Hex's P.O.V.
The ship moved closer to the orbital space station, and as it did, I could see the decrepit state it was in. There was some debris floating around, probably of the parts of the station that broke off. Some pieces of its external armour were broken, and the hull seemed to be barely holding on, it wouldn't surprise if you could destroy it by just blowing on it, it really didn't seem to be the most stable structure ever. Nix stopped the ship right next to the station, letting it drift.
"This is the closest I can get, captain, the rest is up to you," Nix shouted from the cabin.
"Very well," I said as I stood up from my sit. "Get ready," I told the others while I walked to the side door.
"Come on." I heard Vlad say behind him. "Put on your jetpacks," Vlad commanded as I heard movement behind me.
I opened the door, and it revealed a small room with another door, to which I walked. I waited for a few seconds before Vlad, and his team joined me in the room. I closed the door behind us, and then I opened the second door. We were promptly sucked into the void of space. Unlike what some would think, space is not impenetrably black, there is much more, as it truly is a work of art. You can see the light of nebulas thousands of light-years away which adorn the void with its rainbow colours, creating a breathtaking sight. You then have to mix in the vibrant colours of the infinite stars, making a light show of literal astronomical proportions. Nature is truly the most impressive artist there is, and its paintings can create sights that you will never forget, even if you try to. Still, I don't think anyone would want to forget such experience unless it is so you can live it with the first emotions you felt all over again.
I looked to my side, and I saw the planet which the station was orbiting. The energy shield that surrounded it prevented me from seeing the surface of the celestial body. I really couldn't help but wonder what was inside, and why would someone create a barrier around a planet and leave it for a seemingly long time. The biggest question to me, though, was, if whether they were trying to keep something out, or were they trying to keep something in?
I turned to look at the space station, suddenly remembering the mission once again. I activated the in-built jetpack of my suit, and then I propelled myself toward it.
"Come on, this is no different than the simulations." I heard Vlad say behind me. His voice was followed by the sound of several thrusters activating. Our suits provide us with the necessary life support to survive for several hours in the void of space, but I am not planning to stay that long here, so it's time to get this done.
I flew around the space station for a few minutes, carefully analyzing its deteriorated structure. Whoever built this station must have done it a long time ago. I continued to look at the facility, this time trying to analyze its design. I tried to recall if I had ever seen one like this, but I can't remember any design like this one, which really just didn't make any sense. Was this really a facility of the Infinite Empire? That was the most possible explanation we could come up with before. Somehow we had ended up in Infinite space, but that wouldn't explain why we couldn't locate any channel when no one was blocking our communications. This also didn't explain why this system didn't appear in any galactic maps. Were they carrying out an experiment? That would explain a War Moon's presence and why they would want to keep something trapped with a barrier of psionic energy. Still, whoever controlled this system is far gone, and the Infinite Empire is still around. So if we assume that everything here is at least a few centuries old, the War Moon must have been too, right? Then that wouldn't add up with the timeline of the construction of the first Infinite War Moon… It was getting too confusing, to say the least, maybe the answers to all my questions were lying inside that station.
"Any luck guessing to who this may belong?" I heard Vlad asked me as he stopped flying next to me.
I shook my head. "Nothing, I have never seen anything with this aesthetic design before," I replied.
"That is true, they don't align with any models I have seen on the computer." I heard Ahlex as he arrived with the other three. "Not even the stagnant ascendencies."
"There is no point in trying to decipher this any further right now then," Vlad said.
"Right, let's get going," I said as I started to move toward the entrance of the station. The rest followed me, and when we were there, I eyed the door for a few seconds, trying to figure out if there was a way to open it without applying to much force. Of course, though, there is no reason to place an access panel on the outside, as you wouldn't really expect someone to barge in like this. "Looks like we will have force our way in," I said as I turned to look at them.
"Great, leave it to me!" Natlee exclaimed as she raised her blaster, aiming it at the door.
"Wait!" I shouted, reaching to her blaster before she could shoot and pushing it down. "This station is not the most stable thing, one shot and the whole structure could come crashing down," I explained to her.
Natlee looked down. "Right, sorry…" She replied in a soft tone.
I turned around to look at the vertical line where the two doors met.
"What are we going to do then?" I heard Eleini ask behind me.
"Well, we have to get in through force, but we have to be careful," I said as I started to move toward the door. I placed my hands in the doors, and I began to try and separate them using my fingers at first. After a few seconds, I was able to get my fingers deeper and deeper into the door to apply more force. I continued trying to separate the doors, and I saw some success as the doors slightly moved, allowing me to look at the station's inside. It was all pitch black, as there were no lights, so I really wasn't able to get an image of the interior.
"Come on…" I said to my self. I continued to use as much force as possible, which caused the doors to open more, but the whole structure began to shake violently when they did. Right, I couldn't apply much pressure, or else this whole thing could be destroyed. I breathed in and continued to open the door. It took me a few more minutes, but I could open them up to the size a human could pass through. "Let's go!" I told them before moving into the station.
I immediately set my helmet to night vision and raised my arms, aiming my wrist blasters around, making sure we didn't get assaulted by anything. When Vlad entered, he did the same thing, raising his blaster and aiming it to the other side I wasn't guarding. Then the rookies joined.
"I can't see anything." I heard Zavis say behind me.
"Set your helmets to night vision." I heard Vlad tell them. "It's a basic thing, come on."
"R-Right, sir." I heard Zavis say behind me. It��s just normal for the stress to take a toll on you during missions, especially on your first mission, but that is something they must eventually learn to subdue if they want to keep themselves alive for the longest time.
I turned around to the opened door and then I looked at Vlad, nodding at him. We both took out a small stick, and we placed it horizontally in between the doors, one at the to and the other at the bottom. The bars expanded to fit in the hole's size, and then they created a ray shield that sealed the spot.
"Come on, we must find the control centre," I told them as I turned around. "And let's not get separated, we don't know what surprises we may find here," I said, turning back around and I started to propel myself through the hall.
We moved in, and I observed the state of the station from the inside. Surprisingly, it seemed to not be in a deplorable state. It seemed like it had only recently started to decay, whoever built this did an outstanding job, but this was just a useless hull without the energy to power it. We moved through the halls, and after a few minutes, we reached the command centre. There wasn't a single sign of life in it, nor that anyone had been in it for a long time too, it was just… empty, only the computers that once served to control everything that happened in the station.
"I feel like we are in an episode of Tomb Raider." I heard Zavis say behind me. I then heard a yelp coming from him too. "Ow, what was that for?" Zavis asked, there was a pain in his voice.
"For saying something stupid," Natlee replied, although, I did have to agree with the kid here, it certainly felt like that.
I moved toward what seemed to be the main panel. I looked at it and saw all the different buttons on it, which I started to press one by one, trying to see if anything would work, but as I suspected, none did, but I guess it was worth the shot.
"We need to restore power to the starbase, or else this place won't be of any help to us," I said as I turned around to them.
"Eleini, Zavis," Vlad said as he turned to the two. "Go and search if there is a reactor, once there…" Vlad took a small squared device out of his pocket. "See if you can plug in this miniature fission reactor. It may not give us much energy, but it should be enough to power the station for at least an hour." Vlad then turned to me. "And I guess that should be enough time."
"Hopefully," I replied back to Vlad. Vlad turned around and handed the device to Eleini.
"We'll be back in no time, sir," Eleini said as she saluted.
"R-Right!" Zavis said too after Eleini.
They turned around and went on their way.
"You sure you want to leave them alone?" I asked Vlad who was next to me.
"If they encounter anything, they should be able to handle it on their own, because if they can't, then our military is in big trouble," Vlad replied to me.
Rookies P.O.V.
Eleini and Zavis floated down the halls, propelled by their jetpacks, Eleini was at the front while Zavis followed her.
"So, what exactly are we even looking for?" Zavis asked as he looked around the hall.
"Well, the reactor room is often located in the middle of the station, where it is safer," Eleini replied. "And I doubt that would change for this station, and I think I saw something when we passed by this hall."
Eleini propelled herself toward an open door, and there she saw another hall. Through her visor, she was able to see the control room of the reactor room.
"This must be it," Eleini stated as Zavis made his way toward her.
"How were you able to see this room? Even with the night vision visor, it still not entirely easy to see around here." Zavis asked as he squinted his eyes behind his helmet, trying to get a better image of the room.
"I can be quite observant." That was all Eleini replied before making her way toward the reactor room.
"I guess the rank of sergeant isn't given for nothing," Zavis said to himself before following Eleini.
Once they reached the room, they looked around for a few seconds, making sure there wasn't anything else in there with them. When the coast was cleared, they moved deeper into the room, to what seemed to be the reactor. Eleini looked at it for a few seconds and then turned to Zavis.
"This seems to be a fusion reactor, and for it to have run out of energy, it must have been active for a long time, at the very least a few thousand years," Eleini stated.
"Do you think we can bring it back to life?" Zavis asked.
"Well, if we can connect the fission reactor to its primary node, then we will be able to power the station. The fusion reactor is done for, and unless we can bring helium 3, it won't continue making reactions," Eleini replied, as she took out the miniature fission reactor that had been given to her, and then she gave it to Zavis.
"Here, do us the honour," Eleini said as she placed the reactor on Zavis' hand.
"Well, if you insist, but where am I supposed to connect it?" Zavis asked as he moved toward the reactor.
"Just find a port, that thing should have a universal adapter thanks to the nanites," Eleini replied as she watched Zavis look around the reactor.
"Okay, then." Was all Zavis replied before he continued to move around. After a few seconds, Zavis managed to spot something in the control panel.
"I think I found it!" Zavis shouted.
"Good job," Eleini said as she moved toward him.
Zavis turned to the port and placed the fission reactor in it, allowing the nanites to do their job of adapting themselves to the entrance. After a few moments, the lights started blinking, and the power had been restored to the station. The stations' rotational mechanisms were back online along with the artificial gravity generators and the life support system.
Eleini and Zavis deactivated their jetpacks along with the night vision mode of their helmets.
"We did it!" Zavis exclaimed as he landed on the floor. When Zavis landed, he heard something crack beneath him, causing him to look down.
Hex's P.O.V.
As I was resting my back against the wall with my eyes closed, I then had a small flash of light penetrate my eyes, causing me pain. I slowly opened up my eyes to see that the lights where back on, which could only mean one thing.
"They did it," Vlad said as he deactivated his jetpack.
"Indeed," I replied, doing the same. "Well, looks like we can now start with the real job." As I said that, I heard a male scream coming from the direction Eleini and Zavis had gone too. "Oh no," I said as I readied my wrist blasters.
"Ahlex, Natlee, stay here!" Vlad ordered, but his voice suggested he was in a panic. "Hex!" Vlad exclaimed as he turned to me, reading his blaster rifle.
"Right," I replied, and then we both ran out of the room. Thanks to my enhanced senses, I could track down the direction from where the scream had come from. We crossed a large hall, and then we entered the room, guns raised.
Rookies P.O.V.
Zavis had jumped back and had his back against one of the walls.
"Calm down," Eleini told Zavis as she walked to where he had been standing just a few seconds ago. When she did, she looked at the floor, where the skeleton of a humanoid creature was.
Eleini then turned around when she heard Hex and Vlad barge into the room. Hex and Vlad looked around for a few seconds before sighing.
"What was it?" Hex asked as he lowered his arms while Vlad lowered his blaster.
"Zavis stepped on a skeleton," Eleini replied with a sigh while Zavis chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.
"I was just surprised. I expected to encounter a corpse at some point, but not that it would literally appear under me," Zavis stated as he looked at his superior officers.
Vlad sighed."You should be prepared for anything, if it was alive and hostile, you can't afford to be scared like that, understood?"
"Y-Yes, sir!" Zavis said as he saluted Vlad.
"That being said," Vlad said as he walked toward the skeleton along with Hex. "Looks like you found something quite interesting," Vlad commented as he looked at the corpse while rubbing the chin of his helmet.
"This will help us decipher the mystery behind all of this quicker," Hex commented as he turned his communicator on. "Bridge this is Captain Hex, we have a situation here… A corpse, well a skeleton… very well, understood," Hex then lowered his arm and looked at the three of them. "They will send a specialized team to retrieve the body, Sergeant Warte…" Eleini stood attention. "Corporal Aker," Zavis did the same. "You two will stay here and watch over the body,"
"Understood, sir!" They replied as they saluted.
"I will go back to the command room to see if I can obtain any information from the computers. Vlad, I want you to check the rest of the station, see if there are any other bodies around," Hex ordered his friend.
"Right on it!" Vlad said before running out of the reactor room. Hex then followed Vlad, as he went do what he had said.
Eleini and Zavis then turned to look at the corpse after the two officers had left the room.
"Why do we have to watch over this thing?" Zavis asked as he kneeled down to look better at the skeleton. "It's not like it will come back to life, stand up, and run away,"
"That's what people in movies often say before what they didn't believe possible actually happens," Eleini retorted to Zavis who just "PFT" in return.
"Like this is a movie," Zavis replied as he continued to look at the corpse. Zavis was then suddenly pushed toward the skeleton, causing his helmet to almost kiss the cranium. Zavis jolted back in surprise while letting out a small scream of terror. Meanwhile, Eleini laughed as she looked at Zavis.
"Not funny," Zavis grumbled as he regained his composure.
"You really have to get brave," Eleini said as she punched Zavis in the arm. "You may have good fighting skills, but that won't be of use if you freeze or get scared in your first combat," Eleini told her friend.
"I know, but trust me, it's not like I will just let myself be killed," Zavis retorted. "If I did my father would never forgive me for bringing shame into the family name,"
"So your family has a military tradition?" Eleini asked.
"Yeah, my father used to be a general in the army, but he was then promoted to Dux of one of the new fringe sectors," Zavis explained. "My older sister is a captain of her own vessel in the navy while my older brother is a senior airman in the strikecraft corp," Zavis explained to his friend. "Meanwhile, I am in the army. Father wants to make sure that one of us will inherit his Dux position when the time comes[1]. Of course, for that your skills must be recognized by the Emperor himself, so I guess I have it kind of difficult," Zavis finished speaking as he rubbed the back of his head.
Eleini walked toward him and placed her hand on his shoulder, and she smiled under her helmet. "I'm sure you will make a fine soldier. We are still technically new to this but don't be afraid, we are all in this together, right?"
"Right," Zavis replied, also smiling. Zavis then turned to look at the skeleton once again. "So, do you think there are more like this guy?"
"It certainly is a possibility, although I personally don't think so," Eleini replied as she looked at the skeleton too.
"Why?" Zavis asked, turning his head toward Eleini.
"Because of the way he apparently died," Eleini stated. "When we arrived, the reactor was turned off, in other words, it was no longer working, so that must have happened at some point. When it did, whoever this creature was must have come here to try and fix it, only to not be able to and die," Eleini explained.
"Okay, but that doesn't explain why there would be no other corpses around," Zavis retorted.
"Simple. First, the presence of a single corpse here can make us safely assume that he was the only one alive by the point the reactor stopped working, and as to why there are no other corpses, well, no one wants to live surrounded by corpses, so he could have dumped them into outer space. Space is the biggest graveyard in the universe, you know?" Eleini continued her explanation.
"And then he died all alone, with nobody to pick up his corpse," Zavis continued, trying to see if he had picked up the idea.
"Exactly," Eleini said as she nodded.
"Well, that is certainly one horrible way to die," Zavis said as he turned to the skeleton.
"Indeed, but I must question is…" Eleini started. "Why did nobody came to aid the people in the station? I doubt if whatever empire had control over this system went as far as to protect it with a War Moon would just let the crew of this station die. I guess we can only hope for the answers to be in the computer log…"
Hex's P.O.V.
I quickly returned to the command centre, and when I did, I saw Ahlex and Natlee looking at the computer. They both promptly turned around to look at me and saluted.
"Captain Hex, sir!" They both said in unison as they saluted.
I walked toward them to see what they were doing.
"Sir, while you were gone, we took the initiative to examine the computer logs," Natlee told me as I went to see the computer. In it I saw a lot of writings in an alien language I couldn't understand.
"As you can see, sir," Ahlex said. "This is written in a language that doesn't appear in our database, not even in that of precursor empires. We will need an advanced deciphering group to know what they are saying,"
I stood up straight and looked at them. "Good job, both of you. Corporal Derson, download all the data into this E-Pad." I ordered Ahlex as I gave him the special E-Pad I had been given.
"On it, sir!" Ahle replied as he took the E-Pad.
Whatever this mystery was, it was just getting weirder and weirder…
Two weeks passed since our incursion into the alien station. Ever since then, the corpse and the logs were retrieved by Dr Hayden and his science team. They spent days analyzing the corpse, along with a few other remains they were able to find in the surface of a planetary base. They also seemed to have a few troubles deciphering the people's language, as it did not appear in any of the databases, thankfully, the universal translator was able to relate some words to a few known languages, and from there the team was able to continue translating. The team that went to the planetary base managed to find other logs to see all the puzzle pieces. A military squadron and a group of engineers also took control of the orbital station to restore it to its former glory.
After the two weeks had passed, I was finally summoned to the Juggernaut's Bridge, where Roi, Renard and Dr Hayden were there. I don't think I had a high enough rank to be there, but I'm glad Renard and Roi trust me enough to let me in on the briefing.
"So, were you able to find anything?" I said as I walked toward the table with a holographic displayer in the middle of the Bridge.
"Certainly," Dr Hayden said as he pushed up his glasses. "Although the truth is more terrifying than we ever expected, that also makes it… exciting," Hayden said while grinning.
"Will you mind explaining?" Renard asked as he crossed his arms.
"But of course!" Hayden said as he pushed a button on the table and a holographic display of a humanoid alien appeared. "This is a Sless, or at least, the most faithful reconstruction we were able to make of one," Hayden explained.
"Sless?" I asked.
"Yes, that is how they called themselves, at least if our deciphering of their language was accurate," Hayden told me.
"There is no data about any species called Sless, though," Roi said.
"Exactly, that's because we are no longer in our galaxy, admiral," Hayden as he smirked.
"So, we accidentally transported ourselves out of the galaxy?" Roi asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Not only out of the galaxy but out of our own universe," Hayden said as his grin grew larger.
The possibility had been thrown around, but to actually have it confirmed…
"What makes you say that so sure?" Renard asked as he leaned on the table.
"In the surface, this universe may seem much similar like our own, and we have to be thankful about that, as it would be dangerous if it was actually made of antimatter, or what would be antimatter to us but matter to them," Hayden said. However, I believe "dangerous" would be an understatement. "So at least we can safely assume that the laws of physics are similar or equal to that of our own, so we can get that worry out of the way, but…"
"But?" Roi asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Here is the fun part…" Hayden said and then chuckled. "Our particles vibrate, right? But well, you see, since we are from the same universe, then our particles," Hayden said as he signalled toward us. "They vibrate at the same frequency when in the same state. Of course, different materials have different properties. Still, in the end, those properties are the same throughout our universe, they are uniform, and if this was our own universe, then the same should be true here," Hayden said.
"But it isn't," Renard stated.
"Ding ding ding!" Hayden said as he pointed toward Renard. "After conducting some tests, we were able to get the values of the particles' vibration frequency, and we tested it with the fossil and then with a human bone, don't ask where we got it by the way," Hayden said as he smirked. "Anyway, when we did that, we were able to discover that despite we being composed of the same materials, our particles' frequency was different. Nothing drastic though," Hayden said, waving his hand around. "The difference is way too minuscule to cause any visible difference between our elements and that of this universe, which suggest this universe closely resembles ours,"
"Well, that explains where we are, but what happened here?" I asked as I narrowed my eyes and looked at Hayden
"That is the interesting part," Hayden replied to me as he pushed up his glasses. "From what we have been able to get, the Sless controlled a vast part of the galaxy, and they seemed to have done so for millennia," Hayden began his explanation. "This station alone was built around 100,000 years ago, and their empire greatly predated it still," Hayden then cleared his throat and continued. "The Sless Blessed Mandate, as they called themselves, its government was a spiritualist form of oligarchy, where a council of clergy, called the Holy Tribunal, overseen by the High Inquisitor, ruled the state, causing there to be no division between the state and organized religion. From the records, it seems it popped into existence around 120,000 years ago. They dominated the galaxy due to their use of their psionic powers," Hayden continued with his explanation. "Still, even after dominating the galaxy and becoming the sole power, they still craved for more… They used this system to carry out experiments. They terraformed the surface of the shielded world, transforming it essentially into a Gaia World, where pretty much any species would be able to live. They then brought in several specimens from across their empire and settled them to test their psionic potential. They did this to see which characteristics were more favourable for the augmentation of their psionic powers. They constantly manipulated, tampering with the development of the many species there…" Hayden then began to laugh.
"What is it?" Renard asked as he raised an eyebrow while looking at the doctor.
"Oh, it's just funny… They say curiosity killed the cat, right? Well, that couldn't be more true… As I said they craved power, they wanted power like no one had seen before, and in the end… they got it, but not as they expected…" Hayden once again pushed up his glasses. "They created a megastructure, they called it the Psychic Hipersiphon. That thing allowed them to extract power from the Shroud[2] directly… When they did, they accidentally opened up a portal that allowed beings of immense power to access this dimension. They called them, Psions, we don't know how they looked like though…" Hayden then sighed. "Sadly, the records get fuzzy from here, as they appeared to have been damaged by time. We know an event then happened during the war called 'The Great Retreat' which happened a little over 1,000 years ago. Then we get some data about how the last High Inquisitor was ousted from power, and the Mandate was then turned into a dictatorship. We also have some references being made to a particular 'Custodian Project' whatever happened after that is entirely unknown,"
Hayden then turned to the holographic displayer and pushed a few buttons which then cause for a planet to be displayed.
"We can infer what happened though. You see, we discovered a hyperlane suppressor, with its operation centre based on the last planet in this solar system. We can deduce the possibility that a few surviving Sless came to this system and then used the hyperlane suppressor to prevent the Psions from invading this system, they then died out for whatever reason," Hayden finished and then turned to look at the three officers.
"In that case, it´s better we don't touch that suppressor. If the Psions are still out there, then that thing is the only thing keeping them out from attacking us," Roi said to which the rest of us nodded.
"What about the planet? Should we do something about it?" I asked my superior officers.
"We found a way to pierce the shield thanks to the ion disruptors on board of the destroyers. Still, the shield is strong, the disruptors can only create a hole big enough that would allow a few transport ships and gunships to pass through it before closing down again," Renard said.
"And that is only the beginning of our problems, we managed to send some surveying drones into the planet, but we lost contact the moment they crossed the barrier. Looks like the natural psionic properties of the planet interfere with the radars and communication systems, just like in the Infinite Shrouded Worlds," Hayden explained. "It is also possible for the barrier itself to exert some energy that is also interfering with our devices."
"The barrier is not natural though, so if we can bring it down, then it would make things much easier," I said to them.
"Great idea! Let's send an expedition!" Hayden exclaimed.
"Not so fast," Renard intervened as he narrowed his eyes toward Hayden. "I'm not going to send my men essentially blindfolded into what could be a death trap," Renard growled at the doctor.
"But you don't need to send all of your men!" Hayden was quick to retort. "Why not send just a few, like 10,000? You leave them there for three weeks or something and allow them to establish a base of operations. If they survive and are even able to explore part of the area, then that means we can send more troops, if they die then that means it is potentially dangerous!" Hayden exclaimed with a smile.
"I'm not going to use my men for an experiment," Renard retorted.
"So, would you rather sit and do nothing and wait until the portal opens who knows when?" Hayden asked as he tilted his head.
"No," Renard said softly as he looked down. Renard sighed. "Hex!" Oh no. "I want you to be in charge of the expeditionary force," Renard told me as he turned toward me.
"Um, pardon me, sir?" I asked, maybe I had heard wrong.
"You heard me, I will put you in charge of the expeditionary force that will land on the planet. I won't allow them to die, and with a Gene Warrior present our odds are much better," Renard stated. "So, what do you say?"
I looked at Renard for a few seconds before mentally sighing. "I accept, sir," Not like I had much of a choice to be honest.
"The expedition will be set to depart in a week from now, you may go to rest, for now, you will need it," Renard told me as he saluted.
"Understood," I said as I saluted too. I turned around and then walked out of the Bridge.
Officers' P.O.V.
Hayden turned to look at the two officers.
"He seems rather disgruntled at the idea of being in command. How interesting," Hayden said as he rubbed his chin.
"Tell me, Hayden, do you know what one of the worst things is for a commanding officer?" Renard asked, causing Hayden to look at the commander.
"I can think of many things," Hayden stated.
"When people die under your command, especially when they are people you have personally grown attached to. In a sense, it is inevitable for people to die, but you can never forget the feeling of knowing that if maybe you did something different, then those lives could have been saved," Renard stated.
"Some are able to move on, while others crumble under the feeling, not that I can blame them entirely though," Roi continued the explanation.
"Still, as comrades, it is our job to help each other, and it is about damn time that someone forces him to face this. It may be cruel, but life is cruel as well, so why should we be any different when trying to help him?" Renard stated.
"I see…" Hayden said as he grinned. "You soldiers are really quite the exciting specimen…"
"Still," Renard thought. "I just wished my brother was here, maybe he would be able to knock some sense into him…"
Third Person P.O.V.
In the shielded planet's atmosphere, descending from the endless space, the two destroyers which survived the battle with the War Moon, the I.S.S. Alexander and I.S.S. Leonidas positioned themselves in front of the shield.
"Ion Disruptors ready, sir!" An officer in the Bridge of the Alexander said.
"Contact the Leonidas, ask them if they are ready," The captain of the Alexander ordered.
"On it sir!" A female officer with headphones replied as she turned to look at her computer.
After a few minutes, the same officer turned around to look at the captain.
"They are ready, sir! They will fire in one minute!" The officer shouted.
"Synchronize the disruptors!" The captain commanded.
After a minute had passed, both ships fired their disruptors, slowly starting tearing a hole through the shield. After a few minutes, the disruptors began to overheat, and they stopped shooting. A big enough hole was created though, and this allowed for a few transport shuttles, and strikecraft to pass-through, the first wave had passed. Immediately, the systems of the ships began to fail. Their radars and sensors shut off, and the A.I. assistants shut off too, and they were effectively flying manually and blind. The ships managed to pass through the clouds after a few minutes, and when they did, they saw the ground below them, where a hill surrounded by planes was. At a distance, you could see the figures of mountains and dense forests.
The vessels landed on the ground, and the soldiers didn't waste time as they were already out, deploying all their equipment and supplies.
"Come on! We have to have some sort of base by dusk!" Hex shouted as he stepped out of his transport shuttle being followed by Vlad and his team.
"Sir!" An officer said as he approached Hex and saluted.
"Captain Coltin, I want your men to create a perimeter of two hundred meters from here around the hill, we must start fortifying this place as soon as possible. We will expand the boundary as more soldiers and supplies come in and the base grows," Hex ordered as he continued to walk.
"Understood!" Coltin said and then walked away. While Hex and Coltin were technically of the same rank, since Renard had personally assigned Hex to be the one in charge, he was the superior officer for now.
Around the hill, the officers commanded the soldiers around as they started to lay the first Terrestrial base's foundations in this world. Hex stopped walking, and he looked toward the distance.
"Well then, new world, let's see what you have for us…"
As the day passed by, more men, supplies and resources landed on the surface of the planet in the same spot where Hex had landed. Soon, the 10,000 men of the expeditionary force were all on the planet accompanied by a few speeders, some walker tanks, which would be useful due to their all-terrain functionality, making them walking cannons, a turbo tank, which is essentially a massive tank which can operate as a command centre, and some self-propelled anti-aircraft batteries. Along with this they also counted with the support of a few multirole strikecraft. A small temporary settlement had been built by dusk, which had a few makeshift barracks, bathrooms, and kitchen. All of them were surrounded by a line of makeshift trenches, bunkers and other fortifications.
At this time, Hex was approached by three airmen.
"You called us, sir?" The senior airman asked Hex.
"Indeed, I need your squadron to carry out reconnaissance around the area. While we may have no way of holomapping the region due to the interference with our devices, you will have to carefully remember all important details," Hex said.
"Wouldn't it be better to do it in the morning, sir?" One of the other airmen said.
"Not entirely," Hex replied. "By essential details, I mostly mean settlements. Where there is light, there are people. At night it should be easier for you to spot these settlements," Hex stated.
"I guess so," The airman said.
"If you encounter any threat, you have the permission to retreat. I will also send a squadron of speeders to follow you via ground, that is all, you will depart in one hour," Hex stated.
"Yes, sir!" They said as they saluted and then walked away.
The team of strikecraft departed at the indicated hour and the speeder squadron following them from the ground. The survey squad flew around the area for an hour, carefully examining the area. When the group found nothing of interest in the immediate area, they decided to adventure themselves further away. At first, the site also seemed to be relatively empty, just trees and plants that closely resembled those that once covered Terra too before becoming an ecumenopolis. They flew relatively slow to make sure they could capture all the details of the landscape, at least that way maybe they would find a more suitable defensive position. After a few minutes, they could see something at a distance, a spark of light, but for it to be seen from this far away, it must be an intense light. The strikecraft team leader signalled the others to follow him, as they could not communicate with each other due to their communications jamming.
Screams adorned the site, replacing the singing of the birds. The city streets were painted red, while the fire danced across the city, lighting up the sky. On the streets, bodies lied, piled upon each other. Spikes with heads that had blood still dripping out of them adorned the entrance of each house. Outside of the city's most significant house, several bodies hunged from the window, including women and children. On the central plaza of the town, several human bodies from distinct ages lied on the ground, their chests ripped open, while on the centre, several spikes with hearts were stuck to the floor.
"Rejoice!" A rough voice said in between the chorus of agony. "For you have reached the end of the cycle, and thus you have entered the ultimate state!" In the middle of the plaza, surrounded by the hearts, someone in ecclesiastical robes stood, his hands risen to his side as he looked to the sky. "From your wounds bleed your memories, your names and your ambitions, for you shall leave it all behind," The person then started to walk out of the circle of spikes. "Birth… Pain… Fear… Death, the cycle of existence…" The person then stepped out and placed his hand together which were then covered by the robes. "You live, you know pain, you have learned fear, and now you die… Once you have managed to comprehend this…" The light of the flames now illuminated the face of the person and their pinkish skin. It had the face of a pig. Its eyes were pure white with no pupil, it had dark spots in its skin where it was beginning to rot, and in some places, the withering skin allowed for the decayed muscle and even the bone to be seen. "You will be able to embrace the darkness and be one with it. Feel proud, for your death is a sacrifice that will bring this world closer to purity!"
On one of the city walls, another of the pig humanoid creatures dressed in black battle, armour walked around with his eyes closed. The screams at a distance were like music to him, and there is nothing better than a lovely concert after winning a battle. The humanoid pig then stopped walking and opened his eyes, turning to look at a distance. Another one of those creatures that were nearby turned to look at him.
"Something bothering you, my lord?" The pig asked his superior.
"I felt a disturbance…" The pig lord replied. He narrowed his eyes, and they turned bright purple. He was now able to look several kilometres away, and after a few seconds, he spotted three unidentifiable objects flying toward the city.
"Dragons?" The piglin thought. "No… Those are not dragons… then…" The piglin widened his eyes. "So the prophecies turned out to be true…" The piglin lord said out loud, causing the other piglin to look at him. "The sky people have returned…"
"What?!" The piglin soldier exclaimed as he looked at the distance.
The piglin lord walked way from the wall and went into the city, after a few minutes, he returned, accompanied by three other piglin soldiers.
"Shoot them down!" The piglin lord ordered as he pointed at the distance.
The three piglins he had brought lined themselves up across the wall. Their eyes glowed purple, allowing them to look at their objective. They extended their hands to their side and then started to levitate. Behind them, an array made up of dark purplish energy formed. In their hands, two orbs were created, while another sphere was constructed in front of them. One laser was shot from their hands, which then they met in the balls in front of them, which released an even more powerful beam toward the sky.
In the skies, the pilots were calm, as they saw the light of what they assumed to be a settlement become bigger and bigger, which must mean that they were getting closer. Suddenly, they saw three flashes of light coming from the same direction.
"What the?" One of the airmen said before a beam of energy pierced through the strikecraft almost like if it was paper.
"What?!" The senior airman exclaimed as he saw the plane explode next to him. He then heard something from his other side and saw as the plane of his other companion was shot down by a beam as well. Reacting quickly, he rolled his strikecraft around, dodging the beam of energy directed toward him. He then dodged another beam that was coming from one of his sides. Then the three beams were all directed toward him, unable to escape, he was shot down.
The speeder squadron saw the explosion of the three strikecraft and the beams that shot them down from the ground. They halted as they looked at where the aircraft just were in shock.
"We must go back and inform this," The leader of the team said.
They then turned their speeders around and went back toward the base.
The three piglins had stopped levitating on the city walls, and they were back on the ground. The piglin who was initially on the wall turned to look at the piglin lord.
"What will you do now, sir?" The piglin asked.
"I will talk to the Death Priest, we must inform the Dread Cardinal that the prophecy of the ancients has been fulfilled," The piglin lord replied before walking down from the wall.
"Yes, my bloodlord," The piglin said as he bowed.
Gehenna, the capital city of the Piglin Demonocracy…
An elderly piglin dressed in ecclesiastical clothes walked down the halls of a giant castle. His skin was greatly rotten, allowing for much of his bones to be seen. The piglin continued to walk calmly until he heard a voice coming from behind.
"Cardinal!" The Dread Cardinal turned around to look another piglin in robes of clergy kneeling in front of him.
"What is it, child?" The Cardinal asked.
"A message from Priest Vegrith and Lord Dunnach, they say the ancient prophecy has been fulfilled…" The young piglin said.
"Hmmm… So the sky people have returned…" The Cardinal said as he rubbed his chin. "Right when we were about to open the gates of hell… No matter, our mission is still the same, we must go forth and fulfil our part of the Unholy Covenant," The Cardinal stated firmly. "Once that is done, nothing will be able to stop us, populations will be decimated, and all life shall be destroyed, mothers will kill daughters, and soldiers will weep in terror!" The Cardinal exclaimed. "Yes… We will break the shackles of the living… One by one, they will fall, blinking out of existence, and when the end of the cycle comes, and all things erode to ash, we will emerge, an eternity awaiting us,"
The young piglin raised his head and looked at the Cardinal. "Will we be victorious?"
"Yes, we will, child," The Cardinal replied. "After all, we are different. We are born in the moment of our death when the flesh fails, it unlocks our true potential. We are the ones who tasted oblivion, and it drowned us. We embraced the end, and it showed us what was beyond. And when the end comes, we shall live death to its fullest! As even in death, we serve the Archons of Sin!"
The Cardinal walked toward a window that had a view over the city of sin.
"Contact the Dusk Bishops, as it is time…" Outside the window, the Cardinal looked at a sea of legions of Piglin warriors. "For we shall deal the final blow and bring an end to the Holy Empire, and we shall finally unleash the armies of Hell…"
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[1] The Duxes are, in essence, the governors of the different sectors inside the Terrestrial Empire. They are appointed by the Emperor himself, and they rule for life unless the Emperor decides to remove them. The position of Dux can be passed from parent to children as long as the Emperor deems the heir fit enough, so most Duxes spend time making sure that their children are worthy enough of such position so it can remain within the family.
[2] The Shroud is another dimension of pure psionic energy which has existed since the dawn of time. It is where psionic species and individuals draw their power, some with more efficiency than others.