Page 49 of Stars in Nova

Samira moved through the tunnels of Thalassi, the name given to the underground city that existed below the continent of Thalassa.

The air was cool and damp, and water dripped in the distance, a constant rhythm in their subterranean existence.

Her shoulders were heavy, her steps slow, heart weary.

It had been an extended night of patrol on the surface, hiding from the endless sweeps from Corilian units and trying to down a few using stealth drones.

They’d had some wins-five skiffs downed, and a squad of cyborgs eviscerated.

Still, it wasn’t enough, given the hundreds of thousands of cybernetic monsters crossing the continent’s scorched region.

She had been fighting this war for too long, leading her people from the shadows of the caverns while the world above burned.

The landmasses had been a paradise, its jungles vibrant and alive, its lakes shimmering with hues that mirrored the skies.

What was once a thriving planet had been reduced to ash and rubble, its people forced into hiding as their fields and forests were torched, their homes destroyed.

The conflict had begun with betrayal.

Marius, the beloved Emperor of Orilia XIV, had been a kind and just leader. His rule was marked by peace and prosperity.

Until he was captured during a diplomatic mission by an unknown alien entity.

What returned was not their Monarch but a hollowed-out shell—a man fused with cybernetic technology, stripped of his humanity, and reprogrammed to enslave the very people he had once loved.

His entire staff, imperial guards, and escort dreadnought had been retooled, and with weapons, they turned on their people.

The army and military were infested in weeks, transformed into grotesque androids.

The Crat-controlled cyborg army, the so-called Corilians, spread across the planet like a plague.

A war for resources erupted as the cyborg emperor sought to command all industry, farmland, and waterways.

When he was thwarted, he scorched cities, towns, and farms in retaliation.

Thalassa’s fertile plains and crystal-clear lakes had been the first to fall.

The peaceful farmers of the region, untrained for war, had been driven into the depths of the caverns, where they used their water-borne abilities to carve out sanctuaries in the underground reservoirs.

Two other continents—Peryn, led by the fiery tactician Kalix, and Isarion, under the stoic guidance of Raielle—had also mounted resistance movements.

Peryn’s mountainous terrain offered natural defenses, and Kalix’s guerrilla tactics had transformed his continent into a cyborg graveyard.

Meanwhile, Raielle’s forces in Isarion hijacked Corilian cyborg supply chains, turning the enemy’s resources against them.

Samira maintained contact with Kalix and Raielle via a fluid kinetic relay, a marvel of her people’s abilities.

Messages rippled across the lakes beneath the continents, carrying encoded vibrations that only fluid kinetics could interpret.

It was slow and cumbersome, but it was the only way to stay in close contact.

Even now, as she strode through the caves, patches on her skin and armor linked her to the endless streams below, keeping her connected to her people at all times.

The Vaelorii were water people who lived close to and communicated with it.

The race was split into two: the Quarians and the Sorans.

Her thoughts drifted to the Quarians, hidden deep beneath the endless waves living within their bioluminescent cities.

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