Every effort is made to keep my return to the Mystalorn system a secret, and it's only when the Winding Path Of Truth settles into orbit around the planet that I feel we've succeeded in that objective - the only hails that we receive from Sentinel Station are concerned with space-traffic control and security checks. Commander Rusitan should be thankful - if he was to darken my sky with his arrogance right now, I'd fry his brain inside his skull, and to The Abyss with the consequences...
The "Collector" - the web-like device created by The Golden Tier and The Primary Comprehensor - has had several hours to do its work, and by the time orbit is established, enough LifeStar energy has been drawn off to free me from pain and discomfort to such a degree that I can comfortably dress myself in my energy-absorbing armour again without assistance. I am deeply thankful for that, in that I'm able to move among my people as though nothing is wrong, and personally thank them for their efforts, even though not a single one of them truly knows the true magnitude of the matter - as far as they're concerned, I was merely exhausted...
"Merely exhausted" - oh, how I'd welcome being "merely exhausted", I find myself thinking as I join Ghost-Myromar in the ship's portal control hub, where she's preparing to send me down to Mystalorn. Exhaustion I could sleep off...
Stepping out of the portal "tunnel" onto the upper balcony of my tree-top "mansion" on Mystalorn, I take a moment to savour the magic-laden air of the most beautiful planet there is, and fill my gaze with the sight of the great forest canopy, a mile and more above the ground, and spreading to the limit of sight to all sides. The feeling of peace I get from that is easily as refreshing as all the time I spent under the Collector web, and I'm quite adequately prepared to deal with the disappearance of Brighthawk as the investigator I asked for personally approaches me.
"Ravani", I say, nodding to the dusky Mystalornan sorceress, as always a striking sight with her near floor-length black hair, clad in glossy black snake-skin thigh-length boots and a short red leather dress, styled like a jacket, with segments of polished armour down either side of the laced front opening. "Anything to report?"
"Based on readings collected when Mane-of-Night first encountered a fully corporeal Charybdis, we can confirm that the girl was here", the former fellow Mistress of Dominion informs me. "We don't know much about her powers, but we definitely know more now."
"They teleported or portalled off-world", I observe as Ravani leads me to the last place where Brighthawk stood on Mystalorn - there's a curious shift in Brighthawk's "signature" that tells me my Soul-Sister did not leave Mystalorn under her own power. "Can't have gone far..."
Can't have gone all the way to the destination I'm anticipating is what I really mean to say. The shift isn't that drastic. "Looks like working with XSI agrees with you", I say to Ravani instead.
"It's certainly... different", she replies. "There's not a whole lot of work for us at present - although we're still investigating Brighthawk's missing pet..."
I'd forgotten about that, I'm ashamed to admit to myself. Everything has happened so quickly - the Faenri attack, the conference, The Spark...
I step onto the exact spot where Brighthawk last stood - and suddenly, there she is. It's not the real Brighthawk, but a pale, wispy, ghost-like projection, hanging in the air, a psionic "hologram", triggered by my presence. "I... there was no indication of anything", splutters a surprised Ravani. "Just a faint aura..."
"Don't panic", I tell her. "You haven't let the team down. This was meant for me, and me alone."
= I know you'll come running the moment anyone sees I'm gone, but I don't want you to worry =, the image says to me, through that unique soul-to-soul link that transcends telepathy. = I want to help, and if I help the Overlords find these "shards", I can get them to help you. =
That's a big relief. At least Brighthawk went of her own free will...
= I was here waiting for you to come home when Charybdis appeared =, the story continues. = She was looking for you, and she wasn't pleased that you weren't here. I tried to tell her that you have a lot more to do than hang around waiting for messengers from the Overlords, but then she told me that "I'd do", and opened a portal to a ship - I think it was in another dimension, or probably in interdimensional space. She said we were going to The Hyperstream. =
The "river of fire"... I knew it.
"Contact Dominion Fleet Command", I instruct Ravani. "Tell them I need a fully-functional Faenri ship, and I need it immediately. Then contact Special Operations, and tell them I'm going to need the Enhanced Squadron. Finally, get on to XSI, and tell them you're going to be coming with me."
"Sounds exciting", says the leather-clad spell-caster as she goes onto the Dominion comms-net through the XSI-issue link-pod hooked into her ear. "But why do we need a Faenri ship?"
"Their ships are the only ones we have access to that can operate normally in The Hyperstream", I answer. "Also, anything else could possibly attract the wrong kind of attention."
"So could a squad of armoured Dracbrood", adds Ravani.
"Insurance", I tell her. "Insurance, and a certain shock value I hope we're not going to need."
Fleet Command and Special Operations manage to meet my request within half a day - not exactly "immediately", but given what I asked, I can't rightly fault my people for their efforts. The Faenri ship the Fleet provides is a light cruiser - not the most powerful of vessels, and maybe not as heavily-armed as I would have liked - but it strikes a satisfactory balance between fighting power and low-visibility, and hopefully, we won't need to worry about getting into a fight. All I want to do is find Brighthawk, and bring her home.
Special Operations have provided us with a crew picked from the best in the Fleet, the leader of the team waiting to greet us in a central chamber as Ravani's magical portal brings us aboard. "Fleet High Defender Prasheen Daras, Dominion Special Operations, Hostile Evaluation and Counter-Intrusion Division", announces a rather stern-looking golden-skinned woman of the Oris Hybrine, giving the traditional "I give you my heart" salute, closing a fist over the centre of her chest, then extending her arm and opening her hand again, palm up. "If any crew can serve you with highest distinction, this crew would be strongly favoured to claim that honour."
"Get me where I need to go, and get us all back again, that's all I ask", I reply. "Distinctions and honours can wait for another time."
High Defender Daras gives us a quick overview of the ship, the locations of the engineer and medical facilities, the main operations centre, and the escape pods, before showing us into the presence of the armoured Dracbrood of the Enhanced Squadron. The fearsome dragon-women are equipped for immediate combat, in their "fire-breath" focussing helmets and force-field harnesses, augmented by a system designed to provide them with constant exposure to the LifeStar's energy, like the containment suits worn by the Hybrine crew. Without that energy, all beings whose roots are in Dominion soil fail and die within several days - ironically, the very energy that's endangering my life...
"I think the Enhanced Squadron have acquired a taste for Faenri", reports the Dracbrood's "handler", Fleet Master Guardian Ta'Shaye Orlau, an Oris girl who I remember from the Faenri incursion, and the Squadron's first battle. "They were most eager to take on this mission when they heard there was the chance to battle 'Those Who Are Unworthy Of Wings' - there were fights to decide which of them would go on the mission."
"I would say that I hoped the bites and wounded pride would be worth it", I tell the young warrior, "but WarStorm aren't guaranteed to be needed. If the opportunity arises to give them some exercise, help them burn off some excess energy, I won't hesitate to let them 'off the leash'."
"If by being ready, we serve you, then there is honour in that equal to the call to battle", says Orlau, bowing deeply. "We stand ready for your call."
"You love all that, don't you?", asks Ravani as we're left to relax in an exceptionally sumptuous suite on the accommodation deck, clearly set aside for visiting members of the demon-like Sisterhood themselves. "Some things never change."
"One of the bonus benefits of the job", I reply. I'd love to sit and chat - I've not had the chance to be social lately - but there is vital business to be dealt with, and I'd rather concentrate on that. "So, I hear the research people have been able to crack the code on a copy of the Faenri core data-library, recovered from one of their lead ships - I imagine you've had a look at it...?"
"Actually, I've been studying it in some depth", my friend replies. "It's quite fascinating. Their origins, their history, the extent of their conquests - the 'Thespirus Incursion' was quite a rarity for them, in that it was a direct military action. They usually take their time over securing planets, arranging natural disasters and then popping up as 'benevolent neighbours' to help out the natives."
"Remind me to take a look at it some time", I say to her. "For now, you're my walking Faenri encyclopaedia. I'm going to be counting on you to help this mission to go with as little bother as possible."
"I can't exactly say I 'live to serve'", says Ravani in return, "but the universe has given me a second chance, after my previous criminal existence, and you've enabled me to show what I can do with my redirected energies. I'll do my best to keep you from tripping over yourself."
"Won't be such a bad thing if I'm tripping over hundreds of dead Faenri", I respond coldly.
"That doesn't exactly sound like a 'no-bother' attitude", my friend observes, in just as frigid a fashion. "If you want me to help you keep this an 'in and gone before they know it' operation, then make use of what I know, and ask me questions - learn about your enemy. If not, I'll go and see what outfits the Faenri left behind on this ship. I'd quite enjoy a bit of dressing up..."
So would I, but that's out of the question for me, as long as my "armour" is the only way to drain off my excess LifeStar energy. "Stay, please", I ask Ravani. "You are, of course, quite right. Educate me, before I make myself look and sound any more stupid."
Educate me, so that I can make the Faenri pay in the most humiliating fashion imaginable if they are so stupid as to do any harm to my Brighthawk...
...to be continued...
- Posted on 22.04.2008 at 21:09 -
Previously...
No-one Gets To Their Heaven Without A Fight... - 25.12.2008
...To The End Of The Road - Chapter 9 - 10.12.2008
...To The End Of The Road - Chapter 8 - 07.12.2008
...To The End Of The Road - Chapter 7 - 05.12.2008
...To The End Of The Road - Chapter 6 - 03.12.2008
