(Throne Room, Aurum Throni, Terran Orbit)
The psychic pressure of the Empress’s uncontrolled powers
got more and more intense as I approached the throne, where she was held aloft
by the sheer force of the power that had been thrust upon her. As I approached,
I considered the best way to try and help her regain control. I would need to
contact her, mind to mind, that much was obvious. But how to force the
connection? I doubted very much that she would just let me into her head, even
if she were in control.
The first way, the simplest, was to basically ‘shoot’ my
will at her, with enough force that it could penetrate the whirlwind of psychic
energy surrounding her, and then crack through her defenses. But at the moment,
I did not know if I could even break through her power, much less penetrate her
mind from this distance. And if I failed, she might react to the assault
instinctively, without thinking, and I’d be lucky to just get sent to respawn.
The second way was no less difficult, and, indeed, carried
far more certain risks, but it was more likely to be effective. I would have to
get close to the Empress, grapple her, and force my will through her defenses.
The energy required would be far less, and I would be able to have a bit more
finesse than simply shooting myself out of a metaphorical cannon at her mind.
But any attacks that came from her would be at point blank range, and there was
no way I’d be able to avoid them.
Nothing for it. I took a breath, and looked at Lucio and
Sheila. “Stay back by the door. I’ll try and maintain your shields, but things
are going to get wild. She’s going to resist me, even if it is only on an
instinctive level. But knee-jerk reactions with this much power behind them can
be lethal.” They nodded, and stayed next to the door guards.
Turning back to the Empress, I began pressing forward. There
was no wind in the room, and yet every step felt like I was walking into the
teeth of a hurricane, such was the force of the Empress’s unconscious will. I
took a breath, cleared my mind. No distractions. I would never reach her if I
didn’t focus. One foot in front of the other. Again. And again. Each step
bending forward, leaning against the pressure, forcing my way into the heart of
the psychic storm.
Five steps. Four steps. Three. Two. I gathered my strength,
and readied for the last step. The Empress hung in the air in front of me,
floating a mere five feet above the ground. A burst of my own psychic power
accompanied me as I kicked off, jumping into the air.
Contact. I wrapped my arms around the Empress like I was a
safety tackling a wide receiver on the football field. I felt the energy of
psychic lightning lash around me, tearing at my defenses. But there was
something I had not expected. The energy was hesitant to come too close. Not to
me, or even her own body. No, that instinctive, primal part of her that held
sway over her unchecked powers was wary of harming the children. A mother’s
instinct might just let me live through this.
I held the Empress close, my cheek touching hers. My mind
slipped forward, trying to penetrate her mind. Getting in was not the issue.
What defenses she had, taught to her as part of the Imperial royal family and
an officer in the Imperial Navy, had been blown away by the onrushing power.
Those defenses had been mundane, but were designed to slow down an intruder,
give her time to discover them and respond.
Fortunately, they had survived about as well as a bunker
when a nuke goes off inside it. Instead, her defenses now were like a giant
instinctively flailing. If I had rushed in at full power, her mind could have
responded, that power brought to bear in an instant, wiping me out. But if I
kept quiet, moved slow, didn’t make too much noise…
My sight faded, as my mind slipped into the Empress’s mental
realm. I was no longer in the throne room of the Inner Throne of the Aurum
Throni, orbiting Terra in the Sol System. Instead, I was just inside the
airlock of an Imperial warship. I looked around, and saw a plaque with the
image of an Imperial destroyer-class vessel. INS Purity Blade.
Why had the Empress’s mind created this place? Wait. That
name. That was important somehow. Of course! The Purity Blade was not
her first ship, but it was her first command, before she’d earned her place on
the Triumphant, before the Civil War. That had to be significant. Had
she, in the chaos and feeling of being out of control, retreated to a time when
she was truly mistress over her domain? That sounded likely.
I stretched out with my senses. Things worked differently in
a person’s mental landscape. I felt the Empress’s core. Not far from where I
was. A small twist, and I was there, where she was.
The Empress was dressed in the uniform of a Captain. All
around her, the bridge was in an air of well-organized chaos. Imperial Navy
officers manned their stations, even as the ship rocked and rolled with
turbulence great enough to feel, despite inertial dampeners. Captain and crew
looked harried, holding on to their stations with white knuckles to keep from
getting thrown about.
“Captain, the disturbances are continuing! Sensors are still
overwhelmed!”
“Turbulence increasing! Whatever hit us is interfering with
the shields! Attempting to compensate!”
“Hyperdrive running at maximum, but position remaining
static, Captain! Engineering reports that they cannot keep this up much longer
without damaging the engines!”
“All communications nonfunctional, Captain! There’s too much
interference from the energy field!”
Listening to the conversation, it became clear what was
happening. The Empress had been overwhelmed by the psychic wave and the powers
that had awakened in her. Trying to retain her sanity amongst the onslaught,
she had retreated inwards, her mind conjuring her old ship and crew from her
memories. The power she now had was being interpreted as an astronomical
phenomenon of some kind, an anomaly that had suddenly enveloped her ship, and
was threatening to destroy it.
Another twist, and I made myself visible, made myself
‘real’ upon the deck of her mental ship. Well, mostly. I had no interest in
being tossed about by the turbulence. To them, however, one moment there was
just the viewscreen, showing a roiling nebula of chaotic energy, and the next I
was standing there, hands clasped behind my back. “Captain Vaughn, if I might
have a moment of your time?”
The bridge went silent for a moment, as Captain and crew
looked on in shock at my sudden appearance. The Marine stationed on the bridge
brought his pulse rifle up, and fired. I raised a hand, and the ball of plasma
froze in mid-air. I would never have been able to do that in real life. But
here, now, in her mind? I was lacking in power compared to her, but I had far
more practice at mental combat than she did. Especially since she did not
realize she was engaged in mental combat right now. Her mind conjured the
weapon, with its real-world abilities and real-world limitations. I was fully
aware that it was not a real gun, firing a real bolt of plasma. I simply told
the plasma to ‘stop’, and the Empress did not know enough to tell it not to.
That would only last so long as she didn’t get angry, and throw raw power into
things, to overcome the gap in skill.
“Who the FUCK are you, and what the hell are you doing on my
ship?”
Merida recovered quickly from the shock of my appearance,
and the way I stopped her ‘Marine’ from attacking me. So far, so good. But the
next part was tricky. I couldn’t tell her the exact truth, without risking her
going insane or simply retreating into denial. And I couldn’t lie to her, not
touching minds with her like this. She might not be able to dig into my
memories, but telling truth or lies would be child’s play for her. And lies
would undermine everything.
“I am Mirikon Mollen, Admiral in the Black Star Navy. The
Chief of Staff to the Imperial Throne asked me, as a favor, to come to you and
help you through this turbulent time. My apologies for the unconventional
method of getting to you, but it was decided that reaching you in time was more
important than using more… conventional methods to get in contact.”
Captain Vaughn brought herself to her full height
(impressive given the shaking of the ship), and looked at me with distrust. I
could see the thoughts running through her mind. She was wondering how I got
here, how I stopped the Marine’s attack, how I wasn’t getting thrown about by
the ship’s movement. All the questions unanswered, but all going back to the
same conclusion: she was out of her depth. She took a deep breath, and said,
“Very well, Admiral. It seems you have me at something of a
disadvantage. What is it that the Emperor wishes of me? Although, I’m afraid
the current conditions are somewhat limiting my ability to respond to Imperial
decrees.”
I nodded, simply. “Indeed. First, I think it would be best
for everyone if this ship didn’t tear itself apart at the seams. Would you
allow me to help you get clear of this phenomenon?”
The Captain blinked. “You know what is happening? We’ve been
fighting against this distortion for days now, with no effect other than
draining our ship’s power banks. I don’t know how much more we can do.”
“Naturally. Unfortunately, doing everything you can think of
is part of the problem. The Purity Blade is currently caught in a
distortion that is more psychic than physical. And the energy you throw at it
is feeding the distortion, making it more powerful, and keeping you trapped
here.”
“All right. Assume for a moment that I believe you. What
would you have me do? I cannot simply sit back and allow the distortion to
destroy the Purity Blade. I will not sacrifice all these people on a
whim, or the word of someone I have not met before.”
“And you would not be the person you are if you would. But
sitting back is exactly what you need to do. The power from the sensors, the
shields, the engines, the communications array, all of it is feeding the
distortion, amplifying it. If you want to escape, then you need to starve the
distortion, allowing it to die out.”
“Impossible! The ship will be destroyed if we do that! She’s
barely holding together as is!”
“Captain, if you do not trust in me, then trust in your ship
and your crew. If this continues, you’ll be destroyed. You have to do
something, and you’ve tried everything you know. None of it has worked. Why not
try the inconceivable, and hope for the impossible?”
Captain Vaughn grimaced, but nodded, slowly. She was, after
all, running out of options. Her ship and crew were in danger, and my words
were the only lifeline she had. “And what would you suggest, then?”
“Shut everything down. Everything except life support and
structural integrity. Yes, the ship will get tossed around a bit, but the
turbulence will die quickly enough, once it is no longer being fed.”
The Captain considered my words, and then nodded. “All
right, then.” She took a breath, and addressed her crew. “Ensign Mallory, sound
alarms throughout the ship. Brace for impact. Lieutenant Castor, prepare to cut
all systems besides life support and structural integrity on my mark.” She took
another breath. “Mark.”
The ship shook violently, crew members getting thrown about.
Five seconds. Fifteen. The turbulence began to ebb. Thirty. The ship came to
rest. All around the bridge, people began picking themselves up off the ground,
where they had been thrown without inertial dampeners to steady them. Only I
remained standing.
I nodded slowly, as emergency power came online, lighting
the bridge in dim light. The Captain stood up, staring at me with wonder. Wonder
turned to confusion, and then recognition. “Mollen? What in the hell is going
on?”
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Tales of the Void Traveler - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Memoirs of a Supervillain - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R9NWS8J
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Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR
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