RP [Visions of Tsenlan] Espiritu Del Aire

[Andrew]

RP Date

YE 44

RP Location

Ayenee

Espiritu Del Aire​

6 Months Before Transuniversal Reunions
Surrune, Ayenee
Elysium Universe

Eidosar (Admiral), Chief Surgeon Jun Caeyara adjusted the pin on one of his medals as he stared into the mirror. The crisp dark crimson and black paneled military uniform of the Minatu Empire seemed almost faded, he didn't have a dress uniform it was doubtful that many did considering the conditions upon the Arks. This stop at Ayenee would be brief, and it would be the last those uniforms see the light of the stars anyway. The military's top doctor didn't feel much like an officer anyway, the connection he shared with what was happening and the grief behind it had reached him first before any other, after all, it was his hands that had been coated in blood, and the seventy-two hours he spent at the controls of the surgical bay that had aimed to prevent this tragedy. Some voices within the peanut gallery would undoubtedly call it the sin of their family, the sin of his father, and the abomination that they considered his brother. He only escaped that hatred because he had been born from a tank and not the womb. His crystalline blue eyes held the gloss of held-back tears as he obsessively corrected the wrinkles, he had even restrained himself from the last minute in Dawn's arms, it was brother no comfort anyway and she had sobbed for days. The media was heartless, the whurr of drones past the palace windows, one of their family's homes he had actually never visited prior, and probably never would again. Members of the Madyrdes were in the brawl with the reporters, their shouts could be heard as the vehicles that would carry the Imperial Bloc to the Temple were permitted inside of the gates. He worried for his brother, and for his father for it was certain that the tolerance of quizzing reporters would not be taken that day. How could they anyway? Could they not just keep their silence and record this day in history respectfully? Another crackdown could happen, not that the Yudacath Intelligence Agency seemed to do anything.

Jun's head ached, he looked down at his hands, and just for a moment there was a flash within his mind and the blood was back upon his hands. The echoes of the screams of other doctors and nurses just days before quickly became those of the Madyrdes as the blood faded. Ayenee's warmer-than-preferred temperature, the sting of the higher-than-comfortable oxygen level was like fire on his ship-adapted lungs. When he made his way down to the foyer he stopped short just beneath the last step of the carpeted stairs. His eyes couldn't help but close, and his head turn as he fought the desire to sob at the scene in front of him. Knelt before the sarcophagus, the black design matched the statue that had stood in ECLIPSE dedicated to the Sol'Aester (Ascended Empress). Bejeweled in the highest quality of gems, now priceless as they were dug from worlds that no longer existed as anything but still burning debris clouds tossed across the Yirune Arm. Jun opened his eyes, and the volumetric image of his mother, Sinith hovered over the tomb, casting a shimmer upon the scepter and crown that rested upon its domed top. His father's gloved right hand was curled up on the embellished handle along with the twisted shawls of golden silks. Airwin was knelt down, upon one knee, eyes closed with the trails of tears down his face. It made Jun's chin quiver to see things like this. There were no words that made things better, the Media's sputtering about the "incompatibility" with IDE (Integrated Digital Essence) technology just made the situation so much more technical than it needed to be, she was dead forever and not able to be restored even by their technologies. Jun didn't trust some of their advances anymore anyway, that's what had led them all here. They as a people had ventured to places and harnessed power that they had no business with.

Another few steps had a deep sigh of sighs leave him again, now able to see his brother Uaeso - the only one of them who had come from their womb in his Captain's uniform hunched over next to their father. He suddenly wished he had waited for Dawn, he needed her at that minute because he felt like he was going to lose consciousness. He walked up behind his father and brother and knelt down behind them. He placed a hand upon their backs and his mind sunk into the telepathic refuge of the vesper link their shared. He joined their sorrowful prayer and uplifted the Builders to seek the passage of his mother's soul to the afterlife, it was strange the near-mute of religion through most of the war seemed to be lifted. One could only blame their gods for so much, the rest fell on the shoulders of men like Airwin.

The wars had ended but the running continued, Ayenee was just a stop. A place where they still had temples so their dead could be mourned and much-needed supplies could be delivered to the Arks before the souls upon them had reached a point of inspiration. The soldiers upon the three remaining Ithaca-Class Flagships and their escorts needed to rest as well, no one had taken a breath since they had witnessed the New Norian sun explode and wipe what was supposed to be their fresh start from the map. Jun and Uaeso wondered sometimes about their father's assistance that there would be a new home for them, this Tsenlan that he had envisioned and a place among friends in another universe. Justifying the construction of exotic drives which would take the surviving fleet there was controversial and many had sought asylum in the K'ctha-Zoth ports and no one blamed them for doing so.

Was it all just a story to give hope? Or would they be granted this new home, this Tsenlan that Airwin had envisioned? Who were these old friends that he had spoken of and would they be true friends or merely the next to try and enslave them as the Craethel had? Jun didn't just pray for his mother's soul but for all of them. That smug arrogance that had once gripped their culture with fantasies of being rulers of the great twilight expanses with their mighty leviathan ship technologies had become a soft humble whisper for help.

 

[Andrew]

Denied A Funeral, The Goodbye in Fire​

Ayenee System​

The funeral for the Sol'Aester had been interrupted, a scramble to evacuation ships and of duty officers back to the few surviving ships of the MERN(Minatu Empire Royal Navy). The Craethel had managed to hack the universal gate between the Elysium Universe and the Avaen Universe. There was only one option in recourse and it became more evident as Airwin's words were transmitted across the fleet to the Arks and military ships alike.

"Our hopes for this stop at Ayenee have died, and in a few moments, we will begin our final stand against the Craethel. All officers and mindhives you will power the new drives we have built that will carry you to the Kagami Galaxy. The Arks are our priority and until the new engines are charged the MERN is to conduct the actions we have expected of them repeatedly. Protect the Arks at any and all costs, destroy the enemy and the GATE we used to get here. Hopefully, we will see each other on the other side. All ships to battle conditions, our deepest thanks to the mindhives of our dear Leviathans for your protection." Airwin's voice was carried to all the ships, by the time the transmission had ended the first twenty Craethel Hulks had passed through the GATE.

Two Days Later, North of Kikyo Sector - Kagami Galaxy​

Survivor Fleet​

Airwin had departed for Yamatai, the course that he had finally revealed to them all was in action. Meanwhile, the survivor fleets struggled to hold themselves together. Most of the Arks had not only suffered damage from the final battle with the Craethel but had begun to experience issues with their dimensional power sources which no longer were able to siphon power from their version of the aether, which was less accessible within the new universe.

Uaeso stood on the bridge of the MERN Aiathogu, one of the three Ithaca-Class Titans to have survived the battle and one of only two that was fully operational. He watched the projection screens around him and his mind was occupied with the whispers of the ship's mindhive as it relayed the dying thoughts of its peers on the Arks. Things were desperate, to say the least, civilians huddled in the survival shelters on the once-considered mighty Arks trying to stay warm as life support failed and supplies dwindled. "Medical recommends we start considering orders for fleet-wide IDE (Integrated Digital Essence) updates, and mandatory registry. Just in case Aestaesys Airwin does not return with the help he hopes to get," Admiral Aphelion advised, she is probably one of just a handful of officers that would break reserve to address the grieving Prince.

"Do what needs to be done, also divert food from stock feeding military sylphs to the Arks. We can put them in stasis to try and relieve the pains of starvation," Uaeso responded, his words barely elevated over a whisper. It pained him to give that order, he undoubtedly would soon start to feel Gothuau's agony through the vesper link he shared with the biosynthetically created monstrosity that had been his Slyph since he had joined the MERN. "Tell the leaders on the Arks that I personally will come to address them, hiding on this flagship is the last place they need to see their Imperials," he informed her. Uaeso had been present during the simulated projections, he knew what he would have to do if his father failed.

PRESENT: Transuniversal Reunions

 

[Andrew]

MERN Aiathogu
Primary Sylphs Bay - Containment Cell 4

Uaeso silenced the warnings from the Mindhive by entering his code, when the containment door opened he could feel the uncomfortable warmth of the cell's interior. It made him have to close his eyes tightly for a moment as he moved to Gothuau and knelt down beside the monstrosity of a creature. Her manubrial tendrils snaked along the deck, the spines at their tips creating a metallic ringing as he could tell she was just trying to lift that head. The usually redder-toned rubbery flesh of her head contorted slightly as her dozens of glossy black eyes took in the image of her pilot and Master. Normally they never entered a Slyphs holding pen, in fact, it was considered dangerous even for their pilots. Her tail tentacles whirled together briefly and then uncoiled settling back down against her nearly lizard-like body, her venoms leaked from the sacks at the base of her spines and all of that would have brought fear to anyone else - not for Uaeso though, "You have seen better days my dear friend," his mind whispered to hers, "I know you're hungry, and we all are too..." he lightly rubbed around the base of her skull where the pilot control harness was secured. It must have been heavy now he thought, as he reached and he unclipped the control unit and harness and slowly and carefully slid it off her.

"Ssss....so....warm, so hungry....." the gurgles and pops drifted through the vesper link. "Danger...gone?" she questioned.

Uaeso nodded and leaned down, resting his head against hers and stroking his fingers back over the furls of the bases of her manubrial tendrils, "Yes, we're out of danger Gothuau, you and your brothers and sisters fought bravely. Now we just have to wait for help," he said. There was a source of food he had been considering, it was just he knew that he would be seen as a monster for recommending it. The bodies of the perished were wasted and drifted out of airlocks - he wondered how far anyone would let this go. "Aigthogu, restore ventilation to this section under my authorization," he ordered the Mindhive, adjusting his place against the monstrosity as he listened to the hum of the ventilation fans being restored. "Here, some cool air," he said to her.

"Sss..pshhhhkkkaaaa....thanks..." the beast let out a few hisses of air from the lines of tubes that framed its underbelly. "Help coming....pshhhhh..We know...we know you look out for us, kik kik kik kooo" she struggled with the translation.

The Prince nodded his head, he was one of few who treated the Sylphs for the majestic creatures they were. To him, they were more than just biosynthetically manufactured war tools. In his entire time bonded to Gothuau he had never once had to use the override, never had to shock her with steam or use a control baton to put her in place. It had always been a partnership, even when he was her remote pilot and she was deployed on the battlefield. Several Sylphs had already been sacrificed, some even used for food, and yet she did not revolt or try to kill him. It made him feel sorrow as he assumed they knew what was happening and that these were conscious sacrifices.

"My father will bring help, just hold on...just hold on Gothuau, and I will save you for a change," he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep against the slippery flesh, fondly dreaming of the days she had brought him victory in battle.

 

[Andrew]

The Lottery​

MERN Aiathogu​

With the last allotted IDE (Integrated Digital Essence) backups made, the lottery for survival was officially enacted. According to the lottery, those who were selected would sacrifice their lives in the name of more survivors in the end. At that point, they had no idea if it would even be possible to restore their IDEs later; everything was riding on Aestaesys Airwin Caeyara's mission to Yamatai. Food and other supplies were dwindling, power sources were malfunctioning, the humanitarian situation had spread through the Arks, and as it progressed it even began to affect the remaining Ithaca-Class Titans. Massive Leviathans were dying, starving, and suffocating from the lack of energy and conditions that normally sustained them. The numbers had already been drawn, the reports generated as sickened leaders and officers were driven to play builder and decide who lived and died.

Uaeso had begun to resent his time on the bridge, even morso the Imperial suite which remained in working conditions. The Prince looked at the projected screen and searched through the listed names of those on the Arks that had been chosen to end their lives. These were times that they all would remember forever. There would be those who might not ever get over it, even with the hope of their lives being restored at a later time.

Admiral Aphelion reached for Airwin's hand and intercepted his reach as he was prepared to open the communications line with the Arks. "Voli," ("Prince") she addressed him, then used her connection with the mindhive to pull up another screen. The live recording was transmitted from the Aiathogu's Main Launch Bay, and those gathered there were all soldiers. MERN uniformed enlisted and officers stood shoulder to shoulder across nearly the entire width of the bay and dozens upon dozens deep. Projected upon the screen was a simple, and yet serious message that was both heartbreaking and unexpected, "We volunteer."

Uaeso swallowed hard, his saliva so thick he felt almost as if he was going to choke, he looked towards the Admiral with pained eyes. The MERN, the soldiers sworn to protect the people had once again reached within themselves to show an undaunting and brave spirit. They had elected themselves to die in the place of those who would have perished on the Arks. Each was willing to give up their place on the Aiathogu to ensure that another citizen lived. Uaeso's cleared his throat and initiated the fleet-wide communications channel, sharing the feed from the Titan's launch bay, "Your nation, your people thank you. You are brave beyond words, and may Unya bless your souls. I oath that if possible I will restore you all when this nightmare is over," he didn't want to prolong his speech, he was worried about his own ability to do what needed to be done. "For Tsenlan..." he whispered and then had the Mindhive override the launch bay's containment field.

It all happened so fast, that flash of mortality and the recognition of how far things had declined. The field went down, and the bay fell silent as gravity disengaged. There was this uncomfortable pause as if the universe itself had paused. When it finally happened, seconds felt like minutes as the rush of atmosphere along with those who had volunteered their sacrifice flooded from the warship's launch bay.

"See...to it people overextending on the Arks are transferred over immediately, give them rations and the bunks and cabins of those...who died for them, advise those remaining on the Arks to stay within shelter rated sections," Uaeso closed his eyes, it seemed like the nightmares continued even when he was awake. His father had to come back soon, and with help - or they would be all dead. That act of bravery had helped, soon enough though they would be out of MERN personnel, and the inevitable would continue if help did not come.

Continued In: RP - [OPERATION FIREPLACE] Ostarae os malos