[USS Fox, Bridge]

“Time?” Romen called from the captain’s chair.

“Twelve Hours Remaining,” Yeager called, even though the countdown timer was clearly visible on the main viewer.

“According to the readings, the convergence should begin now,” Doc reported from the science station.

“Look!” Trixie called out, pointing to the view screen. All of the crew’s eyes turned to the monitor, which was focused on the central mountain region, an outer crust of mountains encircling a pit of foggy mist that their scanners could not penetrate.

“What? I don’t see anything…” Romen remarked

They all watched in silence for another few minutes before another flash of light, barely a blip, appeared in the center of the foggy valley. “There! I saw it!” Yeager called out.

“What was that?” Romen inquired.

“Scanners still can’t tell, but I rolled back the footage, and the same flash was seen two minutes ago,” Doc stated from his terminal.

There was a Golden shine to the iris of Romen’s eyes as he locked his sight on the view screen again. “Prep the drones for another run, this time have them go through the tunnels the commander used.…” he commanded.

Leaning forward and crossing his fingers, Romen’s face gave away his worries.

‘Please be ok…’

[Brynar, The Bones of the Gods]

1100 meters under the surface of Heilagt Auga, Michael, Archie, and a handful of other competitors found themselves teleported into a large Blackstone room, reminiscent of the entrance of the Holy City. This one, however, was a fully enclosed cube with torches along the wall, and the familiar white/gold inlaid glass flooring. Michael immediately spotted the stone crowning indents indicating the Svart Augu’s ‘Veil’ teleport technology along the center of each wall, but refrained from disclosing that to the group just yet.

Bui and Hakon had teleported with them into this room, as was an axe-wielding elder warrior from Hakon’s tribe, named Sigsteinn. But the last one was a spear-wielding Amazonian woman named Katla from the Gurl Hrafn tribe who emotionally projected like a cornered cat, staying separate from everyone else, waiting for the chance to fight or flee.

“I’m starting to see why everyone just resorted to killing one another.” Hakon joked at Michael as they examined the room. There were no words, no markings, no indication of what to do at all.

“Maybe the path will only reveal itself to the strongest among us.” Katla snarked from her corner, her hands gripped tightly against her spear.

“Call me old-fashioned, but before I barbarically murder everyone in a room, I’d like to make sure that’s ACTUALLY what we should be doing, first.” Michael remarked slyly.

“Aye, we should work together as a team. I wonder if the rest of the participants are in similar rooms, and how well they fare at this moment.” Bui interjected.

“I don’t take orders from Dogs and Cowards.” Katla snarled.

“You’re numbered here, lass, if yer that eager to die, I’d much oblige ya,” Sigsteinn growled, drawing up his axe. Hakon was already moving to hold his man back as Katla moved into raising her spear in a defensive position.

“ENOUGH!” Michael Roared. His hand outstretched to the wall behind him, he used the activation signal in his glove that he had used in the entrance chamber, which luckily illuminated the Warping ‘Veil’ along the wall. Everyone paused, their eyes turned to Michael before moving past him to the shimmering vortex of energy behind him.

“You could do this the whole time?” Bui asked quizzically.

Michael nodded. “Yes, but I have no idea where it will take us, which is why I didn’t want to use it just yet. But anywhere is better than here if all you’re going to do is start fighting amongst yourselves.”

[Somewhere Deep in the Bones of the Gods]

The room was relatively empty, save for a pedestal in the middle of the room with a polished orb melded into the top; the back wall was lit with images that flashed every few seconds before seeming to swipe to the next.

One screen showed a black cubed room with a group of people sitting around talking. The next second, an identical room with a new set of people shouting. A new image flashed, showing the same room set up with several figures clashing with weapons, and again, another new reflection showed a gruesome scene with a lone warrior standing amidst the chaos.

Scene after scene flashed over and over before the projection stopped on a new room. This one was occupied by one of the ‘pacifist’ groups, but the alarming thing was, a transport hub was active. On the screen, one by one, the occupants filed into the transporter and were sent to a new room.

The screen shifted madly, as if furiously scrolling to find them, discovering they had reappeared in another empty room. A holographic overlay seemed to shimmer down over the view screen, highlighting the occupants. Four of the six were identified as locals, with one additional indicating a biological anomaly. However, the last one was a fully rendered hard-light construct.

A secondary screen appeared at the bottom of the main viewing port as images blurred past beyond recognition before stopping on the scene of a dark forest. The smaller screen began to play out, a POV of a beast falling to its side, its arm severed by a glowing incendiary weapon. As it looked up at the figure before it, the figure raised its weapon above its head and shouted, “NOW YEAGER!”

The screen started to become static, but the recording paused just before the face of the man was obscured. An indicator ran from the mini screen to the biological abnormality with a 98.275% probability match. But a second indicator ran from a ‘shimmer’ just behind the figure in the recording to the hard-light construct, identifying the bow each was carrying with an 82.759% probability match.

The mini screen disappeared as the main viewing projection remained locked on this particular set of individuals. At the bottom of the screen, a series of letters appeared, flashing green.

“This is the same room…” Katla argued as they looked around once more.

“Incorrect, if this were the same room, Sigsteinn’s knapsack that he left on the adjacent wall would still be there.” Archie retorted.

The elder Turtle-Banner Axe man searched his person and cursed low, realizing he had left his provisions behind.

“Well, what good does this do for us if we end up in the same place?” Hakon asked, more thoughtfully than argumentatively.

“Well, it definitely smells sweeter in here than it did in the last room.” Bui halfway joked. In truth, the room did have a more appealing smell, but something about it was off. As the team began to investigate the room some more, Archie used his scanner glove discreetly.

Michael confirmed with his own scanner that this room also held 4 Veil Portals, leaving out the wall to the east they came out of, progression was now out of a choice of 3. Bui and Hakon were working together, a sight he was sure to upset the young prince’s father, but it instilled hope in the future of this planet.

Sigsteinn and Katla kept to themselves. Katla perched up on a corner of the room by herself while the elder Axe-man attempted to check the walls. He kept rubbing his eyes as he squinted at what appeared to be a small crack in the wall with a slight breeze. “I think I got something.” The elder turtle warrior proclaimed, raising a torch in his hand to the wall.

“WAIT NO!” Archie called out, but it was too late. The small ‘puff’ of air came into contact with the torch and burst into flame, igniting the elder’s face and throwing him back as the flashfire spread overhead across the entire room. Various cracks in the walls ignited from the shockwave and were now emitting small flames themselves.

Hakon rushed to his bannerman’s aid as Archie closed in on Michael, “We need to open a portal now and get out of this room!” he demanded. Hakon reached to lift the elder, but his hand was covered in blood, as Sigsteinn had fallen back hard and cracked his head open. He was dead.

Everyone was shocked, and even Katla fled her corner to gather with the rest in the middle of the room. Seeing the heat and smoke rising from the walls, Michael obliged and reached out with his scanner to activate the northern wall’s veil. “Hakon, we need to go!” He shouted as the others ran for cover. It was Bui who went back and helped Hakon to his feet and dragged him through the veil with the rest of them.

On the other side of the veil was another identical room. The party, in their haste to get through, had collapsed on top of one another. “What the hell was that?!” Michael called out as he rolled off of Katla to get to his feet.

“Cyclopropane gas, sir. The sweet smell gave it away. It is a powerful gaseous Anesthetic, but highly flammable. The room was starting to fill up with it.” Archie explained, helping the commander to his feet.

“Are we safe here?” Michael asked, turning around and raising his own scanning glove to the air to test the air quality. Though his scans came back on the HUD of his glasses, a new problem presented itself. The room they were in, though safe from the gas, was not as empty as the others.

The room’s walls were splattered with blood. Several bodies adorned in Red, Blue, and Gold were scattered across the room, with a single living occupant kneeling in the center of the room. He was a very fit middle-aged warrior, with his long hair up in a bun, and a polearm laid across his lap. He was shirtless, but the golden pants made it clear what faction he belonged to.

Hakon and Bui both recovered from their trip through the veil and knew exactly what had happened here, and though saddened by the loss of Sigsteinn, both warriors readied themselves.

“Katla. Come,” The Golden Warrior called out, as if addressing a subordinate. Without hesitation, Katla distanced herself from the group and approached, dropping to one knee in respect of the warrior. “My Lord.”

“You approach in mixed company, why are they not dead?” the man asked bluntly, rising to his feet and eyeing the four remaining members.

“The priest with them, he can move between rooms with sorcery, my lord. I was biding my time to strike.” Katla answered nervously.

“Then we keep the priest alive, let us kill the rest, and proceed with the ascension.” The warrior proclaimed.

Archie had already drawn his bow. Hakon had his mace in his hand, and Bui drew his sword, ready for a fight. Michael, on the other hand, held his hand out, as if to attempt to keep the peace.

“Save your breath, Lord Michael. This is the Golden Talon, the personal Butcher of Ravkina. There will be no words that will delay this.” Hakon advised.

“Victory shall be ours then!” Roared Bui, there was a familiar base in his voice that Michael recognized from his fight with Rundolf. Bui and Hakon rushed forward at the same time, and the Golden Talon and Katla closed in. Archie fired two arrows to try and delay the Golden fighter’s approach.

Bui initially clashed with the Talon, as he effortlessly dodged the wide swings of the Golden Polearm that swung at him, while Hakon engaged Katla. Michael drew his sword too, and leaped into the fray, calling out for Archie to reach the next door. As the XO skirted around the eastern wall, he held up his scanner glove, but instead of activating the veil, Archie flashed out of existence.

Currently engaged, Michael and Bui’s tag teaming efforts were a sight to behold. Though not an offensive fighter, Michael was able to read the Talon’s intent and hinder him while Bui pressed the attack. A nick to the forearm, a stab to the calf, and the mighty Golden Talon was overwhelmed, allowing Bui to make the final blow, dropping their opponent to the ground.

With their immediate threat dealt with, Michael turned his attention to the fight between Hakon and Katla, which also wrapped up with Hakon clocking the woman across the face with his mace, dropping her lifeless as well. Michael exhaled in the unfortunate circumstances and turned to find Archie.

“Archie?” Michael called out as he spun 360 degrees around the room. He looked towards the eastern wall and found nothing. “Did your friend vanish through the wall and leave us to fight?” Bui asked breathlessly.

“No…he wouldn’t.” Michael began, heading towards the east wall. If Archie had deactivated, his clothes and weapons would have been left behind. He must have gone through, but why? Michael raised his own hand and sent the signal to activate the wall.

“Michael!” Bui cried out.

Turning around, Michael witnessed Bui holding a limp Hakon in his arms. The Blue Councilman’s hand was on his abdomen; he had been injured in his fight against Katla. “Shit!” Michael cursed, rushing back down towards his remaining team.

“It’s fine. You two go, leave me here.” Hakon protested as he slid down onto his knees.

“Like hell!” Michael argued, withdrawing a vial from one of his medical pouches and dousing a rag to press against the wound. He couldn’t tell Hakon this, but it was a fast-acting coagulant Doc had made for situations just like this. “Here, hold this to the wound; it will help.” Michael insisted.

Bui helped hold the cloth in place, but Michael could feel the acceptance from Hakon. “I’ll only slow you down.” He whimpered. Ravkina’s people like to use poison; I’m as dead as Sigsteinn already.”

“Yeah, well, Ravkina’s poisoners have never met my apothecary. I’m not losing another person, so on your feet, Turtle!” Michael barked. Between him and Bui, the two managed to drag Hakon through the eastern veil and into, thankfully, another empty room.

Archie was momentarily confused. The room he was in was unlike any of the others they had been in, but what drew his attention was the view screen along the northern wall, watching Michael and Bui drag Hakon through the veil.

“Commander!” He called out fruitlessly. The screen shifted once more in real time to the next room the trio found themselves in, as the two laid Hakon down and rendered more aid to his wound. Tapping the comm badge in his belt, he tried to raise Michael, but the device registered a null tone, indicating comms were down.

“What the bloody hell?!” Archie proclaimed aloud as he took in his surroundings. He finally noticed the pedestal in the center of the room and approached it. It was clearly some sort of interface, but he had not the slightest idea how it worked, and his attention kept shifting to Michael on the screen.

“Error, proximity tag failure. Secondary mark acquired.” Came a calm voice that echoed in the room.

“I beg your pardon?” Archie looked up to find the source of the sound.

“Primitive Hard-Light construct detected. Anomaly Biological Signature is still in play.” The voice addressed.

“Hard-light…You can tell I am a Hologram?” Archie asked, perplexed.

“Identification: Hologram, accepted. Hologram, please state the nature of association with the Biological Anomaly.” The voice queried.

Archie turned to the viewing screen once more and could see the overlay showcasing Michael highlighted as a different designation from Bui and Hakon. Whatever this was, it had picked up that his biological makeup was vastly different from the Brynars. Realizing whatever he was speaking to was operating on a far more analytical nature, Archie hesitated, but responded, “That Biological’s Designation is Angelus, Commander. It is this unit’s director. We came here seeking answers to a mysterious energy reading from this…planet.”

To hell with it, he was basically talking to another computer and pegged him as a hologram in less than a minute. Prime directive was out the window at this point. ‘Wait, did it just call me primitive?’ Archie thought to himself.

New letters flashed along the bottom of the screen, red unintelligible text replacing the green.

“I know you don’t like the idea, but we can’t take him with us, not if we end up in another room like the last. And we can’t just stay put.” Bui rationalized. He and Michael had left Hakon to lie and rest after performing first aid, to the best of their ability. In truth, there was no telling if he would even make it, even with the medicine Doc had provided. If they did leave him, this was going to be the safest bet. Not to mention, there was no sign of Archie anywhere, Michael HAD to find him no matter what.

Michael frowned, “I know…” was all he could get out before the emotion of fear and dread washed over him. Bui was suddenly terrified, and as Michael spun around to see what had him in such a state, his heart too dropped.

Standing across the room was a large bear-sized creature on all fours, its limbs looked muscular in shape, but there was a slickness to it, as if its whole body was covered by some kind of black mud or sludge.  Michael knew exactly what this was, and from the looks of it, so too did Bui. A new Holdskrimsl monster had appeared.

“NO! WAIT!” Archie cried out, seeing the blackened beast appear on the screen. “PROGRAM, PLEASE NO!!! SEND ME BACK!” He pleaded.

“Worry not, Hologram, for the flesh constructs are no match for this progenitor. This unit will only eliminate the remaining stock.” The voice answered in the same monotone.

“No! You don’t understand. We only defeated the last one because we have a ship in orbit! He doesn’t have access to that now!” Archie pleaded.

There was a long pause of silence from the voice, as Archie watched Bui and Michael begin to fight the creature on the screen. “Understood.” The voice finally answered.

Michael still had the Type-1 Phaser tucked into his boot; it wasn’t something he had forgotten, but the ferocity with which the monster attacked prevented him from retrieving it. Using Bui’s lantern, they managed to set the creature on fire, which did not bode as well for them as it did last time. The flames seemed to seep into the creature’s body and were put out almost instantly. Michael did manage to coat his sword in oil and ignite it again, but no matter how many times he slashed at the creature’s limbs, it seemed to regenerate much faster than before.

The beast lunged at Bui, who ducked and rolled out of the way just in time. Unfortunately, it landed on the nearly unconscious Hakon, who was swallowed up by the muck of the beast’s ribcage.

“BUI, I got something for this, but I need a diversion!” Michael shouted, seeing his friend Hakon lost to the monster. It was their only chance of survival!

“GOT IT!” Bui cried out and hurled his Sword overhead at the monster. It dug deep into the murky head of the beast, which got its attention as it turned to charge at Bui. Michael took the opportunity to drop his own sword and reach into his boot, retrieving his Phaser and raising it at the monster who was now mid-leap towards the Raudulfur Prince. But before Michael could press the trigger, he could feel the telltale signs of teleportation engulfing him.

Michael knelt in an empty room. Phaser in hand, aiming at a pedestal, with his Yeoman standing, stunned next to it. Behind Archie was a view screen of the room he was just in, Empty and lifeless. Looking at Archie, he rose to his feet and stowed his weapon.  “Where’s Bui?! Hakon?! Where did you—” Michael began to rant, but was cut off as a Veil Shimmered to life along the southern wall.

A hovering chair emerged from the wall, as a corpse-like figure stepped onto the cold Blackstone floor. The Synsmadr stood for a moment looking at the two, with a look of glee on his face, before dropping to the ground, lifeless. In his place, a shimmering green-yellow holographic construct remained.

“Progenitor, Welcome to Installation VX-035. I have been waiting eons for your arrival…” The figure, in the same voice as before, spoke, before bowing deeply to a flabbergasted Michael.

[To be Continued]