by Aer-ki Jyr
The thing was, they could get people to all of them…but they’d be emerging into an ambush against superior numbers and firepower. The only way to win was to get where your enemy wasn’t, and both sides had firmed up their positions, which was why there currently wasn’t any more invasions.
There was still fighting in the Temples, though. Star Force hadn’t fully subdued the recaptured pair, and there was fallout everywhere with the Vargemma and the rift between those loyal to Star Force and those loyal to the Neofan that the Neofan refused to take into their Temples when Star Force tried to send them there.
An assault from the exterior of the Temples, as Star Force had done once before, was not possible with the shield up and the Neofan watching for such incursions…at least not unless you knew the weak points, and before he had left, Plausious had told Davis where they were in case he didn’t survive his return home. One way or another, the Reignor intended Star Force to control all the Temples in this galaxy.
He hadn’t told him, though, of the backdoors other than warning him there were other means of entry. He knew his House wasn’t using them because they couldn’t beat Star Force once they got here…not without getting a lot of them killed in the process. Their plan to use the Vargemma had not been nearly as successful as he imagined them to predict it would be.
Hence they had gained 5 Temples, but lost any possibility of remaining in this galaxy permanently. Star Force was relentless, and they would retake them eventually and purge this threat from the galaxy they called the Milky Way. He had no doubt about that, but Plausious intended to do it for them much faster.
The Reignor had entered this Temple via the Star Force constructed ‘spacial tap,’ and he had to admit it was an improvement so long as the Hadarak couldn’t get out here to find it. And even then, he expected Star Force to be able to hold it. A dozen ramming moon-sized opponents would at best poke a few holes in the Temple, and the exterior defenses had been designed to guard against such things when fully charged.
But the biggest difference with the spacial tap was the fact that it required no Essence, so Star Force could move far greater numbers of people and material in and out at the cost of secrecy…though they kept the nearby destination systems locked down well enough that nobody had an idea that there was a Temple here, though almost everyone in Star Force knew of the legend of them…just no specifics about how to get to them, for they were not listed as ‘public access.’
When Plausious had arrived, he was met by a Lord Ver’nan, a Calavari Monarch that had been put in command of this Temple, but he was not the one Plausious needed to find. Eta Fermi had been his chosen destination because it was the one Temple that held the Neofan prisoners Star Force had taken, and they were under the care of a Trinx Maverick called Jasmyn. Lord Ver’nan graciously had Plausious transported across the Temple’s high speed personnel Essence network to a location near the prison camp, and that was where he and the Ren’mak now stood looking across a barren desert to three large cylindrical buildings butting up against one another.
That is what they had built to keep the Neofan in and contained, and inside was the Maverick that had successfully kept them here without any breakouts.
“You are nervous,” the Ren’mak said. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
“I would like to head another direction and disappear in this Temple with you, but I have a duty I must uphold, and no one else can take my place. You can stay here, though, and wait for me. I can have the Caretakers programmed to supply you with all the food you need.”
“You trained me to fight with you. I will do so. Afterwards we can explore.”
“There won’t be an afterwards, my friend. The Neofan will not learn quickly, and I will have to handle everything myself for a very, very long time. We will not be able to escape to the forests again.”
“If you lead, you choose. How can they give you orders?”
“It’s not about orders. It’s about the work that needs done. I am the only one who can do it.”
“You tell them, they not tell you. You are their current now.”
“I have to be,” Plausious said reluctantly, for he truly did not want to see another Neofan again for the rest of his life. This was going backwards, not forwards, and he didn’t like dragging the Ren’mak into this despite the danger.
“No you don’t.”
Plausious sighed. “If I don’t do this, Star Force may be overrun by enemies in the distant future, and those enemies will come and find us wherever we are and try to kill us. I would rather help Star Force fight them now, using the Neofan, than let the galaxy fall and try to survive in it.”
“You command the Hadarak now.”
“There are enemies worse than the Hadarak out there, and we are already behind on time.”
“You fear they will make you them.”
“I do, in some ways.”
“Then don’t let them. Make them do it your way.”
“Keep reminding me of that occasionally. I’ve got a lot of old habits that are going to try and reassert themselves, and I may slip a little too far into them before I have a chance to destroy them.”
“I will remember for you.”
“Time to go then,” he said, stepping across the short platform in the natural building that held the portal and slowly floating into the air as the Ren’mak hopped off his shoulder and flew beside him.
Plausious used the comm gear in the armor Davis had constructed for him to signal ahead so any perimeter defenses wouldn’t shoot them down as they approached, but Lord Ver’nan had taken care of it as the prison indicated they were already cleared to approach.
They flew up to the roof landing pads rather than the surface entrances, but when he set foot on the Star Force construction the Trinx was not here. He was told by her subordinates that she was currently in a training session and was not to be interrupted.
When he informed them that Director Davis had sent him here with orders to remove all the Neofan, they agreed to take him to Jasmyn…but they would not interrupt her. However, they would let him do it.
They gave him access to the Archon sanctum in the prison where the elite staff would train, but did not go in themselves, saying they were not allowed to. Plausious did not care, and walked in already sensing 6 individuals in the various sections of the large facility.
As the doors shut behind him he found a data terminal and interfaced his armor with it, gaining access to the surveillance equipment and identified who each of the people were. Two were Archons, the other four were Mavericks, and only one was Trinx.
With Jasmyn’s location now determined, Plausious walked through the lengthy corridors past numerous specific training chambers he could only guess at. Far more than had been on the cargo ship he had rode here on, though he could feel some of them were designed for Essence use.
The one he eventually stopped at was not, and the doors opened to an area set for sparring matches…with the Trinx being here alone and fighting against a series of ball-like drones with the wrist-mounted energy swords Star Force seemed to inordinately favor over more efficient ranged weaponry.
The Trinx either didn’t notice him arrive or ignored him as she slashed in a furry at the fast moving orbs that worked to keep her just out of reach as they peppered her with small energy blasts...some of which she was able to absorb on the thin green blade, but most hit her and seemed to slow her movements somewhat, suggesting a stun charge given the lack of bleeding.
Plausious felt an Essence rush from her, and suddenly all of the drones moved towards her at the same time as if pulled, then with a quick series of combos she cleaved all of them with the pieces clattering to the floor as she spun around and stared at him angrily.
“Who let you in here?”
“I am Reignor Plausious,” he identified.
“I know who you are. Why are you in here?”
“Because I have no time to waste, and neither does Star Force. Your training can w
ait.”
The Maverick raised a hand towards Plausious, gave him a moment to register the Essence build up, then she released it at him. It was unrefined and meant to push him over, but he easily countered it with his own and began to shove the flow back towards her.
But then his progress stopped as her intensity level increased along with a mocking smirk as she dropped all pretense and nearly knocked him over.
The Reignor shoved the Ren’mak into the air so he wouldn’t get hit and pushed back hard, with him and her continually upping their intensity until he was reaching his maximum. He didn’t want to use his personal well, and didn’t know if the Trinx was using her own or not, but she was far stronger than he had anticipated.
Plausious upped his output to maximum, intent to see if she could go any higher, only to have her output skyrocket so high he was flying backwards though the air and slamming into the closest wall before he realized what happened.
“How’s that for a hello?” Jasmyn said in a much better mood as she walked up to him as he sat crumpled on the ground and not rising as the Ren’mak hovered over him protectively.
“You’re a Nuv’ernor,” he said flatly, angry at his underestimation of the Maverick.
“We’re called Jinxes here. I believe you call us weapons’ components.”
“We have done a great many horrific things, Maverick,” Plausious said as he stood up and towered over her. “I am here to end them.”
“Davis explained in his message. If you can convert them, you can have them. If you can’t, they stay here and I get to keep working on them.”
“Have you had any success?”
“Limited, but you guys are so long lived there’s a lot of brainwashing to be undone.”
“Brain conforming would be the more appropriate term.”
“What’s the fear from?” she asked. “They are scared of leaving your mental parameters, and it’s more than the threat of exile.”
“Neofan wrongly believe that our powers are so great we must maintain rigid control at all times, for if we stray it is like falling off the edge of a knife and there is no way to recover. We are told we will go insane and destroy ourselves, and to save others from the fallout those labeled insane are exiled to meet their fate elsewhere.”
“And what’s the truth?”
“The truth is that we are so advanced that our bodies and minds will contort when young if not held to a rigid standard. But once we achieve a certain level, those boundaries are not safeguards. They are a darkside prison keeping us from achieving our potential, but one that has allowed our civilization to survive and dominate where others have torn themselves apart with far less to lose. I will take what assets we have and tear away the rest and remake the Neofan into a force that can aid Star Force in the coming war.”
“Which one?”
“The War,” he said, giving no further elaboration. “It is not upon us yet, but its heralds beckon. I have no time for games, Jinx Maverick. I must act swiftly.”
“Just so we know who the stronger one here is,” she said, looking up at him curiously. Her face wasn’t that of a Human, and he wasn’t sure if he was reading the expression right, but she didn’t seem overly hostile. “That’s all you Neofan seem to respect.”
“Superiority drives us…yet we have been blind to its true nature.”
“And that is?”
“The lightside.”
Jasmyn sighed. “Well, at least one of you can learn. Is it true that no Neofan is a Siphon?”
“For an unknown reason we have never developed the ability. It is believed that Nuv’ernor is a malfunction, and we are too advanced to suffer it.”
“Nah, it’s not. A breach would be a malfunction. I have a nozzle to control it, and it was there since the beginning. That’s not an accident, nor a part of my body that could break. It’s an element of my Core.”
“And you assume a Core cannot malfunction?”
“Never seen evidence of it. All problems in this universe seem to be attributed to physical or mental breakdown. You guys probably labeled it a malfunction because it hurt your pride too much to admit you were inferior in some way.”
“You are probably right,” he said, looking at her upraised chin as her two headtails jiggled slightly as she shifted position on her feet back and forth.
“Damn. I was hoping to get you to attack me again, but you’re too agreeable. All the other Neofan are too weak to give me a proper workout.”
“In your situation I imagine there are few that can, but be warned, even a moment of hesitation can allow a lethal attack to penetrate. Raw power is not the only deciding metric in Essence combat. And if I were to get closer, I could break your body with a single physical blow.”
“It’d take two or three with my hardened bones,” she scoffed, knowing the truth of his statement well. “That’s why I never let them get close to me, and I never let my guard down. I haven’t lost a single person since this facility was constructed, and I don’t intend to start now. Nor do I intend to just lock them away and throw away the key. They’re my assignment, and if you’re really capable of helping, then I’m glad you’re here.”
“Not glad enough to pause your workout though.”
“Only in emergencies, and your arrival doesn’t count,” she said, finally looking up at the hovering Ren’mak. “Does the bird have a name?”
“I am Ren’mak,” it said, startling Jasmyn.
“You talk now? That’s cool, but do you have a name other than that of your race?”
“None of the others talk, so why would I need another name when only I respond to it?”
The Trinx frowned. “Alright, you got me there, Ren’mak. Why are you here?”
“I go where he goes.”
“And he goes where I go,” Plausious insisted.
“The other Neofan will kill him on sight. They’re so wired they take chunks out of the walls to let out frustration, and almost always destroy our drones that deliver supplies. They see him they’ll snuff him out in an instant.”
“We can protect ourselves. He is not your responsibility. And soon, neither will they be. Take me to them now and let me speak to them alone.”
“Do you have enough Essence left to fight them if needed? Or did I drain you?”
Plausious stood and raised his booted left foot and mentally ordered the material to shift, showing the obscured green gem hidden in the material.
“I didn’t use it against you, and I am not depleted.”
“Neat. Never need one myself, but I’m always charging them for others. I still don’t think taking him in with you is a good idea.”
“If they harm him they will die,” Plausious said firmly.
“They are also under my protection,” Jasmyn warned.
“I am relieving you of them, and as of now they are my responsibility.”
“Only if they follow you. You’ve been exiled, remember? To them you’re not the Reignor. There is another.”
“There can only be one, and so long as I live and do not abdicate, I am the Reignor.”
“Well, I’m cheering for you,” she said, throwing her arms to the sides carelessly. “I’m just not hopeful.”
“Take me to them now, and you’ll see what true power is.”
“If you’d said ‘real power’ then I was gonna offer you a magazine,” she said, turning abruptly and walking past him towards the door. “Follow me.”
5
Kelmaran had been a prisoner of Star Force for 829 years, and he had no one to blame except himself. He’d been sent into Installation 392 to covertly sabotage Star Force’s control of the Temple, only to fail when the troops they had guarding it put up more of a fight than he expected. He still killed them all and deactivated the Caretaker programing overrides, returning the new units to default and logging Star Force as an enemy, but he had spent too much time doing it and had failed to flee in time before reinforcements arrived.
Those reinforcements had an Ar
chon with them, and the Archon knew how to use Essence. He wasn’t very strong, but he played a stalling game until a third set of reinforcements arrived…and they were wearing armor that could absorb Essence. The Neofan had no idea Star Force possessed such technology, and Kelmaran not only could not defeat them, but once they had the advantage they rushed him and quickly rendered him unconscious.
He woke up in a makeshift holding facility made entirely of energy shields with the emitters far from him and covered in the same armor, with gradually more Neofan joining him in it. Then one day a warship flew overhead their position and fired down on all of them in a barrage that left them unconscious until they arrived here, in this prison, along with Neofan from every other war mission that failed to fully succeed across all the Temples.
He’d learned from those that came later of the many successes, but the reluctance of all the Vargemma to rise up and do their duty was both repulsive and took any hope of reclaiming the Temples away from the Neofan. House Atriark had been confident in their victory, but now Kelmaran and 5291 other Neofan were trapped here with no way out.
He wasn’t sure if they were the lucky ones or not, for some Neofan had died in combat against Star Force when Star Force didn’t have a significant advantage. It seemed their policy of not killing in combat had its limits, and the arrogant little empire had succeeded in ending the life of many preborn over a million years old. Such a waste, but now he wondered if his life too was being wasted, for if he was never to leave this place then he might as well die now and get it over with.
