Astrid and Eli hug each other for the first time in years,
"I can't believe how big you've gotten," she comments
"You don't look that bad yourself." He quips back, he then waves Aria over, "this is Aria, my girlfriend,"
"And you got yourself a little girlfriend? And here I was worried you were too much of a nerd to get someone this pretty."
"Sorry to break up this touching reunion," Amara interrupted, "but, anyway, let's see it,"
The hyperspace bore was lowered from the cargo hold of the frigate. It was large, about the size of a cargo container. It was a large cylinder with only one open end, like a cup on its side. There were circuits and sigils etched into the interior that glowed periodically and at the back of the interior, was a complex piece of machinery in the middle of the back wall.
"So this is it, huh?" Kiva asked
[I scaled it down for convenient transport, but it is operational.] Merlin replied, appearing to the side,
"Astrid, are you sure your coordinates are accurate?" Eli asked, looking over the data on a small screen above his band, "This puts us within elven controlled space."
"You're free to run the calculations yourself," Astrid remarked
"Thank you," Eli said as he began to work.
"I'm just wondering, but how much trouble are we looking at?" Aria asks
"Well, if we fail, we are looking at charges such as treason, espionage, and grand larceny, to name a few," Amara said, "and if we're caught, that would land us life in prison."
"But don't worry about that," Kiva adds, "Since we'll be in elf territory, if were caught we'll be imprisoned for trespassing, heresy, omen fraternization, techno-heresy, and who knows what else. Best-case scenario, we're looking at a quick execution."
"That's the best-case?" Aria said with trepidation, "awesome."
Eli takes hold of her hand to comfort her,
Kiva, Astrid and Amara smile awkwardly to one another,
"So how long has this been going on?" Kiva asks, gesturing towards Eli and Aria
"A few months," Eli admitted
"And are you sleeping together?" Astrid asked
"N-no," Aria replied flustered, "he's a real gentleman."
"Well I'm happy for you," Kiva beamed
[Can we proceed with this before more complications start to arise?] Merlin interrupts [Eli, are you done with those calculations?]
"Yes," Eli said, transferring the data to Merlin
[Excellent.] Merlin said, running through the calculations, [However, if we travel through hyperspace, we risk offsetting the calculations, even using warp-shift may be risky, so I'll have to recalibrate the engines.]
"Count me in," Eli said enthusiastically, "I've been thinking of some modifications that can be made to the Stellar Drive."
"Do you want assistance?" Amara asked, "I could have a team from engineering to help out if you run into technical issues?"
[Who do you think designed this ship?] Merlin boasts, [I only need Eli; he's the only one who understands the schematics as good as Nya, anyone else would just slow me down.]
"Alright, just don't bust my ship." Amara said
"Are you coming, Aria?" Eli asked
"N-no," she said nervously, "I could be of more use up here, don't want to distract you."
"Alright," Eli said as he called up the schematics of the Stellar Drive from his band, "Merlin, I was thinking; if we remove the redundant plasma coils we could streamline efficiency and boost energy transmission."
[I thought about that, but how do we compensate for the remaining coils overheating under their increased workload?] Merlin said, as the two of them walked out of the hangar
"Is something wrong?" Kiva asked her once they were gone
"I don't think Merlin likes me very much," she said quietly
"Merlin doesn't like anybody." Amara stated with a shrug, "you get used to it."
"She likes Eli, though," Aria said
"Eli is her protege," Astrid said, "After our mom disappeared, she was the only one who could nurture his intellect the way mom wanted."
"What about you?" Aria said,
"Merlin cares about Morgan and I in her own way," Astrid explained, "but her first priority will always be our mom, then Eli is a close second, above all else. I honestly think she's grown to love him like a nephew, if it's even possible for her"
"But where does that leave the rest of us," Aria asked,
"She doesn't care about the rest of us, she just acknowledges how we relate to those she does care about," Amara said, consoling her, "she won't hurt you, as long as you're on her good side."
Aria was starting to doubt whether coming here was a good idea. All these people all knew each other before and already had a fundamental trust in each other, but she was different, she was basically Eli's plus one, these people saw her as an extra. Plus, she'd never been in a high stake situation like this before; how could she prove her worth to these people if she didn't even know her worth in this situation?
As she contemplated this, her band chimed, it was a message from Eli;
I need you to go to the main servers and reconfigure the primary avionic controls, sending you the privileges now. Sorry to send you alone, but I trust you can do it. Eli.
She smiled as she read the message. It was a trivial matter to reset avionics when upgrading the engines, but it was something she could do; something he trusted her to do.
"Looks like something's got you smiling," Astrid noted
"Eli asked me to do something for him," Aria grinned, "where's the main servers
"I'll guide you." Astrid said
"Thanks," Aria said
As they were walking, Astrid suddenly spoke up, "So… you and my brother, huh?"
"Please don't threaten me too," Aria said, "Merlin already gave me the whole 'hurt-him-and-I-hurt-you' talk."
"What? No, I was just going to say I'm glad he's found someone he can trust." Astrid said
"Really?"
"Growing up, Eli didn't really socialize much with others," Astrid said, "he was too busy spending time with Merlin, learning. Morgan and I once worried that he'd grow too attached to Merlin and might become smitten with her."
"But Merlin is an AI, a computer, there's no way that would happen?"
"Merlin is much more than just an AI; she is as sapient as you or I, and her physical form clearly shows she identifies as a woman. It didn't seem that impossible for Eli to fall for her, and I don't think she'd reject such advances."
Aria suddenly felt very self-conscious. All those times she would leave Eli in the lab by himself, and later find him with Merlin… was it even possible?
"Thankfully the fact that you're here shows that my concern was unneeded" Astrid added, "He seems to only have eyes for you, which is a relief."
"But you don't think…" Aria started
"God I hope not," Astrid said, shivering, "but he wouldn't be this open with you if it had. Eli is relatively simple to understand once you know him."
"He is that," Aria said with a blush
"See, you feel better already, don't you?"
"Huh?"
"When you got here, you looked a bit overwhelmed, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you that your presence here is appreciated. Welcome to the inner circle."
"Th-thank you," Aria said, happy she now had a new friend with her.
Days later, Eli and Merlin have finished their overhaul of the Stellar Drive for the Excalibur Blue. Their modifications should, in theory, allow them to reach near the light speed at regular travel. While this would still pale in comparison to hyper-jump technology, this light speed engine would be a defining moment in Hyperion space history… if it works.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Amara asked from the captain's chair
"Our calculations were spot on, but we didn't have a lot of time to work with," Eli said, over the intercom, "I'd give us a fair chance at success."
[But be warned, if we overtax the engines in their current state, it would effectively turn into a highly volatile mana bomb, capable of vaporizing anything within a radius of up to ten thousand miles.] Merlin cautioned,
"What?" Kiva, Astrid and Aria blurted at the same time
"It's cool," Eli reassured, "I added a kill switch that would cut power going to the engines should that happen. We should be fine."
"Alright Eli, I'm trusting you here." Amara said as she turned to the two pilots, "Alright, the coordinates are set, let's see what this baby can do."
"Yes Admiral," the two officers replied as they took the controls and fired up the engine full thrust.
For a second nothing happened, then everything not bolted down was momentarily hit with intense G-force before the internal gravity was readjusted to compensate.
The Excalibur Blue was racing through the cosmos at unprecedented speed, faster than anything currently available to Hyperion. The massive pylons at rear of the ship were burning like torches, and the orb of energy was blazing like a sun propelling the ship at light speed. After several minutes of travelling at such speeds, a warning alarm popped up.
"Pylons are overheating, ma'am." one pilot reports
[Cutting power to engines,] Merlin said, as the ship suddenly lost thrust, carried onward only by its own momentum for several more minutes.
"Hmm," Eli said, looking over some readouts from his band, "coolant has to be redirected to the pylons before we can do that again, but the engines seems to be operating within acceptable range."
"Not bad," Amara nodded, as the navigation's officer reports their current position.
"We're coming mom," Astrid said hopefully.
***
Twelve years might be a long time for most people in Hyperion, but for an elf with their absurdly long lifespan to take for granted, that amount of time was almost insignificant, barely any different from how a human would experience a few weeks.
Kiva, having spent a considerable amount of time with non-elven folk, has acclimatized her sense of time with the rest of Hyperion, but a normal elf can be known to waste weeks and months on even the most mundane tasks.
Since the directive of the Supreme Pontiff, Titania Vaux Oberon, every missionary fleet of the Holy Alfheim Theocracy launched their own independent investigations into the being known as Nya Crimson. When news of a 'Grand Marshal Crimson' on a far off planet known as Avalon eventually found its way to a particular high bishop, stationed along the border systems with the unclaimed sector, he ordered a deeper inquiry into the matter. Further inquest into this world of Avalon and its relation to Nya Crimson yielded unexpected results, as it was discovered that the planet, formerly titled Draxia Urma, had a relatively high mana concentration, which would qualify it to be claimed for the Theocracy, also of note, was that Nya Crimson had based herself on the planet and was a celebrated figure to its people. These revelations prompted the high bishop to launch an incursion into the unclaimed sector, the first time the Theocracy had made a decisive move in nearly a millennium. His actions were seen as rash and sudden from an elven perspective, as in only the span of only a few years, he gathered his entire missionary fleet and sent them forth to establish a presence within the unclaimed sector, taking planet after planet as they slowly made their way to Avalon.
In the decade since, the missionary fleet had already claimed nearly six new systems under their total control, subjugating the omen filth and uplifting the gifted. Then, they began to observe movements of a significantly advanced force that they quickly discovered belonged to the Avalon vanguard fleet. From then on, both the missionary fleet and Avalon forces have been locked in a tentative stalemate, closely observing each other yet refraining from establishing actual contact.
On a colony world that had recently come under the elves control, and was used as a forward operating base by the Theocracy forces, the high bishop of the missionary fleet was within his chambers, engaged in sexual intercourse with one of his novice nuns. As a religion based around the divinity of adepts, one of their most sacred tenets was the proliferation of the adept population, so it was considered the responsibility of the lower clergy to breed with their congregation. He was in the midst of granting this novice his divine seed when when there was a knocking on his door.
Allowing himself to finish the sacred insemination of the kobal youth, the five thousand and fifty nine year old elven man answered, "What is it?"
By elven standards, he was just barely middle aged.
As the door opened, one of his clerics was waiting, a young elf lad, just over half a millennia old.
"Forgive me for interrupting your holy rite, high bishop Arov," the youth says, sparing only a glance to the novice nun who had collapsed on the bed, twitching in orgasmic bliss, "but we have a report from the front lines."
The elderly elf stroked his long graying bear, "You need to choose your words more carefully, lad, 'front lines' insinuates that we are at war. The only war the Theocracy can and shall enter is a holy war, and as the Supreme Pontiff has yet to call for one, what we are doing is missionary work, spreading the Alfheim creed to the lesser beings of this unclaimed sector." The high priest lectured
"Forgive my misspeaking!" the cleric bowed, "According to the report from the frontier, one of the Avalon ships has encroached into our territory. We do not yet know whether this is a rouge element or the vanguard of some new offensive."
"Hmm, this lone ship, has it dared to approach one of our held worlds?"
"No, at of our last report it was out in empty space, just past our border," the cleric reported
"And it is one of the black ships?"
"Yes,"
"Those ships have ties with this 'Nya Crimson' the Supreme Pontiff is interested in. I will lead a subjugation force myself to capture it." The high priest declared, "Ready a small force, and summon the oracle priestesses."
"At once, your grace." The cleric said as he hurried out of the room.
Once the doors closed, the novice nun stirred in the bed, "h-high bishop, has our union been blessed?"
The high bishop walked over to her, resting his hand against her belly, feeling their energies flow and mix within her.
"It is too soon to tell," he said, "but fret not, we will continue our intercourse until I have confirmed your pregnancy."
The young kobal beamed at his declaration, "thank you, high bishop. I shall return tomorrow to receive your seed once again! Should I bring my sister as well? She has just recently reached adulthood."
"Yes, I think it would be best if you were there for her deflowering." he nodded, "now return to your dorm,"
After the novice nun left, high bishop pondered the possible reason for the lone ship to venture into their domain. Not long after, roughly thirty hours, there was another knock at his door,
"Enter," he ordered and seven women walked inside. Only three of them were pure elves, with the rest only being half-elven spawn. They were all scantily dressed in sheer white robes that didn't do much to hide their figures, each of them had arcane glyphs and sigils tattooed onto their exposed flesh and wore a veil with the stylized image of an eye over their faces, held in place by a gold circlet around their heads.
"We have come as ordered, high bishop Arov." The woman at the head of the group bowed. From the noticeable glow of her skin and the melodious cadence in her voice, she was a high elf, a very rare thing to see outside the holy throne-world of Alfheim. Arov had always wanted to bed one of them, but he wasn't worthy enough to procreate with an ascended one, so he would have to settle for the thousands of half-elves and lesser fae within his congregation.
"I will soon lead a force to capture a lone ship from the wayward people of Avalon," the high priest declared, "It is one of their accursed black ships from the reports, what should I expect?"
The women started chanting under their breath, an the faint glow of their eyes could be seen through their veils, before they suddenly stopped, and the leader spoke in a hollow voice,
"We see on this ship lay many mysteries. We also see your followers walk its halls in victory, and…" the leader stopped, shocked, "...w-we also see the wayward princess, with a young apprentice of great power, who carries the name 'Crimson'."
"The princess?" The high bishop exclaimed, shocked. He was just high enough within the Theocracy hierarchy to know that the miracle daughter of the Supreme Pontiff has been missing for over a century, but not high enough to learn any further details.
"The Supreme Pontiff will be pleased to have her heir back, I'm sure." The high bishop stated, "but this apprentice of hers, how strong is it?"
"Immensely," the lead oracle declared, "bringing her before the Supreme Pontiff will usher in a new golden age for the Theocracy."
"She has that much potential?" the high bishop queried, surprised.
"Yes," the head priestess replied, "we had seen glimpses of her before, and prepared for the eventuality of this encounter."
With a wave of her hands, she opened a small portal and pulled out one of the sacred relics of the Theocracy, a treasure of the Supreme Pontiff herself. She presented the item to the high bishop, a staff made of an ancient tree branch coiled around an orb the size of a skull, made of dark stone-like material, with green circuits etched all over the surface of the object.
"With the might of this origin, we foresee you presenting both the princess and this blessed child before the Supreme Pontiff, along with the jewel, Avalon." The priestess declares. "do you accept this holy task and this sacred burden?"
The high bishop hesitates for only a moment, before he grasps the staff and lifts it in the air.
"I accept." he states, as a green crest appears on the back of his hand, linking him to the device he now wields.
* * *
So far, Valla liked being a vampire.
She felt stronger, faster, and more powerful than she ever had in her life. Her senses were heightened to that of an apex predator and she could perceive the world around her in a way she never even thought possible. Sure there were some slight hiccups, like a new aversion to sunlight, and no longer being able to feel the presence of mana like an ethereal sea around her, but she was quickly adapting to it. She still hadn't gotten used to the taste of synthetic blood, it was bland and grainy, completely unsatisfying, she now saw why Morgan refused to take it willingly. She'd much rather taste Morgan's blood again, she discovered that by tasting the blood of another vampire was an incredibly intimate act and gave her flashes of memory and emotions.
One of the biggest highlights of her time as an omen so far was when she finally discovered her phantasm; cryokinesis. It started with her body temp dropping significantly, giving her skin an even paler shade of blue, the main ability given to her by her phantasm was the ability to rapidly freeze her surroundings, creating frost and ice around her at will. The downside was that she passively stole the heat from her surroundings, so the temperature went down wherever she went, and her cryokinetic abilities, similar to her amphibious physiology, were dependent on how much ambient moisture was present in the environment, so if an area got too hot, not only would she dry out, she wouldn't be able to use her new powers as effectively anymore.
Valla was in her cabin, a fine sheet of frost now coated every surface as she laid on her bed, cuddled up next to her was Morgan, who was sleeping relatively soundly as she curled up under the thick covers. Valla was playing with her powers, practicing creating snow from the palm of her hands.
Murmuring from Morgan attracted her attention as she saw her comrade and lover tossing and turning, muttering to herself,
Valla giggled as she looked at Morgan, feeling the heat coming off her body, it was a heat she enjoyed, as Morgan never seemed to run out even after spending considerable amount of time in her icy presence. Ever since becoming a vampire, she felt so much closer to Morgan, she loved her dearly and would do anything for her. She'd kill for Morgan without question, she would even… die for her.
The dark thought surprised her, but she'd been having them more and more since she turned, and she now found herself more subservient to Morgan's wishes as well. Maybe it was because Morgan was her sire, but the thought that someone could have this kind of sway over her didn't scare her as much as it should. The fact that it was Morgan who was in control of her put her mind even more at ease, like it was okay to be her thrall.
As she looked at Morgan's sleeping form, she could see the path of her blood vessels threading through her body.
"Morgan Crimson, I don't care if you do control me, I love you more than anything." She whispered as she kissed Morgan on the cheek, to which Morgan mumbled a dreamy reply, "luv… you… too…"
Valla chuckled as she snuggled closer to Morgan, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.
The next day, when Morgan and Valla were on their way to the bridge, Marshal Dax was waiting for them, along with a squad of Cerberus soldiers.
"What's this about?" Valla asked
"I have received new orders from the Primark," Marshal Dax said, an unsettling pep in his step.
"More orders to arrest my family, I take it?" Morgan said with her hands folded
"Not just your family," Dax said as the soldiers brandishing batons at the pair, "Morgan Crimson, Valla Krix Nepton, you are both under arrest. Given your decorated recrods, you will be confined to quarters until further notice."
"What?" Morgan roared, glaring at the man
"The Primark was right, without the Grand Marshal around, you all present too much of rouge element." Dax said, "I am sorry it has to be this way, but I assure you; none of your friends and family will be harmed as long as they cooperate."
"Cooperate? This is my family we're talking about; we're all stubborn assholes." Morgan said
"Then that is a risk I will have to take. Restrain them!" Dax ordered as the soldiers approached
"And how would you do that?"
"With this," one of the soldiers said as their UV batons, nicknamed the sun-stick, lit up, and they swung it, only for Valla to block with her arm, then recoil from the intense burning sensation.
"You fuckers." Valla hissed, holding her sun-burnt arm.
"Not so smart letting that monster infect you, was it?" the soldier sneered at her as he went grabbed her weakened arm by the wrist.
Monster?
Did they just call Morgan… her Morgan… a monster?
A primal rage suddenly overtook her and with a scream, she let loose a blast of arctic chill erupted from her, freezing the soldier in front of her solid. It was fortunate that none of the crew were in the area because the entire corridor was frosted over. The team of Cerberus soldiers were hit with the full burnt of the blast and were subjected the intense cold of absolute zero. Their sun-sticks fizzled out, with their internal mechanisms freezing over as well, making them useless.
Marshal Dax had avoided a fatal blast, but he was now huddled on the floor shivering furiously.
"I didn't know you could do that?" Morgan comments, she also had a patch of sun-burnt skin on her cheek that seemed to already be peeling. Somehow the ice hadn't even touched her, whether through some intentional action or subconscious control, Valla wasn't sure, but she was glad for it.
"Neither did I," Valla said as she glared at Marshal Dax, "What do we do with him."
Morgan walked up to the shivering man, "You tried to have me arrested, in my mom's own ship?"
"Y-y-you're a d-d-danger t-t-to Avalon." He shivered, "Y-y-you and y-y-your f-f-family. The P-p-primark was r-r-right."
"The things my mom would've done to you for this…" Morgan snarled, sparking a hint of fear behind the man's eyes, "Be thankful I'm not her."
She called a team of Jaegers to escort former Marshal Dax, along with his surviving soldiers to the brig, while Valla tried to thaw the ice in the hallway.
"What now?" Valla asked, "The Primark has a grudge against you and yours,"
"We still have a job to do," Morgan reminded her, "we can deal with him later."
As they walked towards the bridge, Morgan slipped her hand into Valla's "thanks for defending me, back there."
"I couldn't well let them bad-mouth my girl, I love you too much." Valla grinned
"That's good, because I love you too," Morgan admitted, blushing as she kissed Valla on the cheek.
In the bridge, one of the officers was waiting for them as they entered,
"We heard about what happened, Major Crimson, the crew of the Excalibur stands with you."
"Good, 'cuz we still need to find our sister ship," Morgan said as she took her seat
"Well, about that…" the communications officer spoke up
"What?"
"We did receive an encoded transmission from your brother with a unique energy signature." The officer said, "tracing it should be easy enough, but we were waiting to tell you."
"It looks like he's laying a trail for us to follow," Valla mused, "could be a trap?"
"That's not how Eli works," Morgan sighed "he wants the whole family together,"
"So, do we follow his trail?" the officer asked
"Yes, scan for that energy signature and let me know when you found something." Morgan ordered, "Now I need to go and let my godfather know that the leader of our nation wants to put us all in