Alaia Skyhawk: Here's the chapter I know you guys have been waiting for. Oh and before anyone jumps on me for the solar system stuff I use later in this chapter, I'm basing that info off the current IAU definitions :)
For those wanting the link to the picture of Solaris, this is it. Replace the symbols and remove spaces as needed. I'll also post it in my profile (note 'dot' replaced with . ) :)
fanart-central dot net / pictures / user / AlaiaSkyhawk16 / 838439 / City-of-Solaris
Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.
~(-)~
Chapter 113: Unexpected Message
People scrambled through the passageways, many of them in rumpled uniforms, having been roused from their sleep by the alert for the main shift crew to get to their posts. It wasn't a red alert, or even an amber alert. The weapons weren't being armed, and there was no enemy vessel to deal with. But a message capsule aimed at the Lumeris System, with an urgent retrieval notice on it? That demanded the attention of a fresh shift of crew, regardless of what news may or may not be contained within it.
The Captain rattled her fingers on the arms of her chair, as visibly nervous at the rest of those on the bridge. Was it a message of an attack near the border? But if so, why send it in such a slow-moving capsule? Was it an old message, gone astray? Perhaps, but it still needed to be checked.
The cruiser didn't take long to reach the capsule, and it was a simple matter for one of their shuttles to be launched to retrieve it. By the time both shuttle and capsule were inside the main hangar, the Captain had made her way down there to inspect it.
It wasn't what she was expecting.
The capsule was undoubtedly of Allegiance origins, but the abraded surface showed it had been in space for a considerable amount of time. The current standard emergency message capsules could go from one end of the Allegiance to the other in just four weeks, so when had this one been launched?
Further investigation of the man-sized cylinder revealed no other information, except that it was of a type never seen before by this crew. They didn't know how to open it, and to force it open might risk the message inside.
All of this was in the report transmitted to Lumeris, from which the return transmission gave instructions to deliver the capsule to the planet. Lumeris was only three hours away at in-system speeds, and it was with relief that the Captain sent the object down in a shuttle once they got there.
By that point the crew suspected it might just be another relic from the Fall, as astonishing as that might be. They no longer wanted to know what grim message it probably contained.
Which was much the thoughts of the Constellation it was brought to, inside the Citadel at the City of Lunestra. Tsar Gallus, some two-hundred and fifty years old, was an able leader in the majority of instances. But like his fellow Post-Fall Constellations, and every other living person in the Allegiance, when unusual things happened he deferred to the Pooka Brotherhood. For among their recovered numbers were the only fifty individuals, other than Father Time, who had known and lived during the Golden Age and its founding. All other Pookas born since, only knew the stories of those times and the long recovery after the Fall. So few people who remembered something other than the fear and dread that had shadowed everything since.
And so Tsar Gallus waited, pacing nervously back and forth near the capsule, until one of the oldest Pookas still alive came in through the nearby door.
Wyatt B. Devengard was typical of his race, seven feet tall if you included his ears, his fur a mix of grey-brown with darker markings. Also typical of his race were the long dusky-blue robes he wore. What was less typical was the lighter stripe of fur across the bridge of his nose, a reminder from a battle with Fearlings that had happened during the war. Not long before Father Time had chosen fifty of the Pookas and ordered them into hiding. The rest of them had continued to fight, and had died.
Wyatt came in with the weary manner of someone who feels like they've lived too long, or has simply grown tired of the burdens they carried. A sense of duty was what kept these original Pookas going, when otherwise they'd have chosen to grow old and fade away.
"You needed me?"
Tsar Gallus nodded, gesturing to the capsule on the adjacent table.
"This was found at the edge of the system. An 'important message' by the alert it's transmitting, but the crew were unable to open it. It is not of a design currently in use."
Wyatt's ears perked up a little in interest as he approached the table, and then he exclaimed in surprise and bounded the last couple of steps.
He ran his paws over it, inspecting every inch, explaining as he went.
"This is Pre Fall; built before the war with the Nightmare King. We stopped using them after he vanished, because if he encountered one he would recognise it and possibly follow it back to its source."
Tsar Gallus frowned a little, both disappointed yet relieved.
"So it's a stray relic from back then, as we suspected?"
Wyatt shook his head, patting a paw on the object.
"It couldn't have been drifting all that time, not for fifteen thousand years. Message capsules were never designed to resist space-dust damage, unlike the hulls of ships. By the only moderate pitting on its surface, this has been in transit for two or three decades at most. Something or someone, in a Pre-Fall ship that somehow survived all this time, launched this."
Tsar Gallus started to wring his hands anxiously.
"Any suspicions what may be inside?"
Wyatt set both paws on it now, reaching for the various hidden latches.
"Only one way to find out."
He uncovered and unlocked the latches in sequence, breaking the seal on the small containment section above the capsule's propulsion unit. From inside there he lifted out a tightly-fitted strongbox, which itself had several latches to open before its lid was released. Inside that was a single folded piece of paper.
Wyatt opened it and started to read. Tsar Gallus now peering over his shoulder.
"What does it say?"
The Pooka's expression was puzzled and uncertain.
"It says 'You are invited, Silver Allegiance. Find me here'. There's also a set of interstellar coordinates."
The tension was immediate, and Tsar Gallus began to pace.
"Do you think it is a trap, set by the Nightmare King?"
Wyatt tracked the agitated Constellation's movements with his eyes, frowning.
"But wherever he is, he already knows where we are. Why lure us out when he could simply come back?"
"Then allow me to simplify things for you."
The voice-from-nowhere made both of them startle, until the sight of Father Time appearing near the window made them both relax.
Wyatt regarded him speculatively, and held up the message.
"Father Time, you know who this is from?"
The immortal and once founding father of Constellation Lunanoff, nodded at him wearing a pleased smile.
"I watched him seal it up and send it, a little over twenty years ago, and have waited since to see it arrive. And while it is not my place to say what you will find there, I did promise him that I would tell you this... You will not regret going." He inclined his head, holding up his hand to measure a small space of air between his fingers in illustration. "However I do suggest keeping your choice of vessel, small. It would not be good manners to arrive in a heavily-armed Cruiser."
He vanished before Wyatt could ask more, leaving the Pooka somewhat bemused. But only for a moment, until he drew himself up and took charge. Nodding to Tsar Gallus.
"With lack of any further information, we can assume this is a diplomatic matter. I will assemble a suitable crew and depart at once."
~(-)~
"Jack! Get back here you bloody show-pony!"
"You'll have to catch me first!"
The children of Santoff Claussen laughed and cheered, as Jack darted back and forth above them evading the leaps irate Easter Bunny. Not surprising really, considering the pond in the woods near the village was usually fairly warm at this time of year. Part and parcel of the magical forest it existed in, it was a pleasant place to swim on a sunny day.
Bunny knew that, and so did Jack, which led into the reason Bunny was now chasing Jack... Namely the Spirit of Winter had gone ahead at some point, then showed up suggesting the swim to the children and Bunny, who was visiting at the time. Jack had done it knowing full well that the children liked to watch Bunny do a show-off dive before they too entered the pond.
Indeed, jumping into water that is six degrees centigrade instead of twenty-six can be a very big surprise.
Ombric and Katherine, observing the charge of said Easter Bunny across the middle of the village in pursuit of Jack, chuckled. The latter shaking her head in amusement.
"Looks like Jack might be on the Naughty List this year. First time in quite a while, too."
Ombric smiled, raising a finger in point of fact.
"Ah, but it made the children laugh and smile, which counts as part of his duties."
Katherine glanced at him wryly.
"Even so, I have feeling he'll get a delivery of rotten eggs sent to his Sanctuary next Easter."
Ombric laughed, raising a finger again.
"Ah, but then that might get Aster put on the Naughty List."
"If you two are done watching, the tea and biscuits are ready."
Ombric and Katherine went back inside Big Root, to where Tsar Lunar sipped from a cup of tea and Sophie was pouring the rest of the drinks. She then passed them out, before handing round the plate of miniature gingerbread men.
Sophie then went to the window, giggling at the sight outside. Meanwhile Katherine heaved a sigh at the pair's behaviour.
"Sometimes those two really make me wonder. Especially when I consider how Bunny used to behave when I first met him. Anyone who looked at them right now, would have a hard time believing one is over three-hundred and fifty, and the other pre-dates the Old Golden Age."
Tsar Lunar set down his cup, smiling.
"They act like brothers, and I for one prefer that to how Aster used to be. He lived in the shadows of depression for far too long. Jack will make sure that never happens again." He glanced towards the window. "And as much as Aster is pretending to be upset, I'm certain that inside he is laughing right now as well. It has been some time since he and Jack played a game of 'tag' in front of the children."
Sophie and Katherine now looked at each other, rolling their eyes and sighing in unison.
"Boys."
Tsar Lunar nibbled on a gingerbread man now, and raised his eyebrows in query.
"Might I take a few of these with me? I really must return to the Moon Clipper. There's so many wonderful things going on in the world right now, and I find myself truly enjoying the sight of them on my screens. Jamie has succeeded remarkably, so much so that I wonder if I can keep up with everything he's manage to do."
Sophie put several of the biscuits into a box for him, her expression stern in a motherly way.
"You just make sure you get enough sleep in between all that 'watching'. Too much TV is bad for you."
He accepted the box with a smile.
"I will, dear. Remember, I have been doing this for a very long time." He turned to Ombric. "I shall see you in a few days, for that promised game of chess."
The wizard smiled in return.
"I shall look forward to it."
Tsar Lunar went outside and to the annexe, passing through the mirror to the moon while also munching on another gingerbread man. When he eventually reached his usual room, and sat down in his chair by all the screens, his gaze drifted to once in particular and his smile widened.
For on that screen was displayed a countdown, for the time it would take his message capsule to reach Lumeris... The counter now showed negative numbers, indicating that almost two weeks had passed since the message should have arrived.
Tsar Lunar sat there, contently finishing his gingerbread men with a very satisfied expression on his face.
~(-)~
It was hard to describe the general feelings of the crew. Certainly it was as impossible to put an answer to, as it was to say what they were heading towards. None of them knew, or could know, what they would find. The only guess was that a person was waiting there, unless in the years the capsule had been travelling that person had passed away.
That may have been Wyatt's opinion, were it not for the assurance from Father Time. This was something important enough that the sole-remaining immortal had been observing it, and even speaking to the person it involved. Who that person was, remained an enigma. And certainly the Pooka's co-delegate wasn't worrying over it.
Jakub S Verdenfell was young compared to the majority of the Pre-Fall Pookas, but old compared to many of the Post-Fall ones. Among the fifty survivors had been two 'youngsters', those less than a thousand years old. Born thirty years after the Fall, he'd spent most of his childhood with them.
He was one of only six Pookas born during those first thousand years, when their race was too scattered about in the task of rebuilding, for many couples to live near each other long enough to have a child. It was only after that when their numbers had rocketed... for Pooka standards. In the Pre-Fall days they'd kept their numbers at around two-hundred, in consideration of their basically limitless lifespans. In the fifteen-thousand years since, their numbers had grown to six times that. Enough for every world in the Allegiance to have a resident Pooka, and for every world that was one of the original Constellation Capitals to have two or even three.
Jakub and Wyatt were two of those who lived on Lumeris, while the third on that planet, Krissa V Sherralin, remained behind as the Pooka Representative and Advisor to Tsar Gallus.
Jakub sat at the navigation controls, his eyes closed in a meditative state. While other ships in the Allegiance used computers to control the flight-path and avoid hitting anything when travelling faster than light, Pooka Brotherhood ships operated as they always had since the race had invented Etherically Impelled Space Flight. Computers on these ships were minimal, and the faster-than-light navigation was done the 'old fashioned way'.
With the Power of Belief. One Pooka would sit with their hands on the navigation controls, simply 'believing' that the ship's path would be corrected to avoid hitting anything, and it happened. Hence having two Pooka's on board for this, so they could take turns every eight hours.
Wyatt, fresh from sleep and breakfast, checked their current location while he waited for his next possible turn on navigation. The rest of the twelve crew-members were merely along to maintain the galley and monitor the ship's systems in general, what with the ship also having the capacity for up to twenty passengers. This might be a rescue mission, so it paid to be prepared for evacuating people. Just in case. But even so, the ship was as big as he'd dared to choose for this, and a part of him remained uncomfortable at the total absence of any weaponry on board.
Pooka ships were built for exploration and diplomacy, not battle.
A soft chime distracted him from this thoughts, bringing his attention back to the star-charts. At that same moment Jakub twitched an ear and opened his eyes. It seemed they'd reached the vicinity of the coordinates before requiring another shift-change.
"Time for deceleration phase one."
Jakub's paw moved from the navigation controls to the sliders on one side of his station, dropping the interstellar speed to zero, while the interplanetary one remained at full. There was no perceivable change on board, but both Pooka's knew the ship was now 'rising' closer to the 'surface' of the Ether. They'd remain submerged a bit longer, until it was time to drop to sub-light speeds and they emerged fully into normal space.
With no further need for continuous input to the navigation controls, Jakub settled back in his chair with a sigh.
"Almost there. Let's take a closer look at what's waiting for us."
Wyatt responded to the prompt, moving to the sensor station that was one of the few major systems run using a computer. It was the work of a few minutes to get an overview of the solar system they were entering. It was a fairly typical one, with the usual array of dozens of tiny planetoids, but for the most part could be defined by the eight largest planets detectable in the region closest to the sun. The outer four were gaseous, the inner four were terrestrial. But it was the third terrestrial planet that drew their attention now. Because there were undeniable background transmission signals emanating from it. A sign that it was inhabited.
The Evenglade Star proceeded closer, cutting back from their interstellar speed down to their interplanetary one. Another two hours ticked by as they got closer and closer, the rest of the crew soon waking up and bustling about in anxious tension. They then cut their speed yet again once they neared the planet and its single moon.
Wyatt sharpened the sensor focus on the planet, which was now visible through the front window of the bridge. The lights of civilisation could clearly be made out on the night-side of it.
"It's a standard Class Four Oxygen/Nitrogen Terrestrial, with the usual classes of plant-life supporting it. By the visible spread of settlement, and the spread of signals across a wide range of frequencies... A lot of people live there. Billions, easily. It also appears they are technologically advanced."
Jakub mused a little.
"Which would be why Father Time said don't come in a Cruiser. Do they have any sign of a space-port?"
Wyatt shook his head.
"There are hundreds of man-made satellites, a couple of tiny space-stations, but no sign that they're interplanetary travellers yet."
The other Pooka frowned.
"Then who sent the capsule?" A bleep surprised them, because it came from the automated landing system. A flashing light indicating it had received a guidance signal and was requesting directive from the crew as to if landing should be initiated. Jakub hastened over to it, confused. "What? But there aren't any ships here, and the system doesn't recognise the beacon ID tag. It's not in the active listings, and I don't recognise it either."
Wyatt came over to look, Jakub moving aside so he could read the tag. The elder Pooka's eyes then widened in astonishment before his gaze snapped to the view of the moon right in front of them. But there was also dawning hope in his expression as he keyed in the sequence to initiate the automated landing.
As the ship turned straight for the moon, he then let out a breath of barely-dared hope.
"Impossible... Could it really be?"
Jakub, now even more confused, glanced back and forth between his peer and the moon.
"What is it?"
The Evenglade Star banked into a glide over the moon's surface. The route below it suddenly aglow with tracking lights to show the lane-of-approach. Each was on top of a sculpted golden post that rose from the moon's surface.
Wyatt, starting to laugh in elation, turned on the intercom to speak to all those on board.
"Everyone prepare for landing! This is the Moon Clipper!"
Jakub was gaping, as was everyone else on board. There wasn't a single person in the Silver Allegiance that didn't know the name 'Moon Clipper'. The vessel upon which Tsar Lunanoff XI and his family had escaped, to hide from Pitch Black in the hopes of returning and rallying the people of the Golden Age when the time was right. But even while the name and story had lived on as a part of history, the hopes of any return by the Lunanoffs had long since died away.
But now?
The Evenglade Star glided in through a hanger door, which had opened up on a mountainside ahead of it. The ship was too big for the interior transport cradles, but a disembarking ramp lined-up automatically with the main hatch.
With bated breath all twelve on board soon stepped out onto that ramp. All of them following a lighted strip on the floor towards a waiting transport capsule on rails. They entered it and sat, breathless with anticipation as it set into motion and they were on their way. Every minute ticking by with agonising slowness, until five minutes later they emerged into a dome.
The view of the planet below was awe-inspiring, it wasn't what drew their gaze the most. Rather it was that everything inside the dome was crafted to designs and styles standard within the Silver Allegiance, carried forward from the days of the Golden Age.
And then... they saw him.
One by one they came out of the capsule and stood motionless on the station platform, all eyes fixed upon the smiling man who waited for them. A man garbed in the traditional formal robes of Constellation Lunanoff. Silver and white, patterned with spirals and moons. A man who also wore the spiral pendant that marked him as the Tsar of a Constellation.
His smile widened, his eyes alight with joy.
"Welcome to the Moon Clipper, children of the Silver Allegiance. I am Tsar Lunar XII, known in my childhood by the nickname 'MiM'. The little 'Man in the Moon'."
Wyatt, who had met this man back when he was that child, started down the stairs towards him. Was this really happening?
Father Time's appearance behind Tsar Lunar confirmed it, the immortal nodding once before disappearing again as Wyatt stopped a short way away. The Pooka looked almost bewildered.
"Your parents? Tsar Lunar the XI and his wife?"
Tsar Lunar bowed his head in remembered grief.
"They perished just after the Moon Clipper arrived here, when the Nightmare King attacked this ship and crippled it. I have remained here and continued my family's work ever since. For all these thousands of years, waiting for this day to come."
The rest of the crew were gathered behind Wyatt now, but before anything could be asked about Pitch, a white-haired figure came barrelling through one of three ornate icy mirrors stood a short distance away.
"Tsar Lunar! The moonbeam said come right away! Is something wr-"
The young man skidded to a stop, blue eyes blinking in surprise, as his mind took in the sight of fourteen strangers in clothing that definitely didn't come from Earth... Not only that, but two of them were Pookas.
He directed a quick glance and a wide grin at Tsar Lunar, and then reversed direction to dash for the mirror.
"I'll bring everyone!"
He was then gone, leaving a group of startled visitors. It was Jakub who pointed in the direction of the mirror.
"Who was that?"
Tsar Lunar chuckled, his expression amused.
"Jack Frost; one of this world's immortals. He's gone to gather his colleagues, from both Nature and Legend, so they can welcome you. It shouldn't take him long." When Jakub tried to ask more, Tsar Lunar raised his hand for silence. "No questions until they are here. They have been waiting for this, too."
Jakub, Wyatt, and the crew all looked at one another. Elated, excited, joyful... and utterly confused all at once.
~(-)~
It was mid-afternoon at Solaris, admittedly raining, but despite being a wet weekend nobody really minded. Rainy days were ones where people would snuggle up in the warm at home, read books or watch movies with their family, or perhaps even do a dab of craft-work and make something artistic or simply for fun.
In the case of Jamie Bennett, he was sat in his apartment with his wife. He was reading the latest novel by one of his favourite authors, and Allienne was experimenting in the kitchen. Everything was peaceful and relaxed, that is until an ice-mirror appeared in the middle of the living room and a certain Spirit of Winter practically exploded through it.
"The Silver Allegiance are here! Meet up at Santoff Claussen!"
Jamie dropped his book, staring at where Jack had been before his 'blink and you'll miss it' disappearing act. The mirror was still there, showing a view of early morning Santoff, but Jack was gone back through it and likely dashing off to somewhere else.
Jamie sat there almost numbly, until he was firmly tugged to his feet by Allienne. His wife towing him to the bedroom and literally man-handling him into his formal over-robe. She then flustered over getting his hair perfect, tweaking his robe until it hung just right, and then she pushed his stunned self through the mirror.
At the village, despite being barely dawn, adults and children were crowding about and chattering excitedly. Nightlight waved Jamie over to the annexe entrance, Katherine and Ombric watching from the door of Big Root close by.
A moment later a burrow opened up a few feet away from him, with Bunny, Sophie, and Tooth emerging from it. Ten seconds after that, Ariko was dumped from thin air with a yelp of surprise, almost certainly having been 'delivered' by Jack via a mirror. North arrived via snow-globe a minute after that, about the same time it rained a Spirit of the Seasons for the second time. Yet Achieng's annoyance quickly faded in the face of the event that was taking place. Especially once Oisin flew down from the sky, apparently he'd been close enough to the area to avoid any mirror-based indignity, and lastly a vine-gate opened up with the final three attendees emerging from it.
Jack was literally bouncing with excitement, much to the amusement of Kosmotis and his daughter. It was Mother Nature who looked to Jamie and his wife, before indicating the annexe door that Nightlight now opened for them.
"You all go first. My father and I will come through when the time is right."
Bunny now glanced at Jamie, he and the rest of the Guardians forming up an honour guard around him and Allienne.
"Lead on, Tsar Solus. We'll be right behind you."
~(-)~
Alaia Skyhawk: Looooooooong chapter again. And again, don't worry, I'll update soon XD