Naero's Valor

by Mason Elliott

  The Kexx themselves, the most advance species to ever exist, claimed themselves that compared to the Great Mystery and its astonishing wonders of perception, understanding, and enlightenment, that the Kexxian level of intellect and sentience by comparison was beneath that of simple algae.

  By communing with the Great Mystery, the Kexx tapped into the music of all that existed—and all that ever would exist—and became the mightiest of all Cosmic singers, giving voice and purpose to the music of all realities.

  They structured the Powers of all things and all possibilities through advanced music.

  Certain things became clear to Orean. All sentient things had the right to exist and pursue paths of existence. When they engaged with other sentients, it was up to them to grow and prove themselves by working out their differences. Enlightened Change was the eventual goal, and had to be learned or taught. Those sentients who did not continue to grow and evolve for the better would eventually stagnate and eliminate themselves.

  The music and songs of the mighty Kexx described the long history of this process of rational evolving existence over and over again as the cycle repeated itself throughout Cosmic history.

  This was destiny.

  While Orean in her fledgling, stumbling limitations still struggled yet to master the most basic of the Kexxian Songs of Making. Currently she was practicing songs number six, seven, and eight out of a total of twenty-four.

  She was still so bad at these songs that usually nothing happened when she attempted to sing them.

  But to put things into perspective, with the Song of Making Number 5, Orean could outright create something about as big as a person, in seconds or minutes, far faster than even the Kexxian fixer nebulae.

  She could do so by manipulating energy and mass from a star, drawing out the raw materials she needed.

  All of this still seemed so much like magic, that it could hardly be described as anything else.

  Complex creation by pure thought, imagination, and force of will.

  In their day, the godlike Kexx and their fantastic Dreamers could create entire fleets of advanced warships and entire armies, complete with replicant crews, ready to do battle in mere instants. They could accomplish such miracles by the sheer power of thought and will through the incredible Songs of Making and their indomitable force of will.

  In the cause of defeating the Great Adversary, they created the invincible Starkillers.

  Compared to that, Orean and even her amazing daughter were still playing with toys.

  The only person who was capable of helping Orean train and learn was her oldest daughter, Shetharra, who was now just about ten years old.

  Shetharra had been conceived within a star, and even at her young age now, her power and abilities continued to excel at an astonishing rate. She was a leap forward in spirit being evolution by several orders of magnitude, a true Starchild.

  But from birth, it turned out that the Great Mystery itself had taken note of her existence, and even sent the spirits of the Seven, the mighty Kexxian Dreamers themselves, to counsel and guide her along her way.

  Shetharra was now a growing part of the Cosmic Prophecies at work, although no one knew what her path might be.

  Orean had yet to commune with the spirits of any of the Seven Dreamers. For some reason, thus far, they only spoke to her daughter. But whenever she was stuck, Orean made it a point consult with Shetharra. Together they would sing certain parts of the songs over and over again, studying them closely, until Orean got them right.

  Shetharra had natural insights and instincts that no other being could possibly know.

  The Seven had apparently been with her since birth, and later as her playmates and spirit guides.

  “You’ll eventually learn all of the songs, Mom,” Shetharra would often say. “All you have to do is keep trying. You’ll get there. That’s just your way.”

  Orean would laugh.

  “How many of the Songs of Making do you know, Shetharra?”

  “Oh, I learned all of them shortly after I was born. But then I forgot them for some reason, or so the Seven tell me. I’ve managed to re-learn the first seventeen, but the last six are pretty tough–even for me. I keep working on them with my Seven all the time in my head. I can focus a lot better there.”

  Orean in that moment was still trying to catch the breath she did not have in that spiritmind form.

  Haisha! Her daughter knew the first seventeen Songs of Making?

  She had tried to remain calm. “What can you do with the first seventeen songs?” she quietly asked.

  Shetharra made a silly face. “Oh, I haven’t really tried to do anything with them. I suppose I could, if I really wanted to. But I like to focus on their sheer beauty, Mom. That’s the best way to master them. The songs are so beautiful. They make me cry and open my heart and soul to the Great Mystery. The Power driving all existence is Love, Mom. Love so great that we shall never understand it fully, like the love we have in our family, but infinitely bigger, deeper, and so complex. There aren’t enough words in existence to describe such power. It has to be experienced, and through these songs, we can begin to sense and touch some small part of the Infinite. It’s so wonderful.”

  By that time Orean was weeping herself, and could do nothing else but hold her little duck close.

  The greatest powers in all of the universe, and her little girl only marveled at the intensity of their absolute beauty and wonder.

  Shetharra was always capable of seeing what others could not.

  Perhaps Orean could learn from that.

  Maybe that was what she was doing wrong. She constantly strove to accomplish something direct and practical with the songs. Could that be why she was having such trouble learning their true value and essence?

  She might need to approach the true majesty of the songs as a loving child might, with a pure heart and an appreciation for their wonder and grace.

  Could the very powers beyond the universe itself be achieved in any way more fitting?

  3

  Naero, Khai, Baeven, and Jia also continued exploring the Cosmic spheres and possibilities of the Outer Expanse, as well as its many dangers.

  This was just another huge task set before them.

  In order to do these things, at each tier of demarcation, they had to shift and adjust their energy forms in order to be able to compensate for the many functional differences, and to be able to operate within the parameters of those spheres of reality.

  Thus far there was their sphere or origin, what they called ‘The Normal’ or ‘Base Sphere,’ within the Prime Material Plane.

  From there, the absolute largest outer sphere that they could still function somewhat within was ‘The Galactic Sphere,’ about 30 kiloparsecs in diameter. Here they and their consciousness expanded way out beyond the size of an entire galaxy, yet still tiny among all of the near infinite numbers of galaxies that the universe contained.

  They all feared to expand beyond that; if they did, current theory held that they might lose themselves, and the ability to maintain the cohesion of their energy being forms and spiritminds. They might disperse entirely, and never come back together again.

  Between the Galactic and Normal tiers, they still weren’t sure how many spheres existed; perhaps an infinite number.

  Each sphere had its own variety of Cosmic energy that could be tapped into, some easier than others.

  The operable spheres that they knew of were the Quadrant Sphere, about 15 kpc in diameter, where they were about the size and scope of a galactic quadrant. From such a vantage point they could scan each of the four quadrants of their galaxy on a very general level, but not in any in depth way. There wasn’t a lot of useful detail, but it did assist greatly with general interstellar cartography, by having an accurate view of that relative big picture.

  Only Naero and a few of the other champions and Mystics could search a quadrant for signs of the enemy with Cosmic Psyonics. Their energy being allies from the Int
erdimensions were some help with that, with their special senses and abilities.

  Down from the Quadrant tier was what they came to call ‘The Fiver’ tier. Each Quadrant could be broken down into nine sections of 5 x 5 kpc, or nine spheres of 5 kpc in diameter. Beginning with the Fiver spheres, more detail could be scanned, but distances were still too vast, even by interstellar standards.

  The scale of the tier-level spheres of Cosmic focus after that reduced down to diameters of 1 kpc; then 100 parsecs; then 5 pc, and finally .5 pc, or 1.63 ly. Each level also reduced the functional size of their energy being forms and the effective ranges of their capabilities.

  Spheres after that were no longer on Galactic scales, but further reduced to system and planetary scales.

  Naero recalled accidently swelling up into one of these planetary spheres in her Dark beast form, when Jenosha had vanished. That had been way back during her early Mystic period. Now she slowly became an expert on these known spheres, and helped others attain and transform their energy forms so that they could function on those levels.

  They quickly learned that such knowledge was one of the reasons that the enemy could channel such great quantities of Darkforce Cosmic energy from their various sources.

  The Dark Emperor and Elazethrek of the Six G’lothc Champions had been masters of this ability. They could tap into one or more of their Darkforce energy depots from many different spheres, in order to magnify their already considerable powers and abilities.

  If more of the Six should ever come against them, those threats would clearly do the same thing, most likely on even larger scales.

  Now that Naero understood the process, just the thought of such prospects involving the Six and their greater magnitudes of energy manipulation grew truly terrifying.

  As Khai grew more aware of the spheres, he tried to point something out from what he could observe with his expanding awareness. “We’re missing something vital, N. From exploring the infinite possibilities of the Outward Expanse, we’ve had inklings for a while that there are somehow other forces at work among the Great Adversary besides the Dark Emperor.”

  “I quite agree,” Baeven said.

  It was very rare for Khai and her outcast uncle to agree upon anything.

  “It should bother us all immensely,” Khai noted, “that there are at least two hidden enemy leaders who are easily on par with Nahaxrathrax at work in our galaxy somewhere, and yet we know nothing about them.”

  “Or what they are busy doing,” Baeven chimed in again.

  Naero nodded slowly. “For a while now, I have had this feeling that two such hyper-powerful Cosmic beings that never show themselves are always lurking behind the scenes, watching and biding their time to strike and unleash their plots. I think they are primarily behind the enemy effort to resurrect the Six and find vessels for them. Concentrate for a while. Where do both of you sense that these creatures are hiding?”

  Each of them opened their third eyes, and searched the spheres with their growing awareness for nearly a standard hour.

  “One of them is at work somewhere in the Delta Quadrant,” Baeven said. “This enemy entity is so secretive and expert at concealing itself that we might never locate it.”

  “The other lurks in the Beta Quadrant,” Jia stated. “I can sense that this being is a foul, mutated nameless thing of the G’lothc from the ancient days. It failed them in some major way and was nearly obliterated, but what its mighty powers are I can only guess. The Great Foe rescued the remains of this terrible thing from its defeat in another universe and brought it here. It exists today only as failed form of sentient unlife, not a true living thing at all, devoted only to destroying all life wherever it goes. This is a horrid, wretched, lethal thing, yet fortunately for us, it is damaged, crippled, and mostly spent—a shade of its now former infamous malignancy. Now it feeds upon nothing but hate and destruction, and exists and lusts only for raw Chaos and the oblivion for all things, including itself.”

  Naero and the others blinked. “Jia, that’s the most detail Cosmic reading that anyone has been able to sense about this creature through their third eye yet. I’m happy we brought you along.”

  Their small group broke out in fresh laughter.

  Jia shrugged and held up both hands. “What can I say? Because I am a Driathan, I have deep insights into our universe at times that I cannot explain. I can’t always make sense of them.”

  Naero shook her head sadly. “Indeed. You are correct here. These additional monsters lurk somewhere in the two quadrants of our galaxy that we have not even begun to explore. Who knows what they are up to, and most of us can but sense the fleeting breath of their shadows. And currently, all of our forces are locked in a stalemate with the Dark Emperor in the Gamma quadrant, over half of which we still know nothing about. The Six could re-spawn and attack us tomorrow with complete and overwhelming surprise. We would have no advance warning of their onset.”

  “Others must be trained in the knowledge that we have gained about the Cosmic spheres, Naero,” Khai said. “We need watchers and Cosmic scouts to remain vigilant for these very threats, and locate them so that we can combine our forces to assail them.”

  “In order to hunt down such monsters,” Baeven said, “we must locate their hidden lairs and bring them to heel. Otherwise they remain free to act against us and our allies at will–with impunity. And we may never directly come against them, learn what they truly are, or how to vanquish them.”

  Naero clenched her fists in response to their regular, mutual frustration. “Again, all of these things take time we do not possess. We are but a handful. We need Dreamers, a thousand Cosmic Champions more knowledgeable than us. Nay, we need ten or a hundred thousand. Yet we ourselves are still stumbling ignorant children, and our next generations of Spacers and our allies are all babes.”

  “We must keep striving,” Khai said. “We keep learning and growing, no matter what.”

  “The answers we seek will come to us in time,” Baeven told them. “There is no other way but forward. Look at how much we have learned already?”

  Naero covered her face with her hands. “It isn’t enough. I just worry that we won’t get there fast enough, and our great foes will destroy us and our children before we do.”

  “Screw that and to hell with them all,” Baeven snapped. “You know damn well that we’re not going to let that any of that happen. The four of us don’t know the meaning of the word surrender. I’m not giving up, Jia never will, and I know that you two stubborn assholes won’t, either. There’s just too much at stake, and we’re not going let these bastards roll over the ones we care about and slaughter them. So let’s get back on it!

  “Let’s locate these Cosmic pricks, jam their asses in the hottest flames we can locate or devise, and incinerate the sons of bitches until they pop and melt, while we piss down their screaming throats. Fuck them and the abominations they rode in on! I’m sick and tired of all of this hyper-Cosmic, xenomorphic shit. Haisha! Its making me angry. First I want to kill something. And then, dammit, I want to end all of this crap and have some peace for a change!”

  Naero flung her arms around her uncle and hugged him tight. “So glad you’re on our side. You’re a vicious fucker, uncle, and I love you for it. We’ll always have a chance if you’re with us.”

  Khai smirked, put his hands on his hips, and then lifted one hand up timidly. “Hey…I’m a mean fucker, too!”

  All four of them laughed together. A bit of irreverent humor did much to cut through the tension, stress, and strain that they were all under.

  Naero marveled that not one of them showed any concern whatsoever for the constant threat of dying in some terrible fashion at the malignant hands of their powerful foes.

  They were all more concerned about protecting and defending what they loved and cherished.

  Later that night, Naero and Khai stayed up talking quietly in their big oval nanobed beneath the stars. The round viewport above them was irised wide open,
blast shields pulled back.

  They blended into each other effortlessly among their liquid-like flowing nanosheets, first one holding and caressing the other and back and forth in a rush of gentle, endless bliss. They spoke together in the enchanted luxury of lovers’ time. At first they talked quietly about their kids. Then friends and family.

  When on duty, they actually had plenty of time to talk and worry about the war and its unending madness.

  This rare time was their time to be in the moment for each other.

  “My N, my sweetest Naero,” Khai said, outlining the fine bones and lines of her face. “I don’t get to tell you often enough how much you mean to me, my beloved one.”

  She laughed. “Tell me now. I love to hear you say it, Khai, my heart. Almost as much as I enjoy the touch of your hands all over me. Caress me. Touch my face more. Look into my eyes again. Tell me all of those things that you know I want to hear from those moist, volcanic lips of yours. And then I might just let you kiss me.”

  He laughed. “Let me? And what do you mean you might?”

  She licked her own lips in delicious anticipation. “Maybe…”

  The easy moments with Khai and the love they shared with their kids made all of the madness of life worth living.

  Naero suddenly reversed things, sprang up on Khai’s broad back, and massaged his neck, shoulders, and upper back muscles just the way she knew he liked. Soon she had him moaning and sighing happily in a big green puddle of happy Mystic Enforcer.

  Then she ran her fingers through his long golden locks and massaged his scalp.

  There was no way to do any of this outside of their physical bodies.

  Energy being and spirit forms were not always the most advantageous for certain things.

  Khai drifted off at some point and went fast to sleep.

  Naero sighed contentedly and nestled in next to her extra-large green galoot. Soon even her breathing mated with his.

  4