A group of wraith sidestepped away from Hannah, unveiling her presence to Alisha at last. The two made eye contact, tears of happiness fell from Alisha’s eyes as she ran over to her daughter and embraced her.
“Mommy!” Hannah said.
“Hannah! You’re alive, I thought I lost you,” Alisha looked at her daughter still overjoyed at the moment. “You’ve become such a beautiful woman.”
“Look at everything I’ve done!” Hannah said, gesturing toward the wraith and wormhole. “It’s not perfect, but they’ve helped me achieve this. This is why I was born; they choose me for this moment. I’m going to make the galaxy better mom, no more conflicts, wars . . . rebellions. We’ll be united; they will reward us with knowledge and happiness. Isn’t that a great thing?”
“It is dear, it is.”
“But Radiance, UNE, and the Empire, they don’t want that. They want war, they want control.”
“We’ve seen firsthand what the empire did to Earth.”
“And you know more about the old-world Earth! Greed, corrupt governments, corporations bending the rules to suit their bottom line. That all still exists in the UNE! And I need not speak of Radiance and how they’ve tried to silence the Celestial Order. These things and more I’m going to change. Are you proud of me?”
“I’m happy to see you happy, dear,” Alisha said wiping her face dry. “A world . . . no a galaxy we can all live in without fear. If you can create this, then do it.”
Jainuzei stepped forward and bowed toward Hannah. “May the gods light shine upon you, Hannah.”
Hannah looked back at Jainuzei with an intense frown on her face.
Abyssal Pelican, Oyuri orbit, Barnard’s Star system
Alisha retreated back to Jainuzei’s quarters which were slowly becoming her new home at that point. Happy didn’t begin to describe how she felt, Hannah existed, she wasn’t a little girl anymore however, but she could get used to that. There was nothing wrong with a daughter that was closer to your age. The things we can do and discover once this is over, she thought. A galaxy free from evil, free to explore and discover all while worshiping the gods with Jainuzei.
It was no coincidence that she found herself in this system. The gods planned it to happen. The gods wanted Alisha to ensure Hannah succeeded. And what better way to motivate a woman by reuniting her with her long-lost mother? And to think, everything the order did relied on Hannah, Alisha gave birth to her, Alisha indirectly helped the order attain part of its goals, she was playing a role in helping the galaxy get better, and rid it of evil forces like the Hashmedai that don’t follow the one truth path.
All that needed to be done now was for Hannah to finish her tasks, if the order fell, then Hannah and Jainuzei, they’d all be killed. Anyone that opposed the order was a threat to Hannah and Jainuzei. Alisha was not going to allow any harm to come to her daughter, not after being separated for so long.
Alisha was awoken by the sound of Jainuzei practicing the next day. She got up from the bed and wrapped her naked body in an Aryile made robe and approached him. To her surprise he was naked as he held a Hashmedai plasma polearm and swung it around. He stopped and looked at her and had no shame that she saw him like this. As she recalled it wasn’t uncommon for Aryile get naked during certain parts of the day to relieve stress or swim.
She walked over to him and extended her hand out. “May I?” she asked as she eyed his weapon.
“By all means.” He handed it over to her.
The weight of the polearm caught her off guard, she nearly dropped it. She used both of her hands and strength to hold it back up, then took on a defense stance with it.
“In my free time when I was younger I used to train with the naginata,” Alisha said as she began to display her skill with the weapon. “It’s an old human weapon from Japan, and it’s design is similar to this.”
“Impressive.”
She lunged and attacked imaginary targets with the weapon to the best of her ability given the weight of it. “It’s been awhile, but I still remember it.”
Alisha handed the weapon back to Jainuzei and began to teach him what she knew about wielding the naginata. She was blown away how quickly he picked up on it and how amazing his dripping wet naked body looked. She massaged his firm broad shoulders when he took a break, it gave her a chance to feel what his skin and scales felt like.
Warm. Tough. Strong.
The perfect warrior, one that would protect Hannah and the Celestial Order to the end if need be.
She leaned in and kissed the back of his neck, she felt his body react to her. He liked it. She kissed him again; it got him to face her and stare directly into her eyes before their bodies crashed into the couch. Their lips locked passionately as his hands peeled the robe off her body. As her hands went to work stroking and holding onto his built chest, his hands gently spread her legs apart. She waited in anticipation for his hard member to thrust and enter, and when it did she moaned with satisfaction. Aryile men couldn’t climax with a person of another species as she recalled, and from what she experienced with him, he didn’t care. He used his strong body for her pleasure, her repeated climaxes throughout their session was his reward.
Abyssal Liberator, edge of Barnard’s Star system
Karklosea nodded to her fellow rangers. They returned the gesture.
Their transport was docked within the hanger bay of the Abyssal Liberator and their cover story was accepted. That story being the Liberator received the wrong supplies from the depot on Oyuri and they were there to correct the problem. They opened the doors and the light from the interior of the bay shined in. Three armed rangers from the crew of the Liberator approached them and requested to see shipping documents and other forms she had little to no interest about.
“You there, stop!” one of the rangers said aiming his rifle toward Karklosea.
He recognized her and she could see his eyes through the visor on his helmet. They burned with fury. He viewed Karklosea as a threat. He was loyal to the heretics; the Celestial Order had indeed had a foothold on the ship. Karklosea’s entourage was quick to respond and lifted their rifles up as Karklosea activated her psionic barrier. A fight was all but enviable at this point.
And she was right.
Bullets were exchanged, shields were shattered, and psionic plasma balls were conjured and shot around. Karklosea’s team was victorious, but they had only passed the first phase. The rest of the crew was probably alerted by now and those in the corridors beyond the door probably heard the fighting.
Karklosea sent a telepathic message to one of her psionic militia personnel on Oyuri. It was one word. ‘Help.’ They were going to need it if the ship's crew had been indoctrinated. The hallways beyond played out in a similar manner as small three-person teams of rangers traveled down to follow up on the disappearance of their comrades. Karklosea’s original plan was to conserve her psionic power and avoid jump porting, that plan was no longer viable however. They needed to stay mobile and they needed to hold out long enough for their backup to arrive. The bridge would have been the more obvious place to teleport to, it also would have had three psionics waiting for them.
Random rooms and corridors, they will have to do for now, she thought as she ported her team about. The rangers sent to deal with them wasted time searching up and down the ship for them. From time to time, Karklosea’s team would appear behind an unlucky group. Blue light typically was the last thing they saw as their bodies were flung down the hallways while bullets shredded them and brought their indoctrinated existence to an end.
As amusing as their plan was, Karklosea’s mind was growing weaker as the hours went by, and they were still faced with the problem of the Liberator’s weapons. They needed to be taken offline and soon as the convoy of transports loyal to Karklosea were on their final approach. The three shipboard psionics with their minds linked together would overpower Karklosea if she tried to merge her mind with the ship’s computers so taking control of it was not an o
ption. A massive shipwide power outage was however.
Karklosea rematerialized inside the Liberator’s engine room with her team, they hovered above the startled staff in the zero-g room. She hoped it was the last teleportation she’d have to perform as the next one would hinder her combat and defense abilities. The massive cylindrical reactor shimmered and emitted azure light until she started to increase the temperatures around its cooling systems. She had to remain still and focus, her eyes shut and her thoughts focused purely on anything that could disturb the cooling of the reactors. She heard magnetic rifles fire back and forth, order loyal rangers appeared and her rangers took to her defense. The reactors began to overheat quickly, the computers did their job and shut down the reactor, power within the ship was cut. Just in time as her ESP revealed that the transports had just entered weapons range.
She opened her eyes to the darkness that consumed the engine room along with the rest of the ship and retired to a far corner to give her mind a chance to rest and regain her strength, the final push was near. The rest of her transports boarded during her rest, some latched onto the airlocks and forced their way though, while others entered via the hanger bay as more rangers and Abyssal Explorer personnel pushed their way into the Liberator. Lights flicked back on as the reactor began to cool down and operate normally.
“Report?” she asked as her team detained the last engineer loyal to the order.
“The bridge is what remains but they’ve barricaded themselves in.”
“Have all combat teams standby next to all elevators,” she said. “When the time comes I want everyone storm in and take control, don’t stop until we’ve won.”
“Yes ma’am,” the ranger said as he passed on her orders to everyone else.
Karklosea ordered four rangers to accompany her as she began to teleport them aboard the bridge. She was glad she took the quick rest as she saw the team of three psionics on the bridge remain at their posts. None of them had left during their incursion so none of them had used much of their powers outside of normal shipboard operation. It will be a decisive battle, Karklosea thought. One that she’d have to figure out how to survive later, as she needed to disable the lockdown on the elevators—
Wait, she thought as she glared at the lead shipboard psionic. Javnis female, one she worked with before. Dargonea.
Karklosea’s rangers began their attack as she flicked rapidly charged plasma balls toward the jump porting psionic trio. With their concentration broken the lockdown was lifted. One of Karklosea’s rangers confirmed it as he ran toward the elevator and reported it was moving, her backup from the rest of the ship was en route. Survival and victory were next up on the do to list.
Gravity went offline seconds later as the psionic team was focused on combat. Dargonea was the strongest of the group as her attacks were quickly shot toward Karklosea. Computers erupted with sparks and burning parts as the two fought with their minds.
“I heard about Stolanei,” Dargonea telepathically said to her. “Looks like you’re doing as good of a job taking this ship as you were saving him.”
A jump port placed Karklosea in front of the forward windshield, she saw rest of her team enter the bridge. The entire bridge crew was dead, killed in the cross fire as their floating bodies bumped into the walls and ceilings. The two remaining psionics unleashed their vengeful fury against the rangers, they were now the only threat. Karklosea wondered if her team was up to the task.
“All these years and you sided with the heretics!” Karklosea’s telepathic mind said back.
“They offered me something you refused to offer me! A chance to prove myself, you knew I was a better choice as your apprentice.”
Dargonea was indeed skilled as she lobbed more plasma toward her and random shots toward aimed at the rangers. Dargonea needed to be removed from the battlefield, it was the only way to give her team a fighting chance against the two psionics, none of which were focused on Karklosea. Dargonea’s thoughts were clear, she hated Karklosea and she wanted the encounter to be a one on one bout.
A blue streak of light carried Karklosea’s graceful body out into space as her barrier was used to keep her alive from the vacuum that surrounded her. If vengeance was on Dargonea’s mind she would leave the bridge to come after her. And she did, the two feuding psionics continued their exchange before the star filled void of the Milky Way. Plasma balls, jump porting, this was a battle to not vaporize your opponent, but to shatter their shields and let space do the rest.
“I had to choose between the two of you,” Karklosea telepathically said. “I chose him, you were going to be next after he was finished.”
“Lies! You know I’m a descendant of a Muodiry, Radiance always hated our kind!” Karklosea pivoted her head to the side, as a large purple orb zoomed past her. “The order however, they respected my ethnicity and took me in, they saw potential where you saw something that went against your false teachings of the gods!” Dargonea reached behind her and gripped a hold of an object that was strapped to her back. “It’s probably why this reacted to me.”
She recognized the staff and its glowing orb. “Dalhakei’s staff,” Karklosea thought in shock.
Dargonea held the staff with both hands, and Karklosea sensed intense psionic power radiate from it, more than she had ever sensed before and more than maybe anybody had. Dalhakei had that staff for years, surely a psionic by now would have noticed its ability to generate psionic energy like that, she thought.
“Only those who are worthy can force it to activate,” Dargonea telepathically said as she continued her assault. “And temper minds, forcing them to see the one true path. I won’t give you that honor, you will die here, and your minions that survive will join us. I will be the next Patriarch.”
Dargonea’s cybernetic implants glowed almost in sync with the orb on the staff. Dargonea however wasn’t attacking and there was probably a reason for that. Karklosea found out why. Dargonea’s barrier increased in strength it was almost as if the staff was making her shield stronger.
Karklosea activated the cylinder-shaped implants on her back, they spread apart like a bird spreading its wings as they provided her with a temporary boost to her skills and cybernetics. Larger sized plasma balls that would normally require several seconds of pure focus were created and hurled instantly toward Dargonea. It wasn’t enough. Dargonea’s barrier took the hit, rather it absorbed it if her ESP scans were correct. Dargonea managed to convert all energy from Karklosea’s attacks into psionic power for her to use.
Dargonea wasn’t going to get weak any time soon, she was growing stronger, leeching Karklosea’s spent psionic energy. “You can’t win Karklosea, the gods will not allow it!”
Karklosea’s enhanced focus wasn’t going to last very long. Psionic skills weren’t going to work judging by the new stance Dargonea took as she pointed her augmented arm toward, Karklosea. All the psionic energy Karklosea transferred to Dargonea poised to come right back at her. What Karklosea needed was a physical attack. Had there been asteroids nearby she would have used telekinesis to throw them at her. Karklosea looked in the distance behind Dargonea. The Abyssal Liberator was there. She was close enough that she might force a plasma missile out from one of the launchers. A direct hit could do the trick, but the resulting explosion would cover them both, she’d have to jump port away seconds after the blast and not before. She couldn’t risk tipping Dargonea off her sneak attack.
Karklosea felt her back mounted cybernetics start to lose power; her enhanced focus was seconds away from fading. If she was going to do this, she had to do it now. A single plasma missile shot away from the Abyssal Liberation as she connected her mind to its systems now free of any psionic control.
Dargonea along with her staff was vaporized in the fiery plasma discharge as the missile stuck. Karklosea couldn’t remember what happened next as her barrier became weakened from the blast and jump port. She felt air and pressure slowly slip out from tiny holes along her barrier as her body drif
ted and spiraled away.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Veromacon, Aervounis, Luminous system
“Dear sister,” Ienthei said. “We must talk, alone.”
Queenea held an orange in her hand as they stood the kitchen of their home. She had grown fond of them lately much to Ienthei’s surprise as they always enjoyed and hated the same foods and drinks.
“We do indeed,” Queenea said, placing the orange on to the counter top. “Iey’liwea wishes to do business with me, my report has caught her attention unlike the rest of the council.”
“Marchei wishes to see that plan go to Paryo,” he said. “But I wasn’t born yesterday; I suspect something is going on.”
“Enlighten me.”
“He believes Iey’liwea plan’s goes against the will of the gods and that you will be dragged along in a mass investigation.”
“He must think Iey’liwea is a heretic. What does he propose?”
“You distance yourself from her and formally pray for forgiveness at the great temple.”
“I’m not backing down.”
“You shouldn’t. This is exactly what we need. Work in the shadows if possible.”
“But an appearance at the temple.”
“Will make us look good in the public eye.”
“A swift visit and pray, no longer than an hour.”
“What’s the worst that could happen?”
Veromacon temple, Aervounis, Luminous system
The great Veromacon temple was built in the same vein as most Radiance temples throughout the union. The main difference with this one was the upkeep of it as its walls glistened with prestige polish. The carpets were red and received regular cleaning and maintenance every two hours provided they were any people inside offering prayers to the gods. It was after all the home of the Patriarch or acting Patriarch.
Equilibrium of Terror: Part 2 Page 44
