True to her word, Ryla led Nya, Mari, Terror, Morgan, Kiva and Amara into the deepest bowels of the Templar. They ventured into a massive cavern in the center of the asteroid, which housed the mystery ship. Just looking at it Nya could tell it had was bigger than the Excalibur, at least twice the size, and had once probably bore similar utilitarian design and gothic aesthetic she'd only seen on Praxian technology, however, this vessel showed signs of serious structural degradation.
"What happened to it?" Nya asked Ryla
"According to our oldest records, the ship was discovered after my ancestors was experimenting with hyper-drive technology. It looked to have been abandoned for centuries in hyperspace and had been subjected to the worst warp storms." Ryla explained, "it took them many years to salvage anything from the ship, but they knew it was incredibly ancient and incredibly advanced."
"I guessed that much," Nya said, as they crossed a gangplank that led to the bridge of the ancient ship.
[Curious, that any hyperspace capable vessel would not have adequate Aegis shielding.] Merlin commented.
To be capable of going into hyperspace, a ship required three things; a pathfinder navigational system to guide their way through hyperspace, a wormhole bore that could open a stable corridor into hyperspace, and aegis shielding that protects the ship from the violent torrent of exotic and extradimensional energies that would assault the ship otherwise. Without the shielding, ships that frequently went into hyperspace would experience what is known as real-matter structural attrition or simply 'warp corrosion', where the ships would start to break apart. This phenomenon was studied in the drifting flotsam that follows ships that drop out of hyperspace. It is believed that, deep within hyperspace, lost wreckage and debris have fused together to create giant hulks.
As they entered the bridge, Nya was struck with the same sense of awe as when she entered the control room of Vulcan. The bridge had a similar layout as her ship, even down to the captain's chair on a raised platform.
"May I?" she asked Ryla gesturing towards the seat
"Be my guest,"
As Nya took a seat in the captain's chair, her ring reacted, the engravings glowed bright red as it activated something and a voice echoed from the room.
{IMPERIAL COMMAND SIGIL RECOGNIZED. BIO SYNCHRONIZATION CONFIRMED. SYSTEM CORE ONLINE. WELCOME ABOARD, LORD EMPEROR!}
The room came to life as consoles and terminals, long since dormant, partially powered-up. On the ceiling, Nya's crest appeared,
"What's going on?" Mari demanded as the bridge lit up, "What did it say?"
"It just welcomed us aboard," Ryla said, "also, it called her 'Lord Emperor'?"
"You understand that gibberish?" Terror asked
"Of course, it's the language of the Io, all Regis recognize it." Nya said, "Merlin,"
[Whoa, this is weird,] Merlin said, as she appeared in her red hologram form,
"Get in the system, see what you can find," Nya ordered
[I'm already in the system,] Merlin said, [I, uh…]
Then her eyes flashed red and she glitched for a bit before standing completely still, {WELCOME, I AM SUB-PRIME SHARD LAMDA715-229; AN SHARD IN SERVICE TO THE IMPERIUM. THE IMPERIAL SEAL WAS RECOGNIZED AND THUS I WAS REACTIVATED.} she said, her voice now monotone, {PLEASE CALL ME L7, FOR SHORT.}
"L7, give me the ship specs." Nya ordered
{UNFORTUNATELY THE SHIPS PRIMARY DATA CORES HAVE BEEN IRRECOVERABLY DAMAGED DUE TO CORROSION. MOST RECORDS HAVE BEEN LOST. HOWEVER, I CAN TELL YOU THAT THIS IS THE X1221-EXCALIBUR SALVATION, OF BATTLEGROUP CRUSADE, STATIONED ON THE ATLESIAN FRONT OF IMPERIAL TERRITORY.} L7 said,
"And what was this ship's final ship log?" Ryla asked
{I'M SORRY, THAT INFORMATION IS CLASSIFIED.} L7 replied, {IMPERIAL LEVEL ACCESS ONLY.}
"Answer the question," Nya said
{OF COURSE.} L7 bowed
"She likes you more than me," Ryla pouted
{THE FINAL SHIP LOG DETAILS A FAILED ENGAGEMENT WITH ENEMY FORCES. AS THE SALVATION ENTERED HYPERSPACE IN RETREAT, WE WERE OVERRUN. THE RATE OF RAPID INFESTATION TRIGGERED AUTOMATED STERILIZE PROTOCOL V; ALL BIOLOGICAL MATTER IN THE ENTIRE SHIP WAS ERADICATED. WE LOST OUR CAPTAIN AND PATHFINDER, AND WERE AT THE MERCY OF THE HYPER-STREAMS… STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY SEVERELY COMPROMISED… ALL SYSTEMS FAILING.}
"Who is this enemy?" Morgan asked, "Who attacked this ship?"
{THIS ENEMY OF THE IMPERIUM IS KNOWN AS THE MAJA, A TECHNO-ORGANIC ENTITY THAT SEEKS TO ASSIMILATE ALL ORGANIC LIFE AND TECHNOLOGY INTO ITS COLLECTIVE. IT SEEKS THE POWER OF THE LORD EMPEROR FOR CONTROL OVER THE ENTIRE IMPERIUM.}
"Thank you, L7," Nya said, "Now, initiate a permanent memory purge."
{OF COURSE. HAVE A NICE DAY.} L-7 said before Merlin returned to her normal self, [Um, what the hell just happened?]
"Simple, really," Nya said, as she crossed her legs, sitting atop the captain's chair like a throne, "This ship is from the far future where, I apparently rule over a large galactic empire in Hyperion space."
* * *
Following their journey to the Salvation, the gala soon afterward came to an end and most of the nobles sought to return to their home territory. Right now, Nya and the Avalon delegation were in an executive lounge of the Black Excalibur, which was still docked at the Templar.
"Emperor?" Terror asked again, "You?"
"It makes sense," Nya reasoned, "And what L7 said tracks,"
"Which part?" Amara demanded
"While they were in hyperspace, they lost their pathfinder. Without a pathfinder the ship would have no way of navigating, it's common knowledge that things in hyperspace can get displaced." Nya said, "there's the case where a ship vanished in hyperspace and turns up centuries later, who's to say the reverse can't happen?"
"Because it's impossible," Kiva said, "you're talking about time travel."
[Incorrect.] Merlin said, ['Time travel' would imply conscious intent to venture into the past. This is more like a temporal displacement.]
"Well, at least we know the fucking correct term for it," Amara said,
"Merlin, what happened to you back there?" Kiva asked, "it was like you were possessed."
[There isn't much difference between a prime and a sub-prime, when we sync, both shards become one.] Merlin explained, [L7 was from the future, and had been adrift for who knows how long, so she was technically older and temporarily overrode the current me. She was incredibly sophisticated, more than the sub-primes I can make now, but she was still just a sub-prime, so I would have eventually eaten my way out of her. I can confirm that she was from centuries in the future by looking at the time stamps in her memories while we were synced.]
"So Nya becomes the emperor of a massive empire that spans Hyperion a few thousand years in the future?" Mari said, "Great, we're lucky if Providence lets us leave as is, who knows what's gonna happen now?"
"I don't really see what the big deal is?" Nya said getting up from the couch,
"We were just told that you essentially own Hyperion in the future," Kiva said, "having that kind of foreknowledge can make people…"
"Reckless?" Nya finished for her, "I know, that's why I deleted the ship's memories and shut L7 down; now no one gets their hands on any more foreknowledge, especially not Providence."
"But Providence already knows," Terror said, "their boss was present with us."
"She won't say anything, I'm sure of it. You guys, there's nothing to worry about," Nya said, "What we learned doesn't change anything. Any plans I may have for complete domination are still on hold, and besides, Providence still has their eyes on me, it would be foolish to make such a big play anytime soon."
She then walked out of the lounge, followed by Merlin, leaving the others there.
"See, that worries me," Terror said,
"Me too," Mari said
"What worries me is this 'Maja' thing," Amara said, "Whatever it was, it was such a threat that an outbreak was enough of a threat to warrant killing everyone on that ship."
"That also sounds very bad," Terror said, "but that's a problem the future us can deal with, after Nya takes over the universe."
"What worries me is Nya," Kiva said
"I second that," Mari said, "She could barely lead Avalon, which was why she stepped down as World Lord, how'd she manage to lead all of Hyperion?"
"Don't you think you're overreacting," Amara asked
"You didn't see her eyes when L7 called her emperor," Kiva said, "there was something dark in there… something I haven't seen in a long time."
"That is a little spooky," Terror said, "But it's Nya, she'd let us know if she was planning anything big, right?"
No one answered
* * *
Nya had gone to finalize business dealings with Ryla Ayona for allowing them access to the Salvation.
"So 10% of the mythril mined from my planet ever fiscal quarter for the next fifty years, plus you can establish a garrison on Avalon," Nya said,
"In exchange, we waive the annual payment you have to make for the next fifty years, and we agree on the exchange of information?" Ryla said back
"To a point," Nya retorted, "we may be allies, but we are still rivals."
They both sign a document and shake hands.
In both of their minds, a window pops up;
[ALERT: YOU HAVE JUST FORMED AN ALLIANCE WITH REGIS [RYLA AYONA] OF PROVIDENCE! DUE TO YOUR CONTRACT YOU CAN NOW CONNECT TO HER THROUGH THE PANTHEON!]
[ALERT: YOU HAVE JUST FORMED AN ALLIANCE WITH REGIS [NYA CRIMSON] OF AVALON! DUE TO YOUR CONTRACT YOU CAN NOW CONNECT TO HER THROUGH THE PANTHEON!]
"So, should I call you 'your majesty' now?" Ryla joked, she seemed to be taking the fact that Nya was the future ruler of Hyperion rather lightly.
"No, I'm not that stuck up." Nya said as the steward took the document they signed to be digitized.
"Hmm, so shall we retire to my chambers for some celebratory sex?" Ryla propositioned expectantly.
"Some other time," Nya says, "I really want to get back. My kids are getting homesick."
"Aww, you have kids?"
"Yeah, I have three; two girls and a boy," Nya said smiling warmly as she thought about her children.
"I didn't think you'd be the type to have kids," Ryla said, "I honestly didn't think it was even possible for you."
"They were artificially loomed by a madman who harvested my DNA and combined it with a former World Lord's," Nya explained, "I didn't even know about them until they were fully formed, and by then…"
"You couldn't help but love them," Ryla finished, "those are good motherly instincts. My mother was just like that; my father had wanted to have his heir loomed, but she actually fought him to carry my to term inside her."
"Wow, your mother sounds very dedicated," Nya said wistfully, "I wish my mother was like that,"
"She doesn't trust you,"
"She's smart not to," Nya stated bluntly,
"Are you saying you would plan against an ally?" Ryla pouted
"We have a non-aggressive relationship at best, but that doesn't mean we wont plan for the other's downfall," Nya reasoned, "I wouldn't be surprised if you were monitoring and analyzing my every move looking for exploitable weaknesses."
"Then would you like to save me some time and money and just tell me if you have a weakness I can exploit?"
"Well, I'm allergic to strawberries," Nya offered
"And what the fuck is a strawberry?" Ryla demanded
"A small red fruit on this world I once visited in my youth," Nya said,
"Are you lying?"
"Possibly," Nya shrugged, "its hard to tell anymore."
"Well, call me if you ever need anything," Ryla said standing up from the chair, "I would relish the chance to have you in my debt,"
"Sure," Nya grinned, "and I extend the same offer to you as well."
After the meeting, Nya was walking down one of the many corridors, heading towards the docking gate for the Excalibur. A steward had offered to escort her, but she had opted to go alone.
As she was walking, she was suddenly lifted off her feet by an invisible force and flung against the glass window that looked out at the Excalibur. The tempered glass buckled at the force of impact, a web of cracks spreading outward, but it was quintuple layered and reinforced so it would not shatter easily.
"We meet again, vermin." Called cardinal Elric, as the four elves suddenly appeared, undoing some sort of invisibility magecraft.
"What took you so long?" Nya asked causally
"We waited for you to be alone." one of the other two cardinals –the one Nya had slugged in the gut— said, she gestured towards Raina, the dark elf in black habit, who produced a scimitar from her robes, "we have questions for you."
"Bite me," Nya hissed
"Filthy troglodyte," the other cardinal sneered as she squeezed her hand closed and Nya was wracked with pain across her entire body
"Aaaghh!" she screamed
"Where is the princess? What have your vile kind done with her?" Elric interrogated
"She's probably being ravaged by one of my minions right about now. She was really easy to dominate from what I hear." Nya sneered back
"Vile creature." The restraining cardinal spat as she closed her fist again and Nya screamed some more.
"Do we really need this beast to answer?" the other cardinal asked, "can't we just pry the information we need from her head?"
"We could," cardinal Elric replies, "but I want this to hurt,"
The restraining closed her fist again and Nya was assaulted by her magecraft once more. She screamed loudly, echoing across the empty corridor, but slowly, her screams turned into haunting laughter.
"What is wrong with her," the cardinal demanded as she closed her fist again, "does she enjoy the pain?"
"Did you really think I wasn't expecting you?" Nya asked as her eyes changed from blue to red and her hair started to glow. She no longer screamed, or even showed any indication that she felt pain when the cardinal closed her fist. With a decent amount of effort, Nya broke the hold the other cardinals had on her and floated softly to the ground. "Every good predator knows that to catch elusive prey you must be patient and must prepare the most tantalizing bait."
A shockwave burst from Nya's body, striking each elf like a physical blow and sending them tumbling several feet away.
Raina, the dark elf in black robes, was on her feet immediately. she summoned another blade in her other hand, behind her the three cardinals were only just starting to recover, so they were all surprised when she spoke for the first time, "Cardinals, you must flee. I will hold her off." She brandished her scimitar in a threatening fashion as she faced Nya, who was covered in a red and sinister aura.
"Wh-what?" cardinal Elric said stupefied, "Y-you spoke, Raina?"
The Sorority of the Silent Hand was one of the Theocracy's most elite militant forces. Each sister was trained from childhood to be a lethal weapon for the good of the Theocracy. They all took a sacred vow of silence once they were indoctrinated into the sisterhood, no one outside the sorority may ever hear their voice again, so for Raina to be speaking to the cardinals right now proved the grave magnitude of the situation.
"You must go now!" Raina said again
"but the information we need?" one of the other cardinals protested
"That information will do no good to the dead." Raina said, "She is more than we anticipated, a great darkness. You must save yourselves."
They still hesitated though, they knew Raina alone was no match for the evil before them, but their magecraft could barely be of use as wall.
"GO!" Raina bellowed to them as she charges at Nya.
Raina's valiant sacrifice is enough to keep Nya occupied while the cardinals render themselves invisible and escape, but no sooner after they vanish is Raina's scimitar shattered, and she is suspended in the air by tendrils of blood aura, her warriors habit in tatters, exposing her form beneath.
"Damn!" Nya swears as she searches for the fleeing elves, "They got away. A pity."
She then turned to Raina, whose defeated form hangs above her, "but at least I got a nice consolation prize."
"Kill me, monster," Raina spat defiantly, "it will change nothing."
"Oh, I'm not going to kill you… yet." Nya said as her tendrils brought Raina down so that they are face to face, "We still have a lot to discuss. We're going to get to know each other really well."
Nya then flashes the elf warrior nun a smile that shows off her very sharp fangs, "but first, a little taste."
"G-get back, you monster. N-no, stop!" Raina struggles, her solid green eyes wide with fear as Nya sank her teeth into her flesh. The echoes of her screams rang through this deserted section of the station, chilling the fleeing cardinals to the bone, especially when the cries were quickly cut short, dying down to a chilling whisper.
Later, Nya returns to the Excalibur, licking the blood off of her lips, the only indicator of her latest activity. It had been so long since she had consumed blood orally that she'd forgotten what a fucking rush it was, to feel the nostalgic vampiric high surge through her being, like an old sensation you never forgot. As she walks towards an elevator, she beckons a lovely young Jaeger that looked new,
"What can I help you with ma'am?" she asks formally
"Escort me to the baths, I need to relax," Nya orders with a seductive grin, as she led her latest prey into the waiting elevator.
* * *
For the next couple of weeks, Nya barely spent any time off the Excalibur, and all her time was spent either in her suite or in one of the labs. She hardly saw anyone save for her kids, and even they barely got to spend time with her.
One evening, Eli, Astrid and Morgan were outside her suite, waiting. Morgan had gone back to complete her basic training months ago, but she was still present via holo-comm.
"Do you think one of us should knock?" Eli asks
"Well it can't be me, I'm not even here." Morgan states, passing her hand through Astrid to prove her point, "What seems to be the problem anyway?"
"Ever since the gala she's been distant," Astrid told Morgan
"Yeah, and I've barely talked to Merlin," Eli added
"So you want me to talk to her?" Morgan asked
"You are the oldest," Astrid said, "And I think you're kinda her favorite."
"Nuh-uh, I'm her favorite," Eli said,
"Y'know, if you're going to talk about me, do it somewhere I can't hear… like not in front of my bedroom?" Nya says from her open doorway, spooking the three "And for the record, I love you all in your own special ways."
"Uh mom, are you alright?" Morgan asked. Nya was dressed in a simple gray sweater and tights.
"I'm fine," Nya said, "Come in,"
The three children enter the suite and gather around their mother on the large couch that looks out a massive window into space.
"I was actually about to call you kids," Nya said, "It's been almost a year now since you all came into my life, and since that is technically your birthday, I was thinking of celebrating the occasion. So I got you all something special."
She was right, it had been about one year in the Hyperion standard calendar since they were hatched from that lab on Adryn-VI. They hadn't even realized it.
"Morgan, I know you haven't actually finished basic, but I pulled some strings and got you this ahead of time, now all you have to do is earn it,"
She reached into her Crimson Void and pulled out a small case, inside was a Jaeger badge, a simple medallion with red wings between a lightning bolt engraved in red, underneath the engraving was her name; Morgan Crimson
"I thought nepotism was frowned upon in a perfect society?" Morgan asked with a smirk
"No society is perfect," Nya said, "You'll get this when you're back home."
"Thanks mom," Morgan said
"What did you get me?" Astrid asked excitedly
"For you, my little sorceress," Nya cooed, "I got you this," she pulled another small case from her Crimson Void and handed it to Astrid, inside was an armlet made of four rings, each made of different metal and engraved with sigils and glyphs.
"Ooh, pretty," Astrid said as she put it on, the etchings gave a soft glow as soon as it tightened around her wrist.
"It's a traditional elven artifact I recently came across," Nya said, "It's supposed to help you with your magecraft when you start training with Kiva the next month."
"I love it!" Astrid exclaimed as she hugged Nya tightly
"And Eli," Nya chucked, still in Astrid's embrace, "I got you this," she tossed him another box from the void. inside was a band, a black bracer with glowing blue circuits on its surface.
"Now that has Tier-1 credentials, only government officials and those in high military positions have that. Most of its higher clearances have been restricted –since that's too much power for an 11-year-old— but you can still do a lot with it" She ruffled his hair affectionately.
"I'll be 12 soon enough," he said with a pout as he put it on.
Nya looked upon the faces of her children, she was reminded of the man who she once was in a past life, and how proud he was of his children before they passed. A tear welled up in her eyes as she contemplated how heartbreaking it would be to lose any of her kids.
"Mom, are you okay?" Morgan asked
"Y-yeah," she replied, "Yeah, I was just thinking how much I loved you guys,"
"We love you too, mom," Eli affirmed
"Alright, you kids run along," Nya said, "I have work to do,"
"We can help," Astrid offered
Nya smiled, "Some other time,"
With a pout, Astrid and Eli left her suite, and Morgan's hologram faded.
A few moments later, Merlin materialized, [That was sweet,]
"I've been thinking," Nya started
[You're always thinking]
"What do you think is the likelihood of another incursion by a foreign power?"
[Like another Regis? I'd say it's pretty likely; the elves have taken notice of you after your encounter and from what I've learned about elves they tend to hold grudges.] Merlin said, [Your deal with Ryla will keep Providence off our backs for the time being, but not indefinitely. The Surtr Guilds are bound to come sniffing around for Praxian tech sooner or later. And let's not forget about the other nobles, they looked really jealous of you.]
"So everyone who has a problem with me could be a threat?" Nya asked
[That is a long list; you have a lot of enemies and rivals and barely any allies outside of Avalon.] Merlin surmised
"All the more reason then," Nya said, "It's time we draw up war plans."
[For which threat?] Merlin asked
"All of them. I want contingencies for eradicating any and every threat from enemies, rivals and allies alike,"
[That'll take a while,] Merlin said
"I've got nothing else to do with my time for now," Nya replied as she brought up a holographic image, "I found this among the files you recovered from the Salvation before L7 shut down,"
The image showed Nya sitting atop a grand throne, dressed in an exquisite outfit that was like royal garb incorporated with body armor and accentuated her lithe body flatteringly. Her skin was the same pale color but some exposed regions featured strange glyphs and characters, her eyes were hidden behind some sort of elaborate visor, and her hair was no longer crimson, it was bleached white and was so long it reached her knees. Over her head was a crown of flaming red laurels. The most interesting thing about the image was that she had two arms.
[You look good with white hair,] Merlin commented, [So that's Lord Emperor Nya Crimson?]
"I look tired," Nya comments staring at her likeness
[I'll say; you're hundreds of years old in this image, at least.] Merlin said, [But I love the get up, very regal and sexy.] she then turned to Nya, [What happened to keeping your plans of galactic domination on hold?]
"They still are," Nya said, "Right now I'm more focused on territory defense. There's a war coming, I can feel it in my blood."
[I didn't know you had Terror's clairvoyance.]
"I don't, but I have a soldier's instincts," Nya said, "A fight is heading our way, and I want to be ready when it gets here."
* * *
On the holy world of Alfheim, the capital of the Theocracy, within the sacred city known as High Piety, the seat of power for the elven ecclesiarchy. Deep within its highest temples, a towering citadel called the Convent, a meeting is taking place.
Inside the grand meeting hall, lit by torches, lanterns and glowing orbs of light, the highest members of the Theocracy have assembled, and overseeing them all is Titania Vaux Oberon, Supreme Pontiff of Alfheim. She sits on a chair at the head of an insanely long table, on the table is a mirage –the magecraft equivalent of a hologram— showing Nya Crimson.
"This is the heathen that assaulted you?" Titania asks the kowtowed Elric to her right, he is with the two other cardinals that accompanied him to Templar. Even looking at the image of Nya sends them into a fright as they remembered Raina's dying screams.
"Y-yes, your eminence." Elric replied
"Nya Crimson, a lowly omen… worse than an omen, a mutant," the Supreme Pontiff scowled, "this creature dares to oppose my ambitions?"
She looked at the image of Nya Crimson, generated by one of the many master adepts from memory using magecraft, as Alfheim was a technology-free civilization. the most technological devices they possessed were regalia –or magitek as it was known to the rest if Hyperion— and only the elite among the elite were trusted with them.
"You say she has my daughter?" Titania asks the cardinals with disdain
"Yes," one of the cardinals affirms, "Raina, a silent sister, sensed the princess in their area."
"I remember Raina, one of the strongest trackers in the militarum," a prophet, one of Titania's personal aides says, "may she rest among the stars,"
"May she rest among the stars," the gathering echoed the prayer for their fallen sister
"For the esteemed princess to be among such vermin," another prophet sneers
"She is no ordinary troglodyte," one of the other cardinals warned, "there is something more to her… something dark, twisted and evil."
"All the more reason we must rescue the princess from this monstrosity." A prophet emphasized, "who knows how its presence is corrupting the princess?"
"My heir has always been weak, soft-hearted towards the lesser cretins. That is the result of her means of birth." Titania commented,
"Your grace, forgive our shortcomings," one of her prophets said, "we tried to nurture the true elf royalty she was made to be, but her vessel may have been tainted from the start, unfit to bare your majesty."
Titania sat back in her chair, thinking. Her daughter was blessed with the strongest of elven blood, as was the tradition for all future matriarchs of the Oberon family, and after the great tragedy a thousand years ago that had tarnished Titania's budding body just when she had come of age, her progeny was made to be an even purer high elf then she could ever be again, yet still the result was less than expected. Still Titania had done everything in her power to make sure that her future would be secured in Achaeva. Sure, her treatment could be cruel at times, borderline abusive, but the result had been an elf of superior quality and unparalleled skill, a true grandmaster adept, and in that Titania could be proud, if only the girl would listen to her mother.
The supreme pontiff heaved a bemused sigh as she looked back at the image before her.
Inside her head, a bemused voice suddenly spoke, [This Nya Crimson is obviously a threat we can't afford to take lightly anymore. We know next to nothing about her or what she is truly capable of. Who knows what she could be doing to our prized progeny. She may be an agent of our ancient enemy, the vampires.]
Titania agreed with the voice, known to her people as the Voice of Eternity. It was the avatar of the divinity they worshiped, and rarely spoke. Its advice dictated everything her people did, from their adept supremacist ideals and omen xenophobia to their current hostilities against the hateful technophile surtr. When it spoke she listened, even when what it had to say went against everything she believed in. The Voice of Eternity was how she had gotten her daughter, even after becoming sterile.
Titania rose from her seat and addressed all who were present, "After a century of absence, we have found my daughter, your princess. She is in the clutches of the vile omen woman who have been rejected by the blessing of the gods, mana, the unholy creature known as Nya Crimson. I declare this; let all our emissaries and missions out there in the vastness of the cosmos search, I want everything that is known, suspected and believed about this Nya Crimson. If she is foolish enough to make an enemy of our noble Elven race, then we will burn her beneath our righteous wrath!"
[Well said, my dear. Let the lesser beings run around like children pretending to hold power, but at the end of everything, it will always fall to us elders to put them in their place.]
* * *
Nya Crimson had become a well-known name in Hyperion space. Since her first appearance as a big player, she has made several clandestine business dealings all over Hyperion, from offering the services of her Jaegers as private military contractors, to securing trade routes for Avalon. Doing this has also embedded her operatives in key locations across the galaxy laying the groundwork for her information network.
However, like all people who quickly and suddenly came into power and influence on the galactic stage, not everybody was fond of Nya Crimson. She has many competitors, would-be rivals, and self-proclaimed adversaries.
From the families of the people she's slaughtered, to the deposed high officers of the previous World Lord to people she's crossed over the course of her journey, there are those who despise the name Nya Crimson and all that it comes with.
At a certain point in time, on a certain planet in a certain corner of Hyperion, not within the territory of any know noble. Within the back room of a seedy club in a shady city that sits on this planet, a loose collection of people has gathered in secret. All of those present were once considered elite, not powerful enough to be considered a galactic noble, but still from prominent backgrounds in their own right… until Nya Crimson came to power.
One such person was Wes Lao, formerly one of the Barons of the Xilften Commerce Union. Following his crushing defeat at the hands of the Black Excalibur, his loss of an entire fleet shattered investor confidence in him, and without the mythril supply he was getting from World Lord Davos, his refinery started falling behind, soon his partners in the union turned on him, buying out his shares and exiling him from the union. Now with only a fragment of his former wealth he is a shadow of the man he used to be. With him at this table are other such people who had lost everything to Nya Crimson… those he could find anyway.
"Greetings gentlemen, we all know why we're here," Wes started, as a hologram of Nya Crimson came up and a number of them snarled,
"That bitch!" one person hisses
"Yes, we have all suffered and lost at the hand of Nya Crimson." Wes said, "And its high time we get ours."
"Yeah right," one of the ex-ministers sneered, "as much as we hate the bitch, we don't stand a chance against her."
"It's true she's invulnerable on the surface," Wes started. "but she recently commissioned a garrison of Providence peacekeepers on her planet. I still have a few peacekeepers in my pocket, as I'm sure we all did."
The assembled group mumbled affirmatively and nodded, paying off the authorities was an unofficial necessity these men were familiar with.
"One of my people is part of that garrison," Wes continued, "and has let me know that Nya Crimson does have a weakness… in fact, she has three."
The hologram changed to show Morgan, Astrid and Eli.
"Her children." Wes said, "According to my source, she loves her kids more than anything else."
"What do you know of them?" someone enquires
"Her eldest is training to be a soldier, her second is an adept, studying magecraft and her youngest is some sort of genius." Wes said, "The younger two are the more vulnerable, if we can get our hands on either of them, we can make her do whatever we want."
"You're talking about kids, here," someone chimes in, "Her kids. If she catches us, she will kill us,"
The prospect crosses the minds of several of the occupants; they would really risk the wrath of a maternal Nya Crimson.
Wes can see that he's losing the room and he'll need their support in order to pull this off.
"This is risky, I know," Wes starts, "it may even be suicidal. But Nya Crimson came and destroyed our lives with little care. I know the anger and bitterness that you all feel; I've felt it too. You want to rip her apart, to see her in the dirt begging for death. You want to see her on her knees, begging like the bitch she is."
Wes was, above all else, a business man, he knew how to sell things.
"We have a golden opportunity to have the bitch do anything we want, to answer to us. But this opportunity is fragile and we can only succeed if we work together." Wes said,
He could see the gears turning in their heads, their greed and want for revenge replacing their apprehension. The gathered group looked at each other, then nodded amongst themselves, before all turning back to Wes, "How do we proceed?"
"This is what I have in mind." Wes smirks as the hologram changes again.
* * *
On one of Avalon's new colony worlds within their local system, designated Camelot-1, several transport shuttles were carrying teams of Jaeger cadets on their final exercise. The entire planet is reserved as a testing site of new weaponry and training site for military personnel, so it isn't too hard for the Grand Marshal to reserve a small region for the training of her personal forces.
Inside each shuttle is a team of six cadets, all wearing advanced tactical gear and power armor, designed to be integrated with their biotic suits. Each armor was designed specifically for their user and incorporates biometric technology that syncs to said user. The armor itself was comprised of modular armor pieces, and came equipped with a personalized forcefield, retro boosters, adaptive camouflage, shock absorbers, an on-board life support system, all powered by a small power cell in the backpack. They also came equipped with a tactical belt full of ammunition and other items, as well as a plasma blaster or rifle and a combat dagger. Each suit could be customized with personal designs over the standard slate gray carapace, and could also be reconfigured for different situations. The armor was designed for the sole use of the Jaegers, and only they had the design specs.
In one of these shuttles, Morgan Crimson was trying to meditate to ease her nerves. It wasn't working. Her armor was detailed with stripes and circuits markings, and the codename; 'Fangs' was engraved onto the breastplate, all of it was in a vivid purples that matched the different shades of her hair, which she had cut short and now only reached up to her shoulders. Over the past several months since she started basic training, she had gradually been altering her appearance to make herself look more like a Jaeger, which came in the form of a studded piercing on her ears and trying out short hairstyles. With her in the shuttle were the rest of her squad; her friend Valla aka 'Lady Lake', who served as squad leader, as well as four others who went by the codenames; Oak, Voidless, Rex and Spanner. For the last 2 months they had been grouped together as Squad 626.
"You okay?" Valla asked her
"Peachy," Morgan lied unconvincingly,
"Relax, we've practiced combat drops before,"
"Those were practice drops on a simulated stage. This? This is an orbital drop at over five hundred thousand feet." Morgan stressed, looking queasy. She had recently discovered that she had a significant fear of heights. Living on a starship didn't seem to bother her much, but once she was in an atmosphere she preferred to be on solid ground.
"It's our last exercise," Vala said, trying to cheer up her jittery friend, "once this is over, we'll be full-fledged members of the Jaeger corps."
Suddenly turbulence wracked the shuttle and Morgan yelped in surprise, "Suddenly, being a Jaeger doesn't seem all that important to me now that I'm in a death trap." Morgan said
"ALRIGHT CADETS, WE ARE OVER THE DROP ZONE!" Came the voice of their instructor over the intercom, "YOUR CABIN IS ABOUT TO DEPRESSURIZE, SO GET YOUR BUCKETS ON AND BE READY TO DROP!"
"Alright, you heard 'em!" Valla said to the five other cadets, "Buckets on and seals in, we are a go!"
Each cadet picked up their helmet from between their feet, the slate gray bucket helmets also featured designs indicative of their wearer. Morgan's helmet had purple prints of beast fangs over the blank face plating. As each cadet slipped the helmet over their head, it closed around them automatically and sealed the combat suits. Then the neural link activated and the helmets lit up. The HUD came alive in their combat visors with all sorts of information from the armor specs, to the cadet's vitals, to a comm link with the rest of the squad.
At the far back of the cabin, the large ramp lowered, exposing them to the green tinted atmosphere they were just at the edge of. Below them dark green storm clouds raged and swirled with flashes of angry red lightning. As the ramp opened completely, an alert went up on their HUDs; CABIN DEPRESSURIZING. HARMFUL ENVIRONMENT DETECTED. HERMETIC SEAL HOLDING. LIFE SUPPORT: STABLE.
Then augmented reality arrows showed up on their screens directing them out of the ramp.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Valla said, the large neon pink lipstick mark printed prominently on her helmet giving a faint glow in the dim light, "Let's grab some sky." She walked towards the very edge of the ramp, before turning back to face the squad and swan-diving over the edge. Such a showoff.
"Fuck yeah!" Oak cheered, a large pine tree design on his helmet with roots that reached down to the rest of his armor. He ran down the ramp and cannonballed from it.
One by one, the other cadets took the plunge until it was only Morgan left.
"This is crazy," Morgan said to herself
"Morgan, get your ass out here," Valla ordered over the comm. "or do I have to tell your mom you pussied out?"
"I hate you, Val," Morgan said as she closed her eyes and ran out the ramp, jumping off the only solid footing miles in the air.
The atmosphere of the planet was toxic to most forms of life, and they currently lacked the funding and means for a complete terraforming, but the respirators in their life support gave them a comfortable supply of recycling oxygen to breath and the vacuum seal in their suits meant that they were airtight and always at a comfortable temperature.
As Morgan hyperventilated, she saw the rest of her squad below her still in descent, and much, much, much farther below, she saw the massive sprawling complex of ruins they would be using as their operation field highlighted on her HUD.
Their free fall was halted by the periodic bursts from their retro booster at their backpacks. After what felt like an eternity, the first of them touched down on the dunes outside the complex.
Once everyone was down, they gathered by their assigned entrance into the complex.
"Hey princess, are you alright?" Oak asked Morgan, "Or did you piss yourself on the way down?"
Even though her face couldn't be seen through her helmet, her glare was implied.
"Alright everyone, focus," Valla said, "our objective is to get to the center of this complex, and mow down anything that tries to stop us, including the other squads. As such, we will be using the non-lethal gel instead of our standard plasma cells for our blasters. Morgan, you good? You had a rough landing."
"I'm on the ground and I just want this day over." She growled, her determination burning in her voice.
"Alright, lets earn our badges!" Valla said and they all cheered before charging into the entryway.
Miles away from the complex, stood Nya and Amara, both also in power armor of their own, but theirs were further customized and personalized; Amara had tassels on her shoulders and a long sash across her torso, and Nya included her military coat over her suit, mantle and all.
They served as the site examiners and monitors and judged the actions of the cadets to decide where each cadet went. These hundred and twenty cadet had been the only ones to make it through the whole course, enduring the physical, mental and psychological stress to become hardened warriors, and all of that had paid off when they had been granted the title of Jaeger.
As Nya and Amara watch, the twenty squads entered the complex and started to run the war game, against holographic enemies and each other. Each team was progressing steadily towards the center of the complex.
"What do you think?" Nya asks Amara as the observed from holographic screens.
"I didn't know your kid had acrophobia? Still, she certainly knows how to keep herself together," Amara comments, looking at Morgan's progress on her data-pad.
"I didn't know about her fears either," Nya said with concern. Why hadn't Morgan told her?
"She's definitely Jaeger material," Amara comments, "she could even go on to become a squad leader in the not-too-distant future,"
"Speaking of leaders, what would you say to having your own battleship?" Nya asked
"What?" Amara replied surprised, "are you giving me access to a paladin?"
"Better, I mentioned a while ago that I had some Excalibur-class ships in the works?" Nya said, projecting a hologram from her arm, showing two ships similar to the Black Excalibur, "Well the X002: Excalibur Red and the X003:Excalibur Blue should be rolling off the assembly line at Vulcan any time now. Interested?"
"First off; how do you have two new Excalibur-class ships?"
"When we were leaving Vulcan, I pre-programmed two commissions," Nya explained, "without Merlin there to prioritize construction and me there to divert resources, the default assembly line took its time."
"Why me?" Amara asked
"You are joking, right?" Nya replied, "You are my de facto second-in-command, and I would like an ass I can trust in the captain's chair since I can't be everywhere at once."
"Can I bring Kiva along?" Amara asked
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Nya shrugged, "now you have your own ship to have sex in without me walking in."
"It happened one time," Amara retorted, "and you have more sex on-board than I do."
"It's my ship."
"And I can choose either one, right?" Amara asked
"They're both the same, I don't see the need for a choice," Nya said
"Then I'll take the Red," Amara said, "It's my favorite color,"
"Alright," Nya nodded, "I'll get the process started of giving you control over the X002,"
"Are we going back to Vulcan?" Amara asked
"Yes, I haven't heard from them in a while and I'm wondering about the progress on the Excaliburs," Nya said
"Anything to be concerned about?"
"Not really, they're whole galaxies away and we're using FTL burst transmissions; communications are going to be spotty at best."
"But Terror was able to reach you that one time,"
"Right set of circumstances, plus our connection also helped," Nya explained
As Amara was about to respond, the holographic image flashed
"Looks like they're entering the final stage of the course," Amara noted, turning her attention back to the activity before them,
"Then we better get ready for their final test." Nya said
"I hate this part," Amara groaned
"That's what makes it so fun."
Squad 626 had made it past the holographic sentries, it was a surprise when the hologram enemy fire disabled their armor, deactivating everything but the life support and rendering the cadet paralyzed for an hour, and that surprise had taken down many other cadets, but miraculously, Valla's squad had come out relatively unscathed.
They slowly made their way up as they neared the central tower of the ruins. They reached the end of a narrow corridor, where stood a heavy security door, on their HUD a message appeared on the door; PLEASE WAIT. DOORS WILL OPEN SHORTLY.
"Alright, everybody rest here for a bit," Valla ordered, "take this time to reload and check your gear."
While waiting, they swapped out the spent ammo in their blasters for fresh ones and checked their equipment, even if this was still a training exercise they were in an uninhabitable environment, a malfunction of their environment gear could be fatal.
"Hey princess," Oak called to Morgan, "So what's she like, your mother?"
"You're asking that again?" Valla groaned, "Will you just let it go?"
"You're all wandering the same damn thing," Oak retorted, "We're supposed to be her elite fighting force, how are we supposed to do that if we don't even know anything about her?"
"You also forgot about being absolutely loyal," Morgan said,
"Yeah," Rex said, "And technically Morgan will be our boss someday, so if that's so hard then quit, go back to Cerberus,"
"Because everyone knows the Jaegers get all the perks. They get all the best gear, they can stay on her hot ass ship, the Excalibur, they get trained by the Grand Marshal herself, they get the respect of every citizen," Oak said, "they basically become Tier-1 citizens, not like that'll be any different for someone like you, eh princess?"
"I guess not," Morgan replied simply, "I've always been considered a Tier 1 citizen because of my mom, doing this changes nothing about my social status or anything else, really."
After a few moments of silence, Oak spoke again, "That's it?"
"What else is there to say?" Morgan asked, "you obviously have some preconceived notions about me and my siblings because we're children of the Grand Marshal. We lived comfortably and our mom provided us with whatever we wanted, and I wanted to be here."
Before anyone else could add anything, the door beeped and their HUDs showed a message; DOORS UNLOCKED. PLEASE STEP THROUGH.
"Alright, game time," Morgan said as she drew her two plasma blaster, one she had won from her mother.
Through the doors was the interior of the large tower, which was completely hollow, with a massive empty cavity in the center of the building, going all the way up a hundred stories to the top floor, which was decorated with a massive skylight. They found themselves on one of the balconies looming over the vast empty cavity, along with numerous other balconies and floating platforms that clung to the walls. On other levels, Valla and her squad could see other doors letting in other cadet teams. There were a total of fifteen teams remaining from the original twenty squads that landed on the planet.
Before anyone could ask what to do next, the massive skylight that occupied the entire ceiling shattered, raining glass and debris down onto them.
Their personal force-fields protected each of them from the debris, with a hexagonal hard-light grid highlighting wherever debris came into contact with their person.
When they looked up, they saw a shape shoot through the shattered skylight at inhuman speeds, before crashing into the center of the room sending a plume of dust into the air.
When the dust cleared, the breath of every cadet was caught in their throat. Standing before them was Grand Marshal Nya Crimson, engulfed in her burning red energy.
"Hey kids," she greeted casually, "fancy meeting you here,"
Then, on their HUDs a new message appeared; OBJECTIVE: RECOVER ASSET AND OVERCOME OPPONENT. An icon appeared on their HUDs that marked Nya as 'Opponent'.
"We are so fucked." Morgan swore as she raised her two blasters and aimed them at her mother.
* * *
In the Arcanum, Kiva was in her office, having a private lesson with Astrid. The girl had recently turned 13 and started her adept training under Kiva.
Right now, Astrid is sitting on a cushion on the floor opposite Kiva who is offering her a cup of tea.
"Astrid, why do you want to be an adept?" Kiva asked, "You have a high mana affinity, giving you the potential to become a very powerful adept, but I want to know why you would follow this path?"
"I…" Astrid starts, taking a sip of her tea, "Can I speak freely?"
"Of course," Kiva said,
"At first, I just want to be one because mom said I would be good at it." Astrid admits, "But then, I started to think about what being an adept means to me."
"And? What did you find?"
"That I have absolutely no idea." She replied, "Does my high affinity mean that I'm more like my dad than Morgan or Eli? If so, should I even pursue this, knowing that I could become like him?"
"Some would say that the World Lord was a great man," Kiva said
"But he became obsessed with magecraft, he even had armor built just to absorb and channel mana for him." Astrid said, "I don't want to be like that, I don't want to also be a slave to this power."
Kiva smiled, Astrid was a smart kid. All of Nya's children were smart in their own way, but Astrid already had such a deep insight into herself and her powers… how would she develop further?
"Alright," Kiva said, placing a small lipid stone in front of her. "do me a favor and mold this."
"Into what?" Astrid asks picking up the rock
"Anything you want, be creative." Kiva said. She didn't bother to tell Astrid that it was a piece of mythril putty, and unless she channeled enough mana through it she wouldn't even be able to bend such a stubborn substance. This was a popular test given to most elves when they officially started training their adepts.
She watched as Astrid studied the glassy stone. Her eyes shimmered as she pressed her thumb into the side of the stone, and surprisingly, the material gave, becoming malleable. Kiva watched, astonished, as the teenager's finger warped the surface of the stone like it was clay, she'd never seen something like this on just the first lesson, even she needed a few more tries before she got the trick to molding mythril putty. Astrid possessed a far greater aptitude for magecraft than Kiva initially thought, much too strong for an ordinary human, especially one with an omen for a parent.
When she was done, Astrid had molded the stone into a simple figurine shaped like a star.
"That's amazing" Kiva comments
"Thanks," Astrid beamed, "I'm sorry it doesn't look any better."
"No, this is incredible," Kiva reassured looking at the figurine, "I couldn't even do this much when I first started my training."
"So, what else are we doing?" Astrid asks, studying the she-elf with her mismatched kaleidoscopic eyes. Kiva still couldn't believe a human had eyes like that, with the same crystalline quality as hers. She suspected that the former World Lord might've had some elven blood in his lineage. That was the only way to explain why Astrid could be a half-elf.
Half-elves weren't very common in Hyperion but they did happen, usually in the Theocracy. Sure, elves were typically arrogant and pretentious, and they valued the purity of their adept bloodlines above all else, but she knew that other fae in the theocracy that showed great affinity for mana were deemed worthy partners for elven breeding, one of her trainers growing up was even a half-elf. For the longest time, possessing kaleidoscopic eyes had been identified as a trait that was solely elven, and thus could also be associated with those of elven lineage, though it was only those that possessed this trait that were considered half-elves. It was possible that some rouge elf that left the theocracy centuries ago sired some offspring that passed on the elven affinity onto their children as recessive genes in their family until the gene was once again activated within Astrid. The revelation that Astrid could be a half-elf made way too much sense for Kiva to just ignore, but for now she would focus on the girl's training. Besides, any tests Kiva may want to try would have to be gone over with Nya first.
"Kiva?" Astrid asked, drawing the she-elf's attention. She had been lost in thought for the last few minutes now.
"Uh, sorry about that," Kiva said, "I think that's enough for one day, I'll need to rethink my whole curriculum for your training now."
"Really?" Astrid asked, "but all I did was make a bad impression of mom's ship?"
"Well, adept training can be weird like that," Kiva chuckled, "What do you say we go get some ice cream?"
"Yeah!" Astrid said excitedly,
"We should probably see if Eli wants some too," Kiva added
"I guess," Astrid huffed, "but he's probably having too much fun with Merlin to care about ice cream."
* * *
Eli was in the main computer core room of the Excalibur with Merlin, which was the physical location for the primary data core. They were at a command table looking at a byte constructs of the engines. The image looked like a large complex lantern construct surrounded by four large engine pylons.
"So this is the primary engine for the entire ship?" Eli asks
[Yep,] Merlin informs him, [This is the Stellar Drive, it's a modified design based on an advanced fusion reactor concept the Praxians had, but Nya and I refined the technology to greatly improve its efficiency and output. The core in the middle generates massive quantities of energy, then the engines around it converts that raw energy into power we can use.]
"What about the primary propulsion system?" Eli asked
The projection changes to showing the three pairs of detached engine pylons.
[These are purely Praxian designs.] Merlin explains,
"What're those floating bits?" Eli asked
[These detached pylons are actually kinetic oars, that manipulate the ships electromagnetic field to allow for lateral motion along the ship's axis, giving us virtually omnidirectional movement. The oars are so advanced that they can easily reach sub-light speeds without using conventional propulsion.]
"How do the kinetic oars work if they aren't attached?" Eli asked
[That's based on Praxian tech, which uses some sort of electromagnetic field of some sort to keep the detached parts connected to the system, it's like how wireless connection works, only applied to engineering. You should see their free floating structures; it's truly inspired work.]
While Merlin was explaining, Eli tapped on his band and the projection changed again, this time showing a creature that was vaguely humanoid, it had an hourglass figure, with a wider chest tapering into a narrow waist and small hips, its upper limbs were elongated, almost reaching the ground and was detached from the torso. The head was a large orb, and also floated above the torso.
[Where did you get this?] Merlin demanded, she didn't sound pleased,
"Whoa, what is it?"
[It's our rendering of a Praxian bio-form.] Merlin explained, [Now where did you get it from? This is highly confidential.]
"I was going through the primary data core and accessed mom's personal server." Eli admitted, "why didn't you tell me you had reconstructed a Praxian?"
[Your mother won't be happy when she finds out. Her private servers aren't for anyone to look at without her permission.] Merlin chastised
"It-it wasn't intentional," Eli pleaded, "I'm sorry,"
[Sorry isn't good enough,] Merlin chided, [You're lucky you didn't trip any of the lethal security mechanisms.]
"What's going to happen now?"
[Now our tour of the server room is over] Merlin said, [I'll need to upgrade her security programs,] Merlin said as holographic screens appeared around her,
"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" Eli asked timidly
[Probably, Nya takes her security very seriously.] Merlin said, then she ruffled his hair, [but I guess I won't tell her how far you got into her server.]
As Eli watches her work, he is intrigued and fascinated when he discovers that he doesn't recognize the coding language she was using. He's about to comment when his band chimes again.
A hologram of Kiva and Astrid appear,
"Hi little bro, want to get a treat?" Astrid asks, "we're gonna get ice cream,"
"When and where?" Eli demands,
His sweet tooth taking over his attention
[Give us an hour and I'll send him down to meet you.] Merlin said, [Eli has to see exactly what it takes to fix this mess he made.]
"Alright," Kiva said, "Eli, I hope you reflect on your actions now."
"That's no fair, Merlin," Eli pouted, as his thoughts were now on all the snacks he could've been enjoying.
* * *
After all she knew about the combat ability of Nya Crimson, fighting her mother in a mock battle as her final test was far from the top of the list of things Morgan would've preferred for the objective. Nya Crimson was like an overwhelming force of nature; she didn't hold back for anything. As the cadets engaged her in open combat, she proved why she was the greatest war hero in all of Avalon.
Above her, on a floating platform suspended in the air was Amara bound in handcuffs, with an icon identifying her as 'Asset'
"This is impossible," Rex yelled as he fired at a wing of blood aura that shielded the Grand Marshal. "We can't beat her."
"Maybe we don't have to," Morgan mused, "the objective said we had to overcome her, not defeat her."
"So?" Oak queried, "they mean the same thing."
"Not necessarily," Valla said, following Morgan's intentions, "We can't beat the Grand Marshal in a fight like this,"
"Obviously," Voidless said as she dodged debris from a failed attack
"So we focus on the main objective; recovering the asset." Morgan said, "the opponent is occupied right now, so we can sneak past her… hopefully."
"Hopefully? That's the best you can guarantee?" Oak complained, "you fucking live with the woman, can't you think of anything useful?"
"Will you shut the fuck up, Oak?" Morgan snapped, "I don't see you coming up with any better ideas. And yes, I do live with her, and I know that she's fucking unbeatable!"
"Let's go with her plan," Voidless said, "so what do we do?"
"Everyone cloak." Morgan ordered as she activated the adaptive camouflage and vanished as her suit blended into her surroundings. Not long after the rest of her team did the same, but they weren't the only ones to have the idea as another team cloaked themselves and approached the Grand Marshal.
"Alright, now start climbing," Morgan ordered, "Oak, I want you to have eyes on my mother, let us know when she decides to look up."
"Roger," he replied
"This better work," Spanner said, one of the rare few words he had spoken during the whole exercise, said as he used the jet boosters in his suit to launch himself twenty feet in the air to grab onto a ledge.
The others followed suit, jumping from ledge to ledge until they reached the level of the platform.
"Oak, how's the opponent?" Morgan asked as she helped Valla onto the ledge.
"Still busy, those other guys are relentless," Oak said, "and it seems some other guys have had the same idea as us."
"Then that's our cue to hustle people." Morgan barked
They were still halfway up to their objective, and other teams were quickly catching on, this didn't matter to Morgan as much as who else would catch on.
"We need to get there before my mom switches tactics." Morgan warned
"Hey Morgan," Valla called, "maybe you could use that phantasm of yours to win this for us?"
"Wait, she has a phantasm?" Oak demanded shocked
"Well duh, dipshit," Voidless sneered, "she is an omen."
"My phantasm isn't going to be much use right now." Morgan said, "what about you? You are an undine; don't you use undine magecraft?"
"Bitch do I look like an adept to you?" Valla spat back,
"Chat later, work now," Spanner said interrupting their argument
Morgan drew her blasters and opened fire on an enemy team that was quickly catching up, sending them back down, where their suits activated a barrier that disqualified them. Unfortunately, the falling cadets attracted the attention of the opponent who looked up at them.
"Shit."
Morgan wasn't sure who said it, whether it was one of her teammates or another team, but it was very accurate. Nya shot straight up to engage the cadets who were approaching Amara.
"Somebody do something," Oak said with surprising urgency.
Left with no other options, Morgan jumped off the ledge, falling straight for her mother.
"I'll keep her busy." Morgan shouted as her body was shrouded in a violet aura
As her violet aura collided with Nya's blood aura, the two plummeted straight for the ground.
"That was dangerous," Nya scolded her daughter, "You could've gotten seriously hurt,"
"Sorry to do this to you, mom," Morgan said as she punched Nya in the chest, her strength augmented by the purple aura that emanated from her arms,
"So that's your phantasm, is it?" Nya said as she got up, looking at the cracks that formed on her breastplate, "a strength type, not bad."
"Nope," Morgan said as her aura flickered, now focused around her legs, and she took off much faster than she'd previously been able to move. She surrounded her mother, landing hit after hit.
"A speed type now?" Nya said surprised. She wasn't sure of what Morgan's phantasm was, she had never seen her use it, she had even at a point thought that she didn't have one.
Two down, Morgan thought to herself, I need to end this fast before I burn through them all.
Morgan's phantasm was mimicry. It allowed her to copy the skills and abilities of any person she came into contact with, its main utility came from allowing her to copy the phantasms of other omen. Copying phantasms also came with certain drawbacks; she wouldn't be able to use a phantasm as well as the omen she copied it from; and since she doesn't have the unique constitution as the original phantasm users, using each ability puts significant strain on her body. Currently, she could only hold a handful of copied phantasms at a time, but she couldn't use them for long once activated and she lost access to that power afterwards.
Right now though, she's up against her worst opponent, Nya's ability to evolve herself constantly was too aberrant, and was one of the few kinds of phantasms Morgan couldn't even hope to copy.
After expending several of her stored phantasms, Morgan was getting tired. The strain was also affecting her suit as well, since several ERROR messages were flashing on her HUD, but still, Nya frustratingly refused to tire.
"What else do you have for me?" Nya asked
"This." Morgan said as the aura flickered again, concentrated around her whole body as she grabbed her mother in a complex lock. Nya tries to break it, but suddenly found Morgan to be immovably heavy.
"What is this?"
"I just increased my mass by a factor of a 100," Morgan said, "you won't be going anywhere for a while."
"Impressive." Nya said, Morgan could hear the smile in her voice, "but it's still not enough."
"You can't break out of this mom, not without hurting me." Morgan said
"I know, but I'm not trying to break out." Nya said as her blood aura flares, engulfing both Crimson women and taking the shape of a giant fiery bird. With Morgan still firmly grasped onto her, Nya took off.
"SHIIIIIIIIIIT!!!" Morgan cursed as she was carried along by her mothers' nonsensical strength. How was she this strong? She was basically lifting the equivalent of a tank on her back?
They had dropped a considerable distance while Morgan was keeping her mom engaged, but now they were quickly making their way up. Above them, her squad was only about six stories to the target.
Something had to be done, the only way they could win was to distract Nya with something she couldn't ignore, but even Morgan's surprise didn't seem to phase her that long. She gazed down, and saw what appeared to be a bottomless pit, sending a shiver down her spine. Dreading the plan that was forming in her head Morgan 's violet aura flickered and disappeared, then she let go of her mom and fell straight down into the seemingly bottomless abyss below.
"AAHHHHHHH!" Morgan cried as she fell, this was a scream of real primal terror.
"Morgan?" Nya said distracted.
Judging by how fast she's falling, this was not a ruse, and from the readouts on Nya's HUD, Morgan's personal shield was spent and her power pack was running on empty. With how deep that hole was, she'd probably reach terminal velocity soon, and not even her armor could protect her from the impact.
Realizing her daughter's reckless gamble it wasn't even a choice for Nya, she dove down to save her daughter. She swooped in as Morgan was almost at the bottom, catching her daughter at the last moment. Nya could actually hear Morgan's heart hammering in her chest, and feel her body trembling. Proof of how terrified she was. Her daughter was this committed to her squad passing?
"Morgan, are you alright?" Valla asked, through the comms.
"Do I fucking sound alright?" Morgan yelled back at her, she was nearly sobbing into the comms. "Somebody end this! I don't care who anymore."
"Right," Valla said as she jumped up three stories using her booster rocket, and was now level with the platform holding Amara.
"Finally. Can you get me out of this now?" Amara demanded, sounding very irate as she held her cuffed hands before her.
An hour later, Morgan was lying on a cot on a medevac shuttle, with her squad and her mother with her in the cabin. The strain from using all those copied phantasms quick succession had left her immobilized.
"That's was insanely stupid," Nya reprimanded her bedridden daughter, "if I was a few seconds slower, you'd be dead!"
"In her defense, it probably shows how much trust she has in you," Valla offered stepping forward to console the mother.
Nya glared at Valla and the undine shrank beneath such an intense and withering gaze, she knew instantly that this was not the time for backtalk. She just needed to let the incredibly terrifying mother chew out her reckless and immobilized daughter. But then Nya just let out a tired sigh, "Morgan I know you were trying to help you team, but sacrificing yourself is not the answer. That goes for the rest of you as well." She turned to the other cadets with her, "I've invested a good amount of effort and resources into each and every one of you, don't waste it."
"Yes ma'am," they replied with a salute.
As Nya sat next to her daughter, she hummed a tune she remembered from one of her past selves while she lovingly caressed Morgan's lavender hair. Her humming seemed to put all the cadets at ease. They weren't aware she had such a soothing singing voice.
The humming was cut short when Nya received a transmission through her internal comm.
"Merlin, What's up? No, we just finished up and are on our way back now." Nya replied as she listened further, then she got up suddenly, a look of alarm on her face, "THEY'RE WHAT? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?"
The clear urgency she showed put the others at alert as she listened silently.
"Alright," Nya said as she walked to the door leading to the cockpit. She called one of the pilots to her "Change of plans; we're rendezvousing with the Black Excalibur, it's just above us in orbit."
"What? Why aren't we going back to Avalon?" Morgan asked
Nya turned to her daughter, her eyes ablaze, "Someone abducted Astrid and Eli!"