Page 26 of Fated to the Alien Chieftain

My eyes mist green as my heart pounds in my chest. “Release him!” I demand. A part of my consciousness extends into Aenarael, searching, probing her mind. I can feel her thoughts, the feigned offence, the sadistic pleasure, and underneath it all, the barely restrained terror threatening to overwhelm her.

I push a little harder, deeper into her mind, placing thoughts of courage, respect, and admiration. How I’m doing this is a complete mystery. The actions feel natural and instinctual, as if I’ve done it a thousand times before.

Aenarael gasps and shudders like she’s just struck by a bucket of freezing water. “At once Matriarch,” she says stiffly before the silver aura covering the soldier is released. He falls to the ground, choking and wheezing for air.

Ecneius glances knowingly between me and Aenarael before he gives a curt bow in my direction. “We live to serve, Matriarch.” Butterflies well up inside my stomach as I look at my hands in disbelief. To have such power at my fingertips feels exhilarating,but how could anyone live with such control over others and not abuse it?

“Now, Aenarael, assume I have amnesia, and explain to me who these Corrupters are and what we are doing here?” I say. My question draws nervous glances and mutterings from the others until I raise a hand for quiet.

“Of course, Matriarch.” She nods before clearing her throat. “Two months ago, at the far reaches of our empire, a discoverywas made in the Dominus System on a desert world. Hidden deep under the dunes near the planet’s core was an ancient alien structure, unlike anything we’ve ever seen, completely mechanical. A team of our best scientists were sent to study it, but we lost contact soon after. We believe they activated its defenses and were overrun, allowing the machines to steal enough Elerium to power their structure, which we now know is a ship... Their Mastership.” She gestures towards the walls. “This ship, in fact.”

I reach for my necklace before realizing it’s not there. This vision must be the last battle of the Gods taking down the Machine God. I feel my pulse rising and my hands shake. That means I must fight the freaking Machine God...now!I really wish Krogoth was here.“Continue Aenarael,” I say, hoping for some clues to be revealed.

Aenarael nods. “The Corrupters spread from planet to planet, solar system to solar system, exterminating all life by releasing their nanophage, crushing our once glorious empire, until they darkened the very skies of Klendathor two days ago. And we’ve been fighting a losing battle ever since.”

“If we are the dominant power in the universe, how have we lost every battle so far?” I ask.There must be a way to beat them?

Aenarael chuckles. “Not every battle, Matriarch. You and Dagdorix have guided us to modest victories through our latent powers. However, the Void Bringer corrupts all machines. Our advanced technology either turns against us or is disabled entirely. Once they infiltrate a network, control is seized. Battle cruisers self-destruct, communication is disabled, power is cut off, space station oxygen supplies are shut down, and even our own automated defense guns turn on us. It encompasses everything you can imagine. The more advanced the system, the more vulnerable it becomes.”

Ecneius chimes in. “They corrupted our weapons network twelve hours ago. Denied us use of our disruptor cannons and shields. Now,” he gestures towards the rifle on his back “we had to raid an old museum for these primitive things!”

That explains the guns which wouldn’t look out-of-place back on Earth. This really is a desperate last stand. A burning question pops into my head, that I’ve had since Sunaisor and this was probably the only time it could ever be answered. “What about the warvisors... I mean veils. How are they not corrupted?”

Ecneius bustles in, eager to provide an answer. “They can corrupt individual veils, but they can’t cross our psionic network. If you recall Matriarch, at the consulate, I pleaded for all our systems to be switched to psionic? Hah! If only they had listened, we would have obliterated these foul machines in an instant. You remember, don’t you, Aenarael?”

Aenarael scoffs, “How could I forget when you remind us every five minutes?”

Ecneius shakes his head, seemingly not noticing Aenarael’s dismissive tone. “Imagine ignoringmyrecommendations, of all people. Unbelievable.”

Leaning forward with a beaming expression, I listen intently, committing every detail to memory. I can hardly wait to share all this with Harkus and the others, but first, I need to navigate through this chaos. Turning back to Aenarael. “So how did we end up here, inside this Mastership?” I inquire.

“You Matriarch detected some... presence aboard this ship. You theorized it as the central control for the Corrupters, a leader caste that once destroyed, may disable the others. Patriarch Dagdorix believed he could open a temporal disruption, breaching the Corrupter’s gauss shields, bringing a strike team onboard to destroy it.” Aenarael waves her hands incredulously. “Seems he was half right. He and the rest areprobably lost in the void now... With all due respect, Matriarch.” She bows deeply.

We definitely need to find and kill this, Void Bringer. I take a deep breath, resigned to confront the probably terrifying thing.Interesting, she mentioned Machsin can detect it though. Wonder if I can feel it now?I turn my attention outward, my eyes obscured by the green mist rising. All matter fades away and there’s only the void and sources of light, sources of life.

My group of soldiers shine the brightest, a spectrum of different colors, their sense of fear and apprehension plain as day. I move my awareness further through the void, drifting weightlessly through the darkness, searching for anything. Something flickers on the edge of my consciousness, a sense of terror and panic emanating from the distance.

I float through the void towards the powerful cocktail of emotions, seeing sources of light dance like wisps of flame in the dark. They pulsate and move as if struggling to stay alight against a strong gust. Some flicker and splutter out of existence, their hue swallowed up by the infinite blackness for all eternity.

A purple light blazes in defiance, rather than a flame of candle. This source is like the raging bonfire at Draxru. it illuminates and throws back the void in a burning inferno. Yet even it seems to shrink bit by bit, becoming less and less fierce. This must be the Patriarch Dagdorix and his group. Clearly, in a desperate fight for their lives.I have to be quick.

I drift away from the lights, each one a life, a story, a legacy. Leaving them all behind in search of the Void Bringer, as quickly as I can in this strange otherworldly existence. It’s not long before I already miss the comforting strength of the purple inferno, now that I’m once again surrounded by the all-encompassing, oppressive darkness. Expanding my awareness, I hope to find this Void Bringer.Would a machine even show in such a place?

A nauseous feeling builds within me, perhaps not nausea because that is a thing of flesh and blood, and here I’m only an essence of consciousness, it’s more a feeling of wrongness, of something unnatural that does not belong and offends by its very existence. In the distance I can feel it, but there’s no light, just more darkness. I focus, looking for it. I can feel it.It should be right there!

Then, barely visible, a sliver of a fragment of a piece. A minute light shimmers as it’s sucked into and consumed by blackness. A darkness that hides within darkness. It ripples and recoils at my approach, but it cannot escape.It wishes to hide, unseen and consuming the unsuspecting, like a bloated chameleon.

But with Machsin's powers, I know in this domain we are the master; I feel it as I look upon the almost pitiful bloated mass of darkness, surviving off scraps, scurrying in the dark. Curious to learn more, I push into it. It squirms and shudders as it wishes nothing more than to remain unseen. Inside it, I hunt for emotions or feelings, but it’s totally empty. It’s the antithesis of these things feeding off and consuming them. I try to force commands and suggestions into it, but it feels like throwing a splash of water into the sun as it just greedily gobbles it up.

It surges towards me, eager for more, but I’ve seen enough and bring my awareness back into the physical world. I blink back beads of sweat, taking in my surroundings once again. “Void Bringer is a good name for it,” I state to no one in particular.

“Indeed Matriarch, it was you who named it thus.” Ecneius chuckles, his eyes misting a golden color. “In five minutes, this room will be overrun with thousands of service drones,” he says, with panic in his voice.

The other soldiers swap nervous glances with each other, not sure what to do. At the back of my mind, I feel the location of Dagdorix and the Void Bringer, not knowing the layout ofthe ship, but could point in their directions without a moment’s pause.

“Dagdorix is alive but under attack,” I say, pointing somewhere to my left. “Let’s meet up with them and take it from there.” My words bring a mummer from the group, as I sense a flicker of hope bolster their spirits.

I lead the way, walking awkwardly, not used to having such long legs and being over seven feet tall. But with each step upon the hard metal floor, I become more accustomed to it.

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