by Aeon Solo
“Let’s survive this first,” he replied.
Nightfall arrived, and they set up camp, deeply disturbed be the echoes of monstrous screeches in the night. They were deep into the unchartered rain forests between civilisation. Hundreds of miles thick, teeming with all kinds of dangerous creatures.
Morning came, and the Knight was sitting beside Regina for a moment. He watched her as she slept, then she awoke, and he turned away quickly, hoping she hadn’t seen him.
“Why are you, what are you doing?” she said. He hesitated for a response and fumbled his words.
“I, I was just seeing if you were ok, if your arm had healed, alright?” he said, hoping he could recover from the embarrassment.
“Yes,” she said, contorting her face with awkwardness.
“Good,” he said. He searched the area for any threats which they may encounter on their journey. He returned to her and she was ready to continue.
“Ok, the area looks safe. It will take us ten hours to reach Naprador from here, given we make haste immediately,” he explained.
They continued, passing through various types of terrain throughout their journey.
“You never told me what Earth was like,” he said inquisitively whilst they walked through ragged terrain.
“It’s beautiful,” a pleasant smile radiated across her face as she recalled her home world.
“Many cities were in ruin after the war but with help from the Alliance, Earth was restored. The technology neutralised natural disasters and pollution, you would love it. It’s similar in landscape to this world but with breath-taking scenery.”
He pondered deep within his imagination, imagining the environment she described. He could almost see it, in fact he could.
“I would like to see Earth myself one day, my ancestors told fables of Earth, but we assumed it was myth. I was the only one in my village who believed there was more to this world, this universe.” He observed the atmosphere witnessing ships removing the wreckage from the recent space battle.
“You could come with me,” she posed once more, tempting him further to leave the Draco.
Five hours into their final day they rested afoot a hill.
“Wait,” Regina said with deep breaths, “I need a minute.”
“I could do with a few moments too,” he replied, grateful that she asked to stop for a little while.
In the meantime, the Archon remained on his throne, wondering of the whereabouts of Anu-Krai. He activated a small handheld device depicting, what was supposed to be, his ships location and it was non-existent. He pondered for a moment in thought and deactivated the device.
Anu arrived in the room, striding toward the Archon who stood to greet him.
“Where’s this human of yours?” Anu demanded.
“I don’t know, no one has seen him since the battle I’m taking the Mikasa and finding him,” he responded. He walked past Anu to travel to the ship, but was interrupted.
“That was my ship Enki, you would be wise to use your own,” he said frankly. The Archon glared at him through the mask but heeded his warning. He took the Mikasa and entered the atmosphere. He commanded the AI system to scan the area for lifeforms.
“My lord, I am receiving a signal depicting two humans, one of which is your knight, some way outside Naprador,” the system said.
“Good,” he responded, pleased with the discovery.
“My lord, there is a Stag approaching them,” it warned.
“Get me there, now!” he yelled at the system. The ship powered through the atmosphere to the location of the Knight and Regina, who were unaware of the monster beside them.
They were talking to one-another, when the Knight sensed a disturbance atop the hill next to them. A gargantuan monster, twenty feet high, masked with thick hair, daggers for teeth protruding from its face. It raced toward them, reaching them in an instant. He pushed Regina to the ground heavily, so it avoided her. He attempted to unholster his sword, but he was not quick enough. The creature, that ran on four legs, snatched the Knight in its mouth, shredding through his armour with its razor-sharp teeth. It threw him multiple metres away. He landed heavily on the ground with a massive thud.
The Mikasa hovered over the hill and the Archon leapt out whilst the AI piloted the ship.
The creature was about to finish the Knight, but a raging blade was driven through its chest, stopping millimetres from the Knights face. He was backed into a tree. He struggled for breath since his lung was punctured, but with relief as the creature fell dead beside him. He followed its head as it did so to ensure it was dead. He looked back, and saw the Archon standing before him.
“Need a hand?” the Archon said sarcastically, his hand lent out to grasp his. Regina darted over to them. Anu-Krai was covering his wounds, the Archon’s smile soon faded as he realised the extent of his injuries. Regina went beside him, moving his hand and exposing a deep laceration.
“Help him,” she pleaded to the Archon. He crouched beside the Knight, examining the wound.
“I need to get him back to my medical unit immediately,” he resounded. The Archon picked the Knight up and carried him to the Mikasa. Gently, but he still bellowed in agony as he felt his insides tearing apart from the crushing blow of the Stag. His armour, although made of a strong metal alloy and able to withstand the effects of many things, but not the razor-sharp teeth and crushing pressure of a Stag bite. The Archon placed him on the table apparatus that emerged from the wall and rushed to the cockpit to pilot the craft. It returned to Naprador within moments, racing at insanely high speeds. Regina was sitting beside him, holding his arm for comfort.
“You were right,” he mustered with difficulty.
“Right about what?” she asked, confused.
“I did get lucky,” he said with a glint of remorse in his masked eyes.
“I know you did,” she responded with a laugh. His head dipped as he began to lose consciousness.
“Hey! Hey!” she shouted toward the Archon who had now landed the ship.
“We must go immediately if he is to survive,” he said. He cradled the Knight in his arms and rushed to the healing chamber in the pyramid, followed by Regina. Anu spotted the group in the distant corridor and huffed, displeased that his Draco companion seemed to be helping a human. He placed the Knight in a large pod filled with a thick fluid that had healing nanobots flowing through it. The Knight floated in the fluid and the nanobots began to heal the wounds inflicted upon him.
“He will be fine,” the Archon said to Regina, placing his overpowering hand on her shoulder. She was both shaken and shocked by the Archon’s support, he exited the room. She placed her hand over the clear, transparent door in awe of the technology, the Alliance had this technology too, but she had never witnessed it with her own eyes.
There was an array of advanced technology in use across the galaxy. Humans within the Alliance can live for thousands of years because of the life altering technology. Regina herself was 196 years old. Technology that was prevalent in most Alliance systems. After a while she exited the room.
“Come, I need to converse with you,” the Archon stated firmly, Regina gulped heavily as she felt she was in mortal danger. She reluctantly followed the Archon to his throne room.
“Who are you?” he asked. She took a few moments to respond.
“Regina,” she responded with great anxiety.
“Not your name, where are from? Who do you serve?” he enquired further.
“I’m from Earth,” she said.
“So, Regina from Earth, why are you on Agarta with my Knight?” he enquired further.
“We shot each other down, we travelled for days until you found us,” she responded.
“So, you are an Alliance fighter then,” he said firmly once more.
“Yes,” she said solemnly.
“Did they ever tell you what happened at the Battle of Draconis?” he said.
“No,” she responded, he proceeded to tell her what he had
shown Anu-Krai. The black hole generator that had destroyed his home solar system, to her surprise.
After some time Anu-Krai emerged from the healing chamber and travelled to the throne room where he expected to find the Archon. She turned at his presence and was filled with joy, she ran toward him and leapt to hug him.
“Ok,” Anu-Krai said, surprised at her gesture.
“You’re ok!” she said, placing her hand over where his wounds once were. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as pleased as one would think after a close brush with death. Their joy soon waned when they approached the Archon.
“My lord,” he said, bowing his head slightly.
“What is it Krai, you haven’t called me lord for a while,” he responded, amused by the Knights attempt to be extra professional to him.
“Let her go,” he said nervously.
“Why should I do that?” the Archon answered.
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” the Knight’s words seemed to have hit a stone wall as silence passed between them for a few moments.
“Why didn’t you kill each other?” the Archon enquired.
“Because she didn’t kill me,” he answered. He twisted to her thankfully, unmasked.
“I had no clue where I was, as annoying as he is, I needed him,” she answered, a cocky smirk.
“Fine, she can go,” the Archon responded, they were gobsmacked. “Charia, search the wreckage for a functioning Alliance ship and bring it to me at once,” he said into his wrist communication device. Charia acknowledged his command and an hour later an Alliance ship was placed in the ship bay behind the pyramid by a Draco support ship.
Regina was with the Knight in his living quarters. She picked up a relic and held it in her hands.
“Come with me to Earth,” she offered again.
“I can’t. I must stay here and prevent them from becoming the evil they once were,” he responded back.
“They can’t be changed, they will destroy us all,” she said, her voice raising.
“Look, he’s letting you go, they never would have done that in the past,” he said keenly.
“You really think they will let me go? They will blast me out of the sky, assuming they even give me a ship in the first place.” She walked to the other side of the room.
“They won’t, I promise!” he said with a raised voice since she was further away.
“You don’t know that!” she bellowed. She leant in the doorway. He received a transmission from his communication device saying a ship had been delivered and she had permission to leave. Unbeknownst to her and the Knight, a tracker had been placed on the ship, so they could get the coordinates for Earth which wasn’t in the Draco hyperspace navigation system anymore.
Chapter 5
The two stood by the ship and gave their goodbyes.
“I hope to see you again,” he said to her as she entered the ship. She offered a smile in response, the ship’s door closed, it ascended.
“Stay safe,” he murmured as she blasted through the atmosphere. He returned to the throne room to meet the Archon whilst she soared through the air.
“Yes, Earth will soon be in our grasp,” the Archon said to Charia who was present in front of him. Anu-Krai strolled toward them and Charia left, nodding to Anu-Krai as he passed. His exit closely was watched by Anu-Krai.
“The Alliance ship is leaving the atmosphere now, should we stop it,” a Draco said through the communication device. Anu-Krai looked intently at the Archon, hoping he would decline.
“Yes, kill away,” he responded.
“What!” Anu-Krai roared, “You promised that she will have safe passage back to Earth, you monster!” he snarled. The Archon revelled in Knights rage toward him.
“The ship has entered hyperspace before we could fire upon it,” the same Draco stated, to the relief of Anu-Krai. Anu entered the room and the air thickened with a retched stench. Anu-Krai pivoted toward the beast behind him, who paced toward them.
“Is that...?” he said toward the Archon, “How!” he cried, puzzled and disturbed. The Archon was bad enough, but Anu.
“So, this is the human you talk so highly of?” Anu said, domineering over the Knight who looked up trying to hide his fear.
“Yes,” the Archon stated as he stood beside them. The Knight was dwarfed between the two Draco elders. He felt so trapped between them, they were twice his size, they could cast him aside at any moment and there’s nothing he could do to stop it. Vulnerable was an understatement.
“We will soon have the coordinates of Earth. Anu, what are our orders?” Anu glanced intently at the Knight, gesturing for him to leave.
“What do you mean?” the Knight enquired. “Are you going to attack Earth?” he added.
“Leave human!” Anu roared, his domineering tone almost knocking the Knight off his feet. He followed the order and strolled away like a dog who’d done wrong.
Anu’s body was cloned from DNA held within the Ibu. It had taken many years to complete Black Manta. The body was a biological computer which housed consciousness, like the internet, consciousness wasn’t destroyed when the body was.
A couple of days later.
“Where’ve you been?” the Archon enquired, after Anu’s disappearance for a day or so.
“To get this,” he equipped a device in his hand.
“The Demiurge,” the Archon murmured. “I haven’t had contact with our master since Draconis,” he explained. Anu activated the cross-reality communication device and placed it on the floor. A large hologram of a monstrous, dark figure appeared. Both Draco elders bowed before their master.
“Have you found him?” it stated sternly.
“No,” Anu responded, “He was killed, wasn’t he?” he added.
“Consciousness does not die, it is merely recycled, the longer it takes to find him, the more dangerous he will become,” it stated sternly. The Demiurge feared the return of the one who facilitated the destruction of the Draco the first time, a human who overcame the boundaries of the simulation and achieved Gnosis.
“Master, I fear that, Sophia is still interfering with this reality, my servant knows things he should not,” the Archon stated anxiously.
“I will deal with that, you must regain control of this reality, they have had enough freedom for now,” it exclaimed firmly, and the device shut off on its end. The two Draco elders shared a tense expression.
“If that human steps out of line, I will destroy it,” Anu said firmly as he exited the room, to the irritation of the Archon. The Demiurge and its Archons must abide by the rules of the universe, this was why Anu did not return much earlier, it had to be allowed by the laws of this reality. Cloning offered Anu’s form a physical body to return too.
Regina left hyperspace above Earth and passed through the space security measures that had been put in place. She entered the atmosphere and landed beside the command centre where her father was stationed. She entered the building and demanded to see her father.
“You can’t, he is with the Admirals,” a pleasant woman responded.
“I don’t care,” Regina retorted sharply, “I must see him immediately.” She disregarded the woman’s halt and rushed toward the meeting room. She burst through the door, stealing everyone’s gaze.
“Regina!” Commander Sampson exclaimed, he darted over to hug her. She reciprocated the hug, so glad to be home safe on Earth.
“What happened?” he asked.
“It’s a long story,” she said with a light smile. Their pleasant reunion was soon rudely interrupted by Admiral Tomkins.
“The weapon, the time has come to use it,” he stated sternly to the group.
“It was you,” Regina snarled. “You were the person who destroyed their system and ordered an attack on the surface of Agarta!” the room turned cold as he grinned meticulously at her.
“Someone had to be in charge here, we must fight them as they would fight us.” He stood defiantly hoping to gain the support of the others.
“Ree,” her father said whilst she left the room, “Regina!” her father shouted, he followed her out of the room. The Admirals continued to discuss their options.
“How could you use such a thing? It was so dangerous!” she barked at him.
“We had to,” he responded.
She was disgusted, leaving her father behind, who looked on solemnly. He returned to the Admirals who continued to bark at one-another.
“Enough!” he yelled, quelling the arguments. “We will not use that thing again, it’s too dangerous and we cannot sentence an Earth-like planet, populated by humans to death!”
“But…” Commander Sampson pressed a button on a panel in front, removing Admiral Tomkins from the conference.
“There is no but, council adjourned,” he said firmly. He had questioned their actions in the past, knowing the dangers that black holes cause. Admiral Tomkins, who was based in the Proxima Centauri system, scoffed at the sight of him being disconnected from the meeting.
“Sir, what are we going to do?” his comrade asked anxiously.
“We will do it ourselves, prepare a ship for transport to Sirius,” he ordered, his comrade accepted.
Humans, along with many extra-terrestrial species in the Alliance, can live for thousands of years due to technology eradicating disease and halting the aging process drastically. Sampson was over 13,000 years old, Regina herself was 196. In comparison, 1,000 years was like one year of ageing for regular humans. The nanotechnology that was used, was typically offered once the individual became an adult. Otherwise they would be a child for thousands of years. The technology was readily available the galaxy over. Its cost was minimal by that point.
Anu-Krai strolled through the woodland searching for the unknown being he had contact with. He waited on a rock beside the edifice where they last conversed. A couple hours passed, he drifted into thought, an essence emerged from the treeline. He sensed her calming presence beside him.