Chapter 26

ARAZIS

“We are here today to honour our wonderful protector, our saviour, our salvation—Kadesh, the mother goddess and her bountiful Garden keeping us hidden from the evils of the Emissaries of Sajuuk.” The priest opened the Ceremony of Harvest dressed down in the ragged formerly white robes handed down from the times of the original prison convoy and the Sceptre of Life in his left hand and the Codex ad Ognitium, the holiest of scriptures known to all of Kadesh in his right.

Arazis Restona sat alone among the crowd chanting and praying to their idol. Her generation began to question their lore, even the accuracy of their history’s record. The great battles of old, the legends of the Gods—Tiamat the Destroyer and Kadesh the Giver of Life, ancient consorts once two of the three holy Lords of All along with Sajuuk, the Maker. Sajuuk the firstborn represented the male, and Kadesh the lastborn the female, whereas Tiamat the midborn both and neither. Once allied siblings, then broke apart into all out war across the Galaxy from end to end and unknown if further. Sajuuk fell to greed and pride over time and betrayed the Trinity. Tiamat and Kadesh banded together against their elder brother hoping to combine their powers and overcome his superiority. In their first encounter, Kadesh opened with an offer of diplomacy hoping for reason and sense to return to him. Before he gave an answer, he struck down Tiamat with a lethal blow shocking all witnesses. Tiamat, bleeding out essence and knowing his fate was soon to be set, grabbed his sister by the hand and formed the Sceptre’s red Crystal—Tiamat’s Heart. Contained within were the keys to his legions and all his might and magic. Having used his last ounce of strength, he stood tall, towering over the impish Sajuuk, and spat in his eye speaking no words as the life drained from his form.

Kadesh, tears pouring down her face, sneered Sajuuk’s way. “Your fate has been sealed now, elder one. Next time we meet may you pray for mercy at my knees.” And with that ultimate promise, retreated behind her guards and proceeded to Sajuuk’s most prized invention, the Star Forge. It was a megalithic structure he used to construct entire stellar systems one piece at a time including the star itself. With a single swift blow, grasping Tiamat’s heart tight, the Forge began to warp out of shape. Anger arose in her eyes making them turn as crimson as Tiamat’s shed blood, and pain—so much pain. With the added help from her rage, the Forge exploded into a fiery blast the likes of which was unmatched by any natural body. In the wake of this destruction was born her Garden. She signalled to all the Galaxy, “This is now my haven. All are welcome here where Sajuuk cannot reach.”

“And so,” the priest continued, “the birth of our bountiful nebula occurred. We dare not cross our Mother’s will. As is tradition, we are here today massed on the surface of the only land we are permitted to occupy. Colony Prime has stood as the centre of our coven for thousands of years and may it continue for thousands more. Cheers of agreement erupted from the crowd. “We must remain strong in the face of struggle. While Sajuuk himself cannot enter, his undead Emissaries may. We must be always ready to meet them should they come seeking vengeance. The Codex dictates this day to be inevitable. However fear not, for Kadesh has promised her children she would return to life on that day to lead us to victory over the Maker, awakening all of Tiamat’s legions at her side along with us.” And with the passage complete, closed the Codex and pounded the Sceptre dismissing the mass.

Arazis stood along with the crowd and started for the cathedral’s exit with the rest. Outside the walls, the star’s light shone bright. Her eyes took a moment to adjust. The white snowy landscape was littered with docking platforms for their ships. While Kadesh has allowed them to remain on Prime Colony, out of respect it is not a permanent home for their people. Their homes resided in the clouds above the sky. Looking up blocking out the star with her hand, she wondered of all the worlds beyond the Garden. Were there such thing even as undead Emissaries at all? Was their faith a lie? She had to wonder.

“Young one, it has been an eternity!” She turned to the familiar voice.

“Father Cial!” She jumped into an embrace. “Three cycles, if memory serves?”

“Around that yes,” he confirmed letting her go. “My, you have grown. How have you been? Do tell! I have the time if you do. Should we go for some lunch?”

“Of course! I know nothing here, though.”

“I know of a few places.”

Father Cial was more of a parent to her in childhood than her own father who seemed would never accept her as his own. His reasoning is he blamed her for his love’s death in childbirth. It was unfair, it was not as though she willed her own mother to die before ever hearing her voice. Father Cial, noticing her increase in bruising and bandaging over time, inquired one day to her in private. Feeling ashamed, she confided in him it was her father’s doing. Once Cial heard this travesty he had the man imprisoned for his crimes and took her in as his own.

“My child, you will thank me for this treat. Trust me, nothing compares to true consumables. Far better than any rations they’ve been feeding you.” She smiled, and followed.

Once sat at a table with their order nearly complete, they got into the long description of the last few cycles. “That is all there is to tell, really,” she said. “Life on a Needle is not all that exciting unless our inhibitor field catches something. And as you’re probably aware, not a whole lot has entered the Garden in many centuries. Most of our anomalous readings are simple interstellar comets or other natural debris.”

“True, true. But I am glad you have found a family among them.”

“You are all the family I require, Cial.”

“Yes but I am very old, Arazis. My eyesight has deteriorated to the point I cannot make out faces of those even the table over. I will not be here for you for eternity.” His gaze grew somber.

“I know, I know.”

“Worry not, my dear. My soul is content with my eventual encounter with the Mother. Now, we’d best head on out, I am sure your captain is expecting you within the hour.”

“Ugh, but I’ve barely heard all you’ve done while I was gone.”

“Ah, it matters not. The duties of a priest are probably just as dry as your own.”

“I guess.”

Once stood outside on the path, they entered one final embrace. Even as he let go her arms gripped him tightly. Feeling the wetness of her tears through his shirt, he brushed his hand through her auburn hair. “What is the matter, dear?”

“I’m sorry, Cial. It’s just that… well I simply don’t know when or if we will ever see one another again, in all honesty.”

“Oh.”

“I cannot bear the thought of loss.”

“It is just life, little one. Your own has plenty left to go. Me, on the other hand…”

“Stop saying it, please!”

“I’m sorry.” He let her calm herself until she finally let him go. “Now then, no more crying, that is an order, pilot!”

She laughed, and gave him a salute. “Farewell, Father.” The two exchanged one final smile, and Cial began for the cathedral. She refused to let her eyes off him as he walked away, she continued to stare in his direction until she could no longer see him among the crowd.

Once back at her Needle’s hangar platform, a guard waited to greet those boarding. “Late, pilot.” Came the voice of her superior officer.

“Apologies, sir. I had a personal matter to attend briefly while off-duty post-ceremony.”

“No worries, liftoff is not for another hour.”

“Right, is there anything you require of me until then?”

“Not a thing. Take leisure time. Today is the most special day of the last few cycles. The Harvest only occurs every five, after all. Dismissed,” he said. She saluted and continued on her way.

She made her way to the barracks and was joined by a close friend who had been waiting for her. “Can we please not get into it, Saiin? I know, but I honestly couldn’t care less if he died alone never seeing my face again,” she said.

“He’s your dad, Ara. I know you don’t care all that much for him but you should have gone to see him.”

“I had my actual father to spend time with. I may never see Cial again, you know.”

“Right, sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. I know it was irresponsible. He’s still blood, even if tainted.”

Saiin was her best friend aboard the Amun. The two met on first day of basic pilot training. Saiin never excelled at flying. The acceleration of a swarmer gave him nausea, so his position was as a gunner on a frigate as his aim was excellent.

“Attention crew,” came the captain’s voice over the speaker. “We will be engaging the vertical thrusters in ten minutes. Brace for takeoff.”

“Let’s go watch from the catwalks!” She suggested.

The entire hull of a Needle was special in that one could see through to the outside from within, but not from the outside inside. This meant on the service ways above the hangars, it felt like they were swimming in the nebula.

“Three, two…”

“One.”

The rumble of the ascension rockets reverberated across the entire ship, and the clamps released. It started as a slow hover, then gradually picked up speed the higher they went. Blue faded to white faded to all the colours of the Garden. Pink, purple, red, all of it surrounding them completely.

“Preparing to hyperspace jump to our current patrol route. Waveform open.”

The jump was not far, only ten lightyears to the border from Prime Colony.

In less than two hours of scouting, however, the captain gave an alert. “Attention crew of the Amun. Battle stations, our proximity nodes have detected a breach.”

“Ugh, it’s probably just another giant snowball, who cares?” Satin complained.

“It’s our job, Saiin. Even if it’s stupid we have to go anyway.”

“Right… could be an Emissary, right? Pff.”

“I get it, but we have to or we’ll be reprimanded.”

“You’re right, it’s easier to just not deal with the consequences.”

Once arrived from the lift to the forward hangar, they waved their farewells. Saiin’s ship was in the rear bay with the other frigates whereas her swarmer was in the forward hangar. Once arriving with the other pilots, she put on her flight suit and engaged the seal. The fabric constricted to conform to her body’s natural form as tight as it could. She lined up with the others awaiting instruction from her superior officer.

“Alright, I know this is probably nothing. Again. But keep yourselves sharp anyway, you never really know, right?”

“Aye,” one said.

“Alright pilots, take your seats.”

She walked to hers, climbed the ladder and took a seat. She pressed the startup cycle and the hatch began to seal. She glanced to her left and her wingman gave her a thumbs up to which she reciprocated. She was squad lead. Once fully powered up, the clamp released and the magnetic launch engaged throwing her vessel out into the foggy abyss.

She made a few passes with her squad trailing until all had completed takeoff. She also saw behind that the frigates and fuel pods were all out and ready to go.

“Okay squad three, we’re the scouts on this one. Signature was detected about forty kilometres from here at fifty-five degrees from Needle’s orientation. Let’s go check it out,” she said hitting the accelerator. Her and the six others moved to destination trailed by one fuel pod who would stay far enough back not to be engaged upon, as it had no defensive capabilities.

She stared forward, eyes sharp. She began to make out several shapes in the cloudy haze. “Targets spotted, let’s take a closer look, shall we?” Once the murkiness cleared, her jaw nearly dropped. It was some sort of larger carrier-like vessel with about a dozen or so strike craft parading around it. The carrier appeared severely damaged.

“Command, this is Restona. Are you seeing my sensors telemetry here?”

“We are. This is a class we have encountered before. Not for a long time mind you. It is a Turanic Assault Carrier with a small compliment of fighter craft. They appear to have been in a battle recently. Medical staff at the ready just in case, hailing now.

“Hello, weary travellers. Welcome to the Garden of Kadesh. You have done no ill-will as it stands and appear to be in need of immediate aid. Please respond.”

The response was not a welcome one. The carrier’s ion cannons took aim and opened fire at her squad taking out one of her rear wingmen. “Evasive action! Retreat to the frontline, we will engage with the other squads.” She pulled up hard, as did the others. The rest of the swarmer squads did not take long to join them. “Sorry for your loss, Restona. I’ll take lead on this one, just take guard positions and follow us in.” Vania was lead of squad two. She wasn’t the kindest person, rude honestly. But respected Arazis on a professional level for her skill. Her condolences meant a great deal as it was rare she said such things. However being squad lead as well, understands the impact losing one of your own has.

Vania’s squad opened fire when in range, as did her own. They started with the fighter craft, who were woefully outgunned in no time at all. The rear bay of the carrier was launching a frigate as they made their return pass.

“Focus the carrier, aim for existing damage marks. This shouldn’t take long.”

“Roger that,” she said taking aim. They ran their pass, then another. The frigate was an ion weapon, single forward mount. It was not maneuverable enough to hit them when they were in combat mode, therefore was hardly a threat. They could clean it up later.

After only four passes at the carrier, its hull buckled under the damage and its power plant went critical. The leftover hulk would be collected by the mining guild later after they tagged it.

“All squads return to dock, we will let our frigates pick off the straggler.” The captain said.

Back inside the hangar, she wiped the sweat from her brow. Others were talking among themselves about their latest encounter. None aboard had ever seen an outsider vessel. As other pilots passed her by they gave nods of encouragement. Another duty of squad lead was to console the rest of their team when one of their own was lost.

“Squad three!” The five remaining came to attention. “Marlo was a good friend, and a very kind soul. His sacrifice will be honoured in our memories. He’s in Kadesh’s hands now.” They took a moment of silence, which was interrupted by the captain.

“Attention fleet, we have yet another alert from the border. This signature is a lot bigger. This is probably the fleet that caused the damage on the Turanic carrier, and therefore they will likely be a larger threat should they also be hostile. Red alert, in other words. All hands to battle stations and keep sharp. Launching auxiliary frigate forces as well.”

“Seriously? Okay team, I guess the day’s not over yet, let’s get back out there and finish this.”

Back in, launch, out. The vessel was also fifty-five kilometres out, the range of their inhibitor, but this one was apparently large enough to be seen from the Needle through the fog.

“Ambassador is launching now.”