//------------------------------// // 1: Revelations // Story: Planetside 2: The Path We Walk // by Xzeron2000 //------------------------------// CHAPTER-1: Revelations The Vanu have known the location of Earth since the early days of human settlement on Auraxis. But, in the words of Vanu; the Vanu Sovereignty’s namesake, “This is but the first step. The stars are not closed to those who choose the Path, contrary to what many may say.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “High Priestess, the researchers have found the Ultimate Artifact. They are in the process of extracting its data now.” A Vanu Acolyte; one of the most powerful members of the Vanu Sovereignty, second only to the High Priestess, kneeled in front of his leader. “Good. The war? How long will we be able to fend off intruders?” The High Priestess’ eyes bored into the Acolyte’s, as if she were searching his very soul. She might well have, as the Acolytes were neurally linked to the High Priestess. “Not for long, but I have faith that if we attempt a peace treaty with the New Conglomerate on the premise of having Earth’s coordinates, we may be able to gain their assistance so that we can gather as much information as we see fit. That is, if you’d be willing, High Priestess.” The Acolyte did not waver under his leader’s gaze. “I believe that would be in order, my Acolyte. To walk the Path, we must sometimes stoop to others’ levels. The deception will do quite nicely, I think. It will also boost our morale, along with the New Conglomerate’s. Maybe we have a chance at this, Acolyte,” The Matriarch of the Vanu shifted her gaze to the Original Artifact, the one found by Connery in the shattered remains of Pluto. A beautifully crafted alien figure, suspended in an antigravity well that illuminated its sharp edges and soft curves with a gentle, teal glow. “Maybe we have a chance at finding them.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A guardspony, golden ceremonial armor flashing in the light that came through the stained glass windows of the throne room, threw open said room’s doors. “Your highness! Something’s happened in the crystal empire! I can’t explain it but-“ The guardspony paused to catch his breath. “Collect yourself, and try to explain to me as best you can. I need to know something about the situation before I send somepony to investigate,” Princess Celestia’s face adopted a worried look as she observed the disgruntled guard below her, who was now gathering his composure. This same guard then took off his helmet, and bowed before his ruler. She motioned for him to stand. “Your highness, the researchers at the crystal empire have found something, and it’s… it’s sucked them through, your highness. Whatever it was, it cannot be good.” The guardspony said, a slight twinge of fear in his voice. “I will make sure my top mages are notified. I am sure that we can easily solve the situation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “I’m sure we can easily solve this situation! P-please, I-I” The Vanu scientist never got to finish his plea as a Terran chainblade thrust itself into his skull. The person wielding the chainblade, however, was not your average Terran. He was a field marshal, and he’d led the assault on the Vanu dig, but ended up coming out empty handed. The Vanu had emptied the databanks, and taken all loose data storage with them. Needless to say, this enraged the commanding officer of the raid. Wiping his chainblade off on his sleeve, and sheathing it, the heavily armored commander cursed under his breath. “Goddamn Vanu cowards. Should’ve known there wasn’t going to be anything of use when they started retreating.” The rest was an unintelligible mumble. Something tapped him on the left shoulder. He turned, and was dead before he hit the ground. “And that,” a smooth, feminine voice said, coming from seemingly nowhere. “Is how we do that.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “So, I was wondering when you’d like to hand over the coordinates to Earth, since your buddy here seems adamant towards the fact that you have them.” A man, in a business suit sat at the end of a long table. All around him, armed guards wearing New Conglomerate uniforms stood poised for action. In between him and the High Priestess of the Vanu were several other men in business suits, all wearing expensive ties of varying colors. The High Priestess was not concerned about her surroundings, though; she had two Acolytes, one on her left and one on her right that could defend her if need be. Both were in two of the most advanced combat suits made by the Vanu. “As I have told you, we cannot risk open data transfer. We must transport the data here the ‘Old Fashioned Way’, as your people would put it. There is a column of vehicles heading towards Tawrich Tech Plant. They will arrive very shortly, but you must prepare your defenses. The Terran Republic is close behind, with mostly armor and some air support units at their disposal. As long as we can get the data onto air transport once the column reaches Tawrich, we should have the data here in a few hours. If not, then, I’m afraid you’ll have to retrieve it from the Terrans.” The High Priestess said, a twinge of sadness creeping into her voice as she finished off her statement. She had to keep him ignorant, and she had to keep him from realizing the fact that open data transfer through Vanu networks, and with Vanu encoding could not be compromised easily, especially by the Terrans. “I sent an infiltrator unit to fact check your sources. I have something you may want to see, High Priestess.” The suited man at the head of the table reclined, and tapped something into his chair. A holographic screen flared into existence behind him, and he turned his chair to face it. The screen depicted two men, standing in a room full of destroyed computers. One was in armor that shone a deep crimson, with a symbol of what looked like an upside down sword surrounded by a red background. The Terran towered over a Vanu scientist, who was in a white lab coat, and had glasses on his aged face. “P-please, I-I” the Vanu scientist pleaded with the imposing Terran that stood over him. His efforts were rewarded with a cruel knife that whirred and spat gore everywhere as the scientist dropped, dead. His head had a gaping hole in it, and blood oozed out onto the floor. The frame began moving at this point, and the gathered heads of state could see a shimmer reach out, and touch the Terran officer on his shoulder, lightly. The Terran whirled around, and received a bullet to the face. “And that,” a smooth, feminine voice said. “Is how we do that.” The voice concluded. The frame then shifted once again, and went through a series of corridors, to what looked like an observation room. Control panels and holographic screens lined the back wall, while the right side of the room was dominated by a large reinforced window. When the frame moved further into the room, it took particular intrest in the interfaces at the back of the room. Hands reached into the frame, and manipulated controls. When the hands were satisfied, they disappeared from the frame. The frame then moved over towards the observation window. “And this is what they didn’t want us to see,” the same smooth, feminine voice from earlier said, as the frame panned around the window. The heads of state could see faintly illuminated glyphs adorning a large alien structure that sat in a gigantic pit. There were objects suspended in antigravity fields in a half-circle formation around a depression in the center. Suddenly, the suspended objects glowed brightly, and curved structures folded from the floor, glowing brightly with a bright blue aura. “What the fuck? I hope you guys are getting this, this is just… woah. I’m going to go check this out, hold on.” The frame went black for a few seconds, and then restarted. A time/date stamp appeared briefly at the bottom left hand corner, and the same alien construct, purple metal and all, appeared upon the screen once more. This time, the curved protrusions held a black void. It seemed to suck in all the surrounding light, its depth infinite. The objects around its back had stopped glowing. The frame moved then moved quickly about the room, as a large crashing noise could be heard, accompanied with heavy footsteps and shouting. “Find the bitch that killed the field marshal! I want him dead!” A male voice came through the cacophony of heavy thuds and footsteps. “Oh shit! Oh shit shit shit shit shit!” panic rose in her voice said as the frame flashed about the room, apparently looking for a quick escape route. It settled on the void in the center of the room. “Guess this is it. Hope you guys have fun with your lives. Geronimo!” The holographic screen went black, and blinked into nonexistence. “She was one of the best infiltrators we have. And now she’s gone. You better have a good goddamn explanation for this, or I’m gonna leave you to the Terrans, Priestess.” The man at the end of the table opposite from the High Priestess spat. “I honestly do not know, Richard. Wherever she is, if she is in the Void, or another planet, I cannot tell you. All I can tell you is that she is most probably dead.”