Descent of Nightmare (Chapter Four)
Oct. 30th, 2016 02:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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saladloveChapter list: https://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/650.html
Map of Kaldriel: https://i.gyazo.com/332b0c0172dcc60acb46
Rough map of Hatu: https://i.gyazo.com/ea4f9f51b9dc7b9d8b86
Chapter Four
...and Sever
Vassek City, Hatu. September 24, 2277 Kaldriel time. Time instance 842N.
“A month!” Q fumed. “What do they mean they won’t try him for a month? He tried to kill you!”
“He didn’t even come close to hurting me, and we did threaten him.”
“Lawfully! Technically!”
“Q, you need to calm down.” M stopped walking and turned to face her. “He’ll be confined until then. It’s not like he’s going anywhere.”
“I know, it’s just… annoying.” Q tapped her claws against the ground in agitation. “Why do they want to see you in a bit, anyway?”
“I don’t know. It’s something about Kaldriel.” Probably asking my opinion on whether or not to take it and then ignoring me. “They’ve been interested in it lately, as they’re considering retaking it. What for, I don’t know. I don’t see any purpose to wasting resources to obtain a planet that barely gives us anything in return.”
Q looked at him with an odd look on her face, almost as if she was evaluating him.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she mumbled. “I just wonder if you’re telling the truth, sometimes.”
“Why would I lie to you?”
“Not to me. To yourself. I saw you talking in the Council chambers yesterday about Kaldriel, and whenever it’s mentioned you get this little spark in your eyes that I haven’t seen since before we were Mystrex.”
M tensed. “That time is irrelevant. We are Mystrex now.”
“It’s not irrelevant, no matter how much you think that it is. You don’t even talk to N so much anymore! You guys hatched from the same clutch, does that not mean anything to you?”
“This isn’t about me and it sure isn’t about N.”
“You care,” Q said fiercely, “and you’ve been struggling not to let it show. M has always been one of the most free-thinking and empathetic of the Mystrex.”
“Times change, Q.”
“But Mystrex don’t.” She pulled her hood up. “You have a Council to see in a few minutes. Think about what matters.” With that, she was gone.
M watched the space she had stood for several minutes until he was called by one of the guards and let into the council chambers. She’s right. I do care. But if they learn that, I’ll lose whatever influence I have over what happens to Kaldriel.
To save them, I have to be quiet.
M greeted the Speaker and listened as he spoke at length about what the Council had decided was worthwhile on Kaldriel. Its people could be studied, to see why they were so unusually tenacious and stubborn. Its kartzal reserves could be used scientifically, after being studied properly. They already had a Mainframe in place, that simply needed repairing and modifying. They could be used to test the new system without having to set up an entirely new infrastructure. M fired back at every one of their points with something logical, something carefully calculated, something definitively not personal.
Eventually the Speaker sighed, frustrated. “Why are you fighting us at every turn, M? It isn’t like we’ll send you to take and monitor Kaldriel again unless you volunteer. It is not your responsibility; we only want your opinion on the matter. Why are you so opposed to taking Kaldriel back?”
“Because it’s wrong,” M snarled, the words pulling themselves from this throat and exposing themselves before the whole of the Council.
It took all of his willpower to not shrink back as all eyes turned to him, leaving the room dead silent with dozens of baffled raptors looking on.
Vesk’os leaned forward. “What did you say?”
“It’s wrong. Enslaving other races for our own gain isn’t right.” His feathers puffed up and he stood straighter, baring his teeth. “We’ve been doing this for far too long! We should never have done this at all! You might not know them, Speaker, but I do. I spent twenty years down on Kaldriel, watching them fight and strive for their freedom! They’re no different from us! Their souls burn with the same fire, their eyes watch with the same intelligence, their blood spills with the same lost potential! They are us! They are us as we were before the Traveler, but they didn’t need him to get this far! Does that not make us equals? But you would have them enslaved! I’ve spent no time on the other worlds but I can almost guarantee that they are the same way. Kaldriel doesn’t live in the past, like Hatu has been doing for hundreds of years! Did you know that they have no caste system? And even in their most chaotic times, in their most rambunctious places, they had a sense of unity and order. They’ve moved on! They are our equals! So why are we enslaving them and entrenching ourselves in the past?!”
Vesk’os snarled, gripping the podium with his claws and gouging the wood. “That kind of talk is near-treasonous! You are dismissed!”
“I’m not done.”
“You will obey the first circle!”
“I will not!”
The council gasped and M raised his arms and flicked his wrists, sending the beads on his arms flying and shattering on the floor. He grabbed the bands around his neck and pulled, breaking the string and dropping the small wooden beads on the floor. Vesk’os roared for the guards to seize him but M wasn’t sticking around. He pulled his hood up and charged at the council, leaping up onto their level, sprinting through the seats, jumping past the raptors, and leaping out the window leaving shards of broken glass and shocked faces behind him.
He couldn’t hear the thoughts in his head over the pounding of his heart and feet as he ran as fast as he could, aiming for his ship. He’d denounced the old ways. He’d defied the Council. He’d branded himself a traitor to his own kind.
So why did he feel only exhilaration as he ran?
He raced into his ship, shutting the door behind him, and took off, blasting out of the atmosphere at full speed. Other ships pursued him but his radar picked up only one that was close enough to bother him, one that was cloaked. He activated his weapon systems and started to charge his FTL drive. He needed to get out of here, fast, and no one was going to stop him.
His radio crackled as the cloaked ship sent him a private transmission.
“Get your cloaking device ready.” N’s voice.
“It won’t fool them.”
“Either your radio is broken or you have your hood up, because all I’m getting is static.”
M pulled his hood down. “The cloak won’t fool them.”
“No, it won’t. But what’s going to happen is I’m going to get close, and we’re going to switch off at the same time. I’ll lead them in a totally different direction while you get out of here. Where are you headed?”
“Kaldriel. It’s the only place I might be protected.”
“You really pissed them off, didn’t you?”
“I denounced the system.”
N whistled through his teeth. “Nice. See you soon, I hope.” And then, after a moment, “Now!”
M hit the cloak right as N appeared behind him. The radio went silent as N wheeled away, breaking off of his intended path. M watched him on the radar and grinned slightly. N was brilliant. Mystrex ships were indistinguishable from each other, so it might be quite awhile before they noticed that they were chasing the wrong one.
A light flashed indicating that the FTL drive was charged. M turned the ship in the desired direction and flipped the switch, leaning back as he shot through space towards the only place he might find salvation.
Kaldriel.
~~~
Over a month later...
Cavern Oasis, Timewarp. November 4, 2277 Kaldriel time. Time instance 842N.
Lucy awoke to the world shaking. She felt sick to her stomach and her head spun as sat up in bed, holding her hands over her ears to quiet the ringing. When she realized it wasn’t going away, she jumped out of bed and slipped onto her trenchcoat.
“What’s going on?” she asked Sheva. It was hard to hear her own voice over some kind of rumbling, like a massive engine. Sheva looked at her uncomprehendingly and she switched to Sheva’s native tongue. English or whatever it was called. Sheva could speak their language by now, but not well, and sometimes she seemed to forget it for hours at a time. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know.” Sheva turned at the sound of something crashing. “Something.”
“No, really?” Lucy grabbed her scythe and sprinted out of her room and down the hallway into the main chamber. Twelve looked them over as the group gathered, gray eyes even more intense than usual.
“Tavren! What’s going on?” Twelve turned to face him.
“I don’t know!” Tavren drummed his fingers, teal-blue eyes shifting nervously. “It would seem that the whole world is shaking!”
“Earthquake?” Sheva suggested, and Lucy forwarded her idea to the group.
“No. That would be more centralized and wouldn’t create that roar.” Tavren motioned at the air around them.
“We need to get out of here!” Nightgale barked, claws flexing and hackles raising. “If the world is falling apart-”
“-which we don’t know if it is-”
“-then we won’t be caught on it!”
“Twelve?” Lucy turned to her friend. Twelve looked over the faces of the group.
“Tavren, Kaldric, Everex! What are the changes of what’s going on being deadly?”
“Pretty high!” Everex shouted as Tavren gave her an exact percentage, one that Lucy wasn’t too fond of. Kaldric tilted his head and didn’t respond, but the responses of the others seemed to be enough.
Twelve nodded sharply. “It looks like it’s time to test that theory of yours, Everex. To the teleporter! I only hope you’re right.”
She led the way through the halls, the others not far behind. They trusted Twelve’s judgement, and Twelve trusted Everex and Tavren's calculations. Once they were into the room, Twelve immediately flipped open a panel on the teleporter and turned it on. “Let’s do this.”
One of Everex’s fingertips flicked open to reveal a plug within. He promptly connected to the teleporter and shut his eyes, shutter closing over his metal eye, and focused.
“Woah. This is- AH!” He shouted and his back arched as Hatuian raptor script flashed on the screen of the teleporter. His eyes snapped open and his metal eye flashed through dozens of colors before going out. He blinked a few times and it glowed red once more.
“Everex!” Solace grabbed his arm. “Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah.” Everex shook it off and focused. Moments later, the screen flashed blue and the keyboard glowed, indicating that it could be used. The screen prompted them for coordinates. Everex disconnected and rubbed his arms, which Lucy doubted did anything as they were metal.
“Coordinates?” Twelve frowned and drummed her fingers on the keypad, ignoring a particularly loud roar and the world shaking more for a few seconds.
Sheva floated forward and looked at the screen with interest. “Lucy. I have coordinates.”
“Sheva’s got some.” Lucy stepped forward and Twelve looked at her skeptically.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Sheva?” Sheva railed off a series of numbers. Lucy struggled to keep up and read them back to her before confirming them. “Those are some awfully big numbers.”
“They’re right.” Sheva’s eyes seemed to flash in the light. “Go. Set it to maximum. It only has the power for one teleportation and you won’t all fit inside.”
Lucy turned the dial all the way, exchanged a glance with Twelve, and activated the teleporter.
Her vision filled with blue light, and then it went black.
no subject
Date: 2016-10-30 09:48 pm (UTC)To save them, I have to be quiet.
Keep mum on that subject then M.
Eventually the Speaker sighed, frustrated. “Why are you fighting us at every turn, M? It isn’t like we’ll send you to take and monitor Kaldriel again unless you volunteer. It is not your responsibility; we only want your opinion on the matter. Why are you so opposed to taking Kaldriel back?”
“Because it’s wrong,” M snarled, the words pulling themselves from this throat and exposing themselves before the whole of the Council.
It took all of his willpower to not shrink back as all eyes turned to him, leaving the room dead silent with dozens of baffled raptors looking on.
Welp now the cats out of the bag.....
"...They are us as we were before the Traveler, but they didn’t need him to get this far!..."
So the Traveler came brought technological advancement to Hatu a long time ago?
Vesk’os snarled, gripping the podium with his claws and gouging the wood. “That kind of talk is near-treasonous! You are dismissed!”
“I’m not done.”
“You will obey the first circle!”
“I will not!”
You go M! Now get your ass back to Kaldriel and warn them about what your race is planning.
His radio crackled as the cloaked ship sent him a private transmission.
“Get your cloaking device ready.” N’s voice.
“It won’t fool them.”
“Either your radio is broken or you have your hood up, because all I’m getting is static.”
M pulled his hood down. “The cloak won’t fool them.”
“No, it won’t. But what’s going to happen is I’m going to get close, and we’re going to switch off at the same time. I’ll lead them in a totally different direction while you get out of here. Where are you headed?”
“Kaldriel. It’s the only place I might be protected.”
“You really pissed them off, didn’t you?”
“I denounced the system.”
N whistled through his teeth. “Nice. See you soon, I hope.”
Ooooo is M's brother N going to join him on his break against his race? M and N heading out to save Kaldriel.
Over a month later...
Lucy awoke to the world shaking. She felt sick to her stomach and her head spun as sat up in bed, holding her hands over her ears to quiet the ringing. When she realized it wasn’t going away, she jumped out of bed and slipped onto her trenchcoat.
So Jatar's been found guilty and the Mysterex are destrying his lab in which the Timewarp resides, with the Lab Kids still inside.
“Coordinates?” Twelve frowned and drummed her fingers on the keypad, ignoring a particularly loud roar and the world shaking more for a few seconds.
Sheva floated forward and looked at the screen with interest. “Lucy. I have coordinates.”
“Sheva’s got some.” Lucy stepped forward and Twelve looked at her skeptically.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Sheva?” Sheva railed off a series of numbers. Lucy struggled to keep up and read them back to her before confirming them. “Those are some awfully big numbers.”
“They’re right.” Sheva’s eyes seemed to flash in the light.
I reckon that those coordinates are for somewhere on Kaldriel, whether it's the Mainframe hub or somewhere else we'll have to wait and see.
Lucy turned the dial all the way, exchanged a glance with Twelve, and activated the teleporter.
Lucy turned that dial all the way up to twelve XP
no subject
Date: 2016-10-30 10:25 pm (UTC)We'll see what's happening to the Timewarp. Remember: they're not the only project INSIDE that timewarp. There are others, not belonging to Zatar.
c:
no subject
Date: 2016-10-30 10:28 pm (UTC)Not the only project inside that timewarp? The creatures the Lab Kids have been fighting? Well shit.
no subject
Date: 2016-10-30 11:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-30 11:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-31 06:58 pm (UTC)Looks like M's going to be catching up with some old friends. Who may or may not want him dead. Can't wait!
"I need to be quiet about this
M then proceeded to denounce his leaders and his society as a whole before breaking their property and escaping to a planet they're planning to invade. GG.
no subject
Date: 2016-10-31 10:49 pm (UTC)M: I need to be quiet and careful about this
Also M: *SCREECHES AND LEAPS OUT A WINDOW*
no subject
Date: 2016-11-01 12:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-01 01:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-01 10:14 pm (UTC)They don't have his cloak, do they?
no subject
Date: 2016-11-01 10:46 pm (UTC)