Tera Galactus Chapter 2

The dreams forced their way into Merrick’s mind as she drifted between states of consciousness. Visions of blistering light and inescapable inky nothingness fought for control of her senses as she navigated the torrent of information. She felt herself on a battlefield with rivers of stars leaking from corpses on the floor. She saw strange people desperately fighting against a figure of physical shadow. The figure turned to stare at her, and she fell backward into a new dream.

This one took her to a field of never-ending white. The floor was made of dolostone so pure it hurt to look at. Her skin felt saturated with chain energy to a sickening degree. Chain entities lumbered nearby, weapons drawn and ready to crush her into the radiance at her feet. As their massive weapons came down, Merrick instinctively reached up to block her face and sealed her eyes. Seconds stretched for hours as the blows never seemed to come.

She eventually opened her eyes to find herself in a temple garden. This dream she had seen many times before and felt it to be the most perplexing of them all. The overgrown foliage of the abandoned structure wrapped around the mortal elements of the place giving a sense of infection over harmony. At the center of the garden stood a tall necrowillow that stretched out in every direction. Its branches reached horizontally, draping strands of flowers down to the courtyard below. At the center of the tree’s hollowed out bark, a smaller sapling sat nestled in its clutches. This tree was made of the same undulating marble texture that was found only in dolostone but was unique in every other regard. Merrick had touched it in past dreams which had sent her spiraling into chaos once more. For some reason she felt particularly invested in figuring out where this garden was. She was certain this place was real but had no way of proving it other than every fiber of her being telling her she was right. This time she tried something she had never done before; she meditated before the tree.

As she breathed in and absorbed the potent chain energy that radiated from the tree, Merrick could feel a map of stars starting to coalesce in her mind. It seemed to represent a map of the galaxy but before it could finish forming, a voice tore her from her focus.

“Ah, ah, ah, too soon for that.”

Merrick pushed to her feet and spun around in a fluid motion; hands raised in a combat stance. The figure was in the shape of a magnus soul but in place of a body there was only a deep burgundy flame. The flame was outlined in rigid black as the eyes of the individual observed Merrick intently.

“Where am I?” Merrick asked.

“Somewhere I’d rather you not find,” The voice said as flames began to spread out from below them. The foliage was quickly consumed as the kindling erupted into an inferno.

Flames overtook the necrowillow like a disease, causing its sap to drip like hot wax onto Merrick. She turned to look at the special shrub only to find it engulfed in flames as well. Echoing screams emanated from deep within its trunk as the white turned to red then to ash. Merrick whirled on her heels to face the entity once more only to find it inches from her face. It placed a hand over her mouth and covered her vision in flames. A wicked smile was the last thing she saw as she desperately tried to scream for help.

“Ma’am, are you ill?”

Merricks eyes shot open as she looked around, sweat pouring down her face. Everyone in the back section of the mass transit freighter was staring at her and seemed like they had been for some time. All other passengers had backed away from her except for the masked individual that had asked the question.

“You were screaming quite loudly.”

Merricks breathing had yet to steady, so she focused on her mantras quietly. The monastery’s mantra always forced calm into Merrick’s mind. It brought her back to those mornings when the air was crisp with the smell of a garden ripe for harvest. The only sound was the union of voices coalescing into a singular chant and the dolostone chimes gently brushing against the pillar chain at the center of the monastery. Her breathing steadied but with it came a deep homesickness. She looked around the cabin and found so little chain energy that it might as well have been imperceptible.

Merrick turned to stare at the figure that had been trying to talk to her. The individual was bundled in so many different cloth robes that it was impossible to tell their actual size. The only prominent feature Merrick could make out was a white mask peeking out from behind the hood that hung over the stranger’s head. The mask was locked in a half smiling-half frowning position.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

The crowd began to dissipate as the fact that she wasn’t deranged became more obvious. Most of the people on this transit freighter got on at Nunda Vressa causing the last leg of this journey to become very claustrophobic. Bon Kreel space was said to be the most populated, but Merrick was still having a hard time adjusting to seeing this many people around. She could feel pangs of fear starting to well up inside her and tried to fight them with thoughts of all the new places she was going to explore.

“So, what brings you to Triumvirates Glory?”

The masked man had still not left her side. She wasn’t sure how to feel about him yet. While everyone else on the ship radiated some amount of chain energy, this individual was entirely devoid of it. When she looked at them with her chain vision it looked like a black hole at the center of her vision.

“I got accepted into the officer’s academy. I’m training to be an admiral.”

“Wooooow, that’s quite the accomplishment how did you manage to get in?”

Merrick thought for a moment. “Good question, I don’t really know. The elders at the temple said that I was requested personally by the academy.”

The masked man chuckled. “You must be something special indeed then. Heed the words of someone that has traveled through these parts before. Wherever you came from, this place is the farthest thing from it.”

Merrick wanted this conversation to end and stood up to stretch her legs. “I appreciate the advice,” Merrick said as she grabbed her bag and slid past the bundle of cloth.

For a ship that was supposed to be designed for mass transit, this vessel didn’t seem to have much open space. Each winding corridor led to rooms packed with groupings of species huddled around amenities on the ship designed to make their ride more comfortable.

Stepping in the Gel-Naga quarters felt like walking into a wall of fog as the moisture in the air clung to anything it could. Merrick tried to avoid the smell radiating from the fish people, but the scent managed to weasel its way into her very pores, almost making her throw up. Two Gel-Naga heard her gagging and turned to see what the problem was. As they did, the misting jet they were standing in front of blasted her face and forced her to stumble out of the room.

The next space she checked was the Thraxian ward. The smell in this room was almost nonexistent, but as she searched for a spot to sit the heat lamp overhead increased in heat to account for the new body that had just entered the room. Merrick began sweating almost immediately as the beams of warmth coated the room and its inhabitants. The Thraxians seemed to enjoy the increased heat and started clicking their scales in a hypnotic pattern. After a few minutes of listening to clicks, the sound began to feel more and more predatory as Merrick felt her skin crawl. All eyes were locked on her before she even started making a break for the exit door.

The last room at the end of the hall was labeled “VIP Quarters” and seemed to be further away from the rest. As she walked in the door, every hair on her body began to stand on end. Static jumped from surface to surface, arcing across her clothes as she attempted to orient herself in the room. The space was filled with Bon Kreel seated leisurely snacking on delicacies of their choice. Their fur danced to the tune the static moved to, making their bodies appear weightless. A soft projected rhythm was bouncing off the walls and the more Merrick looked at it the more she noticed the static charges following this pattern. This room seemed the most promising and Merrick tried finding a spot to rest. Within seconds of sitting down, a well-armored guard approached her asking to see her ticket. When she provided the stub she had been given on entry, the man informed her she didn’t have access to this section of the ship and made her leave immediately.

There was no good place to meditate as any amount of free space in the human sections of the transit were covered in baggage or spread-out limbs. Meditating wasn’t really even possible here seeing as the area was completely devoid of natural chain energy to take in. She eventually made her way to a viewing station as the sound system crackled to life.

“NOW ARRIVING AT TRIUMVIRATE’S GLORY,” a crusty voice blared out. The ship rocked as it pushed through a layer of film within the mouth of the massive stone jump ring.

Merrick turned to look out the window and was met with a cascade of various lights. Gigantic freighters emerged from the jump ring next to them shedding their luminous plasma coating as their stellar engines began to fire up. The ships had to be the biggest she had ever seen, which wasn’t exactly an extensive list considering the second biggest she had seen was the transport she was currently riding, but still. Just in front of the freighters, she saw a spindly web of metallic prongs that guided ships toward the various docking areas surrounding the colossal space station. Each web housed hundreds of ships of all sizes, mostly large ones but some small. The smaller ships tended to cluster together like a school of swarmer fish, hovering just close enough to insight concern that one ship could send the rest spiraling out of control with a gentle tap. There were more jump rings just past the station, each with their own exodus taking place. The rings sucked in just as many ships as they spat out, all spaced ever so carefully to avoid catastrophe.

As their transport lurched into one of the civilian lanes, Merrick was able to get a better view of the station. Its size made the transport ships look like mere seedlings resting in the shade of a mighty thaumroot tree. The station had three primary blades that extended out opposite each other along an elongated column in the center. It reminded Merrick of the pillar chain back home but when she tried to observe it with her chain vision, there were still no signs of chain energy. That must have meant this whole structure was built without the chain. Merrick couldn’t decide if that was awe-inspiring or deeply concerning.

Below the station, an artificial star seemed to be serving as a gravity well that anchored the station in place. This all-consuming crucible of flame curved inward and bubbled with volatile arcs of light that reached far too close to the station for Merrick’s liking. The crimson and orange bowl seemed tamed however, as small crafts walked its surface like scavengers in search of detritus.

They were eventually guided to a landing pad in between two of the blades and slowly passengers began disembarking one after another. A particularly well-dressed Thraxian allowed her to go first but couldn’t stop himself from licking the scales around his mouth. Merrick didn’t know many Thraxians and didn’t want to insult their culture, but the gesture seemed a tad bit off-putting. She decided to let it go and exited the craft carrying her meditation pack under her arm.

The inside of the station somehow looked bigger than the outside. There were throngs of people going in every which direction. From where she stood, dozens of floors were visible both above and below her. There was a massive gap between the landing platform and the rest of the station linked by a network of walkways. As she began approaching one of the walkways, the visage of a massive Bon Kreel emerged from the gap and loomed before her. The Bon Kreel had an eyepatch and seemed to be dressed in full military regalia.

“My name is Nimdosu Orlan, current Armada General and Federator of the Federation. You have just taken your first steps onto the galaxy’s most historic accomplishment to date. With the combined efforts of the Human, Bon Kreel, and Gel-Naga civilizations we were able to build everything you see here in only ten years. Whether you’re visiting to see the sights, reach one of the embassies, or join the ranks of the Federation navy let me be the first to say…welcome to Triumvirate’s Glory.”

With a bow the projection descended back into the maw below the walkway. Merrick was so enamored by the display that she didn’t even notice the Thraxian from the transport sneaking up on her until his hands were around her bag. He moved fast, darting to Merrick’s right, and making a B-line for a waiting strider near the edge of the gap. Without thinking Merrick manifested a chain strand around his ankle and yanked him to the floor.

“Ah shit,” Merrick said aloud realizing she had already broken the one rule the monastery had bestowed upon her. She looked around to see if anyone had noticed but the other passengers just seemed to look confused, staring at the Thraxian now lying flat on his face. Even the Thraxian didn’t seem to realize what had happened as he embarrassingly wobbled to his feet. Merrick closed the gap rather quickly grabbing her bag with one hand, the other drawing back in preparation for a fight.

“Drop it,” Merrick said.

The Thraxian attempted to save some face by putting on a tough guy routine. He extended his lower fangs and snarled.

“Try me.”

So, she did.

Merrick wrapped her fist in chain energy and swung right for the Thraxian’s mouth. He most definitely could not see the chains because he made no effort to tense up assuming that his scales would be strong enough to soften the blow of an average punch. Merrick may have put a bit too much chain energy into the punch because the second the fist connected with his face, there was a loud snap and a series of small pops. The Thraxian let go of the bag and was sent flying at his friend’s strider. By the time the Thraxian stopped rolling, Merrick could see that the punch had snapped one side of the reptilian’s scale covered mouth and shattered most of his smaller teeth.

“Ooo, Sorry about that,” Merrick said as she turned toward the walkway, bag in hand. “At least you can grow them back right.”

As Merrick brought her attention back to the honeycombed citadel in front of her, she noticed a series of flashing striders descending from an upper deck. It was nice to know that the police at this station worked fast, Merrick thought. As they got closer, they began to circle her even though the Thraxian was now on his friend’s strider attempting to flee the scene. Merrick pointed at the thieves as they flew away, but the police continued to circle above her like buzzard hawks.

Eventually they landed and surrounded Merrick, plasma pistols drawn. None of this made any sense to her. Was it because she used the chains? She knew she wasn’t supposed to tell any non-magnus souls about them, but this seemed like an overreaction. Merrick’s thought process was interrupted by a cop saying.

“You’re under arrest for assault and suspicion of murder, down to your knees now.”

-

Merrick sat in her cell fuming over what had happened in the last hour. No matter how much she tried arguing with the cops they refused to listen to what she was saying. It seemed you’re not supposed to defend yourself here as the police are the ones that ‘handle it’. After they had locked her in the back of the precinct detention facility, a handful of investigators stopped by to inspect her and ask questions. Merrick wasn’t feeling particularly helpful currently and gave them about as much information as asking a wall what time it is provided. Eventually they left her to think about what she had done.

The only other person in the cell with her was a Gel-Naga in a trench coat snoring rather loudly. The sound reverberated out of the gill trench positioned at the base of their neck. There was some kind of mucus covering the gills that bubbled whenever they exhaled. As fun as it was to watch, Merrick really didn’t want to be here. Her chain pool was now down to half. They had taken her meditation pad, so she wasn’t even able to connect with the chains properly. She felt tears welling in her eyes but tried her hardest to keep them from coming out.

Suddenly the reinforced door in front of her swung open. In walked a well-dressed man with an oversized Datatrac being flanked by two officers.

“You are Miss Kirian Merrick Correct?” The man said.

Merrick’s face lit up. “Yes, that’s me.”

“I am the headmaster of the Federation Officer’s Academy. My staff received your call asking to be retrieved from here.”

Merrick let out a sigh of relief and sank onto the bench.

“It seems you are a victim of mistaken identity. Someone wearing your exact outfit has been on a Federation watch list for some time.”

Merrick looked down at her outfit. She was wearing a long-sleeved top that descended to just above the sternum and flowing silk leggings garnished with Dolostone designs that related to her path. Tights were visible just below the sheer portions of the pants.

“This is my temple’s ceremonial outfit. I was told to wear formal attire.”

“Is there any reason why your stomach is not covered?”

“Well, it’s because the chains flow be-,” Merrick stopped herself. “It’s because the wind flows best through the core.”

The headmaster gave her a dismissive glance and signaled to follow him. One of the Federation officers walked up and removed her restraints while the second, who seemed to be the commanding officer, apologized profusely for the misunderstanding.