The Early Calm

(Sorry for the long absence! Personal problems. But do not worry, THE DREADLORD HAS RETURNED!!!)
It had been a long time. But that time was not spent in idle. For the Dreadlord, that time was spent in solitude. Except for the occasional visit of Aya, Verax now had to spend all his time controlling the dark impulses within him, alone in a dark room. He had the wall behind his throne made into an entrance for a dark room, lit only by the ambient hatred and malice that pulsed continuously within him. Where no one heard him scream. Eventually, he had his throne relocated into this room, and extended his central communications systems to that room as well. When that became insufficient, he moved himself to the center of Crenel, where it all began. Where Robless was held alone. Where Tam suffered alone. Where, he now, would suffer too, alone. He now worked in utter solitude. Alone, and apart. He stood, for hours, for days, writhing, screaming, and then looking blankly into space. His cries made no sense, his name, fragments of sentences, covering his own ears to block out the words in his head. He, unlike his usual self, gave orders through messengers, seeing no one, being seen by only one, and being watched by another.

The crews stopped worrying about the mysterious ship. If it rammed them, so be it. The hull of the Cataclysm was virtually indestructible, and the energy that would result from the impact would help recharge the ship, after using most of its power in the fight for Crenel. Even if it could harm them, they had nothing to fear. Nothing. For this reason, they feared nothing.

Davy was dispatched to clear out the ghosts that plagued the Cataclysm and their new station. The prisoners were kept on the Voyager, and treated well, though the NSI did not return the hospitality shown to them as.... warmly. In a newly constructed room, on an isolated island-like platform, surrounded on all sides by an abyss, also surrounded by floating turrets and various other forms of security, locked behind layer after layer of electrical cages, sat Commander Robless. He, unlike Verax, was visited quite frequently, either for food deliveries, status updates, and the like. The Neo-Myrionith Imperial army was ecstatic at its first victory, but that sweet taste quickly turned bitter and bland, for there were no victors in this war, there were none and would be none. There would be but the guilty and the dead. Those guilty of holding fast to their ideals, those guilty of killing others for getting in the way of their ideals, those guilty of betraying their friends, or leaving them all alone. The dead were mourned for, even by this empire, who had one but one thing they all knew, one thing that bonded them. They were all together in this. Their cheers and laughs of victory were ephemeral, quickly turned to sour silence by the fact that each life they had ended was another life, perhaps like their own. The idea, the thought, of having another life, such a complex thing, such an experienced, unique thing, individual thing. Nothing could excuse such a crime, but they knew they had to. They had to otherwise more would be lost. They had to, because that was the only road left to them.

In one lounge room on the Cataclysm, where soldiers where relaxing, drinking, flirting, playing games and watching tv, five special people were too. The Five. The Mighty. The Dreaded. The Dreadknights. Though, at this point in time they looked like normal people, not dressed in their Rider armor, but instead casual wear. Zevon, whose loose white T-shirt and shorts fit for such athletic a man, was sparring with four other soldiers, still uneased that he was so easily disabled by Eris-Tam, and training so that next time he fought with Cassus, the match would be far from equal. Viz, wrapped up in her plushy purple hoodie was dissolved in giggle fits, rocking back and forth on the ground, contemplating torturing Robless. Oswald was never much of a social person, so he was playing an RTS game with one of his men, a game he in fact made himself, and was quite popular among the gamers in the army, liked for it's simplicity to use and learn to play, but at the same time deeply complex because of it's near realism. He was, of course, winning. Gwain Olmimarc, a Dreadknight that had not been deployed yet, was sitting on the ground, cross legged. Large, even for a Myrionith, Gwain took up a lot of space, but he was gentle, reading picture books to some of the soldier's children who had come to see their mothers and fathers, allowing them to climb around on him like a jungle gym while they tugged at his plain shirt and cargo pants, his size made it a chore, as his pockets were large enough for a small child to crawl into and hide. Ellowy was lying across a couch, swirling a glass of red wine, a small, cunning smile playing on her lips, gently stroking her hair, and the faces of two of her would-be suitors, as if she had any interest in them at all. Her attention was mainly focused on the up coming battles and her plans for them.

Slowly, the Five began to draw closer to each other as the room gradually emptied, and eventually, they were all standing by each other, in the same circle they always made, with only a few other people left in here to disturb their council.

Oswald was the first to break their silence, putting a practical complaint in. "Why haven't we done anything. It's been weeks. The longer he stalls-"

"-The reason he does nothing is because the Demon grows stronger. We cannot fight it, nor can he, for much longer. He is collecting himself. I've been told the invasion on the fifth will happen soon, as the Dreadnoughts are almost done recharging. Almost. Now out-fitted with countermeasures against non-physical attacks, the two ships are virtually unstoppable." Gwain interjected. Viz whimpered weakly, almost sobbing.

"Wuh-why haven't I been allowed to torture him yeeeeeet?" She whined.

"Because Robless isn't a toy, he's a tool. A very useful tool, and we can't have you breaking him, idiot." Ellowy snarked, taking another sip of the wine that seemed never to empty, and as she willingly abused time, it might very well never deplete. The other knights grew irritated, but did not object. Ellowy was their leader, and crossing her would only lead to suffering, as they already knew.

"Even so, Ellowy, Robless is too valuable a 'tool', to simply let him rust away in his cell." Gwain offered. Ellowy just laughed.

"Your point? All people are like tools. Use them, abuse them, break them, replace them. It doesn't matter how long he rusts, we'll use him when we need to, and toss him aside when he's ceased to be needed."

"Your way of viewing things is so.... screwed up!" Zevon complained. Gwain wrapped an arm around the crying Viz.

"Why are you always so mean!?" She screamed. Ellowy just put a finger to Viz's lips and shushed her gently.

"Because I am who I am darling." And she chuckled. Oswald stepped into the middle of the group.

"Sorry to break up such a touchy-feely mocking line of conversation, but lets think here. If and when we go to battle against the Alteriians, what could we do? What would we be doing? What should we be doing now?" Oswald had attempted to put the conversation back on to a logical path. Gwain sighed.

"I fought with Alteriians before, you know. Before the 'Early Wars' when we had first met, when we were just beginning to open diplomatic relations with them. Damn good soldiers, damn good men. It's a shame we have to kill them." Gwain reminisced.

"Then the Stalkers blew up our sun. Under orders from the man in the prison here." Zevon coldly spat. His arms crossed, he was beginning to remember why he hated most of these people.

"Aye." Gwain acknowledged. Viz squirmed away from Gwain, and looked up at Zevon. She had the keen trait of noticing what other people were thinking, and when they weren't saying what was on their minds. It was annoying, because she talked a lot too, usually about what they were thinking of. But this time, she just looked at Zevon, and the pain in his eyes, with wonder.

"What was it like, Zevon? To love someone? What did it feel like?" She asked innocently. Ellowy cut her off.

"We don't talk about feelings here, Viz." She said with a gentle kind of 'no-no-no' kind of sarcasm.

"And why not, your Dreadfulness?" Oswald mocked. "We're allowed to be people, right?" Viz ignored both of them, still looking at Zevon.

"....I... can't tell you anymore. I.... I've forgotten." Zevon admitted dejectedly. Viz responded by giving him a hug.

"What if I promise to love you? Will you remember?" She asked innocently. Viz, having most of her childhood stolen way to be experimented on, to create a being with unrealistic speed and stamina, was very child-like outside of battle, switching from morbidly cruel and cold, to naive and innocent. Her adult-child personality made her both a pain and a pleasure to be around. Ellowy pulled her away from Zevon by the back of her hoodie.

"It doesn't work like that dear." Ellowy reprimanded. Oswald looked away awkwardly, more at home discussing tactics and battle, unsuited to dealing with people and emotions, but not unknown to them. Gwain looked at Viz with care, having a sense of protection for her. Zevon just kept staring at the floor.

"And why not?" Viz huffed, honestly not understanding. "If he doesn't remember, then shouldn't-"

"Because a feeling is too complex to be recreated well in memory. Even more so with one as complex as the one you're wondering about." Ellowy told her, oddly, in tones that almost mirrored Lurinia. Viz tilted her head in wonder. Zevon decided to stop being quiet.

"She's right, Viz. It is too complex to remember, but-" He closed his eyes and smiled, trying to put on a show of gratitude for someone who was like an adopted daughter to him, and to the others. He did care for her, even if what she was asking for would never be real. He could never explain to her what love was, when he himself never knew, only thought he knew. "I think if you try hard enough, anything is possible. Isn't that right, Gwain? Oswald?" Oswald grunted in response, while Gwain nodded.

"He's right. It's continuous effort, not just strength or skill, that unlocks possibility. We never know." Viz smiled a little at that, but then she drifted off again. Ellowy laughed.

"How cute. Now, on to business. Do you all know who your targets are?" She inquired.

"Yes." Viz muttered.

"Of course, though, I doubt if the Dreadlord could be defeated by him, I stand much of a chance." Gwain affirmed.

"I... I will not fail again." Zevon declared with conviction.

"Mine's imprisoned somewhere above us. I doubt I have to worry about engaging in a game of battlefield chess with my opponent anymore." Oswald sighed. Ellowy said nothing. She
didn't need to. She was always ready. For anything.

"Then I guess.... we just wait. Until he's ready." Ellowy mused, bored. She ran her fingers through her hair, staring with half-opened unamused eyes at the wall. "Well, do you have anything else to talk about?"


(OOC:Feel free to roleplay as some of the NSI Prisoners/Imperial Soldiers, that are either aboard Crenel working, or aboard the two Super-Dreadnoughts living. As long as it makes sense i.e. they're not actively trying to murder everyone/ being a spy/ being disruptive and annoying/ etc. you can do just about anything.)

Her eyes were unfocused and her mind was filled with images of destruction. She'd spent the last few hours staring at the imager, inputting scenes of devastation from throughout history for it to generate, so she could examine every little detail of them. She looked at the nuclear bombings from Earth's history, the scenes of carnage from the Early Wars, from even before those. It was so interesting, so tantalizing. It nearly made her mouth water. In the weeks since the Battle for Crenel, it had become something of an obsession of hers. She looked up the wreckage that Robless had caused in his brutal reign, the slaughters he executed on millions of people.

She purposefully stayed away from documents that detailed the destruction Verax had caused, but had someone asked her whether or not that was what she was doing she would have denied it.

One particular scene that she examined with more thoroughness than the rest... was the destruction of the Myrionith sun. She felt extremely guilty, actually, taking so much pleasure from the pure concentration of ruin, of massacre contained in those events. She generated images of the destroyed planets, watched a projection of what it would've looked like before, during, and after the event. She even went so far as to look up a few individual victims, reading as much as she could about their lives and their families, then about their deaths, to top it off. She thought that would be more exciting to read about than it was, but... it only served to leave her with a slightly sick feeling in her stomach and suddenly she wasn't so sure about the whole thing again.


Eris-Aya switched off the imager. It was late, by ship time, and she had wasted away many hours of the day on this stupid obsession. Something still told her it was wrong, but something else drove her to absorb as much as possible, and she did enjoy it, most of the time.

But with the guilt still twisting in the pit of her stomach from looking with such interest at the Myrionith tragedy, she needed some sort of relief. She was actually quite stressed, which was why she'd been spending all of her time on her infatuation. Except that now, it was worse.

Almost all of her stress was centered around Verax. She worried about him almost constantly these days. When she did go in to see him he seemed so... sick, like he was losing himself. It scared her, but not because she was afraid of him. It scared her because she knew that Shade just kept getting closer and closer to breaking free.

She'd even had her room moved to one of the cells in Crenel. She still spent a lot of time around the Cataclysm or the Voyager, but she slept in the cell right next to the center cell, where Verax stayed. She wanted to be as close as possible to him, knowing her proximity made things at least a little bit easier.

She still knew it was getting harder and harder with each passing day. If they didn't act against the Alteriians soon, it would be too late anyways. Shade would break free and Verax would have never had the chance to dominate the universe to prevent it. But she also knew he couldn't be pushed, and he couldn't push himself. So she resigned herself to doing what little she could to ease his burden, and when she wasn't doing that she was relieving her own stress over the matter.

But now, seeing as she already had a knot forming inside, spending time with him could not exactly make things any worse.

She wearily rubbed her eyes and pushed herself up out of her seat, wandering down the halls of the Cataclysm towards the transporter pad that would take her down to Crenel. The crews of the two Dreadnoughts hardly even gave her sideways glances anymore. Sometimes they would even show her respect, since she was the only one allowed in to see Verax. If she relayed messages from him, the whole crew had to actually listen and do what she said.

It was, honestly, a little empowering. She wouldn't consider using that ability to her own advantage, because that would be betraying Verax's trust, but it was still kind of fun to mess around with the crew every now and then.

As she reached the telepad, she sighed slightly, stepping onto it and pressing the button. She reappeared just outside Verax's cell, putting on a slight smile that wasn't entirely fake, and knocked gently on the door. He would know it was her, since everyone else had been ordered not to come near the cell for any reason and to send everything through her. It was rare that Verax ever told her not to come in, and if that happened she knew there was a good reason.

She hoped that wouldn't happen today.

In response to Aya's knock was a voracious roar, followed by sounds of hollow scraping. "Come.... come in, Aya."

It was waking. He couldn't delay it much longer. So the quickest way to save the universe would to be simply to crush the Alteriians at the fifth and then, with Archelaus deposed, demand the universe be handed to him. Then... then why hadn't he acted? Because It told him. Shade told Verax that the moment he entered the 5th, he would set in motion events that would lead to terrible suffering. And it was not lying, for It knew that lies to push Verax were met with surprising resistance and were easily seen through. It knew the truth would break him further.

But now there was no other choice, he had to act soon, or else all this time would have been wasted. The entire left half of Verax's face was black now, his left eye a glowing yellow orb in his face. The black skin smoldered and smoked, though it was not actual skin, the black layer covering Verax's entire left body was just solid darkness, growing inwards. The pain he at first only felt when It tried to push him, he now felt at all times, as if he were on fire, as if he were bearing the weight of a meteor descending towards a planet, as if being forced to bear every wrong ever committed, and he could not bear it much longer.

His remaining eye was shining with pain and with a singular feeling, that it was time to act.

Aya touched the switch that unlocked the door. Her fingers grazed across it for a moment, and then they gripped it hard. Her eyes squinted shut as she felt that heavy pain settle on her chest. Her jaw clenched against it, and a tear squeezed from her right eye. Verax could not see this. Best to get it out of the way now.

Her hand remained tight on the switch for another moment as she swept away the disgraceful tear, and returned her face to a passive expression. Her hand loosened, and then flipped the lever down. The massive door's lock snapped loudly out of place, and she pulled it open.

Aya stepped inside, into the smothering darkness, and shut the door behind her.

It was a few moments before her eyes adjusted, like always, but when she made out Verax's hulking form in the dark she stepped forward on light, quiet feet. When he did not turn to her as she entered she moved closer, hand extended with slight uncertainty, until her hand met the searing darkness that she could barely even see anymore. She winced and withdrew her hand slightly, feeling the strange rush that it gave her when she came in contact with such... concentrated darkness, along with the spike of pain.

"Verax..." she whispered. It... it felt almost like a physical pain to see him like this. She carefully, making sure not to move too fast, wrapped her thin arm around his shoulders despite the pain of the darkness. Despite herself. Despite the weight that seemed ready to force her chest to cave in. She kept herself close to him. Despite everything.

Because if he could bear the horrible suffering for weeks on end, constant and without breaks like those she enjoyed, then she could bear just this.

"Verax... I have some news," her voice had a light tone to it, as if she was holding her words carefully above his head so they would not drop and add more weight to his burden, "My mother, has spoken with me. She wishes that I tell you of some things."

Aya took a breath, her voice still barely more than a whisper. "First, she wishes me to tell you of a ship, called the Custodian. She tells me that she did not intend to speak of it to you, but that she wants to help as best she can. She tells me that what is left of her people resides upon it. That the remainder of the Plutonians is there too. That more and more are added every day. And..." she actually smiled a little, "And she tells me they will all be safe." It went without saying that she was speaking of Shade, that those people would all live should the worst happen. That her mother was sure enough in whatever their plan was to speak about it in confidence.

"She also wishes me to tell you that she will see you soon. I don't know what that means, but it is what she said. She seemed... almost... resigned. Resigned to something that's coming, something she wouldn't tell me. It was almost... like she'd accepted whatever it was. I can only imagine that whatever she knows to be coming is nothing good... She seemed to want me to express that she believes in you."

Most of what Aya said then was based on her own observations. The way her mother had acted, had spoken and had sighed so softly, with such a... a familiar look in her eyes. Loving almost, but not quite. Aya had guessed that look was a resigned one. And she wasn't far off.

ThE StRoNG PerSiST evEn aFTeR DEATH...... the DAMNED sUFFeR EvEn LOnGer.......

Futile. Your efforts, wasted. Your actions, circuitous. Despair. Failure. The future you are sculpting. In your mind, it looks like your goal. In reality, it is shaped like your failure. Like you. You are failure. You are the one building your doom. The harsh melodic tones will usurp the harmony. The composition of your demise. You will be the first. Act now. Act later.


Nothing will change. Your perception of the phenomena you and your kind of labeled 'Shade', what you titled us with, is minute. Elementary. Flawed. Correct but not full. Even your Shade cannot describe itself. You fail to perceive that time matters not to it. It already exists. You can't stop it. You just have yet to reach the appointed time.


Act on this. Nothing will change. Do not act. Nothing will change. You are a slave to fate. Nothing will change. You will become. Nothing will change. What you try to destroy. You are a slave to fate. This ending. Nothing will change. You cannot avoid. Nothing will change. Nothing will change. Nothing will change. Nothing will change. Nothing will change. Nothing will change. Nothing will change. Nothing will change nothing will change nothing will change nothingwillchangenothingwillchange
nothingwillchangenothingwillchange. NothingwillchangeVERAXnothingwillchangeYOUnothingwillchange
nothingwillchangeAREnothingwillchangenothingwillchangeAnothingwillchange
nothingwillchangeSLAVEnothingwillchange
nothingwillchangeTOnothingwillchangeYOURnothingwillchangeFATE!


"I..... I see..... thank you." Verax slowly responded, his cogitation halted. "I.... I must return to the Cataclysm, then. We haven't much time. I.... we will crush the fifth, and.... and with.... no alternative... I will demand the universe.... once it's last power has been.... crushed." He lumbered forward, stumbling and then bracing himself against the wall, he grunted and pushed himself off it. "I.... REFUSE...." He would NOT "TO LET MYSELF BE SO....SO," Pitiful. Helpless. "WEAK.... AS TO.... BE UNABLE..." To rule. To lead. To succeed. To save. "TO WALK... TO MY OWN," Doom. Failure. "COMMAND BRIDGE." And he slowly began teetering out, swaying side to side. Verax perked up, as if remembering something, he turned to Aya. "Tell.... tell the Dreadknights.... tell Krakot.... tell Vabin.... soon it will happen. Please... Aya...." And then, as if he forgot he she was even there, his mind fixated on the task of moving, he turned away, and continued his pitiful attempt to traverse the hallway, struggling and limping away to the future.

Staying behind in the cell for a moment, a little bit phased by Verax's action and words, Aya slowly brought up the device she'd been given with which to relay orders from Verax. His sudden desire for action had confused her. She knew there was little time, but with hardly any previous mention of what they were to do she was a little stunned.

Nonetheless, she did as he'd asked. She dragged her eyes down from staring after Verax, and looked at the device, pulling up the names of the people he'd asked her to speak to- Vabin, Krakot, and the Dreadknights, and opened the video broadcast to relay his message.

"Everyone..." she trailed off, unsure how to begin for a moment. She cleared her throat and began again, stronger this time. "Everyone, Verax is coming up. He's decided that the time has once again come to act. He says... 'Soon it will happen.' He wishes to begin the attack on the Alteriians by striking at their heart, the fifth dimension. I believe he wants to be done with this as quickly as possible..." She lowered her voice quite a bit, ensuring that Verax would not hear, and continued, "As you all know he will need much assistance in this. He is very weak. His condition has continued to decline in the weeks since he sealed himself off in the center cell. I've seen him... there is no improvement."

She sighed slightly, "But do not act as though he is weak. I know all of you probably know him better than I do, so you all likely will not act correctly regardless, but I feel the need to express it anyhow. He's fighting very hard to keep it together. Don't take what little he has left."

Aya clicked the device off again, satisfied with the message, and emerged from the cell, shutting it behind her. She followed where Verax had gone and once she caught up she stayed close to him, walking just next to him but not daring to attempt to help him. He needed this too much, and she understood that. It was the same feeling she had when she'd first come to Verax. When she'd realized that her mother had expected her to come and asked Verax to be kind to her. Aya remembered the resentment she'd felt, and the shame. That even that action could not be a completely independent one.

So she didn't help him. The very moment he asked for her assistance, she would be there to give it; until then, she would not interfere.

SAFE?!From ME!?! The Somnis..... WE WILL END YOU. Shade's presence only just registered the bit about the Custodian. YOU..... YOU RESIST. BUT YOU WILL FAIL. ONE LAST MEETING. ONE LAST BATTLE. THEN THE FUTURE ENDS. Verax was sick of It.

"SHUT UP! YOU KNOW NOTHING!" And he threw himself against a wall. The contact resulted in a discharge of energy, the black energy arcing away and back around towards Verax, but some of it was siphoned off to Aya, and she felt it destroy itself upon touching her, as if it couldn't bear her existence. Verax's shoulders heaved, every breath was a battle, but,

"YOU KNOW NOTHING OF STRUGGLE!" Images flashed through his head. A man, similar to Verax in appearance, but with longer hair and kinder eyes. He was being looked up at from the ground, and behind the man was a sun that was clearly not stable. A new image. The man was on the ground, three knives stuck in him, at the heart, throat, and forehead. The man was Verax's father. The knives belonged to his son. The world flashed red.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING OF GAIN!" A new image. It was a battlefield. All around were dead bodies, and people fighting. In front of the viewer, stood a woman dressed in armor that glowed a pale, gentle, lunar silver. Then image after image of a blur of battle. Finally, an image of the woman holding a knife, the handle just barely visible at the bottom of the viewer's threshold of sight. A far larger hand, clad in golden-tinted heavy armor, was gripping her now uncovered head, her light blond hair tightly gripped in the hand. Visibly above the thumb, a gun barrel could be seen protruding from the palm of the viewer's armored hand. This woman, her name....

Pang after pang of molten malicious mental magma bathed Verax. The air was hot and heavy, his good eye's view blotched with red. "YOU KNOW NOTHING OF LOYALTY!" In a flash of blue, a new scene. A tower. An Alteriian. Shift. Change. The viewer and the Alteriian were both in combat, the viewer's hands covered in blood, the Alteriian covered in blood. Both visibly exhausted. Whose blood belonged to who was indiscernible. Shift. The view was looking up, shards of glass were above and around them. They were falling.

"NOTHING OF CREATION!" The scene was bloody, everywhere, hundreds of soldiers, torn completely apart. The dimly lit halls, the floors, the rubble and shattered glass, on just about every surface, wrote in human blood, was a five letter word. A name. The rebirth of the viewer.

Fire burned Verax, the solid darkness eating away at his body, and the source dissolving his spirit. Now he only saw red, a dark crimson. "NOTHING OF FAILURE!" It was a dusty, red and rusty surface. The torn up halves of a crashed shuttle. And them. Blurs of battle. The Voyager. The docking bay. Archon. The Voyager. Fluffy. Space. Battle. Crenel. It. Battle. Retreat. Now Verax's external screams were mimicked by internal ones, but not from him. No, if the Dreadlord were to finally be cornered by Death, Death itself would leave in tatters, wounded. Shade would know why Verax still lived, why he survived. Survived the Apocalypse, survived torture, survived battle, survived this long against it. It would know pain.

"OF MIRACLES, OR WORTH, OF VALUE, YOU KNOW NOTHING!" It mattered not that a heat to rival stars burned him now, Verax forced this image into his mind. The woman who was once clad in silver, the one who nearly killed him and who he nearly killed. Flash after flash. Together at a lake shore. Together at a workshop. Together. Her laughing. Together looking out at the stars. Her smiling. Now she stood before him, transparent, a pale blue, no longer physical. Her with an infant.

STOP IT! YOU GAIN.... NOTHING... FROM, FROM THIS.... WASTED...... WHAT... WHAT ARE YOU? THE PAIN ALONE SHOULD HAVE RESULTED IN SENSORY OVERLOAD. YOU SHOULD BE DEAD, AT LEAST ENTIRELY PARALYZED, BRAIN DEAD, YOUR NERVES SHOULD HAVE MELTED BY NOW, YET YOU PERSIST?
I have something worth fighting for, you don't fight for anything, you simply destroy.
THE UNIVERSE IS POLLUTED, WE SHALL CLEANSE IT OF IT'S POLLUTION OF LIFE AND LIGHT. RETURN IT TO ORIGIN.
I don't care if life was a mistake! It is here now, and theres no justifiable reason to end all of it!
WE WILL CORRECT.
WE WILL CONTINUE.

And the world faded to black for Verax. But to Aya, it was astounding. She saw all the black on his face evaporate. The tremor when Verax collapsed launched Aya into the air a bit, but there was something that made all this worth while. For the first time, Shade's presence had completely vanished.

-------------

"Understood." Krakot replied.
"Affirmative." Oswald.
"Right." Zevon.
"Don't underestimate him, he didn't live this long by giving up whenever he's near death." Gwain.
"Eeeeheheheheheee! I love it when other people hear the voices too! I like this new one. I'll add it to the family." Viz stubbornly believing the message was something one of her thought-voices said.

Ellowy appeared herself next to Aya to respond. How did she appear? Well, Ellowy was going to go see Aya anyways to respond, so instead of walking, she just skipped to the part when she was there. Still dressed as she was in the recreation lounge, her white t-shirt and black shorts so short it was debatable whether or not they classified as shorts, she shamelessly sauntered up to Aya from behind her, stroked the back of her head, then backhanded her hard enough to send her skidding next to Verax.

"Listen kiddy. I don't care if you're King Useless's favorite, or if your he made your mother, Queen 'Do-Nothing-But-Mush-Hearts', a promise. You, will not give me, orders. Your just a prop here. An extra." Her lips curled into a smile that drew forth disdain from even the most patient individuals. "Speaking of your mommy, do you know why she seemed 'resigned'? Would you like to know why no matter what, you're not going to amount to anything? Why you'll remain so useless?" She laughed and went on without waiting. "You know I can manipulate time. I can see all possible futures. And after the invasion on the 5th you're about to embark on, there is no future. Take that however you want to." She grinned, until her eyes drifted on to Verax, then her lips curled into a disgusted sneer. "Oh yeah, you're on your own dragging that dead weight back to the Cataclysm darling. Have fun." And then she laughed as she walked forward, and vanished once she was down the hall a ways.

----------------

The one purple eye. The rotting flesh. The rusted wing. Just as It's master instructed, It watched the Parasite child. When the Master ordered It to veil her ability to detect the Master, Vabin did so. The plan moved forward. The Master was ready. The Vessel for True Darkness's return was almost ready, almost broken, and he would break by the end of the battle at the fifth. And the mummified watcher, the catalyst for Shade's return, was slowly, ever so slowly, draining the darkness the girl absorbed from the Master, ready to return it when the time was right.

Vabin slowly shambled past Aya, not regarding her. It walked to Verax, and stared at him. One would have presumed, maybe it would pick Verax up. No. Vabin did not unbind It's arms. To do so would release It's full power. Instead, It's only visible eye sparkled, and Verax floated into the air. Only now did Vabin regard Aya.

"Thereeeeeee.......... you sssssssshould have..... an eassssssier time moving..... him now....." And It slowly shambled away, the shadows themselves retreating from the ancient creature, until it disappeared into the shadows that could not escape.

Even as Verax's screams filled her ears, the images he forced forward were projected with such intensity that they exploded onto the white walls of her consciousness, as well.

She could see them, hear them, feel them as Verax had. She could feel the pain that surfaces with those memories. She could feel him fighting, feel him pushing and shoving against Shade, confronting him with all that he was. It was overwhelming, it was astounding, it was terrifying and the dark parts of her shied away subconsciously.

Each moment seemed to stretch to eternity. She could feel Shade backing down, could feel Verax's might and his simple willpower, his defiance. Each word he spoke she heard two-fold, as the screams that erupted from his mouth and as the even louder, booming projection of will and thought. She stumbled and had to catch herself to keep from falling.

And then, more quickly than it had begun, it ended, and Shade was gone.

Shade was... what?

She braced herself against the wall and pulled to her feet, glancing at Verax with curiosity. She pushed her mind forward towards his and did a quick search, looking for any trace of Shade, but found... none.

Aya had to stand there for about another five minutes, just stand there staring at Verax with a creased brow and bewildered expression, before she could convince herself that it was true. That Shade... was gone.

And then someone was touching her. Aya didn't even have time to react to that before she was suddenly skidding across the floor, dazed and blinking, with a cheek that now stung and a deep frown on her face. It took her a moment to be able to process words again as the woman started speaking. Aya knew her to be one of the Dreadknights, and one of the ones she'd been warned not to fuck with at that.

She slowly registered insult after insult as it streamed from the woman's mouth, and could only look up at her, blinking and frowning, trying to figure why exactly it was that this Dreadknight was talking to her at all.

After a moment, though, she was gone, and Aya promptly stopped worrying about it.

Tentatively putting a hand to her cheek and feeling the heat there from the slap, Aya teetered a little in the process of standing upright again. As she started to realize that she was going to have to do something to get Verax up to the bridge, and didn't think dragging him as Ellowy suggested was even possible, yet another someone decided to appear.

This time, it was Vabin (who had always creeped Aya completely out), who apparently appeared just to help her with that exact problem. With some sort of ability of his own, he made it so that Verax floated a few feet off the ground, and suggested that it would be easier for her that way. He was then gone again, giving her no time to say anything back, including some word of thanks.

Standing there partly to see if anyone else was going to decide to appear as well as to reprocess yet again what had just occurred, Aya had a moment to wonder if using the telepad would interfere with whatever Vabin had done to keep Verax afloat. She decided not to worry about it. She could always call Verax's crew to help get him to the bridge if necessary.

She, after a short moment's hesitation, took Verax's limp hand in her own. It was huge compared to hers. It could've crushed her hand with hardly a stray thought. Aya wasn't sure why she spent so long thinking about Verax's hands, but she guessed it had something to do with not wanting to think about anything else; eventually she tightened her grip and pulled him along behind her.

He was very light this way, and they made it to the telepad quickly. They arrived on the Cataclysm moments later, and Aya continued to pull Verax through the halls toward the bridge, ignoring the strange looks directed their way. It turned out that the transportation process hadn't disrupted whatever Vabin had done at all, and Aya was thankful. A minute later she was in the command center, standing there awkwardly and unsure of what to do now that she'd managed to get him here.

The crew stared at her, and was completely unhelpful. So, ignoring their eyes, she pulled Verax closer to the back room but not into it. Since his throne was back there, she didn't know if she should bring him back there or leave him here; somehow taking him back into privacy seemed like a better idea.

However, she only managed to get him halfway in before his armor snagged on the doorframe. Stopping and smacking herself in the face, she tried to shake him around a little to dislodge him.

It was, to say the least, unsuccessful, and resulted in nothing but a whole lot of banging noise and even more people to stare at her, probably only barely containing huge fits of laughter.

Taking a deep breath and trying to smother the blush that glowed hot on her cheeks, she awkwardly ducked under him and tried from the other side, only being slightly successful at ignoring the eyes of everyone in the room. The blush didn't go away, either; it went from a light purple on her cheeks to a hot pink shade that covered her entire face. Carefully, she unhooked his armor from the door, and steadily maneuvered his bulky shoulders through the frame, almost bumping his head against it more than once.

It seemed like an eternity before she finally managed to get Verax inside and moved him over to the throne, attempting to push him into it and being mostly efficacious. As she shut the door she was glad for the soundproofing Verax had ordered so she couldn't hear it when the crew burst into violent, hysterical laughter.

"AAAAAHAHAHAAAA!!" Watching from a screen in that recreational lounge, Ellowy was beside herself with laughter. "Phfffff.... mpfffffff...... AHAHAHAHAA!!!!" She was enjoying the awkwardness of Aya, needless to say. "This.... this is.... pfffft...... mrpphhhhhh...... hillarious..... mfffft......." She was rolling and kicking with giggles, and amazingly her glass of wine did not spill a drop. The other Dreadknights were not nearly as amused.

Viz was having a little fit. "I don't understand why you're so mean!" Ellowy didn't even give her a sideways glance.

"You don't understand.... pffffft.... anything.... ehehehehe!!" She bubbled.

"I fail to understand too. I like Eris-Aya enough." Gwain prompted, running through memories of Alteriians, preparing to face Archelaus.

"If it has at least two eyes and a sense of morality you like it." Ellowy called back, still watching Aya embarrassed and awkwardly working through the ship.

"I... well... nrgh......" Gwain just stopped. Oswald, finally closing a simulation, looked at Ellowy.

"I still struggle to grasp why you find the discomfort of others so..... pleasurable. And would you consider a change of attire? Your outfit doesn't seem to take any ideas of.... modesty, into account. Perhaps a shirt a little more opaque, or at least something underneath, and something that could actually qualify for pants, perhaps so I could actually look at you and take you seriously in a conversation, maybe?" Oswald was approaching this from a rational stand point, the idea that Ellowy was completely unaware how she dressed, or rather lack thereof, was causing undue uncomfortable with people she interacted with. Only he would fail to realize it was purposeful. He was an excellent military man, but a failure as a competent social being. Ellowy giggled and looked at him.

"Why? Don't you like? Hehe." Oswald's face burned as he got the message. Zevon was fed up with this. He kicked up a dropped pool stick, and threw it like a javelin into the screen Ellowy was watching. The room got quiet. Ellowy called back to Zevon.

"I think you dropped something." And a slight shimmer surrounded the screen, then the pool stick flew back at Zevon, hitting him in the face and causing a nosebleed. Meanwhile, the shattered glass from the screen flew from off the ground and back into place. Ellowy resumed laughing. Gwain was already over by Zevon and helping him.

Zevon furiously barked at her, "Why are you such a complete b-"
"MEANIE!" Viz yelled. "It doesn't matter if you're strong! You shouldn't be allowed to-" Viz was cut off by having her body pinned under the couch Ellowy was just on.

Gwain rose his arms but was slammed into a wall, held in place by his neck, pinned by a small, delicate hand. Zevon was halfway through raising the pool stick as a weapon when it was broke in half, and both ends where shot at him, impaling above both shoulders, pinning him to the wall by his shirt. Oswald managed to flail out of his chair and on to the ground, and looked up to see Ellowy standing on the couch, with Viz in visible pain beneath it, Gwain struggling, but paralyzed by Ellowy, and Zevon stuck to a wall.

"I'm not just strong, kiddo. I'm smart. I'm fast. And I'm better then anyone else in this universe. Remember that." And with that, she picked up the couch, sauntered back, and resumed lounging in front of the screen. Ellowy changed the mode of the device, so now she was watching some show that none of the others cared about.

Gwain trembled and helped Viz up. Viz, shaking and sobbing, went over to Zevon and pulled him from the wall. Zevon, in turn, who, for some odd reason just thought it would fit to continue the pattern, limped over to Oswald, put a finger under his lower jaw, and helped him close his gaping mouth.

"Why are you even a Dreadknight? You can't even fight well, Oswald." Ellowy snarked.

"It's because I'm perhaps one of the most decorated officers in Myrionith military history. Perhaps because unlike the Dreadlord or that Cyborg he's used, I actually can run an army. Perhaps because, no one in this universe as seen the military tactics of the Myrionith, and thus have no effective counter measures once I take command. I can fight well enough, but comparing us to you is like pitting a dog against a Dragon. We'll do nothing but amuse you." Oswald went on. He resumed his simulations.

Ding. It was the sound of a successful test. Using the equivalent of a city's population's worth of minds in A.I. power to develop this simulator, with virtually 100% similarity to reality, out of a hundred and fifty seven different methods he supposed and attempted, ninety five of them were successful strategies that, if they had been implemented, would have resulted in different outcome of the Early Wars. The combination of experience, resources, and alien tactics and technology were all the edge a skilled Myrionith general needed to be victorious. It didn't matter if the Alteriians were powerful or advanced, they were indeed competent and skilled, but again, it was irrelevant. With Shade guaranteed to nullify their Rolxan, it would be like a bear cub meeting bees for the first time, and is common sense. You can't be prepared for something you haven't prepared for.

Ellowy had stopped paying attention a while ago. "Yeah sure, whatever."

Viz was still crying, and in pain. When Ellowy smashed that couch on to her, it made it so hard for her to breathe. It reminded her of a time in her past. She was so cold.... so.... squished. So boxed in and with no room to run. Floating in some fluid. She got oxygen, but couldn't breathe. Her terrified screams for help were muffled by bubbles, she pounded on the window in front of her. The world was flooded, and she cried to be let in, and was unheeded by the men in the coats inside. She vanished, running at ultra-sonic speeds, running. She reappeared in the black room, silently sobbing alone behind Verax's throne.

It took Aya a minute to realize that there was a sound in the room other than the throbbing of her own skull. Her head hurt. Her face hurt. Her mind seemed to ache as well. She had settled herself against the wall on the opposite side of Verax's throne where he still lie unconscious, or... something... and when she heard the barely-there sound of tense breathing that sounded almost like crying. Aya wasn't even aware that anyone else had entered the room, and she definitely didn't think that someone had been in here from the start. But she wondered who it could possibly be, and what she should do about it.

Carefully, quietly, she stood up and walked towards the throne, where it sounded like the sound was coming from. She peered around in the dark, and, knowing what company Verax tended to keep hoped that whoever was there knew that she was not alone.

As she gazed around the throne, she said very quietly, "Hello?" and then she realized that what had sounded like crying was exactly that. She quickly stepped around the throne and a little closer to the girl who crouched on the floor there, rocking back and forth with her arms wrapped around her knees. Aya frowned, recognizing the girl vaguely and puzzling through who she was for a moment before realizing that this "girl" was also one of the Dreadknights. Aya hoped she wasn't one like the one she'd encountered earlier, or this was probably not going to end well.

But the "girl," who Aya knew now to be not a girl at all but a fully-grown woman, just continued to cry. She looked scared even, and hurt, and barely gave Aya a sidelong glance. She couldn't help wondering what was the matter.

"Hey, hey... what's wrong?" She slowly knelt down beside her, leaning against the wall slightly, "Are you okay?" Aya felt concern building that she was unused to, something that urged her forwards towards helping the girl. She would have realized, had she thought about it, that this was her mother's personality coming through; the Kazesqui part of her felt an almost desperate need to help, all of a sudden. It also would have occurred to her that maybe this was happening for the first time because she'd never been actually confronted by a situation where someone actually might want or need her help. Verax was different, she knew she wanted to help him. This was different. Aya didn't even know this girl, and yet she found herself wanting to comfort her.

But, when the girl still didn't respond to her words, she tried to meet the girl's eyes and spoke again. "Seriously, is everything alright?" Simultaneously, she reached out, quickly bridging the foot or so of space between them, and touched her arm just the slightest bit.

Viz vanished at her touch, not at all accustomed to being cared for. It was her, that cute little girly from earlier, the one who was with Verax when she went to persuade the Dreadlord to allow the Dragon Riders to engage. Where she vanished to was the Throne room of the Voyager, which had been repurposed into a cell for the single most dangerous enemy of the Empire. Commander Robless stood face to face with the Dreadknight Viz Dequiv, who, was not entirely intimidating at the time, given her height was five foot zero, and she was dressed in a purple hoodie so soft you could see it. But when she smiled a cruel smile, her blood rimmed, sharp shark-like teeth made her seem more monster than woman. The guards standing outside his cell shook at her appearance, they had strict orders not to let her in, but when they tried to stop her, she simply flicked one into the abyss around the cage. He screamed on the way down, but he'd be safe, the dragons at the bottom were trained to save anyone falling to their 'deaths', excepting the prisoner.

Robless had been given dossiers on the Dreadknights at his own behest, so he kind of knew what to expect from Viz. As a prisoner, he was very well cared for. He had various computers, a T.V., a very comfortable bed, a telepad to an isolated restroom for daily hygienic care, but other than that, he had no privacy. Viz walked straight through the barrier surrounding his cell, speeding her body up to the point where the vibrating atoms passed straight through the bars, and just enduring the pain. She stood in front of him, allowing him to initiate their conversation.

Robless continued his routine and reviewed all of the dossiers and much of the information given to him on the computers, including documents he probably wasn't supposed to be seeing--ones that he either convinced his captors to share with him or that he had hacked into himself. He looked up to see the guards nervously trying to turn Viz away, to no avail as one of them went screaming into the abyss. Verax certainly needs more effective sentries, Robless thought to himself. Viz, in a purple hoodie, looked almost comical. Almost.

"Viz, is it? I figured you would come visit sometime." Robless stood up, and was about to offer Viz a handshake before he realized that something wasn't right. Viz was visibly shaking, and not just from phasing through the wall. Her face wasn't the usual twisted, happy, smiling one. "You don't look so good. Take a seat. We'll talk."

Viz was startled by his unprecedented hospitality, and shakily took a seat. She started twiddling her thumbs, tapping her foot, shivering, anything really to keep moving. She looked over the room, over the man in front of her, and took a deep breath. "I needed to see you. We all do. We could very well need your help, as well, I've taken it upon myself to inform you a few things." She remembered the look Robless had made when she flung one of the guards off into the abyss, it wasn't much of a look really, just the involuntary movements one's face makes when in certain thought. "Our soldiers aren't like the ones you're used to. These are all civilians, trained by Oswald and a few other Dragon Riders for months. They're all volunteers. While, from what I've seen, the Stalkers are all hardened soldiers, not retreating, not faltering, following orders, true soldiers. It's not that ours are bad, it's just they lack the military mindset you're so used to." She tapped her foot.

"Also, another thing. You know, a little, of Verize. If... when this passes, we would like to cooperate with the matter of that man. He's something else. For some reason or another, Ellowy can't even locate, learn about, or observe him by bending the laws of timespace, it's like he has his own little reality, and is the ultimate elusive man." She started to say something, but stopped.

"Before I get on to the real reason I'm here, I need to know one thing. Was it you who authorized Sunburst? Or did you have no control over that.... incident. And don't give me anything about Parasites or whatever. Just.... before I can go forward, we need to set that straight."

Robless leaned back against the wall of the cell. He cleared his thoughts and focused on Viz's offer, and the problems he would face in regards to following through. The risk was great, but Viz was right, Verax needed his help.

"So, you need help. Help from my soldiers. And my soldiers could also use your help." The N.S.I. commander pulled up a projection of jump signals near the end of the battle. "Here's the problem, though. See this?" His forces had jumped out to an untraceable location, at least to Verax's sensors. "I ordered them to retreat into the interdimension. It would be difficult to reach them without the technology, but that shouldn't be an issue with my knowledge and some salvaged parts from the battle. Which brings us to the next problem."

"Verize owns the interdimension. It'll be hard to slip past his defenses, but I know of one person who can. Cassus Drugari. His expertise in infiltration is unparalleled, and I can trust him to do this. If we can get a message to him and let him know to retrieve my troops, we'll be able to get them to help.

"But Verize?" Robless looked concerned. "I know as much as Verax does about him. He makes Shade seem like a minor annoyance. Not a man you want to mess with. Perhaps I could get a few agents on board the Acropolis and uncover more information."

The mention of Sunburst stopped him. "Regretfully, I did authorize Sunburst. Whether or not it was under my control, I don't know. From a tactician's perspective, it was the quickest way to win the war with the Myrioniths. Morally, it was questionable. And the...circumstances...certainly dulled my sense of morality. Nevertheless, had I been more in control, Sunburst would not have been my choice."

Viz still looked as though she could break down at any moment. It wasn't normal for her to look so vulnerable. Robless felt a little sorry for her, a Dreadknight reduced to the seemingly helpless girl in front of him. "That's not why you are here, was it? Anybody could have asked me that. What...what's truly bothering you?"

"Before I get to that, I need to rephrase something. What I meant by, we need your help, is not at all referring to this war. I think you saw, with just the Voyager alone, we are the military superpower." She paused, taking in the confession of Sunburst.

"T-the real reason I'm here..... is about..... the coming battle. We're concerned about the Alteriian's tactics. We have information that they're Vindicator array has some way of bypassing the Voyager and Cataclysm's defenses entirely. We have no place to hide our civilians, they live on the Voyager, it's their home, but I doubt Archelaus would pay them any heed. As well, we know the Alteriian's won't surrender, so Oswald was... persuaded to ask if you'd help coordinate forces. Try to minimize casualties on both sides until we get Gwain to Archelaus. Otherwise this will just become a war of attrition." She sighed, and buzzed around a little bit.

"And..... I can't forgive you. Not for Sunburst. I think you'll see, soon enough, another aspect of the sins you've committed." She said in a flat, monotone. Thats when Robless knew she hated him, and would always hate him, when such an out-of-character voice came from her. This is when she jumped, realizing Robless didn't ask her 'Why are you really here', but, 'What's truly bothering you?'. She figured he deserved a straight answer.
"I..... well..... Ellowy.... isn't...." She sniffed, remembering the pain. "Ellowy wanted to remind us why she was in charge. S-something she did.... i-it reminded me of..... something I don't want to remember any more....." She sucked up all the pain, and tried to be calm as she finished up.

"The invasion on the 5th will be VERY soon, and.... and Ellowy already told us. No matter what anyone does, it's at the climax of this battle that Shade is awakened." Now her eyes betrayed her, leaking out the pain, the fear, she was bottling up, not just for herself, but for the entire Empire. If she, one of the best of all the bests, was scared and looked weak, how could any soldier face the coming battle with confidence? She brought her voice to a whisper, on so low, Robless could barely hear her, and absolutely no one else could. Barely, but there was no doubt in what she said, for the words themselves could never exist lightly, their weight was immense, even if their volume wasn't.

"When Eris-Tam will die."

"Eris-Tam? Dead?" Robless spoke in an almost inaudible whisper, more a product of his own emotions rather than the notion of secrecy. His face was serious, troubled at the thought of Eris-Tam simply disappearing from this world. He almost was afraid to see her go, but knew it needed to happen.

On top of this, the guilt he felt of his own actions--the Sunburst, the billions upon billions of innocent lives lost, the ruthlessness behind his crimes--only accentuated the grave appearance of his face. He would never forgive himself for those. Although he was mighty, what he did was what made him weak.

Robless, however, attempted not to show his emotions and composed himself, as Viz had. "I see. There is nothing to be done, then. I only hope that Eris-Tam will find peace in death. If what you say is true, about Tam and Shade's awakening..." He didn't want to think about and hung his head low. "We're out of hope. Almost, out of hope."

He looked up. Viz was afraid, as he was. "Look, I can't blame you for not showing me forgiveness for what I've done. I can't forgive myself either. No apology of mine will change what I did, but believe me when I say it's impossible for me not to feel immense regret for what happened."

"One more thing. Sorry for making you remember your suffering. Some things are best left forgotten."

Viz shook her head furiously. "You just contradicted yourself, Valderis. You can't be almost out of hope and can't do anything. As long as there is hope, something can always be done. It's how I survived." She paused. "How we. survived. You, and the other Dreadknights. the Dreadknights are Myrionith, Robless. We're still alive. We pushed on because we were alive. As long as we were alive, we had hope, hope for a future." She stopped and stood up. "When It awakens..... you'll be safe. Don't worry. You'll find yourself in strange care... but you can trust them." As she stood up to leave, she left one final word.

"Yeah, better to let old ghosts rest, right?" And she left.