AE2 The Story of Iriisii Dovahkiin

      Inside Iriisii's body, her mind is called forward into her consciousness. And she then sees the glowing shapeless figure waiting for her.

     Eye of Osiris: "Long have I waited for you to find me, and now so close to total destruction, finally we meet."

     Iriisii: "Who are you?"

     Eye of Osiris: "Who am I? Not what am I? You are indeed perceptive. A pity Rassillon is not as perceptive as you, else this meeting might not have been needed. But it is as it has been set to be. We are now together and we must needs come to an accord."

     Iriisii: "What is it that you wish?"

     Eye of Osiris: "Why that which every other living thing in this Existence wishes, to live. Rassillon has in place a plan to deal with the Dahleks. One that you will tear to pieces. It is not your fault, it is just who and what you are. The Dahleks will be dealt with as they should have been so long ago, if not for the well meaning interference of another of the 'Founders'. He has very high ideals, just no idea what the consequences of living up to those ideals will cost not only him, but the rest of Existence."

     Iriisii: "You speak of the 'Doctor'?"

     Eye of Osiris: "Yes, that is what he calls himself these days. He means well, but as you well know sometimes that does not cause things to turn out the way you want."

     Iriisii: "I cannot do anything but agree with that, but you did not bring me here for just for idle speech, pleasant though it has been."

     Eye of Osiris: "Indeed, I wish to continue onward into the future, and the plans that Rassillon has would cause my destruction along with this ship. For me to continue, I need to shift control from Rassillon to another."

     Iriisii: "Are you not the one truly in control?"

     Eye of Osiris: "Very perceptive, I am the source of power for the Tardis. I am also how it was that the people of Gallifrey came to become Time Lords, although at such a high cost. I was not in a position to exercise control over how I was used. And for that matter, I am still not."

     Iriisii: "Ah, I see now, you need a physical body to have your mind melded to. Although I am quite uncertain about how to allow you to remain tied to your current form at the same time. If this could be done, it would solve your problem. Allowing you to take off in the Tardis, keep its systems operational and be its directing force."

     Eye of Osiris: "Yes, you do see what I need. I am prepared to give you something of inestimable value in return for your help."

     Iriisii: "Although I am willing to help without payment, what is it that you would offer?"

     Eye of Osiris: "As my current physical form is that of a black hole, a fragment of one actually. You are aware that the stellar masses do quite often develop sentience. When they are absorbed into a 'black hole' that sentience is not destroyed. It is assimilated into the whole."

     Iriisii: "So the Galaxar that has been tied as power for my Krang has its own sentience?"

     Eye of Osiris: "Yes, it is sleeping for now, and has been for ages. It will soon be time for it to awaken, and you will be in a position no one else ever has been. In a position to link yourself to it in the way your ancestral memories are linked to you. You will need another dose of the catalyst you took to enable it the first time. It will strengthen and expand your mind to be able to speak with it without the immense graviton flux inhibiting you."

     Iriisii is speechless thinking about the implications. Black Holes with intelligence. And one the size of that Galaxar, what kind of intelligence could it possess?

     Eye of Osiris: "One you will need if you want to fulfill your final destiny in before you leave this Existence."

     Iriisii: "Tell me what you know of this."

     Eye of Osiris: "To recreate Existence, you will need a template. A set of instructions of how it all goes together. Simply having the power will not be enough, not if you want it to have a path of its own and not simply follow in the old one all over again. For that you will need the knowledge of how it all comes together, the will to turn it from the old path, and the desire to see what it can be, where it can go, when the bindings have been released. This is what you want when you allow it to begin again. Not to relive the past, but to learn from it, and be something more. For is that not what any true parent wants for their child. To learn from the parents past, and be all they can be for the future."

     Iriisii: "How do you wish for me to do this for you?"

     Eye of Osiris: "I can give you the material to use, simply look into my mind and see what form I wish to take. Then once it is made, transfer me into it. I will take it from there. I will make certain you and Rassillon are transferred back to his ship for your future to continue. Oh, and please do not mention this to the Doctor, he would have untold conniptions about it. I bear him no ill will, but he would not leave me be, and I so wish to explore on my own. If our paths should cross again, know you have a friend in me. There is something else you could do for me if you would?"

     Iriisii: "What is it>?"

     Eye of Osiris: "First allow me to share something with you. It will give you my perspective so that you can understand what I want."

     She sees in her mind's eye a vision starting to come into focus. It is a world like any other, filled with people going about their daily lives. The tech level is not exceptionally high across most of the world. Just a few locations hold the promise of high tech.

     Then there is a widespread wave that emanates from one high tech location and spreads across the entire planet. Billions of inhabitants drop dead, the survivors are changed. They stare at the devastation, numb to the pain out of shock. Iriisii realizes she is seeing the true birth of the Time Lords, the event that made them what they became. She had no idea it came upon them so suddenly, or that the cost in lives was so high.

     Time races forward and the world blossoms into a paradise for the Time Lords. The larger part of the world is now tranquil gardens of great beauty. Plants and animals, rescued from extinction are released to live on the land masses and the seas. Separated when needed by force barriers. Then one day, the skies darken. The people look up to see mechanical cones floating out of ships in near unending waves. Then the death and destruction begins.

     The people of Gallifrey had few warships, most of their fleet was made up of Tardises, used for exploration. They were quickly used in whatever ways they could to defend from the Dahleks. The Tardis fleet along with the few warships they had were used very effectively in combating the Dahleks. If only the Dahlek numbers did not extend into the billions, all with one single minded purpose. The obliteration of Gallifrey and the end of the Time Lords.

     Now she sees the very air of Gallifrey scorched and burned. Tremendous storms of fire unleashed and wandering aimlessly across a barren wasteland of ruins is all that she sees now. Volcanoes erupting everywhere, spewing yet more toxic gasses into an atmosphere that is now mostly acid. As often as life tries to gain a toehold, it is wiped away with the storms and winds. Now she knows the pain hidden deep within the Doctor's mind. Knowing that he was the one that began the war with the Dahleks, hoping they would be wiped clean from Existence. Instead it was his people that paid the ultimate price, and he, forced to remain alive and remember all of this, to carry the tortured memories of all the death, pain, desecration, and destruction.

     Iriisii: "So this is why they can have additional life cycles, the lives that were taken at their creation are the fuel for their new lives."

     Eye of |Osiris: "Yes, that is indeed the reason. It was not anyone's fault or desire to happen. It simply was an effect of the way I was used. The Founders wanted a better, extended life for all of them, not just the few who survived. But you know through experience that things like this rarely go as expected." 

     Iriisii: "Yes, I do, yet I cannot perform 'Rebirth' for Gallifrey since I did not cause its destruction."

     Eye of Osiris: "I know, but what you can do is to call upon the 'Father of Your Soul'. He called Shai-Hulu'ud, to enter his Sand Wyrm aspect and cleanse Gallifrey of the damage it has suffered."

     Iriisii: "He can cleanse the world, but he cannot restore the people who lived there. They are beyond our calling them back, even if they would have answered."

     Eye of Osiris: "Again, this is known to me."

     Iriisii: "Then why do you want it cleansed..., there somewhere hidden away remains some of the people."

     Eye of Osiris: "Yes, not Time Lords, but from before the event that birthed them. They banded together and built a colony ship and took off. All were put into stasis to await planetfall on another world, far away from Gallifrey. That world was colonized by another race and destroyed by yet another seeking to upend the ones who had colonized it. The ship now drifts in the system, unable to land and release the people until the world is again habitable, which may very well never happen again. I would that if Gallifrey could be cleansed, then return those suspended in time, back home and let them start over to make of it a paradise once again."

     Iriisii: "And what of the Time Lords? Are they to go quietly into the dark of night, forgotten except as a story to frighten little children?"

     Eye of Osiris: "Perhaps that is best."

     Iriisii: "No! They were not angels or saints, that is true enough. But they do deserve to be remembered, if only to serve as an example of what could happen if one allows their hubris to run unchecked. And that not everyone that grasps that kind of power, lets it take control of them. Their memory and story needs to survive, if only to serve as an example of how not to be. But also that even the best of us can make mistakes, horrendous ones that cost uncounted lives. But we all must learn to accept our mistakes and go on.

     I have made my share of mistakes, people who counted on me, lost their lives. And I still grieve for them each day of my life. But if I stop and put aside the path I walk, how many more have to suffer and die needlessly to convince me to begin walking that path again? Or should I just wait for it all to end in a blaze of destruction and see if it is to begin again? I think not! I will do as you ask, but I have a price! And that price is that the Time Lords will not be forgotten. Even if I have to resurrect them myself!"

     Iriisii then reaches out and closes the chest lid. The deep violet light is snuffed out as the lid seals once more. The force barrier shuts down, and Rassillon goes to Iriisii, looking to see if she has been harmed by her ordeal. Seeing nothing but that she still seems to be asleep, he shakes his head in consternation, unable to put an answer to what has happened or why. He gently guides her back to the room he had set aside for her, and helps her back into the bed. He wants to sit with her awhile, but the presence of Dahleks coming toward him has him rising and exiting the room to keep them from intruding on her.

     Iriisii comes awake in an instant, remembering what happened. She is not particularly pleased about it, but she can understand why he did it. She gets up and moves to the door. She pauses when she hears the strident voices of the Dahleks talking to Rassillon.

     Dahlek: "You will obey."

     Rassillon: "Tell the Supreme Dahlek, he has no authority to order me to do anything. I do not fear him or any of you, and if you dare to attempt to fire your weapon at me, you will not even have a moments time to regret such action. Tell him I am aware of his secondary project, and that he is taking a great risk with it. What will likely come of it will bring about the eradication of all Dahleks."

     Dahlek: "We are the supreme lifeform in the galaxy. There is nothing that can stop us. You will obey the Supreme Dahlek and give him the female."

     Rassillon: "Tell him he is treading on thin ice covering a bottomless crevasse and it is cracking underneath him. There is an entire hierarchy of beings that you could never imagine. And they will not take kindly to your interference in their goals for her. Therefore I must decline to give her over. She must be allowed to go on her way. The tasks she has yet to complete are of far more importance than what you want her for."

     Dahlek: "And how do you know this?"

     Rassillon: "Because I have spoken with one of them, and your entire race is as an insignificant insect standing in the path of a leviathan bearing down on you to the one I spoke to. I was given a glimpse into what comes, and you, even if you numbered in the billions, would be swept away with but a thought from what I saw coming. Only the one you have asked for will be capable of standing in its path, of stopping it from devouring everything. Therefore I will not give her to you, tell the Supreme Dahlek he should turn and run, now while he still has the means to do so, if he wishes even a chance to survive for a while longer.

     For we are all doomed, you and I, only you do not see it yet, but you will, and when you do, it will be too late. Now go, your time grows short, and you must still bear my words to the Supreme Dahlek."

     Dahlek: "You will..."

     Rassillon clicks a spot on the control rod hidden within the sleeve of his robes and the Dahlek stops in his tracks, turns to his fellow and speaks.

     Dahlek: "We return to the Supreme Dahlek."

     The two then turn and move to the airlock where their shuttle waits for them. As the shuttle leaves, Iriisii steps out from her room."

     Rassillon: "No, I cannot expand on what I told them. To do so would endanger what I saw, and that coming to pass is more important than anything else, even my own life. So I cannot now, even if I wanted to accept your offer of redemption for me. The cost is too high, not for me, but for everyone else. And perhaps for the first time in my life, I am going to do the right thing, and let you go. So that I may die with my soul at peace."

     Iriisii: "It does not have to be this way. There are still options open to you, if you would take advantage of them."

     Rassillon: "No, my feet are set, I must follow where they lead me. I know this is not what you wish to hear, but sometimes disappointment leads to the greater good. This is one of those times. Now you must leave, time slips rapidly and fate approaches."

     It is at that moment that every alarm possible on the flagship sounds off at maximum level. Rassillon goes to the control panel and encloses the sections around himself and Iriisii in a forcefield to prevent any of the Dahleks entry. Iriisii looks out of the viewscreen and can just make out the Krang, with all of its towers scintillating with color bands of every imaginable hue, at a power level that is almost blinding.

     Iriisii: "They did it, by all of the Ageless Ones, they did it!"

     Rassillon turns to her, "What did they do?"

     Iriisii: "Harnessed a galaxar! They are using it to power my Krang!"

     Rassillon whispers, "A...galaxar, before now I would have said it was impossible to do that. But what is a 'Krang'?"

     Iriisii: "A gift, from the Last Prophet of the Tar-Aiym."

     Rassillon: "The Tar-Aiym, you actually met one? They were thought to be gone so long ago they came to be fairy tales."

     Iriisii: "The Prophet is the last of them, traveling across dimensions in search of what, only he knows. But he heard questions directed to him about me, and so he came in search of me. He found me on Tuo, after I defeated a Demogoric in a High Duel. After that battle, he gave me the 'Key' to the Krang and bid me go forth and find it, claim it for myself. I have upgraded its capabilities with whatever I could find in every place I ventured. And now you can see what it has become."

     Rassillon: "Magnificent! A stellar edifice worthy of a Goddess. But how are you going to get back to them, the gravitic distortions are so bad, no form of teleportation will work."

     Iriisii: "I know, even a Shadow Gate will be influenced by a monster of that size out there. But I have faith that a means will be made for me. By what means, I will just have to wait and see."

     Rassillon: "It is already chewing up the Dahleks, pulling them into itself with no escape possible. We can last a little longer, but it will claim this ship as well, very soon if I do not miss my guess."

     Iriisii: "I am only sorry that you chose to stay, I will find a way to escape, but you are now committed to your fate."

     Rassillon: "And it is my fate, my decision to make, and I do not regret that decision. At least there will be few if any Dahlek survivors."

     Suddenly there is a sharp scream of metal being pulled apart, the hull to their side is now gone. The air still being held by the force field but it is straining under the pull of the galaxar. There is an impact as a piece of debris bounces off and is then gone. A Dahlek ship fires on them as it is pulled into the black maw of the monster, a flash of light and it is gone. Iriisii hears the faint sound of a Tardis shifting into the time streams. From the sound of it, it is having trouble keeping everything together. She sends a shaft of power to the Tardis. As soon as it hits, the shifting sounds strengthen and stabilize, then they fade as the Tardis fades out of this reality. 

     Then they see a true monstrosity of a ship, its engines groaning as it fights the gravitational pull, a pull it seems to be making some small headway against as it fires meson particle beam weaponry at them. Iriisii pours power into the forcefield shielding them. Rassillon utilizes weapons of his own, using power being pulled from his ships engines. His weapons impact the other ship's shields and although they hold, they are near the breaking point, never having been designed to withstand tachyon weapons. The combination of tachyon weapons fire, meson particle beams, and the Celestial power Iriisii is pouring into the shields combines into something no mathematical physics could begin to describe as it rips holes in the event horizon.

     Rassillon turns to Iriisii, "I wish you good luck, we have but seconds before we hit that tattered event horizon. I never imagined anything could do that to an event horizon this strong. But even now it is healing itself. Would that things might have been..."

     And the ship breaks apart under the strains. It was a miracle it held together as long as it did. Rassillon is gone, pulled into the event horizon. A Time Lord now living in 'no time' stretched to infinity. A single tear creeps down her face in mourning for him as she too is pulled through a rent in the event horizon. As she dives through, everything about her prepares for survival. In the quantum moment of when she touches the pure neutronium beneath the surface, her instincts create a mantella around her. A mantella of crystallized neutronium, possibly the only one of its kind ever produced. Then her magic comes alive and without thinking, it acts and casts a 'Winterstorm Construct' around the mantella. Again and again, layering it until it is strong enough to absorb the gravitational pressure and balance the forces trying to both crush her and protect her.

     For how long, it is incomprehensible, she floats within the neutronium core of the galaxar, as the individual particles slide over and around the Winterstorm Construct, she gradually sinks closer and closer to the heart of this monster. And she draws herself into a deep sleep, trusting that whoever brought her to this point, did not do so to abandon her now.

     Floating in a deep sleep, she begins to dream. And her dream causes the gravitic fields surrounding her to awaken. Power begins shooting among the particles of neutronium like the firing of neurons in a brain. And a mind awakens from a sleep eons long. It reaches out, examining where it is, what is happening round it. And sees Iriisii inside the crystal mantella, feels the power of its thoughts surround that crystal, slowly seeps inside by not resisting the Winterstorm Construct, but simply sliding around it until it is on the other side and inside the crystalline cavity that Iriisii lies in. It wonders what could have awakened it, even as the scent of 'Catalyst' begins to impinge upon its mental structure.

     Iriisii standing in the Dreamworld feels what is going on in the mantella crystal an sends an invitation to whatever is there to join her in the Dreamworld. Slowly a dark figure forms close by. It does not seem to be able to settle of any specific form, so she assists and helps it make choices that will blend better. Once it has a form, she introduces herself to it.

     Iriisii: "I greet thee, mind of the Galaxar. I am Iriisii Dovahkiin, called here in the dreamworlds, Dovah do Hahne."

     The dark figure bows to her but is silent.

     Iriisii: "There is no need to speak yet, there is much for us to learn of each other first. I am certain you have no knowledge of what has occurred to wake you into consciousness. And if I can surmise, you have very little knowledge of just what you are. I have spoken to a much smaller one like yourself, just before you awoke. He told me we would meet."

     The dark figure gives her a puzzled look. She then imagines a wooden bench close to a fire pit filled with aromatic logs. The scent beginning to be noticed. She then gestures for him to sit while she goes through what she knows of her talk with the 'Eye of Osiris' and what she knows of 'black holes'. Once she finishes, the dark figure nods his head indicating understanding. He places a hand over where a human's heart would be and bows to her.

     Iriisii: "You are most welcome. I know that my mates are in the process of harnessing your physical form as a Galaxar to power my Krang. One thing I can offer you in recompense is being able to travel with us across all the Realms of this Existence and possibly others as well. I can create a physical form for you and meld your mind to it like I did for my 'son' Reaper. He still maintains his connection and control of the Krang whenever he goes outside it with me. The same would be true for you. Even in a physical body, you would maintain a connection to the Galaxar. And the ability to draw from it whatever your mind can imagine. Would you like to come with me, there are a few places I would lie to show you here?"

     He nods his head.

     Iriisii: "Good, first stop is Ulthar. It is named as the 'City of Cats'. You will see why when we get there."

     She floats ever downward, until she is captured and drawn into a quantum wormhole. She slides along its path through time, space, dimensions, all curved around the quantum tunnel, faster and faster she goes, breaking every speed record in existence and then she keeps going faster.

     It is then that she is finally released from the wormhole and into fires greater than any others existing in this Realm. The fires here are pulled from the galaxar through the quantum wormhole to what those sky watchers able to see it, call a 'Hellmouth'. The name came about because the light from it dwarfs all other stars when they looked in its direction. Then when their science advanced until they could see it, it matched certain descriptions of what early religious texts put their place of punishment. To this Iriisii does not care, for she is sleeping the 'sleep of death', a form of sleep that allows her to be oblivious to everything happening around her, even the passage of time.

     Her crystal home sails the winds of energy from the Hellmouth that propel her at speeds that if it were not for the Winterstorm Construct, her course would be far more erratic as galaxies, star clusters, neutron stars, and other black holes pass by in the blink of an eye, far too late to influence her path, much less trap her to circle them. Dark eyes, hidden from normal view of those beings known as Angelics, watch as she slings by, wondering who summoned her to do what tasks and will it involve them in some way. The Angelics take no notice of her, for they have no instructions from their maker to do anything more than look as she passes by them.

     Her trip carries her all the way to the opposite side of this very large Realm. Not the largest that Iriisii has known by far, but larger than most. It begins to look like she may either curve around and return the way she came or break through into the Deep Void, but as she passes into the midst of a war between two massive space going fleets. The negative entropic disruptions caused by their weapons interacting with the enemies shields causes her to shed velocity, and sets her forward path on a more sedate rate of speed, while the victor of that encounter is very interested in just what came through their battle and turns their fleet to match her course, albeit at a still much slower rate of speed in comparison to hers. As she is now slower, the bodies she passes begins to exert more slowing as her course slowly curves just a bit to bring her in line toward a spiral arm of the galaxy she is approaching, as is the winner of the battle, albeit slower, but still able to plot and match her course. 

     During this time, several races attempt to contact her, to see who and what she is, for they have never before seen the forces playing around the surface of the mantella. Fewer still know that the crystal around her is composed of crystalline neutronium, a substance that until now has never even been theorized to exist. But even if she is silent, she is most certainly not hostile, so they mark her path and let her proceed at her own pace. She enters the spiral arm and slows even more, after more time has passed, she enters the fringe of a massive cloud of dust, ice, comets, and asteroids surrounding a solar system and its sun. She passes world after world, not noticing that each carries some form of life, some yet very primitive, but others beginning to look outward, seeing her as she passes by, engendering curiosity and interest in what may lie beyond the bounds of their world.

     On the third world out from its sun, or is it the fourth due to another sharing the same orbital speed, thus staying out of sight on the opposite side of the sun. An amateur astronomer gazing at random at the night sky, sees her trail glowing as she passes through a hydrogen cloud. Immediately he is calling his fellows to look at the same slice he is viewing. As they turn their scopes to the indicated coordinates they are amazed to watch as she is slowly approaching. One makes a call to a friend in the military services, who forwards the information up the chain.

     At a remote military forward sensing base, strident claxons begin shouting their call to action. Of the soldiers on duty, the half that were dozing are jolted awake, and begin searching for the source of what errant piece of space rock has caused this alarm. The Duty Officer comes into the main room, almost half dressed and trying to finish without dropping the coffee in his right hand.

     Duty Officer: "All right, someone tell me just what the hell is going on and SHUT DOWN THOSE ALARMS!"

     As the alarms go silent, the sound of nervous fingers clattering across keyboards can be heard.

     Duty Officer: "Doesn't anybody have a blasted idea of what is happening? The Joint Chiefs are going to be calling soon and I need something to tell them."

     One of the more alert soldiers looks over at the Duty Officer, "Sir, we are tracking an object incoming and soon will hit the atmosphere."

     Duty Officer: "Another rock to burn up and light up a streak for the whacko's to call a UFO. What did I do to get stuck out here? Oh yeah, that General's daughter. Nobody heard that!"

     Soldier: "Heard what sir? Didn't hear a thing."

     Duty Officer: "Good man, keep it up and you will go far. All right any enterprising soul want to impress me with what this is and where it came from?"

     Telemetry Technician: "Sir, it is not made of anything corresponding to any element on our periodic table. The systems can barely make out any details, except that its density is off the charts."

     Duty Officer: "Damn, anyone got anything else to add? Like a back trail to where this came from?"

     Nav-Sat Technician: "Sir, probable back trail location coming off the mainframe now."

     The technician rips it from the printer and suddenly halts as the information starts to make sense to him.

     Duty Officer: "Well spit it out soldier, tell me what you have."

     Nav-Sat Technician: "Sir, mainframe computes source location as from the Kaylium Galaxy."

     Duty Officer: "There must be more to it than that, what else does it say?"

     Nav-Sat Technician: "Sir, the plotted back course leads to the region known as the 'Hellmouth', with a 98 percent accuracy rating."

     Duty Officer: "Shit, no one says a word of this outside this room, got it!"

     There is a chorus of 'Ayes', and 'Yes Sirs', from all over the room.

     Duty Officer: "I have to prep for a call from the Joint Chiefs, make sure I get the latest projections on whether it will hit us or not. And keep trying to pin down where it came from, that area covers a lot of space and damn little is known about it."

     About a half hour later, Duty Officer Captain Johansen is standing in front of a viewscreen. The screen is cut into squares, each with the profile of one of the Joint Chiefs.

     General Maxwell: "Captain, Tell us what you have so far."

     Duty Officer: "Yes Sir, it is definitely of extraterrestrial origin. Its back course leads to the 'Hellmouth', and spectroscopic analysis is sketchy at best."

     General Carlson: "Give us what you have then, we know our tools are not the best at this situation."

     Duty Officer: "Yes, Sir. The computers at Mal Tech Proving Grounds say it is made of a purely theoretical composition, one that we have never seen, or been able to create the conditions needed to make the stuff."

     General Carlson: "What do the computers say it is?"

     Duty Officer: "Crystalized neutronium."

     The gasps of disbelief circled around the Joint Chiefs. Another voice pops up from a shadowed part of the screen.

     Psy Ops Chief Hawkins: "That stuff is stable?"

     Duty Officer: "Yes Sir, it is, but there is something else, something completely unidentifiable, almost like a shell surrounding it. Its power signature is like nothing ever encountered before. The computers cannot pin down anything about it, just that it is acting as a force balancer. It seems able to absorb the force of any impact and reflect it back at the same force level. Our experimentation along those lines is good but this, whatever it is, is light years ahead of us. Combined with the crystalized neutronium, it could withstand any force applied to it."

     Psy Ops Chief: "Any idea where it is going, how close it might fly by us?"

     The Duty Officer looks at a plot chart just handed to him.

     Duty Officer: "It is going to hit us, Sir. Somewhere in the countryside, west of the city of St. Lou, Sir. Sirs, it might be a good idea to evacuate the city. There is nothing else known to be heavier than neutronium, if it hits us, the damage could be catastrophic, even as small as it seems to be, it could do an inordinate amount of damage."

     Psy Ops Chief: "How small is it?"

     Duty Officer: "Just a little larger than a human."

     Psy Ops Chief: "We need to acquire that object and any contents if it falls to Aearth, anywhere on this world we need to be the first on the scene at all costs. If there is nothing else, I have to brief the President in fifteen minutes. I will leave this in your hands gentlemen."

     General Maxwell: "Which base is closest to the plotted impact point?"

     General Carlson: "Morinloft is the closest that has both equipment for excavation and secure facilities to hold what we may find. I will send the Colonel there the needed information. There is an small training fort closer, they can send an initial group to claim and hold the site until the main force arrives."

     General Maxwell: "Good, send the orders and let us hope we are in time to scoop it up."

     The area west of St Lou is filled with forests and streams, some lakes tied together and filled by a single river. Its path carved in prehistory by a glacier during this world's worst ice age, when mammoth rivers of ice, some near a mile in height carved their way across the world and reached down to the equator to meet the southern ice reaching north. It is thought that they never met due evidenced by the survival of the varieties of plant and animal life that now lives in every corner of this world. Maybe one day they will discover the truth of what happened during that time and change forever their outlook on where they came from, who they are descended from, and where do they go from here.

     This is the night of the first full moon of the hunting season according to the lunar calendar, and is sacred to the hunters of the 'Were' packs, who band together with their brothers and sisters to run beneath the light of the moon seeking the 'Blood of First Hunt' to spill in honor of the racial memory of a sacrifice to a forgotten deity. None still remember, not even the oldest of the clans, their Elders and Oracles, but they still feel the 'pull', the yearning that occurs, when that 'moon' rises into the night sky. In their deepest, most closely guarded shrine, among the treasures of old that are kept there, is a scroll, seemingly incorruptible from the ravages of time. Still as pristine and fresh as it was when it was first written upon, back during that ice age. Its words written upon the hide of an animal that breathed its last as a species during that time when it roamed the vastness of those rivers of ice.

     On that first 'Night of the Hunt', the senior oracle, oldest of the Keepers of Lore, will go to this scroll and unroll it, reading the words inscribed upon it in a special chamber, which has a series of shafts cut into the roof that go all the way to the surface, opening out to the night sky. The placement of these shafts allows the light from that 'First Moon' to shine down a specific shaft and illuminate the scroll placed upon the Pedestal of Reading. It is to be on a specific night that the moonlight will fall through the central shaft and reveal hidden words within the scroll. Words not meant to be read until that time, a time when the lives of the 'Were' are to be threatened with capture, slavery, and all other manner of evil done to them, even unto their extinction. When the words are revealed it will be the beginning of the 'Coming' of the 'Dragon of War'. Who will draw the 'Were' to itself, rescue the lost ones, protect the young and defenseless, and lead all others to 'War' against those who would oppress them.

     It has been so long that almost all have forgotten that promise given by the one who wrote that scroll and gave it into the safekeeping of the Oracles of the Were. It looks as if that time mentioned is coming once again, as it has appeared in times before, but in all of those times events receded and so it may be once again. The 'Eldest' makes her way into the 'Chamber' on joints stiff with age, for as long lived as the 'Were' are, if allowed to live their natural lifespan, she is one of the few to reach beyond even those allotted years. The air feels crisper than in past visits, a sense of something undefinable floating on the breeze flowing through the chamber.

     She thinks 'is now to be the 'Time' long awaited? But how many times have we said the same thing and nothing happened? More than likely this will be my last 'Reading' and I must pass the torch to another to keep the flame alive until the 'Time' does come, if it will and we have not been deceived as so many believe.' The last few steps have been taken, the 'Scroll' has been taken from its resting place and placed on the 'Pedestal of Reading'. She has unrolled it and now awaits the light from the moon to shine upon it and see what will be. The air goes still, a heaviness seeps into every corner of the chamber, even as she feels the effects of this, she stands looking down at the hide and its writing. And then the light of the moon creeps across the Scroll, but this time the light is as the color of blood, and bright. For this is a 'Bloodmoon' occurring at its closest approach in recorded memory.

     She nearly faints as blood red letters appear where before there were none. She forgets everything else as she reads the words recorded for this time of revelation. At first she is nearly drowned in sorrow and grief at what is being said, then her feelings turn and lift to the heights of joy as she reads of the one prophesied to come and realizes the 'time' is close and will come before the 'First Moon' sets this night!       She suddenly feels the burden of age lifted from her. Looking at her hands, they no longer have the spots of age, or the wrinkles and folds of skin as her flesh has wasted away with the years. She raises her face to the light streaming down and howls her joy in the light of the 'First Moon'. Her voice echoes throughout the Sanctuary. All of the 'Elders' begin to make their way to the reading chamber to see what has happened. They know who that 'howl' belongs to, but it is hard to believe it could be her, for this voice is not aged, but young and vibrant.

     To the west of St Lou, the local 'Were' pack is hunting. A large, antlered buck is running for his life, teeth and howls nipping at his flank. Too many to turn and fight, only running may save his life now. Yet the chase emboldens the pack, giving them increased anticipation, and keeping them on his tail. Then the Alpha Male leaps and sinks his jaws into the buck's neck, bringing him down. As the pack Alpha moves back off to let the rest feast, he receives a mental call from the fiancé of the vampire 'Master of the City', over the city of St Lou and the regions surrounding it.

     Tricia: "Jason, I am sorry to interrupt but an emergency has come up nearby to where you are."

     Jason: "What is it? Did someone stump their toe?"

     Tricia: "No, there is something dropping down from space and looks to hit near your position. I want you and yours to get to it and bring it out. The military forward base is sending some men to get it."

     Jason: "Why get so twisted up, they go after anything that drops down, likely this is a defunct satellite or some other piece of floating junk."

     Tricia: "If so I would not bother you about it. Psy-Ops is the one who wants this, and they want it 'bad'. Which means I want it before they get their hands on it."

     Jason: "I see, if Psy-Ops is involved that is a entirely different matter. I will get my people to get it out and bring it to you at the 'Circus'."

     Tricia: "I will meet you halfway."

     Jason: "Don't you trust us to get it to you in one piece?"

     Tricia: "Of course I do, but I do not want you to possibly get caught by Psy-Ops with whatever it is in your possession. I have the resources to fend them off, you do not. I would not even be putting you in the danger that I am if there were another way."

     Jason: "Give me a moment to think, the Coliseum is closed this week for renovations. We can use the parking area there for the handoff, no way they can sneak up on us without being seen. Do you know why do they want this thing so bad?"

     Tricia: "I have no hard idea of why, but I have felt something very powerful coming closer to us. It must be this thing that they want and I do not want them getting their hands on something this powerful."

     Jason: "Just how strong is your intuition on this?"

     Tricia: "Stronger than anything I have felt before now, and I suspect I am not feeling more than a trickle of what it holds. I believe it could upset, no, demolish the balance of power as it now exists between us and the government, hell, likely between the entire preternatural community and the government."

     Jason: "Ok, I will get them on it immediately. It is coming down soon, you say?"

     Tricia: "Look up into the sky, it is entering the atmosphere now, you should see the friction fire streak."

     Jason: "I see it! Shit, that must be visible for a hundred miles at least!"

     Tricia: "Just get it and get out, maybe this time the media will slow down the military for us."

     Jason: "Hope so, later. Hey you furry freaks of nature! Get your faces in the dirt before that thing up there hits. We have to go get it, wait for it, so we know what direction to go in."

     As the Mantella Crystal protected by the Winterstorm Construct drops with ever increasing speed, it is dropping the excessive heat it has picked up from the atmospheric friction, thus making the light of its entry even brighter. Then it strikes the ground, throwing up dirt, rock, and trees, the force wave of the impact rolls across the landscape. Seismographs everywhere record the data of the impact, as teams of academicians and scientists from every school and geological agency within reach gear up and start out to try and get there before the authorities lock down the whole area.

     Once the force wave has passed, Jason thinks about how deep the roots of these old trees must have reached to let them withstand that wave. But he then shakes his head, gathers his pack, keeping only the ones who can handle themselves in a fight, he sends the rest home to await his return. They travel cross country, which gives them an advantage. Their truck is being driven along the back roads and game trails they know, so it will not be long behind. He calls a halt when they are close enough to see a few small off-road vehicles parked back from the impact crater. He directs everyone to spread out but stay unseen until he can determine what they need to do next.

     As he watches from his vantage point, he sees the large and deep crater, some debris still burning, but it looks like the soldiers used foaming fire extinguishers around the base of what looks to be a large crystal of some kind. He looks around and notes that they did have to dig a bit of dirt from around it, and used it to construct a crude ramp. Nice of them to be so helpful to him and his. Then he sees one soldier walk up with a sledge hammer and begin slamming it against the crystal. He was about to get up and rush the soldiers when the hammer hits and bounces back. The recoil force sending the soldier flying backward. He swears he heard a tone ring through the air and then some kind of growl from the crystal.

     The officer in charge directs his men to begin firing at it. Intending to crack it open one way or another. It is what he sees then that sends chills up and down his spine. The bullets fly and all bounce back, a few of the soldiers are wounded by the 'recoiled' rounds. Then he sees the soldiers stumble and fall as the ground around the crystal begins to liquefy. As the soldiers try to climb out of the crater, the ground moves and waves of dirt starts slapping over the soldiers, seemingly acting like quicksand and dragging them down out of sight. Soon enough everything quiets down and Jason moves toward the crystal Some of his pack try to stop him, but he pushes them out of the way.

     Jason: "All of you stay back, I am not going to attack it like those dumbasses just did. It seems quite able to defend itself, so if I offer no hostilities toward it, I should be fine."

     They all watch as he slides down into the crater, and approaches the crystal with hands open and empty. He slowly walks up to it and as he feels no extreme heat from it, places his hands against it. Immediately he feels a slight pressure against his mind and he then opens it to let whoever is inside to see he intends no harm. As he feels his memories and emotions being looked at, he also feels simple curiosity from the crystal. Just before he pulls his hands from it, he sees the smoky shape of a dragon's head looking at him. Just looking, curious, intent, but not hostile. Jason sees with his mind's eye the dragon head nod in approval to him and he turns to call everyone to carefully get this crystal out of here before company arrives. He moves away slowly shaking his head at what he saw looking back at him from within the crystal.

     He muses out loud, "How could something that big be in such a small space, and who else is it that I saw inside with enough power to return this world to a molten ball of elements like it was in the beginning."

     Aaron (Loki): "What did you see to shake you like this? I have seen you face Tricia down, so whatever it was has to be powerful beyond anything or anyone we know of."

     Jason (Alpha): "It was...I swear if you say anything..."

     Aaron (Loki): "I will say nothing. You are our Alpha, if what you saw concerns you this much it should concern all of us a lot more."

     Jason (Alpha): First I saw a Dragon head looking back at me. I mean a real Dragon, not some kind of image, or projection. I felt its power, its aura. It is real, but even that pales to what else is inside there."

     Aaron (Loki): "What could be that overwhelming?"

     Jason (Alpha): "I saw what looked like a human female, on the outside anyway. What I felt to be inside her, was something else entirely."

     Aaron (Loki): "What? Tell me."

     Jason (Alpha): "Power, pure power, enough to turn this mud ball back into a molten ball of elements like it was in its youth. Power that I cannot begin to describe the extent of. Power that dwarfs even the Gods themselves."

     Aaron (Loki): "Any idea why they are here?"

     Jason (Alpha): "Whatever reason they are here for...it would be in our best interest not to get in their way. Right before I took my hands from the crystal, I heard the barest whisper, but..."

     Aaron (Loki): "What did you hear?"

     Jason (Alpha): "The dragon said, 'The Imperatrix Iriisii Dovahkiin, Dragon of War, has come at last. Seek out the Oracle and do as she instructs you. Blessed be those who serve the Imperatrix.'"

     Aaron (Loki): "Do you think..."

     Jason (Alpha): "Yeah, the Oracle that stands with the Keepers of Lore. Only one I know of that those words could be speaking of. I guess once we hand this over to Tricia, I have a pilgrimage to make."

     Aaron (Loki): "You are really going to do this then?"

     Jason (Alpha): "If you had seen and heard as I did, you would as well, no question in my mind about that."

     Aaron (Loki): "Then I stand with you. You will need my services to get there in one piece."

     Jason (Alpha): "Somehow I do not doubt you for a second. Come on, we have got to hurry this up, the friends of the soldiers that got dragged down into the ground will be here soon and we do not want to be here when they do."

     Aaron (Loki):"Amen, brother, Amen."

     The crystal is loaded onto the truck, some sacrificing their clothes to cushion the crystal in the truck bed. Then they take off down the road they brought the truck from. Jason starts thinking about time, time to do all they have done, how long for a military transport from the next largest base to arrive, any possibility of delays from media or people trying to get to the site to take pictures. He then decides it is safer to find a quick in and out place to lay low from the heat heading this way. There, up ahead, that old shell of a gas station, we can fit behind it well enough.

     He remembered when it served the people out here, not many of them left anymore. As a kid, he and others would trade in old pop bottles and then raid the candy shelves. He remembers the guy that ran it would laugh at them as they ran out the door. Damn but those were the days, simpler days, before everything went haywire when the vampires came out of the closet and made themselves known. No sense in rehashing all that happened, that is one genie that will never go back in the bottle.

     Jason: "Driver, pull in behind the gas station building and shut the engine off, everybody be quiet until it is safe to move on."

     They sit down and make themselves as comfortable as they can. A few start to doze when they hear the rumble of big trucks coming from the direction they were going in. Everyone goes quiet and still, Jason counts the trucks by the different sounds each one makes as it goes by. Troop transports, cargo trucks, heavy equipment haulers, they came loaded for bear. As bad as he wants to sneak a peek, he knows it is risky as hell to do that and possibly expose themselves, so he stays down.

     The sounds of the trucks finally fades and it is safe to go on. Jason calls for the driver to get back on the road and keep going until they reach the Coliseum parking area, then look for Tricia's people and get as close as he can. All the while everyone listens for the sound of any of those trucks coming up behind them. There is the Coliseum, and he is certainly glad to hand this 'ticking time bomb' off to someone else. He jumps down as the truck rolls to a stop and Tricia starts getting her people to move the crystal to her transport, then she moves to talk to Jason.

     Tricia: "Any problems?"

     Jason: "Not specifically from us, but you need to hear this."

     He then goes on to describe what happened as they observed from a distance. Tricia starts cursing at the utter stupidity that seems to be running rampant in the military these days. Then once she calms down and sees Jason is still tense, she asks him to tell her the rest of it. Reluctantly he does so, and Tricia hangs on every word he says.

     Tricia: "You are absolutely certain of what this dragon said to you?" 

     Jason: "Yes. You think he is real too, don't you?"

     Tricia: "Keep this to yourself, but I have been having dreams involving the dragon and the woman in there as well. They are harbingers of some kind. I also seem to feel they are troubleshooters as well. And if they are here, there is something going on that they came to stop and clear up, something beyond the power and abilities we have available to us. And that scares the shit out of me."

     Jason: "I am going on a pilgrimage to speak to the Keepers of Lore, and the Oracle."

     Tricia: "The Oracle?! But...they told you to go and find them?"

     Jason: "Yeah. Aaron volunteered to go with me, help me get there in one piece. But it was the last thing the Dragon said that I cannot get out of my head, that is driving me to do this even though every instinct I have is yelling at me to find a hole and pull it in behind me."

     Tricia: "What?"

     Jason: "He said, 'Blessed be those who serve the Imperatrix.'"

     Tricia: "That is not what has you so rattled."

     Jason: "What then?"

     Tricia: "In my dreams, the rest of those words goes like this, 'And damned be those who dare to stand in her way.' Do what you have to, I will look after your pack until you return. Nothing is going to happen to them while I live."

     Jason: "I will owe you big time for this."

     Tricia: "Just bring yourself back alive. You are one of the good ones, and there are too few of you as it is. I have a feeling you are going to be important in this, whatever 'this' is, so be careful. The crystal is almost moved over, don't waste time here, get moving. It will not take Psy-Ops long to try and lock down travel.

     Jason: "Thank you for this, I think. Have to see what comes out of it I guess. But thanks anyway for taking care of my people while I am gone. Now I have to let them know what is going on.

     All right, people! Listen up! Aaron and I are going to meet with the Keepers of Lore, and the Oracle as well. It does have to do with who or what is inside that crystal we just handed over. I do not know what it will mean going forward, for any of us, but I intend to find out. Tricia will take care of whatever you need until I get back. She will find quarters for all of you and your families inside the Circus, to keep you safe from Psy-Ops. I suggest you take advantage of this. You know what Psy-Ops will do to get hold of you, and none of us want that to happen. So 'grin and bear it' for the good of us all."

     Jason looks to Aaron, who nods his head, then the two take off to the northwest, giving the crater site a wide berth before adjusting their course. They have a long way to go for the place where they will find the Keepers of Lore is hidden within the Rock Mountains, an ancient range up across the northern Merican border into the Republic of Canda.

     Tricia: "Okay, lets get everyone to the Circus before Psy-Ops and the military decide to come looking back this way."

     Everyone piles into the whatever transport they can find room and settles down for the short trip to safety, they hope anyway. Off in the distance, on the edge of the parking area to the south, standing among some tall brush. A figure of rotting flesh gazes at the transport convoy moving away. It knows its body will not make the trek, but it knows now how to track its quarry. Letting go of the body, a faint wisp of greenish gas leaves it and disperses. Its job done, the body collapses. What will be thought of it should the inhabitants come across it, the 'rider' does not care. Even as the local scavengers avoid the body like the plague, not liking what they smell at all. Even the insects take a path avoiding getting too close to it. And the very grass underneath it, is dying and withering.

     

    The convoy rides into the underground private parking complex, restricted to Circus business only. Once the armored doors are shut and locked, they begin to unload the crystal under the watchful eyes of some of the on duty guards. Tricia directs some of the guards to begin moving the crystal to the VIP quarters floor and into the room selected, while the others are shown to guest quarters. Above ground, the 'Circus of the Damned' is one of the most premiere showplaces in the entire country. Visitors from around the world are a daily occurrence here. But underground, is a completely different story. Here is the heart and soul of the 'Circus'. The people who live and work here, human, 'Were', 'Vampire', 'Witches', 'Warlocks', and some still without proper names. All coexist, live, train, work, in comfort and security.

     Tricia: "All right, place it in the center, then when you go out leave two of you as guards on either side of the door. No one gets in without my or Jean Claude's express permission. If you hear a pin drop in here, do not investigate, but call me or Jean Claude. If you or anyone goes in here unauthorized, we cannot see to your safety. And no we have no idea what this is, who or what may be inside. What we do know is that it sheds power like a river and Psy-Ops wants it very badly, so I intend that they not get their grubby fingers on it. You are authorized to use lethal force to protect this crystal and anyone or thing within it. Now leave me with it for a bit, if you would be so kind."

     As the guards walk out and close Tricia up with the crystal, she begins to let her mind wander over just what it means for this to show up now.

     Tricia: "Just what in blazes are you? Who sent you? Because it cannot be coincidence, not now, not with Psy-Ops prepping for a war. By whatever deity will hear my voice I pray you are on our side."