Ravens of Eternity

390 The Promise of Retribution, Pt The lights in the facility’s only security station was a deep, dark red. It was also accompanied by a soft klaxon – the kind that was more suited to luxury liners than military vessels.

Worse than that, whatever attacking fleet outside had finished their assault. Or at the very least, paused it.

In the middle of the room was Theryss himself. He slipped himself into one of the lightly armored security suits and tightened the armor plating to better fit his body.

And once he was done, he picked up one of the security pistols in one of the weapon racks and holstered it. Then he grabbed one of the larger rifles, then posted up in the middle of the security room itself.

All around him were the station’s security personnel, some of whom were seated at their terminals. There, they kept an eye on the station itself. Their screens were filled with red alerts and dire warnings.

“I need a report on whatever attack is happening,” said Theryss. “What’s the status of our defensive fleet?”

“Yes, swarmfather,” said one of the security officers. “Unfortunately our fleet has been completely eradicated. Also, our primary communications systems are down. As are our backup networks and secondary defenses. Additionally, we received reports that a boarding force landed in hangar bays D07, D08, and D09.”

“Seal everything,” Theryss ordered. “Quickly.”

“But sir, that’ll-”

.....

“That’s an order!”

Although the security officer was not beholden to Swarmfather Theryss, he was technically the ranking officer in the room. And due to the emergency they were facing, found that he had no choice but to listen and obey.

“Yes, swarmfather.”

The security officer quickly turned to one of his subordinates, and issued the order to lock down the entire facility to him. In turn, the security tech quickly activated the lockdown procedures through his terminal.

The klaxons echoed all through the facility as numerous security doors slid closed. More than that, internal mechanisms magnetically locked into place, which sealed them shut.

Any drogar who were running down the passageways were quickly locked in between passageway sections, as security doors slid securely in place. Some screamed and pleaded out of fear and surprise. A few even banged on the doors themselves.

But nothing budged.

Theryss watched on numerous security screens as the facility became more and more secure, but his anxiety didn’t go away.

In fact, it practically leapt out of his throat the moment he felt the floor shake under his feet. It was a kind of blast, but not from the outside. It was clearly from the inside.

Fear swept through him, and he ran towards one of the terminals.

“Localize explosive vibrations!” he told the seated security tech. “Get me a live feed if you can.”

The tech quickly scanned through the reports and data until he found exactly what the swarmfather wanted. He then brought up live feeds of those locations and cycled through them on his terminal screen.

They watched as power armored Hegemony shock troops blasted open the security doors one by one by one. The all-black troopers affixed charged explosives to each and every door along their path, which blasted them open with absolute ease.

They felt more and more tremors as they blasted through numerous security doors, wrenched them open, then marched on through.

Swarmfather Theryss felt his blood drain from his body as he realized where they were headed – towards the security station he was standing in.

His resolve and his courage melted as he felt more explosions, as they got closer and closer. Not that he was the only one. All the other security personnel became more and more panicked as the Hegemony shock troops drew closer.

Even the officer had no idea what to do, and pleaded with Theryss to give an order. Any order.

The only thing he could squeak out was, “we ought to surrender.”

He hoped that if they gave in and gave up, the Hegemony might not kill them. If they resisted even a little, then they would get cut down in a flash.

And when the shock troops ultimately blasted through the reinforced door into the security station, that’s exactly what the officer did. Even as the blast dazed their minds, and even as the door itself was warped open, the officer fell to his knees an absolute surrender.

Everyone else in his command did as well.

The swarmchief also fell to his knees in surrender. His heart thumped madly in his chest in anticipation of being torn to shreds by Hegemony weapons.

But nothing came.

When he looked up out of curiosity, he watched as the shock troops filed into the room with their heavy weapons high. And although they pushed and shoved the security personnel to the ground, they didn’t fire a single shot.

Instead, numerous drones that hovered near them swept through each of the drogar, and scanned them briefly.

When one of them scanned the swarmfather, it beeped and alerted the others.

Fear filled him again the moment he realized what was actually happening. They weren’t just attacking the facility. They were there for him.

He felt his world turn completely upside down once Freya stepped right up to him.

“I... I know you,” he stammered. “You’re that duelist. The Federation prisoner from years ago. One of the pawns in Retholis’ game.”

“Ra’ventrii,” Freya replied. “And I’m no-one’s pawn. Not any longer. Not ever again.”

Her voice came out through her sonic emitters which gave it a metallic edge. The sound gave him a chill deep in his core. It reverberated up his spine and caused his scales to shiver.

More than her voice, he remembered the feats she was capable of in the arena. How she dismantled Reborn Drogar with ease.

No matter how young and strong and virile he had gotten, he knew he was no match. If she wanted him dead, he most certainly would be.

“Yes, Ra’ventrii. I remember. If you’re here to take me hostage, then I warn you that the Empire won’t take my loss lightly. My friends-”

“Your friends would be as powerless as you. If I were to take you hostage... You were the one that commanded that Imperial devastator above Rhylen Terra, yes?”

Theryss felt his blood fall. He understood immediately that his future was likely going to be incredibly painful. And that he was likely going to be carted away to be judged for war crimes by the Hegemony.

More importantly, that he would get tortured within an inch of his life for every bit of intelligence that he held.

After all, he held quite a great deal of Imperial secrets.

“Ask whatever questions you want,” he sneered. “I’ll never say a thing. I’ll die keeping the Empire’s secrets safe.”

“You don’t need to say anything at all,” replied Freya.

She exhaled lightly, then reached out telepathically. But instead of gently approaching him and reaching out, she overwhelmed his mind.

Freya broke through whatever natural barriers his mind had erected, and punched through his surface thoughts.

To him, it felt like a thousand needles were jammed into his skull from every direction. The pain of it caused him to seize up and scream loudly. It was so overwhelming that he fell to the ground clutching his head.

He rubbed it, struck it, scratched it, even until he broke past a few scales and bled through.

But nothing he did helped the overwhelming pain he felt.

The drogar around him cowered in fear at the sight, as swarmfather Theryss screamed and squirmed in pain in front of a dispassionate Ra’ventrii.

Even the Einherjar shock troopers were shocked at what they saw.

Freya didn’t seem to care or mind in the slightest as she pushed further into his mind, and drove her own consciousness even further. And every moment she dug deeper was a moment that Theryss felt excruciating pain.

She scoured his memories, and took her time as she dismantled and disseminated them.

First she went through his most recent memories, that of his chat with Konleth and Gravoss. She was astounded when she saw that these drogar were under the Benefactor’s influence. She quickly realized that this war was likely something he had engineered.

Even if they didn’t, he at the very least had a hand in it.

But this wasn’t what she was looking for, and pushed even further back.

She witnessed Theryss’ rebirth, as his body was filled with pure concentrated energies from around the universe. She watched as his lifeless clone was given life, as it took in its first breath.

Freya briefly wondered if that was what she experienced when she initially respawned.

This too wasn’t the question she needed answers to, then went even further back into his memories.

Theryss was on the bridge of his devastator, and ordered the port to Rhylen Terra. The galaxy warped, then flashed.

Before that, the swarmfather had been rearming and repairing his fleet. Even his devastator had taken some damage. He watched through a live feed as a swarm of repair drones swept across the devastator’s chitin, and restored it bit by bit.

Before that, the swarmfather stood on the bridge again. He patiently and calmly commanded his fleet, even as they were in the midst of a massive battle.

He along with his devastator and a half dozen of his battleships faced off against a massive Hegemony fleet.

They traded numerous blows between them and the Hegemony devastator on their side of the fight. The fighting was furious, and beams from both sides scored each others’ armor.

Freya felt as Theryss’ heart beat faster all throughout the battle. The heat and the thrill of it swept through his body, and empowered him.

She could certainly understand – that was a feeling she was very familiar with, and thoroughly enjoyed as well.

In the end, there was disappointment as both fleets were forced to retreat from battle. Both their forces had taken too much damage, and needed to fall back to recoup their losses.

As he felt the disappointment, so did she.

But again, this wasn’t what she wanted.

She sped backwards through his memories and dug deep faster and further than before. Through them, she witnessed countless battles at the helm of the devastator. As he stood at the bridge and gave his commands, they tore through Hegemony forces like they were made of paper.

Fight after fight, skirmish after skirmish, battle after battle.

There were some wins and there were some losses. Each time was that thrill of the chase and the capture and the kill.

But she went before all that. Before all the glory.

She went to the very moment when Swarmfather Theryss first stepped aboard the devastator itself. That same cycle when he first toured the ship, and looked over every system and module and weapon. When he touched the primary demimatter generator and smiled with pride at how much power was literally in his hands.

Freya witnessed as he scoured the ship itself before he took the bridge.

And from there, he commanded that they take to the stars. Through Theryss, Freya watched as the massive hexagonal shipyard opened up around them. As the devastator itself was birthed to the galaxy.

.....

She saw the planet that the massive crystal structure fabrication bay was on, and the numerous crystal clusters that were scattered on the planet. Many were large enough for battleships.

More importantly, she saw the fabrication planet’s coordinates on the numerous reports around her.

Satisfied with the information she saw, Freya then withdrew from Theryss’ consciousness and allowed him to fall to the floor in agony.

She then turned towards her shock troops as a handful of them picked up the fallen swarmfather.

“I’ve got what we need,” she said. “Now, it’s time to begin our campaign.”

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