On the way to Planet Jasindu, where the IRIS Supercomputer said the last prototype of the Dimensionator was located, Ratchet and the others spoke with Ace, Talwyn, and the two war bots about what they might have heard while they were in Zordoom Prison. At first Cronk had asked them why it was important for them to share that piece of information, but Zephyr had stopped him when he explained that the four of them were bound to know something about the Polaris Galaxy that they didn't already know. Once that bridge had been crossed Ace informed the group that he had heard about the mysterious Ysmir, who the other prisoners were hoping would come and save them at some point, but before anyone could tell them about the battle they had with the mysterious figure Ace said something else that stopped them.
"Ysmir, according to the inmates, was like a hero to the people of this galaxy," Ace said, to which he shuddered as he reached into his robe and pulled out a chip, one that he handed over to Starlight, who studied it for a few seconds before inserting it into the table they were sitting at, "but where there is a hero, there is always a villain waiting to make their move. The other inmates mentioned that this particular villain only stayed on one planet, plotting her eventual escape, but even though she's been stuck on this one particular planet she's made a name for herself already."
As Ace spoke an image appeared in the middle of the table, thanks to the special projector that Starlight and Angela had created so long ago, though what appeared in front of them all was some sort of shadowy creature that was covered by a robe made of pure darkness. Starlight had read some of the Old Earth myths that were associated with ghost like creatures that were known as wraiths, though she was surprised to find that this one was wearing a robe over its body, reminding her of Ysmir for a moment. As the image became more focused they all noticed that the creature was wearing a pair of spiked gauntlets on its hands, gauntlets that were tarnished by the shadows, while wearing some sort of tarnished silver crown that curved from the forehead and reached down towards the sides of the face. At the top of the crown rested a circle of spikes, eight set in a perfect circle, with a blood red stone set in the middle of the forehead, set between the crown itself and the head spike.
Starlight, despite knowing that it was only an image that was sitting in front of them, couldn't help but feel some sort of fear touch her as she stared at the unusual wraith... while noticing that there were dark purple strands coming from where the creature's eyes were supposed to be located.
"The inmates call her the Witch-Queen of Reepor," Ace continued, adverting his eyes from the image, leading everyone else to do the same thing until Starlight decided to just turn the image off, "though the wardens of the prison called her a number of other names; Fear, the Unspeakable Evil, and Hatred among other things."
"Why Hatred and Fear?" Angela asked, though when she glanced over at Ratchet and Starlight she found that they were thinking the same thing, they were worried that someone was mimicking another aspect of Sunset, as Ysmir might have been the humanoid form they had created for Sunset so long ago.
"Because she has an unnatural ability to induce someone's fear just by looking at them," Ace replied, though he held up a hand to stop them from asking more questions, "Listen, I only wanted you to be aware of her existence in case we ever ended up on Reepor, because both the inmates and the wardens both agree that such a creature shouldn't be allowed to leave that planet. They're afraid that something horrible will happen if she manages to leave the planet and meddle with the other planets... or the other galaxies for that matter."
Starlight remained silent for a time, remembering what she had read about Dark Magic and recalling the moment she had briefly given into the darkness when Qwark had betrayed them the first time. She had never touched the darkness again, not when she had seen how it had twisted Sunset when Searing had taken over, but she could tell, from just a glance at the wraith, that there was some sort of foul magic at work. The wraith had to be magical in nature, because there was no way such a creature should be able to exist and wear a flowing robe made of darkness at the same time without something happening.
Starlight couldn't shake the feeling that they were going to be fighting that wraith at some point in the future, because they had been introduced to Ysmir before fighting her in combat, so as far as she was concerned the same thing could happen here... though she only prayed that she was wrong.
When the Hyperion entered the space above Planet Jasindu, and came to a stop, the group was surprised to find at least three ships waiting above the planet's surface; two belonging to the Space Pirates they had several encounters with, while the remaining one looked like one of Tachyon's ships. As they into their ships, all three of them at this point, and made their way down to the planet's surface they discovered that there were more than just three ships, as there were literally pieces of at least another five scattered everywhere. Even the three they had spotted looked like they had recently been in a battle, because there were holes scattered everywhere and pieces of the ships just floating nearby.
The scene only got worse when they spotted at least three dozen smaller pirates ships crashed all around the city they were supposed to be landing near... along with one of Tachyon's cruiser ships.
"What in the name of the Stars happened here?" Starlight asked, looking at all of the destruction that had been caused to the planet, because while they landed it was easy to see that much of the surrounding forest was either still burning or had trees broken down.
Ratchet, knowing that Starlight had taken to privately saying her new phrase whenever she was alone, decided that now wasn't the best time to wonder about what she said, because the scene in front of them was a mess. Besides the ships that were scattered everywhere, while not even mentioning the trees and the fires, there was also quite the number of bodies scattered everywhere. As they landed Ratchet could see the bodies of Tachyon's forces, body parts that belonged to the robotic pirates, and even the native Kerchu that called the planet home... as if they had some massive war between the three forces.
"War is what happened here," a voice said, just as everyone else climbed out of their ships and noticed Red standing nearby, though there were a few cuts on his arms and legs that had dried up blood under his clothing, but he waited till Blue landed on his shoulder before continuing, "One of Captain Slag's underlings overheard that this was where the Dimensionator was supposed to resting and sold the information to Tachyon, who ordered quite a number of his forces to come here and claim it for him. The newest splinter group of the pirates came to help their new partner claim what wasn't his, then Captain Slag entered the picture and they all started firing at each other. I got caught in the crossfire, trying to save some of the friendly Kerchu that lived here, but as you can see my opponents were not very friendly towards me at all."
"Is there anything we can do for you?" Angela asked, because despite the fact that she disliked smugglers, this particular one had done nothing to wrong her and had actually helped her new family in their adventure to save this galaxy... and potentially the entire universe.
"No, time will heal my wounds for me," Red replied, though he waved his hand towards the city that was in front of them, "but you can help me make sure that no one got their hands on the Dimensionator... because I don't need to tell you the consequences of someone getting their hands on that weapon."
The entire group, Qwark included, nodded their heads and approached the weapon vendor, where Ratchet and Starlight picked up the Razor Claws weapon that was available before they advanced along the path that would take them to the city. They moved through the area, taking in the sight of the native critters that had been caught in the crossfire, killed by either Tachyon's forces or the pirates themselves, as well as the forces that had been fighting each other. Bodies were scattered everywhere, bolts and pieces laying here and there, though the oddest part was that none of the bodies were even breathing at all, indicating that the battle must have happened since they left the IRIS.
They eventually came to a pirate dropship that was blocking their way, to which Angela and Ace pulled out their lightsabers and carved a wave through the ship so they could get to the other side. A few seconds later they passed through a bunker like area that was partly destroyed, if the fallen ship to the right of it was any indicator, but the number of broken bodies worried them all. They were all surprised to find an intact pirate vessel, one that they all climbed onto before Clank hacked into the system and got them started on the predetermined path that had been programmed into the small ship.
It was then that they got their first glimpse of the city from their level, to which they discovered that pieces of the exterior were now lying on the ground or resting on the exterior wall that had several holes in it... as well as blocking their path, just like the ship. As Ace and Angela continued to cut through the thickest of materials, Starlight levitated several others out of their way as everyone else kept their weapons at the ready. They all agreed that it was unlikely that they might find anyone that survived the attack on the city, but that didn't mean that they were going to say that everyone was dead already. There was still a chance that someone was alive and well, despite being injured during the assault, which was why they were keeping their eyes open for signs of life.
"I knew many of these Kerchu," Red commented, staring at the bodies of the armored natives as his partner remained silent, "I helped trade with them, smuggled them things that they couldn't get on their own, and even helped them nurse the sick whenever something happened to them. It... it pains me to see them like this... all for a weapon that shouldn't exist."
"Don't worry, we'll take the weapon and... do... something to it," Qwark said, though he wasn't sure what that something was, as no one had actually told him what the plan was once they had their hands on the Dimensionator.
They entered the building that was in front of them, where Starlight levitated the more hazardous pieces outside before telling the others that the way was clear, allowing them to walk up to an elevator that took them down to an area where they would normally need to use the Swingshot to get across. Starlight created a walkway for all of them to use, allowing them to approach the middle of an area that appeared to be a cross between a work area and an arena... where they found the pieces of a large fighting robot that was surrounded by two of Tachyon's ships.
In the middle of the platform was a stand that was currently empty... and Captain Slag as laying next to it, though he appeared to be wounded from his battle with his enemies.
"Captain Slag?!" Starlight called out, stirring the sleeping robot from his slumber, which had no doubt been triggered to keep himself stable until aid came to him, "What happened to you?"
"A glorious battle against someone more evil than I," Captain Slag replied, letting out a coughing fit as he responded, while making no effort to pick himself up, "Don't worry... old Tachyon didn't get his hands on the Dimesnionator. I tasked Rusty Pete to take the weapon back to our base in the Ublik Passage, but I know that our enemy has no doubt tracked him back to our hidden base. I was able to take many of my enemy's soldiers down before they got a lucky hit..."
"Your dying, aren't you?" Red asked, dropping to one knee as he looked at the pirate captain, and the second jagged scar that ran parallel to his other scar, only this one seemed much deeper than the first one.
"Aye," Captain Slag answered, dropping into another fit of coughing, before beckoning to Starlight with his hooked hand for a few seconds, "Lass... take me hat... take me crew... and give Tachyon one for old Slag."
"I... I will," Starlight said, surprised that the dying captain would allow her to take the reigns of what remained of his forces, but she didn't say much as she levitated the hat from Slag's head.
"Good... luck..." Slag started to say, but the strain of keeping his body together seemed to fade as the power that was keeping him alive faded, allowing his body to go still, much to everyone's sorrow.
Starlight stared at the hat for a moment, allowing herself to forget what was happening around her, before she noticed that there were coordinates inside the interior of the headpiece... specifically for the Ublik Passage. She knew that Tachyon didn't have the Dimensionator, yet anyway, but if she believed what the dead captain had told her then they would soon be under attack by their enemy. A few seconds later she slipped the hat on her head and surrounded the others with her magic, teleporting all of them back to their smaller ships... with a look of shock on their faces.
"Starlight, what's going on?" Ratchet asked, because his sister usually didn't use a mass teleportation spell, without warning anyway, without telling anyone that she was about to use the magic.
"We're going to stop Tachyon from getting his hands on the Dimensionator," Starlight stated, climbing into the ship as everyone did the same thing with the other ships, where Red and his parrot climbed in with Angela, "even if it means blowing him, and his starship, to pieces."
"Then we'll set course for the Ublik Passage and cut him off," Angela commented, while she and everyone else returned to the Hyperion, where they would jump to their next destination, "Hopefully the pirates will listen to us when we arrive."
Starlight hoped that the pirates would listen when they told them that their leader had been cut down by Tachyon's forces... and that the Dimensionator was safe from their enemy's hands. She remembered the wraith that they had been told about, to which she hoped that it was a story and nothing more, otherwise she had the feeling that something horrible was going to happen when they reached their destination.
Wait, so not only were people right about additional fragments showing up in this part of the story, but the one in question is essentially the Witch-King of Angmar, from the Lord of the Rings series.
And talk about a large number of dead bodies... I mean, the planet was attacked and there was literally dozens of broken ships scattered everywhere. I have a bad feeling about what we've just discovered.
8099664 Two things:
1: fragments? Like from the codex?
2: So, does this mean Ysmir isn't Hatred?
If that second one is confirmed, then could the other emotions of Sunset besides Hatred and Pride/Searing have escaped and taken physical form? Could that be why Sunset is MIA? She's trying to round up her emotions?
8099678 1) Some of the other commenters mentioned that the reason Ysmir existed was because Sunset had broken into fragments that represented aspects of herself, like Ysmir being the Dragonborn Sunset had become in another story. Hatred would be, well, one of the times that Sunset gave into the darkness.
2) I guess that's a good reason as to why Sunset's not around anymore.
8099683 So wait, are there only her emotions and fragments running around, and no ORIGINAL Sunset to get them all back? Did she lose her actual body?
8099694 Either Sunset is running around the galaxy, hunting down her rogue emotions, or she's waiting somewhere and letting them test her family. I imagine that the original Sunset is still around somewhere.
8099729 I would like to imagine the original Sunset is out there too, but what a twist it would be if her experiment with the cores ACTUALLY SPLIT HER BODY INTO HER VARIOUS EMOTIONS AND FRAGMENTS? Think of the possibilities. Also, think of the heart attacks, headaches, and shenanigans her family would get into trying to put her back together; WOULD YOU NOT BE ENTERTAINED?!
8099739 Starlight would be like: Ugh, I need a drink after all of this.
Though the Cores separating her like that could be some sort of final test or something, considering what she is becoming.
8099755 True, and if that is so, would Searing, and possibly reluctantly Hatred, help her family restore Sunset? That would be a cool set of interlude chapters, if the story goes in that direction.
8099762 Considering that Searing basically became a little sister at some point, to Sunset, Starlight, and the rest of their family, I have the feeling that she would at least be willing to help out. Hatred, on the other hand, will need some persuading before she joins forces with the others... and it would definitely be a good set of interlude chapters for sure.
8099762
8099772 While that would be an interesting idea, you two forgot a line from an earlier chapter. "She's in good hands". So the original is definitely out there, we just don't know where. I'm sticking with my theory that she's with Beerus learning her capabilities.
8100496 Yeah, I guess I did forget that little fact. Though you have to admit, the idea of Sunset and Searing working together would have given the demon everything she could have hoped for; a chance to truly bond with the one she called her sister.
8100503 Oh, I've been hoping for that for a long time. You know, it's amazing how the little demon grew on us.
8100506 Agreed. All she wanted was a chance to start over and be a part of the family... which could have happened if that bracelet had never entered the equation. Though this Witch-Queen, she has to be Hatred, right?
8100518 That's what I'm thinking, though you beat me to the punch with the Witch-King of Angmar. Good job.
8100535 It just sounded so familiar; a wraith that no one could see the face of, while wearing a robe that seemed to be made out of darkness, as well as metallic gauntlets and a sinister crown of sorts. I may not be a gigantic lotr fan, but I have seen the trilogy that the character is from and he was the first thing that came to mind.
The problem is that this 'Witch-Queen' is on Reepor... where Tachyon gains the Dimensionator in the canon story. Something terrible is coming, that's for sure.
8100545 It's always darkest before the dawn. Taking bets on Sunset showing up to save them, or maybe us? I'd love to see Sonata hiting the Cragmites with Lightning Blades left and right.
8100563 That's the part that still worries me... what Hatred could do with such a weapon. Sure, she's likely to bring back the cragmites to follow the original story, but what's to stop her from summoning something evil fouler then them?
8100518 Honestly, I'm thinking that, based on the description from within the chapter, the Witch-Queen is not Hatred, but Sadness/Sorrow/Whatever-its-called. Let Hatred take a backseat.
8100567 True, but remember what I said last chapter, for every great evil, there is great good. I'm sure some heros will show up with their enemies.
8100574 You know, that's also a valid point. I guess I jumped right to Hatred because of the thing with the Dark Magic coming from her eyes, which was something I think Hatred did when she was originally released. Though sorrow or sadness could work as well, give what you pointed out.
8100593 When posting the comment, I remembered a certain line Hatred said when she was released after Sunset and Searing fused post-Arsenal. The line essentially said that the Hatred that appeared had asssimilated all of Sunset's other 6 emotions, except for Pride/Searing. This line lead me to believe that maybe another of Sunset's emotions took the reins from Hatred for some time.
8100604 Fear! In the Skyrim story she was the one right before Pride... if one of the other emotions is responsible, for what the prisoners and wardens said, then it has to be her.
8100590 Who knows, said heroes might even be Sunset and Searing... in some form anyway.
8100625 I didn't actually read the Skyrim story, what were the emotions of Sunset that she had to confront? And Fear actually would make sense, isn't the Witch-King of Angmar the head Ring-Wraith? Capable of paralyzing anything with fear just by screaming?
8100625 Who knows. Either way, I foresee an epic battle in the future.
8100628 The emotions she had to fight, and defeat, were as follows; Anger, Despair, Doubt, Fear, Hatred, Violence, and Pride.
Yeah, I guess Fear would make the most sense, considering that she's apparently taking on the characteristics of the Witch-King... so the abilities of a fear creature would match up perfectly.
8100646 Ok, HOW are ANGER, HATRED, and VOILENCE all considered separate emotions?! Aren't those 3 tightly connected, to an extent?
8100651 Honestly, I have no idea. All I know is that in the previous story they all had their own different personalities... though you are correct, there was some connection between the three of them. If anything I don't think Anger and Violence will make another appearance in this story, as I'm sure those would be the first ones that would be captured... Hatred I'm not sure on.
8100631 Aye, there will be a grand battle in the near future... even if this chapter got one that we didn't get to see.
8100695 I know! I am disappoint! But I'm sure the next one will more than make up for it.
8100697 Oh, I'm sure that it will more than make up for what we missed.
Though, in an unrelated topic, I'm a little sad that not many people are reading the author's Jak/Daxter story... I figured Pinkie would draw in the crowd or something.
8100729 Maybe they're just like me, reading but not commenting?
8100736 Well, the story is in the first game and there's not much excitement to be had in the first one... oh well, I'll see how it changes when the author gets to the second one.
Oh I cannot want to see what sort of dimensional war is coming up in the next few chapters.
8100745 I don't think any of us can.
This chapter just raises so many questions... and gives us no answers at the moment.
8100631 I kind of wish we could have seen the assault on Jasindu... I'm sure it would have been an epic space battle between Tachyon and Slag as they fought for control of the dimensional weapon.
8101928 It would probably be Star Wars level of epic. That's what I'm seeing now.
8101934 Considering how many ships the group saw when they were walking through the ruins of the city, I can imagine that Red and the Kerchu were watching as ships came out of the warp space and started firing at each other... I guess like how it would happen in Star Wars, when one side exited the warp space and attacked the other side that was resting in front of them.
8101944 You know, now that I think about it, after what happened here, I don't have the slightest shred of sympathy for Tachyon if you're right about Hatred getting to him. In fact, I'm almost hoping for it. The ground is stained with a lot of innocent blood here.
8101952 It actually sounds like Pinkie Glimmer and Ze1a7in think that the Wraith-Queen might be Fear, considering she's supposed to be the Witch-King of Angmar... but I digress. Tachyon has spilt too much innocent blood in the years he's been in power, so something tells me that something is going to happen to him in the coming chapter.
8101966 Yeah, and i think theyre on to something. But that doesn't mean Hatred isn't waiting in the wings to swoop in and take all of them out while they're weak.
8101974 Yeah, if they're right about this then Hatred has to be somewhere in the galaxy... because she already said that if she had the chance to escape she was going to conquer everything.