Salvation

by voroshilov

Wastes

They hovered, one hundred and eight thousand miles above a desert world, orbiting a yellow, main sequence star.

“We’re beyond the rim,” Ablazed Glory said, “this system must have been knocked out of the galaxy.”

Sure enough, illuminated behind the star like a halo, hung the galactic disk. Its vibrant colours seemingly the only lights in the void beyond.

“There’s a single habitable planet,” Astrid said, surveying the instruments in front of her, “the one we’re orbiting right now. I have a hunch that’s where your Celestine will be waiting.”

“My instruments are being scrambled,” Cain said, worryingly, “there is a permanent signal being broadcasted locally. I believe we are in the centre of a beacon.”

Someone, or something, was calling out.

Hopefully, Penumbra thought, it was Celestine, and not whatever else could be lurking beyond the galactic rim. Fortunately, it probably was. Unfortunately, that still didn’t explain why she was doing it.

“Anything in the signal?” She asked Cain, whose head was tilted slightly sideways - as if listening out.

“Negative,” it finally replied, “it is nonsense.”

Nonsense was good - better than ‘stay away’, or phrases to that effect.

Whilst nonsense was good - or at least not bad - the blocking of Cain’s scanners was the opposite. Even if nothing was hiding somewhere out in the featureless desert below, if they went more than a few miles they would probably have a hard time finding their way back to the Retaliator.

“Where exactly is the signal coming from?” Astrid asked, hand on her chin.

Cain listened out for a moment. “Broadcast is originating from a point on the planet’s equator. I will upload the coordinates to the Luminary.”

The viewscreen flashed up, a small red circle marking the coordinates Cain had acquired. With the turn of the planet, they were not visible from their approach vector, rather located just over the horizon. The Luminary was awaiting Penumbra to give the order to approach, though she remained cautious of what the surface of an unknown planet would hold.

“Is the planet safe?” She asked.

“Probably,” Ablazed Glory answered, “or, probably not. I don’t know, scanners are being jammed, just like Cain’s. If you mean safe to walk on, then yeah, if you mean not inhabited by killer robots, then I can’t help you there.”

Ablazed Glory’s answer was good enough - if the planet was dangerous then Penumbra could always blame her later. “Set a course,” Penumbra ordered, “we find Celestine, then we leave as soon as we can.”

The Retaliator dived down, entering the planet’s atmosphere with a distant pop. A few thin clouds swirled around them as they got lower, though there appeared to be little wind, with only a few faint wisps of dust kicked up from the surface.

Ablazed Glory remained glued to the scanners, attempting to cut through the pervasive static of Celestine’s signal - which had only become stronger once within the atmosphere. As they approached the signal’s source, it became even stronger. Until, only a hundred miles out, the scanners shut off entirely.

“Scanners are dead,” Ablazed Glory called immediately, checking her each of the ship’s systems frantically, “so are comms.” Another three seconds later, she called out again, “we just lost shields. I’d recommend setting us down.”

Penumbra’s armour flickered, with her visor display shutting off. “Set us down,” she ordered, “do it manually if you have to.”

Ablazed Glory took the stick, throttling down quickly. She was fortunate - as were her companions - that she was such a skilled pilot. Within seconds, she had them within a metre of the ground, hovering whilst she made sure the landing gear was secure. Slowly, the ship was set down, with a faint thud telling them they were stopped.

“We’re on the ground,” Ablazed Glory said, “close to wherever the signal is coming from. The moment we find it, we’re shutting it down.”

“The signal’s source is close by,” Cain said, “but it is too loud to adequately pinpoint from here. We will have to search.”

“No need to search far, there’s a structure nearby, an artificial one.” Astrid pointed to something slightly beyond the viewscreen. “No doubt your signal comes from there.”

Ablazed Glory rose from her chair. “Let's go turn it off then, stop it breaking my ship.”

“There is something loud outside,” the Glow Sisters chorused, “very loud.”

Before Ablazed Glory could say something sarcastic, Penumbra spoke up, “what do you mean by loud?”

“We can hear them in our minds,” they said, “so bright and loud.”

Ablazed Glory and Penumbra looked to each other, then to Astrid. The Archon nodded, though at what question the two weren’t sure.

Rather than simply continue, she noticed they were unsure, and clarified, “it’s Celestine,” she said, “she seems to have immense psionic power, it’s like a strobe light in a dark room.”

Penumbra had noticed no such aura when she had first encountered Celestine. Although, when she had done so, Emperor Nicholas was nearby, giving a perfectly valid reason as to why - if Celestine was a strobe light, Nicholas was the room on fire. However, if that was the case, then how was Astrid - whose psionic presence was immense, as large if not larger than that of Nicholas - not interfering too? And, if the Glow Sisters could notice this, why couldn’t she?

Penumbra liked questions, though she did not like ones she couldn’t answer. What better way to answer questions than to ask them to the questions’ source. It was she who led the group down the Retaliator’s disembarkation ramp and onto the barren world they had landed on. A very thin layer of dust covered the ground, kicked up slightly by their steps. The wind seemed to be only active around their feet, when it was active at all, that was. The world was cool, though not incredibly so. The light of its parent star was, whilst not strong, enough to keep everything from freezing.

As Astrid had stated, the source of the signal was to their north east. Sure enough, just over a rocky ridge about two kilometres away, stood a thin needle of dulled metal. It wasn’t much, but it was artificial, clearly, there was a structure there. No doubt Celestine could be found inside.

Without a word, the group moved forwards, leaving the silvery hull of the Retaliator behind them. As they walked, Penumbra wondered what Celestine could have wanted. All she had said through the WarSynth was that she needed to speak with Penumbra, face to face. Penumbra did, however, have a hunch. Her educated guess told her it was something to do with the Glow Sisters’ visions, along with the warnings of the previous WarSynths and Kaurava. What lay in the Great Void had apparently drawn Celestine’s attention, even so far out beyond the galactic disc.

She also wondered what Celestine was. Or, rather, who she had been. Cain had not told her much, but it had said that Celestine was not of the Assembly. Someone from another species being inducted into the Assembly as anything other than what was effectively a slave labourer was rare, to say the very least. Progenitor class AIs, however, they were rare in and of themselves - less than a hundred ever being produced - and were one of the highest ranks obtainable to any in the Assembly; an alien species gaining such a rank was hard to believe, to say the least.

Fortunately, she would not have to wait long to question Celestine. The rocky ridge was easily crossed, especially by the winged Penumbra, revealing the small dull metal structure half-buried into the landscape. There was no doubt in Penumbra’s mind that it extended further below their feet - all Assembly installations encountered so far seemed to follow the same philosophy.

Sure enough, the small structure was merely the entrance way, with a cursory glance by Penumbra’s magic revealing it as little more than an airlock. The doors parted for them automatically, allowing them entrance into the dark and empty airlock. When the doors closed behind them, there was a whoosh of air, with the lights flickering on above them, illuminating their dull surroundings.

“This technology is Assembly made,” Cain remarked. It turned to behold some faint markings on the wall. “Constructed by Saturnine-Flower of the Fourth Sphere, during the One-Hundred and Ninety-Fifth Cycle of Constitution.”

Beyond its first sentence, none of what it said had any meaning.

Ablazed Glory made sure it was aware, “and that means?”

Cain turned back to look at her. “It is new,” it said, “in comparison to most Assembly constructions. Around eight of your standard years before the Great Rebellion. This facility was likely never fully crewed.”

That, Penumbra thought, held a little more meaning. At the very least, it was interesting to see such ancient technology through the eye of something that had lived through its period of construction. Similarly, it showed just how unprepared the Dauxite Assembly had been for the Great Rebellion. As someone who enjoyed the study of history, Penumbra could appreciate the historical importance of her surroundings.

The doors into the facility proper finally opened, allowing them access. Sure enough, it was fairly sizeable. It would take a few minutes to find Celestine, at least.

“Who was Saturnine-Flower?” Penumbra asked, preferring conversation to silence and genuinely curious.

“A Progenitor Class AI,” answered Cain, “assembled and inducted during the Fourth Sphere - the fourth generation of Progenitor Class constructions. It operated the Progenitor Satellite located in the Theme of Harmony, before it was relocated during the Great Rebellion. That is where my records end.”

The facility was large, sleek and well-lit, making navigation easy and almost enjoyable - Assembly installations were always strangely ergonomic in their construction, considering most Dauxite were digital lifeforms and could simply upload themselves to another room, rather than having to walk there.

Astrid and Ablazed Glory led the way, Ablazed Glory like a living beacon and Astrid like a living sonar. According to Astrid, she could feel where Celestine was, her psionic emissions guiding them forwards, leaving a trail to follow through the facility. Penumbra was almost disappointed she didn’t get to explore, to see the ancient Assembly technology in most of its glory. Though it was ancient, with no doubt a little wear and tear inflicted upon it, it was still certainly active, performing some task Penumbra couldn’t quite identify yet.

Eventually, Astrid came to a complete stop. The group staggered to a stop behind her, all waiting for her to announce what she had evidently discovered.

“Celestine is in the next room,” she said, “get ready.”

If Celestine was hostile - which Penumbra certainly didn’t think she was - the group would have trouble. She more than likely controlled the facility, making escape difficult, with the close proximities of the facility’s rooms proving a mix of advantage and disadvantage depending on which tactic each in the team desired to use. Except the Glow Sisters, their tactic was retreat.

Without warning, causing Penumbra and Ablazed Glory to both tense up, the doors parted. The room beyond was almost pitch black, the lights left off - almost as if for effect. Slowly, the group individually stepped within. Once they were all inside, the doors closed behind them. On the doors’ closing hiss, the room was suddenly bathed in light.

Nine segments, like the skeleton of a great brass whale, hung motionless at the end of the room. Each of the segments were equally short, save the lowest, which was a tapered, tail-like structure hanging a metre and a half from the floor, around double the height of the other segments. Each segment was connected to the wall by a pair of blue cables, about the width of Penumbra’s head, save the top and bottom most segments.

The uppermost segment was the widest, about twice the width of the next widest. It bulged in the centre, surrounding a circular red eye, with four raised ridges of metal protecting it, before tapering off as it reached the ends, with a pair of squat, brass implements both in the shape of a long figure of eight attached. Its chassis was covered in scuff marks, scratches, small dents, though it appeared no more worse for wear. A single cable connected the very centre of the head to the wall, with several considerably thinner cables connected at various other points.

With a sudden blare of static and an electrical humming, the cables holding it to the wall flared to life. Another blare of static and the eye activated, glowing a bright red and rapidly scanning back and forth, its movement visible only in the slight shine of its centre point. Thin fields of blue light connected its segments together, causing it to slightly rise from its position, the cables keeping it otherwise stable.

“Welcome,” it spoke, voice deep and monotone, with a vaguely feminine undertone, “you arrived quickly.”

“Celestine,” Penumbra said, she had dealt with the Strategos class before, she could deal with it again simply enough, “we came as soon as you called.”