The ship flowed peacefully amongst the stars, the only sound came from the engines humming. The seats in the cabin actually folded down into beds. Not the most comfort, but Fjorn's snoring might suggest otherwise. I could not sleep. I held the research library open on the tablet. I updated my findings in the comments under Jotunheim. I placed it under the 'Do NOT Respond' tab for distress signals. I had commented underneath my report. 'Leader- Aldonis. Became mad and slaughtered his own people. Cerberus the hound. Under horseman control - Do Not Approach.' I added the label for reentry to planet for one century. Surely by then, it would be a desolate planet, and the research teams can explore and uncover many mysteries that many civilizations leave behind. The sights still haunted me a bit. I have seen wars fought by outside civilizations. Unable to interfere, the swordsmen of Nibiru were forced to study every war fought, in the event these forces became adversaries. I could hear Cerberus's claws scraping through the ice tunnel. I could see Gannd, lifeless, just after he saved my life. I could see the terror in Aldonis's eyes as he regained a piece of his soul, unbeknownst to me, was taken. Sleep would not come easy, but eventually, even through the horrors I witnessed, my eyelids grew heavy and I succumbed to sleep.
I awoke what seemed like days later, but according to my tablet it had only been four hours. There was about two days until we had reached the void between the two galaxies. Intergalactic traveling is not a common practice. If it isn't deemed appropriate by the tribunal of space travel, it will not be granted. You can travel outside the galaxy freely, but if you are not granted permission to do so, any distress signal can be shoved to the lower end of the priority queue. Which practically means, you will die out in space cause we are not showing up if you don't have the proper clearance to be there. If you return from intergalactic space, you have to quarantine and be inspected by the tribunals guard upon arrival to The Forge. Failure to do so, or ignoring hails, results in termination.
Distress signals received from other galaxies that originate from there, will be high priority. The tribunal uses this as a means to garner peace, expand trade and eventually, a safe route between galaxies. Each galaxy holds a certain signature reading. Like its own little dimension. You cannot mimic a distress signal from Andromeda in the Milky Way.
Due to us passing the void barrier between the galaxies, we are force to do this quarantine process and have every inch of the ship decontaminated and searched. Traveling through the void barrier is an extremely dangerous process. Picture two coins spinning in opposite directions. You have to hop between the first coin, slow down and start going the other way and slip into the second coin while matching its speed. Except these coins are actually spinning at a hundred and thirty miles a second. Which is possible because that is an extremely small fraction of the speed of light, but you have to go really fast, but not too fast. If you miss the jump from the void, it will get shredded by the edge of the galaxy.
Even though we had regained our memories, and the missing pieces of our souls, it was still hard to remember everything clearly. Things were a bit hazy. I could remember people more than I could remember places. According to Fjorn, everything will come back clear as new, but over time. It's a wound that heals, but at a significantly slower pace than an actual physical wound.
I was still limping around slightly, but the hole in my leg had just about healed. It had a small scab and the pain for the most part was already gone. I grabbed my tablet once again and sat down ready to do some research on The Forge. I skimmed over some of the obvious things or things that didn't seem to be important, like the dwarven civil wars or the dwarf and gnome wars. The Forge was the pinnacle of trade, export and creation. That was their motto. Long ago, after the wars, there was a very peaceful time when dwarves and gnomes had settled most of their differences and looked to innovate together. I remember a small class on Nibiru, when we had learned about these small creatures. The teacher said "If there is any species or number of species to fear, it is them. Not because they are dangerous, or inherently bad. But because they were the smartest beings in the known galaxy. If they wanted to rule, they probably could and before you know it, its swordsmen of Nibiru and the great wars against the dwarves and gnomes." The class always chuckled at this prospect, but in reality. It was the truth. When peace was seemingly too good, the dwarves and gnomes finally reach interstellar space travel and used up plenty of their own resources. Their planet began to dwindle, and as the planet began to fall to its own climate, overpopulation became an issue. Their people began to split and fight amongst one another. Then it all happened. They force their council of peace. Designed to solve any problem their species faced, together. At first they looked for planets they could inhabit. But the issue was, how do we get this many billions of people off the planet and do we have the resources to do so without sending themselves back to the stone age. The council was heard by Sir Edmund Galices, the gnome was the one and only, founder of The Forge.
Sir Edmund had devised a plan to slowly take apart their planet and replace it with metal. Every layer down to the core. They forged a quantum brace around the core of the planet and began reconstructing. To keep the planet in full rotation of its sun, also known as a Forge cycle, they added simulated poles on the north and south ends of the planet. They mimicked the exact same weight of the planet before its reconstruction. To fight off climate change destroying the planet. To fight overpopulation, they had created levels to the planet. The inner most portions were said to be run by the council of peace, then the department of innovation and then you reach all the way up to the surface where you have what they call, trade sector. To make the income to continue their innovations, and keep The Forge from falling apart, they feed off of exports and imports. Which is how they got all the materials in the first place. The trade sector was the busiest part of the entire galaxy. You had your run of the mill markets for exotic beasts, your foods from beyond and Fjorns favorite, the tavern sector. Which is commonly protected by the Mercenary guild.
I had read too much, and felt as though this planet was just as foreign as before I started reading. I passed time by doing some more research on The Forge, and working out. My leg was getting stronger and I was able to walk without a limp. Fjorn passed his time by indulging in stale ale that had been left on the ship since we were kidnapped on Jotunheim. It didn't seem to bother him, he just reminded me after almost every sip. "I was once a poor dwarf, doing mechanical repairs to make ends meet, the wheat used on the ale at the time was artificial. But it still did the trick." Fjorn took another sip and you could tell the gulp pained him.
"Fjorn, can I ask you a question?"
"Well boy, get on with it." Fjorn was usually straight to the point. His thoughts were focused highly on mechanical engineering and not the black and white of societal norms.
"How did a swordsman of Nibiru end up with a dwarf on a distress signal?" I asked.
"Xander, I have been thinking that since the moment I got my memory. I just remembered getting my order and taking the ship into space." Fjorn said.
"So, someone had purposefully put us together. But why us?" I asked. "I mean, I know why Zeus wanted me. But, you?"
"C'mon now boy, I have a little bit of importance here too. I am the best damn engineer on The Forge." Fjorn claimed.
"Ok, so they take a guy who is up and coming in the mechanical side of things on The Forge, and then decide he needs an intergalactic mission with a swordsmen. It just doesn't add up. Why not send like twenty soldiers or like ten soldiers with an exploration team?" I couldn't quite make reason of it.
"Well, I think there's something we can do while we wait in quarantine." Fjorn said, taking another massive gulp from his mug and setting the empty contents to the cockpits cup holder.
We sat in silence for about a day and a half. I meditated and tried to force myself to remember anything, but it was too damn foggy. I just wanted answers, but I guess I will have to wait until I get there, and I think I know just the guy to get me those answers.
"We are approaching the void in approximately ten minutes. Please enter the cockpit and strap in." Paragon had called to us.
We both sat up straight and strapped ourselves tightly into our seats. Fjorn hasn't looked this sober since we got onboard and left Jotunheim. Considering this task was very difficult, it set my mind at ease.
"Entering void now." Paragon called.
The ship met some resistance as if there was a thin invisible wall and finally punctured through, we gained a moment of increased speed and then we reverted all thrusters in the opposite direction until we met zero speed.
"Okay boy, this is the time for me to shine." Fjorn said.
We met zero speed, the void, the space between two galaxies. This was also known as the pirate graveyard to some. Ships that attempted to make the jumps and failed, left broken hulls and frozen bodies in the void. The void wasn't like normal space. There was nothing. It was a space where time itself dared not intervene. We began to accelerate to immense speed. The ship slowly fought a battle of perfect timing and speed to match the Milky way. I sat and clutched my harness tight. My blood was escaping my fingers and I began to sweat. I often thought, there's no way this is how I die. I have to have more purpose than a floating corpse in the voice, or another meniscal dot in the asteroid belt the encased the galaxy. Fjorn began to focus even harder, his brows met in the center of his face and he thrusted forward at the perfect time. We were now in the Milky way galaxy.
"Y'know, I think I am done with intergalactic missions. They pay well, but, I lost my memory, almost got eaten, almost got crushed by a giant and was kidnapped for one whole forge cycle." Fjorn let out a little chuckle and began to fill his ale once more.
After a few days of travel through various solar systems, we came upon The Forge. Star ships from all across the galaxy came in and out of this system. It was a glorious sight. The Forge might not have your usual beauty of a planet, green landscapes, mountains and tropical paradises, but it surely was a sight to behold.
But now wasn't the time to enjoy ourselves, we needed answers and we need them now.