Endless Online: Oblivion's Promise

by M. H. Johnson

  "We never should have come here," Elise murmured. "Sten, why? Why did we even try this? We should have stuck to the shadows, left the ship and never looked back!"

  Sten grimaced. "The past is already written. All we can do is seize this moment, and if we want any kind of future, we have to move now!" With those words all of them were racing full speed for the exit.

  "Halvar?"

  "Coms shows no patrols or agents in sight yet, Captain."

  A curt nod. "Good." Sten turned around, taking a deep breath as they came before the rearmost hatch. "Cover if we need it. Our trade was successful, we squared are artifacts away, and we're now heading to the main hotel for a celebratory meal before taking off, trusting maintenance to fix whatever is wrong with our ship."

  Gregor frowned. "But they told us to stay tight."

  Sten shrugged. "A misunderstanding. Or we can stay here and risk capture or worse. Come on, Gregor, we need to go."

  Gregor rubbed his brow. "Alright. Let's just get out of here."

  And without further ado, the exit hatch was opened and they began walking down the descending ramp.

  Sten suddenly paled. "Trap," he whispered, struggling to pivot around, but it was already too late.

  A dozen soldiers armed in reflective plates were suddenly in view, each and every one of them pointing laser carbines at Sten and his crew. A sharp contrast to the silver-white armor was one figure wearing a hooded robe of jet black that seemed to bunch up and disperse the light of the noonday sun.

  "Captain Sten Kilburten. Elise Highblood. What a distinct pleasure it is to find you both hale and hearty in the flesh, so to speak. I see that rumors of your tragic deaths have been greatly exaggerated."

  He lifted his hood, his scarred face and pale, lifeless eyes pinning a trembling Elise, lips curling in a twisted parody of a smile. "I am Inquisitor Adolf Mordingi, and I believe we have a plethora of interesting topics with which to avail ourselves in the time it will take for us to bring your ship back to the dreadnought for a... personal inspection. I know Overlord Tytus will be most pleased to have his vessel returned."

  The inquisitor's cold smile grew as Elise blanched and stumbled back. "Though I suspect that what our mutual master will relish most is the recovery of his personal property, in remarkably good health, all things considered."

  "No." Elise's voice trembled.

  Adolf chuckled softly, leading the walk up the ramp. A hum suddenly filled the air, cut by a crackling rift of darkness surrounded by crimson light. "Oh yes."

  Even as Val felt the sudden surge of adrenaline roaring through him, facing what he knew beyond a doubt was a Psiblade, he did notice differences. It did not project quite as far as his own did, and the energy looked somehow more refined. Contained. The inquisitor had pulled out a forceshield in the same breath as he catalyzed his blade, its shimmering presence making it clear that the man was more than ready for battle, striding boldly before them.

  "Well, Elise?" smirked the man. "Do you wish to try your family artifact against a true symbol of power?"

  Val froze, waiting for Elise to make her move. A panicked look at her friends, caught flatfooted with twelve blasters aimed their way and a mad Inquisitor who could easily slice them to ribbons, even if he had to work to get to Elise, and Val knew exactly what Elise would do.

  "Give me your word you will spare my friends from death or suffering, and I will surrender." Her declaration ended in a sob.

  Adolf sneered. "And why shouldn't I just cut them down where they stand?"

  Then the crackling hum of a second Psiblade could be heard.

  A quiet chuckle. "So you actually managed to find an ancient relic favored by our ancestors, and in working order, no less. Savage, brutal, meant to be used in two hands and lacking any sort of refinement, but deadly enough, for all that. Well done, Elise."

  Adolf gave a considering nod. "We can strike an understanding that does not require my butchering all of your friends. Your pawns mean nothing to our Overlord, after all. It is you he wants. Though your lover might be made to suffer a few years of exquisite torment, I will request that he not be maimed or put in a pain vat. You may expect decades-long sentences for your tools, of course, but they won't be worked to death in the Valorium mines, at least. I will, however, take your Psiblade as a prize of battle. And the official records will show your defeat before my superior skill. Do you accept these terms?"

  "Yes," Elise whispered, but Val heard no more, for he had already slipped back inside the ship.

  And no one paid him the slightest mind.

  17

  He could feel the hatch slide open as he slid deeper into the shadows. Elise let loose a short sharp sob as Sten groaned with the crack of metal against bone. The stomp of troopers tearing through the ship quickly followed. Gaining on him. So tight were the corridors that to encounter the troopers would leave him only one option.

  But it wasn't time.

  Not yet.

  Faster than the boots stomping behind him, Val made his way through the ship back to Gregor's lab. He had a hunch, knowing just how pedantic and cautious Gregor was. He was more than certain that Gregor wouldn't leave air quality to risk, should any of his concoctions backfire. A hurried search with mounting panic ruthlessly quashed into the icy void that was now his psyche, Val found what he was looking for.

  It took only moments to unfasten the latches to the ventilation. Val blinked, amazed to find it actually spacious enough to fit him. He frowned at serendipity beyond all reasonable expectation, but knew he'd be a fool to complain, with dire peril only feet away. It was nothing to slip inside and press closed the grates for all that they didn't latch.

  As a pounding fist and curt order caused a fawning, pleading Gregor to open the door, Val got his first close look at one of the dozen men who had effectively captured them through the grate, even as he felt the hum and roar of the engine, realizing that they were taking off at last.

  "This is where I conduct my experiments, sir. Of course you are more than welcome to use the facilities to your heart's content." He flashed an ingratiating smile which earned him a rough shove.

  "Where's the other member of your crew? We had reports of a fifth man."

  Gregor blinked, swallowing, racing for inspiration.

  "I asked you a question, scum," said the harsh, tinny voice.

  "Did you see anyone when you captured us? We have no fifth man. We had hired help who proved woefully inadequate, and we let him go already."

  Val grimaced, hoping his friends had been smart enough to coordinate their stories.

  "If you're lying, traitor, I'll put you in a pain vat myself." The trooper asked no further questions, merely grabbing Gregor by the back of his collar and forcing him back out the door.

  Val took a deep breath, centering himself, forced to accept that fear for his friends was pulling him out of the focus he needed.

  Deep breaths as Val slipped out of the vent, after carefully storing his final gift to his friends.

  Now it was time to do what needed doing, and damn all consequences.

  Prudent enough to secure the doors for his one moment of vulnerability, he closed his eyes, breathing deep, imagining himself donning in his mind's eye the exotic dwarven armor given to him by a man for whom he felt fiercest kinship, akin to blood. Arilius Battleborn, powerful hand clenching his own, Val smiling with gratitude and pride, feeling the weight of that Elementium laced bronze covering his frame, just as it had when the pair of them had faced down the most dire odds, together. As a team.

  For futile minutes Val breathed slow and steady, whispering soft curses under his breath. His heart began to race, realizing how vulnerable he was. The doors would only hold for seconds, should the armored troopers want entrance into the laboratory once more, and the armor would have already been donned quicker had he put it on, piece by piece.

  Of course! He forced himself to focus all the more intently, visualizing each individual piece covering his frame just as if
he were, in fact, donning it piece by piece. It was slow going, but much to his muted awe, he could actually feel it working. Val opened his eyes, teeth flashing in a wild grin as he felt the weight of the ancient armor fully upon him once more. With a comforting squeeze of the Psiblade in his right hand, he looked down at his forceshield, sensing just how effective an equalizer it truly was. Yet remembering how very well dwarven armor deflected the laser fire of even half mad automatons, he stowed away the ancient shield once more, gazing down at the hilt now held in both hands with a smile.

  Savage, unrefined weapons these older Psiblades might be, just as that Darklord had intimated. Poorly suited for one-handed use, unlike the Psiblade swung about so fluidly when Adolf had saluted a trembling Elise. Val, however, was more than happy with the ancient tool of destruction that he now held. Meant for use with both hands, the longsword skills he had striven all his adolescence to master were perfect for raining savage death upon all who dared to cross him.

  And that time would come.

  For everything was coming together in the darkest of coincidences, and Val thought he finally understood the nature of the battle to come.

  Sten's captured spaceship quickly freed itself of Jordian orbit; soaring far, far above the upper edges of the atmosphere, racing through the depths of space to the inconceivably vast dreadnought they approached even now, Jordia having shrunk to the size of a great moon, no larger than Phoebe in the far-off horizon.

  Val did not let a moment go to waste, embracing the darkest reaches of his gift, ruthlessly suppressing the horror he would otherwise feel. He took a deep breath, gazing at the globe of Valorium he now held, as deep in Shadowmind as he had ever been, recalling Ava's beautiful smile even as he opened her puzzle box, sinking the hideously potent starship core within the small pool of Elementium infused Silbion stored inside.

  He didn't need to view the prompts to know how successful he had or hadn't been.

  Now I am become Death,

  Destroyer of worlds.

  Risen upon ashes of the fallen phoenix,

  Blazing to life once more.

  Eclipsed by eternal darkness,

  Forevermore.

  Open wide the gates of Oblivion,

  For I have come home.

  The whisper echoed eerily through the chamber even as Val made the puzzle box vanish, perfectly suspended between moments in time, taking up just a single hex in his pocket dimension.

  "Vessel 03X1 Mordingi. You are clear to land. Vessel 03X1 Mordingi. You are clear to land." The surprisingly clear voice echoed through the ship speaker system. That and the abrupt lurch were Val's only indication that they had landed.

  Yet another part of him already knew, his mind's eye opening to a dark vastness transcending the mere confines of their ship. He could feel a terrible weight, an awful presence.

  Somehow, he could feel the rift between worlds.

  He felt his heart surge through the darkness, even as he was the darkness itself, one with every shadow within the ship.

  Here, perfectly juxtaposed between worlds, was where the warp gate was stationed. He could feel its terrible pull. Utterly unmistakable, for all that he had had no idea what he was sensing the first time he had blindly jumped into a portal.

  And perhaps, if he wasn't a creature forged of delusion, algorithm, or a bygone era, this was the way home as well.

  And who knew how many scores of boys and girls harvested from his world were held captive in the massive dreadnought whose hanger bay they had just entered? Val grimaced, haunted still by dreams of Julia's tormented gaze, Ava's desperate tears when she thought all hope was lost, her people but a hairsbreadth away from oblivion, thanks to the Highlords even now enslaving the children of Earth, preying upon his friends.

  Psi-Sense Rank 4 Achieved! Immersing yourself in the darkness of your own soul, you are getting better than ever at sensing the interconnections between the forces and fields of reality. For what is entropy but the disruption and decay of highly ordered forces and fields? To be one with oblivion, you must sense that which you would catalyze change within. Not just sense, but be. You can finally understand just how interconnected even an agent of death is with the ebb and flow of reality. Even when one reality bleeds into another. Now you can sense interdimensional rifts! - Hyperion Rift sensed!

  True Artifice Rank 2 Achieved! What you did was perilous beyond comprehension! Gambling with the forces and fields of reality itself, converting the potency of a starship core into a device which can only have one function! Even if this works, Val, an entire galaxy will be hunting for your head. But you wouldn't have it any other way, would you?

  Val chuckled softly at the mocking voice ever in his head, knowing he sounded like a madman, yet had never felt saner.

  More in tune with who he really was.

  What he really was.

  It was time.

  18

  "Please, you don't have to do that!"

  Gregor's panicked voice echoing through the corridor as shadows ebbed and flowed strangely in the fluorescent light, crying out as metallic cuffs were clamped upon the man's delicate wrists. He whimpered as he was kicked to the ground, shuddering as the armored trooper raised his boot high.

  "Get up, exile. The next time you dare talk back to me, you'll have a pair of broken wrists for your trouble.

  "Yes, yes sir," Gregor sobbed before turning around, emitting one choked scream as the headless corpse before him toppled for a timeless second, crimson blood smelling of coppery death flooding the corridor as the body collapsed to the ground.

  "Ancestors mercy!"

  "There is no mercy in this world, Gregor," whispered darkness itself as the trembling man's cuffs were parted. "Now head to the lab and wait. Quietly."

  Gregor was, if anything, shaking even more violently, speaking only in a whisper. "Val, oh heaven's grace, Val, I knew you hadn't abandoned us! Be careful though, there are a dozen soldiers and a psionicist as dangerous as a Darklord!" He flinched, as if expecting to get hit, but spoke on. "Val, we all know how easily Elise bested you. She's now a terrified mess!" He swallowed, shaking his head. "Ancestors luck guide you, boy. You must be careful."

  But the shadows had long since flowed past. Gregor blinked in the stark brightness, sobbing in panic as he fled for the alchemy, slipping only once on the horror of blood and savagery splayed upon the ground.

  A pair of guards ahead gloating over an easy victory. How effortless it had been to intimidate the wily captain and his crew. How fine a prize Elise looked, trembling like a virgin taken by her master for the first time. How they envied the Overlord the savage delights to come.

  Braggadocio cut abruptly with a crackling hiss, a guard stumbling back with a cry, hand desperately reaching for his weapon as his companion collapsed, screaming only once as his body was torn asunder by a crackling remnant of the void itself, his headless corpse crashing to the ground.

  And Val flew like the wind. Sensing all the players as they converged, flowing from shadow to shadow, striking to furious effect moments before his prey stumbled upon the growing number of bodies, so they could give no hue and cry.

  Halvar, to his credit, only grinned with a fierce sort of pride as the trooper leading him down the corridor to the central room abruptly collapsed, run neatly through by a very precise kill. A single deadly hole in back, the front as pristine as armor could be. A few dark whispers and Halvar donned the very armor the carefully selected guard behind him had worn, the only man his size in the retinue, and thus the perfect one to escort their most dangerous prisoner, or to dress him, as was now the case.

  Pure professional, Halvar spoke with concise precision as he donned the armor. "Sten and Elise are being held in the central living area. Inquisitor Adolf wants us all neatly together, docile and bowing before him as he leads us out like a pack of dogs on chains, and he our master. Did you free Gregor?"

  Val nodded, Halvar frowning as he squinted to catch Val's gaze, Val's eyes carefully sliding awa
y.

  Halvar suddenly grinned. "You're going to face him down, aren't you? Just as you did me during our last match."

  Now Val locked gazes with the man, Halvar paling and looking away. "Are you ready?"

  Halvar chuckled softly. "Yes, Val, I'm ready. I know the plan. And damn if you couldn't pass for a Darklord yourself, right now."

  The door opened with a hiss. Val keeping his head carefully lowered, his hands behind him. Halvar, utterly trusting that Val would not imperil him, had his hand roughly on Val's armored shoulder. "I found the stowaway!" Halvar roared in as rough a voice as he could manage, the pair of them heading to the center of the room at a fast clip.

  Val's hooded gaze quickly took in the scene before him, visual impressions of what he had sensed the instant he slipped back into his true self. Elise, stripped of her clothes and dignity, was sobbing over a battered Sten.

  His knee had been shattered, his leg even now splayed at an unnatural angle, hands tightly bound behind him. Sten's face was covered in blood, eyes near swollen shut, his breath coming out in ragged wheezes.

  "You monster, you didn't have to do that! We were cooperating!"

  The inquisitor's lips curled up in the cruelest of smiles. "Ah, dear Elise. It is not I that did this to him, but you."

  "You're mad! We answered every question, we have told you everything!"

  Adolf shook his head with a mocking cluck of his tongue. "Ah, but there's the lie, dearest Elise. I can tell that something was changed. Secrets, locked tightly away in dear Captain Sten's mind. He only thinks he tells me the truth. What he tells me are lies!" He snarled his hate, his jet black boot slamming into Sten's hip. The captain twisted and moaned with pain before slipping into stupor once more.

  "Please stop!" Elise begged.

  "I'm afraid that all depends upon you, dear, sweet, Elise." His voice had slipped into a mocking parody of kindness. "You need merely open your mind fully to me. Let me plumb the depths of your memories, your secrets, your delicious sins that you thought you could hide from your masters. Only then will Sten's punishment be complete. Only when I have all the secrets you would dare to hide from me!"