Scattered Through Time

[Guest Public Enemy #1 Levy]

Yema was concentrated on Echo as Asyphar greeted them. C was the only one who acknowledged him.

"Another human on an alien vessel, and a teenager as well. Something I hadn't expected." C explained quietly.

[antiaircraft]

"True, but considering the circumstances there are more important things to discuss. I'm sure you're already aware that Che-jan TimeRip devices have disrupted the temporal space stability of the area around Earth. This is a lot more major than it sounds, but we had better discuss it somewhere where I can show you details of the problem properly."

 

Mird tilted his head slightly to get a better look at the stranger. "I fail to understand what you just said."

 

Asyphar smiled slightly, then performed another sweeping Chraxon bow and gestured in the direction of one of the doors. "This way please, there is a lot of history involved in this matter that I haven't exactly recited."

[Guest Public Enemy #1 Levy]

"I have observed that fleet as it chased Yema. It posses the the same capability at Yema." C thought out loud.

"But its impure!" Kait shouted, "Or, at least that's my theory. I'm sure I could replicate the time travel capability but I don't wish to disrupt the fabric of time and space like that other alien race has."

She stood by C's side.

[antiaircraft]

Asyphar raised an eyebrow. "I doubt the term 'impure' is exactly appropriate, since all time travel disrupts temporal space. I suspect it is the ability to repair the damage that allows Yema to travel without causing permanent damage, although if she does not wish to confirm this she is under no obligation to."

[Guest Public Enemy #1 Levy]

Yema was still preoccupied by Echo to respond.

"Please, lead on." C said politely.

[antiaircraft]

"Follow me if you wish. Our facilities are fully equipped to comfortably accommodate you." Asyphar said.

 

Mird shrugged and walked after him, glancing curiously at his surroundings.

[Guest Public Enemy #1 Levy]

It took a bit for C to find footing on the floor then followed, Kait right beside him. She had no problem with the floor.

Floaro laid passed out in the shuttle, Echo and Yema were also still inside.

[antiaircraft]

Asyphar led C, Kait, and Mird through a series of softly lit passages that ended at the corvette's bridge. His leading was hardly necessary, since the layout of the ship was simple and effective with directions clearly marked, but it was only polite as a host.

 

In the corner of the corvette's bridge was a circle of seats made from loosely attached cushions, each seat carefully but rapidly constructed to comfortably fit each of the newcomers. There was a table with refreshments in between the seats, and Hyemist was standing rigidly at attention beside a large holographic display.

 

"Please be seated. Feel free to take refreshments if you wish." Asyphar said as he retrieved a remote control for the display.

[Guest Public Enemy #1 Levy]

An explosion shook the bridge. A hole in the hull had been created. C was the closest to it and was launched through it. Quickly, he forced the hole shut enough so no one else could escape and he lost his grip.

He was now floating in the void of space. His velocity was great from the breach that threw him out of the ship. His mind, coupled with the electronic counterpart, thought instantly and is trajectory would have him float near Earth, but too far from it to enter the atmosphere. He would use the planet to gain velocity and be launched into deep space. This was not good. Though his oxygen could be conserved for cryogenic sleep, his body needed energy for the life support. There was barely enough energy in the space he was in to gain from his energy-collecting spears from his back. He would not survive. His body can endure a plunge into Earth's atmosphere if oriented correctly. Right now he needed more velocity as a new plan arose in his mind. The fighter which fired the missile, causing the decompression which threw him into space, was close. In fact, he was heading right for it.

C tucked up his body and extended his left arm, which is the heaviest limb on his body. He released a bit of oxygen and he was sent into a spin. Bringing his left arm back into his body, his rotational speed increased and impact.

He went right through the fighter. Then, the explosion. The force generated pushed him even faster than before. His new trajectory would lead him right to the largest ship of the Che-jan fleet. None other than the Echronal Physig.

He would appear to them a piece of debris. Their shields were rated for incoming threats large enough to breach their hull. C wasn't going nearly fast enough to cause a commotion. He skidded across the hull until he could grab a hold of something.

Now with inertia equaling the Echronal Physig, he gained a footing and began to crawl across the giant ship. At this point, he was not interested in fighting. Survival is his number one priority. His belief, self preservation or Hell, overpowered any other in his mind. The female AI in his cybernetic mind screamed, "Stop! Take advantage and attack!" He ignored this, "You will do as I say! I must live or suffer!" "Take advantage C! If you don't others will suffer!" "They'll suffer whether I take advantage or not! This hull is too strong to me to cut through unnoticed, you know that! Help me and we'll save more lives than you could possibly comprehend." "I find that rather unlikely C. Let's get moving then."

He kept crawling until he found the correct orientation. Then, stood straight up on the hull and jumped. He took a couple of orbits around the Echronal Physig before being released and entering Earth's atmosphere. He plunged deep into the North-West American forests, where he would not go unnoticed.

 

-----

 

Kait managed to grab a hold on something, but saw C leave the ship.

"CLINT!!!" she managed to scream before he closed the gap loosely and disappeared.

The hole was still causing the internal atmosphere to leak at an incredible rate. She managed to hold on for dear life.

 

-----

 

Yema and Echo were unaffected, as they were unaware of their surroundings. But if they has looked around, they would have noticed the shuttle lean towards the bridge a bit and the dozens of Chraxon solder's in environment suits running to the bridge to seal the hole.

[Midtime]

NightStar might have screeched with agony had he been physically manifested. The pain was not from any outward source, but from the old, lost, forgotten memories that were just returning. It would not have been as painful for a non-omnipotent, but omnipotents were beings of thought, not flesh and blood, so this change was like an ordinary being turning into a completely different species.

He was dimly aware of Echo, trying just about every sound and word in his newfound dictionary, of Yema, watching him, and of the goings-on outside the window.

But had anyone known what was going on, had they known that NightStar was regaining all his memories, what would have troubled them most - out of all the things in the galaxy - was that NightStar would soon remember, and be in a condition to, return.

 

And this time, he would be fueled by all the magical knowledge in the vast section of the universe that had once been his.

[antiaircraft]

The explosion rocked the bridge, but the Chraxon's insectoid reflexes meant that they were able to almost instantly tighten their grips to compensate. Mird was not a Chraxon however, and found himself being jerked violently upward for a few seconds, before the force of the suction was reduced significantly and he was able to drop into a solid crouch.

 

Reacting with uncanny speed that almost matched the Chraxon reflexes, Asyphar powered up his weapon, deftly tapped two points on its control surface, and emptied an entire clip of rapid-sealing adhesive. The leak stopped immediately, and Asyphar used the momentum he had gained from being sucked towards the breach to sail several metres towards the front of the bridge. Kicking expertly off the ground, he travelled another few metres and landed right beside the tactical control console, signalling them to give him a briefing on the situation. He turned back to apologize to the others, but saw Hyemist already fulfilling that role and decided to concentrate on the crisis at hand.

 

"We were hit by a high-penetration missile from a cloaked Che-jan fighter, sir. Normally we'd have been able to detect it before it came into range, but we were just running a systems check on our sensor boards. Please accept my sincere apologies for this oversight." The officer sounded somewhat traumatized, as you would expect from somebody reporting a failure to the highest ranking person within several light years.

 

"That's not your failure. We couldn't have anticipated that the Che-jan had left patrol ships in this particular area. There is a more urgent matter to attend to right now, however - turn the ship back towards the combat zone and order the sensor officers to hunt for a signal matching profile 4585A. Designate it priority one, and ready docking clamps as well. Also, inform the Achyndar that we would appreciate it if she initiated her attack as soon as possible."

[Guest Levy]

C stood in the forest, trees on fire. He was covered in a thin layer of glass caused by the heat of impact. Hit armor glowed a brilliant white and his internal components here now baking. He shook off the glass and walked calmly to a water source, cooling his armor was a priority now. What water flash evaporated as soon as it hit the armor. Though the effect was minuscule, his armor's temperature slowly cooled. Turning orange, then red, then finally a stone gray like normal. The negative, his armor had cracked in several places. There was no chance for repair.

His body took the fall surprisingly well.

Walking out of the forest, he looked up. He hoped they would believe his impact to be nothing but space debris, but his sized compared to the size of the crater he created wouldn't add up. Thus causing curiosity among the humans monitoring the debris fields in the observatories. C made the decision to stay put, perhaps he could get into contact with a high power to explain how things are going.

 

-----

 

Like C predicted, military helicopters were now en route to the impact zone.

[antiaircraft]

A considerable distance away, the corvette's auxilary engines kicked into action, launching the ship back into the Che-jan fleet at a velocity of precisely 0.558 lightspeed. Sitting once again at the tactical command centre, Asyphar focused his mind for combat once again. Mird had decided that the strange young one was of particular importance at this point in time - with nothing better to do, he strode over to Asyphar and assumed a protective vigil close by, although not close enough to interfere with his concentration. Hyemist had headed down to the hangar bay to command the small squad of troopers on board the ship - they would very likely be needed.

 

Aboard the Echronal Physig, Shade watched the sensor readouts as C's descent through the planet's atmosphere was tracked. This was an interesting situation...

 

"If you have finished staring at the display, your tactical advice would be appreciated." Char-Kin-Vine's sounded irritated, probably from the lack of things to shoot at.

 

"Move two destroyers into position for orbital bombardment. Make sure they keep firing until they are certain the target is destroyed. Make sure the rest of the fleet is prepared for an incoming assault."

 

Just as Shade finished, one of the sensor officers grunted in surprise. "We have a new signal - it's the corvette we were tracking earlier, heading on vector 115, 213."

[Guest Levy]

The military fighters were flying low. C laid down an emergency beacon and geared for them to strafe by.

In an instant, several F-22 Raptors flew overhead. C jumped and instantly was picked up by one, riding on its back at over Mach-2. He looked behind him just as the forest was disappearing and it was in flames.

 

-----

 

Something had awoke. Asleep deep in the forest of the American North West. It had not seen the light in about four decades. It arose from its soil cocoon and spread its wings. It had grown to an unimaginable size. Almost 150 meters from head to tail and a wingspan of 75 meters. It weighs over 67 tons.

Fire surrounded it, plasma ricocheted off its body.

It roared of death and anger. A roar never heard in this or any universe. Its ancestors would never live up against its power. It has become godly.

It located the source of the bombardment and from its lungs came not fire or breath but super-plasma. A heat not found anywhere not even the most hottest stars. It burned at over 100 million degrees Fahrenheit and shot out of the mouth of the dragon at over light speed. It gave the destroyers no warning. They were instantly atomized.

It launched from the forest and took to the skies, its domain, never conquered before, now knew an overlord. Skin, white and a reflective as the sun.Eyes, red as blood. The white dragon, now the most powerful sentient being in the galaxy. Though almost God-like, it was far from it. Mortality is a disease every living thing suffers.

[antiaircraft]

The bridge of the Echronal Physig exploded into activity again as the fleet prepared to defend its new holdings. In the midst of the chaos, Shade was a calm figure, analysing the new occurrences with a coldness that would have severely discomforted any human nearby. A series of new transmissions suddenly burst out of the speakers, mostly along the lines of:

 

"We've lost the two destroyers to a Mait Chofysal! Requesting permission to hunt the creature!"

 

Char-Kin-Vine silenced the chaotic transmissions with two rapid clicks from his dorsal spines. "All ground and atmospheric troops have full clearance to hunt the Mait Chofysal!" He continued before the chorus of bloodthirsty hunting cries could drown out his transmission. "All other units are to prepare for combat - we will have bugs in this system shortly!"

 

Meanwhile, Shade's orange eyes slowly tracked the lone corvette across the star field. It was heading towards the planet at breakneck speed, no doubt still carrying his opponent. Best to try and eliminate it before it got to the cover of Earth's atmosphere...

[Guest Levy]

The jet carrying C landed in a hovering super-carrier. It is ten kilometers in diameter and fifty stories in height. The first of its kind. It continually bursts out water vapor to create cloud cover. As soon as the last few jets were in the hangar the thousands of helicopter blades holding the carrier stopped turning and it plunged into the Pacific ocean. It was a water tight submersible of amazing engineering.

C dropped off the jet and was met with several generals.

[antiaircraft]

The corvette ploughed head on into a storm of heavy fire. Searing burst of plasma blossomed across its light shields and armour, leaving dancing discharges of energy and deep, scorched scars. From inside the ship, it looked as if they were performing re-entry at a 90 degree angle with shields offline.

 

Guided by Asyphar's lightning-fast perception, the nimble ship darted nimbly through the multiple fields of fire, always ending up where the barrage was lightest. With Shade doing the directing and Che-jan turrets doing the firing however, that wasn't saying much. The corvette's defences were severely tested as it raced a swarm of interceptors towards Earth.

[Midtime]

((I talked this through with AA some time ago.))

 

NightStar knew everything now. How could he have so feared death? But the decision had been made, and now he had a chance.

A chance to restore the Che-jan empire to its former glory, from which it had so clearly fallen. A chance to reclaim his place, to overthrow the perverted, corrupted power that was currently in control of the empire.

He had drifted out of the ship, the device of the enemy, and now he began to transform.

Where there had been nothing, a blinding light shone, its source a sphere. A star. This abruptly moved, searing alongside the corvette's hull and tearing a long gash. It then moved, at near lightspeed, to a destroyer, and into it. It was fast enough. Immediately after entering the bridge, it resolved into the reptilian form of a Che-jan, clad in armour which was obviously loaded with weapons. A scurrying officer was knocked to the ground, dead.

The captain quickly recovered from his shock. He didn't say, "What is the meaning of this?!" because this was not Che-jan behaviour. He pulled out a plasma cannon and a large blade and, in reptilian Che-jan, issued a challenge. Without bothering to reply, NightStar raised a hand and incinerated him. He was not worthy of speech.

"I have commandeered this ship," he said. "You will take me to the Third Council." He had not forgotten to discover the current power.

The lieutenant was not stupid, but the Third Council had instilled fear in the hearts of every Che-jan for far longer than this newcomer. And yet...

NightStar began influencing their minds. It was not subtle. An enormous will, a longing, rose up until they could think of nothing greater than to serve him. "Immediately." he finally said, and began plotting a course.

NightStar walked onto the unnecessarily raised platform, and knocked the Che-jan aside. He erased the input and began entering his own. Seconds later, they were there. NightStar nodded to himself. The course had gone relatively well. He transformed once again into the star, and entered the ship they had stopped by.

 

"What is the meaning of this?" said one of the members of the Council. He was still maintaining his calm, despite the situation.

Had he been human, NightStar would have grinned. The Che-jan have one word for enemy.

 

It sounds exactly like the splatter of vital body parts over the surroundings, followed sometimes by a death rattle or faint gurgle, and no wonder.

[antiaircraft]

The sphere of the planet Earth grew rapidly larger in the corvette's viewscreens. Simultaneously, close to a hundred squadrons of speedy, agile, heavily armed Che-jan interceptors closed in from both sides, their engine exhausts marked by bright trails of light against the blackness of space.

 

Asyphar grinned. He had calculated this perfectly. "Lock auxiliary heat shields in position." At this command, three transparent panes of a fragile but highly heat-resistant synthetic material slid into position in front of the ship. There was a faint click as they were locked into place by hydraulic rams, followed by a new chorus of violent vibrations as the interceptors came in range and began raining fire on the corvette's failing shields.

 

A shudder passed through the corvette's hull and there was an audible screeching sound. Asyphar briefly wondered what it was, but rapidly refocused his attention on the situation at hand. A message crackled over the bridge's speakers, barely audible over the noise. "Uh, sir, we appear to have lost the NBLB. It passed through the hull and switched to a stage 5 form - the heat did considerable damage to a section of the hull."

 

Well that explains the screeching... "Acknowledged. Focus on maintaining ship integrity. We have higher priorities for the moment."

 

"Roger that."

[Midtime]

Echo struggled to maintain balance, and lost. The ground was tilting and shifting like a brachiosaur's back. The universe seemed to be conspiring to send him mad. All he wanted was to die...

No. Now one clear, cold certainty arose. There were many things worse than death, but life was not one of them. Now he climbed to his feet, his sleek claws finding purchase on the honeycomb floor. He spoke again.

"Wo ist dieses? Wo bin ich?" ((That's "Where is this? Where am I?" in German. I used a translator site.))

 

 

NightStar didn't bother to put away his blades as he heard the scampering footsteps of a servant. When the underling arrived, he simply drew all his weapons - plasma weapons, blades and hand-held explosives included - and floated them around him in a leisurely, passive way that suggested that any unwise movements would leave very little corpse to be noticed.

"Tell me... where is this ship's navigation console?"

The servant thought about mentioning the schedule, then took another look at the corpses on the floor and, after informing the new ruler of the Che-jan of the location of the bridge, wisely left all such thoughts behind him along with the refreshments he had brought.

[Guest Levy]

"Echo, wir sind in Gefahr! Ich erkläre alle sobald wir sind Geldschrank!" Yema shouted to him assuringly. Floating near him. ((Echo, we are in danger! I will explain everything as soon as we are safe!))

 

C said nothing. The generals, he towered easily.

He decided to break the silence, "I am C." he said then held out his right hand politely.

"English, that's good. What are you?" A general said then shook C's hand.

"I am a cyborg from the year 103 AE. Sorry, 2110." He explained himself.

"AE?" A general questioned.

"After Earth. I come from an Earth you couldn't even imagine in your worst nightmares. Hell couldn't hold a finger to it."

"How?"

"This war, one of the world leaders ordered nuclear warfare against the enemies and the other world countries followed suite. Within a day the entire planet was dead and the enemies were defeated. I am here to make sure it doesn't happen."

"What do you need?"

"I will give you all I know about their lead ship, in return I want all the information you have. Everything, everything about mankind. If this truly is the end, I don't want the history of an entire species to turn to dust. Do you have a type c spike data jack?"

"Yes, follow me."

He then followed the general to a pod, closed the door and began to move along the spine of the carrier.

[antiaircraft]

The corvette screamed into the Earth's atmosphere at a speed that would have instantly vaporized even the largest asteroid. Spectacular re-entry flares were added to the already blindingly bright plasma light show, and after 4.6 seconds the ship's shields failed altogether. But instead of the instant destruction that would have befallen it had it still been in space, only the occasional plasma bolt splashed across its armoured hull. The massive amounts of heat generated by the high-speed re-entry were interfering with the targeting systems of the pursuing ships. Most of the plasma ended up being aimed at the corvette's especially large tail flare, and the few missiles that were loosed simply lost the infra-red signature they were tracking and self-destructed.

 

((Che-jan missiles are programmed to hunt a specific infra-red signature, so they cannot be fooled by chaff))

 

As the interceptor squadrons closed on the planet's atmosphere, their pilots had to frantically fire their reverse thrusters to avoid a fatal overspeed re-entry. Plunging into the atmosphere at a velocity of only Mach 48, the interceptors, designed for high-speed combat in vacuum, were already at the limits of their heat-resistance. Meanwhile, the corvette's synthetic heat shields allowed it to continue into the atmosphere at full speed, heading rapidly towards a mountain range where it could hide its bulky signature from any pursuers.

[Guest Levy]

"Amazing!" one of the generals said while looking at the perfect 3d rendering of the lead alien ship, "Thank you so much."

"No, thank you." C said.

"We have a jet ready for you in the hangar, its all your's."

"I'll leave like a bullet," C responded, "A bullet being chased by lightning."

[antiaircraft]

((So would you like the corvette to meet up with C successfully?))

[Guest Levy]

((Yes, I need Kait and C to be reunited... and the Echronal Physig to enter the vicinity as well. If you want I can PM you a quick summary of the plan I have. C won't have much time left...... neither will the Echronal Physig.))