Lilandra shivered, looking out the bay window of her suite in the starship cruiser. They were now little more than twenty light years from the moon that safe housed the one thing that the Shi'ar empire had sworn to protect. From her window, the Majestrix of the Shi'ar galaxy watched as the M'Kraan Crystal pulsed in time with her own heartbeat. "Fascinatingly disturbing, isn't it Empress?", Lilandra's long time councilor A'nok asked quietly, thankfully diverting her mind from thoughts of terror.
Lilandra sighed and turned to face the group that had gathered in her chambers to discuss this new turn of events. Her gaze locked first with A'nok, before being appointed her own private councilor A'nok had served Lilandra's father in the same capacity. He was now withered by age and the torture that Lilandra's insane brother D'ken had put the man through. It was a testament to his will that he was still alive, and that same will showed out as forcefully as his unquestioned intelligence from his opaque eyes. Next was D'tar, another long time supporter of her father who had somehow managed to escape both D'ken and Deathbird's insane attempts for the throne. Her newest advisor, Ailon, stood to the right of D'tar. Young, but fanatically loyal, Ailon made Lilandra very wary that the woman was more likely to support Lilandra than the good of the empire. The last advisor, Lilandra had to suppress a shudder before looking on. Tes'ral, the representative for the council of nobles, made Lilandra nervous for two reasons. The skrull was…slimy, as far as the Empress could tell he lacked even the simplest moral ideals, and he was manipulative. Lilandra had no doubt that he had connived his way through the council and into her advisors. Yet he put her in the position where if she refused him his position, as was her right as Empress, Lilandra would look very badly in the eyes of the council, something that she could not afford.
Having made eye contact for a brief second with each of her advisors, Lilandra returned her gaze to A'nok. Careful to keep her expression and tone neutral the Empress responded. "A very keen observation, councilor." That said, she waved her staff of office toward the plush seats that sat in a corner of her private chambers. A gift from Charles, she thought wistfully before settling into her own personal chair, one that was built to sit a good two inches higher than the rest. Her advisors followed suit, waiting until she was settled to begin their discussion of the events that were now taking place.
As seemed to be her luck, Tes'ral was the first to voice his question, and fitting his role as the council representative it was one that bore importance only in terms of the galaxy's politics. "Empressss," he hissed and slurped, while Lilandra tried desperately not to be disgusted by the obese skrull's speech mannerisms. "The noblesh are awaiting your reacsshion to thish new development." With the last word, Tes'ral pointed his stubby finger toward the window, as if there were any doubt what "development" the skrull was referring to.
Lilandra rolled the thought around in her head, looking obligingly out the window again to where the advisor was pointing. I am scared out of my mind, she thought solemnly before coming up with an answer to Tes'ral's question that also answered his implied question as well, "is this a threat to our power and wealth?" Turning her ebony eyes back toward the councilman, she suddenly felt the obscene need to wipe the strings of drool off of his three chins with her fist. But that would hardly be Empress-like, she reminded herself. "I do not feel a need for worry yet Tes'ral." Lilandra finally answered, noticing the approving flicker from A'nok as she said it. "Tell your nobles who live near the crystal that they are free to evacuate their districts if they begin to feel threatened." Lilandra felt a small taste of satisfaction at the slight paling of Tes'ral's green hide when she mentioned "districts". I figured as much, those greedy nobles are looking to escape to safety without worrying about any responsibility. And by telling Tes'ral they were free to evacuate their districts, Lilandra had issued an Empirial decree that no noble could evacuate his family without getting the entire surrounding population out as well. Leave it to the noble class to worry more about their own pockets than the safety of their people.
Tes'ral, to his credit, recovered rather quickly from Lilandra's statement. "Of course, your Majesty. I will inform the council as soon as our meeting adjourns." Her statement might cause some unease, but none of the nobles would dare to argue against what their Empress had just said.
Now that Lilandra had single handedly managed to maintain her control over the council, Ailon stepped in to take over the questioning. "It is good, your Highness, to know that you are looking after your people." The unspoken "but" hung in the air almost as heavily as the insult to Tes'ral did.
"However, your advisors feel, your Majesty, that for your own safety we should move no closer to the crystal." Leave it to D'tar to finish Ailon's statement.
Lilandra could tell that this had been a planned ambush, and one that she could hardly argue against. How about we turn around and go about seventy thousand light years in the opposite direction? she felt like shouting at them gleefully. But she was the Empress, and had to be strong. "I appreciate your concern councilors." Lilandra finally answered, nodding at each in turn, "For once I must concede my wishes for a closer look." A brief glimpse of victory shown in D'tar's eyes, and Lilandra almost felt bad for what she was about to say. "I am, however, sending the Imperial Guard out to take that closer look for me."
Around the room, expressions became tight. "Not to question your judgement, Majesty," Ailon attempted not to stammer out. "But would it not be more prudent for the Imperial Guard to remain here for your Majesty's protection?"
How Lilandra wanted to agree whole-heartedly. "No, I do not believe so." Lilandra answered with a sigh. "You forget, the Imperial Guard was created to protect the M'Kraan Crystal, not the Empress. It is the job of the Guard to find the cause for these occurrences." Now that her private council looked slightly mollified, Lilandra lightened the insult ever so slightly. "I have spoken with Gladiator," Lilandra assured them. "He is certain that my safety will remain the same whether the Imperial Guard is here, or with the Crystal."
Taking that statement as the dismissal it was intended to be, the advisors rose and headed toward the doors. A'nok trailed them, stopping just before exiting the suite he turned back toward the Empress. Lilandra watched now as the M'Kraan Crystal pulsed it's brilliant fuschia. It was now slower than a heartbeat, illuminating then fading in a pattern that only the Crystal knew. "Your Highness?" her chief advisor said, clearing his throat as Lilandra reluctantly pealed her gaze away from the pink sky beyond. "The nobles will want you to account for this decision." The statement was plain, none of the Shi'ar were going to be happy with what their Empress had decided.
Lilandra nodded, "I will account for my decisions when I feel it necessary." She stated plainly, then turned back to the window, her face softening. Shaking her head, Lilandra let out a frustrated sigh. "Truthfully, A'nok?" Lilandra asked, switching to English to avoid being overheard by her bodyguards, "This gives me the creeps." She looked over to the old man and shuddered. "Something is not right here, A'nok. And whenever something isn't right I fear the worst."
A'nok smiled back at her. "You are too wise for your years, Majesty." With that he turned and left the room to ensure peace between the other advisors was maintained for the time being. It was an understood between the two that anything spoken by his Empress in English was not to be translated or repeated in Shi'ar.
Lilandra smirked at the thought of her advisors overhearing that discussion. Not that any of them would understand what 'the creeps' means.
* * * * *
Jean Grey Summers woke suddenly out of a tormented sleep. Sweat poured down her back, chilling her as she thought back to her dream. The M'Kraan Crystal had been calling to her, enticing her to come back. Unbidden thoughts of her time as "The Phoenix" returned and Jean shuddered. It was odd how something that had happened so long ago would still jump out and grab hold of her psyche occasionally, bringing her back to that state of complete dread as she watched herself destroy worlds.
Next to her Scott continued to sleep dreamlessly, barely even stirring while she thrashed away in the clutches of her worst nightmare. Jean looked over at her husband sardonically. Scott Summers was such a heavy sleeper that even with their psychic link he could sleep through Jean's worst bad dreams. Shaking her head, hating to wake him, but at the same time craving some kind of reassurance, she lightly poked him. No response came, and though she hated to do it, Jean resorted to her most desperate waking tactic.
Scott had no chance of defending himself as the glass of water on the nightstand mysteriously floated toward his head and tipped over. "What, what?" He spluttered, "I'm awake." Jean giggled at the sight of him sitting there swiping at his face uncomprehendingly until his mind truly woke. "Jean, why am I wet?"
The deadpan expression just made her giggle even more. "I had a nightmare," she laughed, as he shook his bangs out of his face so he could get a better look at her.
He sighed, resigned to spend the rest of the night awake consoling her, even though there was a Danger Room session scheduled for seven in the morning. "Okay," he shrugged, admiring her slender frame as she huddled herself even tighter under the blankets. "You obviously want to talk about it."
Jean shrugged, wiping the smile off her face. The one thing about Scott that drove her absolutely insane was the fact that he hated talking about things. He might go on for hours in the War Room, but in terms of their relationship if nothing was said he just assumed everything was fine. It was why she took all of her emotional problems to Ororo, rather than him, Storm always knew what to say and how to say it to make things better. "It was about the M'Kraan Crystal." Jean mumbled, and swore she could see Scott roll his eyes underneath his protective goggles. "It was stupid, Scott, it was just calling me back. I'm sorry I woke you up." Tears now replaced the sweat on her cheeks. "It just scares me when I remember what I was, and what I did."
Sighing Scott reached over, and she curled into his offered embrace. Stroking her hair, Scott waited until the last of the tears to lift her chin so he could look into her eyes. "Jean," he stated matter-of-factly. "The Phoenix is gone, you never have to worry about turning into that horrible creature again." Jean opened her mouth to protest, but Scott cut her off before she could give him the same old excuse yet again. "That was not you, Jean." He said, playfully tapping her on the nose for emphasis. "That was some cosmic entity with a bad attitude, not my sweet loveable wife." Jean let out a weak laugh, and Scott tipped her chin back, catching her mouth in a gentle but loving kiss. "It certainly wasn't the woman I know, who feels bad when she accidentally crushes an ant." Scott teased, squeezing her tighter, and pulling her down onto the bed with him.
"The poor thing was helpless!" Jean remarked, thinking back on the previous afternoon when the whole team had teased her about crushing an ant she had valiantly been trying to save from getting smooshed into the kitchen floor.
"This is the woman who's going to turn into a 'Destroyer of Worlds,'" Scott mocked. "Universe beware."
"You know," Jean remarked, settling comfortably against her husband's body, head resting on his shoulder. "You're as bad as the rest of the team, I can't help it if I have an overdeveloped conscience."
"So that's the reason you're a goody two shoes." Scott managed to get out a laugh before
the pillow caught him in the face.
* * * * *
Gladiator shifted uneasily, his cape hanging stiff behind him due to the lack of atmosphere this deep in space. Before him spun the moon that housed the M'Kraan Crystal, making it's lazy, oblivious way through the galaxy. Had he been other than what he was, an impervious being, the pulsing light would have been too bright to look upon. As it was even Gladiator found himself shielding his eyes from the glowing fuschia moon. He would never admit this to his Guard or to the Empress, but even Gladiator felt a chill of fear down his adamantine spine at the thought of what this might possibly mean.
Stiffly signaling for his team to follow, Gladiator pushed his tremblings away and headed straight for the Crystal itself. As they headed toward the gargantuan jewel, Gladiator noted the appearance of a small vessel within the moon's orbit. Starjammers, his mind catalogued the misfit piece of junk that served Corsair as an intergalactic mercenary transport. Of course, any strange action in this part of the galaxy would bring the Starjammers running. It was not unusual for the Imperial Guard to run into their unwanted assistance while dealing with galactic situations. Of course, the last time the Starjammers had been this close to the Crystal was when the Phoenix had appeared, and Gladiator silently prayed to every galactic entity that he knew of that the Starjammers appearance did not forebode anything of that magnitude.
* * * * *
Onboard the Starjammer, Corsair sat, puzzling out exactly what he was seeing through the view screen. "Raza," Corsair asked, unable to completely believe his eyes. "You're sure the optical rangers aren't malfunctioning?"
Raza punched in a few more commands, bringing a string of code up on the display monitor, "All systems are fully functional, Corsair." He stated, adjusting the rangers trajectory slightly. "The presence of the Imperial Guard should justify my readings."
"Or you could look out the window." Ch'od suggested from the rear of the control deck. "Corsair, this thing is pumping out a lot of radiation."
Hepzibah nodded, and furiously typed more commands into the computer. "Eating away at shields it is, Corsair."
Corsair nodded, "Raza, pull us out of orbit, let's pay the Majestrix a visit."
* * * * *
Lilandra paced the confines of her quarters, wondering whether or not she should warn Charles and the X-Men of this new activity, or if she should not bother to involve the Earthly inhabitants with something that was not their problem. Since the Guard had left, the Crystal's patterns had become even more erratic; it would flash continuously for minutes, then stop and not flash at all for ten or twelve minutes only to burn across the sky in a continuous gleam of fuschia for five minutes straight. But it hasn't done anything yet. Lilandra reasoned. Why should I pull the X-Men from their home if nothing is to come of this. However, the other half of Lilandra screamed, This is not normal, something is horribly wrong.
The Majestrix did not get to reach a conclusion with her thought process; a communication beep distracted her from her musings. It was coming from her private line with Charles Xavier, her beloved consort. Realizing that this communication meant that Charles had probably started noticing some effects from the Crystal's actions, Lilandra felt no need to hide the truth from him. However, shock overtook her when the hologram that the communicator presented her with was not of Charles, but rather of Christopher Summers. "Corsair!" She shouted, dropping the control to the projector. The shout brought her guards inside, swarming around their Majestrix until they realized it was only a hologram that stood in the center of her room.
"Lilandra." The man smiled back aggravatingly amused by her shocked reaction.
Overcoming her start, and becoming even angrier, Lilandra composed herself before addressing the smug man. "What would be the purpose of you hijacking my personal communication frequency for this discussion?" She shouted at him, forgetting herself and addressing the man in English.
"Forget the politics, Lil." Corsair said plainly, his smile turning into the grim expression he carried mostly during battle. "This Crystal of yours is burning like a nova, eating through my ship's hull, and that Guard of yours has disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Lilandra asked, "Guardsman," Lilandra turned, addressing the nearest man. "Fetch me A'nok, now!" Promptly the guard turned and left the room at a dignified run.
"Nothing he can do." Corsair replied, referring to the orders to find A'nok. "Raza was following them, Gladiator and the rest blinked out of our sensors about twenty thousand feet before they reached the surface.
Lilandra cocked her head sideways, her Imperial headdress canting with her. "Your sensors are not the most sophisticated pieces of equipment."
Corsair ignored the insult. "Listen to me Lil! My sensors may be off sometimes, but my gut is always right. And right now my gut is telling me to believe my sensors. It's telling me something BAD is going to happen." He sat back, arms crossed over his chest and did what no other man in the galaxy dared to do, he glared defiantly at Lilandra, daring her to deny the truth of his statement.
Sighing, Lilandra shook her head at him. "My gut agrees with yours, Corsair. You and your crew may dock and board. Just promise me one thing." She asked, eyes flickering as she looked on the holographic figure.
"The sun, moon, and stars Lil." Corsair answered.
"Promise me your crew will not instigate any brawls this time." Lilandra laughed despite herself, "I have enough to deal with right now, without having to babysit."
Corsair laughed, "Lil, you know I can't promise you that."
* * * * *
Tes'ral licked his slimy lips nervously as he looked on the holographic image before him. "So," it stated emotionlessly, "the Empress has sent in the Imperial Guard?"
Tes'ral nodded, then remembered that the holographic projection was only a one way transmission. "Yesss, sssir." He answered obediantly.
"But no mention of contacting these X-Men of hers, these Earthling creatures?" The hologram asked rhetorically, pacing, while the feed camera followed the man's movement, making him appear to walk in place. "They are the key, Tes'ral." The hologram stated, planting its feet firmly.
"Ssso you have sssaid." Tes'ral agreed without really agreeing, not entirely sure what the holographic figure was attempting to get at.
"Convince her you slug!" The figure shouted, for the first time expressing some form of emotion. "If any of this is to work, the X-Men must become involved. You must convince her advisors of the importance of this fact."
"Of course." Tes'ral nodded again. Then the transmission cut out, the room went dark.