Star Magi: A Space Opera Fantasy Adventure (Star Magi Saga Book 1)

by Andrew Dobell

  ‘Perhaps. I think that will be part of it, but I also believe that the Crux will have agents throughout the Nexus. It’s possible they control or have alliances with some of the Dynasties. I believe they will spread corruption and death, make us fight each other. And when the time is right, they will swoop in.’

  ‘That’s a grim picture you paint,’ Councillor Stephen Bathory stated. ‘Who are you, exactly?’

  ‘I’m a veteran of the first war against the Crux, and I’m keen to avoid a repeat performance, if possible.’

  ‘So, what if the Crux attack the Nexus, what problem of ours is that? Good riddance, I say,’ called out Councillor Neuri.

  ‘If the Crux attack the Nexus, it will be a huge problem for us,’ Amanda explained. ‘Earth is in the centre of the Nexus. The Nexus capital is Axia, although we know it better as Proxima Centurai. The Tempus Dynasty runs the Foundation, which controls the area of space around Axia and runs the meetings of the Nexus. The member Dynasties of the Nexus are arrayed around the Foundation.’

  ‘This is a little hard to follow,’ said Councillor Remus.

  Amanda sighed. ‘Just like you are each a member of your own Covens or groups, and the Council is formed by you, the Nexus is an organisation with Dynasties and other groups as members. The Ambassadors of the Dynasties attend these meetings and conduct business. Look, my point is that Earth is at the heart of the Nexus, and the Nexus has been helping to protect Earth and keep it safe. If the Nexus falls, then so do we.’

  Silence fell over the room, and for a moment, Amanda felt sure she’d be able to hear a pin drop. At least, I got through to them, she thought.

  ~Good work,~ Valerya said to her through their Link.

  ~Thanks,~ Amanda answered.

  ‘Do we have any support from the Nexus or the Dynasties?’ Someone else asked.

  ‘Earth,’ Valerya answered. ‘partly due to the Sentinels keeping it this way, is considered a no-go area. While not exactly quarantined, it’s not somewhere people from the Nexus visit much.’

  ‘Like a no-fly zone?’ Stephen suggested.

  Valerya nodded. ‘Correct. But as Earth has developed at a much slower rate, it’s picked up something of a reputation as being a bit backwards. A primitive third-world backwater that few in the Nexus care about and even less want to visit. The only ally I would say you might have would be in the Ormond Dynasty, and possibly the Tempus Dynasty.’

  ‘And who are they?’ Victoria asked.

  ‘They’re Magi families. The Tempus family is based at Axia and run the Nexus Council. The Ormons are based at Sol Prime, a Space Station on the edge of the Sol System outside the Heliopause, and they run the Sol Protectorate, the no-fly zone around Sol.’

  ‘I know Rane Ormond,’ Amanda cut in. ‘Daughter of Matriarch Ylena Ormond. I believe they would side with us and help us.’

  ‘I agree,’ Crystal added. ‘The Sentinels have worked with the Ormond Dynasty for many centuries now. They have Earth’s best interests at heart and would probably support any action we take, as long as it doesn’t threaten them.’

  ‘Then I think the time has come,’ Trevelyan spoke up. ‘This attack has changed things, and we can no longer afford to ignore the Magi community beyond Earth. The Crux have launched an attack on Earth, and the Nexus were not there to help. So, we need to help ourselves. I think it’s time that the Magi of Earth reach out and join with the galactic community.’

  ‘And the rest of humanity? Do we show the populations of Earth that they’re not alone in the galaxy?’ Kai asked.

  ‘No, at least, not yet,’ Trevelyan said.

  ‘I agree,’ Amanda replied. ‘The Sentinels mission to allow humanity to develop along its own path should be honoured. The Magi community, however, needs to step up.’

  ‘I totally agree,’ Crystal added. ‘It is too soon for humanity, too soon.’

  A general noise of agreement spread around the table as others added their voice. Humanity would stay as it is.

  ‘And what of the Nexus?’ Stephen asked. ‘How will this be received by them?’

  ‘They won’t like it,’ Valerya spoke up. ‘They are set in their ways, and the idea of Earth, located in the centre of Nexus space wanting to join the galactic community, will not go down well. I’m not sure of the process, though, if Earth needs to meet any criteria or anything.’

  ‘We’ll need a representative,’ Trevelyan suggested, and everyone in the room started to look at each other. ‘Someone to go to the Nexus and to open the talks with them. Someone we can trust,’ he said. Amanda looked over and saw Trevelyan looking at her with a smile, suddenly realising who he was thinking of.

  ‘Me?’ Amanda said.

  ‘Perfect,’ Kai said.

  ‘Oh, yes, good idea,’ Stephen joined in.

  Others added their approving voices as well.

  ‘Hey, I wasn’t volunteering,’ Amanda said, raising her voice to make sure she was heard. The noise died away a bit.

  ‘Amanda, you’d be perfect. You already know more about the Nexus than anyone here. I don’t think any of us have even visited Axia before. You have, though, right?’

  ‘Once, a long time ago.’

  ‘And you know the Ormonds?’

  ‘I guess…’

  ‘You’re perfect.’

  ‘But... what about Crystal? She knows the Ormonds.’

  ‘I do, but I can’t leave Sol right now,’ Crystal answered. ‘I’m too busy with the Sentinels. I can accompany you to Sol Prime and put in a good word for you, though.’

  ‘I was planning on hunting the Archons,’ Amanda protested. ‘I don’t think I have time to be a diplomat.’

  ‘Going after the Archons, flying deep into Crux space is not a good idea. You will get yourself killed,’ Valerya explained. ‘We need to build support, we need to find out their plans and do this intelligently. If we fly in there with no support and no plan, we’re as good as dead. I’ve been monitoring the Crux for centuries, building evidence of their power base in the hope of convincing the Nexus and Dynasties to help. I think this is the perfect time to do this. I admit, I’ve not known you for long, Amanda, but I do believe you would be the best choice for leading this mission and the perfect representative of Earth’s Magi. We’ll go with you, this is our mission, too. And don’t let your guard down. I have a feeling this will be dangerous.’

  Amanda sighed where she stood and placed her palms on the table, leaning forward. She’d made her mind up just before the meeting that she would see this through. She wanted to follow the Archons and continue to pursue her quest to fight them, but Valerya was right. The Archons were supremely powerful, and flying in there on a whim would indeed be suicide, and where would that leave Earth’s Magi?

  No, she needed support, she needed help. She couldn’t do this alone. Valerya was right. She felt a little out of her comfort zone, but she had been out of her comfort zone many more times before, so how was this any different? She wasn’t sure she was much of a diplomat, but she would do her best.

  She had to admit, she liked the idea of Earth’s Magi moving to join the Nexus and the galactic community. Exciting times were ahead. She stood up straight again and looked over to Trevelyan.

  ‘Okay, I’ll do it.’

  Farewell

  Ultima Thule, Enceladus, Saturn.

  The meeting ended and Amanda sat back in her seat, letting out a sigh of relief. Around her, some of the Councillors were chatting amongst themselves, others got up and Ported out of there with a whip-snap of displaced air. Many of them nodded or smiled at her before they left.

  ‘What have I got myself into?’ Amanda muttered to no one in particular.

  ‘You were the obvious choice,’ Trevelyan said, walking around to her and then perching on the edge of the table. ‘And, for what it’s worth, I have faith in you.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Amanda said with a self-conscious smile.

  ‘What do you think your Coven will think?’ he asked.

  ‘Hon
estly, I have no idea. I know some of them aren’t comfortable in space and didn’t like just being in orbit, so there will be some who will have no interest at all, but some might want to come…’

  ‘Do you want them to come?’

  ‘Why do you ask that?’

  ‘I get the feeling that you might want to do this alone…?’

  Amanda sighed. He was right. She was the only one in her Coven with any kind of real experience out beyond Sol, and while she had a fairly good idea who might want to come with her, and who would be good choices for the mission, they were also the same people she trusted most to keep things running here in Sol. She didn’t want to walk away from everything she had built on Earth, after all.

  ‘I admit, I think that might be for the best. At least, initially. I’m not sure I want to be introducing people to the nuances of the Nexus when I’m on a sensitive mission, and I also need people here who I trust implicitly.’

  ‘Sounds reasonable to me,’ Trevelyan agreed.

  Amanda nodded.

  ‘Amanda,’ Crystal called out, stepping up to her. ‘Well done, and for what it’s worth, I think you will do great.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Amanda smiled.

  ‘Can I expect you to travel to Sol Prime first? I think you need to meet with the Ormonds and discuss the next steps. They are sympathetic to Earth and have good links with the Nexus. I think you need to get them on-side.’

  ‘That sounds good to me,’ Amanda answered.

  ‘Excellent, I’ll see you there,’ Crystal replied with a smile as she walked away. Amanda watched her go for a moment. Crystal was right. Visiting the Ormonds was a good first step. It had been a while since she had seen Rane anyway, so it would be good to catch up.

  ‘So, are we heading back to Earth?’ Valerya asked from her seat beside her where she had been listening to their conversation.

  ‘We are,’ Amanda answered. ‘I have some friends I need to talk to,’ she said as she stood. Valerya followed her lead and got up as well. So did Aris. ‘Thank you,’ Amanda said to Trevelyan and shook his hand in farewell. Valerya and Aris also said their goodbyes. Amanda led them out of the room and started to make her way back through the castle towards the landing pad. The clean up had already begun as the corpses were no longer scattered about the room. People went about their work, Magi and Riven alike, quickly restoring the building to its former glory.

  ‘Thanks for stepping up to help with this,’ Aris said to her as they walked.

  ‘Yeah, thank you. With the Earth Magi’s help, it might finally be able to get the Nexus to sit up and take notice of us,’ Valerya added.

  Amanda smiled. ‘No problem. I’m happy to help. I think the time is well overdue for us to join with the Nexus anyway. I just hope we can garner some support, as you mentioned.’

  ‘This will be a long and dangerous road,’ Valerya commented.

  ‘I wish I could say different, but I think you’re right, and I have a feeling I’m walking into a lion's den.’

  ‘We may well be… Although, I’m unsure what a lion is…’ Valerya added. ‘At a guess, something scary?’

  Amanda laughed as they walked out onto the landing pad and up the ramp of the Arkady. ‘Make yourselves at home; there are some free cabins on the main deck. I think we’ll be spending some time on this ship for the foreseeable future,’ Amanda said, directing her two companions inside. ‘I’ll get us underway.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Valerya answered brightly while Aris nodded to her in gratitude.

  Amanda watched the pair walk off down the corridor, looking into the various rooms that lined it before she turned and made her way to the bridge.

  Today had spiralled wildly out of control from where it had started, she thought. Her hunt for the Archons had taken a very unexpected turn, and now she would be leaving Earth behind for who knew how long. Her head felt like it was spinning from everything that was going on.

  And yet, her path was clear. The Archons, one of the biggest threats to humanity, had chosen to join with the Crux. She knew little about the Crux, but it sounded like they were as much of a threat as the Archons, if not more so.

  She had chosen to hunt these Archons down. This was her mission, her choice, and maybe her destiny. She had made a promise to fight them, and if she wanted to stick to her mission and honour that promise, then there really was only one way forward, and it would mean leaving Earth behind.

  She knew she couldn’t do this alone, but she also didn’t want to force her Coven to accompany her. In fact, she didn’t want them to follow her. She needed good people she could trust and rely on here in Sol, on Earth, and her Coven were the perfect people for that job. Liz, her apprentice, was more than capable of leading the Sigil Coven. Liz had come a long way since she’d taken her on and she was very much ready to take on more responsibility.

  Well, now was her time.

  Slipping into her seat on the bridge, she Linked her mind with the ship's core, and within moments the Arkady was boosting away from Enceladus and speeding into the dark, making for home.

  Home, she thought. Earth would always be my home.

  This mission would almost certainly take her far away from Earth and the Sol system, but Earth would always be here waiting for her. Or, it would if she had anything to do with it.

  The threat to Earth and to humanity was clear, and I will stand tall to defend it, she thought as she sat back and tried to relax, even though there was just so much pent-up energy within her. She was excited. A little scared, too, if she were honest.

  She had travelled through the solar system a lot, mainly between Earth and Saturn, and had even spent a little time further out, with Rane Ormond at Sol Prime and with her other friend Astrid at Sirius, but not much beyond that.

  This, however, would be different.

  ‘We picked out some rooms,’ Valerya called out as she walked onto the bridge.

  ‘Excellent,’ Amanda said as the ship suddenly slowed and Earth shot out of the blackness, growing until just a gentle arc of one side of the planet could be seen through the viewer. The Arkady glided down and continued to sail around Earth towards the eastern seaboard of the USA.

  As the ship settled into a geosynchronous orbit, Amanda rose from her seat and turned to her two new companions. ‘Okay, I’m going to head down to my house. I have no idea how long this will take, so, make yourselves at home and I’ll be back as soon as I can,’ she said as she used her Magic to power down the engines of the ship and put a lock on the propulsion systems of the Arkady.

  She trusted Valerya and Aris about as much as anyone could, given recent events, but they had still only known each other for less than a day, and it was only logical to take a few precautions.

  She’d been fooled before by trusting people too soon. It was a fault of hers, she knew. She tended to be an optimist and see the good in people, but not everyone in the world or beyond was like that.

  She led them out of the bridge and locked it. ‘The portal to my Null Realm and the house is open, so if you need anything, just come and find me, okay?’

  ‘Of course,’ Valerya answered with a small nod.

  ‘See you in a bit,’ she said. Leaving the pair of them on the main deck of her ship, she walked to the Portal.

  Within seconds, she was back on Earth, stepping out of her Null Realm and back into her house. She smiled to herself. It felt good to be back. She’d not been away long, and yet, it kind of felt like forever. Opening up her Aetheric Sight she soon spotted her Coven. They were all downstairs in the basement, in Shaun’s Ops Room. She wondered what they were looking at, and with another quick working of Magic, Ported downstairs and approached the frosted glass doors, beyond which her Coven stood.

  She stepped in, and they all turned to see who was joining them.

  ‘Mandy, you’re back,’ Liz squealed with glee, stepping over to her and giving her a hug.

  ‘Of course, I’m back,’ she answered.

  ‘Good to see you again, Red,
’ Shaun greeted her.

  ‘We were wondering where you’d gotten to,’ Maria added from Amanda’s left. Amanda smiled at her and pulled Maria in for a hug.

  ‘Maria, it’s been a while, good to see you,’ whispered, giving her a kiss. She was perhaps the one Magus, other than Liz and Maya, who she was closest to. She had a casual, on and off again relationship with Maria, and it was good to see her again after a few weeks apart.

  ‘How was Ultima Thule?’ Shaun asked.

  ‘Was Trevelyan there?’ Liz added.

  ‘It had been attacked just like Earth, but we think that the attack on Thule was a distraction. There was a similar attack on Sol Prime as well. They all happened at around the same time as the assault on Earth.’

  ‘Diversionary tactics,’ Shaun mused to himself.

  ‘Classic divide and conquer,’ Maya stated.

  ‘That was our conclusion, too. There were only a few stragglers left when we got there, so it was easy enough to deal with them. So, is everything okay here?’

  ‘The clean up is basically done,’ Shaun answered her. ‘The Arcanum was on the ball with this, and frankly, we got lucky. They’re just doing some final clean up. Look, they’re talking about it on the news, that’s why everyone’s down here; we were just watching it,’ Shaun explained as he un-muted a monitor that was playing a news report.

  Amanda watched as the newsreader talked about a terrorist attack. She explained that the attack had two parts. There were several explosive and incendiary devices spread through the city that caused some deaths and property damage, but this highly coordinated attack also had another angle in a very well-arranged gas attack. This was hallucinogenic gas that could cause death with prolonged exposure, but was designed primarily to cause confusion and chaos.

  Amanda smiled. The Arcanum had done a fantastic job. The reporter then moved onto another story about a virus that seemed to have spread through the mobile phone networks and internet as well that was causing some peoples phones to go a little crazy. There was apparently some suspicion that it was linked to the terrorist attacks, but the authorities had yet to find a link.