Chapter Thirty-Eight: Chasing destiny.
Nagy’s POV
From the flames of the death throes of Oeilvert emerged a familiar blue ship, an energy shield shimmering around it, preventing it from catching fire.
“That’s impossible! The Invincible was badly damaged! Look, there’s not a scratch on that ship!!” yelled Beatrix, as she pounded her fists on the side of the rail.
Another shockwave slammed into the side of the Red Rose, breaking something off the already damaged bow section and knocking Beatrix into a wooden pole.
“General!” cried a nearby
“She’s just unconscious.” She confirmed.
“Get her down below.” I said, walking up to the edge of the ship and watching the mysterious Terran ship, it certainly looked like the Invincible but it wasn’t damaged, the Invincible I had been prisoner on for several days had taken severe damage, not only from the overload of the ships systems during the attack on Treno but during the crash run through the South Gate.
It just didn’t add up.
I rubbed my goatee and watched as the ship slowly turned towards us.
“Helm! Evasive manoeuvres!!” I yelled over my shoulder into the bridge, I didn’t know if they heard my words over the explosions echoing across the plain, until the ship suddenly dropped like a stone as two green energy bolts passed harmlessly overhead.
Then the ship turned away from us and accelerated smoothly away. I ran onto the enclosure part of the bridge and over towards the helm.
“Follow that ship!”
“Where is Commander B…”
I grabbed the protesting crewman by her shirt and looked her in the eye.
“She’s unconscious! Now follow that damned ship!!”
Her eyes opened wide in alarm and she hastily nodded at the helmswoman, slowly but surely the ship turned and began to follow the mystery ship.
“Could it really be the Invincible?” asked someone, I looked up to see Mizrah leaning against the door outside.
“Anything is possible, but if it is and Fury is on board, I don’t intend to give him a chance to use that ship again, Gaia may not be my home…but the people here have made me feel like it is, and dammit, I won’t have someone take that away from me…not even my best friend.”
I turned and looked around at the communications officer.
“Get me Regent Cid on the line!”
Thunderchild’s POV
My hand felt her face, our lips merged and a gentle sigh emitted from both of us as we drew each other into a tight embrace.
“Oh Jara…”
“Yissan…”
Then reality butted in and I pulled away.
“No…”
She peered at me and leant against the railing.
“Why? Why not?” she asked “You know this is what you want.”
“Not like this Jara…it’s…”
Jara sighed and hung her head before nodding sadly.
“It’s Domino, isn’t it? If I knew that genome was going to come between us so much then I would never have bothered transferring my personality.”
“And she would have most likely have blown your brain apart.”
There was an awkward pause in which I looked around at the weapons room.
“I guess we’d better get this thing going…there’s a world waiting for us and somewhere out there…”
I went to walk forward but she caught me by the arm and stopped me.
“Does it have to be like this Yissan?” she asked in a pleading voice, I turned back and looked at her, her face was so inviting, the way the red glow framed her body, her curves and the way her lips looked so inviting.
“Jara…please, don’t…don’t do this…”
“Do what?”
“Don’t tempt me Jara!!”
Jara looked upset, a tear welled up in her right eye.
“But…”
“No buts Jara, look!” I held up my left hand “You see this?! It’s my wedding ring! It means something!!”
“But she’s just a genome Yis!” protested Jara, throwing her arms up into the air.
“She’s my wife!!!” I roared.
There was a long pause, broken only by the gentle throbbing of the power core in the background. I sighed and turned away from her.
“I’m sorry Yissan…but you have to understand, it’s been easy for you, you’ve had Domino all the time, I’ve had no-one…absolutely no-one and nothing except a memory of you!”
I turned back and put my arms on her shoulders.
“I’m sorry Jara, I really am…trust me, I didn’t plan for it to be this way.”
“I never said you did.”
Our foreheads touched as we both bowed our heads.
“Our life could have been so nice together Yissan. Sometime we would have got married…”
I sighed.
“Sooner than you thought.” I whispered.
She looked up.
“What?”
I leant against the railing next to her.
“I was going to propose to you, I brought the ring as well, it was two days before the Borg attacked…I was going to do it at the weekend when we were going to go to Jaliner beach.”
She smiled
“Jaliner beach…the ocean was always so azure and crystal clear.”
I smiled too, lost in memory.
“Yes…the cleanest on the continent, remember that time we went diving, and I touched a sea enema…”
“…and your hand swelled up for a week…yes, I remember…I remember bringing you kinter fruits and drinks every time I came over.”
“You came over every day Jara.”
My voice trailed off and I looked at the floor.
“Did you ever keep the ring?” she asked
“Yes…I…I…”
“Gave it to Domino?”
I nodded, blushing slightly.
“I thought so, still…she is your wife, despite everything.”
I turned and out my arms around her waist.
“Look Jara, I love you…I always have done and always will, and deep in my heart, there is always a niche for you, but…”
“Two’s a couple and threes a crowd, I doubt very much Domino would like to share you with me…” said Jara with a slightly sulky voice.
“It isn’t like that Jara…I made a promise to her, I married her! I can’t just turn my back on her and leave her like this…not now…not when we need each other the most.”
“Then what about me Yissan? What do I do?”
I rubbed my temples.
“I don’t know Jara…I really don’t…look, let’s just get this airship running shall we? The bridge is over here.” I began walking towards the door, but stopped aware Jara was not following me.
“You coming?” I asked
“In a minute, just need to think about a few things.”
I nodded and stepped through the door, behind me I heard sobbing but I didn’t look back, I couldn’t, for I knew that if I did, if I turned around and went back into the room I would break my vow with Domino forever.
And so it was with my own sorrow that I let the doors shut behind me, cutting out the sound of Jara’s pain.
Mizrah’s POV
Nagy had seemingly taken command of this ship in Beatrix’s absence, Snikity and myself sat on the observation deck just in front of the bridge and watched the landscape go past. The clouds were getting thicker now, and in the distance I could hear thunder. Garnet sighed and put her head in her hands, staring mournfully into the middle distance.
“He’s really gone hasn’t he?” she said softly.
“You felt that before and he came back.” Assured Sam as he put an arm on her shoulder.
“I know but…”
“Ssh, he’ll be alright, now why don’t you go and join Beatrix below deck, it looks like it’s going to get stormy soon.”
Garnet wiped away a tear and nodded, Sam linked his arm with hers and led her off into the bridge, as he left Xola came in.
“How’s Kit?” asked Snikity.
Xola nodded.
“She’ll be fine, she’s just healing at the moment.”
“What made her go evil?”
Xola shrugged and sat down next to us.
“I don’t know…maybe it was a lust for power, maybe she really did have a thing for Fury. She regrets her actions though, big time.”
I nodded.
“Well…maybe there’s hope for her yet.” I said but Xola wasn’t listening to me, she seemed to be listening to something, a faint droning noise that was getting louder. It sounded like a high pitched drone.
“What’s that?” she asked.
We stood up and looked around but it was Snikity who saw it first, approaching low with streamers of smoke trailing behind it, it was going slow but still faster than us.
“Err…I think Nagy’s going to want to see this!” she yelled.
Thunderchild’s POV
My hands rarely left the control panel, I was
constantly making adjustments to the power flow, rerouting power from
non-essential systems to the engines. It had been a struggle to get out from
under the ruins of Oeilvert, but eventually we had
made it and were now heading out over the sea bound for the Outer Continent. It
had been Jara’s suggestion, she had the idea that
The wind was strong, buffeting me through the gaping hole in the front of the bridge and making my cloak flap and snap behind me. Still, it kept my fringe out of my eyes.
A small dot was getting larger in front of the ship, it looked like it was following another small dot.
“What is that?”
Suddenly a shell whizzed past the ship and exploded behind us, I turned sharply and looked at the low level clouds, coming out of them and gaining altitude fast was the remainder of the Lindblum Battle Fleet.
“Shit!”
Cid’s POV
“We seem to have his attention sir.” Reported Noding as the Invincible suddenly slowed to a halt. The Red Rose continued to pursue the other mystery ship at its laughably slow speed but the Invincible was mine and I was determined to make her pay for what she had done.
“Are you sure Nagy said that Garnet was on the Red Rose?” asked Noding.
I nodded sharply.
“Yes, I ever spoke to her myself.”
Noding nodded slowly and turned to the weapons control station.
“Contact the fleet, tell them to aim at the Invincibles engines, let’s take this ship out.”
“Sir!” yelled the comms officer “I’m receiving a message from the Invincible!”
“Put it on the speakers.”
“This is Captain Thunderchild, I repeat this is Captain Thunderchild, please stand down, please stand down.”
Noding laughed.
“He expects us to fall for that?!” he asked incredulously.
Thunderchild’s POV
Something bleeped on my control panel, it was a return message from the Vigilance, the lead ship of the fleet.
“You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t believe you Fury, but your previous actions have shown you to lie and cheat your way through anything.”
That was Regent Cid, I recognised the voice, I hit the reply button and cleared my throat.
“Regent sir, you
must understand, I have no offensive capability, my guns were knocked out when
Fury broke the
I began to draw even more power for the engines, ready to flee if I needed to but then another voice broke in over the channels, I recognised this voice too, it was Reiganna.
“He’s telling the truth Regent!
I pressed the reply button eagerly.
“It’s good to be back.”
Nagy’s POV
I couldn’t believe the words my ears were hearing, Fury was gone? Thunderchild was back? How, why, when…how did he survive the destruction at Oeilvert?!
I watched as the Invincible accelerated to catch up with us and the Lindblum fleet tagged along behind him, then it drew along side and using my binoculars I was able to look at the bridge through the hole in the front, and sure enough, there was Thunderchild, he waved back at me and smiled.
“It really IS him.” I whispered in awe.
“I told you so…obviously he was able to beat the poison at last.”
Then I saw movement at the back of the Invincible’s bridge and someone walked forward to Thunderchilds side, it wasn’t Domino as I thought it might be, but someone with long brown hair in a red cloak.
“What the hell?!”
Reiganna looked confused at me.
“It’s Jara! Bloody Jara Gedyen, what is she doing on the Invincible?!”
Reiganna smiled and patted me on the shoulder.
“Putting things right Nagy, she’s putting things right.”
Thunderchild’s POV
“Yissan…” began Jara, she spoke in a hesitant voice, as if she was afraid what she was about to say was going to hurt me, I braced myself for the worst.
“Yes Jara?”
“I’m sorry…you’re right…you chose Domino, and she is your wife, I should respect that.”
I blinked and turned around to face her, now this was something I hadn’t expected.
Jara cleared her throat before continuing, she wouldn’t look me in the eye, choosing instead to stare at a point just behind my left ear.
“She loves you and you…love her…and that’s all there is to it…I shouldn’t interfere and I’m sorry that I became…jealous…”
I smiled and put my arms in her shoulders.
“Jara Gedyen, there will always be a part of my heart that will long for you, for our time that we had together…but I gave my heart, my life and my love to Domino…and I can’t go back on that now, just as I wouldn’t have left you if we had married on Terra…but we didn’t Jara and now it’s time to move on. I’m sure there are loads of people out there who would love the chance to know you better. Listen to me Jara, all I want is to see you happy and you won’t get that pining for me. Move on.”
Jara started to cry, the tears falling slowly down her snowy white cheeks and dripping onto her red halter top. I pulled her close for a hug and she wept on my shoulder.
“Don’t think of it as an end Jara…think of it as a new beginning.”
She looked up at me, her mouth slightly open and nodded slowly.
“I think I can…it will be hard…but I think I can make a new life.”
I smiled which in turn brought a slight smile from her.
“It’ll be hard…very hard.” She admitted, bowing her head slightly.
I nodded and kissed her on the top of her head.
“No-one said it wasn’t going to be…but it’ll be worth it…you can do it Jara. Now let’s go…after all, we’re still friends, right?”
Jara nodded and smiled, closing her eyes she whispered.
“I’ll always love you.”
“And I’ll always love you…but as a friend.”
She nodded, slightly sadly.
“As a friend.” She echoed.
Mizrahs POV
I stood on the main deck, taking the opportunity to get some fresh air, it was hot and stuffy in the Red Roses medical bay, it wasn’t much cooler outside but at least there was the wind created by the airships movement.
Beside us, holding the same speed, was the Invincible, burnt, broken but still working in the defiance of all known laws of physics, she was still flying.
I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see who it was, I saw Garnet, the young Alexandrian queen, her black hair being played with by the wind.
“Errr…hi?” I ventured.
Garnet smiled and bowed slightly.
“Hi Mizrah…Beatrix speaks highly of you…and I am pleased to know that you’re on our side, it must be difficult for you…being from another world, to understand what is happening on Gaia.”
I nodded my head slightly.
“A little…but there is a common trend between worlds and I recognise it here.”
Garnet quirked her head to one side slightly in interest.
“And what’s that?” she asked
“The fight between good and evil…the darkness and the light. It’s a never-ending struggle between the two opposites, most of us manage to find some kind of neutral ground between the two…but others can swing into the extremities.”
“You’re talking about Thunderchild.”
“Not only Thunderchild
but Lawrence too…if I recall what Nagy said Domino had told him,
Garnet nodded
“Zidane hasn’t…didn’t tell me much but I think that’s right.”
I nodded in return, Nagy had been pretty insistent in his story.
“Yep…only he began to take his research into the extremes, he wanted to be a god, to create new life as he chose, to govern his will over a new race…at first it was because he wanted to help save the Terran people…but then…”
“Then he turned evil.”
“Not so much overnight…but to him he was doing the right thing…and I guess to some extent Fury thought he was doing the right thing too…and in their eyes they’re not the evil ones.”
Garnet sighed and sat down on a box.
“I see what you mean…I guess there can be no set line between good and evil.”
I shook my head.
“No…just shades of grey.”
There was a low rumble of thunder and I looked up, the blue sky was disappearing beneath an oppressively dark storm cloud, I looked further down to the horizon but I could not see blue sky ahead. The storm seemed to stretch all the way in front of us, never-ending it would seem.
There was a flash of lightning nearby and a sharp crack of thunder shortly afterward.
“We must be nearing
“You folks had better get below deck!” yelled a voice, I followed the sound of the voice back to its owner and saw Nagy standing in the doorway to the bridge.
“How bad does it look?” I asked.
Nagys sombre face was enough of an answer, he shook his head and pointed towards the horizon.
“Bad…
“Can we follow him in?” asked Garnet.
Nagy nodded.
“We can…but its gonna be one helluva ride so you’d better go below and tell everyone to find something to hold onto.”
We ran down the stairs into the hold of the Red Rose as the first winds began to buffet the ship, rocking it gently from side to side, almost as though it was an ocean going vessel and not an airborne one. I took a quick look into the dark rolling clouds before I followed Garnet. It was almost as though the storm was a breathing monster, so dark and threatening as the clouds bubbled across the horizon, small patches of lighter cloud scudding across at a lower level, I could see that this storm stretch many miles up into the atmosphere and was many, many miles in diameter…I had a strange feeling as a static sensation in the air caused the hairs on my arm to raise up slowly, it was almost as though there was a magical force in the air, like the magical storms which I had witnessed build up around Cori Celeste.
I knew this was no ordinary storm…something big was happening.