Dimension

by Shay Zana

  The air remains still for a moment, and her voice seems to ride with the faint wind, leaving angelic remedies whispering behind. Slowly, the Cipher now moves on her bare feet and her body begins to flow like water, dancing in a silent chant. The Paragons are mesmerised as she dances, her movement seeming unreal, shifting and fluid-like. She continues to dance, her arms delicately weaving through the air, her toes gliding through the tall grass and her long black hair streaming around her as she spins. She appears to not even touch the ground as she reforms her body in absent pulses, her white robes falling behind every movement, her fingertips leafing behind her with grace. Her singing soon joins with her dancing, and she is like a mystic creature of the night, calling out to Altair's spirit and guiding it to the Zodiacs.

  Kitera eerily stops, standing completely frozen, her eyes shut again. Boone considers asking if she is alright, but now thinks better of it and remains quiet, not wanting to disturb her strange ritual. Natheus and Mazayus watch her in awe, honoured to have witnessed such a beautiful ritual of the Ciphers, and Deo just stares at her, dumbfounded, wondering if he is in a dream.

  At last, Kitera seems to revive from her absent slumber and now looks to each Paragon, frowning.

  "What's wrong?" Boone asks her quietly.

  She looks distantly to the still water for a second, and now shakes her head. "Nothing."

  They move on from the open pond and back under the cover of the jungle, for soon, the day will be born.

  THE MARAUDING EXILE

  The Spartan warship hums deeply as its engines sit in standby, burning its stored light energy efficiently. In the moonlight, its nikita armour plating shines highly, casting a reflective glow and highlighting the golden flecks throughout the surrounding jungle. The Spartan sits atop dozens of flattened trees, as there was no flat stretch of ground to occupy as a landing zone. Its UEU occupants emerge from inside the hovering Serenity facility not too far above, chattering amongst themselves as they begin to set up a temporary base of operations within the abandoned area.

  The Serenity military facility hovers above the jungle, suspended in the air at a height of thirty metres to keep from disturbing the lands below. The facility was built on a flat platform of nikita, stretching for nearly a square kilometre. The building itself is only one level of height, and takes up all of the space on the platform, save for a five metre edge for entry and departure. By standards, this military facility is only miniature compared to most others, but it has the advantage of attracting less attention. Nearly all of Serenity's cities and infrastructures are suspended in the air using light energy and gravity simulating envelopes, which create a stable barrier around the mass. The barriers around the nikita structures can resist most natural hazards, such as high winds and storms, lightning strikes, or wildfires on the jungle floors. The platforms can change altitudes and even enter geosynchronous orbit, but must first have their atmospheric barriers activated, or with authorisation from privileged individuals. Skycities can not only adjust height and enter orbit, but also adjust their position to any desired place in the world. Skycities are vastly becoming as mobile as starships.

  "These Serenity hippies locked everything down before they fled off planet, and none of my techs can hack into the network."

  Commander Jaron Rockland walks alongside his Chief Technician, listening to him as he makes his way outside the facility and back to his warship, the Marauding Exile. "We need that intel before those Serenity troops get here, Lander, or else we may not even make it out of this system alive," he responds, trying to contain his frustration.

  "Sir, we just need more time. Serenity encryption is more complex than the UEU’s. We're doing the best we can."

  Commander Rockland stops in thought for a moment, facing the technician sternly. "Exactly how much time are we talking here?"

  "A day, maybe longer."

  Rockland scratches his chin, and now gives Chief Lander a nod, watching while gnawing on his upper lip as the man heads back inside the facility to direct his team of cyber technicians and hardware engineers.

  The Commander knows he needs to send in some men to stall the Serenity soldiers, but there is one thing that worries him with that decision, and that is of their odds. What if Serenity has sent Paragons? His men would stand no chance, and he is not content with sending them to their deaths.

  Rockland is a man of duty, believing in the greater cause rather than the minor issues of a few soldiers, but he respects human life, and if he were to send the men under his command to certain death, then he would gladly join them. He is fifty two years of age, with greying dark brown hair that sits at a few inches atop his head, kept neat. His navy blue uniform almost matches his cobalt blue eyes, and is kept just as tidy as his freshly shaven face.

  The turbid details of this mission no longer linger at the back of his skull with a clammy grip as he directs his gaze skyward, seeking a brief moment of respite. The night sky is strewn with stars, and as a small distant moon cracks the horizon of a much larger companion, a rush of memories assails him.

  “Did the Admiralty Panel choose you, or did you volunteer?”

  Rockland watched as his only son paced erratically, fists scrunched and shoulders taut in their sockets. “I would have volunteered if I’d had the chance,” he answered with soft honesty. He had been keeping that up for a while now, holding cool air while his son blew out hot air in fits of prolonged rage. But it was wearing off with every word his son spat...

  For a moment, the young man only snorted in mock humour and shook his head. Then he blazed from within yet again, wheeling on his father. “Are you going to keep doing this until there’s none of us left? Your wild patriotism has killed this family! And when there’s nothing else left, it’ll be your life! Or is that what this is? You’re gonna keep going until you kill yourself so you don’t have to deal with the guilt anymore! Don’t walk off! Don’t pretend you’re upset!” He advanced on Rockland then, sallow skin writhing above snapping teeth. “Be a man, for once in your life, be a fucking man and take responsibility!”

  And Rockland’s inner equilibrium failed him. “I have taken responsibility, Kagen! It kills me to think of what I did to your mother, your brothers, it haunts me every night before I sleep, every morning when I wake up! I hear the screams when I dream, I feel them following me everywhere! Don’t you dare tell me that I don’t care!” He became aware of his own pacing convulsions, long-term conditioned military muscles twitching with angry adrenaline. With a breath, he nestled his hand in the hollow at the back of his neck. “When I look in the mirror, I don’t see myself anymore, I see their faces...” Mentally wounded, he sulked over to the nearest window of the apartment, forcing his attention across the cityscape of Eden as it smothered the entire surface of the planet in one planetary metropolis. Beyond, one of Eden’s moons cracked the horizon with a gauzy red haze. His breath quivered out in a tension filled sigh. “I’m doing everything I can to make sure other families don’t have to suffer like ours did, to protect you and your sister, to protect Eden. This is bigger than us, so you be the man, Kagen, and put the less capable before yourself.”

  Kagen covered his bared teeth with his flaming lips, gnarled them together behind his pouted flesh, but said nothing. He followed his father’s gaze out over the jungle of skyscrapers and spires.

  At the silence, Rockland rotated his body on his headstrong military son once more, seeing those inherited cobalt blue eyes reflecting both respect and resentment. “I’m finished, son. There’s no one else left to protect now but you and Sadie, and this is the best way I know how. These events are only getting worse, and if Serenity isn’t stopped...” He could not keep his words flowing to finish that thought. “You don’t need me, you never did, you’re both strong. Just like your mother... So let me get it right this time. Let your old man be a hero, for once.”

  Kagen mellowed his stance and his pale spacer features sagged. “What if we did need you? You know Sadie’s condition is deterior
ating quicker than we expected. She needs support, a father.”

  Guilt seized Rockland for a moment before he cloaked it with humour, clapping Kagen firmly on the shoulder. “Then it’ll take more than the distortions to kill me. The Zodiacs won’t be able to keep up with my old ass.”

  The commander echoes his son’s final words to him in his mind. “Get yourself out of there when it’s done, and make sure your old ass comes along for the ride.”

  He catches himself with a laugh of amused remembrance, and now proceeds towards a capsule, a four-seat transport vehicle universally used as the most common means of civilian transport. The capsule has a stark white coat over its nikita plating, and is vaguely oblong shaped, hence the name. Symmetrical dips in its hood align to join at the prow, giving it an aero-dynamic effect. It uses a star shard core to power its systems, but the process is far less efficient than that of a larger vehicle or ship because of the limited light energy containment.

  Chiming his earchip, the commander contacts Lieutenant Morrison, the ranking combat officer who will be leading the assault team in the field.

  "Lieutenant, have a small squad assembled and by the Marauding Exile’s bow ASAP," he instructs as the capsule’s front section morphs open. Many fragments of nikita break apart and work in unison, allowing him to take the pilot’s seat.

  "Yes, sir," comes Morrison's reply, her voice iron hard with authority. Rockland can hear her shouting orders right before her comms link switches off, and he knows he can count on her to direct the team and choose the best soldiers for the job.

  Taking control of the capsule, he pulls up from the facility in an initial sweep and guides it down to the jungle floor, its light energy burning the night air with radiant heat.

  Below, Rockland can see several men exiting the Marauding Exile through the cargo bay at her stern, and above, he can see another capsule making its way down to the ship. Obviously Morrison had ordered a few of the soldiers that had been placed on guard duty to report to the Marauding Exile. As he lands his capsule awkwardly on top of flattened trees and foliage surrounding the warship, he spots Lieutenant Morrison approaching him carefully over the shattered trees. She gives him a nod as he climbs out of the vehicle, knowing that protocol dictates her to avoid any gesture that will reveal Rockland as her superior, and therefore render him vulnerable to possible spies or snipers.

  He returns the nod, and now examines the line of eight men and women behind her. Their combat suits are of thick navy bullet-proof material, with nikita armour plating and combat helmets with transparent or opaque black visors that cover their entire faces, protecting them against harmful shard elements. Their hands are gloved and fully sealed, and their boots are built into the suits, convenient if their ship was to engage in naval combat and was to sustain a hull breach. Basic life support inside their suit's systems is just as essential for ground operations as naval warfare, as shard elemental tactics can be brutal to the respiratory and nervous systems.

  Satisfied with Morrison's choices, Rockland locks his eyes with hers, seeing them staring back at him through her transparent visor. "I think you already know what I'm asking of you, Kate."

  "Understood, Commander," she replies stonily, knowing it the moment he contacted her. "Have our scouts reported any sightings?"

  Rockland shakes his head. "Their last report was about a nasty encounter with an indigenous carnivore called a bezun, no casualties," he chuckles. "The Serenity SSP distress signal is a few klicks from their location, so if they keep at the pace they're moving, then they should reach it late tomorrow."

  "We'll keep in contact with them, sir. They spot anyone, we'll take them out before they even know what hit them."

  Rockland admires Morrison's determination, though often he worries that she can be overconfident. "Just don't take any chances, Lieutenant. If they’re Paragons, then I want you to immediately fall back and call for air support."

  Kate clenches her jaw for a second. "Yes, sir."

  "Move out."

  She nods and now turns sharply on her heel, ordering her unit of soldiers to fall out and follow her.

  The commander watches as his people are swallowed by the night, and his gloom deepens.

  OPERATION: GHOST TEMPEST

  Moving through the jungle is proving to be a difficult task for her fireteam, and even she is growing agitated by the dense growth around her. Lieutenant Kate Morrison glances to her left and right and watches her soldiers making slow progress, struggling with nearly every footstep. They have been walking endlessly for five hours now, and she is beginning to wonder if searching for the Serenity troops on foot was such a good idea. If they call in some air support, it will be easier and quicker to locate them, but it will also eliminate their element of surprise.

  Morrison can feel a trickle of sweat drip from her brow, and absently reaches to wipe it from her vision, only to be reminded that her visor is covering her face. With a sigh, the Lieutenant blinks a couple of times to clear her vision, and now concentrates on her footwork as she steps over a broken log, only to hear the crunch of her boot greeting a smaller version.

  Their weaponry helps reveal the environment with beaming torch light, but the darkness gets so suffocating at times that their torches are almost useless. Morrison orders the unit to switch to their optic irises, though without datakeys, they have to manually select the night vision optic by touching their lenses, which cycles through the selections on contact.

  She holds her rifle closely to her chest, occasionally propping its butt against her shoulder whenever she hears the shuffling of wildlife around her, not exactly wanting to meet one of those... what did Rockland call them? Bezun?

  Her weapon is the standard design commonly equipped by assault specialists, trained in brutal lethality and efficiency. It is capable of morphing into an array of designs, including a fully automatic assault rifle, burst battle rifle, precision rifle, or a shotgun. Like most weaponry, the weapon can only hold one shard in its chamber, allowing for only one element unless the user exchanges a shard manually. Its nikita design makes it appear sleek, yet sturdy, its pitch black plating reflecting whatever light is surrounding it in the jungle. Not a great attribute for stealthy night operations, so Morrison had her people buff their weaponry and armour with a mattifying spray. Nikita is known for is untameable material, and eventually, coats of paint erode, making permanent modifications so far impossible.

  Most weaponry created by privately funded manufacturers providing for both the UEU and Serenity can be very versatile given the right upgrades and modifications. Hybrid weaponry can be obtained in many models and designs. Some may have a higher rate of shard velocity and higher recoil, and others might have a steadier rate of fire with higher accuracy. Heavy weapons are much less versatile, with a design specifically manufactured for certain heavy shards due to the size of the chambers.

  Although UEU technology is less advanced than Serenity's when it comes to neural control and telepathy, they still share a lot of the same tech due to under-the-table trade deals with these neutral manufacturers. Though the UEU does not use datakey technology, and therefore they cannot synchronise their brainwaves to their weaponry or gadgets for control. Such technology is exclusively manufactured by Serenity sympathisers.

  "Sorry to break radio silence, but I need an update. It's been over five and we're making little progress out here." Morrison waits for a reply from one of the two scouts who had been sent out in search for the Serenity troops shortly after the Marauding Exile touched down on Olympus. She does not expect much intel from them, but knowing that they have not been picked off will set her mind at a little more ease.

  "Still no sign of them, ma'am, but at the rate we're moving, I doubt they have moved far from their SSP's," comes the whispered reply from one of the scouts. "If we find anything, we'll drop a beacon for you."

  "If you locate them and they are Paragons, do not engage until we reach you. Is that understood?"

  A brief silence f
rom the receiving end of the comms link. "Ma'am? With respect, we were ordered to retreat.”

  "Don’t question me, soldier.” Solid, but with a hint of irritation.

  More silence fills the comms, and now a faint breath is heard. "Lieutenant, I don't thi-"

  "Are you doubting my command?"

  "No, ma'am."

  "Good. I expect another update within the hour." Kate nods silently and switches off the communications link, waving her soldiers forward through a small creek.

  The kinetic barriers fade over Commander Rockland's biomass as he walks through the white wall, its translucent image shimmering across the opening of the cargo bay at the rear of the Marauding Exile. As he enters the Spartan, the burning smell of light energy is suddenly gone, and instead he can smell the sweat of his own body.

  Not only is Isis one of the hottest continents of Olympus, but the compact jungle traps in the humidity of the planet, making the temperature seem much higher than it is.

  Relieved to be out of the heat, Rockland heads for the far end of the cargo bay, passing many capsules and other vehicles stationed and ready for deployment. He approaches a flat circular platform of white kinetic light energy technology, programmed with nano-machines to support physical contact and repel kinetic energy, creating a solid force-field, dubbed solidgrams.

  As he steps onto the platform, it briefly flashes a brighter white, and now produces a small control panel where he can select a deck. On the ceiling is an exact replica of the current platform, and as Rockland selects the deck above, the kinetic platform lifts off the ground and carries him upwards. The next platform is programmed to a holographic mode, allowing his body to be taken through it. The commander practically appears through the floor of the crew deck, and now steps off the platform, continuing forward.