Book 5 Chapter 20 - Inside the Arc (Final)

The corrosive miasma dissipated at their feet as the Namegiver's army crossed the threshold.

Jasmine held her breath as Rynard stepped over from the station into the mouth way, an apt description as they made their way deeper in. The walls were slimy, the air humid, stale and it stank of decay… The sickly sweet scent of tartar.

“Lights!” Jasmine ordered and instantly every council soldier turned on a bioluminescent flashlight. Imperial soldiers turned their swords to glow and held them up like torches to cast the light, it revealed even more unsettling imagery.

The walls weren't just slimy, they were throbbing, the red-tinged leathery texture of flesh, alive and well.

“I’ve seen this before,” Itsuki piped up, “the interior walls of Kyu-Kage station,”

Jasmine nodded, her inner monologue repeating to itself

“(The ships alive, all their techs alive… including their ships,)”

“It's been stiffed and immobile for [months]” Xant deliberated, examining from a far, “without proper maintenance and flushing the Rajava’s system would be stagnant, rotting even…” That would explain the smell, ships required constant maintenance and monitoring while they were running perfectly. Ships left abandoned in the void often rotted away down to their metallic parts, lost forever. “Jasmine’s Freq-Bomb likely awoke its sensors and it began running its regular protocols, it could very well be in recovery mode.”

“You really think my pulse woke it up?” Jasmine asked.

“It ‘woke’ me up,” Xant replied matter-of-factly with a gentle tap to his head, “and your ‘power ballad’ likely finished what the grief bomb started.”

“What about the Rajavan ‘Lady’? Was she only woken up with the ship? Staying in stasis like the rest of us?” Jasmine questioned further, wanting to gauge how best to handle the Rajavan threat.

Xant sat quietly, a hand to his brow while clarifying the minor miscommunication.

“It isn't just a ‘Rajavan ship’,” he replied, looking up at the structure around them, “the Rajava are their ships, the ‘Lady’ is the ship.” ‘Shipbrains’ wasn't a misnomer, they were the melding of hivemind organic computers, the ‘consciousness’, brains that could be placed in any structure and take control. A ship, a station, a building, or anything with the organic internal systems the civilization was built on, entire planets were once run on these systems. But this Rajavan ship was different, the Engine lord was unable to locate the shipbrain when they were dissecting the ship from the hull-wound, and its build was off from the expected design. If its component properties were of human DNA then for it to have an intact ‘personality’ would not be the most surprising factor. The trio looked up once again at their surroundings and it only confirmed Xants hypothesis to be true. Arched beams looked like spinal columns, the ceiling of rib-like bones, and veins of red and blue permeated the living walls.

It was all very human.

A shudder of distaste shook Jasmine, as she pulled her limbs inward at the revelation, turning away from the conversation to focus on the path ahead.

Their forward marsh was halted when their feet touched the steel floor, and the end of the gangway met with a giant door. Its surface was embossed with a depiction of paradise, clouds and sunbeams, forests and rivers. A garden world.

Inscriptions carved all along the outside, glyphs and pictographs of dozens possibly a hundred different styles… Some of which they recognised.

“What is it?” Rynard asked, unused to seeing such decoration inside a warship.

“Human,” Itsuki muttered unhappily, “different languages,”

“And they all say the same thing,” Jasmine added, her hand pointing to a set of glyphs, “‘Stairway to heaven.’”

Her utterance of the phrase activated the door, sliding slowly upwards, her soldiers stood on guard ready for anything on the other side.

Almost anything.

What greeted them was a macabre display, rows and rows of twisted amalgamations slumbering in incubation vats filled with pink bubbling liquid, each one more terrifying in size and scope. What was more morbid was that each vat was… decorated. Intricate silk banners and delicate metal work, beautiful flowers, tiny animals and Sculpted human-like statues, moulded from marble and gold leaf presented each monster as though they too, were a work of art.

A twisted mix of snake and crocodile?

“Leviathan” Jasmine breathed its name, a mixture of awe and horror, the next one was no different, an Elephant and gorilla, with a single giant eye.

“Cyclops,” Itsuki read aloud, looking back at Jasmine, the pair realised what the display was.

“Werewolf, Chimera, Chupacabra, Bunyip, Qzetaquotal, Yeti…”

It was a gallery.

“They're (The Rajava) literally making (fictional) monsters!” Jasmine shook her head. It was all one massive, sick joke.

“Monsters,” Xant repeated, his eyes drawn to the ‘human-like’ statues, no two were the same in appearance, some had horns, wings, tentacles, animal ears, tails, multiple limbs and none of them had faces, covered by veils or simply left blank and up to the viewer's imagination. The ‘Lady’ could have stood among them.

The grotesque display continued down the hall, leading to the large and ornate set of stairs, leading up to another grand entrance. Only this time they had company waiting for them.

Humanoids, covered in black environmental suits, stood at the doors, each one holding a handle, like butlers awaiting guests.

They felt empty and hollow.

But a presence beyond the door beckoned them.

Jasmine felt herself being pulled up the stairs, to where she belonged.

She slid down Rynards back and addressed her army, returning her sword to her side.

“[Sincerity](everyone)I want to thank you all for coming this far, for following me and my anger through this (awful) nightmare but I will force you no further(I don’t want to..).” She looked at the sea of hulking space warriors, all with their eyes on her, and yet, she did not feel small among them. “If you wish to turn back(and avoid what is to come) I will hold you no ill will, I do not know what lies beyond those doors but I do not foresee a peaceful outcome. If you wish to stay, we will be fighting, if you wish to leave and live your life as you had before, now is the time. The choice is yours.”

Jasmine closed her eyes and withdrew her presence as best she could, limiting her influence to make their decision easier.

Nobody moved a muscle.

When she opened herself again, she felt everyone there, ready to go, ready to fight.

She acknowledged everyone's decision, thankful she would not have to go on alone.

“Right!” she addressed her captain, “Rynard, you can't fit through that door can you?”

The captain snorted,

“Nothing a little ‘interior percussion’ couldn't fix,” he replied with a helpful fist in his palm.

“Then you stay out here with the troops, if you sense anything,” she emphasized, “anything other than my safety, especially if you can't feel me at all, I want you to raze this place to the ground.”

“Yes, Commander!” he replied with relish.

“Letu,” Jasmine commanded, “I need your protection, can you be my sword?”

The knight had his sword drawn at the ready, a crackle of lightning inside him she hadn't noticed before.

“Yes, Commander Namegiver,”

“Itsuki, Xant…” she looked towards her friends, a softer, gentler request, “Are you ready?”

The pair nodded, silent in agreement and curiosity, themselves feeling the invisible pull towards the door.

“As ready as we’ll ever be,” replied the youth, baseball bat in hand.

“And even if we are not,” Xant answered, activating his power armour to be on guard.

Jasmine turned towards the steps and took the first, confident stride towards the staircase.

“Then let's go and meet this ‘Lady’,”

‐*‐

Beau’s heart was racing as the F-250 began to pick up speed.

Magnets in his power armour boots allowed him to hang off the side of the truck as he shouted orders to the driver.

“Brick! Down to the end of the tunnel then hard left!” he ordered, making a mental count of the time and distance they needed to go to reach the cell blocks.

Most of the humans were crammed into the cabin, Emma was in the back, doing her best to patch up the admiral while Emilio stood his opposite on the tray bed, holding onto the back with one arm, the rifle held firmly in the other.

“Cheif,” he said, as quietly as he could over the roars of the engine, eyes looking between the admiral and his own gun, “are we FUBAR?”

Fucked Beyond All Recognition.

Beau nodded his head.

“Basically,” he replied “alien politics are just as rancid as human ones, but none of it means shit if we don't get outta here,”

He looked back at their alien casualties, the admiral lay prone, with dr Emma doing her best to patch up the cracked and leaking exoskeleton, while her cohorts looked on, glower faces on the lot of them.

“Should I have shot?” Emilio asked again, Beau shook his head.

“You made a choice,” Beau replied as calmly as he could, “We would have been collateral if you hadn’t, the rest we can figure out later.”

If they made it out at all that was.

The truck's speed began to slow as Tony called from the driver's wheel.

“Chief! Incoming!”

More reinforcements were barreling down the corridor, with no intention of slowing down.

“Floor it, Brick!”

“What?!”

“I said FLOOR IT!” Beau shouted as he planted a foot on the roof for a better vantage point, “I’ve got this!”

Tony shrugged, “Oaky Doaky!” and slammed his foot down on the accelerator. Beau reached down inside of him, grasping onto that sway of power he had held over the soldier's will. The crisp starch of a uniform, the hot breath of a drill Sargent, the discipline of a focused gaze.

Beau drew in the air until his lungs ached and let it out in a single order.

“SOLDIERS! ON THE LEFT!”

The thundering feet of the reinforcements heard the order, and without missing a beat changed formation, moving to the left creating a path for the truck. Beau grinned to himself,

feeling as powerful as Moses parting the red sea.

Strakus sat silently in awe, the power humans could wield at will was comparable to even his Admiral. Shaking off Aralukia’s orders of submission and the harrowing human cry, the one they called ‘Cheif’ could still summon such a powerful presence after such a battering.

“Don't you go swearing oaths…” Aralukia growled from below, shifting to sit up.

“Admiral, please rest-”

“I am fine.” she insisted, waving off the human plastering up her puncture wounds, “I will not be coddled any further,” she turned around and reached for the frame to brace herself.

She could feel the underlying subtleties of the Chief’s command freq, the experience needed to wield such a force. He had been honed under authority’s lash, felt the sting of regimented steel, the scars of resentment healed over…

Had her progenitor gotten this Voidsinger under his pincers, there would have been no limit to his cruel ambitions. She cursed herself again for even lending an ear to her father's machinations, the Voidsingers had proven themselves worthy crew without Freq, now she knew how invaluable they were with it.

The tunnel opened up to the hangers, the soldiers became far and few between as an alarm began blaring all around them. Their time was running out.

Beau’s Freq insured the rest of their journey was unimpeded, remembering exactly how to get to the cell block was a little more difficult. The entire place was a honeycomb labyrinth, without any clear landmarks it was getting harder to remember where to turn going 60 miles an hour.

“That way,” Aralukia’s arm stretched out, pointing down the route to take. Beau took her word for it and relayed the order down to Tony.

“How do you know?” Beau asked, curious in the moment.

“I know my crew,” she answered, “even in this sordid place, their fire lights the way,”

Beau tried to discern what she was talking about, he knew the presence of his fellow humans, and the admiral was bold next to him, but it was harder to feel out the other aliens. They were simply not strong enough for him to feel.

At last, they came across the enormous cell block, the only place with guards still standing.

They raised their weapons at the oncoming rogues, a vain attempt to follow their Knight Commander's orders before being crushed by unforeseen circumstances.

The truck pulled to a stop, and Beau stood up on the roof, readying to command them to stand down when Aralukia stood up in his place.

“You’ve done enough,” she said, a thankful tone in her voice, “I will command from here,”

The truck's suspension jolted as the admiral jumped off, landing in front of the guards, towering over them.

The pulse was like a sonic boom, shocking everyone who could sense it. Beau felt a hammer hit his chest, knocking the wind from him in a single breath. The guards dropped their weapons and stood shaking before Aralukia, she barely needed to raise her voice.

“Open the gate, I am here for my crew,”

A button was pushed, a buzzer sounded and the gigantic gates opened up for them.

“Take your weapons and go,” she ordered, opening her wings to take flight, “there is Rajavan blood to be spilt,”

The guards didn't need to be told twice, lifting their melta-guns from the floor and running past to join the reinforcements.

Beau banged on his chest, trying to get his lungs to recover quicker, knocking the Admiral's pulse out with his own.

“Order chief?”

“Follow her!”

Tony drove the truck out onto the elevator as Aralukia took flight into the cell, ready to greet her imprisoned crew with a rallying cry.

“RED ASH PIRATES, DO YOU HEED MY CALL?!” her voice echoed in the empty space and was met with an overwhelming roar of voices below. Individually, the pirate's presences were weak but coerced together under the Admiral's command, they became a force to be reckoned with.

“YES OUR ADMIRAL!”

“THE VOIDSINGERS HAVE FREED ME, NOW I SHALL FREE YOU!” she flew out and slammed the elevator button, the giant platform lowering to another applauding chorus, “WE WILL TAKE BACK OUR SHIPS, WE WILL TAKE BACK OUR FREEDOM, WE WILL NEVER YELD!”

The adrenaline was intense, a fire coursing through beaus viens his body feeling as though he could burst out his own wings and take flight. The experience was intoxicating. He raised his fists in the air and screamed at the top of his lungs.

“NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER SURRENDER! NO MAN LEFT BEHIND!!”

The pirates screamed approval of his words, chanting the Admirals and Voidsinger's praises, hundreds of aliens clamouring up onto the elevator. Those that could, flew up, carrying whoever they could through the open gates, some jumped and others began climbing up the concrete walls, without guards and barriers there was nothing stopping them. Aralukia landed beside the F-250, a hand on its roof to steady herself as the elevator made its trip back up.

She summoned her captains, detailing orders to reclaim their lost ships and to leave Branch as soon as possible.

“Make your way to freeway stations, any freeway station, warn the other armadas what is to come, the Rajava are awake and they're-”

Her orders were interrupted as the wailing of the alarms faltered.

A crackling of the system gave way to the screech of electronic guitars and a human voice…

“What in the fresh hell?…” Beau shook his head, unsure of what he was hearing.

“The messengers,” Strakus spoke up, looking to Aralukia “They're boosting the command signal?”

“The voidsinger's command signal!” she confirmed, laughing at the irony of it all, “Knights of Lukias!” she summoned, and almost immediately the largest and strongest of the pirates deterred their paths to come to her “Cheif!” Aralukia spoke fondly to the human beside her, “You told your Namegiver that you would wait, but I shall do you better!” her wings once again outstretched, beating with great speed as she prepared to soar. “We will take the fight to her and BRING HER BACK!” she and her swarm took flight, waiting for the F-250 to follow after. Aralukia dived forward commanding everyone to follow as she laughed with zeal.

“I refuse to have my presence outmatched!”