Chapter 06

  Time is of the Essence

  Today, the inscription tablet read. Arcturus’s signature was jotted underneath it.

  Castor smirked, swiping the message to start his reply. His finger hovered over the writing box.

  Castor knew Arcturus was never concerned with the long term. He needed the issues fixed as soon as possible. An emperor, especially one of an orange core, could only have so much leeway before his people turned against him. After news of the Ruber having their own purple star, Arcturus wanted Mira trained as soon as possible. When Castor offered himself as the new mentor, Arcturus accepted without concern for how Commander Apollo would fulfill his legate vacancy.

  Now only two weeks later, Arcturus had moved up his timetables. Castor had expected it. The month's time frame that had been given was on a whim and before the Ruber had attacked the crucial B-OBS-2 system in the Taurus sector.

  Sliding his finger down the writing box, he prepared the three-word response: See you soon. He directed the message to be sent to Ophiuchus Palace after the next bridge had been opened. Castor expected that to coincide with his departure there.

  He turned the tablet off and clipped it into his waistband. His eyes moved to the range corridor Mira hovered in front of.

  She trembled, her chest hot with a purple glow as she awaited the instruction.

  “Hold it!” Castor commanded.

  Mira felt the searing energy continue to build up in her core. It burned. Just in front of her was a circular target at the end of the long hallway.

  “Show those stars what you think,” Castor encouraged.

  The energy swelled as Mira let her emotions take control. It was ready to explode out of her at a moment's notice.

  “Now!” Castor yelled.

  Mira let out a guttural scream as she cut the pressure. In a controlled beam in front of her, a flash of light scorched through the corridor. The target at the back wall disintegrated into its finest particles as the beam struck it. Dust flung around, coating the room in a gray smog.

  Mira stumbled backwards in the air. Her vision flickered in and out as she tried to hold herself up. The amount of exertion had just about taken everything out of her.

  “That was stellar,” Castor applauded. “Today’s progress report is already shaping up to be your best.”

  Mira grabbed for her nebulant on her waistband. She brought it up to her lips and took a deep inhale of the nebular dust. Her body shook with the resurgence of energy. Still, she was sore, particularly in her chest.

  “So the meeting is happening today?” Mira questioned. She had been pushing herself to her limits the past couple weeks. Despite it being a relatively short amount of time compared to her extended stay at the academy, she was more invigorated than ever before.

  Castor grinned. “Arcturus insists that it does.”

  The Emperor—Mira had the urgency of the Emperor. Of course, she wasn’t entirely surprised by it. Her whole life she was taught she was of importance to the Greater Systems. Still hearing his name in regard to her potential made her core ignite. She hadn’t quite earned the same amount of excitement under Rigel’s mentorship. She was glad she had a new mentor that could change that.

  “So what will you tell them? Do you think I’m ready?” Mira questioned, floating down to the ground.

  “I would hate to play with your eagerness, Mira. I’ll let you know the results of the meeting after it occurs,” he replied. He glanced at his watch, an electromagnetic vibration echoing through their earpieces. “And would you look at that? I’ll see you later, Mira. Practice some more pulses and flares while I'm gone.”

  Maybe today would be the day.

  **BREAK**

  Stephen, Yue, and Atlas were in Leftward Hall with Rigel. They were tasked with stamina practice, trying to hold their energy in a plasma shield for an extended period of time. Stephen stood sturdy, his flames refusing to flicker as he reached the minute mark. Yue had a similar success, but her core strength limited how long she could hold it. She had a commitment to matching Stephen, though, despite her mismatched strength.

  Atlas struggled as he always did. His flames faded within a matter of 30 seconds before he had to catch his breath with the nebulant to conjure another. It's not like he cared, and Rigel knew that. Training would still be required in his curriculum, but his new opportunity would provide him plenty of leeway and, except in the worst scenarios, keep him off the battlefield.

  Rigel continued to provide them words of encouragement. He prided himself on what he considered a success. Since the lecture from Castor a couple of weeks ago, he was feeling much more confident in himself. He felt his new training regimen would keep him out of trouble with Ophiuchus, though he knew there was no chance of getting Mira back from Castor’s grasp. It didn’t seem like she would want to come back either. For now, though, he could balance his troubles, or so he thought.

  Stephen broke from his stance, the dark blue plasma shield fading.

  Yue was primed to celebrate before her smile faded as her attention was directed to the training hall entrance.

  Stephen pointed. “Rigel?”

  Rigel slowly turned around to face the disturbance to his practice. There were two guards in capital uniforms, one man and one woman, pacing over to where they practiced in the back of the training hall. Their sashes were both dark blue. Rigel gave an awkward short wave.

  Their faces remained cold. “You’re requested,” the woman commanded, not offering a reciprocal greeting of any sort.

  “Sorry? By whom?” Rigel asked. He took out his earpiece and twisted it, wondering if he missed a message. He put it back in.

  “Save the questions,” the guard responded, looking over to the three of his students.

  “Ok, sorry, didn’t mean to offend,” Rigel responded, confused. The guards turned, expecting him to follow. He did, turning back once to look at the three of them. They looked unsure of what was happening. Fear was apparent on Atlas’s face.

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  When the doors shut and Rigel was out of view, Stephen turned to the both of them. “What the hell was that?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” Atlas replied.

  “Those were Ophiuchus soldiers. It can’t be anything good,” Yue added.

  **BREAK**

  Castor flew through the hallways of Helyx, headed past the admin wing towards the bridging hall—the designated location for outcoming bridges. He landed at the dock to the gate. The two metal doors were larger than most in the facility, about three times his height. A guard stood at a control panel nearby. Castor looked to him, and the man quickly threw a red flame to prompt the opening of the doors. With a series of clicks, they began to slide apart. Castor entered with just enough room between them. An ambient hum shivered through his earpiece.

  Inside was a room the size of a large garage, with a high ceiling and low floor. In the center rested the large swirling vortex of a bridge. It pulsed with blue energy. Through it Castor could see the blurry picture of the Ophiuchus palace dock, denoted by its Romanesque architecture.

  Two guards waited out front. Arcturus was expecting him. He flew by the guards and towards the bridge. The hum of noise in his earpiece snapped out of existence as he passed through it, being replaced on the other side by a quieter tune. More guards awaited him on the other side, standing on either end of the palace dock. Castor stepped up onto the large marble platform. Before him stood a towering set of double doors. The shining white entrance was made of a translucent marble with details of gold.

  The guards gave him accepting nods and began to wave their flames across the doors in a deliberate dance. Flame locks were a common security feature of the Greater Systems, only allowing access if the star knew the correct pattern of flame that allowed the lock to open. In more security-tight regions, the dances could take several minutes of precise movements.

  Here it was a process of a couple of minutes before the doors started to open. As they opened it, it revealed a long staircase that led up to the royal office.

  Castor floated up the steps. It was considered disrespectful in many royal settings to use flame to fly or float, but Arcturus would not attempt to stop him. The ancient rule was a bit outdated anyway.

  Castor landed on the top deck, which opened up into a large hallway. His destination was right in front of him. A second pair of doors, these made of pure gold. Castor didn’t knock. He pulled the doors open and stepped inside.

  The large room was domed with more gold etchings through cracks in the marble. There was a large elevated desk in the back of the room before a large window to the white spiraling shapes of the Ophiuchi nebula.

  Sitting in the tall aureate chair of the desk was a man dressed in an orange toga. A crystal crown topped his sharp black hair. He flicked his wrist around, playing with the orange flame on his fingertips.

  “Castor, welcome,” Arcturus greeted, looking up to him.

  “Arcturus,” Castor nodded.

  “Has our superstar been making the progress we’ve been expecting?” he asked.

  “I think I'm snuffing out the weakness,” Castor said.

  “Good,” Arcturus replied. “It would’ve been a shame to see her powers go to waste.”

  The doors behind Castor started to creak open, followed by the patter of footsteps. Castor didn’t turn; he knew who was coming through. He smiled.

  “Rigel, as requested, Your Majesty,” a guard said.

  “Leave us,” Arcturus replied.

  The doors shut again with a clang.

  “I know there were some, let’s say, kinks you had to work through,” Arcturus started, motioning just behind him to Rigel.

  “I’ve already said Arcturus, nothing good came of him,” Castor stated. “For now he’s a valuable distraction for the other three. After this I suggest you bring in a new proctor, maybe make something good out of them, though I could care less. It could be easier otherwise.”

  “I’ve got a few in mind. It’ll be taken care of,” he said. Arcturus smiled, glancing once to Rigel. “In other news, I've gotten word from Centur—Legate Apollo. The backup bridging outlet was found to still be active. The Reds shouldn't know about this one. We can retake the outpost once it's in the proper position of B-OBS-2B’s orbit,” Arcturus mentioned. “You should bring along your mentee.”

  Castor nodded, looking up to the design on the domed roof of the building. It depicted 5 stars, one for each class, displayed in a circle. The dark blue one was depicted the brightest. “She has said she would be honored to fight for the Greater Blue Forces.”

  “Mira is on the verge of making this country respectable again,” Arcturus said. “We’ll show the red stars we have the same artillery, isn’t it exciting?”

  “I’ve never seen eye to eye on your excitement, Arcturus, but I trust in the work I’ve put into my student,” Castor said.

  “I would hope so,” Arcturus said. “That one better hope so too.” Arcturus motioned over to Rigel again, who still hadn’t spoken a word since he had entered the room.

  “Her performance will speak to no credence of what junk he had her doing these last several years,” Castor replied.

  “Oh no, but it may speak to his punishment,” Arcturus chuckled.

  “There’s much to come,” Castor replied. “What’s the mission brief?”

  Arcturus passed a tablet across the desk to Castor. “Everything you need to know is on there.”

  He picked it up and examined it. “So I’ll be seeing you again in the Taurus sector in the coming week?”

  “I’ll see you after the fight,” Arcturus replied, “we’ll keep in touch though.”

  Castor nodded. It was typical of Arcturus to only show up after the battle had been won. “See you then.”

  “Good luck, Castor, and glory to Ophiuchus,” Arcturus said.

  Castor turned towards the doorway. He grabbed Rigel by his arm, yanking him with him. He pushed open the doors and exited the room. He looked over to Rigel, who had his head hung down low.

  “Don’t make a fool out of yourself anymore than you have,” Castor said. “Those kids will hear none of this.”

  Rigel opened his mouth to speak.

  “Don’t,” he said.

  Rigel closed his lips and nodded faintly.

  **BREAK**

  Mira unleashed a pulse of purple energy around her. It shocked some of the loose dust particles in the air. She was so nervous that even the exertion of work wasn’t calming her down. She would give so much to be in the room with them and plead her case. She took a deep breath from her nebulant. The energy sizzled through her veins, enough for another pulse. Before she could, though, the door started to open.

  Castor entered the room. He held a tablet in his hand.

  “So what did they say?” Mira asked, eagerly awaiting a response.

  He didn’t respond and instead walked up to her, handing over an inscription tablet. Written on the blue holographic screen was a government file, addressed to Castor.

  This was it, but it didn’t feel like how she thought it would. Her core didn’t lurch in excitement. In fact, it may have even sunk.

  “The Red Stars have gained territory in the Taurus systems. We haven't heard from one of our outposts in several days, not completely unfamiliar for the area. It is difficult to keep continuous contact, but it turns out this is the reason,” Castor said.

  She followed along with what Castor was talking about through the message. She noticed the location on file. “Isn’t that kind of close to here?”

  “Still maybe 500 light-years, but a couple of properly placed wormholes could get them here in no time, especially if they gained any knowledge on the nebulas in the area,” he said. “What you need to know is they attacked our outpost unprompted, killed 43 of our people, took valuable information, and now hold an advantageous point to the rest of the sector.”

  “How did they get there?” Mira questioned. “I thought we had precautions for that stuff.”

  “They would’ve had to have created a wormhole from outside our control. Our closest silent area is about another 400 light-years from the planet,” Castor replied. “That's a reach for even our strongest. We think it's him.”

  “Saiph?” Mira questioned.

  Castor nodded. “Arcturus is eager to see you on the playing field. He requested your presence. Understand you will be our number one priority. No one lays a finger on you without going through several of our stars first. We have four days to prepare.”

  “Four days?”

  “Four days,” he repeated.

  Mira nodded.

  He took the tablet back from her.

  “I can do it,” Mira said, trying to inspire some confidence in herself.

  “If I see the same stuff that you’ve been giving these last few weeks, I expect it. It’ll be an important benchmark for your progress.”

  Mira took a deep breath from her nebulant. She was starting to feel woozy. This is what she wanted to do, right? It was just so soon. She felt jittery. She was nervous. She wanted to make them proud.