Arc I - The West Horizon [Eteru/Richard]

“Heh. I suppose I do know, but you also know that it's the fact that you are ‘some random schmuck’ that makes things interesting and dangerous for the Nebula folks. One of the last few people with that kind of potential to cause ripples like this were outsiders. And I get the feeling you’ve met such an individual that fits the bill of ex-outsider to the Nebula.” Cirus of course was being cheeky seeing as he has knowledge that he shouldn’t. But that’s nothing out of the ordinary for the Little Light.

Cirus seemed surprised that Lincoln knew that the refugees have been going around doing their damndest to interfere. “Aye, but they can afford to assert their reach. From what I understand the agents pestering us and people around here are all from a mixed House run by a human. She used to be some big shot fleet commander, guess she was the one who agreed to go along with the Eliksni on their little journey through space to find their new homeworlds. From what I understand from freely available info, she’s basically free to operate in Eliksni space since this colony was a co-founded venture. Even if the reason is just a cover to cripple our recruiting work...”

Sean raised his scaled brow as he heard Lincoln scoff, beginning to talk about the fact that he can technically still do stuff. The implications were starting to worry him. “Uh, what do you mean-” Lincoln was already through the door before he finished…

“What the heck is he doing out there?” He asked Cirus as the light and strange sounds started to pick up.

“How the hell should I know?”

“You seem to know alot of crap that you shouldn’t but this is your limit?”

“You’re one to talk about limits-”

“I wonder how many skips it would take for you to cross lake Shini-”

The little squabble between the two came to an end once Lincoln came back and introduced his trio of Homunculi that had Lincoln’s likeness. Three very naked Homunculi. Now Cirus, he was impressed. “Oh neat you made some Pillarm-... Some Homunculi. And… Wait… Did... ” It wasn’t lost on him that Lincoln only used dirt to create these three. Just dirt. Now that. That got the greedy little bulb’s attention. “How. How. How did you use just dirt? Where are the rest of the ingredients? Where are they????” He said as he drifted more and more into Lincoln’s personal space and soon enough squished into his nose with a look of mania in his single eye. The little Orb was certainly a mage through and through given his reaction, the absurd needed to be understood and he had just watched something that he couldn’t do with his knowledge.

Sean. Well he was just quietly watching three more Lincoln’s go up to Ialla’s room after he did his explaining about a harem, well it did solve one issue. His sister could now pour her attention into these three while the original would be unavailable to her. That was fine.. But now dread filled him as he had to clean up after three Lincoln’s instead of just the one. The tired look was back.

So over the background music that played over the sounds of frantic pleasure Sean would centre himself as Lincoln assured him that he’ll still see plenty of his sister. “Oh I don’t doubt that.” He joked at his own expense but he appreciated the sentiment. He gave a mixed sigh as worked a number of tension cracks from his neck before he gave some thought to Lincoln’s next question. “Exciting? Besides the House of the Nebula moving into the Spaceport…-”

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While everything was going fine inside the Fyrr residence, Vaxim was out in the fields tending to some solar panels and the larger pieces of farming equipment since his large hands were not suited to working on smaller tools. It was quiet, he did see that Lincoln was back thanks to him doing something weird in front of the Fyrr homestead but he left that alone for the moment, the old warlord was fine with just tending to his own duties…

Though something began to tug at him, an uneasy tug at his spine as a building worry started to build in his body as something… Something felt wrong. He started to look around him as old war wounds… Ancient wounds along his side begin to ache… This dread..

“Who’s there? More of you folks from the House of the Nebula?”His question was met only with the once soothing sounds of wind, turned ominous with the heavy air that ate away at his old wounds. “I already told my descendant that-” He stops, eyes meeting hollowed holes through the tall stems of crops in the field across from him. A stark figure of distorted black crouched in contrast to tall vibrant stalks of corn it poorly concealed itself amongst. “I-Impossible… Not here…”

The figure started to stand, being a clear 14ft tall… As tall as Vaxim himsel. Its outline was Eliksni… It’s armour… Ancient. Very ancient… 500 years too ancient. It made no sound though its every movement was skittish, jumpy, every twitch happened in uncomfortable bursts of motion.

The pair were locked in a staring match as Vaxim’s breath was lodged in his neck, he felt like if he made any moves at it then it would end then and there. It hunched forward and rushed forward, aiming to gouge into Vaxim with an umbral blade before the strange existence frantically looked around before looking behind it.

By a stroke of luck, and mindful caution, Vaxim was clutching tightly to a flash module. A device that high ranking Eliksni, starting from Captains, use for short range teleportation. He didn’t think he would really need such a thing, but he was no fool to political machinations, if this Ilox person that his descendant told him about really thinks he’s a threat then his very long life may become forfeit. Of course he didn’t know the woman personally, only as much as he could publicly, and Illegally, get his hands on. So it was hard to say for certain if she would kill him… But that aside, he was glad that he listened to his cautious self ramblings. But besides that, he had no weapons. And these beasts he had seen besides the other monsters that ravaged the original homeworld during the Whirlwind were tough to kill.

Best he could do was try to keep this thing from getting to any of the other Homesteads in the area and lure it to people who can fight… He didn’t like it, but right now the Fyrr residence was the only option. With no other option he turned and started to run, picking up parts from a solar panel as he went and throwing it back into the shadowy monster to keep its attention on him. Only that he didn’t need to worry about that, the things attention was squarely on him. It lurched forward and kept charging after him. “Sean! Lincoln! I need some help out here!!”

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“-. Besides them moving in I don’t think anything else-?!” Vaxim’s sudden shouting from the field caught their attention, along with the sudden recognition of a power that didn’t belong here. In a place bathed in Light. Even Cirus’s attention was taken as he moved right back into Sean’s pocket. “Outside. Now!!”

He didn’t need any more than that as Sean darted out the door, likely followed after or following Lincoln as the pair with likely Shiki in tow, could see Vaxim doing a deadly dance with a… A thing. An Eliksi shaped thing. The Elder Eliksni was forced to teleport again and again as the Thing was matching his pace, heading him off now that it had gotten his pacing for teleporting down as it would twitch and reappear in Vaxim’s face. It was learning, hunting and from the looks of it… It… It was taunting him by always heading him off.

And Cirus could see that. This thing was no mere shade or magical conjuration. It was something more. So much more. And he was fascinated by it. He wanted to learn about it. A crack in his mask would show. “Take it down but don’t kill it, I want to study that thing.”

Cirus sudden directed curiosity and dangerous tone made the Thing snap its single white orb of a face to Sean, its attention now shifted only to him entirely as it would begin to charge for the House. It’s attention now seeming more violent, it reacted to Cirus’s sudden dark facination and desire.

A bold move, at least that's what Sean thought. His body suddenly let out a discharge of blue lightning as a large arc of energy slammed into the Eliksni shaped existence, and it seemed to slow its charge. “Hah, it's big but it isn’t so tough.”

He bops the Ghost away from him. “Relax, I didn’t use dirt as a main ingredient. But it does help the process. I’ve used my right hand for that.” He held up said appendage. Flexing his fingers. Halfway down his forearm his skin looked a lot cleaner than the rest of his arm. It was clear that he used magic to regrow it. “Did it outside so I wouldn’t freak you guys out.”

He became alert when the peace was broken by the presence of something that doesn’t belong here. It was a shame he already sent his Homunculi to stuff a lobster. On the other hand they were doing well in distracting her. They started to play a tad more rough with her to really make her drown in bliss.

Striding outside with Sean he saw the ensuing battle. His eyes were drawn to the thing as it shone with negative light. A shiver went up his spine from how his limbs twitch and spasm disturbingly.

It reminded him a bit of Winter. Yet wholly different at the same time. Regardless of what he was, he knew it wasn’t something that was meant to walk under the sun. Cirius’s cry made him glance over to him in skepticism. It strangely felt fitting for Cirius to be interested in Vaxim’s enemy. However he couldn’t help but worry.

A sigh left him. Signaling Shiki to not kill it. “Cirius is right. If we contain it we can possibly learn how it came here in the first place.” He watches the white arcs of electricity fly from Sean. Watching closely he could see how the Light-infused attack injured it. Notable fractures were visible after it washed over it.

It was weak against the Light. Unfortunately he hasn’t been researching his own Light much. It was too low on his list of priorities. A shame but he’s not going to worry about that. He needs to come up with a way to trap it.

Darting forward he ran from the side to deck the thing with his fist enhanced with Reinforcement. Sending the thing flying for a few meters before it twists in the air to land on its feet. His strike seems to have left not much of a mark on him.

The thing definitely wasn’t normal. He felt that fact when his fist made contact with it. It came from a place of Darkness. Reminding him of his discovery a few weeks ago. No wonder the Light was more effective, they are polar opposites.

“Hey Cirius, why don’t you help out since you seem so informative about everything.” He calls out while keeping focus on his opponent who ran at him with blades carved from the void. Weaving out of the way of his sword strokes.

The punch from Lincoln sent the thing flying back before it unnaturally twisted in the air and then plunged its feet into the ground, anchoring it as its body slammed against the earth… It didn’t so much as flinch or miss a beat before it dragged its feet out of the ground with its gaze locked on the new pair before it, a low distorted growl seemed to echo off of its body. It could feel its own cracks in its body, the injury was comparatively light when you take its stature into account. What's more the punch only seemed to piss it off as it reared its body back and let out a howl as darkness like smog rose off of it and flowed like gale force wind.

Sean followed Lincoln out into the field as white lightning continuously roiled across his body, covering his eyes as the feeling of this Darkness was different to what he felt wash over him when he watched his parents die at the hands of the Cosmic Hydra. His alignment was of a warlock, it would have been different but his less than forthcoming companion required a buddy that suited his needs.

Cirus was amused that Lincoln was calling him out for this now. Luckily he wasn’t wrong too, he’s seen these things before thanks to some exploration into a constellation with help from a good friend of his back in the other ‘world’. “Well since this is an interesting situation. This thing is a Taken, they are beings corrupted by Darkness.”

Cirius took the chance to hide out of sight but kept his voice loud, echoing to distract the Taken beast that was now targeting them. “They start out as sentient things, as seen by its Eliksni shape, but they are taken to another dimension and offered a choice. They may become free of their imperfections and become something stronger. In exchange they serve the ones that offered them in the first place. Their master can choose if they retain themselves or become mindless fodder that move when ordered and by instinct alone. Some with powerful souls can resist… But basically anything can get offered up as long as it possesses a soul.”

“What the hell does this to another creature?” Sean said as he went to fry the thing again before it burst with motion, slamming all of its fists into the ground and letting out a blinding wave of darkness that distorted the very light around it before it Lincoln would see it, it was looking to return that deck with one of its own as its massive fist was aimed at his chin.

“Was hoping for something a bit more than being a commenter on the sidelines.” He threw the snarky quip in Cirius' direction. “But it’s informative.” He said before sliding away from the fist of the Taken, his mystical senses helping him perceive through the darkness. It dawned on him that he would need to be the one to trap the thing. Seems like he’ll need to put in more effort then.

Dashing to the side of the Taken he swung his arm to slap against its ghostly side. The ᛃᛁᚷ-\ᚷ/ᚠ Rune Array appeared on the surface he struck. Shimmering with an azure glow. A pulse of magic expanded outward from the rune. It was a strong rune known as Preservation. A rune array that is used to preserve food, plants, drinks, corpses, blood and other things in optimal condition by freezing them in time. It does not truly place the objects outside the flow of time, it simply stagnates their flow of time to such a degree that if the array is used on a fresh apple, that apple will still be just as fresh one year later. The rune array essentially created a stasis field around the target.

For a moment it seemed to have worked. The Taken negative light was tinged with azure as its movements grind to a halt. Lincoln was unaware of the false sense of security when he found himself being finally struck. Flinging him a few meters away into a harsh roll.

Dazed, he looked up to see the Taken moving, albeit sluggishly. He could see that the rune array was working but the Taken was managing to fight against it. The negative light emanating from it becomes more intense. Lincoln’s eyes widened and he realized that the Taken was a paracausual existence. No wonder it was able to resist such a strong rune.

To get around its limited movement it teleported in front of him. Bringing down his umbral blade on him. Thanks to years of honed instinct, Lincoln managed to roll out of the way in the nick of time. Jumping to his feet he threw a glance to Cirius. “Got any idea on how to trap it?” He said briskly.

“Well what more do you want? It’s my first time seeing one in person!” Cirus gave a lame excuse back, just in time to watch Lincoln’s attempt to slow the Taken down. At first it seemed like it worked, freezing it in a single point in time would have worked on any normal entity. Unfortunately the Taken were blessed with paracausal power.

Of course Cirus and Sean both thought that the rune array had worked until Lincoln was sent flying. The Taken Kell was left moving at a snail's pace when it wasn’t focussing all on single movements, so it would teleport to get around the issue. Its single minded sword swing aiming to kill the pesky magician to end its entrapment was dodged thanks to Lincoln’s years of training. “Dammit Cirus, just give us something we can use instead of giving snark!” Shouted Sean as he aimed to halt the Taken with pain as he gestured over the towering monster, dark clouds woven with Light appeared over it to shower its body of Negative light with a storm of white Lightning to keep it pinned for the moment as it thrashed around in slow motion.

Cirus could feel it. They were annoying the Taken Kell more than they were damaging it. Of course he had plenty of ideas on how to deal with it. He had more options than just using Light, but right now he was using this combat as an excuse to scan it… Of course this was a new enemy and his comrades were unfamiliar in how to deal with it.

Once Lincoln and Sean threw a jone glance back at him he couldn’t just stay there and throw vague excuses now. “There are several ways, they’re paracausual entities, so there is avery limited amount of mundane things that can affect them, besides someone with paracausal powers greater than their own sealing them in a shell or seal of their power, we can trap it in in a space filled with Methane!”

Sean threw his head back again, that sounded fake as hell for a start and if this was just another joke then it was a seriously poor one to make right now. “Methane?! Are you serious?!”

“YES!! Trap the Taken in the fertiliser shed! I’m being serious!” Cirus knew that he would have to do more than that, but the methane will stop long enough for Cirus to reinforce the shed so it can’t escape. Once he studies it they can destroy it then. This didn’t stop the issue of where the Taken Kell came from in the first place, or even if there were more… But one issue at a time.

Only issue was that the fertilizer shed was on the other side of the homestead, past the central solar tower and by the greenhouses. Right now Sean was still holding it down but the lightning was starting to lose its effectiveness, Sean was tiring out. He’s never had to use back to back attacks with his Light like this. “Lincoln, how hard do you think you can punch him? We need to get to the other side of the homestead! After that we can just push him in and trap him inside the shed until he’s too weak to continue moving.”

Vaxim, who had been standing on the sidelines, understood the basic idea. He started to sprint for the greenhouses to get the large pull over door for the shed open for them.

There was temptation to use Cirus as an improvised bashing weapon against the Taken Kell. Even though there was a sense that he could trust the strange Ghost it didn’t excuse the fact that he was a bit difficult to deal with. In fairness he was holding cards to his chest so he couldn’t complain about it.

In the past weeks he had been working on side projects. Some of which have been inspired by Tulam’s lessons. This would be a good moment to test them out but he didn’t feel like pulling any of them out. They weren’t refined yet. A good magician doesn’t reveal all of their secrets after all.

Hearing the plan he called out to Shiki who was standing a few meters away from the fight. She extended her arm towards the Taken Kell. Closing her grip half way the Taken Kell would find an invisible grip on his neck. The sound of fracturing glass was heard from the pressure. Then she whipped her arm. Forcibly whipping the Taken Kell through the air towards the now open shed.

The sudden disorientation from the whiplash combined with its reduced movements was enough to keep the Taken unable from stopping the trajectory. Lincoln watched him sail through the doorway and come to a harsh stop as it crashed inside it. “Do your thing, Cirius!” He kept his focus on the Taken Kell to make sure it wouldn’t try to get out.

Watching that Kell sore through the air… Cirus wanted to hold up a perfect score card for that masterful throw. Though now it was finally his turn to act. Sean was flat on his back, exhausted from using so much light, the best he could muster was to start hobbling his way over to the shed, this next part didn’t need any input from him anyhows.

The orb that contained his existence moved with purpose, flying over to the shed as Vaxim had already closed the door behind the Taken Kell that had just flown inside and got really covered in the bags of fertiliser they were going to sell… Oh well.

The orb stopped in the air as the faint visage of a person with large fox ears appeared in the light, taking shape to appear ghostly in appearance. The visage was of a young male with long blonde hair that stretched down his back, eyes of calming hazel and a youthful complexion as a calm smile rested on his lips, dressed in nothing more than a simple almost ceremonial white robe. “Making me show a card like this, don’t hope for a quick release from you coil you bastard.” Cirus raised his hands and clapped them together, a ring of light loosely forming around him before he pressed both open flat palms against the door to the shed, the material and structure of the shed began to change, moph according to his will.

His power and resources were limited, the best he could do was make a cage that built up on Lincoln’s array that sealed the Taken in a fixed point in time and kept the methane flowing to make sure it was too weak to jump around or try to escape using a Blight. Of course it was temporary but he plans to study it as much as possible before killing it. I’ll have to make sure Sean is strong enough to handle that before that happens… But for nooow~ It was a godsend he couldn’t smell or taste anything, he could study without getting sick or ill.

“Hah hah! And that's it. One Taken captured, now. Let's see if I can’t pry open its head and see where it came from.” Looking back towards the Homestead he could feel Sean’s fatigue begin to fade, the ghostly body dissipating back to his orb form as a wide scanning beam started to cover the entire shed.

“Great, now you have your pet Taken… Where did it come from?” Sean asks, having finally hobbled his way onto the scene while Vaxim begins to look towards a growing cloud of dust in the distance before his gaze begins to extend into the heavens above.

The serene pink sky of this verdant moon now held black imperfections while strobes of light flash through the rose tinted heavens. It’s origin? A number of vessels fighting overhead between Confie, Eliksni and a number of strange vessels that none of them could recognise… In their haste to help Vaxim and fight the Taken Kell that suddenly appeared it would seem that this issue wasn’t purely their problem. There were even ships that had sections stuck in the black spheres that hung in the sky, mooring them as if beached in space.

“I have a feeling that it isn’t just us dealing with these ‘Taken’ creatures.” Vaxim voiced the obvious while the origin of said dust cloud sped up the road and came to a screeching halt closeby. It was the Fyrr parents, their truck full of paracausal holes while they had injured people in the truck bed. Oliva was in the back tending to said wounded while Saxon climbed out of the driver's seat to look over to them, and the altered shed. Already beginning to put it together. “They hit here too?? Is everyone okay? Where’s Ialla??”

“She’s okay dad, Ialla’s ‘sleeping’ back at home. She doesn’t know we’re even being attacked, were they at the Spaceport?” Sean did his best to play catch up while Cirus kept up with his study and prying into the Taken’s being while everyone couldn’t see inside the shed, the wider implications of the battle overhead didn’t seem to bode well for things to come. Though right now… He was more concerned with the sudden appearance of the Taken… As far as he knew there shouldn’t be any sort of Hive around here… Now unless some went out of their way to hound these Eliksni all the way from Riis. But the ships overhead didn’t belong to the Hive… They were made here, in this galaxy.

“Those strange shadow Eliksni were tearing through the security forces and whoever else started shooting them, once panik and mania set in they began rounding injured people up to take away, dragging them off somewhere. Me and your mother grabbed as many people as we could fit in the truck and ran, leaving too many people back there…” Saxon grit his teeth as he slammed his fist into the door of the truck. Vaxim wordlessly started to help Olivia with the wounded.

“Can… Can we find whoever is controlling these things and kill them? Will they just disappear?” Sean looks back to Cirus and asks, unfortunately for the young man there would be no such luck.

“Afraid not. Like I said, these things aren’t summons. Think of them as corrupted entities. Even if we kill the person who’s commanding them, assuming they can be found, the Taken will continue to wander aimlessly and attack anything until someone else takes up the mantle of leadership, thankfully unable to make more of themselves. Assuming we’re lucky and no one else gains the power to do so.” Cirus turned to look back at everyone at that point, seeing that a good many of them had more questions than he was willing to answer. But he would continue. “We shouldn’t even be seeing them here. The Taken. The one who originally held the power to make these Taken should be somewhere else, in a different part of the Universe… Meaning someone else got hold of the power too. And I intend to use our captive friend here to find out who.”

Cirus didn't mention the part where he intended to steal the power to Take for himself. But they didn’t need to know that. Though Sean and Likely Lincoln already knew that he left that part out. “In the meantime, while I’m prying the knowledge from my Taken buddy I say you start preparing. I doubt we're out of the fire just yet.”

It was a haunting sight when he turned his eyes to the sky above. His mind went blank. All he could do was stand there. Knowing that for each distant explosion, every trail of smoke as ships fell from the sky, holes being punctured into the hull of ships. Lives were being snuffed out. Lives as vivid as his own and everyone here. Albeit in a different form, it was a scene he witnessed far too many times.

He felt that familiar sense of powerlessness. What makes it more damning was that he wasn’t some hero anymore. Not because he doesn’t feel like it, but because he knows that he can’t keep jumping into the fire for another person's sake. There comes a point where he needs to think about himself. Something that he was forced to acknowledge by another.

It reminded him of a short biography that Lady-Lord Heulyn Ithrak digitally published. Detailing her life in Hoshizora. The majority were within the Anubite Empire. The biography didn’t talk much about herself on an intimate level. But she divulged how she dealt with issues such as excessive wanderlust and had the Chronic Hero Syndrome. Writing about how she can’t focus wholly on another person because she ends up drowning in their world. And among other things.

Simply put, her words struck home for him. Her issues were things that he can relate to. It was a shame that she lived in the heart of the Eternal Empire of the Anubites. Something told him that he would have gotten along well with her. Oh well, not much he can do about it.

He let out a melancholic sigh. This was not his fight. Tearing his gaze away from the heart wrenching scene in the sky above he set his attention on the truck that came to a screeching halt. Seeing that it was the Fyrr parents along with obvious signs of a gunfight on the truck made him frown.

While they all chatter he quietly went over with the Ex-Kell to tend to the wound. A blank expression rested on his face when he saw the grievous injuries that the people had. Some had already passed away. One that was even familiar to him. The woman he met that one time at a fast food joint.

He looked into her glassy eyes that stared at nothing. It was fortunate that his body subconsciously went through the motions of using his magecraft to mend the others injuries. So perfectly in fact that the process took a brisk second. Unsurprisingly really, he had done this so many god forsaken times.

Lincoln walked away when everyone was treated for their injuries. Gritting his teeth in cold, anger. ”I can’t let this get to me.” He mentally told himself. Knowing that if he let his thoughts linger anymore on the wounded. On those empty, dead eyes, vacant of what could have been. That would be it. This fight would become his. But it wasn’t.

Walking up to the family he heard most of the conversation they were having. He came to stand there silently with a solemn posture. “Should we get to a more fortified location? Something like a bunker? We can hole up and wait this out. I have faith that whatever armed forces you guys have can beat them back.” He spoke with genuine optimism.

He gave a glance towards Cirius. Not liking how selfish he was being right now. But it is helpful to learn about their enemy in case of the off chance that more come their way. Doesn’t hurt to prepare. Regardless, he can’t ignore his casual disregard for the loss of life. Now wasn’t the time to bring it up so he’ll let him be.

The melancholy feeling of helplessness was carried in the hearts of many here, all but one. As the dead tended to, placed in the greenhouses for the time being so they might come back for them later or tell others where to find them, Vaxim looked back up to the rose tinted skies as his old wounds ached… Never again did he want to see a sight like this. Never again did he want to see his people being slaughtered while he did nothing.

Responding to Lincoln, Saxon shook his head. “We’re farmers… The colony isn’t more than afew year old. The only places I can think of that would be fortified against attacks would be the faction bases, but even the one for those Nebula folks in Tavor was under siege.”

“We could hide in the tower, the Servitor we have in there can help fight.” Oliva, now free enough to voice her opinion thanks to Lincoln’s help in taking care of those they could save with limited resources she has at hand with her first aid kit.

“That’s true.. But we’d be swarmed if they came in force.” Saxon adds as he looks down to the plasma pistol he had in his hand. Sean was wordless for the moment, of course they still had the Ketch… But with the skies looking like this their ship would get moored in whatever the hell was going on up in the air right now… At the very least they could hunker down in the Ketch, it was hidden somewhere else thanks to Vaxim.

“We can go to the ‘Rose Garden’ and hold up there. We just need to reach the Crescent gorge.” Sean says as he starts to look out east out across the boundless grasslands. Of course the main issue with that is that the gorge is a long way away and Vaxim wasn’t exactly going to fit in the truck… “Do we have any more transports for Vaxim?” They all started to talk about it, even talking about risking contacting the ‘Rose Garden’ directly for a skiff to come and pick them up.

Cirus could feel Lincoln’s annoyed glare on him but he continued his prying regardless of the issue. Of course Cirus did know that he was being heartless, showing no regard to the loss of life that is happening all around them while he satisfies his curiosity… But why exactly should he despair and feel sorry for those that are dead when his work to usurp the power to Take can save countless more? The dead are dead, he can only save the living as he is now. Of course he will explain himself once the time is right, but he did agree that getting to Ialla’s Ketch was a good idea.

Of course unseen to everyone outside the shed, the Taken Kell was being dissected by arms of light that tore into it to allow Cirus’s scans to reach further into its being. Being disrespectfully intrusive… Of course he would grant it a quick death after this. But for all its taunting it will suffer for as long as he can keep searching.

Ahh~ Found you~!

A shiver ran through Sean as he looked up to Cirus, the little ghost was giddy with laughter as the shed was bathed in negative light caused by the Taken Kell’s death within. “Did… You just-?”

“I know who commands the Taken. For now we should get Ialla and get to the Rose Garden. If the space battle overhead is any indication… These alien ships are only focussing on Military vessels and large passenger carriers.” Cirus slinked his way to settle over Sean’s shoulder as he looked up, and as he said they could see that small passenger ships were being ignored… If they were letting people get away then they likely didn’t plan on sticking around for too long. They were going out of their way to gather numbers. A most unfortunate thought, but it looked like they could safely call in a skiff and hide out where the Rose Garden is stache away. Vaxim started to move away to call in transport for them while Sean and Saxon ran back for the Homestead to get Ialla and the Homunculi.

Cirus would move into the field, mentally going over everything he had collected from the ancient Taken along with his own understanding of the Sword Logic. If he followed it then he could easily steal the power to Take for himself, from there he could easily secure himself as an asset to protect instead of an object of suspicion… He could protect Sean and those he loves too instead of always having to be a passive helper.

The Skiff will likely arrive soon to take them to a secure location. If Lincoln wants to voice anything before they end up somewhere with more ears to hear then now is likely the time.

Saxon was right. The household shield system was not meant for full on militarized forces. Storm shelters would also be fairly ineffective. This ‘Rose Garden’ sounds like the only place to seek refuge in. He looked over to Sean. Remembering that he told him that his people were refugees once. Ran away from some darkness, and no matter how far away they sailed. Death still followed. A grim truth of reality.

Seeing that Vaxim had no space in the truck didn’t settle well with him. While he knew no one would ever think about it, he hated leaving people behind when there is no room in a vehicle. Before he could raise his voice he noticed that his Homunculi came out before Saxon and Sean entered the house.

All of them were adorned in white cloaks with roman numerals on their hoods that signify their number of four to six. Cinco was holding Ialla in a round cocoon of blankets with only a portion of her face visible. Dark spots could be seen forming on the bottom of the cocoon. Clearly, they didn’t have much time to prepare.

Seis was on the left. Glancing to Ialla awkwardly who was evidently out of it. Beneath his cloak he was holding a clean set of clothing for her to wear when she comes out of her stupor. “Hey, we're Lincoln’s Homunculi. Ialla’s blackout drunk. She had a lot to drink.” He said to Saxon and Sean.

Once that explanation was given they would move with the Elksni to the truck. Cuatro went over to Lincoln, having sensed his need for him. Lincoln looked over to the large Ex-Kell. “Cuatro will carry you through the air. Seis and I will be with you so don’t worry about feeling vulnerable. We got you covered.” Once he agreed to it, Lincoln would gesture for his Homunculus to approach Vaxim. Coming around behind him. The Ex-Kell would feel his hand on his back. Then he would feel weightless as Cuatro grabbed him by his sides.

Lincoln looked back to the rest of the crowd. “Alright, I’m ready to fly. Let’s get going!” He and his two Homunculi would start to float up into the air for about a meter. With Lincoln and Seis being several meters higher above Cuatro to see more of the land sound them.

Cirus looked out across the homestead and saw the three Linco-likes come out of the house with a sushi-lla in tow in their arms. Plenty of sauce in that one, not like Sean and Saxon don’t know what was going on but it was hardly the time or place to question them or the fact there are now four lincoln’s all of a sudden.

Of course Saxon was just left in a stupor with all this development before he just sighed and turned around. At least his daughter was okay, though now he was worried that his daughter was going to disappear a lot more along with these three. “Maybe I should have invested in that chastity belt instead of joking about it.” Of course he says this in jest, the whole situation was absurd as is… And humour was the great universal mechanism for coping no matter the era or species.

Once back with the rest of the group, Vaxim would look confused to Lincoln and his copies before all was revealed spectacularly. Of course the ex-kell squirmed uncomfortably against the uneasy feeling of personal flight. “O-Ooh a person of my stature is not meant to flyyy” His protest would no doubt be noted but ignored for the time being as Sean got into the truck while his sister got into the passenger seat while their parents got into the back with the survivors that made it. Two humans, a Ghyshr woman and three Eliksni… Out of a group of 12 that came with them.

Sean, knowing where they were going, started up the Truck and brought it up into the air to start leading them towards the crescent gorge where they will find their refuge until this disaster blows over, leading them out across the verdant surface of the moon while distant pieces of debris and carnage fall from the heavens above. They were in no danger for the moment, the alien ships above them paid no attention to them… Though if they knew where they were going perhaps they would have.

Cirus flew briskly by Lincoln as his single amber eye was aimed skywards, looking to the blotches of umbral imperfection across the rose tinted canvas the aliens splatter themselves against in their conflict… A sight he has seen countless times and has joined in countless more… No… Not him. But the real one. The one with a body that can touch, can breathe and drink and eat… Not this shell. How he longed for those silly freedoms again… He thought he could last a measly few decades without a single touch. Without the taste… Turns out it was more maddening that he dared to theorise.

I should have thought this through some more before sending me here… Haaah… It will be fine. Once I have that power I will be able to shape my own body.

The fractals mind shifted away from such long off thoughts, while he did know the identity of their foe. He lacked the means to get to them, not in the midst of this nightmare that strangled the heavens above. His mind was swept up in needless petty thoughts of course, of how it must be nice for those around him to wake up in their own skin… A moment's thought, a second to centre himself. These thoughts will do him no good…

Is that why I didn’t blink when those people were dying… Maybe… But my power isn’t for my sake. It was designed for my Light Bearer… Annoyingly. I have my Alchemy. But it wastes so much of my own strength since I have a very finite personal pool to draw from. Even now I feel sluggish in this stupid ball. Haaah

It has been many years since ‘Cirus’ had to feel like this. Small and unimpressive. Vulnerable. Without his Light Bearer he was basically a chatty and perverted target. But these same shackles will grant him power enough to remake a body for himself, his existence will be held in tandem sure but he will find a way for Sean to draw power without his aid eventually. This gig was always meant to be a cover to get himself started… He couldn’t just plop himself in the middle of things as he was, that would cause too much trouble. I wish I could go back and punch myself for thinking of this stupid idea. He thinks this but already knew that it was a slightly justified decision to go with a more inconspicuous entry to this universe because of Lincoln’s existence here, already being under the watchful eyes of the Nebula refugees and two powerful beings with relatably dubious moral compasses.

The landscape begins to change as they go, verdant plains of grasslands and scattered homestead give way to inhospitable mesas with sparse green patches that were undergoing terraforming efforts. There are very few places like this left on Paxus, places where the march of civilization has yet to change.

From their air they could finally see it, the crescent shaped gorge… A large ravine in the shape of a crescent sliced into the crust of the moon that dove for a mile or so, a soft orange glow of magma could be faintly seen from here in their air but that was of no issue.

As the truck made it’s descent down it would seem that there were some hidden AA gun emplacements dotted in the ravine walls that watched them approach. Sean’s trust headed for the centre of the shape, heading down it was quickly visible that there was a large base built into the rock face… Along with the fact that there was a large hanger carved out where a Ketch was safely docked away.

The large base was of Eliksni design, though as of now they could only see the outside suspended docking area where it seemed that lots of different people had been safely evacuated to… All from different homesteads or injured soldiers that had nowhere else to go given the hazardous chaos of the battle overhead and the chaos engulfing the population centres. Eliksni here wore the symbol of the Rose on their shoulder pauldron, showing that they were allied with Ialla’s House. They were busy treating the wounded, handing out rations and sorting out where to hide them inside the Base…

“This is the Rose Garden.” Cirus finally said to Lincoln, Sean and the now roused and clothed Ialla, stressed from a rude awakening and shock of guilt for having fun at the cost of lives, got busy starting to exercise their leadership skills. “Their Palace hidden away from the world. I found it, an abandoned smugglers cove that was over a century old. Here they could grow while tending to the weeds.”

Inside the truck, Cinco got the mental prodding from Lincoln to get Ialla ready before they got there. He gave a warning to roll down the windows before he pulled the layers off of Ialla. If they heed his warning it would be good that they did. The built up body order and heat waft out from the cocoon of blankets. It was so strong that Cinco could taste it on his tongue. Powering through it he held up the still limp Ialla. Her body was very warm to the touch, damp as well.

He chucked the fresh clothes to Sean on the other side. Gesturing him to help while Cinco keeps Ialla up. The rapid loss of heat as it was sucked out of the window began to rouse Ialla up. Still a bit groggy. She continued to be out of it for a bit, which made it a bit hard for the men to dress her.

Getting her top on they moved her around to make Ialla lay down across their laps. Untangling the blanket from her legs the homunculus slid her panties and pants up her legs. By now the manhandling would have finally made the poor lobster come to her senses. Cinco folded up the blanket before putting it down on the floor. He told the others to keep the windows up otherwise the blanket stench will fill up the cabin.

It was a good thing they managed to dress up the stuffed lobster. A few minutes later they arrived at the Rose Gardens. Cinco got out of the truck when they arrived, keeping an eye on Ialla to ensure she was alright. It was impressive that she went and hid the fact that she was turned into a sushi roll rather well. Her voice was a bit softer than normal, but other than that she didn’t let herself wobble too much.

Cinco went over to the rest of his brothers. The other homunculus landed the Ex-Kell back on the ground. Lincoln was looking around. Taking in his surroundings. He looked up to the top of the ravine. Not liking where they were situated. It puzzled him why they didn’t set defenses up on top. Worrying, but he’ll stick with the group rather than go back up there to fight anything off. That is what the professionals are for. Lincoln waited around in case he was given any duty to do, otherwise he would go over to tend to the wounded.

The area they were situated was still built into the cave wall, you would need to be standing on the very edge of the docking area to be able to see up to the top of the ravine so unless you’re actively looking inside the ravine for something then you would be able to see it, and the active magma flows would put off any small craft coming to take a look unless they were properly shielded. The whole idea of this place was to keep it secret… It was a smugglers cove originally. And with only 3 months, most of which getting subtly hounded by the House of Nebula to reduce their manpower, supply accessibility and acquisition of equipment it wouldn’t exactly look good for them to arm the ravine surface with AA bases. They just about had the manpower to run selective ops… Not enough to man their Flagship still in dock in the hangar bay.

House of Roses personnel take care of the extra survivors that Sean and Ialla brought in with Ialla being pulled away for the moment to handle the storm of bad news. Karma is not pulling its punches with her. Though hopefully she would get to keep the Homunculi for moral support in these trying times.

Cirus looks around at the state of things, he didn’t care for this continuing feeling of powerlessness. So he distracted himself with data, going over everything he could understand about the Taken he basically dissected before putting it down. He understood how it was made thanks to ‘insider knowledge’ he understood how it worked superficially… But without the actual knowledge he was lost. With the Light he was limited only by Sean’s imagination but it was grounded somewhat because of that very fact. So far Sean has only conjured arc energy in its simplest form… There is so much that they can do with the light but it's limited to how Sean thinks.
Speaking of Sean.

Sean does come back to them to see his mother and Lincoln already helping out with the wounded while Vaxim looks to be miles away from the expression of grim recollection on his face. “We have people that are worse off inside… All the people out here are those that will make it waiting to be seen by what volunteers we have. Lincoln… How effective is your healing magic?” If Sean even needs to ask then it must be terrible inside the medical wing this place has.

This is what I mean… With the Light you could channel that energy into a healing warmth that mends the wounds and nourishes natural recovery. I haven’t guided him enough clearly...

Depending on Lincoln’s answer they would be brought inside either way it goes, the situation was already dire as they crossed the docks and passed through the large bulkhead doors to get inside the refurbished base. It was very much still a work in progress…

The interior looked like it was in the process of being remodeled with ancient pirate environmental tech still jutting uncomfortably from some walls, cables hanging low from the 30ft tall ceiling. The place was spacious, able to hold trucks and likely more as the interior was designed to hold storage space, being the first long corridor from the docks.

Vaxim soon broke away from the group, being tailed by Saxon as he uncomfortably says bye to his wife and son for the moment as he and he Ex-warlord make their way into the hangar bay.

Being pulled into the medbay was something out of an ER nightmare, naturally there were far more patients than there were volunteers and certainly more than the very few trained medical personnel that the House of Roses could recruit as the people had to stumble over patients on the floor.

Cirus started to look over the patients here. Mostly humans, some Taurus and Ghyshyr. Some Valorian’s and Ialaon. A good number of Eliksni, there was even an Athailian here amongst the wounded. Most of the wounds responded to damage done by Darkness, paracausal wounds that defied natural law… These people will die and become a festering ground for blight. More Taken will show up… He didn’t stay silent for long, he couldn’t just let everything end here. “Only the Light can heal most of these Taken inflicted wounds. If we don’t handle this soon, Blight will start to form from their bodies and we’ll have to fight more Taken.”

“Good enough.” Was Lincoln’s simple reply to Sean before going over to assist the medics. For the most part he was handling himself well. It’s not the first time he was in the thick of it. As he was going through the motion he overheard Cirius with his extrasensory senses about an infection. One he already took notice of. He spared a thought pondering why he even cared about whether or not these people die. The obvious answer came to him. Cirius just didn’t want Sean to get overrun and by proxy himself. In ways he couldn’t be too mad at him. Choosing self-preservation was something many would choose. It’s often why bystanders do nothing when they see someone being mugged or raped. Because they don’t want to get hurt. Valuing their own lives over others.

It’s a highly debatable discussion for a reason. Take himself for instance, does he have a moral obligation to heal these people? Many schools of thought have different approaches to this. He came to the conclusion that the answer changes. Of course, he had once been told by Tulam’Run to not rely on the philosophies of others. Rather his choices must be determined by what he feels is right and wrong. And here, it feels right to help these people. Cirius was ‘immoral’ in his eyes. Whether that’s true or false is not the point of ‘morality’.

Once he was done with his navel-gazing he mentally gave Shiki a command. The infected individuals would get a shiver as they felt a cold breeze wafted through the room. Their hearts beating more harshly as if to remind them that they’re alive. Then they will notice that the darkness creeping into their vision is gone. Shiki was at Lincoln’s side, seemingly not having moved an inch from her position near him. “I killed the infection.” she remarks in her usual stoic mannerism. True to her words, the wounds that were inflicted by the Taken were gone. All that was left to tend to were the injuries caused by other sources.

Lincoln gave her a nod, “Thank you, Shiki.” That problem now taken care of, he went to work in tending the injuries. It didn't take too long thanks to his proficiency and speed in doing so. In times of conflict you have to learn how to quickly patch people up. Not every foe is true to such chivalry like not going after the wounded. From a strategic point of view it makes sense. You don’t want potential enemies to come back to the battlefield to kill your men. That and it was a good physiological war tactic. Considering what he got from the Taken, he knew it was for the best if he got them up on their feet. Especially if they need to evacuate.

Cirus was not inherently an immoral thing, his situation and circumstance within has however made him take stances to ensure his survival. His disconnection to his true self has left him in the dark with only set options available to him… While Lincoln can go home whenever he likes. Though it isn’t like the Lightbulb has given Lincoln the chance to learn much about it outside the fact that it seems familiar with him and knows alot more than it really should.

Lincoln’s presumption that Cirus didn’t care about the lives here was not entirely unfounded, but it wasn’t like he wanted these people to just die needlessly… But their survival would mean good publicity for the House of Roses. Of course this opportunity was supposed to be one of growth for Sean. But…

The chilling cold that rushed through the air went from person to person affected by the power of the Taken energies, killing the blight within them and saving them from turning this place into a blighted graveyard filled with new Taken shapes.

Cirus was astonished that something other than the Light or another aspect of Darkness power got rid of the Taken energies infesting the civvies. Then he noticed that it was Shiki’s doing. Ah… The ‘Tordelian’... She must be a servant. But I’m not familiar with her face. But her name must be a real one, no need to make a fake one when the name and face wouldn’t be known here. In a galaxy far from their place of origin. She clearly had an ability that cancelled out the paracausal corruption. Though whether it was her Noble Phantasm or not… Too soon to really tell. He didn’t know enough about this Servant.

Cirus mulled over this while the others went about giving a collective sigh of relief. Olivia would get to relax as patients could begin to be moved by volunteers to a earby shelter that had been hastily made in the base's mess hall, cargo area and entertainment lounge.

Sean could let his shoulders untense for a moment as he smiled at Lincoln. “Thank you. I have to admit… I didn’t know if you were actually going to help. In our few weeks together I only got so much of a read on you… And I didn’t know how much you would change on that trip of yours.” He says as that smile falters, showing the unease beneath. “I was worried when I saw the looks of disinterest and boredom you masked behind nervous shy behavior. I honestly thought I would have to try coercing you with something… I’m sorry to have made poor judgement of your character…” He says this as he lowers his head in earnest, hoping that Lincoln would forgive him of this.

Cirus didn’t offer his usual backchat, knowing full well that in this situation it would fall on deaf and ignorant ears. Leaving himself to stew on old fears now gnawing away at his limited presence. Sean, being connected to him somewhat, could feel something was wrong but it wasn’t like Cirus ever really opened up to him as is. It was regrettable but he would leave him to stew…

The Ghost felt that he should leave for the time being, explore the Rose Garden for what that was worth. He would quietly leave the room alongside the escorted patients that had been healed. As Cirus would keep wandering away however he would soon find out that he wasn’t alone. He had been followed by all, and he and alot of others were so absorbed in the current crisis to notice someone break away from the group of patients. The Eliksni were not well versed in magic, and the few humans who were part of the House of Roses weren’t really good with it either. So Cirus was left alone, to greet the lone patient that wandered off in a corridor that led between a junction back towards the docking area and left to a developing greenhouse area.

The Ghost would turn around to see who exactly had been following him all this way. He was surprised to see that an Eliksni had been following him, though his mind quickly corrected itself. Ghosts are parts of their new God, of course one would naturally follow him if he decided to go off on his own. “Hmm? Is something wrong?”

In the dimmed corridors the Eliksni before him only looked with slightly glowing purple eyes that pierced the darkened space. They are male, though they appear young, having a skinny build with a short stature… A civilian without a clan or house from the looks of their remarkably average attire. “I’m afraid something is wrong oh Light.” He says as he peers up at the floating orb.

Cirus was curious, though he couldn’t shake this strange feeling but chose to ignore it. Though he waited for a moment, thinking the Eliksni would elaborate on his own before he finally broke the silence. “... Okay, so what's wron… Wr…” Cirus soon loses the ability to speak, feeling himself being drained as he falls from the air, falling into the outstretched palm of an individual that had taken up the spot behind him unnoticed.

The inactive yet conscious orb was silently being observed, the flickers of life within wrestling against a stronger power than his limited form could confront alone before a contraption like a cage was snapped around the orb. Sealing its potential as a pair of luminescent eyes oogle the odd sentient trinket before they peer back to the Eliksni, a hand reaching out with a bag of sorts which the young boy takes quickly. “The Gal-Tyr thanks you for your cooperation. Your clan will know of your sacrifice and will receive our support as promised.” The stranger steps back, disappearing into the blackened dark spaces of the corridor, turning invisible to start moving through the halls towards the base’s comms room to call for reinforcements and immediate extraction. Cirus was now silenced, left to scream in his own head as he rattled in the secure pocket of a stranger.

The young Eliksni was left alone, clutching at the bag in his hands as he started to grimly march his way towards where the other survivors had been held up… To do one last thing like he had agreed to do for his clan and family.

Of course the cage surrounding Cirus would have lasting effects. Sean would suddenly drop to his knees as a pulse of light rippled off his body, he was in no danger of dying. His initial encounter and bonding with Cirus meant that he was given new life. But right now, their bond has been severed.

Lincoln let out a soft sigh to Sean’s apology. “That is something unrelated. I just have a burnout on risque activities. Aside from that, yes, if the circumstances were different I wouldn’t have gotten involved in this. But it’s different when life plops down a bloody body in front of me. Now I can’t just ignore it and walk away. So here I am.” There is another reason that compelled him to stick around but he wasn’t going to divulge that to anyone. He started to open his mouth to speak again when Sean suddenly collapsed. First he he took in a sharp breath through his nose out of transient annoyance in not having a break.

He helped Sean up to his feet. Glancing around he noticed that Cirius wasn’t here. Connecting the two together it was elementary to come to the conclusion that something happened to the Ghost. “Something much has happened to Cirius.” he plainly states. He can understand why. The Ghost was the first to show up in who knows how long. A lot of parties likely have him in their cross hairs.

Now the obvious question came to him. Should he go save him from whatever mess he got himself into? Pragmatically he should. The amount of troublesome possibilities that could arise from someone divining the secrets on the Ghost inner workings is a bit too great to ignore. First thing first, they need to make sure Ialla is okay. “Come on, we need to inform everyone of this.” He would then help Sean get to Ialla.

As soon as Sean collapsed- “Sean!” Oliva was at his side pretty quickly, and just as quickly looking over him as a faint glow of white energy rose off of him. That sharp inhalation of annoyance didn’t exactly go well without context as icy daggers were quickly stared into him from the protective mother. In context he was justified of course, though you try and tell a worrying mother ‘I was pissed off at the noisy lightbulb’s absence’ and try not to get hit with a defibrillator.

Sean felt weak, he was short of breath and felt a heavy weight in his chest. Getting to his feet was difficult enough even with someone else's help, hearing Lincoln say that something must have happened to his partner did get a rather panicked reaction from Sean as he hurriedly looked around. He could only see that Lincoln was right, and he was now Lightless once more with his loudmouth lightbulb nowhere to be seen.

His mind races at a hundred miles a minute as Lincoln starts to help him to leave the room. “It… It didn’t feel like he died. It felt like the connection between us was snapped!” He says weakly, Olivia was to the other side of him as she helped to carry him. Though once they were out into the corridor it wouldn’t be long until they would find Ialla. She seemed to be trying to defuse a newly brewing situation.

Ialla stood out in the hall with two guards flanking her on both sides, a large crowd had been brewing with a whole lot of shouting for them to get back. Of course it was easy to see who was making a fuss, Ialla was trying to handle Vaxim who was holding a scrawny looking Eliksni boy up into the high air with his top two hands with one of his bottom hands tightly clutching onto something the lad was hiding in his arms. The look on the old warlord’s face was not that of mania as those panicking around him seem to think, no this was a look of fear and worry. This kid had something that could hurt plenty of people but right now Vaxim’s grip was keeping whatever he had from happening. The young Eliksni was screaming and begging him to let go… Now that kid's eyes were filled with desperate purpose… Lincoln would recognise it quickly. His purpose was evil yet it was forced upon him, his only action was to follow a path of desperation… Something was going on there. And he could bet that it had something to do with gathering lots of people before doing it. And right now, Vaxim was the only one stopping the kid from fulfilling that evil purpose while everyone screamed in their ignorance of his perceptive act of staving off what is likely death for all of them.

Saxon looked over to see Lincoln with his son looking to be in quite a state, it was more than enough to pry him away from Ialla’s side which got Ialla’s attention, though she still had this to deal with... She had to try and defuse this before it got too out of control. “What the heck happened?” Saxon asked, as he swept a look over everyone present.

“Something happened to the Ghost, dear.” Answered Olivia, still looking up to Sean feeling rather helpless since she had no idea how to help him.

“I think someone attacked Cirus. Severed the connection between me and him, and with it my connection to the Light.” Sean weakly spoke up, doing his best to speak over the crowd of scared and frightened people that the few volunteers and House of Roses soldiers were having a hard time keeping calm in this situation. “What’s going on?”

Saxon gave a look back, being a soldier in the Confie Navy before retiring to raise Ialla and Sean he was more perceptive than the frightened civilians all screaming and the security staff that hadn’t caught on just yet. “That kid has a bomb. At least that's what it looked like.” He whispers it as best he can for them to hear, he didn’t want to cause a bigger riot by saying it aloud and one of the people around them hearing it. “I have no idea how some kid got in here with a bomb but Vaxim reacted faster than I did when we saw him running for the mess hall with it in his hands… I don’t recognise the make of it.”

“Are… Are you sure?” Olivia didn’t want to doubt her husband, lords forbid it. But tensions were high right now and she almost didn’t want to believe it on top of an invasion, monster attacks and mass killings up top.

Saxon’s tone was grim, he looked back to the panicked and desperate begging of the boy squirming violently in the old Warlord’s grip, it sickened him that it was like this. But he nodded. “Yeah… He couldn’t look more guilty if he tried. But it gets worse… I have a feeling whoever got that ‘charming’ bulb of ours is using this kid… He’s a distraction.” It could just be the soldier in him, the fatalism drilled into him to expect the worst… But he knew better than to think that. “It’s a distraction.”

It just seems to be one thing after another with this doesn’t it? Poor Lincoln.

Lincoln took a good sweep of the area with quick glances. One thing came to mind from this development. To a degree it was rather staged. Not that it was fake, but rather to glean information. Meaning, this was both a distraction and a moral dilemma posed to a potential few people here. Those being Ialla, Sean, and himself. All three walking question marks that a third party wants to know more of. Otherwise if they had wished to wipe unknown variables off the playing board, they would have used a more effective means to do so.

The likely play was simple. What sort of people are these three souls. Just what will they do to ensure peace, in front of civilians nothenless. Look at how some were perceiving the ex-Kell. Every action is interpreted a dozen different ways. When they survive, word will spread. Gossip springs fourth rumors very quickly. Rumors then bring misunderstanding. Misunderstanding fosters prejudice. In short, it was manipulating public opinion as a weapon. Lincoln let out a small, quiet sigh. If this was the game they want to play, then he’ll entertain them.

“In that case, you guys go find whoever sent this distraction. I can handle this.” He spoke to them with confidence. No need for them to stand around and gawk when they can be useful.

He took a couple of steps forward. Clearing his throat before gesticulating. “Gentlemen, please.” His voice was heard crystal clear throughout the entire room. None notice how he altered the tonal qualities of his words. Further laced with subtle manipulation both mystical and psionic. The area became relatively quiet. Numerous eyes divert to him. He softly rested a hand on his heart. “Let us not slip into such bedlam. We all went through so much haven’t we? Look, the boy is only afraid.” The crowd looked back to the boy in Vaxim’s grip. No doubt he was staring straight back at him.

Lincoln took slow but rhythmic steps towards them. "Isn’t that right? There’s no reason to be afraid. I perfectly understand you. I can see it in your eyes, little one. We are so similar.” The weight of his voice centered on the boy. Unbeknownst to him, Lincoln was altering his mind in little ways. Sparking a desire in his small chest that he knows best. “You poor thing. It’s rough isn't it? To see something so beautiful yet you know you’re not allowed to be with it. The universe really is cruel, it makes it agonizing to even exist with something that we can’t be with.”

The crowd was watching a sweet man trying to empathically connect with the boy to calm him down. But to that boy, he was feeling something different. Memories not his own flashing in his mind yet his brain is forced to accept it as truth. “That’s why you really did this. My sweet, poor boy. I know how you must feel. I truly do” The desire burns him so much. The boy couldn’t live another day with it. Yes, that must be why he’s really doing it. This man understood him, felt this same feeling. Why live in a world where he can’t be by his egg-sisters’ side?

Lincoln was in front of Vaxim now. His face is soft and peaceful. “Let us all take a step back and breathe. Let the boy down, Vaxim. He’s only confused. Aren’t you my boy? How can they ever give you what you want when it’s not the thing you desire? But we can, my child. We’re all in this together. I know how to give your family peace, wouldn’t you want that more over what they offered you? How can they understand the pain you’re going through?” He set a caring hand on the boy’ head. The boy would find himself entrance. His struggling would finally cease as he’s lowered down.

Once the boy was on his feet. Lincoln softly took the bomb from his hand. Hiding it from the crowd before addressing them. “See, all it took was for us to remain calm.” He looked back down to the boy. Pointing towards Sean who was still likely to be here given he can’t contribute much. “Come on, I know someone who is the same as you and I. He’s a bit tired but he is one of the few who can truly help and understand our woes.” The boy would likely heed his words. Meekly making his way over to Sean.

Lincoln leaned towards the ex-Kell. Whispering to him back in his regular voice. “Let’s meet up with the others. They’ll likely need our help.” Once Vaxim was on the same page he would proceed to go where they went. Using his mystical senses to track them down. He glance over to Sean. At least he’ll have company. Awkward company but company nonetheless.

With Saxon, Olivia and Sean all trying to figure out a way around this, it was reassuring to hear that Lincoln already had an idea of how to solve this obvious issue. Saxon grabs Ialla and two of her guards to go off to find the person who nabbed Cirus, Saxon explaining everything that happened on the way down a side hallway that met at a T junction between the Comms operation room and other heavy work in progress sections of the base that should be guarded.

Of course Sean stays behind with his mother still supporting him since he still feels weak from losing his connection to the Light. Though as Ialla and her father leave, they miss a wonderful display of suggestion and slightly unethical manipulation. But in this case it can be overlooked as letting a kid blow himself and tens of others up in a suicidal bid for a likely broken promise trumps some mental gymnastics and Psionic suggestion.

Of course only Sean knew this, though he would still be affected by it. Without Cirus to filter it out he would still come under sway quickly. Olivia did have a level of Psionic resistance training while in the corporate military of the confederacy and Omnipo as a Combat Medic, so she was more resilient to Lincoln’s words… Though it was quite worrying to see just how easy the Eliksni were under the subtle suggestion so easily. Though interestingly Vaxim seemed to be more resilient, even appearing aware of the strange atmosphere being laced with Psionic activity… It’s very likely that his exposure to so much paracausal and magical power at an early age has marked him. But not in a way that is beneficial or harmful to him, he can just sense them and is aware of their effects enough to resist them.

Without the Light, the Eliksi are inexperienced and falter quickly to magical trickery because they lack the thousands of years some of the species of this dwarf galaxy have been exposed to magical forces and natures in their ever expanding variations.

The small Eliksni boy looked down to Lincoln first, keeping his eyes centred on the human as the hulking goliath that was Vaxim slowly set him down to the ground over the course of Lincoln’s words. At first he didn’t know what Lincoln was talking about, but a growing tug in his chest began to grow. Memories that were his own but something more became filled in emotional gaps that his words did not originally reach. New truths entered his mind. Feelings of an unrequited fire burn him with such intensity that the notion of elevating his family above their contractual servitude to their old rivals paled in the desire to protect the one he loved, even though those reasons were one in the same.

That was it. That was why he was doing this… If he could not be with her, then settling for a world where she would be happy and not forced to slavishly follow some entitled brats' orders would suit him…

But maybe this human was right. How can that other human guy and his group of outsiders help their people…? At least this human knows the old Warlord. His clan knows of Vaxim, what he has done through old stories and promises from forefathers to descendants… Old promises they could not keep to the old warlord. Maybe.. Maybe they really can.

The young Eliksni slowly releases the bomb into Lincoln’s hands once his feet touch the ground again, nodding his head to Lincoln’s words he looks up to the human as he is led over to Sean. Of course he recognised him, he was the Baron to Kell Ialla of the House of Roses. Though as connections snap together he looks surprised at the meaning of Lincoln’s words and now sees the brother to IallaKel being the one Lincoln meant by ‘he is one of the few who can truly help and understand our woes.’ was a surprise to be sure.

Sean, seeing what Lincoln had just gotten him into, mustered his strength and stood on his own as he looked down to the diminutive adolescent before him. He smiled and offered his hand. There was a long pause, largely due to hesitation on the boy's part since he now felt guilty… He knew who Sean was and he now realised that he had a hand in his current ailment. The kid didn’t need to say anything, Sean could read it all over his face. “How about we go somewhere less crowded and talk about it? I promise, I’ll listen.” The young Eliksni agreed after a longer moment of hesitation, being taken to the base command office by Sean and Olivia. With this they might get some intel on their new enemy beside the ones using the Taken.

Vaxim watched the young boy get led away, the crowd getting corralled back to the mess hall and other places they were getting placed while they were hiding away. All the confused directed anger he felt towards him moments ago, all that panic, it was gone just like that. He could have done that… Though he was still trembling from seeing the Taken. Had he the fires of his youth he could have worked that room to quiet… Then again those fires burned indiscriminately. He would have lashed out with equal hate in all directions for the massacres done here in this world. That is why he no longer rules but instead helped to forge rulers instead.

The old warlord brought his eyes forward as he followed behind Lincoln as he could see volunteers and House of Roses soldiers begin to move crates into makeshift cover, civilians still outside were being moved inside… No alarms were blaring… Of course he already knew what was coming, he had seen it when he tried to get the ship in the hangar to start up. A small number of ships in orbit belonging to the aggressors were starting to move over the ravine, they could easily level this base to rubble from there but they’re waiting... And given the small bits of info he had, he thinks he knows what they’re waiting for.

They can hear Ialla’s annoyed voice coming from around a corner, she and Saxon were standing outside the communications control centre for the base talking to a rather sheepish looking volunteer. “How the hell did someone just walk in and send out a message without you noticing???” Ialla did not raise her voice, but her annoyed demeanor and superior size to the human volunteer certainly didn’t help to intimidate the poor guy.

“W-Well… He.. Uh… I did notice ma’a- I mean IallaKel. But I… I couldn’t say no to his requests.”

“You couldn’t reject them?”

“No ma’am! I looked into his eyes ready with my pistol and I just… I couldn’t lift my gun. I just listened to him talk and did as he asked. I sent a general message and by the time I realised what I did, I turned back around with my weapon drawn but he was gone.”

Vaxim didn’t like the sound of this, he looked to Lincoln in this situation since he was out of his depth in the realm of magic. To easily overcome a violent mind and command them with ease… Only magic could accomplish something like that so quickly, at least as far as he knew. People with Omnipo could likely tell some other stories related to mind control but now was hardly the time.

Of course Olivia could resist Lincoln’s allure. He wasn’t even directing it in her direction, She was behind him and not even a part of the problem. A child even would be just as unaffected by him where she was standing. If she was involved well she would still be able to resist it. He’s not putting much effort into it because he’s using it on a child and civilians. All of which are not trained in the psionic arts. Their thoughts could be moved like chimes in the wind. Thus there wasn’t much need for him to dominate them with force. This goes with Vaxim as well. The Ex-Kell was trying to help so there wasn’t the need to manipulate him.

That aside, Lincoln listened to the developing situation. It was one problem after another. And now his fear that they may very well be reduced to rubble was being brought to fruition. Her clench his fists. Grit in teeth. In the back of his mind he could hear her. Not the vixen whose words weaved into his soul. But another who shared many similarities with him. So close that despite still having not summoned her. He can still feel the impression on her soul where her hand touched.

Ever since he started to move on. He began to properly remember more of the lessons that his Servants gave him so long ago. Once he had set fire to that forest he became more aware of who he is. Have come to accept the fact that long ago, his humanity died on that night. Drowned in the blood of his family. Then the flames of war came, warping his soul into something different. An existence that can no longer coexist with the normality that society lives by.

What was he doing? It dawned on him that he was slipping back to bad habits. Yes, he knows he can’t intervene in everything he comes across. But to turn his back against the glow of a world at war? Try to keep his head down to go unnoticed? Make himself small and unnoteworthy? Seek the deepest hole he could find to wait for the fire to burn himself out? These are the actions of a human. A beautiful flower in the field that gets rolled over by the machines of war.

He could imagine what she would say. One of his closest companions that he really bonded with in the later years of the war when he fully accepted the mentally before it became lost beneath the flash flood of misery. She would tell him to stand stall, back straight with eyes forward toward the horizon. To march forward, trample everything beneath his feet no matter what it was. Most of all, to ensure that no one would write him off as some lowly human.

Lincoln Loud was not a human being anymore. He had changed too much. What then, had he become? Who is Lincoln Loud? Yes, that is the question the aggressors would or may come to ponder. Looking back he mused that in a way he was lying to both them and himself that he was nothing special. Even if it was for the best to draw attention to himself, it was just a great lie, it was almost heinous.

Besides, he knows that there is no merit in being passive. By holding himself as one who bears no threat. The enemy at the gate would have no hesitation in busting down the door and filling his gut with lead. But if he were to take a walk as he truly is, then they would think seriously twice to draw the barrel of the gun towards him and the people around him.

Who is Lincoln Loud? Yes, perhaps he should really stop drawing out this dream for so long. He had thought he had woken from it. Oh well, it goes to show that it takes time for him to become whole again. For the time being he’ll wait for a moment. Looking over to Ialla to speak, “What we should do, Kell?”