by Luigi Robles
“Pycca, let’s go,” Fain yelled as he and Pycca ran towards Aseahsahl.
When Pycca and Fain neared the machine, Fain boosted Pycca up, and she climbed the rest of the way to Kya.
“What do you want me to do?” Pycca asked hurriedly.
“See the wire on my hand?” Kya said, struggling to keep the Immortal’s head pulled back.
“I see it, I see it.”
“Attach it to one of its wires.”
“There are so many.”
“Pick one,” Kya said, knowing the Immortal could tear itself loose at any instant.
Pycca stuck her hand into the small aperture formed by the constant pulling back of the Immortal’s head. Kya felt an instant jolt as the wire connected. She rerouted the connection through Aseahsahl’s system several times until she found what she was looking for. The feeling of a direct connection into the Immortal’s consciousness was unmistakable; it was an overwhelming flood of information. Kya knew that she had struck gold. She needed to act.
Kya attacked Aseahsahl’s AI mind with everything she had. Thanks to their direct connection, Kya was able to infiltrate deep into its mind, so deep that if she succeeded in damaging it, there would be no way it could survive. At first, the powerful immortal machine put up a hell of a fight, destroying the viruses Kya sent its way. But when one slipped through, it was all over for Aseahsahl. Kya flooded the machine’s mind with every computer-generated weapon ever created.
Aseahsahl stopped resisting Kya, both mentally and physically going limp in a matter of seconds. Kya jumped off the Immortal as it fell to the floor. The machine body was heavier than she had thought, and it caused a resonant thud and sent up a plume of dust when it hit the floor.
Kya felt like everything inside her was giving up. Her body was responding sluggishly, her thoughts weren’t lightning fast anymore, and she was on the edge of overheating. She was even breathing heavily. She stood still for a moment, partially bent, resting her hands on her knees, attempting to catch her breath.
“Are you alright?” Fain asked as he neared Kya.
Kya managed to nod. “Not so immortal after all.”
A beam of light fell over the machine, accompanied by a thunderous sound. The beam of light lasted for only a few seconds, taking Aseahsahl with it as it disappeared.
5
Resurgence
Saavan Celeospect was the highest-ranking leader of the Acram’s Golden Armada, and most recently all of Acrania. It was a title he did not enjoy; it burdened him to carry so much weight. His entire civilization could end if he made a wrong move. But it was a necessary sacrifice, one that he was willing to carry until the end. He had disassembled the Acram elders in order to stop the long conquest and restore some way of life to Acrania. There was little to no opposition. The Acram were tired of war, and the famed cause was never spoken of again.
The results of ending the endless conquests were immediate. Families were reunited, Acram came out onto the streets of Acrania, and even new trading alliances were formed. Acrania was starting to look and feel like a normal planet, filled with life. But the shadows of war still lingered around every corner. Some Acram went mad, not being able to adjust to their new way of life.
The Golden Armada was hanging motionless in the space near Aisumer, still for the first time since the endless conquest had started. But before the Armada was laid to rest, the 184,020 ships that were destroyed during the encounter with the Herrion warship the humans called Sodenia were reconstructed to their former glory. But no Acram remained on board the one million and one ships, and Aisumer itself was almost empty, with only Saavan and a few other Acram inhabiting the governing moon of Acrania.
Saavan was in the main hall of Aisumer, gazing out into the cosmos as he did from dawn until dark each day before heading to rest. He would often pull out maps of the galaxy and study them. He was always on the lookout for something out of the ordinary, and this time he might have found it. One of the nearby Acram subspecies planets had failed to send a report that cycle. Saavan’s qualms immediately grew, as it was the only one of almost three hundred subspecies that did not comply.
Why is this? Saavan thought. It is not because we are oppressing them, and it is not because we are calling them to war. In the past, as far as I can remember, the people of Aneane have always cooperated with us. He shook his head. Could it be them, making the first move, the Immortals? Saavan began to scan the planet for life.
“Permission to enter,” Galeah said as she stood just outside the door of the main hallway. Galeah had recently risen in the ranks and had become one of Saavan’s most trusted advisors. “I have news from the messenger Essons.”
“Galeah,” Saavan said as he released tension through his breath. “You know you can come in anytime; you’re one of the few that can do so and the only one that doesn’t take advantage of that. Come in, please.”
Galeah had been handpicked by Saavan to serve by his side after the deposing of the Acram elders. She stood out from the rest of the Acram and Nobles that had witnessed the dethroning because she had been the only one that had made a case for a peaceful Acrania. Better said, she had been the only one that had dared to make a case. The elders were still in power when she did and could have easily executed her on the spot. And yet, she had done what was right. Saavan thought that he owed a great deal to her, because without her, deposing the elders would have been more difficult. But by the end of Galeah’s speech, most of the Nobles were already unequivocally on Saavan’s side.
“I would never dare,” Galeah said as she entered the room, lowering her head.
“Perhaps this is your weakness,” Saavan said as he turned to fully face Galeah. “You must be willing to take what is yours.”
“I will do my best,” Galeah said as she stopped a body’s length away from Saavan. “Noblest of Nobles.”
“Galeah,” Saavan said, infusing her name with warm feelings. The truth was that aside from her already courageous act of compassion, Saavan admired the Acram warrior. In her he saw remnants of his younger self, only a lot better—a Saavan willing to fight for the Acram no matter the consequences. “Acram like you are the ones that surely have everything to do with the word immovable.” He smiled. “So, tell me, what is the news Essons’ name brings.”
“He and Kashna are on their way back to Acrania, but before they began their journey, they sent a message via node anchors.”
Unlike spaceships and most matter, information’s weight was irrelevant, and it could be beamed across the galaxy at several times the speed of light with relative ease. As long as the information had a straight path to its destination, the Acram could communicate with their entire network within a few nano-cycles. At the heart of their communication marvel were the node anchors; their sole purpose was to speed up and relay data in a straight path within the Acram network.
“Go on.” He nodded.
“Things went just as you suspected. The humans weren’t very welcoming. According to Essons’ report, there was even a threat of violence when they first arrived at the human network outpost. Cooler heads prevailed, and the one named Michael quieted the angry crowd. Your message was successfully sent.”
“Seems like the one named Michael should be raised in the ranks. Though humans are under no obligations to be courteous to us. Remember that, Galeah. We have caused a great deal of harm to them and this galaxy. But I fear that by far we aren’t the worse thing out here, and we might already have proof.”
“Proof?” Galeah asked with concern in her voice.
“Just now,” Saavan said as he pulled down the results of his previous scan for life on the planet of Aneane. The results showed no signs of life. “Aneane failed to submit their daily report, and now the scan for life reveals that our fears have clear foundations.”
“Was it them?”
“In all the time I’ve been alive, I’ve never seen anything like this. I have nothing to compare it with. It must be them.”
“W
hat will you do now?”
“We’ll run towards the fight. Prepare the Golden Armada. We head towards Aneane. Immortal or not, they will regret coming to this side of the galaxy.”
Saavan was on board the flagship of the Golden Armada, the Iveria, waiting for the Armada to be ready for the jump to Aneane. In the ancient Acram language, Iveria meant “the immortal ship,” the one that could not die. The Iveria was the oldest ship in the Armada, but it had been built to last. Saavan had no doubt in his mind that the ship, if it wasn’t somehow destroyed, would last for generations to come.
One immortal against another, Saavan thought. We’ll see which lives up to its name. He smirked. So, the old myths are true after all? Acrania was brought to the brink of extinction by a few of these beings? Saavan shook his head as he crossed his arms.
Galeah walked onto the bridge without asking permission first; this made Saavan smile.
“Permission to speak,” Galeah said as she stopped a body’s length away from Saavan, bowing her head. “Forgive me, I shouldn’t have asked that. But may I speak?”
Any traces of a smile quickly disappeared from Saavan’s face as mild disappointment took over. But Saavan quickly shook off any negative feelings he had towards Galeah before he spoke. “You have permission to speak freely to me anytime you should desire.” He sighed.
Saavan knew that it wasn’t her fault he was being treated with an overwhelming amount of respect. It had long been ingrained in Acram culture that Nobles should be treated with the utmost respect and their presence should never be taken for granted. In most cases, ordinary or even high-ranking Acram avoided speaking with Nobles unless spoken to first. Galeah had surely spent her entire life following this rule. As a consequence, she had little to no idea how to approach the highest-ranking Noble.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Noble Saavan.”
“I’d hate to turn it into an order.”
“I understand.”
“So, tell me, are we ready for the jump?” Saavan stood with his arms crossed in front of the main view screen on the Iveria’s bridge as Galeah approached.
Saavan didn’t know exactly what they would be facing or what they were up against, but what he did know was that he didn’t want anything to happen to Galeah. In her, he saw the future of the Acram race. He thought for a few moments of sending her off to one of the mega dreadnought ships in the Armada, but he quickly dismissed that idea, knowing that the safest place for her to be was next to him. He sighed quietly.
“The Golden Armada is lined up and ready,” Galeah said as she opened two command screens next to her. “All Nobles have been briefed on the situation and are awaiting your orders.”
“We have no further business here. Jump to Aneane.”
Soft alarms began to sound on the bridge, and lights began to flash as the Iveria moved slightly to precisely align with the jump.
“We might just find out the origins of our previous way of life,” Saavan said as the ships all around the Iveria began to jump.
The familiar but strange sensation of weightlessness took over Saavan’s body as the Iveria disappeared from its current location in space and made its way to a new one. He had jumped thousands of times in his lifetime, but the feeling of jumping was something he’d never get used to, that much he knew. Somehow it was always slightly different. But what did remain the same was that during the few seconds of the jump, although their bodies felt weightless, they could not move.
Moments later, the Golden Armada emerged into Aneane space successfully. The clear evidence that something had happened overtook the main view screen. There used to be plenty of movement in Aneane’s nearby space, as it was an asteroid mining planet, or at least that’s how Saavan remembered it. At any given time, hundreds of ships would be making their way to and from the nearby asteroids, flashing their lights and making a space highway. Now, the space around them was dark and devoid of life. Something had clearly happened.
“Shields up,” Saavan said as he took in the space around them. “Run a full scan of the area. I want to know what happened and how.”
“Right away,” Galeah said, and she turned around for a few moments then turned back to Saavan, since all she needed to do was choose one of the eight Acram on the bridge to relay the order to. Moments later, a flashing window appeared next to Galeah. Without hesitation, she enlarged the window. “There are no signs of life or any ongoing activity of any kind in the vicinity.”
“What is the range?”
“The entire Aneane system of planets and asteroids.”
“Forward to the main planet.” Saavan turned slightly towards Galeah. “Weapons ready,” he ordered, then turned back to face the main view screen.
As the Armada moved along the dead space, a beam of light appeared deep on the horizon, barely visible to the eye. Then the beam got larger. But no, it wasn’t a beam, it was many beams. Saavan knew that it had to be them, the Immortals.
“We’ve got something,” Galeah said as she stared at the screen in front of her. “But I’m having difficulty telling what it is.”
“Don’t bother. It’s the thing we came looking for. Have the Armada lock on and get ready to fire on my order. Full force.”
“Locked on.”
“Fire,” Saavan said without hesitation.
Nothing happened. Then the lights on board the Iveria began to flicker. Saavan turned slightly towards Galeah.
“Generating report at once,” Galeah said, punching away at the screen in front of her. “Though our equipment seems to be having trouble.”
“Don’t bother. Focus your efforts on getting the Armada to switch to our ancient language. It’s time for war.”
The default Acram language was Ancreas, and through it, feelings and the exact meaning of words were communicated. Acro was the tongue of the ancients, the tongue of war, used as a weapon in times of need. With the tongue of war, they could control the way certain molecules behaved, including flesh and machinery.
“Fire,” Saavan said in Acro.
The dark space quickly began to light up as millions of shots were fired towards the disappearing beams of light. Soon the space in front of the Golden Armada was saturated with firepower.
“Incoming report,” Galeah said amidst the display of brute force. “We’ve lost hundreds of ships, and the number is quickly rising.”
Saavan didn’t know how such a thing was possible, how something could survive a wall of fire. Even an entire planet wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Cease fire,” Saavan said in Acro. “Spread out. Full thrust. Manual targeting, manual control only. Fire at will.”
As the fire stopped and the space around the Iveria became semi-dark again, he saw something rapidly approaching the ship.
“Stay our course, full speed ahead,” Saavan said, wanting to see for himself what they were up against.
As the Iveria broke formation and made its way towards the incoming object, Saavan could see a good amount of the Golden Armada. But the images that he saw from the peripheral screens next to the main one were something he could never have imagined. It was clear that the proud Acram Armada was losing to a seemingly invisible enemy. Destroyers, dreadnaughts and carriers were exploding, colliding into each other all over the battlefield. It was all happening so quickly.
“Nobles are reporting massive losses,” Galeah said as she tapped away at the screen. “The beings that are attacking us are impossible to target manually. They are just too fast, Noble.”
“Have the Nobles assume a defensive position. Make recovering escape capsules a priority. Get ready for an imminent jump. This is a retreat. We are heading back to Acrania.”
“Communications are almost impossible,” Galeah complained as she tapped on the display screen with desperation. “Not even the ancient language is getting through.”
“Keep trying,” Saavan said as he watched the object in the main view screen getting closer. As it got closer, he distinguished its shape: it was a liv
ing machine being. “Do not stop until you have a jump confirmation.”
“If we keep going, it will be impossible to align properly with the Armada.”
“We’ll take our chances.”
The machine being approached the Iveria and thrashed its tail against the shields as the extensions on its back began to expand. It looked wild and angry, and even as the Iveria’s shield began to burn into its armored plating, the machine did not cease.
“Full stop,” Saavan said, unmoved from his position, staring directly at the being. The stare seemed to infuriate the machine. “Shields at full power. Keep all controls and operations manual.”
Then the machine stopped its wild thrashing and moved away from the shields. Moments later, the shield began to open and give way.
“How is it doing that?” Galeah asked, stopping for a moment and staring towards the being.
“It appears we have a more intelligent being before us now,” Saavan said. “A mind switcher. Have the Nobles confirmed?”
“Most have,” Galeah said as she went back to work on the screen. “I’m still working on getting the last few. I’m having the nearby Nobles explore other options for communication.”
“Good. Begin the jump back; the rest of the Nobles will follow.”
We now face the true end of the galaxy as we know it, Saavan thought as the machine made it more than halfway through the shield. So, this is an Immortal? The very thing that shaped the history of Acrania. Saavan felt anger towards the machine. His body burned and shook. He wanted to do something, but he also knew that out here there was little he could do. And there’s also Galeah, Saavan thought. No, not also; mainly Galeah. Saavan wanted to keep her safe, and no matter what excuse he made to himself for retreating, her life was the only life he wasn’t willing to put in jeopardy, unlike his own. He was ready to face the Immortal and whatever end it might bring, and he would continue to be ready.
