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As always, thank you very much for reading. Without further ado, the conclusion to... The Rogue Archon.
The Rogue Archon: Chapter 9
"Can you hear me?" Jace whispered intensely as another troop of Sirsh'th rushed past his hiding spot. "This is Ambassador Jace Marron of Varros. Do you hear me? Calae is it going through?"
Jace had hidden himself in a corner of the Sirsh'th tower behind some large pipes that ran floor-to-ceiling. He now was desperately trying to reach the Light ship that the communication had come from.
"Ambassador." Calae's voice was urgent. "Archon Embara has chosen to launch Radiance anyway without waiting for me to be able to deactivate the magnetic current."
"You said that was bad." Jace spoke worriedly. "Is he alright?"
"Radiance launched but the hull was heavily damaged by the current. The ship is immobile and many of its systems are critically damaged including shields and communications. Life support remains online, though it is unstable."
"What was he thinking?" Jace demanded. For probably the millionth time he tried to reach out to Ryn with his mind but was unable to solidify the connection. "Can you reach the other ship?"
"I am trying Ambassador. I have boosted our signal through the Sirsh'th communications array, but even that frequently becomes obstructed due to the planet's dense core."
"Alright, help me find the exit?" Jace poked his head around the corner to make sure the coast was clear.
"I have managed to locate a blueprint of the structure. Uploading it to your wrist link now."
Looking down at his monitor and scanning the path from his current location, Jace mentally mapped out where he would need to go. It was not as far as he had feared, but in his efforts to avoid detection by the Sirsh'th patrols he had wound up deeper inside the structure than before.
Taking off at a light jog favoring his uninjured leg, Jace was sure to keep his ears trained for any sign of incoming footsteps. Calae was in control of some of the systems in the base including the lights and some of the security. With each passing minute she infiltrated further. But that only helped Jace to a degree. For all her abilities, Calae couldn't just eject him to safety.
"Greetings, Ambassador Marron." Jace's wrist link sprang to life. "The Light shines on you."
Immediately, Jace ducked into a dead-end side hallway. "Hello, yes? Can you hear me?" Jace responded urgently, being careful to keep his voice low.
"Yes, Ambassador. Though your connection is poor. We have locked on to your signal now and should be able to hold it. This is Light-Father Kossra of the Song of Rapture. Where is Archon Embara?" The man's voice was deep and calm.
"In orbit somewhere." Jace answered, trying to keep the emotion from his voice. "Terana has been occupied by hostiles. They abducted Ry... Archon Embara in our shuttle. He escaped but the thing is dead in the water. I have no idea how to reach him."
"I see." Kossra responded simply. "What of Archon Embara's personal anima?"
"I am here, Light-Father. I am called Calae. The Light shines on you."
"May It shine on us all." Kossra answered the traditional greeting. "I presume Ambassador Marron is working with you?"
"Correct, Light-Father. Archon Embara chose to aid the native population of Terana. The occupying force has been judged by the Light to be guilty of terrible war crimes."
"Very well." Kossra's voice was solemn and serious. "We will attempt to locate Archon Embara's shuttle. Consider the occupation of the planet, ended."
Jace had to avoid several more patrols of Sirsh'th as he made his way to the exit Calae had plotted for him. It seemed however that they were largely more concerned with whatever was happening to their base as more and more systems began to fail.
Finally, Jace saw it. Even in the dim light he recognized the door that he had slipped through when he first made it inside. As he made a mad dash for it, Calae opened the door wide and the light of the late morning spilled into the hallway, feeling like heaven as it touched his face.
Suddenly the light was blocked as two lumbering shapes stepped into the doorway from outside. Guards had been posted. Jace skidded to a halt as they raised their weapons to drop him.
Two shots rang out, but no hot plasma seared through Jace's damaged armor. Neither did he even see their guns go off. Instead, the two figures, silhouetted against the bright sun, slumped forward, collapsing to the ground.
A face suddenly peered around the corner and Jace nearly cried out with relief.
"Torun, thank god!" He continued his trot to the end of the hallway and Calae closed the door behind him. "You're alright?"
Torun scoffed. "These demons die much too easy now. Where is Dallo."
Jace's grin faded and he shook his head. "He didn't make it."
Sobering up, Torun nodded. "I see. He died well?"
"I couldn't have done it without him." Jace assured.
A sad smile touched Torun's lips. "It is what he wanted. May he find peace."
Jace clapped a hand on Torun's shoulder, expressing agreement. "We're not out of the woods yet though. Let's get away from here."
No sooner had he spoken when a foreign noise filled the air. It was a loud clanking, revving sound that reminded Jace of an old engine on its last legs. Whatever was making the noise was not alone. It was joined by two more and they were getting louder.
From around one side of the tower rolled three large vehicles, made up of a patchwork of metal with two turrets on either side.
"Shit..." Jace swore as the armored vehicles swiveled to face them.
Another sound from behind him made him turn. The sound of tramping feet marked the arrival of a squad of at least thirty Sirsh'th in their exosuits. All armed with heavy rifles, spreading out and quickly blocking any direction of escape. It seemed that the Sirsh'th had finally managed to organize and mount a counter offensive.
"It was nice knowing you, Torun." Jace tried to put a bold face on.
"You as well, Holy One." Torun replied, forgetting or ignoring Jace's insistence on using his first name.
"Ambassador, please take a step to your right." Calae instructed calmly.
"It's going to take a few more steps than that I think, Calae." Jace commented dryly but did as she asked.
Less than a second later several muted thuds sounded from all around them, and about ten large capsules seemed to appear out of nowhere, lodged partially in the sand, kicking up a small cloud of dust as they landed almost noiselessly. The capsules were about eight feet fall and colored in a familiar elegant silvery blue.
For a few short moments, everything went quiet as all parties tried to figure out what had just happened. Suddenly the pods exploded outward and gunfire erupted from all sides.
Jace had been aboard the VCS Lograin when the Harmonious Light had attacked Varros. The entire battle for Varros had taken place in orbit. Thus, Jace had never seen Harmonious Light shock troops in action.
A single commando had rocketed out of each of the pods, wearing armored combat jumpsuits instead of the light mesh suits that had been aboard Radiance. These elite troops made perfect use of the propulsion jets in their boots and buzzed around like massive deadly insects, each with two automatic plasma weapons that peppered the Sirsh'th with short stuttering bursts.
The heavy armored vehicles opened fire on these new targets with massive explosive rounds. Jace yanked Torun into cover behind one of the pods. As he did so, one of the commandos landed next to them and disengaged his helmet.
"Ambassador Marron?" The soldier looked back and forth between the two of them.
Jace raised his good hand. "That's me." He had to shout over the din of combat. Explosions and the sound of sizzling plasma still filled the air.
"Axair Molvain, first of the ten-eighth, sir." The man gave a quick salute as best he could from his position behind the pod. "Let's get you two out of here."
Jace was surprised by the man's casual tone. His experience with the Harmonious Light had led him to believe that they were all as properly spoken as Ryn. The soldier's cocky grin and informal language did a lot in that moment to humanize the followers of the Light. Jace gratefully allowed the young man to put an arm around him. Another commando landed close by and did the same for Torun.
"Hold tight!" Axair called, then without further warning rocketed into the air.
Jace didn't know how they survived. The sky was full of superheated plasma flying this way and that, but the two commandos maneuvered expertly, executing turns that made Jace's stomach heave. Then in a matter of seconds they were out of it. The battle raging behind them suddenly sounded so distant.
In less than a minute, Jace and Torun found themselves being set down gently on the other side of the dune hills, close by to where they had left their mounts. Jace stumbled a bit as he got his legs under him, but Torun sank immediately to the ground like a deflated balloon. Offering the Taigari warrior a hand up Jace saw that his face was pale white, and he looked about to vomit.
"Next time... I would choose to stay on the ground." Torun gasped, but offered a weak smile.
"Contact Command with your coordinates for extraction, Ambassador." Axair instructed, then gestured towards Jace's injured hand. "Ask for a med team. That should get looked at soon." He engaged his helmet once more. "We'll handle things here."
Flipping another salute, the two commandos lifted into the air once more and darted over the sand dunes, back into the fray. Torun helped Jace to their mounts and aided him in getting on. As he did so, Jace used his wrist link to send out their coordinates and a distress message. He hoped that since the ship had locked onto his signal from orbit, it wouldn't get lost in the comm-dampening effects of the planet.
Jace had to ride with Torun as he could not grip the mount properly with his injured arm and leg. He was beginning to really feel the pain as they moved away from the battle and the adrenaline faded. Before they reached the Taigari encampment however, the familiar low humming sound filled the air and a sleek shuttle similar to Radiance zoomed across the sand toward them. Torun reined in his mount as the ship touched down.
When the ramp lowered, a group of four soldiers trooped out with weapons ready, scanning the area for threats. A woman in a white robe followed shortly after. Jace struggled to dismount and landed heavily on his bad leg, causing him to sink to one knee. The woman came forward and offered him a hand.
As Jace accepted it he found that the woman was far stronger than she looked as she easily helped him to his feet and supported him.
"Greetings, Ambassador Marron." She said formally. "If you will accompany us to the Song of Rapture, we will tend to your injuries."
Torun, not understanding a word of what was being said, tarried awkwardly atop his mount. Jace turned back to him and held out his good hand.
"Well, I guess this is where we part." Jace said in the Taigari language.
Torun reached down and gave Jace a firm handshake and an approving nod. "The Taigari are in your debt, Holy... Jace..." Torun caught himself but still was obviously uncomfortable addressing Jace with such familiarity. "And Ryn Embara, wherever he may be."
Jace did not want to think too hard about that. He desperately hoped that the ship in orbit had managed to find Radiance and rescue Ryn. Trying not to let his concern show on his face, Jace nodded. "We couldn't have done it without your help, and the help of your people. It will take time, but Terana will be yours once more."
Torun closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before bowing from his seated position. "It was an honor fighting alongside you. The Taigari will tell stories of this day for the rest of time."
"Go enjoy being a hero." Jace instructed with a wry smile. "You earned it."
Nodding once more and locking eyes with Jace in silent respect, Torun gave a quick whistle and dug his heels into his mount.
"I'm ready." Jace turned back to the woman supporting him as Torun rode off. She helped him forward into the shuttle and the soldiers filed back in after them. Jace watched the rolling ocean of sand slowly disappear as the ramp slid closed.
Ryn blinked his eyes in the darkness as he tried to figure out what had happened. When Radiance had rocketed out of the docking bay, the force of breaking the magnetic current had sent him tumbling forward. He must have hit his head because now he found himself lying on the floor with a warm wet spot in his hair and a dizzying headache.
"Calae?" He groaned. Silence. "Calae!?" He spoke louder this time, panic rising in his voice.
There was no response. The only light came from the viewport of the shuttle ahead of him, but he was too far away to actually see through it. Ryn's breathing grew faster. He was alone. No Calae, no Jace, all alone.
No, not alone. He balled up his fist and tried to remember his training. Calling on the voices and wisdom of Archons past he felt their strength calming him. Panic wouldn't serve him. He needed to figure out his options.
Grabbing ahold of the mapping table that he must have cracked his head on, Ryn whined in pain as he hauled himself to his feet. The room spun and he had to grip the table with both hands to keep from falling over.
When he stabilized, Ryn slowly put one foot in front of the other, making his way carefully to the cockpit. He had to stop several times as his vision swam, but after what felt like an hour, he finally made it to the piloting chair and sank into it gratefully. Swiveling to face the viewport, it took him several seconds to register what he was seeing.
Terana loomed large in front of him. Too large. In his escape, Radiance must have drifted into the planet's gravitation. Ryn put his fingers to the piloting keyboard and hit several buttons. Only one of the monitors blinked dimly to life, flashing several critical errors at once. As Ryn sorted through the messages, his heart began to sink. Shields offline, critically damaged, communications offline, critically damaged, defense grid offline, critically damaged. It looked like there were only two systems not completely destroyed in his escape. The life support was operational but was drawing a lot of power from a cell that was not charging properly. All but one engine was critically damaged. The surviving thruster was not enough to propel Radiance or do much more than spin the shuttle in a circle, and even doing that would be a dangerous waste of power.
In short, Ryn realized, he was running out of time. Soon the life support would fail, and he would suffocate. That is, he amended in his mind, if he wasn't pulled into the planet's atmosphere first. Given his current trajectory, Ryn estimated that it could happen at almost any time. With no shields and no way to land, if by some miracle Radiance wasn't burned up on reentry, he would be smashed to pieces on the ground.
Ryn knew that there was a Harmonious Light ship in orbit but with Radiance's communications offline he had no way to contact them or send his coordinates, wherever his coordinates where. There was nothing for him to do but wait and hope.
Once again, Ryn felt his panic beginning to get the better of him. Before the battle of Varros, Ryn had almost resigned himself to dying from the psionic buildup that had plagued his people for generations. After the rediscovery of the venting implant technology though, he had found a new appreciation for life, and wanted to spend as much of it as possible with Jace. The time spent in their tropical paradise, learning things about each other that no one else knew, had been the closest to heaven Ryn had ever experienced. Why hadn't they just stayed there? Why had he insisted on leaving? He didn't want to die.
A tear rolled down his cheek and Ryn forced himself to take several deep breaths. Pulling his mind away from thoughts of his own end, Ryn closed his eyes and thought about the things that usually calmed him.
The skyline of the Holy City of Abarest. Home. Rising shining over the desert. Truly a triumph of the Harmonious Light and the crown jewel of Its empire.
Jace. His infuriatingly cocky grins, his easy and infectious laugh, the way he would run a hand through his hair when he was stressed and cause it to fall across his forehead. His strong arms, holding Ryn tightly. The whisper that he used when he was on the edge of falling asleep.
The Harmonious Light. The entity that had given Ryn his gifts in the first place. All he had ever known about warmth and love had been taught in the context of the Light. It had chosen him. Ryn knew that the Light would not have brought him first Yarra and then Jace if It had not meant them to be together. People did not have to like it, but Ryn knew in his heart that it was true.
As he began to get control of his emotions, Ryn's mind worked more clearly. He still had a throbbing pain in his head, but as long as he didn't move too quickly it wasn't making him as dizzy. There had to be some way he could get a message out to the Harmonious Light ship.
Briefly, Ryn considered writing down his approximate location by hand and loading it into one of the drop pods. He dismissed that idea however. Someone would have to find the pod first, and even by the time it reached the ground his position would have changed drastically.
Ryn caught sight of his own reflection in one of the dark monitors and grimaced. There was a sizable dark spot in his platinum blonde hair, however it looked like it was largely dried. A tuft of hair stuck out at an odd angle on one side of his head. For no real reason, Ryn tried to smooth it out. Just seeing it out of place like that was one more tiny sliver in his troubled mind.
It was silly, Ryn knew, but at this moment there was so little that he had control over. Smoothing out those few strands of hair was something he could do. And even though it made no difference in the end, seeing it back in place made him feel just the slightest bit better.
Arbitrarily, he got to thinking about how it had come to be that way. Even when he had been imprisoned on Radiance, Ryn had always been particular about his appearance. He was a representative of the Harmonious Light, after all. It also didn't seem like the kind of thing that would have resulted from the crash either. Ryn shrugged internally. It probably just got caught a bit when he took off the psionic relay.
Like a pin drop in a silent room, a click echoed through Ryn's mind. "The psionic relay..."
"I don't have time for this!" Jace argued as he was being rushed to the med bay. "I've got to help find Ryn... I mean Archon Embara."
"Please, Ambassador." The woman urged him. "Your arm is in very poor condition. The nerve endings have been badly damaged. If we are to repair them without the use of cybernetics it is imperative that we begin our procedures immediately. Rest assured that the anima and Light-Father Kossra are doing everything they can to locate the Archon."
Jace didn't like it, but what she said made sense. What would he be able to do that a swarm of hive-mind AI drones couldn't? Nonetheless, Jace felt like he should be out there helping somehow.
"What about the Sirsh'th?" He asked. "What is being done about them?"
"I don't know, Ambassador. I am only a healer. I believe that hostilities have been halted for the time being while the Light-Father assesses the situation."
Jace also didn't like that. He didn't think there was much left to assess. But if it meant more resources could be focused on finding Ryn, he was willing to let it slide.
The med bay, and the ship as a whole, reminded Jace quite a bit of his time aboard the Luminous Hand. The Song of Rapture was a battle cruiser, much small than the flagship that Ryn had commanded, but still a formidable fighting force, and its interior design brought back memories.
When the healers peeled away the gloves of his jumpsuit, Jace cried out in pain. The flesh on his wrist and forearm had stuck to the mesh of the gloves and was dug at as the gloves were stripped away.
One of the healers put a hand gently to the back of his neck and closed her eyes. Jace felt a tingling run through him. It was similar to the feelings Ryn sometimes gave to him, but not nearly as potent. Still, it did a fair job of distracting him from the pain.
"How many of you can do... that?" Jace asked. He and Ryn had discussed the matter before, but he still knew very little about the way the psionic abilities worked.
The healer smiled at him, keeping her eyes closed, as her companion worked gently on his arm. "Many of us have the psionic gifts. Some have it from birth, and they often become Archons. Most Archons are male, since they are more likely to be born with the gift, however women are more likely to develop it later"
Jace found the information interesting, and the conversation was distracting him from the other healer who had strapped his arm down to a table and was now laying out a series of tools that did not look like much fun.
"You have very active psionic energies." The healer told him, drawing his attention back. "Especially for someone that does not have the gift."
"Oh." Jace shrugged one shoulder. "Thanks, I guess. It's probably this thing actually." He reached up and tapped the psionic relay on his head that was mostly hidden by his hair.
The healer opened her eyes and the pleasurable tingling sensation diminished a bit. She frowned at the band of metal around Jace's head. "A relay? But why do you have that?"
"It's so Ryn and I can talk to each other from farther away, but even with it I haven't been able to..." Jace trailed off as he saw the look of confusion on the healer's face.
"Gracious Light..." She eventually whispered in shock. "You mean to say that you and... Archon Embara are... paired...!?" She did a poor job keeping the disapproval from her tone.
Face immediately darkening to a scowl, Jace realized with some embarrassment that he may have given away more than he should have. "That's hardly any of your business." He snapped
"Of course, Ambassador!" She recovered herself but still looked flustered. "I am sorry, we are just not... accustomed to the practices of... those outside the Light. I am sure it serves... diplomatic purposes..." She looked away, face reddening.
Jace wanted to correct her and inform her that there was nothing `diplomatic' about it. But he decided that, in the interest of not upsetting the people operating on him, he would refrain.
"Jace!" The voice hit him like a truck. Instantly, emotion overwhelmed him as Ryn's presence suddenly poured back into him and their relays connected. It was as though his eyes had been clouded over and he had grown accustomed to the dim haze, but as Ryn returned, the fog lifted and Jace wondered how he ever survived without feeling him there. Tears began to slide down his face.
The poor healer, who had still been holding a hand to the base of his neck, almost fell backwards in surprise. A look of stunned shock was cemented on her face, but Jace could see tears in her eyes as well. She had shared a brief touch of the tidal wave of emotion that had come with the reconnection of the two lovers.
"Ryn!?" Jace realized he had spoken aloud as well as in his head. "Where are you? Are you alright?" He tried in vain to compose himself as tears continued to fall.
"I am fine." It was almost impossible to lie through their connection, so Jace knew that Ryn was far from fine. At the speed of thought, Ryn relayed his situation to Jace.
"I need to get to the bridge." Jace told the healers urgently, who had stopped in their work and were looking at him curiously.
"But Ambassador, I haven't been able to start your operation yet." One of them protested.
"Just give me some painkillers. It can wait." Jace insisted, undoing the strap that held his arm in place.
Looking between one another, the healer that had been about to work on his arm sighed. "As you wish Ambassador." She picked up a syringe full of clear liquid. "Hold still, please."
She applied the injection just above the burns and Jace immediately felt numbness seeping through his damaged hand. Even odd tingling numbness felt better than the constant throbbing pain of seared flesh though.
"Please, hurry back." The healer urged. "If you wait too long, there is no guarantee we will be able to save the tissue."
Nodding assurance but not really bothering to think about it, Jace practically dashed out the door. "Calae, can you get me to the bridge?"
"Of course, Ambassador."
"Jace." Ryn pleaded. "You are hurt..."
"Hush. I'll gnaw my arm off myself if it gets you back here safely." Jace at least had the sense to keep his side of the conversation in his head this time.
The bridge of the Song of Rapture had monitors displaying from every angle of the long vessel. Almost all of them peered into the dark void of space. It reminded Jace just how vast and empty it was out there.
Only three people stood at the bridge. Light ships were remarkably self-sufficient and could be crewed by only a small number of psionics. The figure in the center was a tall but slightly hunched elderly man with pale eyes and a smattering of white hair on his head. The old man frowned when he saw Jace enter.
"You must be Ambassador Marron." Jace recognized the voice as the same one from the messages on his wrist link. "I expected that you would still be with the healers."
"There isn't time for that." Jace answered. "Ryn is in danger."
Kossra nodded slowly. "Yes, we are aware. Archon Embara is lost somewhere out here." He gestured across the wide range of monitors. "We are searching for him, but to find one tiny ship with almost no heat signature in the vastness of space... well it is like finding a needle in a thousand haystacks."
"He's running out of time!" Jace said urgently. "The fuel cells are all but empty and they're not recharging. The life support will run out soon, or he'll be pulled into the atmosphere and destroyed!"
Kossra frowned at him. "How do you know this?"
With an exasperated sigh, Jace indicated the psionic relay, not really caring what these three might think of its meaning.
The Light-Father peered at it curiously before squinting his eyes at Jace. "I... I see..." He glanced between his two companions who seemed equally taken aback. "Ambassador, this is most irregular..."
"It wasn't common for psionics to make it to your age, was it Light-Father?" Jace ignored the old man's response. "Ryn told me as much. Archons never made it to fifteen, lesser psionics rarely got past thirty. Were you starting to feel the headaches from the buildup? Did you experience that fear before the blueprints came through from Varros?"
"Well... I..." Kossra sighed. "The good that Archon Embara has done for the Harmonious Light cannot be overstated, however... As an Archon he is held to a higher..."
"Without this connection..." Jace pointed to the psionic relay once more. "It would have taken years if not decades to locate the information you needed. Millions more lives would have been lost. And would you have lasted that long? Any of you? Or would the psionic buildup have caused you to crack open your own skulls to relieve the pressure?"
With another heavy sigh, Kossra responded after a long moment. "You make a fair point, Ambassador. We will allow you to assist us in locating the Archon."
Ryn's voice spoke to Jace's mind expressing his affection after having listened in on the conversation.
Coordinating through their intertwined consciousnesses, Ryn allowed Jace to see what he could see from the viewport. Jace then checked that against the monitors on the ship's bridge.
"Okay..." Jace turned slowly, examining each monitor. "We can eliminate these six..." He pointed to a section. "And these four." He pointed to the section on the opposite side. "We know he's on our side of the planet, and close to the atmosphere."
On Jace's direction, the three changed the operations of the ship's anima through a combination of keystrokes and psionic influence.
"It is still a vast area to cover." Kossra commented, looking at the several dozen monitors still active.
Jace agreed and bit his lip. "We need something more..." He dove into his connection once more. "Ryn, is there anything you can do to make a flare of some kind? Something to increase your heat signature?"
Jace could feel Ryn's nod. "There is one operational engine. But Radiance will not travel on it; and activating it could exhaust the remaining power."
Wracking his brain, Jace tried to come up with a workable plan. He scanned the sections of monitors that hadn't been ruled out. "With one engine active, would your drones be able to pick up the heat signature?" He asked.
Kossra nodded. "Yes. But it would need to remain active for a time, and one of the anima would have to be scanning that particular area at that time."
"How long would it need to be running?" Jace asked, gears turning.
One of Kossra's companions thought for moment. "At least eight seconds to differentiate it from normal temperature fluctuations near the atmosphere."
"We do not have the number of drones necessary to scan the entire area at once though." Kossra pointed out. "Archon Embara could use up his remaining power and we could miss it entirely."
Jace nodded, stroking his chin, then spoke to Ryn silently again. "If you gave the engine eight second bursts, how many do you think you could do before you ran out of power?"
He could feel Ryn's mind working as he read the levels and tried to gauge the cost in his mind. "Three." Came the final response. "Definitely no more than that."
Jace winced. He had hoped for at least five, but three would have to do. "Direct all of your drones to this section here." Jace instructed, pointing out a group of about a third of the usable monitors.
Getting the gist of his plan, Kossra nodded and gave the order. "Light, shine on our efforts..." He prayed quietly.
It took some time for the anima drones to find their positions. When they did, Jace received a nod of confirmation from the Light-Father.
"Ok..." Jace told Ryn with an internal sigh. "Fire for eight seconds."
Jace felt Ryn's acknowledgement then began to count backwards. "Three... two... one..." Nothing. The monitors remained silent, staring into the abyss of space.
Feeling his heart drop a bit, Jace sucked in a deep breath. "Alright... move them here..." He sectioned off another third of the monitors.
Kossra nodded stiffly. His companions had both broken a light sweat from the tension.
"And... fire two, eight seconds." Jace instructed.
"Five... four... three... two... one..." Nothing...
"Jace..." The voice of Ryn's thoughts immediately indicated there was a problem.
"What?" Jace asked with trepidation. Already he was starting to doubt his plan. If Ryn wasn't in the final section... If they had somehow missed him...
"The last burst used too much..." Ryn said forlornly. "I do not have enough power left to do a third..."
"What!? No!" Jace protested aloud, drawing a startled reaction from the others in the room. "Even a short burst. We'll find you Ryn, I promise!"
"Jace... the engine will not even activate. There is not enough power..." Ryn told him miserably.
"Alright then, we'll find a new plan!" Jace declared. "Are there any other systems operational?"
"Just... the air filters and life support..."
"How long would your oxygen last without the filters?" Jace asked urgently.
One of the three on the bridge answered for him. "Likely no more than two hours. Even if we found him the moment that he turned them off, it would be... very close to that before we could extract him safely."
Jace had forgotten that he had been speaking aloud. He silenced his conversation. "If you routed the power from the filters, would you have enough for the engine?"
Pausing for a moment to do some calculations, Ryn eventually responded in the affirmative. "I think so... But I do not know if it will last for eight seconds."
Running a hand through his hair and pacing around the bridge in a near panic, Jace finally answered. "Alright... we're moving the drones to position."
"We've got to be precise on this one." Jace reminded Kossra. "It's... all or nothing..."
"We are ready, Ambassador." Kossra answered solemnly.
"Alright... Three... two... one... now, Ryn."
The bridge held their breath. Absolute silence reigned.
"Four... three... two..."
"That's all there is..." Ryn cut Jace's countdown off. "It did not make the full eight seconds."
Slowly, Jace lowered his head. All their efforts... It couldn't be...
"-ping!-"
Jace's head shot up. A formation of three red triangles were moving closer together on one of the monitors towards a single point. As they came to nearly connect, the monitor zoomed in and Jace's knees buckled underneath him. He sank to the ground as tears sprang to his eyes.
There on the monitor, drifting lazily amid a small field of debris, was the shuttle Radiance. It was battered and its sleek hull was dented, with some sections torn completely off. It had never looked more beautiful.
"I see you Ryn..." Jace could barely form a coherent thought. "We see you..."
Kossra almost had to force Jace to return to the medical bay while they extracted Ryn from the shuttle. Ryn ordered Jace to go and finally he did so.
The healers wanted to sedate him to try to save his hand, but Jace argued. He wanted to be awake when Ryn returned. Once again however, Ryn intervened.
"For someone so smart, you are very dumb." Ryn told him lovingly.
Jace laughed aloud, tears still fresh in his eyes. Finally, he conceded and allowed the healers to do their work uninhibited.
Waking up, Jace thought surely, he had died and gone to heaven. An angel stood at the foot of his bed. An angel with platinum blonde hair and shimmering blue eyes. Jace had forgotten just how beautiful his lover was, dressed in a loose white robe that was almost blindingly bright.
Practically springing forward with a cry of joy, Jace swept Ryn up in a bearhug before falling back onto the bed, carrying the boy with him.
Ryn giggled as tears streamed down his face. He allowed Jace to plant kisses on his cheeks and squeeze him tightly. Jace had no thought of who might be watching them. Fortunately, Ryn had made sure that they were alone.
"I missed you so much..." Jace practically sobbed into Ryn's shoulder. "I thought I'd never see you again."
Ryn touched him on the nose. "It is the Light's will, you know. We are supposed to be together."
Jace chuckled, cuddling Ryn even tighter. "You think so?"
"I know so." Ryn corrected confidently.
Jace could not hold on to Ryn long enough. It was as though he was afraid that he would disappear if he let go. And Ryn was more than happy to have Jace's arms around him. There was no place in the galaxy he would have rather been.
"I am proud of you." Ryn told him sincerely.
"For what?" Jace asked.
"You did it on your own. You made the plan and you did it. I barely did anything."
"Shh." Jace put a finger to Ryn's lips. "You did plenty. Besides, I wasn't alone, the Taigari helped too. I just wish we had known the cavalry was coming before we tried to take that base. It seems kind of pointless now."
"It was not though." Ryn insisted. "Calae tells me that she is now in every part of the Sirsh'th systems, although they are not aware of it yet. When the liberation of the planet begins, there will be no fight. She can even shut down their exosuits at will."
Jace's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Well you'll have to tell her that I'm impressed."
"Thank you, Ambassador." Calae's voice came from overhead, startling Jace.
"But I do wish she'd stop doing that." He complained, causing Ryn to giggle again.
"The only bargaining chip that the Sirsh'th had left was the slaves that they took from the tribes of Terana." Ryn told him. "Your actions are what took that away from them. They will be forced to surrender the planet unconditionally."
Jace thought about that for a moment. "Then what? The Taigari and the other tribes, things won't ever be the same for them."
Sadly, Ryn shook his head. "No, the course of their future has changed forever. Now at least they have a future though. I have spoken with Light-Father Kossra and we are in agreement that the Light should monitor Terana from afar for a time. We also plan to tag the Sirsh'th vessel before they quit the planet. That way, the Light will find their home world and be able to seek reparations for Terana at a later date."
Jace sighed, and Ryn used his hand to gently move Jace's chin so they were eye-to eye.
"What is wrong?" Ryn asked. "This is good news."
"I know." Jace agreed. "But it still doesn't seem right. They caused so much pain and suffering, and they get to just walk away from it all."
Ryn frowned. "They will compensate for it eventually." But he nodded. "I understand though. The line between justice and revenge is difficult to see."
Jace patted Ryn's back. "I'll just be grateful for what I've got then." He smiled, then realized something. "Hey... my hand."
He lifted his hand from Ryn's back and examined it. The flesh was smooth and seamless. There was no sign that he had even been burned, with the exception of the sparse and fine arm hairs that came to an abrupt end several inches from his wrist.
"They tell me that it was almost beyond saving." Ryn said solemnly. "They had to replace some of the nerves and muscle with artificially grown tissue." Jace waved the hand back and forth and poked at it with his other fingers. "It will be partly numb for a few days, but the healers are confident that you will regain full feeling and function. They even said that you may find the artificial tissue to be more resilient and resistant to fatigue than before."
Jace grinned down at his love. "So, I'm going to be a super-man."
Ryn rolled his eyes and kissed Jace's cheek. "You already are. But no, it will not be a drastic difference."
"Too bad." Jace joked. "It might be fun to be able to throw you around with one hand." He slid his hand down Ryn's back provocatively.
Groaning in mock exasperation, Ryn rolled off the bed and stood up. "I suppose the only question is, now what?" He took Jace's hand. "Light-Father Kossra has offered us a new shuttle if we want. I would like to stay with the Song of Rapture until the Sirsh'th have been driven off though."
Jace grinned and squeezed Ryn's hand. "Well actually, I had some thoughts of my own about that."
Several days later, the shuttle Purity touched down just outside the oasis that held the Taigari camp. Almost immediately they were surrounded by a throng of men, women, and children, celebrating their return even before the ramp was down.
Jace held Ryn's hand as they descended the ramp, not caring if they were judged. The Taigari did not seem to care though. At the sight of both of them, the people went wild. Hands reached out to touch them as they passed through and newly written songs were sung in their honor. By the time they reached the edge of the camp, the revelry had already begun.
They found Olban and Torun there, waiting for them. The elder bowed deeply to them, and Torun followed suit.
"We did not know if you would return to us." Olban said when he rose once again. "My son tells me that your mission was a success."
Jace beamed and nodded. "I couldn't have done it without him. And without Dallo."
"Yes." Olban said solemnly. "He will be sorely missed. But tell me, are the Demons truly vanquished?"
Ryn decided to take this one. "It will take some time. But you will have your lands back. Your people that were enslaved will be freed. There are more of us..." Ryn indicated Jace and himself. "that are here to help now. It will not be difficult to drive off these invaders for good."
A smile cracked Olban's weathered face. "My son tells such stories of his battle that I can hardly believe. Angels descending from above to hold back the demons. He even claims he was carried away from the fight by one of these angels."
Jace chuckled and nodded. "He's not far wrong. They definitely had angelic timing." Jace laid a hand on Torun's shoulder but continued speaking to Olban. "He fought very well. You would have been proud to see it."
Torun beamed, and though Olban did not show an overt reaction, Jace swore he saw the old man square his shoulders a bit as he looked at his son.
"Enough of this." Olban declared suddenly. "It is time for a feast! Today will be a day marked in our history for as long as the Taigari endure. Let us make our celebration befitting such a momentous occasion!"
The throng of Taigari cheered and the music began. This time, Jace could not contain himself. As the Taigari took to dancing and setting out the long tables once more, Jace offered his hand to Ryn. Giving a shy smile, Ryn accepted Jace's hand and allowed himself to be pulled into a dance.
Unlike the feast they had experienced when they first arrived, this party lasted for two full days and nights. Food was devoured, spirits were drunk, and merriment was had by all. The entire time, Jace and Ryn could hardly separate themselves, but the Taigari did not seem to mind. At one point, after drinking a fair bit of some kind of fermented desert flower wine, Jace hauled Ryn into his lap and held him there. The Taigari laughed in amusement at Ryn's obvious embarrassment.
On the second night of the feast, things were beginning to quiet down. Jace pulled Ryn away to their tent by the small pool, the same one they had used before. It was as peaceful as ever, with the gentle sounds of revelry still drifting from the center of the camp.
Jace, still feeling a slight buzz from the wine, plopped down in the cool sand, taking Ryn with him and tickling him a bit. Ryn giggled and pushed his hands away, rolling in the sand until they were both nearly covered in it.
Suddenly, Jace stopped laughing. He became very serious as he looked Ryn in the eyes. Shaking the sand out of his blonde hair that shimmered in the moonlight, Ryn looked curiously back at Jace as Jace helped him to his feet.
"What is it?" He had obviously sensed the change in Jace's demeanor.
"This place, it's so beautiful." Jace looked around before his eyes settled on Ryn again. "You're so beautiful..." Ryn blushed but did not comment. "I..." Jace searched for the words. "There's something I want to ask you... That I've wanted to ask you... for a long time. And I guess I've got to do it now before I lose my nerve..."
Ryn's blue eyes widened as he heard the words coming from Jace's mouth. His mind whirled as it tried to predict what was coming next, but he almost didn't dare to even hope.
Then, Jace sank slowly down to one knee and took Ryn's hand.
"Ryn Embara..." He said awkwardly. "I... I don't have a ring or anything but..."
"Jace..." Ryn's eyes flooded with tears instantly.
"Will you marry me?"
Ryn sank to his knees next to Jace and threw his arms around him, weeping. "Yes! Absolutely yes!" He sobbed, holding Jace tightly.
Jace squeezed him, fighting back tears of his own. "There's no one I'd rather spend my life with." He whispered haltingly in Ryn's ear.
As Jace pulled him back down to lay next to him in the sand, Ryn was alternating between crying and laughing hysterically. It was such a heart-melting sight that Jace had to laugh as well.
"You're a mess..." He commented wiping a tear off Ryn's cheek and simultaneously hiding one of his own.
"Jace, you... make me so happy..." Ryn sniffled.
Jace kissed Ryn's forehead. "You make me even happier. I thought that, if you wanted, we could ask Olban to do the ceremony for us... I know he would do it. And the people would love another reason to celebrate."
Ryn sniffed and wiped his eyes, regaining some of his composure. Eventually, to Jace's surprise, Ryn shook his head. "No." He spoke after a long time. "It is... selfish of me, but..."
"It's your wedding, you get to be selfish." Jace teased.
"My wedding..." Ryn laughed at the sound of it, wiping away a fresh round of tears. "Our wedding." He corrected, and Jace conceded the point with a quick kiss. "I would like for it to happen in Abarest..."
"Abarest..." Jace repeated with a slight frown. He did not want to dismiss the idea but was worried that perhaps Ryn was not thinking clearly. "The Holy City of the Harmonious Light?"
"My home, Jace." Ryn reminded.
"I know..." Jace chuckled and shook his head. "I just... I wouldn't want anything to happen that would upset you."
Ryn gave him a smile and squeezed his arm. "I can handle it. Some people there may not like it. But it is not for them to decide how we live. Besides, it would be most inappropriate for us to be wed when you have not even met my family yet." Ryn gave him a sly smile.
Jace laughed and pulled his new fiancé into a tight hug. "I can't wait. I guess it's off to the Homeworld then, huh?"
Nodding enthusiastically, Ryn practically jumped to his feet. "I cannot wait either, Jace. It has been too long since I have seen my home."
"This..." Jace remarked dryly. "Sounds like it's going to be a whole different kind of adventure..."
The End.
But the adventures of Jace and Ryn to not end here. What intrigue awaits them among the aristocracy of Abarest? Find out in 2020!
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