“Why...why are you here?” Sara barely stammered as the words nearly stuck in her throat.
“I am here for you, Sara Foster of Terra Sol.” The words rang out hard and hit Sara nearly stealing her breath away. The Goddess of the Lyarran Empire had not only come for her, she knew her name! “I have come to deliver a message to you and your mother, one that found its way to me quite by accident.”
Lyarran Vessel Lyarra’s Fire -
One Day After Victory
Lyxia woke up in unfamiliar territory and stifled the natural panic that came with such an event. While the room itself was unfamiliar, the setting was quite recognizable. She lay on a cot in the medical wing of the Lyarra’s Fire, and as she looked around she recognized many of the Ops Con staff from the Dark Light. All of them—including her—were suffering from a multitude of injuries from the fight with the now defunct Husk Harvester and had obviously been transported here for recovery as the ‘Light’s medi-bay would be overwhelmed with their own charges.
“Awake at last, I see?” the booming bass voice rumbled her very core.
Looking up, she saw she was in the shadow of the mighty Bryx, the Empress’s sworn protector and Commander of the J’Karin, who was standing vigil over her cot. His expression was impossible to read; J’Karins usually showed little or no facial expressions due to the lack of musculature in the face other than the jaw region—but she could hear a hint of concern in his voice. Lyxia knew he wouldn’t be here for any other reason but because the Empress herself ordered it; that alone reassured her in a way that words could not. The fiercest warrior in the Empire was watching over her—that was a level of comfort that few would ever experience!
“How did I get here?” she asked, her mind still cloudy from the fight.
“The Goddess sent a team into the Dark Light to assist with casualties, and when they arrived at Ops Con they saw most of you unconscious. Found a tiny atmosphere leak in the hull; you wouldn’t have lasted much longer.” His voice was the lowest of lows, a booming fog horn of a sound that echoed even when he whispered as he did now. But at over ten feet in height and tipping the scale over a thousand pounds, there was little Bryx could do to not be noticed!
“A hull breach?” Lyxia sat up suddenly. “We have to evacuate…”
“The breach has been sealed; there is no further danger to your citizens and crew.” The giant reassured her as his enormous hand pushed her body back to a lying down position ever so gently. “Other than minor loss of consciousness, your people are fine as the effects were localized to Ops Con. We have a temporary crew tending the herd while you and yours recover so you must rest—that’s an order!”
Bryx was one of the few males in the Imperial structure that could issue an order to a Council; the fact was that other than the Empress, he damn near out-ranked everyone else, though he held no official rank himself. From his grey, leathery mouth ran the words of the Goddess herself and very few chose to disobey him! As to not buck the going trend, and in a small need of self-preservation at the moment, she decided to not to disobey him.
“Bryx, I need you to tell me the truth: what happened to Aen? I saw the explosion and then the rest is foggy. Did you recover any life pods from the Amarra?”
“We recovered the ship’s AI, which was jettisoned before it made its jump. It held a message that the Empress herself chose to deliver to Terra Sol. As for the Harbinger, there were no traces of him. All that remains is...shrapnel.”
Her heart sank with the news that this wondrous creature had been lost. She longed to be in his arms and spend the rest of her days getting to know him and experience all he had to offer. It was the deepest feeling of regret that surrounded her world right now; her heart wanted now what was no longer possible. Aen was gone and there was no way her love could be fulfilled. Before she knew what was happening, Lyxia began to cry. Her sobs attracted the attention of others in the medical wing, but gazes were quickly averted when Bryx’s scowl returned their curious stares. This is why he was there; the Empress knew Lyxia would break with the news of Aen’s death and that she needed someone there to comfort her. Why she chose him—J’Karins were anything but emotional—was a mystery, but he rarely questioned the Goddess in times like this so he simply put his massive paw on her shoulder to comfort her silently and let her emotions wash the pain away.
Himalayan Mountains, Mount Kailash, Tibet,
Temple of Lyarra’s Light - One Day After Victory
“I never did like that statue much,” Iana spoke softly as she entered the temple with Sara and Krista. “A tribute that size makes one wonder about an egotistical need for attention, don’t you think?” Her English was surprisingly good despite what seemed like an Eastern/Asian accent.
“I really don’t think it is egotistical, your highness,” Sara stammered, not wanting to offend the Empress with foolishness.
“Iana. My name is Iana—now is not the time for formalities and worship,” she said with a smile to the two women. Around them, the monks traded worried looks—to refer to the Empress by name was unthinkable. Knowing their discomfort in all this, Iana looked over to them as they all kept their heads bowed as to not look her in the eyes directly.
“Leave us,” she said kindly but firmly; waiting until the last one had left the temple before continuing with her words. “I arrived too late to help in the fight, but in time to witness the greatest of all sacrifices and for that I must offer you and all your people my condolences. Aen is gone, but with him, he took the nightmare of the Husk into the afterlife. It was not how I had foreseen the end to this conflict, but it was equally as dramatic.”
“Why offer condolences to us?” asked Krista quietly. “And why seek us out like this; what makes us so special?”
“I received a message earlier, one that was labeled specifically for ‘Her’ and in our world that usually means for me. Once I started the message, I quickly realized that ‘Her’ did not mean me in this instance; it meant you. That is why I am here and that is why you are so special.” Iana held up a small metallic disc with a glass-like bulge on one side of it. “This is a holographic message player, and if I may, I will play it for you.”
Krista and Sara were not sure what to say, but they seated themselves on the weathered wooden floor as Iana placed the device glass side up on the floor a few feet in front of them and pushed a hidden button on the rim. Immediately, it began to glow wildly blue as she moved off to the side so they could see it clearly. Iana stopped about five feet away and watched quietly as the device began to play its message finally for its intended audience.
With a gasp, both women saw the form of Aen appear as he looked alive and well; albeit slightly transparent. He looked tired and beaten down and was wearing tattered remnants of armour. His gaze was downward, but only for a second, as he looked up with ghostly eyes, into theirs.
“My dearest Krista, I hope this message finds you and Sara well and safe in the Temple of Lyarra’s Light, where I sent you during all this chaos. Although you have laid eyes on me only once, I have watched you from a distance for some time as it is hard to let someone you love go. As I am sure you suspect—and I know Sara has figured out already—what you see before you is what remains of your husband, Aaron Foster.”
Tears rushed from Krista’s eyes at the mention of Aaron’s name; she had immediately wondered if this being was him when she first saw him, but had dismissed the thought to her broken heart reaching for the impossible.
“I have been called many things since being turned into this...new being: Abomination, Frankenstein—and most recently Harbinger. While I am no longer the man you fell in love with, I have begun to realize that I am none of those things either. I am simply Aen, and nothing more. There is nothing I can do to return to what I was and there is no way that society would accept me as your husband as I am now, even in the light of recent events. The fact that I am as unique as I am now makes my very
being a threat to yours and Sara’s safety. In the past few years, I have experienced so much sadness and sorrow being apart from you both. Many days have gone by with me standing on our lawn looking up at our room and wanting to rush up there to hold you both once more. Reality soon pushes through fantasy, and I leave before being discovered.”
“I used to wish for my life to mean something more in the grand scheme of things; for me to have a greater purpose in life. But fate came knocking in the strangest of ways, and it granted my confused wish. Now as I face this greater purpose, I wish for none of this to ever happen. If I knew that getting to be more meant losing the two of you, I never would have wished it in the first place.”
“As I prepare for what you now know to be my death, I find myself smiling as I remember all the warm and loving times we spent together. Even now I can feel your skin on mine as I stand here alone. I miss you Krista, I will always miss you, but what I am doing will ensure that you both can live long and safe in a glorious new time for humanity. I thought there would be another way than this, but the others have too many unknown factors and as long as the Harvester remains humanity will never be safe.”
He paused as both women held hands and cried. It was almost as if he was giving them time to adjust to the bombshell he had just dropped on them before continuing. Iana stood silently and let them grieve; the message wasn’t over yet and there was more for them to come to terms with.
“And now you face a world broken and fractured more than our family was, only now you are among the few who have had time to take it all in before the calamity fell upon the planet. They will need leadership in this time of helplessness, and they will need someone strong and stubborn enough to get the job done. Iana has looked within me for this person, and there she has found you, Sara. Trust in Iana and let her teach you to become the first appointed Council of Earth for the Empire.”
“Dad...I can’t...”
“Yes you can.” The message replied before she could finish, as if he had assumed his daughter would argue. “Imagine moulding a future where no family goes through what ours has; one with no secret tortures for greater good. Imagine the ability to help humanity rise to the stars, and the chance to fly amongst them. At first I disagreed with her on this, but it was because I wanted to shelter you from anything remotely dangerous not because you weren’t the right person. Your destiny is one of amazing potential; I am truly sorry I will not be there to see you realize it.”
“I am sorry I cannot be there for both of you, but it is not a luxury that can be afforded. My only wish is that you will both live full and joyous lives and not dwell on what has hurt our family so deeply. Let it go, live your lives, smile, laugh and most of all love. Remember that I will always love you, in this life or the next.”
As quickly as it had started, the message ended and the image of Aen faded like a ghost in the night. The two women clutched each other tightly and cried as years of pent-up emotion had been released with the answer of the one question they had asked the whole time. Aaron had died, but part of him remained in Aen and he had just given them a chance to say goodbye. It was more than a minor release for Krista who had locked away much of her heart following the day of the explosion. The sudden loss of Aaron had nearly crippled her emotionally and made her unable to trust and love again. But now, she had heard his voice tell her that she was free from the prison she had built for her soul, and after a bit more time of mourning she would learn to love again.
“I will leave this with you, it is yours for the keeping.” Iana interrupted them softly. “I have other affairs to tend to, but when the two of you are ready I have left an emissary outside to bring you to me. We have much to do, the three of us, but it all can wait until you are ready. Until then, it is I who shall bow to you, for without you Aen would not have been the being he was and none of what is to come would be possible.”
Flowing smooth as water, the Empress knelt before the two grieving women and bowed her head in gratitude. Both Krista and Sara were in shock; here was the figurehead of the great Empire of the galaxy and she was bowing to them. Without spoken words, the Empress rose and looked Sara straight in the eyes. Warmth and loving feelings filled her heart causing her to smile. With a nod, Iana left the temple and the two were alone once more. Sara broke her mother’s embrace and went to retrieve the device left behind. Her father was gone, but in this she still was able to hold a piece of him forever.
Groom Lake Military Installation –
Code Name Area 51, Nevada - One Day After Victory
The day was only a few hours old and General Patterson was already exhausted. The smoke had yet to clear from the battles with the Husk, but he seemed to be busier in the aftermath of the war than he was during it. He had spent the majority of the night concentrating on organization of rescue efforts. Coastal cities were left in ruins, either completely decimated or still burning from the orbital assault—but there was always a chance for survivors. In the face of any disaster, there were always survivors hidden in the rubble in quiet recesses. Tragedy usually leads to stories of the rise of the unbreakable spirit some people hold tight; such stories would help with the moral that remained low despite such a historic victory.
Victory—it was a word with a new meaning now. No longer did it mean a triumph over trivial tasks or squabbles, but now the ability to rise above the precipice of death itself. Looking into the face of slavery, the human race had fought back with everything it had. For a brief time they held their own against a more formidable foe, but when the Husk began to assert their dominance help arrived from another race amongst the stars.
Now, there was work to do; the Earth needed to rebuild what had been destroyed in the attack. Infrastructure, cities, armies, lives, moral, and most importantly trust had to be restored and renewed. Trust would be the key in the coming days as the Lyarrans remained to help clean up the devastation and chase down the remnants of the Husk forces stranded on the planet. To some eyes, they were nothing more than another alien that was a threat to their lives. This would be the trickiest of all things to overcome, for a future for the Earth amongst the stars meant accepting the assistance of the Empire and all the perks that came along with it.
Patterson had met with emissaries from the Empress’s ship earlier today; they had wasted no time once the Husk ship exploded to set up a line of communications with the brain-trust of military officials which Patterson had led in the defense of the planet. Introductions were brief but intentions were made very clear—humanity would be offered a place in the Empire, but the treaty would not be signed by these men of the military. Instead, a temporary treaty was set up, one that stated that the military would step aside when a proper governing body was assembled. The Empire would not interfere with that process, but would appoint a human Council that would represent the Earth in the Imperial Grand Council.
As well, the treaty would enable the Empire to send aid to Earth immediately in the form of construction crews and technical advisors. Not only would these crews help rebuild the planet, they would teach the humans how to advance their technology to the next level and beyond. Advances in medical and structural technologies would be shared openly—however, the only military technology shared would be the starships. Weapons would not be shared or built for humanity, save for an orbital defense network of PA cannons that would be manned by Imperial troops until humanity could prove itself worthy of holding such a power. The ships themselves would only be shared schematically and humans would be responsible for the construction of them.
Patterson had sat through the presentation in awe of what was being shared with them, but a tinge of resent surfaced when the restrictions of weapons technology came forward. He felt looked down upon for a moment, then quickly realized that the gifts being given were enormous and to not push his luck. Without the Lyarran intervention, the Earth would have certainly fallen! All fell silent around him as the rest of the Generals looked to
him for the final decision. It felt awkward that such a momentous thing should rest upon his meager shoulders. Without hesitation, Patterson agreed to the treaty as he was more than eager to take the weight of the world of his back. Now the clock was ticking to form a unified government and the time couldn’t pass fast enough!
It would be a few months until the Lyarran construction crews arrived; it was a coincidence that they were closer than most of the fleet vessels as they were finishing a project at the far reaches of the Empire, but it still would be a hard time until they got here. Patterson began to think about all that had been lost and the tremendous task it would be to start anew. Right now, the world was in shock and the true gravity of what had happened and what was going to happen in the future had not sunk in for most. But for himself, being a realist had its drawbacks as he could see the trials and tribulations of humanity as the smoke cleared. Earth was at a crossroads and which path they took would truly define the future of the human race.
Deciding to rest his weary mind form all these “what ifs,” Patterson picked up a few reports, filling in and sorted through them. A report from a search and rescue team in Washington D.C. showed the true devastation left behind. Only half the White House stood now—once the shining symbol of the United States—and what remained was charred and still smoldered. For every building that still stood in the city, a hundred more lay in ruin. Fires raged through city blocks uncontrollably as firefighters fought heroically, but in vain to slow them. Refugees huddled in now empty warehouses on the piers as shelters were few and far between as well as Dulles International Airport’s hangers and the remains of the main terminal.
Another report showed the influx of people travelling towards the Canadian midwestern provinces as they abandoned the coastal regions. Once small populated communities now began to bloat as more people arrived hourly. In some places, the highways were lined up with incoming traffic as far as the eye could see. Flipping through a few more reports, this scene was repeated ad nauseum.
Rise of Aen Page 40
