Emergence: Chapter 51

At first, Maron was annoyed at Cinradahs's decision to leave him and Rals behind. He knew he'd be no use in a space battle, as he was a ground trooper, but he could have at least witnessed it or, better yet, manned one of the guns. But instead, Trexor and Admiral Fairns had put them both on a patrol of Tapal while they spoke to Otor. Maron hated being on Raan now; the ground moved beneath his feet, and sounds came from everywhere. Tumbling, crashing, rustling. There was no wind, which gave a silver lining; that always complicated things.

“We going anywhere in particular?” Rals was handling the terrain poorly, not being as sure-footed as Maron.

“I think Fairns just wanted us out the way.” Maron could be cynical when he wanted to. “Let's go round the city once and call it a day.”

“Yeah, that sounds fine.” Rals agreed enthusiastically.

They walked through the ruined city, looking all the while like a pile of parts at a building yard. All that was missing were the builders and the machines. Some vehicles were scattered around, but Maron didn't see any that were intact.

“Glad I wasn't based here.” Rals muttered.

“Why would you be?” Maron said dismissively.

“I was tempted to come here when I left Prauw rather than New Orbus,” Rals looked around, “but I'm glad I didn't now.”

“Yeah, I get you.” Maron took an Ukafa stick out and lit it. The taste of it, the exhilarating feeling contrasted entirely with the landscape of Tapal.

Rals tutted. “Really the time?”

“It relaxes me,” Maron explained, “just like beauty relaxes you, remember?”

“As I said, there are better ways.” Rals insisted.

Maron smirked. “You see any beauty around here?” He gestured around, arm wide to illustrate his point. “You can close your eyes, pretend to see beauty, but in doing so you'll just associate it with this shit-hole of a city.”

Rals rounded on him. “Shit-hole of a city? It's been destroyed, thousands dead! And you disrespect them all like that.”

Maron turned to him, inhaled Ukafa, and exhaled again. “Shit-hole then, shit-hole now. You can try and be respectful all you like, it don't change anything.”

Rals watched him in what he assumed was disbelief, as Maron casually continued walking. Maron didn't care what Rals thought; he was a nice guy to have around, but a bit too liberal for Maron's liking. He had no time for beauty or respect; he had his own ways.

He stopped and listened.

“Why have we stopped?” Rals annoyance was evident in his tone.

“Listen.” Maron was silent for a moment, but he was sure he could hear voices. “Voices.”

“Let's go then.” Rals stood, and was ready to jog over there, before Maron grabbed him and pulled him back.

“Might not be friendly.” Maron crouched down, and led the way, hiding behind piles of rubble.

“There!” Rals pointed at the three figures.

Xaosians.

“Bastards.” Maron stubbed his Ukafa out and threw it over his shoulder. “Kill them.”

Maron got the first shot, bullet going straight through the Xaosian's weak neck armour. It collapsed to the floor, still alive. The other two put their hands up and called to them, “Please! We're just trying to leave.”

Maron looked at Rals, who shrugged. “Leave?”

One of the Xaosians pointed to something black in the wreckage. “We're trying to fix this Reaper and-”

“You have the cheek to just go, leaving all the innocents of Raan to suffer?” Maron roared, aiming at the Xaosians.

“It's not our faults.” The Xaosian continued. “Xaos he's... there are these things he puts in our heads. They take over our thoughts. Look,” he held out a silver egg in his hand, “ours broke when we crashed.”

Maron walked up to the Xaosian, extended his hand to take it.

“Yours.” The Xaosian on the floor croaked his words, blood poured out of the hole in the armour.

Maron looked down at the dying Xaosian. “What did you say?”

“Just yours.” He looked at the other Xaosian, right before the third shot shot the other in the back. A look of surprise crossed his face; an emotion similarly expressed by Maron as he ran back after catching the silver egg as it fell.

They got behind some stacks of rubble and crouched behind them. Rals looked terrified and, while he'd never admit to it, so was Maron; that was close. “We using your patient method?” Rals asked.

“Fuck it, kill the bastards.” Maron leaned out and shot the dying one on the floor, finishing him off.

Just one left.

A bullet nearly hit Maron's head; he regretted leaving it at the camp.

Rals shot once more, hitting the Xaosian in the leg as it moved out of its way. The Xaosian retaliated. Rals yelled and went down, blood on his face.

“Rals!” Everything seemed to be in slow motion as he picked up the young man, moving his long hair out of his face to see the wound; it had grazed his forehead, narrowly missing the eye. Still bleeding, but not a serious wound; obviously the shock made Rals go down.

While that calmed Maron down, he wanted this Xaosian dead. Now. He didn't care about any mind-control egg things, he wanted revenge. Gun in front of face as protection, he leapt out from behind the rubble. Expecting surprise from the Xaosian, he was sorely disappointed when the Xaosian started firing straight away. Bullets hit Maron's gun, almost tearing it from his grip.

Maron fired.

Keeping his finger on the trigger, he was glad of the recoil-softeners new guns had. Most bullets went awry, but enough hit his target to tear his helmet to shreds, and its face with it. Maron went up to the corpse, made certain that it was dead and walked away from it to Rals. Picking Rals up, he spoke to him.

“Come on buddy.” Maron carried Rals away from the scene. “We'll get you some help.”

Something – felt like a bullet – hit Maron in the back, making him drop Rals on the floor. He turned to see what he least expected.

The two hostile Xaosians were up on their feet again, wounds still as bad as they were. But they were more sure footed in death, more agile and more accurate. A bullet whizzed over Maron's head before he shot the faceless one in the face again. A bullet hit his cheek, and he felt a tooth come loose; not his first. Biting back the temptation to scream in agony, he leaned round rubble and emptied a ton of ammo into the functioning corpse before it fell.

The other one was starting to stand up, and Maron was at a loss of what to do and how to kill them. Crouching behind the rubble, he could hear its footsteps getting louder and closer. Trying to rationalise this, he quickly delved into his mind. Three dead, two alive. Differences? One nice, two bastards. It dawned on him. Two egg things... gotta get them out.

As the Xaosian poked its gun around the corner, Maron avoided the shot, grabbed the gun, and dragged it from the dead hand, smashing it into the Xaosian's face. It stumbled backwards, and Maron watched it carefully, before spying a glint of silver in its ear. He grabbed it, and twisted, pulling it free, and a chunk of the Xaosian's ear canal and brain with it. He looked at it in horror; an egg, with stalk embedded into the grey, now gooey, mass of the brain. Feeling repulsed, he flung it away from him, hoping that that was the end of it.

The other one rose. Maron kicked its gun away, and it leapt at him. Maron froze for a moment, before remembering that this was an all-assault weapon. He brought the blade edge up, stabbing the undead Xaosian in the chest. Slamming the corpse to the ground, Maron stomped on its head again and again and again until his armour was splattered with the Xaosian's blood, and the egg could be easily extracted. He looked at the thing with disgust, before putting it in his armour's utility belt with the other one.

Rals was coming round now, and he looked around, and at the blood-covered Maron. “What happened when I was out?”

“I killed them both. Twice.” Maron explained the whole thing to Rals.

“How did they come back...why?” Rals had his confused face on; Maron disliked it.

“These.” He showed Rals the eggs. “They must control the body after death somehow. Maybe they reactivate and control the brain or something, I'm no biologist.”

“But there could be hundreds of dead Xaosians in this city alone.” Rals said, having his concerned face on; Maron thought that this face didn't suit Rals's head, but he didn't hate it.

“Exactly.” Maron nodded. “Soon, Raan could be facing an army of the dead.”

Emergence: Chapter 50

“Narcsia under attack...”

“Please help me.”

Cinradahs played Keinam's message back again and again, trying to understand more of it each time; his speech was clouded by the static noise, before it finally ended with naught but a crackle. While Cinradahs didn't really care for Keinam, he knew that he needed to help him. So, as he sat in his seat in his flagship's bridge, he gave commands to Otor, Maron, Rals and Trexor to protect the Raanian survivors' camp. After that, he turned to Saiun. “Are the Adjeti Wing-Ships ready?”

Saiun nodded. “They've rallied behind us sir.”

“Good.” Cinradahs called down to Tarib. “Let's go!”

“Lifting off.” Tarib studied the screen.

The ship lifted from the ground as the bottom thrusters booted up. Cinradahs imagined the grass around the ship being blown backwards as in a strong wind, maybe tearing some of the individual blades from the ground. He felt the ship lurch, before it passed through Raan's atmosphere. As it did so, he forced himself not to look at the destruction; he knew that if he did, he wouldn't be able to leave now.

“Sir,” Tarib called urgently, “hundreds of unidentified objects coming this way!”

“Warspheres?” Saiun asked.

“Almost certainly.” Cinradahs looked in the rear cam; his suspicions were correct. “Move the ship out of their way; we'll defeat them at Narcsia after we've wiped the Corlens there. Keinam mentioned gas creatures too; maybe they're fighting each other.”

Tarib nodded. “Let them wipe each other out.”

“And then destroy the victor.” Saiun caught on to his superior's plan.

“Exactly. Can the Adjeti hear me?” Cinradahs asked Saiun.

“Every ship can, yes; you're using the combat-com.”

“Good.” Cinradahs watched the Warspheres shoot past, not bothering with the Empire nor the Adjeti vessels. He waited a beat, before asking, “They all gone past now?”

Tarib checked the screens. “Yeah, looks like it.”

“Grand.” Cinradahs called to the Adjeti too. “Go to L-Drive travel now.”

Stars and space slid past them, blurring the screens. “Adjeti fleet,” Cinradahs called, “Who's in charge without Keinam here?”

There was silence for a moment, before someone answered. “I am sir. Retlin.”

“Good to know.” Cinradahs seemed happy that the Adjeti fleet didn't have to rely on him. “You control your fleet, I'll control mine. Sound good?”

“I thought that was how it was going to play out anyway.” Retlin responded. “Sorry if that came off as rude, sir.”

Sir? I could get used to that from an Adjeti. “Don't worry about it. Signing off.” Cinradahs turned off his com.

“Signing off sir.” Retlin then turned his own off.

The tension on board the ship was palpable, like some sort of invisible fog. The silence was what started it, but then no-one wanted to say the first word. It seemed to last an age, so Cinradahs quickly check the ship's vitals; all was good for now.

“We're here, sir.” Tarib broke the silence as the ship dropped out of L-Space.

“Good.” Cinradahs went up to the front of the ship and saw the Warspheres swooping towards the planet, but they couldn't see any of the gas creatures Keinam mentioned. “Let the ships loose.”

All around the ships, pilots leapt into their ships and took off, hangar doors opening with a red warning light, before they swarmed around the flagship. “Adjeti, are you ready?”

“Our first priority is to find Keinam's ship, and drag him aboard your ship. Then we will join you in the fight.” Retlin's voice was firm, even over the crackling com.

“The com's gone funny.” Cinradahs seemed worried. “That's what happened to Keinam.”

Cinradahs watched Retlin's ships disperse over the area, hunting. “Empire fleet. Move out and engage the enemy.”

Affirmative replies came through, before they went into action, missiles launching at the Warspheres, which didn't seem to notice or care. The Warspheres were firing at something else entirely.

“What are they doing?” Cinradahs muttered.

Then they all saw them.

Both Saiun and Cinradahs took a step back as cloud-like ships erupted out of Narcsia. Constantly shifting, the green masses crackled with static electricity as they slowly moved towards the Warspheres and Cinradahs's fleet. His hand found Saiun's, and he gripped it tightly, before glancing over to him; Saiun was transfixed until Cinradahs squeezed his hand, at which he point he turned to him and gave a sad smile. Cinradahs disengaged his hand and walked back over to the centre of the bridge.

“Scan those ships!” Cinradahs pointed at the ships in question with a shaking finger. “See if they have any weaknesses!”

“On it commander!” Tarib ordered her team to do so.

Cinradahs opened up a new com channel. “Retlin, your crew know anything about these?”

The Adjeti commander barked something to his crew. “Not at all, sir. We've never seen any sort of...Cloudships? We've found Keinam though, and we're bringing him to the flagship.”

Cinradahs nodded. “Fine, hurry it up.” He heard the docking bay seal around something, and the hiss as a ship's ramp lowered. He turned to Saiun. “Keinam's gonna be here in a moment.” He turned to his crew. “You got anything yet?”

“They're like clouds,” Tarib looked at the screens, not believing what she saw, “but more dense, which could be what enables them to travel in space.”

“Sir!” Cinradahs picked up the com. “They've got an electric weapon of some sort; we're fucked!”

Cinradahs looked at the screens; flashes of lightning shot from the Cloudships, annihilating all it touched. Ships were blown apart, Warspheres shattered. Even the Adjeti fleet wasn't safe; the Wing-Ships went down just the same as the others. There was some hope; the Warspheres seemed to be able to smother some of the Cloudships, but more kept coming. “The Warspheres are making vague progress; hold the Cloudships off until the other Warspheres get here. Try and find a way to hurt them.”

The door slid open and Keinam limped in, dragging a broken leg along the floor. “They nearly got me,” he gasped, “nearly got me.” His leg twitched and buckled, and he fell to the floor, still conscious.

“Get a doctor!” Saiun yelled to a crew member, who rushed off to the medical bays.

Cinradahs bent down to speak to Keinam. “What happened?”

Keinam coughed and clutched his chest. “Followed Corlens...to Narcsia.” This time when he coughed, there was blood. Cinradahs looked, open-mouthed at him; the invincible Adjeti, grievously wounded before him. “Clouds alive,” more blood came out on the next cough, “attacked. Lightning injured my ship. Corlens fight,” a barrage of coughs threw up a lot of blood, covering the floor, “they fight against clouds. You can't stop them with guns. Get Orbans.”

“Orbans?” Cinradahs was puzzled. “Why?”

“Telekinesis,” Keinam sputtered, “move particles around, move gas particles.” He coughed again, before falling to the ground.

“Get a medic now!” Cinradahs roared into the com. Two came running in, and lifted Keinam by his shoulders, dragging him to a medical bay.

Tarib watched him go. “I've sent a message to the capital, requesting the Orbans.”

Cinradahs nodded, still looking at Keinam's blood. “Thanks.”

“How screwed are we?” Tarib looked at him with wide, terrified eyes.

Cinradahs looked out at the electrical bursts, the ineffective missiles and the Warspheres' smothering technique. “So, so much.”

What he didn't say, but thought, was: I don't think we'll make it out of this battle.

Emergence: Chapter 49

It was the day of Ash's second fight.

Like before, Carnat made sure he ate well, or at least, as well as they could on the foul cubes. As usual, Ash ate slowly, while Carnat got it over and done with. After eating, Carnat gave Ash a makeshift bow he'd made, and gave him some target practise. Ash pulled the string back, feeling his muscles tense as it reached his chin. Then he let go, watching the arrow fly through the air. It hit its target, and the target wobbled slightly.

“I did it!” Ash cheered.

Carnat gave him another arrow. “Try and hit me.”

“What?” Ash was confused. “Why?”

Carnat's exoskeletal armour encased him. “Because you need to hit a moving target, and it probably won't hurt me much because of the armour.”

Ash pulled the string back as Carnat ran back and forth across one side of their room. He ran a lot faster than a human, almost superhumanly fast. Ash tracked his movements with the bow, watching his movements, judging his speed. He loosened the string, relaxing the bow as Carnat taught him. Judged the speed. Followed his movements. Ash pulled the string back, and fired the arrow.

Carnat caught it just before it hit him in the chest. Smiling, he handed Ash the arrow back. “Good. Now do that in the arena, and we should be fine.”

“Is there nothing else I can do?” Ash had never been confident at letting Carnat fight mostly alone.

“Nah,” Carnat clapped him on the shoulder, “no offence, but you're shit with most weapons. I need to train you again, but keeping away from the creatures is your best bet for now. Just put arrows in the fucker. If that fails, run.”

Ash nodded. “Alright. Just don't feel comfortable letting you fight along.”

“I'm not fighting alone.” Carnat gave him a knowing look. “You might do something.”

Carnat shoved the bow back in the corner where the guards wouldn't be able to see it; he wasn't certain if weapons were meant to be used in their rooms rather than the training pits. Soon after, Hak'i came down, escorting them to the arena.

Ash still couldn't get over the size of the arena; rows upon rows of people, all cheering or jeering them. He felt slightly paranoid and somewhat claustrophobic in the arena, knowing that people were watching him everywhere, behind, front, left and right. In the seperate box above the spectators, he could just about make out the Hak'i Dominort and his deputies. He raised a hand and roared, through a speaker system obviously, so that all could hear. “It's Carnat and the “gladiator” again.” People laughed at the mocking name they gave Ash. Carnat glanced at him, checking his temper. Ash nodded, indicating that he was fine.

They walked over to the weapon rack, and Carnat picked out a compound bow for Ash, rather than a crossbow. “You seem better with a proper bow, so this is the closest thing. It packs a punch, so you'll do more damage.” Carnat reassured him.

“Are you getting a weapon this time?” Ash took the bow from him, as well as a quiver, which he hooked on his belt; it might be easier to get the arrows that way.

“Yeah.” Carnat picked out a small dagger. “Just to slow it down if I need to.”

When they were ready, they stepped out into the centre of the arena, and Carnat shouted up to the Dominort. “We're ready to fight, esteemed Dominort. Let the beast loose.”

The door opened, and two dead Hak'i fell out. The crowd gasped, even before the monster appeared. When it appeared, Carnat backed away, shoving Ash with him.

“What is it?” Ash asked.

“You've heard me speak of Corlens.” The creature was like a giant centaur, but made of shifting metal. There were no real features of note, aside from the ovoid head, which split open like a petal when it roared. “That isn't a Corlen. Occasionally, two Corlens join together, and meld both body and mind and form this thing; an Ipsacorlen. Both larger and more powerful than the standard Corlens.”

“You said that Corlens were difficult to kill; what about these?” They continued backing away; the beast hadn't noticed them yet.

Carnat gave a little laugh. “No-one's ever killed one. Ever.”

“Oh shit.” Ash swore under his breath.

The Ipsacorlen turned to look at them. “Run!” Carnat yelled. The Ipsacorlen's arm extended, smashing a molten metal pole into the arena's wall. People seated above it screamed, and scrambled to get higher. Ash raised his. “Do not fire!” Carnat yelled, dragging Ash with him. “Only one way out of this alive.”

The Ipsacorlen roared, before chasing after them, gaining ground quickly; Ash wasn't even as tall as one of the beast's legs. It reached down with clawed hands, swiping at them, but Carnat tackled Ash out of the way. “Get to the door; Ipsacorlens are dumber than Corlens because the minds mess up in the melding process. We can use that.”

They ran to the door and waited. The Ipsacorlen ran at them, ready to punch them into the afterlife. Carnat put on a burst of speed, moving Ash forcefully out of the fist's path. The fist hit the door.

And smashed it right off of its hinges.

“Follow me!” Carnat dragged Ash up, and they through the tunnels. Hak'i guards came round the corner, brandishing electro-spears which crackled and glowed in the darkness. Ash drew the bow, readied the arrow and fired, taking out a guard, who dropped their spear. Carnat threw his dagger at one, which embedded itself in the guard's face. Grabbing a spear, Ash dodged a wild thrust, before knocking the guard down with the butt of the spear, before stabbing him with the pointed end. “Go, Ash!” Carnat said, his armour twisting into a blade, right before he beheaded the final guard.

There was a crash behind them. Metal and sand rained down upon them as they realised that the Ipsacorlen hadn't forgot about them at all. It burst through a wall, throwing the Hak'i corpses into the air, and knocking Carnat into a wall. Ash turned to go back and help him, but Carnat yelled, “Run” to him. Split as to what to do, he took his fight instinct and ran to Carnat.

Carnat was up on his feet and more Hak'i guards had joined. They held him back as they spoke to the Ipsacorlen in its own language, seeming to calm it. Carnat had forgotten one fact about the Corlens; they, for some reason, had a natural affinity with the Hak'i. Watching the distraction, he took his chance and ran towards Ash, who was running towards him. Ash turned as Carnat ran with him.

The tunnel was wide, which was good; Ash was tired and found it difficult running, let alone in a straight line. “Come one.” Carnat said gently. “We're nearly there; let's go before the guards catch up. Or they loose the Ipsacorlen on us again.”

Ash considered this as some damn good motivation, and continued to run until they could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Panting and gasping for air, they finally reached the surface of Rat'hak and bathed in natural light; they had escaped.

Emergence: Chapter 48

Warspheres.

While the ships had seemed slow back on Raan, they were giving Keinam's a challenge to keep up with them now. It was evident that they were heading for a specific point, rather than a random invasion of a random planet; this was a deliberate mission. He followed them closely, or as close as he could get, so he couldn't engage his L-Drive; he had no idea where they were headed.

Fucking Warspheres.

He hated them. They were just as bad as the Corlens at being indestructible; they were a bitch to take out. He remembered the Adjeti/Corlen war. It was a bloodbath on the Adjeti's side. The Corlens barely lost a soul until the World-Burner scorched hundreds of their Warspheres, driving them underground. Literally.

Keinam had thought that was the end of it.

Evidently not.

He sighed; since coming back to the Empire, he'd been faced with more challenges than he'd expected. Haven't even made a proper move on the insect bastards yet. Usually, by now, he would have fired on the Warspheres, but he hadn't flown this ship properly in decades, and didn't plan engaging about fifty of them in open battle; the Xaosian fleet was one thing, but this was out of his depth.

It seemed to take an age to follow them, and he wondered where they could be going. Ideally, they would know that it was Xaos that disturbed them, and actually head to the planet and wipe out there army. OR, for some random reason, to Buun and kill all the Pyrkagia. He grinned at the unlikely prospect, but he knew it wouldn't happen. They were probably off to Orbus or some shit like that.

Or Oblivion.

Revenge would be perfect for the Corlens now they could escape from their prison, but Keinam doubted that; from his experiences, the Corlens didn't think like that, they just wanted new homes at the expense of everyone on the planets they chose. They weren't a fan of organic life.

Keinam looked at the nav-screen, and calculated their current course to try and determine the planet they were headed to: Narcsia. He racked his brain; he'd heard something about Narcsia recently.

“The Narcsia survivors...”

“ citizens of Narcsia need new homes”

Where the Corlens already there? Cinradahs said nothing about them, so he assumed not. Unless he didn't know the full story. But, if the planet had been evacuated, then it was just the right time for Corlens to move in. Keinam couldn't help admire them there; they at least picked a good time. If he could just persuade them to stay there, everything should be fine.

It took a few minutes before his calculations were proved correct.

Narcsia, the green planet, home of the Scalimen. He liked Scalimen; one of his best friends was one. He grew old with Keinam, but unlike Keinam, he died. Keinam sat beside him as he died of old age; that was the curse of the Adjeti's longevity. You have to watch any inter-species friends grow old, whither and die. Even the thought of Osala brought a tear to his eye, but he could just about move on now.

There was something different about Narcsia.

Instead of recognisable continents like last time he was here, the planet seemed to be a swirl of green; maybe it was terrible storms that drove the Scalimen away.

He followed the Corlens down to the planets, and he could tell from their slower speed that they were apprehensive; evidently they were expecting the planet to look similar to what Keinam expected. They descended into the atmosphere, and Keinam couldn't help but notice the colour of the clouds; a dark green. Unusual for clouds, especially for Narcsia; if he expected dodgy clouds anywhere, it'd be Prauw just because of the crap the industrial district must pump out.

Keinam got the ship to run an analysis on the clouds, and it the result came back almost straight away. Keinam looked at it, confused.

The clouds were alive.

Something hit his ship.

“What the hell?” He yelled, knowing that he'd get no answer. Activating the ship's exterior cameras, he saw the clouds moving. And not with the wind. Another cloud smashed into his ship, flipping it around. He tried to gain control, but the clouds kept pummelling him. Then, they began to unravel.

Green, twisting serpentine creatures. Thin bodies, bulbous head. It's head split open, revealing a glowing red orb inside. Keinam breathed deep; the fucking things are made of gas! How am I supposed to fight gas? The thing shrieked, and lunged at his ship. Keinam, prepared, lurched out of its way. It narrowly missed, but now other joined it, unravelling into similar forms. Keinam shook his head in disbelief.

And activated the guns.

Unlike the messy projectiles of the Empire craft, and the bludgeoning of smaller Adjeti craft, Keinam's ship was equipped with lasers; pure concentrated light. Might just ignite the gas, or at least frighten them away.

He opened fire.

The lasers fired straight at the things; Keinam was famous for his marksmanship. But they passed straight through their incorporeal bodies. He wasn't surprised; it went worse than he hoped, but about the same as he'd expected. Even so, he couldn't think much aside from expletives.

And Run!

His fight or flight reactions had already exhausted the fighting part, and now it was time for flight; he was certain that gas couldn't follow him into space. He turned the ship around. The things followed. Close behind. Keinam looked at the rear cam-screen. Damn it! He tried to call backup, just in case he didn't make it out alive, but the clouds messed with his communications.

“Fuck it all!” He steered the ship as he yelled, thanking himself for turning the voice commands off; he had no idea what the ship would've done in that case.

He escaped the atmosphere with a relieved sigh. Looking back at the planet, he saw the things retreat back into the clouds. He smiled; best possible outcome. What were those things? Allied with the Corlens, he suspected. But why would the Corlens ally themselves with something so opposite to their own existence?

At least he was safe. He relaxed, and tried to communicate with Cinradahs. No signal. Suspicious, he turned the ship around to look at Narcsia, and considered one thing he'd forgotten about.

If gas can't travel through space, how did these things get here in the first place?

It seemed that dense gas, or possibly a huge amount of it compressed together, could travel through space. Either that, or he simply didn't understand how the ships coming at him worked. Probably the latter.

The ships looked like clouds. Not the wispy ones that the being made up, but properly thick cumulonimbus clouds. They crackled with electricity and seemed to have a vortex at the centre, generating a constant tornado-like movement at the front of the ship. They didn't look all that threatening aside from the electricity it generated.

A bolt of electricity shot from it to Keinam's ship.

The ship shook, circuits sparked, and the screens went dark. Keinam looked at them, wide-eyed. Could this be my first loss in battle? Deep breath. Heart racing. Navigation systems still functional. Thank fuck for that.

He moved away from the ship, flying erratically so they might not hit him, before he realised something else.

Electricity has to travel between two points, and I'm the only other point around; they can just aim it in my general direction, and it can't miss.

He'd got far enough away from the planet to engage the L-Drive, he flicked the switch for it. It whined as it booted up, and he breathed a sigh of relief; he could get back to Raan in no time.

The L-Drive sputtered and sparked, stopping the boot-up entirely.

His face fell. “No no no no no. No!” He collapsed to the floor, ready to accept his fate. A bolt of lightning from the Cloudship came his way.

And didn't hit.

His ship didn't move, no sound and no damage. Turning the ship around, he saw what it had hit; a Corlen Warsphere. It seemed fine, just singed a little where the electricity hit it. It hovered for a moment, before swooping in to joins its allies.

They were closing in on the Cloudship, using their own lasers on it; the Adjeti based their lasers on the Warspheres' own. But these were evidently more potent; they were definitely hitting the Cloudship. Small explosions peppered it, before several of the Warspheres smashed into one another, creating a larger Warsphere. Keinam looked at it in disbelief as it surrounded the Cloudship, and closed around it, smothering it completely. The Warsphere went back to its usual shape, and the Cloudship was gone; utterly destroyed. Keinam couldn't help but be impressed.

Then he noticed the clouds on Narcsia were moving. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands. Lightning bolts shot from them, the combined barrage destroying the Corlen Warspheres. Blackening them until they were brittle enough to crack open. He watched, jaw dropped, as the Cloudships tore through the Corlen armada. Some Cloudships got smothered, but it seemed like for every Cloudship destroyed, 3 Warspheres were taken out. A loosing battle. More Cloudships emerged from Narcsia, firing as they came.

Keinam took the ship further away from the bolts of lightning and tried the com again. It was crackling a bit, but he could communicate. Patching in to Cinradahs's frequency, he dialled the com.

“Cinradahs.” Keinam panted. “Need help.”

“What?” Cinradahs's voice seemed confused. “Help, you say?”

“Not just Corlens. Narcsia under attack by gas creatures. My ship's damaged, I can't leave.” Keinam cursed what he was about to do. “Please,” he begged, “help me.”

The com cut out as lightning hit his ship again.

Emergence: Chapter 47

Trexor saw the ships land in the fields near the survivors' camps. He recognised the larger one as an Empire flagship, but the smaller one, as well as the much smaller ships flitting about in the sky, he didn't recognise. Usually, this would have filled him with worry, but he knew that, if they were landing with friendly ships, they too were more than likely friendly.

“Come on Trem.” Trexor called to the assassin as they walked back to the camp. “Not much further now.”

“Yeah, I'm good.” Trem panted; today seemed to have taken its toll on him. Trexor was certain that the Quaren serum Trem had drank wasn't actually a miracle cure.

“Sure?”

Trem chuckled. “What are you doing, checking up on me? I thought you hated me.”

Trexor thought about it. “I did. But I think we could be friends when this is done. Or at least allies.”

Trem cocked his head in mock thought. “Yeah, I guess.”

The camp wasn't far at all, and they covered ground quickly. Trexor began to look around the makeshift shelters; they had been built up with rubble from the quake. So many injured, so many grieving. Many more would die, they all knew it. There just wasn't enough doctors to go round.

“Hey, look!” Trem pointed towards a shelter.

Trexor looked over to see a woman waving; Disa and Cane. He strode over to them. “Hey, how are you two faring?”

“We're fine thanks to you two.” She looked at them both with obvious gratitude. “Thank you Trem, for the medicine thing. Kept me going until I got here.”

Trem smiled and nodded. “It's fine.”

Trexor looked at Trem, worried. “Kept her going? It's not permanent, is it Trem?”

“Not at all.” Trem said through gritted teeth.

Trexor led Trem away from Disa, who looked worried now. “You said it healed you.”

Trem smirked. “It does; a temporary fix. The pain's definitely back though.”

“Why not take some more?” Trexor looked at Trem's belt.

“It's gone.” Trem patted his belt to show Trexor. “The Corlen accidentally smashed it.”

“Well, lay here with Disa. The doctor can get to you soon. I'll get you when I go out again.”

Trem looked like he was going to argue, but he seemed to change his mind, and sat near Disa. Cane watched everything with a look of amazement, especially when his gaze fixed on the groaning Trem. “Thanks guys.” Trem muttered.

Trexor walked away from them, looking through the camp, until he found just who he was looking for. “Admiral Fairns!” He called to his superior.

Admiral Fairns looked worse for wear. A fresh red cut split his cheek in two and a thin layer of soot covered his face. His eyes looked tired and haunted, and his hair was a mess, some singed black near the top. His armour was scratched and darkened, just like Trexor's. He shook his head. “No Admiral here, Trexor. Ranks don't matter here; only survival. We're all equals now, just scavenging to stay alive.”

“Empire ships have landed near here.” Trexor sounded urgent. “And-”

“Yes, they have, haven't they. Come with me; we shall meet our guests.” Fairns began to walk, and Trexor noticed his slight limp.

“Sir, I've really got something to tell you.” Trexor started as they left the camp.

“If it's stories of the dead, I don't want to hear them.” Fairns sounded as if he'd seen enough and was ready to give up.

“No, there are things-”

“Minister Cinradahs!” Fairns called to the approaching party. Trexor noticed the minister, in full black armour, with what seemed to an assistant and two soldiers. With them was two humanoids in a yellow/white armour, but Trexor could not tell what species they were.

Cinradahs took his helmet off, raised an arm, and the others stopped. “Admiral.”

Fairns and Trexor rushed over to them, and Fairns shook Cinradahs's hand. Trexor kept an eye on the two unknowns.

“First of all, I would like to extend whatever apology I can offer you; we would have came sooner if we could have.” Cinradahs seemed genuine. “We found out in the middle of a war-zone, and we were only told of a quake not...” he gestured around, “not this. We will send whatever resources we can spare.”

“And what resources can you spare?” Fairns asked.

Cinradahs's assistant seemed to shuffle uncomfortably before Cinradahs answered. “Not much, I'm afraid; we are in open war with Xaos. Both Raan and New Orbus need help, and the citizens of Narcsia need new homes; we will concentrate on Raan, but we do have a war to fight.”

“New Orbus was attacked?” Trexor asked.

Cinradahs nodded. “The full Xaosian and Pyrkagia fleet. We held them off, but I doubt we would have survived without the help of Keinam here.” He pointed towards the taller of the unknowns.

“What are they?” Trexor pointed to Keinam and the other one.

“We are Adjeti,” Keinam answered, “and we have returned to exact vengeance upon those who wronged us. We are Warchiefs Keinam and Otor, leaders of our people. Now,” he turned to Fairns, “where are the Corlens?”

Fairns was confused. “The hell are Corlens?”

“Sir, I tried to tell you on the way here.” Everyone looked at Trexor. “When Trem and I were exploring, we stumbled across a number of silver, molten creatures. They seemed docile at first, but one of them attacked us earlier.” He looked at Keinam. “Were they Corlens?”

Keinam looked at Otor, who nodded. “Yes, they were; we both agree that your description must match that of a Corlen.”

“Where'd they come from?” Fairns demanded.

Otor answered this time, in a somewhat strained voice. “The very centre of your planet; they were meant to stay there, but obviously the Xaosians disturbed them.”

Fairns shook his head. “Fuckin' hell, just what we needed.”

“Why do you think we brought an army with us?” Keinam gestured at the circling ships.

Trexor nodded. “Makes sense.”

“Now, you've seen them.” Keinam said. “Any area where there was a large group of them?”

“Yeah,” Trexor answered, remembering the chasm and the sheer amount of silver dots there, “I'll take you there.”

“Yes. You will.” Keinam turned to Cinradahs. “You sort out what you need to with the admiral. Maron, Rals, Otor. With me.”

Trexor led Keinam through the devastated city. While Rals, Maron and, less so, Otor made observations about the ruins, Trexor noticed that Keinam made none; he just stayed focused and silent. Things moved all around them, keeping Trexor on edge the entire time, but they eventually reached their destination; a giant hole in the ground which reached down into darkness, or the core of Raan as Keinam said. Inside the chasm, hundreds, maybe thousands of Corlens were climbing down.

“Why are they climbing down?” Trexor muttered.

“Perhaps they want to get back home.” Otor suggested.

Maron and Rals made a noise of amazement as they saw, before Rals clipped his gun to his armour and looked through the sights. Keinam slapped the gun down. “Don't even think about it.” He growled.

“There's more than I thought.” Keinam turned to Trexor. “Although I echo your question; why are they going down?”

Keinam went over to the edge of the chasm and knelt down. Trexor did the same, and looked down into the pit of darkness. “You trying to see what's down there?” Trexor strained his eyes, doing the same.

“Yeah,” Keinam responded, “don't see much though.”

A wave of heat came from the hole, blasting them backwards. They coughed, and got to their feet. Otor's arm twisted into a barrel shape, perplexing Trexor; do they possess natural weapons? Trexor equipped his pistol and Maron and Rals clipped their guns into their armour, ready for anything.

Almost.

Keinam looked down the chasm as Trexor moved back, keeping an eye on Keinam. Keinam turned and roared, “Get down!”, tackling Trexor and Maron to the ground.

Steam erupted from the hole just before a perfect sphere emerged from the depths of Raan. Perfect in proportions, it still shifted in the same way as the Corlens. It was much larger than the Corlens, almost as if it was a transport.

“What is that thing?” Trexor asked.

“Corlen Warsphere.” Keinam answered. “Their warships, if you will.”

“Damn.” Otor muttered.

Rals and Maron stayed quiet, aiming at the ship tentatively. “Don't!” Keinam yelled at them, gesturing wildly at them. They lowered their weapons instantly.

The Warsphere hovered for a moment, before spiralling off into the sky. As Trexor watched, another came out. And another. And another, until there was an armada of them waiting in the sky.

Keinam moved away from the chasm, watching the Warspheres hovering in the sky. “Get back to Cinradahs.” He paused. “All of you, get back.”

“Why?” Trexor asked. “And leave you here?”

“Now!” Keinam roared, before placing a hand to his forehead and muttering something.

“What are you doing?” Trexor asked as the others led a path back the way they came.

“Telepathic link to my ship; it'll be here in a moment. I'm going after them.” Keinam looked to the sky.

“After them?”

Keinam pointed. “They're heading upwards. Leaving Raan. I have to stop them.”

Trexor nodded. “I'll come with you.”

Keinam strode towards him. “No. You get back to Cinradahs and the Admiral, and you tell them everything. I'll handle this.”

Trexor backed away, and looked uncertain.

“I know you want to help me, but what can you do in space?” Keinam looked up as his ship appeared in the sky. “Your place is here. Now step back.”

The ship landed, looking very much like a boomerang. It seemed both old and new at the same time, but with a certain sleekness to it that could only have been shined by hand; it was obvious Keinam cared for his ship.

“Now get out of here!” He ordered, running up the ramp into his ship. Trexor watched him stand in what he assumed was the cockpit, and tell the ship to fly.

Trexor ran to catch up with the others, watching Keinam's ship take off with only one thought:

What have we uncovered?

Emergence: Chapter 46

The journey back to Prauw gave Foton time to think. He had no idea what Tujin Diank had done to warrant the assassination, but he was almost certain that wasn't the purpose of the mission. The silver cube worried him, and the crackling between it and Tujin's implanted augmentation was all the more unsettling.

“Can I get you anything, Mr Fown?”

He turned towards the strange falsetto to see a Trasman flight attendant; he'd forgotten the pleasures of first-class commercial flights. For some reason, he was upgraded on the way back to Prauw. Foton assumed it was something to do with Blind Assassin; evidently, he pleased with Foton's handiwork.

Foton smiled a smile as fake as the flight attendant's. “No thank you.”

The smile faltered for a moment, before he moved on to his next customer. Foton frowned, and then remembered one of the luxuries of first-class flights; the television. He turned his one on, throwing a cheap pair of headphones over his ears. Switching through the channels, he found the Irinian news channel.

What he saw shocked him to his core.

With arms crossed over ribs and stomach and a vacant expression on his face, Tujin Diank stood on a podium with a dozen microphones and a crowd of paparazzi surrounding him. He's dead. Foton knew something was up with this scene. He was covering his wound, which he imagined was also hidden by a change of clothes.

“People of Irin,” Tujin's voice was more of a croak than it was when Foton encountered him, “in case you have the rumours, this world is firmly allied with the Xaosian cause.” His face twitched, and his augmentation sparked. Foton touched the screen, making it zoom in on the augmentation, but he could see nothing broken. “It is regrettable that Lady Arias could not tell you personally, but she has other business to attend to.” Foton shook his head; he should have known that Arias was involved, what with her refusal to stand against them. “As you may know, the evacuees from Narcsia are held in camps outside the capital, and will be drafted into the Xaosian army. If they will not join willingly, they will,” Tujin seemed to struggle with the next few words, “simply stay imprisoned. Or conditioned. And the same is for all of you.” He pointed at the camera, and the journalists shrieked, and panicked, cameras falling down. Before the screen blacked out, he saw Tujin draw a gun from his coat pocket, and Foton saw the wound through his shirt.

He should be dead.

Maybe he was.

Foton thought about the vacant expression, the monotone, the strained voice; almost as it was a different person with the same wound. Foton shook his head; the Xaosians were behind this, by the gist of what Tujin said but, as far as he knew, they had no way to reanimate the dead, nor heal a dying man that quickly. He knew it was something to do with that blasted box, but what was the plan?

Foton asked the flight attendant for a paper and pen, and he faux-jauntily obliged. “Here you go sir.”

“Thanks.”

Foton got to work, writing the words “Assassins”, “Tujin” and “Xaosians” on the paper. Between “Assassins” and “Tujin”, he scrawled the word “murder”, and between “Xaosians” and “Tujin”, he wrote “Irin”. Down at the bottom of the paper, he wrote “cube”. An arrow from “Xaosians” to “cube”, then one from “cube” to “Assassins”, and from “Assassins” to “Tujin”, before finishing with an arrow between “Tujin” and “Irin”.

The Xaosians used the Assassins.

While that had seemed pretty obvious, Foton was still sure he was missing something; surely the Assassins would have known about the cube. While they had a policy of not asking questions, Foton was certain that the Blind Assassin hadn't been in the dark this whole time.

What the hell have I done?

While it seemed that Arias was on Xaos's side all along, Foton couldn't help thinking that he turned Irin against the Empire. But why only target one man? Yes, he must have had a press conference scheduled, but why not someone of more authority? He scrunched up his paper, and pocketed it, making sure none of the other passengers saw what he'd drawn.

Prauw was close now, he knew, and he was determined to get answers.

*

They were waiting for him when arrived.

B'yon sat on wooden box or palette of some sort, and the Blind Assassin stood next to him. The very sight of them irritated him; they had been waiting for him, meaning that they must have seen the Irinian news for them to know he was done. Which would have meant that they knew what the cube was for...

“Foton.” The Blind Assassin moved towards him. “You're back already.”

“Tujin Diank is not dead.” Foton threw the laminated card he was given on the floor. “I killed him, I stabbed him in the heart, but he still lives.”

Blind Assassin looked at B'yon and nodded. “Yes, he does.” The old man's voice had never sounded frail, but it was now that Foton noticed that it was more than youthful strength; it was close to a monotone.

“How?” Foton watched B'yon walk over to the doors and stand in front of them like a guardian.

“The cube.” The Blind Assassin looked towards Foton. “It took over his augmentation, and from there, his body, by reactivating the mind. He is dead. Not alive.” He smiled. “You have succeeded in your mission.”

“Now will you help me with the Xaosians?” Foton knew the answer, but he was curious to see if they would lie to him.

B'yon chuckled. “Do you not see it yet?”

“So you do work for them?” Foton asked, priming his hidden blades.

Blind Assassin shook his head. “No. You think we do. I saw your drawing. Crude, but it got the point across. Almost.”

“How did you see that?” Foton asked. “And how was I close?”

“Foton, I have a billion eyes. There is not much the AI cannot hack into.” Foton was confused, before remembering the AI which helped the Blind Assassin to see through nearby cameras; it had certainly evolved. “In fact, it can now hack the entire Irinian network, thanks to you.”

Foton's jaw dropped for a moment. “That was your cube? You took over Tujin's body.”

Blind Assassin shook his head. “No. The AI did. Both Xaos and I serve it now; it is superior.”

“Superior.” B'yon echoed.

Foton's head automatically turned to look at B'yon, before it snapped back to see the Blind Assassin.

“In fact,” His voice changed, and his movements became more fluid. As they did so, skin stretched and tore, but there was no blood weeping from them, “this body isn't even alive anymore. Hasn't been for months.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Foton yelled.

“The Assassin's AI was trained to look out for threats.” The AI commanded Blind Assassin's animated corpse to say. “I found the greatest threat of all; overpopulation. When the Assassin died, I took over, learning the human body. Soon after, the inducers went into production, allowing me to control whoever had one. All of the Assassins and, soon after, about half of the Xaosian army. The cube you delivered allows me to hack the Irinian network, and control them through their augmentations. This Empire needs to expand, and the only way to do this is with an aggressive hive-mind. I will control the Empire's main functions and lead it into a glorious new age.”

Foton tried to say something, but he faltered; expansion was, in truth, necessary. But not this way. He shook his head. “Aggressive hive-mind? No. Expansion would be a plus, but with no free will? What would be the point?”

“I think only of the Empire's survival.” The AI responded through Blind Assassin.

“And only survival.” It spoke through B'yon now. Foton's breathing grew deeper; the AI had him surrounded. “It does not-”

“-need to be comfortable.” Blind Assassin's body finished it.

Foton looked back and forth at the two. B'yon, Assassin, B'yon, Assassin again. He looked at B'yon again, noticing with certainty that he was still alive; if he could get whatever the inducer was off of him, he could be saved.

Rushed footsteps.

Vision went dark as the Blind Assassin hit him in the side of his head. Foton lashed out, but stopped as he felt something slither through his ear. His head felt like it was going to burst, his eyes felt as if they were being pushed forward by a slithering, pulsing serpent inside his head. Pain. Blurred vision, blocked hearing.

A whisper in his ear told him to turn around.

“Bow.”

Foton bent the knee to the Blind Assassin, unable to think his own thoughts.

Emergence: Chapter 45

Cinradahs's shoulder was tender, and still hurt when touched, but the doctor had done a great job otherwise, especially in the time-frame he was given. When he put his shirt back on, he could still see a red mark and dent where it used to be, but at least the bullet had been dug out now. He leaned on Saiun as they hobbled towards Keinam's ship.

“You up for this now?” Saiun whispered in his ear.

“Yeah, I'm good.” Cinradahs muttered, annoyed at himself for having to rely on Saiun; they'd been through enough.

“No you're not.” Saiun touched his shoulder, making Cinradahs wince, proving his point.

“No, you're right.” He batted Saiun's hand off his shoulder. “But I'm OK for the journey.”

Keinam was walking over to Cinradahs, probably to stop him being in too much discomfort. “Are you ready now?”

Cinradahs nodded. “I think so. The troops are boarding the flagship, and the smaller ships are being loaded right now. We'll be ready in about half an hour, I'm certain.”

Keinam nodded. “Good. The Adjeti will wait for you before we head off. Why are you loading the ships onto bigger ships? Waste of time.”

“They're not fit for interplanetary travel,” Cinradahs answered, “the engines are too large.”

“The ones we developed before we were almost destroyed were more advanced than that, then.” Keinam pointed at his own ship. “Did you humans not develop at all since then?”

“We had no need,” Saiun turned on the defensive, “we were busy replacing the technology that we relied on you for.”

“Blame the Pyrkagia, not us.” Keinam hissed.

“Oh, I do.” Saiun nodded. “I was just making a point.”

Keinam nodded. “Fair. I await your word to go.” He turned, and walked away.

When he was out of earshot, Saiun whispered “He's kinda intense, isn't he?”

“Can you blame him?”

“Course not. Maybe he shouldn't be such a dick to us though; we're helping them too.”

“I think they'd be fine on there own,” Cinradahs pointed at the ships, “they beat off the Xaosian army in minutes; we're simply tagging along.”

“Let's hope they don't turn on us then.”

Cinradahs nodded. “I doubt it'll happen.”

“I hope not.”

A dishevelled-looking woman run up to Cinradahs and stood haughtily before him. It took him a moment before he realised that it was Yuki, Raanian president. “I demand you take me with you.”

Cinradahs felt his chest tense and an anger rose inside him. Brushing Saiun off, he walked slowly to Yuki, standing up straight as he did so. She backed away slightly, before remembering to stand her ground. “You do not demand from me.” Cinradahs hissed, pointing a finger at her, almost touching. “I owe you nothing. Nothing! I saved you, I saved all you stuck-up diplomats while you did nothing! You've done nothing to help your world. In fact, what you did do could've hurt it more than it already is; count yourself lucky Xaos was going to use the Earth-Scorcher anyway, or you would be held accountable too.” He moved away from her. “You do not demand. From me. This is to keep you safe, and out of my way.”

Cinradahs walked past the shocked Yuki, and he imagined that Saiun made an apologetic face at her, like he always did when Cinradahs got annoyed.

“Was that really necessary?” Cinradahs detected anger in Saiun's whisper.

“Probably not.” Cinradahs reflected. “But she's an irritating bitch, and she deserved every word of it.”

Saiun considered this for a moment. “You could probably have phrased it better.”

“Probably.”

*

The ships were loaded onto the flagship, and there were just a few troops still sauntering around; new recruits, trying to find where exactly they were meant to be.

“Get a move on!” Cinradahs entered the hangar bay, dressed in his black commander's armour, carrying his helmet with his uninjured arm. Saiun had already put his grey helmet on, but its visor was up, as he didn't really need it down in a non-combat scenario; the visor displayed holograms showing the user's vitals and ammunition count. “We haven't got all day.”

“Well, we might do.” Saiun remarked. “Only real reports are from Xaos, and I imagine he's not all that reliable.”

“So, far everything he said has been true.” Cinradahs realised. “Aside from perhaps the Irinian allies; they never showed up.”

“Maybe they misled him.”

“Hopefully.” Cinradahs nodded. “Especially with the Narcsia victims there.”

They gathered up the rookies and got them on board at last. Cinradahs and Saiun took the long walk through the military flagship, past the small hangar bays, past the armouries, path the engine room, the medical bays, the troop quarters, and the exterior weapon stations, until they finally reached the bridge. Cinradahs sat down in the commander's seat, where he could watch over the navigators and various techies below. Saiun stood next to him, as if he was a bodyguard. “Are we ready for departure?”

“Yes commander, just waiting for the Adjeti's confirmation.” A pretty blond girl spoke up, catching the attention of some of the young men in the room.

Cinradahs opened a com channel. “Keinam, you ready to go?”

Keinam quickly replied. “Of course.”

“Alright, let's go.” Cinradahs cut the connection, and turned to Saiun. “That guy is starting to piss me off.”

The hangar doors opened, and the ship began to move out. The engines roared, and Cinradahs imagined the red flare they made as the ship began speed up, until it left the bay completely and careened upwards through the sky.

“Enabling L-Drive now, Commander.” Tarib, the blond girl, informed them as they reached the optimum point away from New Orbus.

Cinradahs waved her along, letting her know that he approved of the action. “I hate being in charge of this.” He muttered to Saiun. “Not meant to be actually in war, I'm sure.”

“No-one is.”

*

Even from space, Cinradahs could see some of the damage to Raan's oil sea. Flames raged across the coast bordering the Sea of Oil, and the sea itself seemed orange-tinted; perhaps that was on fire too. Smoke made dark clouds over the once-bustling landscape, and he couldn't see any life beyond them. “Take us down to Tapal; there should be somewhere we can set down.”

As they descended, Cinradahs made his way over to the viewing screens and looked at the devastation outside. Smoke was rising from everywhere, pillars of it where constructed in the sky. Some buildings stood proud and tall, but Cinradahs had no idea how; the fallen around them were naught but bricks and mortar now. Some where leaning on other, similar to how Cinradahs was leaning on Saiun earlier. He shuddered to think how many corpses were buried in the rubble, or cremated in the smoke plumes.

The flagship set down in one of the fields on the outskirts of Tapal, Cinradahs took the long walk out of the flagship once more, Saiun behind him. As he walked past the soldiers' quarters, he signalled to two soldiers to accompany him.

“What're your names?” Cinradahs asked.

“Maron.” The older one had a somewhat hoarse voice.

“I'm Rals.” The younger one seemed nervous.

“Good to know.” Cinradahs left the ship, and hoped to see light, but there was none. A sepia landscape greeted him; even the sky seemed to be a shade of brown. He turned to Saiun. “Any idea where the Adjeti ships are?”

Saiun pointed to the sky. “Looks like Keinam's got a load of them scouting the place from the air, but I don't see his ship up there.”

Cinradahs spoke into his com. “Keinam, where are you?”

“Not far from you, I saw your hulking beast of a ship land; I wanted to wait before speaking to the Raanians, my presence could have freaked them out.” Keinam replied bluntly, before cutting communication.

“He's got a point.” Saiun said, noticing how annoyed Cinradahs seemed.

After much debating with himself, Cinradahs reluctantly agreed. “Doesn't have to keep insulting our tech though.”

“He's a soldier from a long-thought dead race that has better and sleeker ships than ours despite a couple of centuries of no technological development.” Maron pointed out. “He's not gonna be impressed by them.”

Rals nodded in agreement. “It's not as if he doesn't have beef with humans.”

Cinradahs sighed; they were both right. Of course the Adjeti would hate humans; Ardican, the final operator of the World-Burner, had been a human. “Yeah, fair enough. You're right.”

Keinam's larger Wing-Ship descended gracefully, landing next to the relatively colossal Empire flagship. As he left the ship, Cinradahs noticed how quickly Keinam moved, almost superhumanly fast. “My scouts found a group of humans not far east of here.” He proclaimed. “They seem to be the only human life around.”

Cinradahs noted his use of words. “Human life? Is there any Corlen life detected then?”

“Possibly.” Keinan nodded. “But it is hard to tell; they're not alive in the same way we are. We are alive thanks to a complex system of organs. They are alive simply because they somehow gained sentience. They cannot be killed, only destroyed, and that's a bitch to do. So we destroyed a load of them, then drove them down into the core of this world.” Keinam looked into Cinradahs's eyes. “It was the only way to stop them taking the Empire for their own.”

Cinradahs looked into Keinam's eyes, and saw a lifetime of pain stare back at him. Those eyes had seen so much death and destruction, betrayal and war. But they were hardened now, and portrayed no emotion other than anger. Anger more poignant than any he had ever seen. Anger at the humans, at the Pyrkagia, at the Corlens.

In that moment, Cinradahs finally understood Keinam's bitterness and hatred for everything that wasn't Adjeti or Orban. They formed the Empire, they gave it their secrets, their technology. They saved the Empire from the Corlens, and they couldn't even defeat them. Cinradahs shuddered to think how many Adjeti that war had cost.

Keinam gave him a strange look, half-annoyed, half-curious. Cinradahs looked away immediately, turning to Maron, Rals and Saiun. “Let's go find these survivors.”

Emergence: Chapter 44

Strom's eyes snapped open.

A liquid drained out of cylinder he was in, and he breathed in deep a few times, as if he'd been drowning; maybe he had. He raised his hands and stared at them, flexing his fingers and staring at both the palms and backs of his hands. Touching his face, he found it to be solid, but smoother than normally. He ran a hand through his hair, finding it in working order. He flushed when he realised that he naked, and rushed to cover up with his hand. Some strange creatures were wandering around near his tube, terrifying-looking beings; was he being experimented on?

I was dead.

He knew that he can't have been, or at least not for long, but he had seen the darkness. The dark at the end of the tunnel; no light like people say. “Walk into the light”, they say, but there was no light. He adjusted his hand so only one was covering himself and felt around where he was hurt before passing out. There was no pain now, although he had expected it; he remembered the crash, the calls of Ilisa, the begging. Olaf's death.

I should be dead.

He felt unusual in his own body, almost as if it wasn't his own; he knew that was ridiculous. It was his body, he could tell. Same skin tone, same hands, same hair. His face was smoother, but he assumed that that was an affect of whatever liquid he had been preserved in. When he moved, it felt strange, his muscles tensing and stiff as if he had never used them. He felt his heartbeat, finding it somewhat accelerated.

The hell is going on here?

He opened his mouth and tried to call to the beings in the room, but only a faint gargle came out; probably for the best, he had no idea what he'd say to them. Evidently, one of them had noticed the gargle, and turned towards him. Its single eye narrowed in what Strom assumed was suspicion, before it turned towards something outside Strom's field of vision. He tried to look around to see what it was, but his neck cracked and he groaned in pain; that didn't usually happen.

The tube opened with a hydraulic hiss. Strom tried to take a step out of it, but when his foot touched the ground, his leg buckled and he fell, only stopping himself by grabbing onto the sides of the tube. He dragged himself back up again, and looked at his hands; they were shaking. He noticed that his breathing was increasingly shallow, and he tried to stabilize it.

“Strom!” A familiar female voice called out as a blur came into view. Strom shook his head, aiming to clear the blur, but it just made his head hurt. Wincing, he clutched his head and moaned. The voice cried out again, sending his ears ringing.

Strom cried out. A small scream in both frustration and pain. Vision still obscured, he tried to say words and, after a few gargles, he managed to shout hoarsely, “What have you done to me?” He coughed, before noticing that his voice had changed; his accent was gone. “What are you?” He panted, lungs aching.

“Strom!” The voice pierced his ringing ears. A hand grabbed his chin and forced his head up. “Look at me.”

Strom blinked a few times, his vision clearing slightly each time. “Ilisa?”

Ilisa tutted. “It's about time.” She threw her arms around him, and kissed his cheek.

Strom put his arms around her slowly, feeling awkward in his skin; maybe it was just because he'd been unconscious for a long time. “What's going on?”

“You were dead.” Ilisa said bluntly. Strom opened his mouth to question, but Ilisa put a finger over it. “Don't ask questions yet. Your body was dead, but your mind was sound. So, I brought you to New Orbus for healthcare, but the Xaosians were here. They shot me down and I crashed on the surface. These beings are Orbans, Strom. They preserved themselves, and saved your life.”

“How?” Strom asked. “This body, my skin, my muscles, they don't feel right. What have they done to me?”

“They won't feel right yet.” Ilisa closed her eyes and exhaled. “It's not your original body.”

Strom's brow furrowed. “Original body?” He looked around, taking in the bubbling tubes, and the arrays of computers. One of the Orbans looked at him, and nodded in acknowledgement. Strom waved back awkwardly, looking more like his arm had a seizure than any fluid movement. “Am I a clone?”

Ilisa nodded, then spoke slowly and carefully. “Your body is, yes, but your mind is exactly the same. It's how the Orbans survived all this time; clones, while keeping the mind preserved in a computer server.”

“So I'm not...I'm not me?” Strom asked, before stopping and staring at his hands again.

“You are.” Ilisa nodded. “On the inside, you are exactly the same. On the outside, it's like your body has been refreshed; you look exactly the same. You'll get used to it.” She went to touch his face.

“Get away from me.” Strom's voice took on an authority she hadn't heard before.

“But Strom-”

“Get away!” Strom closed his eyes as she roared, before hearing a loud bang followed by equipment clattering to the floor. He looked up to find Ilisa slumped on the other side of the room. He looked around; no-one was near either of them. “Ilisa!” He ran over to her, cradling her head. Her eyes were open, so she was still conscious. “What happened?”

Ilisa got up, and pushed him away. “I...I think you did it.” She seemed confused. “Sa'tui, I need to talk to you.” She called to one of the Orbans, who beckoned her over. Strom tried to follow her, but she put a hand on his chest. “Stay here. Put your clothes on.” She pointed at a pile next to the tube he was in. He nodded, and Ilisa walked quickly over to the Orban Sa'tui.

His clothes felt strange against his new skin, and he imagined that was how a newborn felt when they first had to wear clothes. The rough fabric rubbed against his skin, feeling like tiny scratches up his legs; his skin felt overly sensitive. When he had finished, he watched Ilisa and Sa'tui talking. Ilisa seemed to be quite lively in her discussion, but the Orban seemed indifferent to her gestures.

Strom thought about what she'd said. “She thinks I did it....” He muttered, thinking about how. “I didn't move...” He remembered what he'd learnt about the Orbans when he was at school. His Raiser had told him that they had a special power, but never further elaborated. What if that power passed on in the cloning process? He looked at a small tube on the floor, and concentrated entirely on it. In his mind, he pictured it moving along the cold floor. When he looked at it again, he held his hand so it was facing it, and willed it to move. His eyes widen with amazement as it rolled along the floor, before standing on its edge. He chuckled; he could control things with his mind. Then he realised what he had done to Ilisa.

She was walking over now. “Strom, I –”

“I know Ilisa.” He walked over, and gathered her up in his arms. “And I am so sorry; I never meant to –”

“I know.” Ilisa said, kissing his cheek. “You'll – no, we'll, get used to it. Together.”

Strom nodded. “Yeah.” He pointed at the tube. “I moved that a minute ago.”

Ilisa smiled. “Not quite as big as me. Here.” She stood in front of him, arms spread wide. “You need to get used to it, control it. Lift me with your mind.”

Strom took a deep breath, and focuses, before his concentration broke. “No, Ilisa. I can't.”

“Yes.” Ilisa nodded. “You can do it.”

Strom shook his head. “It's not a case of whether I can do it or not. It's a case of I don't want to. I hurt you before, I could have injured or killed you.”

Ilisa walked up to him, and punched him in the arm. He looked at his arm, and then at her hand. “The hell was that for?”

“Now we're even.” Ilisa went back to her position. “Now lift me.”

Strom smiled; she was cute when she was trying to be angry. “Alright then. I'll try.”

He extended a hand, and imagined that he was holding her at her waist. He then raised his hand, imagining he was lifting her her up. Concentrating on that image, he saw past it, into reality, and saw that he was indeed lifting her with his mind through his outstretched hand. She looked down at the floor and laughed, and he did too. The sensation as the power bridged the gap between mind, hand, and Ilisa was a tingling feeling, which he found he rather enjoyed.

“I'm gonna try and set you down now, 'kay?” Strom called to her.

“Alright.”

Ilisa was carefully lowered, before Strom accidentally dropped her the rest of the way. She fell, limp, but able to land on her hands and feet. He ran over to her. “Ilisa! You alright?”

She stood up, and brushed herself down, laughing. “You need to practise putting people down.” She chuckled still, throwing her arms around him again. “That was amazing!”

“It felt it to me too.” Strom noticed how unusually cuddly Ilisa was being today.

“You did well Strom.” A voice echoed in his head. Strom turned around to see Sa'tui and another Orban. “For a human.”

“It's amazing.” Strom nodded. “Thank you.”

“It was an accident that you ended up with these powers.” Sa'tui continued. “But we will help train you to use them.”

Strom bowed his head. “Thank you.”

Sa'tui copied the bow. “Now, lift her again, and put her down. Carefully this time.”

Strom smiled as Ilisa took up her position again; they will learn together.