Chương 16: Fornar
6 Months Before Talassar's arrest
Invincible
In orbit around Delphi
Delphi hung in the viewport, imperceptibly turning under them. Substantial shadows spanned across the wilderness whenever a Tizanki star carrier ascended, the massive warships tearing through the atmosphere as furious balls of flame. The Guardians had called upon an entire fleet of Messenger ships to accompany the Invincible on its maiden voyage and they arrived on the planet itself, warped in by the Guardian's glorious powers.
Silence ruled the bridge of Invincible.
Anxious engineers and Guard officers were glued to their consoles, running final checks on the dreadnoughts many systems as the Tizanki fleet settled into formation around them. A spike of fear from some crew member drew Talassar's attention, and he turned to the frowning Archon seated in the captain's chair.
"Nothing significant Favoured." The captain said without looking up. To reach her position, she would have a trace of psionic ability, natural or imbued, to interact with the Theocracy's warships. Her ability was potent enough to sense when someone was staring at her at least. She barked a quick order at one of the officer's at the weapons station and glanced up at Talassar. "Minor fluctuations in the torpedo bays."
Talassar nodded, feigning understanding.
"So we're ready to Jump?" He asked.
"As ready as we'll ever be." She shrugged. "Prototypes are twitchy beasts and something will go wrong no matter how many tests we do. At least we didn't blow up while running the tests. I remember one cruiser with an experimental tachyon sail that just disintegrated because the radiant shielding on the sail wasn't tuned properly."
"Quite a pessimistic attitude, Archon." He cursed the captain fiercely in his heart. There was no need for him to know about exploding warships. If Niobys was to be believed, the Jump drive made a tachyon sail look like a wind-up toy.
"I'm a realist Favoured and I serve the Most Holy with results not belief."
[I doubt you'd repeat that in front of the glorious Lady Thrallax, but I don't think I need to call an Inquisitor on this one. Niobys assures me she's the best.]
"Sounds like you've done this before." He replied coldly, ignoring her blasphemy. Talassar already knew her entire life history from her personnel records. Archon Mavis was a maverick, skirting on the edge of what the Theocracy permitted, but she was effective. Which was why she was on this warship and not hunted by the Inquisition. As the youngest Archon in the Guard, Mavis had commanded massive fleets with unswerving devotion and ferocity, laying waste to an entire sector along the Ezani front in a year-long campaign that was a shining beacon of command ability. In a way, Talassar knew her better than even her husband, having carried out a deep survey of her psyche when she arrived. As the only Favoured aboard, he was responsible for ensuring there were no traitors or heretics amongst the ship's officers.
"I��ve commanded more experimental ships than anyone alive." She declared proudly, downplaying her strategic capabilities. Talassar knew she was a warship captain at heart, more at home guiding a battleship than commanding from it. "And I've brought them all back in one piece. Which I'm sure you already know. All the crew has been thoroughly vetted many times."
Mavis raised an eyebrow at him and waved at the bridge crew. Ears perked up and Talassar sensed a wave of concentration from the crew as they cast surreptitious glances at him. The captain's curiosity reached out to him on a pathetic semblance of an Acolyte's messaging weave, her words hinting at the importance of their mission and the feeble trickle of Essence a promise of silence if he offered her answers.
"We all have. Myself included." He answered the unspoken question, a tacit admission of ignorance, and she frowned. [Probably wondering what's so secretive even a Favoured is kept in the dark.] Talassar raised a hand to forestall her probing and sent a weave deep into the bowels of the ship to alert Niobys.
["We're ready Arch-Favoured."]
["And what do you expect me to do about it?"] The old man's cranky reply came back.
["You're in charge."] Talassar reminded him gently, scratching his cheek at the sudden silence.
["… Fine, you take charge and get us through the Jump then come down to 'The Chamber' once we're on the other side."]
["I don't know our destination."]
Niobys sent a stream of curses over the weave and Talassar was about to terminate the connection when his wrist comm began to buzz for attention. He tapped the message open and blinked at the incomprehensible string of numbers and equations.
"You said we're ready Archon?" He asked again and called on the ship's computer to aid him in deciphering the message.
Mavis must have sensed something in his voice because she sat up straight and checked her console briefly before replying crisply. "All clear for Jump, Favoured. You have authorisation?"
"I'm in charge for now." He explained. Technically he was only equal to the Archon in rank but a Favoured outranked almost any officer by virtue of their role as conduits of the Most Holy Guardians. He forwarded the string of code Niobys used to deputise him as mission commander and cleared his throat. "Take us through. Coordinates and route are uploading to Navigation." The decoded characters pointed to an unassuming system, a short hop of 10 light years towards the galactic core.
Talassar strode to the auxiliary captain's chair and strapped himself in. The engineers had assured him the Jump wouldn't have any effects. According to them, the technology was far safer than the use of gates, sin drives or tachyon sails, leaving no lasting harm or even the sensation of transit. Nonetheless, he wasn't going to take chances when the bridge crew's tension was rising and filling his surroundings with an ever increasing field of anxiety.
"Weapons!" Mavis barked.
"Main batteries retracted and defensive clusters on standby." The crew's clearance came quickly.
"Navigation!"
"Coordinates uploaded and verified. Route clear and FTL ping is coming green from the target system."
The captain ran through all systems and pressed a key on her console.
"This is the captain." Her voice boomed from the ship's speakers. "All hands brace for Jump initiation sequence." She cast a glance at Talassar, mouthing the word 'speech', but he shook his head and gestured for her to continue. After a moment of contemplation, she cleared her throat. "Today we bring together the knowledge of humanity and the power of the Most Holy. You have all struggled to bring this vision together and Invincible is now ready. This is the greatest dreadnought the universe has ever seen, and with it we shall bring destruction to all the dark forces arrayed against us. Long live the Holy Guardians!"
Cheers broke out amongst the crew and Talassar weaved a filter to weaken the intensity of the fervour battering his Essence. [Impressive speech.] Talassar's mouth was dry despite the excitement and he swallowed as the countdown ticked down.
At ten, he stared at Delphi and wondered whether Niobys' Jump drive would work as designed.
At five, he wished the captain had never mentioned how prototypes failed.
At three, he prayed fervently to the Guardians for safety, but the symbol on his chest remained silent as the Jump drive powered up and severed them from reality.
At zero, he peered into the void as Delphi vanished from the viewport and a Guardian sentinel loomed in its place. He released a breath he hadn't realised he was holding and let go of the chair's armrests. The drive worked as advertised. Laughter shook the bridge and Mavis was lecturing her crew at their lack of decorum, but the soft smile on her lips betrayed her happiness. They'd just moved across the galaxy in the blink of an eye. The universe was now open to the Guardians.
They were one step closer to achieving the Most Holy's grand purpose.
On shaking legs, Talassar fled from the bridge while Mavis ordered another check of the systems.
—
Talassar arrived in the great chamber and fell to his knees immediately, thoughts of berating Niobys and cursing his invention cut short by the holy presence blanketing the room. He struggled to breathe as the symbol of the Guardians on his chest flared to life with blazing intensity. He could barely make out the cascade of weaves spinning from it and reaching out to the shrouded being seated on the throne.
["This is your selection, Niobys?"] A deep rumble filled his mind, the Guardian's scepticism entangling his Essence.
"He's the best Lady Thrallax. He carries a blade from your hand." Niobys lounged on a chair in front of a massive shielded contraption, exposed cable and metal plates scattered around him. The spherical device coruscated in a rainbow of colour, shifting patterns and swirls of light streaming across its surface.
["So the Ravager still lives? Impressive for a human."] A thrill of excitement fluttered in Talassar's heart at the praise and he bowed deeply. The shard of Essence known as a blade which Thrallax gifted him along with the title of Ravager, pulsed in response to her words. ["As always, your choices are impeccable Niobys. Rise Ravager and learn of my command for you."]
Thrallax's pressure weakened and Talassar followed Niobys' directions to study the contraption. He probed the device but was met with a powerful barrier. Without any guidance, he could only shrug and ask Niobys.
"What is it?" He whispered. It was pointless to hide his ignorance from Lady Thrallax. Her Essence filled the room like a giant sensor. Not even a flicker of emotion would escape her notice, but he didn't want to disappoint her.
["My child."] Thrallax replied. ["You will be his Nor-ek. Do not fail me, Ravager."]
"I-I-I- won't Most Holy Lady." Talassar stuttered, overwhelmed by the duty, but she was long gone, the throne empty once more. Talassar caressed the device and whispered. "What is a Nor-ek?"
"Overwhelmed Tal?" Niobys grinned and returned to fiddling with some cables lying on the ground. "It's a great honour to be chosen. I don't think a human has ever been a Nor-ek."
"Which is?"
"An attendant. Or bodyguard. It's a word of the divine tongue and is difficult to translate, but basically you are to care for and assist the Lady's progeny until he can mature." Niobys fixed him with a deep stare. "Don't screw this up, Tal. I had to pull a lot of strings to get you this job."
"I won't." Talassar breathed.
"See that you don't." Niobys growled.
Talassar suppressed his excitement and realised how odd this situation was. "Why would the Lady want to bring her child aboard Invincible?"
Niobys hesitated and dropped the cables in his hands to snap open a panel on the device. He summoned his strange toy and slid it into a slot while channelling a complex weave through it. "The glorious child will be the Lady's inheritor and this warship will be his soul bound Flagship. Place your hand here on the cradle."
Talassar blinked at the sudden command but touched the contraption and blinked at the power boiling he could suddenly sense within. A nascent sentience reached out with its powerful Essence, the barriers of the cradle weakening its abilities to the point Talassar could tolerate them. Its curiosity poured into his mind and he reached out in turn, guiding the power into a gentle weave so they could communicate as Niobys had once done when Talassar was just a child.
"You've always been a good teacher Tal." Niobys remarked, peering at some readings on the device. His Essence flashed with joy before it was quickly suppressed. "Talassar allow me to introduce you to Fornar, the Light-bringer."
["Greetings Lord Fornar. I am Favoured Talassar, the Ravager."]
["lassar"] The child's broken voice meshed into Talassar's Essence and he opened his mind long enough for a thread from Fornar to tie itself into his Essence. He felt reality twist as the connection was established and he stumbled away from the cradle, suddenly drained of power. Talassar sat in silence, contemplating his charge, and Niobys silently departed, leaving a memory disc with instructions in Talassar's lap. Trickles of Essence cycled from the cradle into Talassar and back. He leaned back to allow the holy child's power to wash over him and prayed to the Guardians to thank them for their trust.
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