Futuristic Ad Astra (Maeve Valor x Pride_Revelation)

[Pride_Revelation]

Chapter One​

Logastellus was dreaming. But, it wasn't the fantasies of humankind. Nay, these imaginations could be defined as visions, high intense hallucinations brought upon by a frightening, emphatic psychic being. Solely the hyper-intelligent and hypno-indoctrinated mentalities of the transhuman kind could withstand such a dreamscape. Logastellus was dreaming, and he yearned to be disencumbered by his master's sublime authority.

Standing on what seemed to be water soon shifted into an infinite spectrum of gloaming. Below Logastellus was a firmament; above him was absolutely nothing, yet his form was illuminated by some existence. That presence was the Warmaster of the Imperium of Mankind.

"Father?" Logastellus called out. His voice harbored not the affluent, deep base notes of a colossus but the echoing whine of a child. "Father?" This time his voice boomed like thunder.

"I am here, Logastellus," voiced the Warmaster. It reverberated like an eternity.

"Where am I?" the warrior king questioned his lord and master, standing humbled upon the waters of infinity.

"Infinity," replied the thundering voice. "You haven't arrived, but the missing piece will momentarily intersect your path. A woman with a crew and has the aptitude for bearing what isn't theirs."

"What is the missing piece I am searching for, father?" Logastellus strained where he stood, almost sensing the labor pour from his nude body that was fast asleep on a cot.

"It was conceived to be neglected by my vistas, but that is also the defect in its innovation," answered the echoing voice. "It's diminutive enough to conform in the palm of this pirate's hand. She doesn't comprehend it yet, but she retains a device that contorts the fabric of time-space around her. Be cautious, my son."

Logastellus fanned his eyelids with a brilliant dazzle of golden light passing across those aureate irises.

He was still onboard a laboriously altered Enyalus pattern Orion Gunship turned gun-cutter.

The hulking warrior could discern the beatings of the ship's yearning Infinitum Drive through the plasteel deck plate and the cot he slept on. It reminded him of a beating heart, but the ship's core pulsates like a young god keen to soar through the cosmos.

Sitting on the edge of his cot, Logastellus glimpsed at his arming station and was satisfied to learn that his armor thrall had restored his armor. The warrior king's prior deployment off ship had nearly ended when he encountered endless hordes of vampiric psychic abominations.

No longer could the ascended male notice the claw impacts across his golden battle plate; this brought a smile to the ancient's regal face.

"I must thank Viducia when I see her," he verbally noted just as the entrance leading to his chambers hissed open upon hydraulics.

"Thank me for what, my lord?" Viducia Herma questioned as she stepped through the threshold designed for a transhuman king.

"My battle plate, you were able to mend it completely," he stated proudly with a nod.

"It is my duty, and may I mention that I produced the restorations down to the molecular level and finalized the armor's psychic warding," Viducia said with a grin, causing her bald scalp to crease in noticeable areas.

A voice emitted from the chamber's vox-caster. "I'm detecting a vessel translating in the system," it was pilot Chrysalus Trimalchio.

"Keep us tethered to the station. When it approaches closer alert me," Logastellus replied to a receiver found on the wall to his left.

"Shall I awaken the arming servitors, my lord?" questioned the armor thrall who stood up to his head while seated.

"No," he responded. "I don't believe I'll need to show force to this person. A lesson for you, Viducia Herma, violence isn't always the answer."

"My lord, the gun-cutter is locked and docked. We're hidden on the dark side of the refueling station, but their sensors are scanning us as we speak from their respective distance," Stasimus Priscillian reported, the second pilot that aided in the operation and flight of the Orion gunship.

"Excellent," Logastellus said as he stood up, greatly towering over the mortal woman.

Viducia shielded her eyes from seeing too much of her master, quickly turning on her booted heels. "Master!"

Logastellus ignored her and reached for his fatigues. "Fetch me my footwear. I have a date with destiny."

 

[Maeve Valor]

Holding the cube-shaped artifact with jagged indented edges up above her towards better illumination, Maeve continuously turned it in a fair hand. She leaned back sitting carelessly letting her long, fiery red hair cascade over the back portion of her chair in her rightful spot upon the captain's station in the main hub of her vessel the Silver Malice of which she felt she aptly named it as such.

"So if I'm to understand this correctly Tequinn, this thing isn't a boundless energy source, but shows traces with the potential to be one?" She inquired addressing one out of the two people there that stood beside her.

"That is correct Captain Valor," the feminine voice came from a blue-tinted person with a pattern of light, muddy brown splotches all over her. Upon her angular head, her fully black eyes distanced themselves apart more than it normally would be for most other bipedal species. There were creases along her cheekbones that looked like canyons and within them lied gills. It is evident that her home planet is aquatic in nature.

Maeve looked back at the object wondering aloud, "Sounds like we can make some good use out of it... Either that or sell it for a good amount."

"I don't think it's a great idea to already talk about pawning it off when we not too long ago outran the fleet authorities to get the damned thing," the other person there spoke this time. In contrast to who he was accompanying, he came from a much more arid environment. Throughout most of his body, he had large, thinly plated scales that was a light grey in color and frayed back slightly outward. His face would be best described as having some features like the snakes on Earth. Within his yellow iris' were skinny pupils, around his face and down his neck his scales were smaller laying flat, and his nose raised forward with slits. This was her first mate and good friend, Conley.

Maeve pursed her lips at him pointing out the chase and the battle it took to acquire the object. Unlike everyone else on the ship, he was the only one ever brave enough to berate her; And he was the only one that she let do it. "Of course I won't sell it, at least not yet. Tequinn, I'll need you to research it more using the data you have collected from it thus far. I will keep it safe with me. Let me know if you need it to run any tests until then, you are dismissed," she said pocketing it away in a commanding tone that showed obvious years of experience being a leader.

"Yes captain, I will do my best," with a nod she left the room.

An electronic voice suddenly was heard on the speakers of the room. "Captain, we have reached the fuel station."

"Perfect, go ahead and dock the ship. The Silver Malice needs some tender love and care after that daring escape, wouldn't you say?" She smiled proudly over her vessel.

"While I do agree, I believe we should proceed with caution there is another ship docked there," they proceeded in a monotonous voice as Conley and Maeve shot a look at each other confused.

"In this part of the galaxy?" Conley spoke up first. Maeve knew he was having the same thought she was having. This was considered a shady part of the galaxy, which was why the pirate captain liked to fuel at this station in particular. It was a safe place to recharge in peace, not having to worry about the authorities coming by to poke around. The fact that anyone was there worried her, but was not enough to go on full alert. There have been a couple times in the past where others were there as well, but they were all miscreants such as herself. Still, it was definitely cause for concern.

"Have you scanned them already Roche?" she questioned as she stood up from her chair.

"Indeed, it is a Gun-Cutter. No shields up, nor are they taking any offensive measures."

"Hm, then we shall do as you say and proceed with caution. No sense in making a scene without reason," she said picking up a pair of what looked to be gauntlets slipping her hands in them and hearing them click into place onto her light battle suit.

"Then why put those on?" Conley asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"One can never be too prepared, that's why," she said simply with a smirk. "Now let's see what their deal is."

 

[Pride_Revelation]

Viducia had assumed liberty to convey her master's digital ring weapon collection. Four rings were fashioned to be digi-weapons or miniaturized instruments of death. Two for each hand, each a matching grinning death skull of gold. The armor thrall gazed down at each one, recounting the compositions of sacred technology embedded into each large coil. Two of her fingers could effortlessly accommodate the size of one demigod digit.

"My lord," Viducia alerted Logastellus, who was applying the last strap to his sandals. He looked handsome, Viducia thought as she spoke again. "I've acquired your digital weapons from their stasis caskets. Indeed these Jokaero-made pieces aren't needed for this engagement?" she asked, her voice softer and lower than the giants.

"Another lesson for you: it's better to be safer than sorry," Logastellus spoke with a hint of amusement at his choice of words but soon smiled warmly with thankful respect to his loyal armor thrall. "Do you understand?"

"I do, my lord! It's sounder to go set than disembark without any form of security and gamble probable death or more sinister," Viducia nodded in great familiarity.

"Perfectly said," Logastellus replied while slowly applying each ring onto a finger. "Perfectly said, indeed."

"This lecture has made me feel more secure, understanding that even your kind, supreme beings still require some form of safeguard even at your most vulnerable," Viducia stared up at her superior, her neck craned backward to its maximum.

"Very well, pass along your new-found knowledge while I am away," Logastellus responded to his thrall's meaningful words with solemnity and some esteem for the girl.

The umbilical pressurized before Logestallus trekked onto the refueling station's preliminary deck. Logestallus was no longer his nine-foot-tall self. Instead, the warrior king was modest and mortally six feet tall. His Imperial military fatigues were obscured underneath a falsehood that suppressed his full stature with an exotic dimension compression dampener fastened and disguised as a large ruby jewel upon the cloak's latch. Thankfully, it hadn't caught the eye of some local gang or pirate crew member.

From the dream, Logastellus remembered the long, fiery red hair cascading over a rear portion of a command throne. He remembered her holding something concealed in her grasp, then recalled her lips being attractive to him, almost appealing, a strange new feeling that was shaken away from the depths of his diamond-hard mind.

"Hair like cosmic fire," he conveyed to himself as he continued passing faces with heads of hair that did not correspond to what was laser etched into his remembrance.

Passing through the final bulkhead, Logastellus ultimately entered the station's central hub or primary level. It boasted a black market and another market just for the fueling depots. This station was full of diverse faces and species despite the scarcity of ships anchored. This didn't sit with the male well. Something else was afoot.

"Loga to Command," Logastellus spoke into a throat piece implanted under his skin.

"I read you loud and clear, my lord," Stasimus reported.

"Something is strange about this station. There aren't enough ships here to have this population amount currently residing inside of it," the warrior king explained, his baritone vocals vibrating Stasimus's ears.

"I'm reading the accurate amount of life signs; no falsehoods have gained our awareness, sir," arrived a reply in Logastellus's ear.

"Continue to layer the scans, do your best to find something."

"Yes, my lord, as you command, but might I suggest that we sit tight before we jump the gun and risk giving a final warning for warranted scans of the station?" the gun-cutter pilot questioned.

"It's better to be safe than sorry," echoed Viducia from behind Stasimus.

Logastellus had heard Viducia's words of wisdom through his own vox ear bead. "Follow her words, but more importantly, follow my command, pilot."

Stasimus glanced behind him at the armor thrall with an eye-roll before turning back to start his station-wide scans. His fingers flew among the keys and switches across the control board in front and above him.

Viducia only beamed proudly with a shrug and a sense of pride surging underneath her chest.

 

[Maeve Valor]

Before leaving, Maeve decided to visit her pilot, Roche, in person. The cockpit where they resided was small compared to the rest of the ship, but it didn't need to take up much space. With a slimy, sickly yellow exterior, the small being sat with its tendrils splayed throughout the room connecting to various outlets each one that took care of a specific part of the ship. It's vital organs were able to be seen through it's viscid outer layer making their species eerie to most other people. Even with its oblong features, there was a clear understanding of where their membrane and heart were located.

"And to what do- what do I owe the pleasure of having your presence here Captain?" Roche stuttered in its speech pattern, glowing as their voice came through a few devices in the cockpit. It was a Nirbian, and most beings from this race took hold of a host that they could speak through. Roche on the other hand was not only an independent being that did not like relying on a host, but they also had a slight problem. They were an addict. More specifically, they were addicted to Solidified Intranium. The same energy source that fueled so many ships. Nirbians have the ability to link their brainwaves to certain kinds of conductive energy, but it was known to slowly harm them if they did so. Some still do so even at the cost of their health because it set them in a euphoric state when used. Hence the addiction that plagued Roche causing them to do an occasional stutter, but that was their decision to continue on this path and theirs alone. If they weren't on her ship getting their fix, they would be on a different ship doing so. In Maeve's mind, at least she was able to keep an eye on them to monitor the slow descent of their health because at the root, Roche had always meant well and was good.

"I wanted to make sure everything was in order around here," Maeve lied.

"I would have notified you if there was anything that needed to be upgraded or replaced. I believe- I believe you- you know this to be true Captain. I appreciate your concern Captain Valor, but truly, you do not need to check on me every time we dock at a station. I am in tip top shape!"

Maeve smiled solemnly and placed a gentle hand on one of the devices it was speaking through as she noticed their stuttering was starting be more frequent as of late, "Tip top shape... right. Well it would be remiss of me to not do so every now and then. It comes with the territory as captain. You can't blame me for wanting to make sure my pilot is well."

She then started to leave as Roche from behind her said, "Of course Captain. I wish you a pleasant evening at the station."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Many figures big and small, young and old were filing mostly out of the ship, eager to see the change of scenery from the Silver Malice. Maeve was no different than the rest, making her way to step foot on the station as her crew mates made way for their captain out of respect. Taking her first steps after returning to the station the sound of metal on metal from her boots making contact with the floor was softly heard as she glanced in the direction of where she was told the Gun Cutter was before she decided to leave things be for now and investigate them later. There were other matters that took priority, matters such as checking up on her side hustle at a local club called the Liquid Lounge. Thankfully, it wasn't too far away from the docking area as she strode through the fairly thin crowd of people with her head held high. The place was a decent hole in the wall that wasn't extravagant, but compared to some of the other few bars in the station it was luxurious. Although most people around here cared mostly about the drinks and the "company" that the lounge could provide rather than how the place looked.

When Maeve walked into the pink and green themed establishment, she wasn't even able to get one word out before an employee approached her. She was a waitress that was in a skimpily dressed outfit that was thought to satisfy a vast majority of their guests that frequented the place. "Oh Captain! Thank goodness you're here. We have a bit of a problem."

Another loud voice cut through the air that had a hint of them being in a drunken stupor as they yelled, "If I say that I want to be seated here then I am taking it. Or do I have to take out another one of your men?!"

"What does he mean by that?" Maeve asked the waitress assuming that he was the problem. He was a burly person with fairly short hair. His battle armor was very nice seeming to be made out of Alloyed Exonium.

"He has sent all our security personnel to the medical center, even some of our bar tenders were beat up. We think he secretly works for one of the other bars trying to drive business away from us, and its working. Even some regulars are afraid to come by until this is resolved," the waitress said confirming him as the issue.

Maeve smirked cracking her knuckles through the gauntlets she wielded. "Don't worry honey, I'll take care of it. No one messes with my fellow ladies."

It didn't take long before the person causing the problem was thrown out in front of the entrance causing a small crowd of onlookers to form. Following after him, the red-headed defender strutted towards the man as her slender, toned feminine figure contrasted with the actions she was performing by fighting the troublemaker. He laid trying to get up so the captain helped him by grabbing the front of his battle suit up. What she didn't see was that as he tried to get up, he pulled out a kinetic pulse grenade setting it off. This threw Maeve back into the crowd and right against what she thought was a wall at first, but when she turned around she saw that it was just a mountain of a man with white hair whose physique seemed almost surreal yet enticing. Maeve stopped herself from staring up at him and apologized to the man she bumped into, "Sorry about that. Collateral damage tends to happen when business is being taken care of. I'm sure you can understand." A smile pulled at the corner of her mouth to the man as she enjoyed the thrill of a battle.

She then looked back at her challenger and suddenly used the gravity boosters beneath her boots to propel herself back in front of the person catching him off guard. Because of this, she was able to place a hand over his helmet as she created a shockwave to emit from her gauntlet causing his helmet to crack. With a final blow, she pushed him back downward slamming him right into her armored knee ensuring him to be knocked out as he fell limp to the floor. She stood up easily the victor.

 

[Pride_Revelation]

Logastellus weaved himself through the masses with a demigod finesse. His glances went on, ignored by many passersby, their awareness stuck in tablet apparatuses or virtual reality headgear. Most of the inhabitants were human, but the remainder was undocumented Xeno life. This brought his open mind to be sealed off from any probable psychics stalking in shady corners of the station.

Liquid Lounge, flaring in brilliant neon pink and green hues, seized the shrouded man's concentration. Music could be heard drumming and bumping from the entrance and the familiar sounds of inebriated patrons heaving or burping outside the club.

The repressed Custodian bettered his hood over his head before accepting a course to the entrance of the Liquid Lounge. The tune persisted in sufficing his hearing with great vexation until, with a single thought command, Logastellus willed his genhanced ears to screen the clamorous cacophony called music out and only catch speaking voices by his sight alone. His golden flaked eyes flitted from mouth to mouth. Each moment Logastella's eyesight was fixed on flapping lips; the arcane genetic alchemy imbued into his sense of hearing permitted him to attend to the voices of multiples at flawless levels, even when the voice of one other was bellowing beyond the rest.

A brawny man with short hair and donning a mark of battle armor was threatening the lives of more men, evidently frightening the wretched unlucky soul catching the tail end of the drunken idiot.

Then, before Logastellus could write the encounter off as mortal squabbling, he caught the fiery red strands from his vision the Master of Mankind provided. She strode with a definition of authority, fearlessness, and temptation like any other woman who knew how to use their feminine mastery.

The engagement went outside after the drunken man was thrown out. Logastellus followed all who wanted to see a brawl between the piratess and the armored battle warrior.

Like everyone else, the Custodian demigod looked on, too, but he caught what the assailant had plucked out from his armor; a grenade. But before Logastellus could respond, the detonation blasted the female fighter towards him with a faint blue wave of kinetic energy. The Custodian warrior king hadn't the need or desire to catch her; she was slammed against a wall of might, condensed into a mortal form with the aid of sophisticated technology.

"Get back in the fight," was all that Logastellus told her, shoving her only slightly, hiding the fact he could have tossed her clear across the station if he so desired. He could have unlatched his cloak, taken down the falsehood generated around him, and displayed his goliath size to the crowd around the fight.

But, Logastellus resumed his guise.

The crimson blur of the piratess's hair streaked into the air with gravity-boosting boots departing a wake of blazing gravitons. In a second, Logastellus watched as the fighting woman splintered the helmet of the male assaulter with a powerfully loud shockwave. Then, finally, trading the last blow with a downward slam into her armored knee, incapacitating him and stepping up from the floor victorious.

The club throng was exhilarated with whoots, hollering, and piercing whistling.

The sole lion was smiling when Stasimus hailed him over the vox. That grin soon evaporated with the news.

"Sir, I found something you need to be aware of," stated Stasimus.

"Go on," replied Logastelus while keeping his eye on the intended target.

"My scans finally revealed an altered manifest. The dates do not match the current ones dated with this station," the pilot explained while the Custodian moved his attention back and forth between the crowd and the female pirate.

"Explain further, now,"

"Sir, this station was documented offline one month ago..-" the vox crackled and whined in Logastellus's ears. A simple thought command switched it off.

Right before the demigod's eyes, a shroud of twilight blue was rumbling away with shadows liquefying into the actual reality. The station went from its properly lit-up surroundings to a decrypted, derelict tomb in a single moment. All that remained were three individuals: the piratess, the Custodian, and a single figure covered in roiling ink-like smoke with curves of a voluptuous woman.

The figure cackled loudly, taking her bejeweled left hand behind her back to reveal that she had used a reality-altering ring.

"You both fell for my trap, such simple, simple fools," the voice echoed from the shadows surrounding the two others opposing her. "A piratess and a scion of the Lion King. No doubt you're here for the same thing I am here for. Correct?"

Logastellus lifted his chin in defiance, clenching his ringed fists, cursing himself for departing his armor behind onboard his gun-cutter.

"If you're here for the device, then you are sorely mistaken in believing you will get to it before I will," replied the warrior king. "Trailing me from universe to universe is annoying and desperate on your part, Yziraesh."

Yziraesh hissed from her shadowy cocoon before melting away into the blackness behind her.

"I hope you're ready to fight for your life," said the man to the red-haired female before choosing a discarded dagger from the floor from what battle previously took place on the station a month before they came.

"She's an umbrakinetic goddess from a reality that is consumed by darkness. She's after something you have, something I need back rather dearly," Logastellus moved closer to the piratess. "She'll use the shadows to her advantage, and that ring, the blue jewel, warps reality, changing what we see to her will. Be ready!"

There was no time to exchange names. Logastellus waited and listened to his surroundings, using his hyper-advanced genetics to his advantage, counting down the seconds, forming battle patterns in his mind faster than most quantum computing devices. But, Yziraesh was faster.

A liquid blade of pure darkness punctured the air left of Logastellus and only managed to cut into his cloak. The warrior king moved in time, parrying her sword with his dagger.

"Watch it!" Logastellus shouted at the red-haired woman.

A second blade materialized after the first dissolved almost lightning swift. This time it was heading for the piratess's right flank, the fluid edges becoming jagged as they drew closer and closer with such blinding velocity. If the woman defender was to evade the attack, she would prevail over an almost unavoidable death. This is far dissimilar from the fraudulent reality the woman previously fought in.

With a single step, Logastellus reacted, hurling his dagger at Yziraesh, quick materializing form, using her oblivious self to his advantage to deal harm before the piratess could move out of harm's way.

 

[Maeve Valor]

As the din of crowd cheered Maeve on, she brushed her ever so slightly curled, red hair over her shoulder as she stood proudly waving to a few of them while reveling in the attention. This moment was short-lived though because suddenly the world around her melted and meshed into a entirely different scenery. She whipped around quickly to assess the situation and try to figure out the cause. Her eyes landed on the man that she bumped into and then her attention was averted to a loud shrill voice seeming to taunt them as she spoke. She took a stance immediately since it was made clear that another fight was coming even before the man spoke and there was a slight back and forth between the two.

As her newfound ally was trying to catch her up to speed on who they were about to face, Maeve could hardly believe what she was hearing. Goddess? Reality manipulating? This was all very new to her and as much as she wanted to dismiss his claims, she couldn't discredit him as she saw the being who she came to know as Yziraesh disappear into the shadows.

In response to her ally warning her that she would need to fight for her life she chuckled a little and said cockily, "Fighting for my life is a common occurrence, so nothing new there." Even with her little quip, she still was worried about this battle. She had never fought an enemy like this before and her frustration only heightened when she witnessed the two that was in her company attack and parry at an impeccable speed. After seeing this she knew she had to reveal her true nature in order to make it out of this predicament. So when the second blade came flying toward her, she dodged backward as it grazed her face. Unbeknownst to Yziraesh though, she had already started her transformation process. When the blade contact with her, there a was a loud clinking sound as it bounced off her.

Maeve turned back toward the being now showing that an exoskeleton substance had appeared over the upper part of her face around the eyes and forehead. From there, she quickly began to change even more as horns sprouted upon the top of her, her teeth came to a point, and scales were flecked along her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, and down the sides of her neck. Her special battle suit and gauntlets morphed into the new shape she was taking of which her hands and feet elongated out to have claws and maroon colored wings sprang out to its full wing span for a moment before folding over her shoulders like a cape. Maeve did not wait to see their reactions before she clapped her hands together and as she pulled them apart, she conjured a fireball within her palms. With a pushing motion she shot it at her adversary; following up with jumping towards her and slashed with one of her claws.

 

[Pride_Revelation]

Logastellus witnessed the blade graze the piratess's face. The jagged teeth of the Umbra Blade were deflected from the stranger's scale armor that was quickly growing on her exterior self.

The female defender had evaded further harm, giving Logastellus a splint second to think about his next move. Time advanced unhurriedly for the demigod warrior king. Sidestepping and reeling through the air like an acrobat before landing on his soles firmly and lifting a fist at Yziraesh, then Logastellus ignited the very air around the dark pirate with phosphorous fire spewing from a single ring on his fist.

At the same time, a scorching luminary struck the Umbra goddess square across her breast as well the clawed strike. It came from the demonic-looking stranger that used to be the female from before. Her transformation must have been brief or immediate, but the battling lion welcomed the change with a nod of respect.

Yziraesh was howling as she quickly retreated backward and attempted to put out the twin flames burning her to a crisp. Her alien skin cooked and sizzled, filling the derelict air was the rancid smells of cooking meat. Her ruined form stood slacked, favoring her right side as she tried to stay on her two feet. No longer was she protected by a shield of ink-black, but instead, her badly burned body slowly started to regenerate itself. She wasn't done just yet.

"A surprise from the pirate, scales, and wings of a dragon, and a lion who cowers behind a falsehood," she hissed, her vocal cords nearly ruined from the flame and smoke. "Why don't you show her what you really are?"

Logastellus cursed out loud when he felt the Umbra Blade pierce his back, ruining the digital circuitry in his cloak. The jagged blade tore through flesh and muscle before ripping more on its way out. The male fell to a single knee, ripping his veil off and revealing his colossal size.

Even in his weariness, the giant was hulking in his glorious stature. Alabaster hair sat shortly cropped upon his head, and tattoos riddled the bald sides of his head with eccentric symbolism. He was bleeding. Logastellus could feel his blood trickle down his back, his body laboring to mend itself after that accursed strike from such an immoral weapon.

"A cowardly lion showing his true self, a true monster," said the Umbra Goddess. Her form still slowly healing the catastrophic burn wounds. "He's after what you keep hidden on you, Captain Valor, and he'll do whatever he has to obtain it. Isn't that correct, Logastellus, scion of the Lion King?"

"Silence your tongue, witch," Logastellus spat the word from his mouth like venom, then glanced at dragoness. "She's correct about you having something I require, and I will accomplish anything I need to do to get it, and that starts with me slaughtering this so-called goddess!"

"You Imperials anoint yourself enlightened, but you forget, Logastellus, the darkness existed before the light!" the voice projected from the mouth of the restoring goddess and from behind Valor, with black-smoke tendrils gradually surrounding themselves around the dragoness's elongated shanks.

"What is yours will be mine..." whispered Yziraesh as the curl of dark vapor coiled around the cube-shaped device.

 

[Maeve Valor]

Normally, Maeve would use her original form as a last resort because most of the time, when she did change others would either abscond away from her or try to kill her considering the history of her species and the current bounty for the heads of any Sarkany like herself. She half expected the mysterious man to look unsettled seeing her, but when she looked over and saw his nod, it was a nice change of pace to see someone just accept her form so casually. Then again, when in the heat of battle she supposed a person would accept any ally.

Even so, the answer as to how he was able to be so nonchalant when it came to appearances was soon answered by Yziraesh once she disabled the effects of his cloak. She already thought he was tall, but seeing him as he was now, she was awestruck at the shear size of the man named Logastellus. The Dragoness tried to treat him the same way he respectively saw her, but she found it hard because if she had to choose one person that could be mistaken as a God, he would be the person. One thing was for certain, he did not come across as a monster to her. She dared not dwell too long on the matter though, she knew that their lives were still at stake.

The feeling of the Goddess' dark tendrils beginning to wrap themselves around her, made Maeve snap back into full focus as she tried to move her legs only to realize that they were becoming very heavy to move even with her enhanced strength. One tendril made its way to her neck slowly trying to choke her out as she noticed that other parts of the vapor was making its way to the device. She did not know the full extent of its importance, but she had gathered enough information to deduce that letting this item fall into the wrong hands would be disastrous. To combat her hold, Maeve felt the energy around her heat up as she managed to say through gasps, "While it is true that darkness existed before light..."

The area around the captain suddenly combusted, burning away the tendrils that surrounded her and was causing her armor to glow red hot. Her hair now seemed to blend perfectly with the flames that was now engulfing her. She looked to Yziraesh with piercing ice blue eyes that greatly contrasted with the rest of her making her iris' seem brighter than they really were. "There is a reason why the darkness always flees from the light."

The pirate then took flight leaving a trail of fire behind her, up to eye level with Logastellus getting slightly in between him and Yziraesh. She looked at his wound and asked, "You okay? I trust that you can fight more." All of her cocky demeanor by this point had dissolved leaving only the spirit of an experienced fighter as she held her place in the air with graveness.

Maeve was hoping to end this fight as quickly as possible due to her knowing that she was using way too much of her energy and that she would burn out soon if she used her ability to this degree this quickly anymore. She did not want to give this bit of information away though to either of them. Part of how Captain Valor tackled all her issues was to act like she always had the upper hand even if she didn't.

 

[Pride_Revelation]

"I breathe, and so I shall stand," Logastelly tested through snarled, gritted teeth as the wound rotted with molecular venoms that combated against the Custodian's physical genetomantic legend.

The warrior king was down a single digi-weapon. With a muscle flex in his index finger, the wasted fuel cartridge popped from its static position and fell to the deck plating below. The phosphorous-Promethean fuel mixture was exhausted, making Logastellus trust his last three.

Punching the air twice, as if replenishing his arms with metaphorical ammunition, the colossus of a warrior was prepared to fight with his body. Logastellus then gave Valor one last glance with a cold, calculative expression spread throughout his handsome face, tanned by a hundred thousand different suns.

"I'll take her left. You take her right," Logastellus proposed with an adamant determination in his baritone voice.

"Take me where?" Yziraesh was missing, but not her voice. It had surrounded them. "I have what she kept hidden, a nifty little trick you have, Valor." Yziraesh had endured Valor's attempt at eradicating the Umbra Goddess. It was a decent shot.

Logastellus had not learned that they were entangled in the twilight in a single wink of distraction, but it all burst back to reality, where the Umbra Goddess harbored the cubed temporal instrument in her clawed grasp. The giant moved like a blur in a split second with all his genhanced swiftness and potency. His hand engulfed her arm, doing his best to snap the bone underneath her flesh, but Yziraesh proved invulnerable to his demigod strength.

"Help me!" shouted Logastellus as he strained to wrestle the cube out of the Umbra Goddess's clutch.

"It's too late, Logastellus. I'm going back," Yziraesh hissed, smacking another clawed ink-tentacle around the warrior king's hand, plunging clawed barbs into him.

The warrior's hand couldn't move. No matter how hard he willed his muscles to move, the witch had her tentacles poison him even more. She battled with other tendrils that maintained Valor away while Yziraesh triggered the temporal box.

Time ceased. The temporal device's effects pulsated outwards, swallowing the fueling station, the anchored vessels, and the entire system with the world beneath. It was a wormhole, a tunnel into the past, far into the past before technology graced the galaxy. It was a painless, deathless pilgrimage for all entangled. Only those inside and around the station would've been unaffected by the translation, but without any proper trajectory courses being broadcasted from the surface, the fueling station started to descend towards the world beneath as they traveled through the wormhole.

Logastellus had been released from the Umbra Goddesse's grip when she evaporated into her own temporal swell, but he wasn't isolated as he plunged through space and time. He could still see Valor's beastly but stunning figure distorted by the ripples of gravity and tachyon particles passing through them. In a flawed endeavor to get to her, Logastellus reached out as far as he could, trying to coil his fingers around her own, but time and space kept them distant apart but forever near until it all went to black.

Chapter Two​

Klaxons trumpeted in the gun-cutter's pilot's ears while they labored to bust free from the umbilical safeties of the fueling station. With strained faces, curses spraying from their mouths, and prayers muttered in their hearts to the God-Emperor, the crimson and gold vessel rived from the magnetic locks and spiraled out of control through the atmospheric descent. No doubt, the other anchored ship was working to do the same to save their lives and their own ship from total destruction.

"Lion King's balls!" cursed Stasimus.

"Reboot retro thrust!" Chrysalus shouted.

"Rebooting retro thrust, now!" Stasimus repeated as he flipped the intended switch before he was slammed into the cockpit wall beside him by a sudden jerk. "Fuck!"

"Hold it together!"

"Something hit us! I'm trying my best, you arsehole!" Stasimus spat back while feeling the blood trickle down the side of his face.

"The station! It's breaking apart!" Chrysalus stated the obvious.

The gun-cutter's engines screamed back to life before forming bone fracturing thrust, causing the unprotected Viducia to collide into the deck plating when the vessel soared across the clear skies of the world below. The two pilots in the cockpit quickly advanced other ship systems back online to chase the station's descent and if the other vessel managed to break free. Without confirmation, if the Custodian had died in his purists, the crew of the gun-cutter still had a mission to complete.

Logastellus could feel the warmth of sunlight on his face. The rays of sunlight beamed through, striking him across his face, reminding him of the gentle touch of his Warmaster's hand. Was he dead, he thought. Then, finally, Logastellus snapped to his new reality, and soon after standing on his feet, he looked around at his surroundings. He slowly blinked, taking in the sight of a green-leafed canopy above him with clear blue skies past them.

"Valor!" Logastellus shouted. "Valor, are you here?"

Then, in the distance, the explosion from the station chased away all other sounds, even quaking the earth beneath his feet. Judging from the loud sound, Logastellus could deduce that the station crash was miles away. It was no threat to him or his surroundings.

"Va-" the warrior king couldn't finish his words when he slowly began succumbing to his injuries. He needed back on his gun-cutter, and he hadn't the faintest clue if his crew still lived or perished along with the station when it collided with the surface.

"Valor, be alive," he said strained, clutching his chest while his triplet set of hearts opposed the poisons killing him.

 

[Maeve Valor]

When Yziraesh brought attention to the fact that she had obtained the item, Maeve felt around the area she once had it and confirmed that it was indeed missing as she inwardly cursed at herself for not paying better attention. By the time she looked back, Logastellus was already attempted to retrieve the cube though was unsuccessful as he requested for aid. The captain flew down to try and help the warrior, but more tendrils sprouted up from the ground and one had slammed her to the ground. As soon as she made contact with the floor, some of them had took the chance to pin her to floor even as her flames raged on. Each time a shadowy tendril had dissipated into nothingness, burned by Maeve's flames, another would take its place. The fire around her began to cease until it was just a flicker as she strained her neck in time to see the fake Goddess activate the power of the artifact and everything around her began to crumble. Some of the debris fell around her knocking her unconscious.

Back on the Silver Malice, Conley took lead as he sat in his captain's seat since his captain was M.I.A. "Just one more scan Conley," Roche requested over the comms. Even though their voice came out as electronic, Conley knew all too well the desperation Roche had with just the way they worded their sentence in a pleading manner.

"We don't have time for one more scan! She's gone! Disappeared! Think about what the captain would want Roche! She would want us to protect the crew as a whole before worrying about her well-being! Now fly us out of here and that's an order as first mate!" Conley gripped onto the arms of his seat dreading the words that had come out of his mouth. It was a hard decision, but one that he knew Captain Valor would want. In the back of his mind as the ship violently rocked, he told himself that Maeve was alive, she had to be.

These thought didn't last for long as Roche spoke again, "I am trying my hardest Conley, but my efforts are proving futile." Roche then spoke again, except this time over the intercom, "Brace for impa-impact. I re-repeat bra-brace for impact."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The first sensation that came to Maeve was the sound of tides that slowly washed in and out hitting along a shore. She hadn't heard such a sound in probably decades, maybe even a century. It reminded her of her home world and soon as it had, it just as quickly warped her mind to remember its demise. Memories of staring off at her home world from afar in space as flashes of explosions riddled the surface leaving behind burnt craters as a testament to the treacherous mistake she had made. The captain sat up in a cold sweat from the nightmare and was immediately met with pain and in unfamiliar territory on a beach. She grunted as she stood up, the safety of her crew being the first thing on her mind. She pressed a clawed hand to a button on her gauntlet and said aloud, "Captain Valor to Roche, come in Roche."

The captain paused waiting for a response as she continued to investigate her surroundings limping down the shoreline with a few drops of blood trailing behind her. When no response came she began to panic more, "This is Captain Valor. Come in Silver Malice."

Her mind went into overdrive as she feared the worst had happened to her crew. It was then that she spread her wings and decided to check what she was dealing with from above, but when she did this, she winced feeling that one of her wings had been badly injured. The dragoness chose to trek through the pain and fly up anyway. Her crew was more important than having to deal with the wound and if it meant damaging herself even more to get back to them she would.

As she looked down from above, she caught a glimpse of gleaming white that was in greenery more inland away from the waters. She couldn't handle the pain from flying anymore. Luckily, she was able to glide down a ways before one of her wings crippled in from the weight of herself as she crashed down for the second time that day. "Damn it all," she cursed as she got back up and reverted to her form that looked more Human so that her wings could hopefully heal properly.

Captain Valor then walked in the direction where she saw the white tresses of what she assumed was Logastellus. Her suspicions were proven correct when she saw that he had collapsed from his own injuries. Though he had shown himself to be an ally, in this moment she disliked him. She blamed him for being the reason why she was away from her crew. Even with the pent up anger she had for the man, she knew that he was the only way to get the answers she sought out. She sighed in frustration as she tried to help him up. Due to her being a Sarkany, she was stronger than your average humanoid, but even she had her limits. Next, she tried to wake him back up, if he wasn't already awake. "Hey, Logastellar or whatever the hell your name is. Get your ass up," she smacked his face a little.

 

[Pride_Revelation]

Something or someone had struck Logastellus across his face. His eyesight was blurry, senses deadened to nothing by the Umbra goddess's toxins. Despite then, he glimpsed the crimson waves of Captain Valor's hair. Was she alive? Was Logastellus hellucinating? The warrior king bemoaned when she slapped him again after assisting the colossus onto his staggering feet.

"Lo-ga-stel-lus..." the giant bumbled, slurring his name. "Logastellus."

His wounds were rotting, his skin turning red and distended with puss and blood dripping down his ravaged garments. Logastellus was running out of time, even with his Warmaster's arcane genetic alchemy fighting to preserve him.

"I cannot hail my gun-cutter," Logastellus eventually said through gritted teeth and clenched jaw. "Internal vox implants have catastrophically failed during the singularity; I need to hail it, have them locate and mend me. My assignment isn't over."

Logastellus passively shoved Valor away from him, his threat senses picking up on her annoyance, but he was far too weak in his current state to even push her a foot.

Then, without warning, the goliath succumbed to his wounds and entered suspended animation thanks to the hibernator organ, or the Sus-an Membrane, located just above the brain.

Stasimus and Chrysalus navigated the gun-cutter low over the forest ceiling with aerial grace while pinging scans of the forest floor in quest of the Custodian. Stasimus eyes darted between augmented reality spectrums of light detectors until a ping was completed, cogitators determinating it as Logastellus.

Stasimus cheered. "I found him! Down there! Take us down!"

Chrysalus switched their vox to the Custodian's armor serf. "Girl, prepare the medicae servitors; we found him."

Viducia gasped with relief that her prayers were answered. With haste about the cargo hold of the flying beast, Viducia activated the flesh-drones from their stasis caskets lined up against the inner wall of the gun-cutter. A trio of highly augmented lobotomized humans awoken with shivering bionics and faux-muscle. Their bodies were modified to supply medical care to the warrior giant if he required it, and at the current time, Logastellus was venturing too late.

Arriving overhead, where Valor and Logastellus were, the sound of screaming engines, roaring servos, and the rush of hot air blowing about. The landing gear beneath the gun-cutter deployed in time to make landfall.

The gun-cutter illuminated with a corona of golden light around the areas of the hull that was gold. Other portions were painted with a deep crimson. Each detail of the vessel was engraved with powered glyphs of protection against the immaterial and material. In more inferior terms of technological lore, the Orion-class dropship was, at its soul, a gorgeous vessel to behold.

The nose of the drop ship was facing the two figures on the earthy forest floor. An entire suite of sensors could be seen on the ship's nose. Each lens illustrates Captain Valor's back at herself with the dying Logastellus at her side.

"Come on, move!" Viducia called after her medicae-servitors as they trudged behind her, their skin a deathly shade of gray.

Viducia swung her medi-kit around from her back when she noticed Valor standing near Logastellus's incapacitated body. She expended no time to draw her Etacarn plasma pistol from her hip holster; the superior venting coils whizzed with a plasma whine while the heat-conducting crystal barrel charged up in preparation for fierce firing.

"Back away! I'll shoot! Move!" Viducia waved her blue-glowing weapon at the woman. "I'll reduce you to ash if you do not move."

The armor thrall pursed her lips before clapping her other hand around the pistol grip, disregarding the medi-kit she dropped. Viducia was nervous, which showed in her stance and the wide-eyed stare on her sweating face.

The servitors gathered around the fallen giant, each inserting probes into his ports to read the vital signs of the demigod warrior. "Dying," one servitor managed to comply.

"Injecting one hundred micrograms of Immortalitas Deorum," another said before pushing a golden vile of fluid into the needle-tipped tube.

"Constructing hover-gurney," the last voiced with a monotone drone. The robotic limbs folded back behind themselves and retrieved a folded table that, when folded open, would quickly assemble itself underneath the intended person.

When Logastellus was hovering off the ground and in the care of the gurney, Viducia lowered her weapon since she desired not to shoot who could be her master's savior.

"Get him on the ship," she barked at the servitors as they hauled the demigod away. She turned her attention back to Valor as she holstered her weapon. "Who are you, and why were you near him?"

 

[Maeve Valor]

As soon as she saw the ship come in to land, Maeve went on the defensive thinking that it was potentially another or even the same enemy coming to finish the job of dispatching them. The captain took a stance, getting ready to attack regardless of her own bad injures, until she saw the first person to come out which had a medi-kit at the ready. She deduced that these were allies of Logastellus, so she stepped away once the girl threatened her with a gun much to her dismay needing to obey this being. If they truly were Logastellus' allies, then she didn't want to risk getting on his bad side by attacking one of them. Although, she had to chuckle lightly at the irony of her wording when the underling spoke of turning her to ash if provoked. After a while of watching his crew mates work on treating his wounds and then take him inside the craft, she remained not moving as requested until she holstered her weapon.

Maeve leaned against a nearby tree, letting herself ease up slightly as she held a spot at her abdomen that she was bleeding from the most out of all the wounds she currently had while responding, "Maeve Valor, captain of the Silver Malice. Me and your colleague over there were ambushed by someone... I think their name was Yziraesh? Real bitch, I'll tell ya'," she laughed and then winced in pain.

"Look, the way I see it, your man roped me into some deep shit. Now I gotta settle the score with that hell-wench. But, if you take me back to my ship so that I know that my people are safe, I'm willing to forget about the trouble that's been caused," Captain Valor negotiated.