Got it. Adjusting to this mode. Almost there…
“Just as I suspected,” Baeven noted.
All of the colors in that room shifted to shimmering, transparent gleaming shades of smoky gray, silver, brown, and black. All other colors were reduced to muted pastels or completely washed out–but the contrasts were incredibly sharpened.
Some kind of three-dimensional, holographic shell of the mystery man appeared to be snoozing in his bed. It was in fact more than that. It had substance–but that one wasn’t real. Naero guessed that if it were poked, it might even react and wake up, giving the actual, real-time entity a chance to re-merge with his shell–his decoy.
Any physical vidcams and recording tek security in the chamber would, however, be completely fooled.
The real enemy entity stood across the chamber in an open pocket dimension of some kind, opening a swirling vortex of Darkforce energy–not unlike a small galaxy or hurricane of dark Cosmic power–a meter or so above and before his upturned face mask.
The entity himself became smoky and transparent. Yet within him, something alien and amorphous writhed, tendrils and veins of Darkforce energy snaked and shifted through his body and up into his mind and back. Despite his outward, humanoid form. Within, he was more like a weird jellyfish–an invertebrate Man ‘O’ War of some malignant, and sinister nature.
The very sight of it unnerved and frightened Naero beyond reason.
It made her feel sick just to watch this mad thing ooze and shiver.
Even worse, some kind of wyrm, a disgusting Darkforce parasite hid within a small shielded egg, lurking and invisible within the Spacer’s right lung.
Naero gasped. This person was a Spacer, and the enemy both controlled him, and had implanted some kind of Darkforce parasite inside of him–in order to control him when it needed to, and much, much more.
Naero focused on the sickening parasite. It gave off very strange Darkforce readings.
It was a soul essence hiding within that wyrm.
And it was vile and destructive beyond belief.
“What in the burning fuck is that disgusting and horrifying thing?” Naero demanded. Just being near it creeped her out to no end.
Even Jia gasped. No. Impossible. They were all slain…to the very last of their number.
“It cannot be,” Baeven said.
Kexxian data confirms it, Om informed them. That…is a G’lothc spirit. Or more precisely–the lost and fallen soul and essence of a G’lothc–now in control of this person, and an arsenal of deadly weapons.
Even Baeven could not believe it. “How is this possible? How could their souls survive–millions of years after their demise?”
Jia broke in.
They…would need special places to linger in, perhaps another dimension even. A universe where their immense, negative Darkforce energies could be sustained. Either that, or else they would need physical hosts–yet their energies would wear down any normal physical form very quickly and destroy it. Few hosts would last for very long against such power.
Naero though of something Danner once said–about having his mind put into other bodies and burning them out. This kind of possession, or whatever it was, must be something very similar. And a technique that was equally as vile and pernicious.
Jia was very afraid, and in great distress. Naero had never felt her react in such a way. She was nearly in a panic. This thing–or spirit, or creature–whatever it is–must be destroyed, Bae. At all costs.
Agreed. Om noted. The threat is far too immense. Yet, it stands to reason. If there is one of these abominations…will there not be others?
“Let’s watch and listen, first,” Baeven said. “It’s preparing to communicate somehow–perhaps with others of its kind. We might learn something very important here.”
“It can’t see or hear us, can it?” Naero asked Jia.
I don’t think so. Our cloaking devices are astral phazing units in nature, theory, and application. A completely different tek. We’re modulating to be able to spy in on his interdimensional sub-reality, but I think we’re still undetectable within our own.
Naero hoped Baeven was right. To their horror, the vortex opened, and a flurry of G’lothc spirits, raving and writhing, tried to boil out of the open portal.
Yet some kind of barrier or power held them back, and prevented them from flooding out.
Their harsh, rasping voices boomed psyonically, almost causing pain.
“Has the time of our great deliverance arrived? Is it now at hand?”
“Patience, siblings. We must be patient yet a while longer. All is nearly ready. We will set these inferior beings of this galaxy to lay waste to one another. After all sides have been sufficiently weakened, then our deliverance shall come at last.
The barely restrained Darkforce entities shrieked and convulsed in furious, all-consuming lust and rage. Naero could sense it.
So could Naero’s Dark Beast–just as hungry for power and destruction as these terrible things were.
As if they all sang different verses of the same horrific song of dark desire. Such was the lure of the Darkforce, which only yearned for oblivion and desolation.
“So easy for you to say,” the disembodied, lost souls howled. “We cannot endure our torment any longer. We demand to be free. Now. Provide us with hosts to enslave to our will!”
“You know full well that we cannot–not yet. Our hosting process still has not been perfected. Once the wyrm’s are set free, the host bodies deteriorate far too rapidly. They decay and become useless after a only few days or weeks.”
“Do something. Make them–force them to last longer. Use more power!”
“Don’t eradicate all of the vermin, siblings. We shall have need of their bodies as our veils–our vessels to contain us–once the hosting process is perfected. Continue to pursue and increase the extent of our experiments.”
“Not to worry, yet the breakthrough we seek still eludes us. Countless slaves from this entire galaxy perish each day in our secret labs, as will countless more, until the exact solution is found. We shall always keep the strongest and the best hosts for ourselves–for our purposes.”
“As always. And the remnants as breeding populations–cattle to feed our clone hordes–as well as our, needs and demands. Our colonies in this galaxy still remain vulnerable. We must continue to grow in power and strength.”
“We shall enslave them all in good time. These vermin who manage to trouble us and set back our plans in this quadrant shall fall to our dominion very soon. They are ignorant of us, for none of any true worth or might shall rise up to oppose us, before all is too late.”
“As for other matters, have we tracked down the Yattai or the others of the hunted?”
Shalaen, Naero gasped. Shalaen was of the Yattai.
“We grow closer to all of our goals. But like the Oden, the Yattai are even more wary and elusive. Yet we shall bring them all to heel, under the weight of our power, and grind them to our purpose.”
“Have we located and captured the Driathan, so that we might break him yet?”
What? Jia exclaimed.
“We are closing in on him with each day. He is out there. It is only a matter of time before we pinpoint his secret location. He will be a formidable foe, but soon we shall capture and crush him. Then at last, the great goal shall begin to be achieved at last, and all of his secrets and the mysteries of his kind shall be ours to seize, study, to do with as we will.”
Bae, do you hear that? Jia said. They’re close to finding and capturing one of my people. One of my guardians, somewhere out there. We must find and rescue him first–before they can reach him–before it is all too late. If the G’lothc learn the secrets of my people–if they should locate and seize the hidden sanctuary–they will have the power they have always craved. This time, they shall make themselves unstoppable and immortal. This time, they will become invincible. The Kexx and the Drians are gone. No one will be able to defeat them!
“I agree
with you, Jia. But first we must finish our work here, my heart. All of these machinations are part of their dark design for this galaxy.”
The creatures continued to chortle, gloat, and plot together. “Who gets the Driathan’s precious body after we shred its soul and feed upon its energies and secrets?”
“By our rights, Admiral Korleth-Tulkas claims the indestructible body and will make it his very own. This victory shall be his. His claim and his place, is first in line to receive such a boon.”
Thousands of voices begged and demanded the same prize instead, arguing and laying out their claims, moaning and screaming their futile protests.
“Patience, siblings. Soon we shall have our choice of mighty hosts and vessels to pick and choose from. Then we alone shall control the Power Cosmic. And no filthy Spack Conjurers nor any of these upstart races or beings shall ever gain the power to oppose us, once we perfect our goals and roam free. Countless galaxies shall fall once more to our dominion.”
“Our triumphs made all the sweeter because we shall master the cherished spawn of our great foes from of long ago. Those who dared to defeat us in the past.”
“All past insults shall be avenged. Proceed on all fronts and on all schedules with Admiral Korleth-Tulkas and our other spawn: The Servants of the Cosmic Wyrm. This relay portal will be closing now, and we shall be cut off from you all once again–until the galactic portals are opened for the final, grand invasions.”
“Very well. Only for a little while. Then we shall all be unleashed full-force, free to devour and subjugate all of existence at will. All things move in the inevitable direction of our ultimate favor and triumph! We shall feast upon them all!”
The vortex gate winked out without warning.
Then a glowing whorl of shadow, shot with scarlet lighting appeared out of nowhere, about a meter in diameter in the other portal’s place.
The enemy Thing appeared surprised.
An amorphous voice spoke through the whorl.
“Beware, Ullogk–”
“Korleth? Why do you waste the precious Darkforce. What could be so urgent?”
“Through you and the others, I sensed something amiss during the great summoning that we all just held together. With my new growing Cosmic abilities and awareness, I sensed a grave threat to us. At first I could not make it out, but now I have pinpointed it in my expanding senses for a moment. One of our ancient enemies spies upon us–upon you yourself–right where you are. I sense the fleeting soul essence of a very powerful Driathan. Perhaps even one of the High Ones. It is there among you, Ullogk, hiding within a pocket existence very close to you. Who knows how much it has already heard and witnessed?”
“Impossible, Korleth. Driathans are tek based. They cannot project themselves or their soul essences, into the Astral Plane or any other. They are not capable of such feats. How and why would they ever leave their immortal bodies behind? It makes no sense.”
“They might risk doing so, if they could find a way to spy upon us. Hear me and obey, Ullogk. I do not know how this is possible, but such has been done and the Driathan entity is there somehow. My enhanced Cosmic abilities confirm it. We have learned new tricks; perhaps they have, also.”
“How do I locate and destroy it if it is spying on me? It could be listening to us right now. We can’t be sure.”
“Focus all your abilities into a psyonic neural detonation pulse.”
“So be it. If I can capture its soul essence, it may lead us back to its precious, immortal body. I must purse this. Even if I am destroyed in this form, Korleth. That is of no consequence…all here has been set into motion, and shall go forward, even without me. All of us must continue to proceed exactly as has been planned.”
“Shield yourself as best you may and attack. Learn what you can about this development. If our foes can spy upon us with such ease, we must take further precautions. To our eternal victory then.”
The Darkforce, instant communication whorl collapsed and vanished.
Om, don’t worry about me. Expect a heavy attack of some kind. Shield Jia’s essence as much as you can.
Doing so now, N.
Naero put up all of her own defenses. Baeven and Jia did the same.
They did not have long to wait. What seemed like a deafening shockwave of gray, Darkforce-fed, pulsing psyonics sliced through all of their minds.
Everyone screamed, as if their minds, their very souls we’re being shredded and immolated.
Naero came to gasping on the floor, still cloaked, but struggling for breath and sanity.
It wasn’t every day that she felt her mind being minced up and scorched to cinders.
Warning, Naero. That massive Cosmic psyonic attack was not set for us, but targeted specifically at intricate Driathan neural patterns. Even with our shields, Jia took the brunt of that attack. She’s dying. And when her soul dies, all that she is will perish.
Naero looked around in panic.
“Baeven? We’ve got a major problem.”
She stepped back.
Baeven was not himself.
Definitely not himself.
His eyes blazed with blood red light. His form swelled up even larger, black-black, deep jet like unlight itself. And the red light of rage snarled out from deep within him, causing even his teeth to glow with the same destroying, Darkforce energy.
Coils of darkness like lashing whips or tentacles snaked out around him, as he transformed into an energy being and fell upon the Ullogk-Thing.
Every part of Baeven suddenly bristled with razor-sharp, energized green disruptor blades.
This was definitely a terrifying side of her uncle that she had never witnessed before.
This was his own Dark Beast as the monster began to fully emerge.
Just like herself, and perhaps even Jan and Dan.
Did they all have a Dark Beast within them?
Why didn’t everyone?
The damaged G’lothc spirit coiled within its astral form, like some evil jellyfish, poisoning an egg from within, snarling and cackling as Baeven’s multi-bladed hands tore into it, ripping and scything into the evil thing lurking within.
Ullogk laughed even more.
“So, another filthy Spack vermin who has dabbled in the power Cosmic? We shall deal with your kind soon enough, upstart. Go ahead and slay this form. Do what you will. It is too late. Both myself and your Driathan whore are already doomed.
Now it was Baeven who began to laugh, as one gone mad. He grappled with the vile thing and hammered it to the ground, smashing and mutilating it.
“You’re not going to die, you filthy wretched thing. I know how to deal with your kind, scum. Slay you? Don’t make me laugh. If she dies, you’re only going to wish that I had killed you.”
Baeven’s blades–his entire body covered with them–flashed and sliced in blinding motions.
Naero could hardly believe it.
Baeven tore the G’lothc spirit out of its host’s dissolving, astral form, and somehow–he either absorbed or consumed it.
Within himself.
Then, even more terrifying, Naero thought that she could detect the faint psyonic screams of the G’lothc–as Baeven tormented and tortured it unmercifully within the fierce depths of his own indomitable mind.
Baeven unleashed and enraged could be a pretty terrifying force of nature to witness.
Meanwhile, Om struggled to save Jia somehow.
Naero. I don’t know how to heal a dying Driathan astral form–a soul essence. The complex structure of her mind is nothing like ours. I don’t know what to do to fend of this level of attack. Help me.
Om’s urgency brought her back to one of their other, current predicaments.
Jia was still nurtured within Naero’s own mind and soul essence that she shared with her, and yet Jia still faded and continued to wither and perish. Her great force of will and strength of power, Jia’s very essence had been severely damage and failed so rapidly, despite Om’s best efforts to bolster her
in every way.
What had the G’lothc done to them all? Some kind of psyonic and Cosmic attack and soul-poisoning, all rolled up in one.
Very scary, that such things could even exist.
Jia. Save Jia. Just as something else continued to go very wrong with Baeven. As Jia faded, he seemed to lose control more and more.
He once said that Jia joining with him had saved him from his own self-destruction. Possibly from his own Cosmic disease from the ancient artifact that he encountered?
Yet now, with Jia dying, Baeven was losing control of himself all over again. His Dark Beast continued to struggle to break free.
Bae…no, my beloved…do not give in to the Darkforce. Whatever happens to me. Find a way to help him, Naero. He struggles with the same affliction to the Power Cosmic as you. He must retain control. I can’t help calm him any longer. I am so weak.
Her instincts had been correct.
Naero, the attack was, in fact, some kind of actual psyonic poison. We must isolate and neutralize it.
How, Om? I can barely detect it. How in the hell do we do counter-act something like this?
Concentrate with me, Naero. I will show you.
Naero closed her eyes. With Om’s guidance, she saw Jia’s soul, again like a small shining star or will-o-the wisp. But it was as if an amoeba of shifting darkness attacked and tore away at Jia’s soul essence, trying to absorb and destroy it, all the while feeding on its energies and growing stronger, while Jia grew weaker.
This was a Darkforce psyonic poison, virulent, active, and malignant.
Naero recognized that shifting darkness almost instantly–a psyonic, astral form of Darkforce. The devouring thing from her nightmares. Did it exist on every level or reality? Was there no escape from it forceful devastation?
Initial analysis complete. This is a psyonic form of negative energy Darkforce venom. Expel Jia’s soul, but keep it contained within an astral shield sphere. Then incinerate the psyonic Darkforce poison attacking her Burn it away before it destroys her.
With what, Om? The Darkforce is almost invulnerable to direct attack. It instinctively absorbs and takes over other forms of energy.
I thought you discovered a way to either balance or cancel it out?
Spacer Clans Adventure 3: Naero's Fury Page 30
