by Aer-ki Jyr
“To help you destroy the V’kit’no’sat?”
“We do not need your help with anything. There is little you can tell us about them that we do not already know. You are here because you are meant to be one of us and we could not stand leaving you to suffer with them.”
Tew’chor sighed, realizing that if he’d come this far there was no point in holding back. He had no power here and the Zak’de’ron could do with him whatever they wanted…but he was being treated as a guest and from the minds of those around him, mostly the servants, he could sense a great deal of respect and awe when they looked upon him.
“Very well,” he said, raising his tail and igniting his Saroto’kanse’vam, “but is there a way I can keep this?”
“That can be arranged, but you may not want it later. The choice remains yours.”
“I’ll keep it for now, but as one of you mentioned before, it seems I need my neck stretched a bit.”
“Nothing so crude as that, I can assure you,” the elder said with a touch of humor. “You are home now, brother. Be at ease and let us repair your body and restore your genetic knowledge. There is much of the Zak’de’ron you do not know, and that ignorance will be their last constraint upon on you.”
“Then let’s eliminate it now,” he said boldly, stretching out and flapping his own giant wings twice with confidence as he leapt up off the ground a couple of meters energetically. “I am tired of being ignorant. If I am meant to be one of you and the V’kit’no’sat are meant to be destroyed, then show me the full truth. I am tired of lies.”
“You will receive none of the latter here. Come inside and enter the regeneration chamber. It will take some sleep to enact the changes, but when you wake you will be fully Zak’de’ron…with your tail ornament kept intact.”
10
Tew’chor woke in stages, not knowing where he was but feeling that he had been asleep for a long time. He was laying down on a cold, hard floor that later became soft…or was that a failure of perception, for his mind was in a fog and clearing slowly. He knew better than to move yet, for already he was feeling odd, but as the seconds rolled by the oddness exploded into a myriad of strange sensations and even his thoughts felt different.
Soon the fog started to rapidly recede and Tew’chor opened his eyes…finding that his sight was now different. At first he thought it was an after effect, then a bit of genetic memory kicked in and he knew it was a different spectrum of light he was seeing. He raised his head a bit and his head exploded in new sensations as his neck moved in a way it had never done before.
That was because he now had more of it, and as he began to stir slightly, flexing muscles and curling his toes, he remembered why he was here and how the Zak’de’ron were going to make him more like them.
Easy brother, take it slow, he heard a voice speak into his mind. Breathe easy, you’ve been ascended to a level you’ve not experienced before. You will adapt, but there is a lot for your mind to process.
Tew’chor did as instructed, moving slowly and not attempting to stand for quite a while as his new reality hit him. His memories of the past remained, but what he was feeling now was as if a giant weight had been lifted off of him and he was finally able to see clearly. It wasn’t just the new genetic memory flooding his mind, but the way his thoughts processed. He was smarter and could feel it, though his body was very weak. That would pass in time, but what the Zak’de’ron had just done to him was more than making some genetic upgrades…Tew’chor felt like he had just been rehatched.
When he did stand it was on familiar legs, but his neck was now so long and supple he could turn his head completely around to look behind him where he saw his tail was now different too, but as promised his Saroto’kanse’vam were still there, though they didn’t look right.
“We made some upgrades,” the elder dragon said as he stood off to the side in the medical chamber, with the two of them being the only ones present. “It will not be such a weight now, though you may want it removed later. We are more agile than Les’i’kron and it will slow you down.”
“Later,” Tew’chor said, walking in a slow spin that had his neck leading and his tail following, though the two actually overlapped a bit. “This is unacceptable.”
“What is?”
“This is too much. How could they deny us this?”
“The Les’i’kron are tools to them. They did not even share an equivalent level. They wanted them subservient, but in truth they did not understand how much of a devolution they caused.”
“It is unnatural, not a devolution.”
“True.”
“This cannot stand. We must free the other Les’i’kron.”
“If it were possible we would. Search your memories.”
“For what?” Tew’chor said, igniting his Saroto’kanse’vam experimentally and seeing that the two tail spines now glowed a deep green.
“Gaps. We could not save everything. How much do you remember from before?”
Tew’chor did not respond initially, understanding that the task he was being asked to perform was not a simple matter. Finding a memory was one thing, but finding the lack of one was another…yet he knew what to do and tried to reconstruct a timeline and other forms of linked memory, finding most there but encountering some blank spots. There weren’t many, but there were indeed some things that he tried to remember but could not.
“Most.”
“The key to your transformation was the work you had done previously to free your own mind. The compromised sections had to be erased in order to be corrected. Unless the Les’i’kron can overcome from within the only way to save them would be to completely remake them. They would lose all memory and become adult hatchlings.”
“That would be preferable to their deaths. They deserve to be freed as I have been.”
“They will fight against us when the time comes.”
“We must find a way. They are victims of the V’kit’no’sat. I see that now clearly.”
“Good. But we cannot act in any overt way. Looking for others like you that have escaped their attention is our first priority. I assume you can help us with that?”
“Of course. What else would you ask of me?”
“You and I are the eldest. Even with your memory losses you have experience the others do not, and they have experience as Zak’de’ron that you do not, but your golden scales speak the loudest. You will be a valuable addition to our race once you get acclimated.”
“Valuable for what task?”
“Vengeance. But ours will be long in the making and what we eventually do must not destabilize the galaxy. We have a massive challenge before us.”
“How does Terraxis fit in?”
“It is being used by the V’kit’no’sat as a staging colony for the destruction of Star Force. We do not plan to intervene.”
“That is not what I meant. Gratitude is not sufficient for what you have given them. My memory says you also created a Zen’zat.”
“Completed, not created. They are already Zen’zat genetically, absent the growth enhancements. The one you speak of is the one who woke me. I owed her a debt.”
“But you have something more planned for them?”
“Perhaps. Right now they are in the process of being exterminated.”
“Not as fast as they should be.”
“Your genetic memory is serving you well, and you are adapting admirably.”
“I’ve always been a quick learner. You’re developing a number of lesser races to serve you, but not the Humans?”
“We are, Tew’chor. You are not Les’i’kron anymore. You are Zak’de’ron. Adjust your terminology.”
“Mirror.”
At his request the elder dragon caused a holographic wall to form that allowed Tew’chor to look at his new visage. His face had altered considerably, but there was enough familiar lines there that he could see the old him, as if it were the foundation for the new. He unfurled his wings, finding them altered as
well. They were slightly smaller, but then that was appropriate given the fact that his mass was less than it was before…but what he felt inside them shocked him.
“Anti-grav?”
“Yes. The V’kit’no’sat removed it.”
Using a mix of genetic memory and improvisation, Tew’chor activated the tissue in his wings and the lesser bits across the rest of his body that were biological gravity drives, and without even flapping them once he rose up to hover in the air unsteadily as his balance was something he was going to have to work on, but a few small corrective flips of his wings leveled him off.
“Why do we have two methods of flying?”
“You will find out once you hit the open air.”
“Agility advantage?”
“That is understating the matter.”
Tew’chor landed again and pulled his wings back up against his body where the widely spread scales on the top side came back together to form an impervious wall that nearly hid their existence. His Les’i’kron wings had no scales on them and had always been a weak spot when on the ground, but now that too was not an issue.
“I...we have psionics the V’kit’no’sat do not?”
“Many. We wove some of them into the Zen’zat genetic code, activated only if they proved their worth. That is one advantage Star Force has. They have delved deeper and activated many. We do not know how they have made them so widespread, but they stated they had learned to ‘share.’ Regardless, they are tapping into the latent potential the V’kit’no’sat never did.”
“Our Zen’zat were different?”
“Yes. We kept them separate and they did earn greater ones under our direction.”
“And these Bo’ja?”
“In time they will replace the Zen’zat, if they prove their worth. You already have, to some extent, but there is a great deal more you need to learn beyond the genetic knowledge granted you. Know that no matter how many servants we acquire, we will always retain full command. Our attempt at sharing resulted in our destruction, and if some way cannot be found to transform the Les’i’kron we will not have any relationship with them. They are tainted abominations. Those servants we have here know their place, but the Les’i’kron may feel they deserve a higher status if they discover our link.”
“Yet I am here.”
“You have been saved. We do not expect they will be, and we cannot accept them as brothers in their current condition. At this moment, they are enemies.”
“Do you intend to fight the V’kit’no’sat directly or use an army of servants?”
“It is our war. We will fight it and they will serve us in that task. We will not sit back and throw them at the enemy.”
“Good. Tell me who now holds the Les’i’kron’s leash?”
“Their true history has mostly been lost to time, but it was a group of individuals from many races that conspired to subjugate them. Their alterations were meant to be self-governing, so in truth there is no leash save for the sad state of what they are now. You broke that leash, and with luck there may be another out there to find.”
“What would you have me do now?”
“Introspection and training. Your body is weak from the transition and you have new abilities to explore. After that you will learn what it means to be Zak’de’ron, and once you do you will take your place amongst us preparing for the day we reveal ourselves to the V’kit’no’sat and have our revenge. That will not be soon, and when we do there will be no going back. The war they think is long over will resume, and they will prosecute it until either we are dead or they are. We must prepare accordingly.”
“No option of surrender or subjugation?”
“They are V’kit’no’sat. They will not tolerate such things.”
“And if we make them?”
“Such things can be explored when we regain dominance, but do not expect any compliance.”
“I ask because the fight will be with those that had not yet hatched during the first war. Attitudes may be different.”
“The past will quickly be remembered, and the flaw of the V’kit’no’sat has not been eliminated. Their incessant desire for equity without merit poisons them. They have not pushed further into the Hadarak since we left them. They are a living testament to failure that must be deleted.”
“And we must do so with enough strength remaining to hold back the Hadarak on our own?”
“You see the level of difficulty of the task before us?”
“I am beginning to. What of these altered Hadarak?”
“A mystery still, but one we have studied from afar. Three allies of Star Force have the ability to detect our ships at close range, so we have not been able to do a proper analysis, but whoever altered them did so long ago and was wiped out by a galactic revolt prior to us forming the V’kit’no’sat. They stayed beyond the Hadarak boundaries, so we have little knowledge of them aside from rumors. However they altered them is beyond our knowledge, but it is imperative that we sample one once the V’kit’no’sat manage to confront them successfully. We will not risk exposure by hunting one, and they are moving as a pack now. They will not become isolated. A major fight must occur to destroy them, then we will get some answers…if Star Force does not succeed in holding off such an assault. The internal conflict the V’kit’no’sat are enduring has resulted in them underestimating the threat of Star Force.”
“It is not that,” Tew’chor said, finally able to contribute something to his new civilization. “It is arrogance. They do not believe that Zen’zat alone could accomplish so much, so they send enough resources to topple more than what they expect, but their expectations are so low that there is much lost in the sloppy victories.”
“Battle will teach them eventually what their egos will not allow for in study. The stubbornness of the V’kit’no’sat has not waned. They will eventually go after the Uriti, and when they do we will be waiting and watching.”
“And if the V’kit’no’sat learn the secret to controlling Hadarak?”
“If the creators of the Uriti possessed such a secret they never would have been defeated. They have created mutants, not conscripted the current ones. Still, if the V’kit’no’sat discover something useful, we will act accordingly. There are ways to strike at them without revealing our identity and we could have done so already if we wished, but they must hold the line against the Hadarak for now.”
“So we study, plan, and prepare without hobbling them? Framing my death on the Era’tran could destabilize them further.”
“Less so than having no one to blame, and with the Les’i’kron firmly allied with the Itaru faction there will be no military reaction to the revelation, for they are defacto enemies at the moment, and the Era’tran are growing too bold. Undercutting their reputation is a side benefit that will not destroy them, but preserve a bit of disunity. We do not want them as strong as possible, just strong enough to give us the time we need to grow.”
“A dangerous game, that is.”
“We have a path forward and we will take it, no matter how dangerous.”
“I owe you my life. I do not fear the danger, and will walk it with you to whatever end may come.”
“Remember what they did to you. Never forget that, and let the rage fuel your commitment in the years to come. I have memory of the war to do the same, while the others do not. The V’kit’no’sat must be destroyed. Never let yourself think otherwise. Time passed does not diminish the necessity of their removal.”
“I need no further lecture. I understand now, as their treachery against me is laid bare. We will have our vengeance, I only ask that we find some way to help the others if possible.”
“If possible we will, you can be assured of that. And the Zen’zat?”
“They fought against us in the war?”
“Our own did not. All others did.”
“Why?”
“They chose loyalty to the group over loyalty to the dominant.”
“And the Ter’
nat?”
“We do not care about the Ter’nat. They are so pathetic they are irrelevant.”
“Then return the Zen’zat to their origins…if they submit. If not, destroy them all for the work they have done. They may not lead, but that does not absolve them of what they do.”
“And the matter of your Zen’zat being killed?”
“I do not like wasting loyal servants. I would have preferred giving them a chance. If they refused, then that would be another matter.”
“I would accord our own servants the same lenience, but we could not risk bringing potential spies amongst us. Even a single message sent could reveal us, and we have no appetite for housing prisoners here. Yours is a clean break from the V’kit’no’sat, and from their servants.”
“Distasteful, but done now. I am fully with you.”
“Learn to fly again, then you may say that with pride,” the elder said as a doorway formed in the wall that led down a short corridor to the open air interior of the hive.
Tew’chor huffed and walked the length before perching on the edge. His wings were weak, he felt it, but he also had the flight psionic he now knew was called Yen’mer. Between the two he was confident he would not fall, but this was going to be a learning experience from the first wing beat.
Stepping off, he let himself glide downward sharply as he angled his direction and leveled off, then he began meekly flapping tender wings as he lifted part of his weight with his new psionic. It was crude flight, but the first he had ever made on Zak’de’ron wings and the first made with a clear mind. He had been reborn, and rightly so he had to relearn to fly, but aside from his weakness, that was not going to take too long to remedy for within a few minutes he had managed to produce level thrust from his Yen’mer and that allowed his wings to work their way into a rhythm.
Beat after beat he flew, flying in and around the columns and tendrils through the open air sections as he gained speed, feeling truly alive for the first time in his long life and relishing every breath he now took. The future lay open to him now, and dark as it may be with the unavoidable conflict looming, he would fly into it eagerly and grateful. His brothers had come to rescue him from a nightmare and he intended to repay them for that…as well as those who had created the nightmare in the first place.