Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Homeworld - Tales of the Vjel-Amaj: Aira's Quest - Part I ❯ Chapter 15 – High Incident ( Chapter 15 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Sgt_$parki 
Miscellaneous: Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Thriller / Sci-fi / Romance / Drama / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 06.27.2008 | Pages: 10 | Words: 15.4K | Visits: 163 | Status: Completed
Miscellaneous: Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Thriller / Sci-fi / Romance / Drama / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 06.27.2008 | Pages: 10 | Words: 15.4K | Visits: 163 | Status: Completed
“*Gasp!*”
The girl's shriek echoed several times throughout her spacious surroundings as she was surprised by the sudden awareness. Squeamish as she was, the eerie echoes even scared her once more. Frightened by her unknown surroundings, Aira remained paralyzed at one spot.
Just imminently had she no idea what was happening, she did not even know that she had been walking to this unknown destination for hours. Aira turned around several times but did not know where to go. Wild memories flew before her eyes and yet she did not know what was going on with her.
All attempts in gaining control of her thoughts failed, leading the frail girl to fall to the floor as the anarchic confusion disturbed her balance. What game was her mind playing her?
Feeling aches and intense desires to scratch herself, the girl discovered numerous red marks and bumps all over her arms and legs and did not have the slightest idea what was going on with her. Aira notice her swollen cheek.
The air she breathed was utterly thick of various smells, far too difficult for her lost mind to distinguish a single one. Indeed, she was lost and did not have the slightest idea where she was.
But just before her eyes began to percept anything, the remaining lights suddenly lapsed, instantaneously covering her with the frightening embrace of darkness, leaving nothing but her own breathing heard loudly.
“Young mind... do not fearrrr...”, the trusted voice hollowed throughout the darkness. Right after the voice ended, it shortly said something in a foreign language.
Soon, Aira began to hear loud clattering and fierce sparks snapping, sounds that sounded as if some powerful energy grids were going online, followed by the soft flickering of light that slowly began to flood her whole surroundings. As the soft illuminations began to reflect upon all surfaces, her eyes slowly but surely perceived the unimaginable.
Raising her view, Aira began to notice that she was nowhere among any familiar grounds... The floor was oddly plated, scratched with many marks and had chipped-off missing pieces. This was not the `Vjel-Amaj' - but where was she then?
Strange round holes of various sizes with cracks on their edges, weird looking bodies, brown-green layers and other messy things surrounded her, but this was not what actually caught her attention...
Fluids frequently tapped upon the floor, seeping into the nearest crack. Far ahead and above did she discover a gigantic but highly sophisticated pyramid, raging upside-down from the vast hall's ceiling.
Its background however was a thin but shattered layer and marked by innumerable holes - She could not tell what it was. Countless objects, damaged circuits and cables hung down from the pyramid, many of them calmly swinging back and forth. Aira's body trembled in awe as her eyes slowly fell upon the end of the gigantic sophisticated object. Destructed computers were everywhere - all but one seemed to have been left undamaged.
Though not marked by those round holes, it did show signs of corrosion. Erratic smears and stains were seen everywhere - wildly smeared like black paint - unexplainable for her what could have caused this.
The girl's eyes met the end. Discovering a strange round object ahead, Aira perceived a rather unusual massive spherical object but her eyes were incapable of revealing further details. A pod or chamber of some sort she assumed... Unfortunately, her mysteriously purple colored eyes could not properly perceive anything any further.
Whilst suffering the sore pain that irritatingly throbbed within her head, Aira, as a female space-born kadeshi, also suffered optical deficiencies. While able to see the faraway distinct figures by guessing within this gigantic hall, she simply could not focus her eyes, therefore was her view too blurry.
“...The bare eye is weak... Young mind...”, the trusted voice echoed throughout the whole hall. No longer did the voice speak within her mind. However, the girl's mouth slowly dropped open. A faint chime sung into her mind.
Song...
“Come... Do not fear...”, Shodanii's voice sounded, “Pleasssse... Do not fear me... Young mind, your soul seeks answers. Your ssszzsoul senses my song... How long haaaave I endeavored such unbound being to follow my... sssssong?”
The lighting flickered shortly. Aira's eyes did perceive something... A faint body that floated within the large spherical bubble that seemed damaged.
The kadeshi girl hesitated so much that it took her much time to make the first step closer. The sheer majestic appearance of the whole inverted pyramid was suffocating her courage.
“Young mind... It issss I who guided your mind here... to my chamber. I shiverrr in deep disgrace... of penetrating the psyche of... a fragile mind... ”, Shodanii echoed sorrowfully, somewhat woefully, ” - Kadeshi child... I suffer fearrrr for your kind. Your kind isss in great danger...!”
Aira did not understand. Shodanii's words sounded alarming, but the girl simply could not comprehend.
“Young mind... You mussst learn... You mussst leaaarrn... before it isss too... late.”
Chapter 15 - High Incident
The voice of a bridge operative is listened to over the commlink as he explained:
““-As said before, we have received several uplinks from Shodanii. Deck plans and a lot of information we can't really interpret. Seems to be a mix of... history... log files and a lot more... We even received cartographic data. Wherever she got this from, she must have really been here for a very long time - and we're still receiving more. But that's not all...””
The bridge operative spoke further from her shoulder radio, but Hailynn actually listened passively as she packed several minor soy rations in a hurry.
“Hailey... Haiiiiley”, Kaydaana frequently bugged, “Haileh! Hey -”
“God-DAMNIT, what?!”
““—err uhhh, C-Commander?””, the bridge operative asked, noting himself being intimidated by Hailynn's voice, “”Sh-Should I call back later, sir - I mean, ma'am - Ma'am?”
“No. Speak further. I'm listening”, Hailynn demanded and pressed a small button on her communication unit to negate surrounding voices to be transmitted.
“”As you wish ma'am... Where was I - Ah yes...””, the voice continued as he gave Hailynn the situation update.
“Hailey, what yah doin'?”
Annoyed by Kaydaana frequent questioning, Hailynn paused.
“Kay, what you think this looks like?”
Once again, Hailynn had her uniform jacket open and reattached the belt around her waist, soon followed by a small pack filled with fluid rations.
“Well - Yah gonna go for Aira? Ain't that a bit...”
“Ain't nothing. I have to find her, Kaydy.”
“Yeah... but...”
Just as Kaydaana wanted say something further, she paused her speech as Hailynn loaded a small but handy 5mm submachine gun, a lightweight firearm commonly used within the Amaji Navy.
Shoving three additional clips into the pouch upon her waist, the hiigaran woman rearranged her radio gear with a much thicker and stronger antenna that now pointed away from her shoulder.
“Master-of-Arms -”, Hailynn called over, soon to be met by a male operative, “I need one portable data-pad.”
“Yes, ma'am - Oh, Commander. Here.”
The operative gave Hailynn her missing special issue handgun back.
“Wha-Where- ?”
“It was brought here, ma'am. You seem to have lost it.”
“Whatever. Thank you”, she replied back to him and holstered it.
The armory was a small region with a selected few aisles filled with equipment and handheld weaponry. Though hardly much available to suit an army, it had an abundance of technical equipment for survival and surveillance.
“But Hailey - Your're a Krin'sa now. Yah shouldn't be doin' this alone, woman!”
“Look. Right now that should be last thing I should be reminded about. I'm pretty much mad right now.”
“Yah should keep yer blood pressure down, remember - the doc'--”
“Shut up...”
Noticing the upcoming debate between the two, the master-of-arms operative slowly retreated in order to get the desired pad.
“And why yah taking the guns with yah?”
“Who knows what the frakk is waiting for me out there.”
“The ship's abandoned, girl, ain't no war goin' on out there -”
“Don't care...”
“Haileh - Yah should send a marine team to retrieve the girl”, Kaydaana suggested immediately to Hailynn's response.
“We can forget about that. We don't have enough marines for every place and everything, Kay. They are still needed here onboard the ship, at that camp and those research teams out there. Just have those survey teams keep doing what they're doing. We barely - *sigh* Forget about it, okay?”
Hailynn slammed the secured locker, received her requested datapad and made her way out to the main corridor. Her stained open jacket wove like a cap as she walked out.
“But -”, Kaydaana ran behind.
“Damn it, Kaydy. Could you just stop tailing me? *sniff*”
“Yah not gonna to do this alone, old lady! True, tha' girl may have ran off alone and is somewhere lost in this muthaship place but yah not gonna run gung-ho alone like that sobanni warrior called Rambo. There's no point for yah to just go on this trip all alone!”
“Don't be silly - I need to do this alone.”
“No!”
“For frakk's sake, Kaydaana - GET off my back!”, Hailynn shouted, slightly innervated by annoyance.
“We both will go look for her, Hailey - We can take Ray with us and -”
Hailynn stopped at once, “Oh sure, I could probably take him. He's vaygr, he surely knows how to use guns -“, she snitched ironically, “but then again... HE IS A PILOT, Kaydy! And so are YOU!”
“So whut! You're a Krin'sa now and a naval commanding officer! You're not ah mahrine!”
“I'm an ex-marine...”
“BIG DEAL, I know how to use ah gun, too!”
“But you were not a marine...!”
“I'm MANAAN!”
“But NOT A MARINE *nghhhh* --!”, Hailynn shouted back at her but suddenly swayed to the side of the wall, her left palm immediately thrown upon her chest. It took a short moment for her to regain herself.
“Marine or not - Yah still in bad shape. Yah should -”
“Would-should-co*ngh*uld... No more prattle. I want everybody to stay safely aboard and around the ship's perimeter - I want those survey teams to grab whatever they want and get back asap. And fact is: I'm in charge here, `Unshi, so move--”
Making one last attempt to stop Hailynn, Kaydaana blocked her passage and stared at her with her usual sharp green eyes. Both remained quiet at first despite the noise coming from the frequent chattering of the operative over the commline.
Again, it was one of those many moments where both stood in front of each other in anger; the slightly taller common hiigaran woman versus the hardheaded darkly tanned manaani that stood in the way. But this time, Hailynn was the stubborn one in the argument.
Kaydaana knew Hailynn for so long, but this time, her usual manner was not going to stop Hailynn's determination... Alas, she began to nod.
“So there we are, eh? Then... FINE. Yah want to go by yahself? Play it solo, boss? Then do it! Yah've been running all this time with drugs, girl... The drugs were killing yah. Yah can't hide it - It nearly did kill y-... M-Mah soul was... just worried about yah, Hailey”, Kaydaana's concerns just consolidated themselves as she heard Hailynn breathing heavily: Her health was tarnishing as she stood, her overall condition showing definite signs of drug withdrawal.
"Yer still a wreck, girl. Wh-What if something happens while you are wanderin' out there... And frell, may've been the first time I've been so worried about yah. - but fine... fine - I'll let yah go. Is that an ordah, mah Krin'sah?”
The angered manaani paused as she left her head tilted and ignored the radio chatter. But her words did affect Hailynn deeply. She looked down to the floor shortly... Kaydaana really meant it. Without warning, her arms embraced Kaydaana... surprisingly. Indeed, Hailynn felt the unusual concern of the manaani.
“I-I'm... sorry, Kay. I didn't want to insult you. But you must understand that I need to find Aira. Alone. I'm responsible for what I did to her. I must take on this.. on my own. I've hurt a lot of people just a day or two ago. I-I cannot allow anybody to... come with me. You are a pilot - And one frell of a one, Kay. But just this for once... Please stay back, I'm asking you as a... friend.”
Releasing the overwhelmed manaani, Hailynn reached over to her left shoulder and pressed the button once more, interrupting the speech of the operative, “-- Enough for now. Tell me more later. *sniffs* Right now, I want you to backtrack Aira's signal and trace a path for me. Relocate one of those com-sat probes in space you told m about, if you must. Transmit your data to my comm signal so my pad can trace her. Orelis shall maintain command during my absence, understood?”
The operative did sound overwhelmed at first, but he reconsidered, “”Uuhh. Yes, Krin'sa... Commander, ma'am. I will take care of it.””
“Thank you. Delixa, out.”
Hailynn looked up at the manaani that stared at her. Quietly handing over the pouch and the small submachine gun to her, the hiigaran officer nodded.
Obviously, she reconsidered. Taking this along would be overkill after all - After all, it was said nobody else was striding through the mothership.
Without any further words, Hailynn bypassed Kaydaana with heavy steps. Though not a single word was said, many feelings went through both of them. It took much courage for Hailynn to leave Kaydaana behind like this. This was the first time Kaydaana ever shown care and worries about Hailynn's well-being... but she made her decision. It was already tough for her to suppress her innermost urge.
- Shodanii -
Aira's small hand slid upon the surface of the damaged spherical object that rested upon the podium. The shattered shell was partially filled with a strange liquid that at first seem like water, but it was slightly thicker and hazy. Sounds of power hummed among her abandoned surroundings.
“So...cold...”, the girl whispered just before her eyes suddenly discovered a body deep within the this cracked but transparent shell. Staggered by the view, Aira moved so close that her breath became visible upon the cold surface.
“Yes... Your thoughtsss follows the truth...”, Shodanii's calm voice hollowed throughout the hall several times, “Child, you have found me... The leasssst of my... remains...”
The kadeshi girl could not believe her eyes. The body deep within this big shell floated lifelessly and although her eyes failed to penetrate clearly. Sorrow filled her soul. What happened to this poor being? She questioned herself so many times that a tear ran down her cheek.
“Young mind... I feel your... sorrows... but I plea you to come closssser to me.”
Aira rose herself and looked once more inside. But this liquid... How could she come closer?
“Do not fear what surroundsss me... It supportsssss... life...”
Aira circled the huge shell before she discovered a hatch among the upper half and although it seem damaged, she was able to open it.
Climbing among the upper `hemisphere' of the large shell, the girl used this possibility to enter. Her hand touched the fluid. It was outright cold, yet it tranquilized the intense itch and pain that frequently incited her to scratch. Doubts filled her mind. She was a breathing being - How was she to survive... By holding her breath? Climbing upon the entrance, the adolescent girl slowly sunk into the liquid and held her breath.
“Do not fear... what now surroundssss the both of us...”
However, Aira did have fear. She remained at her spot and held her breath as she floated barely beneath the surface. This was the first time she ever sunk her head below a liquid surface alike water... but as she remained at one spot, she began to notice that she did not feel the urge to breathe at all despite the deep cold crushing her lungs.
Instinctively, the girl opened her mouth and suddenly exhaled slowly... Several bubbles floated away and as she opened her eyes, she slowly inhaled the fluid. At this moment, Aira did expect the worst to happen, needless to explain that she felt the climax of her inner fear. She knew she was a being that needed air. Aira knew she was not one of those beings whose name she did not know, those that lived in such fluids like water.
An image shortly struck her memory, a brief deja-vu that was shorter than a heartbeat - as if she had been in such liquid once before... some time in her mysterious life.
Surprisingly, Aira's body neither reacted harshly nor fought for the remaining oxygen in her blood... The total opposite took place... She simply remained calm until she became used to the cold, unconsciously adapting to its somewhat frightful nature.
Faint echoes transmitted through the fluid, but she could not interpret them. There was a strong metallic taste that tickled among her tongue. This strange fluid... There was a lot more about it, but she could not explain it. It did not take long until her need for breathing stopped, unconsciously absorbing the life-supporting function of this fluid.
Aira slowly swung her arms in a strange manner, obviously trying to swim forward. It did not take long until the kadeshi girl reached the harmed body of Shodanii. The body, in fact, was of a mature woman that was punctured by several circlet holes.
Aira approached Shodanii's body as her innermost sorrow filled her soul. Shodanii's body had thin but holed clothing with patterns that seemed similar to those taiidani ones she had seen throughout the hall. Barely was she able to spot fabrics of the clothing and other small particles levitating within this spherical tank.
Many cables and tubes encircled her body, but most noticeable ones were connected into the rear side of her head that lead upwards to the tip of the gigantic upside down pyramid.
There were a selected few cables that did seem odd. Those that had a strange and unusual green-brownish covering them also were leading to her body and head - yet the girl did not know what to interpret out of these. Some fiber cables floated like tentacles, their ends either torn or cut apart.
The eyes were pale white, hardly did revealed any color... They simply remained open alike her mouth. Both Aira's and Shodanii's hair floated in all directions as the girl stared upon the body with frightened eyes. Touching the side of Shodanii's face that was marked with brown veins, Aira felt its hard surface... Lifeless...
“Thisss isss the truth... young one...”, Shodanii's calm voice slurred into the girl's mind.
“But... How... Why?”, Aira's mind cried in sorrowfulness. The girl could not explain her reaction. This was Shodanii's dead body. So many emotions filled Aira's heart that she climbed her way passed the net of cables that surrounded Shodanii's body, carelessly pulling certain cables out of the way that blocked her passage. She was so out of control that she unknowingly breathed the fluid rapidly again. The truth of Shodanii's body tormented her.
Though slightly entangled by the cables, nothing floated between Aira and the body that she quietly embraced sorrowfully. The cold corpse remained at its place.
“Your soul beseeches answerssss - ...Lisssten to my... story... Follow my... song...”
Once again, those faint echoes were heard, but this time, Aira's mind slowly began to feel a presence gently penetrating her thoughts albeit the rather severe physical headache.
Aira's blue-purple eyes suddenly faded dark.
- Reminiscences -
Memories.
The same wild and uncontrollable memories she had seen before... but this time... Aira expressed them like never before as all memories, thoughts, reminiscences and information of all kinds cycled into her mind. She no longer had any control over herself. Soon, her heart and soul reflected to the reminiscences...
*Flash*
Who am I?
...A century ago...
Childhood memories ran through her memory until the moment her eyes spotted the figures of the mothership that rested upon Omicron Scaffold in high orbit, surrounded by countless stars of huge vessels that surrounded it. Many military crafts hovered through the dusk turquoise sky.
Aira looked down upon herself. Her hands were different, marked and patched with mechanical plating she never had seen before. A strange dress... elegant... but militaristically patterned. She was a lot taller... a fairly matured body.
Her ears listened to a foreign language that stridently echoed among the innumerable amount of viewers and listeners, a gush of wind blew upon her long black hair as the soft smell of this unknown but then again beautiful world touched her nose. So many viewers looked upon their heightened podium as the unknown man gave speech.
The language... Taiidani common... amplified to its maximum so even the farthest listener could listen. The voice spoke about the greatest adventure of all times. The eyes of these millions of viewers were not alone...
Billions among distance stars and planets were expressing this proud moment at this very second - albeit the natural delay through subspace transmission.
All hail the pride of our Emperor! All hail to the Lead Guider to the new world! Behold, people of all taiidan worlds: Our Guider.
Aira lowered her head and smiled. The whole Taiidan Empire was the audience that awaited her. Spectators of all worlds bided their time to see the being who would guide the brave colonists to a new world at the farthest edge of this galaxy.
A short but friendly bump from an elbow touched her side, kindly urging her to receive this moment's fame and cheer.
Aira was outright anxious as she approached the strange object that the man before her recently spoken into.
“Na Taiika gara...!”, Aira announced loud and proudly, whose taiidani voice echoed several times among the huge gathering.
She began to hold a long speech that filled her with pleasure. It was a striving sensation as she spoke her words. Once again, Aira's view focused upon the third and last titan mothership high above the atmosphere.
It was unknown to her where the first mothership was, the superior vessel of the Emperor, but she knew that the second and the third one awaited her arrival. Rumors however said that something had occurred at the other edge of the galaxy, far beyond the Great Wastelands...
A taiidan voice suddenly spoke from the side, “Shodanii. My daughter... Are you prepared for the singularity?”
Aira turned her head as she stopped her speech.
“Yes, I am, sir.”
Within a single moment, Aira's whole surroundings changed instantly as she walked besides the taiidan admiral alongside the corridor filled with countless men and women, operatives, scientists and those of taiidan military. Up to this moment, a whole month passed ever since she boarded this ship. All her life had she been distant to her father. They did not speak any further.
Despite their long-going silence, deep trust and faith flew through her as she walked among their path. This ship and the second one had the propulsion needed to perform the most extreme far-jump through hyperspace of all times. Both were to enter hyperspace and lead 3 million taiidan colonists in cryo-stasis to the new worlds among the far edge of the galaxy by a single jump...
Aira's eyes opened suddenly. Innumerable emotions emerged within her soul...
Already five months of passionate adaptation and preparations have passed since her soul entered symbiosis with the cell, the ship's computer and the prototype Manifold Singularity Core - The most advanced propulsion core based on xenotechnologies gathered by the taiidan's aggressive reach throughout the galaxy's core region.
The true heritage of this drive remained a mystery to her. The common soul throughout the galaxy only once heard of it as an advanced hyperdrive... but never of its truth.
The blue fluid, Snyrdrolite, enveloped her young body totally. Every single impulse of the billion datalinks flew through the various cables as the `syntholytic' fluid nourished every cell of her body. Each thought she made was precisely conducted that tickled every corner of her body.
Her mind was overflowed with many consciences at once. While the eyes saw the various biotech scientists, astronomers and many other military segments operating outside her spherical chamber, her mind felt the supreme presence of every single object and celestial body in space.
Aira's perception registered every being onboard, every single communication , speech and data transfers of the ship's computer. Never had she felt such an astonishing feeling. Aira smiled as one of the biotechnicians smirked a joke, noticing her excitement through the vitality monitors.
“What is that you asked, Shodanii? The Kushans? You've never heard of them, I suppose. A race not worth to mention on a faraway planet. I don't know much about them myself. Nobody should really care about them, but you could try examining the datalinks some day.”
Her inner eye looked over to the second mothership that levitated twelve kilometers away. Whilst possessing its own Singularity Core, the second mothership differed greatly from hers: Aside to the crew, it was her hand, her intentions and purposes that led both ship - A remote duplicate mirroring her psyche.
But worries filled her soul as her thoughts wandered off to the other mass of the protective fleet, the foreign fleet of the Turanic Kingdoms that entered patronage with the Taiidan Empire by the will of Emperor Riesstiu IV the Second.
They were everywhere. Their troops were stationed all over among the ships, at least a million of them and their warfare was going to take part of this thriving adventure. But Aira needed not to worry, despite their hostile appearance, they were here to protect and support the taiidans. Alas, she calmed herself as she felt the existence of all colonists in cryo-stasis.
Thousands of experiences bypassed her mind like a gush of wind. Her body had aged very slowly during another 7 years due to the influence of the core and for the first time, they have forged first contact with an enigmatic wayfaring culture, a race of unknown origins that inducted high interest in trades and knowledge of all kinds and other deepspace-faring beings that traveled through the endless galaxy. Aira's mind forged itself with the Bentusi's consciousness for the first time. Never had her mind and soul been enlighten in such manner.
Despite their supportive notions, the Bentusi had no knowledge considering the whereabouts of the missing second mothership and its fleet.
The initiate singularity jump throughout hyperspace proved itself to be as a seriously dangerous and purely unpredictable incident despite the technological persistence of the taiidans... The amass of malfunctions and unexpected miscalculations during its singularity's initiation folded both ships through separate singularity wavefronts, causing both to uncontrollably jump through time and space separately... leading to unforeseen destinations.
For seven years had Aira constantly fought with the recalibration, assimilating any possible mistaken calculations to rediscover and reunite to the second fleet... but all attempts failed deeply.
The Bentusi offered their support and omniscience but without success - Therefore was the taiidan singularity core far too unpredictable, foremost leading to the fact of unreliability. The whereabouts of the second fleet remained a lost mystery; their emerge-point practically volatile. During the Bentusi interactions, Aira began to learn that her psyche played a far much serious and essential role, far beyond the basic mind. Even though the mind-machine interface of the third mothership was advanced, her psyche lacked the so-called Unbound Consciousness, the ultimate perception of time and space.
Luckily, Aira belonged to the very few able to benefit and learn from the Bentusi, despite the harsh standings between the Taiidan Empire and this enigmatic race.
Almost three decades later...
Unfortunately, as Aira's psyche began to percept the way of the Bentusi and their transcendental awareness of time and space, her efforts in singularity jumps continued to fail gravely.
Many starmaps revealed themselves as she focused her mind accordingly to the Bentusi principles.
Nonetheless, every psychic success and advancement in knowledge of the galaxy, its physics, its riches, beauties and dangers, and the way of the Bentusi backfired with each jump. Whereas she gained control of the wavefront... the emerge-point always remained at random. However, Aira remained determined to lead her people to the new worlds.
The Bentusi knowledge proven itself worthy... Aira became unbound.
Yet, confidence and faith of ever returning to taiidan space had already been abandoned, yet the taiidan authority maintained command and the task to find the second fleet and the new habitable world at the edge of the galaxy.
Nonetheless, the disastrous jumps into lost space made contacts with the Bentusi even more seldom, for their presence throughout these dangerous regions was extremely low. The very last contact with a single Bentusi vessel only gave a faint hint on the condition of the crumbling Taiidan Empire, its defeated Emperor and perhaps the whereabouts of the second mothership fleet named `Taiika Aksaii Vay' that emerged somewhere among the fringes of the `eastern' arm of the spiral galaxy.
Distrust began to rise among the ranks and the people onboard. The dangerous natures of the galaxy had frequently caused casualties throughout the decades of lost voyaging.
The once trusted Aira as the guide leading the taiidans to the new world among the fringe had already disintegrated and formed into hatred.
Internal affairs and unrest slowly spread like a sickness throughout the minds. Aira soon learned that the decades of isolation in space was leading to insanity and intense dissension throughout all vessels of the fleet and the mothership. With the dissensions gaining power, the turans slowly came to the fact that with the fall of the Emperor Riesstiu IV and the Taiidan Empire that the patronage and their pledge subservience became void... and all these decades long had they been serving the taiidans as servants. Unfortunately, the turanic psyche proved itself as the most instable and labile...
As the death toll among the crews during the voyage became dangerously high, the taiidan authority began to recover and awake some of the colonists as replacement.
Aira screamed as the next event in her life caught her by surprise. A violent rumble channeled throughout the ship, surging it with a brutal and vicious power feedback that tore the singularity wavefront from the mothership during the last hyperjump. With the feedback surging her, all functions of the ship are left uncontrollable, foremost her influence with the core's wavefront field generator.
The longevity serums, other vital things and the numbers of loyal crewmembers slowly became scarce. As word spread that the whole mothership was crippled for good, lost in space for nearly 60 years and now stuck in an endless nebula barely at the reach of a blackhole, longevity no longer available, the Emperor and the Taiidan Empire destructed, the threshold of extensive unrest ultimately burst out of control.
Months and years of turmoil and terror occurred throughout the fleet. Insane madness led to mindless killing, onslaughts and bloody treachery. Mutiny, disregards and deaths arose...
Aira fought for the sanity but never would she be able to soothe the insane psyche of every being... but the worst was yet to happen...
A vain scream... She screamed as an unusual but sudden infestation slowly spread among the mothership's hull. A dreadful bio-menacing vessel appeared and infected the greater portion of the fleet with a decaying disease that wrecked havoc upon nearly every being it came in contact with.
The green-brownish bio-menace, though a rather small ship was a threat none could withstand. The infestation was a very slow plague that expanded among the hundreds of decks despite all measures of quarantine. Dreadful months had passed by until biotechnicians discovered that the menace was a dying invasive lifeform. For some reason, the infestation itself was an intellectual menace that was infected itself. It was trying to manifest its dying self, needing both the ship and living beings as host. However, the infested people died of a long and slow death.
Coward self-preservation however forged the rest of the fleet with the same interest, mainly the turanics and the surviving uninfected portion of the taiidan military colonists who became aware that they needed to disband from the mothership.
In order to escape the infestations, the mothership was violently stripped of its Singularity Core and nearly all of its available energy stored in the regenerative capacitors.
Whilst its far-jumping capability being mistrusted, the largest vessel of the turanics concealed the core into itself to inhibit the monstrous living death from escaping or pursuing them. The surviving taiidans knew they had to form a partnership of convenience to survive this.
They were sure the fleets could escape and go on their own way once they gathered enough resources from the mothership. However, the threat was simply too high that this menace would hunt them.
Following the scientific results, the remaining fleet understood that the menace would die out within the next five years and that the fleet would need to return to the mothership around seven years to charge its propulsion cells and capacitors for their hyperspace modules if needed... A fact not to be ignored.
At the time the core was stripped from the mothership, her mind felt how the forceful separation tore her apart, as if an invasive force ripped her heart and soul from her body.
She cried and begged for them to stop, but the force of the fleet ignored her plea. Up to now, the escaping fleet had only one task remaining...
Aira had no chance of escape. The surge long ago had paralyzed most her physical body. Her efforts nonetheless focused on saving as much people as possible... but time slowly showed that they all would be infected.
The menace already had expanded itself to her chamber, invasively penetrating her mind with its dreadful will. Aira struggled with all her strength not to fall under total influence, yet she was slowly failing to it as the days went by.
Unable to move much, the taiidani unbound being became aware of an armed force approaching the core bridge of the mothership. A task force that slaughtered their way from the infested docking scaffolds throughout the ship to the last instance of the executive bridge.
All sides took losses, but it was clear that the task force could not linger long versus the menacing bodies and insane gunmen. Even possible survivors found on the way were mindlessly executed. Despite the gigantic hall her chamber and the main supercomputer resided in as the last bastion of the survivors, the task force entered the area with blazing gunfire...
Wild flashes of automatic projectile weapons wrecked havoc throughout the bridge. Powerful rifles roared with the vain screams. Witnessing the deaths of the remaining survivors, Aira had no choice but to observe the bullets violently dismembering the limbs of the survivors. Collateral damage butchered every single being no matter of what age or heritage. The troops purged the area and slowly approached Aira's chamber. Smashed projectiles upon the shell noted that it was not easy to penetrate... but they all knew how to reach her.
Aira listened to the speeches of the soldiers. Only the supercomputer needed to stay active to maintain the possibility to return to the mothership and sap its regenerative energies years later. All other lives were... expendable for them.
Dithering for her life, Aira fought vainly to move as her eyes followed one taiidan soldier walking upon the podium to the hatch. She screamed at him in the taiidani language for her life.
She did not want to die. She had figured up to now that if the people would survive only less than a month and not five years longer, most of the infestation would die out for good...
The taiidan soldier hesitated as he aimed his assault rifle down upon Aira's submerged body... but there was no chance of survival. His hatred blamed her for all the causes and the deaths ever since the first jump. They all mistrusted her scientific knowledge of the core by now.
They followed the fact that she could not control the illogical Singularity Core and the wavefront it formed. Aira slowly understood that she was the one who failed them. Furthermore, the soldiers needed to ensure that no inconveniences would interfere with their plans. Her sacrifice would ensure the future of the surviving fleet.
In a sudden manner, her chest was painfully penetrated by three aimed shots. The struggle was long and agonizingly, her life faded away with red cloud that soon shrouded her whole body...
But Aira's consciousness still remained...
Unknown to the task force, her unbound psyche, while fractured and barely affected by the infection, prevailed amidst the supercomputer's core and slept as the armed force shutdown all but the supercomputer permanently, leaving only one console available to maintain the power flux allocation and life-support systems that are left offline until their possible return.
Several flashes occurred that same day later...
The surviving fleet escaped the remaining infestation.
Without the physical body, her psyche could barely maintain the ship for the next years. Aira sorrowfully observed the slow deaths of every being: The remaining infested bodies, the least survivors who died due to the failed life-support and lastly, the remaining hundred thousands of cryogenic colonists.
For the next decades, Aira was unable to do anything but eavesdrop in time and space, hoping to discover an unbound being... Whilst able to retain some of the ship's systems and control, she had been alone for extensively long periods. In between had the surviving fleet returned, however only to plunder the regenerative energy and the capacitors...
Surrounded by the innumerable destructed fleet of infested or mad taiidan and turanic ships, the field of waste and debris remained at the vicinity of the mothership, held by its gravitational integrity fields. Her perception for wayfaring beings was limited.
She was still dying, but she never died at last. Power fluctuated every now and then that tormented her surviving psyche in agony.
The supercomputer still evoked self-preservation, making it impossible for her to actually terminate herself... that is, if she even had the possibility to. Her soul was forever stuck in the dead hulk, swallowed and enveloped by the unimaginable depth of the gaseous system.
Aira's psyche was now enslaved to the dominant surviving fleet that made sure the existence of the supercomputer would never fail... All these years had they survived and yet... still had not escaped this system. They were trapped in it as well... but they kept surviving...
A full century of hopes, values and pride ended in despair and suffering...
The girl's shriek echoed several times throughout her spacious surroundings as she was surprised by the sudden awareness. Squeamish as she was, the eerie echoes even scared her once more. Frightened by her unknown surroundings, Aira remained paralyzed at one spot.
Just imminently had she no idea what was happening, she did not even know that she had been walking to this unknown destination for hours. Aira turned around several times but did not know where to go. Wild memories flew before her eyes and yet she did not know what was going on with her.
All attempts in gaining control of her thoughts failed, leading the frail girl to fall to the floor as the anarchic confusion disturbed her balance. What game was her mind playing her?
Feeling aches and intense desires to scratch herself, the girl discovered numerous red marks and bumps all over her arms and legs and did not have the slightest idea what was going on with her. Aira notice her swollen cheek.
The air she breathed was utterly thick of various smells, far too difficult for her lost mind to distinguish a single one. Indeed, she was lost and did not have the slightest idea where she was.
But just before her eyes began to percept anything, the remaining lights suddenly lapsed, instantaneously covering her with the frightening embrace of darkness, leaving nothing but her own breathing heard loudly.
“Young mind... do not fearrrr...”, the trusted voice hollowed throughout the darkness. Right after the voice ended, it shortly said something in a foreign language.
Soon, Aira began to hear loud clattering and fierce sparks snapping, sounds that sounded as if some powerful energy grids were going online, followed by the soft flickering of light that slowly began to flood her whole surroundings. As the soft illuminations began to reflect upon all surfaces, her eyes slowly but surely perceived the unimaginable.
Raising her view, Aira began to notice that she was nowhere among any familiar grounds... The floor was oddly plated, scratched with many marks and had chipped-off missing pieces. This was not the `Vjel-Amaj' - but where was she then?
Strange round holes of various sizes with cracks on their edges, weird looking bodies, brown-green layers and other messy things surrounded her, but this was not what actually caught her attention...
Fluids frequently tapped upon the floor, seeping into the nearest crack. Far ahead and above did she discover a gigantic but highly sophisticated pyramid, raging upside-down from the vast hall's ceiling.
Its background however was a thin but shattered layer and marked by innumerable holes - She could not tell what it was. Countless objects, damaged circuits and cables hung down from the pyramid, many of them calmly swinging back and forth. Aira's body trembled in awe as her eyes slowly fell upon the end of the gigantic sophisticated object. Destructed computers were everywhere - all but one seemed to have been left undamaged.
Though not marked by those round holes, it did show signs of corrosion. Erratic smears and stains were seen everywhere - wildly smeared like black paint - unexplainable for her what could have caused this.
The girl's eyes met the end. Discovering a strange round object ahead, Aira perceived a rather unusual massive spherical object but her eyes were incapable of revealing further details. A pod or chamber of some sort she assumed... Unfortunately, her mysteriously purple colored eyes could not properly perceive anything any further.
Whilst suffering the sore pain that irritatingly throbbed within her head, Aira, as a female space-born kadeshi, also suffered optical deficiencies. While able to see the faraway distinct figures by guessing within this gigantic hall, she simply could not focus her eyes, therefore was her view too blurry.
“...The bare eye is weak... Young mind...”, the trusted voice echoed throughout the whole hall. No longer did the voice speak within her mind. However, the girl's mouth slowly dropped open. A faint chime sung into her mind.
Song...
“Come... Do not fear...”, Shodanii's voice sounded, “Pleasssse... Do not fear me... Young mind, your soul seeks answers. Your ssszzsoul senses my song... How long haaaave I endeavored such unbound being to follow my... sssssong?”
The lighting flickered shortly. Aira's eyes did perceive something... A faint body that floated within the large spherical bubble that seemed damaged.
The kadeshi girl hesitated so much that it took her much time to make the first step closer. The sheer majestic appearance of the whole inverted pyramid was suffocating her courage.
“Young mind... It issss I who guided your mind here... to my chamber. I shiverrr in deep disgrace... of penetrating the psyche of... a fragile mind... ”, Shodanii echoed sorrowfully, somewhat woefully, ” - Kadeshi child... I suffer fearrrr for your kind. Your kind isss in great danger...!”
Aira did not understand. Shodanii's words sounded alarming, but the girl simply could not comprehend.
“Young mind... You mussst learn... You mussst leaaarrn... before it isss too... late.”
Chapter 15 - High Incident
The voice of a bridge operative is listened to over the commlink as he explained:
““-As said before, we have received several uplinks from Shodanii. Deck plans and a lot of information we can't really interpret. Seems to be a mix of... history... log files and a lot more... We even received cartographic data. Wherever she got this from, she must have really been here for a very long time - and we're still receiving more. But that's not all...””
The bridge operative spoke further from her shoulder radio, but Hailynn actually listened passively as she packed several minor soy rations in a hurry.
“Hailey... Haiiiiley”, Kaydaana frequently bugged, “Haileh! Hey -”
“God-DAMNIT, what?!”
““—err uhhh, C-Commander?””, the bridge operative asked, noting himself being intimidated by Hailynn's voice, “”Sh-Should I call back later, sir - I mean, ma'am - Ma'am?”
“No. Speak further. I'm listening”, Hailynn demanded and pressed a small button on her communication unit to negate surrounding voices to be transmitted.
“”As you wish ma'am... Where was I - Ah yes...””, the voice continued as he gave Hailynn the situation update.
“Hailey, what yah doin'?”
Annoyed by Kaydaana frequent questioning, Hailynn paused.
“Kay, what you think this looks like?”
Once again, Hailynn had her uniform jacket open and reattached the belt around her waist, soon followed by a small pack filled with fluid rations.
“Well - Yah gonna go for Aira? Ain't that a bit...”
“Ain't nothing. I have to find her, Kaydy.”
“Yeah... but...”
Just as Kaydaana wanted say something further, she paused her speech as Hailynn loaded a small but handy 5mm submachine gun, a lightweight firearm commonly used within the Amaji Navy.
Shoving three additional clips into the pouch upon her waist, the hiigaran woman rearranged her radio gear with a much thicker and stronger antenna that now pointed away from her shoulder.
“Master-of-Arms -”, Hailynn called over, soon to be met by a male operative, “I need one portable data-pad.”
“Yes, ma'am - Oh, Commander. Here.”
The operative gave Hailynn her missing special issue handgun back.
“Wha-Where- ?”
“It was brought here, ma'am. You seem to have lost it.”
“Whatever. Thank you”, she replied back to him and holstered it.
The armory was a small region with a selected few aisles filled with equipment and handheld weaponry. Though hardly much available to suit an army, it had an abundance of technical equipment for survival and surveillance.
“But Hailey - Your're a Krin'sa now. Yah shouldn't be doin' this alone, woman!”
“Look. Right now that should be last thing I should be reminded about. I'm pretty much mad right now.”
“Yah should keep yer blood pressure down, remember - the doc'--”
“Shut up...”
Noticing the upcoming debate between the two, the master-of-arms operative slowly retreated in order to get the desired pad.
“And why yah taking the guns with yah?”
“Who knows what the frakk is waiting for me out there.”
“The ship's abandoned, girl, ain't no war goin' on out there -”
“Don't care...”
“Haileh - Yah should send a marine team to retrieve the girl”, Kaydaana suggested immediately to Hailynn's response.
“We can forget about that. We don't have enough marines for every place and everything, Kay. They are still needed here onboard the ship, at that camp and those research teams out there. Just have those survey teams keep doing what they're doing. We barely - *sigh* Forget about it, okay?”
Hailynn slammed the secured locker, received her requested datapad and made her way out to the main corridor. Her stained open jacket wove like a cap as she walked out.
“But -”, Kaydaana ran behind.
“Damn it, Kaydy. Could you just stop tailing me? *sniff*”
“Yah not gonna to do this alone, old lady! True, tha' girl may have ran off alone and is somewhere lost in this muthaship place but yah not gonna run gung-ho alone like that sobanni warrior called Rambo. There's no point for yah to just go on this trip all alone!”
“Don't be silly - I need to do this alone.”
“No!”
“For frakk's sake, Kaydaana - GET off my back!”, Hailynn shouted, slightly innervated by annoyance.
“We both will go look for her, Hailey - We can take Ray with us and -”
Hailynn stopped at once, “Oh sure, I could probably take him. He's vaygr, he surely knows how to use guns -“, she snitched ironically, “but then again... HE IS A PILOT, Kaydy! And so are YOU!”
“So whut! You're a Krin'sa now and a naval commanding officer! You're not ah mahrine!”
“I'm an ex-marine...”
“BIG DEAL, I know how to use ah gun, too!”
“But you were not a marine...!”
“I'm MANAAN!”
“But NOT A MARINE *nghhhh* --!”, Hailynn shouted back at her but suddenly swayed to the side of the wall, her left palm immediately thrown upon her chest. It took a short moment for her to regain herself.
“Marine or not - Yah still in bad shape. Yah should -”
“Would-should-co*ngh*uld... No more prattle. I want everybody to stay safely aboard and around the ship's perimeter - I want those survey teams to grab whatever they want and get back asap. And fact is: I'm in charge here, `Unshi, so move--”
Making one last attempt to stop Hailynn, Kaydaana blocked her passage and stared at her with her usual sharp green eyes. Both remained quiet at first despite the noise coming from the frequent chattering of the operative over the commline.
Again, it was one of those many moments where both stood in front of each other in anger; the slightly taller common hiigaran woman versus the hardheaded darkly tanned manaani that stood in the way. But this time, Hailynn was the stubborn one in the argument.
Kaydaana knew Hailynn for so long, but this time, her usual manner was not going to stop Hailynn's determination... Alas, she began to nod.
“So there we are, eh? Then... FINE. Yah want to go by yahself? Play it solo, boss? Then do it! Yah've been running all this time with drugs, girl... The drugs were killing yah. Yah can't hide it - It nearly did kill y-... M-Mah soul was... just worried about yah, Hailey”, Kaydaana's concerns just consolidated themselves as she heard Hailynn breathing heavily: Her health was tarnishing as she stood, her overall condition showing definite signs of drug withdrawal.
"Yer still a wreck, girl. Wh-What if something happens while you are wanderin' out there... And frell, may've been the first time I've been so worried about yah. - but fine... fine - I'll let yah go. Is that an ordah, mah Krin'sah?”
The angered manaani paused as she left her head tilted and ignored the radio chatter. But her words did affect Hailynn deeply. She looked down to the floor shortly... Kaydaana really meant it. Without warning, her arms embraced Kaydaana... surprisingly. Indeed, Hailynn felt the unusual concern of the manaani.
“I-I'm... sorry, Kay. I didn't want to insult you. But you must understand that I need to find Aira. Alone. I'm responsible for what I did to her. I must take on this.. on my own. I've hurt a lot of people just a day or two ago. I-I cannot allow anybody to... come with me. You are a pilot - And one frell of a one, Kay. But just this for once... Please stay back, I'm asking you as a... friend.”
Releasing the overwhelmed manaani, Hailynn reached over to her left shoulder and pressed the button once more, interrupting the speech of the operative, “-- Enough for now. Tell me more later. *sniffs* Right now, I want you to backtrack Aira's signal and trace a path for me. Relocate one of those com-sat probes in space you told m about, if you must. Transmit your data to my comm signal so my pad can trace her. Orelis shall maintain command during my absence, understood?”
The operative did sound overwhelmed at first, but he reconsidered, “”Uuhh. Yes, Krin'sa... Commander, ma'am. I will take care of it.””
“Thank you. Delixa, out.”
Hailynn looked up at the manaani that stared at her. Quietly handing over the pouch and the small submachine gun to her, the hiigaran officer nodded.
Obviously, she reconsidered. Taking this along would be overkill after all - After all, it was said nobody else was striding through the mothership.
Without any further words, Hailynn bypassed Kaydaana with heavy steps. Though not a single word was said, many feelings went through both of them. It took much courage for Hailynn to leave Kaydaana behind like this. This was the first time Kaydaana ever shown care and worries about Hailynn's well-being... but she made her decision. It was already tough for her to suppress her innermost urge.
- Shodanii -
Aira's small hand slid upon the surface of the damaged spherical object that rested upon the podium. The shattered shell was partially filled with a strange liquid that at first seem like water, but it was slightly thicker and hazy. Sounds of power hummed among her abandoned surroundings.
“So...cold...”, the girl whispered just before her eyes suddenly discovered a body deep within the this cracked but transparent shell. Staggered by the view, Aira moved so close that her breath became visible upon the cold surface.
“Yes... Your thoughtsss follows the truth...”, Shodanii's calm voice hollowed throughout the hall several times, “Child, you have found me... The leasssst of my... remains...”
The kadeshi girl could not believe her eyes. The body deep within this big shell floated lifelessly and although her eyes failed to penetrate clearly. Sorrow filled her soul. What happened to this poor being? She questioned herself so many times that a tear ran down her cheek.
“Young mind... I feel your... sorrows... but I plea you to come closssser to me.”
Aira rose herself and looked once more inside. But this liquid... How could she come closer?
“Do not fear what surroundsss me... It supportsssss... life...”
Aira circled the huge shell before she discovered a hatch among the upper half and although it seem damaged, she was able to open it.
Climbing among the upper `hemisphere' of the large shell, the girl used this possibility to enter. Her hand touched the fluid. It was outright cold, yet it tranquilized the intense itch and pain that frequently incited her to scratch. Doubts filled her mind. She was a breathing being - How was she to survive... By holding her breath? Climbing upon the entrance, the adolescent girl slowly sunk into the liquid and held her breath.
“Do not fear... what now surroundssss the both of us...”
However, Aira did have fear. She remained at her spot and held her breath as she floated barely beneath the surface. This was the first time she ever sunk her head below a liquid surface alike water... but as she remained at one spot, she began to notice that she did not feel the urge to breathe at all despite the deep cold crushing her lungs.
Instinctively, the girl opened her mouth and suddenly exhaled slowly... Several bubbles floated away and as she opened her eyes, she slowly inhaled the fluid. At this moment, Aira did expect the worst to happen, needless to explain that she felt the climax of her inner fear. She knew she was a being that needed air. Aira knew she was not one of those beings whose name she did not know, those that lived in such fluids like water.
An image shortly struck her memory, a brief deja-vu that was shorter than a heartbeat - as if she had been in such liquid once before... some time in her mysterious life.
Surprisingly, Aira's body neither reacted harshly nor fought for the remaining oxygen in her blood... The total opposite took place... She simply remained calm until she became used to the cold, unconsciously adapting to its somewhat frightful nature.
Faint echoes transmitted through the fluid, but she could not interpret them. There was a strong metallic taste that tickled among her tongue. This strange fluid... There was a lot more about it, but she could not explain it. It did not take long until her need for breathing stopped, unconsciously absorbing the life-supporting function of this fluid.
Aira slowly swung her arms in a strange manner, obviously trying to swim forward. It did not take long until the kadeshi girl reached the harmed body of Shodanii. The body, in fact, was of a mature woman that was punctured by several circlet holes.
Aira approached Shodanii's body as her innermost sorrow filled her soul. Shodanii's body had thin but holed clothing with patterns that seemed similar to those taiidani ones she had seen throughout the hall. Barely was she able to spot fabrics of the clothing and other small particles levitating within this spherical tank.
Many cables and tubes encircled her body, but most noticeable ones were connected into the rear side of her head that lead upwards to the tip of the gigantic upside down pyramid.
There were a selected few cables that did seem odd. Those that had a strange and unusual green-brownish covering them also were leading to her body and head - yet the girl did not know what to interpret out of these. Some fiber cables floated like tentacles, their ends either torn or cut apart.
The eyes were pale white, hardly did revealed any color... They simply remained open alike her mouth. Both Aira's and Shodanii's hair floated in all directions as the girl stared upon the body with frightened eyes. Touching the side of Shodanii's face that was marked with brown veins, Aira felt its hard surface... Lifeless...
“Thisss isss the truth... young one...”, Shodanii's calm voice slurred into the girl's mind.
“But... How... Why?”, Aira's mind cried in sorrowfulness. The girl could not explain her reaction. This was Shodanii's dead body. So many emotions filled Aira's heart that she climbed her way passed the net of cables that surrounded Shodanii's body, carelessly pulling certain cables out of the way that blocked her passage. She was so out of control that she unknowingly breathed the fluid rapidly again. The truth of Shodanii's body tormented her.
Though slightly entangled by the cables, nothing floated between Aira and the body that she quietly embraced sorrowfully. The cold corpse remained at its place.
“Your soul beseeches answerssss - ...Lisssten to my... story... Follow my... song...”
Once again, those faint echoes were heard, but this time, Aira's mind slowly began to feel a presence gently penetrating her thoughts albeit the rather severe physical headache.
Aira's blue-purple eyes suddenly faded dark.
- Reminiscences -
Memories.
The same wild and uncontrollable memories she had seen before... but this time... Aira expressed them like never before as all memories, thoughts, reminiscences and information of all kinds cycled into her mind. She no longer had any control over herself. Soon, her heart and soul reflected to the reminiscences...
*Flash*
Who am I?
...A century ago...
Childhood memories ran through her memory until the moment her eyes spotted the figures of the mothership that rested upon Omicron Scaffold in high orbit, surrounded by countless stars of huge vessels that surrounded it. Many military crafts hovered through the dusk turquoise sky.
Aira looked down upon herself. Her hands were different, marked and patched with mechanical plating she never had seen before. A strange dress... elegant... but militaristically patterned. She was a lot taller... a fairly matured body.
Her ears listened to a foreign language that stridently echoed among the innumerable amount of viewers and listeners, a gush of wind blew upon her long black hair as the soft smell of this unknown but then again beautiful world touched her nose. So many viewers looked upon their heightened podium as the unknown man gave speech.
The language... Taiidani common... amplified to its maximum so even the farthest listener could listen. The voice spoke about the greatest adventure of all times. The eyes of these millions of viewers were not alone...
Billions among distance stars and planets were expressing this proud moment at this very second - albeit the natural delay through subspace transmission.
All hail the pride of our Emperor! All hail to the Lead Guider to the new world! Behold, people of all taiidan worlds: Our Guider.
Aira lowered her head and smiled. The whole Taiidan Empire was the audience that awaited her. Spectators of all worlds bided their time to see the being who would guide the brave colonists to a new world at the farthest edge of this galaxy.
A short but friendly bump from an elbow touched her side, kindly urging her to receive this moment's fame and cheer.
Aira was outright anxious as she approached the strange object that the man before her recently spoken into.
“Na Taiika gara...!”, Aira announced loud and proudly, whose taiidani voice echoed several times among the huge gathering.
She began to hold a long speech that filled her with pleasure. It was a striving sensation as she spoke her words. Once again, Aira's view focused upon the third and last titan mothership high above the atmosphere.
It was unknown to her where the first mothership was, the superior vessel of the Emperor, but she knew that the second and the third one awaited her arrival. Rumors however said that something had occurred at the other edge of the galaxy, far beyond the Great Wastelands...
A taiidan voice suddenly spoke from the side, “Shodanii. My daughter... Are you prepared for the singularity?”
Aira turned her head as she stopped her speech.
“Yes, I am, sir.”
Within a single moment, Aira's whole surroundings changed instantly as she walked besides the taiidan admiral alongside the corridor filled with countless men and women, operatives, scientists and those of taiidan military. Up to this moment, a whole month passed ever since she boarded this ship. All her life had she been distant to her father. They did not speak any further.
Despite their long-going silence, deep trust and faith flew through her as she walked among their path. This ship and the second one had the propulsion needed to perform the most extreme far-jump through hyperspace of all times. Both were to enter hyperspace and lead 3 million taiidan colonists in cryo-stasis to the new worlds among the far edge of the galaxy by a single jump...
Aira's eyes opened suddenly. Innumerable emotions emerged within her soul...
Already five months of passionate adaptation and preparations have passed since her soul entered symbiosis with the cell, the ship's computer and the prototype Manifold Singularity Core - The most advanced propulsion core based on xenotechnologies gathered by the taiidan's aggressive reach throughout the galaxy's core region.
The true heritage of this drive remained a mystery to her. The common soul throughout the galaxy only once heard of it as an advanced hyperdrive... but never of its truth.
The blue fluid, Snyrdrolite, enveloped her young body totally. Every single impulse of the billion datalinks flew through the various cables as the `syntholytic' fluid nourished every cell of her body. Each thought she made was precisely conducted that tickled every corner of her body.
Her mind was overflowed with many consciences at once. While the eyes saw the various biotech scientists, astronomers and many other military segments operating outside her spherical chamber, her mind felt the supreme presence of every single object and celestial body in space.
Aira's perception registered every being onboard, every single communication , speech and data transfers of the ship's computer. Never had she felt such an astonishing feeling. Aira smiled as one of the biotechnicians smirked a joke, noticing her excitement through the vitality monitors.
“What is that you asked, Shodanii? The Kushans? You've never heard of them, I suppose. A race not worth to mention on a faraway planet. I don't know much about them myself. Nobody should really care about them, but you could try examining the datalinks some day.”
Her inner eye looked over to the second mothership that levitated twelve kilometers away. Whilst possessing its own Singularity Core, the second mothership differed greatly from hers: Aside to the crew, it was her hand, her intentions and purposes that led both ship - A remote duplicate mirroring her psyche.
But worries filled her soul as her thoughts wandered off to the other mass of the protective fleet, the foreign fleet of the Turanic Kingdoms that entered patronage with the Taiidan Empire by the will of Emperor Riesstiu IV the Second.
They were everywhere. Their troops were stationed all over among the ships, at least a million of them and their warfare was going to take part of this thriving adventure. But Aira needed not to worry, despite their hostile appearance, they were here to protect and support the taiidans. Alas, she calmed herself as she felt the existence of all colonists in cryo-stasis.
Thousands of experiences bypassed her mind like a gush of wind. Her body had aged very slowly during another 7 years due to the influence of the core and for the first time, they have forged first contact with an enigmatic wayfaring culture, a race of unknown origins that inducted high interest in trades and knowledge of all kinds and other deepspace-faring beings that traveled through the endless galaxy. Aira's mind forged itself with the Bentusi's consciousness for the first time. Never had her mind and soul been enlighten in such manner.
Despite their supportive notions, the Bentusi had no knowledge considering the whereabouts of the missing second mothership and its fleet.
The initiate singularity jump throughout hyperspace proved itself to be as a seriously dangerous and purely unpredictable incident despite the technological persistence of the taiidans... The amass of malfunctions and unexpected miscalculations during its singularity's initiation folded both ships through separate singularity wavefronts, causing both to uncontrollably jump through time and space separately... leading to unforeseen destinations.
For seven years had Aira constantly fought with the recalibration, assimilating any possible mistaken calculations to rediscover and reunite to the second fleet... but all attempts failed deeply.
The Bentusi offered their support and omniscience but without success - Therefore was the taiidan singularity core far too unpredictable, foremost leading to the fact of unreliability. The whereabouts of the second fleet remained a lost mystery; their emerge-point practically volatile. During the Bentusi interactions, Aira began to learn that her psyche played a far much serious and essential role, far beyond the basic mind. Even though the mind-machine interface of the third mothership was advanced, her psyche lacked the so-called Unbound Consciousness, the ultimate perception of time and space.
Luckily, Aira belonged to the very few able to benefit and learn from the Bentusi, despite the harsh standings between the Taiidan Empire and this enigmatic race.
Almost three decades later...
Unfortunately, as Aira's psyche began to percept the way of the Bentusi and their transcendental awareness of time and space, her efforts in singularity jumps continued to fail gravely.
Many starmaps revealed themselves as she focused her mind accordingly to the Bentusi principles.
Nonetheless, every psychic success and advancement in knowledge of the galaxy, its physics, its riches, beauties and dangers, and the way of the Bentusi backfired with each jump. Whereas she gained control of the wavefront... the emerge-point always remained at random. However, Aira remained determined to lead her people to the new worlds.
The Bentusi knowledge proven itself worthy... Aira became unbound.
Yet, confidence and faith of ever returning to taiidan space had already been abandoned, yet the taiidan authority maintained command and the task to find the second fleet and the new habitable world at the edge of the galaxy.
Nonetheless, the disastrous jumps into lost space made contacts with the Bentusi even more seldom, for their presence throughout these dangerous regions was extremely low. The very last contact with a single Bentusi vessel only gave a faint hint on the condition of the crumbling Taiidan Empire, its defeated Emperor and perhaps the whereabouts of the second mothership fleet named `Taiika Aksaii Vay' that emerged somewhere among the fringes of the `eastern' arm of the spiral galaxy.
Distrust began to rise among the ranks and the people onboard. The dangerous natures of the galaxy had frequently caused casualties throughout the decades of lost voyaging.
The once trusted Aira as the guide leading the taiidans to the new world among the fringe had already disintegrated and formed into hatred.
Internal affairs and unrest slowly spread like a sickness throughout the minds. Aira soon learned that the decades of isolation in space was leading to insanity and intense dissension throughout all vessels of the fleet and the mothership. With the dissensions gaining power, the turans slowly came to the fact that with the fall of the Emperor Riesstiu IV and the Taiidan Empire that the patronage and their pledge subservience became void... and all these decades long had they been serving the taiidans as servants. Unfortunately, the turanic psyche proved itself as the most instable and labile...
As the death toll among the crews during the voyage became dangerously high, the taiidan authority began to recover and awake some of the colonists as replacement.
Aira screamed as the next event in her life caught her by surprise. A violent rumble channeled throughout the ship, surging it with a brutal and vicious power feedback that tore the singularity wavefront from the mothership during the last hyperjump. With the feedback surging her, all functions of the ship are left uncontrollable, foremost her influence with the core's wavefront field generator.
The longevity serums, other vital things and the numbers of loyal crewmembers slowly became scarce. As word spread that the whole mothership was crippled for good, lost in space for nearly 60 years and now stuck in an endless nebula barely at the reach of a blackhole, longevity no longer available, the Emperor and the Taiidan Empire destructed, the threshold of extensive unrest ultimately burst out of control.
Months and years of turmoil and terror occurred throughout the fleet. Insane madness led to mindless killing, onslaughts and bloody treachery. Mutiny, disregards and deaths arose...
Aira fought for the sanity but never would she be able to soothe the insane psyche of every being... but the worst was yet to happen...
A vain scream... She screamed as an unusual but sudden infestation slowly spread among the mothership's hull. A dreadful bio-menacing vessel appeared and infected the greater portion of the fleet with a decaying disease that wrecked havoc upon nearly every being it came in contact with.
The green-brownish bio-menace, though a rather small ship was a threat none could withstand. The infestation was a very slow plague that expanded among the hundreds of decks despite all measures of quarantine. Dreadful months had passed by until biotechnicians discovered that the menace was a dying invasive lifeform. For some reason, the infestation itself was an intellectual menace that was infected itself. It was trying to manifest its dying self, needing both the ship and living beings as host. However, the infested people died of a long and slow death.
Coward self-preservation however forged the rest of the fleet with the same interest, mainly the turanics and the surviving uninfected portion of the taiidan military colonists who became aware that they needed to disband from the mothership.
In order to escape the infestations, the mothership was violently stripped of its Singularity Core and nearly all of its available energy stored in the regenerative capacitors.
Whilst its far-jumping capability being mistrusted, the largest vessel of the turanics concealed the core into itself to inhibit the monstrous living death from escaping or pursuing them. The surviving taiidans knew they had to form a partnership of convenience to survive this.
They were sure the fleets could escape and go on their own way once they gathered enough resources from the mothership. However, the threat was simply too high that this menace would hunt them.
Following the scientific results, the remaining fleet understood that the menace would die out within the next five years and that the fleet would need to return to the mothership around seven years to charge its propulsion cells and capacitors for their hyperspace modules if needed... A fact not to be ignored.
At the time the core was stripped from the mothership, her mind felt how the forceful separation tore her apart, as if an invasive force ripped her heart and soul from her body.
She cried and begged for them to stop, but the force of the fleet ignored her plea. Up to now, the escaping fleet had only one task remaining...
Aira had no chance of escape. The surge long ago had paralyzed most her physical body. Her efforts nonetheless focused on saving as much people as possible... but time slowly showed that they all would be infected.
The menace already had expanded itself to her chamber, invasively penetrating her mind with its dreadful will. Aira struggled with all her strength not to fall under total influence, yet she was slowly failing to it as the days went by.
Unable to move much, the taiidani unbound being became aware of an armed force approaching the core bridge of the mothership. A task force that slaughtered their way from the infested docking scaffolds throughout the ship to the last instance of the executive bridge.
All sides took losses, but it was clear that the task force could not linger long versus the menacing bodies and insane gunmen. Even possible survivors found on the way were mindlessly executed. Despite the gigantic hall her chamber and the main supercomputer resided in as the last bastion of the survivors, the task force entered the area with blazing gunfire...
Wild flashes of automatic projectile weapons wrecked havoc throughout the bridge. Powerful rifles roared with the vain screams. Witnessing the deaths of the remaining survivors, Aira had no choice but to observe the bullets violently dismembering the limbs of the survivors. Collateral damage butchered every single being no matter of what age or heritage. The troops purged the area and slowly approached Aira's chamber. Smashed projectiles upon the shell noted that it was not easy to penetrate... but they all knew how to reach her.
Aira listened to the speeches of the soldiers. Only the supercomputer needed to stay active to maintain the possibility to return to the mothership and sap its regenerative energies years later. All other lives were... expendable for them.
Dithering for her life, Aira fought vainly to move as her eyes followed one taiidan soldier walking upon the podium to the hatch. She screamed at him in the taiidani language for her life.
She did not want to die. She had figured up to now that if the people would survive only less than a month and not five years longer, most of the infestation would die out for good...
The taiidan soldier hesitated as he aimed his assault rifle down upon Aira's submerged body... but there was no chance of survival. His hatred blamed her for all the causes and the deaths ever since the first jump. They all mistrusted her scientific knowledge of the core by now.
They followed the fact that she could not control the illogical Singularity Core and the wavefront it formed. Aira slowly understood that she was the one who failed them. Furthermore, the soldiers needed to ensure that no inconveniences would interfere with their plans. Her sacrifice would ensure the future of the surviving fleet.
In a sudden manner, her chest was painfully penetrated by three aimed shots. The struggle was long and agonizingly, her life faded away with red cloud that soon shrouded her whole body...
But Aira's consciousness still remained...
Unknown to the task force, her unbound psyche, while fractured and barely affected by the infection, prevailed amidst the supercomputer's core and slept as the armed force shutdown all but the supercomputer permanently, leaving only one console available to maintain the power flux allocation and life-support systems that are left offline until their possible return.
Several flashes occurred that same day later...
The surviving fleet escaped the remaining infestation.
Without the physical body, her psyche could barely maintain the ship for the next years. Aira sorrowfully observed the slow deaths of every being: The remaining infested bodies, the least survivors who died due to the failed life-support and lastly, the remaining hundred thousands of cryogenic colonists.
For the next decades, Aira was unable to do anything but eavesdrop in time and space, hoping to discover an unbound being... Whilst able to retain some of the ship's systems and control, she had been alone for extensively long periods. In between had the surviving fleet returned, however only to plunder the regenerative energy and the capacitors...
Surrounded by the innumerable destructed fleet of infested or mad taiidan and turanic ships, the field of waste and debris remained at the vicinity of the mothership, held by its gravitational integrity fields. Her perception for wayfaring beings was limited.
She was still dying, but she never died at last. Power fluctuated every now and then that tormented her surviving psyche in agony.
The supercomputer still evoked self-preservation, making it impossible for her to actually terminate herself... that is, if she even had the possibility to. Her soul was forever stuck in the dead hulk, swallowed and enveloped by the unimaginable depth of the gaseous system.
Aira's psyche was now enslaved to the dominant surviving fleet that made sure the existence of the supercomputer would never fail... All these years had they survived and yet... still had not escaped this system. They were trapped in it as well... but they kept surviving...
A full century of hopes, values and pride ended in despair and suffering...
****
(A long preceding moment... Somewhere throughout the deep of the abandoned taiidan mothership)
A moment went by before she suddenly fought against the pain to get up. She limped and cried with every painstaking movement, hopefully leaving the madness behind. She was in desperate need for an intense dose of cortisine... that she just threw away into the seemingly endless pit for good along with its additional capsules.
The total recall of her dreadful past, from the time between her flawed childhood, the Kiith Delixa, to the vaygr war, tormented her mind, led by her second personality somewhat dauntingly intimidating herself - A confusing twist of hallucinations and voices plagued her.
Her shoulder and balance repeatedly knocked and slid against the unfamiliar solid wall of the corridor... but she did manage to remember the route from the smashed datapad...
Deep within, Hailynn knew she was not far from her destination, the place where she could find the lost kadeshi girl.
(end of foregoing moment)
= Bridge of the Vjel-Amaj =
Long hours before...
The access doors shifted themselves closed as Orelis rushed into the rather quiet bridge. The skeleton crew maintained operation as the ship peacefully rested upon the scaffold, basically keeping in contact with the drones in space, other crewmen throughout and beyond the ship and the maintenance work. After being noticed shortly, he immediately turned to one of the few available communication operatives at the far right and rear of the bridge.
“Hey, you - Operative Packard. You're the one I recently spoke with, or not?”, Orelis immediately asked him, recognizing who he recently spoke with.
“Yes, Lieutenant Commander”, the operative confirmed as he took off his headset.
Orelis immediately got to the point, “You've got to be kidding me... She left the ship? Alone?!”
“No, I am not, sir - It's confirmed. Commander Delixa has disembarked from the ship nearly two hours ago from now and has left further command to you as X-O, sir.”
Hearing the comment, Orelis straightened his back and looked up to the ceiling - Least did Packard hear a disappointed sigh from behind.
“All right...”, the now executive officer said as soon as he lowered his view upon the operative, “Now why are we hearing about this now and not earlier?”
“Ehh-”
A moment went by before she suddenly fought against the pain to get up. She limped and cried with every painstaking movement, hopefully leaving the madness behind. She was in desperate need for an intense dose of cortisine... that she just threw away into the seemingly endless pit for good along with its additional capsules.
The total recall of her dreadful past, from the time between her flawed childhood, the Kiith Delixa, to the vaygr war, tormented her mind, led by her second personality somewhat dauntingly intimidating herself - A confusing twist of hallucinations and voices plagued her.
Her shoulder and balance repeatedly knocked and slid against the unfamiliar solid wall of the corridor... but she did manage to remember the route from the smashed datapad...
Deep within, Hailynn knew she was not far from her destination, the place where she could find the lost kadeshi girl.
(end of foregoing moment)
= Bridge of the Vjel-Amaj =
Long hours before...
The access doors shifted themselves closed as Orelis rushed into the rather quiet bridge. The skeleton crew maintained operation as the ship peacefully rested upon the scaffold, basically keeping in contact with the drones in space, other crewmen throughout and beyond the ship and the maintenance work. After being noticed shortly, he immediately turned to one of the few available communication operatives at the far right and rear of the bridge.
“Hey, you - Operative Packard. You're the one I recently spoke with, or not?”, Orelis immediately asked him, recognizing who he recently spoke with.
“Yes, Lieutenant Commander”, the operative confirmed as he took off his headset.
Orelis immediately got to the point, “You've got to be kidding me... She left the ship? Alone?!”
“No, I am not, sir - It's confirmed. Commander Delixa has disembarked from the ship nearly two hours ago from now and has left further command to you as X-O, sir.”
Hearing the comment, Orelis straightened his back and looked up to the ceiling - Least did Packard hear a disappointed sigh from behind.
“All right...”, the now executive officer said as soon as he lowered his view upon the operative, “Now why are we hearing about this now and not earlier?”
“Ehh-”
Hailynn's shoulder knocked against the solid-plated wall after loosing her balance shortly. Hardly carrying anything else but a moderately loaded belt with a sidearm, the datapad and the common shoulder mounted comm-unit with a larger antenna, her weariness was no longer deniable by her determined ego. Yet, she wanted to continue, the remains and stains everywhere disgusted her, needless to explain how disgusting it felt just as her finger tips touched something oily on the plated walls.
Up to now, her path through this weird ship showed a near infinite amount of proof for battles and massacres that occurred at least many decades ago. Several bodies were stuck to the walls with a strange biomass connecting them all to one of the depleted conduits. Not a single spot was clear of this strange dried infestation, needless to say how slaughtered and widespread the remaining limbs were. It more or less surprised her how much of this `survived' without decaying into anything more gross.
But then, she stopped. Something throughout her surroundings changed. The barely visible crimson lights faded to black along with the faint noise she ignored ever since she had been on the move. To a point, the air that surrounded her seemed to have just become calmer than before. Surrounded by the darkness, it did not take long at all until her augmented left eye slowly adjusted and adapted to the dark situation.
Though having a sorry thanks to the minor remnants of her previous military career that branded her long ago, the non-intensive augmentations among her still proved themselves worthy. Hailynn sighed before she continued among the path.
“I think I can answer that, sir - If I may interrupt...”, another operative with logistics insignias and uniform added, wanting to clarify the situation.
“Go ahead, please”, Orelis replied as he shortly made some space for other operatives entering the bridge.
“We have increased the maximum proximity radius of all comm beacons among the ship ever since we have dispatched the expeditionary groups. Logistic warden systems frequently went off like mad until we raised the radius”, Orelis dropped his shoulders slightly as he heard the word `radius', “I have to apologize for not discovering this earlier, I have only been monitoring the groups beyond - None of us really expect somebody to be wandering off like that alone.”
“Alright - I can only guess she's going for Aira, right? <pause> Right.”, Orelis said to them and took a step away, “Packard, *sigh* can you get an uplink to her right now?”
“Not quiet, sir. We've been relocating the com-sat probe outside the mothership for a long while but still have trouble pinpointing her signal and aligning it to the mainframes we received from that A.I. woman - which I uploaded to her datapad before she disembarked. Good news is that we found our positioning and can backtrack all movements now.”
As seen on one of the screen, Orelis spotted the image zooming in and penetrating throughout countless layers and decks of the mothership until it met with scaffold region filled with blips and other moving dots.
“Let's not waste the time”, Orelis suddenly said.
“Sir?”, both operatives asked with confused voices.
“Heh, you two don't know Hailynn well, huh? - Come to think of it, me neither really -<ironical grin> but she can be a loner sometimes. And this unusual mothership is the wrong place to be walking around alone like this. So -”
“”Bridge *ffhz*, This is EG-Three. Come in, bridge command””, a barely understandable voice suddenly spoke over the commline.
Packard immediately turned to his console and responded after picking up his headset again, “This is bridge command, go ahead, sir.”
One of Orelis' eyebrows raised itself. An expeditionary group calling in on the bridge had to mean some trouble of some sort.
““Bridge, what's going on? *hhhzsh* There are indications that the remaining power grid throughout this area just collapsed. Everything's offline. Other groups are reporting the same. Can't really say that we've done something. What shall we do?””
“What? All areas, you say? That doesn't sound good”, the communication operative replied with a worried voice.
“What is this all about?” Orelis asked, wanting to know of his concerns.
“<Standby, EG-Three.> We are still receiving a lot of encrypted and compressed data, but along with that, the A.I. woman stated that she and the ship's power grip frequently collapse at certain periods - Somewhat predictable periods. However... This shortage is an unscheduled one. ”
“I understand that, but that doesn't seem to be your point.”
Packard turned himself over to Orelis, “Indeed, X-O. The power grid powers all of the ship's remaining functions. Our expeditionary groups are in safe zones - but beyond those, the rest of the ship is more likely dead - and with that, I mean the life support and pressure control systems. The A.I. stated that atmospheric levels could only be upheld with power due to the fact that the certain hull sections are not completely sealed. The bridge section of the mothership is a safezone as well but between here and there - nobody should be walking around without lifesupporting gear. Without power, the rest of the ship would slowly bleed away its current pressure supply...”
“Damn it.”
“I'm sure the grid will be back online some time, but this is a bad time to be wandering beyond our set proximity, sir”, the other logistic operative affirmed.
“Look. I want you to recall the two closest team to a rally point and have them meet up with a few of our marines and a few other volunteers along with medics”, Orelis suddenly proclaimed, “Once they meet up, I want them to wait at the edge of the proximity border until life support is back online. <rubs forehead> I can't believe Hailynn gone solo like this... - Anyways, I assume she should be fine as soon as she meets up with Aira.”
“Yes sir, the A.I. woman informed us that Aira is at her area - This sort of bridge section right here on the screen.”
“At least she knows where she needs to head to...”
= A corridor somewhere within the Vjel-Amaj =
Kaydaana slowly walked throughout the ship. Mindless of how long she had been walking in circles, her thoughts swarmed around her confession and Hailynn's matter. Despite the walk clearing the smallest amount of her concerns, many things still remained unanswered.
However, her mind suddenly snapped as she discovered a familiar face she had been seeking before. The manaani officer bit her teeth together as she looked ahead. The female superior logistic officer she had been looking shared gossips and laughter with her colleagues, when both views suddenly crossed each other.
Deena Amaj, sister of Fenna Amaj and one of the ship's most graceful gossipers, stopped her speech...
“Errr... Guys, I'll... just catch y'all later. `kay? Heh-heh... uh-oh”, she quietly said to the group before retreating around the corner. Making fast steps, Deena's friendly smile turned into a dreadful frown due to the fact that the manaani she fooled was hot on her trail.
“Yooouu! Git back here!”, Kaydaana's voice shouted from behind.
The joke Deena pulled of having Ray to be assigned to her sister's quarters was a thorn in Kaydaana's eye - and not only that, it was a permanent decision for now due to the regulations as a logistic officer and of course due to the crowds of refugees onboard. It was more than obvious that Kaydaana wanted to have Ray assigned to her quarters. Cowardly moving with fast steps, Deena rushed without running, dodging groups of people in the way while ironically trying not to show others throughout the corridor that she was in deep trouble.
“Oh hi, Colonel - What's the...”, a trio of her subordinate pilots greeted as they saw Kaydaana dashing by, ignoring them totally, “hurry...?”
Deena had always been known as a weasel, a nickname given to her for her style of playing poker and other card games with the crew during off duty times, but often had she also made a fool out of Kaydaana in poker rounds. She was too scared to think about what Kaydaana was going to do with her. Silly to think that these two grown women were acting like school kids...
- The Ark -
Aira was in deep sleep, but still felt the crowding dead hulks silently orbiting the mothership. Everything was dead for now. The remaining power grid once again failed and with it, her current flow of life. All these decades long had this failure occurred frequently and yet each time was a frightening event of death that haunted her soul.
It was as if her life came each time to an end, a sudden freeze siphoning the rest of her existence - but she knew she was not truly dead. It was only a matter of time until she would be revived into this misery... only to be tortured by its occurrence yet again. Lastly, the surviving fleet would return to plunder her regenerative power and fuel supplies - even cannibalize the hull for erecting or repairing ships.
Nonetheless, all of this time though, her mind had been able to remain conscious to time and space. Her mind still was able to percept the fleets of the dreadful turanics and taiidans that struggled for their survival. Throughout the years, the fleet flew throughout this system, only to discover minor planets and a single strange habitable region in space. Until now had she become aware of three further factions, one of them actually being hunted by the other unknown one.
But among this time, her mind became aware of a being with a frail mind that had entered this dense star system. Soon she became aware that it was Aira, a kadeshi descendant. All matters in contacting her succeeded, lastly leading her and her voyagers to the mothership. But this was not all. Aira wanted to show Aira something of a plot that had occurred a long while ago.
Penetrating into the nebula, both minds perceived an event. A titanic vessel and its fleet of needleships and swarms of capsules struck upon one of the major fleets of the survivors, lastly attaining the Singularity Core and uniting it with their unknown core system. The majestic vessel, loosely similar to the needleships but scaled upon rather supernatural measure, was filled with young minds of unbound beings and even millions of other bound ones - However, their thoughts were scattered and full of hatred. Aira learned that Aira was a descendant of these beings.
Yet, the kadeshi were in danger. The surviving rest of the turanic-taiidan fleet had combined forces with the other faction known as “Vaygr”, a name she had heard throughout the wave of space. Soon had Aira learned that the kadeshi were wayfaring to this system on behalf of their religion and heritage. The majestic vessel and its fleet were filled with an unimaginable amount of kadeshi souls; Nearly a whole world existed inside. The ship itself was beyond the fact of simply being a mothership...
Kadesha's Ark..., Aira's faint voice whispered.
It all began to make sense.
Aira's true mind concluded that they had found Rahji's Sanctuary deep within his endlessly sorrow. `Kadesha's Ark'... The vast but familiar vessel... Aira began to understand that this ship had to do with her heritage, her existence. It felt so familiar.
This majestic `Ark' was the ship of her culture that sailed across the dangerous and immense galaxy on a pilgrimage to Garden of Rahji, to seek the truth. She did not truly know of which truth at first, therefore was her fragile mind to weak to recall, but they were indeed pilgrims on behalf of kadeshi religion and legacies. Within a single second, faintly could she recall the bleak disorder, the unrest of psyche throughout the Garden of Kadesh.
The constant turmoil of all believers that led to an endless onslaught, smiting death upon those who did not believe one or another. Scavengers wrecking havoc upon `unclean' minds. One belief led to another, but mainly, sacrificing the lives of others pleased the minds of their sect. Each sacrifice bled blood to the sungods. All sects of believers only followed their hatred in cleansing the Garden of Kadesh of its infidels.
Not only did the truth seem to be their goal. The kadeshi of this ark believed in a sacred world hidden throughout the Garden of Rahji. However, their seek for Kadesha's tear must have remained unsolved at journey's end. Many vessel of fleet dispatched themselves to seek the world, but the seek proved itself as an impossible task to complete. Her soul felt happiness but sorrowed for them at the same time.
Rahji's Garden was a sacred world for all of them, but without the sake of Kadesha's sorrow of such, never were they to stay and receive his embrace. Never were they to settle down and flourish.
Without the `Tear of Kadesha', they were never to receive his loving embrace, so says their bequest. Their journey must have lastly proven itself as a failure. While Aira may had found Kadesha's tear, she nonetheless failed to receive a drop, evidence that her sorrow had reached Rahji's. Despite their struggle of venturing so many thousands light years, they would never survive upon a distinct world in space; Their minds were therefore too dependant on the embrace of the sacred Gardens.
But something else led her mind away to a more dangerous fact: Kadesha's Ark and its fleet slowly retreated to the entry point... however not able to percept the dangers of the fleets that surrounded the only known but safe escape away from Rahji's sorrow. Kadesha's Ark was far away, but one's mind could easily guess that they were slowly approaching a serious threat.
As time flew by, Shodanii's mind separated itself from Aira's, lastly returning the will to the frail kadeshi girl. Shodanii felt how terrifying her life was for this girl, but she needed to know - and it was not over, yet. All knowledge of the galaxy, all the mass of information, secrets, dangers and riches flew into Aira's mind but also replicating every single bit of all what Shodanii was.
However, the girl's mind was more likely being overfed. Shodanii feared her fragile mind would burst asunder, but she had no other choice but to share all she knew with this small being she wished to ensure its survival.
- ...she'll be just fine... -
Hailynn stopped in front an access door that blocked her way. The whole area was another scaffold area alike the one where the `Vjel-Amaj' was situated, however a bit smaller, more likely designated for smaller crafts and other vehicles. Situated high above on one of the largest catwalks, she took a glimpse down into the deep by leaning over the railing.
Her augmented eye was not able to see anything worthwhile other than more metal bars, other railings with bent or damaged frames and many other boring things. However, she noticed that the air was slowly getting strange. Probably a failure in the life supporting systems, she assumed. Despite the fact that the air was getting thinner at a very slow pace, she did not need to worry yet. Once again, her former military career augmented her with enriched blood thanks to nanotechnology, which actually only allowed her to operate in low-pressure regions for a much longer period of time without falling unconsciously, although it did have some side effects.
There were a lot more of these minor augments that nonetheless still disturbed her. From the outside, she appeared may appear as a kushan, but there were several other things invisibly under her skin. It did surprise her that those throughout the Kiith Amaj still saw her as a kushan being rather than a cybernetic monster - nonetheless, not many really knew of it anyways.
At first surprised by the sudden rumble and noise hollowing throughout the dark area, she moved away from the railing and back to the door. According to her datapad, she only needed to keep going straight ahead. Unfortunately, she broke a rule of her own such as never to take her ideas of `shortcuts', which led her to this area, this path and lastly to this door blocking her way. Hailynn frowned, since she knew if this door would not open, she would have to walk another half an hour back and circle this area - not really a good idea either since life support was failing.
“Oh c'mon...”
While the unusual keypad still seemed to have power, it did not really respond to the wild and random inputs of her finger. The frequent sound it made did not sound like a real access denial either, more likely as if some sort of malfunctioning blocked it. She kept trying, hammering a finger on several button wildly.
“Commander Orelis”, Packard called out, “The search and rescue team has assembled itself and is waiting for the power grid to restore itself.”
“Thank you, good to know.”
“Hmm. This power failure is holding on quite long, I hope the Commander is okay”, the logistic officer noted.
“I'm sure she'll be just fine, Jacen”, Orelis replied to him with sureness, “When all of this is over, remind me to account all of us for a very long shore leave from duty... Oh, almost forgot to say something...”
“Thank you, good to know.”
“Hmm. This power failure is holding on quite long, I hope the Commander is okay”, the logistic officer noted.
“I'm sure she'll be just fine, Jacen”, Orelis replied to him with sureness, “When all of this is over, remind me to account all of us for a very long shore leave from duty... Oh, almost forgot to say something...”
At the same moment Hailynn pounded upon the pad, the access door shifted open.
“'bout frakking...”, but as she straightened her back, she suddenly froze at one spot with a startled face, “...time...”
A tall figure revealed itself behind the access door that slowly shifted away. A toughly built man in a strangely armored with severe damages, scratches and dried stains stood before her. The appearance was so surprisingly that her astonishment even held her breath. Both stared each other with surprised faces. It seemed as if none had expected to meet each other... here and now. Indeed, an unforeseen confrontation.
What actually scared Hailynn was the fact of who this man for sure was... The fact that was written over his forehead like a signature: The particularly ridged forehead resembling the fact that he was a turanic man! Wrinkles were all over his face, he seem aged but showed no sign of any affliction. The turanic, the much-feared aggressor against the Kiith Amaj, stood not even a step away.
But same for him, his eyes pinched together in hatred as they briefly scanned her... The gentle flawlessly round forehead of Hailynn easily led to the fact that he stood before a puny young female kushan being. Least one could say he was surprised, since he knew no explanation how such kushan could be here on this gigantic vessel so far away from that one planet whose name he could not recall.
Her eyes widened. Hailynn noticed an aggressive reaction in his face just as his arm pulled out the awkward looking weapon from his side. With the sudden jolt of his action, she instinctively spun her counterclockwise closer to him and threw her left elbow to the side of the weapon as he stretched it out - barely able dodge his sudden aim and knock the weapon off his hand at the same time...
“Huh - Wait... She denied promotion to the rank of Captain?!Aw man...”, Jacen, the logistics officer ironically asked loudly back to Orelis as the rest of bridge listened, “And she's a Krin now?!”
Orelis nodded several times, “You got it - and not just a simple Krin, Krin'ka, 'ned, `tekar... but Krin'sa! The Captain as we know him is no longer chief-in-command and speaking of that, she's the big boss now and representative of the Kiith Amaj as of... well, from now on and forever.”
Other operatives looked at each other.
“That's just... wow. It may sound weird, but I'm glad she's it - honest. Don't get me wrong but I rather have her than some other whack from some other dominating kiithid leader, sir.”
“Me too”, another female operative said from the other side of the bridge, “But hey, has she... reported to the bridge yet?”
“Nope”, Packard said back to her, “Nothing yet.”
“Lost her signal on the screen”, Jacen added as well, “Seems to be a blind spot but she should pop up at Aira's current beaconing signal some time around. We'll have it easier as soon as the com-sat manages to position itself correctly.”
“I'm sure the Commander is on her way with no real trouble”, Orelis assured them and arranged his uniform a bit, “Probably much to see out there. For sure, she's probably just taking her time as usual”, assuming to Hailynn's `usual' punctuality for duty.
Hailynn's sidearm slid away as well as her opponent knocked it off her hand likewise by a powerful swipe. Wrestling against the power of her opponent, Hailynn fought but hardly had the chance to withstand. Almost did he snap her neck if she had not been aware of his attempt!
“Van-WOT!”, he shouted in a foreign language at her.
“Son-of-a... *uughf-*!”, unfortunately the left side of Hailynn's torso was wide open for an attack... to which he took advantage of.
Forced by the blow, Hailynn was knocked back onto wide catwalk high above the scaffold area. Approaching her aggressively, her turanic opponent threw another vicious strike followed by a thrusting knee attack. Dodging the best she could, something told her that her antagonist was a skillful soldier. His brute movements were still accurate and dexterous - He knew what he was doing. There was no time for gauging or asking... He wanted her dead.
Parrying was not a simple task for each parried blow was as hard as metal.
The catwalk was indeed a wide area. Hailynn needed to avoid giving him the chance of tossing her over the edge; he was up to that idea for sure. By doing so, she strafed to the side, offering her more space despite the amount of sealed crates and other things she could not percept clearly at this suspenseful moment.
The turanic soldier hurled several attacks upon her. While able to parry most of them, each block caused more pain from the skin to the bone that forced her back again.
Using the current moment of him recovering from his attacks, Hailynn immediately charged ahead, shoulder first. The rather small hiigaran woman bashed her shoulder against the torso of the turanic soldier followed by a powerful jab below his ribcage. Despite her counterattacks being sudden, both ended in pain. His armor was simply too thick for her. At first, the soldier was knocked back by the attack but caught his balance within the next second
Repelled by soreness, Hailynn clumsily stumbled backwards over a small group of crates she was unable to dodge. Slightly disorientated, she desperately crawled away, trying to gain single seconds of mind and breath. Hailynn was already sweating, suffering and rather out of endurance, formidably caused by her dreadfully longing addiction. Judging the situation, she was in a very serious trouble. However, she did notice that this brutal man was assured of taking her down without the need of his sidearm.
“D-damn it...”, she painfully said, “Can't we just talk this through-”, but was suddenly dragged back by her leg. Before she could react anyhow, she was forced up to her feet and right after punched into the stomach with yet another crushing blow. Staggering backwards, she fell over again, but this time landing a lot more painfully upon another group of the smaller crates, their corners and edges poking everywhere upon her body.
She coughed and choked.
Feeling a disgusting substance upon her hand, she noticed that her hand fell upon a rotted corpse hidden among these knocked-over crates. At the same moment though, her hand felt something else below, the surface of a familiar `grip'.
The soldier remained silent but kicked the crates out of the way. It was clear to him that he had the upper hand... when suddenly...
The in his eyes puny kushan woman unexpectedly swung an ill-treated looking weapon from below straight at him, obviously found by coincidence among one of the many rotted corpses spread everywhere among their surroundings.
Hailynn did not really know what type of weapon it was, but it did have the common shape of bulky handheld sub-machinegun, she knew it had to be a weapon. The turanic soldier stayed put, he did not expect her find a weapon - Even more, his shocked reaction actually told Hailynn that she was indeed holding a lethal weapon to him.
Without any second thought, Hailynn gave a vicious and self-assured smile before pulling the trigger...
*click-fzzzzt*
Hailynn frowned as a single spark jumped from its side. The weapon she held seemed to be a cell-powered one that unfortunately must have corroded throughout all of this time lying here...
“...ngh... bad karma...”
The soldier immediately kicked the useless weapon from her hands and swung the lower edge of his left foot, a down-striking attack aimed straight for Hailynn's body. Unable to dodge, Hailynn's slow reaction caused her to receive a critical blow to the right side of her ribcage... A snapping pain that kept her down to the ground. Her painful voice echoed several times throughout the scaffold region.
“*uufnngggh*!”
Her shouting suffocated as heavy pressure suddenly forced itself against her chest. Sore pain was overwhelming her movement. Her hip suffered greatly from the recent hit, but that was the least of her problems. The soldier was trying to crush her with his heavily armored foot. The tremendous pain was taking over. Not only was this `soldier' a dangerous opponent, but also a sadist as he stared down upon the weak being crying for his mercy.
In attempt of trying to free herself, Hailynn lifted her right leg despite the bruised hip and aimed for the lower side of his groin. The thrusting kick, while powerful, had no affect upon him other than raising the pressure upon her already suffering ribcage. Obviously, her kick in that certain region only made matters worse.
Hailynn looked up to his face. The turanic soldier spoke non-understandable words, slowly and calmly, as if he tried to hell to give up.
He repeated his words again. Unable to breath, she was at the bursting point of failing totally... but just before she lost mind, she reminded herself of Aira... and the crew of the `Vjel-Amaj'... They needed her... She just could not die now...
At the very last moment, her mind snapped once more out of its misery just as the adrenaline rush flew through her. All of her knowledge in hand-to-hand combat ran before her eyes. Hailynn's eyes looked down from the dreadful face of the hateful turanic that was killing her until she spotted the spot her mind focused on... A weak spot!
Having almost all of his force upon his leg and foot, she understood that he was not as secured as he may have thought. Striking her bruised knee against the rear of his leg, it automatically bent, reacting to the force that pushed into its joint.
At the same time she was able to regain breath, she spun the side of her body against the other leg, causing the tall hulking soldier to loose balance and stumble away to the side.
Hailynn needed to use this vital to regain some of her lost breath. However, Hailynn gasped several times and breathing did not really help since the air was thin... Whatever was going on upon this ship and this area, she was running out of time.
The turanic soldier suddenly shouted at her and pulled a very sharp and threatening looking knife from behind. A long blade... long enough to kill any humanoid being by a single stab... He maintained an aggressive stance while slowly but skillfully swirling the knife in a provoking manner like a snake haunting its prey.
The weary hiigaran woman stood upon shaky legs - but despite her slightly ripped uniform skirt, messed-up jacket and face, it only revealed her physical status... It was the inner-fire within her that kept her awake, anxious and angry. Engaging a defensive combat stance at first, Hailynn needed to trust her knowledge... This was going to be more than a test for her life.
She insulted him with a much harsher voice than ever - A lot more different than the usual Hailynn.
Lunging ahead, the knife of the soldier swiped at blazing speed!
Just about capable of evading it, Hailynn's arm received a cut, but she did not respond to the pain. Another swipe, a revered down-thrust attempting to cut her fatally - but only trimmed rear of her hair, followed by a third attack, which was a horizontal swipe that only scratched the upper layer of her shirt...
Another vicious and lunging attack - but this one aimed for her rushing heart!
“No you won't... !”
This time, she took advantage of his offensive and overhasty attack!
Grappling her attacker's arm, she skillfully twisted his arm to point of being able to knock it off and force him to cold floor by performing a reversed foot-swipe against his forwarding heel. By now, the turanic had understand that the female weakling was a lot smarter than he at first thought.
Lunging upon him, Hailynn's thighs covered his torso until she was able to pushed both ahead over each of his arms. Despite his strength, he was unable to get up - He truly underestimated this puny kushan that now skillfully tackled him down! A single but painful punch that struck upon his tough skull was the sign that Hailynn had forged severe anger against him.
One of his hands grabbed the side of her severely bruised him, enforcing a lot more pain that it already emitted. Hailynn used her elbow to free her waist and then immediately clenched his thick throat with both of her grips!
Both shouted in pain and hatred. Loosing some of her concentration, the man's other arm freed itself and clutched his grip around her neck as well. Hailynn gasped, but that did not stop her. This was endgame, a fight to death. Hailynn knew only one thing for sure: He was a living being, just as vulnerable as any other one despite his superior strengths.
Using her elbow to push his arm and its grip away from her throat, she took advantage to disorientate him by smashing a pack of her soymilk-ration from her belt upon the turanic's face. Already more angry than ever, she lost control of herself...
Hailynn became so berserk that she began to punch wildly upon his face, each punch bloody and painful than the other. Each time the soldier tried to grab her throat or any other attempt in freeing himself ended with Hailynn vigorously punching before his hands clutched her throat again.
Frequently did she pull the collar rim of his armored suit and pummeled him - again and again. The hulking turanic soldier fought against her strikes but never really could withstand them, lastly not even able to gain the upper hand. The severely hurt woman lost her mind, cried loudly and fell into a murderous frenzy...
- Aira's Salvation -
*Her blackout vanishes*
Sobs and minor but painfully shouts are heard throughout the sinister corridors and the heightened position.
She slowly came to her senses. An outright dreadful return to reality, though...
Hailynn's heavy breathing and moaning hollowed throughout the dark surroundings as she fearfully slid her bruised legs and stinging hip away from the body that finally stayed lifelessly. Under the influence of psychical and emotional agony, and suffering from intense nausea, only recently had she vomited the least from her body. She panted and gasped several times.
A smeared pool of blood, droplets of saliva and lastly her stomach content only gave the slightest hint of what truly happened. Hailynn vainly tried to cool herself down with her scratched hand. Her uniformed jacket with a missing Krin'sa insignia was now stained with a lot more than the coffee mark from before.
The corpse ahead of her stayed where it was. Lifelessly. The mouth wide open, the face smeared with a white fluid - obviously, he was killed by her cause. The turanic stayed silently at its spot. Next to his head lied a smashed fluid ration of soymilk...
The crushing pain upon her chest, her nearly strangled throat and the utterly intense disgusting smell of rotted death that stung her nose made the matters worse. However, the air was getting dangerously thin - but luckily, she remained conscious. Despite all sore bruises spread everywhere among her body, her voice sounded as if she was desperately craving for something. Her heart raced and pounded so hardly that she shivered as her hand fought on the backside of her belt, trying to pull out the small handheld injection gun.
The pale face and the urging woman was the omen that showed that her subconsciousness viciously longed for the fix. The addiction was at its climax...
Unfortunately having the left sleeve of her arm with a small rip at the joint of her arm, it gave the perfect spot for the secured needle. Hailynn mumbled and slurred words, rather answering her own speech in this somewhat confusing self-conversation...
The vein revealed itself, seemingly awaiting the infusion and yet the shaking aim of the needle hovered over her arm. She stuttered further to herself...
The urge was getting more intense as the needle approached her arm.
Who *sniff* are you - Who are *nggggrrrgh* you - you worthless..., her voice frequently mumbled - Obviously, the dreaded personality of her other ego. It had no name...
Hailynn bit her teeth together.
Just before the needle pierced her skin, the tip of it scratched the upper layer of the skin, leaving a thin trail of blood as her hand anxiously tossed the injection gun over the edge of the railing...
A moment went by before she suddenly fought against the pain to get up. She limped and cried with every painstaking movement, leaving the dead body behind. She was in desperate need for an intense dose of cortisine... that she just threw away into the seemingly endless pit for good along with its additional capsules.
The total recall of her dreadful past, from the time between her childhood, the Kiith Delixa, to the vaygr war, tormented her mind, led by her second personality somewhat dauntingly intimidating herself.
Her shoulder and balance repeatedly knocked and slid against the unfamiliar solid wall of the corridor... but she did manage to remember the route from the smashed datapad...
Limping to her handgun, she lifted it up and aimed it towards the body of the turanic soldier. It took her a while until she lowered it again; He was dead after all... but other than that, a single question bugged her: Were there more of his kind here in this forsaken place?
Deep within, Hailynn knew she was not far from her destination, the place where she could find the lost kadeshi girl. She needed to find her... and save her.
But she needed to withstand her other self however. The monologizing hiigaran woman insulted herself frequently. All her life long had she wanted this dreaded personality to vanish and never come back... yet, it saved her life. A confusing twist of hallucinations and voices from her flawed childhood plagued her mind. Her steps tapped throughout the dark corridor as she left the dead body behind, lastly repeating her name quietly to herself.
= Shodanii's Chamber =
Almost fifteen minutes later...
Aira suddenly woke up, her eyes wandered everywhere in desorientation. Her mind was in severe disorder... but she was able to remember. Bubbles touched her cheek. Slowly releasing her arms from Shodanii's dead physical body, Aira floated a long while in front of it. She stared upon it in sorrow. Surprised by strange darkness, the kadeshi girl gulped. The region around the whole spherical chamber was not totally darkened, but the thrown shadows did scare her.
“Young mind...”, Shodanii's voice hollowed amidst her chaotic mind, “Chaosss... may reign in your soul... but have patience - have patience... I...”
Aira looked upon Shodanii's physical body, “I... I am failing... now... Young mind... I will return... I sense... a bound being... approaching this chamberrr... A trusted being...”
Shodanii's thoughts neglected Aira, leaving the girl alone within the water. A trusted being?
Turning around, Aira felt the brief presence of the being at the very edge of the whole area. Though unexplainable for her, she did wonder how it was possible.
What was that?
A voice shouted from afar - but not within her mind. Again, the voice shouted...
The voice echoed too many times for it to be understandable. Ignoring her severe headache and the chaos within her mind, Aira hesitantly released her arms from Shodanii's dead body.
Aira needed to trust Shodanii's words - All this time she had been truthful to her. Several moments passed by before Aira finally managed to swim and climb out of Shodanii's chamber.
Her surroundings were lot darker than before. Perhaps it had to do with the power failure she and the enigmatic taiidan being had frequently suffered.
For a brief moment, Aira suddenly felt woozy. With the sudden need for oxygen, Aira fell to her knees and released the depleted fluid from her lungs before she took a deep gasp for air. Aira was soaking wet, every single inch of her was outright drenched.
Shocked by the voice, Aira recognized the shaky voice that yelled once more.
Barely able to distinguish the person, Aira nervously raised herself and took a step away from the podium ring of Shodanii's chamber. Her purple eyes widened.
It was Hailynn, her caretaker, that stood far away at the access gateway to this gigantic hall. Dropping her sidearm, Hailynn took several steps ahead as she held her slightly dislocated shoulder... It took a short while until Aira was able to percept Hailynn better... By now, the Snyrdrolite puddle had grown larger just by standing there.
“A-Ai... Aira...!”, Hailynn stuttered.
Finally, Hailynn found the girl she strived for. The kadeshi girl did not answer, therefore was she too bashful. A sudden recall scare the girl, the frightening intimidation that caused her hand to feel upon her swollen cheek. Aira took a step backwards and closer to the podium. Hailynn was only six meters away, but with each slow step she made, the girl cowered away.
“P-Please... Don't go...”, Hailynn continued, “...Don't... leave me...”
The intimidated girl did not know what to say but listened to what Hailynn said:
“A-Aira... I've done many... things - Many wrong things... in my life! You have no idea... How much I hate my life... but never have I hated it more than what I've done to our... friends... to you...”, the hiigaran woman needed to stop, she could not walk any further, “I've hurt you... Aira... I understand that you hate... me. Many people in my life lost faith in me, Aira... I've lost their faith. Maybe that's why I've been such a screwed person. *sniff* I've been taking drugs - Ai'... It changed me... My thoughts, my actions... It took control of me... Gods of Kharak, I've punched the very soul... of a girl who is the most important being in my life! I-I cannot bear to apologize or plea for salvation - I am too ashamed of my deeds - Nothing could cleanse my pity...”
Several drops suddenly tapped below Hailynn upon the floor.
As Aira listened to her, it became clear to her that Hailynn was severely wounded.
Nonetheless, despite Aira being a frightful adolescent girl, she still was able to distinguish that Hailynn spoke from the deep of her sorrowed heart.
“I'm a monster... Aira... An ill-minded... augmented monster! I hate myself...”, the woman cried, her emotions already out of control, “I understand... your fear... Never could I dare to ever promise to you again... I've failed you, Aira... I dare not to say how much... I love you as part of our family... but please... Please... T-Take... this...”
Hailynn sobbed several times. Her hand - actually her whole body - trembled in such manor that she had trouble at first trying to grab the object that was safely concealed in her messed-up uniform's pocket. A rock?
Aira's violet eyes stared upon the Hailynn's hand, but did not know what to think of it. The hiigaran woman held up the strange looking rock she insisted to take from the nabaali subordinate back then.
Hailynn coughed but laughed shortly before she frowned again, “This... object... It was found in the comet, Aira... The comet... That comet you called `Tear'. That fool Asad found it and wanted to get rid of it - Frell with him... I-I always wanted to bow and respect your religion, Ai' - I know how much it means to you as a being far away from your Homeworld! The drugs... My other... soul - My inner demon took control of me... I'm messed up, Aira... I don't want to scare you... but I'm frakked up beyond all recognition... I don't know... *gasp* I don't know if I'll survive this... one”, each pause in Hailynn's speech was hearable by her long-gasp breathing, obviously, she seemed to have slight difficulties and very concerning health issues, “ But listen... You may not b-believe it... but I always trusted you... I may have lost your faith... Your embracing love upon me... but I know how much your soul endeavored for something... This `tear' is from her, Aira! It's from Kadesha - believe it or not - I know Kadesha's sorrowed for Rahji... I must confess that I had doubts but this is the proof, Aira - Evidence... It is and always had been something worth to believe in! I don't care if it is a scientific fact or a mystical belief... Whatever it is... It's real, Ai'.. It's...”
The pain within Hailynn's chest forced her down. Only now did it become clear that she was a lot deeper in dilemma than she expected... Addicted and longing for a drug she threw away, physically wounded to the point of having issues with breathing, shaking and shivering like a cold fish on land and her soul shattered by the fact that she had hurt the only people she loved was truly a terrifying reality for her.
The Commander of the Amaji Navy painfully laid her back upon the cold floor... Not only did the pain overwhelm her, it was the fact that she was tired, war-weary and mentally exhausted.
“Please... I-I'm afraid of being alone, Ai'... I'm afraid of it... too... I understand that you fear me... but please don't go... Please don't -”
Feeling a sudden motion, Hailynn's head was lifted up slightly by gentle hands and cushioned upon a soft but soaking wet lap. Several drops of `water' fell upon her face. For a long time, this was the real first time Hailynn felt comfort, “Wha- What are you...?”
“My naji!”, Aira shouted at Hailynn, “You were blessed by the `Tear of Kadesha'... H-How?! But-”, the kadeshi girl's mind was still confused, not only by all of what she had experienced with Shodanii but now with the truthful words and deed of Hailynn.
“*Nggggh-gasp* Aira, I always... wondered how that world of yours is?”
“My Naji - It is a beautiful world... Kadesha's embrace is nothing I can explain with words of my own. - But listen, my soul may have been punished by your hand - but never was I to hate you, Hailynn, never! You are my naji - Your hand, your mind shall always guide me! Sins never can be avoided, it is part of us - I fear you... Hailynn... But never could I end my embrace to you - and you are gifting me with Kadesha's Tear! Please, heed my voice!”, the girl shouted upon Hailynn, trying to keep her failing attention awake, “I redeem you of your sins, Hailynn, I redeem you! Please!”
Hailynn still heard her words... Unbelievable, but she heard it, “S-Salvation... I never... thought... ”
“Hailynn, my words may sound bewildering - but you have accepted me into your family! How... How could I be unforgiving?”
“If I only... I wish I could promise you one last thing... if I could only bring you back to your Homeworld... Aira...”
Aira's hands curled themselves around Hailynn's head and soon, they grabbed her naji's cold hands. Hailynn shivered so much that Aira feared a lot more for her naji than her own innermost fear. The girl wiped both of their tears from her cheeks.
“My soul suffers from the truth never to ever feel the warmth of Kadesha's embrace again, my naji... but for the love of the sungods, I could never leave you or your beloved family behind...”, the kadeshi girl quietly said to Hailynn, “I need you... Hailynn... Never have I felt generous to be aside of-”
Hailynn fainted but shook a lot more than before. Having not the slightest idea what to do, the kadeshi girl shouted several times for her caretaker who did not respond. Aira feared the worst but began to talk about all of her experiences with the enigmatic Shodanii, unthoughtful sharing all she learned from the near transcendent being and how much she needed Hailynn. But Hailynn did not hear her words.
Desperately crying for her caretaker to wake up, Aira began to pray for her soul. The pleas in her kadeshi language echoed loudly but endlessly throughout the gigantic hall...