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Shadows of Archon II (part 10) - Shadow Flux
Posted By: Wado<wyamauchi@msn.com>
Date: 8 September 2002, 9:32 am
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Long ago when the stars were still young, the Old Ones had reached the end of their civilization. Having conquered time and space, they had reached the end of the line, nowhere to go but back. It was a time of change. New life sprung eternal on blue and green worlds. The Old Ones stepped aside, leaving nothing but shadows. Shadows in the flux.
Without realizing it, John has unlocked the secrets of the flux. Through the Heart of Darkness he travels with the light of eternity at his hand. No one that seeks the Heart of Darkness will ever find it, it can only be found by the blind, the unknowing. The riddle of the ages protecting Mira and the Master Portal of the Old Ones cannot be solved but can be realized.
Worlds invert, turn upside down, inside out, full circle and back around -- so this story does go. Shadows have been released, nothing before is the same, now there is eternal change.
Welcome to the Story of Shadow Flux.
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Shadow Flux
To John, the Lady and Val are frozen in time. They travel through the multi-colored universe beyond the portal; John goes with the flow of the energies. Passing by, just out of reach, are the worlds of the living.
To the Lady, John and Val are frozen in time. She directs the energies beyond the portal, her own purple energies combining to form tendrils of power. Ahead lies a blue world, oceans filled, life abundant; hope for the dying Val. The Lady reaches out and the world is in her grasp -- the journey complete.
"We have arrived," said the Lady, "and we don't have much time to save Val."
The blood of Val drips from John's hands as he holds her -- A pool on the floor forms beside him. "Where are we?" asked John. Around him darkness is lifted only by the glowing energies of the portal, his eyes adjust to see the outlines of objects.
"A place with a compatible atmosphere and an abundance of human life," replied the Lady. "I feel a breeze from this direction, let's go and use our hands to feel the way."
"Things feel different," said John as they moved through the stone walled tunnels adjacent to the chamber that contained the portal. "Don't you feel it?"
"Yes," said the Lady. "Something is very wrong."
Wheeze! Val's vital signs are almost gone. Her sucking chest wound squirts out fluids that fill her lungs.
"Hang in there Val." John said. "Don't give up, I see light ahead."
"Chief, I'm picking up communications," Cortana said, "and you aren't going to believe this. It's signals from Terrans. Wait, confirmed, we are on earth. I have contact with navigation beacons. Location determined; we are in the caverns below Knossos in Crete. I'm contacting a med unit. Help is on the way."
The group pushes on to the light. It is a bright new day on the isle of Crete. The med unit arrives in a hover transport within the minute. Android medics quickly attend to Val and place her in an auto-doc.
The lead medic turns to the group with a stunner pistol in hand saying, "Do not attempt to challenge me. You are being detained under the provisions of the Bond Protocol. You have no rights until granted them by authori..."
The android shuts down in mid sentence. Cortana's holographic image appears on the android's shoulder. "That was a little more difficult than I expected Chief," proclaimed Cortana, "and just in the nick of time. He almost got a signal to the local authorities. According to the protocol mentioned, all unidentified persons must be immediately detained and apprehended by authorities. Earth in under martial law."
"What is going on here Cortana?" asked John.
Cortana quickly checks on the other two android medics, then she turns back to face John saying, "Earth command is afraid of infiltration from off-worlders who might be sympathetic to the Covenant. When Val was scanned, her identity was not found in the main people finder records."
John turns to the Lady and says, "My Lady what do you make of this? Why are we here?"
"Our quest has changed like in the paradoxes of the Old Ones, change is the only constant," said the Lady, "and I believe that we might have traveled through the Heart of Darkness. The last portal on Jukan was different. If only I knew then... Mira could not be found because it shares the same time and space as another planet. Jukan is not Mira, but at the same time it is Mira -- they exist together. John, we have done it."
"Done what my Lady?" said John. "If I reveal all that I know to Earth command to save humanity from the Covenant then I will jeopardize the Great Archonian Experiment. I believe that the creators of the flood are the one and same as the Archonian Ultimate Evil. The Archons have foreseen humans defeating the Ultimate Evil if the experiment is allowed to run its course. It's not time yet -- I feel this. On Jukan there was an army of Omega flood. You know as well as I that this universe is not ready to defeat the Omega flood, let alone their creators."
John sighs and removes his helmet. He inhales deep; it feels great the wind at his face, the scent of the sea fills his head. Nearby the sound of children playing on the rocky beaches can be heard and above can be seen the blue sky -- Whatever the cost, he will save humanity.
But not today... John falls, his eyes still open with a blank stare. Before he hits the ground, his heart beats just one more time, his brain already dead. In the distance, an unseen enemy teleports away, mission accomplished.
The Lady kneels down to John's body. She does not know what happened. Did the Archonian sleepers kill John to prevent him from compromising the Great Experiment? Or was he killed by the enemies of the Archons in an act of revenge for all the Archonian meddling in the affairs of humanity? The weapon used was not one known to humans. Ignoring shields it fried John's brain from the inside out. The Lady says nothing, choosing to kneel in silence.
"Chief, wake up!" said Cortana as she uses the neural connections in the battle armor to create electric pulses. John's body twitches but there are no vital signs.
One of the android medics approaches John's body saying, "It is too late, his brain is dead."
"You stupid machine, I know that already, cryo-freeze him, do something," said Cortana in desperation, and she starts to whimper -- that's all an AI can do with no tears to shred.
"Dead, no way, John, John..." said Val as she struggles to get out of the auto-doc but it straps her down and sedates her.
From all around come hooded figures. As they surround the group, the remaining medics suddenly both shutdown and the auto-doc opens.
"Retrieve the Spartan's body," ordered the shortest of the hooded figures, "and my Lady, the rest of you come along quickly. It won't be long before the authorities show up to investigate why contact was broken with this medical unit."
The Lady, Cortana, and Val talk it over quickly and decide to go. The whole group moves back into the tunnels as the leader figure speaks. "It's amazing, the materials in the tunnel walls ahead negate energy, completely cloaking the existence of the portal. This way to my lab."
The journey is not far to the lab; on the way John's body is removed from its armor and taken off to somewhere. In the light of the lab the figures remove their hoods revealing the faces of humans. Based on their clothes and accents, most likely local inhabitants to the area. The short figure reveals the face of a Covenant grunt.
"Noc, is that really you?" asked Cortana, recognizing the grunt.
"That's Covenstein to you my beautiful. Yes in my genius I prepared for my own demise. As I studied the properties of shadow-selves created by the Portals of the Old Ones, I discovered that just as the brain contains a person's knowledge, so does the soul. How else could the shadow-selves transfer knowledge back to the original, the true-self, upon death. Redundancy is the key; the brain and soul mirror each other. So when the Grace ate my brain, she gained all my knowledge and killed my body, but my soul remained for a while with the aid of devices I created. When a compatible host body came close, the host body being the one you knew as Noc, my soul was transferred with all my knowledge to Noc's body."
The Lady speaks. "This means that you might be able to bring back John if a new host body is found or we can regenerate his brain tissue."
"Yes, but that would just bring back that forerunner assassin," said Covenstein, "and it would probably kill all of us to prevent us from reviving John a second time."
"Forerunner assassins, they must be thousands of years old," interjected Val.
The Lady speaks. "Perhaps, at least, but they have killed off Archonian sleepers in the past. Great heroes, builders, and leaders of before, their lives suddenly cut short at the hands of an assassin. Perhaps they were sleepers ready to awake. I feel the spirits tell me of this story."
One of the locals approaches saying, "Master Covenstein, the Spartan's body is being placed in cryogenic suspension as per your request. We stand by for your final orders. Thank you for all you have done for us. You shall be missed dearly."
"Ready the ship, we leave immediately," ordered Covenstein.
"What about John," asked Val.
"We will take his body with us, you are coming too," said Covenstein. "His soul is gone, if we are to revive him, we must find where his soul is located. Not an easy thing since it isn't a place but maybe many places and times. I suspect we will find some answers on Mira, I heard you speak of it as being in the same place as Jukan, on the outskirts of Covenant space."
"Why don't we just take the portal there?" inquired Cortana.
The Lady speaks. "We could but it would be very dangerous. Word is probably already out amongst the portal dwellers that we have found the Heart of Darkness. They will want to capture us or follow us to its location. They are phantoms of immense power with many servants. We must avoid portal travel for the time." The Lady turns to Covenstein. "I suggest Master Covenstein that we transmit a short signal via the portal to my comrades. They can aid us, and unless your ship has mastery of travel by stargate, the trip will be much faster with Destiny's Blade leading the way."
"True, my Lady," said Covenstein, "and I have always wanted to travel by way of stargate. My ship is fast but the journey would still take a long time. Tell your comrades to rendezvous with us at coordinates outside the Sol system."
Val looks at the Lady with wide eyes saying, "How do you know all of this?"
"Take no offense Val, but even if I had a few generations to explain, your human mind could only begin to understand," replied the Lady.
"No offense taken," responded Val.
Cortana interrupts saying, "Covenstein, why are you helping us revive John. If you want to save the humans from the Covenant, with your knowledge you could save humanity by yourself, maybe even without blood shed."
Covenstein smiles and speaks. "My heart-soothing Cortana, I have done just that. I have left anonymous encrypted messages for the humans. If they are intelligent enough to decipher them, perhaps they are worthy of survival, after all. As for helping revive John, I have my own reasons, but I will tell you my enchantment, that these reasons are not petty. The survival of both humans and the Covenant is at stake. I shall explain more once we get on our way. Until then, there will be absolutely no further discussion about the matter."
The group is taken to Covenstein's ship, an old surplus Long Sword fighter that Covenstein has modified with a jump drive and enhanced thrusters. One other thing, it is painted bright red and orange.
"Couldn't do much about the paint job, it was used as an unmanned trainer," said Covenstein, "however the inside is in tip-top condition."
The inside is indeed immaculate and equipped with the finest surplus electronics available. Cortana takes her place inside the ships main control systems.
In short order the group in on their way. They exit the atmosphere with little difficulty; the UNSC is more concerned about inbound ships than those leaving. After leaving the 3rd orbit, high orbit, the action starts.
"We are being hailed by Earth Defense Fleet Gamma wing. Six Long Swords on an intercept path at 20,000 kilometers," said Cortana, "and we have no valid security codes. The Long Swords are accelerating very quickly to match our velocity; they must have upgraded engines. We have UNSC destroyer Intrepid in pursuit at 24,000 kilometers weapons arming... one shot off our bow -- A warning shot."
The orange and red Long Sword erratically moves doing its best to be a hard to hit target under the control of Cortana. The reading on the jump engineering control panel counts down from 2:00 minutes. There's no way to get by the UNSC forces; the only way is to evade the forces until the jump drives come online.
"What kinds of weapons are on this ship?" asked the Lady.
"One short-ranged particle cannon," replied Cortana. "That's it, no missiles, no other weapons."
Covenstein looks back as the others stare at him and says, "What is it? I'm a super-genius not a military tactician. I thought the cannon would be useful for clearing out debris and asteroids, besides you know how hard it is to get ship-based weapons on the surplus market on short notice?"
The ship shakes from a near miss. "Shields held, a near miss from a MAC cannon," said Cortana, "and we have incoming missiles from Gamma wing."
The Lady speaks, "We have very little chance to survive this unless we can gain those security codes. Otherwise our only hope is to engage the fighters to buy time."
Before the Lady can finish her words, Cortana has already taken the initiative. The chance of survival was less than 0.001 percent trying to evade. She whips the Long Sword around using its enhanced thrusters. The change in vector is done so quickly that Covenstein passes out from the G-force before the ship's inertia dampeners can fully compensate. If there is one thing that she learned from piloting Destiny's Blade all those months, it was how to fly."
The missiles miss their mark and spin around to reacquire the Long Sword. Gamma wing splits up to engage the Long Sword. Even with Gamma wing's pilots having enhanced reflexes and a slight ability to predict the future, the quick and evasive movements of the Long Sword frustrates and confuses them.
Gamma 1 intercepts the Long Sword firing two more missiles. Gamma 2, 3, and 4 cut off the escape vectors on three sides. The Intrepid moves to cut off a fourth escape vector. Gamma 5 and 6 match speeds with the Long Sword from the rear, firing cannons.
Cortana whips the Long Sword around again saying, "Listen to the chatter from these guys, it's like a bunch of school boys... Woo, haw! Got lock and firing. Negative this one's mine. Move over 4, coming through. Mine, mine, all mine. Come on baby, who's your daddy?" Cortana maneuvers the Long Sword just behind Gamma 6 and fires the particle cannon.
Over the comm Gamma 6 says, "What the... I'm hit. I've lost my main engines." Gamma 6 spins out of control for several seconds before it manages to stabilize. "6 is out, returning to base, send help."
Gamma 1, 2, 3, and 4 now are in pursuit of the Long Sword. Cortana has her sights on Gamma 5.
"Hot dog 6, you've been tagged," said Gamma 5, "and she's on me now. 5 is total defensive, I repeat, 5 is total defensive."
The Long Sword has to disengage from Gamma 5 as the Intrepid comes back into the picture and opens fire. Cortana again pushes the Long Sword to its limits as she dodges through another wave of missiles. The missiles swerve every direction, some actually colliding with other missiles from the first wave.
"Intrepid to Gamma wing, disengage from target and provide cover for Gamma 6."
A new voice over the comm speaks, "Delta wing has arrived. Step aside fly boys and let the professionals handle this." Indeed a new threat had arrived - Delta wing consisted of six advanced Rapier Interceptors. These ships were designed for one purpose only, and that was to engage and defeat enemy fighter craft. They are armed with the most advanced anti-fighter weaponry and supposedly so maneuverable that they currently can only be piloted by an AI.
The Long Sword's jump engines come online just in the nick of time. In a flash they are gone.
Several minutes later the Long Sword arrives at the rendezvous point. Destiny's Sword and Seeker 157 are already there, waiting for them.
It is a reunion of some happiness, but mostly sadness. Catsandravalahundra, Sub-commander Zax, and the rest of the Seeker 157 crew find out about the death of John. The Lady, Valerie, Cortana, and Covenstein find out that Command Thom and Gunter the Hunter have been taken away and charged with the crime of high treason.
Covenstein has the worst news of all. He shows them his cargo, a special stasis box that appears empty. Scanners reveal nothing but a slightly lower air pressure, only a few degrees cooler than the surrounding area. The Lady knows what this is. Covenstein explains that his previous research partner the Nomdian known as the Grace first hinted at the existence of this.
What did he find? Covenstein believes he has found an Alpha flood, and he found it on Earth. The last few decades he has also found signs of Alpha flood on a few Covenant worlds. He suspects that untold numbers of worlds have Alpha flood already on them -- Hidden away, invisible to all senses and scanning devices. If the calling of the flood creators ever reaches them, it could be the end of every known civilization.
-- Next, A Hero's Last Stand --
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