon suddenly recognized him, and gave a small chuckle.
"You know," he said to Caris as he took a seat beside the man's bed. "I saw you at a bar in Pavliu not long ago.
"Heh, a small world isn't it?" Caris grinned and chuckled. Although laughing it off, Caris had sudden realization that made his stomach sank a bit. "Well shit, if you ended up there.. security's been compromised." Caris was silent for a moment, his eyes turning away before refocusing on the Conk. "I'm quite impressed actually. Security wasn't top-tier, but somewhat tight, yet youy managed to walk in our main base of ground operations with no incident."
"I had a few close calls. You might want to invest in more implant detectors though. Still, not like I'll be walking into Tanis any day soon." Ademnon suddenly looked a little unhappy. "On a related note, I'd hardly be doing my job if I didn't start asking you questions. Questions I'm sure you don't want to answer. I'd really prefer if you answered on your own, but I do have another option," he said ominously.
"Try at it, you may be pleasantly surprised." Caris said. "Or you may get what you expected and be disappointed." Caris braced himself, who knows what terrible lengths this Conk would go too for any sort of valuable intel regarding either the Guilds or the Federation presence here on Tarin.
"Alright, how about we start with the name of that carrier you have in orbit, as well as your verification codes to approach it." Ademnon decided it was worth at least asking before he employed his alternative.
"Going for the grand prize aren't we? Guess you'll be in the latter point." Caris said, his "lips" were quiet sealed at that point. "You'll have to do better then that Conk."
Ademnon shrugged. "Worth a shot." He produced a small syringe full of something metallic looking. "Something new we've developed. I'm sorry to say, but this may hurt. A lot." He quickly jabbed the syringe into Caris' arm. Caris felt a slight pinch...and that was it.
"That was...unexpected." Caris was dumbfounded at what just occurred, the Conk was messing with him. "Haha, very funny." Caris wasn't amused, until once again, the realization sank in and he had to ask. "What did you just inject me with?" Caris was begining to get nervous, thoughts racing in his mind, was it some sort of new bioweapon? Probably was most likey, all the more reason for his heart to race followed by heavy breath, the fear rising.
Ademnon looked confused. "Wait, did that not hurt? They told me it would hurt. Weird...Anyway, don't worry too much. It's pretty neat actually. Basically, a bunch of nanites are going to copy your brain and let me view your memories as data. It shouldn't take too long." Ademnon wasn't actually too sure about that last part. Fed brain conditioning was top notch, but apparently these nanites could get around it. He just wasn't sure how quickly.
Caris let out a loud sigh of relief, it wasn't any sort of horrific bioweapon, but of course, he grew a new sense of fear and anxiety, sure the minds of Fed Officers such as himself were truly a daunting task to crack wide open, no matter the most often unpleasant outcome that usually is to follow. But in this case, he was dealing with Conk technology, a quite unpredictable scenario, because no matter what, those machines will bore into his brain eventually, the possibility of success was quite high, but he'll mentally resist nontheless, he's seen things, things that could turn the tide of the war against the Guilds and the Task Force.
A low rumble shook through the AMMP. Ademnon looked distant for a moment as he tapped into the massive vehicle's systems and figured out what was going on. The battle was starting. "Well, I'd better get up to the command center and do some advising," he said ruefully. "I'll be back later."
Caris sense of relief grew as the Conk made mention of the battle and left the room, this was good, for the most part, the reliability of the Guilds military although was varied, the recent battle from before a good indication of their mixed nature, he previously had the honor of meeting the Commander of the 2nd Nishir Regiment, a human by the name of Argus Bradley, once a leader of a rather infamous mercenary outfit, the Ashen Devils, Argus now serves under the semi-permanent contract of Jasan Armored Solutions, one of the major members other Tarin Guilds. "Heh, they may be breaking under the pressure, but Argus will give ya one hell of a bloody nose before you take the city." Caris mumbled to himself.
@Liotrent Sounds like killing the Emperor could be an agenda item for the Black Sun. We have that in common.
All good thoughts folks. I'd also like to offer up the Concordat as a potential source for new/sub species if anyone is interested. They've been in space for 200 years or so; who knows what kind of biological experiments went awry in that time.
Also, @Sigma I just realized I made Sanctuary really big without actually consulting you. I was thinking it would have a central ring of ___blank___ size, with five habitation modules 5km in diameter already built and more being gradually constructed to accommodate the ever growing civilian population. Any thoughts on size restrictions?
Also, @Sigma I just realized I made Sanctuary really big without actually consulting you. I was thinking it would have a central ring of ___blank___ size, with five habitation modules 5km in diameter already built and more being gradually constructed to accommodate the ever growing civilian population. Any thoughts on size restrictions?
Kept things a little shorter to start with. tl;dr the Ashtar are going to start looking for allies.
Uthuun
The Basilica
Llyena awoke. Her eyes snapped open, she flung her arms up and grabbed the edge of the vat, hauling herself out of the biogel. She crawled onto the floor and coughed out the breathing tube, then retched out biogel that had filled her lungs. It was not a pretty sight. She looked around. There was no attendant in sight, but there was a pile of warm, soft towels nearby. She grabbed a few and sat down up against the wall. An attendant finally arrived and began to sputter an apology, but Llyena sent him off with a reassuring thought. She was honestly surprised to see an attendant in the cloning bay at all. It wasn’t exactly an essential position; even if rebirth could be traumatic, most Ashtar were so used to it by now they scarcely needed someone to hold their hand after awakening. The man would be of more use in the factories. A thought drifted out of the Union in response to her line of introspection.
One more in the factories would hardly make a difference, but one greeting the re-awakened can be all the difference in the world.
She considered arguing with the person or people behind that thought, but she was too tired to be bothered.
What had killed her again? Ah yes, an exploding power conduit aboard In the Deepest Chaos of the Universe We Experience Only Prevailing Tranquility. She’d considered not returning this time. She’d seriously thought about letting her mind drift away into the depths of the Union, towards eventual oblivion. Not that her mind would truly ever die, but it could fade into something vague and ephemeral, unrecognizable as herself and unable to return to a body. It was tempting. Perhaps then she would stop feeling tired.
But she was needed. Her people, her god, the awareness of the universe itself needed her. She sighed out loud, and began to get up when a mind touched her own. Lexus.
“We want to speak to you,” his voice sounded in her mind.
“As always,” she replied, with a bite of sarcasm. Lexus ignored the quip. In a moment, she felt other minds reach towards her; she in turn reached towards them, and suddenly she was elsewhere. The Pinnacle of the Basilica. Not as it was now, with the shattered windows and holes in the walls, overlooking grim factories, but as it had been on lost Ayrie. Llyena was at the center of the chamber, bathed in blue sunlight. Outside, the towering spires of the planet-wide city gleamed. It was all an illusion of course, she was still in the cloning bay. But it was a comforting illusion.
The five Hierarchs occupied their thronelike chairs, looking down on her. She smirked. “My, how formal we are today.”
“My, how snide we are today,” Ichael replied, returning her quip with one of his own.That was a good sign; it meant he was probably in one of his good moods.
“May we maintain some bare semblance of decorum?” Lexus said testily. “Thank you. Llyena, you are summoned before the Hierarchs on this day to receive direction. The time of the Choice draws near, and one of the Guests has not yet arrived. This can not be.”
It seemed they were going to go over the whole thing again if Lexus had his way. Llyena hoped one of the other Hierarchs would intercede and get to the point, but it seemed she was out of luck. She suppressed a sigh and adopted an appropriately attentive expression.
“The final Guest, the Fifth Incarnation of Humanity, the Emporium of Man, has been waylaid. We suspect the forces of Harbringer are at work,” Nezia continued from where Lexus had left off.
“The Emperor. He has taken humanity from its birthplace, and set it on a course towards destruction. The races of the Triangulum will eventually turn on their masters and cast them down.” Arctus’s turn evidently.
“Humanity can not ascend while the Emperor lives. If our Task is to be completed, he must die.” Ichael intoned his usual part of the narration with a slight smile, aware of how repetitive it was. Llyena looked to Cyris expectantly.
“The Emperor must be destroyed, but Humanity must be saved,” Cyris wrapped up the prelude to the actual conversation.
“Production continues on the Sacred Armadas. We are seeing an increase in construction rates on our cruisers, but we are no closer to building new capital ships. I estimate another two hundred years before we can match the Emporium’s fleets.” Llyena delivered the update as she had a hundred times before. But something was different this time. The Hierarch’s expressions grew troubled.
Cyris broke the silence. “We can not wait that long. The strands of the the future begin to coalesce. I believe the Choice will be upon us within the century.”
Llyena’s jaw dropped. After all these countless thousands of years, the Choice was to happen in less than a hundred? They weren’t ready! They couldn’t possibly be ready! They couldn’t hope to overthrow the Emperor that quickly, much less guide humanity to ascension.
“We may have to be more...direct...in assisting humanity to ascension,” Nezia said, sensing her thoughts.
Lexus nodded. “As for the Emperor, we are forced to concede that you have been right all along. We cannot do this alone. We will need allies.”
Llyena tried to suppress a sense of triumph. She’d been telling the Hierarchs for years that they needed to reach out to the other inhabitants of Triangulum. Now they were finally ready to listen. “I will begin the search immediately, noble Hierarchs. We may no longer have PsiNET, but trade ships from the compound worlds will act as scouts. We will seek out resentment, rebellion and dissent, and we will forge it into a sword to strike down the emperor. There are allies to be found, I know it.”
The five Hierarchs considered her for a moment, but were evidently satisfied. The room abruptly dissolved, the psionic contact disengaged, and Llyena found herself back in the cloning bay. She smiled to herself. There was work to be done.
The Basilica
Llyena awoke. Her eyes snapped open, she flung her arms up and grabbed the edge of the vat, hauling herself out of the biogel. She crawled onto the floor and coughed out the breathing tube, then retched out biogel that had filled her lungs. It was not a pretty sight. She looked around. There was no attendant in sight, but there was a pile of warm, soft towels nearby. She grabbed a few and sat down up against the wall. An attendant finally arrived and began to sputter an apology, but Llyena sent him off with a reassuring thought. She was honestly surprised to see an attendant in the cloning bay at all. It wasn’t exactly an essential position; even if rebirth could be traumatic, most Ashtar were so used to it by now they scarcely needed someone to hold their hand after awakening. The man would be of more use in the factories. A thought drifted out of the Union in response to her line of introspection.
One more in the factories would hardly make a difference, but one greeting the re-awakened can be all the difference in the world.
She considered arguing with the person or people behind that thought, but she was too tired to be bothered.
What had killed her again? Ah yes, an exploding power conduit aboard In the Deepest Chaos of the Universe We Experience Only Prevailing Tranquility. She’d considered not returning this time. She’d seriously thought about letting her mind drift away into the depths of the Union, towards eventual oblivion. Not that her mind would truly ever die, but it could fade into something vague and ephemeral, unrecognizable as herself and unable to return to a body. It was tempting. Perhaps then she would stop feeling tired.
But she was needed. Her people, her god, the awareness of the universe itself needed her. She sighed out loud, and began to get up when a mind touched her own. Lexus.
“We want to speak to you,” his voice sounded in her mind.
“As always,” she replied, with a bite of sarcasm. Lexus ignored the quip. In a moment, she felt other minds reach towards her; she in turn reached towards them, and suddenly she was elsewhere. The Pinnacle of the Basilica. Not as it was now, with the shattered windows and holes in the walls, overlooking grim factories, but as it had been on lost Ayrie. Llyena was at the center of the chamber, bathed in blue sunlight. Outside, the towering spires of the planet-wide city gleamed. It was all an illusion of course, she was still in the cloning bay. But it was a comforting illusion.
The five Hierarchs occupied their thronelike chairs, looking down on her. She smirked. “My, how formal we are today.”
“My, how snide we are today,” Ichael replied, returning her quip with one of his own.That was a good sign; it meant he was probably in one of his good moods.
“May we maintain some bare semblance of decorum?” Lexus said testily. “Thank you. Llyena, you are summoned before the Hierarchs on this day to receive direction. The time of the Choice draws near, and one of the Guests has not yet arrived. This can not be.”
It seemed they were going to go over the whole thing again if Lexus had his way. Llyena hoped one of the other Hierarchs would intercede and get to the point, but it seemed she was out of luck. She suppressed a sigh and adopted an appropriately attentive expression.
“The final Guest, the Fifth Incarnation of Humanity, the Emporium of Man, has been waylaid. We suspect the forces of Harbringer are at work,” Nezia continued from where Lexus had left off.
“The Emperor. He has taken humanity from its birthplace, and set it on a course towards destruction. The races of the Triangulum will eventually turn on their masters and cast them down.” Arctus’s turn evidently.
“Humanity can not ascend while the Emperor lives. If our Task is to be completed, he must die.” Ichael intoned his usual part of the narration with a slight smile, aware of how repetitive it was. Llyena looked to Cyris expectantly.
“The Emperor must be destroyed, but Humanity must be saved,” Cyris wrapped up the prelude to the actual conversation.
“Production continues on the Sacred Armadas. We are seeing an increase in construction rates on our cruisers, but we are no closer to building new capital ships. I estimate another two hundred years before we can match the Emporium’s fleets.” Llyena delivered the update as she had a hundred times before. But something was different this time. The Hierarch’s expressions grew troubled.
Cyris broke the silence. “We can not wait that long. The strands of the the future begin to coalesce. I believe the Choice will be upon us within the century.”
Llyena’s jaw dropped. After all these countless thousands of years, the Choice was to happen in less than a hundred? They weren’t ready! They couldn’t possibly be ready! They couldn’t hope to overthrow the Emperor that quickly, much less guide humanity to ascension.
“We may have to be more...direct...in assisting humanity to ascension,” Nezia said, sensing her thoughts.
Lexus nodded. “As for the Emperor, we are forced to concede that you have been right all along. We cannot do this alone. We will need allies.”
Llyena tried to suppress a sense of triumph. She’d been telling the Hierarchs for years that they needed to reach out to the other inhabitants of Triangulum. Now they were finally ready to listen. “I will begin the search immediately, noble Hierarchs. We may no longer have PsiNET, but trade ships from the compound worlds will act as scouts. We will seek out resentment, rebellion and dissent, and we will forge it into a sword to strike down the emperor. There are allies to be found, I know it.”
The five Hierarchs considered her for a moment, but were evidently satisfied. The room abruptly dissolved, the psionic contact disengaged, and Llyena found herself back in the cloning bay. She smiled to herself. There was work to be done.
Aight.
© 2007-2024