A Trillion Stars (JumpchainStellaris), a cross over/クロスオーバー fanfic

I ignore the creeping metal and echoing of my footsteps as I make my way through the ancient and forgotten hallways as I traveled deeper and deeper down below.

Looking at the makeshift watch that I managed to find a few weeks back, I frown as I realize just how long I had been gone.

Not long enough for it to truly matter, but enough that I might be getting a few glances when I came back. Divers tended to get a lot more attention any time that they were gone for longer than just a day or two.

I was nearing now a week and half, and if I wanted to make it back to the levels with actual life in them, I would have to turn back soon. Rations were slowly but surely becoming scarcer by the day, even if I was pacing myself.

I ignore the low rumble of my stomach, along with the aching of my feet. They weren't anything that I wasn't used to by this point.

Going to another city was not something that I was willing to do. Not when there was a chance that I could stumble onto… people that I would rather not see ever again.

I rub my slightly armored arm with my gloved hand, trying to forget the memories that came creeping back, along with what lingered on my skin.

Maybe after this haul I would finally have enough to get myself a home that wouldn't be a constant drain on my meager salary.

If I managed to find anything.

The last few dives into the depths had been… well, they had been a waste of my time.

The only value I had gleaned from them was marking off those caverns from the roughshod maps that I created.

I stop as I hear the telltale titters and chatters that spelled the death of any poor bastard unlucky to find himself alone and defenseless in these tunnels.

With quick and quiet movements, I scurry into one of the nearby doorways, into a room that might have been an apartment or office at one point, hard to tell when whatever had been the furniture was nothing but dust on the floor.

I pull out the kinetic slugger at my hip, a bulky hand cannon with a stylized human heart on the side. At least, I heard that's how humans usually drew hearts.

Even if they didn't look anything like that. I'd seen plenty of real ones in my life.

Focusing on those little details while I controlled my breathing as the chittering and scraping of claws grew closer and closer.

Each step reverberated through the floor and walls, each one a death toll that promised my soul would finally find damnation like I'd heard many times in my early years.

Eventually, the steps stop, and I could hear the sniffing from its nostrils, as the wind was blown through the doorway, right past my crouching form at the side.

All it had to do was poke its head through, and I would be a dead man.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

I can't tell how many times my heart pounded in my ears, each one stronger than the last, as I struggled to keep my breaths from becoming panicked huffs.

I bring back the old hammer of my weapon, raising it towards the sky, knowing that it would be mere pinpricks against the thick hide of the beast that thankfully preferred dwellings with low light.

Until, eventually, fate decided to give me another blessing that I didn't deserve.

The footsteps slowly, far slower than their approach, walked away, back towards the way that I came.

I stay there seated, breathing stilled and hand on the trigger, waiting for the off chance that this was finally the joke disguised as a miracle.

I let out a shaky breath, raised arm flopping onto the floor while I flip the safety back onto the gun, the smack of metal on metal like music to my ears.

Anything would be a god's song compared to the breathing from one of those creatures.

I'd seen enough people die to those damn things.

Dreamed of being the one trapped underneath it's foot instead of the one that outran the rest.

I rouse myself back up, and look around at the room.

It… isn't really much. Most of what might have once been wood or cotton was gone, and power had long since run out from this deep into the planet.

Diving deeper into the apartment, I find what must have once been a lavish bedroom, though, now, it was just another ruin amongst the rest of the wrecks.

Dammit. No weapons, no supplies, NOTHING.

I don't slam my fist into the wall, even if there was nothing more that I wanted to do. No point in attracting some other creature that was skulking around down here.

Dammit, I was really hoping for at least a minor payoff, so I could get something that would actually defend me against one of the smaller ones.

Meaning that the only way that I might not starve by the end of the month was to make a deal with a Stronghold.

Independence was nice, but I couldn't enjoy it forever if I was dead.

No matter how much my neck chaffed at the idea.

A small twinkling light catches my attention, something that I would have missed had I not been standing lost in contemplation for the future. On the wall at the back of the… bedroom?- was a small light that barely glittered like a priceless jewel, gleaming in the shadowy darkness that surrounded me.

I stepped closer, staring at the twinkling light that seemed like a mirage in the darkness.

One second there, the next gone, my mind wondering if I had even seen the thing in the first place.

Even while standing in front of where I had seen the light, it did not return, as dark as the rest of the ruined once home. I wait there for a few minutes, ear's peeled in case that detestable thing decided to turn back the way that it came.

The light never returns and I start to lose hope as I touch the spot that held the light.

I feel my fingers brush across the cool dusted metal, the particles of so many years caking onto my digits, and blink.

Then I gape.

In my hands, where once there had been nothing but dust and empty recycled air, a simple band of yellow metal, goldI believe, that seemed to be just the right size to be clamp around my wrists.. Around the golden band, were thirteen small golden loops along the metal, barely big enough something small and thin to slip through.

I turn the bracelet over in my hands, wondering how in the world it had just… appeared from nothingness.

Looking back to the spot in the wall that I'd touched, I now found a… symbol painted onto the metal. A symbol that I know hadn't been there before.

It looked… strange.

It was… a strange image of a scope, two rings, one white the other black, inside of each other, with two lines intersecting in the middle, one that spread from the top to the bottom, the other from the right to the left.

At the front of the crossed rings, was a letter that I had seen in human writing once or twice.

I look at the strange image, lifting my hands and activating the bulky ring of metal that encased most of my finger.

He spin the ring around his middle finger, ensuring that the camera is facing towards the image as he summons the small holograms with a thought.

About three or four times. Damn thing was on the fritz, and was high time that I invested on a new one. When I wasn't worried about feeding himself in the next few days.

Eventually, I managed to summon the thin blue screens and snap an image of the symbol for later.

Who knows, someday I might stumble onto another one.

Before I could inspect the band in my hand, I feel the trembling in the room, accompanied by the tell-tale sounds of that roar that brought fear into every diver this far below the surface.

I stuff the thing into my pocket, moving in the opposite direction from the beast, deeper into the tunnels.

It took a lot of workarounds, along with little sleep in between, but I managed to find my way back to some tunnels that I actually recognized due to the knife scratches I had left on one of the walls.

I was low on supplies, even lower on sleep, but I managed to make it to one of the safehouse's that I managed to create down here.

Enough supplies that I wouldn't be starving myself on the trip back up, along with time to finally get more than just a handful of hours of sleep.

It wasn't much, simply an old apartment whose entrance was… a bit difficult to find. Given that most of the hallway was little more than rubble.

I stare at the metal band that I had found yesterday, turning it over and over in my hand.

What in the world is so special about you? I asked myself. It was something that had just appeared out of thin air. It had to be more than a simple ornament or accessory.

Otherwise, what would be the point of… That?

Yet, no matter how much I turned it over and inspected it, it remained the simple golden bracelet with thirteen golden rings.

Gold was… nothing. The only people that found it valuable were those that dabbled in the creation of technological hardware, something about gold being used in the creation of the minds of computers.

I might be able to get a good price if I sold it to the right people, but that might mean going through some channels that I had no access to. Not without having to go through some contacts that I would prefer to leave cold.

… Well, I was going to be picking up one of them soon anyways, so maybe I could kill two rats with one scrap?

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to wear it once right? I had seen plenty of the richer… Korinth wear adornments like these back… before.

So without further ado, I slip the band of metal on my wrist.

And see that there was so much more than simply this world that I held freedom on.

How does one explain that rush of information that rushed into my mind? The way that foreign worlds, each one as unique and intricate as the mind of every being on this planet, brushed the barest hints of knowledge and thought in the depths of my mind.

In that moment, I was laid witness to just how small I was in the grand scheme of things. How tiny this one little planet, on this universe older than some, younger than most, matched to the enormity and horrifying size that others touted in merely a fragment of it's size.

I saw worlds of darkness crumble underneath their own corruption, Light and Dark battle in an endless stalemate that would always be a temporary seat of victory, a galaxy thrust into endless war at the laughter of thirsting gods.

More and more flashed through my mind in my dingy little hideout in the middle of a labyrinth of technological wonder that seemed like child's play to the stories that I was a mere passing spectator to.

I saw a Man of Steel bring a new Tomorrow, all while another lander of home merely brought about ruin to the world that didn't even offer him the love a child should have.

And then, I saw myself.

Only… it wasn't me. Some didn't even have the same face that I did, others weren't even human, and yet, I knew in the depths of whatever served as my soul that they were me. And I could see them smile with a cheerfulness that made my heart ache.

Could I ever smile like that?

Feel Joy to the depths that they did, able to stand against the horrors that threatened to kill them and everything that they knew.

I saw someone that I knew was me, garbed in plates of metal and light, as he charged through a horde of darkened corrupted creatures, darkness covering them in an aura of white and black haze , a hammer forged of fire in his hands as he tore through them like a laser through flesh, the flames brighter and hotter with each death.

Another of me wearing yellow and red clothing, my eyes green instead of my normal brown as I dug through ruins that looked young compared to the planet I lived on. Metal and wiring danced through my hands as the small sphere at my side pulsed with magic and light.

The colony briefly brought itself to life, even with the landing being a crash that cost us 30% of the colonists and seeds that we had brought alongside us to the planet, the miasma of green fog thick in the valley beyond.

I wiped the sweat from my brow, basking in the heat of the spring sun, plow in hand, with the smell of upturned soil and forest air, plenty of grass and rock surrounding my little patch of upturned soil. But I didn't care. Anything was better than that cubicle hell of cold uncaring steel.

I breathe in, gasping for breath just as the little 'click' of the metal band closing around my fist finishes, the sound of jingling metal catching my wild attention. Clasped onto one of the little rings… was a tiny key, no bigger than the last bone of my pinky finger.

It looked… old. An old metal key that had gone out of style so many hundred years ago. Yet it gleamed bright gold as if it was brand new.

No one used any of those old metal locks. Not even on this dilapidated planet where you could just imprint your gene or fingerprints onto a scanner.

That type of modification was trivial to any wire head that knew what they were doing. Especially if they wanted to survive on this planet.

I stare blankly as the key that had been miniature on the metal band around my wrist appears in my hand, gleaming brightly in the light, the three-pronged end in particular taking center stage in the spectacle.

I twist the key around in front of me, and…. A door in space opens.

A literal tear in space that shouldn't have been there appears, the edges neon white and shifting, as if they didn't quite belong in this world.

I step through the rip of white, into a barren world of blankness that looked no bigger than the most meager of rooms.

Even the 'walls' were bare nothingness given form, solid, but… formless. Touchless.

It was more like… pressure that I pressed against instead of stone or metal.

Yet… I felt at peace within this room.

I felt… whole. Like it was something that was always meant to be a part of me.

Wait… part of me?

Where had that thought come from?

Part of me- a big part - felt uneasy about all of these strange thoughts, images, and sensations.

Sensations that all came from this little bracelet that had appeared from nowhere.

After all, what else could bring such things?

Staring at the band around my hand, I knew that I wasn't going to sell this for anything else in the world.

Because for those few moments… I was so much more than just myself.

More than the single man diving in tunnels older than known history for survival.

I was living. I was more.

I was me.

I don't know how long I had remained in that trance. Watching and brushing up against the many different versions of 'me' that were scattered beyond time and space that defied comprehension.

I could have just lost my mind for those few seconds, but… I felt each one, if for a moment.

I felt what they felt, saw what they saw, thought what they thought.

The vast sensations were already fading, like a dream that just barely slipped from the grasp of my mind, but I knew that they were real.

I had never truly felt the warmth of the sun to that extent. Never held a hammer that emitted fire, smiling as bullets pierced through my armor, blood pouring from my wounds onto the ground, uncaring because I knew that I would simply get up again. And I would take as many of them with me before I let my body become a corpse, if momentarily.

Then, even that was nothing more than a memory of a memory. Remembering something that I knew I had forgotten.

I look down, gazing at the simple band of gold that fit my wrist so… right. Like it was made for me. As if it was always meant to reach my wrist.

I should be worried about that.

I should. But I wasn't.

For once… I was more than just myself, more than a tunnel diver just going through the motions, something that I thought I was content with.

But I wasn't. I wasn't.

Oh, I am never going to sell this now. I muse to myself, rising from my position on the floor, stretching as I exit the room of white, the key returning to the band of gold, jingling that echoed like laughter.

The rest of my trip out of the tunnels passed by in the usual monotony that it always was, more and more flickering lights illuminating the way forward as I approached the surface.

The large yawning chasms of steel become smaller hallways once more as the sounds and smells of life start to worm their way into my brain.

I smile as the hints of green become more prominent, wayward roots soil slowly becomes more abundant, the fresh smell of leaves brushing into my nose.

I bask in that emotion, a smile on my face before I press on.

I'd always loved the green, something that only became more prominent in the past few years.

The guards at the entrance look me over, black plated armor with matching bulky rifles making them stand out amidst the encroaching life of nature around us.

I can't see their eyes underneath their helmets, but they don't move as I approach and eventually pass them, meaning it was probably the same ones that had seen me leave the other day. Hard to tell them apart when they all wore those helmets.

Except for the ones that… varied from the anthropomorphic form.

The hustle and bustle of the city soon overtake me, crowds of countless forms moving to and fro, some of them moving through the air without the assistance of any limbs.

I ignore the huddled bodies in the alleys of wood and steel, making sure not to look into the begging eyes or worried gazes sent my way.

Every day, those figures changed. Whether that be because some of them just… disappeared, or because another one was added to the pile due to new arrivals.

Though, there hadn't been as many newcomers as before. Instead of the small fleet of transport ships touching down and discharging their 'cargo' like before, it had been reduced to a mere two or three ships a day, sometimes not even that.

Though… the children do make me pause at least a little bit before I keep on walking.

I can barely take care of myself, no point in tying a chain around a drowning human right?

I don't bother stopping by my meager home in the lower district, instead, I keep on climbing through the elevators that they had managed to bring into working order. There weren't many, and there was some waiting at the ones that I did take, but there were enough where the wait times weren't usually longer than ten-fifteen minutes.

The guards in black made sure that there wasn't any funny business after all.

Arriving at the Strongholds center was the easy part, and the large avian, a Kaaranth I think, stared at me with his four eyed gaze, each pale blue orb squinting at me in thought.

"What do you want, human?" He asked as if that meant anything to me. Not like I had ever actually lived among humans right?

I reach into my pockets, movements slow and careful, raising up a finger in the tell-tale moment for 'one moment'.

The Kaaranth stares at me unamused while I smoothly pull out the small pale green coin that had been given to me so long ago. I hold it out, careful to make sure that the image of a globe with continents carefully carved out of the jade material.

It was a rare thing, something that was only given to those that proved themselves to be valuable members of the nation that compromised of the race that I was apparently a part of. Something that I didn't truly understand.

He takes the coin from me, delicate wings careful to grip onto the green coin, inspecting it with a critical eye. He looks back at me, and returns to coin, a look of surprise and respect evident in it.

I don't think that I really deserved that.

"He should be deeper inside. I'll let the rest know to let you past." With that, the steel doors behind him open, allowing further passage into the fortress of wood and steel.

I ignore the stares of people around, the various eyes, and sounds a constant bit of static to my senses as I delve deeper into the slightly familiar Stronghold, memory helping guide me through the barracks and planning centers of the Headquarters of the Libertarium.

"Xaceron! How are you doing kid!" I grimace as I feel an arm wrap around me when I enter the center of the facility, the red bearded human with violet eyes gazing at me.

I shake my hand with my palm out, my face as expressionless as I can make it, minus the frown.

Why is it that humans are so touchy? Or was that merely him?

"Well, least you look like you're doing alright!" Roland yelled, words not matching his lips as the translator does its work. I don't even know what language he uses is called, but it's definitely not Kalithy.

I'm about to sigh and try to wave him away when… something happens.

I'm… not here in the arms of the loud human anymore.

For that one moment, I am in between space, drifting in the sea of stars, above me, constellations beyond my reckoning shine at me, each one holding power that I can't even hope to truly imagine. Then, among the sea of stars, I feel one connect.

And in that moment, I… felt something more than just a star of power. I felt concepts, the very idea of fire and lightning becoming crystallized materials, that love and loss could become a stone that one would find by going into graveyards or homes of the departed.

It was… such a strange thing to know and realize that this was a reality of my world now. That I would find these Crystallized Concepts if I only knew the right place to look.

There was more than one star though, I could feel smaller ones clumping to it as the connection solidified, the knowledge of 'magic' being mine now… while I could feel my 'heart' become more. For whatever that meant.

The star finished joining my 'sky' and then I was back in the control room, I manage to keep my face straight as Roland stared at me with a worried look on his face. I raise an eyebrow at him.

"You alright? You sorta just… stared at me like I wasn't even here. Kept calling your name and you weren't responding." Ah. So… these visions don't just happen in my head instantly.

Good to know.

I wave it off while tapping my head with one hand, and making a few hand gestures with the other.

"You got a lot on your mind?" I nod, yeah, that was good enough. He laughs again, that loud one that always made my ears rings. Ugh. Why did he have to be so damn loud? "Well, I think that you'd have to be to finally come round here again! Haven't seen you in what? Three, four years?"

I nod my head after some deliberation. Yeah, that sounded about right.

I spin my ring around my finger, flicking the thing a few times before the holographic screen appears in front of me, and type out a few words.

"I wanna take you up on that job offer." I type out.

He blinks a few times before I see that little light in his head light up. "Oh! You mean right before you left?" He smiles and I already know what he's going to ask. "You finally decided that you wanna join up?"

I shake my head. "Just the job. I still don't want to join."

He grabs my arm again, eyes going wider while a pathetic frown spreads across his face. "Come ooooon! You'd never have to worry about being alone again! We're all friendly, I swear!"

I don't bother hiding my distaste, neither the half-lidded stare that I send his way. I can hear some of the other members around the room laughing at their leader's antics again.

Ugh, why did I have to be saved by him of all people? Why not some serious spy or something? My ears might have at least been saved from the damage that his voice caused.

The next minute of… plea- oh who am I kidding, he was begging me to stay, were answered with every gesture of no that I could muster, from hand wagging, head shaking, all the way to leaving only my middle finger standing from my hand. I don't know what the gesture meant, but I'd seen a few humans use it a few times for insults or something. Usually, the other human reacted rather violently.

Instead, Roland merely became more pathetic with his pleading.

Eventually, thankfully, he ceased his prattling, and adopted a far more serious face. One that would have seemed alien on his groveling and begging a moment before, violet eyes steeled and expression like that of cool steel.

"Since you decided to finally come to me instead of just avoiding the building like before, I take it that you haven't had much luck lately."

Tch. I click my tongue.

He nods. "Figured that'd be the only reason why you'd finally appear out of the blue. Alright, if we're going to have business, let's sit down shall we?" And we did, at a small table down in the common room, the various members in various states of black trying their best to keep their eyes off me, but failing in that regard. Years doing what I did, you learned when to tell you were being watched.

He places down two steaming beverages, a sort of tea that smelled both fragrant and spicy at the same time. One that I didn't recognize. Probably another new strain that was found.

Spirits knew that there was plenty of this place to still explore, even after so many years of people being stuck here.

"Are you ok with something this hot?" He asked me, eyes going down to my throat and the scar that still remained there after my years of healing.

I nod, expression hardening.

While it couldn't bring back my voice… medical tech here still managed to make sure that I didn't feel any pain when eating or drinking anymore.

Or breathing.

Those first few months had been… more than painful.

More than the punishments from disobeying.

I take a tentative sip of the hot beverage, humming in appreciation of the drink, one of the few sounds that my throat could still make.

Even if it sounded scratchy and rusted beyond the wrecked ship at the beach.

"So… what exact work are you looking for?" Roland finally asked after a few moments of silence, the red haired man allowing me those few moments of peace.

I shrug my shoulders and use my hands to gesture outwards, before I quickly shake my head before slicing my finger across my neck.

He looks a bit perturbed by that while I simply chuckle in silence.

He HAD been there after all.

"You're up for just about everything, as long as it doesn't require killing?" I nod. He taps a finger to his chin while humming to himself, a few sips done in between. "Well… I do have a lead on something that you would be perfect for. Only problem is… that it happens to be closer to Rokarth territory."

Dust and ruin.

My displeasure must have shown on my face, because he quickly sighs and splays his hands in front of him in a placating gesture. "Look, I know that it's bad… but you're probably the only one better suited to delving into the tunnels, especially compared to us."

I raise my eyebrow at him. How the hell did he even know about that?

He laughs, this time more of a small roar instead of the booming explosion that it usually was. "Xac, you don't get to stay independent like you do for so long without getting a reputation for that sorta thing. Especially not if you stay in one place like you do." I buff out some air through my mouth.

Not like I could go anywhere else on this planet without some Korinth relic thinking that they weren't on this prison planet with the rest of us. Not with the way that the territories are arranged around here.

"Now, I could offer you some other job, one far with far less danger than this one, but… well, I need the best in this. And you're the only one that goes as deep as you do into the tunnels. No one else has the balls to try, not even some of my best guys." He says the last of these words low, violet eyes carefully looking around him, making sure that none of his 'boys' heard the disparaging words about them. The truth had a tendency to bruise the egos of the proud after all.

I spin my hand around in the air. 'Get on with it.'

He inhales, then exhales. "I want you to get in there and help bring some people home."

I begin to get up when he grabs onto my wrist with an iron like grip.

I glare down at him, surprised to find that steely gaze looking into mine again.

He doesn't react as my other hand reaches for the hand cannon in my holster, fingers grasping the worn handle, but leaving it sheathed.

I stare down at him, the words 'Let go.' written plainly on my face instead of words.

"Listen, I know that you came to me for a job, not the other way around, but if I'm being honest, I was going to start sending out feelers towards you anyway. I NEED for them to come home. Especially with some of the cargo that one of them has."

I scoff. Any cargo his men were carrying would have been taken by those dusted Rakarth. And I seriously doubt that the new 'slaves' weren't being held somewhere while… 'training' was instilled properly.

I shiver at that memory.

This was a suicide mission.

"I wouldn't be sending you in without anything. You do this, and I can promise you that I'll outfit you with anything that you would need going in." He said with an immovable voice. "In exchange… I can promise you that you'll never have to worry about going hungry. Anything that you want, along with upgrades to any gear that you have. As long as you get him back here, I promise that I will be true to my word."

And he would. I knew that. There was a reason why anyone that wasn't a Korinthian, along with the few that managed to retain the weakness of empathy, risked death through the tunnels towards the Northern Hemisphere of the planet.

They knew that it was the only safe haven on this spirits forsaken green ruin.

After all, it was run by a human of all things. The bleeding hearts and weirdos of the galaxy.

There was a reason why a human slave was so… highly sought after.

I rub my face.

I should say no.

I should. It's the smart thing.

But the deal… anything that I want. Supplies and gear without the need of being tied down to a group.

It was something out of my dreams.

Along with… knowing what was probably happening to those people with the Rokarth's.

It was a knowledge that held enough shame to tip me over the edge.

Then I remember the little golden band around my wrist.

And I remember the memories and knowledge that came with it. The strange knowledge that concepts were literally on the tip of my fingers.

I relax and Roland lets me go, as I reach down and pluck a little shard off the floor that no one had noticed.

It was a little white thing, no bigger than my finger.

And I could feel the hope emanating from it.

The blasted thing.

I stuff it inside of my pocket, while giving him a huff.

"Fine. Give me all the details that you have."

I ignore the smile that he sends my way, keeping my expression as imperious as I can keep it.

"But… well, you and I both know that you're going to have to…" He looks at my throat with a sign of worry.

I wave it away, showing a smile on my face for the first time in this conversation.

It wasn't a nice one, I knew.

I knew what the Rokarth were. I knew what they did.

It wouldn't make me feel any better… but I prefer to do this evil than nothing at all.

I wish that I'd had longer to rest than merely a day or two, but given the severity of where this 'agent' had landed… well, time was of the essence. It wasn't like any of us could choose where we landed on this treasure trove of a ruin after all.

Especially not… most of us that didn't have much of a choice beforehand.

It was interesting though, that Roland had knowledge of where his agent had landed. Guess there was some credence to him being more just a human that managed to scramble some sort of power in this den of victims, freedom fighters, and criminals.

Not like I really cared about that strange man that insisted on clinging to me like some kind of parasite. I still didn't understand how anyone in their right mind would willingly follow him.

And yet, he managed to build up a Stronghold that wasn't just a miniature version of the Korinth Empire.

Why was I doing this again? Risking my neck out for some idealist that foolishly thought he could actually do something worthwhile?

Ah right, what was left of my bleeding heart.

Ugh.

At least it came with plenty of gear in exchange.

The shining new Comp-ring was something that I grabbed and swore to never let go. Sorry old friend, but you and I both know that it was only a matter of time until you finally gave out on me.

I still saved the ring back at my place though, in case I should ever need a spare.

That is, if I managed to actually survive this suicide mission.

I let out a huff that echoes oh so loudly in the darkened, cramped former maintenance tunnels that were now forgotten to most; save divers like me.

The darkness that surrounded me was almost… comforting. It reminded me of the quieter moments of my childhood, when I was alone, with no crimson or golden eyes to watch me do their bidding.

No orders or punishments, no having to listen to the screams and pleas of the broken and the enslaved.

Just me and the thoughts that would be mine and mine alone. The one thing that could not be taken from me.

Yet, there were times when I didn't even want to hear that.

Ugh, I was being noisy in my head again.

Traveling through tunnels that you knew and were safe, was different than traveling through some that were far deeper underground. For one, some of the lights here were still on, though, they lessened with each passing year. Power lines and infrastructure of the former planet sized city finally coming undone after countless years of remaining unmaintained.

I could only see in front of me thanks to the goggles that Roland had thrown in along with the armor, ring, along with a few extra provisions that were waiting on my back.

On my hip, a new silenced hand canon sat, heavier than my old one, but still packing a better punch.

While most people seemed to gravitate towards the lasers and energy weapons, kinetic damage was something that barriers still couldn't quite withstand against.

I'd been traveling for a few days already, taking the most well hidden and tarnished tunnels that I could find.

It meant that I had to take the journey far slower than I would if I took some of the more refurbished ones, coupled together with having to hide due to the occasional beast.

But that was far better than getting caught by a Rakarth 'patrol'. I shivered and rubbed at my neck, the distinct ghost of warm steel pressing against my skin.

No. They would never have me again.

I wouldn't let them.

I stop as I catch that blank emptiness through the goggles that cut through the darkness.

Walking over to the corner of the vast room, I bend down and pick up a small shard of darkness, the hard crystalline edge cool and inviting in my hands.

It was still… strange to be touching something that was concept given form.

I could… feel it in my hands, thrumming with power that I couldn't understand quite yet.

Another change since I picked up that golden bracelet in the room.

Another one to add to the pile in my pack. It was good that they didn't jingle or cause any sound.

If anything, it was like… sound was drowned in their presence. As if the darkness was taking everything into itself.

It would be worrying, if I hadn't already been used to the darkness of the planet.

If I wasn't so used to being underneath the very ground, where the light of a star could not reach.

At times, I did find other pieces.

In a room barren of power, but exposed wire and cords, I found small shards of yellow spiking lightning, the power of a small storm contained inside of the tiny shard no bigger than my finger.

Given that it was the third type of stone, I was more than sure there were more of them to find.

Each one felt different to my senses, the very power collected inside seeming to remain dormant just beneath the surface.

It wasn't quite the same as what I could feel inside myself, but there were similarities.

On my walks, I raised a hand, feeling that power, the magic, that bubbled just below the surface, an impossibility that should have been something from a story that the Korinth told their children while I snooped from the darkened corners that they couldn't see.

There wasn't anything that I could really do with it, not when it was so… new.

No matter how much I tried to move it, summon it, or imagined anything happening at the tip of my hands, it simply remained inside me, derelict and asleep. I should find it frustrating, but it wasn't something that I understood, and as far as I knew, there was no one else on this planet that could, or would, help me.

So, I just found more of the little magical crystals into the bag and continued on my walk, eyes and ears ready for anything out of the ordinary.

Until I recognized the room charred from an explosion, the thin wall that was nothing more than sheets of metal held together by a skeleton of cords and wires.

I grimace.

I was here. Inside their little kingdom that was made as a mockery of 'honor' and 'prestige'. Of course, only for those that had the horns and golden or crimson eyes of the Korinth.

And so, I sat down in one corner of the room, looking at the watch in my hand.

I was going to be here for a few hours before 'night' came.

So, I take off the goggles, the dim light above me just enough for me to actually see instead of having to squint, and take out the little stones in my bag.

The bag which would be staying here during my little… escapade.

I spin the little shards in my hand, each one feeling different, the black one cool and hollow, the white seeming to hum against my hand, while the yellow one vibrated against my fingers.

I closed my eyes and slept, the little crystals my companions for the night.

I creep quietly through the fire lit halls of the complex, feeling with my fingers along the walls, itching through the gaps and holes inside the sleek metal.

Until I find it.

I do not smile even as triumph fills my heart as I pull ever so slightly, hand on my hand cannon, waiting for the stone to drop.

Thankfully, instead of the creaking metal and whirring of gears, the panel opens with a small click and squeak, reminiscent of those small tailed brown-furred creatures that apparently had come from the human homeworld. The inside of the wall was cramped, but still big enough for me to move through.

Most of the wiring in here was barely more than rusted metal hanging onto each other by barely contained threads, pieces and metal dust littering the floor as I made my way through the interiors of the complex.

It was… going far too easy.

I had no doubt that the entrances and exists were heavily guarded by the best defenses that they could muster. No doubt plenty of guards, with as much firepower that they could muster in their damned hands.

But how often did one consider the insects and vermin that could creep their way through the walls? Through the little gaps that no one knew were even there?

Crawling through the spaces in between the walls was a hassle, a slow one, but one that I did nonetheless.

It was the only way that I knew they wouldn't be able to see me or find me.

I was good at sneaking, but not good enough to scuttle through the hallways.

No, cramped in a dark place was much more in my capabilities.

I even found a small dark stone paired with a lightning one wedged between a few pipes.

But I was starting to become sidelined.

Eventually, I finally started to hear voices from some of the guards in the hallways.

"You sure about this?" I heard a rough voice say.

"Yeah, damn plant has to be a spy. Sure, the Imperium gets some of them as cargo every now and then, but what are the chances of one getting thrown down here? Especially with the taste." A reedier one said.

Oh, I was not liking where this was going.

"Sure, but why the hell would those slaves in suits care about this place to even send on their precious plants? It makes more sense that it's just one that was taken during the raids. It isn't like one hasn't been sent here before."

"Remember that none of them were sent in the middle of our territory? Most of the ones sent here were prisoners of war. The important kind that the slaves in suits would very much care about keeping safe."

"Hmm, they are almost always sent close to those damn Libertorium slaves."

"Exactly, now you're starting to use your head." The rough voice sounds satisfied at that.

"If that were true though, don't you think that it would have started spilling its seeds after we took what was owed?"

I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.

"If it was one of those agents? No, even they have wills stronger than that. Still tasty though."

I press on after that overheard conversation, eager to find this member and get the out of here.

But… if what I heard was right… how was I going to do that through these tunnels?

Something to figure out later. Every second spent here was a second wasted running for my life.

And I would like to keep those seconds as long as possible.

Wandering around the walls was a quiet and tense thing, having to stop every time that I heard the heavy steps of boots, and the shifting of weapons and gear, learning to move with the sound of their footsteps so as to mask my own sound.

It was the longest hour of my life, for each second felt like months while I moved to the beat of these bored guards.

Even hearing the occasional gossip between these monsters didn't help matters.

"How much ground have we lost so far?"

"Don't know, but it was more than the last attack from those hornless thin skins."

"Dust them. If only we had the power of the Imperium behind us to put them in their place."

"Hard to do that when the Imperium are the ones that stranded us here in the first place."

"What are the Silver Wings doing?"

"The birds have been taking our convoy's every chance that they get above ground. And the tunnels beneath the earth haven't been much help either. Not when our caravans keep getting destroyed with no word reaching back to us."

On and on it went, more and more words reaching my ears as I used their conversations as cover to make my way through the cramped crevices, using them to help me navigate through this maze of rusted metal and dust.

Until I finally found the door.

It was the only door that was constantly under guard, with neither of the two Korinthians budging an inch, their eyes staring straight ahead, weapons ready to shift and fire at a moment's notice.

The only problem was… I had run out of wall to use, the room that they were guarding completely cut off from my little passage.

Now how was I going to do this?

I could shoot them.

But that would leave two corpses here for the rest to find eventually. Which as giving me limited time.

Pro. I would get rid of two of the unknown army that were the Korinthians.

Con. Chance of being found on my way back.

When you lost someone in the group, there was a higher chance that you'd look in places that you hadn't before. And the chances of them finding the tunnels was… unfavorable.

Though, there was always the chance that they would find it eventually regardless.

I needed them gone.

And I didn't really have any other options.

None that didn't result in me being found out right here and now.

I slowly pull my weapon out, free hand running along the inner workings of the wall of steel and composite inner lining, finding the release hatch and pull.

The door opens with the same silence as the other one, somehow defiant of its age and disrepair, as I step out into the hallway, inching along it towards the corner where the two guards waited at the end.

I don't peek over, knowing that if I did, they would see me in the crackling light of flames.

Right, caution to the winds.

I want to say it was graceful, and I managed to get two headshots.

I was most definitely not.

I fumbled my first shot, the bullet hitting the Korinthain's mouth, shattering his jaw, while the second one missed entirely.

Oh. Shit.

The first one just tumbles backward, slamming into the wall, a wail releasing from his jawless mouth, while the second one raises his boxy laser rifle, red energy pulsing to life on the barrel.

I fire again, and again, one shot managing to punch into his gut, right through one of the gaps in his armor, while the other hits his shoulder, sending him spiraling back.

I wish that I had intended to hit him there.

The one missing his jaw was currently in shock, body shaking as blood leaked in rivers down his body onto the dusted steel floor, while his companion was already unconscious.

I would remember the eyes that they gave me. The way that their crimson gazes looked so… afraid.

They were dying. They knew it. And they were afraid.

A part of me thought "Good." Another… couldn't help but hurt at knowing that I was the one that caused those looks.

I don't look at them anymore, stepping past them, taking the remaining rifle from the jawless one, his twitches becoming less with every passing second.

The door was less of a problem, one of them had the key after all.

Then… all guilt that I'd been feeling was gone like dust flowing in the wind.

Inside was a… head and torso made of wood and glowing green light.

The wood was a purple bark, each 'root' of its body twisting and curving into itself, as if it was all one constant stream of wood that managed to somehow mold itself into a single shape, with the ends coalescing into long 'horns' on it's head that reached up to the sky.

There were spots on its head that… glowed. The gaps between the roots seeming to be eyes that stared at me with green light.

And where it's arms and legs should be… were only stumps.

The ends dry with pale green liquid that reminded me of blood.

"You're human." The voice of ancient trees spoke to me, quiet, yet loud enough that I knew I could hear it even if I was at the end of the hallway. "Roland sent you." It wasn't a question.

I nod my head, looking back behind me, knowing that it would only be moments before this area was swarmed with more of the Rokarthians. I tap my wrist, the way that humans do when they were trying to give some sort of signal for time.

"No, we do not. Not after the horned one screamed as it did." Its voice was gentle in my ears. Like the rustle of leaves on a quiet day. "The question is, how are you going to get me away from here? I… don't have the capability to reach our destination as I am now."

There was… shame in his voice. Deep shame that I could feel in my bones.

How could something be so expressive when it didn't even have a face.

I move, to pick it… him? I'm going with him - up, blinking at just how… light he was.

I give him an apologetic look as I grab some rope that I had brought along with me, you never went on a trip without it, and began to tie it around the limbless alien, ready to fasten him to my back.

When I heard the sound of a powering whine.

Turning, I find an artilleries worth of barrels… pointed right at me, each one glowing with red light.

I was going to die.

I knew it.

So… I raised my head high, my back straight, and stared at the crimson and golden eyes that stared at me with hatred.

It paled in comparison to what I felt inside my own chest. And I spit at them knowing that my end was coming, wishing, pulling, hoping that the power inside me would finally do something.

I felt the stir inside my body, point a hand outward… and saw a bolt of arcing lightning lance through the air, catching one of them in the chest.

Too bad there was more than just one of them.

The last thing that I heard was the discharge of laser fire, the smell of burnt meat reaching my nose, and the distinct feeling that I was screaming.

Then I felt something else connect.

And I was lost in the sea of stars again, watching as a new star connected to my sky.

Even as the life faded from my body, I felt something… surge. A new power that wasn't like the magic that flowed through my body.

It was… Light.

I felt as my body stitched itself back together, causality itself rearranging itself as my essence was remade with Light.

I gasped, as I was brought back from death. Not the brink of it. No, I had truly died.

There was no other explanation for that moment when I simply felt… nothing. Just an endless void of darkness that threatened to swallow everything that I was whole.

And I return, body scrambling to my feet, staring at the bewildered expression of the Korinthians in front of me, weapons drooping toward the ground, as if they could barely hang on to their weapons amidst the shock.

My body moves, faster than it had before, extending with the steadiness of stone as I loosened a round into the head of a black horned yellow skinned Korinthain, his body slumping to the floor before I shot the one next to him too in less than a second.

That was all that I did before they lit me up once again.

And I came back. The flashing of light seeming to come from the ceiling as I rose from the grave again and again, their onslaught unable to keep me from taking at least one or two of them with me.

I wasn't even doing it consciously anymore. No. I just moved, my mind blank, body moving without the barest hint of intelligence. Merely primal instinct that I'd never had before.

Yet, it came so naturally. As if I had been born to do it. Or more accurately, died for it.

Eventually, after uncountable deaths, of feeling the very flesh and bones being turned into bare ash and dust, anguishing in the pain of knowing that I should be dead, I stood there. The last man standing amidst the corpses of the Korinthians.

"Well… that was something." The rustling of leaves said from behind me, the plant alien seeming to have survived the encounter, though I could see that parts of its torso were burned and smoldering.

How durable was he?

Like I was one to talk.

I still couldn't properly process what had just happened.

I was supposed to be dead. The life that was mine destined to end here.

Yet I lived.

I lived again and again and again. Death unable to take me.

Oh, the irony. It was enough to make one weep from the laughter.

"Are you alright Guardian?" A chipper optimistic voice said, the edges of the sound seeming… synthetic. As if they were spoken from a speaker instead of a body.

And I was right. Floating down from the ceiling, was a strange orb? Cube? It seemed to imitate an orb, but was made up of various triangles of steel, each one interlocked around a single glowing blue eye that seemed to regard me… familiarity. Like the way that Roland did.

I blink and point a finger at my face with a raised eyebrow. Me?

"Well, of course! You are my Guardian after all! And I am your ghost." He said them as if they were the simplest things in the world.

Who knew? maybe they were and I was just slow on the uptake. I still hadn't processed everything that had happened properly.

"Now, I know that what happened just now was fantastical… but don't you think that it would be preferable if we fled before more of these… scoundrels arrived?" The plant alien said on the floor, head slowly rising up.

I nod. No point in… doing that all over again.

I manage to keep myself from retching. Even though it's all that I wanted to do right now.

"Oh no!" The… Ghost, said as it floated over to the green glowing wood, light exuding from its eyes as it scanned the wounded person. "You have been severely wounded! Though… interesting. It seems that… you're already healing from the damage."

"What can I say? We Nu-Baol are sturdy folks… even if we might be a tad… delicious." the last word was said with such convicted hatred that I felt the hairs stand at the back of my neck.

"Guardian, we have to get him somewhere safe!" Ugh, I knew that already.

With a huff, knowing that I was going to have to deal with the little robots… cheerfulness, I grab onto the Nu-Baol, and put him on my back, moving down the hallway towards my little tunnel. It would be cramped, but I could do it.

I didn't want to get caught out in the hallway again… I didn't want to burn like that again.

"Right, what's your name?" The little Ghost asked the damaged tree.

"Jackson. Veranda Jackson."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Veranda!" For once, I was in agreement with the floating bot.