Chapter One

[Quantum Rain]

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----Intro post shall arrive later----

[Quantum Rain]

--In Transit--
-Hallways-
In front of the kid was a long series of shields and thick barriers made of the same substance as the hallway walls and bulkheads. The shields also seem to be increasingly different with each that is sequentially knocked down, the difficulty of being able to do so as he moves along.

-Bridge-
"Sairene has engaged 'Gauntlet' defense protocols to attempt to block the intruder's magic. Jamming fields are online and waiting to engage when he has reached the bridge elevator." "Ensure he doesn't get any further."

[Wynn]

The kid would step up to the first barrier. He shook his head in minor annoyance. He reached down into the floor and ripped out a panel and jumped into the opening. He would walk under the barriers and listen for the humm of the generators. Once he was sure he had gotten past them, he ripped off another panel and jumped up on the other side of the barriers.

[Quantum Rain]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
The Lieutenant in charge immediately ordered an evacuation as the kid would jump up out of the metal floor and into a sort of 'box' of a shield, with a combined droid, guard, and turret defense system trained on him. All non-combat personnel were immediately locking their consoles off and exiting via another door. "Sairene, you are in complete control, spare no expense." He said, as he walked toward the exit as well, Sairene appearing as a hologram to acknowledge the acting commander's orders, as well as to personally watch how the kid reacts to his situation.

[Wynn]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
The Lieutenant in charge immediately ordered an evacuation as the kid would jump up out of the metal floor and into a sort of 'box' of a shield, with a combined droid, guard, and turret defense system trained on him. All non-combat personnel were immediately locking their consoles off and exiting via another door. "Sairene, you are in complete control, spare no expense." He said, as he walked toward the exit as well, Sairene appearing as a hologram to acknowledge the acting commander's orders, as well as to personally watch how the kid reacts to his situation.

The kid would put his hands up against the door, knowing that there would be guards on the other side of it. He put through as much electrical energy into the room, killing anything that wasnt physically part of the ship. He would then, tear the door open to see what was left on the other side after the electical purge.

[Quantum Rain]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
The door opens to reveal that a few of the guards actually remained alive due to quick thinking with Sairene's shields to absorb the energy. They started firing at the kid alongside the droids, who remained immune to such attacks due to reinforced armor and shields, and the turrets, which were a part of the ship. The droids and the turrets seemed to fire an antimatter pulse at the kid, while the guards hung back, firing normal photonic energy.

[Wynn]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
The door opens to reveal that a few of the guards actually remained alive due to quick thinking with Sairene's shields to absorb the energy. They started firing at the kid alongside the droids, who remained immune to such attacks due to reinforced armor and shields, and the turrets, which were a part of the ship. The droids and the turrets seemed to fire an antimatter pulse at the kid, while the guards hung back, firing normal photonic energy.

The kid would quickly duck back behind the wall. He would look around and remember the hole. He concentrated his energy for a few moments. The next thing the guards would see is the kid run back around the corner and jump down into the hole he had come through originally.

[Quantum Rain]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
Ten droids advanced and began mindlessly, but precisely firing into the large hole in the ground. However, much of the defenders stayed back, not being tricked so easily again.

[Wynn]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
Ten droids advanced and began mindlessly, but precisely firing into the large hole in the ground. However, much of the defenders stayed back, not being tricked so easily again.

They would hear someone snap their fingers followed by explosions in the celing of the hall way. The kid had cloaked himself with his power and turned back around the door way as the celing caved in. He threw a wide wave of solidified air that would slice any guards in the room in half. He would have his back to a door way blocked by rubble. This would all happen in the time frame of three seconds.

[Quantum Rain]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
The droids immediately stepped forward as they and a shield was nearly instantly projected by the AI, capable of calculating and responding in mere milliseconds compared to the kid's speeds. As the droids fall apart, the kid would be able to see, past the smoke, the guards being teleported out, their recall covered by the turrets consistent fire as soon as he appeared.

[Wynn]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
The droids immediately stepped forward as they and a shield was nearly instantly projected by the AI, capable of calculating and responding in mere milliseconds compared to the kid's speeds. As the droids fall apart, the kid would be able to see, past the smoke, the guards being teleported out, their recall covered by the turrets consistent fire as soon as he appeared.

The kid would materialize a small shield of energy on his arm, and hold it up. It would reflect the shots back at the turrets, most likely destroying them.

[Quantum Rain]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
The turrets' destruction seemed as if it were inconsequential. The AI spoke up as the kid passed by, watching him. "Identify yourself." She ordered coldly, mechanically, as everything but the lights in the room were shut off.

[Wynn]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
The turrets' destruction seemed as if it were inconsequential. The AI spoke up as the kid passed by, watching him. "Identify yourself." She ordered coldly, mechanically, as everything but the lights in the room were shut off.

The kid smirked and narrowed his eyes. He took a mocking bow and said, "Lord of blowing the hell out of your stupid asses and destruction, Xaldius, at your funeral service."

[Quantum Rain]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
"You won't be able to make it out of here, Xaldius." The AI responded, disregarding the kid's taunts with equal coldness. "We are fully aware of what your powers are, we have adapted accordingly."

[Wynn]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
"You won't be able to make it out of here, Xaldius." The AI responded, disregarding the kid's taunts with equal coldness. "We are fully aware of what your powers are, we have adapted accordingly."

Xaldius grinned wryly. "Is that a challenge?" He inquired, almost as if it were an everyday conversation.

[Quantum Rain]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
"It is a simple fact. You, Xaldius, cannot escape here." She repeated, as the room seemed to shake, and a visible, cyan, multi-layered shield appeared, covering the entirety of the room, walls, ceiling, floors, doors, etc. Molding perfectly with the layout of the room. Followed by this were several jamming fields, preventing teleportation and part of Xaldius's mystic abilities and the likes as well as drenching the place with odd, wild Phase Shift energy as well, just as a precaution.

[Wynn]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
"It is a simple fact. You, Xaldius, cannot escape here." She repeated, as the room seemed to shake, and a visible, cyan, multi-layered shield appeared, covering the entirety of the room, walls, ceiling, floors, doors, etc. Molding perfectly with the layout of the room. Followed by this were several jamming fields, preventing teleportation and part of Xaldius's mystic abilities and the likes as well as drenching the place with odd, wild Phase Shift energy as well, just as a precaution.

The kid would look at the fields and grin. "Challenge accepted." He would raise his hand, concentrating a massive amount of energy. He would then unleash it on his own body, causing him to just suddenly disintegrate. There would be a moment's pause and then a few seconds later he would reform outsidebridge, but panting somewhat heavily. "So... you ready to... eat your words?..."

[Quantum Rain]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
"Resistance is futile." The AI responded, as the entire ship shut down, life support offline, and nothing but shields, shut doorways, and jamming fields all along the hallways, complete with turrets behind one-way shields firing pure anti-matter slugs at Xaldius. "All escape pods are away, deactivating outer shielding, deactivating all non-essential systems. Activating self-destruct protocols. You are requested to surrender or die."

[Wynn]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
"Resistance is futile." The AI responded, as the entire ship shut down, life support offline, and nothing but shields, shut doorways, and jamming fields all along the hallways, complete with turrets behind one-way shields firing pure anti-matter slugs at Xaldius. "All escape pods are away, deactivating outer shielding, deactivating all non-essential systems. Activating self-destruct protocols. You are requested to surrender or die."

Xaldius would smile at where the hologram was, and still would seem to be panting, even without the air. "Whatever..." he stated simply. "I still proved you wrong..." The red glowing in the eyes would fade to being just a hint of red and mostly gray like they had once been, and the blood flowed back into his face. His body would also revert from being deathly gaunt like it had been. He then fell over forward and passed out. The AI would see the black aura that had been around him fade, as the body began to feel the effects of zero pressure.

[Quantum Rain]

--In Transit--
-Primary Control Center-
"Isolating fugitive, activating low-level atmosphere to ensure survival, but continued unconsciousness. Deactivating lockdown, transporting fugitive to secure location, recalling escape pods, reinitializing life support." The AI went through a long long checklist of reactivation and reorganization procedures, as the remaining crew was slowly returned to their ship, and it continues on its predestined course.

[Fore Admiral Disayle]

--Aves--

*Night comes over the city of Farruvian and the three moons of Aves appear, one by one. The middle moon is barely visible, the left one a little less than a quarter, and the right one barely shy of full. In his office, Ackbar opens the windows to the stars and crouches down to fly out to his sleeping perch, but then remembers his broken wing. With a sigh, he gently takes Bularr by the scruff of his neck (drawing a squeak of protest from the nestling) and places him in the sleeping dais. The Commander then nestles in with his charge and soon falls asleep.*

*His sleep is not restful. The hawk is subject to a terrifying dream--strange and monstrous creatures sweeping across Aves. Huge warships bombarding the planet's oceans and boiling them into nothingness. Forests incinerated in seconds. Cities leveled. Entire continents burning. Wholesale slaughter of the avian people. Eggs smashed. Dead nestlings piled high. Mass funeral pyres consuming millions of his people at once. Tortured shrieks and terrible laughs.*

*The scenes build in intensity and horror until he sees two final things: firstly, himself, along with Ironbeak and Addrson, backed into a corner and surrounded by the corpses of avian soldiers twisted into unnatural poses and riddled with horrific wounds. The three survivors desperately fire their weapons at something that the dreamer sees only shadows of. Suddenly, Addrson goes down in a spray of blood, his chest torn almost completely open. Before the aggressor can retreat, Ironbeak tackles it, and both disappear in a terrifying crescendo of screeches and snarls. Ackbar cannot fire anymore for fear of hurting his friend, and ultimately Ironbeak smashes into the wall next to him so hard that blood splatters out from his back and more gushes from his beak. Unable even to check on his lifelong friend, Ackbar screeches defiance at the shadowy enemy as it advances on him last and tries to club it with his weapon, but it evades the blow with contempt and strikes him down with one terrible blow. The last thing the dreamer sees is Ackbar crumpling to the blood-soaked ground, and his head hitting it with a thud. Then, the dream-view steadily pulls away, out of the dark alley, to show an unknown city burning. Scattered flashes go dark throughout the place as the last pockets of avian resistance are wiped out. The view goes even further, showing more cities on the continent also burning, and then Aves itself--a dark, barren, and dead world. Finally, even the three moons shatter and their pieces bombard the planet, utterly destroying what is left of it.*

[Quantum Rain]

--Aves, Farruvian--
Shadow stood atop one of the few remaining skyscrapers in the city, watching over it all, talking to himself it almost seemed like. "Events have started on this end, does anyone else have anything to report?" He asked the air, the skies, it seemed. For a few minutes, no response it seemed, then a voice echoed in Shadow's mind, oddly familiar at that. "It's good that Aves has decided to act, but we cannot rely on her message solely. Ensure that the citizens and commanders of Aves listen closely, Shadow." The voice said, as the presence slowly dissipated once more. "That's not answering my question you [censored]!" Shadow yelled back at the voice before it disappeared fully.

[Fore Admiral Disayle]

--Aves, Farruvian, the next day--

*The three moons begin to fade, and rosy dawn appears on Farruvian's horizon. Ackbar abruptly bolts out of bed as the terrible dream ends. His entire body appears to have shrunk, but it is his feathers creating this optical illusion--they have slicked down tight to his skin in fear. The hawk looks wildly in all directions, his eyes glazed and unseeing, and then nearly flips as Bularr utters a little screech. As a result, he lands clumsily on his bad wing, and the office echoes with muted curses.*

*However, the pain does jar him back to reality and he realizes that Bularr is whimpering. Immediately, the hawk rushes back to the nestling's side.* Ackbar: Bularr? What is it?

*Bularr tries to speak and then hiccups. After gathering some semblance of composure, he replies hestitantly.* Bularr: I had...a bad dream...

*Ackbar's eyes widen.* Ackbar: What of?

Bularr: It was bad...there were monsters...avians getting hurt...sleeping, but they wouldn't wake up...something hurt you...Aves was hurting, too...the moons broke...hurt Aves even more... *He looks up at Ackbar through wide, scared eyes.* What does it mean?

*Ackbar doesn't answer right away. Part of him wants to tell the nestling that everything will be alright.* Ackbar: I don't know what it means, but...I had the same dream, Bularr. *An idea suddenly strikes him, and he hopskips over to his desk. The hawk quickly pulls up video feed records from all over the building, mostly from soldiers on duty but also civilians and civil workers.*

Soldier 1: I had the craziest dream last night...

Soldier 2: Really? So did I...

Nurse 1: Doctor, I had an odd dream while I was sleeping...

Doctor 1: So did I, Nurse. But these patients need tending to...

Nestling: Mama, I had a scary dream...

Mother: I did too, dearest. Here, maybe a nice, warm beetle will help you forget it...

*And so on. Ackbar broadens the search, but it all says the same thing: every living avian on the planet has experienced this dream since they last slept.* Ackbar: In the name of Aves... *On a whim, he calls out.* Shadow, know anything about this?

[Quantum Rain]

--Aves, Farruvian--
-Ackbar's Room-

"Oh yes, call me at every little thing..." Shadow complains as he appears. "I thought it was quite obvious what just happened, and before you ask, no, I didn't do anything. If I had, there would have been extra blood and gore." He answers Ackbar simply, looking a bit tired himself, but not from the dream.

[Fore Admiral Disayle]

Ackbar: I see. *He considers the footage once more.* There is only one other time we know of this happening, and even then, it was in the age of legends. However, the two incidents match this description perfectly. *He takes a deep breath.* I don't mean to elevate myself to interpreting the whims of our god, but I'm said it's a fair idea that this was a vision from the spirit of Aves itself.

*Without pause, he gets out his PDA.* Addrson?

*The trumpeter delays slightly before responding.* Addrson: Yes, Commander?

Ackbar: It is time. Send for General Ironbeak, and have our alien prisoner brought up to my office.

Addrson: Yes, sir. *He cuts the line. Ackbar turns to Shadow.*

Ackbar: They'll be here soon. *He grins somewhat mischievously.* Are you ready? This will be the preliminary before you have to speak before the military leaders.

*Before long, Wraith is brought up to the office...without her clothes. The avians, with no notion of her species' thoughts about privacy, take little heed. Soon afterward, Ironbeak and Addrson arrive as well. Both smartly salute.*

Ackbar: At ease. Now, you're probably wondering why I both called you here today.

*Both nod assent.* Ironbeak: I'm sure you have a good reason...though sometimes I wonder.

Ackbar: I hope it's good enough for you, Ironbeak. *All three chuckle and then become serious again.* Now. Both of you experienced a strange dream the last time you slept, yes? *They affirm.* And what was this dream like?

*The hawk's subordinates each take a turn to explain the dream how they saw it, and tell a near-identical story of the premonition of Aves's destruction.*

Ironbeak: What--Addrson, you had the same dream, too?

Addrson: I sure did, General.

Ironbeak: Featherless. I can't blame it on a bad fish, then.

Ackbar: My friends, you are not alone. I, too, have seen this vision of Aves's destruction, and so has Bularr, and so have... *He activates the myriad of audio links on his desk, which begin playing the descriptions from all across the planet of the terrible dream.*

*Total silence dominates the room, except for Bularr's sniffling.* Ackbar: I do not mean to elevate myself to the position of interpreting the will of our world, but remember the dream sent to our people in the Age of Legends. This can only be a warning, a plea, from the spirit of Aves itself.

*More silence.* Ironbeak: ...sir, I don't disagree with you, but it's just...so much to wrap my head around. Why would Aves send us as vision of its--and our--destruction, almost immediately after we had saved it from just that?

Addrson: It is hard to understand, Ackbar. Is there any more you can tell us?

Ackbar: Yes. My friends, a grave danger looms on the horizon. When it is coming, I cannot exactly say, but it is coming--and soon. That is what this vision from Aves shows: the final destruction of our people and our world if we do not stop this.

*The two other avians are visibly taken aback by the conviction in his voice.* Ironbeak: How can you be so certain, Ackbar?

*At this, the hawk becomes troubled.* Ackbar: Please forgive me...I have been keeping something important from you--all of you--for many years. *He takes a deep breath and then calls out once more.* Shadow? Now would be a good time.

[Quantum Rain]

--Aves, Farruvian--
-Ackbar's Office-

"Only to keep you looking sane." Shadow replies, making a point by appearing right between the two avians, phasing through any obstacles. "Sleep well?" Shadow asked the two of them with a wry smile.

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