The Mid-Season Finale. The landscape of the story is about to be blown wide open. This is about double the length of other Chapters this Season, so I hope you enjoy it.
CHAPTER 27: SKOTOS
JACK FOSSE:
Parish stared at me, one eyebrow raised. His eyes were wide as he struggled to comprehend everything.
"So, let me get this straight," he said finally. "You get some people from another universe, along with some Spatial Keepers and some Universal Hunters, and you think the best course of action is to not inform the United States military?"
"Yeah, you seem like you might be struggling to handle this one, Parish," I told him.
Parish didn't have a response to this, and after a second or two of stern silence, he said, "In spite of the fact that I have had a conversation with a television character, I struggle to take everything you have just told me at face value. I still need to interview the rest of your compatriots. I suggest you start praying their stories line up with yours."
"I'll be waiting for your prognosis," I told him.
IN THE EYES OF THE MULTIVERSE:
Theas swung his sword up, raising a line of electricity high overhead. Nok took a step back as he looked up at the towering electricity, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. Theas swung his other sword into the tower, and it erupted outward and assaulted Nok, blasting him across the mountain. Theas leapt out of the crater, landing just outside it, and he stretched out his arm as a portal opened. Theas swiped his arm, dragging the portal across the ground. Meanwhile, Jack and Gibbs were pulled from their interrogation rooms in Grissom Base, as were Sarah, Fornell, Ari, and Diane.
Out of the portal appeared Jack, Sarah, and each of the Macrobreach Anomalies, all except for Jackson Gibbs.
All of them looked around in confusion, entirely perplexed as to how they wound up here. Gibbs marched forward, finding Theas, and he demanded, "What the hell?"
"I don't have time for your pissiness, Gibbs," Theas said.
"Theas, we were going after a Macrobreach," Fornell stated.
"Yeah, well trust me when I say you're about to be happy I brought you here," Theas countered.
"Brought us where?" Sarah asked.
Before Theas could respond, Nok landed on the ground, thirty feet away from the assembled Anomalies.
"Well, would you look at this," Nok said, grinning malevolently. "You brought my prey right to me, Theas. How thoughtful of you."
"Ah, hell," Gibbs said, disgruntled.
"We're a little low on firepower," Admiral McGee stated.
Theas aimed the tip of his sword at Nok and fired an electric blast. Nok blocked this with his own sword, and Theas rushed in. The sound of an engine rushing past made the Anomalies all look up, and they just had time to see a light trace through the air, just outside the churning storm clouds, as a projectile dropped down towards them. The object came to hover a couple of feet off the ground, revealing itself to be a large box the size of a gun safe. Compartments opened up on all sides, revealing several weapons inside such as a sniper rifle, several pistols, and a bow with quiver.
"Oh, that's nice," Sarah commented.
JACK FOSSE:
While Theas and Nok battled furiously across this mountain, we all grabbed our weapons and prepared for combat. I could hear the sounds of combat coming from all sides, but there was no time to ask any questions.
"Form a firing line!" Gibbs ordered.
All of the Anomalies from R and I complied immediately, and while Gibbs lined up a shot against Nok, I fired an arrow. Theas backed away as my arrow hit the ground at Nok's feet and exploded, blasting him back. Gibbs fired a shot, and while Nok was able to swipe this away with his sword, he was disoriented by the litany of shots being fired by the firing line. Nok aimed his sword at the gathered Anomalies and fired a blast of black energy, scattering them all as the firing line was broken.
"Gugh!"
Nok's body lurched as Theas drove his blade into him. Nok stumbled back while clutching at Theas's hand, but Theas swung his other sword across Nok's chest. Blood erupted outward from the attack, and Theas wrenched his blade out as Nok collapsed. Blood pooled on the ground under him as he tried to crawl away, but Theas strolled over and prepared to bring his sword down on top of him.
A high-pitched screech echoed across the mountain, and we all looked around as a trail of electric-blue fire raged through the air. I nocked another arrow, and out of the fire came about twenty blasts that approached us like missiles.
"Everyone down!" Fornell yelled.
The Anomalies threw themselves down as the fire blasts bombarded us, and several of us took minor injuries from the fire and the rubble that was blasted out.
"Damn you," Nok growled. He finally managed to return to his feet, and he swung his sword to counter Theas's own attack. Nok aimed his sword directly overhead, and what looked like an eclipse darkened the mountain as a field of black spread across the sky.
We all watched this apprehensively, and Nok turned to ash and was lost in the storm. I turned and watched the trail of blue fire disappear as well. We regrouped with Theas, who was panting while nursing an injured arm.
"What's going on?" I asked him.
"We were in the middle of bringing back a Macrobreach," Sarah said.
"The answer is here," Theas said, almost breathless. "The reason you came to this universe, it's here."
I don't know if anyone quite grasped what Theas was saying. If we did, we were paralyzed by the weight of it.
"What happens now?" Sloane asked, her eyes wide.
"We have to find it," Theas said with deadly urgency. "Before the Hunters get to it."
"How do we know they haven't already?" Ari asked. "They could be there now."
"I don't think so," Theas countered. "I think if they had already taken the Macrobreach device, you'd all be dead."
"Do you know where the Macrobreach device is?" Luca asked.
"I'm still trying to figure out where in the hell we are," said Fornell.
"You're on the planet Superias," Theas told them. "I don't have time to explain anything else."
Not a single one of us looked ready to let the subject drop, but we knew our time was limited.
"How do you know the Macrobreach device is here?" asked Sarah.
"Because the signal we were tracking that we thought led to Nok leads to the device," Theas answered. "If we can narrow down that signal, we'll find the device."
IN THE EYES OF THE MULTIVERSE:
A thunderclap echoed across the landscape, and the entire storm blacked out for a split second. There was then a blast of lightning, and Nok was there. He stood before a vast mountain range that spread out endlessly. Nok looked around as Gilo, Brindier, Iryn, and Alkor regrouped with him, each of them looking confused.
"What happened?" Gilo asked.
"Yeah, we were pushing them back," Brindier complained.
"And then they called in reinforcements," Nok said. "A whole damn lot of them. We need to make a new plan."
"Have they located the device?" Iryn asked.
"That would be a bitch," Gilo said. "We took up post on this planet so we'd be the first to find it. Here we are, we've searched for the damned thing for months, and we still haven't found it."
"I know our progress on this little adventure hasn't been as fruitful as we had hoped," Nok conceded.
"That's a hell of an understatement, Nok."
Nok paused for a moment, and he then let out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes. He turned around to see a woman staring at him. She had the appearance of a person in their eighties, but she gave him a look of furious calm. She wore a thick, silver robe with white trim. She had stark white hair with bangs hanging in her eyes. Her skin was fair, almost ghostly, and while her face was wrinkled, there wasn't a trace of frailness in her, and Nok seemed to almost deteriorate under her gaze.
"I didn't know you were coming, Sevak," Nok said.
"I received notification of your retreat and came to investigate," the woman told him. "Explain yourself."
"The Keepers don't like us," Nok stated. "And they don't intend to let us accomplish what we're doing."
"And we are superior to them and their disgusting Anomalies in every way," Sevak replied. "At least, we're supposed to be."
"We were outnumbered," Nok told her.
"We were?" Brindier asked.
"Yes, Brindier, we were," Nok said irately.
"And what do you intend to do to fix that?" Sevak asked.
"I don't suppose we can get a second Kill Team out here," Nok asked.
Sevak merely glowered at him.
"Cool. We'll figure it out."
"You had better," she said venomously.
"If I may ask," Nok said, "why are you in this form?"
Sevak took a deep breath. "I have business to conduct that requires my true appearance to be hidden. I'm still mastering the mechanics of Formshifting, so I'm getting my practice in where I can."
Nok nodded, saying no more on the subject. Meanwhile, Sevak faded to ash and blew away in the storm.
"What now?" Brindier asked.
"What do you think?" Nok asked severely. "Theas is blocking out their signal, so we have to find them the old-fashioned way. When we get there, we operate as one cohesive unit. No commandos or heroes. And Alkor, I know you don't like it, buddy, but we might need you to take off the training wheels for this."
Alkor huffed, patting the ground in a mixture of nervousness and anger.
"Let's go!" Nok said.
JACK FOSSE:
"Hold on!" Admiral McGee demanded. "Before we go running off into neverafter, I want to know exactly what we're doing. I'm not much of a mountain climber myself, and I can't say I like the idea of being half-dead by the time the Hunters find us again."
"I get it, but I'm going to need you to work with me," Theas said. "If you all want answers, this is how you get them."
"I'd sure like some answers too, Theas."
We all looked around and saw a group of four people moving towards us from different parts of the battlefield.
"Falien," Theas addressed to the man who had spoken. We stood between Theas and Falien, but that didn't stop this man from glaring at Theas as though he had committed an egregious sin.
"Why are they here?" Falien said, referring to us as though we were extra groceries he hadn't ordered.
The other newcomers stood by, equally interested in Theas's explanation. "Falien," Theas said, "I need you to track the source of Skotos that led us here."
Falien raised an eyebrow. "That…that was Nok. We just saw him."
"It wasn't Nok," Theas said heavily.
"It wasn't Nok?" Falien repeated. "Then what the hell was it?"
"The cause of the Macrobreach," Theas told him.
Falien's eyes widened, and reactions of surprise made their way around the rest of Theas's team. After he finally registered what Theas had told him, Falien consulted his wristwatch, a device identical to the one that Theas wore. After about a minute, Falien said, "Alright. I've got a lock on it. It's this way."
As we all began to move out as one massive group, Luca asked, in a loud voice to be heard over the raging storm, "What happens if the Hunters come back?"
"Friend, there are five of them and sixteen of us," Falien assured him. "If the Hunters are stupid enough to come knocking, we'll answer the call."
We began walking across the rugged wasteland, trying to shield ourselves from the brutal wind. As we walked, Sloane approached Gibbs.
"Do you really think this could be it?" she asked, sounding almost too afraid to be hopeful. "Do you think this is how we get home?"
"I don't know," Gibbs told her earnestly. "Seems too good to be true."
The trek down the mountain was not an exhilarating one. There was no clear-cut path down, making it a slow descent. The Keepers were as efficient at navigating the rough terrain as billygoats. Gibbs, Fornell, Rob, and Ari made relatively easy work of the job as well. Sarah, Diane, and Admiral McGee were also able to keep up with only moderate difficulty. Meanwhile, Luca, Kyle, and I all struggled to make our way down the steep drops and unsturdy footholds. After what felt to me like hours, we finally managed to make it to the bottom of the mountain.
"How far away are we going?" Gibbs asked Falien.
"About four kilometers," Falien answered.
"What?" Sloane said, flabbergasted.
"You want us to go galavanting across the world in this crap?" Diane said, holding out her hands to indicate the storm around us.
"You're welcome to hang out here," Saphyon said. "But the Hunters might think that's too good an opportunity to pass up."
No one else complained about the distance to the Macrobreach device.
As we kept walking, Gibbs let out a heavy sigh, maintaining a look of consternation.
"What is it?" Sloane asked, looking concerned.
"Dad," he answered as quietly as he could. "I hate him being there by himself."
"I know," Sloane assured him. "We'll get back to him as soon as possible."
Meanwhile, Diane and Fornell maintained pace with each other.
"What's going to happen, Tobias?" Diane asked.
"What do you mean? You're talking about am I just going to run straight back to the universe where you're dead?" He gave Diane a pointed look while she still looked greatly concerned. "I don't care what has to happen," Fornell told her firmly. "There's not a chance in this universe or any other that I'm losing you again."
The tension in Diane's expression eased a bit as they continued onward with the rest of the group.
"Where's your head at?" Sarah asked me. Clearly she could tell in my expression that I had been deep in thought, and me being startled at her voice didn't give evidence to the contrary.
"Wondering where that new Anomaly is," I told her. "What's Parish doing to them?"
"Yeah, I'm worried about that too," Sarah told me. "It's kind of silly that we have so many people and still can't get much accomplished."
We walked a few steps further, and Sarah said, "Okay, so let me ask you this."
"I'm listening."
"If we do find the thing that's causing all of this, what are you going to do?" Sarah asked me.
I turned to look at her, and I saw that she was giving me a very serious expression. "Well," I told her, "I'm not gonna bomb the device or something, if that's what you're thinking."
"Okay, and are you going to be okay with things going back to normal?" Sarah asked.
"No, I'm going to hate it," I told her with utmost sincerity. "But it's what needs to happen, and I can accept that."
Sarah nodded, but her concern wasn't assuaged.
If I ever wondered how long it would take to travel four kilometers in a grueling storm, then a thorough examination of my sanity was in order. By the time we traveled the distance, every one of us, including the Keepers, was in desperate need of a nap. Perhaps it was the pure exhaustion that caused it to take so long for anyone to notice what we had just come upon.
"Oh, my dear God," Fornell said.
Ari said something in Hebrew as he stared upwards.
The mountain was easily the biggest thing I had ever seen. And this was imposing enough on its own, without the backdrop of the dark storm clouds swirling around it, making the mountain look like a demon lying in slumber. I compared this awe-striking sight with my preconceptions of Mount Everest, and I figured that Earth's tallest mountain was laughably small compared to this.
"Okay, if we're supposed to climb this behemoth, somebody's going to have to carry me," said the female Keeper, Eliacro.
"I don't think it's up the mountain," Falien said, examining his watch. "The signal isn't all that clear, but I think it is the mountain."
Theas, Eliacro, Pasir, and Saphyon all nodded in understanding; the rest of us were dumbfounded.
"What are we looking for?" Gibbs asked.
"I don't know," Falien answered. "Let's find out."
We all moved towards the mountain, and while the formation was stupefying in scale, it didn't appear to be more than a normal mountain. It was another hour of battling through the fierce storm before we came to the base of the mountain. The Keepers spread out, searching for anything about the mountain that may strike them as suspicious.
I looked around and saw Gibbs observing their progress. I wondered what he was thinking. I also wondered if today was the last time I would see him.
"You know," said Gibbs, not looking at me, "if this thing is what we think it is, you should come visit some time." He managed to look at me, and he nodded. "You ever been to D.C.?"
I stared at him, almost unable to believe what I was hearing. "Yeah," I said finally. "Yeah, that'd be really cool."
"It's not all terrorists and gunfights, you know," Gibbs said. "There's a lot of good."
I nodded, and we both turned back to the Keepers.
"Found something!" Eliacro announced.
We all converged quickly on where she was. She looked up and down the face of the mountain, at a thin crack that was barely the width of my finger, yet it ran about a hundred feet up the stone.
"What are you thinking?" Theas asked as the other Keepers examined the crack.
"There's…I don't know, it's like a kind of pressure," Eliacro said. "I think this is a passageway."
"How do we get in?" Pasir asked.
"I'd be happy to give it an effort," Saphyon said.
"I don't think all of us together would get anywhere close to breaking through that barrier," Falien said. "We need to figure out what gets us inside."
"You may enter."
We all looked around in astonished surprise, unable to identify where the voice had come from. Falien stared at the crack with an eyebrow raised, his maces clutched tightly in his hands.
The voice spoke again. "Proceed forward."
I felt my breath catch in my chest, and at that moment, Sarah stepped over next to me and grasped my hand in hers.
"Okay," Falien said. "Proceeding forward."
He took a step forward so that he was within inches of the crack, and it looked like a vacuum had turned on. He was sucked into the crack in an instant, and he was gone. Several people across Keepers and Anomalies raised their weapons in response, but nothing happened.
"Falien," Saphyon called into his watch. "Falien can you hear me?" There was no response.
I felt my chest tighten, and several of the Anomalies grew apprehensive.
"Well, we need to go after him," Eliacro said.
"Girl, we have no idea where this thing takes you," Pasir stated. "He could be on a whole other damn planet."
I waited for the mystery voice to give us some guidance, but none came. The mountain remained silent.
We all waited for well over a minute, and several of us took instinctive steps away from the mountain. It looked like about half of our group was ready to back out when Falien was spit back out of the mountain. Eliacro sighed with relief as Falien straightened up, his maces in his belt, and he stretched his arms and back as though he had just done an intense workout.
"Whoa, what the hell, man?" Saphyon said. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"Yeah," Falien said, popping his neck. "Gosh, that was really uncomfortable. Yeah, it's all good. Come on, guys."
Falien stepped back, motioning for us all to step towards the mountain. Eliacro was the first to comply, and in a mirror image of Falien, she was sucked into the mountain and disappeared. Pasir and Saphyon followed her, and Falien nodded to Theas before going with them. Theas turned to face us all. "Everyone," he said, "this is it. It's been a long road. Let's find some answers."
He stepped back to supervise our entry into the mountain. Gibbs nodded to Sarah and I, and Fornell patted him encouragingly on the back as he stepped towards the mountain. I watched him as he disappeared, and Sloane followed him. Luca looked quite unsure about this whole affair, but he still stepped forward and was gone.
"We're good," I said to Sarah.
She nodded. "We're good."
I walked forward, taking a deep breath, calming my nerves, and what followed was quite possibly the most unpleasant thing I had ever experienced. It felt like I was being pressed on by a trash compactor while my arms were being yanked from my shoulders. My brain felt like it was doing somersaults while my stomach was cartwheeling through my intestines. The whole thing only lasted about three or four seconds, but I knew I would never forget those seconds.
I erupted out of the other side of the passageway, and I tumbled across a polished stone floor that didn't feel much better than getting hit by a car.
"Ow," I groaned, my face smeared against the floor.
I finally managed to drag myself to my knees, and a hand was offered to me. As Falien pulled me to my feet, Gibbs ran over to make sure I was okay. I nodded to him, and I turned as someone else was thrown from the passageway. Ari looked around, seeming unsure if he wanted to cry or vomit, and he staggered up.
I took the time to look at our surroundings. It looked like we had arrived in a cross between a cave and a warehouse. The floor was a handsome dark-gray, like granite, but the walls were rough stone that was supported by steel reinforcement. I looked straight up and saw that the room ascended into darkness above us. The wall we came out at had a crack in the wall, identical to the one we came in through outside the mountain.
Sarah was the next to arrive, and I helped her to her feet as she put her weight on me.
"Can we not do that again?" she whimpered.
"Only if you want to stay in here forever," I told her.
More people steadily came through, and not one of them looked pleased with their method of entry. It took about five minutes for everyone to cross through, and Theas was the last one.
"What kind of place is this?" Sloane asked, looking around in awe.
"You know as much as we do," Eliacro told her.
We all looked around, spotting a corridor that led off into darkness, deeper into the mountain. Falien and Theas led the group, and as we entered the corridor, bright lights activated on the ceiling, illuminating our way. As we walked through the silent hall, Gibbs approached Theas.
"Hey," Gibbs said, "the government has all our weapons. They have your technology."
"I know," Theas said solemnly. "There's nothing we can do about it right now. That and the Macrobreach will need to wait."
After about five minutes of walking down the corridor, expecting at any moment for something to attack us, the hallway opened up into a monstrous room.
It was hard to describe. I figured rooms like this were where dragons hoarded their treasure. But the room wasn't like a normal cave. The wall on one side was rough, staggered, like natural stone. The other wall was smooth, immaculate. It was curved outward in a semi-circle, as though someone had intended to construct something here but hadn't completed their work. Meanwhile, the room itself was larger than a skyscraper, with no visible ceiling in sight.
The Keepers walked slowly around the room, observing everything in silence as they tried to construct an idea of what this place might be. Meanwhile, the Anomalies were all stupefied, unable to grasp what they were seeing. Sarah and I stayed together, and I watched her as her brain worked furiously to try and build an answer to the questions that were on everyone's minds.
"I guess this was coming eventually, wasn't it?"
We all looked around in alarm, and stalking towards us was a strange creature. He didn't seem intent to harm us, but that didn't stop several people from stepping back and resting their hands on their weapons. The creature was about fifteen feet tall, and he had six enormous legs that were situated like a horse's. His entire body was covered in thick white fur, and while his lower body resembled some form of mutated elk, his upper body was more like a gorilla's. His chest was bare, and he had rippling pectorals and abdominals along with arms that were about as big around as my entire body. He had piercing yellow eyes and long, pointed ears.
"Who are you?" Sarah asked, hesitating to approach.
The creature snorted like an animal, and his back leg twitched. "I am Seridon of the Indyctus Dominion."
"Seridon," Theas said, stepping forward to talk with him. "My name is Theas. I'm with the Universal Keepers." Seridon appeared superbly unimpressed by this credential. "We're investigating a fracture in Universal Boundaries on a massive scale. In our search, we've uncovered evidence that points to the source of that fracture being in this vicinity."
Seridon huffed again. "You've found it." We all stared at him, and he pointed at the smooth, circular wall. I couldn't begin to devise what Seridon might be referring to.
"So," Theas said, trying to wrap his mind around everything, "so it was you? You caused the Macrobreach Anomaly?"
"Not me," Seridon said.
Theas stared at him, but when Seridon didn't elaborate, he said, "Then…then who?"
"Indyctus," Seridon said, as though this should have been blatantly obvious."
"Okay," Theas said, "who's Indyctus?"
"A Primidus."
We all stared at him. Seridon looked back at us, entirely nonplussed.
"Okay," Falien said, rubbing his forehead and trying very hard to conceal his deteriorating frustration. "Look, Seridon. I can clearly see you know what you're talking about. Unfortunately, we do not. So I really need you to break this down for us with as much detail as possible."
Seridon cocked his head, staring at Falien as though he couldn't quite comprehend what he was saying. "Wait," Seridon said. And then his eyes widened. "You don't know who the Primidus are?"
Theas stared at him and shook his head.
"Oh. Oh, dear," Seridon said, looking quite concerned. He began pacing back and forth in front of us, resting his fist under his chin. "Dear, this is something. Okay, where to start? The Primidus. What would they be in terms you could understand? Gods? No, that's a bit too simplistic. Let me think." We all stared at him, steadily growing more lost by the second. After two laps of pacing, he said, "Okay, yeah, I got it. The Primidus are a species, that's it. They just, you know, they just exist on a bit of a higher plane."
"Hold on," Falien said. "The Universal Keepers have no record of any species by the designation of Primidus."
"Ah, well, I guess that's really to be expected, isn't it?" Seridon decided. "The Keepers don't really like to think anything is superior to them. Neither do the Hunters, for that matter. Yeah, you people are pretty antiquated that way."
Falien stared at Seridon as though he had just received a hoof to the face. Theas resumed the discussion, which seemed like an impressive level of situational awareness on his part.
"Seridon, I need you to help us understand exactly what we're looking at," Theas stated.
"Well, Mister Keeper," Seridon said, "you're looking at the Kalavign."
"And this chunk of wall is what caused all of these people to leave their universe?" Saphyon asked skeptically.
"Chunk of wall?" Seridon said. "What are you talking about?"
Many of us turned to reexamine the smooth surface of the wall, rising upward seemingly infinitely. I found it impressive that there wasn't a single crack, divet, or missing piece of stone. However, in spite of this, I still couldn't comprehend what was happening.
Finally, Luca breathed, "Oh."
"Ah, see, this boy knows his stuff," Seridon said, pointing jovially at Luca. "He gets it."
"Luca," Sloane said, "Luca what is it, what are we not seeing."
"It's not a cave wall," Luca said. "It's a container."
We all continued staring at it. When he put it like that, it made sense. I just couldn't figure out how he came to that conclusion.
"What's inside the container?" Eliacro asked. "Can you open it?"
Seridon grunted. "That doesn't open. And trust me, you don't want it to."
"Then explain to us exactly what it's supposed to be and do," Falien requested.
"Hm," Seridon said, caressing his chin with his hand. "Yeah, I guess the Kalavign is a bit hard to comprehend for beings of your scale. I think some visualization would help, wouldn't it?"
He clapped his hands, and lights around the room activated, shining holographic beams that formed an image around us. We all looked around, awestruck, and Sarah and I instinctively stepped closer to each other. After a few seconds, the light beams twisted together to form a definitive shape. We saw the silhouette of the gargantuan mountain we were inside. But there was something else. A feature that I couldn't identify at first. As I looked closer, I saw a cylinder, situated in the center of the mountain but rising from base to peak. It reminded me of a planetary core.
"So, that's what you're looking at now," Seridon told us. "That's the outside of the Kalavign, inside Mount Tovam."
"What's it look like inside?" Admiral McGee asked.
"Well, you're about to see, if you'd just be patient for seven and a quarter seconds," Seridon said.
Like an image on a smartphone, the image of the mountain and the cylinder zoomed in, and we saw a complex contraption. Much of the inside of the cylinder was hollow, but at the top was another smaller cylinder. This one appeared to be solid, like a weight. It was attached to the wall of the outer cylinder with three braces that were set in a track running all the way down the length of the tube. At the very bottom of the Kalavign was what looked like a landing pad–a small circle of stone that was the same width as the weight above it.
"The mechanics of it all are pretty simple," Seridon said. "Once you start digging into it."
"I can't even begin to understand what I'm looking at," Admiral McGee said, his jaw hanging open.
"It's like a drum," Kyle said. "The weight is like a mallet; it slides down the tube and slams into the bottom."
"And that's really enough to do what you're saying it does?" Ari asked. I couldn't tell if he was skeptical or terrified.
"Well, the thing you need to understand is that weight at the top possesses the mass of a supermassive blackhole," Seridon said.
Every single person in the room gawked in utter astonishment at Seridon. Even the Keepers all went pale, frozen in place as though they had been turned to stone themselves.
"Uh-huh," Seridon said, nodding. "Yeah, you pair that with an equally durable receiver on the bottom, and you get a universal fracture.
"How does…how does that work?" Pasir asked, trying and failing to conceal his astonishment.
"Ah, well, it helps to have something to see to understand, doesn't it?" Seridon said. "How about this? Let's do a bit of a reenactment."
He waved his arm vaguely at the crisscrossing light beams, and they started intensifying. Layers folded over each other to create an illusion of solidity. When this was complete, the projection looked more like a photograph. It showed the inside of the Kalavign.
"We're turning back the clock to, let's see, twenty-two days ago," Seridon explained.
We all watched as the projection took motion, like a video. Sarah's hand tightened around mine, and I returned the gesture. In the image, machinery in the inner workings of the Kalavign came to life, whirring into motion as the device built up power.
"So, you see what's happening," Seridon said. "We've started the process. Let's watch what happens next. Pay attention to the cylinder at the top, that's the Cutter. The receiver at the bottom is the Carving."
The Kalavign completed its preparation, and the Cutter descended down. It made no sense to me how something bigger than the largest building on Earth could move that quickly. The thing dropped down, a distance of nearly thirty miles, in barely a second. The friction against the cylinder created white light that sparked like fire. About halfway down, there was a shockwave that emanated out from the bottom of the Cutter. And then the Cutter impacted the Carving.
I figured Seridon had purposefully scaled this for our comprehension, because I had a suspicion that seeing this for real would boil my brain. There was a flash of blinding light that, even through the projection, caused everyone except for Seridon to have to look away. When we looked back, white light was surging through the inside of the Kalavign. It flowed upward to the top, where it seemed to be funneling out.
"There are conductors through the mountain that are channeling the energy," Seridon stated.
He waved his hand again, and the projection switched to a view of the mountain peak above us. Here, there was a massive buildup of white energy. A few seconds later, the energy erupted straight upward in a massive beam. The energy shot clear into space, well away from Superias in a hurtling trek through the cosmos.
Seridon waved his hand, shifting the view to show Earth from just outside of orbit. The view panned around to see the white energy beam quickly closing in. The energy descended upon the Midwestern United States, colliding into an expanse of farmland. The energy spilled outward, washing over the landscape like a tidal wave. We watched as the energy surge expelled out, and after it faded, the projection faded.
The room was still. Even the Keepers were struggling to comprehend everything they had just witnessed.
"Yeah," Seridon said. "Once you wrap your head around it, the mechanics of it are pretty simple."
Sloane stared at him, flabbergasted. "There is nothing simple about any of this," she breathed.
Luca pinched the bridge of his nose, his forehead creased. Kyle rubbed the back of his head.
"I still don't understand," Admiral McGee stated. He wasn't being obstinate. His eyes were wide and sunken. "How can a thing like this exist?"
"What do you mean?" Seridon asked. "It exists because Indyctus created it."
"But how?" Diane asked, almost hysterical. "This kind of thing shouldn't even be possible."
"Well, you'd have to talk to Indyctus for the exact schematics," Seridon said. "But it's powered using Skotos, and I mean a lot of it."
Gibbs turned and glared at Theas. "Can you explain what he's talking about?"
Theas looked like he couldn't speak. "Aolen is more powerful than nuclear power, right?" he said. Gibbs nodded. "Skotos makes Aolen look like a broken spark plug."
Gibbs let out a heavy breath, and he turned back to Seridon.
"So, can we talk to Indyctus, then?" Falien asked. "Where is he?"
"I don't know," Seridon answered. "He's not here."
"Then what's your role here?" Eliacro asked.
"Well, I'm here to defend the Kalavign," Seridon answered. "It's an important job, something this powerful."
I was still reeling from everything we had just experienced. For three weeks we had been pursuing answers, trying to unravel the mystery. And now that we had made such a stupendous leap forward, I wished I was back home, sitting on the couch with Sarah and playing Legend of Zelda together. I had no idea what Sarah was thinking. Whereas usually I could read her body language well enough, there seemed to be a barrier closing me off from her. I didn't like it. It felt isolating–like something had permanently been lost between us.
"Why did Indyctus do this?" Falien asked. "What was his intent?"
"Well, that's a good question, isn't it?" Seridon replied. "I mean, he created it, but was he the one that turned it on? Did someone or something else do it? Was it a spontaneous event? I don't know."
"How do you not know?" Fornell asked. "Were you not here when it was used?"
"What, you think Indyctus couldn't activate the Kalavign remotely if he wanted to?" Seridon said, almost derisively.
A rhythmic, synthesized noise echoed through the cavern, and we all looked around in confusion.
"Ah," Seridon said, "I see your Hunter friends have returned. Followed you here, I'm assuming."
"Are you with us?" Gibbs asked.
Seridon stared at him mutely for a moment, and he then snorted. "Oh, no."
"What?" Eliacro said, gawking.
"No, I'm quite prohibited from participating in your little skirmishes," Seridon stated. "It'd be unfair, you see."
"So…so, let me get this straight," Pasir said. "You're here for the explicit purpose of defending the Kalavign, but you're not going to help defend it?"
"Not from Spatial Hunters," Seridon confirmed. "Not to be ostentatious, but it'd be beneath me."
Most of us stared at him. The rest, including Luca, Kyle, and Rob, avoided eye contact altogether.
"Then who are you defending it from?" Ari asked.
"Beings a whole hell of a lot more powerful," Seridon assured us.
As he left this sentiment to ricochet through the air like a stray bullet, Theas and Falien started rallying. "Come on," Falien said. "We need to get ready for Nok and his Hunters."
"It's not like they can get in here," Seridon said. "You all are more than welcome to stay here until they move on."
Theas and Falien all but ignored him, and they formed us all into one large group. It was quite an impressive display of manpower, but defeating the Hunters would still require several miracles.
"Gibbs," Theas addressed.
"You're in charge," Gibbs assured him.
Theas nodded. "I think the best thing to do is this."
Theas explained to us his strategy, and an hour later, we were all situated outside of the mountain. Seridon had watched us deploy, almost as though he were watching a rather amusing television show, but he didn't try to stop us. We all had our weapons. The Anomalies and the Keepers teamed together to form a defense strategy against Nok.
"When will they be here?" Sloane asked as the group began splintering off from each other.
"Minutes," Falien answered. "Hurry to your positions."
Gibbs moved up the mountain to an elevated position. Meanwhile, Fornell led a team that consisted of Ari, Sarah, Saphyon, and myself to a ridge that we intended to use for cover against the Hunters. There were two adjacent ridges, which were to be occupied by Eliacro, Luca, Kyle, and Admiral McGee at one and Pasir, Sloane, Rob, and Diane at the other. These ridges formed a broad u shape that we would use to box in the Hunters. On top of our normal weapons, we all had assault rifles that had been conjured from somewhere no one could quite explain to me and disseminated by Theas. The ones given to the Anomalies weren't as fancy as the models the Keepers wielded, but we were assured they would do just fine in the line of combat.
Theas and Falien stood in front of us all, poised to meet the Hunters face on with their weapons gripped tightly. The strategy was for our group to provide direct support to Theas and Falien while the groups led by Eliacro and Pasir were to give covering fire for all of us. Meanwhile, Gibbs would be doing what Gibbs did best and taking every shot he could.
For the first time since we had arrived on this planet, the storm had calmed. There was a breeze, but it wasn't overpowering. A bright, red moon shone down on the planet, providing decent light in the night. It was a struggle to not think about what we were about to undertake, but I knew if I allowed myself to absorb the full weight of it, I would lose my mind. I couldn't look at Sarah. Everytime I tried, I saw her laying on the ground, torn apart with blood soaking what remained of her corpse. I wanted nothing more than to scream and tell her to run. I had to control myself.
The clock ticked down. It seemed like every breath I took lasted thirty minutes. I expected one of the Hunters to appear behind us and slaughter us before we could defend ourselves. I waited for the clock to strike zero.
The wind shifted. I looked around, and when I looked back, Nok was there. He stood, facing Theas and Falien, who immediately raised their rifles. Nok did not have a smile on his face. His sword was held at his side while his other hand was in his pocket.
"Take me to the Macrobreach device," Nok demanded. "And all you little Keeper folks can walk away from here alive."
"Do you see any of the other Hunters?" Falien said softly to Theas. Theas shook his head.
"Look," Nok said. "I'm out of patience for today. My Hunters are going to squeeze you until you break. And then we're going to laugh at your corpses. So I need you to help me out here."
In lieu of a verbal response, Falien loaded a cartridge into the bottom of his rifle and fired a rocket at Nok. Nok swung his sword, knocking the projectile aside as it exploded against a large boulder and blasted it to pieces.
"Well, there you have it," Nok said. "I'mma squeeze you like a damn stress ball."
I looked around and saw Gilo flying overhead. He fired several burning feathers down at Pasir's group. Several people ducked down as explosions broke around them, and Pasir fired two shots back. Gilo flew out of the way, and meanwhile Brindier and Iryn advanced on Eliacro's group. Brindier fired two fire blasts, but Eliacro blocked them by swinging her disk on its cord. This gave her group enough time to mount a counteroffensive and fire their assault rifles. Brindier let off a heat wave, but the hailstorm of purple blasts broke through her defense and inflicted several injuries on her.
Brindier yelled out in pain and frustration as she backed off, and Iryn closed in. She swiped her arm through the air, and all of the assault rifle shots ricocheted off an invisible wall and rampaged against Eliacro's group. Everyone except Eliacro was knocked down, but she managed to deflect all of the blasts with her disk. She charged forward, using her weapon to block two Aolen blasts from Iryn, and they immediately engaged in combat. Admiral McGee rose to a knee and fired his assault rifle at Brindier, who formed a wall of fire in her palm to defend herself.
The wall of fire then launched at Admiral McGee, who was able to throw himself out of the way. Kyle pulled Luca to his feet, and the two ran out of the way of a blast fired from Brindier. They strafed her and fired their rifles, but most of the shots missed, allowing her to easily block the shots that threatened her. Admiral McGee was much more of an active threat against her, and she was forced to defend herself against his very strong aim. This gave Luca and Kyle time to advance on her and fire their rifles, but Brindier ducked down and fired a wave of flames from both hands at them. The fire hit the ground and exploded, knocking Kyle and Luca down while inflicting minor injuries.
Eliacro swung her disk, relentlessly assaulting Iryn. Iryn was able to put up walls of Aolen to defend herself, but she wasn't given the chance to counterattack. Eliacro brought her disk around, and she then jumped, rolling through the air and bringing her disk down on top of Iryn. Iryn was unable to put up a defense, and she took a cut to the chest that caused her to stumble back. Eliacro landed on the ground, then straightened up and spun around, swinging her disk at Brindier while she wasn't looking and cutting her across the face.
Brindier was knocked down, blood seeping from the side of her head, and when she fired a blast at Eliacro in retaliation, it was knocked away by her disk. While Admiral McGee, Kyle, and Luca advanced on Brindier, Eliacro turned her attention back to Iryn. Iryn formed several concentrations of Aolen in the air around her, and she fired powerful blasts at Eliacro. Eliacro side-flipped to avoid the first blast, but the shockwave from it hitting the ground blasted her aside.
Nok charged in and swung his sword, but Theas blocked it with his swords. Theas rolled aside as Falien fired a flurry of blasts, but Nok blocked all of these with his sword. Nok then fired a blast from his sword at Falien, who dove out of the way. Theas swung his swords at Nok, who expertly defended himself, and he swung his sword down and blasted apart the ground under Theas, knocking him away. Nok then ducked down as a powerful shot hit the ground behind him. Gibbs took aim with his sniper rifle, trying to line up a shot against Nok, but he moved too quickly.
Nok pounded Theas with his sword, and while Theas was able to stave off any lethal injury, he was unable to counteract him. Nok kicked Theas away, and he held out his palm towards Falien as the Keeper fired his rifle. None of the shots made it to Nok, and Nok swung his sword down, blasting apart the ground under Falien and knocking him away. Theas swung his sword and fired an arc of electricity, but Nok easily blocked this with his own sword as Theas closed in.
The two exchanged several slashes, and Theas moved back while Falien fired a powerful red blast from his rifle at Nok. Nok tried to block it, but his sword was knocked out of his hand from the attack. Theas and Falien immediately took the opportunity to attack, and while Nok rolled out of the way of automatic gunfire from Falien, Theas swung his sword. Nok ducked the first strike, and he parried the second with his bare hand. He sidestepped another swing, and he then performed a spinning kick that knocked Theas back.
Falien let his rifle fall to the ground, and he pulled a mace, imbued it with electricity, and attacked Nok. Nok backed away as Falien's mace slammed into the ground to gouge out a chunk of stone. Falien then stepped forward and swung his mace, firing a blast of electricity at Nok. Nok put both hands out to try and catch the blast, but he was knocked back from the attack. Theas swung one sword across the other and fired a volley of electric blasts at Nok, who was rampaged by the attack.
"Line A, open fire!" Fornell roared.
The people in his group peered over the ridge we hid behind and opened fire with a relentless assault. Theas and Falien backed away as Nok was bombarded by automatic gunfire. He attempted to defend himself with his sword, and while far more shots were blocked than anything I would have ever managed, he still received a litany of injuries. He stumbled back, and the diamond closest to his hilt glowed purple. He swung his sword, and the ground around Theas and Falien exploded.
Alkor charged Pasir's group while Gilo flew overhead, making it very difficult for people to keep from being gored by antlers while avoiding the burning feathers that were dropped on them. Rob took aim and fired a spread of shots up at Gilo. The Hunter struggled to avoid the gunfire, and he flapped his wings to fire a volley of burning feathers at Rob in return. Rob attempted to evade the assault, but he stumbled back and was bombarded by the burning feathers.
Diane moved to intercept Gilo before he could assault Rob further, but this distraction opened her up for Alkor to slam into her, grazing her arm with his antlers and knocking her over. Fornell saw this, and he immediately redirected his attention towards Alkor. Alkor snorted as Fornell unleashed a bombardment of gunfire on him. Several large rocks jumped up to intercept the gunfire, leaving Alkor unharmed as he prepared to charge Fornell.
"Fornell, get down!" Sarah screamed.
Gilo took aim on Fornell and fired a burning feather, but Fornell sidestepped this, avoiding the explosion and debris that came with it. Alkor attempted to resume his attack on Diane, but Fornell fired a Tri-Shot Blitz at him. Alkor bucked, growling angrily as the attack blasted apart the ground around him, and he was knocked over as dust rolled over him. Fornell made an advance towards Diane, who was trying to get back to her feet while nursing her injuries. She fired her assault rifle at Gilo as he flew overhead, hitting him with a shot that prevented him from attacking their group further.
Fornell fired his own rifle in a steady advance. He cared little for who he aimed at. Any Hunter, be it Nok, Iryn, Brindier, Alkor, or Gilo who made any kind of threat towards Diane, he fended them off. He avoided returning fire from Brindier, ducking down as fire blasts flew overhead, and he fired a hailstorm of shots in return that forced her back. Iryn tried to fire an Aolen blast at him, but Eliacro tackled her and threw off her aim so that the blast hit the ground ten feet away from Fornell.
He let off another Tri-Shot Blitz on Alkor, forcing the Hunter back while following up by emptying his magazine. Fornell ejected and reloaded in seconds, and when Brindier tried to wage an assault against him, Gibbs fired a shot that she was forced to evade. Gilo circled overhead, but he was too preoccupied with the rest of Diane's group to focus on her. Fornell crossed the battlefield, deaf to any attempt to stop him, and as he reached the other side of a war, he arrived to Diane's side. Diane rose to her feet at the same time, and they stood together against the Hunters.
Inspired by their efforts, the rest of us hardened our resolve against the Hunters. Sarah opened fire against Nok, and meanwhile I fired an arrow at Brindier. Brindier finished firing a blast at Pasir, and she didn't notice the arrow until it hit her feet. The arrow let off a pulse of energy that knocked her over, and meanwhile Saphyon and Ari quickly moved in on her, keeping her pinned down with a heavy barrage of gunfire. Iryn threw up a wall of Aolen to defend Brindier, and she held out her other hand to block the shots fired at her by McGee, Luca, and Kyle.
Eliacro dove in, swinging her blade, and Iryn was too preoccupied by all of the Anomalies to defend herself. The bladed disk tore down Iryn's torso, spattering blood out as she stumbled back. Eliacro landed on the ground, spinning in a full circle and slashing Iryn again across the gut. Iryn spat out blood, and while she tried to raise her power against Eliacro, the Keeper was entirely too fast. Eliacro's disk slashed Iryn's hand down, and this provided adequate distraction for McGee, Luca, and Kyle to open fire, hitting the Hunter with a brutal assault of gunfire.
Gilo's whole body became enveloped in fire, and he dove down on Fornell and Diane. Fornell took aim, firing a Tri-Shot Blitz. His aim was true, and all three shots hit Gilo, blasting him out of the air and sending him crashing to the ground.
"Oh, well look at you," Diane said, genuinely impressed.
Fornell turned to face her and said, "I just got you back. There's not a creature in this whole goddamn existence that'll take you away from me again."
Falien came down on top of Nok, swinging both maces, but Nok parried him while backing away. Falien swung a mace and fired an electric blast, but Nok managed to block this with his sword as well. The Kill Commander then ducked down, evading a slash from Theas, but Theas brought his other sword down on top of him. Nok rolled out of the way, and he fired a bolt of black energy at Theas. Theas crossed his swords, and while he was forced back by the attack, his defense held strong.
With all of the other Hunters distracted, Sarah and I moved in to assist Falien and Theas. Neither Keeper opposed this, and I fired an explosion arrow. Nok knocked this away with his sword, and as it blasted a crater into the ground nearby, Sarah fired a surge of shots at him. Nok put up a furious defense against this, but blocking all of the shots with his sword left him open for Falien to come in and slam his mace into the side of Nok's head. Electricity coursed through the Hunter's body as he toppled over, and Theas and Falien closed in on him.
Brindier steadily backed away, firing one fire blast after another from her fists. While several Anomalies were momentarily stopped in their advance on her, Saphyon locked onto her. His wrist blades glowed red, and as he built up power, he swung them both around. The blades discharged powerful arcs of red energy that tore across the ground in their pursuit of Brindier. Brindier prepared to defend herself, but a cord wrapped several times around her body, pinning her arms to her sides while the bladed disk pierced her abdomen. Brindier looked on in fear, and Saphyon's attack slammed into her, blasting up smoke and fire as rubble cascaded out.
Iryn and Alkor were steadily forced back, trying to defend themselves from the onslaught of gunfire. Gibbs took aim, and he fired a shot that perforated Alkor's side, causing him to screech in pain as he collapsed. Iryn tried to put up a final defense, but as quickly as she could build Aolen into a wall to protect herself, the gunfire from Pasir, Sloane, McGee, Ari, and Rob tore it down. Iryn took several gunshots across her body, causing her to topple over as blood spilled out.
"Dammit," Nok growled. He looked around at his Hunters, who were steadily being cut down. With the overwhelming force of the Keepers and Anomalies, there was no fight to be made.
Nok spat onto the ground, and he disintegrated into ash. One by one, the rest of the Kill Team followed their leader, fading away in the wind. With the battlefield clear, the Anomalies were left to look around at each other, unable to believe what had just happened. Fornell and Diane embraced each other. Luca and Kyle patted each other on the shoulder, exchanging words of support and nodding gratefully to each other. Rob let out a deep breath, letting his assault rifle fall to his side. His eyes then narrowed, as though he had just woken up from a dream, and he stared at his rifle, at his hand around the grip.
Gibbs jogged to us from the mountain, his rifle hanging off his shoulder on a sling. He nodded to Admiral McGee, who nodded in return. Saphyon, Eliacro, Falien, and Pasir all reunited, complimenting each other and celebrating their victory. Gibbs arrived to Sloane, who smiled incredulously. They held each other tightly before holding long, deep eye contact with each other. Ari stood away from the crowd, watching us all as we regrouped, looking quite isolated. Gibbs looked over Sloane's shoulder, catching eye contact with Ari. The two exchanged a quick nod of gratitude, solidifying a long road towards redemption.
I looked at Sarah. She didn't notice me. She was too busy observing the interactions between the Anomalies. She absentmindedly wiped some blood out of her hair. While I saw a brief flash of violence, I was able to repress it. After a few seconds, Sarah turned to me, and she pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged her in return, resting my head against hers as we held each other. Theas watched us all, and he nodded in satisfaction as Gibbs walked over to him.
"You all did an amazing thing, Gibbs," Theas said to him. "The battle isn't over, but we had a lot of wins."
Gibbs nodded, and he said, "I think our problems are just getting started."
IN THE EYES OF THE MULTIVERSE:
Lucio Parish sat in his office inside Grissom Air Reserve Base. He stared at his computer screen, watching security footage of Gibbs sitting in an interrogation room before being swept away by a portal. Unable to make heads or tails of the phenomenon, Parish closed his eyes tightly, rubbing his forehead.
"Do you always work so late?"
Parish jumped in surprise, and he looked around. A woman stood near the door to the room. She appeared to be in her eighties, and she had short, white hair and very pale skin.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in," Parish said, his voice somewhat aghast. "How can I help you?"
"That's the wrong question," Sevak told him. "I'm someone with a lot of resources who is every bit as interested in this phenomenon as you are, and I'd like to offer my services in unraveling the mystery."
Parish, seeing that this entity before him was far beyond his initial impression, slowly rose to his feet to stare openmouthed at her. "And what services can you offer?"
A smile curled Sevak's lips. "You have their weapons, right? Would you like me to show you how to use them?"
Thank you for the time you've taken into reading this Series, only if in bits and pieces. I will be going on break for a while-Season Two will resume on July 2nd.