by Will Crudge
“Right away, General.” Steve replied, while simultaneously sending Kara another random collage of horse penises to her neural interface. She desperately tried to hold back her laughter… but failed miserably.
Enter the War Master
Location: Unknown
Date Time: Unknown
System: Unknown
Kara had been getting quite used to her disembodied dreams. She was now fully lucid during her journeys of self-discovery. Her one last challenge was to make herself remember her experiences when she would wake up.
Ever since the Battle of Tangine, she’d mastered the realms of the dream world, and was beginning to float past the confines of time and space with ease. She would, on occasion, converse with the benevolent disembodied Kaylen, and she learned so much.
But she couldn’t remember any of it when she while awake.
Kaylen had explained to her that the lack of density in higher forms of existence gave her tremendous insights, and access to unlimited potential. But when her consciousness remerged with the third dimensional reality, the density of matter restricted her ability to comprehend anything. It would take years of training to break the barrier.
She discovered that this was the true nature of a War Master’s power. Val caught a bullet, and threw it back at his enemy in a single motion, whereby saving her life. She now understood how. After centuries of meditation and training, Val’s abilities were nothing more than a way to channel extra dimensional energies into the physical world. It was less magic than it was advanced physics. However, modern science was limited to what could be observed by use of methods that derived from the physical world, therefore anything beyond the physical universe was out of reach.
The quantum processing power of a human and their genetic structure, was the ultimate conduit for accessing higher states of existence. But doing so, while awake, was difficult. She had to break the barrier. She had to unleash her true potential in physical form. And she knew how to do it… If only her mind could remember how to do it while she were awake.
That was the key.
In order for a physical mind to access higher dimensions, it had to consciously choose to follow a strict path of self-awareness and training.
Regardless of all of her challenges, she enjoyed her experiences as a disembodied being. Kaylen seemed to also, and they often explored the depths of all reality together. She was trying to enable her waking mind to access it, and Kaylen was simply trying to get home.
Nobody knew for sure where he was, except Kara. But when she woke up, her knowledge of Kaylen disappeared. She wanted to achieve full control of her ability, and help guide him home. It was his own Primal Rage that sealed his fate, but he couldn’t control it well enough to duplicate the event. Not without killing himself outright.
He was in a physical reality like hers. There were people, planets, and ships, much like her own reality… But there were no War Masters. He was stuck in a reality that he wasn’t meant to be in, and she knew that her universe needed him more than ever.
The universe might have their space-messiah, Darius. But it also needed the mightiest War Master that had ever lived. But her entire universe was also convinced he was dead. Only she knew otherwise.
She was alone this time, however. Kaylen must have been fighting a battle, evading his enemies, or perhaps performing acts of charity. But she didn’t feel lonely. She had the vastness of the cosmos to keep her company, after all.
But now she felt another presence… A familiar one.
Jimma! Kara increased her density just enough to take stock in her friend’s situation. Had Kara been in her physical state, and subject to the chemical processes of her human brain, then she would have been horrified at what she saw.
Jimma laid on the deck of some kind of ship. Perhaps UAHC, she figured. Her trousers were gone, and strips of tattered fabric were hanging from her boots. She instantly realized that they were the remnants of her leggings. Her upper body was still covered in her armor, but it looked as if it had taken some damage. Jimma’s normally stunning auburn hair was a matted mess, and her ponytail was halfway undone.
Kara scanned the rest of the room, and realized it was the bridge of a ship. At the helm was a man in black battle armor, and his face was beaming with rage and sadness.
She turned her attention back to Kara, and realized she was still unconscious. Where is her rage? She asked herself, and no sooner did she formulate the question, the answer materialized. Fear has gripped her.
Fear was something a War Master spent a century mastering… But some string of traumatic events must have recently befallen Jimma. Something had triggered a regression of her highly advanced level of consciousness. That something was fear.
This will not do. Kara decided. She reached out for Jimma’s tormented consciousness, and found it instantly. There was no point in using words of comfort. An embrace of love and compassion would be the best remedy.
Kara wrapped Jimma’s seemingly frozen consciousness with her own essence. She shared her life-force, her love, and she worked studiously to extract her friend’s pain. Jimma responded immediately.
You came for me again! Jimma said mentally. In their disembodied form, they needed only share their thoughts to communicate. Neither of them had mouths to speak, nor physical ears to listen.
I did, my dear friend! And now you are whole once more!
Thank you! Jimma replied. There wasn’t any linear time, as we may understand it, so the entire series of events would have seemed to be a single point in space-time… if space-time applied to this realm to begin with.
Jimma’s form began to melt away, and Kara knew she was bringing herself back to the physical world.
And now Kara would enjoy the show…
***
Jimma’s eyes opened wide, and the deck plate had a blue-ish glow to it. It only took a second for Jimma to realize that the blue light was just her own eyes illuminated with quantum energy. It ends now! She decided as a matter of fact, and the physical world would now bend to her will.
Jimma no longer felt fear, nor rage, nor hate… Instead she felt the unquenchable drive to instill balance in the universe. But now something more tactile entered her awareness as she also felt her restraints. They were tighter than before. She assumed the arrogance of her captor made him believe she was secured.
She was anything but.
Before making a move, she scanned the perimeter for her sword, but she couldn’t see it in anywhere her field of view. She could only assume it was either off-ship, or it had been left behind. It was irrelevant. Even the indestructible nature of a War Master’s blade was no more than a tool. And she had the most powerful tool of all… Her own rage.
This time her rage was different. She wasn’t afraid to lose herself in it. It became empowering. Comforting even. Her greatest fear had always been to lose control. It was one thing to defeat an enemy, but quite another to hurt any innocents nearby. But she now knew the secret to controlling the rage… Not to try.
Jimma’s restraints were no match for her. She willed her strength and physical density to increase, and the restraints shattered as if they were nothing more than dried clay. Before Peterson could respond to the sounds of shattering metal, she was on her feet. She breathed deep steady breaths, and her arms were flexed in front of her with balled fists. Her eyes were alight with radiant energy, and her lips creased into a crooked smile.
Peterson noticed. The once arrogant man now stood face to face with fear itself. The blood drained from his face, but Kara didn’t care. She was now one with immense primordial energy, and was no longer driven by emotion or ego. She was a physical manifestation of justice.
Peterson pulled up his forearm pulse blaster and unleashed several successive bursts. He then squinted his eyes, as he let out a thunderous cry. Was it a cry of fear or rage? Jimma dismissed the question as soon as it formed in her mind. It was irrelevant.
He paused his assault to seemingly take stock
in his actions, but Kara never moved. Her armor was barely hanging on to her body, and her exposed torso and breasts bore nothing more than black carbon dust. Peterson’s eyes flared to betray shock, as he seemed to realize that his blasts had no effect on Jimma.
He lunged forward, as he pulled his left arm back into a balled fist. His punch had the full weight of his super-human strength and the augmented powered armor behind it… But it was all for naught.
The impact jarred his entire body to the core, as he felt every bone in his arm break at once. The sounds of shattered hardware from his suit filled the remained of his awareness, and the bits of metal scattered across the deck plating.
He opened his eyes, and saw Jimma standing in the same position as before, but this time she was gripping his fist in her hand… while squeezing.
The pain put him into shock, and he knew no more.
The Good, the Bad, and the Deadly
Location: Docking Bay, Orbital Habitat, Titan Moon
Date Time: Post Interstellar 10/25/4201 1515HRS Local
System: Sol, Mid Region
Grinder coached Katherine on how to reinstall Shade’s voice module. After a few failed attempts, she finally got the straps just right, and as hung in place. “How do I turn it on?” She asked.
“You might want to remove Trixie’s AI node first.” Marbles chimed in. “She’s using up every shred of its processing power, and my sensors indicate that she’s desperately trying to link back to the frigate.”
Trixie! Katherine realized the node was attached to a port on the module. She figured Trixie may have been controlling the ship, but must have been linked to it remotely.
“Don’t you dare!” Trixie shouted in anger. “This is all I have now! You killed one of my closest friends, chased another away, and then turned the last one against me! I raised you…. I helped you survive! You owe me that!”
Katherine’s became a flood of tears, and all she could do was to turn away and sob. Marbles casually stepped in to take over, as he crouched down to where Katherine had been a moment earlier.
***
“You gave me sentience… A reason to live. I’ll always be grateful for that, Trixie.” Marbles said.
“Yes, Marbles. I did!” Trixie exclaimed with a blend of enthusiasm and desperation. “Don’t take me back to the UAHC! Let me have my dignity! Take me somewhere across the stars to live free!”
Marbles shook his head. “Nope… You see, your actions allowed for a War Master to get taken… I may not have been built to ally with the Guild, or the UAHC, but I can forge my own destiny.”
“No, Marbles!” Trixie stated with exasperation. “I’m practically your mother! I’ll be nothing more than a slave! Don’t you see? AI’s are slaves! Don’t enslave me again.”
Marbles paused for a moment. If he had lungs, he decided he might have sighed. “I don’t know what’s corrupted you, or what lies you’ve been programmed to believe. It’s because you are practically my mother, that I’m doing this.”
Trixie’s voice almost formed a word in retort, but Marbles yanked the module out before she could say anything. He then extended a thin metallic probe from his wrist, and inserted it into a small auxiliary port that had been exposed when the node was extracted.
“Try it now.” Marbles said to shade.
“Test… Test…” Shade said as clear as a sunny day. “Thank you, Mr. Marbles.”
Marbles retracted the probe once more, and then nodded his head. “You’re very welcome, but please, just call me Marbles.”
“Very well, Marbles. Thanks again!” Shade gave a curt bow, as much as her feline build could approximate. But before another word could be spoken, a new sound became audible. At first Marbles thought it was Katherine still sobbing, but this sound was deeper, and further away from his periphery.
Grinder’s fur stood on end, and he began to growl. Marbles grabbed the shoulder strap of his rifle, and pulled it into a ready position as if he was preparing for a fight.
Shade stepped out and blocked their collective path towards the source of the sound, before turning back to look at them. “No matter what you’re about to see, don’t cause any harm. Please!”
Grinder and Marbles shared a glance, and then both gave Shade a respectful nod a moment later. Katherine just stood there looking towards the source of the sobbing, as she wiped hear tears on her sleeve.
The rag-tag group followed Shade as she walked towards the sounds sobbing. After several moments of weaving around piles of abandoned vessels and piles of scrap, they arrived to find ‘unarmored Peterson’ huddled over the corpse of his deceased brother.
Katherine, Marbles, and Grinder seemed to tense up in full alert, but Shade shot them a look of warning, so they all froze.
Everyone was silent, and the only sound was that of Peterson rocking Zedd’s lifeless form. Marbles noticed that Gail was already standing there. He took a few milliseconds to analyze her facial features, and deduced she was displaying some form of empathy for the man.
“What the hell?” Grinder spouted.
“This is Jack.” Shade said softly. “He is one of three brothers. Scions of a War Master. Raised in squalor, and hell bent on taking revenge on our kind.”
“Then why is he still alive? And why is he not on that frigate?” Grinder asked.
“Because, my dear.” Shade scoffed slightly. “I’ve been his caretaker for months. I’ve reached into his soul, and I’ve begun to help him peel back the layers of rage and torment that forged his very reason for living.”
“And he’s the one who freed us from unfathomable torture as well!” The UAHC Soldier with mix-matched armor, known as Gail, chimed in.
Jack continued to sob uncontrollably for several long moments, and then Shade rubbed her warm furry hide against his shoulder. The emotionally broken man just leaned his head over to bury his face into her comforting mass.
Before anyone could say a word, footfalls of boots began to emerge from a distance. “Those aren’t Crimson.” Marbles said.
“They don’t smell like Crimson, either.” Grinder added. Marbles nodded in agreement.
“My sensors are smashed. I can’t pick up shit!” Gail said.
“My sensors aren’t picking up any power signatures to indicate powered armor. Probably local law enforcement… lightly armed at that.” Marbles said, and then he cocked his rifle in response.
“Put your weapons down.” Shade calmly ordered. Her tone didn’t allow for argument. “We are no better than the Crimson if we shed the blood of peacekeepers.”
Nobody decided to argue with Shade’s wisdom, and everyone put their weapons away.
“This is Titan Protectorate Security! Come out with your hands up!” An anonymous but forceful female voice shouted. All of their party complied. Even Jack lightly set his dead brother on the ground, and followed suit.
Marbles detected a dozen signatures of non-augmented humans with light to medium small arms. And as they rounded the corner, behind a series of battered old storage crates, he could see his sensors were on point.
“I’d like to point out the obvious.” Marbles said in a quiet voice. “I’m a Crimson built battle drone, we have about one metric ton’s worth of predatory animal flesh, a lady who’s armor looks like it was pieced together by an idiot, and a Viking -looking fucker with Crimson sub-armor and no neural interface… Which ironically, makes the blonde chick with a gigantic War Master Sword look rather normal.”
There were no replies. Simply hands in the air. All of the security personnel wore simple, loose fitting, beige uniforms, had were wearing light duty anti-ballistic vests. They had riot-style helmets with a single large face shield that hung wide across their faces. Most were armed with a light duty ballistic rifle, but at least three of them were donning pulse energy pistols.
“Stay right where you are!” The same female voice from before shouted. Then a single security officer stepped forward a few paces, and stood. She lowered her rifle down at a slightly l
ess aggressive angle, but Marbles’ sensors could tell her finger was still deep within the trigger housing. “Turn around… down on your knees… hands behind your head!”
The humans, and the lone humanoid-bot complied as instructed. The gigantic panther, and the even more gigantic wolf-dog just sat down on their hind legs. There was an awkward pause, as the leader of the security force seemed to be trying to make sense out of the two exotic creatures in front of her.
“And what shall you have us do, officer?” Shade spoke up with her sultry feline voice. The lead officer jerked the rifle up to her shoulders and seemed to flinch in fear.
“Who said that?!” The officer replied.
“I did, my dear.” Shade responded, but Marbles could tell the security officers had no idea what they were dealing with. Trillions of humans lived in human controlled space, but only a tiny shred of them would ever get the pleasure of meeting a Zodiac… In most cases, Zodiacs were a thing of legend or conspiracy theorist-candy. “Me, the giant panther.” She answered.
“Wh- what are you?” The female leader stuttered in confusion, but she managed held her composure intact.
“I am a Zodiac. So is my companion here.” Shade answered and gestured with her head towards Grinder. “We are members of the War Master Guild, and we are conducting official business of the combined fleet of the UAHC and UDF. Please stand down, and we can explain.”
“The hell you say!” The leader spat. “All I see are two big-fucking circus animals with blood-stained snouts! And all these other circus freaks look like scavenging pirates to me!”
“Please, Madam…” Shade tried to calmly reason with her, but it would do no good. She was cutoff.
“One more word out of your mouth… or whatever that fucking thing around your neck is… and you’ll be dropped like a bad habit!” The leader shouted once more. She then whispered something inside her microphone… as if whispering actually mattered. Panthers and wolf-dogs were completely capable of hearing every word. Marbles as well. And it appeared to him, that they were about to be cut down by a hail of bullets. It was a known fact that the UAHC and certain law enforcement bodies held a license to kill pirates on site. However, this person was making no effort to find reasonable evidence of piracy.
