Song of the Void

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Selendil allowed her senses to sweep the entire area covered by her halos, and she couldn’t sense the presence of any living Void beings. She kept performing a slower and more accurate check just in case there was another Void Wraith that was powerful enough and skilled enough to hide from her when at a distance. She’d be able to spot them if she checked the ships one at a time, but it would take some time. In the meantime, she stopped attacking any of the ships in her surroundings. She would’ve still attacked the ships that picked a fight with her, but by now the enemy had figured out the futility of that endeavor and had given up on that. With the rift closed, the other side was showing signs of surrender anyway.

Her sudden inaction seemed to come as a bit of a shock to both sides of the battle. She had suddenly appeared when the chrono-trap was disabled, closed the rift they were fighting over, and then she had attacked one side of the battle almost at what seemed like a random slaughter. And now she had suddenly stopped even though the fight was not over. The side that had been protecting the rift still consisted mostly of ships that were not piloted or commanded by Void beings or those possessed by the Void Wraiths. Many of their ships had been destroyed in the frantic battle, and neither side was completely sure why she had suddenly stopped attacking.

“It’s a good thing you stopped any further ships from going through the wormhole. Amaterasu decided to chase after the one that escaped and I don’t think Yrala or the weapons platforms protecting the wormhole would’ve been able to stop more than two ships at a time. She has the necessary strength, but the timing is so tight that it might have been difficult.” Nox evaluated.

“I’m somewhat surprised the platforms were not more effective.” Selendil wondered idly.

“That’s because the Void Wraiths didn’t want to actually fight the platforms. They just wanted to escape, and with the jump engines that is very easy. If they had tried to actually fight the platforms, then the whole thing would’ve been very one-sided. Now they only had to survive for a handful of seconds. The platforms might have firepower, but most ships shields at this level can survive a few seconds against anything except the most oppressive firepower. It would’ve depended almost entirely on Yrala.” Nox supplied the answer.

“I am aware. However, the ones responsible for the platforms must have known that the enemy would try to jump away. Yet they didn’t create any countermeasures against that possibility. That’s what I’m confused about.” Selendil pointed out. She wasn’t tactically inept, so she could figure out the part that Nox had said by herself.

“Lack of time?” Nox suggested.

“Maybe. Or maybe there was supposed to be some trap involved that we are unaware of that was supposed to be sprung, but doesn’t exist anymore. Be that as it may, it’s a moot point for now. It seems the battle is drawing to a close.” Selendil watched as most of the ships that had defended the rift had either been destroyed or were now in the process of surrendering.

“How far along are you with the check?” Nox asked, knowing already that Selendil would be making sure none of the ships had Void being on them. With the ship being away, Nox’s ability to scan things was limited.

"I've gone through the ships that have surrendered, as well as those that are effectively disabled but still have survivors. I still have about two-thirds of the other side to go through. I’m not going to make the mistake of assuming the other side wasn’t infiltrated.” Selendil replied idly, focused on the task. Even if she was able to make light conversation, she didn’t want to accidentally miss anything just because she wasn’t focused enough on the task. By now the psions on the ships had noticed what she was doing. A few had tried to resist out of some sort of misguided sense of duty to protect their ships but she had crushed any such resistance without any mercy.

“They’re trying to hail you now that the battle is over.” Nox suddenly stated.

“Did you get the language files?” Selendil asked.

“They actually use a mutated version of the Eternal Empire basic. It has most likely been their main language since the fall of the empire, but time has made changes to the language.” Nox reported. Some races retained the purity of the original language for as long as they could, while others allowed the normal progression of the language. It was somewhat amusing that the ones that spoke the purest form of the language were those that had been in stasis for long periods of time, as well as those that learned the language from the ruins left behind by the Dhar or the client races.

“Patch them through. I might as well hear what they have to say. We have less than an hour until the being I sensed arrives. Might as well pass my time with some diversion.” Selendil laughed.

“This is Admiral Ucciuzzou of the Naaru. To whom do I have the honor of speaking to?” The cold and almost emotionless voice asked.

“At least he’s polite.” Nox pointed out silently.

"After what he just witnessed, I'd be surprised if he wasn't," Selendil replied silently before voicing her reply. “Keeper Selendil of the former Eternal Empire.”

“K-Keeper?” The voice was much less cold now. “May I ask, what has happened? The few things we can determine with our scans through your containment and the spatial storm surrounding the wormhole suggest that a lot of time has passed. And the wormhole itself has degraded to a point that suggests the passing of thousands of years. We were supposed to get reinforcements in a few weeks.”

“I cannot say what has become of your reinforcements, but I can tell you that a lot of time has indeed passed. I came from the other end of the wormhole, chasing the trail left behind by those from the Void. I was hoping to prevent exactly the sort of thing that happened here. I have no idea about the situation in this galaxy.” She replied curtly.

“H-how long?” The Admiral asked with a tinge of grief and loss in his voice.

"From what I heard from the inhabitants of the galaxy on the other side of the wormhole, and assuming you are the race they so imaginatively named the Ancients, then your kind hasn't been seen in that galaxy for about twenty thousand years," Selendil replied, a shred of sympathy in her voice.

“Twenty thousand.” The Admiral released a breath he had been holding. “Even accounting for a generous margin of error, that means over ten thousand years, which fits with the state of the wormhole.”

“While I have some sympathy for your situation, I have bigger concerns. Tell me what happened here. A single Void Wraith would have trouble creating a rift even this small without some serious assistance. What could’ve driven your kind to do something so stupid?” Selendil asked, her voice losing any sympathy it might’ve held before.

"I'm afraid it's a simple case of being fooled. We received what claimed to be refugees from a destroyed galaxy arriving in the galaxy you came here from. They claimed to have spent hundreds of thousands of years crossing the distance in hopes of finding sanctuary. We had some suspicions of course, but we were also intrigued by finding another species that was even relatively close to us in advancements. We had tried before to create something that could become our equals, I suppose in order to sate some sort of existential loneliness, but had been unsuccessful. I was never overly interested in those projects myself, so don’t ask me for details. Anyway, we finally found what we had been looking for, and eventually, our wariness vanished. That's when they mentioned the fact that their kind had been imprisoned in some sort of a different phase of existence." The Admiral explained.

“An obvious lie.” Selendil pointed out.

“In retrospect, yes. In fact, most of us balked at the idea of sacrificing so many resources, time, and effort into a project with such a vague goal, but they were quite convincing. That’s also when they started using a bit more sinister tactics. They promised some of the more sympathetic clans power and dominion over the rest of us, and they had weapons that actually proved that they had something to trade at least. Anyway, the whole thing started turning sour really fast. Our homeworld had been destroyed some centuries before when the wormhole formed. As a result, most of us had migrated into this galaxy as by that point we had already figured out that the wormhole had brought us to a galaxy richer with resources. We had spread to this galaxy and were in the process of colonizing it at the time. The old galaxy still held our outposts and scientists watching over the development of younger races but that’s about it, so the traffic going through the wormhole was limited and the area difficult to navigate. The clans that were fooled by these newcomers exploited that and created the rift here, far away from our fleets that were blazing a trail in a new galaxy. The result was as you see." The Admiral's explanation was lacking in many places and was likely quite biased, but it was sufficient to get a baseline idea of what had happened.

“Alright. In return for your honesty, I'll give you a small favor. There is a being approaching this place that has enough strength to match mine. That being will be here in less than an hour. I have no idea whether it is hostile or not, but if it is, you really don’t want to be caught in the crossfire. Another thing. The galaxy on the other end of the wormhole has developed a lot since you were last around and they have their own political systems in place. While I doubt they would mind a meeting with what they call the Ancients, they probably won’t appreciate a whole fleet of your ships showing up and making things complicated. On the other hand, I don’t know the status of this galaxy, but I’d encourage you to find out if any of your kin are still around.” Selendil suggested. The Ancients would likely eventually wind up sending ships through the wormhole anyway, but that would only happen if the wormhole still existed.

Yrala would probably appreciate that one. She of all people was aware of the potential consequences of the Ancients suddenly showing up and complicating the already existing mess. “Your words have merit, though we do not know if this galaxy also has developed on similar lines.” The Admiral replied thoughtfully. “That said, we do need to find out what has become of our people. I’m not entirely sure we will be able to get things in order in less than an hour though. We have damaged ships and wounded, not to mention detaining those that sided with the enemy. If something truly has happened to the rest of our people, then we can’t afford to just kill off those that have surrendered. We might need them yet, and they might see reason if faced with a shared existential threat.”

"You show foresight and mercy," Selendil stated with some approval in her voice, though there was also a slight judgmental tone as well. "However, I'm not in charge of the timing. I'm only informing you of the situation. Whether you are ready or you aren't, the being will arrive when it does."

The Admiral was able to hear the judgment in her tone and gave a cold mirthless laugh. “I’ve been taught that the Dhar were not big on mercy. I’ve always been curious if that was true?”

“As with most races, that depended on the individual and the target of said mercy. However, you are correct in the sense that it was not among our most commonly exhibited values.” Selendil didn’t mind sharing that tidbit.

The Admiral probably sent word of the impending danger to the other ships as they started working more quickly. The first ones started leaving the system only moments later. The rest worked as fast as they could on the damaged and captured vessels. One shuttle flew towards Selendil. “The Dhar AI is on the shuttle. It wants to join us instead of sticking with the Naaru.” Nox reported.

For some reason, her voice was a bit hesitant and Selendil noticed that fact. "What is it? Do we have another rebellious AI on our hands?"

“No, in fact, I’d go as far as to say that there are no AI that like the Dhar more than this one.” Nox made a small coughing sound, a mannerism she had picked up with her biological body that had now transferred over. “Do you remember when you were talking with the others about pleasure AI and how the Dhar almost never used them because you had better ways and how bringing pleasure was a respected profession?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Selendil moaned and covered her face in shame.

“I’m afraid not.” Nox’s voice had turned from careful to gloating.

“So let me get this straight. The defensive plan of these Ancients was at least in part formed by an evolved pleasure AI that also fixed the chrono-trap? I’m not sure if I should be impressed or mortified.” Selendil stated, still hiding her face behind her hands due to feeling mostly the latter.

“Essentially yes. No wonder it could’ve used some work. Anyway, the AI is asking permission to join you.” Nox came back to the original point.

“Fine. Sure. Why not? At this point we might as well. Tell it to go through the wormhole and meet us on the other side. If I’m lucky, this whole thing will turn into a fight and the wormhole will collapse. Then I won’t have to watch Xiaoli’s smug face and listen to their teasing. By the time I can actually return, the novelty will have worn off.” Selendil decided.

“I think you seriously underestimate Xiaoli’s willingness to hang on to something as juicy as this.” Nox laughed. “Message sent.”

The two were quietly watching the Ancients perform a rapid evacuation when Nox spoke again. “You know, you could just go through the wormhole and close it behind you.”

“The thought did occur to me. My job here is done, and this meeting carries a rather large risk. I’m not sure I will be able to win if this turns into a battle. However, I think this is something that I need to do. There is so much I could gain from such a meeting as well. This being has likely been at this level longer than I have. Maybe they can tell me what it means. Or at least I might be able to find out if there are more of us. I also have the sense that if this being is hostile, then we’ll come to blows eventually anyway. I’ve always thought that powerful people are drawn to each other, either by their nature or by some fate I do not understand.” Selendil explained her rather nebulous thoughts.

“That sounds like a rather vague profit for such an immense risk.” Nox pointed out again. She had no interest in sticking around and wanted to encourage Selendil to leave as well.

“It does, doesn’t it? It’s hard to explain. For some reason, I get the feeling that I’m supposed to be here. No, I know I need to be here. It’s one of those things that comes with my evolution. I know certain things, but I’m not sure how I know them. Not yet anyway. Maybe I can ask the being once it arrives.” Selendil stuck to her feelings instead of a proper risk analysis.

“Well, you are the boss. Just remember that there was another option.” Nox let go of the subject.

The two allowed the minutes to flow by and the vast majority of the Ancients had already jumped away when Selendil finally sensed the arrival of the being she was waiting for. Space seemed to twist a little and it was as if a doorway had been created. She could sense a different type of space on the other side of the door, a space filled with a strange power. She also sensed that the different space seemed to somehow be connected to, for the lack of a better term, everywhere. This wasn’t phase space, nor was it the Void. It was something new and different. Somewhere at the back of her mind, Selendil thought that she might be able to create a doorway like that of her own, though she would need to see it being created a few more times.

The being that stepped through the doorway took all her attention though. The being also didn't wear any sort of spacesuit, seemingly unconcerned by the cold and airless space around them. The being looked a little like Amaterasu and Xiaoli but yet was very different. It was like the woman had taken an Illum as a basis and then perfected the form, as every detail seemed more refined. She also had a golden halo above her head, a fan of differently colored fluffy tails behind her back, as well as a pair of large feathered wings, one deep black and one a weird lavender color that reminded Selendil of candy for some reason.

The being was stunningly beautiful and dressed in simple clothing made of some white fabric with gold trimmings. She exuded an aura of danger, as if she was a weapon created for a singular purpose. Selendil could also sense a palpable air of death around her. The woman had this air feeling dominance about her, as if she was the type that would not accept taking orders from anyone. Selendil could sense that the being held great power inside her, just like her, but that her power was somehow…divided. It was as if her powers didn’t all come from her nature as a psion.

“Well, well. I did not expect to run into another Nakshatra in this universe. I had almost given up, thinking that the trip here was wasted. Now I see that I may have been a little hasty in my initial judgment." The woman said in a pleasant voice and a smile graced her lips. Selendil realized that she could understand the words despite the fact that the being spoke a language she’d never heard before.

"The term Nakshatra is…unfamiliar to me, but I assume you mean a being of our power," Selendil admitted. "I am Keeper Selendil. And who might you be, oh traveler from another universe?" Selendil was not sure she was willing to take the woman at her word about that, but it seemed useful to go along for now. She might learn more if she kept the woman talking.

The woman clearly noticed the somewhat tense atmosphere, but replied easily anyway, as if she wasn’t threatened by Selendil’s power. “Selendil, is it? My name is Haydee, though most just call me Dee.”