The Loss Queen (Approaching Infinity Book 5)
Page 24
“Anything. . .” he rasped in a whisper, desperate to continue. “Everything. . . for you.”
Jav’s breath caught more and more on the blood pooling in his lungs, his throat. He was choking, but it didn’t matter. He’d spoken his last words and they were good words. He was beyond help. Too many things inside him were broken and the pain was like fire, was like a million stabbing needles, was like grinding, pulverizing millstones working relentlessly. The numbness, as it had before striking Samhain, had filled him and fled and left him feeling every exquisite feather-touch of pain the human nervous system can serve. The world felt like a thin sheet of glass under tremendous pressure. Upon that glass Jav saw everything around him—concrete and real—and knew it for false. The mirror broke then as the glass with Samhain upon it had. Reflections of reality fell away in a cascade of jagged shards to reveal black emptiness below. In slow motion, Jav slipped from Champagne’s lap and cradling arms, into a chasm that yawned past infinity. Her tears dropped from above, wetting his cheeks and pressing him further down into the abyss.
• • •
Lagrein moved tentatively into the Queen’s chamber. He could see that the Skeleton General was dead upon her lap, but he could also see that this was the source of great sadness to her. “My Queen?” He said gently.
“He was already dying when he arrived here,” she said, not looking at Lagrein.
“Duras,” he said. There was no question in his mind now. Of course it was because of Duras and his song.
She nodded. “He’d been through so much. He was a victim. I know you can’t see him as anything but a scourge, and you’re not wrong. I was able to reach him in the end, though, and provide him with a choice. A test, which he passed,” she said, sniffing back her tears.
“A test? I don’t understand.”
“His choice gave birth to a quantum possibility which revealed something very important.”
“What’s that?”
“The truth. The truth about his sincere desire to make amends; the truth about our enemies and those among them we can count as allies.
“He has been our greatest enemy and our greatest champion.” Fresh tears filled her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand. She turned to face Lagrein, her iron will asserting itself, visible in the set of her features. “Summon Airen. There is much to do and little time to do it.”
“Yes, my Queen.”
EPILOGUE
10,923.023.1800
Planet 1612 (Loss)
4th Perimeter (Barcos Basin)
Vansen Biggs woke from a daze. He was still atop Gran Ketz’s head. He was still at the 4th Perimeter bunker with the troops he’d managed to bring along with him. What had just happened? He had the sense of having been asleep—or worse—for what felt like a long time, several days at least. He was still standing and felt lucky that he hadn’t fallen from his place, the victim of freak fainting spell.
Had he imagined his bout with Jav Holson? Had it been a dream? Whether it was or not, he couldn’t escape the combination of embarrassment and dread that the outcome, fiction or not, had engendered in him.
Ketz’s communications module came to life suddenly. The holographic screen before Biggs was blank and static-shot for a moment before the image of the Emperor appeared within it.
“Vansen Biggs,” the Emperor said. “Jav Holson is dead. Before he set out from the 4th Perimeter, however, he did provide us with coordinates identifying the location of the Loss Tower.”
“I see, Lord Emperor. What are your orders?”
“Remain where you are. Defend the 4th Perimeter bunker at all costs.”
“Yes, Lord Emperor.”
“Vansen Biggs.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Do you feel strangely? Do you feel that you have experienced something very vivid, very real, but that did not actually occur?”
Biggs felt a chill race down his spine and could respond only with a nod.
“As I thought. You are not alone. Some are more reticent than others, but reports are coming in from other Shades. Even I cannot claim to have been unaffected.”
“Was it a dream, Lord Emperor?”
“Unknown. But I am certain that the conclusion of the fiction precipitated Jav Holson’s death. Now only the Loss Queen stands in our way to The Place with Many Doors, and she shows no signs of coming out of her Tower. We are free to act as we please. Measures will soon be in place to render the obscuring mist moot and bring us to the Loss Tower. Your role, for now, is simple. Protect the 4th Perimeter Bunker.”
“Yes, Lord Emperor.”
TO BE CONTINUED. . .
SHADE DOSSIERS
Salton Stoakes
General, 19th Generation, Retired
* * *
Category: F-Gene Fighter
Discipline: The Longsword Knife, Secret Sword
Height: 165 cm
Weight: 70 kg
Gravity Rank: 25
RPP: 1,750
RMP: 100
Birthdate: 9,794.356
Artifact: Suicide Knife
Artifact Rank: 20
Dark RPP: 35,000
Dark RMP: 2,000
Active Dates: 9,850-10,350
Residence: 1026
While Dark with the Suicide Knife, Stoakes is sheathed in shadow and seems to possess little substance; he is more like a dark, animate mist, though he is in fact solid at his core. In this state he weighs a single kilogram and can float given strong enough winds or thermals.
Though Stoakes is an accomplished, self-taught fighter, the Suicide Knife has the ability to capture the image of up to 20,000 individuals in the Midnight Mirror, the reflective surface of the dark blade, and subject them to mass suicide. When an image is recorded upon the Midnight Mirror, Stoakes stabs himself to have the effects dealt to the reflections’ owners.
The Knife provides other powers that, combined with Stoakes’s skill, have made him quite useful to the Emperor as a covert operator, even in his retirement.
Jav Holson
First General, 21st Generation
* * *
Category: F-Gene Fighter, Superior Grade
Discipline: 18 Heavenly Claws
Height: 172 cm
Weight: 73 kg
Gravity Rank: 30
RPP: 2,190
RMP: 500
Birthdate: ??,???.???
Artifact: Kaiser Bones
Artifact Rank: 20
Dark RPP: 43,800
Dark RMP: 10,000
Active Dates: 10,682.031-Current (replaced Karlan Farsal)
Residence: Root Palace
Jav was the Block 2 champion at the 10,688 Artifact Competition. He won the Kaiser Bones, and thus replaced the ailing Ritual Mask and removed the imminent death sentence that came along with it.
While Dark with the Kaiser Bones, Jav looks like a stylized skeleton, with the actual bones providing excellent protection. The space between the bones is inky black that seems like animate “nothing” and offers somewhat less protection. Besides the standard augmentation, the Bones enable Jav to animate and control up to 20,000 skeletons, making them rise from their graves and fight on his behalf. He can sense bone matter, “feeling” it as well as “seeing” it through earth or flesh and blood. The Bones also make Jav exceptionally resilient in that they respond quickly to physical damage, rebuilding and restoring tissue at a fantastic rate.
Though Jav’s original Artifact, the Ritual Mask, remains intact, it has not been accessible to him since the events on Planet 1406 involving Garlin Braams.
Raus Kapler
General, 21st Generation
* * *
Category: Psychic
Discipline: Electrokinesis
Height: 246 cm
Weight: 230 kg
Gravity Rank: 12
RPP: 2,760
RMP: 2,900
Birthdate: 10,533.124
Artifact: Resurrection Bolts
Artifact Rank
: 20
Dark RPP: 55,200
Dark RMP: 58,000
Active Dates: 10,689-Current
Residence: Root Palace
On receipt of the Resurrection Bolts, Raus Kapler’s skin color underwent a permanent change. His skin is now pale and seemingly translucent, revealing a gray or even greenish hue beneath. The Resurrection Bolts are visible as smooth metal circles on either side of his neck until he goes Dark, when the Bolts extend out beyond his skin. When Dark, his skin darkens further and more metal bolts rise up along the lengths of his arms and along his spine.
The Bolts enhance Raus physically, as is the case with all Artifacts, but they significantly increase his ability to produce electricity to both heal and destroy. His ability to stimulate regeneration of lost tissue makes him one of the most resilient Shades ever produced, though his power is not on par with that of Lor Kalkin. The Bolts also enable him to infuse the dead with a portion of his power, bringing up to 20,000 corpses back to a semblance of life, and which he alone can control.
While not as focused or well-developed as Jav Holson’s ability to sense bone, Kapler is able to “feel” the presence of likely raw materials for his power, if only vaguely.
Icsain
General, 21st Generation
* * *
Category: NA
Discipline: NA
Height: 190 cm
Weight: 140 kg
Gravity Rank: 50
RPP: 7,000
RMP: 7,000
Birthdate: Unknown
Artifact: Relic Cords
Artifact Rank: 20
Dark RPP: 140,000
Dark RMP: 140,000
Active Dates: 10,690-Current
Residence: Root Palace
Icsain does not undergo a physical change when he goes Dark. While not technically a psychic himself, his intellect and ability to simultaneously calculate multiple probabilities give him an exceptional defense against psychic assault. They also enable him to exploit the Relic Cords in a way that Karlan Farsal never could. With the Cords, Icsain can control up to 140,000 individuals and need not focus on any single one or group after a set of instructions has been given. With instructions, any being under the control of the Cords will complete assigned tasks, using limited critical thinking skills to accomplish the required goal or die in the attempt. Once the goal has been accomplished, the being under control will wait idle for further instructions.
Gilf Scanlan
General, 21st Generation
* * *
Category: NA
Discipline: NA
Height: 175 cm
Weight: 150 kg
Gravity Rank: 15
RPP: 2,250
RMP: 2,000
Birthdate: 10,624.060
Artifact: Creation Cogs
Artifact Rank: 20
Dark RPP: 45,000
Dark RMP: 40,000
Active Dates: 10,691-Current
Residence: Root Palace
Among Shades, Gilf Scanlan is perhaps unique. Though he is possessed of a vast and creative intellect, he has the RPP and PPP of a normal. Because of his inherent human weakness, the Creation Cogs have permanently altered Scanlan so that he is Dark at all times and cannot revert to his human form. He sees no downside to this and has already taken steps to further augment his physical form to close the gap that remains between himself and other Shades.
From the monocle covering his right eye, Scanlan can direct a beam of sorts, which gives rise to intricate clockwork machinery which adheres to any design principle he can imagine. He can create incredible volumes of this machinery, spraying it into place with the application of the beam. Even after the immediate influence of the beam has passed, the machinery continues to exhibit startling organic properties, growing to completion.
Forbis Vays
First Specialist, Titan Squad
* * *
Category: F-Gene Fighter / Psychic
Discipline: Single Element Ghost Sword / 30% Physical Augmentation
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 80 kg
Gravity Rank: 25
RPP: 2,000
RMP: 1,000
Birthdate: 10,663.015
Artifact: Titan Star
Artifact Rank: 22
Dark RPP: 44,000
Dark RMP: 22,000
Active Dates: 10,688-Current
Residence: Root Palace
While Dark, Forbis Vays is clad in a gleaming suit of angular armor that will conform, to some degree, to his will to temporarily adapt to circumstances. Along with its excellent defensive properties, the Titan Star also provides a potent weapon, the Titan Saber, which is housed within the helmet, its hilt forming the distinctive horn rising up from the forehead.
When Vays invokes his psychic ability to augment his physical characteristics by an additional 30%, his armor undergoes a physical change in order to release the power.
When sufficiently enraged while Dark, Vays gains access to the Grudge Star, a devastating attack that crucifies his opponents and subjects them to six explosions, the intensity of which are determined by a combination of the degree of his indignation and his composure in the face of that indignation.
Brin Karvasti
Specialist, Titan Squad
* * *
Category: Psychic
Discipline: Suggestion/Compulsion
Height: 157 cm
Weight: 45 kg
Gravity Rank: 5
RPP: 225
RMP: 4,200
Birthdate: 10,664.304
Artifact: Dharma Engine
Artifact Rank: 18
Dark RPP: 4,050
Dark RMP: 75,600
Active Dates: 10,688-Current
Residence: Root Palace
Brin’s Artifact becomes visible at her back when she goes Dark, but otherwise she doesn’t change physically. She has the innate ability to make people do what she says. In general, her victims must be able to hear her voice, but she is able to transmit her power, chaining it between minds when they are in close proximity to one another.
Of course her Artifact substantially increases this ability, but it also enables her to inflict the Dharma Clock on individual victims. This attack crucifies the victim and forces him or her submit to first psychological then physical trauma according to “guilt” they feel based on criteria—genuine, manufactured, or twisted—set by Brin.
Ban Kapler
Specialist, Titan Squad
* * *
Category: F-Gene Fighter
Discipline: Wind Fission Knives
Height: 190 cm
Weight: 82 kg
Gravity Rank: 26
RPP: 2,132
RMP: 1,700
Birthdate: 10,541.076
Artifact: Carving Knife
Artifact Rank: 20
Dark RPP: 42,640
Dark RMP: 34,000
Active Dates: 10,922-Current
Residence: Root Palace
While Dark with the Carving Knife, Ban is clad in all black, covered with a tattered poncho of the same color and his head hidden under what appears to be a wide-brimmed hat.
Ban’s Artifact has the ability aggravate existing or recently healed wounds by touch. As with all Artifacts, it augments him both physically and mentally, substantially increasing the scope of his Dark Speed. By using the Copy Twin technique (which is still most likely only a coincidental trigger), Ban sinks into a cast shadow, which is a conduit to a pocket dimension running essentially parallel with real space. It’s as if he’s within a pool looking through the surface to the real world. He can travel through the “liquid” medium covering vast distances at speeds which, to the outside observer, can seem nearly instantaneous. As yet, Ban is the sole visitor to this pocket dimension.
Spaier Waice
Specialist, Titan Squad
* * *
Category: F-Gene Fighter
Discipline: Divine Pattern Fist
Height:
185 cm
Weight: 74 kg
Gravity Rank: 28
RPP: 2,072
RMP: 100
Birthdate: 10,897.045
Artifact: Whirl Plate
Artifact Rank: 20
Dark RPP: 41,440
Dark RMP: 2,000
Active Dates: 10,922-Current
Residence: Root Palace
Waice’s Artifact, the Whirl Plate, gives him some powers of spatial manipulation. His Phantasma Spiral is one example where he can distort space and cause severe motion sickness to all within a twenty meter radius. The Black Light Rail enables him to travel great linear distances almost instantly, but is not really suitable for shorter distances. The powers of the Whirl Plate are an excellent match for Divine Pattern Fist, increasing the power of Waice’s Drill Knuckle substantially into its Dark counterpart, the Phantasma Screw.
While Dark, Waice is covered in what appears to be a lavender body suit, wearing a bulbous helmet very reminiscent of Hilene Tanser’s. The Whirl Plate is visible at his middle as a kind of belt buckle. Marbled and ever-changing ultraviolet rings constantly rise up his body like animate skin pigmentation.
Vansen Biggs
Unregistered Shade
* * *
Category: F-Gene Fighter
Discipline: Wind Fission Scythe
Height: 185 cm
Weight: 80 kg
Gravity Rank: 27
RPP: 2,160