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

by Andrew Dobell

  ‘Well, most of it isn’t secretive, but some of it could be sensitive. Okay, let me start from the beginning,’ she said and started to go through the tale one more time, explaining the attack on Earth and what they guessed the reasons for that attack might be. She continued, elaborating further, telling Astrid of the assaults on Ultima Thule and Sol Prime, and then the choice by all parties in the Sol system to join together to form the Terran Alliance. She continued on, going through the events at Axia before finally finishing by telling her what Elden Tempus had offered to the Terran Alliance.

  ‘And that brings us to you. We came straight here from Axia,’ she finished.

  ‘’Wow, that’s an impressive tale, and in fact, I had heard some rumours that Earth had been attacked, so it’s not as big a surprise as it could have been. I’m pleased that you have that in-hand, though. So, you think this was to liberate the Archons?’

  ‘That’s our best guess,’ Amanda said.

  ‘That kind of fits with some of the intel we’ve gathered here recently, actually. We’ve noticed some increased Nomad activity, so this fits with the bigger picture that we have here. Okay, so, let me guess. I take it to you — meaning the Terran Alliance — want to bring the Wraiths and the Sirius system into this new Alliance, correct?’

  ‘That’s pretty much the long and short of it. Other than those who have enlisted in the Sol Prime forces, which is only a small number, we don’t have any kind of military force.’

  ‘And you’re expecting resistance,’ Astrid stated.

  ‘I think that’s a given. The attack on me on Axia proved that the Dynasties don’t like even the idea of an ascendant Earth.’

  ‘I’m not in the slightest bit surprised.’

  ‘We would likely lose some of our Dynasty clients under such an alliance,’ Malax commented.

  ‘I’d expect nothing less, but I think we can weather that storm. Does anyone have any serious concerns about such an alliance?’ Astrid asked Malax and the other Wraith officers in the room.

  Amanda watched as they all looked to one another, and noticed through her Aetheric Sight the flurry of electronic signals between their minds, suggesting they were talking to each other through their Neural Nets.

  ‘No, I think we’d be happy with that direction. We’ve made our position as a supporter of Earth clear and public in the past,’ Malax said.

  ‘We have,’ Astrid agreed.

  ‘To be clear, I don’t want to merge you with Sol Prime’s forces or with any military force we build in the interim. The Wraiths will stay as the Wraiths, providing that is what you want.’

  ‘For now, yes,’ Astrid confirmed.

  ‘So, do you think you can bring the people of Sirius into the Alliance?’

  ‘The Wraiths work closely with the people and government of Silver City on Sirius Alpha, when it becomes clear to them the direction the Wraiths are taking, I doubt there will be much resistance to joining with the Terran Alliance. Many of the Magi on Alpha can trace their lineage back to Earth if they’re not actually refugees from Earth themselves. It seems like many of the residents here ventured out from Earth to Sirius, rather than moving closer to Earth from the outer reaches of the Foundation, so they should be sympathetic to your offer.’

  ‘That’s good to hear,’ Amanda commented.

  ‘Leave it with me, I’ll deal with Sirius. I also have contacts in some of the other systems in the Foundation. It might be that I can help you there as well.’

  ‘That would be excellent,’ Amanda agreed.

  ‘So, what’s your next step?’ Astrid asked.

  ‘We need to get back to Sol Prime. Report in. There will be people who want to know how things have gone so far.’

  Astrid stood up from her chair and offered her hand. Amanda stood up as well and took Astrid's hand in hers, gripping it firmly.

  ‘I’m looking forward to working with you,’ Astrid stated.

  ‘Thank you,’ Amanda said with feeling.

  ‘That’s what friends are for, though, right?’

  ‘Indeed it is,’ Amanda agreed with a smile.

  Rescue

  Sol Prime, Sol System.

  The flight from Sirius to Sol was barely two hours, nowhere near enough time for any kind of significant rest, but Amanda had taken the opportunity to retire to her stateroom and lay on her bed for a while. A thousand and one thoughts ran through her mind after the last few days of negotiation and activity. There was so much to think about.

  All she wanted to do was to go and hunt down the Archons, but nothing is ever simple, and she knew she could not simply march into Crux Space and take them on. She might survive for a little while, and maybe even take one or two of them down, but they would catch up with her eventually, and that would be all she wrote.

  Then who would stand and fight the Archons?

  But there was more to it than that. This was bigger than her personal vendetta. She had the whole human race to think about. They needed to be protected and provided for. Her experience was, at the very least, uncommon amongst Earth Magi, if not unique. She needed to be a beacon for others to follow. She needed to rally the Magi of the Nexus and Earth to unite and stand against the Crux one more time, and she needed to do it before it was too late.

  Still, it would be much easier if she could just blast some Archons with her Magic.

  Finding herself in a pure white environment, Amanda turned to see a figure standing a short distance away, wearing a simple white robe. She looked all too similar to herself with long red hair and a face that looked like an older version of her own.

  ‘Mother,’ Amanda said on instinct.

  ‘Amanda, my dear, I’m so proud of you,’ she said. Amanda could feel the love and compassion flowing from her mother, filling her up and comforting her.

  ‘Thank you,’ Amanda replied with a smile and approached her. They hugged. Amanda savoured the feeling of protection she always got from her mother. She didn’t see her as often as she’d like.

  ‘You have done well.’

  ‘You’ve been watching?’

  ‘Always,’ Sophia answered with a smile.

  ‘It’s not been easy,’ Amanda admitted.

  ‘It never will be, and this is but the beginning. You have so much further to go, my dear, but I will always be watching, and be there whenever I can.’

  Amanda nodded. ‘It’s been so long since I saw you last, although, I saw you the other day, right?’ she said, the memories hazy.

  ‘You did. And yes, I know it’s been a while. The other Aeons, they restricted my ability to interfere in your universe after I helped you last time. That restriction has ended, but they are watching me closely. I must be careful.’

  ‘They’re watching you? Like, now?’

  ‘As much as they’re able.’

  Amanda nodded. ‘I understand.’

  ‘You have a long and difficult journey ahead of you, Amanda. You must be strong. You will learn things that will shake your world, make you question everything, but stay the course, and remember, I love you.’

  ‘Always,’ Amanda answered, letting her own love for her mother flow out of her.

  Amanda sensed Magic flare beside them and turned to see a hole of pure black rip through the white of the Aeon’s Realm until an under lit face appeared in that black void.

  ‘Weaver,’ Sophia said in greeting to it.

  ‘Sophia, Amanda, I bid you greetings,’ the Weaver said, its voice deep with a strange modulation to it.

  Amanda smiled; it had been a long time since she had last seen the Weaver. She could feel the power leaking off him and the intense temporal energy that she always felt around him.

  ‘Hi,’ Amanda said.

  ‘Void has confirmed her plans,’ the Weaver said to Sophia.

  Sophia nodded. ‘Amanda, a powerful Magus called Void will contact you shortly. She could be a valuable ally to you if you help her in her own quests.’

  ‘I think I’ve met Void before,’ Amanda comm
ented, recalling the dream-like memory from over a year ago. ‘It concerns the Multiverse, correct?’

  Sophia smiled. ‘Yes. It is entirely possible you have met her before, time, as you know, works differently for me, and Void is difficult to keep track of, even for us.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘Be careful, my dear. I will do what I can to help you, but you’re not invincible. The forces arrayed against you are powerful and unpredictable.’

  ‘I understand,’ Amanda answered.

  ‘And never forget who and what you are.’

  Amanda nodded. ‘I am Amanda, Arch Magus, half human and half Aeon,’ she muttered as the scene around her faded.

  She woke to the sound of the proximity warning beeping in her room. She’d set it to go off five minutes before they reached Sol Prime. It felt like she’d been asleep for barely any time at all when it had in reality probably been more than an hour. Nowhere near long enough. She yawned, still feeling incredibly tired.

  Using Magic to negate tiredness was easy to do, but not a long-term solution, plus, it never felt quite as good as getting a good night’s rest did. Still, it was better than nothing, so she worked her Magic and felt the wave of Essentia pass over and through her, pulling the veil of exhaustion off of her.

  Stretching, Amanda rose from her bed, pulled on her body suit and wandered out onto the main deck of the Arkady to find Valerya, Aris, and Rane sitting in seats around a table playing some kind of card game.

  Raising an eyebrow, Amanda watched as Rane had her turn.

  ‘Hi, Mandy, did you get some rest?’ Rane asked, looking up from her cards.

  ‘Some,’ she answered. ‘What’s this?’

  ‘A card game. It’s called, Fluque, right?’ Rane asked the others.

  ‘That’s right,’ Valerya answered as she looked curiously at her hand.

  ‘Okay,’ Amanda answered with a shrug. ‘I’m off to the bridge; we’re coming up on Sol.’

  ‘Excellent, about time. I was getting hammered anyway. Let’s finish this some other time,’ Rane suggested to Valerya and Aris.

  ‘If you like,’ Valerya answered and started to gather everything up.

  Amanda left them to it and climbed the stairs to the bridge before settling herself into her chair. She waited as the countdown approached zero on the main viewer. It looked out on the glowing blue tunnel that the Arkady flew through when it was in Flux.

  Rane walked up onto the bridge.

  ‘Thanks for the save back there; they were destroying me.’

  Amanda smiled. ‘Gambling away your fortune, were you?’

  ‘Something like that,’ Rane answered moving to a nearby chair as Valerya and Aris arrived on the bridge.

  ‘You played well,’ Valerya complimented Rane.

  ‘Thank you, but no, I did not. You were taking me for everything I had.’

  ‘I doubt that, Ormond,’ Valerya answered, putting emphasis on her family name.

  ‘Okay, but I can’t be doing that every day,’ she replied with a knowing grin.

  ‘Every other day it is, then,’ Valerya smirked back.

  The counter hit zero and the ship dropped out of Flux. The streaks of light slammed to a stop, becoming pinpricks again in the velvet black of the void while Sol Prime hung silently in the night, catching the light of Sol itself on its left flank.

  ‘Home sweet home,’ Rane sang. Amanda smiled, and with a thought, sent a signal to the station, announcing their return.

  ‘We have you on scan,’ came a voice through the comm. ‘We’ll be with you in a moment; we just some really strange readings we’re…’

  The man's voice trailed off as Amanda watched four boiling points of Essentia erupt from nothing in the space above the main disk of Sol Prime. The glowing blue energy blossomed like flowers, opening up before a huge dark Dragon emerged from each Wyrm Hole and swooped down towards the space station.

  ‘Fray me,’ Rane cursed.

  ‘Holy Crap,’ Amanda joined in.

  ~Rane, get over here,~ Amanda heard Ylena’s voice loud and clear over the group Link they all shared. ~Amanda, welcome back, and good timing, by the way. I take it you’ve seen what’s happening?~

  ~We see it,~ Amanda answered.

  ~They’re going for the Dragon we captured — it must be a rescue attempt. I don’t know if you can do anything, but we could use some help.~

  ~We’re on it,~ Amanda answered.

  ‘Gotta go,’ Rane said aloud.

  ‘Go,’ Amanda replied and watched Rane’s Magic flare as she Ported away with a snap of air. She looked over at Valerya. ‘Ship’s yours, I’m better out there. Give em hell.’

  Valerya nodded. ‘You can count on us. Aris? On weapons.’

  ‘Aye, aye,’ he said as the pair of them dashed to their respective seats.

  Amanda smiled, and then looked up at the main viewer. She focused on one of the buildings closest to where the Dragons were now ripping into the station, their fires burning everything around them as the two Sol Dragons burst out of the station and attacked the four Crux Dragons.

  With a working of will, Amanda quickly enacted her Multitasking effect, splitting her mind into over twenty shards, before she bolstered her Aegis and Ported herself across the void to the station.

  Light flashed behind her eyes as the air on the ship snapped. She appeared standing on the outside of the station less than a hundred meters from the fight, noticing that the four Crux Dragons each had a rider and a squad of troops on their backs. Looking up, at least four more ships burst through the Wyrm Holes that the Dragons had left behind and were flying down towards the station.

  In front of her, the two Sol Dragons were on the exterior of the station now as they clawed at the four Crux Dragons, but they had already been overwhelmed and beaten back.

  As Amanda appeared, one of the Crux Void Dragons dived into the station, out of sight.

  With a roar, one of the bigger Crux Dragons threw Grokar, the black Sol Dragon, across the station, towards her, bellowing a single word through the Aether as he did it. ~Traitor.~

  Amanda concentrated and Ported a hundred meters to her left as Grokar smashed into the station’s exterior where she had been moments before.

  Looking up, Amanda summoned her Magic and threw a barrage of Essentia Strikes at the creature, with several bolts of lightning to go with it.

  The energy smashed into the Crux Dragon, making it flinch, and then roar at her. Fire rushed out from the Dragon’s mouth and engulfed her in super-heated fire and plasma laced with Essentia.

  Amanda ported again, appearing thirty meters away, her Aegis smoking in the void as the fire she had been inside of tore through the station.

  Movement caught her attention as the Nomad rider leapt from the Dragon’s back and landed deftly on the station’s exterior. Four other men, all of them clearly Riven but with Magical gear, followed suit and brandished their weapons towards her.

  To her right, Grokar rushed past her and flew at the Crux Dragon. Fire went everywhere as the Crux Dragon rolled with the attack and both of them were launched into space above the station.

  ~Think you can take us on, Magus?~ the Nomad said, over an open Link.

  Electron beams lanced out at her from the Nomad troops and slammed into her Aegis as the Nomad himself threw blasts of Essentia at her.

  Amanda boosted her shield with several of her minds, fending off the attacks. They weren’t anything like as powerful as the Dragon’s fire. Amanda focused on the Nomad, guessing he was a Knight or Sage in rank from the power and number of attacks.

  Gathering her strength, she unleashed a fountain of Essentia Strikes and punishing electrical attacks at the Nomad and watched his Aegis take a hammering. The Nomad suddenly looked worried and took a few steps back.

  ~Not so cocky now, are we?~ Amanda replied, leaping into the air. With a working of Magic, she changed the direction of momentum and added to it.

  Her knee slammed into the Nomad’s chest and threw him to
the floor with a gasp as his Aegis flickered under her assault.

  As he gasped and funnelled Essentia into his shield, trying to save himself, Amanda hit him again with another round of Magic that flared and cracked his Aegis wide open.

  Around her, the four Crux soldiers refocused and shot at her, but she ignored them for the moment.

  She punched the Nomad once out of sheer annoyance. His nose exploded, sending blood everywhere as she raised her hand out to him and sent around fifty million volts of electricity into his head with a bolt of lightning.

  His head exploded with a flash as the electricity arced out over the surface of the station and hit the two closest Crux troopers, who staggered back, holding their heads.

  Standing up, Amanda looked at the four men and women surrounding her. Behind them, the captured Void Dragon leapt from the hole in the surface of the station with a new rider on its back, spread its wings, and took flight.

  ***

  Valerya jumped into the pilot's seat as Amanda disappeared from the bridge.

  ‘You ready, Aris? We’re going in,’ she cried as she boosted the ship forward and sped towards the station as light and fire lit up its surface around the Dragons.

  Four support ships had followed the Dragons through their gates, so Valerya aimed towards one of them.

  ‘Let's take out one of those ships,’ she said as she brought the ship in on an intercept course.

  ‘Firing,’ Aris called out and opened up on the target ship with the particle beams and electron lasers the Arkady boasted. The beams burnt across the ship's shields with a flare of light.

  Valerya watched the Nomad vessel bank and turn away as four fighters launched from it and boosted into the night.

  ‘Fray me,’ she cursed. These guys came prepared, she thought. The force the Crux had sent to liberate the Dragon wasn’t massive, but the fight would be tough. Valerya didn’t mind the odds, though, she’d been in tighter scrapes than this, and honestly, it felt good to be back in the pilot’s seat and in the midst of battle. Much better than dealing with politicians and all that crap.