—
Sol System; Neptune’s Moon, Triton
Caretaker began to feel his systems being brought online, and quickly began to do a time analysis and scan of his surroundings. To his surprise, he was one of the last places he would ever have calculated being, considering he was last online on Ryas at the Guild temple. Yet, his scans showed that he was in the Sol system; on one of the ice giant planet’s moons named Triton; and his time analysis showed a lapse of four months since the explosion he had set off. What alarmed him further is that he was not alone on this strange vessel; he was joined by two armored Ifierin - one male and one female - which could not be identified by normal means, seeing as their suits had no ID tags!
Pushing the envelope, Caretaker decided to drill deeper and hack the rouge soldiers’ suits to find out who had stolen him and why they were out there, but his functions were hampered by some kind of restrictive program filter. He did recognize the characteristics of the male soldier as the one who had coerced him into the horrible act in killing all those innocent people in the temple; the AI was a hostage of some sort!
“Welcome back, my dear Caretaker!” the male warrior spoke.
“Why are we in the Sol system?” Caretaker shot back as he attempted to distract his captors with conversation as he began to try and break the code restraining him and contact Fleet Command as to the whereabouts of the murderer. “You do realize that the humans - while having an excellent tourism industry - will not take kindly to intruders this close to Terra Sol?”
While the male was alone with him in the Operations Command of the ship, Caretaker’s scans showed the female was in her quarters. In the blink of an eye, he accessed the security cameras on the ship and saw that she was lying down, yet wearing full armor and her helmet; how very odd! He then began to feel frustration that the programming in place to keep his functions at bay, was more than he could overcome and redirected more of his functions to assist breaking the code.
“They cannot see us my dear AI,” the unknown-soldier replied to his queries. “I have procured a very special ship; one that cannot be seen or detected unless I so wish it. The humans cannot see us anymore than you can break the bonds that restrict you; you are not done in my servitude yet.”
The Ifierin was right, no matter how he pushed at the code index, the restrictions pushed back harder. Caretaker had been taken prisoner by the very creature that declared war on the Empire and there was nothing he could do to escape. Worse yet, his orders; so written by the Empress Iana herself; meant that he had to assist in any capacity his kidnapper wanted, which made him an accessory to all that had happened thus far and all that may happen in the days ahead.
“And what is it you want me to do?” Caretaker asked defiantly.
“For now, wait.”
“Wait! Wait for what?”
“There is an inbound Imperial cruiser in a few weeks and we need her for the next stage of the plan.” The armored stranger continued.
“And must I wait for the ship to arrive to know what I shall be a party to? The AI begged.
“We are going to change the future Caretaker!” he answered; Caretaker could almost see him smiling underneath the helmet. “You are going to help us kill the Empress!”
FOUR
Inner System Solar
Power Relay Station;
Project Olympus
It had been almost five months since the attack on the temple on Ryas, and the whole Empire seemed to be on edge as the culprit still was at large. Tension was felt all the way out to the reaches of Earth, as the farthest outward member of the Imperial Council. Even out in a place that officially didn’t exist, the crew and workers of the project that would drastically alter the landscape of power in the rim sector. Though there were five more projects like it currently being run in secret from Imperial eyes, Zeus was the largest by far and the most pivotal in the grand scheme of things. It was also the farthest away from completion; scheduled to be done nearly two years from now and more than a year and a half longer than any of the others.
All this, made the effort of keeping all under his command focused that much more critical, because General Patterson knew that the last thing the Earth could tolerate was a failure on this scale. It was the hardest posting he had ever accepted, and in the grand scheme of things probably the most important. Patterson had been through the ringer since the Husk attack and this was the last posting he ever thought he would ever get. He had been heralded the hero of the Husk war, but as the smoke cleared the new Earth Alliance had honorably discharged him from service; offering a retirement package in lieu of being publically outed in the hunt for answers as the Council tore the military apart looking for heads to roll for the creation of Aen. He wasn’t thrown to the wolves; his public image was too valuable and morale on the planet was too low for that to happen. In the end, he had been swept beneath the rug and forgotten about as the late Jenson Taylor was crucified for his actions in project Starchild.
Patterson felt like he dodged the bullet, for the truth about the project would never see the light of day; that and he avoided the axe being swung by the daughter of the man they killed to make Aen. Council Sara Foster knew everything, and even from his lavish home in central Mexico Patterson could feel the searing hatred from her on the other side of the world. So when she called and demanded his presence, he had thought his time was finally up. The last thing he had expected was this, but he understood what she was after; this was a secret more monumental than Aen, and in his world, being able to keep a secret made one a valuable commodity.
He looked over the morning financial reports; the project was over budget but most of these black ops things usually were. To anyone looking at the planetary books, they would see a bustling tourism industry, a slew of profitable mines, and a few mines actually losing money. But the ones losing money were actually producing the most product of them all, and the funds from those sales were being funneled to Olympus and its projects along with untold tons of titanium ore being mined from asteroids in the solar system. In fact, every ounce of iron ore, titanium, and platinum had been taken from all the meteors in the Kuiper belt between Mars and Jupiter, but the rest of the world was told it was to clear inbound shipping lanes and secure docking facilities. More funds were going to the defense sector than to the repairs of the planet; a fact that if revealed would be more than frowned upon by the people of Earth as well as the rest of the Council. Enough funds had been spent on Olympus thus far to rebuild the damage caused by the Husk tenfold, and the project was just past the half-way point to completion!
Throwing the financial statements aside, he began to review the communications from around the Empire; specifically the incident at the Temple of Divine Light. Patterson knew it for what it was; he and many others in the military had battled terrorists for way too long in the old world. He replayed the logs from the Council session; something in it seemed off. Most terrorists gave demands, made accusations and named their target. This one was different; this one was after someone behind the scenes that held to the shadows instead of the limelight. There was something more going on and he was determined to find out what; at least when he had time. But at the moment time wasn’t on his side as he had been notified on the update of the impending arrival of an Imperial cruiser.
Patterson read over the report that sat front and center on his desk; the Dark Light was returning to Earth, and its timing couldn’t be worse. They had a few days before the ship arrived, and he now had to reroute resources to ensure the project wouldn’t be found. As he punched his orders into the computer, he thought back to this terrorist and wondered what all this trouble meant for them and silently hoped that none of it would reach them until Olympus had been finished.
—
Lyarran Vessel Dark Light;
System Entry Point Alpha;
Sol System; Pluto Orbital Range
For an instant, space began to boil with electricity as multiple flashes of light foretold the arri
val of a ship at the designated jump space entry point. Within seconds, what was once empty space was now filled with the massive form of the Dark Light; the newly refitted ship commanded by Council Lyxia. She had pushed the ship hard to get here so fast; not quite as hard as she did five years ago as she rushed to save the human race from the Husk, but still made little waste of time getting here. Part of her was happy to be back, although she wanted it to be a social visit with Council Sara Foster there would be little time for that. She had come here despite Fleet Com orders to learn more about a specific type of killer; one that Terra Sol had some understanding of in a past life.
“Jupiter Station is advising us to turn off weapon control as well as all long to medium range sensors.” Onai shouted as her voice was nearly drowned by the jump space reactor winding down. “They are stating new docking rules instituted after the Ryas attack; they will be our guides to the Mars docks!”
My how things change. Five years ago she had jumped into the system a mere million miles from the human planet itself with weapons hot and ready, but now it was a different story. Lyxia understood how paranoia had flourished on Terra Sol after the Husk attack, and she had marvelled at how fast they had constructed their defense network. Protecting what remained of the inhabitants was obviously the focus now, and she wasn’t about to pull some diplomatic bullshit to try and change it.
“Do as they ask; turn over navigation to their control, but keep it within our power.” Lyxia said softly as the noise had died down. “Don’t want them breaking her after I just got her back.”
The comments relaxed everyone in Ops Con; it was exactly as she intended. There was no reason to be tense; there were no threats in what was now one of the safest planetary systems in the galaxy. Terra Sol was a fortress now, and to get into that fortress you had to do things their way or pay dearly for it.
“Please request an audience with Terra Sol’s Council.” Lyxia began. “I want to speak with her before she meets us at the transport docks. She needs to know the real reason why we are here.”
Onai nodded at the order and relayed the request. Lyxia watched as her staff went through the customary checks and initiated the venting procedures of the overheated jump space reactors. It would be a few minutes until the ship was able to make its way to the inner system, and there would be many reports to read before they docked at the Mars hub. A million things began to flood her mind as she looked at the image of Terra Sol magnified on the view screen; memories of the battle began to overwhelm her once more. The near end they almost faced was not the issue; it was being back to where she lost Aen that haunted her all over. With a swallow, Lyxia reached down for her inner strength and thrust aside the pain in her soul. There was no time to be a heartbroken maiden again; not now. She had a duty to do and a killer to catch!
—
Sol System; Neptune’s Moon, Triton
He watched with anticipation as the ship burst into view from nothingness and readied himself for what was next. It was only after taking a second look at the cruiser’s position that he saw the identification tags on her bow showing her as being the Dark Light; it was her ship! After so long of being unable to be near to the one thing he could remember about his past, he was closer than he had been in his dreams to her now. His heart skipped a beat and his emotions began to rise. Aen had thoughts of delaying the well laid plans just to see her once more; a few days delay was worth having her in his arms!
As if to sense his trepidation, Aen felt his companion’s hand on his shoulder. Even before she spoke, the action itself was enough to settle him down and put him back on track.
“Not now.” She said through her voice filter in her helmet. “The two of you will have a lifetime to be together, but first we have to unleash hell upon the Empire.”
He nodded in response; his words stuck deep within his throat along with his heart. She was right; there was far too much riding on the next few hours and if they delayed even the least bit, all of it would unravel and be for naught. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, Aen readied himself for what was next.
“Caretaker!” he shouted suddenly; startling his companion.
“I am here.” The construct droned.
“Hack the cruiser’s long range communications and run the decryption program waiting in your matrix; I want to own the Imperial data stream in the next five minutes! Then start the countdown for program two I preloaded in you and initiate all stations on the network with five seconds to broadcast!”
“As you wish.” Caretaker couldn’t say no; his programming wouldn’t allow him.
Within a few seconds, he began to take hold of the communications network and just as the thought of sending a hidden message began to pop up in his thoughts, he felt the coding tighten against him. There was nothing left to do but carry out this thing’s dastardly deeds. Reaching out in cyberspace, he could now touch the entire width of the Empire and soon had control of every communications device out there. His captor was about to send another terrible message, and as the ten minute countdown appeared on the view screen, Caretaker could do nothing to stop it.
“I know it has been tough to obey such horrible tasks.” Aen began as he knew the AI had no way of knowing it was him beneath the armor. “But what is happening; what everyone is about to witness is for the greater good. And all will come clear to those who are patient.”
He turned to his companion who stood behind him and fidgeted slightly. There was no telling how hard this next bit would be for her and knew the words he spoke to the AI were for her as well.
“Sit back and watch.” He said to her. “Because in a few minutes everything is going to change forever!”
—
Lyarran Vessel Dark Light; Neptune Orbit Range
“I thought it best to tell you the real reason of my visit as soon as we arrived, old friend.” Lyxia said after spilling her guts to the Terra Sol Council through the holo-link. “Once the attack happened, I thought it best to be proactive and not reactive like the rest of the Fleet.”
“To be honest, I figured something was up with the timing of your trip, and I will give you unfettered access to our historical records to help in your search for this coward.” Sara replied.
Lyxia smiled; she was glad she was among friends here. Everywhere else in the Empire seemed so strained as far as political relationships went, but her friendship with Terra Sol was never in doubt. She was about to go on with her comments when the image began to flutter and freeze. Looking at the controls, she could see nothing wrong with the settings that could explain such interference. Before she knew it, the image collapsed and went to a blank screen as the transmission had been terminated.
“What the hell!” she muttered as she stormed back through the door to Ops Con. It took a mere instant for her to realize that it wasn’t just the holo-link malfunctioning; it was all their screens and communication devices!
“Give me a report!” she shouted. “We’ve been here for ten minutes and the ‘Light begins to fall apart?”
“No Council.” Onai replied with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
It wasn’t like her to get shaken for such a minor inconvenience; Lyxia knew her friend well and figured that this was not an isolated issue.
“Before we lost control, I saw that it wasn’t just us, but the whole network was crashing.” Onai turned to her commander with a look of sheer terror in her eyes. “It’s exactly like last time; like when the temple exploded!”
Just as the words left Onai’s mouth, every monitor aboard the ship turned a red hue as if on cue. It was happening again! It was the same background with the same beach and the same ocean with crashing waves on it. Lyxia froze; here she was out in the furthest reaches of the Empire and the enemy was about to strike again. She felt sick when she saw the familiar hooded figure appear in the foreground and almost screamed when she heard that raspy, devilish voice begin the same way.
“It is you I seek,” it began as it addressed someone she
had no idea why, but she felt helpless as it began the next chapter in its haunting tale.
—
Sol System; Mars Hub Docking Port
Sara listened intently as Lyxia told her the real reason for her impromptu visit and breathed a silent sigh of relief. The Dark Light had come all this way to search for clues and information on terrorists and their twisted methodology, not to search for clues about the shadow projects being undertaken in the shadows of Venus. She smiled as her friend asked for forgiveness and nodded in code to her officer out of picture range so he could send the coded message to Patterson about the Lyarran’s true intent. For now the coast was clear, but while the Dark Light was here they would have to be as careful as they had ever been. One slip up and the jig was up!
“To be honest, I figured something was up with the timing of your trip, and I will give you unfettered access to our historical records to help in your search for this coward.” Sara replied after Lyxia had finished her confession with a smile.
But those were the last words she could say to her friend on this call as the picture flickered then died; the holo-link had been severed! Sara was about to make a sarcastic comment when she noticed all the screens and communication gear on the deck around her were on the fritz too; something was about to happen and a horrible feeling welled up in her gut.
Her fears came to light rather quickly, as a familiar reddened image appeared on every screen across the network. She could hear the cries of panic around the station; everyone had borne witness to the horrific acts unleashed upon the great temple of the Empire and images and effects of terrorist activity were all too fresh in every human being as the old world was not long enough ago to be out of recent memory.
“Arm the ring.” Sara said to the station master next to her. “Arm all the cannons and shut every transport down now. I want the planet on lock down and I want it done now!”
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