Salvation

by voroshilov

The Worms

“Penumbra,” came the distant voice of Cain from behind, “incoming transmission from Celestine.”

The WarSynth closed in, handing down a pale blue glass pad. On it flashed a number of runes, surrounding a waveform display.

“Penumbra,” the Binaric monotone of Celestine floated from the pad, “I have detected signatures emerging from the Great Void. They match those disturbances detected by my station. They are inbound. I am afraid, this will be my last communique.”

“Understood,” she murmured, then attempted to stand. A sudden appearance of the floor in front of her eyes suggested that was a poor idea. “Bring me a cultist prisoner,” she said, “I’ve got a spell I need to try.”

“Affirmative.”

As Cain left to find her a suitable test subject, Penumbra ran over the spell she planned to use. It was, in a word, unethical - but there was time to worry about that later. Unlike most of her unethical spells, it was actually taught to her by Celestia - although Nicholas had added his own enhancements, for want of a better term. It was a simple, cheap spell, allowing her to absorb the soul of anyone she aimed it at and rejuvenate herself - in theory. Upon thinking about it further, she wondered why she didn’t have more of a reaction when Celestia taught her it.

No matter, she could write a report for an ethics committee later. She needed strength now.

Cain returned in short order, with Astrid, the Glow Sisters, Ablazed Glory, and a dazed looking cultist in tow.

“I’ll be one moment,” she mumbled, placing her claws around the cultist’s legs. One single in and out breathing motion turned the cultist into a heap on the floor. Penumbra felt herself suddenly rejuvenated, like she’d had days of rest; she felt a slight tinge in the middle of her brain, no doubt that spell had some consequences on her that would materialise later down the line, black magic had a bad habit of doing that to her.

“What did you just do?” Ablazed Glory asked, a perplexed look on her face, as her companion rose.

“Just needed some energy,” Penumbra replied, recognising Ablazed Glory was content with that answer given their extenuating circumstances, “now, I believe we have a problem.”

“Three Worms,” the Glow Sisters chorused, “from the Void. THE END OF THE WORLD; THE SHATTERER OF STARS; THE SCOURGE OF THE UNIVERSE. They come.”

“Pick those names out themselves, did they?” Ablazed Glory chortled, before a synchronised panning look from the Glow Sisters made her withdraw involuntarily. “Hate when they do that,” she mumbled.

“To the sky,” they chorused, looking above, where three gradually growing shapes had appeared. They were barely visible from the ground, but once sighted they were practically impossible to miss. At such a distance, they were little more than thin, slowly writhing lines, almost like tadpoles, or young worms in water, and they were approaching fast.

“I would advise an evacuation,” Cain said, “my targeting patterns project twelve minutes before hostile Worms make planetfall.”

Nothing else was needed to set the group dashing for the Retaliator. Ablazed Glory yelled the evacuation order to any Dominion soldier she could find, though most appeared to have already caught sight of the approaching Worms. Several squads were hanging around the Retaliator, awaiting Ablazed Glory’s inevitable and rapid drill-sergeant-like yells to board.

Aboard the bridge, Ablazed Glory wasted no time getting the Retaliator airborne. Though even her skills, as emphasised by the rapid breathing of the two Warriors who had manned the guns, would cut it close. The Worms were visible, in their entirety, entering the atmosphere.

They looked identical, each was equally long and made up of numerous short segments. Their flesh was a washed-out brown, apparently strong enough that their high-speed entrance into the atmosphere was unnoticeable. Their jaws were conical, split into three segments, within there was visible only darkness. A darkness that was rapidly coming to engulf the sky above.

Thankfully for everyone aboard the Retaliator, Ablazed Glory’s piloting skills never left anything to be desired. They were safely skyward by the time one of the Worms slammed into where they had been landed, burrowing through the ground with an ease that made several of the Warriors shudder.

“They’re eating the planet,” one of the Warriors exclaimed, “how do we fight this?”

For all her plans, Penumbra wasn’t quite sure.

“We have to get to Ferrus,” another of the Warriors said, “there’s a stronghold there, we can rally a defence.”

Ablazed Glory had turned to Penumbra. She was waiting for an order, as it seemed.

“Anywhere else we can go?” Penumbra asked her.

A quick shake of her head followed. “Not as I see it.”

Penumbra sighed and rubbed her temples. “Alright, take us to Ferrus.” She cupped her chin with a clawed foot and sighed again, as the swirling clouds of the Rift filled the viewscreen.