Xen'tarza
Chapter Three

Interstellar Skirmish

I

Regrouping

Shirakaya and her crew returned to their battleship, shocked but nonetheless alive. Before they could plot a course out of Star City, one of the xyimorph’s who had released them approached Myris and gave her back the sìsô. The young oracle was so surprised that she had no words for the guard who promptly exited Marauder. She kissed Xeza’s little snout and hugged her so tightly that she grew anxious, jumping off and scuttling away. The renegade watched Xeza scurry to a corner and laughed.

“What’re you laughing at, dumbass? I was worried about her.”

Dojin didn’t respond. He merely smirked and then headed to his quarters. Meanwhile, the others aboard the craft spread out and kept to themselves, wishing they could forget everything that had just happened. Even though Shirakaya called out to her sister twice, she ignored her and swiftly made her way over to the medical wing, gathering her personal things. The freelancer sighed, following her sister.

“Radesha!” she called out again, louder.

“What the hell do you want?” she snapped, her voice shaky. “I’ve had enough! Even when I stayed on the ship, they came inside and took me. I nearly died!”

“I am so deeply sorry, sis,” Shirakaya said, tears in her eyes. “Please listen to me…”

“No!” Radesha shouted. “Just shut up! I’m tired of your pseudo emotions. I’m tired of your indifference and competitive ego. I am leaving. Find some other nurse or doctor who’s willing to die for you.”

Shirakaya stood silent, shocked by her sister’s words. She painfully watched Radesha pack up and storm out—vowing never to return. Guilt overwhelmed her. Wiping away tears, she rubbed her throbbing head and went back to the ship’s entrance, deeply depressed. Forgive me, she said to herself. Shirakaya watched her sister from a distance as she got aboard a civilian transport ship. For the sake of the mission, Shirakaya forced herself not to breakdown, bottling her emotions. After sealing Marauder’s main door, she ported from the cargo bay to the bridge.

“Vokken,” she began, “where’s my broth—”

Before finishing her sentence, Shirakaya found Khal’jan sitting on the flight deck with the sandstalker.

“Hey,” her brother said gloomily.

Shirakaya managed to contain her tears, relief in her heart. It was awkwardly quiet for a moment, but Khal’jan soon got up and embraced his sister. For a while, he let the silence linger. Even though Rah’tera was happy for them, he felt the need to look away from the siblings’ show of affection.

“I’m so glad you’re all right,” Shirakaya said, relief in her voice. “When we were on the run after getting set up, all I did was worry and hope the xyimorphs didn’t replace any of you.”

“It wasn’t easy,” he said in a troubled tone.

Still looking distressed, Shirakaya eventually added, “Radesha’s gone. She’s going home…”

“Shira,” her brother began, “it’s for the best. She’s not like us. Heck, I’m surprised she even came aboard in the first place.” Gazing at her and seeing how depressed she looked, he went on, “I have something to show you.” Backing away, Khal’jan lifted his hand and revealed the glowing artifact. “The enchantment is replenished.”

The freelancer gazed at it with wonder. Strangely, she didn’t reach out for it. Khal’jan saw her blank expression and decided to place the relic in her hand. His sister took a seat in her armchair, breathing deeply as she held the radiant Eye of Soth’yugon. Shirakaya shook her head in awe, wondering if the enchanted artifact could truly help.

“I hope you didn’t go through anything close to what I had to endure,” she said.

“We heard about what happened,” Rah’tera replied. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to prevent that trap. We ran into our own problems. In fact...”

“We lost Narja,” Khal’jan intervened miserably.

Shirakaya froze. “That’s not possible. No. This must be a sick joke.” Her brother lowered his head, at which point she went on, “Things were just starting to change. We had hope on our side.”

“We still do,” Rah’tera responded. “But the reality is that until this struggle is over, all of us will experience some measure of tragedy. It is impossible to escape it.”

“I’m sorry,” Khal’jan said.

“Sorry?” she muttered. “You have nothing to be sorry about. I should’ve known better. If I was smarter, I would’ve had Narja stay with Radesha.”

“How were you supposed to know?” Khal’jan said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Narja may have been a pilot,” Rah’tera began, “but she was also a soldier. She fought and died with honor. Regardless of what happened, we must look on the bright side. Everybody else is alive. Most importantly, the relic is rejuvenated.”

If anyone else had told her to look on the bright side, she probably would have snapped at them. On this occasion, though, she was dealing with a cold-blooded assassin who barely knew Narja. She felt sick to her stomach, curling up in her seat. Despite his heartless words, something rang true: she was also a soldier. The freelancer could hardly believe Narja was gone—another original member of her crew—yet she had no choice but to accept it.

“Rah’tera is right,” the archeologist said. “And even though you fell in a hole of political crap, you climbed out of it.”

“Correction,” intervened a strong, feminine voice coming from an area between the helm and a terminal revealing Ensar’s map. To the crew’s surprise, the being used magic to uncloak herself. By all appearances, it was Feya Morgesis. “I climbed her out of that hole.” She sneered at the gawking mercenaries and, with a devious smirk, added, “That is twice you owe me.”

Shirakaya got to her feet, mystified. “Is that really you? Have you truly possessed Her Eternity’s body?”

“Isn’t she magnificent?” Vokken said, appearing on the screen.

The xyimorph gazed deep into the freelancer’s eyes before responding. “Eradicate that title from your mind. She was everything but eternity. I am the Queen of Death, and if you are expecting me to aid your cause, you will all worship me.”

“On this ship, everyone is equal,” Shirakaya said, standing toe to toe with her.

Eladoris gave out a wild cackle. “Is that so?” At the freelancer’s confident nod, the witch stepped around her as she whispered, “We will see about that.” She smelled the freelancer’s neck from behind as if ready to bite her. “I’ll be dwelling in the cosmodrive chamber…for now.”

“So long as you don’t cause trouble.”

The witch licked Shirakaya’s ear before teleporting. Though she was a lesbian, sexual thoughts involving Eladoris made her feel nauseous.

“Creepy,” the sandstalker said.

“And disgusting,” Shirakaya said, rubbing her ear clean.

“You guys took the words right out of my mouth,” the archeologist said. “Anyway...on to better things. Let’s get the heck out of this city, sis. We can also study that arcane book of yours and start looking for real clues as to how we can get your magic restored in full.”

“Right…but first I need to notify the others about what happened to Narja.” She paused for a moment. “Vokken, can you fly our ship?”

“Affirmative.”

II

Primeval Legends

As planned, Shirakaya gathered her crew on the bridge and informed them of Narja’s demise. To her surprise, Dojin appeared as downhearted as the mutant. Shirakaya wondered, perhaps they felt such melancholy because they understood that Narja was an original member of Celestial? As she thought more about it, she realized that only the three of them remained from when the journey had first started. With this thought, the future seemed rather bleak to her.

“I will notify Narja’s sister,” Yarasuro said.

The freelancer gave a weak nod. As he exited the bridge, a not-so-loud bleep resounded. Shirakaya was about to ask who was hailing them but then fixed her eyes on the empty helm chair and found she had lost her voice.

“In case you were wondering,” Vokken began, “Xethren is attempting to hail us. Shall I initiate the telecommunications frequency?”

“Yes,” she managed to mutter.

Xethren appeared on the screen, sitting in a limo. “I must say, Shira, you are truly starting to impress me. Not a single guild wanted to be a part of this mission, and yet a lowlife freelancer such as yourself succeeded.” Seeing her glower, he added, “Well, I suppose you’re not much of a lowlife now. Anyhow, as promised, you are eighty-five thousand reons wealthier. Until next time.”

The transmission ended.

“It won’t be long before that douche bag gives us another mission,” Dojin said.

Shirakaya let out a heavy sigh. “I know.” Clicking her kinetic link device a few times, she ported Her Eternity’s necklace as well as Medeix Et Victum into her hands. Walking over to the ghensoth sitting at the vessel’s weapon terminal, she handed him the enchanted amulet. “Sell this at the sca’vezi black market for half a million reons, would you?”

Xorvaj gawked at her in disbelief.

“By the way,” Vokken intervened, “I thought you should know that while you were all gone, I noticed a star disappear from the map.”

Like the others, Shirakaya grew pale. She felt the urge to vomit, which was the only reason she didn’t scream.

“That is some serious fucked up shit,” Dojin said.

“Where?” the sandstalker asked.

“Not far from the Drift Void,” he answered.

“As if we weren’t hit with bad news already,” the mutant said. “How are we going to handle this?”

“I say we take this bad boy straight to those evasive buggers and kick them right in the arse!” Myris said.

“We can’t,” Shirakaya responded flatly. “Not yet, at least.”

Xorvaj grumbled, “We can’t just sit here and idly let those koth’vurian scum consume—”

“You don’t think I know that?” Shirakaya snapped. “The last time I rushed to investigate a star, it costs me my ship and crew. I refuse to let that happen again. We will continue focusing on getting my power back.”

“We have the Queen of Death at our disposal,” Vokken said.

Shirakaya frowned at him. “Eladoris is not reliable, and we do not stand a chance without a dependable source of magic. This is not a debate. We’re sticking to our current objective.” Refusing to wait for any snippy responses, Shirakaya approached the exit. “Khal, let’s go to the conference room.”

“You got it.”

“And where should I take this ship while you deliberate?” Vokken asked before Shirakaya and her brother left.

“Anywhere but here,” she said, leaving the flight deck.

The pair remained quiet as they strode through a corridor, past a couple of X-Phasers, and entered a spacious briefing room on the left. Inside the conference chamber consisted of multiple telecommunication screens placed in each corner, as well as an elongated table at the center with sixteen chairs around it.

Shirakaya pulled out two seats closest to her and sat down with her brother, revealing the book to him. He held it with care, laying it on the table. At first, he squinted at it. As if hesitant to open it, he placed a gentle hand on the cover and pressed his fingers against the embossed title. Swallowing heavily, he turned his attention to Shirakaya.

“This is a fake, right?”

“What?” she said, her expression forming wrinkles on her face. “Of course not. It’s the property of the Ruzurai. Owendar borrowed it from the Grand Library at Iyonji Palace and gave it to me before he…passed away.”

Khal’jan gawped at her. “Do you have any idea what this book is?” he said, utterly stunned.

“Medeix Et Victum.”

“That was a random name a scholar gave it millennia ago,” he said, his eyes reverting to the book. “Do you know its true purpose?”

“It’s supposed to be the key to helping me regain my powers.”

Khal’jan finally opened the ancient tome. “This isn’t just any compendium, sis. It contains a blasphemous legend.” As gently as he could, he flipped through its pages while scanning all the words. He gave out a startled laugh. “I barely even understand this language. Goddess, this is not real. It can’t be.”

“Ugh, for Maz’hura’s sake tell me already.”

“If by a miracle this is the real deal, only one person in the known universe can possibly translate it. His name is Wyneim Del Vayso. Have you heard of him?”

Shirakaya shrugged. “I could have sworn a teacher of mine once said he was a loony.”

“Of course. Just like the temple of the fifth moon conspiracy theory.” Khal’jan paused a moment, examining a set of symbols that were legible. “He called this compendium The Twelve Dimensions. Whether that is the actual translation of Medeix Et Victum, I don’t know. What I do know is Del Vayso claimed that the origin of this book derives from an inter-dimensional being once thought to be a god…Xen’tarza. In other words, this book supposedly comes from another universe.”

“That...that’s not possible.”

The archeologist raised an eyebrow while tilting his head. “No one has ever been able to leave Ensar without our knowledge. If so, none have returned to tell the tale. Demons aside, who’s to say no one breached ours? The multiverse theory has yet to be disproven. For all we know, this book may contain a secret to opening a portal beyond the twelve dimensions...leading us into an alternate universe. In fact, it might be the only way for you to reclaim your magic.”

A chill ran up the freelancer’s spine. “That’s crazy, Khal. Even if by some insane chance there’s some truth to this, the clock is ticking. It’s only a matter of time before Koth’tura returns. And somewhere out there right now, Ashkaratoth is consuming protostars. I need a genuine solution. Fast.”

Khal’jan shook his head. “If you’re looking for a quick fix, you’re going to be extremely disappointed. I cannot singlehandedly decipher these symbols. I mean...look at this.” He showed her a few pages, revealing complex pictograms, formulas, and a language neither of them knew. “Have you even glanced at this book?”

“Yes,” she said, giving him a long look. “That’s why I went searching for you. I was hoping you could translate it.”

The archeologist let out an amused laugh. “I’m not Del Vayso, sis.” At her frustrated sigh, he went on, “I can try to interpret a few letters or words, but you’re gonna need to at least give me a week to get somewhere. Does your ship contain a historical databank?”

“Marauder only has one supercomputer linked to the TDE. It’s on the third level near the cafeteria. Just don’t go looking for a chef.”

He chuckled softly. “Nothing wrong with a skeleton crew when you’re trying to save some money. Anyway, let me go down there and start using the TDE. I need to study Del Vayso’s lifework again and see if I can replace any legitimate articles related to Xen’tarza and the language found in Medeix Et Victum.”

“What should I do?”

“Hmmm,” he murmured, rubbing his chin, “if you don’t want to lose your mind waiting for me to make a break, then you’d better hope the contact has a bunch of guild missions lined up for you.”

Shirakaya rolled her eyes. “With my luck, he probably won’t bug me until you discover something.”

They both chuckled.

“All right,” she said. “I guess I’ll leave you to it. Good luck, Khal. Please don’t let me down.”

“I’ll try not to...”

III

Pursuit

The freelancer parted ways with her brother, returning to the flight deck. She sat in her armchair and focused on the current situation, her mind tearing away from strange legends. Zoning back in, she realized Marauder was flying through a nebula. She also noticed that her crew appeared tense; and though she knew some of them were probably upset with her for not rushing blindly to investigate the disappearance of a star, she had a feeling their silence wasn’t because of that.

“Any reason why we’re in a nebula and not dimensional space?”

“Myris has reason to believe we’re being followed,” Rah’tera said.

“What?” she said, eyebrows furrowed. “Why wasn’t I notified? Could it be xyimorphs seeking revenge for His Radiance?”

“No,” the AI said, his pixilated face appearing on the main screen. “Our glorious Queen of Death was the one who destroyed him. Remember? Furthermore, she used her magic to create a doppelganger that she placed on the Solar Throne. If xyimorphs seek revenge, they will attack her illusory twin.”

“Then who in all the hells is following us?” she demanded. “Yaro, you’re in charge of surveillance. What’s going on?”

The mutant was at a loss for words. “I’m afraid I don’t see anything suspicious.”

“I sense an insane amount of hatred,” the oracle said. “It’s a fanatical, righteous revulsion against you. That’s all I know, fearless leader.”

Shirakaya glowered, tired of all the obstacles.

“If little Ms. Yun’sara over here is right and we’re in fact being followed, then it means whoever it is has some serious badass cloaking technology,” Dojin said.

Rah’tera scoffed. “Little do they know, we have an impressive oracle on our side.”

“I guess that’s why we’re in this nebula,” Shirakaya commented. “Neither of us will be capable of detecting the other.”

“Correct,” the AI said. “In this region of space, we are nothing more than anomalies.”

The freelancer swallowed her pride, trying hard to overcome her anger. “Well, this was a bold move. But one of you should have notified me immediately. As fond as I am of your tactics, I want us to pull out of the nebula. No more running. We have a battleship. I want to confront these assholes and ensure we’re never followed again.”

Xorvaj roared with delight. “Time to start a massacre!”

“Right,” the freelancer said decisively. “Vokken, pull us out. Rah’tera, maintain shields as best you can,”—He gave a quick nod—“Xorvaj, make sure our cannons are at maximum power when we’re clear.”

“With pleasure.”

Dojin turned to the freelancer. “What about the railgun and gamma missiles? Those weapons alone can fuck shit up.”

“Missiles are extremely expensive. I need Vokken to use those since his precision would be a hundred percent. But you can port to Marauder’s aft and operate the railgun. Just don’t use it unless I say so because recharging it will leave us vulnerable.”

“Gotcha,” he said, leaving the bridge.

Xeza jumped onto Myris’ lap, producing a wary urp.

“Myris,” Shirakaya called out, “are you able to sense their position?” When the oracle shook her head, the freelancer continued, “That’s all right. We know somebody’s there. Yaro, launch a tachyon torpedo.”

“Aye.”

As the interstellar vessel zoomed out of the nebula, the mutant fired a torpedo. Sensors functioning again, Yarasuro noticed an anomaly on his starmap—precisely where the missile had detonated—and pinpointed it on the flight deck’s primary screen. Distortions in space occurred, lightning sparking until an armada of thirteen ships uncloaked.

“Figures,” the freelancer said.

On the hull of each vessel hung a white emblem depicting a purified woman with a halo, sitting in a meditative position. Shirakaya squinted at the large fleet and their insignia with intrigue, her brow furrowing. Before announcing to the crew who they were, however, she heard a beeping sound.

Yarasuro snorted. “Now that we spotted them, they’re hailing us.”

“Open a frequency on the telecommunications screen,” Shirakaya said. As suspected, she saw a group of robed women sitting in a candle-lit cockpit. “What brings the Sisterhood of Light to this quadrant of space?”

The cloaked leader rose from her chair. “We have been searching for you, Shirakaya of Aarda,” she said. Removing her hood, she revealed bloody marks along her cheeks. “Maz’hura demands justice. Before the new cycle, you protected a blasphemer and murdered fellow sisters in the process. Furthermore, our oracle has determined that you carry the accursed Medeix Et Victum. Surrender it so we may burn it, and we will grant you a humyne death.”

“How about this: Retreat and dissolve your cult before I annihilate all of you.” Without waiting for a response, Shirakaya ended the transmission. “Xorvaj, fire at will.”

Colossal guns along each side of Marauder turned, aiming aft. Adrenaline pumping, the ghensoth unleashed a barrage of fusion rays. The particle beams projected thousands of kilometers away, hitting most of the starships. Many of them performed evasive maneuvers, dodging the salvo.

The ships opened fire in return, but only a handful of plasma and laser beams impacted the battleship’s force field. Vokken maneuvered Marauder in a three-hundred-sixty-degree movement, escaping their lethal bombardment. Xorvaj counterattacked, focusing on one starship in particular until its shield malfunctioned. Seeing it dissipate, he unleashed a bombardment of ice-enchanted bombs from the wings’ cannons that caused the vessel’s hull to freeze.

“Dojin,” the freelancer called out via KLD. “You know what to do.”

He grinned maniacally, clicking a few switches and pushing two levers. “Time to fuck these bitches up!”

Marauder hummed with energy. When a button lit-up, Dojin pushed it. The battleship’s substructure opened, revealing a railgun as large as one of the vessel’s wings. Within seconds, the tip of its barrel gleamed with insurmountable power. At that moment, the weapon unleashed an electromagnetic shockwave that deactivated the fleet’s shields and caused a couple of crafts too close to each other to collide, creating a massive explosion.

Myris cheered just before receiving a vision of Marauder blowing up. “Goddess! They’re preparing to disable our force field!”

“Death to all heretics!” the cult leader yelled.

As the fleet launched disruptor missiles, Rah’tera activated the battleship’s matrix barrier at an appropriate distance. The barrier emitted a reverse polarity effect that sent every rocket back at the armada. Although the detonations weren’t physically harmful, they prevented the cult ships from recharging their shields.

“Outstanding move, assassin,” Shirakaya said.

Xorvaj continued firing rays, destroying four cruisers. Meanwhile, the vessel that he had frozen earlier started to move again, targeting Marauder. It was about to launch a counterattack when Eladoris teleported in front of it. Enveloped in a mana shield, she cast a wave of flame that melted the ship until nothing remained. She then conjured a fiery whip, striking a vessel in half. Three ships assaulted her in retaliation, only to realize she was protected by a powerful barrier of magic. When she froze their beams, they redirected their attacks on Marauder.

“Shields are down thirty-six percent,” Rah’tera said.

“Vokken, you’re up,” Shirakaya commanded.

The arcane intelligence targeted a ship that was attacking his queen and launched a gamma missile. Upon detonation, the vessel exploded, its area of effect also causing shrapnel to disintegrate and damage the hulls of three nearby ships. Acknowledging their damage, Xorvaj finished them off with another barrage of rays.

Now, only one cult ship remained. It turned and readied to escape as Vokken locked on to it and launched another gamma missile. The vessel had zoomed back into the nebula when the missile reached it and detonated. Though they were unable to see the starship blow up, the mercenaries knew its fate thanks to the AI’s precision.

Xeza produced a happy urp while the others cheered.

“Excellent work, mercs,” Shirakaya said via KLD. “Vokken, maintain a stable velocity away from this sector. Everyone else, join me in the briefing room.”

With the exception of Khal’jan who stayed in his personal quarters to study Medeix Et Victum, the mercenaries regrouped in Marauder’s conference chamber. As far as Shirakaya could remember, this was the first time Eladoris had earnestly joined them. The witch remained standing in a corner of the room while the others sat at the table.

“Don’t tell me you already have another mission,” Dojin said, holding a DP-823 data pad that revealed news of a recent heist.

The freelancer snorted playfully. “No, but it wouldn’t hurt since we’re at an impasse. My brother needs at least a week before he can begin to understand Medeix Et Victum. Rather than dillydallying, I felt this would be a good time to grant shore leave. We can rendezvous as soon as Khal makes a breakthrough.”

“Awesome,” the young oracle said. “There’s a rad fair on Pravura in a few days, and I’d like to be an exhibitor.”

Yarasuro looked impressed.

Xorvaj, on the contrary, tried to contain his phlegm. “This will be a good time for me to lie low at Qyon’tog and sell that amulet.”

“Brilliant,” the freelancer said. “I might just hang out there myself.”

Dojin ported his digital data pad into his KLD. “As much as I’d like to revisit the sca’vezi black market, I have business of my own to attend to,” he said, clenching his fists. “In fact, it’s something I need to resolve before coming back.”

A knot of apprehension grew in Shirakaya’s stomach. “We all have our own demons to deal with, Dojin. Just...make sure you do come back.”

The renegade nodded, leaving the room.

“I’ll contact my guild,” Rah’tera said. “If they have a blacklist for me, I’ll disembark at Pravura with Myris.”

Shirakaya barely listened to him, concerned about Dojin. “Then it’s settled.”

Transformation

My wounded children, I have heard you calling out to me for eons. You yearn for justice each and every moment. You yearn for the righteous to be praised, and the wrongdoer to be punished. Yet, I say unto you, let not your soul be corrupted by the corruptor. If such a criminal should attack, allow the bullets of destruction to transform into flowers of sunshine. Judge not what they have done but what you can do for them. Such troubled souls need guidance. Release yourselves from the gripping bondage of grudges and set your enemies free. Only then shall you know my divine love.

Gathas of Maz’hura 51:8