Cut Scene 2
The Space Hub could take Kilgore only so far. He hopped from planet to planet through the Void Portals, following the flag marked "Sita Moon" that hung just beyond his vision no matter how far he traveled. Kilgore worked his way out to the furthest reaches of Known Space to the limits of the Spidron wake. No Void Portals remained beyond. Kilgore sold all his possessions but a Void Bomb and continued his quest the old-fashoined way.
Kilgore’s ship hurtled through dead space on the edge of the Daskalusi quadrant. Swarms moved through space by worming forward on tendrils of smaller creatures. Those tendrils grew and thickened and wrapped around worlds. Each tiny creature was a mouth for the swarm that was in turn devoured by a larger creature. Planets were consumed, and the swarm surged forward, shoved by the huge Queens and Princes in the center of a mass nearly solid with Spidrons. Kilgore was one a few Greens that made it's way far enough into a swarm to see these giant creatures, but he never survived long enough to keep the experience he gained from killing them.
These monsters had come from unknown space and swept through the Galaxy Empire, erasing societies from existence. Peace had existed in the universe, and most Galaxy Knight brethren had been deactivated. By the Imperator's side, the Knights went from war to war, imposing Imperial doctrine and expanding the territory. Peace settled after the Imperator disappeared to the void, leaving the Galaxy Knights directionless.
The appearance of the Spidron swarm gave new life and new purpose to the Galaxy Knights. A number of Brotherhoods had their genome recorded, and their ranks wiped out. The Steel Brethren had been entirely purged. All 100,000 Brotherhoods had their genomes restored to create soldiers for the war. No original Steel Brethren remained, but Kilgore was an exact duplicate of those who fought before him. The Galaxy Knights were given one single purpose, breaking the Spidron advance and bringing all other citizens of the Galaxy Empire into the fight.
Some now said the Spidrons could not be stopped. They would continue flying straight for all time, expanding and growing, at a predictable and chartable rate, reaching distant civilizations beyond even the reach of the Imperator’s magick Hub technology.
Daskalusi was evacuated. The Spidron swarm blocked thousands of suns, leaving a gaping black hole in space of dead star systems. The swarm was cloaked in the dark silence. In a few months, this region would be in the heart. Any remaining life would be devoured, resources stripped, planets returned to dust. The Spidrons left nothing in their wake. All predictions put the greater swarm passing over the Imperator’s Palace. It was the heart of the Galaxy Empire, on the planet Earth. Galaxy Knights were committed to deflecting or smashing the swarm before that could happen.
The Sephiroth turned up little information on Sita Moon. The Sephiroth contained every record ever created since the data system was made active. Kilgore had her image, but that did him little good. No matter how far he traveled, Sita Moon remained just beyond his reach. She was a mercenary, and an elf. A real elf, like in legend. All matter of Space Elf lived across the planets of the Galaxy Empire. Most were related, and each creed carried some prominent physical feature. None looked as elf as Sita Moon. One entry claimed she slew a dragon called King Dagon, but nothing else could be found.
Approaching Lemminster, Sephiroth signaled living beings ahead, extra-terrestrial origin. The Purge plan emptied strategic star-systems that could be sacrificed to draw out and thin a Spidron swarm. Galaxy Knights attacked the connection to break off a smaller swarm that could be contained and wiped out. Few creatures were known to inhabit empty space, and all travel was forbidden. Only Galaxy Knights could legally explore evacuated zones.
Kilgore had permission to shoot first. He stood no risk of Alert, which would dock him half the experience a Galaxy Knight would gain for killing these pirates. The advancing travelers were not answering the scrambled signal emitted by Kilgore’s ship, identifying him as a Galaxy Knight. Brothers would be happy to see Kilgore’s approach. Pirates would fear his advance. As long as Kilgore sent an unanswered signal, he had permission to shoot first.
No comments:
Post a Comment