The sorting was finished, and the fates who left were sealed. One hundred and forty-one recruits, the number significantly decreased from when the recruitment was opened, most were content to just stayed in the base, some breath their last, the rest persist, the remaining recruits now scattered around the based in underground docking area, they were given time to rest and prepared before departing time.
“Boarding in t-minus 60 minutes, all recruits please move to the the designated time Abefore the boarding” the intercom announced, the voice were seemed robotic and devoid of emotion.
“This is the final call for personal communications, Please use the terminals provided near the bay if you wished to called your families and loved one, once we depart, Earth comms will be severed”
Some of the recruits entered the coms room, other were walked away and even some just go straight to the designated boarding area. Lena could be seen walking around as if she tried to find someone, she scanned the crowd around her, the were not many people left at the docking bay so if she were searching for someone she should have found them by now. She spotted two men, talking around the corner, they Jin and Jaxon, her pupils dilated as if she found what she was looking for, she took a deep breath and walked over to their direction.
As she approach them both, closing the gap, she seemed wanted to speak but she hesitated, the both men notice that she approached them, then her courage took the initiative,
“Excuse me?” said Lena to them both, nervously,
Jin turned to her “Oh! Hello! You’re the girl before right the one get chased by the monster?, right?”
“Yes…” Lena nodded with low voice.
“I… I never got the chance to say it properly. Back in the then… when that creature attacked… you both saved me.” she look at Jin and Jaxon
While Jin was smiling to her, Jaxon turned his face and body around to the opposite direction, so she only seen his back, but she still tried to speak to him to thank him properly.
“Thank you, for your help” she said to Jaxon’s back.
“If you two hadn’t stepped in… I wouldn’t be here”
Jaxon stiffened, he still didn’t turn around, in his mind, the sound of her voice, the softness, the sincerity, it was like a knife twisting in his gut, It sounded too much like her.
Jin talked to jaxon and said “You don’t want to say anything? You saved her lived to and she just wanted to say her thanks?” Jin then pat Jaxon’s shoulder, and then Jaxon respond.
“Don’t worry about it”
“Just stay out of the trouble next time. Someone won’t always be there help”o
Jin then smiles to Jaxon “There we go!”
And then he pat his back repeatedly “Hey, come on, big guy! No need to be shy!!”
Jaxon then walked away without another word from Jin and Lena, and then jin said.
“Don’t worry about him, he just a bit shy dude, we talked just now and i said that i want to form a team with him, since we are in the same unit, he said he’d think about it”
“But anyway! I think you should join too!” Jin smiles to lena.
“Eh?” Lena caught by surprised with Jin gesture.
“Anyway we can talk about that later after we arrived at the moon, yeah! For now, you don’t have anyone you wanna call to? It’s about 30 minutes left before we depart”
“OH! I completely forgot that i have to call the sisters and my brother! Once again thank you for saving me, i hope we can be friends!” Lena then bows to Jin and goes to the coms room.
“Okay sure!, see you around!” Jin waving to Lena.
In the coms room there were several booth, each of them have separator for privacy, there were terminal in the middle that had the touch screen and then beside it there were the headset, for doing called people would press the number in the screen and then they would put the headset beside their left or right side of the head and speak to the signal recipient.
Lena called the sisters that took care of her brother, she was working as care taker and lived in church dormitory so she also help with the chores around the church that’s why the sisters were also helped her a lot, they were like siblings to her. She decided to leave her brother in their care while she served her time in the military. Besides Lena we also seeing Violet talking to someone in the coms, although unlike Lena, her conversation doesn’t seem very warmed feeling one, and then there’s Gion that called his lawyer for some reason.
Not far from their booth, Eric could be seen also inside one, he just stood in front of the terminal, he was holding the headset down. Around him, the booth was filled with the noise of goodbyes, he could even heard someone cried, and other promising to their wife or family that they would send money soon, he heard a woman lying to her son, telling him she was going on a special adventure to the stars.
Eric lifted the headset. His right hand move slightly to the terminal screen, he press few numbers on the screen, the first few digits of his sister’s number, a number he remember better than his own number, echoed in his head was the question he doesn’t want to answer.
“What would I even say?”
“Hey, sis. I didn’t fix anything. I just ran away further than anyone has ever run before. I’m going to the moon hahahaha”
“Hahaha, shit” said him out loud.
He looked at his right hand. It was clean. There was nothing on it, no blood, nothing.
“If I call her” he thought,
“I’ll just be dragging her into this mess, she’s better off thinking I’m dead or missing, anything but this.”
A sound coming from the intercom. “FINAL BOARDING CALL. ALL RECRUITS GO TO DESIGNATED PLACE”
Eric’s index finger hovered over the call button for one last second, hearing the announcement he then, he slowly placed the headset back on the hook.
Click.
“This probably a goodbye” he murmured to himself.
He turned and walked exiting the booth to the designated place that is the launch site.
They arrived at the launch site, it’s a massive electromagnetic catapult system, and locked into the firing rails was supposedly be their ride the Kaelion transport ship. The moment Eric saw this “ship” he was left speechless with the sheer size of it, the “ship” was a behemoth, shaped like an armored whale with dark blue color. The thought of making this thing alone made Eric’s head spin, and the military also digging this facility deep down, so they could have a launch system this complex was a feat that he himself thought was just a mere fantasy before, but this is Kaelion technology, they had to have some crazy tech going on to construct all of these. In front of the lined-up recruits, stood Commander Gonz.
“Alright, recruits! Feast your eyes on the Kaelion Type-B Heavy Lifter! This vessel will be your chariot to the Lunar Base, you will be boarding the lower passenger deck immediately!”
Commander Gonz paused and then he scanning the crowd. “Now, listen closely, this ship is equipped with Kaelion Counter Momentum Stabilizers now you might ask, what is that? That means no G force, no turbulence, and no seatbelts. In fact you won’t feel the launch, and you won’t feel the stop later on when you arrived. Consequently, the deck is open by design, you are free to stand, sit, or pace around, just don’t cause any trouble or we will dump you out! NOW MOVE!!!”
“This is it,” Eric thought, as he and the other recruits stepped onto the ramp.
When he entered the vehicle, he stopped dead in his tracks as well as other recruits, they had expected rows of cramped metal seats or harnesses hanging from the walls, instead what they were seeing interior that looked more like the lobby of a transportation bay
The floor was polished metal with faintly blue color, reflecting the soft, ambient lighting hidden in the ceiling. There was clear windows to see 180 degree around, must be one way windows, Eric thought. As he can’t even seen the inside from outside, from the outside view it was like a metal wall surrounding the cabin, he also notice there were no cockpit in sight, it’s either this vehicle cockpit cabin were on different room because this is called passenger cabin or it’s fully autonomous, and there few seats scatter around and benches to be seated.
As the last recruit stepped onto the deck, the massive ramp pulled back to the vehicle and the cabin passenger door also sealed shut, everyone could see the beginning of the launch through the windows, Eric watched as the clamps on the launch rail outside shifted, locking onto the underside of the vehicle with a heavy, metallic sound that reverberated through the ground, although on the inside Eric could barely can heard it.
Commander Gonz’s voice echoed over the internal speakers.
“All systems engaged. Link established. Initiating the launching sequence”
The lights in the underground facility dimmed, replaced by a sequence of amber warning strobes flashing along the length of the tunnel, as far as one could see, from the cabin passenger. Then, a robotic, feminine voice echoed inside and outside the ship.
“Launch sequence starting. Energy level rise to critical point. Catapult pressure… Normal”
Outside the window, arcs of blue electricity began to crackle along the magnetic rails, the air around the ship shimmered as the blue electricity density spiked.
“Course set for Lunar Base. Gate clearance confirmed”
Far ahead, at the very end of the pitch-black tunnel where the recruits cannot seen, a massive rectangular door began to open slowly, revealing a light from the outside world, the night sky.
“Countdown start”
“Five”
The ship hovered slightly, levitating millimeters off the rail.
“Four”
Steam vented violently from the sides of the launcher, shrouding the bottom of the ship in white mist.
“Three”
“Two”
“One”
“LAUNCH!”
BOOM!
The electromagnetic rails flared lighting sparks that circling around the whole tunnel with blinding light.
From the outside, the massive Type-B Heavy Lifter moved like it was a bullet shoot from a railgun, It tore through the underground tunnel at supersonic speeds, leaving a trail of blue afterimages and sonic booms deafening sound, The wind pressure inside the tunnel from the acceleration helped propelling the ship forward.
Inside the cabin? All the recruits feels nothing but cannot avert their gaze from the windows.
Eric initially flinched, bracing for an impact that never came, he saw the tunnel lights outside blur into a single continuous streak of light, as if they’re moving in in incredible velocity, but his feet remained firmly stood on the floor. His jacket didn’t even ruffle. In his mind Eric wonder.
“Holy shit this Kaelion Stabilizers and this ship is fucking awesome!”
For him it was like watching a movie on a high-definition screen rather than physically moving.
In a split second, the dark tunnel ended.
The ship shot out of the underground, bursting through the gate and soaring straight into the night sky. Instantly the starry night sky flooded the view on the window. All the recruits were amazed and no one says anything but keep their eyes fixated on the view.
“Launch sequence successfully commenced” the automated voice announced inside the ship.
“Next stop”
“The Moon.”
High atop the Observation tower of the military base, the wind howled, a gale whipping violently against the structure. High Priestess Elara stood at the very edge, her robes danced wildly, snapping in the air and her posture remained still. As the ship became nothing more than a glimmering star in the distance, the playful smile she had worn all day dissolved, replaced by a gaze cold enough to freeze the air itself.
She then flicked her wrist.
PZT
A holographic terminal appeared.
“Encryption: Kaelion-Zero. Secure Channel” a sound coming from the terminal.
The holographic screen then displaying the words:
SECURE CONNECTION ESTABLISHED: LUNAR SANCTUARY
She hovered her hand over the screen, she then press the video feed OFF, then “Audio Only” got displayed on the screen.
“Yo, Elara,” a female voice from the her wrist device, it sounded relaxed, there was a distinct crunching sound, like someone chewing something.
“Did the kids get on the bus okay? Or did we have another ‘incident’ in the parking lot?”
Elara’s eye twitched. Her head and face still looking up onto the sky, she then remember that she hated that tone.
“It’s done, Hestia” Elara said, her voice sharp and devoid of her usual warmth
“One hundred and forty-one”
“Whoa, hold on,” the woman laughed
“Is that how you address a High Exarch of the Holy Church?”
“Come on, Elara, you used to be so cute! and respectful back in our novice days, always bowing and blushing, chu chu chu, what happened to that girl?”
“Gone, this is what you have be content with it” Elara narrowing her gaze seemed annoyed.
“Having High Exarch that’s eating eating on a secure line, don’t you manner when talking to someone?”
“Hey hey, a girl’s gotta eat, you know? Pizza pepperoni doesn’t need any manners or protocol” Hestia mumbled through a mouthful.
“Anyway, the report? Is this batch worth waking up for?”
“Tsk” Elara annoyed.
“It is a significant deviation” slipping back into professionalism despite her annoyance.
“We have confirmed some, no, many high-level potentials”
Hestia let out a low whistle. “Damn. good batch i take? it’s been so long since we got one that’s guud”
“is it all good candies or mixed bag? Like you know some sweet, some sour… and some poison hahahaha”
“And you said there were some “troubling one” Care to elaborate?” Hestia asked.
“You could taste the candies yourself later, and yeah we got one troubling one honestly”
“Spark red one” Elara said quietly.
“Valzvein”
“Oof, that’s gonna be a headache for the paperwork, which is not my responsibility hahahaha” Hestia chuckled.
“And the dud? I remember you said there were NULL flagged one? It’s not common these days to get a NULL especially with the modern serum and all the new equipment”
“Subject 785” Elara said.
“His name is Eric Rossvolt”
“What’s his deal? Did the Serum rejection goes well?”
“I Checked with the medics and they said the serum has been accepted, but somehow the antibody were not integrating”
“The Void didn’t take him over, but the Serum didn’t activate either is there any case like this before?” Elara paused. Her mind flashed back to the vision she had experienced when she touched Eric, the endless dark ocean, The Leviathan, it was so massive it blocked out the sky.
She needed a benchmark.
“Hestia,” Elara asked, her voice unusually quiet.
“In your time on Earth-1… and in the Rift… have you ever seen a Serpent that eclipses the sky? Something, like that truly massive? Maybe Level 10? You met some of them right?”
The chewing sound on the other end stopped.
“Hmm. Hard to say” Hestia respond, her tone shifting to something more thoughtful.
“I’ve met three out of the nine known Level 10s in existence, and let me tell you, Elara, even if i were just to met three out of them, i bet most of the Level 10s are crazy maniacs, and i heard that some of them aren’t even from the military, so they don’t have the Serum injected into them. And because of that the don’t have the regular “Serpent”
“Well basically they are the most powerful and the one that can project their Inner Domain, and their desire into reality” Hestia let out a short, dark chuckle.
“Trust me, you don’t want to look at a Level 10’s soul, I can’t even glaze at their Inner Domain presence for too long without getting “side effect”, so I try not to remember.”
“I see,” Elara whispered.
“But,” Hestia continued,
“if you’re talking about the ones who kept their Serpent intact… the biggest one I know isn’t a Level 10. I know a few of them.”
“Who?”
“Annyla Fritz,” Hestia said.
“Former noble cast out to serve her punishment on the moon, you know the stories right?”
“The Death Dragon Lady? Isn’t she is the one who break the Rift on Sector 9.”
“What i remembered from the rumor, is that she slaughtered a hundred thousand rebels that are native Rift dwellers against the Valzvein family back in the day” Elara recounted.
“She wiped out an entire Rift population, make them ceased to exist, poof, just gone like that. Some say she was engineered to be a monster by the Valzveins before they discarded her.” Hestia said while eating something.
“She’s totally not afraid of anything, her mere presence breed terror to anyone that doesn’t have high enough mental fortitude, but, hey hey she is a solid drinking buddy! We’ve downed a few beers together, while she’s not in her Battle mode, she’s a shy and introverted girl, so sweeet!! And she keeps rambling about this needing to go back to Earth-1 to ‘atone’ for some shit, she doesn’t tell me much about it but she said it was her wish to be able to atone for her mistake, what a wonderful lady if i say so myself.. Well without her power and artifact of course hahahaha. It’s unfortunate that she’s stuck as a Executioner here so she can’t just go to Earth-1”
“Her serpent?” Elara asked.
“How big is it?”
“Oh right, sorry my bad for rambling, it’s massive” Hestia replied back.
“Think ten mountains stacked vertically, there you go, but it’s a skeletal type one, that’s where she got her artifact and power from, so meat, just bone, but the bone alone is that big, I can’t even imagine if it has its meat intact hahahaha, even as a Level 8 peer, I find it pretty eerie to stare at her Inner Domain, it gives the creeps vibe”
Elara frowned in her mind “Ten mountains… that is large. Very large, but what i saw…”
“And then there’s Ilsa Ryzelia” Hestia continued
“Commander of the 1st Research Division”
Elara cuts her “The creator of the Modern Serum?”
“Yep, the very same person” Hestia said.
“Ah, I remember that before her invention we used that genuine crap bullshit, yikes, it’s an awful stuff, it killed half the recruits, and caused so much Overexceeders case, and then she fixed the damn thing, which is nice! She’s Level 9, well in technicality she outranks me one level, but I would bet on my corpse that rank is mostly for her inventions, because if me and her were to sparred to the death, i think I could definitely take her down with me, well at least i think so hahahahaha” Hestia laughed.
“She hates ‘loud’ people like me anyway, so we don’t get along well, but her serpent… it is a nightmare, I don’t even want to mention it how does it look like, Let’s just say she and Annyla are the ceiling for how big a Serpent can get while keeping the characteristic intact, although the Generals from noble families i think also have some big guns up their sleeves but i can’t peek too much on that”
Hestia paused, then the conversation went silent for a moment.
“Why asking this suddenly? You weren’t the type that seek to become strongest or anything as far as i know” Hestia asked, her voice sharpening,
“Or did you find someone that has the big gun?”
Elara felt a chill run down her spine, as she remember the stare of the leviathan it didn’t just feel big, she felt that it just the beginning.
“No” Elara said smoothly
“Just curiosity, i guess”
“Oho?? Alright then, we can talk much if you were just asked when we were on the same room” returning to her casual tone.
“Anyway this Eric dude, since he is a NULL, and we can’t predict what will NULL do, they could just cause problem so send him to the kitchens, or put him on cleaning duty, should be suffice. We’re short on toilet scrubbers in Sector 4 anyway hahahaha, and if he’s a dud, he’s a dud, unless he bites, then I don’t care”
“Understood” Elara nodded.
“I will notify the base to place him in sector 4 after the attunement phase has been done”
“Niceee, because we don’t have time to babysit strays” Hestia’s voice dropped losing the playful feel.
“Anyway Elara, Project: Another Heaven is stalling without its Overseer, your charged-in unit in the Rift is getting chewed up. We’re losing ground, so better get up here, Help them fix things”
“Roger that, I will be there shortly,” Elara said
“Good, don’t be late, High Priestess, I saved you a slice”
Elara then closed her eyes and slimes gently.
“CONNECTION WERE SEVERED” As it got displayed on the hologram screen
She reached into her robes and pulled out a necklace, It was similar to the one the priest had used to fight the crystal monster, but far more intricate, and the gem at its center wasn’t a sapphire, it was a Deep Blue stone that seemed to swirl with liquid darkness.
She took the necklace up to her lips, closing her eyes in reverence.
“May Aztoim watch over us,” she whispered
She kissed the stone
When she opened her eyes, the warm, golden yellow of her irises was gone, her eyes were now Deep Blue, The sclera had darkened, and her pupils had fractured, stretching and tearing into a jagged, vertical shape.
They looked exactly like the RIFT.
CRACK.
The sound came from the air itself, beneath her feet, appeared to be like a shadow then solidify into liquid like substance and soon the liquid seemed tearing out some sort of portal like jagged fissure opened in the floor, the portal was not leading to the room below, but into a swirling abyss of neon-violet and midnight blue.
From the portal, hands emerged.
They were dark blue colored hand, wet, some were the size of a child’s hand, while the others were massive, they grasped at her robes, her legs, and clawing their way up her body.
Elara just stand still as the hands clamped and engulf her and then pulled her down, she looked up at sky one last time.
“Coming back” she whispered.
The hands yanked her down violently.
ZHHH-POP
Elara vanished into the crack and the fissure zipped shut instantly
Minutes later in the vessel to the lunar base.
“We have breached upper atmosphere” the automated voice announced
“Approaching Lunar Orbit.”
Eric leaned forward and the other recruit also did the same, they weren’t looking at stars, they were looking at the horizon.
The Moon was there in front of them floating atop of it surface was something they never seen by their own eyes, liquid bleeding out of it, it was the RIFT , it was unreal to see it live, it was like tore through the fabric of space like a wound in the universe itself. From it they called the liquid the Sea of Void, it poured out like a waterfall of neon violet and crushing blue that defied gravity, they weren’t supposed to be that high gravity enough to pull liquid that much to the moon, there it is, and the moon itself was not grey rock anymore, it was purple and magenta blend, covered with the liquid, yet somehow being poor constantly doesn’t make the moon bigger or anything, and this already happened for centuries.
In Eric mind he thought that It was beautiful and yet It was wrong at the same time, like It was ticking bomb to the end of the world what if that portal expand, what would happened, what would come out of it.
As the approach the closer to the moon the automated voice announced again,
“Welcome to the Moon”