Rise in Revolution (Chapter Sixty-Four)
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saladloveChapter list: https://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/650.html
World map: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/Kaldri
Chapter Sixty-Four
Dawn of Legend
Shoreline, Salvek. April 22, 2272. Time instance 842N.
Emma gripped the side of the ship as they approached the shore. The beach extended a ways towards the towering mountains ahead, giving way to sparse, brown grasses before arcing upwards into stone and sand that rose up into the sky. Other boats followed behind them, and several more trips would be made to get the entire revolution across the water. Once there, they’d set up camp and prepare for the final invasion, likely in a couple of days.
The thought of it sent Emma’s heart racing. Freedom. The concept was foreign but not unwelcome. She smiled as the wind tugged at her hair and Cataclysm hugged her closer. As daunting as the task ahead was, she felt, for the first time, that they could actually do it.
...Not that she could help much. She was worse than useless and probably wouldn’t even be involved in the actual fighting. The idea upset her but she shoved down the feeling, deciding to cross that bridge when they got to it.
On her other side, Tac held her head in her hands. Shawn put a hand on her shoulder. “Tac?”
“There’s something really powerful nearby. Something magical. It’s got the same kind of power as the Nethernomicon.”
Emma shivered and Cataclysm spread his wings defensively. “Something that powerful can’t be good,” he growled. “I don’t like it.”
“Well, it’s not with the Mainframe, whatever it is,” Shawn mumbled. “They don’t use magical items.”
“We should investigate. We need to know what it is.”
“Emma, no.”
“You can’t stop me.”
“Stop you from doing what?” Tanadin asked as she approached, raising an eyebrow.
“There's a powerful magical artifact nearby,” Tac explained. “It’s of a similar power level to the Nethernomicon and Emma and I want to investigate.”
“I’m going with you,” Shawn and Cataclysm both protested, looking at each other oddly when their words synced.
Tanadin looked surprised. “A magical artifact? Here? Odd. Well, I guess we’re investigating. It might be helpful. I’ll tell Nine.”
When the boats landed, a small party set out to the south, following Tac’s senses and watching for danger. Shawn walked next to her with Nine on her other side. Tanadin, Emma, Cataclysm, Geek, and Geluu trailed behind. Seven had wanted to come as well but Nine had argued that he was needed to help organize the boats and get the rest of the revolution across, a fact that had been far too logical for Seven to argue.
The air was hot and dry, and Geluu informed them that it was nice right now. Inland, it was far worse, and during the summer it was unbearable. Emma had shivered at the thought and Tanadin had shrugged.
“I like it. I’m glad to be out of winter.”
“You’re a kirinax,” Geluu complained. “You like the heat.”
“Yep! This place is great.”
“It’s full of giant insects, sandstorms, and the Mainframe.”
“Yuck. Nevermind.”
They walked for several more minutes before Nine stopped them, readying his weapons. “Something’s nearby.”
Quiet clicking reached their ears, and an odd voice called, “Mainframe or otherwise?”
“Otherwise.”
Some more clicking. “Then, welcome.”
Emma’s eyes caught movement behind a rock and, as the two figures stepped out, she took a half-step back. What she saw was disturbing, unfamiliar and alien, but not outwardly unfriendly.
Both figures were humanoid, with brown skin that looked solid and chitinous. Dragonfly-like wings folded against their backs and scorpion tails curled behind them, stingers lowered. Claws extended from their fingers and toes while unnatural eyes gazed at them- they seemed almost normal, but the pupils were off somehow and the irises were slightly too reflective. Buglike mandibles covered more normal human mouths filled with sharp teeth. Small spines stuck up from their heads in place of where hair would be. Four slight bulges could be seen along their sides, below their arms, as if the remnants of long-lost limbs. One of the creatures, the taller one, had a slightly red tinge to them while the other was definitively brown.
“Visper,” Geluu whispered. “I thought they were myths. I’ve been in this desert more than anyone should be, and in all my days..”
“We have lived under the sands for generations, hiding our Great Hives but venturing outwards in curiosity and peace. Most of our kind are now in southern Doravia, the Great Hives forced away by the Mainframe, but some of us remain.” The red visper bowed. “Welcome, welcome. Our hive has not seen outsiders in twenty long years.” When the visper spoke, their voices hissed slightly and held an odd note to them, as if their teeth were interfering with the movement of their tongues.
Emma had no idea what the hell a visper was, but apparently it was a friendly sentient race. Of...bug people. Don’t see that every day.
Everyone in the group seemed stunned, and the visper exchanged glances. “What are you seeking?” the brown visper asked. “You have not come here for us, but then, that is not unusual. Perhaps we can help you.”
“I can sense the magical energy of things and there’s something powerful nearby. We were investigating.” Tac was quite brave, Emma thought, to speak to these creatures. They terrified her in the usual what-the-fuck-is-that-and-will-it-eat-me way but they didn’t seem to be particularly dangerous.
“Oh! You have come for the...the…” The visper searched for the word. “Krissok, what is that word?”
“Stick?”
“No, no. Is it...helt?”
“Hilt?” Nine suggested.
“Yes! Yes, hilt! The nice cyborg is right.”
“Nice cyborg?”
“You did not shoot. Therefore, you are nice for a cyborg. I am sure you are wonderful, but we do not know you yet.”
“Will you take us to this hilt?” Tac asked, subconsciously leaning closer to Shawn.
“Yes, yes, maybe you can pick it up!” The red visper grinned, opening his mandibles and showing his sharp teeth, “First, names! Names are vital. We are from Hive Vosta! I am Krissok, and this is my clutch-mate, Vassa.”
“Sister,” Vassa translated. “I believe that is the human word?”
Nine nodded. “I am Nine. I’m the leader of the Steelwings and one of the leaders of the revolution against the Mainframe.”
“Revolution? You mean to destroy the Mainframe?”
“Yes.”
The visper grinned and buzzed their wings excitedly. “The Great Hives may yet return! For the good of us all, Nine of the Steelwings, take it down!”
“I’m not the only leader,” Nine protested. “This is Tanadin. She’s another leader of the revolution.”
The visper nodded politely, still grinning, and looked at the others expectantly as they introduced themselves, looking more and more enthusiastic with each name.
“Excellent!” Vassa clicked something to Krissok before continuing in a language that they could understand. “We will take you to the hilt. And you will see our hive! Follow!”
Vassa led the way. Emma and Cataclysm exchanged looked before following the others. Cataclysm took her hand and she didn’t protest, needing the comfort of physical contact as the visper rolled a boulder out of the way and led the way into a series of tunnels.
The tunnels weren’t as cramped and dark as Emma had been expecting. The ceilings were high enough to accommodate the visper, who were of similar or greater height than humans. The tunnel walls were wide enough apart for three of them to walk side-by-side, and faintly glowing stones poked out from the walls and ceiling, providing dim yellow light. Soon, their tunnel branched off in several directions, but Vassa kept leading the way with Krissok following, likely knowing the tunnels as well as their own claws.
Other visper paused what they were doing to watch as the rebels walked through the tunnels. Their gazes were curious, and not a single visper looked unfriendly. They seemed to have full confidence in the judgement of the other two, as they didn’t question, only waved occasionally. Emma couldn’t bring herself to wave back, but she saw Geluu and Nine both daring and earning excited clicks from the visper. They seemed to come in a range of colors, from tan to brown and red to gray. Their eyes came in dozens of colors but what Emma noticed was that all of them seemed to be busy. They were all doing something productive, and none of them seemed to be complaining or upset about it.
They seemed to be a rather upbeat people, and Emma couldn’t help but smile slightly as they walked. Sometimes, the world surprised her.
Soon, they came into a room down a short maze of tunnels that was circular, open, and large enough for them to all crowd around the center. In the middle of the room was a pedestal, upon which was some kind of metal stick that, upon closer inspection, seemed to be a sword hilt, gleaming oddly in the light with faint iridescent colors tracing over dark gray metal.
“We cannot pick it up,” Krissok told them. “It shocks us when we touch it.”
Geek circled around the pedestal, shivering slightly when she got close. “There’s something about this thing that I don’t like. It makes me uneasy.” She subconsciously reached out and took hold of the Nethernomicon, running her fingers over the cover of the book.
Tac stepped forward. “Well, we’ve come this far.” She reached down and took a hold of it.
The hilt flashed angrily and Tac screamed in pain, iridescent bolts of energy coursing through her system. She dropped it and stumbled back, metal hand limp and smoking. Shawn caught her as she started to fall, demanding to know if she was okay and hugging her tightly when she mumbled affirmative.
The visper didn’t seemed fazed. “That happens,” Vassa told them. “Someone else try.”
“I’ll pass. If it did that to her hand, imagine what it would do to me.” Nine motioned at himself and took a few steps back.
No one seemed willing to try picking it up until Emma sighed and let go of Cataclysm’ hand. “I’ll try it.”
“Emma, don’t. It could-”
“Shock me? I know.” Emma paused by the pedestal, looking down at the hilt. This is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done. “Wish me luck.”
She picked it up, bracing herself for the shock..
...but it never came.
She opened her eyes to see it sitting in her hand, looking as calm as could be, but she could feel its energy thrumming through her body.
She raised it up and, as if instructed to do so, tightened her grip.
It hummed and the iridescent reflections flashed as a goddamn energy blade extended outwards. She could feel the energy radiating off of it, now- energy that gave her hope and filled her with the feeling of invulnerability. She felt like she could do anything as long as she had this, with its silver light and humming power.
Cataclysm and Geek both jumped back, hissing, and Shawn flinched away. The Nethernomicon ripped itself from Geek’s grasp and shadowy tendrils formed around it. Its pages opened and it screeched before shutting and allowing the tendrils to fade. The sword hummed angrily in response but did nothing else.
“Holy shit,” Emma whispered, swinging it experimentally. It was light and felt natural in her grasp, correcting her swing slightly to make it more even.
Okay. That was cool.
“Aoxvoryn,” Geek snarled.
“What?”
“Nightbane. It’s a powerful artifact, as powerful as the Nethernomicon, that is the scourge of all that is darkness. Demons, corruption, undead, anything it doesn’t like falls before its attacks.” Geek shuddered. “Please keep that away from me.”
“Now that is a weapon.” Geluu circled Emma a few times. “What can it cut through, do you suppose?”
Emma swung at the pedestal, a stone structure with a metal top. Nightbane sheared through the metal and passed through the rock, damaging the structural integrity but not cutting clean through. It had no solid surface, so it passed through anything Emma waved it at, whether or not it cut through.
Geluu whistled. “Imagine using that on cyborgs.”
“It won’t work,” Nine said immediately. “It’ll be trying to directly affect the cyborgs, it can’t-”
“I doubt your dampeners can stop it, even if it directly affects the metal and not the ‘blade.’ Nightbane is one of the most powerful artifacts in existence. And it chose Emma.” Geek crossed her arms. “I do believe you’ve just been promoted to the front lines, Emma.”
“Congratulations,” Tanadin said, elbowing her. “I’m sure you’re really happy about that.”
“Actually, I am. Now you have to let me into battle.”
“No we don’t. Put the glowy death blade away so I can come over there and convince you to stay where it’s safe.” Cataclysm shuffled his wings.
“If you phrase it like that, no. The sword stays out.”
“Emma!”
“Cata!”
Nine cleared his throat and turned to the visper. “Thank you for leading us here. This should help us quite a bit in our fight against the Mainframe.”
The visper nodded. “We will help in any way we can. Destruction of the Mainframe is good for the Hive, and best for all visper- for all races. We will do what we can to help.”
“We…..” Nine hesitated. “I hate to ask you this, but would you be willing to assist us in the assault on the Mainframe? We could really use your numbers.”
Krissok shook his head. “We would, but we cannot. The Mainframe has these...these…” He hesitated, glancing at Vassa. “I do not know the word. I am thinking of a word, but it is not the right word.”
“Say it. Maybe it is the right word.”
“...Vibrators?”
It took almost a minute for the rebels to recover enough from laughing to hear what the visper had to say.
“Wrong word,” Krissok decided. “They hum and produce a pitch that hurts us, drives us away. If you were to disable them, we could help you.”
Nine nodded. “We’ll see what we can do.”
“But! We will accompany you back to your camp, see if we can help you there. We will gather some other visper and find you, easy, no problem! We can help defend if you get attacked.” Vassa grinned at him. “And you can use some of our tunnels to get through the desert safely. We will give you a...a map, yes? A map. We will lead you as far as we can go but then you must follow the paths to the Mainframe yourself. Much safer than going over the sands.”
Nine smiled, bowing slightly.. “Thank you. Really, thank you. If you could just lead us out, we can find our own way back. You are so kind.”
The visper nodded and led the way. Emma disabled the blade on Nightbane but held the weapon anyway, not sure where to put it for the moment.
She wasn't sure exactly what it was, or why only she could pick it up, but she knew that it was a herald of change.
~~~
Seven turned to face Cap the moment his sensors picked up on her approach. He waited for her to stop in front of him before opening his mouth to speak, but she interrupted him.
“This might seem a little weird, but your dead sister wants to talk to you and I’m here acting as her mouthpiece because she’s a ghost and can’t talk to you directly. She’s a bit miffed about it but here we are.”
Seven nodded. “Okay. What does she have to say?”
“You’re not...surprised by this? At all?”
“A bit. That’s irrelevant, though.”
Cap looked at him like he was insane before shaking it off and turning to an invisible presence to her left. “Okay, Sheva. Let’s do this.” Seven raised an eyebrow at the name but didn’t question it, instead listening to Cap as she took a deep breath and started talking.
“You have a magical ability that is primarily fueled by willpower, and that...not...Sheva could you slow down? I can’t keep up with that.”
Cap glared at the air next to her. “No, I actually can’t...could you repeat that? ...You’re not getting that verbatim. No. I can’t even pronounce that w- spelling it isn’t going to help me any. Look, I’ll paraphrase, and you can correct me if I get anything wrong, okay?”
“Okay. So, Seven, you have a magical ability that’s fueled primarily by willpower and determination. It’s not affected at all by your magical dampener, nor does it seem to damage your cybernetics at all, likely because it’s some kind of low-frequency magic, one that isn’t activated conventionally but it’s magic all the same. What it does is it- hang on, what? Is that how he...okay. Wow. That’s...amazing.”
Seven cleared his throat and Cap continued. “It helps protect you against physical damage and can increase your strength and speed for a short time if used properly, but it’s hard to consciously use for a specific purpose unless you’ve trained with it. It’s apparently how you took out Corvus- why your right arm held and didn’t take any damage when it should have been severed and why you struck further in than you probably should have been able to. It causes a kind of severe mental strain that manifests as pain- what, it hurts? Why does it hurt? No, I didn’t mean- please stop explaining you’re going to make my head hurt- but can be used for incredible things. It’s an ability that both you and your sister were born with, but you were always better at using it while she was skilled in more conventional magic.
“She has no idea why this ability is in your family or where it came from, but it seems to be genetic and likely comes from an inhuman source. She has a few theories but nothing concrete enough to suggest.”
Seven turned to glare at the space beside Cap- the wrong space, although he had no idea- and said, calmly, but with a note of agitation, “And you’re telling me this now?”
“She was afraid you’d get yourself killed overusing it earlier,” Cap explained, “but now she’s decided that it’s more likely you’ll die if you don’t use i- wait. You can kill yourself with it? No, I know it’s magic, but- why wouldn’t you shut it off? How could you accidentally overuse it? It can’t use that much energ- what.” Cap blinked a few times. “Explain that again, but at under light speed.”
“...Oh. Um. If you use it, you can overstrain your body and cause it to fail. Um. Completely. Your cyborg...ness...might not save you. No, I know that’s- you said yourself that’s not a word why are you yelling at me for using it? The one time you talk and you talk so fast I can’t keep up and get mad at me for using your exact words! I’m paraphrasing, not editing your information dump! Hire an editor! I know you’re dead! Find a ghost editor.”
“Is that all, or are you going to argue with my sister for the rest of the day?”
“Sorry. I think that’s it.” She frowned at the space beside her.
“So that’s a thing.” Cap turned to look at him, glancing to the side.
“So that’s why you were counting. You know him really well.” Cap paused. “The away team is returning.”
“I’ll go see what they’ve found.” Seven nodded to Cap and strolled away, running over the information that she had provided him one more time as he went.
That would take some consideration, but it opened up quite a few opportunities.
no subject
Date: 2016-10-17 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-17 10:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-17 10:52 pm (UTC)The visper seem interesting, I've not seen sentient races of bug people before.
No one seemed willing to try picking it up until Emma sighed and let go of Cataclysm’ hand. “I’ll try it.”
“Emma, don’t. It could-”
“Shock me? I know.” Emma paused by the pedestal, looking down at the hilt. This is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done. “Wish me luck.”
She picked it up, bracing herself for the shock..
...but it never came.
She opened her eyes to see it sitting in her hand, looking as calm as could be, but she could feel its energy thrumming through her body.
She raised it up and, as if instructed to do so, tightened her grip.
Emma was the chosen one and was that day crowned Queen....wait wrong story....this isn't The Sword In The Stone XD
It hummed and the iridescent reflections flashed as a goddamn energy blade extended outwards. She could feel the energy radiating off of it, now- energy that gave her hope and filled her with the feeling of invulnerability. She felt like she could do anything as long as she had this, with its silver light and humming power.
Cataclysm and Geek both jumped back, hissing, and Shawn flinched away. The Nethernomicon ripped itself from Geek’s grasp and shadowy tendrils formed around it. Its pages opened and it screeched before shutting and allowing the tendrils to fade. The sword hummed angrily in response but did nothing else.
“Holy shit,” Emma whispered, swinging it experimentally. It was light and felt natural in her grasp, correcting her swing slightly to make it more even.
I second Emma's holy shit. That is one powerful artifact they just found.
“Congratulations,” Tanadin said, elbowing her. “I’m sure you’re really happy about that.”
“Actually, I am. Now you have to let me into battle.”
“No we don’t. Put the glowy death blade away so I can come over there and convince you to stay where it’s safe.” Cataclysm shuffled his wings.
“If you phrase it like that, no. The sword stays out.”
“Emma!”
“Cata!”
Love it XD
"Put down the dangerous thing that could kill me so I can get you to stay away from danger."
"No." *proceeds to wave glowy death blade about*
Krissok shook his head. “We would, but we cannot. The Mainframe has these...these…” He hesitated, glancing at Vassa. “I do not know the word. I am thinking of a word, but it is not the right word.”
“Say it. Maybe it is the right word.”
“...Vibrators?”
It took almost a minute for the rebels to recover enough from laughing to hear what the visper had to say.
LMAO, definitely the wrong word there friend XD
“Okay. So, Seven, you have a magical ability that’s fueled primarily by willpower and determination. It’s not affected at all by your magical dampener, nor does it seem to damage your cybernetics at all, likely because it’s some kind of low-frequency magic, one that isn’t activated conventionally but it’s magic all the same. What it does is it- hang on, what? Is that how he...okay. Wow. That’s...amazing.”
Seven cleared his throat and Cap continued. “It helps protect you against physical damage and can increase your strength and speed for a short time if used properly, but it’s hard to consciously use for a specific purpose unless you’ve trained with it. It’s apparently how you took out Corvus- why your right arm held and didn’t take any damage when it should have been severed and why you struck further in than you probably should have been able to. It causes a kind of severe mental strain that manifests as pain- what, it hurts? Why does it hurt? No, I didn’t mean- please stop explaining you’re going to make my head hurt- but can be used for incredible things. It’s an ability that both you and your sister were born with, but you were always better at using it while she was skilled in more conventional magic."
“She has no idea why this ability is in your family or where it came from, but it seems to be genetic and likely comes from an inhuman source. She has a few theories but nothing concrete enough to suggest.”
Huh......nice to have an explanation for that now. Hmmmm....inhuman source? Demon blood in the family a few generations back perhaps?
“...Oh. Um. If you use it, you can overstrain your body and cause it to fail. Um. Completely. Your cyborg...ness...might not save you. No, I know that’s- you said yourself that’s not a word why are you yelling at me for using it? The one time you talk and you talk so fast I can’t keep up and get mad at me for using your exact words! I’m paraphrasing, not editing your information dump! Hire an editor! I know you’re dead! Find a ghost editor.”
Sounds like Sheva needs a ghost writer...ba du tshh......I'll show myself out XD
no subject
Date: 2016-10-18 02:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-18 02:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-18 11:01 am (UTC)Also, I'm curious to see how M reacts to that sword.