by Ivan Kal
“HAVE IRIS TO LOOK OUT FOR THAT. TELL WHEN BEING STUPID.”
Now Adrian did sigh, but before he could answer, Iris appeared in front of him.
“I have just received word from the Krashinar. They want you back on the planet,” she told him.
“Finally,” Adrian said as he stood from the throne and walked out, hurrying toward the shuttles. He had wasted enough time here.
* * *
Adrian found himself walking to the same dais he had before—only now, he could not help but notice that the seventh spire was glowing as well. He knew what those represented, but he filed that away as he saw the Old Scar standing next to the dais.
“Old Scar, will the Six speak with me again?” Adrian asked, but even as he sent his thoughts, he felt something different from the Old Scar. Adrian took hold of the Sha state and looked deeper. “You are not the Old Scar anymore. Does the Seeker stand before me now?” Adrian asked.
“No, Adrian,” it replied. “I am now the Seventh.”
Adrian smiled, truly happy for his friend. “Congratulations. I know that you will lead your people well.”
“Thank you, friend.” The Seventh bowed its head before regarding Adrian once more. “I speak now for all of Krashinar. We have thought about your request, and have come to a decision.”
Adrian nodded and waited patiently for his friend to tell him the answer.
“The Seven agree that the Enlightened are a great threat. We do not see the threat of the cold machine. It is a thing foreign to us.”
Adrian felt his spirits drop. He had hoped that having his friend as one of the Seven would mean that they would be more likely to accept.
“But,” the Seventh continued, “we value your council, Heart of the Mountain.”
Adrian straightened at that, waiting, his hopes rising again. He knew that his friend now spoke for the Seven, as they were the only ones that called him Heart of the Mountain.
“We know your power, and even though we know that you do not seek the same goals as the Krashinar, even though we do not understand your plan and your drives, we have trust in you, friend. You will have our Hunters,” the Seven sent. “In return, we ask only that you hold the wellbeing of the Krashinar foremost in your mind.”
Adrian bowed his head. “I thank the Seven. Your trust and friendship will not be in vain. I remember my friends, and you will always be counted among them.”
The Seventh bowed his head in return. “Go then, Heart of the Mountain. We have sent the call to our Hunters. It will take time for them to gather across our territory, but in the spirit of our friendship, we will allow you to open three more access points in our territory to facilitate their gathering.”
“Thank you. I will not forget this, my friends.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Year 717 of the Empire — Josanti League territory
Doranis watched as a stream of bioships entered his system. He had already defeated all the Josanti League forces in system and brought in his own harvesters and processor ships, as well as the growers, which he had established on the now dead planets. The biological material he had harvested from the dead had all gone to the growers to begin increasing the number of the Created, as well as the bioships. His processor ships were working tirelessly to process the material they needed for their bioships; they had a sufficient supply of resources for now, both from what the Josanti League had in their possession when he had taken the system, and from what they could get from the debris of their ships and stations.
But soon he would need to have his own harvesting operations brought on-line. His harvesters were already being put into place to do so—but the stream of bioships coming in from the access point were not his, but Loranis’s. She had already established a large operation at the edge of the galaxy, and was now producing enough to start sending ships and Created here to help Doranis bring his system up to speed. Most of the ships were a new breed of bioships, designed to defend, similar to the defense platforms that most other races used. They were large and slow, but they utilized a weaponized version of access-point technology to hit the enemy at long range. They didn’t require several bioships to use the weapon, and their power sources were enough that they could fire more quickly.
The rest of the reinforcements she sent were battleship bioships, mostly because building a Juggernaut took a long time. Still, she had nearly doubled his numbers with those reinforcements alone—and, not counting the non-combat ships, his force numbered over one-point-five million warships. Loranis herself would arrive in a few months to help Doranis expand the system faster, and having her coordinate the various Overseer breeds would accelerate everything. Doranis himself had never been all that good with using his mind to control their Created, even though they had been created mainly for that purpose: to be relay points for the Enlightened’s power, to allow them greater range.
An Overseer walked into the room and stopped just in front of Doranis. The Overseers looked similar to their warrior breed cousins, except that they had larger brains and two sets of arms. They were smarter, able to make decisions on their own—but like all the breeds, they were completely subservient to the three.
“What?”
“The resin pools on the planets one and three have reached operational levels.”
“Good. Start delivering processed materials and biomatter to them, and have the pools build only battleships,” Doranis ordered. “What is the status of the second planet?”
“It should be operational in several days.”
“Assemble some patrol groups and start patrolling the neighboring systems. I want to know if the enemy decides to attack again.”
“As you say, Master.”
As the Overseer walked away, Doranis turned inward, thinking about their plan. They had been planning this for a long time, and now, they were so close. Every day another report arrived informing him that one more relay had been put into position. There had been no word from Aranis yet, but that was to be expected. He was deep in Josanti League territory in the center of the galaxy, and he couldn’t risk revealing himself.
The Conduit would be put into place soon, and once that happened, all would be changed in a single moment. Doranis’s job was only to make sure that the galaxy was too busy to realize what was happening.
He remembered their long discussion after the battle in the control system, when Aranis had been injured, how the three of them had come together and discussed what they were going to do in the face of a threat they had not foreseen.
Doranis had argued for an attack, for them to fight the others who had achieved the same power as they. His belief in his own power had always been such that he could not imagine anyone standing in his way. Yet, for the first time ever, those of equal power existed. Aranis had been injured, and life in the galaxy possessed technology that rivaled and even exceeded that of the People. They were not equal in all areas, of course, as the People had lived for far longer. But weapons and war… Those were the things that the People had never advanced as far, as they had little need of them. The galaxy now had people whose ships of war were formidable, and the Enlightened had found themselves fighting with a smaller advantage than they had always taken for granted.
Loranis had argued for secrecy. With the AI now standing on their side, she wanted for the Enlightened to spread across the galaxy and disappear, for them to build up their power before attempting to finish their project.
Doranis had wanted to crush them, to invade the territories of the most powerful star nations in the galaxy.
Aranis, the one who alone knew most about the state of the galaxy, had showed them the errors of their thinking. Loranis’s plan could’ve worked—if they had awakened long before now. The technological advancements that the races of the galaxy had attained would only continue, and their numbers would grow beyond any chance of the Enlightened ever catching up. Doranis’s plan held the risk to their own lives, which were critical if they were to finish the project.
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br /> And so, Aranis argued for something in between. With the AI, they could now move through the access points, and so secrecy could be achieved. But in order to limit the danger of discovery, Doranis would attack and create a diversion by invading and setting up a base in the core. While he did so, Loranis would establish a secure base far away from everything in case they fail. Aranis would accomplish the main part of the plan: making sure that the Conduit was delivered and integrated into their masterpiece. There was no need for them to risk and fight against those who could harm them. Their mission was more important.
Doranis used the amplifier of the Devourer to look all around the system, and saw the machine ships of the AI keeping position near the sun and the access point. A few of their ships were always leaving or coming in system, as they returned to deliver reports to the AI. It was faster to just go through the access point than to use FTL comms, especially since the AI didn’t have relays and it was barred from the higher functions of the access point, which would allow it to use them in that manner.
The Enlightened knew that they couldn’t trust the AI. They remembered what it had done the last time it had been free. It had nearly killed the People, and this was before they had damaged the dimensional barriers. The three knew that it would betray them; it was inevitable. It was only using them to achieve its own goals. The AI might understand and even agree with what the Enlightened wanted to do—but after that? It would not remain their ally. Its actions now proved it. It was growing its Swarm, building up its power.
The Enlightened would’ve never allowed it to do so if they had the time to deal with it. But in truth, it was a lesser evil than life. Its presence alone would not cause damage.
Doranis put the AI out of his mind. It was a threat for another time. He continued to monitor his system and adjust his orders, carrying out his part of the plan.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Year 717 of the Empire — Kenos system
A battle raged on a hollow planet.
Ryaana flew through the skies, her mother following close behind and throwing fast moving balls of plasma at her daughter. Ryaana kept her shield active at all times even as she tried to evade. She managed to move out of the way of most of them, but one slammed into her shield from behind and nearly broke through. Ryaana was still not used to the fact that inside the Sha state she did not require energy to use Sha abilities. Instead, she needed only willpower. Her shield was only as strong as her mind was, and every time she used a Sha ability her mind got just a bit more tired.
Ryaana focused her mind on her abilities, ignoring her mother as best as she possibly could, considering she was throwing balls of plasma at her back. She visualized what she wanted to do, and then she flipped over, flying backward as she pointed her hands at her mother. For a moment she was surprised to see that Anessa had gotten so close, but then she released her attack. The air between them charged, and then a lance of lightning cracked between them. Ryaana grinned when she saw that her attack connected and her mother tumbled away in the air.
But her small victory didn’t last for long, as her mother recovered and was flying toward her even faster than before. Ryaana grimaced and then turned back around, heading down toward the peak of a mountain. She flew close even as she reached out with her power and grabbed hold of a large piece of stone. She ripped it out of the mountain as she flew and with a flick of her hand sent it flying back at Anessa.
Ryaana realized her mistake immediately.
She had used her power to rip and throw the stone and then relied on momentum and gravity to do the rest; her power no longer touched the stone. Ryaana felt her mother reach out to the now unprotected stone and pull at it. It accelerated toward her and curved around her before it flew off back at Ryaana—only her mother didn’t make the same mistake, and she kept her power coating the house-sized stone.
She could feel the stone coming, and just before it would have reached her, Ryaana flipped over in the air, turning around and putting her hands in front of her. A ball of disruptive energy exploded from her palms and struck the rock, spreading over it in a spider-web pattern before it disrupted its bonds and broke it apart.
Ryaana allowed herself a small inward cheer for her accomplishment, but already her mother had flown through the space the stone used to occupy and slammed into Ryaana’s midsection. With the wind knocked out of her, Ryaana lost concentration for a moment, even though in the Sha state she didn’t really need to breathe—but that moment of hesitation was enough.
Ryaana’s mother grabbed her by the arm and spun in the air before releasing Ryaana and flying down toward the ground. As Ryaana fought to regain control, a massive concussive blast struck into her from above and slammed her into the ground, cracking the stone and pushing her deep into a crater.
She struggled to break free, but already she could feel her mind being drained, and the Sha state slipping from her. Then it left her, and she was suddenly feeling dizzy.
Her mother landed above her with grace and looked into the crater.
“Good job. You held it for longer this time.”
Ryaana didn’t respond, but instead tried to wiggle free of the ground, only to realize that she was stuck.
“Little help here, mom?” she yelled out.
Her mother chuckled and then Ryaana felt the earth shift and move aside as something grabbed hold of her and pulled her out.
“Thanks,” Ryaana grumbled.
“We should get back to the facility,” Anessa said. “Lurker of the Depths just reached out to us. A message from your father has arrived.”
A part of her was disappointed, as she wanted to train more. When in the Sha state, she felt as if she was really alive for the first time in her life, connected to everything so instinctively that she could almost understand all the secrets that the universe had to offer. But she was tired, and she knew that she was a long way from being able to sustain staying in the Sha state for long.
“All right, let’s go.”
* * *
“He wants us to go where?” Ryaana asked, frowning. Anessa had shared the same sentiment as her daughter.
“The system is called Fordring. It is one of the systems our Sentinels had unlocked decades ago. It is the closest access-point system we have to the AI’s,” Lurker of the Depths said. The three of them were in the facility of Axull Darr, inside a small meeting room.
Anessa knew that Adrian had left to try and convince Tomas that attacking the AI was their best course of action, but his last message to her indicated that their meeting did not go well. He had then told her that he was going to go and ask for help elsewhere, and that he would be in touch.
“Did he say anything else in his message?” Anessa asked.
“No, only that he wants the entire Nomad Fleet to go and wait for him there—with all the ships that are finished up to now.”
“So whatever he plans, he does not want to get back to the AI,” Anessa said.
“You really think that the AI has a way to access the Nomad Fleet’s systems?” Ryaana asked.
“No, but we know that it can access those of other star nations. He is being a bit paranoid.”
“So what are we going to do?” Ryaana asked.
“We will do as he asks,” Anessa said simply. “Go and inform the fleet to get ready for departure. We will be going to Nelus to use their access point to jump through a few other access points before going to that system.”
“You really think that we need all that secrecy?” Ryaana asked.
“I don’t know, but if you are in a system when an access point is activated you can tell where it leads. I don’t want anyone knowing where we are going,” Anessa said.
Ryaana nodded and left the room, leaving her alone with Lurker of the Depths.
“Any idea where he might’ve gotten enough ships to attack the AI?” Anessa asked. The Sowir had proven to be somewhat of Adrian’s confidant in the past. She wondered if he knew, since she had no idea if he did.
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“No, but he must’ve been successful. He would not have asked us to meet him there if he hadn’t.”
Anessa nodded. She knew that he couldn’t have gotten them from any force in the Rimward Alliance, not even the twins. They might be his children, but the two took their commitment to the Shara Daim and their allies very seriously—and then there was the fact that they somewhat looked up to Tomas. They would not have gone against Tomas’s decision.
“I guess that we will find out soon enough,” Anessa said.
At least no one could say that her life with Adrian wasn’t full of surprises.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Year 717 of the Empire — Sanctuary
Emperor Tomas Klein looked through the window of his palace at the clear night sky of Sanctuary. It was close to midnight local time, and the city around him was asleep.
But the sky was alive. Small points of light moved around: ships, stations, shuttles and much more filled the sky other than stars. It was one thing that Tomas missed the most from Earth, the stars. Sanctuary was surrounded by a nebula, and the only thing that one could see was a painting of green, blue, and red made by the light reflected by the gas.
It was a gorgeous sight, but Tomas could not enjoy it. His mind was filled with so many worries that he did not even have the time to enjoy something as simple as the night sky. It was ironic, in a way—he had done all that he had done because of a dream of a star-filled night sky. That had been his first memory, sitting in his father’s arms and looking up at the stars. He was so much older now, so much wiser, so far away from Earth and all that had happened there. Yet here he stood, an Emperor, ruling a humanity that was bigger, better, than anything it had once been. He did not even rule only humans, as there were many more races living inside his Empire.
Yet he still found himself making mistakes.
He regretted his conversation with Adrian—not for what he had said, for it had been the truth, but the way in which he had said it. He had allowed his emotions to get the better of him, and because of that he had lost a friend, someone who had been there from the start. Tomas had had some time to think about what both of them had said, and he had realized that Adrian had been right in some regards.
