The obsidian pyramid sitting at the base of Mount Nitti had been there for generations. Not to attract attention but as a testament of old maltese masonry and craftsmanship.
Inside the pyramid was a bright interior decorated heavily in grecco roman architectural tastes. Tapestry's, paintings and even sculpture all dedicated to the ideals of the cult. The pyramid, The tangle root bush, and the runes taught to all initiates of the cult so that one day they could identify themselves to the divine as... devoted.
Gossamer threads woven of alien design and silks cultivated carefully to make banners and curtains for the interior... hang and sway to the breeze the blows from the ceiling vents.
Long have these adornments held... for those devoted to the Divine.. or as the universe called them..nomads. The unclean.. perhaps now even brothers and sisters of malta would not fully understand the beauty... the perfection... and the grace of their songs.
The old man... of advanced age the Master Teacher... began to receive a series of images.
he had seen these before.. The broken gate... The shrine... the Doorway of light..
But there was one more.. There was a cup.. .. and a crack suddenly split through it..
The old man went deeper.. .... in the vision he was inside the shrine... looking about an empty meditation chamber... Dom'Ka'vosh pictographs ... on the floor.. there was a cup.. again the same cup that cracked before..
he bent down to sit to observe it...
The cup looked as if it held liquid cardimine, unrefined, direct from the divine. Seemingly still glowing blue.
A woman's voice uttered the words... "Reunion."
The cup cracked in two... cleanly.. Mar Sara reached out to save what was left of the liquid before it spread out into the seams of the plating...
Holding two piece of a cup.. but simply not quick enough to save the spill... it turned to blood...
Mar Sara frowned... blood was rarely used in his visions..it represents a supreme sadness.. and loss to the Divine.. a feeling they rarely impart.
He had begun to lay the pieces down when a hand took a hold of his. A younger man.. the.. stoic face of three-winds revealed to mar sara.
"Father. The cup has many more pieces, but in your hands, they can be one." The younger man said.
The cup was one again.. the blood filled the vessel... then turned orange and then the characteristic purple of liquid cardimine before he awoke.
Looking to his left.. to a terminal..
A message.. it did not look good. "Suspected Administrator Jameson issued Hushed Kill on Sight order for mobile Temple."
he sighed.
Typing a small reply. " Impose on the Divine for support. / Ready the children in small ships to traverse the dead zone of the Shrine system. We have family there - family that needs us right now - Will attend personally."
He rose to his feet.. and reached out and took his staff to assist his walking he detested space travel.
The oracles had not been seen in some time, the Children of the apocalypse would see why.
leonard mckenna aka Crying man was maneuvering his tridente ahead of the small squadron of scimitars and sabres.
Entering the Kansas system the flurry and streaks from jump hole travel seemed more bumpy then usual.
When on the other side there was a transmission.. leonard looked tot he small neural net display as Lien.. no.. not lien.. This was Lien unmasked this was the puppet master diectly.
Nysk appeared
"Exarch... here are the coordinates of the wounded gate... please ensure the following readings match up.. if they do not do NOT permit the children to use it... if the gate has degraded any further ..this maybe the reason why the Oracles have endured prolonged exile."
Leonard nodded "Yes great mother. understood."
The transmission went to audio as the squadron checked in upon entering the Kansas system.
Cruising ahead... and entering the iridium nebula.. the Alien gate was almost missed.. as a piece of debris barely any power.
Leonard scanned as instructed...
98% match.. no wait.. 99%. Good enough for a clear connection.. but Leonard had to stay behind upon activation the gate could only accommodate ships snub fighter in size.
"The gate is safe brothers and sisters, I am reading hyper dimensional bleed through.. radiation is leaking from the focal point of the gate." he said.
static and a beep sounded. "Thank you Exarch.. We will be alright.." many voices.. mar sara among them spoke to him.
one by one the ships entered the ruined gate... leonard remained behind... faithfully for a few moments knowing the exit point would be elsewhere..
He headed for Pennsylvania.. awaiting further instructions.