Black Feather: Episode LIII
"Revelation"
Vicinity of Lost Field
10:26 p.m., 03/25
Qastor awoke to reddened skies. Velvet red rays of light poured from the cabin windows. Dancing swirls of lurid luminescence yarned myths of blood- running rivers and gore-drenched battlefields, entrenching the lost skies with frescoes of death and dolor. Is this the power of Qain?
An acknowledgment blip ensued and the weary pilot's voice droned, "Nearing area of operations. Please board your ACs."
He gently shook Iris' shoulder.
"Iris... Wake up..." Qastor crooned, and Iris slowly awoke. She smiled at his sight, but frowned as soon as the red sky luster baffled her senses. Another, more intense blip sounded and the others awoke. Iris leaned to the window. The stretching coastline of the Lost Field was tainted with a red shade. There was almost no beach; a few patches here and there, but steep, jagged cliffs were omnipresent.
Malirant stood up first, walking down the aisle to the hangar. He noticed Garnet, still dozing quietly in her seat. He reached and gave her a hearty shake on the shoulder, even though this was the second brief time he saw her. Malirant was already opening the door to the hangar when Garnet noticed the group up and about. She followed them out.
_____________________________
The five walked out of the transport one-by-one in their ACs. Qastor scanned the area, and was somewhat troubled by what he saw. Lost Field was a stagnant island. No wind, no rustling, no sea waves, no motion, just dancing skies. Qastor noticed a glaring message on his HUD.
"Ominous skies bleed a crimson night. Lenore and Nevermore, time stands ablight."
Upon reading the last word, the message blurred into nothingness, which brewed a cursing storm inside Qastor's will. An enormous, domed edifice loomed in silence beyond the forest of dead trees. No... Not trees... at least, not anymore they weren't... but desiccated, grotesque spikes of ebony wood that silently shrieked from the barren, cracked terrain. Gleaming blades protruded from the dome's lining, stained with sacrificial blood of birds.
There was no way to the edifice besides cutting through the forest, so Malirant moved first, leading the group, although he was just as clueless on where to go as the rest were. He blinked in surprise when the wooden spikes reduced to ash upon the gentlest touch. He moved closer to the woods and waved Ogre's arm through the canopy. Every single 'tree' that he touched crumbled into dust. He figured out why. Since there was no wind, the ashen 'trees' maintained their form until now. The temperature swung up and down, freezing one minute and boiling the next. Notwithstanding, they trudged their way through with cautious eyes. However, the domed structure seemed to stretch and writhe ever closer. Dead woods crumbled; the dust and ash pushed by the stampeding walls. The five stopped, watching in awe as the walls abruptly halted, the piles of dust pervading forth into a palpable gray mist. A towering, Gothic-like door slowly swung open. They entered...
"Qastor... This is freaking me out..." Iris convinced herself to turn back, but.
"I know... This is freaking us all out..." He found that it comforted Iris none, and pursued... "Don't worry. I'll protect you."
Malirant motioned them to stop.
"What's wrong, Malirant?" Rose stopped short behind Ogre. A typed message appeared on her screen.
A wall. No entrance.
Rose looked around and noticed that the entire doorway was blocked off by a wall. But, before they could do anything about it, the circular mosaic underneath rumbled alive and descended. The massive doors shut with loud hostility behind and now, above them.
Qastor's altimeter indicated rapid descent, but he didn't need it to know. Despite the restraining seat belts, he felt light-weighted, almost floating. Suddenly, the platform stopped, and Qastor was brought down to his seat with force. The wall in front of them split open to reveal a poorly lit, vastly expansive rotunda. They made their way in at a slow pace. It wasn't until five minutes later that...
A sudden, intense vibration in the air rattled the metallic walls, floors, and the armor of the five's ACs. Instinctively, Qastor boosted forward to the lead of the group.
"QAIN!!!" Qastor called, for in his sight was Qain in his Ark Omnis. Qain had made a rapid descent, and upon stopping, caused a bang in the air. Ark Omnis had an uncanny resemblance to Nova Omnis. Its six, instead of four, orbital cannons were distinctly more pointed, like a thick blade, and horizontally floated on top of another in the fashion of wings, three on each. His arms folded themselves across in a humanoid style. Long laserblade emitters rested on his forearms, and his armor illuminated in lurid brilliance. Spikes shimmered from his heels, hips, knee, elbow, and shoulders.
"You finally came..." Qain's voice was low and malignant.
"I'll get you, Qain!!" Qastor pushed the controls, but his body was frozen. So were the others. "Damn... The Logic Drive..."
"You all came here for answers, and you shall get them!!" Ark Omnis rose in the air seamlessly without bodily motion.
"What... a history lesson?"
"I'm doing you a favor, aren't I? Consider this the final revelation of your nigh-ending lives." Qain's words cut right into Qastor's heart.
He and the others had no choice, but to listen...
"At the beginning of the Earth's formation, God Engine ARK crash landed on this desolate planet. In need of extreme amounts of energy to continue its inter-dimensional journey, it dispensed life-giving amino acids. Life appeared and evolved into multi-cellular organisms. To feed upon the energy of the organisms, killing them off in catastrophic numbers was required. The Interplanetary Apocalyptic Weapon, PERDITION, was the perfect tool for this. A total of four catastrophes were necessary, branded the Great Destructions. The gathering of the energy is called the Harvest of January, June, August, and December. Two pillars of control was established, The Controller and the H-1 Program, both of which would soon watch over the surviving humans. A Harvest can only be activated by the H- 1 Program, however. At the peak of existence of the ancient dinosaurs, Harvest of January was activated, and the energy and flesh of the dinosaurs were absorbed. With the dominating reptiles out of the way, the timid apes evolved into humans and flourished, eventually thriving and siphoning off the planet's resources. The population grew rapidly, and the second, true Great Destruction occurred. Harvest of June done with, the remaining humans fled underground in two areas, Layered Alpha, under the guidance of the H-1 program, and ours, Layered Omega, under the tyranny of The Controller."
"Over the course of centuries, Layered Alpha prospered, eventually discovering the surface. Their advancement accelerated, they moved on into Mars, the neighboring planet of red. However, leftover sentinels of the planet, the Disorders, soon killed off the colonies and somehow moved on to Earth. They invaded the people of Layered Alpha, and soon reached the coveted ARK itself. Attempting to protect the ARK, Harvest of August was activated, and the humans of Layered Alpha and the invading Disorders were eradicated. However, the H-1 main frame and vital computers were massacred also, and without the H-1 program at full function, the Harvest of December cannot activate. So, as a last resort, it created two alternate activation methods. The first is the confinement of the Four Pale Horsemen in -Nazareth-, the ARK's antagonistic cell core. The second was the reuniting of the Nine Children of H-1 at certain locations of the Earth. The Nine Children possess a specially engineered base code in their DNA, which allows the activation of the last Harvest. All were naturally conceived through surrogate mothers by a process similar to cloning, except I, Qain. I was first created artificially. My skin, my organs, my bones, my entire body, and. my mind. All artificially engineered to be invincible. The remaining Children's DNA were artificially, but masterfully, perfectly built differently from each other to enable reproduction, and placed into eight surrogate mothers, who were released into Layered Omega, where their chances of surviving were greater. As the First Child of H-1, the burden of reuniting the other Eight Children was placed in my hands, but upon awakening in Layered Omega, my objectives were lost... But now, the Harvest of December is nigh... The Final Great Destruction..." Qain snickered at the end of his speech.
Qastor was confounded. "Who are these... 'Nine Children of H-1'...?"
"Hahahahhahahh, I'm very glad you asked, my young Nevermore. They are..." He stopped to list them all.
"Me......... Malirant......... Angelus........ Lucifer......... Garnet......... Iris..... Rose......... and you Qastor......... I shall not reveal the Last Child, however, for I'm sure you'll do something about it should you somehow escape. Which is utterly inconceivable..." Qain had an evil confidence strengthening his voice.
It all came together for Qastor. He and all the others finally understood. They all shared a common origin. Iris was bewildered, and so was Rose. Garnet, however, was still worried about Lucifer. Malirant understood his dream now, and his head seemed to tremble in agony from the traumatizing realization that he killed... But... Qastor was prepared for something like this.
"Qain... I'm not finished with you yet..." Qastor's voice was threatening, despite the fact that his body and AC was hopelessly frozen.
"Oh, you're not are you? Well, it just so happens that I share the same predicament... But, that will be over soon..."
Ark Omnis unfolded its arms. Its orbital wings flexed, it charged right into Qastor and the others in less than a second. Five ear-crushing clashes reverberated throughout the rotunda.
Black out...
"Revelation"
Vicinity of Lost Field
10:26 p.m., 03/25
Qastor awoke to reddened skies. Velvet red rays of light poured from the cabin windows. Dancing swirls of lurid luminescence yarned myths of blood- running rivers and gore-drenched battlefields, entrenching the lost skies with frescoes of death and dolor. Is this the power of Qain?
An acknowledgment blip ensued and the weary pilot's voice droned, "Nearing area of operations. Please board your ACs."
He gently shook Iris' shoulder.
"Iris... Wake up..." Qastor crooned, and Iris slowly awoke. She smiled at his sight, but frowned as soon as the red sky luster baffled her senses. Another, more intense blip sounded and the others awoke. Iris leaned to the window. The stretching coastline of the Lost Field was tainted with a red shade. There was almost no beach; a few patches here and there, but steep, jagged cliffs were omnipresent.
Malirant stood up first, walking down the aisle to the hangar. He noticed Garnet, still dozing quietly in her seat. He reached and gave her a hearty shake on the shoulder, even though this was the second brief time he saw her. Malirant was already opening the door to the hangar when Garnet noticed the group up and about. She followed them out.
_____________________________
The five walked out of the transport one-by-one in their ACs. Qastor scanned the area, and was somewhat troubled by what he saw. Lost Field was a stagnant island. No wind, no rustling, no sea waves, no motion, just dancing skies. Qastor noticed a glaring message on his HUD.
"Ominous skies bleed a crimson night. Lenore and Nevermore, time stands ablight."
Upon reading the last word, the message blurred into nothingness, which brewed a cursing storm inside Qastor's will. An enormous, domed edifice loomed in silence beyond the forest of dead trees. No... Not trees... at least, not anymore they weren't... but desiccated, grotesque spikes of ebony wood that silently shrieked from the barren, cracked terrain. Gleaming blades protruded from the dome's lining, stained with sacrificial blood of birds.
There was no way to the edifice besides cutting through the forest, so Malirant moved first, leading the group, although he was just as clueless on where to go as the rest were. He blinked in surprise when the wooden spikes reduced to ash upon the gentlest touch. He moved closer to the woods and waved Ogre's arm through the canopy. Every single 'tree' that he touched crumbled into dust. He figured out why. Since there was no wind, the ashen 'trees' maintained their form until now. The temperature swung up and down, freezing one minute and boiling the next. Notwithstanding, they trudged their way through with cautious eyes. However, the domed structure seemed to stretch and writhe ever closer. Dead woods crumbled; the dust and ash pushed by the stampeding walls. The five stopped, watching in awe as the walls abruptly halted, the piles of dust pervading forth into a palpable gray mist. A towering, Gothic-like door slowly swung open. They entered...
"Qastor... This is freaking me out..." Iris convinced herself to turn back, but.
"I know... This is freaking us all out..." He found that it comforted Iris none, and pursued... "Don't worry. I'll protect you."
Malirant motioned them to stop.
"What's wrong, Malirant?" Rose stopped short behind Ogre. A typed message appeared on her screen.
A wall. No entrance.
Rose looked around and noticed that the entire doorway was blocked off by a wall. But, before they could do anything about it, the circular mosaic underneath rumbled alive and descended. The massive doors shut with loud hostility behind and now, above them.
Qastor's altimeter indicated rapid descent, but he didn't need it to know. Despite the restraining seat belts, he felt light-weighted, almost floating. Suddenly, the platform stopped, and Qastor was brought down to his seat with force. The wall in front of them split open to reveal a poorly lit, vastly expansive rotunda. They made their way in at a slow pace. It wasn't until five minutes later that...
A sudden, intense vibration in the air rattled the metallic walls, floors, and the armor of the five's ACs. Instinctively, Qastor boosted forward to the lead of the group.
"QAIN!!!" Qastor called, for in his sight was Qain in his Ark Omnis. Qain had made a rapid descent, and upon stopping, caused a bang in the air. Ark Omnis had an uncanny resemblance to Nova Omnis. Its six, instead of four, orbital cannons were distinctly more pointed, like a thick blade, and horizontally floated on top of another in the fashion of wings, three on each. His arms folded themselves across in a humanoid style. Long laserblade emitters rested on his forearms, and his armor illuminated in lurid brilliance. Spikes shimmered from his heels, hips, knee, elbow, and shoulders.
"You finally came..." Qain's voice was low and malignant.
"I'll get you, Qain!!" Qastor pushed the controls, but his body was frozen. So were the others. "Damn... The Logic Drive..."
"You all came here for answers, and you shall get them!!" Ark Omnis rose in the air seamlessly without bodily motion.
"What... a history lesson?"
"I'm doing you a favor, aren't I? Consider this the final revelation of your nigh-ending lives." Qain's words cut right into Qastor's heart.
He and the others had no choice, but to listen...
"At the beginning of the Earth's formation, God Engine ARK crash landed on this desolate planet. In need of extreme amounts of energy to continue its inter-dimensional journey, it dispensed life-giving amino acids. Life appeared and evolved into multi-cellular organisms. To feed upon the energy of the organisms, killing them off in catastrophic numbers was required. The Interplanetary Apocalyptic Weapon, PERDITION, was the perfect tool for this. A total of four catastrophes were necessary, branded the Great Destructions. The gathering of the energy is called the Harvest of January, June, August, and December. Two pillars of control was established, The Controller and the H-1 Program, both of which would soon watch over the surviving humans. A Harvest can only be activated by the H- 1 Program, however. At the peak of existence of the ancient dinosaurs, Harvest of January was activated, and the energy and flesh of the dinosaurs were absorbed. With the dominating reptiles out of the way, the timid apes evolved into humans and flourished, eventually thriving and siphoning off the planet's resources. The population grew rapidly, and the second, true Great Destruction occurred. Harvest of June done with, the remaining humans fled underground in two areas, Layered Alpha, under the guidance of the H-1 program, and ours, Layered Omega, under the tyranny of The Controller."
"Over the course of centuries, Layered Alpha prospered, eventually discovering the surface. Their advancement accelerated, they moved on into Mars, the neighboring planet of red. However, leftover sentinels of the planet, the Disorders, soon killed off the colonies and somehow moved on to Earth. They invaded the people of Layered Alpha, and soon reached the coveted ARK itself. Attempting to protect the ARK, Harvest of August was activated, and the humans of Layered Alpha and the invading Disorders were eradicated. However, the H-1 main frame and vital computers were massacred also, and without the H-1 program at full function, the Harvest of December cannot activate. So, as a last resort, it created two alternate activation methods. The first is the confinement of the Four Pale Horsemen in -Nazareth-, the ARK's antagonistic cell core. The second was the reuniting of the Nine Children of H-1 at certain locations of the Earth. The Nine Children possess a specially engineered base code in their DNA, which allows the activation of the last Harvest. All were naturally conceived through surrogate mothers by a process similar to cloning, except I, Qain. I was first created artificially. My skin, my organs, my bones, my entire body, and. my mind. All artificially engineered to be invincible. The remaining Children's DNA were artificially, but masterfully, perfectly built differently from each other to enable reproduction, and placed into eight surrogate mothers, who were released into Layered Omega, where their chances of surviving were greater. As the First Child of H-1, the burden of reuniting the other Eight Children was placed in my hands, but upon awakening in Layered Omega, my objectives were lost... But now, the Harvest of December is nigh... The Final Great Destruction..." Qain snickered at the end of his speech.
Qastor was confounded. "Who are these... 'Nine Children of H-1'...?"
"Hahahahhahahh, I'm very glad you asked, my young Nevermore. They are..." He stopped to list them all.
"Me......... Malirant......... Angelus........ Lucifer......... Garnet......... Iris..... Rose......... and you Qastor......... I shall not reveal the Last Child, however, for I'm sure you'll do something about it should you somehow escape. Which is utterly inconceivable..." Qain had an evil confidence strengthening his voice.
It all came together for Qastor. He and all the others finally understood. They all shared a common origin. Iris was bewildered, and so was Rose. Garnet, however, was still worried about Lucifer. Malirant understood his dream now, and his head seemed to tremble in agony from the traumatizing realization that he killed... But... Qastor was prepared for something like this.
"Qain... I'm not finished with you yet..." Qastor's voice was threatening, despite the fact that his body and AC was hopelessly frozen.
"Oh, you're not are you? Well, it just so happens that I share the same predicament... But, that will be over soon..."
Ark Omnis unfolded its arms. Its orbital wings flexed, it charged right into Qastor and the others in less than a second. Five ear-crushing clashes reverberated throughout the rotunda.
Black out...