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PREVIOUSLY, ON “LEGEND OF AKI: REBIRTH”…
Akasha, Aki02, and their friends head to the fallen colony ship
Orpheus to track down Naya Kestren, the scientist in charge of Project Typhon. Kestren reveals that Akasha and Shankar are her clones, created as test subjects for the Master Core, a Darker core capable of controlling other Darkers.
While aboard
Orpheus, the group encounters Delfoy, Aki’s long-lost Newman friend. And deep within the spatial expanse known as The Rift, Aki03 finally tracks down Selena and Marten, who had been missing since The Fifth Fleet Massacre.
Meanwhile, Lee is revealed to be Lee Okada, one of the Four Kings of KAI-OS. By manipulating the ARKS he is able to eliminate the other three Kings, becoming the sole heir to the criminal empire.
Aki01 defeats Lee’s Council doppelgangers and confronts him in the Council meeting chamber. However, she falls victim to his trap and is infected by a computer virus, turning her into Lee’s loyal servant. She then orchestrates a coup to overthrow the ARKS commander aboard
Ur, General Valias. Aki01 takes command of the ARKS and declares the colony ship to be under martial law.
Back on
Orpheus, the mysterious masked Hunter—a mercenary hired by Lee—attacks the group. After a lengthy battle, he is eventually defeated by Delfoy.
Akasha’s twin brother, Shankar, murders Naya Kestren and takes the Master Core for himself. He confronts the group and kills Kira—by absorbing her as photon energy. Enraged, Akasha battles her brother to the death and wins. But, in his dying moments, Shankar absorbs Akasha as well, healing himself in the process…
And yet it was, unfolding in front of him like a bad dream.
First Kira, and then—
“AKASHAAAAA!!!”
Ivan screamed his friend’s name at the top of his lungs, but it was no use. The Darker tendril that lanced through Akasha’s chest retracted into Shankar’s palm. Still on her knees, the copper-skinned Newearl tottered back and forth but refused to fall. Her arms hung limply at her sides. And then, like Kira before her, she began to glow.
It started softly, even gently. An expanding plume of warm light that began in her torso and spread to her extremities. It was as if someone switched on a light bulb inside of her and was gradually dialing up the brightness.
Ivan knew what was coming next. He had just seen the same thing happen to Kira. But as the glow inside Akasha reached its peak, the woman turned her head to the side and looked directly at him.
And smiled. It was a beautiful smile, free of all the pain and loss she had endured, and just for a moment Ivan thought she might be alright after all. Then Akasha clutched her chest before exploding into a billion pinpricks of light.
The resulting cloud of photon energy hovered in the air for a moment, formless. It didn’t stay that way for long. Like a galaxy being born, the glowing mass slowly succumbed to the gravitic tide—not of the colony ship, but of Shankar’s outstretched palms. He took in Akasha’s energy, absorbed it, until there was nothing left. Nothing except a heap of clothes and a discarded double saber lying on the ground.
Ivan couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. He could barely process what just happened, even though it was his second time seeing it. From somewhere to his left, Luna shouted, “Watch out! More uglies on the way!”
Beyond the nearest row of gravestones, a trio of interdimensional portals appeared in the dirt. Black, spidery legs began clawing their way out. Darkers. Dagans and El Dagans, from the look of them.
“Let’s go,” Aki02 commanded, her tone firm.
Go? he thought. No way. They couldn’t just—
“
Now, if you want to live,” she said to him. Her metal hand waited to help him up.
“We can’t just leave her!” Ivan shouted desperately.
“It’s too late, Ivan. She’s gone.”
He was about to protest until he noticed the look in Aki’s eyes. The clenched jaw. She was in pain just as he was, but even so, she was doing her best to save him.
Ivan nodded numbly and took her hand.
* * * * * * * * *
Thirty minutes later, aboard the battered commercial transport known as
Rico’s Folly, Ivan sat at a table with his head buried in his hands. Aki and Luna stood nearby. No one spoke.
The recreation room they currently occupied was uncomfortably small.
Rico’s Folly was a cargo hauler, not a pleasure cruise. And yet, despite the cramped accommodations, the gulf between its occupants felt impossibly vast. Their team had been gutted in a matter of minutes. Akasha and Kira, murdered at the hands of Shankar. Delfoy, currently missing, his whereabouts unknown.
Ivan felt numb. He was still in shock. Losing both his girlfriend and one of his closest friends like that, it was too much. How could he possibly go on?
All he could think was,
I’ve failed them. His mother died at the hands of a Darker when he was nine years old. After that, he promised himself it wouldn’t happen again. That he would become strong enough to protect the people he cared about. And he had failed.
On some level he knew it wasn’t his fault. That he was being unfair. Still, he couldn’t help blaming himself. His tortured mind was filled with thoughts of “what if” and “if only.”
If only his sword hadn’t shattered in the fight against the Cyclonehda. If only he had stopped Kira from fighting Shankar.
If only I told her I loved her one last time…
Wallowing in misery, Ivan nearly missed the faint
plunk,
plunk,
plunk reverberating through the ship’s hull.
Aki tensed up. “There’s something out in the bay.”
“More Darkers?” asked Luna.
“I don’t know. I’m going to check it out.”
“I’m coming with you,” the little support partner insisted. “You know, just in case.”
Aki nodded and the two departed, leaving Ivan alone with his thoughts. A few seconds later he heard the boarding ramp being lowered and two pairs of feet descending. Then there was silence.
Ivan didn’t even care. Let the Darkers come and rip them all to pieces. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered anymore. All of his hopes, his dreams, the promise of a new life together with Kira, that was all gone. Blown to bits back at that cemetery. What was the use—
Footsteps on the ramp.
Three sets this time. They grew louder, echoing down the corridor as they approached. Ivan raised his weary head, thinking maybe, somehow, Kira or Akasha had returned.
But no. Delfoy stood in the open doorway, accompanied by Aki and Luna. “You look like hell,” said the green-haired Newman. He glanced back and forth. “Where are the other two? The tall girl and the short girl?”
Aki rested a hand on Delfoy’s shoulder and told him everything.
* * * * * * * * *
“Well… damn.”
Delfoy shook his head slowly. He was seated across the table from Ivan, arms folded across his chest. “I, ah… I don’t know what to say. I didn’t know ‘em that long, but they seemed like good kids. Real fighters. I’m sorry to hear about what happened. They didn’t deserve that.”
“No,” Aki agreed quietly, “they didn’t.”
“So… what’s the plan, Captain?”
“I told you before, I’m not—”
“—a captain anymore,” he said, finishing her sentence. “I know. But where do we go from here?”
Aki looked around the room. From Delfoy’s grim yet determined expression, to Luna’s hopeful stare, and finally to Ivan, who wouldn’t even meet her gaze. “We fight,” she answered at last. “Shankar has the Master Core, which means he can control Darkers. That makes him a threat, not only to us but to Oracle. I don’t know what he’s planning, but we have to try and stop it.”
Ivan stood up, a look of disbelief on his face. “We ran away before. Now you want us to go
back?”
“The situation has changed. We lacked sufficient preparation and weaponry last time. That is no longer the case.”
Aki left the room and returned a moment later carrying a bulky metal crate. She set it down on the table, then flipped open the lid. Inside was a decent assortment of guns and ammunition. The Caseal pulled out an automatic rifle for herself and slapped a magazine into it. After that she picked up a photon pistol and handed it to Ivan.
“I’m not a Ranger,” he protested.
“All cadets receive basic firearms training at the Academy. I have my sister’s memories so I know you passed the exam, Mr. Malloch. You
are familiar with the operation of this weapon, are you not?”
“I—Yes, but that doesn’t mean I agree to this mission! And since you seem to know so much about me already, you should know I dropped out of the Academy. I’m a civilian now. That means I don’t have to take orders.”
“I’m not with the ARKS anymore either. I am doing this because I believe it is the right thing to do. Because more people may die if I do nothing. And because I don’t want Akasha and Kira’s deaths to have been in vain.” Aki’s expression softened. “But you’re right, Ivan. I can’t force you to do this. I can’t force anyone. That’s why I want to take a vote.”
“I’m in,” said Delfoy, even before Aki could ask. “I never abandoned a team before, and I don’t intend to start now.”
Aki offered him a tight-lipped smile, then turned to her support partner. “Luna?”
The little robot was taken aback. “You mean I get a vote, too?”
“Of course. You’re a member of this team. I could never forget about you.”
Luna’s eyes shone with intense gratitude. It looked like she was trying to hold back tears. “Let’s do it. We’ll kick that Darker lover’s butt so hard he’ll wish he’d never been cloned!”
“It’s decided, then,” Aki said to Ivan. “We’re going to do this. We have to try. I won’t make you come with us, but I would be glad to have you at our side.”
Ivan looked down. He didn’t know what to say. What to think. Truthfully, he wanted to get as far away from
Orpheus as possible, to put this whole mess behind him. Fighting was the last thing on his mind.
And yet, for some reason, he felt conflicted. Torn. What would Kira do if she were in his place? What about Akasha? Deep down, Ivan already knew the answer. They would fight. Give it their all to the very end.
Ivan sighed. How could he do any less? “I’m with you,” he said, hoping he wouldn’t regret that decision.
Aki’s mechanical hand squeezed his shoulder. “Thank you.” Next she addressed the entire group. “This is going to be a dangerous mission. We’re probably only going to get one shot at it, so let’s make it count. Step one: we come up with a plan. Ideas?”
* * * * * * * * *
There was something indescribably beautiful about it.
That was the thought passing through Shankar’s mind as he gazed up at what had once been
Orpheus’s Great Dome. There, far overhead, countless clusters of bioluminescent fungi dotted the ceiling like pale stars winking in the darkness. It made Shankar feel like he was staring into space.
He hadn’t noticed them before. He’d been too focused on his mission. But now, lying on his back among the gravestones, he finally took it all in. The beauty of it. The vastness. The solitude.
That’s right, he reminded himself. He was all alone now. Akasha was gone. He had taken her life, stolen it to save his own. It had been the only way. Forced to choose between his goals and his sister, he had chosen his goals. And so he lived.
She did too, in a way. He could feel Akasha’s energy inside him, keeping the corrupting powers of the Master Core at bay. Unfortunately that wouldn’t last for long. The Core was slowly draining the energy out of him, like a leech sucking blood from its host. It would suck him dry if he let it. When that happened, Naya Kestren warned him it would spell his death… or worse. Starved for energy, the Core would likely consume his body from the inside out.
Only periodic “feedings” would sustain him. That meant he was going to need a regular source of nourishment. But where to find one?
Orpheus was practically a ghost ship. Shankar thought for a moment. If he recalled correctly,
Orpheus was currently on course for the space station
Terra Nova. Yes, he decided, that would do nicely. There were fifty thousand construction workers putting the final touches on the station, more energy sources—people—than he would ever need.
All he had to do was wait, and hope he could hold out long enough. In the meantime, there was something else he wanted to do. A “gift” his new powers afforded him. It wasn’t something anyone taught him to do. He simply knew, instinctively, that he could do it.
Time to take the first step in creating his new, better world…
* * * * * * * * *
COLONY SHIP 02, UR: ARKS COMMAND TOWER, DETENTION BLOCK
There was a certain irony to it, Aki01 thought. The fact that she was the one standing outside the prison cell looking in. She, who had actively conspired to overthrow the ARKS leadership aboard
Ur. She, who was working against their best interests even now. She was the traitor, the betrayer. Not him, the man in the cell. And yet he was the one paying the price.
This fact didn’t trouble her. It was simply worth noting the irony.
Aki punched in the code to deactivate the force field and stepped into the cell. She was unarmed. The man was unbound. Still, she had nothing to fear. There was no chance of him overpowering her, and he wasn’t foolish enough to try.
The cell itself was mostly bare. There was a simple bed cantilevered to the wall, a toilet without a lid, and a mounted flat panel television. That was it.
The man in the cell was seated on the edge of the bed. His ARKS uniform was rumpled and he looked like he hadn’t slept, but otherwise seemed to be in decent condition. He looked up as Aki approached.
“Have you come to your senses and decided to release me?” asked General Valias, former commander of all ARKS forces aboard
Ur. His tone made it clear he didn’t expect much.
“I’m here to check on you. And to see if you’re ready to cooperate,” replied the colonel and current ARKS commander. Her tone was courteous but held no sympathy or remorse.
“I told you, I have no intention of cooperating with criminal scum like KAI-OS.”
Aki nodded calmly. “That’s unfortunate, but expected. You are a man of principle, General. I admire that. Unfortunately, my master has limited patience. You may want to reconsider joining us… while the offer still stands.”
Valias looked Aki directly in the eyes. It was a look that could pierce armor. “So why did
you? Join KAI-OS, that is. I can’t believe a good officer like you would throw in with them willingly. Are they controlling you? Blackmailing you? What?”
“You got it right the first time. Though it makes no difference in the end.”
“So, Okada’s controlling you. Maybe he reprogrammed you to do his bidding. If that’s the case, there’s still hope. Let me help you. We can find a way to undo whatever he’s done.”
Aki shook her head. The general didn’t get it. He thought this was something she was fighting against. That was she was a prisoner in her own body, being forced to act against her will. But that’s not how the virus worked. No, it was much more ingenious than that. It rewrote her programming in a way that made her
want to serve her master. His goals were her goals now. And she would gladly fight or even die to fulfill them.
Aki was happy. Content with her role. What was there to fight against? “The interesting thing about desire,” she said, “is that once it exists, your past feelings become irrelevant. An outdated opinion, nothing more. All that matters to me now is carrying out my orders. That is what I desire.”
“And what of your friends? Your family? The citizens of
Ur you swore to protect? Don’t they still matter to you?”
“You’re wasting your time, General. I will not betray my master. He is the ultimate authority aboard
Ur now.”
“Yes, I saw your little ‘announcement’ earlier.” Valias hooked a thumb towards the wall-mounted television. “Martial law. I suppose that means Okada has taken over the whole damn ship. Though he pretty much did that already with those fake councilors.”
“Instituting martial law was a necessary evil. You and I interfered with his plans by going after the Executive Council. My master needed to maintain order in their absence.”
“Order? Don’t you mean control? He’s removed the middleman to become judge, jury, and executioner all in one! I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts rounding up others like me, people who won’t dance to his tune.”
Aki shrugged. “If that is his wish, so be it.”
The general grunted in reply. Perhaps he finally understood the futility of his efforts. Or maybe he was just growing tired of the conversation. Either way, he had given up trying to convince her. He did, however, have one final question to ask. “So, what happens now? With me. Is your glorious master planning to let me spend the rest of my days rotting in a prison cell?”
“There will be a public trial. You will confess to the litany of charges brought against you, including conspiracy to overthrow the government and orchestrating the murders of the Executive Council. After that, yes, you will remain in prison for as long as my master deems necessary.”
“And if I decide not to play along with your little scheme?” he asked with a scowl.
“You won’t have a choice in the matter. Even now, a CAST doppelganger is being constructed in your likeness. In a matter of weeks he will be ready to replace you at all public appearances, including the trial.” Aki paused to emphasize her last point. “And of course, he will say only what we program him to say.”
“You really think the public will believe that?”
“The public will believe whatever we want them to believe. Remember, the Council operated for
months without anyone discovering the truth.”
“If that’s the case, why keep me around at all? Why bother?”
“The doppelganger will look and act like you, but will not possess your knowledge. Access codes. Names of undercover ARKS operatives. Intel on upcoming missions. Some of these things can be retrieved by hacking the computer terminal in your office, but not everything. We may be in need of that information. So, for now, we will keep you around.”
Valias chuckled darkly. “Don’t I feel special.”
“You can fight us or you can work with us, General. It’s your decision. Either way, we’ll get what we want. The only difference is how comfortable you want to be.”
Valias didn’t answer right away. He let the silence linger, hanging in the air like a gathering storm. The only sound was the faint buzzing from the overhead lighting. When he finally looked up, his expression was resolute. “Tell your master he can go to hell.”
Aki gave him a thin-lipped smile. “Enjoy your stay, General.”
Without another word she turned and left the cell, reactivating the force field on her way out. Aki was halfway down the corridor when her comm unit chimed. Belatedly, she answered it. The steely voice of her subordinate, Lieutenant Arkon, was on the line. “Colonel, you have an incoming message from your half-sister Rho. She has returned from the mission to Karlessa Minor.”
Ah yes, Rho. Aki sent her undercover to get information from her father, Arden Sabik. Information on Lee Okada, to be precise. That was before Okada became Aki01’s master. Before everything changed.
“I’ll take it in my office,” she replied.
“Very good, sir.”
The call ended with a click. Aki kept walking, her heavy footsteps echoing up and down the empty hallway.
Things were only just beginning. There was still much work to be done.
TO BE CONTINUED
Author’s Notes:
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Originally Posted by stukasa
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