38 (DSV Nautica) Through and Through
The Mors crawled slowly toward the event horizon, guns warming up and preparing for whatever might be on the other side. The ships of the fleet fell to its side, slowly squeezing together so that they would fit."Alright, we have no idea what to expect. Fleet...be ready for anything."Seventeen ships approached the shimmering horizon, all preparing for an all out assault once that line was crossed. Loki closed her eyes for a second, feeling something was odd on the other side. The wormhole was a connection between two points, so the location they would end up was only a few hundred kilometers in front of them. But she sensed no dragons. They should have swarmed the far side by now. Rather than be put off, she smiled brightly."Well? What are we waiting for?"The Matriarch sat upon her throne, eyes closed and breathing slowly. One might even think she had passed on, and was merely a corpse or statue. But she was very much alive. The wormhole had shattered the fabric of the will, and those who were attuned could feel it. Feel the ripples spread across the space that was their small galaxy. Will wavelengths poured from the other side. There was a sudden shift in the wind, and she could feel it. Her attention turned in the direction of AU-945. She could see the brilliant spiral, thriving with its life. Then, the shock wave. The wavelengths of will rattled by the wormhole, and the Eidolon scrolls activation. She could only imagine what the dragons felt.
Her eyes opened, as she stood slowly, approaching the window. Some of her people will have picked up on it, but it would have gone unnoticed to the general populace. The dragons were curious now...perhaps this wouldn't be a fight after all...maybe this was the beginning of something else.Elsewhere, cogs were turning , minds crafting, workers racing to a purpose. Deep in space, the unknown regions of the universe had whisperings, small ripples of will began to resonate. Something long dormant began to wake. An Ayr'een stepped out of the shadows on the desolate planet, looking to the sky. His crest was altered, with a diamond on each cheek, a line connecting them to his main crest. He let out a deep growl, looking toward the stars. He could feel the ripples of will power from an event, something large. His face leered in a smile. The Mors punched through the event horizon, appearing in local space of AU-945. The rest of the fleet followed behind. As soon as the last ship was through, they broke formation, the Mors steering toward the northern pole of the wormhole event, with the sixteen others spacing out around the equator. They waited. Nor would they have to wait long. A shimmer appeared that matched the exit point of a dragon. The fleet oriented to face the newcomers, ready for a full assault.
It never came.A single figure exited into local space, and kept its
distance.Rear Admiral Loki sat forward, exhaling gently, staring at the figure. The gunnery station oriented the weapons to point square at the dragon, and preparing to fire. "Admiral, please. Stop." A deep voice sounded in Loki's subconscious. A dragons essence behind it."HOLD!" Loki snapped the command to the bridge, bringing everything to a dead halt. The cannons were ready to fire."DO NOT FIRE." Loki commanded to gunnery. Everyone looked confused for a split second, then realized what was going on.The dragon spoke to Loki again. She seemed to be phased out at the moment, listening to something in her head."Okay...helm. Bring the ship toward the Dragons location. Do not fire. Open the launch bay doors."The entire bridge was quiet, save the chimes of the consoles. "Kal'un'ar, you have the bridge. Keep in contact with me."Kal nodded and took command, steering the ship, as well as relaying to the other ships why they had been stopped.Loki walked briskly down to the launch bay, grabbing one of the boards and stepping on it. Her suit sealed shut around her, will encasing her. She flew out in front of the Mors all alone, going to meet the Draconid that requested an audience.
Back on New Ayr, the Matriarch let out a sigh, and opened her eyes. So the dragons wanted to talk? This was new. They would see where this went for now, and if it went someone useful, then so be it.Loki approached, and was within an arms reach of the Dragon. His face was unreadable, thoughts clouded from her. But his presence...was something else. He was very young for a draconid, and only came up to her chest. But the will power he radiated....the very fabric of what seemed possible and impossible was altered. It felt warm, though whether that was good or bad remained to be seen. He spoke to her, not in the traditional sense, but with mental pictures and shared feelings. Slowly, Loki began understanding. An image of a shocked dragon upon the wormholes opening; a sure sign that they didn't expect this. The realization of the mors and the threat it posed pushed them to look at things from a new perspective. The intruders were not leaving, and they had to ensure that a large scale conflict did not break out. For the sake of preserving the Garden, as they called AU-945. They wanted to at least talk. To explore other options.
Loki thought about this for a moment. This was a rare opportunity for the races to have some kind of peace between them. Not to mention a few other opportunities...this conflict had been raging for some time now. Maybe it was time to give talking a try. It had never been done before. Loki simply nodded. She would go along with this. It was unexpected to her, but she would play along and see where this went.The Dragon described himself as a Liaison, a
messenger for the Draconid leader. The Seers. Both Loki and the Liaison proceeded back to the ship, albeit slowly. They moved in silence, though they undoubtedly sensed each others surface emotions. He was quite reserved, though somewhat curious. A little nervousness at the prospect of going inside an Ayr'een ship? Though rather confident. She turned around and shared a sense of peace with him, trying to play the part of a good host. He returned the favor, being courteous.They both touched down in the Mors' hangar bay. The crew was rife with a mix of emotions. Excitement, anger, nervousness for the most part. She gave them the command not to do anything that could be offensive in any way, or there would be severe consequences.
The ship was dead silent. The crew were undoubtedly talking amongst themselves. They came prepared to fight, and had been stopped dead in their tracks. The status quo seemed to have changed. The Draconids were at least curious enough to start negotiations with the Ayr'een empire.Aki read the data contained in the card that the Matriarch had left her. It was a series of pass codes for a restricted section of the archives. She would have to speak to the Curator to access this areas. She had a long ride in the automatic shuttle to think about all that had happened. Celestes' true nature and the scrolls part in all of it. It was a lot to take in, when she also had a crew needing rescue. The stars around them shined so bright, and innocent as events unfolded around them, as they always did. The universe at large was ever changing according to its own designs, and even though the dragons were very powerful beings, the tides of reality controlled them as well. The shuttle glided noiselessly along the massive superstructure overlooking the planet of New Ayr, slowing as it slowed down and reached its destination.
Aki got up and prepared to exit the shuttle, but stopped in her tracks. The Curator was standing before her, looking her over. It almost felt like she was getting sized up."Nee'ak'ee'oh...welcome."Aki bowed. "Curator...May I ask-"The Curator held up her hand to stop Aki in her tracks."I know you have questions...they will be answered. Come with me."Aki followed the Curator into the archives, completely bewildered. The first thing she noticed was that the place was empty, whereas the place was usually packed. Second, there were protectors every third archive row, standing at silent attention. What was going on here?