Celestial Ascension (Splintered Galaxy Book 1)

by Eddie R. Hicks

  Whigli was his name. Whatever—Noylarlie didn’t care much about him. However, Chidorli couldn’t stop talking about him—now more than ever. The two were slowly getting close, though he seemed to randomly act distant now and then. Then there were the jealous recruits—many didn’t like how the three passed tests so easily. Noylarlie, for the most part, was left alone. She established herself early on as someone not to anger, as broken bones and turned-over tables used to be common sights in the dining areas. Chidorli was an easier target, unless Noylarlie was around and then everyone backed off quickly. Whigli got the worst of it. Noylarlie didn’t care to protect him, and there wasn’t much Chidorli could do as she feared getting into the cross fire.

  The lessons they all had to go through consisted of months learning about certain psionic abilities, which areas of the brain they needed to utilize, and practicing using said abilities in live testing chambers. The basics were taught first—moving small objects with the mind. During training, the slave collars they were outfitted with were adjusted to enable limited usage of psionic skills and then returned back to normal settings after training was finished each day.

  Scoring high on the tests was a simple task for Noylarlie. Being a purebred and having prior knowledge of what was going to happen had its advantages. She often wondered how her sister Phylarlie got sent to the Assassins’ Guild. She and Phylarlie did have different fathers, Phylarlie’s a Hashmedai warship officer who had zero psionic potential whatsoever. But even then, she should have had a fifty-fifty chance of passing the first year. Even recruits who were one-third psionic made it through the first year. Was it Abraxin’s will that got her out? Noylarlie wondered. Unlikely. If anything, he would have set things up for her to stay longer so he could continue to violate her.

  Similarly, Abraxin continued to make regular encounters in Noylarlie’s room. On some occasions he demanded she please him orally in his office while he did computer work. Four more years to go…

  In the fourth year, things changed. Chidorli was now the same age Noylarlie was when she arrived here, and Whigli was now the age Chidorli was. Abraxin semi broke his promise about not touching Chidorli around this time. He had his way with her when she was alone in the halls on two different occasions.

  The testing became harder, partly because the students had to perform their psionic abilities under new conditions—cybernetic upgrades. Recruits who made it this far were required to have their bodies outfitted with amplifiers, which not only enhanced the power of their gifts but also enabled them to use new skills that were otherwise impossible to use.

  Each of their brains had a chip implanted to amplify psionic skills and allow for increased concentration, especially in chaotic environments such as on battlefields. The arms were outfitted with implants, which enabled psionics to gather and store psionic energy in their arms, and shoot it out with explosive results, effectively making them walking energy cannons. The last upgrade saw the recruits receiving a large device implanted across their backs and bellies. This granted them access to a new set of abilities, such as teleportation across a short distance in space, forming a defensive barrier to protect themselves, and the power to interact with computer systems without having to physically access them.

  The surgery was a long procedure lasting months, while each of their bodies got a massive cybernetic rework. It was this that made Whigli feel uneasy, and so he distanced himself from Chidorli altogether.

  The eve before the surgery, Noylarlie lay awake in her bed, reflecting on the past and what things could have been. Why did Phylarlie’s psionics get discovered before hers? Mother went out of her way, risking execution, to hide the fact she had psionic children. What would things have been like if the two sisters had come to this hellhole at the same time? Better yet, what would life be like if neither of us were ever discovered?

  The sound of someone knocking on her door interrupted Norlarlie’s thoughts. Must be Abraxin. He wanted one last release before he lost her to a month of cybernetic augmentation and recovery afterward. Reluctantly, she jumped out of bed and made her way to the door. The things I’d do to his face if this collar malfunctioned, she thought. The door slid open, but it wasn’t Abraxin.

  “I need your help!” It was Chidorli, whose hair nowadays was shoulder length.

  “What?”

  “It’s Whigli—he’s not in his room and hasn’t been seen in awhile.”

  “So go find him,” Noylarlie said. Chidorli froze as her face grew pale. Abraxin, right. “Never mind. I’ll take a look. Get back to your room now before Abraxin comes.”

  Whigli sat in the empty dining area, his hand resting on an eating utensil. With the area free of any people and Chidorli fast asleep, he was free to carry out his wish. He held the utensil up and slowly moved it toward the battery on the back of the collar. Tampering with the slave collar in any way or attempting to remove it sent a fatal shock of electricity to the user. With the surgery coming up, and news that his father was just caught and executed for keeping Whigli’s birth a secret…life had quickly become too much of a hassle for the boy. He needed out.

  His hands came to a standstill, having realized someone was watching. He thought about continuing on, but what if that person were to run over and overpower him? Not only would this prevent him from going through with it, but someone else would now know for sure he truly wanted to end his life. He’d be placed on suicide watch.

  “You big coward,” Noylarlie prodded.

  Now she clearly knows what’s going on. Great. The two exchanged glances for a moment while Noylarlie quickly stepped toward him. If I can just jam this utensil in the right spot hard enough, it might just trigger, and it will all be over, he thought.

  He hesitated too long. As he attempted to slide it in, Noylarlie tackled him to the ground. He was surprised at how strong she was—certainly stronger than he was.

  “You are driving Chidorli insane, and that drives me insane because I have to listen to her complain.” Her finger was aimed toward his collar. “If you pop this, then she’ll probably do the same. Then I’d be real angry.”

  “Why would she care?” he asked. Noylarlie’s fist, without delay, drilled directly into Whigli’s face. He was out cold.

  ………

  Whigli awoke to find himself in a room, probably Noylarlie’s, as he didn’t see his roommate or anyone else for that matter—it was just him and her. His sore head slowly rose, along with his body, from the cold floor. He gazed at Noylarlie, who sat cross-legged on the bottom bunk.

  She spoke. “Take it from the top.”

  “Uh…”

  “Why do you think she doesn’t care? She fantasizes about copulating with you all the time.”

  Whigli got to his feet. Taking a seat at her desk, he said, “She doesn’t—not anymore, now that she’s been with two others.”

  A perplexed look came across Noylarlie’s face. “I can’t imagine her giving up and spreading her legs just like that.” She leaned her body back, taking another look at him. “Then again, I always told her to forget about you. Guess she finally listened…somewhat.”

  He sighed as he closed his eyes, tilted his head up.

  “So you’re going to end your life because of her?” she finally asked.

  “No…it’s just—” His eyes opened back up. “I don’t want to do this. I just want to be back with my father.”

  “You can see him when this is all over,” Noylarlie said. “They don’t always send you to your new post right away.”

  “He’s dead, executed for keeping me away.”

  Noylarlie’s expression changed to one he’d never seen before.

  “I was hoping to join him in the afterlife.”

  “Don’t talk about that Radiance nonsense,” she said, cutting him off. “When you die, that’s it—eternal nothingness.” Her head lowered toward her lap. “It’s the only fate that awaits us when our life is over, the one my mother is probably dealing with for the same reason as your fathe
r.”

  He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The strong and silent Noylarlie was opening up. “Why does the empire do this to us?”

  She ignored his question. “You need to grow up faster and value everything Chidorli has to offer you.”

  He placed his hands over his face and let out a sigh once more. She was right, he’d been acting childish and walking the path of staying childish. Her eyes rolled as got up from the bunk and approached him. Utilizing her impressive strength, she yanked him to the bunk with her and aggressively pushed him over to lie on the bed. It happened so fast that he didn’t notice she was stimulating him as her hand reached into his pants.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Shut up.”

  He was getting hard as his breathing and heartbeat intensified. She removed his pants, allowing him to grow bigger as she softly stroked it up and down.

  “Seriously, what are you doing?” he asked again, this time with a grin.

  “Ask me that again, and I will cut it off.”

  Her turn, she removed her top followed by everything else, exposing to him that blue naked body he saw when they all first arrived. He attempted to sit up—something didn’t feel right about the situation—but her hands forced him back down and tore off his top.

  With his cream-complexioned body fully exposed, she placed both her hands on his shoulders, holding him in position while climbing on top of him. As she slowly lowered herself down, he felt the sensation of entering her. The warm wetness of being inside of her was a feeling like no other. Then she moved up and down repeatedly, and his heart raced in a way he never thought possible.

  Her hips moved up and down, gradually getting faster and wetter. He felt the firm touch of her hands slowly move across his shoulders, down his arms, and then to his hands. She held and guided them to rest on her breasts. “You like this?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “If you’re dead, you’ll never experience this again," she said, "and you’ll certainly never experience Chidorli’s warmth in this manner.”

  She continued to grasp onto his hands as they cupped her, and moved up and down with the rhythm of her alluring body. Her eyes closed, and he felt her wetness drip down.

  ………

  The augmentation lab was flowing with movement as the recruits entered with anxiety in their steps. Dozens of operating tables filled the circular room, each connected to a computer terminal. Up top was a large window leading to an observation room, where staff, doctors, and military personnel stood to watch as the operation was underway.

  Whigli stood with a nervous look on his face, brushing his fingers though his purple hair. Noylarlie took notice and whispered into his ear from behind, “I made you a man—now act like one.”

  It wasn’t the operation that had him worried—it was the look Abraxin gave him. He stood up top in the observation room looking down at Whigli, an angry look on his face the whole time. It was the same angry look Abraxin gave when he saw Whigli leave Noylarlie’s quarters the night before. Why does he care? And what was he doing standing outside of her quarters anyway? Whigli wondered.

  After a brief moment, everyone was strapped in, ready for the operation. The operation team attached a series of tubes to the recruits, whose vitals were relayed to the computer terminal next to them. The operation began with all the recruits being placed in a deep sleep by a knockout chemical being pumped into their system. Everything became a blur to Whigli—then came darkness and silence for one whole month.

  ………

  Five years of training was finally over, and the recruits from this batch received word, one after another, of their placement within the empire. A few bodies were missing of course—the psionics who were chosen to become part of a space bridge or replace a psi currently serving on one. The recruits selected for bridge duty were often called to the office, and taken away quickly and silently so they as not to cause a scene.

  Whigli was one of them. This proved to be an unpopular choice, considering his scores were high. Even a man from the military stormed out of the facility, extremely disappointed when he learned the recruit he wanted had been sent to a space bridge. The news hit Chidorli hard. After everyone recovered from the upgrades, Whigli became a different man. Spending more time talking to her and less time complaining, the last year saw the two spend a few intimate moments together.

  Noylarlie knew exactly what happened, however. Abraxin must have become a jealous old man when he discovered she’d shared her bed with Whigli. He was even more jealous when Whigli and Chidorli began copulating with each other a few months later. What infuriated Noylarlie the most was that there was nothing she could do about it. Nobody would believe her and would just write her off as another recruit who hated being locked up in this mountain for five years—which sadly wasn’t far from the truth.

  Chidorli received her assignment—shipboard psionic aboard a stratosphere frigate docked with one of the command ships standing watch over the planet. Noylarlie was approached by two soldiers and whisked away to board a transport ship, without even the chance to say goodbye, much like Whigli.

  Noylarlie gazed out the forward window of the transport. She expected it to head up to the stars, but instead it remained on the planet, flying south. Even more curious was the fact that nobody onboard said a word to her after demanding she come with them.

  Sometime had passed before it was apparent where they were heading—the Imperial Palace, center of the Hashmedai capital city and home to the Empress and her family. The palace was a super massive structure, so high the top entered the tip of space. Four towers surrounded it, one on each corner of the main building that went up to the stars. These towers didn’t go as high as the main section but were still high enough for their tops to be covered up by the clouds. Around the palace lay the rest of the city, a sea of never-ending skyscrapers and transport ships flying to and from space.

  The transport ship docked at the palace via a large rectangular opening aside the main section. The side of the ship opened, and Noylarlie stepped out. She looked behind to the rest of the city’s skyline from the entry section of the docking bay. The sun was setting, painting the skies with a red glow—first time she’d seen a sunset in years. The two soldiers got off and escorted her to a nearby elevator.

  The elevator reached its destination, the throne room. The doors opened, the first sight that came to Noylarlie’s eyes was a small stream of water flowing underneath a white bridge. A series of statues representing past emperors and empresses ran across the stream. At the opposite end of the bridge was a large platform floating on water, with a throne chair made of crystal. Behind all that, a massive window showed a breathtaking view of the planet’s exosphere. They were indeed in the top part of the palace. That’s when Noylarlie realized gravity up this high shouldn’t be possible…unless a powerful psionic was generating a gravity field. Great, my new placement—gravity generator for the empress, she worried.

  “Please step forward,” said a voice from farther up.

  Noylarlie was so amazed, she didn’t notice Empress Y’lin was up on the platform. The empress had long white hair, pale skin, and orange eyes. She wore a black robe, which had a string of diamonds going down from her shoulders to her waist and a glowing pendant with a sphere-shaped object in the heart of it. Noylarlie walked across the bridge and onto the platform.

  “Empress Y’lin,” Noylarlie said, “honor to meet you.”

  Y’lin’s orange eyes examined her from head to toe. Noylarlie still wore her black uniform, which covered up most of her cybernetic implants.

  “Noylarlie, daughter of Iolysta Frosttouch, correct?” Noylarlie nodded. “Did she ever speak to you about her work with the Archmages?”

  “No, she did not.”

  Y’lin’s fingers stroked Noylarlie’s long black hair. It hadn’t been properly maintained in a while.

  “A great many believe the might of the Hashmedai Empire is a result of our fleet of ba
ttleships. Others believe it’s thanks to the cunning assassinations from the Assassins’ Guild.” Y’lin nodded to the soldiers who stood at the elevator door, and the two exited back into the elevator. “In truth, the Archmages did and will continue to lead us to victory. It is an elite group of psionics who weaken enemy frontlines so our ships can obliterate them, or discover important targets and relay the information to the Assassins’ Guild.”

  “By all means, continue.” Noylarlie was intrigued by this information.

  “Your mother was an Archmage, until she stopped reporting in after becoming pregnant with your sister. Some time later, we tracked her down and sent an agent to talk with her, but she seduced him.” Y’lin gently stroked Noylarlie’s cheek. “Then you were born, and your mother continued to hide you and your sister from us.”

  “Right. Then you had her killed.”

  “It is law—report all unregistered psionics. Hide them and face the death penalty, even if you’re an Archmage. Psionics are a dying class thanks to the Radiance Union. If they didn’t commit mass genocide, such laws wouldn’t exist.” The empress continued. “I want to give you the rare chance to strike back at those who forced us to create the environment in which our psionics live, to continue where your mother and father left off. Become my new Archmage.”

  “What’s in it for me?”

  “Your own ship to travel the stars, the power to help shape our laws for psionics, access to anything and anyone.” The two soldiers returned with a prisoner in tow—it was Abraxin. Noylarlie and Y’lin turned to see the new guest. Y’lin stepped forward as Noylarlie’s eyes burned with rage.

  “Abraxin Tenacious has done a few things at the facility we are not happy about,” Y’lin said. “I’m sure you know what I mean.”

  “Yes,” Noylarlie said with anger.

  “We suspected he was up to no good for awhile but lacked the evidence to arrest him until now.” The soldiers forced Abraxin to his trembling knees. “Noylarlie, join the Archmages, and his life will be yours.”