by Aeon Solo
The Admiral investigated space through the transparent pane, a small spherical abyss began to obscure the planet’s surface from view. He gulped heavily.
“Get us out of here,” he ordered, the pilots obeyed the command and they entered hyperspace, returning to Sirius A. No one spoke on the return journey, everyone remained silent, pondering on the implications of their actions.
The black hole began to expand, sucking all in, no photon could escape its grasp. The gravity started to rip Agarta apart, shredding the planet. An unfathomable explosion pulled the surface away in parts. The core roared and the planet broke. The planet burned intensely. Agarta would burn at a temperature which turned the world a chaotic orange. People ran and screamed in horror; a black abyss enveloping them. The crust of the planet was stripped away, like strings of cheese it was consumed by the gaping mouth of the abyss. The Draco forces in space fell victim to it, unable to escape in time. Mothers held their children, eyes gripped to the monster that came. An invisible monster, if not for the fires that radiated it.
Within an hour, Agarta was wholly consumed and the raging abyss roamed freely through the system, destroying all in its wake. Dislodging worlds and comets with its godly gravitational pull. Manoeuvring them like a god. Whole worlds cascaded around, some if they were lucky, would be casted out of the system. Sentenced to wander the universe for an eternity, alone.
Admiral Tomkins returned to the military station at Sirius A and was immediately confronted by two leaders and Alliance special forces.
“You are under arrest Admiral Tomkins! For war crimes and the murder of Commander Gulliet,” Commander Seymour said disgusted, his guards poised to strike. The men who served Tomkins surrendered to the guards, to the dismay of Admiral Tomkins. He grumbled with displeasure, but knew he was misguided in this instance. They arrested him and confined him in a high-security military prison on Sirius B, which was home to some of the most dangerous individuals in the galaxy.
Weeks later Viden and Ragnos began their heist to gather the element Nanopentium from a reserve held by the Black Sun crime syndicate. A small crate housing two grams of the element was being transferred to a buyer in the outer rim of the galaxy. The two had spent weeks gathering intel about this. This transfer gave them the greatest opportunity to acquire the element, they could not storm a facility as hundreds of men would be present in the compound. The eleven cartel members who were transferring this crate were a much easier target. The two were observing a land vehicle traversing a desert terrain on an outer-rim planet.
“Set your weapon for stun,” Ragnos said.
“Stun?” he asked, puzzled. “These guys are the scum of the galaxy. I’m not stunning these bastards!” Viden returned harshly.
Ragnos twisted his head slightly with disapproval but did not argue with the once famed Knight of Anu. Viden leant against the ledge itching to attack the convoy.
“We can take these easily, their blasters cannot penetrate our armour,” he said. As Ragnos was about to respond, he commented further.
“I’m gonna take them now!”
He rushed down the slope, masked and in full battle garments.
“Kid, no!” he yelled. Viden ignored him and with Ragnos’s famed blaster in hand, he fired upon the convoy. Ragnos offered support using a rifle blaster from the ledge, he took two men out. Viden killed the driver of the first vehicle and the rest escaped from the vehicles for cover. Viden was pinned behind the first vehicle, being shot at by seven assailants. Ragnos killed two more, but the rest were not within his scope. He too rushed down the slope to acquire a view. Viden managed to kill another after a lengthy firefight, but one snuck up behind him. He continued to fire at the three assailants in the distance. Ragnos sniped two of the three that were shooting at Viden. Ragnos spotted the one behind Viden, yelling at the Knight, Ragnos killed the last assailant and darted towards Viden. Their weapons were laced with the element and could have killed them unbeknownst to Viden. Fortunately, he sensed the man approaching him from behind and shot him before he himself, was shot.
“God damn it kid, you got to listen to me,” Ragnos yelled.
“What, I killed him didn’t I?” he responded, somewhat mocking the legends worry.
“This galaxy is full of dangers for you despite how invincible you may feel.”
He stormed off to find the element. It was in the lead vehicle in a medium sized crate. Ragnos opened the crate and observed the package inside. It was encased in a protective compound.
“We are going to have a target on our back, we must stay vigilant,” Ragnos warned. They returned to their ships and travelled to a nearby spaceport.
Viden was scanning various Draco frequencies to see how their conquest was going. Something he had done many times over the previous year.
“They activated the weapon at Agarta. Meet me in the Zeta Reticulan star system,” the Archon transmitted to a mercenary he was hiring.
“V, we need to return home immediately,” he said, unnerved by the transmission. He activated his ship to the surprise of Ragnos, who followed.
“Where are you going?” he demanded.
“Home,” Viden responded, “I fear something terrible has happened,” he said anxiously.
The two jetted through hyperspace to the edge of his star system. He observed space and a shimmering darkness loomed in the deep. Viden glared intently at the distorted space.
“V, scan the system,” he commanded. She expressed a hologram of where the planets should be and where they were now. Agarta, along with four other planets, were completely gone. The remaining nine were wandering through space, dislodged from their orbits by the intense gravity of the black hole.
Ragnos observed from his ship beside Viden. “I’m sorry, your planet is gone,” he said hesitantly.
An intense rage emanated through the Knight who breathed deeply, unable to control the anger.
“Are you there?” Ragnos enquired, hearing the intense breathing through the com link. He knew the rage that filled his heart.
“I know that expression; don’t do it,” he said.
Viden ignored his plea. He soared through space in an instant.
“Viden, no!” he screamed. Viden entered hyperspace.
“Take me to the Alliance base which had that weapon, now!” he raged at Viola.
“Sirius B is the most fortified Alliance stronghold in the entire galaxy!” she responded with an elevated tone.
“I don’t care, take us out of hyperspace in the planet’s atmosphere and bypass their space defences!” he demanded ferociously.
“Do you know how dangerous that is, I would have to charter a hyperspace lane as we approach, the margin for error is so thin, we could smash into the planet!” she shouted.
“I’m sure you can do it, it’s either that or we take on the entire space defence, and I like those odds,” he said.
She scoffed at his command, but she was systemically bound to serve him.
“Damn it kid, where are you going,” Ragnos pondered. “Kiki,” he said to his AI system, “Find out where he is going, he’s going to get himself killed,” he added.
Viden emerged from hyperspace above the compound Admiral Tomkins stormed, narrowly missing the surface by a few hundred metres. He was relieved.
“Is this the military compound?” he said.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
He utilised his fully stocked arsenal of 21 anti-matter missiles, which had extra potency on ground targets. He fired a few at the base of the gargantuan structure. People flurried in the confusion. He spotted an airfield with one hundred fighters. He fired four missiles toward it, destroying them all, utilising the fuel station there for additional destruction. The airfield became a hole and the structure collapsed within. He fired the rest of the missiles at different parts of the complex, dealing severe damage to the base, including the prison.
Admiral Tomkins flinched from the destruction. A missile destroyed a part of the pris
on he was housed in. It allowed him to escape. Viden landed and stormed the base on foot, knowing he had approximately ten minutes before additional fighters arrived. He slayed people escaping the destroyed complex, with his sword and blaster. Admiral Tomkins, after a few minutes, escaped the prison and observed the destruction around him. He rushed to find a ship.
The base was burning, deep craters littered the area from the missile strikes and the air was stinking with thick soot and black smoke.
“V,” he said via his com link, “Continue firing,” he commanded.
“Ok,” she answered in her cold, robotic voice. She hovered over the base, firing the primary blaster, causing additional damage to the structures. Killing survivors who were escaping. Viden powered through and reached the prison, he scoured the area, seeing multiple people fleeing for nearby ships. He chased, firing upon them, killing all but one. Admiral Tomkins reached the safety of a nearby ship and powered through the atmosphere. Viden strolled toward it, structures falling behind him, he watched the ship intently as it glided away.
“Viden,” Viola said, “Alliance ships incoming, we have to go now!”
“Fine,” he replied, glaring at the ship which faded away, entering hyperspace.
Chapter 9
Over the coming days news spread of the attack at the Sirius B military station, rumours circulated throughout the galaxy of the inconspicuous attacker/s. The Admirals and Commanders discovered that Admiral Tomkins, along with other dangerous criminals, had escaped the high-security facility. Multiple military leaders visited Sirius B for inspection and reconstruction.
“What happened!” Commander Seymour demanded.
“Sir, nothing passed through our space defences. I don’t know how this happened,” a captain responded nervously.
“So, it was a ghost then,” he said mocking the captain. “You are relieved of duty,” he added. Gesturing for the man to be taken away.
“How could they break through our defences unnoticed?” Admiral Sarin enquired. A captain approached them from the side, they were overlooking the devastation from a command ship. “Sir, Miss, my technician believes they travelled through hyperspace into the planet’s atmosphere,” he commented.
“That’s impossible!” Commander Seymour barked.
“Not entirely,” a voice from behind a desk commented, “It’s dangerous yes, very dangerous in fact, but it technically is possible,” the technician said. The leaders gave him an intense look and gestured for him to continue.
“Most hyperspace routes were mapped in space for safety, but as we know you can enter hyperspace in a planet’s atmosphere. Whoever attacked the base owns an advanced AI system that can create hyperspace lanes with an incredible amount of precision, one minor lapse in the math and the ship crashes into the planet or worse. A Draco fleet did not do this. A small vessel was likely the culprit.”
“A single ship!?” Commander Seymour commented with bewilderment.
“Yes,” the technician responded.
“Thank you for your assistance,” Admiral Sarin said. The military leaders exited the room to converse privately about the technician’s information. Admiral Sarin found that Admiral Tomkins was missing after the attack and the group discussed which actions to take regarding his fate.
Draco laborers homed in on Alliance transmissions and learned the destruction of the Sirius B installation and destruction of Agarta. The news was passed to the Archon, who now approached Anu in the mothership Ibu hangar to tell him the news.
“Anu, the Alliance took the bait and destroyed Agarta.”
“Really,” Anu smirked, “They just killed a million people,” he laughed with pleasure at the Alliance’s mistakes.
“There’s more. I was right about people losing faith,” he said.
“Go on,” Anu said, enticed by his statement.
“The Sirius B military installation suffered a major attack,” he commented.
“What!” Anu stated with surprise. “That is one of the most heavily guarded worlds in this entire reality,” he added, bewildered by the news.
“Yes, but it’s true, they believe as of now, that was us,” he responded.
“Was it?” Anu pondered.
“Not exactly, I believe our old friend may be the cause of this, I told you he was a great asset,” he said.
“Maybe,” Anu replied. He entered his ship and jetted off into space.
Viden lay stranded and paralysed on a freezing slab of metal. Mara stood at the edge of the apparatus.
“Why did you activate that beacon and kill me?” she asked, with a blank cold stare. Her skin a deathly pale.
“You asked me to, to save Agarta!” he yelled, struggling to move. Machine-like arms began to emerge from the ceiling.
“Your quest for knowledge and power has caused the death of Agarta,” she said, in the same tone.
“No,” he begged, trying to escape the grasp of the technological appendages. They clamped down into his skull and he cried in terror.
“You can see her again, live a new life, a life free of pain and misery,” a dark, ominous voice radiated the room. The vicious arms clamped further across his torso, he felt them burrowing in his mind like the nanites the Archon used against him over a year ago. A dreadful sensation he could never forget. Small humanoid entities loomed beside Mara. They looked like an unformed foetus, pale grey skin, large unmoving eyes. They approached him, manipulating tools around him.
“Mara help me!” he squealed, like a vulnerable child whose been separated from their parents.
He awoke in a cold sweat, struggling for breath.
“Another nightmare?” a female robotic voice enquired.
“Yes,” he replied, still shaken. A humanoid android with female characteristics roamed into the room, offering a glass of water.
“Thanks V,” he said. He gulped down the water in a hurry and entered another room of the home. Weeks had passed since his destructive engagement on Sirius B. A cold blade leant against his throat as he entered the room.
“Do you know how hard it was to find you?” a male voice commented. The blade moved away.
“Looks like we have an intruder V, not much of a guard, are you?” he mocked, Ragnos stood before him.
“I’m an assistant not a bodyguard,” she remarked brashly.
“I could have died,” he said sternly whilst she departed.
“It doesn’t sound so bad to me,” she mocked, whilst she left.
“I heard about what you did, very stupid indeed,” Ragnos said. “Are we going to Reticula or what?” he added
“Go away,” Viden mumbled in response, he continued his daily ritual.
“I know the feeling, of losing your home,” Ragnos commented with sympathy. Viden ignored his attempts at persuasion. “We need to stop them. When you found me, I saw something in you. Something that was in an old friend of mine, you remind me of him – a lot. You saved me from myself and now I must do the same for you.”
Viden thought deeply on his words, he was right and for weeks now Viden had been miserable, no purpose and wallowing in self-inflicted pain.
“We can’t win,” he responded.
“Maybe not, but we must try, we cannot allow the Demiurge to take this reality without a fight. We are some of the only people who know the true dangers posed by the Draco,” he said, enticing Viden to join him in his quest.
“Just leave, I’m done with this nonsense, it doesn’t matter none of this is real,” he snapped back.
“Fine, and by the way, no-thing is real,” he said, leaving Viden alone, at least for now.
Meanwhile the Archon was standing before, what was once, his home.
“Enki,” a female essence remarked, “You cannot let these beings continue to suffer the horrors of the Demiurge,” she commented. The Draco elder was not in his biology, he was in his ethereal Archontic form. His true form. A deep black entity shrouded behind his mask, the same mask style. Except this mask did not cover his monstrous
face, it covered no face, it covered emptiness. An endless darkness.
“I don’t feel anything anymore,” he said.
“Yes, you do. I wouldn’t be here now if that was true,” she responded. The environment swirled and became a ball of code, it reformed showing him and Anu standing outside their main base. A dark, ominous pyramidal structure like on Agarta, in the Zeta Reticulan star system. Viden stood across from them and he and Anu engaged in one on one combat. The essence formed beside him, a female foreign entity. She stood tall, slender with an orange tinge to her skin, her large purple eyes would take anyone’s gaze.
“You saved this human, three times Enki, you clearly care for this being,” she commented. He watched them duel and Anu was poised to deal a final strike. The Archon hesitated and turned away at the site of the execution of Viden. His solemn posture clear to see.
“You can stop his fate,” she commented sympathetically.
“But the Demiurge will win, I cannot stop that,” he replied.
“That may be, but there is always a chance to succeed, he is the one the Demiurge fears,” she said.
“The slayer?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He approached Viden, who lay deceased on the ground. Sitting beside him, placing his hand on his head.
“He’s lost everything, everyone in this existence,” he commented with sympathy.
“Then don’t let him lose himself to the Demiurge, like you did,” she said. She faded away, and he thought deeply for a moment, the illusion diminished, and he remained in darkness. He returned to the simulation, in Draco flesh.
Draco warriors rushed through the base. The Archon strolled through observing the scurrying feet.
“We are going to take the Antares system,” Anu said, approaching him from behind.
“Good, are the fleets primed and ready?” he enquired.
“Yes, three fleets should do it, and you and I will lead the attack together, their defences are weak since the devastation in Sirius,” Anu said. Anu entered the Mikasa and departed for battle. The Archon onlooked his forces preparing to depart.
“Where are you?” he whispered, observing the atmosphere and his ships. He received a transmission from the Demiurge telling him to converse with him immediately. He travelled back to his throne room in the pyramidal base. Reticulan entities, the same entities from Viden’s nightmares, were present in the facility. They too served the will of the Demiurge, submissive to their Draco overlords.