Rise of Aen (19 page)

“Ah, master Aen.”
Caretaker replied.
“Back from the depths of your soul, are you? I have finally made contact with the Amarra, if you must ask, and am now looking to link up to her using a minor subroutine that has a few ounces of power left in a small pocket of capacitors. I told you it was a longshot, but one worth taking
nonetheless.”

“So now you have your foot in the door, now
what?”

“Simple, I shunt some power through the capacitors to the locator beacon to triangulate her exact position, then use a bit more to briefly get an internal picture from the onboard surveillance systems and then we prepare
ourselves.”

“Prepare for
what?”

“So you can know the location of where we must go and visualize where we must appear. You will teleport us to the control room of the Amarra, so we can jumpstart her
heart.”

Aen smiled, he had thought that he would one-up the construct with his thinking but it had beaten him to the punch. When he was told about the Amarra, this was the plan he had all along, or at least part of it. To be honest, making an interstellar phone call was the least of his priorities. Finding the arsenal of the Lyarran ship was more to his liking and using it to wipe Taylor and his men off the
planet.

“So we were on the same page all along, then. Good, now get it done so I don’t have to be idle much longer. Sitting still hurts, and not in a way that my body can
fix.”

“I need to complete a few more tricky calculations so it will take some time.”
Caretaker replied as it returned back to the console.
“I estimate a long wait of nearly ten minutes or
so.”

Ten minutes! Aen nearly burst out laughing before realizing to an AI capable of immense calculations and thinking, ten minutes was ten lifetimes. So there would be something to occupy him soon, Aen was glad. Depression isn’t a good thing for a creature with his talents to have and with any more down time he figured that that’s exactly what would set in. He was indeed struggling to resist the cold, saddening comfort of sadness and loosing himself in the exploration of the ancient Lyarran ark would help loosen its grip on his
soul.

NINE

Himalayan Mountains, Mount Kailash, Tibet

Aen waited impatiently for the Caretaker to link with the ancient ship, but he was using the time wisely. Text after text, file after file, Aen poured over histories and schematics of everything Lyarran. At the moment, he was deeply lost in the operational workings of the Amarra, trying to think of some way to bring life to the long dead
giant.

Concentrating on the reactor room, he leaned forward in his chair as something nearly jumped out at him from the schematics. From the reactors he noticed the main power outlet that ran all the way up to the command deck before splintering off everywhere else. As if a light had turned on in his mind, his fingers raced across the display to recall the results of his tests from when he arrived here; the tests that he had ignored up till
now.

He saw the visual of his heart, and for the first time in a while he was truly shocked! He knew it was the source of his abilities, but he was hardly ready for this. In his chest lay what he could best describe as a sun, burning brilliantly and churning with power. Gone was the human heart, replaced by this celestial object that simply rotated on its axis. This is why he had limitless energy in which to draw upon; this is why the Lyarran prophets spoke of his arrival with such reverence. They saw the stars as gods, so to them he was a god
incarnate!

And with this knowledge, Aen made the final connection on how to best awaken the slumbering Amarra. The reactors ran on the energy and magnetic fields derived from the creation of artificial suns—Aen would drive them by wiring himself directly to the ship. He would become the heart of the Amarra, and power it to join the Council meeting as to plead for the Empire’s
mercy.

“I have found the Amarra,”
the metallic voice of Caretaker chimed in, snapping him out of his deep thought.
“And I have a connection with her mainframe, although tenuous at
best
.”

“Use the facility power to boost your signal strength, I need a few more minutes to prepare.” Aen replied. “Are your systems portable, or are you anchored to this
place?”

“My core unit is removable, but can only be mated to a Lyarran system so I can remain functional. Why do you
ask?”

“Show me what we need to do to get you loose from this place. We’ve got a ship to catch—you’re much too valuable to be left
behind!”

Lyarran Vessel Amarra, Southern Pacific Ocean Floor

Only the light of the flashlights and glow sticks Aen had brought illuminated the command deck of the Amarra as the darkness fought to keep its long time grip on her. He was the first being to stand here in a thousand years; Aen marvelled at how well preserved it
was.

The Lyarrans built shit to last, he thought to himself as he worked feverishly to install Caretaker’s module into the control council. After a slight search, he found the proper connections and his image flickered to
life.

“My module holds a short supply of power, so you must work quickly,”
the construct said urgently.
“Below this station lies the main power coupling as it connects to the ship’s controls. Reach down and disconnect it; you need the end leading into the control
panel.”

With his hands groping in the darkness below the council, Aen’s left hand brushed what he was searching for. With both hands, he felt his way up the power line and upon finding the coupling, he pulled to separate it. It took more than a concerted effort to get it apart, but with an echoing click he pulled it
free.

“Got it, now what?” he said as he held up the end to show the Caretaker, the long metal spike of the male connection glistening in the orange light of the glow
sticks.

“This is where we go to the theoretical, Aen. If you are right, you must thrust the connection into your chest and push power into the ship’s system in an attempt to restore
power.”

Aen held the power cord to his chest and paused. The machine was right; all this was based on theory. But the only way to see if it would work was to act on it. “This is gonna fucking hurt,” he mumbled as he thrust the spike into his heart as he screamed in agony. His body was racked with immense pain and he fell to his knees on the
floor.

“Now you must push, Aen, push the power into the ship’s
systems!”

Aen screamed as he willed his heart to churn out massive waves of energy; feeling it respond in a push like he’d never felt yet. But nothing happened—the ship remained dark and
dead.

“Caretaker?”

“Be
patient.”

“Easy for you to say, you aren’t impaled through the
chest!”

“Be patient. Accessing alternate
systems
.”

“My patience is a little strained right now,
Caretaker.”

“I need a little more power, Aen. Can you raise your power output by twenty
percent?”

He groaned as he willed his body to create more power than he could ever imagine. Everything he had done, all his abilities until now had not required this much energy combined. Aen shut his eyes and concentrated—his heart began to churn as a bluish light peaked out through his reopened
wounds.

“Is that enou—” He was cut off by the command deck systems snapping on one by one. System alarms blared as power funneled through the ship. “What’s going on?” he asked with
strain.

“There are a few hull breaches that I am attempting to remedy by closing bulkheads, but we are successful. The Amarra lives, so to speak, and all systems seem to be responding to your
energy.”

“How much time until the Council meeting?” Aen
groaned.

“If my calendar still holds true, they will be starting to assemble in the Grand Council as we speak; some in person and others by holographic
link.”

He leaned forward so he could out his hands on the floor to better support his weight; the pain of the ship’s energy demands were pulling at his insides was immense. Aen moaned slightly from the discomfort; he knew this wouldn’t kill him and that it was temporary until his body adjusted to the
strain.

“How long until you can get the holographic link
active?”

“I am already in the process of activating it; it should not be much
longer.”

“Good, because if what you’ve told me about this Council is true, these women are in for the shock of their
lives!”

Lyarran Vessel Dark Light, near Eagle Nebula

She hated these sessions, but her standing as the Commander of the Lyarran cruiser, the Dark Light, made it one of her duties. Council Lyxia Amek waited in her holo-link chamber as it connected with that of the Grand Council. As the systems began to link up, the image of the massive council chamber appeared before her. Lyxia yawned, knowing that her image had yet to show on the other side to betray her boredom. As her eyes lazily spanned the chamber, she saw something that snapped her out of her
funk.

The long darkened podium of the Amarra was lit—her close friend Ameia was finally back after a hundred year absence. Although Lyxia was just over two hundred years young, Ameia had befriended her during her first days a part of the Council to guide her in her duties. The two had struck up an immediate friendship and Lyxia had taken the long silence from her friend
hard.

Happy thoughts flooded her mind as she peered forward at the lit podium. But her jubilation slowly faded; something was wrong. There was no image transmitting from the Amarra, only confirmation that the holo-link was active. She was about to page her friend’s station as the lights began to dim and the session began with the entrance of the
Empress.

The hall doors on the main level opened and the Empress Iana glided into the room, followed closely by her mammoth bodyguard, Bryx. He was a J’Karin; a race of monster-sized creatures that were more bone than soft tissue. At nearly ten feet tall, Bryx was the best and brightest of his species, that was the reason for his appointment as her personal guard. Lyxia noted the way the lighting was angled into the auditorium; shining towards her and to cast his massive shadow behind him and not over
her.

“Welcome all, to this session of the Galactic Council.” Her voice sang to the gathering. “Before we begin, I would like to thank all those attending for their efforts in keeping the Empire what it is; a great shining beacon of hope to all others to
see.”

“All hail the Empress, she has blessed us with her love,” The Council said in unison as the greeting to her according to
protocol.

Bowing to them, she slowly rose with her eyes locked on the lit podium of the Amarra. Without taking her gaze off of it, she raised her hand to open the floor to the business at hand to begin. Lyxia noticed the look of concern in her Empress’ eyes—an ability to read faces was one of her many polished talents that helped her rise quickly through the ranks of the
Fleet.

Motions and concerns were heard, but neither Lyxia nor Iana listened as both stared intensely to the void which should have been the figure of Ameia. Time for the two seemed to slow until an argument on research broke
out.

“A perfect time to pick the brain of Council Ameia—after all, it has been a long time since she was able to join us.” One of the Councillors piped up, but the station remained empty and eerily quiet. Murmurs and whispers broke out throughout the room before being halted by the Empress raising her hand to quiet
them.

“Sadly, I fear it is not our dear Ameia that has joined us this fine day. I feel energy, a power unlike anything I’ve ever felt before looking on with curious eyes.” She said as she stepped towards the empty podium. “Step forward, make yourself known to us.” She asked in a most serious tone to her usual songlike
voice.

A moment of silence was broken by gasps and jeers as a tall male figure appeared, his chest pierced by many different wires and connections. He stood proud and tall, despite the obvious pain and discomfort he was in. His presence was an affront to some—in a matriarchal society a man had no right in the council—and others were simply shocked to see something so alien staring them
down.

“Welcome, strange fellow.” The Empress cooed gently, knowing full well who the imposter was but not letting on. “And who might you
be?”

Lyarran Vessel Amarra, Southern Pacific Ocean Floor

Aen stood back as the holo-link whirred to life, making sure he was out of projection range to observe the scene before he had to get involved. His body ached as they had to add multiple new feeds into his heart to get different systems online. He chuckled softly; he looked like a human
battery.

As the images began to load, he saw a grand chamber unfold before his eyes filled with countless different alien faces and bodies. His eyes darted to and fro, before coming to rest directly across from him on a striking female officer who seemingly returned his gaze. She was near his height, probably six and half feet tall, with long bluish hair and piercing eyes of similar color, which were all iris and no white in them. She was orange-skinned and had the same rear pointing ears as Ameia did. Dressed in some kind of formal military attire, she was a stunning vision, one that Aen was unprepared to see. Something inside him stirred at the sight of her, something that had been long gone since his
death.

Then the lights dimmed, and everyone looked below to the stage as the most beautiful creature he had ever seen almost floated into the council; it was the woman in the statue and the woman from his dream! Standing nearly seven feet, the bronze-skinned woman walked slowly dressed in robes of gold and orange which were nearly transparent as he could make out the lines of her body beneath them. Her hair was orange flame, the only color he could think of to describe it, and her eyes glowed with a deep yellow tint; they were orbs of living fire. As beautiful as she was, Aen knew that she was like him—an apex predator amongst the wolves here. His eyes were transfixed by her beauty as he followed her to the center of the room before he noticed the nightmarish creature behind her. It was truly frightening: a ten-foot-tall, troll-like creature with two large tusks jutting from its lower jaw. With its grey skin and armored body, it reminded Aen of a rhinoceros without the horn, walking
upright!

Returning to the Empress, she began to speak with an angelic voice. He began to lose himself in her eyes when he noticed that she too was staring right back at him! He felt a pressure in his skull that reminded him of when his mother spoke to him; she was trying to see who he was without alarming the others! Quickly, Aen concentrated and shut her out. Then it
happened.

Someone had finally spoken up and asked for Ameia, whose rightful seat in the Council he was in, and the questions began to rise. Then the Empress called him forward and without even thinking about it, he obeyed and stepped into the projection pad. He was now at the mercy of the Lyarran Grand Council, and for the first time since his death Aen was truly
scared.

Imperial Grand Council, Lyarran Throne world Havyiin

“I am as you summoned me, my liege—broken in soul but whole and strong in body. The Harbinger of Terra Sol has awakened, I am Aen and I am at your service.” He lowered his taxed body to kneel before her in the ultimate sign of respect. It wasn’t something Aen had planned, but like the words of introduction it seemed to just pop into his
head.

The room was full of murmurs and whispered. Languages he didn’t understand or ever hope to learn were being spoken, as the sounds came from all around him in a dizzying dance. His head swooned, not only from the barrage on his senses, but from the heavy drain the ship pulled from him. It took him a second to regain his senses, and in that time the Council had drawn silent once
more.