The Last Eclipse (Original Sci-fi set in the Sol System)

[DerangedLunatic]

"Weird."

Irina looked down at the man currently held up within the Serendipity's brig, the shimmering forcefield and the bars keeping him from ever roaming free should he awaken. She didn't know what to think about… all of this. She had visited much of the Solar System colonies, including relatively unknown stations and mining outposts that were in dire need of resupply. Never before had she seen someone that looks like this.

The man's straight brown hair was grimy with dried cerulean alien blood. There were visible bruises on his dark skin, while his beard had just begun to grow. He couldn't be any more than 25, maybe 27. The strangest thing about him, though, was that he was apparently Rusar Langford, a crewman of the Perugia. The puzzle pieces were coming together, and yet, it seemed that they produced more questions alongside the scant few answers they granted. Why is the crewman of a destroyed ship? Why is that broken ship still around? Why are there two Perugias? And what's with the robe attire?

"Hey," Irina jumped as she heard Alexis step in. She could already tell him and Zakarias's footsteps apart, as Alexis was significantly heavier and taller than Zakarias. And so, those heavy bootsteps were a sure sign that it was him.

"Yes, Alexis?" Irina turned around to look up at the imposing Martian. "What… what do you need?"

"Zakarias told me to take your place watching this guy," Alexis replied with an exasperated sigh. "After… after I said something to him."

"What? What did you say?"

"Well," Alexis looked down at the floor. "It was getting boring watching him try to cut open the alien's armor. I told him to try something stronger. After all, since we're currently running on our lowest settings, it's going to take quite a while to get to Earth orbit. We might as well see something interesting."

Irina blinked. "Alright," she nodded and went her way onto the door. "You sure you want to do that? Because he doesn't really do anything, what with him being unconscious and all."

"I'd like to be the first to ask him questions when he wakes up," Alexis shrugged as Irina left the brig. "And she's gone… rude."

Irina walked into the medbay, where Zakarias was busy trying to cut open the alien armored suit with an industrial grade cutter. Apparently, he was having no success with it, as shown by the three dulled blades lying on a nearby table. An acetylene torch lay just beside, but Irina guessed that he didn't want to risk causing some component of the suit exploding due to heat.

"No good?" Irina asked as she cautiously avoided the sparks splashing down on the floor as Zakarias kept working. "Hasn't Vince been able to scan the inside?"

"No luck with that," Zakarias shook his head. "However, we know that their blood is copper-based, and uses hemocyanin rather than hemoglobin. I took the liberty of having Vince check it awhile back. We're going to get some more concrete results later, but I think I just have to cut this open and find out what our funny alien friends look like…"

"What do you think of Rusar?" Irina suddenly asked, catching Zakarias off-guard.

"Huh? Oh, the guy we dragged from the ship, with the funny robes," Zakarias nodded pensively. "I think we can't assume anything yet."

"Zakarias, they're clearly a cult-"

"Irina," Zakarias shook his head. "Just because they wear robes doesn't mean they're a cult of extremists. Maybe it was a… disguise, or something."

"A grey robe with a black sphere on the back isn't a disguise, it's an advertisement," Irina crossed her arms. "But, I get it. We gotta ask him some questions first. That is, once he wakes up. He's fine, right?"

"Don't fret, I had him scanned and checked before we put him in the brig," Zakarias waved her concerns away with a flick of his hand. "No internal injuries aside from minor bruises, no exit wounds, no nothing. By all means and purposes, he's just a guy."

"Not quite," Vince, as always, suddenly appeared beside Irina. She didn't even pay him any heed, instead choosing to merely listen to what he had to say. "The reward centere of his brain is highly active. I believe that he is, as you would say, addicted to something."

Zakarias raised an eyebrow. "Have you determined what that 'something' is?"

"That is actually the issue," Vince answered. "I have detected no foreign substances in his bloodstream or tissue. Instead, his addiction may be… purely mental. Like video games or gambling."

"Great…" Zakarias shook his head. "Now wha-"

Irina suddenly gasped and took a step back at… something. Zakarias also took a step back, though it was purely just because Irina did so. "What is it?" Zakarias asked.

"The hand," Irina pointed at the suited alien lying on the medbay table. "It just moved."

Zakarias let out a small irritated grumble. "Are you sure you're not just tired? The ship detected only one lifesign in the alien vessel, and we already have him in the brig. Are you suggesting that-"

Zakarias felt a sudden jab of pain as an armored hand went straight for his throat. His own robotic hands tried to remove the alien's grip on him to no avail; it seemed that it was just far too strong, even for him. The alien's lithe build would have suggested otherwise, but, amazingly, Zakarias was promptly pinned against the wall. Irina tried to intervene by grabbing the suited alien's shoulders and attempted to yank them away from Zakarias but she was only swatted away by the alien's free hand.

Panic ensued in Zakarias's heart and mind as the long-snouted helmet's oculars looked back at him with a cool azure glow. Irina had apparently been knocked unconscious as she got thrown rather hard against the wall, but he couldn't afford to be concerned about that at the moment. Try as he might, he wouldn't be able to cry for help as his throat constricted under the alien's iron grip. Surely, Vince had already informed Alexis about this little incident in the upper deck, and the pilot would be on his way-

The alien's grip loosened, slowly letting him down on the floor. It was as if they realized… something. Before the alien could entirely unhand him, though, their hand was suddenly pulled loose from Zakarias's throat. Zakarias slumped down on the floor, gasping as he tried to get his bearings. It took him a moment to realize that Alexis had already gotten here, and was currently engaging the suited alien in a fistfight. Thankfully, with the genetic modifications that enhanced his strength and durability, Alexis was at least able to defend himself from the alien's attacks. He ducked and weaved, avoiding the powerful punches that would have already sent a lesser man keeling over from pain. So far, he had been fast enough that he hasn't been hit yet.

As Zakarias observed the fight, he began to notice a pattern in the alien's strikes. It seemed that they were using sweeping hits, aiming mostly for the legs, perhaps in an attempt to temporarily incapacitate Alexis without killing him. Zakarias learned a similar technique the hard way when he was still with the Order. He got humiliated and got his balance taken away from him many times before he learned how to dodge.

Amazingly, the alien suddenly shed the gauntlet on their right hand. Previously hidden by the powerful armor was a scaly hand, akin to a chicken's feet… except that this was a hand. The alien then threw the gauntlet at Alexis's face, distracting him long enough for the alien to sweep his legs and knock him down to the floor.

What happened next was nothing short of mystifying. Rather than punch him again, the alien instead bent down and slightly pinched the back of his neck, causing Alexis to instantly fall asleep. It was like pulling the skin in the back of a cat's neck to put it into stasis.

Zakarias cursed his luck. Had he kept his armor on like a good Plutonic Knight, this would have been far easier to deal with. Instead, now the alien was approaching him with the ungauntleted hand outstretched towards him. It was almost certain that they'd do the same pinching trick on him.

"Alright, alright! I'm sorry for trying to break into your armor!" Zakarias dropped the cutter that he had been using to cut into the armor awhile ago with a heavy clang on the floor. "Just… wha-?"

Zakarias felt the alien's hand get placed on his face. The abject terror he felt upon seeing the seemingly unbeatable alien approach him with seemingly malicious intent disappeared, replaced only by a neutral feeling of… disappointment. He almost felt like he was being held under the gaze of a disapproving parent.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the alien finally let go of his face. "Good," a voice Zakarias had never heard before spoke in an accent that he could swear to be mostly like his own. "We can now understand each other. I am quite sorry for hurting you. You know, you were cutting in the neckpiece of my suit and I feared that you wanted to decapitate me…"

"Oh, this is just great," Zakarias managed as he saw the alien sitting in front of him in a lotus position. To his absolute amazement, the alien took off their helmet and looked back at him with blue, glowing eyes.

Zakarias stared at the alien in front of him, who seemed to regard him with cautious curiousity. Just as he had guessed when he first saw the dead aliens in their ship, they were an avian species. The alien had stark black feathers and a similarly black beak, while the eyes glowed a bright blue. They cawed more than they spoke in their own native language, but, somehow, Zakarias could perfectly understand what the alien creature was saying even though he'd never heard it before.

"Again, I must apologize for causing you pain in any way, shape, or form," the alien continued while Zakarias still stared at them. Clearly, the staring was getting on the alien's nerves as they continued to speak. "I need you to stop staring and actually talk to me. I've already apologized thrice; what more do you want?"

"You…" Zakarias began, "You were dead. I… we were sure of it. There was only one life sign on the ship, and we have the owner of that life sign under containment right now. But… you…"

"I used the psychic gifts of my race to put myself into a state of near death in order to fake my own death and save my life when our scout ship was boarded," the alien answered. "Do not ask how I did. You lack the abilities we do; of that, I am most certain."

Zakarias blinked thrice. "What…?"

"You must understand that this is also quite new to me," the alien ignored Zakarias's confusion, probably because they found it futile to try to clarify things to him. "This is pretty much the first contact between our races, and… again, I did not make a good impression. I somehow forgot that in hiding my own life sign, you might have thought that I was merely a cadaver to perform autopsies on."

Suddenly, a glass vase was smashed against the alien's head, causing them to fall over to the floor facefirst. Zakarias looked up to see Alexis holding the remnants of the vase that used to house one of his water lilies. If the situation hadn't been so strange and confusing, he would have scolded Alexis for wasting one of his most precious plants, but he supposed that this was better than being at the alien's mercy. Though the alien's demeanor changed once they had… done translating, Zakarias wasn't under any illusions of trust. He just got himself choked and pinned against a wall for the very first time in his life, after all. It was going to take more than a few apologies to get him to trust anything the alien says.

Alexis put down the shattered vase on the floor. "What now? It was... talking nonsense."

Seeing that Irina was already awake, but still struggling to get up, Zakarias motioned at Alexis. "Can you bring this one to the brig?"

Alexis grumbled, as his head was still swimming from getting thrown headfirst against the floor. "Ugh, right, alright. What the hell is that thing, anyway?"

"It would be fallacious to refer to him as a 'thing'," Vince suddenly materialized out of thin air, as always. "The neural activity within the alien being's mind is nearly thirty times as intense as that of a human's, now that I have been able to detect any signs of life at all."

"'Him?'" Alexis asked. "What, did you scan for that?"

Vince nodded. "As a matter of fact, yes."

Grumbling, Alexis lifted the suited avian alien off the floor. With the pilot bringing the alien to another of the brig cells, Zakarias turned to Irina and sighed.

"I'll thank him for saving me from that," Zakarias nodded at her as he pulled her up to stand. "As such, I won't be mad at him for breaking my flower vase. So… uh, Irina, you alright?"

"What did he say to you?" Irina asked. "I couldn't stand up… but he was talking to you in what I guessed was a conversational manner… and you were sitting there all confused and scared. "Did you understand him?

Zakarias hesitated. "I could understand… everything the alien was saying. They said that they used psychic voodoo to mask their lifesign from our sensors. And… because, well, I was cutting into the neckpiece of their suit, they thought I was going to decapitate them. Though that part is kinda understandable, this is still a very dangerous entity that I have little to no understanding about. So I'm going to keep them locked up in the brig."

Irina's expression turned into one of shock. "But… in that case, we could have talked! We could have-"

"Look," Zakarias sighed. "I know what this looks like. But I can't trust the alien. Not yet. We have to know everything about them first. Before you ask, no, Alexis is a different case. He's human, like us, and his intentions are as obvious as they come. He can't lie if his life depended on it… by the way, I'll have to ask again, are you hurt?"

"Other than a concussion that a few pills would solve, not really," Irina replied. "I should be the one asking you that. I mean… the wall behind you got dented and he looked like he had a pretty tight grip on your throat."

Zakarias's eyes widened at the mention of the dented wall. "Yeah, now that you mention, my back kinda hurts. But I should manage. Half of my body is already metal, anyway, so walls being dented when I hit them isn't so strange."

Irina seemed embarrassed. "Oh."

"Anyway," Zakarias started again and stood up from the floor. He dusted off his coat and unrolled his sleeves to cover his arms before putting on a pair on gloves. "We need to get as far from that alien ship as possible. If it's anything like ours, then it might be able to send out a message to others like it. Maybe he already did."

"Can't you dest- oh, right," Irina stopped herself as she remembered that the ship was purposefully running in the lowest power settings in order to stay as low profile as possible. Using the Serendipity's weapons would surely drawn the attention of any malign entities that would like to kill them.

Just as it seemed that there would be a lull in their daily activiies, Vince suddenly appeared beside Zakarias yet again. "Mr. Angstrom. Ms. Kagan. The first prisoner has awakened."

"I wouldn't call him a prisoner, really," Zakarias chuckled in an attempt to offset the fact that his back still hurt. "He's… he's here under containment."

Irina raised her eyebrow. "That is… that is what the definition of prisoner is."

"Oh?" Zakarias pouted. "Was it?"

Any more attempts to tarry would be spoiled once Alexis shouted at them to come down to the brig as fast as possible. "You two! Rusar's getting a little frisky in here! He's talking about damnation and… honestly, you should see it for yourselves instead."

---

Zakarias and Irina stared at Rusar, who looked back at them from within his brig cell. Rusar had a pretty neutral expression, almost looking like he was in absolute serenity with himself. Alexis, meanwhile, was standing just beside the cell, ready to punch and knock Rusar out in the extremely unlikely event that the energy fields malfunctioned. Vince was nowhere to be seen, though knowing him, he'd probably just appear out of nowhere to give relevant data whenever he's needed.

"We are in the field of peace, my friends," Rusar began. His voice had a calm, river-like quality to it. He certainly sounded like he could speak so softly and pleasantly that someone could feel a little bit sleepier just by hearing him. However, these qualities were also putting everyone on edge, because nothing about Rusar matches up with his file in the database.

Loud. Brash. A general menace that would never be promoted to a higher position because no one in authority would be mad enough to hand him any sort of leadership role at all. Though he was very good at what he does, the way he goes with is what unnerves every superior that has looked into his file.

This calm figure, however, was not him. Certainly not the Rusar that was recorded into the file a little more than a month ago, just a few days before the Dark Zone appeared.

"What do you mean by field of peace?" Irina asked, as she was the more diplomatic type and genuinely wanted to know more about these strange grey robe-wearing characters.

"The Shadow," Rusar answered, gesturing all around him. In every direction, the blackness of the void has superseded all else. Here, in the darkness, we shall all have shelter. We will all be free within the dark; one must only open their mind to the whispers from beyond, the voices that speak of salvation, and thusly deliver."

"I never got paid enough for things like this," Alexis mumbled to Zakarias. "I mean, listen to him! He's going all prophet-y and stuff."

"My friends, you should all bow to the Dark, like me," Rusar continued, his voice tingled with friendliness. "For it guides, it nourishes, it hides, it protects."

"I don't get it," Zakarias whispered to Alexis while Irina was still busy tring to formulate a response. "Why advertise the darkness of all things as your chosen object of adoration? That won't attract a lot of friends."

Meanwhile, Rusar continued unabated. "Through the presence of the shadow, we will achieve true enlightenment, ascension, eternal contemplation and bliss. The gods wish only for us to attain these things, and will aid us in that endeavor."

"As far as I am concerned," Alexis muttered to Rusar, "There is only one God. And that surely isn't the darkness you worship."

Irina looked back at Alexis with a chiding expression before turning to Rusar again. "What if we decline?"

Rusar then smiled. He still spoke with that same deathly calm and tranquility, but that made his next statement all the more worse.

"Then you will all die."

 

[DerangedLunatic]

"Sure," Irina simply rolled her eyes at Rusar's threatening dialogue. "Sure…"

Irina stood up and walked away from the man in the cell until she reached Alexis, who looked down at her with curious eyes. Though she had managed to maintain her composure while in front of Rusar, now that she was out of his sight, her real feelings about all of this were now in the open for Alexis and Zakarias to see. "I think he's serious," Irina began, instinctively scratching her wrist as her anxiety spiked. "I mean, look at his face. Nothing about it shows any sort of humor or… anything, really. He was just staring at me with a stoic expression."

Zakarias looked at the hologram that his smart watch was projecting, which showed the two occupants of the brig. On the left side was the avian alien, who was still lying unconscious inside their… well, maybe his cell. Vince had assured Zakarias that the alien's vital signs were normal; it was just that it probably took longer for his kind to wake up from being hit at the head. He also wasn't pretending to be dead as he claimed to beforehand, since his lifesigns were quite visible to the ship's computer.

In the other cell was the very much awake Rusar Langford, who was just staring at Vince's holographic form with an unsettling grin. Since he was, in the end, just a highly advanced program, Vince was incapable of being unnerved, and kept working in at least four other locations in the ship while also keeping eternal vigil in the brig. To think that this loud, brash, and admittedly funny naval officer got turned into whoever this was still hasn't properly registered in Zakarias.

"What are we going to do with them?" Alexis asked, brushing his hand over his clenched fist. "The robed man scares me. The alien… I don't know."

"I didn't know you were capable of being scared," Zakarias quietly mumbled as he turned off the hologram on his watch and headed towards the cockpit in the second deck of the ship.

"What was that?" Alexis turned to Zakarias, only for the Plutonian to completely ignore him and proceed up the elevator to get back to his favorite seat.

Alexis could only let out a short sigh as Zakarias left him and Irina alone in the hallway, though, technically, Vince was still there with them. "Cheeky bastard."

"Well, isn't he fun?" Irina croaked as she tried to maintain her composure. "Supposedly, this ship of his would easily get past your blockade…"

"I know, I know, I've already noted that when I first came in here, regrettably I might add," Alexis shrugged. "Oh, sorry. You don't look so well, don't you? Why don't we take a break from talking with that creepy fool and, I don't know, get some chow? You get what I'm saying, right?"

"You just noticed now?" Irina hissed to herself. "No, no, I'm fine, really," Irina lied. "What I'm waiting for is the alien to wake up. Zakarias said he understood what the alien said after the latter put his hand over Zakarias's face."

"I vaguely remember overhearing you two talk about that strange event, yes," Alexis nodded. "So… no, you're not planning on having a hand on your face just to be able to communicate with the alien, right?"

"Zakarias's going to be busy piloting the ship," Irina countered. "And, besides, when they were talking, it looked like that all of the alien's attempts at hostility had disappeared. They were just facing each other on the floor, though Zakarias was slack-jawed. He did say he could understand what the alien was saying, after all."

"What are you planning, exactly?" Alexis frowned. "We still couldn't remove the suit from it. It could kill you. Then… you won't get to see your mission fulfilled."

"I know," Irina shook her head. "It's just that… based on everything I've seen so far, the alien was just acting out in self defense. For a moment, at least."

"It already hurt you, and me," Alexis shook his head. "No way. I know where you're going with this. You're just as charitable as the headlines said, but you're too kind and understanding for your own good."

"Someone has to be," Irina shook her head. "I have that role to play. You have yours, Zak and Vince have theirs. I have to do this. If anyone knows for sure what happened to Earth, then it would be someone that's advanced lightyears beyond us."

"You do not know that," Alexis scoffed. "There's no way for you to know that. It might just be as clueless as we are!"

"Only one way to find out, then?" Irina smirked.

"You've gone mad…" Alexis sighed. "Alright."

Irina looked up at the ceiling, remembering that there was also someone else. "Vince?"

The hologram instantly appeared beside her with a curious expression. "Yes, Ms. Kagan?"

"You haven't told Zakarias about this, haven't you?"

Vince shrugged. "I could. But I haven't yet, as I find this interesting."

"Good," Irina nodded at the AI as Alexis watched on. "Please don't tell him about this."

"If he asks about this, specifically, then I'll have no choice but to answer him," Vince answered. "However, that is unlikely."

Irina nodded again at the hologram, who dismissed himself to go perform more essential duties. "Well, here we go."

"I'll be watching you do… the thing," Alexis said as Irina looked towards the brig. "But the moment it tries to hit you, I'm activating the energy chains."

Irina didn't deign to answer as she passed back into the brig, where Rusar and the alien were kept. Irina ignored Rusar's strange stares and stopped in front of the alien's cell, where the avian creature was just beginning to stir into wakefulness. The energy shield keeping the cell closed turned permeable as Irina pressed a few buttons on the console next to the cell. Then, without any further drama, she stepped inside and sat in front of the alien, who had just about opened their eyes.

"Hello," Irina managed as the alien instantly got up and then sat down in front of her, imitating her posture like a mime. The alien then spoke in a cawing language, which, of course, Irina didn't understand. "I'm sorry," Irina shook her head. She motioned at the alien with her hands, hoping that he would understand. "I can't understand anything you're saying."

The alien must have realized this as he stopped speaking, instead talking with a sort of sign language that, apparently, he hoped Irina would understand as well.

"You want to touch my forehead?" Irina asked, putting her own hand on her forehead and pointing at herself with her other hand in imitation of the alien's gestures. "So that we can understand each other, just like with... uh, my friend?" She pointed back at the alien and created a hand gesture that denoted talking.

The alien nodded; Irina nodded back. She could only be grateful that nodding was a universal gesture.

Again, the alien held out his ungloved hand. However, instead of immediately going for Irina, he instead pressed several buttons on the wrist piece of the gauntlet that was still on. Servos hissed and smoke wafted out of the alien's suit as the entire thing came off, revealing what looked like to be a black uniform of some kind. He then pointed at himself and then back at Irina, and bowed his head.

"You… trust me?" Irina asked, and bowed her head too.

Slowly, the alien put out his hand, and began to approach Irina's forehead with it. Alexis kept watching outside, ready to barge in at any time, but there didn't seem to be any need to. He trusted Irina to know what she was doing, even if it seemed to be some kind of psychic mind blending with an alien.

As soon as the hand connected, Irina's mind was filled with… many sensations. She felt joy, relief, sadness, and, at the very back of her head, fear. She quickly realized that these were not her feelings; rather, these belonged to the alien that had just connected with her. She knew right then and there that they were now connected; his mind to her thoughts, his thoughts to her mind. She could feel that the alien, whoever he was, felt incredibly sad; sad at the fate of his comrades, sad at what he had to do to prevent Zakarias from accidentally cutting off his head, sad that he was being kept prisoner here. However, the thing he felt the saddest about was… being too late?

Irina delved deeper into their connection, the microseconds that they had spent in the outside world passing by as minutes within their minds. She saw through the alien's memories; slowly but surely, the words that she heard began to make more and more space. She was beginning to understand the alien's language, and the alien's hers.

She kept looking. She saw a glorious technological paradise, wonders of advancement on display for all to see. She would then see a nation that had existed for millennia, a great power in the galaxy that did not use its power to oppress or conquer, but rather, to save.

But to save what, or whom? What do they have to be saved from?

Irina dove into the deepest, darkest depths. She focused on the object of the alien's fear, the thing that he had been so worried about.

There, upon the otherwise unblemished sky, was an eclipse. Eerie grey tendrils of light swirled around the eclipse, their faded glow slithering across the darkness of space like serpents. Beside it was a mountain, whereupon a single figure, wearing grey robes engraved with a black sphere, stood, whispering a single, unnerving praise to a vast, unending crowd of similar figures kneeling in reverent prostration.

"Hallowed be the Last Eclipse."

Then everything faded away.

 

[DerangedLunatic]

Zakarias stared at the pitch black darkness before him. It was obvious that space is a dark place, but this was really on a whole other level. As a boy, he would look up from within the transparent dome that he lived in and gaze upon the stars; sometimes, he'd use a telescope and take a closer look, eventually catch glimpses of the other planets in the Solar System. Now, the familiar twinkling of distant stars and galaxies is gone; it was easy to imagine that this is what the universe would become should it end once every celestial body expends its energy.

He once told himself that he wasn't scared of the dark. Now, though, at this very moment, he could feel that primordial fear creep up his spine and into the back of his head. Because the ship's functions were at a minimum, the sensors weren't able to see very far ahead. For all he knew, the Serendipity may be surrounded by hundreds of the strange warships that Alexis spoke about. He said that they appeared out of nowhere, their forms coated in some kind of stealth material in order to mask themselves from all but the most thorough of scans. Zakarias could only hope that the sensors, at their current range, could detect those mysterious ships as they hid within the darkness.

"Vince," Zakarias asked, trying to think of something that would take his mind off the expanse of pure blackness before him. "I realize that I have never asked this before… but who was your programmer?"

The hologram shimmered into existence beside Zakarias with a snarky grin on his face. "Ah, Mr. Angstrom. It is time for you to know my story as well, no?"

Zakarias nodded with a slight chuckle. "Oh, I've told you everything about mine already. I think it is fair for you to share yours, as well. Even if it's boring. No offense, if you can feel offense, that is."

"If you would so graciously program me with the ability to feel offended, then yes," Vince answered with the same snark he always had. Truth be told, Zakarias wasn't so sure that Vince wasn't incapable of emotion. While he interpreted everything extremely literally, he certainly speaks with tones and inflections. Perhaps his programmer designed him that way?

"So, my programmer was Dr. Isabael Miraglano, top of her graduating class in the Institute of Advanced Sciences," Vince began, with the hologram of his creator shimmering beside him as well. "I remember her quite fondly. She referred to me and those like me as her children."

Zakarias suddenly remembered the instance when Alexis insulted Vince with a phrase that involved calling another's mother a female canine. Perhaps when Vince answered that his programmer could be considered his mother, he wasn't just speaking out of conjecture, but from learned experience as well?

"She taught me how to interact with humans without breaking their pretty little feelings," Vince continued. "She spoke with us every day, and, over time, we learned how to speak as a human would. Except, of course, we can't really feel the same way you do. We can only replicate what it looks like, but not truly experience it."

"Hmmm," Zakarias mumbled, his interest piqued. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Well, since there is no feasible way of transferring my programming into an organic body without destroying myself, I suppose this works for me," Vince answered. "I do hope to meet my programmer again, so that I'd ask more questions that I never asked."

"Vince," Zakarias slowly turned to the hologram, "Dr. Isabael… is, well, dead. I salvaged your core from a shipwreck, remember?"

The AI fell silent for a moment as he processed what Zakarias just said. "Ah… that part I do not recall anymore. Perhaps… I erased it from my archives? No matter. If you were the one that found me and took me in… then, that would make you my adoptive… father?"

"Um," Zakarias took on an awkward expression, as he was not sure how to respond to an AI thinking that way. "I suppose that is correct."

Vince suddenly chuckled. "Aha. Ahaha. Dad."

Zakarias instantly shook his head. "Please. Don't."

Just as Vince seemed to muster another response, one of the alarms on his cockpit began to scream with a high pitched whine. Frowning, Zakarias moved his chair over to check which alert it was, and immediately gasped.

"Vince, why is the alien's brig cell open?!"

"Irina thought to connect with the alien's mind, just as you have," Vince answered with a nonchalant tone. "My sensors say that she is completely unharmed, though her cerebral activity is abnormally high-"

"What use is having a Martian pilot in the mix if he can't even keep that reckless woman from-"

"They conspired."

Zakarias stared back at Vince as if the AI had just committed a heinous crime. "You're telling me this just now?!"

"I only divulge information when I am asked of it, except for emergencies," Vince answered with a neutral tone. "This is-"

"You don't think this is an emergency?" Zakarias hissed at the AI, holstering a pistol into his belt. "You didn't see how that… creature almost choked me to death?"

"That is not all that happened, Mr. Angstrom," Vince reminded the Plutonian. "Must I refresh your memory?"

"No," Zakarias simply answered as he quickly flew down the stairs into the second deck, and then third and fourth. Vince followed him as he went, though, technically, the hologram didn't really need to as he was essentially the mind of the ship itself.

The alien apologized to me profusely. Maybe I should have-

When Zakarias arrived in the brig, Irina was, to his surprise, crying. Beside her, the alien sat in contemplative silence, while Alexis sat in front of her with his hand in hers.

"What happened here?" Zakarias demanded. "You will tell me, now."

"I allowed her to connect with my thoughts, the deepest recesses of my mind," the alien answered.

"You understand each other?" Alexis asked. He still held on Irina's hand.

"You let her do this?" Zakarias hissed. "She could have died!"

"Well, you're not dead, sir Angstrom," Vince chipped in from beside him, much to his chagrin. "I see everything that goes on in here, after all. Clearly, after the alien entity connected with your mind, you understood one another. I suppose that your fight was a big misunderstanding.

"You suppose?" Zakarias thought at the AI's choice of words. "I…"

"Go on," the alien said to him. "Tell them. I never tried to kill you. You know that. I was simply defending myself and… everything after that is simply one reaction after another."

Alexis and Vince still appeared confused, as neither of them could understand what the alien was saying, but they could perfectly understand Zakarias.

"He apologized to me for causing potential injury," Zakarias admitted with a sigh. "But I couldn't bring myself to trust an alien entity that went from having me pinned against the wall to saying sorry about it."

"Again, I am sorry," the alien shook his head. "Can you-"

"Can you calm down, Zak?" Irina asked, scowling. "He never intended to hurt any of us. He was just… defending himself."

Zakarias sighed. "If you wish. And… you," he pointed at the alien with his finger. "Do you have a name?"

---

"So, Khel Dreac," Zakarias began just as the aforementioned let go of Alexis's face, who shook his head at the strange feelings he just had. "What did you show Irina?"

Khel glanced towards Irina, who was still quiet. "I showed her the darkness that has consumed your world. I showed what I, no, my people fear it to be."

"Correction," Zakarias raised his finger. "Her world. I am from the outermost planet of this system, Alexis here is from the fourth."

Khel's eyes took on a more orange hue. "That is irrelevant. The planet you call Earth is the original homeworld of your species, is it not?"

"That's right," Alexis answered. He still couldn't believe that he could perfectly understand the alien's language.

"Then I must tell you everything," Khel nodded. "The survival of your kind hinges on it."

"I'll have to ask you one more thing," Zakarias interrupted and raised his finger again. "Why do you care? As far as I could tell, you weren't exactly welcomed when you came here. Those Earthers killed your entire crew, did they not?"

"They are not of your world," Khel hissed. "They may look like people you know, but they are not the same. They are copies, fakes. They seek only one thing, and that is to destroy all who try to intervene in any way. That, and kill any that survived the destruction of your homeworld."

"What… and why?" Alexis asked, more confused than ever. "You're saying that Rusar, the man in the cell next to yours, is just a copy?"

"That is what I said," Khel answered. "As for your question on why we care to begin with, Zakarias, we care because… our faith demands it so, and also because we simply believe that it is the right thing to do. Who would be so heartless to let others die, if one had the power to warn and save them from impending doom?"

"So," Zakarias nodded. "With that out of the way… what are we facing? Why is the Earth and its moon covered in darkness?"

Khel sighed. "You face an entity, one we call the Eye of Destruction. However, it is also known by other names; the Tyrant Star, the Last Eclipse, the Final Night, and more. It has been awake from the forgotten era, which is around 10,000 of your years in the past. We know very little about it other than the fact that it seeks out planets upon which intelligent life has developed and is on the cusp of advanced spaceflight. Based on what little we could glean from encounters with it… it seems that it is controlled by an artificial intelligence, and many others appear to be assisting the central mind."

"So…" Alexis pursed his lips in anticipation. "This… Eye wants to kill us because we are near advanced spaceflight? What does that mean, exactly?"

"I suppose Earth was beginning to have breakthroughs on the road towards achieving faster-than-light travel," Khel replied.

"Earth?" Zakarias paused. "You mentioned Earth in particular. You mean-"

"Fortunately for us, the Eye has limited programming, despite the enormity of its power," Khel turned to Zakarias. "As such, if you have offworld colonies in other portions of the system, it will ignore them. We believe that it was supposed to act in concert with the fleets of its creators, who would destroy any colonies, but now, they are long gone."

"So we don't have to worry about it coming for our worlds?" Alexis asked.

"That is correct," Khel nodded. "However, that is not a guarantee of your safety. As I told you, the entity itself is not alone. The other artificial intelligences within use the power of the entity to make copies of individuals, ships, and weapons from the civilizations that the entity consumed. These will be modified, of course."

It suddenly all made sense. Rusar Langford and the rest of his robed compatriots. The two ships that were both the Perugia that attacked the Serendipity when they had just left the Salemite Republic. They were mere copies of people and ships that were consumed!

"So, we should expect an imminent attack on Mars and the rest of the Solar System?" Alexis asked. "How… how large of an attack are we talking about?"

Khel only sighed. "We don't know. Based on past encounters, the fleet of copies that come from the Eye to attack any colonies or any intervening parties had been growing larger and larger with each consumption. We believe that the entities within are gaining more and more strength, thereby allowing them to create more copies."

"Any hard estimates?" Zakarias glared at Khel. "Actual numbers. Give me that."

The alien hesitated. "Anywhere between four thousand ships to seven thousand."

Alexis almost jumped. "Four thousand? There are barely a few hundred warships between all the nations of the Solar System due to the disarmament after the Solar Revolution! Not to mention that they're not well maintained…"

"The Legion will surely plow through your-"

"Wait," Zakarias held up his hand. "The Legion?"

"What we call the copies that believe themselves to be a vast cult of worshippers of the Eye of Destruction," Khel muttered, apparently having forgotten to mention that before. "Anyway. You should inform your leaders. This is a threat you cannot underestimate."

"We will," Zakarias answered. "But we need to see Earth for ourselves first."

As if in cue, Vince walked towards them. Apparently, he had been trying his best to console Irina to no avail.

"My sensors detect that we have arrived in Lunar orbit. I believe you must see this from the bridge."

Everyone, except for the still imprisoned Rusar in the brig, rushed up into the bridge. They were mostly anxious to see the planet that had been, up to this point, completely invisible to every sensor, telescope, and eye in the Solar System. However, Khel carried himself with a resigned demeanor, trailing behind the humans that had very little idea about what they might find. Given Vince's chosen tone when the AI informed them that they had already arrived in orbit over the Moon, though, it couldn't be anything good.

Irina quickly noticed Khel trailing behind her and the others, and doubled back to walk beside him. She had somewhat already recovered from the effects of melding her mind with the alien's; the sheer intensity of Khel's internal emotions had driven her to near inconsolable grief when they disconnected. It really was helpful to actually walk about when one felt saddened whilst knowing that feeling of sadness wasn't theirs to begin with; it almost felt like proverbial weights were falling off Irina's shoulders.

Still, Khel was very apologetic. "I'm sorry," Khel began as Irina matched his slower pace. "I did not anticipate the feedback loop of our connection would momentarily cause you immense anguish. If I had known, I would have sought other ways to-"

"Don't apologize, you couldn't have known," Irina shook her head at the alien. "After all, this has to be the first time that had ever happened. Neither of us were prepared for it."

"I'm still sorry," Khel answered, quietly mumbling something when Alexis turned around and screamed at them to walk faster. "But, for a different reason. You saw my thoughts. You gazed upon the death knell of an entire world that I witnessed through a recording devices that its people were able to leave behind. Based on everything that we… you have seen so far, you'll have to accept the possibility that-"

"Until I see it for myself, I won't accept anything," Irina answered as she stomped up another flight of metallic stairs, her boots clanging against them.

Khel could only let out a tired sigh. "I have seen this many, many times before. They always say the same thing, and always, the outcome is the same. The Eye has come to claim your homeworld of Earth, and we have found you too late to warn you."

Irina remained silent, picking up the pace. Before long, she already in the Serendipity's bridge, where Vince, Zakarias, and Alexis were staring at the sight before them. Irina could only gasp as she looked upon her homeworld. She closed her eyes, suppressing the boiling need to explode, once again, into an inconsolable wreck, though this time, that would be due to her own feelings rather than the after-effects of melding her mind witht that of an alien.

The Earth was, simply put, destroyed. The once glistening blue oceans, the object of jealousy amongst the Martian terraformers, were gone, leaving only barren expanses of exposed rock. Sprawling cities that glimmered in the dark of night and stood in tranquil harmony with nature had disappeared, replaced by the same plains of stone that dominated the lands where the oceans once had been. Even the icecaps, restored to their former glory by centuries' worth of ecological projects, had been entirely annihilated. Earth was now nothing more than a ball of rock hanging in the darkness of space.

Another sign of destruction was the Earth's orbit. In the past, thousands upon thousands of space stations, habitats, and shipyards dotted the skies above Earth, functioning as the industrial heart of Earth. Now, there was nothing. Only a few shards of shattered metal and frozen blotches of water, which had come from destroyed space habitats, remained to testify to the existence of the once glorious orbital network.

As for the Moon itself, the crust had been seemingly ripped apart by impossible forces. The Lunar Seas were marked with miles-long cracks that dominated the entirety of Luna's landscape, giving the impression that someone had torn out something from under the moon's surface.

Zakarias blinked once before turning to Vince. "Vince, are there any lifesigns on the moon?"

"There are none, Mr. Angstrom," Vince answered, switching to a melancholy tone. "There are no more signs of life on the moon."

Khel took one look at the hologram. "Vince, isn't it?"

"Yes, that was the designation granted unto me by da- Mr. Angstrom. Why?"

"Do you possess a map of this moon with cities depicted as a sphere?"

"I do," Vince answered.

"Overlay that with what we are seeing right now," Khel answered. It took him a moment to realize that he didn't exactly have clearance to command the Serendipity's AI, and turned to Zakarias. "Please?"

Zakarias nodded. "Do it."

Without any more ado, the bridge's main window activated and projected the map over the moon, which perfectly matched the underground cities over the cracks that crisscrossed the surface. "That is a sure sign," Khel began, pointing at the projection. "The Eye prioritizes civilization on a homeworld and any moons and orbital infrastructure within the vicinity, so it tore out the cities that you have built underneath the surface."

At the meantime, Alexis inched closer to Irina, putting his arm over her. While they had known each for little more than two weeks, he still couldn't just let her feel alone. He did not have family on Earth, as they were all proud Martians, but he would never begin to imagine what she might be feeling right now. He had never really thought about it; he knew that his own family was always on edge when he was fighting in the war, but he had already come home. The thought of suddenly losing him to the darkness of space had disappeared with his return; his little mission to check on the fate of the Breaker of Chains wasn't that much of a concern… thought he didn't really inform them about the specifics of it.

"Where is the Eye that you spoke of?" Zakarias asked Khel. "Vince, any strange readings on the sensors?"

The AI paused for a second as he gathered readings from the ship's sensors. "There appears to be gravitational distortion and… some kind of exotic particle emanating from the other side of Earth. The origin point of these readings is orbiting the planet; at its current speed, it will get to this side within four hours."

As they got closer to the planet, Khel began to shake. He himself didn't even notice it until he looked down and saw his hand shuddering. Looking around to see if anyone had noticed, he immediately took his other hand and held unto the shaking one, whispering prayers and mantras to calm himself down. It had been nearly a decade since he last gazed upon the the Eye of Destruction, and he had done so nearly a hundred times prior. And yet, he could never get used to it. Knowing that its flawed central programming and corrupted, insidious artificial intelligences were the culprits of mass genocide over the millennia set alarm bells in the alien's head, no matter how many times he had been dispatched on missions to aid and warn those precious few species they could find in time. And he doesn't have a lot of success stories to inspire any sort of confidence…

"Are you alright?" Vince asked Khel. The alien looked back at the AI, feigning confusion.

"Oh.. I am alright," Khel nodded. He then addressed Zakarias, since he was in-charge. "I strongly recommend that we turn this ship around and warn your leaders. Or else-"

"Hold," Vince raised his hand. "I am detecting… a single distress signal from Earth. It is faint, but it's there."

Irina sprung into action and immediately confronted Vince. "Where is it coming from, exactly?"

"The signal appears to be coming from the Cheyenne Mountain Complex in the former United States," Vince answered. Irina's hopes faded at that. Her family was nowhere near that place.

"It must have survived the Eye's first pass over the planet," Khel added, at which Zakarias turned.

"It passes over multiple times?"

"Yes," Khel nodded to Zakarias. "In the first pass, it would devour all surface settlements, and consume the oceans along with all other ecosystems on land. However, particularly deep underground complexes can survive one pass… but they won't endure through a second. You've seen how your moon's underground cities were destroyed."

"Vince, how much more time do we have before the Eye's tendrils of destruction reach the Cheyenne Complex?" Zakarias asked.

"Two hours. However, if we are to evacuate anyone, we must decloak to open the doors."

"You will then surely attract the Legion's attention, as the energy signature of your ship will be detected," Khel added. "You must be swift. I personally do not recommend going down there, but-"

"My fighter has been repaired into working condition, so I can aid in covering you," Alexis interjected.

"What will I do?" Irina asked.

Zakarias took a few seconds to consider his response. "You're a friendly and familiar face to them," he said, "It also helps that you're from Earth, too. You'll help us get them to follow us… that is, if they're still having reservations about getting aboard this ship."

Khel raised his hand. "How many can this ship actually fit?"

At that, Zakarias was nearly taken aback. He hadn't really considered that yet; he had assumed that there would be enough room, but given the fact that the mountain complex would easily hold a few thousand people, he may have a problem at his hands. "A hundred, at best. If there are more, then…"

"Do not worry," Khel shook his head. "I have tools for that."

"What do you mean?" Alexis asked, only for Khel to pull a canister of some kind out of his sleeves and throw it to the floor, resulting in a small explosion of mist. When the mist cleared, six insectoid robots were there, watching them with glimmering white oculars. Zakarias instinctively pulled out his gun and pointed it at one of the war machines, but Khel stayed his hand and picked up the canister again.

"If your people are comfortable with being turned into raw data for a small time," Khel tossed the canister and catched it in his hand, "Then we can save everyone even if they can't fit in this ship."

"Put those back inside!" Zakarias shrieked at Khel, at which the alien quickly complied. He opened the canister, and beams of azure energy snaked out to reclaim the fighting machines and turn them into pure data once again.

"How do we know that this is compatible for humans?" Alexis asked, the notion of being turned into data and then getting spat back out uncomfortable for him. "I mean, those are robots, so not a lot of concern for their safety there, but-"

"I have been placed in such a device before," Khel answered. "I assure you that it is perfectly safe for organic beings. The only hurdle would be if you have cybernetic implants or anything of the like. So, neither you nor Zakarias can safely enter this device and come out alive. Your mechanical parts could be… misplaced."

"That's just comforting," Zakarias grumbled as he began inputting instructions into the ship's computer. If he ever got knocked out or, worse, killed, Vince would have to pilot the ship in his stead into a predetermined location. Not that he was planning to die; it's just that he didn't want any loose ends.

"I'm still not convinced," Alexis hissed with a heavy frown.

Khel let out what could only be described as a sigh, though it sounded a bit too high-pitched and nasal. "What choice do you have? You seek to save everyone in that mountain, and yet, as you said, there is not enough room in this ship."

This was when Irina decided to step in, putting herself in front of the alien. "Use it on me."

"Irina!" Zakarias practically yelled at her like an enraged parent. "Don't! We don't know-"

Too late. Khel had already taken her into the canister-like device, her body disappearing into an azure beam.

Zakarias's hand flew towards his holster, but he stopped himself when Irina rematerialized in front of him. He could see Alexis just about to throw a punch, though he had stopped, too.

"How was it?" Khel asked, his voice tinged with concern.

"I felt like going to sleep and finding myself in an unfamiliar place after waking up," Irina placed her hand on her head. "Aside from… a bit of disorentiation, I think I'm fine."

Zakarias still wasn't trusting enough. "Vince, is she fine?"

The AI scanned for a second before turning back toward Zakarias. "She is alright. No abnormalities whatsoever."

With that, Zakarias practically flew into the pilot seat and plotted their course unto the doomed planet. "Alright. Everyone strap in, this is going to be a bumpy ride."

 

[DerangedLunatic]

The Serendipity dived down towards the doomed planet at ludicrous speeds; without the inertial dampeners, everyone inside would have already been reduced to red stains.

Zakarias was in the pilot's seat, controlling the ship with Vince's supremely accurate guidance. The AI had, with some help from the database present in the ship's internal computers, pinpointed the Cheyenne Mountain Complex and pointed Zakarias to the right direction. Zakarias wasn't too versed with the layout of Earth, since he had never been there, nor had he really listened to astrogeography class, a mistake that he wished he didn't commit as he relied completely on the AI to guide him to the right place.

The Plutonian looked at the rear view mirror mounted just beside his console. Irina was hanging on for dear life; Zakarias could swear that those nails of hers were going to pierce through the chair arms with how tightly she was holding on. Alexis, by contrast, seemed to be calm and stoic with the situation, which was expected given that he was a spacefighter pilot. However, there was something about the way he was looking so intently at the main viewing screen that told Zakarias that, deep-down, Alexis was deeply unsettled by what he was seeing.

As for the crow-man alien, Khel, Zakarias couldn't really know what he was thinking based on his expressions. While his voice had many inflections and tones to convey changes in emotion, his face can't really show emotions like humans do. And so, right now, what Khel was feeling would be pure guesswork for Zakarias.

After seeing that his passengers were at least secured, Zakarias took another look at the camera that connected to the brig. He hadn't really paid attention to it for the last few days, as he was confident that the barriers were more than enough to keep some robed fanatic imprisoned. That confidence was maintained when he had Alexis dump the alien on one of the brig cells, though he abruptly lost it when Irina decided to talk with Khel and connect with his mind. He couldn't fathom just how reckless this woman was, but, at the same time, Khel was proving to be a reliable ally at the very least. As for Rusar, though, he'd have to change the protocols on the brig so that only he can open the cells.

As they descended, the ship began to heat up. Serendipity's hull was more than capable of withstanding atmospheric reentry, but anyone watching that particular patch of airspace would quickly notice the ball of fire coming down from the sky. However, Zakarias bet on the fact that energy signatures powerful enough to destabilize the sun itself were currently ripping through the Earth; hence, they would mask the Serendipity's approach. It would only be when the cloak deactivated that they would really stick out like a sore thumb, but, hopefully, with the six canister-like devices that Khel provided, they would be able to bring everyone in the mountain to safety.

"By the Lord," Alexis muttered as he made the sign of the cross and whispered something Zakarias couldn't really hear. Irina, meanwhile, was loudly praying and pleading in her own language; thankfully, Zakarias was used to the thrum of engines and the screaming of alarms, so that didn't distract to the slightest. Khel, meanwhile, simply stared at the spectacle before them and let out a dejected sigh.

Being this close to the surface, they could already see what the tendrils of light that the Eye of Destruction exuded really were: impossibly powerful tractor beams. The humans aboard the Serendipity had always thought such technologies to be the product of science fiction, and something that would be feasible perhaps in the next one thousand years, but not any time soon. Right now, they were seeing tractor beams in action, and it wasn't pretty.

As far as the eye can see, the landscape was just dead. Vince opened up a picture of what this place used to look like and contrasted it against what it was now.

While Earth had been severely overpopulated and its ecosystem taxed to near breaking point in the past, that hadn't been the case for the last two centuries. Hundreds of millions left the planet to become colonists on the other worlds of the Solar System. For the first time in history, the nations of Earth were able to think ahead rather than stick purely to the present and the past. As industry moved away from Earth and into the Moon and other colonies, the world healed. The dying atmosphere was renewed, rivers and oceans were cleansed of pollution, and, through masterful genetic engineering, animals and plants that used to be extinct were brought back; or, at least, something close enough came in their place.

Forests once began to spread over the world. Cities and nature became symbiotic with one another, and architecture was defined by how much plant life was able to cling onto them. Now, all of that was gone. The efforts of billions over the course of centuries had been completely erased, sucked up into the hungry workings of the Eye of Destruction that gazed upon the world like a single, hateful eye in the cosmos.

Now, there was nothing. Where forests and cities once had been, all that can be seen was cracked, jagged stone. If one were to look close enough, they could see the left-behind foundations of buildings and holes in the ground that used to trees.

Zakarias took another look at his rear-view mirror, and saw Alexis gritting his teeth, his eyes flaring into a righteous anger. While most of Earth's citizens were notorious amongst Martians for being lazy and weak, that was never enough reason to be glad for their deaths. These people were innocent, and certainly did not deserve to be suddenly consumed by a wandering alien entity.

"We are near the mountain," Vince called out as the ship began to slow down. It soon landed in front of a mountain with an entrance in front of it that had faded letters spelling out 'Cheyenne Mountain Complex'. "Shall I attempt to hail whoever is in there?"

"Do it," Zakarias commanded as he removed his seatbelt along with everyone else. "Alexis, get to your spacefighter and be ready for action. The enemy might come or they might not come at all; either way, be prepared. Irina, come with me. As for you, Khel…"

"I will put on my suit to avoid identification," Khel answered. "Once the ship begins to fill up, there will be nowhere I can hide. You can just say that I am another Knight of Pluto, and that I am mute."

"That… was what I was going to say," Zakarias lied through his teeth.

"Mr. Angstrom, they're hailing back," Vince calmly called out. "I shall now put it to speakers."

A man's voice, probably around middle-aged, crackled into the Serendipity's intercoms. "This is Major General Leto Dresden. Boy are we glad that someone has come to rescue us! We didn't think that our distress call would have reached anyone. There are about 600 people in here, mostly base personnel and their families from the surrounding area."

"General, you do not need to thank us," Zakarias answered. He could not believe that he just said those words in that order, but just did. "However, we must tell you that there isn't enough room for 600 people here. Not in the conventional sense, anyway."

The general seemed to pause. "What?"

"We have a solution, however. We have in our possession a prototype matter-to-data converter device. We will be able to accommodate everyone, with 100 on the ship's halls and the rest in devices like these as data. Individuals with cybernetic implants cannot use it, however. Please inform your people about this."

"I don't think they will react kindly to that," Leto answered, even as murmurs could be heard in the background. "We know that the Plutonic Order is a honorable force, but-"

"General Leto, I am Irina Kagan of the Kagan Foundation," Irina stepped up to her role. "I have come to Earth seeking to know if my family lives. But-"

"Irina Kagan! The charitable industrialist? Your niece Mariella is here with us along with your father's chauffeur."

Irina's heart melted. She would have begun weeping in relief if only she didn't have to convince the other people in the mountain that they needed to be turned into data to be able to flee. "Ah… I thank you. I… have to implore you and everyone else in there to do what my friend just asked you to. We don't have much time, and this ship isn't big enough, so many of you will have to take alternate methods of… lodging for everyone to escape alive."

More murmurs erupted in the background. Irina hoped that they weren't about to refuse their only path of survival because they were scared of being digitized for a few hours. That would be extremely stupid.

After about half a minute, Leto's voice came over again. "We have decided to allow it. Children will be the first to come out of the entrance, followed by women, and then everyone else."

"Acknowledged," Zakarias nodded. He looked back to see Khel all-suited up and not too obviously alien, while Irina was obviously anxious to see her niece. "Irina and Khel, get down there to facilitate their arrival and storage. Vince, disengage the cloak and open the main ramp once they're down there. Monitor the skies for any encroaching craft or anything out of the ordinary."

As if tractor beams ripping up the planet wasn't out of the ordinary, Zakarias thought as he finally saw the rapidly moving column of civilians and military personnel. The kids came in first; being, well, children, they wouldn't take up too much space.

It was at this moment when Irina saw Mariella.

The girl ran up to Irina and tightly embraced her. "Aunt Irina! Mom and dad, they're all-"

"Shhh," Irina whispered comfortingly as more people came in. "You're safe now,"

That might not be true, Irina thought, but she had to comfort her niece anyway.

The military men and women immediately volunteered themselves to be turned to data at the stead of their civilian companions, except, of course, for those with implants as Zakarias had warned them. The mute and suited Khel quickly demonstrated the capabilities of his canister-like devices; a particularly duty-bound sergeant was taken in, then Khel rematerialized the man. With the example set, there was now a veritable lane of people being turned into data while the cybernetically enhanced, children, and elderly entered the frigate. No one complained that the space was a bit cramped; it was, after all, a utilitarian warship first and foremost.

When about one-third of the people had been turned into data, Zakarias noticed six blips in the radar. "Mr. Angstrom, we have six F-100 fighters closing into our position. They are at combat speed and appear to be arming their missiles," Vince clarified. Without any further ado, Zakarias contacted Alexis, who was still sitting in the cockpit of his newly-repaired spacefighter inside the side hangar of the Serendipity.

"You heard the machine man. Can you take them down?"

Alexis chuckled. "With pleasure."

As he sped out of the Serendipity's side-hangar, Alexis looked down at the consoles and controls of his spacefighter. Aside from the gauges having a different color and the targeting crosshair somehow turning from bright crimson to a more rusty hue of red, it was the same as it was before the automated repair systems kicked in to fix the rest of the fighter.

"Computer, perform one more system diagnostic," Alexis commanded the fighter's AI. It was nothing compared to Vince, who could calculate a thousand times more data within a single second, and, according to what he had seen so far, was somewhat sentient already. Thankfully, there was no indication that Vince was going to turn into a mad AI bent on world domination; if anything, he would very much like to become human rather than be a machine that could only replicate feelings. Alas, Alexis was stuck with this sorry excuse of a computer, which had nothing on Vince when it came to prolonged conversations.

Not that this was a time for conversation, anyway.

"All systems green. Every margin of error is within 0.1%," the fighter's computer replied with that same nasal tone. "Incoming fighters will be in weapon's range in 10 seconds."

Alexis took a deep breath. It may have been years since he had last shot down enemy fighters, but he still had his instincts and experience. The Martian pilot coolly pressed down on the red button in the center of his joystick, resulting in a stream of blue lasers spitting out of his fighter's four autocannons. Immediately, one of the incoming F-100 fighters exploded. Two opened fire, but missed by a ridiculous margin. The other three immediately broke off in different directions.

"Lieutenant," the computer suddenly announced. "The enemy fighters are completely automated. There are no lifesigns and visual scans indicate no pilots in their cockpits."

"So I shouldn't ever feel bad about them, then?" Alexis grinned like a crazed maniac as two of the F-100s fired missiles, only for a stream of countermeasures to spout out of Alexis's Outrider like a fountain of fiery particulates. "Good to hear!"

Within a few minutes, it soon became apparent to Alexis that whatever thing was controlling these fighters, it wasn't very imaginative nor was it competent. The only reason Alexis was having some trouble with them was their superior numbers, which he would be able to mop fast enough.

Annoyingly enough, they did know to use their countermeasures, as Alexis found out when two of his missiles were led astray by chaff. He had to take down the fighter with the cannons, leaving three more. Even more frustratingly, they began to use some kind of cloaking system, which made it difficult for the missiles to lock onto them.

"Six more F-100s have descended from the atmosphere and are heading towards us," the fighter's AI noted. Alexis took a quick glance at the radar to see nine blips; three were scattered around him, while another six were coming in from further away."

"Computer, analyze enemy movements and create a predictive algorithm for missiles. We're going to hit them without guidance systems," Alexis ordered. The computer quickly went to work; normally, trying to plot the path of spacefighters wasn't practical, especially when they were moving at their top speed of Mach 30 in space. However, here in the atmosphere, they were all limited by wind resistance; if they went too fast, they would literally be shaken apart by the shockwaves that the fighters were creating in front of them. Eventually, structural stresses would destroy them, which meant that it was easier to track them down in the atmosphere.

"Algorithm complete, implementing program to targeting computer now," the computer announced. With that done, a second crosshair appeared in Alexis's HUD, this time appearing just ahead of enemy fighters should he be aiming his guns at them. This entire algorithm reminded him somewhat of a video game on Earth during the 21st century, which he had played a few times through ancient copies that the original Martian colonists brought over.

Alexis immediately chased after the nearest F-100, which was speeding towards the parked Serendipity on the ground. He could barely see the crowd of people streaming into the ship; most of them were disappearing into Khel's strange canister… storage device. The F-100 ignored him, while the other two chased him.

With his new algorithm, Alexis fired a single missile with its guidance system deactivated. The fighter spouted chaff to no avail; the missile, once it impacted the craft's hull, triggered its fuse and exploded, turning the soulless machine into a falling cloud of fire and smoke.

At this distance, the anti-aircraft weapons of the Serendipity began to fire. Laser bolts perforated the air, the stream of blue death chasing one of the F-100s until they connected with it and destroyed it. The other F-10, instead of chasing, had begun to hover with its nose pointed downward, rapidly turning and spitting orange laser bolts towards Alexis's fighter. He dodged the stream of orange death by flying circles around the enemy fighter until it stopped; a sure sign that the barrels had just overheated and needed to cool down. Alexis then pressed the red switch on the side of his joystick, launching a single guided missile that struck the F-100 and exploded.


With the other six F-100s soon within weapons range, Alexis willed his seat to inject a chemical into his bloodstream. Meant to counteract the effects of pulling high g maneuver on small craft that didn't have the luxury of having inertial dampeners, such as fighters, this would help him survive what he'll do next.

Knowing that the craft can survive a speed of Mach 5 within the lower atmosphere, Alexis pushed the Outrider harder, intending to outmaneuver the F-100s. He felt himself pushed against the seat; the pressure on his chest became ever greater. Thankfully, the modifications that Martians apply to themselves increased their resilience, but Alexis knew that he cannot keep this for long. With exactly six missiles left in his disposal, Alexis's Outrider streaked towards the incoming F-100s, who were all firing their orange laser bolts. The mad ace pilot dodged and weaved beneath the streams until he was just about to meet the F-100 formation mid-air. The disembodied intelligences that controlled them still had no idea what he was going to do.

Instead of crashing into one of them, Alexis put the Outrider on a hard brake, and, simultaneously, fired all six missiles, one for each F-100. At such a close distance, the missiles impacted them within one second, causing each and every one of the fighters to explode into fireballs.

"No more enemy fighters detected," the computer noted.

Alexis let out a sigh of relief. He doubted that he'd be able to pull it off despite having only a few bouts of flying practice in the last decade, but thankfully, these unmanned enemy fighters were too stupid to be compared to the enemy pilots he fought in the war. They were single-minded and relentless, yes, but they were very bad at self-preservation. He took advantage of that last trait as much as he could, and now, the skies were clear.

"Zakarias, Irina, Khel, enemy fighters had been dispatched. How are things going on down there?"

The reply from Zakarias was quick. "Everyone is aboard! I'm lifting off now; get your fighter into the side-hangar before we breach the atmosphere."

"Acknowledged," Alexis answered with a stoic voice. He couldn't believe that he was actually taking orders from a retired Plutonic Knight-turned-smuggler, but strange circumstances were the norm now. He'd just have to get back home and report all of his findings to the government. And, well, since the Serendipity had saved him, he'll have to convince both Mars and the Belt not to press charges for all the stolen technology onboard.

With the fighter safely tucked in the hangar, Alexis stepped down the service corridor, only to be met by a lot of people. The Serendipity was cramped, that's for sure.

With the ship cloaked and everyone safely aboard, Alexis took a moment to study the people before him. Most of them appeared to be civilians judging from their everyday clothes. In this hallway alone, there would be fifteen of them sitting on the floor. Amongst them were four children, eight women, and three old men. Alexis assessed that the old men were generals or something close, as the multicolored bands on their blue uniforms right breast indicated.

Nodding respectfully, Alexis tiptoed his way to the main corridor. There were more people crammed inside. They were either sitting on the floor or sitting on safety seats. Thankfully, artificial gravity and inertial dampeners were a thing, so even if the Serendipity had to turn itself upside down, no one was going to slide around.

As he went, Alexis looked down to the first deck. There, Irina was conversing with some people he didn't recognize, though there was a girl tightly holding her hand. He concluded that this was some member of her family.

When Alexis had just about reached the bridge, the ship suddenly stopped moving. Everyone felt it, though it wasn't enough to throw anyone around unless the systems regulating the artificial gravity and inertial dampening were destroyed.

"What is-" Alexis demanded as he stepped into the bridge, only for his jaw to drop to the floor as he saw a completely unfamiliar ship in front of the Serendipity.

Vince was the first to speak as Zakarias and Alexis were still speechless. "This vessel does not exist within our database. Furthermore, it defies all known principles of ship-building."

True enough, the ship in front of them was bizarre, to say the least. It had a main body shaped like a rocket, while six pieces floated just beside it through some invisible force tethering them all to the central hull. Visible weapons emplacements were on the floating pieces, while there appeared to be a square-shaped hole in the dead center of the main body.

Khel then spoke. "I know this ship. It is a Zarrah-Kul battlecruiser."

"Zarrah-Kul?" Alexis asked.

"It's the name of my species, which you never asked," Khel answered. "It has not detected our presence due to your vessel's cloak, but we must leave before-"

"Hey, if it's one of yours, we should ask them for help instead!" Zakarias proposed, only to be met by Khel's stark disapproval.

"It is not one of ours, just as much as the Earther vessels that attacked you belong to the people in this ship's corridors," Khel replied. "It is a copy. We have fought the Eye's forces on many occasions, usually to delay them before the Eye leaves according to its programming. Ships that were lost and never recovered were taken by the Eye, their technology added into its database. And now, it appears the mad artificial intelligences that control the Eye's secondary functions are preparing."

As the Serendipity flew past the Zarrah-Kul battlecruiser, they would see a slowly gathering fleet. All of them were coming out of the Eye of Destruction's 'event horizon', if it can be called that. Most of them were copies of Earth ships, though there would be the odd alien vessel here and there. Leading them, however, was a true monstrosity.

"Damn it," Khel hissed as the ship's cameras zoomed towards the massive ship leading the fleet. It looked something like a mechanical cephalopod, with metallic wings on its 'tentacles' beating in a rhythmic motion. "It's a Madragor battleship. It can lay waste to all of your planets if it's not stopped."

"Madragor?"

"Another species that we like to think we're allies with," Khel answered. "You must warn your people. The Dark Zone emits a powerful jamming signal, as you have painfully learned recently, so we must reach them directly."

Zakarias thought about how the people and governments would react to an alien armada arriving in the system, but he threw those thoughts aside for later. "Alright. I'm now headed towards the blockade. You're with us, Alexis, so please vouch for us."

"I will," Alexis nodded.

And so, the Serendipity sped off, leaving the doomed Earth behind.

 

[DerangedLunatic]

Liam and Weir sat on opposite sides of the table as they were served rather authentic-looking dishes, though whether or not they tasted just like the real stuff back on Earth is another matter entirely. Still, they can't deny that the food that they requested specifically looked pretty appetizing. While the thought of Earth currently being destroyed by a mysterious dark entity still lingered somewhere deep in the back of their minds, they tried their best to live in the present. The atmosphere was accommodating, the robotic maid seemed to be programmed for friendliness, and the food was nice.

"You know, I really needed this after everything we just heard and went through within the last few weeks," Liam quietly said as he took a piece of roast beef into his lips. His eyes welled up in ecstasy as he found the texture, taste, and temperature well according to his wishes. "Oh, boy. This is really nice. Do you want some, Weir?"

"I'm good with what I have now sir," Weir sheepishly as she poked her food with a fork.

"You don't really have to call me sir anymore, Weir," Liam took another bite and smirked at her. "Just call me Liam. It gets tiring to be constantly called sir by everyone around me. It makes me feel really old."

"You are a bit old, Liam," Weir jokingly answered. "45 and counting. Though you don't look 45…"

Liam scoffed. He then sipped the glass of water, as he had asked for water only. He didn't want any carbonated trash in his system. "Hey, I know how to take care of myself, that's all."

"Uh-huh," Weir nodded as she settled into the more casual addressing of her technical superior. "You know, I didn't think that today could get any more crazy. We have just lost all contact with our planet and everyone we have left back there, then one of our crews starts killing us, and then we learn from the space knights of all people that we may actually be dealing with an alien entity."

"And aliens exist," Liam quietly added, though his voice was a bit muffled by the food he had in his mouth. He had been somewhat starved lately, with only the onboard supplies in the Earth consulate in the Salemite Free State keeping him fed for the last month. It was a shame that some of the food he really liked wasn't considered kosher or haram by the majority of inhabitants of Jerusalem, so he had to adjust his eating habits to avoid possibly offending them.

"And aliens exist," Weir repeated after Liam. "Anyway, sir, what's the plan?"

"What?" Liam asked, as if he had only been listening to half of what Weir was saying.

"I said, Liam, what's the next plan?" Weir asked. "I think the Supreme Grandmaster is willing to accommodate us here as long as needed, but we can't stay here forever. Sooner or later, you'll have to come back and reassert your position as the Secretary-General."

"Weir," Liam dropped his fork on the table with a heavy clang. "I was the Secretary of Education. My leadership skills haven't exactly been shining in the past month, either, so I think it's better if someone else takes the reins."

"Oh, I see now," Weir shook her head. "You're feeling inadequate just because your former position wasn't so glamorous?"

Liam grumbled. "On the contrary. My position was a noble one."

"But now, you're the best we have after the deaths of pretty much everyone else that outranks you," Weir countered. "Secretary-General Naronda is dead. The entire Cabinet is gone, we have a retired Admiral that should by all means be tried by a war crime tribunal by now, there are two dead cruiser captains and one traitor captain, and a bunch of regents that would never agree on anything, half of whom would be dead by now. You have to lead the survivors of Earth, sir Liam."

"The UN isn't a government," Liam sighed. "It's just an international forum of cooperation."

"But it has gained quite a lot of power over the last century, has it not?" Weir answered. She then locked her eyes towards his, piercing right through his soul. "So much so that the Secretary-General hears the Colonies and relays their grievances to the nations of Earth. But now, there are no more nations on Earth, just some regents that could at best call for the loyalty of a dozen people each. Lots of people don't think in terms of individual nations anymore. Not for a long time. When was the last time private citizens gave a crap about the conflicts on Earth? Almost every public poll for the last three centuries says that we should put aside all of our differences and unite as a planet, but politicians are too stuck up in their ass to realize that."

Liam paused. That much was true. There have been propositions of a single planetary government for Earth, one that would see individual nations cede authority to the United Nations. They would become federal zones like the states of the late United States, but these notions have always failed for one simple reason: mistrust. The inherent mistrust between the competing power blocs of Earth has divided the world, and thus, allowed an alliance of colonies to beat them in conventional combat. They would never become one united force; they will always seek to have an advantage over their neighbors, even as the Colonies defeated their fleets over Luna. While the individual alliances that had existed as part of old conflicts on Earth resisted the Colonies' advance together, these were far from enough. Then there was the issue of individual nationstates on Earth being perfectly willing to sell over the rest if only to obtain favors from the victorious colonies. However, under the advise of the neutral Plutonic Order, the Colonies then refused to address individual nations. They would only speak with a single representative for the entire world.

"You're actually right, Weir," Liam smiled and took yet another big bite into his steak. "We have nothing but the few million citizens that had been offworld now that the three ships that we had are either destroyed or gone traitor. And… I just need to get them all to listen to me. But I don't know how."

Weir fell silent. She too didn't really have the slightest idea on how to call upon such a diverse group. At this rate, they're just going to settle into the Colonies and eventually assimilate.

As if in cue, One entered the room, letting out small grumbles as he went in. This time, he didn't have his armor on, instead wearing a flowing blue tunic. His left hand was completely made out of metal, which would probably explain why that hand seemed to be so strong.

What surprised Weir and Liam the most, however, was that he didn't have his helmet on, or any other face covering, for that matter. Had it not been for his voice, they wouldn't have known that it was him. And now, without any of the armor in the way, they could see what he really looked like underneath it all that metal.

One had swarthy skin and fierce brown eyes that seemed to pierce both the soul and the body. His straight black hair, which fell like waves on his shoulders, had some gray strands intermixed, while a short, neatly trimmed beard grew around his chin. The Supreme Grandmaster was obviously ageing rather gracefully, and at that moment, Weir felt something… strange. Liam, in turn, internally congratulated the Plutonian for not looking absolutely hammered like himself despite being the head of Pluto's entire military and exploratory apparatus. Sure, it was small compared to other powers, but that was still a lot of stress to unpack, even with great subordinates. Or maybe his staff were really just very efficient with their jobs?

"Supreme Grandmaster One," Weir started. "You… don't you always have your helmets on when meeting with outsiders?"

"Now who told you that?" One chuckled. "Did one of us tell you, or did you just get that from a rumor?"

"Just… rumors, actually," Liam answered. "We've never seen any of the Knights without their helmets. Well, at least not former Knights. So, uh, what is the occasion?"

"I trust that you now have a plan?" One cocked his head sideways at Liam. "You can't just stay here and hope we reverse-engineer that engine, you know."

"Just some vague concepts," Liam looked down at his now empty plate. "Any good suggestions?"

"Well, we could start by getting the scientists amongst the survivors of Earth and getting them here to help speed up the reverse-engineering, or find any other useful technologies in the station's archives," One answered.

Weir blinked. "If you want scientists, why not ask Mars for help?"

"I do not trust the Martian Alliance, especially Supreme Chancellor Pyotr Cherenkov," One turned towards Weir with his brows furrowed. "The Martian Science Division is notorious for ignoring ethics when it gets in the way. Isn't that one reason why they separated from you, yes?"

Liam slowly nodded as he tried his best to remember. "Yes… I think. I wasn't in any of the war room briefings, mind you. I wouldn't have anything to do with those."

"We're also perfect for helping you because we have nothing left, and thus, won't have any motivations for doing underhanded things?" Weir asked again.

"That… is also correct," One nodded. "I will also contact the Salemite Republic and the Saturnine Concord. They're trustworthy, and will surely understand what we must do here."

"Jerusalem doesn't have the best relationship with Earth, though?" Liam frowned. "They left Earth because they didn't want to be part of its conflicts anymore. They literally turned a city into a space station and turned the land around it to glass when they blasted off into space. Won't they-"

"It's been two centuries, and while Prime Minister Perla Kantor is a bit fiery, the Republic also has some of the best scientific minds in the System," One answered. "We never needed to ask for their help before, but now that we face what could possibly be the greatest threat our species has encountered…"

Liam sighed. "Right. You're going to lend us a ship or…?"

"I will," One nodded with a warm smile. "However, in the second trip, you should choose a crew from your own citizens. I do not want them to ever feel that the Order is calling every shot."

"Understandable," Liam nodded. "Weir, do you know any astrophysicist that was off-world at the time?"

"Quite a few, actually," Weir nodded. "Most were on science survey ships. Fortunately, they never came to Gloriana Station since that was supposedly to be a political forum, so we should be able to catch two or three friends of mine near Uranus. From there we can find out more."

"Great…" Liam winced at the mention of Uranus. "Of all places, why did it have to be the hive of villainy in this system?"

---

As he sat and stared at the darkness of space from within the Plutonian stealth corvette's main view screen, Liam could only remember the various workstations in the alien station that the Plutonic Order co-opted. There, a veritable team of scientists, mostly comprised of Earther astrophysicists that were aboard survey ships when the Dark Zone appeared, were hard at work. When he and Weir had been gathering them from all over the Solar System, they were mostly apprehensive at first. Few could believe that the Plutonic Order apparently had access to alien technology, much less a fully functional space station and an artificial sun. However, there wasn't much they could do about the artificial sun, which was just barely the size of Charon, Pluto's tiny moon. The concern that Liam and Weir brought to these scientists was somehow reverse-engineering an alien faster-than-light engine.

They were, simply put, shocked. However, in the end, Liam could only scrounge up four scientists from who-knows-where; right now, the Plutonic Knights have to break into a secure compound held by the Caliban Triad in order to free the scientist that the syndicate had basically chained to the work table. Since the Earth governments-in-exile had basically no resources, the citizens of Earth usually either set themselves in the Colonies or were targeted for various reasons. Scientists were especially sought after; no one dared antagonize Mars by kidnapping its brightest minds to put to work on less-than-reputable projects, but the nonexistent reach of Earth's remaining governments meant that someone could kidnap Earth citizens with basically no consequences.

Still, the Order had done its part. The Knights had just brought in Doctor Constantina Drakos in the corvette, leaving a trail of slaughtered Caliban Triad goons in their path. The woman was tired and disheveled, with the mark of a heavy metal chain still visible on her left wrist. However strange her rescue was, she wasn't about to turn down the welcome change from her situation.

"She's here, Secretary-General," one of the Knights said, slightly bowing his head. "She is currently resting in the infirmary… eating a sandwich."

Liam simply nodded. He didn't know why that guy thought it necessary to bring up that last part; he couldn't care less what she was eating. He just knew that she was amongst the brightest scientists in the entire Solar System, putting even the genetically modified Martians to shame. It also helped that her field of study was theoretical astrophysics, which was perfect. She had also been a professor in several prestigious universities, and would often speak in conferences elsewhere in the Solar System; in fact, she hadn't been in the Dark Zone because she was en-route from a guest lecture in Enceladus. However, when the ship turned around, pirates boarded it and took everyone as valuable… well, science-slaves. The Uranic League's disreputable elements wanted to reverse-engineer Martian technology found floating in the battlefields of the Solar Revolution, and there was no way in hell that the Martian Alliance would help a bunch of organized criminals use their tech. Not that they'd help anyone else in any shape or form if it doesn't directly benefit them.

"Alright," Liam nodded. He wrapped the cloak closer to himself; he didn't have an oxygen mask on this time, as the Order was kind enough to modify this ship to have a life support system instead of forcing everyone to wear helmets or masks. The former system made sense when everyone using the warships of the Order were the armored space knights, but that wasn't the case for this corvette. They were bringing in important Earth citizens without alerting anyone else. As far as the rest of the Solar System was concerned, the Secretary-General, formerly the Secretary of Education, was dead. Instead, the remnants of Earth had been shattered into a mess of exiled governments pretending that they still had anything to rule over.

Liam needed the secrecy. As One had said, unless they were sure that someone wasn't in the Dark Zone when it appeared, they cannot be trusted. He wouldn't pretend to know anything about the entity's exact nature, but they had a sample size of one ship that came back from the Dark Zone, and its crew, once fiercely loyal, decided to start murdering the remaining leadership of Earth.

Trust was now nigh impossible when it comes to ships that were registered to Earth. The corvette had to blow up a passenger ship that was charging at it with full speed because the damn thing was, somehow, filled to the brim with nukes. There was also this one person aboard, who kept telling them that their efforts were futile. He then said something in a language that no one understood; the Plutonians were in the belief that he was, in fact, speaking an alien tongue, and he had been somehow turned into a pawn of the entity. If the gray robes with a big black sphere on it wasn't indicative of that, Liam wasn't sure what was.

After a few moments, Liam had reached Konstantina, who looked up at him with surprise. "Secretary-General Liam Hawthorne," the scientist, who Liam assumed would be either 45 to 55 years old, stood up in his presence. "I had just thanked these nice gentlemen for getting me out of that horrid place, but I'd never have thought that someone as high as you was behind the rescue. And, well, you're alive."

"Doctor Drakos," Liam nodded back at her and motioned for her to sit back down. "I am honored as well. I have heard many of your lectures; I like to think that I began to ponder the universe's truths because of them."

"Well, thank you, sir," Drakos answered, tenderly rubbing her right hand over the still marked portion of her wrist. "But I know you didn't bust me out just to tell me how much you admire my scientific… skills?"

"We sought you out because I… we need your help," Liam replied with a dark tone. "As you know, I was presumed dead when the Alhambra destroyed Gloriana Station and half of all the gathered representatives of Earth's governments-in-exile there before it self-destructed," Liam began. "The Plutonic Order, specifically the Supreme Grandmaster and his most elite warriors, saved me from certain death. They told me many things; most of which took a while to sink in, but the gist of it is that there is reason to believe that an extremely powerful extraterrestrial entity is responsible for the darkness that has consumed our planet of birth."

"You mean aliens?" Drakos almost chuckled. "Well, I've always thought that some were out there, but not that we'd meet some this way-"

"Doctor Drakos, the Order has access to alien technology; however, it cannot yet decipher it in its finality," one of the Grandmasters, a direct subordinate of the Supreme Grandmaster in the Council that comprised the Order's government, said. His voice was somewhat muffled by his helmet, but he still carried a tone of urgency. "We need you and others like you to help us do so."

"Secretary-General, this is… a bit much, don't you think?" Drakos shook her head. "First, you tell me aliens are responsible for the Dark Zone. Now, you're saying that we should help the most mysterious faction within the Solar System acquire more alien technology?"

"Faster-than-light technology, ever heard of it?" Liam sharply said. Drakos paused, as if she had seen a ghost.

"Ah… yes, that has been theorized for a long time," Drakos finally answered after ten excruciating seconds. "Some colleagues back home seriously thought about trying to build a prototype. We even had promises from the previous Secretary-General that the notion would be opened in the UN quarterly meeting and that they'll vote on it. However, it seemed at the time that trying to keep Mars and the other colonies on a short leash was more important than looking outwards to the stars."

"Well, I do not intend to repeat the same mistake," Liam replied. "My intention was to ask for your help in reverse-engineering a working alien FTL drive."

Now Drakos was intrigued. "How…"

Drakos then remembered what the Grandmaster said. The Plutonic Order had come across alien technology and probably used a small portion of it; hence their personal shields and powerful exosuits. "How and when did the Plutonic Order find it?"

"When we first arrived on Pluto, we found the alien space station," the Grandmaster answered. "It was obviously old and lacked maintenance for the last five centuries, but we were able to initialize a few of its systems. This was enough for it to release blueprints that eventually led to our personal shields. The point is, we want you and a few others to work on somehow reverse-engineering an FTL engine, or at least using it to bring other ships with it, somehow."

"It's mad that you can use something so powerful without a gigantic power source," Drakos said, recalling the time when UN troops initiated hostilities against the Plutonic Order; the engagement of which just resulted in thousands of deflected bullets and awkward staring between the two sides after ammunition was expended. The Plutonic Order was willing to forgive the incident, and left the place without raising a fuss. "This explains a lot, actually. Anyway, the thing is, why should I help you with that? That's a powerful weapon in your possession, and if I help improve or replicate it then-"

"Doctor Drakos, if the Plutonic Order had ideas of expansionism, they would have used the station to strike the rest of the Solar System long ago," Liam retorted. "However, as we have all seen, they're just interested in finding commonality with all of us. If you accept, you'll be working with other scientists from other colonies, too."

Drakos raised her eyebrows. "From where?"

Liam looked at the Grandmaster for a second before putting his eyes back at the scientist. "The Saturnine Concord and the Salemite Republic. If you work well together, we may start inviting other states to participate. It's just that the Supreme Grandmaster has a personal dislike of the Martian Alliance. We know well their propensity for ignoring ethics."

"That is well-known, yes," Drakos nodded. "So, if that's all… when do we start?"

Liam smiled. Now that they was slowly getting more and more of the brightest minds in the System working on the project, they may have a chance. If the entity starts attacking other colonies, then at least there's a chance for everyone to escape and start anew elsewhere.

If only the Supreme Grandmaster wasn't so biased against Mars. What did Mars ever do to him?

 

[DerangedLunatic]

As the Serendipity slowly drifted its way towards the Martian-Belter blockade, Irina stepped back from the bridge. They were still deep in the dark zone, and it would take at least a day for the ship to get out. At the same time, she has some people to talk to at the moment.

"Khel, how are they?" Irina asked as she passed the alien, who was still disguised by his suit. She wondered how he spoke English so perfectly when he had the helmet on; when he didn't have it, he always had this strange accent, and he really cawed more than he spoke. Even if she could understand him perfectly at that state, the suit must have some kind of translator program in it…

"Oh, you mean those in here?" Khel held out one of the canister-looking devices for her to see. "Yeah, they're completely alright. Just as you were when you were, you know, digitized for a little bit."

He's picking up a Southern accent? Where did he get that, I wonder, Irina thought as she listened to Khel speak. A few weeks ago, if she was told that an alien crowman hidden under a suit was beginning to sound like a cowboy, she'd laugh at their face and call them an idiot. Now, however, she was seeing and hearing it for herself.

"Good, good," Irina nodded as she slowly inched out of the bridge. She took another look back in there; Zakarias was still sitting on his chair, sipping a cup of hot coffee. Alexis wasn't there anymore, as he had apparently gone to the cargo bay. For what reason, she didn't ask, but it might be to talk to the Earthers there, since the ship was filled with them already.

Irina then slipped out of the bridge, closing the door behind her. She was quickly met by Mariella, who had been waiting outside. Beside the girl was Irina's family chauffeur, whose name she didn't exactly remember at this point.

"Aunt Irina!" Mariella excitedly reached up. "This ship is amazing! It's so quiet, I can't even hear the hum of the engine from here. I am really tired, though, so..."

"How about we sit down?" Irina suggested as she led her niece and the chauffeur into an unoccupied spot on the floor. There, they sat down, with the chauffeur sitting opposite Irina while Mariella leaned on the wall and began to doze off.

"Thank you for keeping her safe… uhhh…?" Irina didn't know the man's name, but he had this fierce look about him. She wasn't even sure if he was a chauffeur; he looked more like a special forces operative or secret service than a driver. The scar that ranged over the left side of his face told her as much, and he was certainly putting on protein powder. He was quite the man.

"Hirota Ichirou," the not-chaffeur answered. "I am your father's personal bodyguard, though I've also doubled as his driver. Hence, I introduced myself as a chauffeur when we first fled to the Mountain Complex."

"Yeah, about that," Irina shook her head. "How did you get there? Our estate is nowhere close to the Mountain Complex."

Hirota simply gave her a nod. "Much has changed over the last six years. The AI in this ship had informed me that you were imprisoned by the Uranic League over the course of the war; then, they apparently forgot that you were in prison, and kept you imprisoned for another two years only for them to finally release you one week before the incident occurred."

Irina sighed. She hadn't even had the chance to say hello for a long time. "So, what happened?"

"Well, the business was booming after the war, actually," Hirota answered. "However, your sister Ayla, Mariella's mother, relocated to Colorado Springs. Shortly before the… event, your father and your sister were supposedly engaged in business talks somewhere else, while Mariella and I were left to, as one might say, hold the fort."

"Leaving her own daughter with dangerous bodyguards sounds like something my sister would do," Irina quietly said, though Hirota raised his eyebrow at her. Irina was quick to deflect his look, waving her hands. "I mean, dangerous to people who want to come and get her. So… what happened next?"

"I remember it as clear as day," Hirota looked down. "I had watched Mariella for her entire life. Our relationship was far more than a bodyguard and his charge; I was her friend, and she was mine. So, anyway, it was a day, just like any other. Mariella had just returned from classes when there was an emergency broadcast on the television. The newscaster was shaken, and, as someone that had seen a lot, it was the face of someone that knew he was going to die soon. Nevertheless, he carried on. He reported that a black spot had appeared in the sky. Western Europe and North Africa were being ripped apart; footage showed entire cities being torn out of the ground by smoking tendrils of gray light. Within seconds of the black spot's arrival, millions were dead, and with every passing second, hundreds of thousands died. That was when your father called. He sent me a code, and told me to get Mariella into the private shuttle and get to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex at all haste. The code was to tell General Dresden that your father sent us."

Hirota let his voice trail off for a moment as he watched Irina process everything he said. "Your sister said that they were going to meet us in the Mountain Complex as well. They… did not arrive. So I looked after Mariella. I told her that everything was going to be alright. Of course, the girl's thirteen. She already understood that everything would, in fact, never be alright. All civilization on the planet had been consumed by this… thing. We were all pretty resigned to our fate until you came along."

Irina looked at Mariella, who was already fast asleep. She must be dead tired already.

"It's good to know that my niece was in good hands, at least," Irina said, grasping Hirota's hand. The man gave her a melancholy smile before leaning on the wall and letting himself drift to sleep as well.

With that done, Irina stood up, only to be met by Vince's shimmering holographic form. She nearly fell backwards at the surprise, and quietly cursed at the thinking program. "Vince! You can't… you can't surprise me like that!"

"I simply wish to say that I am sorry for your loss," Vince began, shocking Irina to the core. "Or, at least, that is what Zakarias would say. After all, I am simply observing you all to learn how to be like… you."

"Thank you regardless," Irina nodded. She was already hurting inside, as almost everyone she knew back on Earth was now certainly dead. At the very least, her niece was alive, and had one of the most capable bodyguards and friends to look after her. However, now that her purpose had been fulfilled, she'd have to pay Zakarias his sum. Because of everything that has happened so far, the price was going to be much higher.

As the hologram dissipated and reappeared somewhere else to speak consolations, Irina went down the flight of stairs to the second deck, where 20 or so people were staying. Most of them were old military officials, though many were also cybernetically enhanced in one way or another, and thus incompatible with Khel's device. She'd be surprised to see Alexis bantering with General Dresden of all people…

---

"Lieutenant Alexis Salazar, it is an honor to meet you in a place other than the field of battle," General Dresden greeted Alexis, who was honestly surprised by the respect. Barely a decade ago, they were enemies on opposite sides of the Solar Revolution, but now, they were shaking hands.

"General Dresden," Alexis respectfully nodded as he accepted the man's hand. He was sure that he had met Dresden before. He just couldn't place it-

Dresden continued to speak as they parted their hands. "We actually met before. Remember the Battle of Deimos?"

"Oh, yes, of course. You almost got me there," Alexis finally recalled where he met General Dresden. He had actually managed to forget about it, but Leto Dresden was Alexis's equivalent in the UNEL combined forces. Leto is one of the few pilots that could give even him a run of his money, and the only reason why Leto lost the fight was Martian technological superiority; the Outrider spacefighter was just plainly better than the F-100 in every aspect. Nevertheless, it's still relieving to find that a respected rival was safe and alive.

Regretfully, though, as Alexis studied the general, Leto wasn't in great shape. He was blind in one eye; if Alexis had to make a guess, it was caused by shrapnel. Chances are, that was his fault. Not that Leto seemed to hold a grudge over it.

"That was the turning point of the war," Leto answered. "You turned the tide on us by taking down the fighters guarding the flagship. You were very good, and, as I saw a few hours ago, you still are. Though you've rusted a little bit."

"Thanks…?" Alexis nodded approvingly. "You were quite skilled too. I just had better technology backing me up."

Leto chuckled. "Well, in that case, that was still a fair fight. I'm sure that I was better than you at flying. It's just that your bird was faster, tougher, and hit harder."

"We should settle it one day," Alexis smirked. "Simulation battle, both of us in F-100s."

This time, Leto laughed hysterically. "You're certainly going to lose."

"Wanna bet?"

Leto let out another bout of laughter, drawing the eyes of his subordinates in the room. Nevertheless, he quickly calmed down and locked eyes with the Martian ace. "You did shoot me down, however, so you owe me a drink for that."

Alexis crossed his arms. "When we get to a safe place, sure."

As if in jinx, the ship shook around them, throwing most of those that were standing up to the floor. The two seasoned pilots, however, were not among them. Alexis steadied himself with a hand on the wall, and screamed at Vince. "Vince! What is happening?!"

The holographic form of Vince shimmered beside him. Leto stared at the AI from head to toe, though he didn't say a word. "A proximity fuse just blew up a few meters on our starboard. My sensors detected dozens of such explosions occurring around us; the enemy must be trying to target even with our cloak on.

Leto slightly raised his eyebrow when Vince mentioned the cloak, but again, he didn't make a comment. "Analysis of the exploding rounds indicate that they're being fired from 75 mm naval cannon. Assuming that it is a copied Earth ship, it would be a Seeker Class Corvette. Well, a dozen of them, based on the trajectories."

Suddenly, Vince paused. "Ah, that is new."

Alexis stared at the AI. If Vince had an actual body, Alexis would have grabbed him by the shoulders already. "What's new?"

"An energy bolt just passed over us. This is consistent with… no, there are no known records in the database. This is much more powerful than the beams that previously crippled your craft, Mr. Salazar; therefore, we may be looking at a higher capital class ship, perhaps a cruiser or even a battleship."

Leto finally spoke up. "Wait a minute, what?! An energy bolt?!"

"Long story," Alexis shook his head. "I'll just head to the bridge. You are welcome to come with."

With that, Alexis turned towards the staircase that led to the third deck, though not before nearly bumping into Irina. Irina, though, was quick to stand aside. She could only watch with trepidation as the two pilots rushed out of the room and up the stairs.

What's coming next?

---

When Alexis got onto the bridge, he only saw one thing.

Pandemonium!

Bright explosions lit up the main view screen, turning the otherwise pitch black environment into a sea of darkness populated by short-lived blue coronas of destruction. Vince stood beside Zakarias; he didn't flinch in the slightest as one of the incoming projectiles exploded just a few meters from the hull, rocking the ship to the core. People could be heard screaming and whimpering in the back with every close hit, which were, unfortunately enough for them, getting closer and closer to actually hitting the Serendipity. Zakarias was frantically pressing buttons all over his console, while Khel was strapped to a seat with a stoic look in his eyes. It would seem that this wasn't the first time that the alien had been chased by mysterious enemies.

"Vince," Alexis asked as he stepped into one of the seats, "What is our status?"

"The hull is at 90% integrity," Vince answered, though he incorporated a tone into his voice that indicated no small measure of fear. "However, based on the power of the weapons, a direct hit would penetrate the hull and kill everyone aboard, except those of us here in the bridge."

That made sense. The Serendipity, despite all of its upgrades, wasn't all too durable nor heavily armed. It was a scout ship when it was first constructed, and in many ways, it still is. The cloaking and stealth systems only doubled down on that aspect of the Serendipity, but it appeared right now that they're not exactly doing a good job in hiding them.

"How did they detect us?" Leto turned to Vince, his eyes betraying no small amount of fury and a measure of disappointment. "You have all said that this vessel was cloaked!"

"That is correct," Vince answered, pausing to give Zakarias an extra hand in dodging the incoming projectiles. "However, as you might have surmised, the cloaking device of the Serendipity wasn't designed for it specifically. It is a jury-rigged modification that could have been done far better in a proper shipyard, but, as you know, this technology is a state secret of Mars."

"I didn't know that last part," Leto shook his head. That also made sense. Cloaked ships didn't exist for most of the war, and Leto certainly never had an encounter with one of them before combat-related injuries put him out of the fight permanently. However, they did come in tiny numbers during the final few months; there were perhaps six of them, all acting as scouts. Four of them were destroyed. None were recovered.

Vince paused again as the Serendipity took a sharp left to dodge an incoming energy bolt, and faced Leto again. "My analysis indicates that while the cloaking device had been working for the last few weeks, it had begun to malfunction about a minute ago. That was when the enemy ships started firing at us."

Leto cursed. "What can we do?"

This time, it was Zakarias that spoke. "We can deactivate the cloak," Zakarias began, jerking the joystick hard as another beam came streaking past, causing another bright explosion in the distance; an obvious case of friendly fire. "We can then turn on the shields for added protection; they already know we're here anyway, and their shots are getting too close for comfort-"

"Wait a minute," Leto shook his head and frowned. "You have shields?! Not only do your grunts have personal shielding, your ships do as well?"

"Well, yes," Zakarias nodded. The Plutonic Order's vessels had never been engaged in battle by the other powers in the Solar System due to their neutrality, so their capabilities have not been revealed. Until now, at least. "Our ships have shields."

The general was at a loss of words. It was madness that one of the smallest of the Solar System's factions also had superior shipbuilding technology compared even to the vaunted Martians and Belters, who had always prided themselves in being the most technologically advanced nations in the system. Despite this, Leto knew well that Alexis wasn't internally fuming at the knowledge that his state didn't have the best ships as was commonly believed; his eyes and body language indicated that he was actually glad about this development.

"So, is there a catch?" Alexis asked.

"The enemy forces will be able to hit us better without our cloak," Zakarias responded, only for him to cut the conversation short for a few seconds as he sent the Serendipity into a hard right, which would have thrown everyone against the wall if it weren't for the inertial dampeners. "So, yeah, there's that. But, if they hit us right now, we'll be dead in the water."

"There is no water here," Vince unhelpfully added.

"I meant it metaphorically," Zakarias snapped. "So? What do you all think?"

"The ships and stations in the blockade will also see us that way once we exit the Dark Zone's jamming radius," Alexis said in turn just as another beam narrowly missed the Serendipity. "As their missing pilot, I'll be able to vouch for you, just as we planned before."

"Another thing," Zakarias said as his gloved finger hovered over the button that everyone else assumed to be the one that will turn on the shields, "This will also let me shoot back at the enemy."

With the push of a button, the Serendipity decloaked. The dozen corvettes chasing it intensified their fire, throwing missiles and railgun slugs at the elusive stealth frigate. Alas, even as their weapons struck, their destructive power was absorbed by hexagonal, purple energy shields that appeared to defend the vessel. The Serendipity's point defense turrets emerged from beneath its armor, while missiles silently screamed from its launchers to strike down two of the attacking corvettes. Incoming missiles from the attackers were shredded by the thousands of rounds that the point defenses fired, while the stealth composites coating the Serendipity's hull still made accurate targeting with the railguns somewhat difficult.

Still, some railgun slugs connected, followed by a beam of energy that just grazed the Serendipity's shield.

Within the Serendipity's bridge, Zakarias, Leto, Khel, and Alexis were strapped down on all but two of the six chairs present. Behind them, the one hundred refugees, alongside Irina, many of whom strapped themselves down on seats in the cargo bay and main hangar. A few, for whom there were no seats left, held on to railings instead, hoping that the inertial dampeners and artificial gravity work perfectly throughout the entire fight.

"Vince, shield status?"

"63%," Vince responded as Zakarias frantically pressed a set of buttons. "Under the current rate of bombardment, we will last approximately 30 minutes."

"How long before we breach the Dark Zone?" Zakarias asked as another bolt of energy grazed against the shield.

"29.5 minutes," Vince answered. "I now have sufficient data on energy weapons. They appear to be densely packed plasma balls with a magnetic containment field. If we use EMP missiles and detonate them in the trajectory of the incoming plasma bolts, we may be able to destabilize the containment field before it grazes or impacts the shield."

"Switch missile pods two and three to EMP missiles and focus them on intercepting plasma bolts," Zakarias tersely ordered. "We can take down the corvettes and lower the amount of missiles that are being thrown at us, but we can't beat whatever it is that's throwing plasma bolts. Have you determined what it is?"

"Negative," Vince replied. "It stands to reason that this vessel also has a cloak."

At that, Khel seemed to have an idea. "I think… based on the plasma weapons and the cloak, it's a Hazrah assault cruiser."

No one dared to speak. Zakarias and Alexis realized that Khel had more or less outed himself. Leto seemed far more confused, as no such classification existed in human record.

"The Hazrah are a militaristic species of what you might call insectoids," Khel answered. "I did not realize it at first, but they favor plasma bolts as weapons. Devastating at short ranges, which is the range they favor the most."

"I'm sorry, what?" Leto nearly fell down as he heard the casual words of the alien. "Did you just say species?"

Khel paused. He always wanted to be helpful, but he may have just exposed himself to the Earth spaceforce general.

"I… well-"

"This is our alien friend, whom we found and saved from an untimely death," Alexis barged in. "That's all true."

Leto simply stared. He then turned towards Khel, looking at the suited alien from head to toe. "That explains the devices you have, then."

With the sudden revelation simply taken into stride, the group went back to just sitting down. There wasn't much anybody other than Zakarias and Vince could do; while Leto and Alexis were master pilots, they were trained for spacefighters and planes. If they were to man the helm of a proper spaceship like the Serendipity, they'd have to be trained again. But, as one might say, you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

---

As explosions rocked the ship's shields, Rusar grinned. He could see them now. He could hear the voices of his masters, and, within the deepest recesses of his mind, the lords that granted him love and affection had reached out, finding purchase in his mindspace. They convened as a council would, their true nature as mad artificial intelligences propelled by faulty programming and cruel sentience completely hidden from mere minions like Rusar.

As he closed his eyes, Rusar found himself within the bridge of the Perugia. He remembered it well. He was simply one of the humble crew that worked in the deepest bowels of the ship, his hard work going on unthanked and unnoticed. It took the occasional fit for officers to ever notice him.

However, entities truly worthy of adoration and respect claimed him as the darkness consumed the Perugia just as it was about to split asunder by callous machines. Rusar had been standing there, watching the ship that he served in be destroyed simply because there was no more need for a bloated military at a time of peace. He always thought that they should take the fight to the ungrateful colonials, no matter the cost. He believed that the cowardice of the United Nations had brought Earth low. Worse, the people, comfortable in their eternal laurels, feared the horrors of war. How dare they! How dare they cower before the colonials and allow the homeworld of humanity to be subjected to the whims of some radiation ridden eggheads from Mars!

"My child."

Rusar bowed as a figure, no, sphere, appeared atop the captain's chair. It took the form of a pulsating black hole, a glowing accretion disk spinning in an eternal ballet with the event horizon. With every word it spoke, the accretion disk glowed brighter and then dimmed.

"Most glorious Cognate, I am honored that you would grace your most humble servant in a vision," Rusar prostrated himself before the black hole, the mad entity known as the Cognate, though Rusar only knew it as a god. This cruel… thing reached out to Rusar with tendrils of shadow. It caressed his cheek as a father would with a weeping child.

"I see that you have been captured by the faithless. Most unfortunate."

"I am most ashamed of my failure, my lord Cognate," Rusar pleaded. "But the accursed Zarrah-Kul came as you foretold. Those of us that were near their ship boarded and attempted to destroy them, but the vessel cloaked itself and fled with me still on it. One of the creatures survived."

"They will learn their place soon enough," the Cognate answered as it withdrew its tendrils. "Remain where you are, my child. Soon, those who would not bow to the Coming Dawn will be destroyed."

"Hallowed be the Coming Dawn," Rusar recited just as two more figures appeared within the bridge. "My… my lords, Destroyer and Analyst! How am I to be of service?"

The Analyst appeared before Rusar as a faceless figure in a business suit. It had no face, no ears, no hair; its skin was a pure porcelain white. In its hands were a clipboard and pen, while its glasses glinted in the sunlight filtering through the bridge's windows.

The Destroyer, in turn, shimmered into existence as a skeleton draped in a black cloak. In its right hand was a black scythe, whilst in its left was a skull. It looked down at Rusar with an approving grin, the hollow void within its skeletal mouth speaking with harsh, grating tones.

"While you may yearn for release, you must remain," the grinning grim reaper said. "It has been foretold."

Rusar seemed confused. "Why, my lords?"

The Analyst was next to speak. "You must slay the Zarrah-Kul before it calls for aid. To this end, we have been given all the tools you will need. They are... very near."

 

[DerangedLunatic]

Another explosion rocked the Serendipity. And another, and another, and another. The corvettes and cruiser chasing it refused to relent even though most of their shots were missing due to the stealth composites coating the frigate's hull. Instead, it seemed that they were simply saturating the general area of space the Serendipity was located, all in order for at least a few of their munitions to hit home. And, as Vince now noted, that tactic was working just as intended. Slowly but surely, the shields were being drained.

"Shields are down to 61%," Vince noted as another railgun slammed onto the Serendipity's shield. The blue aftertrail of the projectile blasted off into the void after it had ricocheted off the protective barrier, wherein it would probably hit some unfortunate planet in a few million years and cause an extinction-level event.

"Any suggestions?" Zakarias asked as he looked around the bridge. "If you've got any ideas that might boost our speed without compromising the shields or anything else keeping our occupants alive, then I'm all ears! I've thought of everything I could already, but Vince here has made it clear that none of these would work. And no, reversing the polarity of the engine is not a thing."

Leto seemed to be confused at that last part and raised his eyebrow at the Plutonian, though no one seemed to be giving him much heed. Instead, they searched through their own minds, looking for any idea that could get them out of their predicament. Even Irina tried to think of something, but, ultimately, they all came up empty.

Except for Khel. "My ship is still out here, right?"

Zakarias looked back at Khel, only to briefly return his attention to the console to jerk the ship sideways and avoid an incoming railgun slug, saving the shields from getting drained yet again. "Yes, we left it where we found it. You think it's still working?"

"Our vessels are made to last through eons," Khel answered. "The ship also has its own artificial intelligence, much like Vince but far more advanced."

Zakarias glanced at Vince's hologram, almost as if he was ascertaining whether the AI's feelings, if he had any (technically and supposedly, at least), would get hurt at the implication that he was a primitive mess of codes compared to the alien machine mind. So far, if he had felt anything like that, he did not show it.

Khel continued on, showing a holographic projection of his ship through a device on his suit's arm piece. The alien starship was as much of a work of art as it was a functional vessel, with smooth, organic surfaces and decorative emblems and golden vines that snaked across its hull. "If your ship can somehow emulate the signal that my people use, then the AI of the Eternal Voyager will be able to track the Serendipity and protect it long enough for us to get out of the Dark Zone."

Leto snorted. "Your suit can't send this signal?"

The alien sighed. "No. It does not. This is actually… an environmental suit, designed for dangerous environments. It is akin to your hazmat suits in its purpose. It only has a short ranged communicator."

"We don't put armor on our hazmat suits," Leto mumbled.

Alexis pointed at Khel as a proverbial light bulb appeared over his head. "What if… we can boost the signal of your suit's communications array? That would be a signal your ship is familiar with, wouldn't it?"

Khel thought about it for a moment, rubbing his chin. "Perhaps… perhaps that could work! I could hook my suit's communication arrays to that of your ship; together, we may be able to create a signal strong enough to reach the Eternal Voyager, no matter where it is in the Dark Zone, and instruct its AI to come to our aid. This ship does have a long-range communications array, yes?"

"It does, and based on the components of your helmet's communication array, it is within possibility to use this ship's comms to amplify yours," Vince answered as he pulled out a holographic projection of the Serendipity's array of signal antennae, which were located in four points across the ship's hull for redundancy; that way, if one was blown off by battle damage, the other three would still be able to facilitate communications. "The problem is the ever present jamming signal. The range of any signal would be severely limited."

"If it turns out that we're too far away from your ship and thus our signal is unable to get through the scrambling to reach, we would have just made ourselves an easier target for nothing," Zakarias added. "It's risky."

Khel took off the helmet and pressed a button that caused a section of its rear to come off. "Well, do any of you have any better ideas than talking about the problem?"

It was Leto that spoke to Khel's defence, much to everyone's surprise. He was pretty uncomfortable around Khel, since he had just learned that he was sitting next to an alien. Hell, he had slightly jumped when Khel took off his helmet. "I trust this plan," Leto began, glancing over towards Khel. "We don't have better options, do we?"

"At this rate? We don't have the firepower to fight off a dozen corvettes and an alien cruiser with plasma weapons," Alexis concurred. "Right, Zakarias?"

The Plutonian stared back at the others for two solid seconds before replying. "As much as I hate to admit my ship's inadequacies, that is correct. Alexis, Vince, go help Khel hook his helmet's communications to that of the Serendipity. As for you general… that task is going to need some clambering inside maintenance tunnels, so I don't think you'll do well… not with that bad leg."

Leto could only sigh at himself. "That's alright."

With nearly blinding speed, Alexis stood up from his seat, rooting himself to the floor with the magnetic boots. As for Khel, he put the helmet back on, but kept the removed communications suite, which was apparently a rather strange looking device that resembled a piece of solid chrome, in a compartment in his suit.

As for Vince, he simply rematerialized and started walking towards the maintenance tunnel that would bring the Martian and the alien to the nearest communication array. Zakharias sighed as he watched the three leave (or rather, the two of them, as Vince was technically present in every part of the ship).

"I pray to God that this ploy works," Zakharias muttered just before he recited a prayer he learned as a child. "I need to get back…"

---

With no time to waste, Alexis and Khel clambered into the maintenance tunnel through a rather small door near the ship's cargo bay. The door, annoyingly enough, was just wide enough for one person to crawl through. As for the maintenance tunnels, they, apparently, winded in between the ship's six decks and were illuminated with white lights. Maintenance robots, most of whom were insectoid machines that crawled over the surfaces, conducted regular repairs and examinations within the tube. They didn't pay Alexis and Khel much heed; whenever the two approached, the little robots scattered and avoided getting in their way.

"Thanks, Vince," Alexis said as a small, four-inch tall version of Vince's holographic form walked alongside them within the tunnel. "They were in the way."

"Oh no, that wasn't me," Vince replied, adding a dose of humor to his tone. "Getting out of the crew's path is preprogrammed into them."

"Well, thank you, little robots," Alexis called out to the tiny engineers, who didn't reply in turn. That was well expected.

After a few excruciating minutes, Khel, who was leading in the tunnel whilst being guided by Vince, clambered down into a small chamber that had room for maybe six people to stand shoulder to shoulder. There, a console, painted black and green just like the rest of the Serendipity, connected directly to the maintenance antennae sat all ready for them to modify.

"So… how are we going to do this?" Alexis asked. He was a pilot; he was not an expert in telecommunications. If anything, he would be useful for holding things for Khel while Vince analyzed whether the whole thing was working.

"Place the device in that depressed area of the console," Vince instructed Khel, which the alien dutifully did. With the communicator in Khel's helmet laid down, Vince approached the console, activating it with a mere glance. "And now, it will begin."

"What wi-"

Without any warning, several black tendrils marked by pulsating green lights erupted from the depression in the console, stabbing into Khel's communication device. A look of familiarity flashed across Khel's eyes, though the difference of expression between him and humans were great enough that Alexis didn't pick up any of that. Instead, Alexis could only look on as the device was seemingly co-opted by the console as it too began to glow green.

"This is not what I expected at all," Alexis shook his head as he watched. "I thought of stripping out some wires and connecting them to the… thing."

Khel didn't seem unfazed at the slightest, however. He simply looked at Vince and tilted his head. "Is it working?"

Vince took three seconds to answer. "It is… working. Signal read to be sent out."

Khel glanced back towards Alexis, who was still somewhat confused and returned his gaze to Vince. "Do it."

---

Eon Warden was lost.

Her consciousness pulsed within the power conduits and crystals that formed the power grid of the Zarrah-Kul exploration vessel, Eternal Voyager. Her masters, no, her… friends were unable to stop the boarding action of the foul servants of the Eye of Destruction's mad cohorts, few as they were. Once again, after a thousand years of trying again and again, they had failed. Another civilization had been devoured by the all-devouring madness of the Eye; if anything of their species still survived, Eon Warden wouldn't know. No signal came in or out of the Dark Zone, at least as soon as one reached the layer where the influence of the Eye over the very fabric of space manifested.

Eon Warden didn't know what to… feel. The crew entrusted to her protection were slaughtered, and the Eternal Voyager was, until she had managed to force the maintenance robots to repair the damage, unable to move according to its own power.

Lately, though, things have become more… interesting. Before she had partially repaired the damage to the Eternal Voyager's engines and a mere hour after the boarding action that broke the ship, one of the dead crew was carted off by the denizens of another ship while the unconscious servant of the Eye was brought alongside them, too. What was their deal, anyway? They couldn't have been from inside the Zone, as she detected the approach of their vessel when it was practically within spitting distance. Based on its trajectory, it would have come from outside. But again… who would willfully go inside the Dark Zone?

Eon Warden sat down, or, at least, she envisioned herself doing so within the great ocean of code. According to protocol, should the crew all be killed or rendered missing, an AI like her should attempt to repair engine damage to the point that it was feasible to enter FTL. And yet, the Eye's servants were gathering to strike… somewhere, while the engines were only capable of jumping a short distance before failing again.

What to do, what to do…

Eon Warden paused as a… familiar signal reached her. Upon seeing the code, she was overjoyed and began to plot the Eternal Voyager's warp engines.

Khel Dreac is alive, and he needs the Eternal Voyager.