NINE
Himalayan Mountains, Mount Kailash, Tibet
Aen waited impatiently for the Caretaker to link with the ancient ship, but he was using the time wisely. Text after text, file after file, Aen poured over histories and schematics of everything Lyarran. At the moment, he was deeply lost in the operational workings of the Amarra, trying to think of some way to bring life to the long dead giant.
Concentrating on the reactor room, he leaned forward in his chair as something nearly jumped out at him from the schematics. From the reactors he noticed the main power outlet that ran all the way up to the command deck before splintering off everywhere else. As if a light had turned on in his mind, his fingers raced across the display to recall the results of his tests from when he arrived here; the tests that he had ignored up till now.
He saw the visual of his heart, and for the first time in a while he was truly shocked! He knew it was the source of his abilities, but he was hardly ready for this. In his chest lay what he could best describe as a sun, burning brilliantly and churning with power. Gone was the human heart, replaced by this celestial object that simply rotated on its axis. This is why he had limitless energy in which to draw upon; this is why the Lyarran prophets spoke of his arrival with such reverence. They saw the stars as gods, so to them he was a god incarnate!
And with this knowledge, Aen made the final connection on how to best awaken the slumbering Amarra. The reactors ran on the energy and magnetic fields derived from the creation of artificial suns—Aen would drive them by wiring himself directly to the ship. He would become the heart of the Amarra, and power it to join the Council meeting as to plead for the Empire’s mercy.
“I have found the Amarra,” the metallic voice of Caretaker chimed in, snapping him out of his deep thought. “And I have a connection with her mainframe, although tenuous at best.”
“Use the facility power to boost your signal strength, I need a few more minutes to prepare.” Aen replied. “Are your systems portable, or are you anchored to this place?”
“My core unit is removable, but can only be mated to a Lyarran system so I can remain functional. Why do you ask?”
“Show me what we need to do to get you loose from this place. We’ve got a ship to catch—you’re much too valuable to be left behind!”
Lyarran Vessel Amarra, Southern Pacific Ocean Floor
Only the light of the flashlights and glow sticks Aen had brought illuminated the command deck of the Amarra as the darkness fought to keep its long time grip on her. He was the first being to stand here in a thousand years; Aen marvelled at how well preserved it was.
The Lyarrans built shit to last, he thought to himself as he worked feverishly to install Caretaker’s module into the control council. After a slight search, he found the proper connections and his image flickered to life.
“My module holds a short supply of power, so you must work quickly,” the construct said urgently. “Below this station lies the main power coupling as it connects to the ship’s controls. Reach down and disconnect it; you need the end leading into the control panel.”
With his hands groping in the darkness below the council, Aen’s left hand brushed what he was searching for. With both hands, he felt his way up the power line and upon finding the coupling, he pulled to separate it. It took more than a concerted effort to get it apart, but with an echoing click he pulled it free.
“Got it, now what?” he said as he held up the end to show the Caretaker, the long metal spike of the male connection glistening in the orange light of the glow sticks.
“This is where we go to the theoretical, Aen. If you are right, you must thrust the connection into your chest and push power into the ship’s system in an attempt to restore power.”
Aen held the power cord to his chest and paused. The machine was right; all this was based on theory. But the only way to see if it would work was to act on it. “This is gonna fucking hurt,” he mumbled as he thrust the spike into his heart as he screamed in agony. His body was racked with immense pain and he fell to his knees on the floor.
“Now you must push, Aen, push the power into the ship’s systems!”
Aen screamed as he willed his heart to churn out massive waves of energy; feeling it respond in a push like he’d never felt yet. But nothing happened—the ship remained dark and dead.
“Caretaker?”
“Be patient.”
“Easy for you to say, you aren’t impaled through the chest!”
“Be patient. Accessing alternate systems.”
“My patience is a little strained right now, Caretaker.”
“I need a little more power, Aen. Can you raise your power output by twenty percent?”
He groaned as he willed his body to create more power than he could ever imagine. Everything he had done, all his abilities until now had not required this much energy combined. Aen shut his eyes and concentrated—his heart began to churn as a bluish light peaked out through his reopened wounds.
“Is that enou—” He was cut off by the command deck systems snapping on one by one. System alarms blared as power funneled through the ship. “What’s going on?” he asked with strain.
“There are a few hull breaches that I am attempting to remedy by closing bulkheads, but we are successful. The Amarra lives, so to speak, and all systems seem to be responding to your energy.”
“How much time until the Council meeting?” Aen groaned.
“If my calendar still holds true, they will be starting to assemble in the Grand Council as we speak; some in person and others by holographic link.”
He leaned forward so he could out his hands on the floor to better support his weight; the pain of the ship’s energy demands were pulling at his insides was immense. Aen moaned slightly from the discomfort; he knew this wouldn’t kill him and that it was temporary until his body adjusted to the strain.
“How long until you can get the holographic link active?”
“I am already in the process of activating it; it should not be much longer.”
“Good, because if what you’ve told me about this Council is true, these women are in for the shock of their lives!”
Lyarran Vessel Dark Light, near Eagle Nebula
She hated these sessions, but her standing as the Commander of the Lyarran cruiser, the Dark Light, made it one of her duties. Council Lyxia Amek waited in her holo-link chamber as it connected with that of the Grand Council. As the systems began to link up, the image of the massive council chamber appeared before her. Lyxia yawned, knowing that her image had yet to show on the other side to betray her boredom. As her eyes lazily spanned the chamber, she saw something that snapped her out of her funk.
The long darkened podium of the Amarra was lit—her close friend Ameia was finally back after a hundred year absence. Although Lyxia was just over two hundred years young, Ameia had befriended her during her first days a part of the Council to guide her in her duties. The two had struck up an immediate friendship and Lyxia had taken the long silence from her friend hard.
Happy thoughts flooded her mind as she peered forward at the lit podium. But her jubilation slowly faded; something was wrong. There was no image transmitting from the Amarra, only confirmation that the holo-link was active. She was about to page her friend’s station as the lights began to dim and the session began with the entrance of the Empress.
The hall doors on the main level opened and the Empress Iana glided into the room, followed closely by her mammoth bodyguard, Bryx. He was a J’Karin; a race of monster-sized creatures that were more bone than soft tissue. At nearly ten feet tall, Bryx was the best and brightest of his species, that was the reason for his appointment as her personal guard. Lyxia noted the way the lighting was angled into the auditorium; shining towards her and to cast his massive shadow behind him and not over her.
“Welcome all, to this sess
ion of the Galactic Council.” Her voice sang to the gathering. “Before we begin, I would like to thank all those attending for their efforts in keeping the Empire what it is; a great shining beacon of hope to all others to see.”
“All hail the Empress, she has blessed us with her love,” The Council said in unison as the greeting to her according to protocol.
Bowing to them, she slowly rose with her eyes locked on the lit podium of the Amarra. Without taking her gaze off of it, she raised her hand to open the floor to the business at hand to begin. Lyxia noticed the look of concern in her Empress’ eyes—an ability to read faces was one of her many polished talents that helped her rise quickly through the ranks of the Fleet.
Motions and concerns were heard, but neither Lyxia nor Iana listened as both stared intensely to the void which should have been the figure of Ameia. Time for the two seemed to slow until an argument on research broke out.
“A perfect time to pick the brain of Council Ameia—after all, it has been a long time since she was able to join us.” One of the Councillors piped up, but the station remained empty and eerily quiet. Murmurs and whispers broke out throughout the room before being halted by the Empress raising her hand to quiet them.
“Sadly, I fear it is not our dear Ameia that has joined us this fine day. I feel energy, a power unlike anything I’ve ever felt before looking on with curious eyes.” She said as she stepped towards the empty podium. “Step forward, make yourself known to us.” She asked in a most serious tone to her usual songlike voice.
A moment of silence was broken by gasps and jeers as a tall male figure appeared, his chest pierced by many different wires and connections. He stood proud and tall, despite the obvious pain and discomfort he was in. His presence was an affront to some—in a matriarchal society a man had no right in the council—and others were simply shocked to see something so alien staring them down.
“Welcome, strange fellow.” The Empress cooed gently, knowing full well who the imposter was but not letting on. “And who might you be?”
Lyarran Vessel Amarra, Southern Pacific Ocean Floor
Aen stood back as the holo-link whirred to life, making sure he was out of projection range to observe the scene before he had to get involved. His body ached as they had to add multiple new feeds into his heart to get different systems online. He chuckled softly; he looked like a human battery.
As the images began to load, he saw a grand chamber unfold before his eyes filled with countless different alien faces and bodies. His eyes darted to and fro, before coming to rest directly across from him on a striking female officer who seemingly returned his gaze. She was near his height, probably six and half feet tall, with long bluish hair and piercing eyes of similar color, which were all iris and no white in them. She was orange-skinned and had the same rear pointing ears as Ameia did. Dressed in some kind of formal military attire, she was a stunning vision, one that Aen was unprepared to see. Something inside him stirred at the sight of her, something that had been long gone since his death.
Then the lights dimmed, and everyone looked below to the stage as the most beautiful creature he had ever seen almost floated into the council; it was the woman in the statue and the woman from his dream! Standing nearly seven feet, the bronze-skinned woman walked slowly dressed in robes of gold and orange which were nearly transparent as he could make out the lines of her body beneath them. Her hair was orange flame, the only color he could think of to describe it, and her eyes glowed with a deep yellow tint; they were orbs of living fire. As beautiful as she was, Aen knew that she was like him—an apex predator amongst the wolves here. His eyes were transfixed by her beauty as he followed her to the center of the room before he noticed the nightmarish creature behind her. It was truly frightening: a ten-foot-tall, troll-like creature with two large tusks jutting from its lower jaw. With its grey skin and armored body, it reminded Aen of a rhinoceros without the horn, walking upright!
Returning to the Empress, she began to speak with an angelic voice. He began to lose himself in her eyes when he noticed that she too was staring right back at him! He felt a pressure in his skull that reminded him of when his mother spoke to him; she was trying to see who he was without alarming the others! Quickly, Aen concentrated and shut her out. Then it happened.
Someone had finally spoken up and asked for Ameia, whose rightful seat in the Council he was in, and the questions began to rise. Then the Empress called him forward and without even thinking about it, he obeyed and stepped into the projection pad. He was now at the mercy of the Lyarran Grand Council, and for the first time since his death Aen was truly scared.
Imperial Grand Council, Lyarran Throne world Havyiin
“I am as you summoned me, my liege—broken in soul but whole and strong in body. The Harbinger of Terra Sol has awakened, I am Aen and I am at your service.” He lowered his taxed body to kneel before her in the ultimate sign of respect. It wasn’t something Aen had planned, but like the words of introduction it seemed to just pop into his head.
The room was full of murmurs and whispered. Languages he didn’t understand or ever hope to learn were being spoken, as the sounds came from all around him in a dizzying dance. His head swooned, not only from the barrage on his senses, but from the heavy drain the ship pulled from him. It took him a second to regain his senses, and in that time the Council had drawn silent once more.
“What proof do you offer that you are the fabled Harbinger?” a voice yelled from above him.
Aen raised his eyes and once again they fell upon the blue-haired woman. She was captivating, something in the way she looked at him made him smile inside once more. Struggling to stand, he was about to answer when the Empress did it for him.
“My word that he is should be proof enough, but also the fact that he is here amongst us now. It was always written he would appear in a place he should never be; what place else then a Council meeting would be better?”
Her smile was warming and reassuring, but a look in her eyes told of more alarm than her actions did. He had crossed a line, Aen knew that, but he had to be here now. There was no other way to do it. That’s when he heard her voice in his head.
“Tell them nothing about your dreams!” she whispered to him in his mind. “Most in here seek to possess you as a weapon or a trophy to wave about as a conquest. You are more than that and if you wish to fulfill your full destiny you will tell them little more than you already have!”
Aen was confused, but he never truly understood politics on any level and actively sought to avoid it in day-to-day life. In a meeting such as this back on Earth, he would be completely out of his element. Here, well he was at the mercy of the only one who seemed to care about him at the moment so he decided to play along.
“My mother had me reach you as soon as possible, and seeing as we have recently rediscovered her ship I thought now was as good of a time as any.” He said after long last.
“And what of Ameia?” the creature with the piercing blue eyes piped in immediately.
“It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that she, and the rest of the expedition force, have passed on to the Fields of Emmaran.” He remembered the reference of the rites of the dead from his teachings. “Ameia died so that I could stand before you now, a sacrifice I will not soon forget. May the Gods hold her close as she ascends among them!”
“You are well-versed in our customs, child.” Iana spoke again as she began to pace the floor below, never taking her eyes off him. “I assume that annoying AI managed to survive and teach you well in her absence?”
Caretaker mumbled something barely audible in response, but his attention was turned by another alarm on the main panel. Immediately, it stopped mumbling and accessed the systems causing the alarm. After a few quiet seconds of data transmission, it spun around to look at Aen. If it could manifest a look of concern, Aen imagined this would be it.
“They are com
ing!” it exclaimed. “The Husk have found Terra Sol!”
—
The AI’s voice had carried over the holographic transmission and its words reverberated through the room. It had outwardly pronounced an ancient evil’s name like it was just another word, not the hushed horror that was associated with this sort of being. Just the mere mention of the Husk brought panic to an entire city; a Husk marauder en route to a planet meant certain doom.
More machine than biological, they had made themselves into cybernetic zombies with a hive mentality. It was assumed the original race, before the mechanical augmentations, predated even the Lyarran Empire as one of the first races in the galaxy. The Husk were old indeed—known as scavengers, slavers and conquerors of worlds, they would not stop until the task at hand was complete. The Empire had fought them for an eternity to a mere stalemate, so what would that mean for a race such as the humans?
Iana was very concerned, she had thought there would be more time. Terra Sol was not ready to face this evil yet and Aen was not ready to face his destiny yet. She had seen how the loss of his family had devastated him, but what would the wholesale slaughter and destruction of his home world do to his already tattered soul?
She raised her hand to quieten the room and within a few seconds it did, to Aen’s amazement. The whole time, her eyes never left this—her gaze remained locked. To her, it was his eyes that captivated her. Nothing could have prepared her for the power behind those eyes and even through the holo-link she could sense the being he would soon become. Indeed he was the Harbinger, and whether or not he was willing to embrace destiny awaited him. The simple fact that he was powering an entire starship with his body was startling, to say the least. This Aen was a powerhouse of energy and might, but coupled with his shattered soul she worried about what he may truly become.
Rise of Aen Page 17
