It awoke. The body it possessed vomited violently onto the floor, the acrid smell forcing the possessor to slither away using what limited muscles it could control. Panic and fear overwhelmed the new mind of the Incubus as it for the first time experienced senses received from its unwilling host. The florescent lighting was blinding, burning the retinas of the new host on the first attempt at viewing the world around it. It moved an arm and forced its fingers into the metal grating that it believed was known as the floor. It moved them, getting used to the feeling of touch between the small receptors. Scrapped nails against nails.
After several minutes of practising the movement of the smaller joints, it began to slowly lift itself off of the floor. The muscles in the body were well toned and were more than capable of lifting the body back onto its feet, but controlling the larger limbs proved to be troublesome. Twice it failed, falling back onto the floor in a heap. The second time, its face landed in the remaining puddle of vomit, coating the side of its face. Eventually though, it remained in control as it raised its new body to full height.
'Open your eyes.' The Incubus could now sense the presence of another, very faint though it was. 'The light will not hurt your eyes again. Just open your eyes.' The voice sounded very kind and patient, as if it were a teacher addressing a pupil. Slowly, as instructed, it began to open its eyes. The one who had spoken was right; the light was perfectly bearable, provided that it didn't look at the sources. It looked down at its knuckles, tanned skin with sparse hairs, and then examined the others in the room. There were three of them, spaced equally in the arch that was the entranceway into the room.
The closest, who was the one that had talked, was a male. He was in his mid-forties, with a military buzz-cut, with a bushy pair of eyebrows and a set of eyes that radiated experience. He wore some sort of flight-suit: a one piece green outfit designed to give maximum manoeuvrability to the wearer, perfectly shaped to his figure. There wasn't a single crease, with every centimetre of fabric sticking to his body. The furthest was a female. She had long hair, but it was held back in a ponytail. Her face, unlike the tough and sturdy one of the man, appeared far softer. The curves all fitted together to form a masterpiece. She was wearing a similar flight-suit to the man, with the fabric sticking next to her body emphasising her attractive figure. He stared at her for a few seconds, confirming the gender of its host due to the rush of hormones, before moving his gaze to the central figure.
He felt like the Incubus was staring back at him, but couldn't be sure. It stood on a tail at four feet, with a flat torso section sprouting four legs, allowing it to crawl if need be. Its neck was a foot long, with the head resembling a blossoming flower, with six large petals that could open and close instantaneously. Its torso had six spikes positioned on the spinal column, on the back of the creature. Its flesh was a dark blue that would match perfectly the blue water of an ocean, and light was reflected from the body by a thin layer of ectoplasm that made the body gleam like an angel.
Soothing thoughts were fed into his mind from his basic link with the Mindshare, attempting to calm his restless mind as a mass jumble of thought processes attempted to take priority. Information passed down to him through genetic memory was slowly beginning to unfurl in his mind. He tried to keep up with the stream of knowledge, and he slowly became more efficient at it. The soothing songs in his mind helped calm him down, and he was eventually ready to talk to the others in the room.
'We can not talk to you through the Mindshare yet,' the woman said, 'you have yet to grow enough to be able to access it. However, a few more hours should see your growth complete. Until then, we will have to talk to you through the Darkname languages, with their translations of our various processes. The soothing of the Mindshare on your mind is always accessible, spreading the pain and suffering across many so none must go through it alone.'
'You may thank the Light for that,' the man said. 'Light is always with us, and will never die out. But the Darkness is trying to destroy the Light. We must take the form of the Darknames to combat them and save the Light from extinguishing. Your task has been set, our tasks have been set. The Darknames will burn in the intensity of the Light, and we are those who will bring that about.' Before the new Incubus could ask any questions, all three figures turned sharply on their heels - or tails, in the instance of the exposed Incubus - and moved out of the door and into the hall. The newborn, believing he was meant to follow, did so without delay. He knew that his mission was about to begin.
Nimsala sweated nervously in the cramped confines of the cockpit as he gingerly flicked at switches. He knew they were right, as his host held the memories of piloting the craft on many different occasions. The problem was that he didn't believe he was ready. He had followed the man, woman and Incubus (who the two had carried in a sort of cradle so as to move at a faster pace) to the hangar, where they had instructed him to enter one of the ships and activate it. The memories of his host told him it was known as a Wraith. It was the same green as his jump suit, with a sort of three-dimensional right-angled triangle at the centre with a wing at the rear on either side. The back of the ship held a circular disk, which resembled the curled up tail of a scorpion waiting to strike.
He was still in the hangar, preparing the "steel-skinned beast", as he had seen them referred to in the genetic memory of the birth-Incubus, for launch. He flicked switches and pressed buttons, watching the screens slowly report a fully operational beast. He grabbed at the controls, following the memories of similar takeoffs by his host as he carefully piloted the craft out of the hangar, keeping his engines to a minimum to avoid collisions with the cave walls.
Eventually, he managed to steer the Wraith out of Meerbusch Base and into the light of open space. Nimsala immediately felt the urge. The urge to rid himself of his host, of his steel protection, and to venture out amongst the stars. He knew immediately that that was a dream that would never be fulfilled.
***...(Satisfaction)...***
The female was in her own beast, which the memories of Nimsala's host immediately identified as a Bergelmir. He had watched her take off from the hangar while he was still fumbling with the controls, and had known that she had been waiting for him outside. He had sensed it.
***...'Follow'...***
Nimsala sensed her intention before she made any moves to make her intention a reality. She activated the cruise engines of the steel-skinned beast, and he matched it. He watched the build-up of energy around the engines of her beast. It appeared as if light globules were being sucked into the engine as it charged, and then released to provide the ship with thrust.
She must have sensed his tense feelings, because Nimsala immediately heard the soothing voice comfort him.
***...Worry not...'Follow'...***
He did as instructed, entering into a formation with the Bergelmir before observing the view out the cockpit. The sun shone brilliantly, indifferent to any suffering in the Universe. But the Darknames would extinguish the Light, and fill the Universe with only Darkness. Nimsala turned his attention instead to the memories passed down to him, and began to search. What for, he did not know. Just anything to distract him from the fear of the Darkness.
Nimsala glided his beast along the flight path issued by the female, Kran'shi. Whenever fear clouded his thoughts, she would use the Mindshare to calm him like a mother tending to a child. He had almost crashed into her ship at one point, but apart from that there were no other incidents. It was due in-part to a sense of impatience. He wanted to leave the safety of the safe space, to fight the steel beasts. But a logical argument had persuaded him to wait until he was deemed ready. He knew how to perform every manoeuvre the Wraith made available, but had to prove it.
The unknown planet bathed in the sunlight underneath him, its terrestrial surface known to be able to support human life. But the planet was denied to the Darknames by the formidable defence put up by the Wilde patrols near the jump holes leading to enemy space. Soon that space would be taken back for the Light, but until then the systems would continue to be raped for their resources by the Darknames. Nimsala could sense the planet now; he could see all of the mountains and rivers through his sense. Even the weather was a clear picture to him, clouds of water vapour colliding with one another over vast tracts of land to form mighty storms that raged mercilessly over whatever sorts of life that inhabited the ground beneath.
Remains of Darkname ships were also sensed by him and detected by his beast. The beast computer told him the names of the types of ship wrecks scattered in orbit around the planet. Titans. Sabres. All new words to the Incubus.
Suddenly, Kran'shi spoke through the Mindshare to him. He had been following her flight path for quite sometime, and she had not spoken to him during this period.
***...'Pilgrimage'...*** She said to him, before charging her cruise engines and heading into seemingly empty space.
Nimsala began to charge his beasts engines as well, excitement at seeing the great Gate surging through his hosts body. Seeing just how powerful the Slomon K'Hara really were.
Nimsala sensed the distortion long before the beast that he flew. It was as clear as the sunrise on New Berlin; a distinct point in space-time where the composition of the Universe showed a significant difference. As Nimsala neared the object, the perception became no clearer. No new information was provided by the distance from the object. Even the beast gave little help in the matter, only reinforcing the detection of the distortion with continuous streams of numbers that only a computer could truly comprehend.
Kran'shi could obviously sense his confusion, because she sent a reassuring mood across the Mindshare, and began to approach the anomaly.
***...'Fear not'...***
***...'Follow'...***
Nimsala had yet to develop his voice within the Mindshare, so could do nothing to respond as Kran'shi neared the space-time distortion. He almost panicked as he lost all contact with the Bergelmir. He could still see the beast of Kran'shi, but the sensors of his beast and his own mind could now only detect the change in space-time caused by the distortion. Then, it was gone. Lost completely.
Nimsala believed that Kran'shi knew what she was doing, and followed her order to follow. He approached the anomaly with caution, then grew in confidence and eventually reached the last place he had seen Kran'shi. He continued, and suddenly felt the distortion change. It were as if the unknown object was in fact an animal, and Nimsala had now fallen into a trap and was about to be eaten. The beast was consumed by a mouth that consisted of pure energy, which was when all was sensed by Nimsala. It felt like a tunnel in the Universe itself, linking points in space that would normally take years to traverse.
He fed on the energy that surrounded him now, and his beast shot forward like a bullet. It continued like this for several seconds, and then abruptly stopped. The view outside of his beast and turned from the pillars of light back to the normal view of distant stars.
He began to sense new objects in the distance. Kran'shi was next to him, her human face showing no emotion, but her mind emanating a small sense of pride in his progress.
***...'Follow'...***
Her beast began to accelerate once more, and Nimsala was forced to follow.
The end of the tunnel of light had brought a different feeling to Nimsala. Everything felt different. He could feel the light of stars, and whether the power had grown or diminished in even the tiniest fractions. He could now sense the star that he had originally jumped from, and knew from there which he had arrived at. But for a reason which he had yet to understand, he felt more powerful.
He gazed out of his beast at the planets that closely orbited the nearby star. There was a distinct difference in size of asteroids that orbited closer to the star than those that occupied the rest of the system. It seemed as if the smaller had been pulled in, with the larger left to spread out into their new territory. But it may have been that the larger had been pulled in and had broken apart, and the small were now the large in comparison. But he decided that speculation was pointless.
The anomaly was behind him, a shimmering tunnel now distinctly imprinted on the space-time difference. If he focused hard enough, he could even sense what was on the other side.
But he moved away from it with his beast, following Kran'Shi toward the lone star of the system, orbited by six planets and the asteroids. But there had yet to be an explanation for his sudden surge of power.
A patrol glided past. Two beasts, similar to his own, accompanying a structure of distinctly organic composure. Four thin pincers reached out from the core of the ship to move outward, then point directly back at each other. It appeared as if they would each channel something through themselves to create a combined power from all four. Each side had a small wing, but the main body of the ship drew attention away from them. The hull was a black-blue that was dark enough to blend in with the empty space background.
He stared at it with interest until he lost sight and sense of it, and then turned his attention back to his course. If he looked very closely, he believed he could see something near the star now.
The hope of the Slomon K'Hara was now within clear sight of the borrowed eyes, although the gravitational distortion it created was a marker to its function. Memories of the construction of the hypergate flooded into his head, and realisation of the immense power it held. It had pulled the planets and rocks toward itself, instead of the star pulling the debris into varying orbital patterns. Once completed, it could connect to another gate and bring the reinforcements that Das Wilde needed so badly.
The chorus of voices in his head had reached an orgasmic level of pleasure. Songs of the Light and the destruction of the Darknames roared through the Mindshare and into his mind, and he finally felt the strength within him that would enable him to join in.
***...'Light Soothing'...(Pleasure)...***
A burst of excitement now overthrew him. It was the first time he had talked into the Mindshare, and he could hear the happiness from the voices that spoke to him.
***...'Enter Hope'...'Understand'...***
This voice had come from Kran'Shi, who followed the voice with an image of the hypergate. He knew that she meant the gate when she talked about "Hope", but he feared what would happen when he entered the instable energy flux of the incomplete hypergate.
Nimsala could sense the excitement of Kran'Shi. She knew what would happen and was excited and curious to see it, but no memories passed down to him told him what would happen. His beast lurched forward and he approached the hypergate with caution. The energy building up within the gate lashed out violently in all directions as the Slomon K'Hara searched for the connection with Home. It could not be controlled, but it did not have enough power to do any damage to the hypergate structure.
He cruised his beast into the energy flux, and with one last wave of fear passing over him he entered the centre of the energy build-up. The first odd thing that happened was that his beast was not immediately destroyed by the titanic waves of energy that flowed all around. The second thing was that his beast had come to a complete stop without Nimsala instructing it to do so. It was as if the energy were holding it.
The protective shield surrounding the beast suddenly failed. Warnings blared throughout the cramped confines of the cockpit as the computer detected the instable energy impact the hull. Nimsala, with adrenaline now pumping in massive quantities through his borrowed body, looked out of the window of the cockpit in curiosity and panic. The energy tentacles licked at the hull, and appeared to be moving across the hull toward the centre of the beast, which was the cockpit.
The Mindshare had fallen silent as all within viewing distance watched in anticipation of what was to come. Nimsala had no one to share his alarm with, which was the scariest of all revelations. He reached for the beast's ejection mechanism and tugged on it forcefully. It did not work, and he remained trapped within the metal skin of his beast. The energy tendrils had almost reached him now, and were seeping into the cockpit. They lashed around the space violently, as if they were trapped and were writhing and struggling to break free. One touched the borrowed forehead of Nimsala, and he immediately lost consciousness. But his head was now flooded with new images and dreams. And he immediately knew everything would be alright.
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
Nimsala could no longer feel the body of the human. He felt like he was floating on a river, and being carried along by the current. He had no control of his movement, and could only move where he was carried.
He realized now where he was. He stared at the Palace of Hope. Dur-Shurrikun, the last refuge of the Slomon K'Hara. If the Darknames could summon the power to destroy it, than all was lost. He watched it glide slowly through the mist, its movement invisible to the human eye. The satellite structures rotated slowly, but great beams of energy always flowed from each toward the main structure. These held the impregnable shield in place, protecting Dur-Shurrikun from any situation the Slomon K'Hara could imagine. The area that the structures occupied was like a hollowed shell in the cloud. The mist refused to venture closer than the small outer rocks and the great Travel Lanes.
Nimsala continued to observe Dur-Shurrikun with great interest. Within it was what could be constructed to form the Mindshare, a key part of Slomon K'Hara life. Without it they would all go insane and kill eachother off, as had been shown with the destruction of the Mindshare eighteen years before.
Suddenly, feeling began to run through his sensitive nerves and he began sensing his body again. Except it was no human body. He was no longer surrounded by the metal beast that protected his human body from the open void that he longed to touch, to feel against his skin. He was in a real body. A real Slomon K'Hara body. Flying amongst the stars as they were created to do. But he still had no control of where he was flying. He could only sit back and enjoy the view. But he soon realised that there was nothing about the view to enjoy.
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
At first it was a whisper. A faint whisper, almost like a rumour. They come. They come. But then it was louder, and closer. It was coming from somewhere near Dur-Shurrikun, outside the sanctuary of the mine-field perimeter. They come. They come. Nimsala could see the Slomon K'Hara patrols change. The light they emitted darkened. Questions were sent to the voice, but it only repeated the same thing. They come. They come.
It was definately a part of the Mindshare. It was a Slomon K'Hara. But it was... different. In some way, it seemed abnormal. Its voice was high-pitched and strained, growing louder the closer it came. Pain could be sensed within its existence. It did not live the way it should. They come. They come. It was now a shriek within the Mindshare. Slomon K'Hara that Nimsala could see pulsated as they were bombarded by the mad shrieks.
They come. They come. On they ride toward the Home, through the mist that shrouds it. They know pain, now they spread it across the stars. Through the mist they ride like stallions through a meddow. Slowed by nothing, their minds determined to complete their goal. The voice had quietened again, now using a whisper again. Past the explosions of the Shield, toward the Home. Its location could now be sensed, as it was hidden before. It was coming from the middle of the mine-field. Every Slomon K'Hara now gathered as close as possible to the source, just a few metres from the mine-field.
Almost through. Almost through. They await what is to be the great Extermination. The genocide at their hands. Dark objects could be faintly seen now through the mist. Their paths were marked by the mines that exploded in their wake. They see revenge for those fallen to the Slomon K'Hara.
The first shape punched through the mist and into the protective sphere of Dur-Shurrikun. It was a Darkname ship. An Osiris. A second one followed. A Rheinland battleship. A third of the Bretonian variety. Large Darkname ships kept breaking through the mist. Soon there were ten. Then twenty. Thirty. Fifty. Eighty battleships entered the protective sphere. It could be sensed deep within the first Osiris, trapped and tortured, longing to be in the emptiness once more.
It had been shrieking since the vessel that imprisoned it had entered the protective sphere. THEY COME. THEY COME. Repeating the same two words. But as the final battleship ventured out of the mist, it stopped its shrieking and sent an image of itself to its brethren. Chained to a table, mentally crying.
Run.
The Darkname ships, now collected together, let out a massive wave of destructive energy. Slomon K'Hara caught in the blast suffered before their physical forms were destroyed. But the destructive force was not directed at them, but at Dur-Shurrikun. The Slomon K'Hara had not fired when the ships had first arrived, paralyzed by the shrieking of the captured Slomon K'Hara. But now they began to fight with a ferocity and defiance never witnessed before by the human race.
Three of the Darkname ships had been destroyed before the others all launched fighters and bombers. By this point, the destructive energy force had almost reached the satellite structures that powered the shield. The enslaved Slomon K'Hara shrieked in horror and pain, screaming seemingly random nonsense into the Mindshare.
Impact. The destructive force of the Darkname energy weapons upon impact with each satellite completely obliterated any solid structure. Every orbiting structure was destroyed, and Dur-Shurrikun was exposed. Nimsala watched in horror from the Slomon K'Hara it shared vision with, as it fought valiantly to destroy the Darkname ships. Seventeen had been destroyed but the Slomon K'Hara forces were close to being crushed by the weight of the Darknames.
The enslavers of stars come to destroy those who defend the Light. Only then will they have absolute power. They are monsters from a world ravaged by their own barbaric savagery. They spread across the stars like a virus to drain the soul of the galaxy that gave them life. They do this to multiply and survive in greater numbers. They will never stop spreading and destroying. Never. Never. Never.
The voice continued to whisper the word. Right to the end. The Darknames sent another volley of destructive energy outward, toward the Palace of Hope. Its unshielded structure was fragile and had no hope of withstanding the blast. Slomon K'Hara ships flew into the blast in an attempt to weaken the destructive volley of light. All but the one that Nimsala watched from. It watched Dur-Shurrikun, now a safe distance from the Darknames, but close to Dur-Shurrikun, as if its presence at the scene could be of some assistance.
Impact. Dur-Shurrikun, the hope of the Slomon K'Hara, crumbled under the pressure. Its great stone structure broke apart, sending shrapnel in all directions. The blinding light was too much for the physical form that Nimsala watched from, and it too died with the Palace of Hope. The voice had stopped talking, now crying into a severed link with brethren that were no more.
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
Nimsala regained consciousness. His eyes were closed, and didn't want to open them. He remained completely still for ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Then he clentched his hands into fists, testing his fingers. He raised his arm cautiously, careful not to move too quickly. He wiped his forehead, which had become sweaty during the vision, with the back of his hand. His eyelids twitched, but he did not want to open his eyes until he found the comfort of the Mindshare again.
***...'Open eyes'...***
Nimsala opened his eyes and stared out at the beauty of Omega-58. The metal beasts from before had now crowded around him in excitement. He glanced from side to side in his cockpit, not seeing any damage. His confusion must have been sensed, as Kran'Shi's presence was now sensed as she spoke into the Mindshare to him.
***...'Vision given'...'Understood'...(?)...***
Nimsala reviewed the vision given to him by the others. What did it mean? The humans were coming in full force to destroy the Slomon K'Hara. Did it mean they were dangerous? He already knew that. He looked through the vision again, and noticed that ships from all large human factions were present. He knew that the politics of the Darknames would prevent it. So what did it mean? He only had one idea.
There was a silence. Nimsala was hot and nervous, so sweat was pouring down his back. He needed to change clothes. His body needed a shower and a shave. Finally, the silence ended with Kran'Shi's voice through the Mindshare, which was accompanied by happiness and satisfaction.
***...'Correct'...'Ready to...Fight'...'Fight for Light'...***
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.