Chapter 143: The light in the darkness...

John followed his Lionesses across the hangar towards the parked gunship, their armoured boots ringing with every step on the titanium deckplates. As he approached the Raptor, its Crystal Alyssium hull caught his eye, the flawless white surface sparkling under the bright glare of the overhead lights. He came to a halt under the chin-mounted Tachyon Cannon and studied the predatory assault craft with a speculative look.

Alyssa turned back to face him and nodded in agreement as she overheard his thoughts. “It’s been a while since we re-plated the Raptor. It couldn’t hurt to toughen up the armour.”

“Alright, I’ll reshape it, you lock the plates back into position,” John agreed, shouldering his rifle and removing his Paragon helmet.

“Ready when you are.”

John gestured towards the psychically responsive metal and beckoned it towards him, intending to strip the armour from the gunship in one go. To his surprise, it obstinately refused to move, so he frowned in irritation and concentrated his will. A blazing tapestry of Progenitor runes appeared across its surface, instantly changing the white hull into gleaming gold, and John flushed with embarrassment as he realised what had happened.

“Sparks?” he yelled to the redhead, who had already boarded the Raptor. “Can you deactivate your runes please?”

Dana staggered into view and stared at him with wide eyes. “Holy shit!”

“What’s wrong?” John asked when he saw her shocked expression.

She removed her helmet and winced as she rubbed her temple. “That was like being smacked in the face with a sledgehammer! What the fuck did you do?!”

“I’m so sorry!” he apologised, jogging up the ramp to join her. “I completely forgot you’d protected the Raptor with runes. I’ve got used to repairing the Invictus and not having to think about it. Are you okay?”

Dana nodded and stood on tiptoe to give him a reassuring kiss. “I’m fine, I just wasn’t expecting it. I could feel you pulling against the runes ... then I got clobbered over the head with whatever you did to them.”

“In John’s defence, your runes are as tough as old boots. He got frustrated and cranked it up a notch,” Alyssa explained, walking up to hug her friend. “I’m sorry too, Sparks. I didn’t think that was actually going to hurt.”

“You remembered it was runed?” John asked with a disapproving frown.

“Of course, I’m not a goldfish,” she teased him with a playful smile. “I was curious to see if Dana’s runes could actually stop a fully-fledged Progenitor from stripping away our armour. Now you’ve absorbed your guide, you must be at least as powerful as they are.”

“Well, at least we know the runes work. I couldn’t even shift the armour plating an inch,” he admitted, giving Dana a congratulatory pat on the shoulder.

The redhead didn’t look particularly relieved. “If you’d kept that up, there’s no way I could’ve stopped you for long. You pushed those runes to breaking point; a few more seconds and you would’ve busted your way through.”

“Hopefully they’ll last long enough that any Progenitor will give up on trying to break them,” John said, remembering just how resistant the eldritch glyphs had proven to be. “At least you know what to expect if it happens for real.”

“Yeah, it won’t be such a shock next time,” she conceded, waving her hand towards the gunship’s hull. “There you go, I’ve deactivated them. Do you want to upgrade our Paragon armour too?”

“That would be sensible; it won’t take long,” he agreed, walking down the ramp and backing away from the Raptor to a better vantage point.

When he gestured to the armour plating again, this time it instantly obeyed his siren call, melting effortlessly into viscous streams. He drew them away from the gunship into a huge globe of liquid metal, the orb rotating slowly as it absorbed every last droplet of Crystal Alyssium. John concentrated on reshaping the metal into a series of geometric shapes, switching between cubes and spheres to toughen the Etherium lattice.

“What level of plating did we start with on the Raptor?” he asked the blonde and redhead, who were watching silently as he worked. “I’ve reshaped it quite a bit and it’s still pretty easy.”

“You’re already up to twenty-nine...” Dana replied in an awed whisper.

“Really?” He paused and looked at them in astonishment. “Should I stop or keep going?”

“Keep going!” Alyssa urged him excitedly. “Let’s see how far you can push it!”

John focused on the metal again, telekinetically reshaping it until he felt that familiar resistance start to build.

“That’s about my limit,” he muttered, frowning with intense concentration. “Any more and I’ll struggle to make the armour plating.”

“That’ll be thirty-five times!” Dana exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief. “Wow!”

Alyssa bounded over to his side and give him a jubilant kiss. “That was amazing! Well done!”

“Thanks,” John replied with a proud grin. “It was so much easier without my guide dragging me down.”

He had memorised the blueprints for the Raptor months ago, so forming the correct sized sections of armour was almost instinctive now. John coaxed the liquid metal into the relevant shapes, then floated them over to Alyssa, who used telekinesis to attach each newly-forged panel to its corresponding location on the hull. She hummed a jaunty sea-shanty as she worked beside him, her infectious good mood bringing a smile to his face.

“You seem happy,” he noted, delighted to see how much of a difference her short vacation had made.

“I am!” she gushed, while attaching another panel to the Raptor’s tail. Her cerulean eyes sparkled mischievously as she added, “Now that you’re so much better at this than me, I can leave re-armouring the Invictus in your wonderfully capable hands.”

That wiped the grin off John’s face and he groaned at the daunting prospect of having to re-plate the entire battlecruiser.

Alyssa laughed and leaned over to give him a reassuring kiss. “Don’t worry, I’ll still help out however I can. You’re right about the holiday though; having a little break from everything really made a big difference. I hadn’t realised how tense I’d been until I spent a few days being pampered ... then all the stress just melted away.”

“You’ve been through a hell of a lot recently, with no time to process everything,” John said with sympathy. “I knew it was all building up though ... I could feel it back before Karron.”

“You were right,” she said, her eyes softening. “Thanks for always looking out for me.”

“It’s my job as a Progenitor to take care of my matriarch,” John said solemnly, as he turned to face her. He hesitated and his brow furrowed in mock confusion. “Wait ... I think I might’ve got that a bit wrong.”

She giggled and gave him a loving hug. “Yeah, afraid so. You’d make a terrible Progenitor.”

“What am I supposed to do with my matriarch then?” he asked, holding her close.

“I can think of a few fun suggestions...” she purred, nuzzling into him.

“Look at you two flirting together without a care in the world,” Dana said, her voice drifting down from the gunship’s wing.

John glanced up and saw the redhead watching them fondly. “I’m just glad to be back. I really missed all of you.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said with a lopsided smile. Jerking her thumb towards the cockpit, she continued, “Do you want to head inside and make a start on upgrading the Paragon suits? I need to inscribe a fresh set of protection runes on the Raptor, then I’ll join you.”

“Alright, I’ll see you in a minute,” John agreed, holding out his armoured gauntlet for Alyssa as she fixed the final section of armour into place.

The blonde slipped her hand into his and they walked up the loading ramp to board the gunship. After taking the grav-tube to the upper deck, they found the rest of the girls waiting for them in the cockpit. Dana had pre-emptively removed her runes from their Paragon armour, so John was able to start work immediately.

“The Raptor’s prepped and on standby, Master,” Jade said, turning to greet him with a cheerful wave. “I’ll take off as soon as Dana’s inside.”

The Nymph was wearing a flowery sundress, which meant there was a grand total of seven Paragon suits that needed to be re-plated. Rachel, Helene, and the twins waited patiently as John upgraded their armour, after which he turned his attention to the suits worn by Alyssa and himself. There was considerably less surface area to cover than the Raptor, but the work was more intricate, with each piece of armour plating designed to perfectly fit the contours of the wearer.

“Done!” Dana called out, as she bounded into the cockpit with her helmet tucked under one arm.

They could hear the dull roar of retro-thrusters for a couple of seconds until the loading ramp closed, then the cockpit was immersed in serene silence. John worked quickly to complete his enhancement of their armour, then turned his attention to Jade as she nudged the throttle forward and the Raptor raced towards the hangar door.

Instead of emerging into the unending darkness of space, a majestic nebula of rich purples swept across their view through the Raptor’s crystal canopy. John was already familiar with the Mists of Loralar after watching Tashana’s holographic simulation, but seeing it with his own two eyes was a breathtaking sight. He glanced at the local System Map that was floating above Jade’s console, but their sensors were unable to penetrate the inhospitable stellar hazard.

“Alright, take us in, Jade,” he said to their Nymph pilot. “We’ll hold position on the periphery to see how badly we’re affected by the Mists and give Helene a chance to get comfortable protecting the girls.”

“Will do,” the verdant-hued beauty agreed, pushing the throttle forward.

They all held their breath as they crossed into the nebula, with everyone glancing apprehensively at each other. When nothing happened after thirty seconds, there was a collective sigh of relief, quickly followed by nervous laughter.

“Are any of you feeling anything yet?” John asked, checking each of his companions for the slightest sign of distress.

They all shook their heads and the tension eased in the cockpit.

“Valada’s records reported that the Maliri who entered the Mists started to experience feelings of unease almost immediately,” Rachel informed him.

“Let’s just wait a few more minutes to be sure,” John said, pleased that everyone seemed to be unaffected.

“We’ve all been psychically enhanced,” Rachel mused aloud. “I wonder if that made us strong enough to resist the debilitating mental affects of the Mists?”

“If the thrall races are all essentially identical to each other, then none of the crew on a Progenitor dreadnought would be psychic,” Tashana said thoughtfully. “It wouldn’t matter if a Progenitor was immune to the anxiety the psychic field generates if his thralls were still prevented from approaching Kythshara. Keeping the thralls away would mean that a rival Progenitor who wanted to investigate the planet would have to do so alone.”

“Where is Kythshara?” John asked, turning back to study the purple expanse.

“It’s on the second orbital path around the star,” Alyssa explained, leaning over the console to tap a series of buttons. “Valada created an algorithm to plot the planet’s approximate position, so that her scouts wouldn’t have to waste time trying to locate it.”

A holographic map of the system appeared, showing the orbiting planet and a green flight path that would take them directly to Kythshara.

Irillith shivered involuntarily as she stared at the map. “Maybe this was a bad idea. Mael’nerak probably had a very good reason for keeping Valada and the Maliri away from this place. I mean ... it might be dangerous down there.”

John shot a concerned glance at Rachel, immediately recognising the symptoms she’d warned them about.

The brunette reached out to Irillith, a grey mist swirling along her arm to envelop the hacker. “Adrenalin levels are spiking...” Rachel said, her brow furrowing as she gave the Maliri a thorough examination. “I’m seeing elevated activity in her Amygdala.”

“I’m fine!” Irillith protested indignantly, starting to look agitated. “I just think we should pull back and investigate the bunker under Saelihn Immanthe first!”

John placed his hand on Irillith’s shoulder to calm her. “Take it easy, honey. We’ll leave as soon as we can.” He glanced meaningfully at Helene and continued, “Are you able to sense whatever it is that’s affecting her?”

The aquatic girl closed her eyes and concentrated, pushing out with her subconscious to make contact with their minds. She sensed John and the girls immediately, each one shining brightly like a beacon in the Astral plane. What was disturbing however, was that the Astral itself seemed to have changed, the featureless plane now tinged with a murky purple that Helene found deeply unsettling.

“There’s definitely something there ... but I don’t know how to protect us from it,” she said, looking at Irillith with concern.

The Empath quickly explained what she’d seen on the Astral plane to her captivated audience.

“Do you remember how you kept Tamolith stable? Try to picture us as islands like you did with her,” Alyssa urged the pensive mermaid.

“But that was for her internal emotions...” Helene said with a bewildered frown. “Tamolith’s grief was overwhelming and I just tried to keep her from drowning in it. I don’t know how to block whatever the mist is doing!”

“It’s the same idea,” the blonde persisted. “You just need to find a way of picturing the problem, then you should be able to come up with a way to deal with it.”

John nodded his agreement. “How you visualise anything on the Astral is completely up to you. Your imagination is given free rein there, so you can create any solution you like ... but please hurry. If you’re not able to protect Irillith, just let us know, and we’ll think of another plan.”

Helene took a deep breath and spent a long moment trying to create a picture of the problem in her mind. It came to her in a moment of inspiration and she pushed out with her will, altering her perception of how she viewed the Mists eroding their sanity. In a flash the scene before her on the Astral Plane changed. Helene used a similar metaphor as before, but rather than an atoll of islands, she imagined John and the girls as a range of cliffs. Instead of the ocean threatening to wash over exotic sandy beaches, stormy waves were crashing into the rocky crags.

How each of the crew was faring under the psychic onslaught varied dramatically. She pictured John as a towering granite bulwark, the surging waves proving as ineffective against that immutable obstacle as if they were ripples in a puddle. Next was Alyssa, her metaphysical representation formed of the same unyielding rock, but her cliff face was substantially smaller. Jade came next in terms of stature, but the ocean was calm and placid along her section of the coastline, as if Poseidon himself had given up any hope of reclaiming that land.

The cliff formations underwent a change at that point, the igneous rock that represented John and his matriarchs shifting to sedimentary. Looming high above the others was a majestic escarpment of red sandstone, the crashing waves simply polishing the rock to a vibrant scarlet sheen. The sandstone shifted colours further along the coastline, the crimson rock changing to sturdy grey, then a stretch of sandy gold, before finishing with a low-lying ridge of pale violet chalk.

It was the last section of coastline that worried Helene the most. As she watched, the waves smashed into the base of the cliffs, constantly eroding the foundation and weakening it further. A crack formed near the raging sea, then widened with a horrible groan, the newly formed crevasse reaching up towards the clifftop. With its surface fractured, a section of the cliff broke away and crashed down into the ocean with a mighty splash.

Helene knew she needed to intervene immediately and pushed out with her will to support Irillith’s besieged subconscious. The tidal water reared back to crash against her mind once again, but the wave faltered, holding in place for a moment before collapsing in on itself. The psychic waters swirled in a furious spray of white foam, then a yawning whirlpool appeared in the ocean’s surface, reversing the inexorable tide. Robbed of their strength, the waves petered out entirely, sucked into the hungry maw of that maelstrom. The sea even receded from the cliff edge, giving the crumbling coastline some much-needed respite from the relentless psychic onslaught.

When Helene reopened her eyes, she focused on the Maliri hacker who was now swathed in a soothing teal glow. “Does that feel better?”

Irillith sagged with relief and gave her a grateful nod. “It crept up on me ... I didn’t even realise I’d been affected. It feels like a huge pressure’s been lifted now though. Thank you, Helene!”

She smiled graciously, overjoyed to see her friend had recovered. “I was very glad to help.”

“What’s the situation, honey?” John asked with a worried frown. “How are the rest of the girls holding up?”

“They’re all okay for the moment,” she explained, giving him a reassuring smile. “Irillith was the most vulnerable to mental attack by the mists, so she started getting scared first.”

“It must be because I’m a Maliri ... a thrall species,” Irillith said, nodding as her suspicions were confirmed. She darted a worried glance at her sister and added, “You better brace yourself Shan, you’ll be next.”

Helene shook her head. “I don’t think your species has anything to do with it. Aside from those three...” She pointed to John, Alyssa, then Jade. “Tashana seems to be the least affected out of the rest of you. Dana’s actually the one I’m concerned about now.”

“Me?!” the redhead squeaked, her eyes widening in alarm.

Helene nodded. “I’m afraid so. Don’t worry though, I can deaden the effects of the psychic waves, so you shouldn’t suffer from any side-effects.”

“How long can you keep that up?” John asked the empathic mermaid.

“I’m sorry ... I don’t know for sure,” she said, giving him a helpless shrug of apology. “This is much harder than trying to soothe somebody’s feelings of grief or shame.”

“Helene’s using a lot more psychic energy than normal, but we’ve got plenty in our reserves to keep her going for at least a couple of hours,” Alyssa interjected.

“Are you shielding all of us?” Tashana asked, her curiosity piqued.

“The four of you don’t need my help,” Helene replied, her glance encompassing John, Alyssa, Jade and the Maliri archaeologist. She then gestured towards Irillith, Dana, and her girlfriend. “I’ve managed to hold back the psychic waves from wearing down their resistance.”

“What about you, Helene?” Rachel asked, concerned for the selfless empath.

Helene hesitated for a moment before answering. “I don’t feel like I’m being attacked, or at least, I’m not feeling anxious or frightened.”

“You should be far more resistant to this kind of psychic aura because of your runic affinity,” John explained, before blinking in surprise, startling himself with that sudden flash of insight. “We’ll keep a close eye on you to be careful, but let us know if you feel anything unusual.”

“I will,” she said earnestly.

John looked around at the group. “The clock’s ticking, so we better get moving. Unless any of you have any objections?”

There were none, so Jade swivelled around to sit back down in the pilot’s chair and ramp up power to the engines. She banked the Raptor to starboard and set a course which would closely follow the flight path that Alyssa had uploaded to the gunship. As they flew towards the star in the centre of the system, the occasional glance at the holographic map showed no new information, their sensors blocked by the Mists.

“I hate flying blind,” Tashana muttered, grimacing as she stared out into the swirling purple nebula. “You never know what’s lurking out there in wait.”

John slipped his arm around her shoulders. “Are you feeling alright? Is this anxiety from the Mists?”

She turned to give him a self-conscious smile. “No, just my time as a smuggler. In that profession you had to be wary of law enforcement, crime lords, double-crossing clients, your own crew ... it’s not paranoia when everyone’s out to get you.”

“The offer’s still open to remove those memories,” John said, looking at her with sympathy.

Tashana considered it for a moment. “Not right now ... but later maybe? When the war is over, I think I’d like to put all that behind me. As terrible as my time in the Unclaimed Wastes was, I learned some sneaky tricks that might come in useful against the Progenitors.”

“Just let me know whenever you feel ready.”

They turned back to the view, watching and waiting for any sign of Kythshara.

“We’re getting close to the outer ring of defences,” Alyssa warned her fellow matriarch. “I’ve plotted a course that should take us through one of the gaps Valada identified in the turret grid.”

“It seems a bit sloppy leaving holes in the defences,” Dana said with a frown. “I thought Mael’nerak was supposed to be super smart?”

“The area these gun emplacements are covering is vast,” Alyssa explained. “There’s just way too much space to cover at this distance from the planet unless he built tens-of-thousands of turrets. This is like an outer layer of defences intended to slow down invaders and make them cautious; it’s the inner rings that Calara’s really worried about.”

Everyone was feeling on edge as the Raptor continued onwards, but it had nothing to do with the aura from the Mists. They all knew that dozens of gun turrets might already be tracking their approach, ready to open fire with lethal weapons that were designed to eviscerate powerful thrall ships. Their suspicions were confirmed when the pilot’s console chimed and an icon flashed on the comms interface.

“Incoming hail,” Alyssa said, reaching over to acknowledge the call.

A deep baritone voice rang out around the cockpit. “El Nareith hae’em dargonath.”

“What did he say?” Dana asked in a hushed voice.

“The light in the darkness,” Tashana translated, before glancing at John. “Is this some kind of riddle?”

“Maybe if we answer correctly, we can deactivate Kythshara’s defences?” Irillith said hopefully.

“Hold here for a second, Jade,” John said, patting her on the shoulder.

She did as he requested, bringing the Raptor to a halt.

“Any idea how we should respond?” John asked, looking around at the girls.

“Maybe he’s referring to the Shroud?” Dana suggested. “As far as we know, this is the only area in the galaxy that isn’t ruled by Xar’aziuth.”

“Even if that is the correct answer, it’s highly unlikely that Mael’nerak referred to it as ‘The Shroud’,” Irillith said, looking sceptical. “A direct translation into ancient Maliri would be ‘Ta’mariksha’ but he could’ve called it anything.”

“What about Valada?” Alyssa said, staring out into the nebula. “We know Mael’nerak loved her and she had a dramatic impact on his life.”

John nodded thoughtfully. “True ... and it’s highly unlikely that an invading Progenitor would know the name of Mael’nerak’s matriarch.” He glanced around at the girls and continued, “Have you got any other suggestions? If not, then I think we should go with Alyssa’s.”

Nobody volunteered any other ideas, so John activated the comms interface and sent out a system-wide broadcast. “Valada,” he declared solemnly.

They waited for a couple of minutes but there was no other response.

“Shall I proceed, Master?” Jade asked, waiting for his permission to continue.

“Go ahead. We can’t afford to waste any more time.”

She powered up the engines and the Raptor surged forward, heading towards the heart of the nebula. They had only resumed flying for thirty seconds, when there was a sudden flicker from the System Map, the sensors finally close enough to an object to detect it.

“Debris...” Irillith muttered, staring intently at the shattered remnants of a spacecraft. “It’s a Maliri destroyer.”

“One of Great Grandmother’s scouts,” Tashana added, moving closer to the cockpit canopy to get a better look.

“Damn...” Dana said quietly, shocked by the extent of the destruction. “Those poor bastards were torn to pieces!”

The wreck looked like it had been hit by scores of beams, each one burning straight through the hull.

“Stay over to the port side,” Alyssa advised their Nymph pilot. “We don’t want to get anywhere near that turret.”

Jade made the course correction and they passed more obliterated hulks as they proceeded in-system. Each vessel had been blown to pieces the moment they were within range of a gun emplacement, giving the Raptor’s crew a macabre way of detecting a nearby turret whenever they drew near to its position. The final graves of those brave Maliri allowed them to serve their people for a final time and Tashana bowed her head with respect to each one they passed.

“We’re reaching the limit the scouts were able to penetrate,” Alyssa said, squinting into the purple gloom. “No ships returned from exploring any closer than this.”

Less than thirty seconds passed before a strobing white light lit up the cockpit. The shield status display registered hits a second later and the protective barrier began to drop at an alarming rate.

“Evasive manoeuvres!” John ordered, tightly gripping the back of Jade’s chair.

“On it, Master!” she replied, slamming the flight stick to the left and pushing it forward.

The Raptor performed a diving barrel roll, which the Nymph smoothly corrected as she brought the gunship back towards their destination. She flipped and spun the nimble assault craft, making it perform a chaotic dance to avoid the deadly incoming fire.

Dana rushed over to the canopy to get a better look at whatever was shooting at them. “They must be using some kind of rapid fire weapon in a fast tracking turret! It hits like a fucking truck!”

“John ... take a look at this!” Alyssa exclaimed, pointing towards the holographic map.

He could see the beams thrumming past the Raptor, their wake crisscrossed by a forest of white columns. With the gunship’s incredible speed combined with Jade’s supernatural agility, Mael’nerak’s defences found it impossible to keep up with her chaotic manoeuvres. She performed the intricate ballet for the next several minutes, long enough to pull away from the turret that had initially fired on them. Just when they had cleared its field of fire, a second turret renewed the barrage, forcing Jade to frantically evade more beam volleys.

“Nice flying!” John said with admiration, rubbing the Nymph’s shoulder when they cleared the second emplacement. He glanced at the shields that had regenerated to a pale green. “You can ease off on the dodging now, at least until we come under attack again.”

“I guess the answer wasn’t Valada,” Irillith noted glumly.

Jade returned them to the original flight path, which would lead directly to Kythshara’s projected location. Their rapid progress was interrupted once again as another turret opened fire, with the Nymph reacting immediately and avoiding the worst of the initial salvo. She ducked and weaved, making the Raptor an impossible target, as they steadily proceeded towards the second orbital path around the star.

“There it is!” Tashana blurted out, pointing excitedly at the canopy as the gunship yawed wildly to starboard. With the Raptor’s nose flipping around in response to Jade’s wild dodging, the field of stars whirled past in a dizzying blur. “I definitely saw Kythshara!”

John and the girls were all on the lookout for the elusive planet now, but they saw only fleeting glimpses of a green world as it flashed past the window. When they were finally clear of the turret’s field of fire, Jade straightened out the Raptor and ramped up its engines, rushing onwards towards their destination. Kythshara was now directly in front of them, growing larger by the second as they closed the distance. The planet had a mystical feel to it, the verdant paradise like a gleaming emerald presented on a rich purple cloth.

“It looks so beautiful,” Helene whispered, staring at the planet in wonder.

“I can’t believe we actually found Mael’nerak’s homeworld,” Tashana said reverently. “Do you remember much about living there, Jade?”

There was no answer from the Nymph, so Tashana turned to see Jade’s reaction to setting eyes on her home for the first time in over 10,000 years.

“Jade!” she gasped, rushing over to their stricken pilot. “John, something’s wrong with her!”

The Nymph’s features were contorted in a silent scream of anguish, her body frozen in place with her eyes locked in terror on Kythshara.

John darted around the pilot’s chair to see for himself, and recoiled in shock at the dreadful expression on her face. “She must have reacted to the Mists! You need to shield her, Helene! Now!”

Helene’s eyes glowed with a soft teal light as she reached out to her friend. “I don’t think it’s the Mists,” she said fearfully, after hastily checking her on the Astral. “Nothing’s changed ... the psychic ocean isn’t even trying to wear her down!”