| Beyond the Wall of Hope - Revelations in Darkness |
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Revelations in Darkness (02/04/02 )
The swirling black vortex closed.
Both Kailli and Tycko felt something odd, a glimmer of light and then oppressing darkness. When they both had focused on the Vortex in their minds and could feel home, VDS1... then pain. The light made Kailli’s head and ribs throb, she was dizzy. Tycko was overcome by nausea, his stomach hurt badly and his leg burned... he felt weak and distant. No one else was affected and once the vortex snapped shut the pain stopped.
Kailli sat up in bed. “Oh... that was too weird… I think something is truly wrong. We are wrong...” She focused and gasped. “Oh no... I’m right, I have to see Ty.”
She slid out of bed and began dressing in duty gear.
Dr. Wykin put a hand to her shoulder, “Kailli, I...”
He never got a chance to finish, Kailli shot him a glare he had never seen... wisely he backed down, and fox or not she was a higher rank and an Alpha female.
“I will register a formal protest...” Wykin stated.
Kailli shrugged. “Whatever, if I’m right it doesn’t matter... you aren’t really here. Only Myself, Ty, Mei, Geon and Bregan... now are truly in this.”
Meilyn and Geon entered sickbay.
Kailli tossed Mei a stimpatch and smirked, “Too bad you walked all the way down here to get this... I was going to bring you one. Back up to the bridge you two.”
Meilyn grinned and winked at Dr. Wykin, “yes ma’am.”
Geon, “um... yes ma’am.”
On the bridge, Tycko became aware of his dreams. His mother calling out to him, the pool of blood... his blood and what had happened to them.
They were on a standard landing vector to an LZ within hostile territory... it was supposed to be mostly unoccupied and only a token rear guard force. It would have made been a cakewalk, however Gyran forces had set up some type of anti-orbital gun emplacement in the area. To protect a backup field command center that provided command and control for Gyran rear guard forces. The gun emplacement had caught them by surprise and heavily damaged their ship, everyone was badly wounded... the shuttle had crashed. Conveniently in an isolated valley, the automated systems had prevented fire or explosions by jettisoning fuel and reactor core. The Shuttle with Alraen and his Lancers was damaged, but had escaped bellow the minimum ceiling range of the cannon. They had made an emergency landing, but despite repair efforts were pinned down by the gun and Gyran patrols.
Tycko thought, how did we get here… and what is going on, is this a nightmare?
“Simple Ty, we dragged them here...” Kailli’s words felt warm and soothing.
Tycko was noticeably confused, “Kailli... what do you mean...”
She took a deep breath and began. ”When we crashed, your traumatized state of mind called out for help... a psychic distress call. It never reached anyone’s mind... a dark force, nightmarish entities from Astral Space intercepted it and tried to draw you in.” She paused to let the first part sink in. “I sensed your cry and the dark force that tried to draw you to it. I latched on and strengthened your psyche... we mentally bonded. As a defense mechanism your mind drew all off us, those closest to you into a dream... Alycron, Station Sorval, the Phoenix II and the Jumpdrive were the setting. It came from things you know or have read, they the Astral beings have twisted it, warping space and drawing us into their trap. They feed on the psychic emanations of the dying, draining away their mental energy.”
Tycko was stunned and then he became aware of it, the dark force. “I sense it... them, they are on that station.”
Geon blinked, “Why don’t we just fly away?”
Kailli shook her head. “Because...”
Meilyn interrupted, “because we can’t get away… they are trapping us here.”
Kailli nodded. “And because we are all dying… the only thing that has saved us from death are our nanite weaves inside. When that portal opened I got a sense of our condition, without full medical attention we won’t last more than a few more days.”
The group was collectively silent as the information sank in.
Tycko was the first to speak up, “When Winger was pulled back, I got a sense of where he was… he made it back to VDS1... he limped his fighter back there after the attack. My father’s presence was on the station and somehow my mother’s as well... she has been in contact with me in my dreams. I need to survive, I will survive. She is out there, in the real world still, and she is alive... I must survive to find her.”
A small tear escapes his eye and tumbles to the deck, without a thought Kailli embraces him and looks in his eyes, “We will find her.”
The whole team puts a paw one his shoulder and in unison, “we are with you...”
Bregan looks around the room, “so what is first?”
Tycko winks and checks the charge on his sidearm. “We take the fight to them...”
| Revelations in Darkness (Foxmage) - 02/04/02 |
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